Two Words We're All Tempted to Say: I Quit - TERESA SHIELDS PARKER CHARISMA MAGAZINE SPIRITLED WOMAN

Two Words We're All Tempted to Say: I Quit

6:00PM EST 2/26/2016 TERESA SHIELDS PARKER  charisma magazine  spiritLed Woman

We're often told not to quit, but sometimes it's actually a good thing. (iStockPhoto)

I quit everything. Nothing I was doing was what I really wanted to do, and it was killing me. I had to focus on loving and taking care of myself, or I wouldn't be around to do anything anymore.

I had started gaining weight again after having the monster fix of gastric bypass surgery. Most everyone who has the surgery loses weight at first. With less weight and more energy, I began my normal trend of doing everything anyone asked me to do.

No Time for Help

I sat on any board of directors of any organization who asked. I wrote articles for organizations, published their newsletters, helped promote events, led small groups, led various training events, helped with seminars, built a website, started blogging, served on church committees, ran a business and managed a family, which included doing laundry, grocery shopping, bill paying and fixing meals.

Nothing I was doing was bad. Everything I had my hand in was good, and I liked helping others. I just didn't have enough hands to do it all. When that happens to me, I turn to food to stave off the overwhelming burdens I feel.

About a year after surgery, I discovered I could eat sugar and other foods I couldn't before. Surgery did not fix the core reasons why I ate in the first place. I began eating all my old comfort foods again. Before I knew it, I was once again in the morbid obesity category.

"Enough is enough," I said. "I'm doing something about this."

Working on Me

I had to understand what my issues were such as, why do I keep running back to certain foods whenever I can? I needed help, but I had no time for help. Understanding that monumental truth helped me revise my to do list.

One at a time, I let go of the priorities everyone else had for me. I quit everything.

Then, I started working on me. I began going to a weight loss group. I started seeing a holistic doctor who helped me start various vitamins, minerals and natural hormone supplements. I saw an allergist and a chiropractor who both believe in wellness therapy. I got a trainer, and began seeing a physical therapist.

I exercised at least six days a week for an hour. I stopped eating sugar and flour and started eating protein, vegetables and fruits. I took life purpose coaching training, which also helped me understand myself more.

Most importantly, I allowed God to teach me what my core issues were, and how to walk through forgiving others, renouncing lies and hearing God's truth for my life. I allowed God to transform every part of me—body, soul and spirit.

I also evaluated the things I had been doing. Was there anything I had been doing which tugged at a deep part of me? Something I truly missed? What was the cry of my heart, the thing that made me tick?

Write the Vision

Among the entire list of things, the one I loved the most was blogging and writing. Years ago, I chose a life verse. This needs to be one that shouts at me every time I see it in Scripture or think about it.

Mine is: "Write the vision. Make it plain so those that read it may run with it" (Hab. 2:2). There it is. That's who I am. Everything else pales in comparison to that. If I have to choose one life action, that would be it.

It's not just about writing. It's about writing the things which matter in a way that will help people incorporate the truths into their lives. In order to do that, I have to be connected to the One who makes my one thing matter.

Vibrating With Life

Trusting God with my entire heart means not leaning on what I think, rationalize or understand, but surrendering completely to Him. When I do that, He will show me the next step.

God says surrendering to Him brings results that align with my ultimate goal of being whole, healthy and happy, living a life full to overflowing with His purposes.

That's what began to happen when I quit everything and concentrated on only doing what fit into His purpose for me.

I decided to love myself in the same way God loves me. I decided to listen to that still, small voice inside, and be the best me possible. I decided to run with the thing that makes me light up inside. In the process, I lost weight, but gained so much more.

Teresa Shields Parker is a wife, mother, business owner, life group leader, speaker and author of Sweet Freedom: Losing Weight and Keeping It Off With God's Help, Sweet Grace: How I Lost 250 Pounds and Stopped Trying to Earn God's Favor andSweet Grace Study Guide: Practical Steps to Lose Weight and Overcome Sugar Addiction. Get a free chapter of her memoir on her blog at teresashieldsparker.com. Connect with her there or on her Facebook page.

For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!

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God Is Pouring Out Prophetic Visions in This Season - JENNIFER LECLAIRE CHARISMA MAGAZINE

God Is Pouring Out Prophetic Visions in This Season

 2/11/2016 JENNIFER LECLAIRE  charisma magazine

We need to keep a watch on what the Lord is saying to us. (Flickr )

Jennifer LeClaire is now sharing her reflections and revelations through Walking in the Spirit, a new podcast from Charisma. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.

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In this hour of Christianity, God is looking for those who will stand watch, station themselves on the watchtower and keep watch to see what the Lord will say—and answer when they are reproved.

God is looking for those with a Habakkuk spirit who will not only see and hear, but record and proclaim—and keep proclaiming until the people's ears and eyes open to what the Lord is saying and doing. Once, when Habakkuk stood on the wall, He heard the Lord say this:

"Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he who reads it may run. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but it speaks of an end and does not lie. If it delays, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay" (Hab. 2:2-3).

LISTEN TO JENNIFER'S PODCAST ON THIS TOPIC: Contending for the Prophetic Vision.

A Remnant Rising With Clear Vision

This is a right-now word for the body of Christ. There is a remnant rising with a clear vision from the Lord. Not everyone will catch that vision, but we must continue to speak it forth. It's not man's vision, it's God's vision.

In Habakkuk 2:2, the Lord told the man of God to write the vision. God intended for the prophet to make a record of what he heard. This is important for the sake of accuracy. When God speaks, whether in a conference setting or your prayer closet or somewhere in between, we need to make every effort to record the utterance so we don't miss a word of what God is saying—or inadvertently add to what He said.

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It's important to understand that this oft-cited verse is not talking about just any vision. According to the KJV Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon, the word "vision" in that verse comes from the Hebrew word, chazown, which means vision (in ecstatic state); vision (in the night); vision, oracle, prophecy (divine communication) and vision (as title of book of prophecy).

Clearly, we need to embrace the Lord's vision. Unless the Lord builds the house—or the business or the family or anything else for that matter—they labor in vain who build it (Ps. 127:1). Maybe the Lord has given you prophetic vision for a project or for your life or maybe you are praying for a new vision. He's pouring out new prophetic visions in this season.

Rocking Religious Mindsets

Because these prophetic visions will rock religious mindsets and shake the status quo, you'll have to be determined to write them down, meditate on them day and night and, as Habakkuk 2:2 says, make it plain.

In other words, you need to rely on the Holy Spirit to interpret the vision rightly so that you can declare it clearly to those who are called to run alongside you in the vision. As Paul the apostle wrote, "If the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare himself for the battle?" (1 Cor. 14:8).

Believe me, there's going to be a war over the prophetic vision God gave you—or the vision God gave your leader—and if you aren't clear, if it's not plain, you won't run with it or rise up and defend it from the enemy's abortive plans. Prophecy always brings warfare because the devil is after the word.

Exercising Patience for the Prophetic Vision

God has given some of you prophetic blueprints and plans that seem unimaginable. Some of you have been plowing for a long while now and aren't seeing the fruit you expected at this point in the journey. Take heart. Don't give up.

Habakkuk 2:3 says the vision is for an appointed time. The Hebrew word for time in that verse is moade, which according to the KJV Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon means "appointed time, sacred season, set feasted, appointed season, appointed meeting, appointed place and appointed sign or signal."

When God gives you a prophetic vision, it's inspiring. Waiting is the hard part. We must remember not to grow weary in well-doing because we'll reap in due season if we don't faint (Gal. 6:9). We must also remember that we inherit the promises of God through faith and patience (Heb. 6:12). And we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). And remember this:

"Where there is no vision, the people perish, but happy is he who keeps the teaching" (Prov. 19:18). The Hebrew word for "vision" in this verse is also "chazown." It speaks to prophetic vision. Keep casting the prophetic vision confidently or the people will let go, let loose and ignore what God is saying—and so may you.

If you don't give up, if you're diligent to keep declaring the prophetic vision, it will come to pass in the kairos moment. God is not a man that He should lie or the son of man that He should repent. As the Lord told Habakkuk, "If it delays, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay."

Jennifer LeClaire is senior editor of Charisma. She is also director of Awakening House of Prayer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, co-founder of awakeningtv.com, on the leadership team of the New Breed Revival Network and author of several books, including The Next Great Move of God: An Appeal to Heaven for Spiritual Awakening;Mornings With the Holy Spirit, Listening Daily to the Still, Small Voice of God; The Making of a Prophet and Satan's Deadly Trio: Defeating the Deceptions of Jezebel, Religion and Witchcraft. You can visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer onFacebook or follow her on Twitter. Jennifer's Periscope handle is @propheticbooks.

For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!

NEW from CHARISMA: Do you want to encounter the Holy Spirit and hear God speak to you? Increase your faith, discover freedom, and draw near to God! Click Here

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