From Desert to Fountain (Part 3)

This is my last post about what I learned from the Just One Conference…at least until next week’s session! 🙂 Check out my previous posts to read more…

What I Learned from the Just One Conference (continued…again)

1. Lead by your Love by Jessica Cornelius: I love Jessica. She is a beautiful and fashionable PW whose husband leads a ginormous church and has written several books…and yet I still love her because she grew up wearing culottes and not watching popular movies & tv shows…I can totally relate! 🙂 This session spoke to me from the start when she said “It’s so easy to work hard and be busy doing the work of the ministry, but sometimes we unknowingly substitute labor for love.” The Bible tells us to first love the LORD our God…and then to love our neighbor. Often in ministry we tend to love people before we love God. We prepare our lessons, we answer the phone, we take food to shut-ins, we organize the children’s events, we greet the visitors, we speak to the members, we pray for the needs, we plan the music, we consider how each part will be received by our audience… but we forget to spend time with God, to worship Him, to ask for His guidance, to adore Him, to place our full attention on Him. Then we wonder why we get burned out serving His people. We must love God FIRST in order to successfully love His people. Ministry is not a job. Ministry is not a sacrifice. Ministry is an HONOR! My favorite quote from Jessica: “If a commission by an earthly king is considered an honor, how can a commission by a heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?” When we get stressed or overwhelmed by ministry we need to check where our love is focused. Then we need to stop and think about the fact that God has called and equipped us for the ministry where He has placed us. Remember that lives will be changed because we answered and were faithful to His call!
2. Leading with your Faith by Heather Palacios: This woman was so incredibly passionate! She has an amazing testimony of how God restored her faith and her focus on Him. She also told the story of the woman in the Bible with the issue of blood who touched the hem of Jesus’ robe. She was completely desperate for healing, for a touch from God. If I was in her situation would I have let embarrassment stop me from taking action? Or would my faith have compelled me to reach out to Jesus no matter what people think? We know she had faith, not by her words, but by her ACTIONS. I must remember that the more desperate my situation is, the more desperate my faith should be…faith so desperate that nothing can touch it!

So much good stuff crammed into just one hour! I’m so glad I’ve had a whole week to chew on this and let it sink in before the next one! (FYI the next “Just One” Conference is scheduled for Monday & Tuesday, January 30/31. They will air this 2nd session four times: Monday @ 11am eastern & 9pm eastern and again on Tuesday @ 11am & 9pm eastern.) I’m so thankful for the lessons I have learned and the great encouragement I have received from this conference. I must admit…I was feeling so defeated that I almost didn’t bother with watching. “What can these beautiful, stylish, successful women say to me?” I thought… But each one was so completely transparent with their feelings and failures as well as honest about what God has taught them that I could not help but be enthralled! Praise the LORD for springs in the desert! He knew just what I needed! 🙂 And in case you missed it: click here to follow the link for more info on how you can catch the next session! Just One Conference

PS…Did you watch the Just One Conference? If so, what did you learn from it? Has this series of posts been encouraging to you? Would you like me to post again next week or find some other way of getting my thoughts out of my head? 🙂 I would love to hear from you in the comments section below!