Dayle's Blog

I’ve spoken to and listened to a lot of younger people in their 20’s who are stressed because they feel that if that don’t “make it” in what they are doing or dreaming of by the time they are 30 it is all over and they won’t do anything of significance after that. Which to be honest is a little crazy as you have so much life to live. As I tell my kids, your 20’s are for exploring, growing and learning. You don’t have to have it all figured out and you definitely don’t have to have “made it”.

Each age seems to have a mindset attached to it and as I listen I’m hearing the message that in life you had better hurry up to make it. Or if you don’t then it’s too late, too hard, or time to wind down. There is also the expectation that eventually you are going to fade out! Fade out as in you’ve probably done a few things, had a family or career or both, travelled, had some adventures and now it’s time to sit back and wait out your latter years until you fade away.

The problem is I don’t think I ever really want to just fade out – in that I no longer have any dreams that inspire me to get up, keep going and to breakthrough new frontiers. And I don’t think that’s how God thinks either.

I want to be like Caleb in the bible who was one of the chief spies sent out by Moses. He was bold and persevered when the other spies became fearful and discouraged. He was courageous against giants, completely devoted to God and ready and able to lead and go into battle at the age of 80.

God rewarded Caleb and it is recorded six times that “He fully followed the Lord”. In his latter years he was still a mighty warrior taking new territory and claiming his promised land. Caleb didn’t fade out!

“But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.” (Numbers 14:24)

Or the elderly lady who on being placed in full time care in a nursing home wondered what she could now do to have purpose in her day and share her faith and love for Jesus. The idea came to her that she could work through every name in the telephone directory and call them up to talk to them and to share her faith with any that would listen. She led many to know Jesus. She refused to fade out!

Whatever season of life we are in God has a plan for us. He promises he will perfect all that concerns us and that his plans for us will not be thwarted. (Psalm 138:8)

“I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2)

“For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?” (Isaiah 14:27)

God’s plan is that we will be fruitful in every season of life. That no matter how big we dream He would do exceedingly more (Ephesians 3:20). That even in our latter years we will bear fruit. That we wouldn’t just fade out, wither up and dry out. Instead when we “delight is in the law of the Lord, (His Word) and meditate on his law day and night we would be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever we do prospers. (Psalm 1:1-3)

“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;  planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.” (Psalm 92:12-14)

Determine today to live to the fullest in every season of life. Regardless of whether we’re in our youth, middle or latter years we all have a purpose and destiny to live out, but to do that we definitely can’t be thinking we are going to fade out!

Keep running your race. If you need fresh vision I encourage you to spend some time dreaming and asking God what He has for you. See https://daylekinney.com/2019/01/07/7-jan-i-have-a-dream/ if you need some extra encouragement.

Prayer: Lord thank you that you give me purpose and strength to run my race well every day. That I too can be like Caleb and be known as someone who has a different spirit and follows you wholeheartedly, being fruitful in every season of my life. I can do all things because you give me strength. In Jesus name Amen.

Success in life is a lot to do with the preparation and walking the process. It’s in choosing to be diligent, consistent and determined in positioning ourselves for growth, increase and to win. However without being engaged in the process we can easily fail to be ready when God moves and even miss making the most of the opportunities He directs us to.

People often want to see and enjoy the rewards and “fruits of success” before they have cooperated with what it takes to be fruitful. It can be a hard lesson to learn that if we’d only dealt with an issue, stopped wasting time and remained focused on who we were made to be we could of seen so much more unfold in our lives.

Thankfully God loves to give second chances and is in the business of restoration and renewal. He can and will open doors and turn things around for us if we choose to cooperate with the process He has to bring us to that place of bearing good fruit in our lives and relationships.

Some things I’ve discovered to be helpful as we seek to lead a fruitful life are that we be prepared to:

1.Get out of our comfortable zone and do whatever God leads us to do. Sometimes we won’t understand fully why He is asking us to do things, but if we follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit and His word we will be positioned exactly where we need to be when opportunities arise.

“The LORD says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” (Psalm 32:8)

2. Be consistent and stick to things. In other words be disciplined. It’s in our everyday routine that we learn consistency. Spending quality time with God, exercising, eating well, being quick to forgive, being kind, making the most of what you already have in your hand and being diligent to be the best you can be. In learning to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

“And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing.” (James 1:4)

If we want our “fruits of success” to grow and last it’s always best to work with a Master to get the best results. The bible says that God is like a Master gardener. He knows us better than we know ourselves, understands the process and always, if we follow His directives, gets the best and lasting results. (John 15).

He sees each one of us and knows the desires and dreams in our hearts. He promises that when we put our trust and confidence in Him and His word He will lead and guide us to live a fruitful life that lasts.

Today practice listening to God and being prepared to move out of your comfort zone. Be consistent in the things you know to do and say, believing that as you seek to be that person who walks out the process that God will be faithful to equip, position and bring you good success and a fruitful life.

Prayer: Lord thank you that your plan and desire for me is to be blessed in all I put my hand to. You know exactly how to make that happen in my life so I choose to trust you today to lead me. Please help me be responsive to your promptings, to hear and follow your word, and to be more consistent today. In Jesus name Amen

There is a slogan which is designed to help people feel welcome and comfortable. I’ve especially noticed it being used around church. The slogan is, “No perfect people allowed”.

That sounds okay and may even help people to feel more accepted and welcome. However the problem is that when you know Jesus it’s actually not at all correct or how we are to keep thinking about ourselves. If we continue to believe and say, “well nobody is perfect”, or “I am just a lowly sinner”, or “I’m broken twisted and flawed”, we have a problem because we are talking about ourselves as less  than what heaven does. In doing so we are in fact making a mockery and lie out of all that Jesus did for us when He died and rose again.

Plus Jesus himself said, ‘Since you are children of a perfect father in heaven you are to be perfect like him”. (Matthew 5:48) Jesus would not ask of us something he knows we do not have the capability to be. That would be cruel. Yet He still said, “Be perfect”, because he knows that in relationship with Him that’s exactly what we are!

Jesus for the joy of bringing completeness, freedom, deliverance and having an opportunity to form a relationship with Him, went through a horrible death and was crucified for each and every one of us. He did that because He wanted to know that in Him we are perfected, make whole and set free.  (Hebrews 12:2)

“So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.” (Colossians 2:10)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

“And by his one perfect sacrifice He made us perfectly holy and complete for all time! (Hebrews 10:14 TPT

Pretty amazing to think that you can call yourself PERFECT.  But you can because He did!

Today I encourage you to take hold of all that Jesus offers. Give up the poor self image, negative self talk and believing that you are worthless, have no good in you or anything to offer. Jesus says that when we respond with a Yes to Him being a part of our lives we are born anew. You are made perfect, complete and whole. A new life is given to even the most crooked and broken lives.

Don’t keep settling for imperfection when Jesus has offered and says otherwise about you. He went through a lot to be able to call you perfect! 

Prayer: Lord thank you that through your sacrifice I have been made whole and complete in you. Please help me to see myself as you do and to let go of my imperfect thinking and beliefs about myself so that I am able to walk in the truth that I am made perfect in you. In Jesus name Amen.

If you don’t like where you are today, your circumstances and struggle in your thought life and with the words that come out of your mouth then here are some tips to help you to make some changes….

1. Walk in Forgiveness – forgiveness of sin and forgiveness of others removes heartache and guilt from the past. Un-forgiveness and holding grudges hurts others, but mostly it hurts us and steals our joy and peace.
2. Do a mental spring clean of your thought life. Keep an inventory of what you are thinking about. It may shock you when you consider what you spend your day thinking upon. We literally can change our lives by beginning to think different thoughts. I recommend as a starting place in your spring clean is to begin think on God’s word and His thoughts.
3. Check the environment in which you live and who and what you surround yourself with. We are each a product of our environment. as it affects our values, priorities and lifestyles. What are you allowing in your life?
4. Ask yourself, “what am I doing with my spare time?” How we spend our time will greatly determine what we are thinking about. The devil brings his greatest temptation to people when they have time on their hands. King David is a good example. He made one of the greatest errors of judgement of his life when he was meant to be fulfilling his role as King and leading His army into battle. Instead he stayed at home and in his spare time slept with another man’s wife, whom he got pregnant, which then led to the death of an innocent man. (2 Samuel 11). It takes discipline of character, focus and goals in life to correctly handle extra hours given in our day. One of the best things we can do for ourselves is to learn to have a healthy productive thought life, and to understand the importance of filling our free time with those things and people who will help us think right and encourage us to grow and achieve our goals.
5. Who  are your closest friends? The people we associate with will greatly determine how we think. A person’s character and values are often revealed to others by knowing a person’s closest friends. Peer pressure and the desire to belong can be one of the greatest influences upon our lives. Choose your friends well!

The simple exhortation from God’s Word to think on those things that are pure and noble and praise worthy can be used as an easy guideline for our thought life. It can become our standard as to who and what we associate closely with, how we fill our free time and any changes we may need to make in our surroundings.

As we think we change. What are you thinking about?

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect”. (Romans 12:2)

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things”. (Philippians 4:8)

Prayer: Lord please help me to honestly examine my thought life and give me wisdom to see where I need to make changes and the strength to be a person who chooses well. Please surround me with people who will help me to be the best I can be. In Jesus Name Amen.

When we are looking for change to happen in our lives, it’s helpful to position and ready ourselves for things to happen. It’s a bit like being pregnant with a baby and preparing yourself for the new arrival. If you don’t get ready, it’ll be a mad dash when that baby arrives and you and all those around you will more than likely miss some of the wonder of it all.

Whenever a shift or change occurs if we are listening to Gods promptings, He will begin to encourage us to stretch and expand our expectations, our horizons, our vision. He’ll encourage us to deal with issues and to shed any unnecessary weights or distractions. He will start revealing for us to look up and ahead, instead of behind us at our past, or down at the dust of our failures or disappointments. God encourages us to position ourselves so that we don’t miss any of what He is releasing in and over our lives.

Shifts and changes can also mean pushing against constraints, limiting mindsets, unbelief, disappointments, fears and failure. We move past limitations so that we can spread out and increase our capacity to hold and inhabit all God wants to release in our lives. We ready ourselves for what we are believing for.

The bible says that even when we feel barren, when we have nothing, when we are desolate and desperate, that then is the perfect time for us to lift up our eyes and voices to speak what we desire because God has a way through, the victory and the answer. He has the solution and He is on our side.

I’ve learnt over the years to speak out His promises even when I can’t see in the natural how anything is going to change; how the barrenness and difficulties are ever going to be replaced with abundance and blessing. I’ve learnt to not look with my natural eyes, but with eyes of trust and believing that better things are ahead, that angels are right now working on my behalf, that solutions, provision, healing and breakthrough are mine.

Today agree with what’s coming out of heaven and choose to “declare and decree” God’s goodness over your life and over your family, workplace, your future, over your relationships, neighbourhood, city and nation. No longer see yourself  under your circumstances but look with eyes of faith, because God has a plan and breaking through for every situation we are facing in our personal lives and in the world today. 

“Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy” (Isaiah 54:1)

“Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:23-24)

Prayer: Lord thank you that breakthrough, expansion, release and change is coming straight out of heaven today. I believe for things to shift and change for the better in every circumstance of my life today.  In Jesus name Amen.

Getting the wrong end of the stick is a phrase to explain when someone misunderstands, misinterprets, or misconstrues a situation. It occurs when we misunderstand what someone has said, or we misinterpret a situation.

It’s fairly easy to “get the wrong end of the stick” if you are not careful, are prone to jumping to conclusions, have a low self-esteem, have un-dealt issues from your past or are easily offended. We all at times need to stop and make sure we aren’t missing what is being communicated by making sure we hear the other’s person’s heart regarding what they are doing or saying, and disciplining ourselves to not jump to conclusions because of our own issues, self esteem, or mindsets about particular situations, people and subjects.

Many a friendship has been broken up, relationships have suffered, families have been torn apart, workplaces have become toxic, and even churches have become places of offence and bitterness, rather than centres of love and understanding, through people “getting the wrong end of the stick.”

Which is why all of us can benefit from continually being students of good communication, people skills and determining to walk in grace and understanding on a daily basis. It’s also why it’s a good idea to daily ask for God’s wisdom as to how to handle situations and relationships to communicate effectively.  And to make an effort to hear people’s hearts and to take a look at what they are really saying rather than misinterpreting or misconstruing often innocent or just not well-communicated information and emotions.

Today I encourage you to throw away the stick away and instead make it a habit to stop, listen and seek to understand.

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8)

“Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.” (Proverbs 10:1)

“Don’t say anything that would hurt (another person). Instead, speak only what is good so that you can give help wherever it is needed. That way, what you say will help those who hear you.” (Ephesians 4:29 God’s Word Translation)

Prayer: Lord please help me to not jump to conclusions or misunderstand what someone has said when I am relating to others. I don’t want to live life getting offended or being constantly on guard around others. Help me to let go of all of those things, and to trust you to take care of my heart as I seek to listen, love and understand. In Jesus Name Amen.

I woke up this morning and read this promise. It said “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you.” (Isaiah 26:3).

Our minds are powerful, and what we think about affects us more than most of us understand. “75-98% of mental, physical and behavioural illnesses come from toxic thinking” (Dr Carolyn Leaf).

Therefore it makes sense that a loving God, who cares infinitely about every detail of our lives would want us to keep our minds fixed on Him, so that our whole being would be kept in perfect and constant peace. Peace being; “a freedom from disturbance, and having quiet, tranquillity, and rest.”

When we fix our minds on God we choose to fix our thoughts on His goodness, on what He says, on who He is and on His promises. He wants us to have hope for the day and He knows that fixing our thoughts on Him, which is fixing our thoughts on faith, hope and love, will cause health and wholeness.

When we hope like this it is an activity of the mind that changes the structure of our brain in a positive and normal direction. That means there is hope for us to change even where we haven’t been peaceful, and have struggled with our thoughts and emotions. When we fix our minds on Jesus, and His love and goodness our actual brains change.”

It has been found that 12 minutes of daily focused prayer (which is simply talking and listening to God), over an 8 week period can change the brain to such an extent it can be measured on a brain scan.”

The Bible says it this way, “Finally, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things..and the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4: 8-9)

Today check what you have been fixing your mind on. Is it thoughts of hope or thoughts of fear and disaster? If you have been struggling, take time throughout the day with Jesus, read His words in the bible, download them onto your phone, put a favourite verse on your screen saver, pin-board or wherever you will see it, as a reminder of what God says about your life. Because  He promises that, “He will keep us in perfect peace when our minds are fixed on Him.”

Prayer: Lord thank you that I can be in perfect peace when I fix my mind on you. Help me to take the time to learn and think more deeply about the promises in your word, than I do about everything else going on around me. I receive and hold onto your peace today. In Jesus Name Amen.

“I am leaving you with a gift–peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:27)

Often when we have something negative or traumatic happen to us or our choices have taken us down certain paths, it can leave us feeling stripped down, unworthy and naked. We often are left feeling exposed and vulnerable which causes us to want to constantly protect ourselves, to cover up and to hide.

It’s I think similar to what happened to Adam and Eve in the Bible. When they were created they were not completely naked as we might suppose but clothed with a beautiful light. But when Satan deceived them and sin entered the world, darkness suddenly came into their lives and the “lights went out”. With sin and darkness came the loss of this “clothing of light”. (Genesis 3)

Not much has changed when it comes to darknesses’ tactics. Satan is still always trying to steal the light and power we have or should have. We wants to keep the lights out.

Things can happen to us which can cause us to feel diminished in who God created us to be. We can feel stripped naked and laid bare as a result. But that’s the enemy’s plan; because nakedness, brokeness and feeling fearful and worthless are designed to leave us believing less of ourselves than who God created us to be. The plan of darkness is to rob us of our light, brilliance and ability to make an impact in the world.

This week however I had a revelation that when we know Jesus we have that clothing of light restored to us. There is no darkness or vulnerable, fear-filled nakedness anymore.  Instead we are clothed in God’s light, goodness, love and righteousness. He says we’ve been given garments to wear – garments of light, praise, righteousness, worthiness, beauty, salvation, honour, majesty and power. 

Whatever may have happened in our past we don’t have to feel naked and exposed anymore. Jesus covers us. He protects, restores and gives us dignity and honour where it may have been stolen and stripped from us. We don’t have to be ashamed or look away when we see ourselves, or fear others seeing us either. We are fully clothed with heavenly garments, that fuse to the skin we are in. And as long as we daily remember who we are and to whom we belong no-one can touch, strip off or tear us down ever again.

“I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” (Isaiah 61:10)

“The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels.” (Revelation 3:5)

“And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:29)

“… You have clothed me with joy. ” (Psalm 30:11)

Prayer: Lord thankyou that in you I never need to feel exposed, degraded or “naked” again, because you clothe me with light, honour  and power. I choose to walk in that knowledge and confidence today. In Jesus name Amen