Tag: self discovery

the butterfly journey

The Problem

livingwholecoaching

The problem that the butterfly had was not knowing her value or worth as God had ordained it to be. The enemy is great at distracting us from the truth.

That was one of the biggest problems the butterfly had: not understanding who she was. And from that misunderstanding, she built all her decisions and based all her relationships on a lie.

She fought to be everything that she believed would bring her love. But what it actually brought her was pain, trauma, shame, and guilt. God never intended for her life to be this way, but she wasn’t listening to Him. She depended on the world’s systems to evaluate who she was supposed to be. And that was “the problem”.

Unfortunately, it took the butterfly years to finally get to a place where she could look to God. She would spend many years living an unsatisfying life, walking in brokenness. But God didn’t leave her in that space. He had a plan to divert her from the destructive, broken life to a place of wholeness in Him. But it wouldn’t be easy for the butterfly.

Even in the place of being transformed, the butterfly was kept in the wilderness, a place where her whole dependence had to be on God and nothing else. None of her old patterns would work in this situation, so she had to surrender.

The journey was a hard lesson for the butterfly, and it wouldn’t be until she was safe in her deliverance and healing that she would understand the full scope of what God did for her.

I find it amazing how God works out the bad things in our lives and turns them into something good. He does it even when we have decided to go our own way!

The butterfly is my story of redemption and love. I have spoken to, ministered to, and walked with women who were in the same sort of place that I was in. Being lukewarm in our walk with God is not pleasing to the Father. It is our responsibility to work out our soul salvation (and as Paul says: “with fear and trembling”). It’s time to consecrate ourselves to God and begin the process of sanctification.

I pray that you will desire to move past where you are and allow God to begin bringing you to a place that is pleasing and glorifying to Him. Time is of the essence. Jesus is coming back for a bride (church) that is without spot or blemish, and I don’t know about you, but I want to be there at the wedding with “the bridegroom,” Jesus.

Today is the day of salvation and repentance. The King is coming!

In Christ,

Lisa M. Walker

the butterfly journey

On One Accord

livingwholecoaching

Dear God, It’s me Lisa.

I have been thinking a lot about how I can be on one accord with you. I understand that continuing to develop my relationship with you through reading your word, communicating with you, through prayer, and listening with my whole heart will enable me to understand my assignment, as it pertains to your will. To be honest; I struggle with doing those things on a consistent basis. I repent.

Father, how do we become on one accord as believers? I read Acts 2:42-47, which gives me some idea of how the early church operated and developed fellowship and like-mindedness. The word says that we need to be willing to be taught, come together in fellowship, breaking bread together, and prayer.

I read and meditated on Romans 8:5-11. This is really the meat and potatoes of the way we get to be in sync with your will God. We need to walk in the Holy Spirit and not in our flesh. The word says that the mind that is governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit leads to life and peace. Ok, God now I am beginning to understand the assignment!

Lastly, 2 Corinthians 5:17 lets me know that now that I am in Jesus, that I am a new creature. I need to be focused on changing my mindset from a fleshly viewpoint to a spirit-filled mind. That will give me and my fellow believers a roadmap to being on one accord! I know that this will please you God, when your ecclesia is walking on a true path of righteousness!

Thank you as always Father for helping us understand what we need for today!

Love and blessings L

depression, Healing, healing and deliverance

I Am Healed! No Weapon!

livingwholecoaching

Isaiah 54:17

No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. KJV

More times than I care to admit, I have felt weary and tired and ready to give up! Fiery darts flying, false accusations, scary situations, and health issues just to name a few of the seasonsim healed no weapon of my life that I have faced.

I was reminded recently that I am healed and no weapon formed against me shall prosper, because God is my Redeemer! Why do I need to keep being reminded of the fact that my God is awesome, gracious and able to do all that I need for my life? Why do I keep falling back into the snares that I know are being set for me by the enemy? I learned a valuable lesson, be consistent in following and believing God for everything that He did for me and all of His promises!

Another strong lesson that I learned was that every situation, although it may appear different stems from the same source, the enemy. The enemy trying to take me off the path of life that God had created for me. He doesn’t want me to reach my full potential in God, to serve and encourage women! He rather me be deep in stress, negativity and pessimism. Why would he want me to grow closer to God and learn more of His word and promises? Why would he want me to have the courage and confidence to move forward in the gift(s) that gave me to use in this dying world?

So I have to go back a few steps to recover the strength in God that was so evident in my life. Be consistent in my prayer and praise. Lastly, I need to remember who is against me in life. Not people, although the enemy can use them as part of his schemes. Situations that seem to be a blessing when looked at after the enemy has told you lies begin to look like a plantation, a place of discontented, a place where I would lose my creativity and energy. But wait a minute it really is a blessing, an opportunity that God allowed to happen to help me.

Stay focused and remind yourself every day until it becomes a part of your spirit that God will not withhold any good thing from me. He wouldn’t give me stones for bread! Stop in the moment that your thinking becomes opposite of who you know God to be. Remain faithful to the One who is faithful!

Prayer: Father, we thank you because even when we get off track you send ministering angels to pray for us and to us and remind us that we are the daughters of a God that is good and holy! Thank you Father that you care enough for me that you would restore and strengthen my inner man for the journey ahead! Keep our minds stayed on you Father, the author and finisher of our faith. Make our lives renewed in you. Give us a spirit of consistency to stay grounded, focused, and faithful to only YOU! We thank you God for who you are in our lives. In the precious name of Jesus, amen.

Blessings, Lisa

encouragement, God, golden nuggets, hope, Lessons, prayer, the butterfly journey

7 Lessons I’ve Learned While Going Through My Storm

livingwholecoaching

I’ve learned over many years of life that each storm of life holds “golden nuggets” of wisdom that God wants me to learn.  But like most people I couldn’t see the lessons while I was embedded in the pain of facing tough life situations.  Most recent years I have begun to dig a little deeper to understand just what God was trying to show me about myself during these times.

7 lessonsOnce I began to hunger for the truth, God was gracious enough to uncover the treasures that were hidden in the waves of my storms.

1. My relationship with God is the most important relationship of my life.

There is no one in this world that loves me more or with a more perfect love.  Don’t compromise who you are for the world.

2.  Seek God for direction before making decisions for my life.

I realize that my understanding is limited to what I know and see.  God is all-knowing and He is the best one to give me direction for my life.  Sometimes our decisions can have an adverse affect on our lives and the lives of those we love.

3. Know and believe God’s promises for my life.

Studying God’s word gives us understanding of who we are and what God has promised to do in us and through us, but how do we know if we do not delve into His glorious word?  The trials become unbearable if we have no hope that things can or will get better.  His word is the blueprint that gives us everything we need to live our best lives. Jeremiah 29:11

4. Search for the lessons in each situation.

I began to ask God questions.  What is it that you want me to learn Lord?  How do you want me to wait while in the storm?  Every trial has a something that be for your good; build your faith, increase your trust, restore or turn you away from sin.  Romans 8:28

5. Be grateful in all seasons of my life.

Sometimes this part is hard especially when you are experiencing pain.  This is the time when you really have to dig deep and remind yourself of the wonderful blessings that still are surrounding you.  Look for them, make it a point to seek them, they are there!  There is a greater glory after each storm.

6. Tell my story to others.

There is always someone who may be going through a similar storm in their life.  By sharing your testimony you are giving them hope and encouragement that things will get better.

7.  Pray without ceasing.

I can’t say enough about prayer!  I have learned early in my Christian walk that prayer changes things, situations and hearts.  There is no greater gift than to be able to talk to the Father about all your heart issues.  There are some things that will only come by prayer.  Learn to pray and continue to develop your communication with the Father.  He will never fail you, that I know for sure!

Blessings

Lisa

destiny, finding God, gifts and talents, God, journey, Life Coach, life worth living, mission, purpose, the butterfly journey, women

I Want to Die Empty

livingwholecoaching

I admire those famous people in history that used their entire life serving people and making the world a better place. Those that we had the opportunity of knowing because their lives were showcased to the world. Some that come to mind are Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Theresa and there are countless more, many more.

But there are ones who we didn’t get an opportunity to know through history or Are you living your life fully on purpose,mainstream media. Those that weren’t written about in books. Those ordinary people like you and me, just living out their purposes, using their God-given gifts, talents and life experiences to serve others and making their communities something better than what it was before them.

I always knew that I was born for something. I just couldn’t believe for a minute that God would create me just to exist. It took me almost a lifetime to figure out what it was, but here I am today striving to live my life until I am empty. No not empty in the way you may be thinking, but empty of everything that God gave me and created me for to complete while here on this earth. I wish that I could have had someone to come along side of me to help m figure it all out before now. But God always had a plan. (Jeremiah 29:11)

When I first saw the words “die empty” it confused me; as I asked myself, “Why would anyone want to die empty?” But see God has given me a mind that is able to look at things from a whole different perspective.

To die empty to me means to use all that God has blessed me with and all that He created me to be to serve people in a unique way. It means to be passionate about using my gifts, talents, skills and every life experience (good and bad) to help someone else. It not only means to make the world a better place, but ultimately it means to build up God’s kingdom for His glory!

The discovery of my purpose came during one of my life’s storms. Yep, I discovered my purpose through my pain. It wasn’t very clear at first, but the revelation came after the storm, during my healing process. I went through a lot during that time and even though it was a painful experience, I am glad that God allowed something beautiful to come out of it. (Romans 8:28)

For me to find my purpose, my reason for being here was the most wonderful thing to happen to me! It gives me a specific reason for living, it gives me direction and it gives me peace!

The more I seek God, study His word and follow His guidance, the more I learn about life, my life that is connected in Him! I know for sure that I am here to help people “die empty” and most importantly to know God, for He is who we live and die for!

Love Lisa

The Butterfly Journey

http://www.thebutterflyjourney.com

encouragement, self-discovery, self-examination, the butterfly journey

Worry About Yourself

livingwholecoaching

I had to share this funny video with you.  It was one of the cutest videos I had seen in a long time posted on Facebook!  Although the message was sweet and innocent coming from a 3-year-old little girl, it had some profound content that I thought worthy of blogging about.

The scene is a sweet, cute little girl in the backseat of the family car trying desperately to hook the belts to her car seat.  (This is a daunting task as I have tried many times and failed to buckle my grandchildren in).  Her dad says, “you want me to help you?”  And with the sweet small voice she says, “no I can do it myself.”  As she continues to struggle with it her dad asks again, “what do you want me to do?”  She so innocently says, “worry bout yo self!”  Well you could have bought me for a wooden nickel!  It was too cute!

But how much message is really in those little words?  Worry about yourself, could be a nice way of saying mind your business, but I didn’t take it that way.  I look at it as saying we can always find something wrong or we know how to correct someone else’s issues but we can’t even see our own issues.  Isn’t that the truth?  It is always easier it seems to let someone know what they are doing wrong or not addressing in their lives, than it is to understand our own shortcomings or bad choices.

That is why I am learning (you see that I’m learning) to ask God to show me my own issues so that I can work on me and then I can come along side of someone who may be dealing with similar issues and help not hinder.  I never want to be in a position that I can’t see my own stuff, my own issues or where I fall short.  None of us are perfect so there is always something to work on.  I believe staying humble is the best ingredient for being in a position to help people when they need you.

So don’t stop “worrying about people”, but make sure you have the right attitude when you are trying to help them.  Make sure your reasons are pure and if they aren’t then “worry bout yo self and let God do the rest.

Blessings

Lisa

Challenges, change, God, hope, Life Coach

Start from Square One

livingwholecoaching

Well today marks the first day of our 6-month life makeover challenge!  Woo hoo! I am super excited about all the new beginnings and possibilities to change my life from the place that I am right now into the place that I desire to be in every area of my life! It’s not going to be easy that is why we called it a challenge.  There are some parts of our lives that we will breeze right through, other parts not so much.  But I am committed to seeing the process to the end of the 6-months just to see how strong I really am.

I prayed and thought and thought and prayed about what the first action step should be on this challenge and it dawned on me that in order to begin to change the fabric of our lives we need to really have a clear picture of where we are.  Make sense?  How can we challenge ourselves to makeover areas in our lives if we don’t really focus on where we currently are.

So the first action step is going to be internal.  What do I mean?  Well I mean in your heart; I need you to focus on the inner being of who you are right now.  Look at yourself in your spiritual mirror and take an honest look at yourself.  Where are you?  Reflection on oneself is not something that we do everyday or even at all, but in order for us to move into a new dimension of who we really are supposed to be we must figure out who we are right now!  Are you following me?

I know that I shared this part of my journey with  you many times before, but it stand telling again so you get exactly where I am coming from for this action step.  When I was depressed and started to heal (with the love of God), I asked God why did I end up in this place that I was in?  His response to me was simple, “look in the mirror of your soul and take a close look at your life”.  My life had become a jumbled mess of compromising who I really was, what I believed and my values.  For many reasons I found myself compromising to be liked, to be loved, to fit in, and to please people. But that portrayal of who I thought people wanted me to be was false,it was taxing on the real me. For me it was bittersweet to finally realize what was going on with me; on one hand I could finally make a decision to change and become the real Lisa, on the other hand, I had to face that I had let God down.  And that my friend was the bitter part.

Day 1 Action Step – Find a quiet place and begin to focus on your life, every part of it, the good, the bad and the ugly.  Listen to what your heart is telling you about what your life really looks like.  Some of it may hurt, some may make you proud, but remember there is hope for a brighter future.  Now one thing that I want to make clear is that it all begins and ends with you.  You can’t do this exercise and include others in the process.  If you have deep embedded hurt and unforgiveness that you need to deal with please seek a professional therapist to work those issues out.  One thing that God showed me in my process was ME, no one else, only me, I was responsible for myself – period.  After you have gotten a clear picture of where you are now is the time to begin to vision where you want to be in the next 6-months.  Have a set goal for every area of your life that you want to change.  This will give us a clear measurement of your progress.  If you haven’t purchased a journal to record this journey I suggest that you so today. You are going to be wowed at the end of the challenge about how far you have come and accomplished!

Ready?  Let’s go!

The Butterfly Journey ~ Lisa

change, coach, purpose, the butterfly journey, women

The Coach

livingwholecoaching

As I am completing my certification as a Christian Life Coach, I am learning a lot of great wisdom about coaching.  The concept of coaching dates back biblical days.  There are numerous accounts of coaching relationships throughout the Bible.  Jesus was a Master Teacher and today He is still guiding us (if we allow Him) with His teachings and wisdom for our lives!

If I wasn’t too sure about what my purpose was, I am 100% sure now after studying the profession of Life Coaching.  I have always been a natural motivator and I love to help people see the potential in themselves.

A coach comes along side of you to motivate you and hold you accountable to those things that you want to accomplish in your life.  I love that!  Coaches don’t make decisions for you or do things that only you can do for yourself, but we come along side of you to challenge you to do the things that you desire to do.  It is an awesome tasks, but very rewarding all at the same time.

Of course as a Christian Life Coach, our perspective is biblical-based with the ultimate desire to help people to have a closer relationship with God.  For me that is who I am, I am a believer in Christ, so it was no question that I would gravitate to this type of coaching.  And I want to stress that this type of coaching is not just for those who are Christians, it is for anyone.  I believe that everyone should have a life coach.  I myself am starting a coaching relationship with a Coach for myself.  I also need someone to come along side of me to help me to stay focused to the things that I want to accomplish.

The Butterfly Journey has decided to develop and launch its first program called STAGES.  The name was a perfect fit as we are on our “butterfly” journey and the caterpillar goes through STAGES to reach his/her final destination – a butterfly.  This program will focus on 5 STAGES: Spirituality, Discovering, Visioning, Goal-Setting, and Accountability.

STAGES was created directly from a need that I have observed over the last year or so with my encounters with different women that I have met.  Many women (and men) alike are searching for more for their lives.  They have a deep desire to fulfill an urge to make a difference in the world.  That is what happened to me one day, I woke up and said to myself, “There has to be more to life than this.  What did God create me for?”  But as I sought out the answer what I found out was that it is deeper than that.  It is a true need to connect with God.

Whether we acknowledge it or not we have a natural void that will never be satisfied with anything else, but a relationship with God.  If we all take an honest look at our lives, we will notice that what we thought would be the “thing” that would complete us or fill our void ended up not measuring up.  Trust me I know because I have done it too!

So we are super excited to offer this power-packed 5 week program to anyone who is trying to figure out what their purpose is and to accomplish their life goals.  We want to help as many people as we can, we are offering the program at an introductory price of only $150 (payment options available)!  This offer is time sensitive so join us today and tell a friend!  We love referrals and offer great discounts for them.

For more information and to sign-up please contact us at lisa@thebutterflyjourney.net, it’s time to change your life!

The Butterfly Journey ~ Lisa

change, God, Healing, Mirror, self-discovery

Are You Okay?

livingwholecoaching

As we embark on our emotional and spiritual wellness journey, one thing is evident.  We have to recognize that we are not well in some areas of our lives in order to get to a place of wellness.  We have to understand that our life as we know it may not be the best place for us.  During this journey we will need to really lean on God to show us, to reveal to us the areas in which we need help.

I look around at different people, mainly myself because that is who I know the best, and I see so much hurt and pain.  How can I recognize it in others?  Because I have been there myself, maybe not in the same manner but in some way.  It wasn’t until God allowed something to stop me in my busy life to really see where I was (in a pit of hell).

I would admit that I would never have stopped living like I was if something wouldn’t have come along to get my attention to what my life really looked like especially from God’s perspective.  I had to surrender to the idea that my life was very troubled and I needed help.

But my healing didn’t begin until I asked for help.  I wanted to know exactly what was wrong with me and more importantly how I ended up in such a dismal state of being.  If I didn’t know how I got to the place that I had ended up,  I would never know how to avoid going back.  It is easy to place the blame for what others have done to us, but at the end of the day we can only change ourselves.

Let’s decide today that we will ask God to show us ourselves and be willing to make a change.  Michael Jackson said it best in his song: The Man in the Mirror.

The Butterfly Journey ~ Lisa

 

be all you can be, destiny, God, New, spring cleaning

Spring Cleaning

livingwholecoaching

It’s time to do some spring cleaning!  I love spring, the time when everything comes to life again.  The trees start budding, the flowers begin to pop up from under the ground, and we get more sunshine as the last few weeks of winter start to fade away.

Every year I would take a week off of work just to stay home and organize, purge junk and clean everything from the floor to the kitchen cabinets.  It was wonderful therapy for me to get rid of stuff and get everything fresh and new!

Well this year I am spring cleaning my life!  I am taking inventory of the habits (good & bad), my relationships, my career,  my health (emotional & physical), and my finances so I can make changes for a better self.  Yeah I know it is easier to just clean the refrigerator out or donate a bag of clothes to the Salvation Army, but self-cleaning is necessary.  I want to live the best life that I can live and if I have stuff that is not doing me any good to reach that “best life”; guess what. . .it has to go!

I am always praying and asking God for divine wisdom and guidance for my life as I desire to be everything that He ordained me to be.  Sometimes the changes are hard, but I realize in the end the reward is greater.

I am going to start a journal of my experience as I blossom into the person that God wants me to be.  Perhaps this will be the making of my second book!

I think that it’s necessary to evaluate the present state of your life in order to reach your full potential.  Asking God the whys of your life and listening for clarity are lessons well learned.  He will give you everything you need to push past hurt, pain, and unforgiveness and give you the desire to walk in your destiny!

This spring will be the best start for my new life!  I pray that you will do the same.  Happy spring cleaning!

The Butterfly Journey ~ Lisa