One of my dreams for the past few years has been to attend one of Joyce Meyer ‘s conferences.

Last year I wanted to go but Bionic resumed BIG school and so I told myself this year is my year. I wrote this down on my Personal Growth Plan at the beginning of the year under Spiritual Growth.

It was an amazing experience going to St Louis. The weather was great and the people are lovely and friendly. I want to share my experience with you from the LoveLife Conference.

 

 

Highlight

It was a well planned out event. I was totally impressed at the simplicity and organisation of the event.

I have always avoided going to large crowded events as I associate large events with rowdiness, pushing and hustling to get in. Then having to deal with ushers telling you where you must or must not sit with a frown on their face (yes even at Christian events).  I can count the number of large events I have attended in my life. So I was pleasantly surprised with the very casual and relaxed atmosphere.

The first night my friends and I sat at the back which was fine but the two other days we were blessed to meet Angela one of the ushers who got us seats at the front.

 

There were two guest speakers apart from Joyce Meyer: Darlene Zschech and Craig Groeschel and they were all so fantastic. Simple yet profound messages from three of them.

Worship was led by Matt Redman, Anthony Evans and Christy Nockels. It was awesome worshipping with thousands of other women and some men.

Ok so below are some of the nuggets I gleaned from the three speakers.

This post might be a little longer than my usual posts but totally worth it if you read all to the end.

Craig Groeschel

Not only is this man of God appealing to the eyes ( lol..i am simply admiring God’s own creation) he is so funny!!!! He is the pastor of LifeChurch.TV (the second largest church in the United States) and his church created the Youversion Bible app which has been downloaded on more than 190 million unique devices around the world. He shared briefly the story of how he became a Christian.

He has a gorgeous wife Amy and they have SIX children together. (I will just leave that info right there…:))

 

At the conference he shared on the Power of Words.

He said that God is an encouraging God and so we should be an encouraging body.

As Christians, God is calling us to change our words to words of encouragement. (2 Cor 7:5-6)

God actually encourages us through simple events.  I know this personally because anytime I feel down, someone randomly always sends me an encouraging message and I know for sure this is God encouraging me through them.

Here are three points on encouragement he made.

1. Encourage others daily. (Heb 3:13) If u think of something good say it… give life to it. Most people find it easy to criticise but hard to say nice things to others. He admonished us to speak life to others always. Let your words be a blessing instead of tearing down.

Your words can change somebody’s destiny. You an an ambassador sent by God to encourage others. Don’t let an hour go by without saying an encouraging word to someone.

[Tweet “Your words can change somebody’s destiny”]

2. Encourage others spiritually. Romans 1:10-12. Take something normal and make it spiritual. He spoke directly to wives saying if we want our husbands to take their spiritual place in the home, we should encourage them spiritually. Take something natural they do and put a spiritual edge to it (ok he gave some really funny examples which may end up landing you and hubby in the bedroom lol).  The summary of this was: “Don’t tell a man what he is not. Tell me what he can become.”

3. Encourage yourself in the Lord. (1 Samuel 30:6) Preach God’s word to yourself when you feel low. Confess the word.  This is why you need to know the word for yourself and not rely on your pastor or anyone else. “You are who God says you are. You are not what others say you are, you are not even who you think you are. You are who God says you are.”

My conviction from his session was to be more aware of my words to my husband, children, friends, and especially strangers.

Darlene Zschech

Darlene…was totally totally amazing. I believe most people know her but for those who don’t, she is a well known Australian worship leader and famous for her song:  Shout to the Lord. In December 2013, she was diagnosed with cancer.  She shared the lessons she learnt on her journey with cancer. She called them Lessons from the Valley. I cried throughout.

 

Here’s are the lessons she shared:

1. Your attitude during your trials is either going to make or break me. It will be a good or bad example to your children. You can get angry about it or ask God for wisdom on how to deal with it.

2. You are loved by God. Whatever you are facing know that God is not punishing you. God is not mad at you. God doesn’t put sickness on people but he allows it and because he loves us we can trust him for the outcome. What do you believe? Romans 8:39 No matter what is going on don’t let the devil steal your trust.

3. Make room in your heart. Forgive, get rid of the clutter in your heart Eph 4:32

4. Confess what you believe. Speak the word out. Job 23:8-12. The word will keep you alive from the inside out. Fix your mind on the word of God. Don’t go searching on Google for the answers. Don’t fill your mind with what people say. Speak words of life. .We have lost many battles by staying silent. SPEAK THE WORD OF GOD OUT LOUD.

5. The people you allow around you is important. Boldly say no to those who speak dead words to you. Do not allow negative words from others over you or your children. Reject it instantly. Get good people around you. People that will encourage you.

6. Kindness is invaluable. It is the fruit of the Spirit. It is doable. Be kind always to those around you even in your trials and accept people’s kindness during your trials.

7. Great hair is not everything. There are more important things to life than material things. Allow no room for unnecessary drama in your life.

8. Encouragement is life.  Encourage others Ps 119:50

9. God’s presence is everything. The darkness does not scare God. To worship in the dark is a faith fill act of war.  Ps 59

[Tweet “Boldly say no to those who speak dead words to you”]

Darlene’s session totally convicted me on so many levels and by God’s grace he is helping me walk through the changes.

Mama Joyce Meyer

You all know by now how much I love Mama J. I listen to her via podcast everyday but it was such a dream come through seeing and listening to her in the flesh again. She is so down to earth and practical.

She had three sessions in total and they were all powerful. In summary she shared about standing out for Jesus especially as this is the end times and Jesus is coming soon.

Here are the nuggets from her sessions.

Time to get off the fence

As a Christian do you have enough of Jesus just to stay out of hell but not to live in victory on earth? This needs to change. We should live victorious on earth.

 

Set your mind to do God’s will. Just make your mind up and stop thinking too much about it. Whatever God says to you do it. The truth of the matter is no matter how much God wants you to do something if you don’t make up your mind you won’t do it.

Make up your mind to serve God and not man. The government is not God. Some of the things we bow down too may stop us from the destiny God has for us.

#Shine take a stand for what you believe and stand strong. Protect God’s reputation. Rev 3:15-19

Never judge any Christian who is not in your denomination. We are all one.  Until we stop fighting and judging other Christians, the world will see us as a big joke. Go with God not doctrine.

[Tweet “What will change in your life if you knew Jesus was coming back in three days?”]

Mark 13:31-32 God wants us to live ready that’s why no one knows when Jesus is coming back.

Ok so I know that’s a lot but this is a summary of a three day event.

I hope you gleaned some nuggets from what I shared. If you didn’t pick anything at all then know this : Jesus is coming back soon for his bride and we MUST live ready: shining our lights and encouraging others on the way.