All posts by Nicole Vaughn

Stay In The Game

In 2023 I committed to reading/listening through the Bible in chronological order. This morning this commitment had me in Revelation chapters one through five. I love how God’s word always meets us where we are when we come to it with a submitted heart to seek His face and hear His voice. From the praises of the living creatures and the twenty-four elders I went into a spirit of praise and clicked play on my worship playlist. The first song sang, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” and of course that sent me to Psalm 150 which then sent me though reading more of the psalms of praise.

Then I recalled that on my 47th birthday, this past December 12th, I shared the following on my Facebook page:

On December 9th 2001 I wholly surrendered my life to Jesus. I did so in faith of the promises He made to me in His word through Psalm 25. So at the age of 25 the trajectory, the purpose, the driving force of my life changed through trusting in the word of the WORD. 

Since that time my life has followed the Psalms. Each year the corresponding Psalm for the year of my life has met me and carried me through that particular year. 

So as I stepped into my 47th year of life reading Psalm 47 and seeking the LORD for insight as to what awaits me in this season… this is what I have received from Him thus far:

Sing My praises Nicole.

Remember I AM King.

Let Me restore your heart.

Let Me restore your joy.

You are chosen by Me.

You are loved by Me.

So sing.

I’ll start with a clap. I’ll move to a shout. I’ll remember that my Jesus is AWESOME. I’ll remember that I am His chosen and loved. I’ll trust in His sovereign reign over all the earth. I’ll sing because my King is worthy.

In light of recalling this past moment with the Lord, I went to Psalm 147 this morning and read,

Praise the Lord!

For it is good to sing praises to our God;

For it is pleasant and praise is becoming.

The Lord builds up Jerusalem;

He gathers the outcasts of Israel.

He heals the brokenhearted

And binds up their wounds.

He counts the number of the stars;

He gives names to all of them.

Great is our Lord and abundant in strength;

His understanding is infinite.”

(Psalm 147:1-5)

Once again my God has reminded me to sing. He has spoken to me in song every day since my forty-seventh birthday. I know thats only been a couple of weeks, but it still brings peace to my heart as I recall His faithfulness to keep His Word and it is restoring my hope in hearing the voice of HIs Spirit and knowing when it is the word of my Savior leading and guiding and not my own stubborn self-determined will. 

In our world January 1st begins a new year. It is a time, an opportunity to have a type of jubilee, a type of a day of atonement… well maybe not that deep.Those are pretty big analogies, perhaps a better one is that the coming new year is like a game that has been a hard fought battle and the scoreboard is tied up again making it, in that moment, a new ballgame. 

This could happen in the 1st quarter or the 4th or even in overtime. I don’t know where you are in your life. Maybe you are reading this and you are still in your 1st quarter and you think you have the whole game to go, but maybe you know you are already in overtime and it’s pretty intense. The adrenaline is pumping and you are purposely having to choose to fight the anxious reality of the moment so that you can sit still long enough to just breathe.  

Whatever quarter you are in, now is the time to learn from the past and evaluate. Now is the time to lean into the Coach and listen, learn, and head back out onto the court with a new hope and excitement that the game is not over, it is not lost. We still are here to win. 

“The Lord supports the afflicted;

He brings down the wicked to the ground.

Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;

Sing praises to our God on the lyre,

Who covers the heavens with clouds,

Who provides rain for the earth,

Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.

He gives to the beast its food,

And to the young ravens which cry.

He does not delight in the strength of the horse;

He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man.

The Lord favors those who fear Him,

Those who wait for His lovingkindness.”

(Psalm 147:6-11)

This last week of 2023 lean into the Word of the LORD. Let me encourage you to spend this last week of 2023 seeking His face. Let Him remind you who He is.

“And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say,

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.”

And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” (Revelation 4:8-11)

This past Sunday as one of our Pastors taught from Luke 1:26-38 as we focused on the last Advent Sunday he shared how Mary went from simply hearing this truly life altering and life threatening call on her from God to accepting it. He pointed out how in order for her to get from “How can this be?” to “Let it be.” she had to first find out where she was. 

She did this by looking back. She did this by drawing on all the promises of God and His faithfulness throughout the generations. She did this by remembering that nothing is impossible with God. She found out where she was, who she was, and then she believed and boldly walked into whatever lay ahead for her knowing that God was with her. 

Where are you beloved? Whose are you? Can you say, “Here I am Lord, I am Yours.”? Will you step into 2024 submitted and resolute to the will of the One who created you and has called you to step out of darkness and into His marvelous light? Will you lean into His Word and seek His face? Will you let the mirror of HIs Word and voice of Spirit help you review this past year, these past years, through His infinite understanding? 

If you have breath, let it be for the praises of the Lord. Let 2024 be a new ballgame, no matter how many times the scoreboard has been tied up again and again as you have fought the good fight of faith. Stay in the game.

Why Are You Sitting in the Dark


“Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” (Daniel 12:3)

We have lots of windows in our home. The entire downstairs back wall is almost all windows. On a beautiful sunny day I never have to turn on a light because the light of the sun shining through these windows is enough to light the whole downstairs and heat it up in the winter time. I’ve been guilty more than once on a cold winter day of getting behind the dropped curtains and leaning my back against the window and just soaking in the heat and light. 

There are many days that I have been home working in the house by the light of these windows and as the end of the day approaches I have sat down to cuddle up with our pups and read a book or watch a little tv until my husband gets home from work. Then, he has more than once walked in the door and immediately flipped on the light and asked me “Why are you sitting in the dark?” My response,”I didn’t realize it had gotten dark.”

As I sat there the light around me had so slowly become darkness that I had acclimated to the darkness. My eyes and mind had simply adjusted to the darkness and I was not able to see how dark my surroundings had actually become until someone with fresh eyes walked in, someone with a different perspective, someone who had not been sitting in the same space with me the entire time, came in and pointed out the darkness and turned on the light.

In Genesis 1:1-4 we read, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.”

In John 1:1-5 we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” 

In John 3:19-21 Jesus teaches us, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

In John 8:12 Jesus says, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

In John 12:45 Jesus tells us, “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.”

When Jesus arrived on the scene the world did not realize how dark it had become. Even those who knew the Word of God, who had the Law and the Prophets of God in their hands, had become so acclimated to the darkness that they were oblivious to how dark the darkness had become. In John 9 we read of an account of one of the times that Jesus healed a blind man and now is being interrogated by the religious authorities of the day. In John 9:39 Jesus says, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”

You see when I was sitting in that dark room waiting for my husband to come home. I could have responded to his turning on the light in two ways. I could have been there in the room struggling to read my book in the very dim light and having been too engrossed in my pursuit of the story not realizing how much my eyes were strained and then the light brings relief because now I can see. And I am so very thankful for the light.

Or I could be zoned out watching our television. Engrossed in a false reality of my own choosing and when he flips on the light it blinds and distracts me. Causing me to even possibly get irritated because now the light has blinded me from being able to stay in the false reality I was very comfortable in. And I am not thankful at all for the light. 

However, I can still become thankful, if I let it wake me up. If I let it help me see how much time I have wasted engrossed in a mindless false reality and it moves me to get up and get busy in the light being the light. Because Jesus also said in Matthew 5:14-15, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.” 

We celebrate Christmas with lights. We celebrate with lights because Christmas is when we purposely set our minds on the day that the Light of the world became flesh and dwelled among us. This Christmas let that Light shine. Take time this Christmas season to find a space, a moment, to let Jesus pull back the veil of your heart and mind and rest your back against the window of His Word and soak up its heat and light. 

Let His Word shine in every area of your life. If you hear His voice ask, “Why are you sitting in the dark?” It’s okay to not argue back, to not justify how you got there, but to just simply say I didn’t even realize it was dark. Then get up and come to His light and shine. 

We are called to be His Light, we are called to shine in the darkness, not sit in it and certainly not to be intimated or afraid of it, because no matter how dark the darkness, all it takes is a little light. So if the Light of His life is in us, everywhere we go, darkness loses power. This Christmas season, let every twinkling light remind you of the Light that separates darkness, of the Light that came into this world, of the Light that is the life of us all, of the Light that we are called to be. This Christmas be reminded and encouraged to be His Light and SHINE.

It’s Been A While

It’s December 10th 2023. I referred someone to my blog yesterday to access some free downloadable Bible studies and this reminded me of how very long it has been since I posted. I still write all the time. I write short studies and outlines that can be delivered in 20 minutes or less because that is where I am in this season of life and sport ministry. I write Bible studies that go out every week to female coaches and coaches wives. Therefore, time to write here has been limited. However, as I move into 2024 it is my desire to revive this blogging ministry.

If you take the time to travel through this blog you will see that the very first post is on the day that my husband and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. In 2024 we will celebrate our 25th. I may spend this month of 2023 re-reading and CRINGING as I do. I thought I was so wise and knew so much and was so ready to instruct the world on how to be a good Christian wife and mother. I had so much to learn.

I had so much to learn and the greatest lesson I learned is that I have so much to learn.

So here is the plan. Proven Path Ministries blog revived in 2024. I will post so randomly. I will not worry about perfect grammar. I will not concern myself with formatting perfectly. So it will most likely be a slight mess… but if you can handle all that come along with me for the read.

It’s Abuse of Power Not Falling into Sexual Sin

I have a lot I could say after twenty years in ministry and forty-five years and almost six months as a female. I have a lot I could say as a wife and a mother of three girls. I have a lot I could say, and I don’t know exactly what will transpire between my head, heart, and keyboard as I type this out, but I’m just going to start and see where it goes.

I am angry.

I am hurt.

I am grieved.

I am dumbfounded.

Let me start here:

Jared Moore (@jaredhmoore) on Twitter writes, “The Billy Graham rule–Never be alone with a woman who is not your wife–should still be followed by all pastors, deacons, etc. You’ll never fall sexually if you follow this simple rule. #SBC22#SBC2022#ChangeTheDirection”

My response: “This is not about falling sexually. This is about sexual abuse. This is about abuse of power. This is about sexual predators. This is about Ezekiel 34. Women are not the problem. Children are not the problem. Men covering up and excusing grievous abuse of power is the problem.”

Dear Pastor, if your response to the SBC Guidepost investigation report is the same as Mr Moore’s please know that I find you the problem. Let me break this down for you. You say a woman has no place of authority in the church. You say she cannot be a Pastor or Deacon or serve on staff as a Minister. Then you say that you can never be alone with a woman that is not your wife. So where does that leave the women, the young girls, in your congregation?

Who do the women go to in order to seek help? What trained person do they go to in order to seek answers for their theological and personal questions in the faith? And if your only response is an older female in the congregation, then what you just told me is that your theological degree and paycheck is irrelevant and unneeded to teach the deep things of God because an older man in the congregation is sufficient. We cannot refuse women representation and then refuse to minister to them.

So dear sirs if you can’t trust yourself around women and girls that are not your wife then you need to not be serving as a Pastor.

I am a woman. I sit alone undressed with nothing but an open gown before a male doctor and he is expected to not be sexually aroused by my presence.

I am a woman. I sit alone in a room with a lawyer with my right to attorney client privilege and he is expected to not be sexually aroused by my presence.

I am a woman. I sit alone on the side of the road with a police officer and he is expected to not be sexually aroused by my presence.

I am a woman. I sit alone in the office with my professor discussing my grade and he is expected to not be sexually aroused by my presence.

I am a woman. I sit alone in the office of my supervisor going over my yearly job evaluation discussing a raise and he is expected to not be sexually aroused by presence.

I am a woman. I sit on a bench alone by my coach discussing my growth or weaknesses as a player and he is expected to not be sexually aroused by my presence.

I am a woman, but I cannot sit alone in a room with my Pastor to discuss my questions of faith because I cannot trust him to not be sexually aroused by my presence. I am told my mere presence is a danger to him. I could cause him to sin, to stumble, to fall into sexual lust because I exist in the body that the Lord of all Creation specifically designed for me. I am told I am the problem.

All these other men, who may or may not be Spirit filled believers are able to be trusted with the presence of my female body, but a man who serves in a position that by it’s very design is supposed to be held by someone of holiness and godliness filled with the very Spirit of God that raised Jesus Christ from the dead can’t manage enough self-control to see me as a person, as a sister, as a mother, and not an object of lust, so he must live by a rule to never be alone with a woman that is not his wife.

What does this say about his relationship with his daughters, with his daughters’ friends, with his nieces, with his sisters, with his sisters’ friends, with his mother, with his mother’s friends. What does it say about our culture when we have to assume that every interaction between a male and a female is potentially dangerous and not a safe place to be? What does it say when we are more concerned with a man’s reputation than a woman’s representation? When does she become “safe” to be around?

How has this, for so very long, been so normal to us in the church? If a man can’t be trusted to be alone with another woman, the woman is not the problem, the man is. He is a grown man. He is physically stronger. He cannot be raped by a woman. He has the power and ability to leave the room and the situation. However, on the other hand, a woman usually does not.

Stop making it her fault. Do better.

Being alone with another woman should not be an “appearance of evil” There is a better way to guard yourself from fear of the “Potipher’s wife” situation.

I am currently studying in the book of Philippians. This letter begins,

“Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:1-2)

The letter to the Philippians is to ALL the saints, including the overseer and the deacons. When we look up the Greek words used for overseer and deacon in this passage we that the role of the overseer is to provide personalized care and protection. We see that it is not a position of authority over others, but a position of care FOR others. We see that the role of deacon is for both women and men.

God made a way to help His Church not fall into corruption.

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

He gave ALL those who are saved by grace through faith in Christ spiritual gifts for the edifying and equipping of the body of Christ. If we would build our local congregations according to the spiritual gifts of the Spirit of God dwelling within the inner being of the people of God instead of the outward appearance of the flesh… then maybe just maybe we would have the correct checks and balances at work in the Kingdom of God to see the excellencies of His majesty made manifest to the world.

Resting In The Will Of God

I spent 2021 chronologically studying through the four Gospels. Now I have read the Gospels all the way through at least 20 times, but this past year was the first time that I ever chronologically studied through them. I read with the purpose of knowing Jesus and Jesus alone. I literally wrote down every recorded word He said.

As I followed Jesus and walked with Him through the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John I found that the Lord released me from so much information that had led to bondage in my life. One of those was the bondage that I placed on myself to basically kill myself to show Jesus how thankful I was that He saved me and to show others how their “letting me” serve Jesus would not be a disappointment to them. The concept of resting in God was foreign to me. Yet, this was a truth that the Lord Jesus taught.

The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. And He said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.’ (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves. The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them.” (Mark 6:30-33)

I believe this is quite possibly what Jesus meant when He said, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27) The Sabbath is for rest. We need rest.

I have struggled with rest all my life and never more so than since the day I came to Christ in full surrender. Knowing I only have so much time on this earth, not wanting any to perish because I missed the opportunity to share Jesus with them, especially since I felt so very guilty of wasting so many years in my youth– I never could just rest in Him. I had to somehow be “working for Jesus” every moment that I was awake.

Today, I wonder that as people come to Jesus broken, ashamed, and wanting and then meet Jesus and experience freedom for the first time, in their gratitude for the grace of God, do people too easily take this gratitude and use it to manipulate them into what they now owe Jesus by their service to the church that reached them? Is it possible that our people pleasing personality that led to bondage apart from Christ could also be projected onto Jesus and when we are supposed to be walking in freedom in Him we discover that we have just handed our chains over to legalistic expectations? Is it possible that we have required of ourselves, at the encouragement of those that benefited from our labor, what Jesus never asked of us?

In the book of John after Jesus had just fed the five thousand from the five loaves and two fish from a lad, the crowd followed Him. Jesus knew that the crowd did not seek Him for Himself, but they sought Him for what He could do for them. They put in all this work and effort to get to Him, but it was not really to get to Him, but only to get to His provision of the earthly things they desired.

Jesus responded to their search efforts with some solid advice. “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal” (John 6:27). The crowd then asked, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” (John 6:28). So Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” (John 6:29).

Working the works of God is simply to believe Jesus. That’s it. Believe that Jesus was and is sent by God the Father. Believe Jesus, believe His every word. There are many voices that will speak at us and tell us what the “works of God” are, but Jesus simply says, “Believe in Me.

How often do we wonder and ask ourselves, “what is God’s will for my life?” How much time do we spend in thoughts of comparison and unrealistic expectations as we struggle with self-doubt, self-worth, and self-confidence? We are washed in feelings of inadequacy and thoughts of being so unqualified to serve the God of all Creation. We are so often even told how ill equipped and unqualified we are by those who want to control us instead of shepherd and disciple us.

The truth is that it is impossible to be unqualified or ill equipped for God’s will for your life. It’s impossible because it is not about you, but it is about Christ in you. Let’s read what Jesus has to say about the will of God and about your ability to know it and carry it out.

And Jesus says, “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:40)

This is the will of God for your life. He wants you to behold His Son. He wants you to believe in Him. He wants you to have eternal life. He wants you to be raised up by Jesus on the last day. This is His will for you. Jesus said so.

Perhaps now you are thinking, “Well okay, that’s the big picture, but what about my day to day choices? What about all the different teachings coming from others concerning how we are supposed to live as those who believe Jesus? How will I know what is God’s will as I live here on this earth?” Let’s let Jesus answer that question as well.

Jesus says, “If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is of God, or I am speaking from Myself. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him” (John 7:17-18)

Knowing God’s will begins with being willing to do it. If you are not willing to walk in His will, no matter what that may look like, then you will never actually know what His will is for your life. In order to know God’s will, we have to already be surrendered to it before we even know exactly what it is. Take a moment and think and recall to mind the calling of Abraham, of Joseph, of Isaiah, of Jeremiah, of Elijah, of John, of Peter, of Paul… they didn’t know what or where or how or even when, but they were already surrendered to the Who and to the why. The Who of God and the why of their love for Him led them faithfully into the will of God no matter how bumpy and rocky the way traveled and no matter how blind they felt as they took each step.

So what is His will?

For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:40)

His will begins with the desire that we, that everyone, sees the Son. If we want to know if a particular choice or direction is God’s will for us, then one of the questions we might want to ask ourselves is does this choice, this decision, help someone see the Son? Of course this can lead to another question.

How do they see the Son if Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father in Heaven? Let’s let Jesus answer this one too.

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.” (John 14:16-19)

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

Jesus tells us that people will see Him in us because He will live in us. He will put His Spirit in us. He will grant us power to be His witnesses where ever we are because where ever we are there He is. He never leaves us. He forever walks with us. This goes back to what Jesus taught us about the works of God. What is the work of God? Believe Jesus.

In Galatians 2:20 Paul writes,I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” In Hebrews 13 the writer encourages to remember that the God of peace, who raised Jesus our Lord, will equip us in every good thing to do His will. He will work in us that which is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ. He will work it in us and then we simply let what He has worked in come out. We know it is Hs will and His work if it brings glory to Jesus. If it reminds us that Jesus loves us, if it reminds us that He gave Himself up for us, if it leads us into our praise of His glorious name, then there is a good chance that was the right choice.

In our American culture we are so pushed to have goals and plans and investments for future. As soon as we come to know Jesus we begin stressing ourselves on questions like, What about God’s will for my life? What about my purpose? How do I know what I’m supposed to do? Let’s let Jesus answer these,

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:33-34)

We seek Jesus and we let His life and truth transform and conform us into His image. It doesn’t matter if we are a pastor, a musician, a doctor, an athlete, a teacher, a mother, a coach, a nurse, or disabled and bedridden because our purpose, is not a what or a where. Our purpose for God is not about what we accomplish with our hands, but what is accomplished in and through our hearts. Our work is always to be focused on a WHO and a WHY.

What is the work of God?

To believe in the One who He sent

What is the will of God?

To believe in His Son and receive eternal life

What is your purpose for God?

That others are able to see Jesus in you and through you, while they can believe and be saved.

How do you carry out your purpose?

By the power of the Holy Spirit that lives within you.

So rest my friend. Rest. It’s not about how many miles you travel, how many Bible studies you teach, how many conferences you attend, how many church programs you complete, how many degrees you receive. There are many who have done much of this, but they in no way brought glory to Jesus. They worked themselves to the flesh and became more and more unlike Jesus every step of the way and now they have caused many to blaspheme the only name given to man by which we can be saved.

Whom the Son has set free is free indeed. If what we have convinced ourself is the will of God brings bondage and oppression to ourself or others, if it makes us look less and less like Jesus, then we are walking in our will, or the will of another, but it is not God’s. God’s will may not be easy, but it will always bring glory to Jesus. It will always preach the gospel in word and deed.

Let’s just stop for a moment and rest. Let’s stand still for a bit and take a deep breathe and be reminded that the Lord is God. Then let’s make sure that the very next step we make is following the footprint of Jesus. Let’s just focus on honoring Him and bringing glory to His name and letting our life preach the Gospel of salvation through the power of the Holy Spirit that lives within us today. Then when tomorrow becomes today, we will face it with Him, because He will already be there. Let’s keep our focus on the Who and remember the why and we will let the where, when, what, and how come as the Lord leads and provides.

Cleaning Out the Temple Take Two

Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a robbers’ den.” The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching. (Mark 11:15-18)


This is the second time Jesus came through and cleaned out the temple. It didn’t take long before the first clean out was forgotten and the den of robbers moved right back in and took up business as usual once all the hype of the event calmed down. Even after this temple is destroyed, even after the church is birthed, as the church becomes “popular” and as little churches pop up everywhere, the dens of robbers simply see a new opportunity to market and profit off the name of God. We just have to read the epistles to see this truth and to see how quickly it came about, as well as how widely an issue it became, as I am almost certain that every letter in the New Testament touches on it.

What we see taking place in the temple in the Gospels and in the New Testament church is no different than the men who marketed their slave girl in Acts 16. This girl was held in bondage by demons, and by these men, because they profited from her bondage. When Paul and Silas set her free of the demon that bound her the men who controlled her could no longer profit from her. Therefore, they rise up in anger against those who set her free.

What we see taking place in the temple in the Gospels and in the New Testament church is no different than the man who made his living from selling shrines of Artemis in Acts 19 and who rose up in anger against Paul. This man also gathered others who made their living and profited from the false religion that Paul was exposing as lies as he preached the Truth of God. These gathered men profited from the lie. They profited from the bondage of people believing the lie, and their profit was more important to them than the truth and seeing people set free.

In the Gospels it was the Jews making profit off the manipulation of the requirement of the Law of God. In the the book of Acts it was the Gentiles making profit off the manipulation of the recommended worship to idols. In the New Testament letters it was false teachers making profit off the manipulation of the gospel and the grace and mercy of God and the name of Jesus Christ His Son.

All of these men see the bondage and brokenness of the hearts and souls of the hurting in this world and they use their wounds against them. They see their bondage and they use that bondage to fatten their own pockets, to build their own kingdoms, to hold others down so that they can convince themselves that they are the ones who are rising. 

God has all the power in the world. Jesus could have flexed His strength and demanded everyone to bow to Him and destroyed any who didn’t with a simple glance from His eyes, but He didn’t. He never used the power that He knew He had to intimidate, tower over, pressure, oppress, manipulate, or control another human being in any way. He used His power to control Himself. 

He used His power to cast out darkness. He used His power to lift up as many who would come to Him out of whatever pits of destruction or chains of bondage that had them overcome. He used His power to strengthen the weak, to give knowledge to the ignorant, truth to the deceived, freedom to the oppressed, and sight to the blind.

Jesus didn’t need the approval of men because He had the approval of God. He didn’t fear what came out of the dark because He walked in the Light. He didn’t need to keep people silent because He had no lies to hide. He had no bottom line to protect because His riches were not of this world.

He could not be silenced. He could not be intimated. He could not be manipulated. He could not be cornered. He could not be controlled… and those who liked to be the ones to exercise those things over others to get their own way and maintain their own power hated Him for it.

Sometimes in order to find out who someone really is it’s more beneficial to look at who and what they hate. Maybe we need to look a little more closely at what they fight against instead of what they are fighting for. Instead of looking at what they are trying to wash their hands clean of, maybe we need to be looking at who and what they are willing to get their hands dirty for.

Jesus said we would know them by their fruit. I think one of our problems today is that we judge ourselves and other people by the fruit of the wrong tree. Maybe we are simply too busy climbing trees rather than being still and simply bearing fruit. Maybe we keep uprooting and replanting (or rebranding) because we discover that we are not bearing fruit and instead of cursing the tree we just throw some fake fruit on it so it looks good and keep climbing higher.

But, we don’t climb higher to meet with Jesus. We come down lower and we invite Him in our house. His presence in our house will either lead us to make all things right at any personal cost or it will cause us to conspire with others who have as much to lose as us in order to push His presence out. The goal, of course, is always to do so in such a way that those watching think we are doing the best thing for them and everyone else when in realty it is simply just best for us. 

The den of robbers prospered in the temple because they were able to convince others that they were there to help them be right with God and keep the Law. They profited because they saw someone’s desire and need to be loved and accepted and they extorted it for their own personal gain. They saw a need and instead of meeting that need they simply used it as an opportunity to make money from it but never actually helped anyone but themselves. They were allowed to stay in the temple because those in power enjoyed their fruit… instead of judging them by it. 

Following Jesus Through The Four Gospels

As I pondered where to go next after I completed a study in the book of Zephaniah this is what the Lord placed on my heart. It began after the Spirit of God whispered “is it lawful” in my heart when sorrow overwhelmed me as I scrolled through social media reading Christian article headlines. I did a phrase search on “is it lawful” and thus began the burden for a new study.  On June 1st 2021 I chose to begin writing a study that would take someone chronologically through the Gospels

Join me as we follow the life of Jesus through chronologically digging into the four Gospels. This is a study in the writing process. The Google Doc link I am sharing below is a living document that will grow and develop through my journey with Jesus. You may also follow this study on my Proven Path Instagram and Facebook.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nKJvbD_gmD1SnnJ0Ly9bC3obWntK_vJu2AwVyZjldyo/edit?usp=sharing

Morning Thoughts From 2 Kings 22

This morning as I opened up the Word to spend some time with my Lord I turned to 2 Kings 22. This chapter contains the beginning of the reign of King Josiah. Josiah follows the short evil reign of his father Amon and the long evil reign of his grandfather Manasseh. As I read through this chapter this morning my heart settled in on the two women mentioned in this chapter.

“Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. He did right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the way of his father David, nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left.”
(2 Kings 22:1-2)

“So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter); and they spoke to her. She said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, thus says the Lord, “Behold, I bring evil on this place and on its inhabitants, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods that they might provoke Me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore My wrath burns against this place, and it shall not be quenched.”’ But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord thus shall you say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, “Regarding the words which you have heard, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you,” declares the Lord. “Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place.”’” So they brought back word to the king.”
(2 Kings 22:14-20)

Josiah’s father and grandfather were wicked kings. His grandfather Manasseh repented in his later years, but his repentance did not nullify the ramifications of all the years his evil rule in rebellion to the Lord set into motion. Therefore the Word of God makes a point to let us know the name of Josiah’s mother, Jedidah, which means darling of the LORD. It would be his mother’s influence that would lead him to become a great and godly king not the men before him.

Then after Josiah is a grown man owning his reign as King of Judah, he makes the call to restore the house of the Lord. In the restoration process the book of the Law is found and when the book of the Law is found in the house of the Lord it would be a woman that that the men would seek for help. It would, in fact, be a married woman who would deliver the word of the LORD to Josiah.

It would not be her husband speaking for her. She would carry the title of prophetess. She would hear from the Lord. She would speak the Word of the Lord. She would speak FOR the Lord. She would declare the judgment of a nation. She would deliver the word of the Lord with authority. She would explain the words of the book of the Law to the King. She would.

Ladies, if you have been called to speak the Word of the Lord. If you have been called to teach the book of the law of the Lord. You do not need a man or a human institution to give you permission or ordination to do so… for God Himself ordained you in Christ Jesus for such a time as this.

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”
(2 Peter 2:9)

Whether you are called to use your voice in your home, in your community, or in your church.  Use it. Speak. Your God never silenced you. Jesus never told a woman not to go and tell. The Holy Spirit fills women and gifts women. The instructions and commands of Christ to go and teach every word of the Lord are not conditional according to your sex. Jesus said ALL authority was given to HIM and He is with you ALWAYS. He, therefore, is the only authority that you need to do whatever it is that He has called you to do.

Anyone who takes Scripture and twists it to use it to STOP the gospel from being preached from ANY mouth is acting in violation of the very Word of Christ. They do so to hold on to their own power, not to empower others. I cannot help but see this as direct opposition to who Jesus is and how He lived and why He came.

“And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
(Luke 2:17-20)

Jedidah and Huldah are just two women mentioned in the Bible who lead and speak on behalf of the Lord. There are so many more. I could write of so many more. I am a woman. I have been called to preach and to teach by the God of all Creation. I know this to the very core of my being. “As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped…” (2 Corinthians 11:10), for the love of my Christ compels me (2 Corinthians 5:14).

A Study in Zephaniah

I’m digging into the book of Zephaniah through Precept Ministries Precept Upon Precept studies. You can follow along on Proven Path Ministries Instagram and Facebook page. I will post the video follow up lessons here.

A little historical background for the study in the book of Zephaniah
I say the names how I say the names ?
A look at “the day of the LORD”
It’s those that seek humility that walk in obedience to the LORD
One day God will make all wrongs right
The Lord remains righteous and just even when His people do not
The Lord your God is in your midst