Just Some Thoughts on...."God Bless You"

I am constantly thinking about things that God has reminded me of lately. One thing is his desire to bless his children and his desire for us to want him to bless us. In the DR this summer, it was important to say "God bless you!" to the people. They wanted us to say it to them. They have a strong desire for God to bless their lives everyday. To them, it's more than just something nice to say at the end of a conversation. It shows the importance of speaking a blessing into someone's life. My friends in the DR have reminded me that no matter how much or how little you have, asking God to bless you as often as possible should rank supreme and should be all that we depend on to supply our needs. For me, I have realized that no matter how much I am able to do for myself and others, unless I truly and genuinely seek God's blessing, it will never be what it could have been without God. I might have the ablility to do many things well but I cannot afford to just operate on my own power apart from the Holy Spirit guiding all I do. When I operate outside of the Holy Spirit guiding me, two things happen. I am not nearly as affective, and secondly, it would be easy for me to take the glory for it rather than give the glory to God. We all know that God deserves all glory and honor and praise! But for some reason we have lost the willingness to verbalize it in everyday conversations. We have relied on our own power and in turn been rendered inaffective at accomplishing God's will and try to take the credit for something that is not even working...how stupid can such intelligent people be? Don't we realize how spiritually poor we have settle into being while at the mention of God's blessing, we invite the power to move mountains? We were created to give God the glory with our lives' and when our lifestyle is all for his glory, God's blessing will flow through , in and out of us witnessed by everyone who hears our heart say "God bless you"!

Starting a Mentoring Relationship

If you have never began a mentoring relationship, it can be pretty difficult to know how to start and know where to begin. I suggest that you begin by looking at your walk with the Lord first. You will never be able to take anyone any further than you are willing to go. The depth and success of mentoring depends on how deep the mentor is willing to grow. Anyone who desires to mentor must be growing consistently closer to Jesus and not be living a lifestyle inconsistent with the truth found in God's Word.
The first place to start is with prayer. I encourage anyone who is interested in being a mentor to first ask God to show you a name of a person. After you have prayed and God has led you to the person or persons you believe you should mentor, consider arranging a meeting with them to find out if they would be intersted in that kind of relationship. It could take a week or a month but be patience and God will lead you if you are doing his will.
In my experience, those I believe God has led me to, God has already prepared and they willingly accepted. If the relationship is not mutual then start over.
After the relationship is agreed upon, discuss the conditions such as meeting times and duration of mentorship. It could last from 6 months and longer depending on the situation. The relationship will likely change in time so be willing to adjust accordingly.
I like to meet weekly or monthly. The circumstances of the mentee may dictate how often you meet. Again be flexible and willing to adjust schedules.
Recently, I encouraged a person desiring to mentor to begin this way. But I also encourage this person to seek my advice about the names before a meeting is arranged first since I may have knowledge about who is being mentored already.
In this way, I play a role called multiplying mentorships. In a way, I am able to guide and advice the mentors as they mentor. So rather than just having a couple of mentees, I have mentors as my mentees. In this role, I am able to help them as they journey down the path with their mentees.
In my own life, I have a mentor but I also have mentees. A mentor should always have someone in their life that challenges or strengthens them, and someone that they can challenge or strengthen.