Don't spend your life in so much fear of making a mistake that you never do anything.There are critical times in our lives when we especially need to know we are hearing clearly from God. It isn't always easy to know His voice from that of our own emotional reasoning. But I know from experience that God can open doors of opportunity that no one can close, and He can also close doors that we cannot open.
The apostle John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said, "These are the words of the Holy One, the True One, He Who has the key of David, Who opens and no one shall shut, Who shuts and no one shall open" (Rev. 3:7, Amplified Bible).
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 When I trusted God and began exercising (even though I didn’t want to), I learned a life-changing principle
Until I turned 64, I’d never exercised in a serious way. I had walked and done a few things to stay in decent shape, but I was not dedicated to exercise. I had reached into my excuse bag many times over the years and come up with all kinds of “reasons” I could not exercise. But, the Lord spoke to me and encouraged me to begin a serious workout program so I could be strong for the last third of my journey through life. I already had good eating habits, but when it came to going to the gym several times a week, I used the excuse that I simply could not do that because of my travel obligations. I truly couldn’t figure out how I could manage to put serious workout time into my already busy schedule. I finally decided to do what I could do instead of focusing on what I couldn’t do.
 Are you serving God with the right motive?
When God called me into ministry, I had a full-time job and was making good money. We had a nice, comfortable suburban lifestyle, but I was miserable on the inside because I was religious and didn’t have a deep, personal relationship with God. After an encounter with the Holy Spirit in 1976, my life really changed. I began developing an intimate relationship with God, and I wanted to help other people experience what I was experiencing. To do that, I had to quit my job so I would have the time I needed to study the Word of God.
God has crowned man with glory and favor, giving him dominion over the works of His hands. When I first began my ministry, I was scared. In those days, women were not as widely accepted in the pulpit as they are today. Afraid of being rejected, I bent over backward to behave in the way I thought would please people. The only problem was that I was trying to earn approval, and it didn't work.
At the time, I knew nothing about supernatural favor. I didn't realize that favor is a part of grace. In fact, in the New Testament the words grace and favor both are translated from the Greek word charis.
 Learn to chill out when life heats up
Have you ever lost your car keys? You frantically search, knowing they should be exactly where you left them. And as soon as you realize they’re gone, you lose your peace. I remember when Dave and I wanted to have extra keys made to our safety deposit box. Knowing he had the original key, I asked him for it. He said he didn’t know where it was.
 No, not like that—His choice is for you to fulfill your destiny
God chose me. He didn’t just get stuck with me, and He didn’t settle for me because there was no one else He could choose. He deliberately chose me. And the same is true for you too. I didn’t have a special talent when He chose me. The thing I do best is talk, and He’s made me a mouth in the body of Christ. My voice is unusual and unique—not the kind of voice you would think He would choose to broadcast all over the place. But God has given me the opportunity to speak to billions of people around the world. And I don’t always use correct grammar or pronounce words just right, but we don’t have to be polished according to the world’s standards to be used mightily by God.
 Don’t be. God is with you.
There are many types of fear we could name or count, but they all have the same source and the same purpose. They all are from Satan and they all are intended to steal the life Jesus died to give us. We often think fear is simply an emotion or feeling, but it also affects us physically. In Who Switched Off My Brain? author Caroline Leaf notes, “[Fear] triggers more than 1,400 known physical and chemical responses, and activates more than 30 different hormones and neurotransmitters.” Fear, she says, is at the root of all stress. When fear causes a stress reaction, it actually “marinates” the body in toxic chemicals. This, of course, is terribly unhealthy and threatening to our physical well-being.
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