Christ Gives Me Strength

“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”—Philippians 4:13

While I have Philippians 4:13 imprinted on my heart, I chose it for my October verse. The more I read and speak it out loud, the more strength I have as I move ahead in unknown territory. I don’t know about you, but I tend to stick to things that are “safe.” Branching out on YouTube and making videos is definitely a stretch for me. The taping and editing are not coming easy.

However, as I repeat Philippians 4:13, I am reminded that God empowers me beyond what I can naturally do. With His strength, fear is eradicated. Perfection isn’t what matters. Being obedient and putting myself out there will bring blessings. I may not be able to see it now, but I trust God to use my however He deems fit. He wants my heart not my hard work. Spending hours striving for perfection isn’t what God wants from me.

I was given the following verses the morning after I had stayed up until 2 am on edits. I was exhausted and feeling defeated. The first one was,The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works”—Psalm 145:9 (KJV), The others were, “For nothing will be impossible with God.”—Luke 1:37 (ESV), “Yet I still belong to you; you hold my right hand.”—Psalm 73:23 (NLT) and “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”—Mark 16:15. In my journal, I wrote next to the Mark verse, Lord, I am told to go out into the world and preach the Good News. Is this an avenue You want to use for me?

God has put godly mentors in my path that utilize YouTube as a ministry. In fact, one morning as I was praying and asking God if this is where He is leading me, the scripture in my morning devotion read, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”—Psalm 32:8 This was right after I had received an email from another Christian Knitter on YouTube who had provided me with wise counsel and advice on this new venture. After I read that scripture, I had no doubt God’s loving eye was on me.

Everything I have read and watched says to “find your niche.” There are plenty of knitting channels out there that have tutorials, but I haven’t found any that incorporate praying over what you knit or crochet and then giving it away in the name of Jesus.

This is a challenge for me. I can’t do this on my own. He will empower me to learn how to do all of this. He will set me up for success as I follow His lead. I am viewing this the same as writing and publishing Knit, Pray, Share. God needed to spiritually mature me before I could finish the book. It is the same with being active on my Knit, Pray, Crochet channel. God has been growing me the past few years. Reading through the Bible each year is one of the things that has helped me in that area of my life.

As a side note, the Bible reading plan I am doing is wrapping up the Old Testament and starting the New Testament on October 1st. Click here if you would like to start it. If you haven’t ever been a part of a Bible reading plan, the New Testament is a good place to begin. the Bible Recap has a 5-8 minute podcast that you listen to after you do your Bible reading. I can not tell you how much I have learned doing this plan.

When I position my heart toward following and trusting Jesus, I am given clarity, peace, and calm. I know being obedient and pressing the record button will one day bring blessings. I need to remind myself that works done in the name of Jesus will long outlive my life here on earth.

Last week when I was getting frustrated, rather than take a needed break, I let satan’s lies creep into my mind. I will be honest, when I first started filming, I didn’t earnestly go to God and spend time in prayer before I started taping. No wonder I was so frustrated and spent. If the enemy can get me to focus on what I lack in doing this channel, rather than focus on God Almighty and the strength, wisdom, and direction He will give me, he knows I will continue to drag my feet.

Two weeks ago, I just bit the bullet and pressed record. I did some rudimentary editing and uploaded my first episode. It was filmed the wrong direction; I was reading and not looking at the camera. The positioning of the camera where I was sitting when I taped it looked awful. My second episode was a little better. I remembered to turn my camera and look at the camera, but the editing is a struggle for me.

I know it will evolve, so I trust God in the leading. That is what Knit, Pray, Share and my YouTube channel is all about for me. Trying to change our world by motivating other Christian crafters to be bolder in their faith through their loving acts of kindness. Giving a handmade item with a tag letting a person know I prayed over it one way I can do this. For me, this is a non-threatening way for me to open the door to share my faith. My prayers is that I am able to encourage others to join me in this ministry.

Father God,

Help me to recognize the enemy’s attacks. Arm me with Your Word to resist his onslaught on Your truth. You are faithful. You will lead me to Your best for me. Silence the inner voices of fear and failure. Forgive me when I don’t surrender all of my fears and anxieties to You. Help me to fix my eyes on you, relax and let You take the lead. I know that when I am in Your will, You will give me the needed strength, wisdom and guidance to do what You are calling me to do. I ask for you to give boldness to other Christian crafters to use their gifts to share the love of Jesus in their corner of the world. It is in the name of Jesus that I pray these things. Amen.

October Verse

“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”—Philippians 4:13

If you are knitting or crocheting gifts to give away, please make sure you tweet @KnitPrayShare or share your projects on the Knit, Pray, Share Facebook page or Instagram using the hashtag #KnitPrayShare. Be sure to attach a tag to whatever gift you make.