“Immediately” is Said 79 Times in The New Testament. Stop Waiting & Start NOW.

Hey Friend!

I have something pressing on my heart, an urgency in my spirit. I’m going to lay it all out because I believe the Lord has a word for you. A word He uses 79 times in the New Testament.

I pray this message will encourage and convict you. I want you to feel something you haven’t felt in a long time, something that will propel you forward into big, audacious action. Action on your call, on your purpose, and on whatever piece of God’s big puzzle you hold in your hands.

This message from the New Testament is everything you need to believe. Because I believe you have everything inside of you to step up, to rise up, and to do big, amazing, incredible things while you’re here, and a chance in this life to leave a legacy. Get ready.

Stop Waiting & Start NOW!

Hey Friend, you’re gonna want a pen and paper for this post. Can you think of times when you knew you were supposed to take action? You knew there was something you should do or were called to do? Whatever that might have looked like, you came up with every excuse NOT to do it. Think of one, two, or three examples and write them down.

Look at your paper and notice what you wrote. I wrote about a couple of instances where I knew I was supposed to do something. I knew I should take action, but I either didn’t do it fast enough, avoided it, or made excuses and I held myself back.

Thankfully, two of the three things I did end up doing. I’m going to be vulnerable with you. The first one was about a situation with a friend of mine when I was in network marketing.

We had a really bad falling out. My friend ended up going to another network marketing company. She was going to take all of my top producers with her without even telling me. At the time, I was still drinking. Unfortunately, we both had been drinking and had a huge fight in the middle of a casino. That ruined our friendship. We did not speak to each other for years. It was a sad testament to my life at this point.

This Weighed On My Spirit

As I started getting closer to God, I kept feeling this heaviness like I needed to forgive her. I remember it like it was yesterday. We were at my husband’s family cabin. I’m walking around outside on the balcony and I heard God say, “NOW!”

I got my phone out and I sent her a voice memo on Facebook. I said I was so sorry about the way things had gone and that I had allowed something like this to crush our friendship. She immediately wrote back and said, ”I’m sorry too. I forgave you a long time ago.“

I felt an immediate rush of peace. God took this weight I had been carrying and threw it off the balcony. I felt free, I felt light, and I knew this beautiful gift of forgiveness wasn’t for her. It was for me.

There’s Fruit on the Other Side of Your Yes

Why am I sharing this story with you? Because we, and I’m including myself, have to take action in our lives the second we feel convicted. I had been carrying this weight around in my soul for years and all I had to do was swallow my pride, move past my ego, and say, I’m sorry. There’s fruit on the other side of your yes.

While I’m confessing, here’s another example. I avoid hard conversations. It’s a testament to how I’m wired. I don’t like confrontation, especially in my personal life. I’m not afraid of confrontation in my business, but in my personal life, I hate it. I do not want to disrupt peace with my kids, my husband, or my friends. I avoid hard conversations.

Hard conversations like asking for help around the house. After a decade into my relationship, I had that conversation. Guess what? It was immediately fixed. My husband and kids all help now.

Ego is Tied to Inaction

Why do we wait on the small stuff and create a mountain out of a molehill? Instead of taking action, we come up with all these narratives about why we shouldn’t have that conversation, and why we shouldn’t take action. But the second we get an inkling of bravery and we just go for it, there’s fruit. There’s an immediate blessing.

On the other side of doing the thing we’re avoiding, there is a gift from God. If you have not done the thing you wrote down on your paper yet, I want you to write down why.

In the first example, my unwillingness to say I’m sorry was tied to my ego. I had to admit I had done something wrong. Who wants their ego bruised? Not me! In the second example, I avoided having hard conversations. That was also tied to my ego. I’ll do everything by myself. That’s a fear of confrontation.

Pray For It. Take Action and Rise Up!

Let’s look at a passage in the New Testament. In James 2:17, James says, “So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.” If we say we have faith, then we have to do something about it. We have to act.

Is there something you want to change? Do you want the faith of a mustard seed so you can move mountains? Pray for it and take action. Matthew 17:20.

Here’s another New Testament passage, 1 John 3:17-18. John says, “If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion how can God’s love be in that person? Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.”

We have to show we love people, make time for them, and have conversations with them. That means we must love people enough to forgive them, tell them when we need help, and tell them when they’re messing up. We have to love people enough to do hard things. In order to display love, we also have to sacrifice the stuff that we don’t want to. That’s the idea from Paul’s New Testament letter to the Romans in Romans 6:12-14.

What Does Your Grace Walk Look Like?

We can say that we have grace, but do we? Do we show grace for people who aren’t as far in their walk as we are? What about showing grace for sinners?

Do we still love them, encourage them, and show up for them even though we hate the sin they’re living in? What does your grace walk look like?

Jesus, in the New Testament, says in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.” We can tout and spit scripture all day long, but until we live out the scripture we spit, those words land flat.

We have to be obedient, disciplined, and action-takers. We can’t just point fingers and judge others. In order to be the disciple Jesus calls us to be, we have to become everything we say we are. Our faith, love, grace, and discipleship, all depend on action.

Take Action Right Now!

Friends, we have to take action right now! I’ve been reading Jimmy Evans. I absolutely love him. His marriage books are amazing. I truly believe he is a follower of Christ. A couple of years ago, I read his book, The Tipping Point.

I believe God led me to this book. I’m not into eschatology. To be honest, it freaked me out. This book made a huge difference in my mindset about taking action. Whether we’re in the end times or not, feel free to believe what you want, but have those conversations with God. I believe there are many clues that prove we are in the end times right now.

I’ve never heard GO louder in my life than right now. There are some things I’ve been waiting on. You guys have heard I’m writing a book. I’ve known I was supposed to write a book from the age of seven. Is it one book or more? I don’t know. It’s something I’m supposed to do.

I wrote 15,000 words. I shared it with one person and then put it away. Then I went to a conference a couple of weeks ago and I heard God clearly telling me, you have to write it now.

Do you understand how crazy and frustrating it is not knowing what God is asking me to write? To date, I have written around 30,000 words but it’s just a bunch of stories. I don’t know how it goes together. I don’t understand what the core message is. All I know is I’m supposed to write this book for you. God has a message and He needs me to share it.

Crazy Things Are Happening

I’m telling all of this to you so you’ll understand there are crazy things happening and happening quickly.

How many of you know someone whose marriage is under attack? How many of you know someone who has passed away suddenly without explanation from a strange illness or somebody who has been diagnosed with something? With everything going on, how many of you can sense something is shifting in the world and evil is ramping up?

How many of you can sense goodness in the world is ramping up at the same time? I’ve never looked around more restaurants and seen people praying as I have in the last six months. I attended a secular conference and every speaker on the stage is talking about God and Jesus. I’m watching American Idol and people are singing gospel songs and the judges are talking about God!

It’s happening right now, good and evil. Who knows how long we have? Maybe we have 1000 years. I have no idea. But I’m not going to be the one to say I did not take action when the Lord said GO. I’m going to trust God will show me the way.

What is God Impressing on You?

The next thing I want you to write on your paper is one to three things that you are supposed to do right now. Don’t think! Get a pen and write it down.

What are the things you’re supposed to do right now? What is God impressing on you at this moment? Is it to start speaking? Are you supposed to launch a podcast or write a book? Could it be you are supposed to say I’m sorry? Is it visiting an estranged family member? Or is it to tell your kids you love them? What are you supposed to do right now?

You Were Born for Such a Time as This!

There is an interesting concept found in the Old Testament in the book of Esther 4:14. Speaking to his cousin, Queen Esther, Mordecai says, “Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” I believe this applies to you and me friend. We were born for such a time as this.

I want you to understand everything will come against you to keep you from moving forward on the things you wrote down. The enemy will come to kill, steal, and destroy. He wants to rip apart your marriage, your friendships, the church, the call on your life, the podcast you want to start, or the book you haven’t written.

The enemy wants you to stay quiet, stay stuck, and stay small. That’s how he wins. He cannot win when we are together in oneness, in our marriages, and in our families. When you are surrounded by Godly mentors in your life that are going to propel you forward, he can’t win.

When you’re in the Word, he can’t win. The only way he wins is by sneaking into your thoughts, mind, and heart, and by whispering lies over you. Lies like you aren’t enough, you can’t do it, or you don’t deserve it.

And lies like you’re okay on your own, it’s better if you don’t say anything. I rebuke those lies over your life in the name of Jesus. You should rebuke them too. Those lies have no room in GO! They have no room in your life. We are going to cast that out, and we’re going to take massive action right now.

The Word “Immediately” in the New Testament

I want to show you something I think is super cool. The word immediately is found 79 times in the New Testament. It’s from the Greek word, euthys. This word can be translated a few different ways, straight, at once, or immediately. A more direct translation is, the straight road, go, straightforward, level ground, right, and upright.

It means to go at once, to go straight, to go up, to get there. We need to take action right now. In his gospel, Mark uses the word euthys the most times in the New Testament. Other occurrences of the word euthys in the New Testament, can be found in, Luke 3:4; John 13:32, and Acts 9:11 to name a few.

Mark reveals Jesus is a servant of God. Jesus didn’t overthink things. He didn’t sit there and think about His call to ministry. Jesus didn’t make excuses why now is not a great time. He took massive action, but He didn’t take action on His own.

You are Going to Feel Unqualified

Whatever you wrote down on your paper, it’s for right now. It’s for immediate action. This is the point I wanted to get to. You are going to feel unqualified. You are going to feel like you are not equipped, you are going to be scared, you are not going to know the how.

The enemy can only attack you. The enemy comes in, grabs hold of your mind, your heart, and your beliefs, and he gets you to stay small, stuck, and stagnant.

The New Testament tells us when we’re in oneness with Holy Spirit, the enemy cannot take us out. Jesus did not take action on His own, otherwise, He could have failed. The enemy came to tempt Jesus and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone,’” Matthew 4:6.

The enemy is in the garden. He’s whispering to Jesus but Jesus took action because He wasn’t taking action on His own, by His flesh. He was taking action through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was a servant to the Lord. He did not elevate Himself above all other people.

Jesus did not take action so He could be the best and make the biggest impact. Jesus took action for God. He was not passive in the sense of, I’m not going to act.

Jesus took big, audacious action because it wasn’t actually about Him at all. It was about God’s plan for Him. Jesus came in as a puzzle piece to this beautiful masterpiece that God was creating. Jesus took big, massive action through the Holy Spirit.

The Message is a Testament for Your Life

The message is very clear and it’s very simple friend. As I mentioned earlier, the message is that you have been created for a time such as this. The thing that you wrote on your paper you have not done yet is a direct instruction from the Lord over your life. It is a testament for your life.

You don’t need to understand how it plays into His master plan. Whatever you wrote down is what God has planted in your spirit. You have to take immediate action on it.

Remember you don’t have to know any of this. The path is already straight, the people are already there. The plan is already written. It’s all up to you and your partnership with Holy Spirit to say, God, I am willing. God, I am ready.

Do the First Thing!

Maybe I don’t feel ready, but I’m ready because I have the power of the Holy Spirit inside of me. I can do anything through You who give me strength Lord. Go right now, and do the first thing.

I am writing a book that I don’t know what it’s about. I’m putting my fingers on the keyboard and I’m getting it done. However God puts it together and whoever He brings into my life to help me share it with the world, I know He’s going to give me clarity. All I can do is write.

If you wrote on your paper you need to say sorry to somebody, the only thing you can control is picking up the phone and saying it. Whatever happens next is not up to you and it doesn’t matter. All you have to do is the thing God said to do to the best of your ability and know He will take care of the rest.

Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant

When I get to heaven, I want to hear the words Matthew records for us in the New Testament, “Well done, my good and faithful servant,” Matthew 25:23. I want to know I took immediate action on the things God asked me to do. I did not think twice because I had the courage and the confidence and the knowledge that it wasn’t about me. It was all about Him and His master plan.

Our purpose is to do the things God has equipped us to do, so we can show up in our faith, so we can show up in love, grace, discipleship, and obedience. It’s so we can show up for God.

I Believe in You!

There is something you are called to do and I am telling you today is the day that you do it. I pray God will give you so much courage and strength and heart like the believers we read about in the New Testament.

I pray your mind will be healed from any of the lies the enemy has spoken, and any belief that’s been wired into your mind would be completely healed right now in the name of Jesus.

That the blood of Christ would be over you and your household and your marriage and your relationships and your parenting and your church, your technology, your business, and your finances.

I pray for a mighty border around you and yours. I pray that the Lord would put up a fortress between you and the enemy and you would be completely untouchable.

Whatever you set out to do today by the grace of God, by the power of God, and by the belief He has everything you need, would be amplified, would blossom, would flourish, would grow, and would become a legacy far beyond you.

That the work you do would touch people generationally. That the work you do today would not return void for you, that it would bring peace and refreshing and purpose into your spirit and into your soul. I pray for all of you in the mighty name of Jesus. I love you guys. I’m cheering for you. GO!

I pray this blesses you!

Xo,

Stef

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