Latest / She Speaks Life - Christian Women, Strengthen Your Faith, Bible Study, Grow Spiritually In Christ / How To Ignite Your Influence For God's Glory With Diana Burks
Transcript
- 0:01Hey there. Welcome back to She Speaks Live.
- 0:03I am so excited you are here listening to this episode.
- 0:07I want to invite you into 2024 by getting yourself my journal
- 0:12called Serenity Calm your soul and strengthen your spirit for
- 0:16encouragement and inspiration. It is a personalized scripture
- 0:20journal where you write your name within the verse, bringing
- 0:24you a close and personal directive to take heed of the
- 0:28truth in your life. It also includes 5 topics to
- 0:31choose from, with two weeks of scripture for each one for
- 0:35whatever season you find yourself walking in, such as
- 0:38contentment, confidence, loneliness, hope and peace, and
- 0:43a. In addition, there are journal
- 0:45prompts and an activation prayer to release your faith in what
- 0:49you rely on God to do in and through your life.
- 0:52Go to jamieelizabeth.com and order on my shop page.
- 0:57And while you're there, take the fun quiz and you can receive a
- 1:01discount plus free shipping. As always, it blesses me to hear
- 1:06your feedback, so let me know how it's blessing your quiet
- 1:09time with the Lord. OK you guys, today you are in
- 1:15for a treat. I have my dear friend Diana Burt
- 1:19sharing about her new book called Wildfire.
- 1:24Ignite your influence and Impact your world.
- 1:27You will be Holy Spirit ignited as you listen to these life
- 1:32giving words on how to be a woman of godly influence who is
- 1:37on fire to see people transformed by Jesus Christ.
- 1:41We talk about discipleship, What does that look like?
- 1:45Our thought life, how to take control of that the enemy's
- 1:49tactics to try and stop us from stepping into what we've been
- 1:52called to and how to overcome it in Jesus name and about
- 1:56authenticity and genuine character and growth.
- 2:00What does that look like? It was such a powerful
- 2:03conversation. Diana lives with burning fire of
- 2:07the Holy Spirit and she is here to impart wisdom into our hearts
- 2:11and minds. She is such a dynamic preacher,
- 2:14teacher and has a generation ministry for moms, daughters and
- 2:19grandmothers called G3 God Girls Greatness that she is called to
- 2:25by the Lord to empower and equip them with conferences throughout
- 2:29the year. I have had some major life
- 2:32changing experiences that have come from her events.
- 2:36They are so wonderful. So check it out on her website
- 2:40dianaburks.com and I guarantee it by the time you're done
- 2:43listening to this episode, you'll be so filled to be an
- 2:47influence for God's Kingdom and will want more from her book
- 2:50which I've left all the links below in the show notes.
- 2:54So OK y'all, get ready to never be the same.
- 2:59Here's my guest, Bible Teacher Ministry leader, author Diana
- 3:05Burks. Hey Diana, Welcome to She Speaks
- 3:08Life. I'm so excited to have my sweet
- 3:10friend on here. Hi Jamie.
- 3:13I'm honored to be on your podcast, She Speaks Life.
- 3:16It's such a blessing to many women and it's an honor for me
- 3:19to be on. Today.
- 3:21Thank you. I know I was so excited when you
- 3:24announced about your book and I'm like, oh, gotta have her on
- 3:28the podcast to share. I am so proud of you and
- 3:33everything that God has done in and through you.
- 3:37I love, love this book. So well done my friend.
- 3:41It's so rich with scripture and your own experiences of how God
- 3:47was working in and still is working through you.
- 3:52And I love how you shared all your wisdom of what God gave you
- 3:57on godly influence and making an impact for God's glory.
- 4:01And that's what we'll be talking about today.
- 4:04And you wrote a book called Wildfire, Ignite Your Influence
- 4:09and Impact Your World. And by the time I finished this
- 4:14book over break, I was so filled up and so, you know, ready to to
- 4:21just be that influence that God has called us to be already.
- 4:26And so I can't wait for you to share more on this topic.
- 4:32But before we begin, I'd love for you to share your favorite
- 4:36scripture verse and why. Thank you.
- 4:39I am so excited that you got to read my book over the holidays
- 4:42and it just was released the week before Christmas.
- 4:46So it's very exciting going into 2024 for all that God's going to
- 4:51do to really just ignite this wildfire in so many hearts.
- 4:56And so I'm going to share with you my favorite verse.
- 4:59I actually it's so hard when you think of a favorite verse
- 5:02because I love the word of God. It's amazing.
- 5:05But I actually put the first on the 1st chapter, my favorite
- 5:09verse on chapter one awakened to influence.
- 5:13But I'm just going to read it to you because everyone knows it.
- 5:16It's a popular verse, but here it is, Jeremiah 2911 through 13.
- 5:23For I know the plans and the thoughts that I have for you,
- 5:27says the Lord plans for peace and well-being, not for
- 5:32disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
- 5:36Then you will call on me, and you will come and pray to me.
- 5:42Then with a deep longing, I will hear your voice and I will
- 5:47listen to you. You will seek me and require me
- 5:50as a vital necessity, and you'll find me when you search for me
- 5:54with all your heart. And so I love it because so many
- 5:58times, you know, we're like, what are your plans for me,
- 6:01Lord? And I love that verse because
- 6:04it's God himself saying my plans for you are for good, they're
- 6:09not for harm and disaster. And it just every time we doubt
- 6:13or we have fear, or we have those places that we feel so
- 6:18unqualified, the Lord just comes back and says, no, no, no, I
- 6:22know the plans I have for you. They're for good.
- 6:25They're for a hope and a future. So I just love my favorite
- 6:28verse, that it's always a landing place for your emotions,
- 6:32for your feelings, for, you know, obstacles in life,
- 6:36whatever it is, God is for us. Amen.
- 6:39And I love how you proceeded to share the verse 12 and 13,
- 6:45'cause I think so often we stop right there at verse 11 and
- 6:49there's just so much after verse 11.
- 6:52So I love that verse. So good.
- 6:55Amen to that. OK, so let's start with the
- 6:59beginning of what is influence? You know, we kind of hear
- 7:03influence kind of a a flippant word that we hear, you know, on
- 7:08social media. But what is the true definition
- 7:11of influence and what is the first step that you can share to
- 7:16awaken that influence in US? Great question, because
- 7:21influence is thrown around a lot.
- 7:24I agree with you, but you know when?
- 7:26When I first started to write this book, I I felt like the
- 7:30Lord said to me, I want you to write about something that you
- 7:35have received in your lifetime and you've been doing your whole
- 7:39life. And I said, what is that Lord?
- 7:40And he said influence. The reason why is we're always
- 7:44being influenced by people around us, by our environment,
- 7:49by our friendships, by our relationships, by what we hear
- 7:52and what we see. And I thought, OK, you're right.
- 7:56And he said, But I've called you to be an influence.
- 7:59And I thought, OK, Lord, I don't really know what that means.
- 8:02But since I was a young girl, I wanted to influence people.
- 8:07So when I started thinking about the word influence, it means to
- 8:10have an impact, to have an effect on someone so that when
- 8:15they meet you or they encounter you, they actually leave
- 8:19different than when they first came into your presence, when
- 8:23they first had a conversation with you.
- 8:25And so I think recognizing the value of influence, that we're
- 8:31always being influenced by something, someone, some kind of
- 8:37impact into us, but then we awakened to influence when we
- 8:42realized, oh, I can do that. So for a simple example would be
- 8:48if someone comes into your presence and they leave filled
- 8:51with joy. After they're in your presence,
- 8:54you've had an influence of joy in their life and they left
- 8:58different than when they came originally into that meeting or
- 9:03that coffee appointment or conversation.
- 9:05Yeah, that's so good. Just like your book.
- 9:08I mean, it left me like filled up, ready to influence those
- 9:13around me even more. So It's so inspiring.
- 9:17And as I was reading your book, I love how you just brought in
- 9:22some personal stories and one of them was your youth leaders,
- 9:26Kevin and Lisa, and the influence that they had on you
- 9:30when you were in high school. And how the the words that you
- 9:36said that they were authentic examples of discipleship, That's
- 9:42why they had people following what they were teaching.
- 9:46That's why they had so much impact and influence because
- 9:51they were authentic examples of discipleship.
- 9:55So I wanted to talk about discipleship just for a minute,
- 9:58because I think that's so important to look into.
- 10:03What does that require in us to influence others?
- 10:08Well, what? What do we need in order to be
- 10:13those disciples like your youth leaders?
- 10:16Yeah, great question. You know, when you think of
- 10:19people in your life that have had an impact on you, you have
- 10:24an you've been influenced by people.
- 10:26All along our journey, people come into our path and they
- 10:30impact us. They have an influence on us.
- 10:33And Kevin and Lisa Evans were one example that came to my mind
- 10:37because I I was shaped and formed.
- 10:41My mindset, my intentions and my heart for the Lord were so
- 10:46shaped by their example of just being present in my life.
- 10:52They were my youth leaders, but they could have been hands off.
- 10:56We're older than you, We've got kids, we've got our own thing
- 10:59going. But what they did is they were
- 11:01the best role models and example because they were so authentic
- 11:06in their faith for God, their love for one another, their love
- 11:09for their children. And what they did to disciple me
- 11:12and my friends at that time in high school was they were so
- 11:16intentional with their time. They were intentional.
- 11:19They would come and they would have lunch with us on the
- 11:22campus. They would take us.
- 11:24You know, it used to be when we were growing up, go get a Coke.
- 11:27You know, it didn't matter what you were drinking, but it was
- 11:30called a Coke. And so hey, after school, do you
- 11:33want to go get a Coke together? You know, something so simple
- 11:36that seems someone could overlook and go, you know,
- 11:38that's not going to matter in someone's life.
- 11:41It does matter because it made made me feel valuable.
- 11:45It made me feel significant. But every time we had
- 11:49conversations, their faith was so evident and so real in the
- 11:54language coming out of their mouth in their marriage and the
- 11:57way they treated each other. I got to see an example of a
- 12:00godly marriage. The way they were raising their
- 12:03kids and interacted with their kids.
- 12:05They invited us into their home. We would have lunch in their
- 12:09home. Sometimes we leave school, go
- 12:11have lunch there, whatever it was.
- 12:13I felt like that real life example, even outside of my own
- 12:18family and my own parents, was such a significant piece of me
- 12:23having a hunger and a desire to follow God all the days of my
- 12:27life and to have a vision of what married life could be, what
- 12:33raising children could be, and having a life of impacting
- 12:36others. So I had this vision to follow
- 12:39and I just, I love that. I really feel like that's the
- 12:42key is, can we be that vision for someone else?
- 12:46Can we be that vision for someone else 100%.
- 12:49And don't underestimate that ability, that other people are
- 12:54watching every single thing that you do.
- 12:57So I would watch Kevin and Lisa, how they talked to each other as
- 13:02a married couple, how he honored her, how he treated her.
- 13:05And I thought, oh, I'm going to marry someone just like Kevin
- 13:08Evans. And so it was such a beautiful
- 13:11thing. And I did, Yes, praise God.
- 13:14Literally. His name's Kevin.
- 13:16Yes, I know, it's awesome. And then one more thing about
- 13:20let me say one more thing too. I also watched them lay down
- 13:23their lives in servanthood. They they were not only dynamic
- 13:28youth leaders. They ended up leaving Lubbock,
- 13:32TX and moving to Dallas, starting a church, built a
- 13:35church from the ground up, and then moved to China to be
- 13:39missionaries. But I really saw true
- 13:43discipleship in them and when they were intentional placing
- 13:48that fire inside of me, that I had to live a pure and authentic
- 13:52life for Christ, laying down my life for him.
- 13:55So it was a wonderful thing to see that visually in front of
- 13:59me. Yeah, for sure.
- 14:00And I can't help but think while you're sharing the story about
- 14:04spending time, yes, it's the action behind the words.
- 14:08You know, they're showing action of affection and time.
- 14:13And like you mentioned, it's a sacrificial thing to be
- 14:17intentional and be flexible with your time.
- 14:21Be Be available for interruptions in your life to
- 14:26stop and say, hey, yes, let's have coffee or lunch or, you
- 14:31know, play a board game and pray and worship or whatever it is.
- 14:35And I can't help but think about how much we get to know God, how
- 14:40much we get to come closer with the Holy Spirit when we spend
- 14:45time with Him. It's it's nearly impossible to
- 14:48get to know people on a deeper level if we're not spending
- 14:52time. And so that doesn't just stop
- 14:55with, you know, our time with God.
- 14:57And God wants us to spend time with others in community, like
- 15:02you're saying to make an impact, but that requires us to spend
- 15:07time, just like it requires us to spend time with God to
- 15:11develop a deep, intimate relationship with Him.
- 15:14So influence, like you said in your book, can be fruitful or
- 15:19unfruitful. Could you share the effects we
- 15:23need to recognize that can influence our lives?
- 15:26I love how you covered your thinking and your mindset.
- 15:30I mean that's like so key. Yes, you know, everything is
- 15:35contagious, whether it's good or bad.
- 15:39And mindsets are contagious. Attitudes are very contagious
- 15:44and our words are contagious. When we begin to hang out with
- 15:49negative people, we will have a negative mindset.
- 15:53And out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth will speak.
- 15:57So if we hear constant negativity, it goes into our
- 16:02ears, goes down into our heart and begins to come back up out
- 16:06of our mouth. And we've been influenced by our
- 16:09negative environment. We've been influenced by people
- 16:13that are constantly talking against God's word, against His
- 16:19ways, whether it would be someone, someone that lives in
- 16:22compromise on a consistent basis.
- 16:24They say one thing, they say they love God, but their their
- 16:29life and their lifestyle and their choices are completely
- 16:33opposite of what the Word of God says.
- 16:36It looks like to be a follower in a disciple of Jesus Christ
- 16:41and to follow him in our actions and our words and people can
- 16:47see. Jesus taught about fruit and
- 16:50it's the evidence of someone's life.
- 16:53A bad tree cannot produce good fruit and a good tree cannot
- 16:58produce bad fruit. So you'll know you'll know them
- 17:02by their fruits. That's what Jesus said so many
- 17:05times. That is how influence is.
- 17:08You can be influenced. See one thing about influence.
- 17:11It can be very, very subtle. Sometimes you don't realize
- 17:15you're being influenced until you see the effect.
- 17:18You see the fruit on the tree. And that's what I mean by even
- 17:22an attitude. Wow, why am I feeling so down?
- 17:25Why am I feeling so discouraged? Why do I feel so even just
- 17:29anxious or depressed? Well, let's first check our
- 17:33environment. Where have we been recently?
- 17:36What kind of atmosphere have we been in?
- 17:39And then second, who have we been around?
- 17:41Who have we given access to our mind and our heart?
- 17:45And what are we filling ourselves with?
- 17:47Are we filling ourselves with the news?
- 17:50Are we filling ourselves with, you know, secular opinions of
- 17:56whether it would be social media or whether it is reading,
- 18:00reading books or music? Music is such a strong influence
- 18:05in our lives because someone thinks, well, it's just a song,
- 18:09it's no big deal. But melodies and rhythm sticks
- 18:13in our brain, and actually our brain is like a computer.
- 18:17Everything we put in it, it records and then it comes back
- 18:21out some way in our words, in our actions or in our belief
- 18:25system and our attitudes. So those are the things that we
- 18:29can be influenced positively or negatively, but our input in is
- 18:34the determining factor. And I just feel so strong that
- 18:37if we want to come up higher in 2020 24 and we want to raise our
- 18:42level of expectation of what God's going to do in our life,
- 18:45we've got to check the influences and say, no longer am
- 18:49I going to allow all of the the garbage and contamination to
- 18:54come in and steal my destiny, steal my joy because I'm made
- 18:59for more. God's called me to hire places
- 19:02and he's anointed me for an assignment on this earth and to
- 19:06live at a lower level. I will remain in that same place
- 19:10unless I check the influences guard my heart above all else,
- 19:14because out of it flows the issues of life.
- 19:17And that's what the Lord speaking to us about 2024, He's
- 19:20saying I've got so much more for you.
- 19:23I've got such a greater level of influence that I want to pour
- 19:27through you. I want to impact masses, amounts
- 19:31of people, starting with you in your home and your family and
- 19:35all that you come into contact with.
- 19:37But you've got to guard your mind and your heart, your ears
- 19:41and your eyes and your mouth through what you are in taking
- 19:45on a daily basis. So good and so essential.
- 19:50It's so important. It all starts with our thought,
- 19:53life and our minds. And you know, our thoughts shape
- 19:57our lives and we got to guard that and make sure that we are
- 20:02feeding ourselves. Truth and not lies.
- 20:06And so that brings us into when I was reading your book, I came
- 20:10across Chapter 4, which is titled Who am I to influence
- 20:14anyone? And I kid you now, I think for
- 20:16me, for instance God assign me to this podcast and I think
- 20:21whenever you're going into doing something for the Lord and
- 20:26you're called to something there, you know at times the
- 20:30enemy can attack us. And so I love that.
- 20:35Your quote on page 62. Let me let me go into this and
- 20:41read it real quick. It says Satan is tirelessly
- 20:45wanting us to focus on our weaknesses and all the missing
- 20:50pieces. So we will think we must not be
- 20:52complete enough to be used by God to make an impact in our
- 20:57sphere of influence. And that's exactly what the
- 21:02enemy the devil was trying to do was to stop me in my tracks and
- 21:06say, you know, who are you? What are what's so special about
- 21:10you? I know we we get rid of the
- 21:13enemy by, you know, speaking out scripture back and going into
- 21:19prayer and all that. But what can we do as believers
- 21:22to position ourselves to get His truth, to be leading us and not
- 21:28give in to, you know, those worldly stigmas or those
- 21:31insecurities that we can so easily buy into?
- 21:36What? What wisdom could you impart on
- 21:39us to just do the immediate knee jerk reaction of just going to
- 21:44the Word? Yes, You know, it is a real
- 21:47question and that's why it is a significant chapter in this book
- 21:51because I wrestled with it. I understand.
- 21:54And I really feel like that that is the number one goal of the
- 21:58enemy is to stop us, stop us as godly women in our tracks so
- 22:04that we will not make an impact for the Kingdom of God.
- 22:08Because we get in our head and we begin to believe those lies
- 22:12that we don't have what it takes.
- 22:14We're not enough. We're not qualified, we're not
- 22:17ready with, you know, someone else is better at it.
- 22:20They're a better speaker. They're they're more gifted.
- 22:23They've they've got better looks, they've got better
- 22:26advantages. They know more people.
- 22:28I mean, he will go down the list and just write, you know,
- 22:32everything in the world to try to stop us.
- 22:35However, I feel like the biggest key is to go back to the one who
- 22:41made us Psalm 119, that we were formed in our mother's womb
- 22:46before the foundation of the world.
- 22:47He knew us, he knew the details of our life and he designed us,
- 22:52and he planned us so on purpose and so intentionally.
- 22:56And one thing I know about God, when you look at the the
- 22:59universe and what he created with the sky and the birds and
- 23:04the animals and the ocean and the trees and the mountains and
- 23:08the beach, everything he created is so wonderful, so beautiful.
- 23:14And our father does not create junk by me putting myself down,
- 23:19by me diminishing my ability. I'm turning it back to Almighty
- 23:24God and saying what you created was not good enough.
- 23:27What you created in me was just not complete enough and not well
- 23:32enough. And it's a slap in the face to
- 23:34God to come back and say I'm not enough.
- 23:38You're actually saying he's not enough because greater is he
- 23:41that's in me than he that's in the world.
- 23:43So if I don't get a vision and a right vision of myself, the
- 23:47enemy will talk me out of doing anything that God has assigned
- 23:51me and created me to do. Because I'm believing that over
- 23:55what God said where he said in my word.
- 23:58And we just talked about the word of God.
- 24:00But here's my Bible, because it is your weapon.
- 24:03It's your weapon of defense. It is written.
- 24:06God says this about me. Shut up, devil.
- 24:09I'm not going to believe it anymore.
- 24:11And you have to get tough with the devil.
- 24:14You got to say no more. I refuse to believe your lies.
- 24:18I'm going to be unstoppable in 2024.
- 24:21No scheme that you're going to throw at me is going to overtake
- 24:25the truth of God's Word. And so you know what?
- 24:29The practical thing is? I love to have people write a
- 24:33list of all of the gifts that God has given you.
- 24:36And this might look like sometimes we get stuck.
- 24:39Oh no, I don't have very many gifts.
- 24:40I don't. I can't even write this list.
- 24:42But what I want us to do is the unique, simple things that he
- 24:47has placed inside of us. So maybe it's something like for
- 24:51me, I love horses, I love design, I love beauty, I love
- 24:59clothes and fashion, I love gifts.
- 25:02My love language is gifts. I love to give people gifts and
- 25:05I love to pray and hear God say, why don't you buy them this and
- 25:09why don't you write a nice card? And this is a significant gift.
- 25:13The simple things that the beautiful details of life.
- 25:17We often get so busy we just blow right past them.
- 25:22And Satan's goal is to see all of our negatives or all of our
- 25:26shortcomings or all of our downfalls.
- 25:28Well, I just said we're wonderfully and beautifully made
- 25:32by our father. So if we will focus on the good,
- 25:35we'll write out a list of God, you you put this in me.
- 25:39You designed me this way. one-of-a-kind.
- 25:42So let's be unique. Let's be ourselves.
- 25:45We don't need to be like somebody else.
- 25:47I don't need to compare myself to someone else.
- 25:49And that's where it comes from, these thoughts of comparison.
- 25:53Someone's already doing it. They're already doing it.
- 25:55Well, I don't know what I'm doing.
- 25:57Be yourself. There's only one you.
- 26:00You're one-of-a-kind, and God made you.
- 26:02He is the master creator. He's the master designer.
- 26:06And if he made you so unique and so specific, lean into that and
- 26:11celebrate the gift of God inside of you.
- 26:14Celebrate life and get out that list when the devil lies to you
- 26:18and say look how he made me. He made me so specific that I
- 26:22love to laugh. I love to celebrate friends.
- 26:25I love to go have a latte with my friends and get into 4 hour
- 26:29conversations. You know, whatever it is, you
- 26:32are one-of-a-kind and there's no one on the earth like you and
- 26:36you're irreplaceable. And once we get that branded
- 26:40inside of us, we will be unstoppable.
- 26:43And the devil cannot overtake us any longer.
- 26:47It's amazing. So good, so good.
- 26:50You know, I, the creature can't create.
- 26:56The creator creates. And so I love your list that you
- 27:02named in your book of who we are.
- 27:05And it was just such a special thing to turn the page.
- 27:08And you had a whole list. Like you were saying, put a list
- 27:11together of your gifts. Like you put a list together of
- 27:13who we are in Christ as believers.
- 27:17And just, you know, even though you know it, you've heard it.
- 27:21It's so good to remind yourself who you are.
- 27:25The creator created you unique and special.
- 27:29And we need those reminders. So I loved having that reminder
- 27:34in your book. It was so good.
- 27:36OK let's jump into living it out.
- 27:39Who are we when no ones looking and people are looking to see
- 27:44are are we the same as we are at home as we are in the public's
- 27:50eye. And I love how you said in your
- 27:55in your book you had a quote It said the world around us is
- 28:00waiting on us to be the real deal.
- 28:03And that's exactly. I had an encounter with somebody
- 28:07at church and and she just kind of, you know, looked at me and
- 28:12was like, I'm just gonna wait and see if you're the real deal.
- 28:17And so I took that as OK. She's been hurt before.
- 28:22Like she's had phony people who acted one way and she saw them
- 28:28act the opposite. I took that and I was like, you
- 28:32know, I will show her I am the real deal.
- 28:36And that's with your actions and it's a genuine authentic of who
- 28:40you are and are you. Are you being doers of the word
- 28:44and not just being the hearer of the word.
- 28:47People are watching us to see if you know what we say matches
- 28:51with our actions. So what do we need for us to
- 28:58allow God to make our hearts pure and genuine?
- 29:02I think it's everything because authenticity is the key.
- 29:06It Trump's everything. You know, people eventually find
- 29:10out if we are real or we're not real, you know?
- 29:14That girl asked you that. Probably, like you said, out of
- 29:17hurt, but it will show itself. The inside always works its way
- 29:22to the outside and people try to mask it.
- 29:26People try to hide it well for a season they can.
- 29:29However, long term it starts to come up somewhere, it starts to
- 29:34erode like a volcano because whatever is inside of us is
- 29:39ruling and dictating whether we truly believe our true self.
- 29:45Our true beliefs dictate our whole life eventually, and
- 29:49people can only pretend so long. So, for example, I believe to be
- 29:54a real influence in someone's life.
- 29:56It starts with integrity. It starts with this genuine
- 29:59relationship and authenticity with Jesus Christ.
- 30:03And what my biggest and greatest example was my mom.
- 30:06I write about my mom at the beginning of the book, and the
- 30:09one thing I could say about her, she wasn't perfect.
- 30:13She was pure. Perfection is not what it's
- 30:17about. It's not that you never make a
- 30:20mistake in front of your children or your spouse or your
- 30:23friends or the people that you're leading.
- 30:26It's that you are authentic to be humble, repent, and say, you
- 30:31know what, I blew it. I'm so sorry.
- 30:33Will you forgive me? And walking in this humility
- 30:36before the Lord of I want to have an upright heart.
- 30:40I want to do whatever I need to do to please the Lord and live
- 30:44in righteousness. It's called training and
- 30:47righteousness. Because righteousness just
- 30:50simply means right living and conforming to God's will.
- 30:54Because He is, He is righteousness.
- 30:57And so he's asking us for this higher level, this higher
- 31:02standard that we would come up to and that means we hold
- 31:06ourselves accountable with integrity.
- 31:08So if I say something, I now have a a responsibility to back
- 31:15it up with my actions and my words.
- 31:17Now, is that challenging? Sometimes, of course, for all of
- 31:22us it's challenging. But that's where we say, Lord,
- 31:24teach me. Teach me how to walk in
- 31:27integrity. Teach me how to walk in wisdom.
- 31:29The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
- 31:32So it goes back to this place of teach me the fear of the Lord.
- 31:36Teach me how big you are and how great you are.
- 31:39And I want to be so in love with you.
- 31:41I want to have so much passion and zeal for you that I want to
- 31:46do whatever I need to do to please you and to honor you.
- 31:50My life is not my own. My life belongs to you.
- 31:52So it starts with surrender, a yieldedness of saying, Lord,
- 31:56take my life and teach me integrity, teach me
- 32:00authenticity, make me honest and true.
- 32:03And even if you didn't have the example like I did with my mom,
- 32:07there she was just so real that it gave me.
- 32:10And I'm speaking this right now for all the moms that are
- 32:13listening. But my mom gave me an example to
- 32:17follow that I knew that I knew that I knew that God was real.
- 32:21I had no doubt in my mind because I saw the reality in her
- 32:25life, and that's what we want. That's the cry of our heart as a
- 32:29mom that our kids say, I want to be like my mom.
- 32:33I want to be like her because she lived out the authentic life
- 32:38of yeah, she she, she still had things, obstacles and things
- 32:42come against her. But she would.
- 32:44I would see her on her knees, praying, surrendering.
- 32:47I would see her reading her Bible.
- 32:49I would see her serving. I would see her loving.
- 32:51When it's hard to love, I would see her turning the other cheek.
- 32:54When someone hurts her, It's OK, We're going to love them
- 32:57anyways. I saw the evidence, the fruit in
- 33:00her life, and that's our prayer for our children and our friends
- 33:03to see in our lives that we are walking with a true, authentic
- 33:07relationship with God Almighty and that He is our leader.
- 33:12We're following in alignment with His word and conformity to
- 33:16His will, not because we're perfect, but because we're
- 33:19yielded and surrendered. So good, Diana.
- 33:21And wow, what a wonderful mom you have and that influence that
- 33:28you had from your mom. What a what a blessing to be
- 33:32able to speak about her and and the legacy that she left for all
- 33:37the generations to follow and so good and so right on with
- 33:42everything that you said. I I'm, I'm so inspired by you,
- 33:46the truth of God's word that just pours out of you for all of
- 33:51us to just get built up by what you're saying.
- 33:54And I love in your book that you talk about growth and I had
- 34:00recently heard this that there's no such thing as being stuck.
- 34:04Now I know you know Nancy Dufresne and I know we both love
- 34:09her teachings and she said, you know, there's no such thing as
- 34:13being stuck. You're either moving forward or
- 34:15you going backwards and that's exactly what you had stated in
- 34:19your in your book that we're either progressing forward or
- 34:22we're going backwards and coasting in life is not an
- 34:25option for those that want to make an impact in the world.
- 34:29And so how do we, what can you say that to like not just coast
- 34:34through life? Because I know I've done that
- 34:37and you know, you're just kind of going with the motions.
- 34:40It's so not fulfilling. It's you don't live, you don't
- 34:45feel like you're living out your full potential because you're
- 34:47not. So what?
- 34:49What do you suggest to get out of that autopilot?
- 34:52Yeah, Well, I know that if God wanted you to live on the earth
- 34:57at this time in this season, it's so significant that you're
- 35:01here because you could have been born at any time and you could
- 35:05have been born anywhere in the world.
- 35:06But he hand picked you for this generation.
- 35:09So therefore, if we rise up with this fire inside of us, that's
- 35:14what the wildfire is all about, is that when we cultivate it
- 35:19inside of us, we live intentionally.
- 35:21We live on purpose. We're not just floating around
- 35:25from day today going wow, you know, I'm just swept away with
- 35:28the distractions of this world. That's what the enemy's plan for
- 35:32us is, is to live at a low level of living where we never live
- 35:36satisfied, we never live fulfilled and we don't do
- 35:40anything significant in our generation.
- 35:43But God's plan is that He hand picked you and He hand chose you
- 35:46for such a time as this, and he put his spirit inside of you and
- 35:51He empowered you to do wonderful things.
- 35:54The Book of Daniel says that those that know their God will
- 35:57do great exploits for the Kingdom.
- 36:00So as we progress forward into 2024, my biggest example of this
- 36:06is, is that if you will put God first.
- 36:08I'm telling you, you've heard that before.
- 36:11Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I make out a goals list or you
- 36:14know, New Year's resolution and it's spend time with God.
- 36:17We get that. But I'm serious.
- 36:20If you want 2024 to look different than 2023, you must
- 36:24reprioritize your life. And that means he's literally at
- 36:28the highest level of your affection, your attention and
- 36:33your energy and your passion. Because anything we give our
- 36:36time and attention to, it takes our passion.
- 36:40It begins like, why do we do things that we love?
- 36:42If you love cooking, or you love gardening, or you love shopping,
- 36:44or you love spending time with friends, it's real easy to do
- 36:48that. You just naturally do it.
- 36:50But well, if you cultivate this relationship with God, you
- 36:54naturally can't wait to spend time with him.
- 36:57So the key is, is you get into a routine, a daily discipline in
- 37:03the word of God. Now I have, I teach Bible study,
- 37:07I lead a lot of groups, I lead a lot of people, and most people
- 37:10are like, wow, that's so hard for me.
- 37:12I don't know what to do. I recommend getting a certain
- 37:16place that you want to meet with God.
- 37:17Every day. I have a chair.
- 37:19I sit in it. It's my prayer chair.
- 37:22I get my cup of coffee first thing in the morning.
- 37:24I get my Bible. I turn on some worship, some
- 37:27soft music, and every single day it is the first thing that I do.
- 37:32I meet with God. I rearrange my entire schedule.
- 37:36I cannot go anywhere or meet with anyone.
- 37:39I'm sorry. I have a more important
- 37:40appointment now. When you have little kids in the
- 37:43house, I totally get that. I had to set my alarm.
- 37:46I had to get up even 30 minutes earlier.
- 37:50But you will be amazed at when you give God that first fruit
- 37:55that first time in the morning of 30 minutes with him.
- 37:58And you know it doesn't have to be hours and hours.
- 38:01I know we have schedules and we have calendars and lots to
- 38:03accomplish, but if we will put him first, get into his word,
- 38:07The only way that you're going to think different is renew your
- 38:11mind with the word of God. The mind is the battlefield and
- 38:14it is the only way that you have to think different.
- 38:18You've got to transform your thinking Romans 12/1.
- 38:22And two, by the power of the word of God, so that you will
- 38:25not be conformed to this world but be thinking the way that he
- 38:29thinks. Then you will know the perfect
- 38:31will of God for your life. So every day He speaks to you.
- 38:35Even if you feel like I don't know how to hear his voice, I'm
- 38:38not that great at hearing his voice.
- 38:40Get in His word. Turn on worship.
- 38:42Get your hot tea or your hot coffee, and just set a plan for
- 38:46the next week. Start small, I tell all of my
- 38:50people. Don't overwhelm yourself.
- 38:52Oh, the whole year? I can't do that.
- 38:54Well, all of us feel that way. But if you'll start with the
- 38:56next seven days, what can I do to move closer to God?
- 39:01Because the Book of James tells us when we draw close to God
- 39:05that he will draw close to us. So we stand on that promise of
- 39:09if I will do my part, then God will do his part, and I'm going
- 39:14to make a motion towards him and I'm going to put in first place
- 39:16in my life. And he will astound you.
- 39:20He'll show up in significant ways.
- 39:22You're going to be filled with peace.
- 39:24You're going to be filled with joy.
- 39:26You're going to have the wisdom of the Lord to go about your
- 39:28day, to be a mom, to be a business owner, which we both
- 39:32are, to to be an influence on your children, on your friends,
- 39:36on your community. And so that's one thing.
- 39:39And the one other thing I really have to mention that's so vital
- 39:42for this topic is you've got to pick the right community.
- 39:47And literally, I call it fan the flame, Fan the fire.
- 39:51If you've got to fan that flame inside of you, and that comes
- 39:55from being around people that have the fire.
- 39:59And if you don't have someone, you just need even one other
- 40:02person that you see fire in and say to him, hey, can we meet for
- 40:06coffee, Hey, could I have a phone call with you?
- 40:08Hey, you know, And for a long time when I didn't have that, I
- 40:11would listen to podcasts like this.
- 40:13Jamie, I was so hungry for more. I would start filling my mind
- 40:18with a fiery preacher with someone.
- 40:20They became my mentors. They became the people that I
- 40:23learned from. And then I gathered my own
- 40:27tribe, and I begin to say, let's fan the flame together.
- 40:30And every Wednesday, we meet my house every Wednesday.
- 40:34And you know, some days you feel like it, some days you don't.
- 40:37You show up to go up. You really do.
- 40:40You just show up to community. And you're in the right
- 40:43atmosphere. And that influence will rub off
- 40:46on you where before you know it, you're on fire for God like
- 40:49you've never been before. So good.
- 40:51Well, you're rubbing off on me and you always have.
- 40:54And I, you know, we we love being around other people who
- 40:58have that fire and it's contagious like you're saying.
- 41:03And you know, I walked into this year with I think it's Matthew
- 41:09633. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God
- 41:12and everything else will be added unto you.
- 41:15And it's like put him first. I love how you were saying.
- 41:19That's essential. And you know, the enemy will try
- 41:23to get at us like, you know, oh, that's not enough time to spend
- 41:27with the Lord. And then people just end up
- 41:29throwing in the towel because, you know, it's that all or
- 41:32nothing mentality. But no, it's not.
- 41:35Just give him your first fruits. It's your first minutes of your
- 41:39day, and I love how you said about Littles I woke up before
- 41:45they woke up. That was a sacrifice.
- 41:47But you know what? God gave me supernatural energy
- 41:51and strength throughout the day. You think in your mind, oh, I'm
- 41:54going to be tired if I get up at 5:00 in the morning or six in
- 41:58the morning before the kids do. But you don't, because God gives
- 42:02you supplies. Everything you need because you
- 42:05put him first. Love everything you said.
- 42:09Diana and I love concluding with a take away.
- 42:14I mean, it just sounds like you've had all these takeaways
- 42:18here. It's just been so on fire.
- 42:21But I would love for you to share what you had in mind to
- 42:25leave with the listener, to ponder on or take action in.
- 42:29Wow. I just have loved this time with
- 42:31you because you encourage me and I love your voice.
- 42:35I want to talk about the voice for a minute.
- 42:38A take away that I want the listeners to know.
- 42:41And I want you to know that your voice matters so much.
- 42:45It matters so much that out of all of the universe that God
- 42:50created everything that he designed, He designed our
- 42:53voices. One-of-a-kind.
- 42:56Nobody in the entire world has your exact voice.
- 43:00It's one-of-a-kind so unique that it's the highest technology
- 43:05to get into the secret places. For Secret Service, it's voice
- 43:09recognition where somebody could recognize your voice in another
- 43:14part of the world and go, that's Jamie's voice.
- 43:17And so when the enemy tries to lie to us and he tells us that
- 43:20we can't have a life of impact or what we do doesn't matter or
- 43:24we're just little old me or I, you know, I don't have anything
- 43:27to give away or I'm just unqualified or I don't know
- 43:30enough people or I'm not significant enough.
- 43:33I want you to come back to that moment of God gave me a voice
- 43:37and he places inside of me to give him glory, to honor him and
- 43:42just share the truth of what Jesus has done in my life.
- 43:45It's so simple to be a living testimony, to be a living
- 43:49epistle for all men to read. You don't have to go to a
- 43:53seminary. You don't have to know all the
- 43:55facts and figures of the Bible or let the devil try to take
- 43:58away from you that you don't know enough.
- 44:00You know the living Savior, the King of Kings and the Lord of
- 44:04Lords. And when you know him and he is
- 44:06living inside of you, it's like a stick of dynamite that goes
- 44:10off inside of you. When you begin to share what he
- 44:13has done for you, how he set you free, how he lift you out of a
- 44:17pit of depression or at a pit of despair, and he set your feet on
- 44:22solid ground. He gave you a reason to live and
- 44:25a reason to have a song, a new song, in your mouth and to
- 44:28praise him and to glorify him. And when we look at our lives
- 44:31and we see the mercy of God and the grace of God, that we get to
- 44:35have the next breath, that we get to Live Today, that we get
- 44:39to make an impact in in our generation.
- 44:42Then we we live totally different, with a different
- 44:45mindset. And we begin to celebrate life
- 44:49and the gift of God, of what he's given us.
- 44:51And we will not keep it to ourselves.
- 44:54We begin to share it. And it only takes one person for
- 44:57you to influence. What about that one child in
- 45:00your home or that husband that all the sudden got a new new way
- 45:06to see life. He got life again.
- 45:08And I told my husband for years and years, he is a great man of
- 45:12God and he is a professional engineer.
- 45:14He's got a lot of background in engineering.
- 45:16He's a consultant. But I told him, Kevin, you're
- 45:20made for more. God has more than he wants to do
- 45:23in your life. It's not limited to this one
- 45:26area of your brilliance in engineering.
- 45:30He wants to use your life to speak life into men, to speak
- 45:33life into our children, to speak life into me and all the people
- 45:37around you. He wants to raise you up to be a
- 45:39a powerful leader in a man of God.
- 45:42And for we've been married 27 years, but for years and years I
- 45:45said this to him until he started to go.
- 45:48You're right. You're right.
- 45:51I am made for more. I can do more.
- 45:53And I feel like that fire inside of us is it's so contagious.
- 45:57When we speak life over others, when we begin to speak the life
- 46:01of God that he's put inside of us.
- 46:03I mean, literally, there is so much that God wants to do in US
- 46:08and through us. That's Ephesians 320 that he
- 46:12will do exceedingly. He's able to do exceedingly more
- 46:17abundantly, more than we can ask, think, dream or imagine,
- 46:21according to his power in US, and then threw us to others.
- 46:26What if there were people in your neighborhood?
- 46:30What if there were people at your work?
- 46:32What if there were people at the PTA?
- 46:35Or the soccer. The soccer field, or the
- 46:38football team. All these places that you go on
- 46:41a regular basis that are waiting for you and your voice for you
- 46:45to use your voice for the Kingdom of God, to influence
- 46:49them, to come to know Him as their Lord and Savior.
- 46:52And on that final day when they stand before the Lord Jesus,
- 46:55they get to say well done. The Lord says in a well done,
- 46:59good and faithful servant, come in and they get to spend
- 47:02eternity in heaven. Because you chose to use your
- 47:05voice. You chose to share the gospel.
- 47:08You chose to to love them. You chose to share what God has
- 47:12done in your life, the power of your testimony.
- 47:15We overcome the enemy with the blood of the Lamb and the word
- 47:18of our testimony. It's just that simple that when
- 47:22we get on fire and we use our voice for His glory.
- 47:25And there is unlimited, unlimited what God is going to
- 47:29do through US in 2024. So that's what I want to say is
- 47:32people rise up and recognize the gift that He has given you.
- 47:36Amen. Amen.
- 47:38I know our voice. I mean, we do not know what our
- 47:43voice will do. I mean, it's you could change
- 47:47the whole trajectory of a person's life.
- 47:50And I know you have lots of stories in your book about that.
- 47:54And oh, Diana, I'm just so encouraged.
- 47:58I know everybody else is feeling this fire, Holy Spirit fire.
- 48:03And your book being called Wildfire.
- 48:06It's exactly it. And where can people purchase
- 48:10this amazing book and all the words that you have pinned on
- 48:15these pages? It's incredible.
- 48:18With God's truth and wisdom. Absolutely love it.
- 48:22Where can they purchase this book?
- 48:23Thank you so much friend and it's such a joy to share with
- 48:26you. They can purchase it on
- 48:27Amazon.com. We can add a link whatever we
- 48:31need. Also Diana Day burks.com for you
- 48:36know information about me or speaking.
- 48:38I also have a ministry that we do amazing events for
- 48:42generations and that is called God Girls greatness.com and I
- 48:48love generational ministry because my mom had such an
- 48:52influence in my life. Then I picked up that same
- 48:55mantle because my mom is now in heaven rejoicing and celebrating
- 48:59with Jesus. But I picked up her mantle and I
- 49:02said yes, Lord, I will be an influence to my generation into
- 49:07the next generation. And so the ministry is really
- 49:10about 3 generations, grandmother, mother and daughter
- 49:13coming together, linking arms and empowering the next
- 49:17generation to rise up in their identity, their worth and their
- 49:20value in Jesus Christ alone. That they can be an impact in
- 49:25their generation and that God has an assignment specific with
- 49:29their name on it. So if you would like to come to
- 49:31events, we're going to have events this spring.
- 49:33We've got multiple events happening, and Jamie has been a
- 49:37part of them. Jamie's going to be even a more
- 49:39significant part of them in the future.
- 49:41But I just am so honored that you had me on today and is such
- 49:44a blessing to share with you. I love your spirit.
- 49:46Love your heart. Right back at you, Diana.
- 49:49I just want to say you are the real deal.
- 49:52You are the real deal. And I truly love your spirit.
- 49:56I love your joy, I love your passion and I love your
- 49:59obedience. You are a bright shining light.
- 50:02And it was such an honor. Thank you so much and I love you
- 50:04dearly. You're a jewel.
- 50:06Oh, thank you, Diana. I love you, my friend.
- 50:10Thank you so much for listening today.
- 50:12And I trust that God has encouraged you through this
- 50:15story. Did you know this podcast is on
- 50:18YouTube? Hop on there and subscribe and
- 50:21you can see a live recording of each episode.
- 50:25And For more information on this ministry and to access free
- 50:28downloads, please visit my website at jamieelizabeth.com.
- 50:33That's JAYME elizabeth.com. And let's connect beyond this
- 50:38podcast by going to my Instagram handle.
- 50:41Jamie Elizabeth, She Speaks Life or Facebook?
- 50:45Until next time, my friend, I hope God reveals himself through
- 50:48your own life story.