Coffee Talk with Linda Davis

Sometimes we just need to stop and pray. Our minds are racing, our “fix it” gears are in motion even though there is no “fix it” answer. When we don’t stop and pray (or we pray half-heartedly) we begin to get discouraged and frustrated when we don’t see movement. If we can contend in prayer we will build up our inner man. How you ask? As we are led in prayer beginning with a heart of thanksgiving we find ourselves edified and encouraged even (maybe even especially) if nothing in our outside circumstances have changed. I love that sometimes we just don’t know how to pray and that’s ok even though it feels like a difficult spot to be in. We want God’s will but we also want our desires. I have been in that place more often than I care to be recently. I want my desires but I also want God’s will. Just last week I decided I have put my petitions (my desires) before the Lord a lot recently. Now, in order to not pray against the will of God, I have begun to pray daily in the Spirit when I am ...

We've often heard the statement "hurting people hurt people" and it's true. So, if hurting people hurt people then I would have to say "healed people heal people." The condition of our heart is a reflection and impact on every person around us. Many times I advise young moms (it goes just as much for young dads) that even though it's uncomfortable to deal with your stuff, whatever you are unwilling to deal with, your children will have to. Why? Because we either pass down our hurts or we pass down our healing.  There is nothing Jesus wants more than to have full access to your heart. He can already see behind the veil we keep in front of our hearts to shield the true condition of our hearts from others so let's pull back the veil of protection and give Jesus permission to have His way in our heart regardless of how uncomfortable it may get.  Let's deal with the areas we know we need to deal with, the areas He shows us so we can stand before God o...

Only you can do you! Only you can do what God called you to do in the way that God desires it to be done. Now, will God use someone else if you refuse? Yes, He absolutely will. Why? Because God will not deny His people what He is trying to bring them but you are the one He desires for a specific purpose, don’t force someone else to step into your spot .  God  seeks out and shows up to Moses in the form of a flame of glory that appeared to be a burning bush. In this moment God is revealing Moses' true purpose to him. I don’t know about you but I would think if God started talking to me from a burning bush I’m not going to argue His point with Him! It’s time for Moses’ destiny to be activated and Moses' response is pure panic at this point! One excuse after another. Paraphrasing his response to realizing the task God has laid out before him in Exodus 3:13-14, "who me? who am I? they won't listen? they won't follow me? I stutter, I'll be mocked for my speech....

Forgiveness is not minimizing the hurts in your life, it is REFUSING to hold on to them anymore. What we've been through in our lives matters. Forgiveness is not minimizing your hurt, it is not erasing your experience, it is not exposing yourself again to the same situation. Forgiveness is not an option. We must bring our hearts through the process of forgiveness. Forgiveness is healing, it is necessary for us, it does affect every relationship in our lives, those that currently exist and those that are to come. Unforgiveness for past hurts can handicap you in your future possibilities. Sometimes we make forgiveness about the other person. Do they deserve it? Are they even sorry? Have they sought our forgiveness? NONE OF THAT MATTERS! Freedom comes in realizing that forgiveness is about releasing you, it's about making room in your heart for other things, for real relationship with other people, for a real relationship with God. Forgiving others starts a healing process in our ...

Over and over I keep hearing from the Lord “Those who have ears to hear let them hear! Those who have eyes to see let them see!” My goodness my goodness.  If we call ourselves believers we need to be able to hear what the Lord is saying in order to see things how we need to see them!  I beg you, do not let your hearts grow dull which in turn causes your ears to become hard of hearing and then your eyes to close. We cannot allow this to happen in our lives but it is most definitely a ploy of the enemy because he knows if we hear with our ears then we will most definitely be seeing also with our eyes what the Lord is saying and doing in this critical hour. When we can both hear and see in the spiritual we turn our hearts to the Lord and in response He heals us and in the overflow He heals our land! This is the promise Acts 28:27 speaks of. When we are in rebellious times to the things of the Lord, a rebellious house so to speak, as in Ezekiel’s day, ears that do not hear and ...

Every young single woman out there, I want you to have your identity in Christ. I desire for you to be healed and made whole in Christ, embrace a season of singleness, walk with the Lord, let the Lord really do in you all He desires to do in you before you step into all He has for you.  It’s an advantage as a single person to begin working on your heart issues before you step into a committed relationship and then marriage. The more healed and whole your heart is when you meet that special someone, the healthier your relationship will be. No one attains perfection and I’m not encouraging you to stay single until you feel as though everything is “fixed” so to speak BUT anything you can work on in wounded areas of your heart with the Lord before marriage is a significant advantage. God will place you in a position to work on yourself, how you respond is up to you of course! If you don’t deal with your stuff it will impact every relationship around you and then when the day comes that...

Young women today have their identities misplaced. We have for years been taught there’s a certain way we’re supposed to behave, a certain way we’re supposed to look, an image we’re supposed to obtain and even how you’re supposed to marry. Your identity is none of these things. Our identity and becoming anchored in our identity is a process we go through, who we are, what we want to be, what we will reflect to others. Is our identity a reflection of the glory of God. Are we “living epistles?” Is our identity in Christ? If it is it will solidify how we live our lives, what we want from our lives, who we allow in our inner circles, who we allow access to our hearts. We must go through a process, typically in our young 20’s, of digging for ourselves and find out who God really is and what the gospel really is. When we have revelation of these two things we find our identity in Jesus Christ, as His beloved. Every day we must wake up, if necessary, and remind ourselves God loves us, G...

As a white person I hate what is going on in our Country. I hate that people are being divided by their race. I hate that everyday people of all different color are uncertain of the person standing next to them. We’ve all made and seen a lot of post at the outrage that racism still exist and the gross negligence that said racism brings out resulting in fear, anger, confusion, heartache, hate and even loss of life that can take place. I’m genuine when I tell you many of us white people are trying to figure out in our small reach what action we can take to make a difference that will amount to real change. I was just in a conversation yesterday and my question  was “what can we actually do, what action can we take to actually make a difference because the disheartening thing is not much seems to.” I’m not racist, I know plenty of people who aren’t racist but in what way can I personally have an impact on the injustices that happen, What can I do that I’m not doing? I speak out on soc...

What does “emotional intelligence” look like for a Christian? How as a Christian do we manage our emotions? How do we stay balanced in the Lord in our emotions? How do we manage our emotions? There is a difference between having emotions and being emotional. When you are not emotional people tend to think you don’t have emotions but of course you do. We all have emotions. These emotions have to be processed through. There is a difference between sweeping your emotions under the carpet and processing through your emotions quickly so you don’t “stay” in a place with your emotions and in turn become emotional. Psychology uses a phrase called “emotional intelligence.” Emotional Intelligence measures how well you manage your emotions. We all have a measure of what I would call EI (emotional intelligence) similar to an IQ (intelligence quotient) which measures your human intelligence overall. I believe there’s a process to EI maturity. There’s a learning curve to managing your emotions...

If we want to truly be healed and made whole we must get ALL the root issues from our heart pulled up not just deal with the surface symptoms. Sin is a surface symptom of a deeper undealt with issue. When we fall into moments of envy, selfishness, strife, jealousy, anger, drunkenness, pride, overeating (gluttony), lying, sowing discord, idolatry (especially of self), hatred (even strong dislike), etc., we must view these as a red flag. The list could go on and on of moments of sin in our lives. What we tend to do as a whole is repent for the action and it temporarily makes us feel better. But many times the same issue comes back and we struggle over and over with the same issue not walking in victory and frustrated as to why not. The answer is because we have only repented. Jesus told people “go and sin no more.” In other words, get freedom in this area of your life. How do we do this? We go one step further than just repentance. I am not trying to minimize repentance, it is obviou...