Kieran is the State Manager in Western Australia and South Australia for Opportunity International Australia, an organisation that is ending poverty one family and one community at a time.

Kieran's motivation comes by helping people discover how to live a generous life. However, Kieran has had his share of personal heartache, and his story is one of courage and generosity even in the face of adversity. 

In this episode, Kieran shares:

- his story of the breakdown of his first marriage

- how he found God even in the mess

- how he pushed through the moments of wanting to run from church

- how the generosity of friends helped him heal

- how God can rewrite your story 

Whatever your story, God wants to meet you in your mess and help you move forward. He is so generous and faithful and longs to heal your wounds by  turning them into valuable scars. 

You can connect with Kieran on Instagram at generosity.guy and on FaceBook, Kieran Johnson - The Generosity Guy. 

This week's Leaders Talk Episode on the Spacious Room, I'm chatting with my good friend, Elizabeth Chapman, wife, mother, author of multiple books, and founder of DOLL Ministries. Elizabeth is an influential voice in my life and I'm sure as your listen to her nuggets of wisdom on how she has learned to cultivate a life style of being in God's presence, you'll be able to thrive in your own faith journey with God. 

Spending some unhurried, uncomplicated time with God causes you to become undone, as those subtle cues He laid out previously that you either ignored or were totally ignorant and unaware of have now become as obvious as an elephant sitting in the corner of a room.

I know what you're thinking, an unhurried, uncomplicated, undone life?

Who are you kidding?!

But Jesus says, "Come to Me, get away with Me, walk with Me, and work with Me, and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." 

Nevertheless, God's word and His presence meets us both, right where we're at, when we stop for a moment and selah with Him for a while. Purposefully, intentionally and unhurried moments. God promises to help all those who seek Him.  

Where have the enemy's lies left you unravelled?

Don't miss today's episode, as I'm going to be bringing a helping of truth to dispel the lies you're telling yourself. 

Plans and proposals aren't what gets the enemy rattled. All our 'I'm gonna do's...' and 'I'm planning to's...' are not enough for the enemy to raise even one of his eyebrows let alone break out in a cold sweat. However, when all his intimidation tactics don't succeed and nothing he does causes you to down tools, it renews your dedication and strengthens your hands. And when the enemy sees you rebuilding regardless, that's when he sits up and takes notice of your progress report.

Need a bit of resolute resolve? Then join me today in the Spacious Room!  

Do you keep hiding, never finding the boldness and courage to step into your destiny?

Or, do you develop a habit of hiding in God while spending time hiding in the darkness of the caves?

David did. He developed a habit of hiding in God that helped him to step up and step into his destiny.   

You see, the tempation comes when God promised to come to our rescue and He ends up being a no-show. It can be disappointing, to say the least. However, our lack of obedience is really a lack of trust in seeing God come through with a miracle. It's not that God isn't going to show up for us, He totally will, but it's when we find ourselves in the conundum of being between a rock and a hard place in the waiting, this is where we decide if we're going to trust God's timing for our miracle or take matters into our own hands. And, if we chose the latter, it can lead to our undoing. 

Well don't worry, you're not alone. Before Saul became the first king of Israel, he was busy chasing donkeys. That was until he met the prophet, Samuel, and then everything changed. 

Well, on today's episode, I share three ways that will help restore your joy. Three top tips that the Enemy does not want you to excerise in your faith! So, if you're pumping up those balloons and getting ready to throw a self-pity party becasue you've allowed the Enemy to steal your joy, then put down that balloon inflater and join me in the SPACIOUS ROOM!  

If there is a fire in your bones and you're finding that the enemy is trying to snuff out those flames, then listen in to my episode today.  

But how does a wise woman build her house ?

Brick by Brick !

On today's episode I share how we can flip this script and show you how to become God's biggest fan. 

In this power-packed episode I talk about how being a slightly ridiculous woman helps in those moments when you need to stand on the hillside and fight and pray. Whether it's for your own kids, or someone's else's, if they've lost their passion for God, stepped away from church or let their faith die because of deep wounding, then this special bonus birthday episode is for you!   

We live in a flawed, imperfect world and practice and perfection cannot coexist because one will inevitably cancel out the other. Perfect is about avoiding mistakes in the process of practice and the sense that everything needs to be perfect before we even think about the practice causes this tension on the inside of us that only creates more fear.

Because who knows, with an open heart that opens your passion too wide and too deep is a scary place to be and that is a line the struggling perfectionist within us is not willing to cross.  

Does fear stop you from living with an open heart so it opens up your passion? 

With all our controlling, managing, and fixing we view God as an uncontrolled, untameable, wild horse that we need to break in so we can trust Him. But deep down we know we cannot break God in so He becomes more manageable and more compliant.

So, what do we do? Well, we decide to pull our carts on our own.

However, to see the hidden picture within the patterned image our eyes needed to change they needed to relax and adjust. 

It’s the same with our relationship with God. Making the invisible visible is only revealed when our something changes, we relax, and our eyes adjust.  

However, if we dig a little deeper and see the Proverbs woman, who is worth more than rubies, we discover a woman of character because she chooses to stick to her plan. We see her wisdom is the result of trusting and knowing who God is and then outworking all that into her life in response to His character.

Each step of her plan follows God’s instruction. There is no space in her plan for fear or worry, or doubts to gain any traction. She focus’s all her energy on the plan as she considers and plants, inspires, and moves, rises, and makes, equips, and spins, reaches, and extends. She’s always choosing wisely and carefully because she is directed by the plan. And because her plan is always pointing to the One who knows the end from the beginning she is safe.

But with all our busyness, our time with God seems shorter, more hurried, and more frenzied than before. The sound of bells that once rang loudly as they announced our intention to enter God’s presence and not want to leave the holy place for quite some time now have the hollow ring of needing to know all the answers quickly rather than just sitting still with the Answer. 

Will we choose to intentionally, and purposefully put God first before our to-do lists? Will He be able to hear the sound of bells as we enter into His presence once again? 

But how can we know all those great things if we don’t leave all that busyness behind?  

 So, what are we to do about it?

Well, girl, it’s time to dig your heels in!

Spending time with God cultivates a deep relationship with Him. It’s where our identity is secured, our calling is clarified and our cup is filled so we are able to pour ourselves out onto others. We cannot give out if there is nothing to give out from. 

It's time to fill up your cup! 

It’s different for everyone but the chasm we must cross still looks the same - Scary. That enormous gap, that gigantic step, the massive move you need to make between where you would like to be and where you are always feels way too wild, too crazy, too wide, and too far to position ourselves into. Perhaps today, it’s time to simply take one step toward what you were born to do?

Yeah, that’s it, just one little step forward that’s going to help you to stop walking around in circles because you’ve been too busy admiring, comparing, measuring, and wondering what everyone else is doing.

Don’t you think it’s time to stop letting last season’s mistakes hold you captive and start walking toward next season’s freedom?

All it takes is the next courageous step!

With their eyes closed, busily making sure every part of their points is polished and rubbed, distracted by all his busyness, this becomes the good part of the hunter’s story when he retells it to his friends.

However, this is not the good part of the story for the elk, in fact, it’s the bad part. I know what it feels like to be wounded by the hunter, Satan. I became so distracted by all my bothered and anxious, performance-based polishing that I became too afraid to change my posture and position just in case people thought less of me.

But I got tired of being struck by the hunter’s arrows time and time again and decided to stop running. To be honest, I have so many bad parts in my story but this was the good part because I learned to change my posture and position so I could sit at the feet of Jesus.

The great news is that Jesus doesn’t leave you in those moments of shame as fear causes you to pick at the scabs covering your wounds. As with Peter, Jesus dealt with the shame attached to the wounds of Peter’s guilt because he had denied His saviour.

Jesus sat right in Peter’s pain, and Jesus will sit with you too in those moments as He reveals His scars to you. The scars that have declared victory over death and pain, over shame and trauma, over humiliation and abandonment, over abuse and betrayal. The scars that heal every wound Satan has inflicted upon you so you can trust Jesus with your future completely.

Where has shame stopped you from owning your story?

Our wounds reveal that in this world we do indeed experience trouble and times of testing. However, we have a choice to either listen to the unfamiliar ‘sounds’ of the hunter, Satan or do we put our elk hooves into the shoes that bring peace and run toward its melody. Jesus offers us the peace which is in Him so it will be in you and give us great confidence.

Has your faith become insecure and unsteady because you’ve listened to the unfamiliar sounds of the hunter? 

 A wallowing hole is created by a bull elk finding a pool of water, digging into the ground with his hooves and antlers to push up the dirt, urinating into it and then rolling in it. As gross as this may sound, wallowing attracts other elks and it’s the bull elk’s way of sending a clear message to all cows letting them know that his pheromone–soaked, perfumed coat along with his bugle calls mean he’s ready for action as the rutting season approaches.

Like the bull elk, we too can wallow in the mud of our past offenses. We roll around and around in the muddy, repugnant odour of every infraction and wrongdoing covering ourselves in the stench of what other people have done to us, hoping to gain a harem of followers that becomes a herd.

However, I have found that the more I keep surrendering my brokenness to Jesus, the more the strong emotions attached to my wounds fade into scars because of the scars found on the hands and feet of Jesus that rescued me from wallowing in the mud.

I’m sure you’ve got some wounds, and just like a human hunter who finds an elk to wound, Satan is hellbent on hunting you down and firing his arrows or bullets into your most vulnerable places to wound you too. The sting from your wounds that have left a blood trail for the hunter to follow, wounds from your past whenever you’ve felt abandoned, or rejected is the blood trail Satan follows.

The lies from our enemy keep trying to kill, steal, and destroy our identity, authority, and confidence in who we are and whose we are in Christ, this sabotages our thinking, so we never see ourselves as heirs to the royal inheritance in which Jesus gave His life for. 

Time to leave your beggars cloak behind and step into your royal inheritance!

No matter what happens? And this is where we flinch and hesitate. We mistake peace and sleep that the Lord offers in that verse, the slumber He promises in return for our surrender as hibernation, as shrinking back because the ‘no matter what happens’ part sounds risky business.

It sounds too dangerous a path to follow. Right? 

What about you dear, creative friend? Has God shown you an ordinary sight for an extraordinary message? Something that reveals heavenly eternal truths through the ordinary. However, like the prophet, Jeremiah, you’ve listed a number of excuses that let God know He is mistaken, that He’s chosen the wrong person for the job.

So, you hit the pause button and put a cap on all that kindness, empathy, and compassion enthusiastically bubbling up on the inside of you to help others because you’ve believed the lie that you’re just not enough.

But God had a plan the serpent wasn’t counting on. A plan to help us to come out from our hiding place that helps guide us how to properly love so we can love others properly. 

However, he did what Jesus asked and to his astonishment, he was called to something much bigger than himself.

There are some observations in this story that can help you out when you feel stuck. When you’ve fished all night and didn’t catch a thing it leaves you wondering if you’ve missed the boat to your calling. 

Feel like you’ve fished all night?

Maybe God is asking you to throw out your net again but you’re afraid because you are fearful that He won’t provide for you?  

However, there is nothing fishy about God's promises.

Some wise soul once said, “If we want to live a full, attentive life to God and others we need to clear our plates.” Wise words indeed. But how do we clear our overfull plates when we’re overstuffed on busyness and we’re not able to live that full, attentive life to God and others? How do we enjoy the good, sweet part that becomes the reward for clearing our plates? 

The problem isn’t that we wouldn’t gladly clear our plates from all our busyness, we just don’t know how to. 

If you’re struggling to clear your plate and want to live a full, attentive life to God and others, here are two suggestions…

The heading Bible scholars have used in the text is, ‘A dead girl and a sick woman’ as the writer, Mark, joins these two women together by a common thread. Each story is about uncleanliness, but on a deeper level, each miracle is about a person recognising the power of Jesus because they chose to follow the scarlet thread.

Wounded people can believe the lie in their heads that tells them, “Sure, God used those people, but me? Ha! Not a chance!” However, nobody is ever too broken, too wounded, or too damaged to find the path and follow the scarlet thread that leads to freedom and victory over past wounds. 

God views people differently from how the world views people. You’ll be shocked to know that God used the most unlikely heroes in most of the Bible stories we read. The people whom no one would expect God to use or ever choose. But that’s the thing about God, He just looks out for willing hearts who will just be obedient and have total dependence on Him.

Still not convinced that you qualify? Let’s find the path together and pick up the scarlet thread today in the SPACIOUS ROOM.

Why do we fall for the lies our enemy whispers that we are just too wounded, too broken to lead people to Jesus?

And while we’re here, why is it that some believers pass through this life making an idol out of the book of Revelation and the conspiracies surrounding end times, making their excuses that the world has too much ugliness in it.

So, they remind other believer’s that there’s no point helping a broken world because heaven is where we’re headed, and it’ll be pretty when we get there. Yes, heaven is sure gonna be pretty when we get there, but the reason Jesus wants us to remember His death and resurrection is because as we pass through this life, it won’t be pretty along the way. 

We need to understand that as we move forward into the dreams God has for us, there will always be a Pharaoh chasing us down from our past and an ocean standing in the way of our future.

Today, if all you see is an ocean between the past and the promise, you need to start trusting God who can still use what’s in your hands to part the waves.    

I wonder, what fire of affliction are you going through today?

Could it be possible that the testing fire that is gracefully breaking us could help us to come out better than we were before?  

Scrolling…scrolling…scrolling…comparing…comparing… comparing, and he’s realised that a little discontentment and a good sprinkle of frustration is what’s needed to conceal his weapon that has been formed against you underneath his red blanket to make you lose your focus because of distraction and discontentment. 

So, how do you fight back when the enemy brings out his red blanket and starts waving it around, so it disorientates, distracts, and causes discontent within you?

What’s the secret and the weapons you can use to realise the red blanket of the enemy is designed as a distraction that conceals the real weapon which he has formed against you? 

We’re so afraid that if we stop moving and pause for just a moment, the issues that we’ve tried to keep hidden will be exposed for all to see. But what if in our hopelessness we dared to reach out to Jesus? What if we were able to brush the hem of Jesus’ garment with our faith, causing Him to stop?

What if His flow of redeeming blood could mend our broken hearts and heal our wounds so we could live our lives wholeheartedly for Him? 

But what if that surrender, that posture of worship could be found in another weapon that your enemy doesn’t want you to know about?

What if remembering something that your enemy would rather you forget is how you fight your battles? 

The noises the other prisoners heard from Paul and Silas were not from their moaning and groaning, even though they had been flogged within an inch of their lives. They were using worship as a weapon to push back the darkness, raising their black and blue arms in victory instead of defeat and surrendering to their circumstances.

They knew that this was how they needed to fight their battles. 

To be completely honest with you, I had stopped trusting God the other week. I found myself questioning what I was doing and wondering whether God was going to be with me in every step I was taking. I found my train of thought that had run along the tracks of my faith for so long, now had come to a grinding halt, and I thought to myself, "Is this sudden stop necessary?" 

Are sudden stops necessary in your faith journey? They are if you've stopped trusting God with your future.

And as He formed and fashioned us in our mother's womb, He placed creativity in every one of us.

Still not convinced you're creative? Well, let me help you our a little... 

Each day we get an opportunity to focus on the purposes of God in our lives even though we can feel as though our strength has gone and we cannot see how it's all going to work out.

Like Samson, regardless of how many obstacles the enemy puts in our way we can still trust God to help us through our circumstances and bring about the purpose for our life even when we cannot see. 

Sometimes to see our breakthrough, we don't need to get louder to get God's attention we just need to become quiet to see the miracles happen. 

You are invited...

And in this week's special 100th celebration episode I share the power of an invitation. 

Invitation's make us feel valued, seen and loved. They let you know that someone wants to share a special moment or event with you.

In John chapter 4 we read about a women at Jacob's well who has possibly forgotten what it feels like to receive an invitation because she carries her shameful past to the well along with her water pot. However, Jesus offers her an invitation that stirs something more than the water inside the well, His invitation stirs the Samaritan woman's heart until she accepts Jesus' offer of living water. 

However, you're making sure you include a clause in the contract with God before you sign on the dotted line because you're no fool, right? You want a second plan if you don't mind, a plan "B" thank you very much, just in case the first plan doesn't quite work out.   

Questions start to circle in your head, "Did I really hear from God?" "Am I going in the right direction?" 

Don't worry, in this week's episode we'll be looking at the story of Ruth and how she didn't let her dogged determination get derailed! 

If there's a chance that the dream God gave to you will develop into something real, then satan will poach, plunder and pilfer your potential until your dreams and plans are forgotten. 

Don't allow the enemy to shut down your potential and rob you of your dreams!

However, access is ours for the taking when we approach God's heart with the right attitude.  

In today's episode, I share some dangerous business about callings, adventures and leaving our safety nets that only require one qualification - a willing heart. 

But this is where our enemy prowls around like a lion on the battlefield, looking for every opportunity to take out the weary, disheartened soldier who feels that they are tired of fighting the good fight. 

So, how do we keep our strength up in these challenging times and continue to fight the good fight?  

They seem to arrest everyone's attention when they throw into the story the line, "But then something happened..." And as everyone gathers around him, leaning in slack-jawed over their cups of eggnog, marvelling at the enchanted words pouring from the gifted communicator's lips they listen in to how the story will end.

But what if the "then something happened" moment in your story wasn't what you were hoping for? What then? 

In today's episode, I'll help you discover how God's overpowering love and kindness can help heal your "something happened" moments this Christmas. 

At least I thought it was safe... 

You may smile, but success does not come unless we decide to prioritise the steps that will lead us toward our dreams. However, each step is a 'maybe step' and fear can stop dreamers from stepping out. 

In today's episode, I share a thought around Ecclesiastes 11:4-6 that talks about sowing seeds and finding worthwhile things to do because you just never know whether this step, that step, or maybe both steps will be the final step to your dream! 

In today's episode, I share how we downplay our ambitions as Christians and are sometimes too afraid to say our dreams out loud. This is exactly what the enemy wants so that it hinders our progress.

Perhaps it's time to let the villain see the glint of metal that is the double-edged sword? The weapon you've brought along to the battle to remind him of the promises God has spoken over your life.    

In today's episode, I share how we need to stop running away from God and choose to commit to His plan rather than our own.  

So, why not catch your breath for just a moment and let God wipe away the dirt from your tear-stained face as He leans in a whispers to you, "Now let's do it together" 

In today's episode, I share how it can be so easy for us to shelve the promises and prophesies that God has spoken over us. However, there is a heavenly library that is just waiting for you to take a walk down its pearlescent corridors, and 'check out' the dusty books that are filled with your unfulfilled promises.  

In today's episode, I share how God's victorious plan of His Son, Jesus, covered the "irritant" our sins with His mercy, grace, goodness, and kindness by paying the ultimate price.

In today's episode, I share how John and Peter didn't pray for God to fix everything and to make it good again in Acts chapter 4. Instead, they prayed for courageous confidence that was bound to ruffle a few feathers!  

When we choose love, it helps show others the message of JESUS. A message of reconciliation that heals, restores, and resurrects. 

In today's episode, listen to how I discovered a life of true freedom that no travel poster could ever offer, and a faith that was restored through the trials and triumphs over the past 20 years.   

In today's episode, I'll help you to come off the 'conveyor belt' and teach you how to take a real Sabbath Rest. 

God never called you to be a benchwarmer believer!

In today's episode, I'll teach you how God sends provision (manna) to you on the playing field, that will help sustain and keep you moving forward into the adventure God has for you!

But what if I said that same clever mind of yours has been so bombarded by lies about who you are that what you're seeing is a reversed version of how God sees you. 

Let's face it, we all have a past, right?

But if you keep looking back your vision for a better future will become so distorted that you will end up not only apologising for every mistake you've ever made, but you'll be apologising for who you are. 

Don't apologise for it! 

But one touch of the hem of Jesus' robe can heal and make you whole again.

If you've been searching for a redemption's kiss, then look no further... 

If you find yourself hiding "there" behind your past mistakes then today's episode is for you. 

Sure, we love God with our heart, soul and mind but what about our strength so we can endure the unendurable?   

In today's Spacious Room episode, I'll share:

• How Gideon went from winepress to warrior
• Why doubt - stepping out in faith- doubt - stepping out in faith is the path of a dreamer
• Why your narrative needs to change from "I have HAD a dream" to "I HAVE a dream"  

I know I get it, life is safer and far less alarming when we have all our ducks in a row, but that's not how God wants us to live. So, if you feel like you're stuck in the winepress and you don't know how life can get better, then today's episode is for you!  

In todays episode of The Spacious Room podcast, I'll share how purposely planted people:

• Look after their seed
•  Do not allow the darkness and dirt to stop them from reaching upwards and onwards
• How they chose the good soil and use the right fertiliser to keep themselves staying healthy

If you feel your spiritual life could do with a little TLC, then this podcast is for you! 

In today's Spacious Room podcast, you'll discover that the book of Revelation is not the scary monster under the bed but rather a wonderful reminder that God is sovereign and He promises to take care of you, no matter what happens. 

Steph is convinced in the power of story and unpacks the deep issues that surround childlessness. Sharing insights from her new book, Surviving Childlessness: Faith and Furbabies with honesty and vulnerability, Steph shares in this encouraging and uplifting episode,

• Why childless couples feel like they don't fit into any church boxes
• The common myths that surround childlessness
•  Understanding a childless friend or loved one is grieving with their loss 
• How to support people who are dealing with childlessness
• What NOT to say to a woman who is suffering childlessness

If you've been treated like a "weirdo" because of childlessness, I hope and pray this episode will start you on a journey that can heal your wounds. 

In this episode, I'll share:

• The plot twist Jesus creates in the parable
• Why helping to heal wounds costs more than religion is willing to pay
• What Jesus did so His wine could be poured into our wounding.

Whether you've been robbed, beaten or stripped by the bandit, Satan, Jesus cares about you and He wants to pour His wine into your wounds that will bring healing. 

In today's episode, you'll discover the cure for a try-hard life that stops you being rubbed the wrong way.   

In this week's episode discover how to stop the controlled damage on your faith and see that God is bigger than your mistakes!