BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

Today is one of those surreal days in my life. May I share it with you? I’m here in Illinois to fulfill a longtime goal. A big stage awaits. A stage I’ve envisioned for years. The TEDTalk stage. This is a goal I’ve pursued relentlessly multiple times and let me tell you, it didn’t just happen. My ‘yes’ was first a series of ‘no’s’. I’ve found the journey to success is a whole lot harder than anyone prepared me for. I’ve been chewed up and spit out a few times. I’ve been knocked down enough to know what it feels like to question if you even want to get up again. And now, today I see … I see nothing has been wasted. Every hardship, every setback, every struggle, every failure, and every no has led to my yes. My guess is, the road to your yes will look much the same. All the negative had to happen to push me out of my comfortable little nest. I would have stayed in that comfortable job with good insurance for the rest of my life if the door wouldn’t have been slammed in my face and abruptly ended. I would have never taken that leap. Sometimes God tells us to fly and we won’t jump. So, He pushes. He closes the doors. He shuts it down. He pulls the plug. He allows your bad to get worse. Then you are left with no choice but to go. And while in the moment it feels like life is absolutely falling apart, one day you look back to see how actually it was all falling together. I wonder what’s going on in your world that given some time and distance will look radically different to you. I wonder where God has been telling you to go, but you’ve been hesitating. I wonder where good things have fallen apart for you and it’s simply because you have a great big God who loves you entirely too much to allow you to miss out on something so much better. The story of Ruth in the Bible tells a story of a woman who’s world had fallen apart. Her husband had died and she was now homeless. Not only homeless, but hungry. She was caring for her mother-in-law trying to find enough food for both of them. This woman was in survival mode, just trying to make the best of a really bad situation. Ruth was a woman who’s world had fallen apart. Perhaps you’ve been there – trying to make the best of a bad situation. What if your bad situation could be a set up for a blessing that could blow your mind? What if you just keep doing what you CAN do, then God will show up and do what only HE can do? That’s what Ruth did. Ruth chapter 2, verse 1 through 17 tells us her story. In verse 2 she said, “let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up grains of stalk left behind.” Let me go out. Not let me sit here and worry. Not let me lay here and wallow in my mess. Nope – let me go out and do what I can do. It may not be a lot, but at least it will be something. When you’re hungry, you will do whatever you can do. Sister, maybe you’re just not hungry enough yet. Until you get hungry enough to go out and do whatever you can do, the situation will likely get worse. But if you will get hungry for more in life, hungry for your passion and your purpose, hungry to fulfill your destiny, then that hunger will drive you to get out there and do whatever you can do with whatever you do have. Now, here’s another lesson in the story of Ruth which my friend TD Jakes taught me. Are you ready for this? Verse 3 says “So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters. And as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz.” So Ruth is out just doing what she could and it says “AND AS IT HAPPENED, she found herself working a field that belonged to Boaz.” AND AS IT HAPPENED, Ruth found herself in Boaz’s field. Another translation says she “hap upon”.

Do you ever feel like maybe you’re ready to move, then something holds you back? You see what you want, but you’re yanked back in time and time again. BIG Life has a mascot. His name is Tank. He’s a 130 pound yellow lab. Tank loves snacks, yoga, long walks and squirrels, oh how he loves squirrels. Every day we take Tank on a big long walk around the campus of our nearby college. This campus is literally a squirrel sanctuary and it’s like pure delight and pure torture for our Tank. We’re walking happily down the sidewalk and there sits a squirrel just taunting him with her big puffy tail. Now Tank only has so much self control and when the smell of that flirty little squirrel hits his nostrils, he takes off. And within 2 feet he’s just digging at the ground, clawing to go any further. Why? Because he’s leashed. He’s tied to his owners. And if his owners say we can’t chase squirrels, then we can’t chase squirrels. What owns you? You’re tied to whatever owns you. You see what you want, you get a whiff of the more that’s available to you, but you can never get it if you’re still leashed. Now Tank can’t be trusted unleashed. He’s proven his inability to stay on track so he stays leashed. How about you? Can you be trusted unleashed? Can you stay on track? In Acts 12 we read of the King persecuting members of the Church. He had already killed the apostole James, now he has Peter in jail, remember the one who walked on water with Jesus. We pick up in verses 6-8 “The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate. Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists. Then the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Now put on your coat and follow me,” the angel ordered. Peter had been chained up and he just got unleashed! Many of us have been chained up and God is ready to unleash you. Girl, are you ready to be unleashed? Unleashed from the chains that have held you back in life. Unleashed from the chains that have kept you bound to a life far short of what you were created for. Coach Lonnie (that’s my awesome husband, the behind the scenes guy who actually makes this podcast happen every day … shout out to the man of the house!), well occasionally he steps out onto a stage and when he does, he says things that blow us all away. At one of our retreats several years ago he taught about 3 chains that hold us back. I would like to share that with you today. First, the chain of “easy”. We settle for easy because, well, it’s easy, then it wraps tightly around our necks and chokes the life out of us. Those low expectations and cheap sell outs for the easy way leave us feeling unsatisfied, depressed and just a shell of who we could be. Where have you settled for easy, now you’re chained by easy. You now believe you’re not capable of hard things because it’s been so long since you tried, I mean really tried. Did you know every time you tell yourself you will do something and then don’t do it, it damages your brain. You’re literally giving yourself brain damage. And the easy way owns you. Second is the chain of distractions. How easily are you distracted and thrown off course? You decide you want something, but how quickly do you give up and the commitment goes out the window? We lack focus. When you lack focus, you sacrifice your power. And so we live as weak women, incapable of change, stuck in a life we dread waking up to. Chained up. Bound. Stuck. Whew, that is NOT what God had planned for you sister. Distracted. We may be here, but are we really here?

Google shame and today you get a whole bunch of Brene’ Brown quotes from her famous TEDTalk. Shame is a popular topic today and one that has been on my mind a lot. Shame. The very word brings an emotion that makes me feel like a little girl hanging my head low, hiding from what I’ve done. Brene’ Brown has a whole lot to say about shame as the most powerful, master emotion. Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change. Shame doesn’t empower us to change, shame digs the hole that buries us deeper. Shame is NOT from God. It was never his desire for you to walk in shame over the path you have taken, the mistakes you have made, or what has been said about you. I’ve been singing a lot about shame lately, as my new favorite song seems to be on repeat. Have you heard Bethel Music’s “Ain’t No Grave”. The opening lyrics say: Oh, shame is a prison as cruel as a grave Shame is a robber and he’s come to take my name Shame is a cruel tool of the enemy that strips you of your power to change your behavior or direction. It digs the hole deeper and throws away the key to the locked chains holding you back. And it’s this powerful, master emotion that comes knocking on all of our doors when we stumble as humans. Here’s what I want you to know … God knew every detail of your stumble and your mistake before you ever made it, and he still chose you. He still sees you as worthy. He still loves you with a relentless love that is simply unstoppable. There is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of my sister, it’s already been covered. Covered in the blood of Jesus, redeemed in full. Yet, your past still comes knocking sometimes doesn’t it? Flashbacks of that moment you chose wrong, that weakness you surrendered to, that path you wasted your time on that was heading in the exact wrong direction. And when it does, the emotion is shame. After the nasty visit of shame, you’re left feeling unworthy and less than. Your shame is a crack for the enemy to weasel his evil way in and pick at your soul with torment. Let’s seal that dang crack! Shame is cruel. It doesn’t play fair. It’s one sided and seeks only to kill your hope, steal your joy and destroy your future. Yet we dance with it sometimes don’t we? We willfully replay the story. We retrace the steps. We relive it all and shrink back in our shame, feeling flawed and broken. Hey listen to me, YOU ARE THE PRIZED CREATION OF THE ALMIGHTY and prized creations don’t dance with shame. Shake that crap off and step into the life available to you. In Zephaniah 3:19 (okay stop right there … yes I said Zehpaniah, it’s actually in your bible. I know, shocking right? I had to take a double take this morning during my study time and not rely on my online bible, but whip out my big book to turn to the pages myself. Sure enough, there in the Old Testament, 3 pages long is the book of Zephaniah. It’s filled with a message God spoke to this man we’ll call Z. A message that was a total call out to the people who had become prideful and were oppressing those who felt ‘less than’. The oppressed had been shamed by the prideful. And the Lord says “I will change their shame into praise.” I will change their shame into praise. Oh sister, this is what God wants to do for you today. He wants to take the very thing that has caused you shame and turn it into praise. He wants to take your mess and turn it into your message. God almighty will use the thing that you have hidden in shame to set you free and make your impact. Nothing is wasted in the hands of God, not even your ‘thing’ that has brought you shame. You know, it’s the ones who have been through what you have been through that you will actually listen to.

In today’s devotional I’m taking you to Sunday School. We’re going to study a bible story, snack on a tiny cup of goldfish crackers and then we’re going to make a little craft out of cotton balls and popsicle sticks to take home. Okay, no we’re not. We’re just going to study a scripture, you’re responsible for your own snack and craft time, you’re a grown woman now. Ya’ll know I used to teach Sunday School and I sucked at really teaching but whew we played some fun games and had awesome snacks. So, I’m just here hosting this podcast to make up for all the little kids that are now in college who I failed to teach the first time around. Scripture tells us a story of twin brothers. Jacob and Esau. They were at war with each other even in the womb. Stop right there and imagine being that pregnant mama. Your babies are fighting before they’re even born. I have a friend who says her first child could be described in one word from the time he was a baby, DEFIANT. Do you have one of those defiant children? Just difficult? That was this poor mama, pregnant with twins and one is so defiant they are in a full on fist fight in her womb. Esau was born first, and as the first born son, he would receive the birthright. Birthright was both position and inheritance. Because he was born first, he would automatically be ruler over his younger brother, as was the custom then. Esau was a manly man out hunting and killing stuff, while Jacob was a mama’s boy always hanging around the house. One day Esau comes back from a hunting trip and he’s literally dying of starvation. Jacob had been cooking in the kitchen with his mama making some delicious stew. In walks his starving brother begging for some stew and Jacob says “I’ll make you a deal, I’ll give you a bowl of my delicious stew for your birthright.” Now that ain’t right! That’s his brother for heaven’s sake. And we thought our kids were mean to each other! So Esau in his delirious state of hunger says fine, I promise you my birthright and I turn over my power for your stew. So it’s no surprise a few chapters later in Genesis we see Esau coming after Jacob with an army of 400 men to kill him. Hang with me, I’m going somewhere with this and I promise it will apply to exactly where you are today! If nothing else this is going to help the mama who has two children quarreling this morning to see it could always be worse. They could be hunting down each other with an army. Jacob is on the run with his family and he stops for the night to set up camp and sleep. Now remember, Jacob is the one who was defiant from birth. The one who tricked his brother and took what wasn’t his. There at the camp, Jacob has an encounter that changes his life forever. Let’s read about it in Genesis 32: 24-28 “So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” Understand what just happened here, Jacob was scared for his life, just trying to get some rest and seeking comfort through prayer (because remember his angry brother who is much more manly than he is, is now hunting him down to kill him) and dang if someone doesn’t show up and wrestle with him all night long. And this man injures him, dislocating his hip. That’s the last thing Jacob needs is to be running for his life with a crippling limp,

You and I are on a journey. Our entire lifetime is a journey. We’re never staying the same, everything is always changing. Even when we feel stuck, life is moving on and we’re on a path to somewhere. At the end of the day I like to give myself perspective by asking “Pamela, if you repeated today’s decisions everyday for the next 5 years, where would your life be?” What if you asked yourself that question at the end of this day? Ahhhhh, the gift of perspective to see your own trajectory. The bible talks about trajectory, the direction we’re going. It tells us there are two ways and we should choose wisely. In Deuteronomy 30: 15 God says “I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.” And then God gives us the free will to choose our path in life. He says ‘I have given you life, I have great plans for you, but you choose for yourself how you want to live.’ I know personally I’ve chosen wrong a few times. Sometimes out of defiance, but typically out of habit. Somewhere along the way I just stopped thinking about why I do what I do and I created a rut. I repeated the same actions over and over again, never stopping to question where my actions were taking me. The thing about a rut is, it’s hard to see where you’re going. As you dig in deeper with repeated actions, you go a little deeper, things get a little darker, and you no longer have a vision for where you’re going. My ruts were once financial ruts. I became accustom to buying it because I wanted it, certain I would somehow magically have the money to pay for it at some future date when life all worked out. My ruts were my health as I grew lazy and didn’t take the medication the doctor said would save my life. I played Russian roulette with my own future and hid it from everyone. My ruts were my self confidence as I ate another doughnut, drank another diet coke, and snuck the brownies in the closet. I felt like crap, one because I was eating like crap, but two because I couldn’t stand the person I saw in the mirror. Ruts come in all forms. They are grooves we wear that rob us of our vision. We dig in deeper, life grows darker and we just keep doing the same old thing because it’s what is easy and familiar. Ruts look like habits that wreck havoc in our lives, while they seduce us into believing just one more time it’s okay. Ruts look like shame, guilt and regret as we feel powerless to change directions. Down here in the ruts of life is where the enemy works on our mind. He convinces us we will never change. He tells us there’s nothing more for us. He taunts you with reminders of your shortcomings and wrong choices as if you’re broken and incapable of a different direction. But I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, the devil is a liar from hell. Why are you entertaining his lies? Why are you allowing your mind to be filled with his nonsense? Understand where that guilt and shame comes from, that’s straight from hell and your ruts are just digging you closer to it. God has set before you today a choice; life or death. Prosperity or destruction. The enemy is rooting hard for destruction, but please know that the creator of the universe, the Lord of Lords, God almighty is personally rooting for your prosperity. He’s leaning in and watching you close, just hoping today you choose the right path. He’s been desperately waiting to guide you out of that rut and onto the path that leads you to the life he created you for, but you first have to choose it. God’s not into magically teleporting you onto the right path. Nope, but he sure is into guiding the seeking soul out of a rut and onto the right path. God doesn’t wipe away our financial debt the moment we want out of it. He doesn’t make that extra 50 pounds just disappear.

There’s so much goodness inside of you, there’s the potential to change countless lives. That goodness comes in the form of your love. Your love, and your ability to love are under attack. The enemy knows the impact your love could make so guess what does that nasty little sucker do … he works to shrink your heart. He schemes to make you cynical. He plots to make you hardened. He offers the bricks to build your walls. How successful has he been in shrinking your heart? God wants you to live with a wide open heart, just as Jesus did. Jesus loved without concern of rejection. He loved without need for a thank you. He loved without strings, without boundaries. You do understand that Jesus shared his last meal with the very man he knew would betray him? He knew it, yet he loved him. Jesus lived out loud with a wide open heart and outstretched arms. And this is the life you and I are being called to. 2 Corinthians 6: 11-13 reading from the MSG translation says “I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!” We were each created for a BIG life, but sometimes we are playing little because we have closed off our hearts and tied strings to our love. We may be justified in our tall walls and guarded hearts, but we may also be miserable. You were designed to love. You were formed as a vessel of God’s love flowing through you, working as his hands and feet here on Earth. The creator never designed a single person with the flaw of a bad attitude and perpetually grouchy mood. He never made one human being with the intention of that person not being able to love others, intolerable of people. God doesn’t work that way. But the enemy sure does. One of Satan’s greatest works is to convince you that your way is the only way, everyone else is an idiot, and you can’t trust anyone. Is that the record playing in your head? Is that how you view others? A possible threat? A potential bad motive? An idiot in blue jeans? Have you become cynical and hardened with a closed off heart? Have you created hoops for others to jump through to get to your love? Remember the story of the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15. A man had two sons and one son had taken his inheritance early and promptly blew every dollar on wild living and ended up at rock bottom. This son then realized who he really was and that he was so much better than the way he had been living, so he began the journey back, back to his family and back to the life he was created for. Now notice what his father did. When the father saw his son returning home, did he stand there with his arms crossed? Did begin preaching saying how wrong the son had been? Did he make his son jump through hoops to come back? Did he make it hard for him? No! Quite the opposite. Scripture says the father ran to him with open arms! The father didn’t chase the prodigal son, but when the son turned around and came back to his truth, the father welcomed him with love. This is what we’re to do. Don’t chase, but if ways are changed, then we welcome. So someone screwed up. Someone has hurt you in the past. You have every reason for your walls. Your heart is calloused. You’re terrified to open back up because what if it happens again? Trust that God will take care of you if you will just love BIG. You don’t need to make it harder than it already is. Open up your arms and live with a wide open heart. Refuse to allow the enemy to shrink your heart again. You may have been in a relationship with a horrible man before. He left you feeling less than and to this day you have scars from him you’re trying to heal. He doesn’t need to come back into your life, but maybe God has the RIGHT man for you now.

My 19 year old daughter got her first tattoo 2 weeks ago. She hid it from me for a few days, then finally sent me a text that said “Mama, don’t be mad, but guess what…” Then, she went silent for several minutes as she gathered the nerve to deliver her confession. Little did she know I wouldn’t be mad at all. In fact, I was kinda proud of her. She’s a soldier in the Army, doing things every day that scare her. Every day she wakes up at 3 am, puts on that uniform and is pushed beyond her comfort zone. But especially that week. She got a tattoo to remind her of her truth. On her right forearm it is forever inked “NO FEAR Joshua 1:9”. No fear. Why? Because she was actually full of fear. She was about to begin jump week in airborne school. Jump, as in out of an airplane barreling through the sky. Not skydive, this is different. This is the training of a paratrooper. This is ‘do it wrong and you die’. This is ‘reach for the ground and your legs snap’. And understand she is a girl who doesn’t like heights, sits out on adventures, and never goes first. She was overcome with fear, but she felt if she remember what God said to her, she would find the courage to jump. Joshua 1:9 says “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Her time came for that first jump, and even with her new ink, she was terrified. Shaking, crying, filled with doubt and fear. Then, she did it. She jumped anyway. Then it was time for her 2nd jump, then 3rd, 4th and 5th and she was still feared with fear. Had the tattoo not worked? Had she failed to grab ahold of that scripture and believe it? No, actually she did exactly what God has instructed us to do. She had fear, but fear no longer had her. ‘No fear’ isn’t an absence of fear, it’s a declaration of ‘NO FEAR, YOU DON’T WIN.” The fear is still there, but the courage is bigger. Courage leads, fear follows. And when courage keeps leading, fear falls way behind. What have you been scared to do? What next step is ahead of you but you’ve been avoiding it because of what could go wrong or what may be required of you? Well how long are you going to sit this out? Your whole life will pass you by as you wait for that fear to leave. Here’s what I’ve found … I’ve never once gotten over a fear by waiting. Not a single time have I ever been cured of my fear by thinking about it, studying it, or talking about it. No, my fear only grew in my delay. We don’t have to understand fear, we have to face fear. We have to show up scared, shaking in our boots, and do it anyway. No fear, you don’t win. You don’t hold me back again. You don’t cause me to sit back in a little life when I was created for a BIG life. I will make friends with being scared. I will do it afraid. And fear, you’re not welcome here. I’m doing this. Why? Because honey, God has made you to be strong and courageous. Now here’s the thing. You may not feel strong and courageous right now while you’re still afraid of that next step, that jump, and that unknown future. And you won’t. That’s where we get tripped and tricked. We think one day we will FEEL strong, and then we can make that change, we can make that commitment, we can jump into our destiny, but today we just don’t feel strong enough yet, so we wait. And we wait. And we wait. We wake up … self, do you feel strong enough today? Nah, not today, maybe tomorrow. Then it’s not tomorrow, maybe next month I’ll feel stronger and I’ll get started then. Nope, not next month, but maybe next year. It’s a vicious cycle of hoping to feel stronger, hoping to feel more courageous, but never quite feeling good enough so we shrink ...

You have a history. It’s where you have been and all have you gone through. It’s what has happened. You also have a destiny. It’s what you have been prepared for with your history and what you can step into now. Girl, you may have lost in the past, but your losing streak is over. You’ve been defeated a few times and ended up on the losing end, but your time to begin winning is now here. You were made to be a winner, but all good winners must be humble. How do we become humble? We first lose. If you never taste the bitterness of defeat, you’ll be a lousy winner. God doesn’t need any lousy winners running around spreading his message. He needs humble winners who know what it’s like to be down and who’ve overcome. Destined winners with a history. That’s what you are – you’re a destined winner with a history. Could all your struggle and all your setbacks be nothing more than a setup for your victory now? What if God always had the success in mind for you, but he knew first the defeat would be best for you? My son was on a little league football team in elementary. We were the black and yellow Tigers. The team who could never win. One entire season we never tasted victory. Every game ended in “good game boys, you tried.” Several members of the team quit or parents moved them to a winning team, while we continued to lose. The next season our boys showed back up and pulled off their first win. A few more wins followed, but mostly loses. Then there was the third season. The Tigers were the team everyone looked forward to playing, knowing it was going to be a slaying. When it was time to play the Tigers, they invited Grandma because little Johnny was surely going to score big points. BUT THEY WERE WRONG. Our losing streak was over. Our boys in black and yellow were now the toughest team in the league. That third season, they didn’t lose a single game. The championship game comes and my son is throwing up Gatorade on the sidelines during warmups. The nerves were high. These boys had dreamed of this moment when all they could do was lose. The moms had their faces painted and flags waving, making the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders look 2nd rate. Our boys won the championship game in overtime. My husband was a coach. I’m pretty sure he cried. We all cried. What made that victory so sweet were the years of defeat. What made that victory POSSIBLE were all the times they tried their best and came up short, yet showed up again. Maybe you’ve gone through seasons of defeat. Your butt has been handed to you on a silver platter. Unlike the song (all I do is win win win), all you do is lose, lose, lose. And all the while, God has allowed it. Why? Why would a good and loving God sit back and watch you lose all this time? Because he’s making you into a winner now. Not a lousy winner. A humble winner. Jesus says in Mark 8:34-36 reading from The Message translation, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?” We want to run from suffering. We want to jump ship and leave behind any resemblance of loss. That’s normal. Nobody likes defeat. Nobody wakes up and says “you know, I would like to lose today. I enjoy being a loser.” But Jesus says to embrace suffering. Why embrace it? Because it will strengthen you. The victory without defeat first will cause you to lose your way. Your way to what? Your way to who you really are and the life God created you for. God allows a losing season. He allows others to leave in pursuit of the winning team.

I recently heard adulthood is a never ending perpetual cycle of waiting for life to calm down, then you die. Is that you? Right now life is busy and hectic, it’s uncertain and stressed … but when it calms down, whew doggies look out, you’re gonna live! You’re going to start waking up earlier to watch that sunrise. You’ll sit and sip your coffee in pure delight. You’ll have time and energy. You will be proud of yourself and walk with confidence. Oh yes, that day is coming, that day when life calms down and you can be truly happy, and when it does, you’re going to live! No you’re not! The very heartbeat of life is a rhythm of ups and downs, when it calms down your ride is over sister. We’re saving up our happy for an imaginary destination in life that doesn’t exist. Right here, right now, this is where you can live. Yes, this season of life, this one with it’s chaos and messes, this is where living happens. In the absence of calm is where you find the living. It’s a nasty ploy of the enemy to convince you that sometime in the future you will have the time, energy and resources to do the things you want to do with your life. When life calms down … then. But right now, well this is just about surviving. Just get through this time you’re in now. The truth is, we’re living perfectly good days of life in survival mode, in the absence of a crisis. Hey listen to me, that crisis may come and you may need to just get through it, but if your life is free of an absolute undeniable crisis today, then you better be living! The enemy’s plan is to kill, steal and destroy. Never lose sight of that. Has he been killing your happiness, stealing your joy, destroying your TODAY with a focus on tomorrow? Oh how he tricks us into missing today because of the worries of tomorrow, or missing today because of the hopes that somehow a future tomorrow will be better than the one we ended up with today. Ephesians 5: 15-16 says “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity.” How do fools live? They miss opportunities? They don’t show up for life. Be careful how you live and make the most of every opportunity. Today is full of opportunities … what will you do with them? What if your response to today’s opportunities determine tomorrow’s offering? Yes, what if future opportunities are earned through using, enjoying, savoring that which has already been given to us? Why wouldn’t you wake up and watch the sunrise today? Why wouldn’t you eat healthy delicious foods that make your body feel so good today? Why wouldn’t you dance to your favorite song? Why wouldn’t you wear your favorite shoes? Why wouldn’t you passionately kiss the person you love? Why? Because it’s just an ordinary weekday? Hey, the majority of your life is just an ordinary weekday. If we don’t learn to embrace living on these ordinary days, we miss the lump sum of what we’ve been given. Don’t miss THIS DAY. What has God given you in this DAY? Answer … a lot! I used to think if I didn’t intentionally live my life, then my life just wouldn’t be lived. Now I know that’s not true. We will still live. We will still exist. Your life WILL just live itself. It will go on with or without your intentional effort. You don’t have to try to breathe. Your body functions without you even really trying. And here we are, these miraculous beings who are the masterpieces of the almighty creator, just letting life live itself. We’re just here, but not fully here. We’re showing up, but not bringing the best of us. Where is the best of us? Buried under layers of regret, guilt, shame and laziness. Dang it’s hard to even recognize the masterpiece with all we’ve layered ...

I’ve spent the past week way down yonder on the Chattahoochee and I’ve found out just how hot a hoochie coochie is. Ends up, not real hot in November. Yes, for real, we’ve been tiny house living in Georgia on the Chattahoochee River. Inspired by Alan Jackson’s old song, I started listening to some country music and ya’ll it’s been a hot minute since I was boot scootin’ and root tootin’. I don’t even own boots! I heard a song for the first time called “God Must Really Love Me.” Ends up it’s 10 years old, but like I said, it’s been a while since I listened to country, but being on the Chattahoochee, I felt obligated. The song says: When I showed the worst, He saw the best He pulled the world right off my chest Everyday I wake up I feel blessed God must really love me Do you know that’s true? God always sees your best. Even when you’re acting a fool and giving nothing but your worst, he sees your best. He never loses sight of your potential and your value. He never questions your worth. He never doubts who you really are because as your creator, he knows you intimately. He imagined you in his mind, then formed you with his own hands and his creation is what he sees in you. There’s nothing you could have done, and nothing you could do in your future that would change the way he sees you. You are his beloved. You are his prized daughter. You are his chosen one. Darn it woman, when will you really buy into that and walk in that as your truth? This is what changes everything. This is where your confidence comes from. This is your power and strength to change and walk a new path … see what God sees. He sees the best, even when you’re showing the worst. Back when Saul was still hunting down Christians to cut their heads off, God knew this man would change the world. He knew one day Saul would surrender, he would be touched and forever changed, he would be given a new name as Paul, and he would be the one to write the majority of the new testament we read today. Back when Paul was still acting a fool as Saul, giving nothing but his worst, God saw the best. Is there something in you God wants to change? Something in you that’s been showing off as the worst, but God wants to bring out the best? It’s time. It’s time for that change. And I promise it’s possible. 1 John 3:1 says “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are.” You are his child and his love lavished on you can change anything and everything in your life! We have a podcast listener who battled a drug addiction for 10 years. For 10 years she experienced her worst. She wanted a different life, but the path there terrified her. She had been warned of the violent withdraws and the hell she would endure to get sober. In fact, that was the fear that held her prisoner for so long, the painful process of change. She had tried before and failed. But this time it was different. This time she was fully surrendered to God. To her God who still saw nothing but the best in her and he pulled the world right off her chest. On Wednesday she celebrates 4 full weeks of sobriety. No drugs … and no violent withdraws! All she had to do was take that leap, pour out those pills, and God swept her up and carried her through. Now today, she’s experiencing what God always saw in her … her best. You couldn’t make her turn back now. She’s living and experiencing the life that’s always been waiting for her. This can be you too. Maybe it’s not drugs, but maybe it’s regret. Maybe it’s guilt or shame. Maybe it’s a crippling fear of failure. Understand these things effect your life in the same way, they keep you from your best.

I want you to imagine God is preparing for this new month of life. He’s aligning blessings and opportunities for November. He’s creating paths and doorways to dreams that have been sought after for years. He’s planning to make a way where there has been no way, and it’s happening in this new month. He is searching for the ones who will receive these opportunities. The ones who are ready to rise up to the next level of living. He’s looking for the girls who will appreciate the blessings, the girls who will seize the opportunities, the ones who will make something out of everything she receives. Will that be you? 2 Chronicles 16:9 says “The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” His eyes are looking. They are looking. And today, they are looking at you. What will he see today when he watches you? How did you receive the gift of this day of life? You see because how you received today is a good indication on how you will receive tomorrow. It’s easy for us to believe on January 1st we will somehow miraculously wake up as a new person with more willpower and determination than we have today on November 1st …. ahhhh, we will likely be disappointed. If you’re not willing to work for it today, what makes you think you will work for it 2 months from today? God knows better. Could the very opportunity you seek be locked up and untouchable to you because you haven’t been faithful with what you already have? Yes, absolutely yes. So here we are, 2 months left in this year. 2 months of holiday baking, travel, family gatherings, feasts, cram packed schedules, and every excuse in the world to just coast. But I’m just saying, what if God is looking for the girls who won’t coast? What if God, while he is aligning blessings and opportunities for this month, is searching for those who are willing to show up and be all in today? What if while God is creating paths and doorways to dreams, he is watching closely to see how we will live THIS day? Is your heart fully committed to him? Are you so grateful for the gift of today that you wouldn’t dare waste it? Are you all-in in living this life you have been given? All-in for this year and the 2 months left? Let’s read the rest of 2 Chronicles 16:9 “The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.” What a fool you’ve been. Have we been foolish? Have our actions, or lack of actions casued the turmoil we are currently in? This scripture is taken from a text where a king had looked to God for guidance in the past and experienced victory. Then when he came under attack again, he looked for guidance from others instead of God. How foolish, now he will be at war. Aren’t we like that King, experiencing success from God, then forgetting where that success came from and take a wrong turn. Oh what messes we create all because our hearts are not fully committed to him. We’re not all-in, therefore we’re not experiencing all he has for us. Let us look to God and ask how he wants us to show up in these final 2 months of 2019. Let’s remember he is watching. His eyes are searching. He wants to know who will be faithful and committed with everything they have right here and right now in this day before he lines up the blessings and breakthroughs of tomorrow. What will he sees when he watches you today? When you have something awesome, don’t you just love to show it to others. If you get a brand new car, don’t you just love to give your girlfriend a ride. Oh yes, come sit in my car, smell that new car smell. It brings you great joy to give her a ride in your new car.

The life you’re living is the story which will outlive you. Each day of your life is a sentence. Every year is a chapter. I wonder how the story we’re living would compare to the one God had in mind for us? I wonder if it’s too late to change the story and get back in alignment with God’s best plan and ditch some of the crap story we’ve been writing on our own? Oh girl, I have a scripture for you!!!!! Psalm 18: 24 MSG “God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.” Your story changes when you fully open your heart to God. When you hold nothing back and invite God to rearrange, revamp, restore, renew, and rewrite any thing and all things. But what we typically do is we wait until things fall completely apart and then we present this one area of our lives to God in desperation, holding everything else back. When will we understand God isn’t interested in just giving you a great relationship with someone, he wants to fix your relationship with YOU too. He wants to go to work on every part of you and restore you to exactly who he created you to be. And he can. Oh yes, he can. But he won’t without your invitation. Will you open the book of your heart to his eyes? Meaning, will you fully surrender everything to him? Will you stop pretending like you can hide those thoughts you’re having from God? Will you stop pretending like God doesn’t already know exactly how you’ve been feeling? Where is your surrender in what you’ve been holding back? Why do we hold so tightly to control when life is spinning out of control? Why do we refuse to fall to our knees without being knocked there? Whew, we are some hard headed girls aren’t we? There’s an easier faster way my friend, surrender fully now. Psalm 129: 23 & 24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” That’s a bold prayer asking God to search your heart and test you. Don’t pray it if you’re not ready. But this is the secret to the next level of living. This is the key to stepping into your destiny. The boldness to say, “Lord, if there’s anything I’m doing wrong, SHOW ME, I want to fix it.” How many times are we so fixated on what the other person is doing wrong that we miss the fact we’ve royally screwed up too? God, show me where I am wrong too, I’m ready to change that. How many times are we wallowing as the victim when we caused some of the pain too? God, show me where I need to get better. I’m ready to work. It’s time to go first. Tell God you’re willing to go first. You won’t wait on things to change, you’ll go first. You won’t wait on him or her to start trying, you’ll go first. Me, it’s me God wants to work on and in. I’ve been holding up the progress here. How many times are we taking part in conversations that simply shouldn’t be had, saying things we know we shouldn’t be saying, but doing it any way? Oh God, convict me! Before I walk into a group of people, I pray. I pray because my mouth can run off in it’s own direction and get involved in conversations I have no business in. Have you ever found yourself in one of those conversations and there’s an alarm going off in your head like “stop, shut up, don’t say another word, this isn’t right” but your mouth is just running off, totally unleashed and wild? You too? Well, that’s exactly why I pray before I walk into that group. Here’s my prayer “God, if I’m in any conversation that is not pleasing to you, convict me in that moment and help me redirect the conversation.” Oh boy,

I find what I often need is a shift in my perspective, not a major change in my circumstances. I sometimes have tunnel vision of what I think is happening and what I believe should happen, and I miss what God is doing. So what is God doing? Really, what is he doing in your life? HE IS FIGHTING FOR YOU! He is fighting for the life he created you for. He is arranging and rearranging to bring you face to face with your destiny. And all this time, he’s trying to help you keep the right perspective on it all. As a follower of Christ, you are on the winning team. Whatever battle or struggle you may be facing, you are bound to win because look who is standing beside you. Jeremiah 20: 11 says “But the LORD stands beside me like a great warrior.” God is on your side. And scripture reminds us if God is for you, who can be against you? What confidence this brings when we truly understand God is with us and God is for us. Honestly sometimes it doesn’t feel like it though does it? Sometimes it feels like everything that could go wrong does go wrong. Sometimes it feels like we are losing the battle and nothing within us is good enough or strong enough to continue, so there’s a temptation to just quit. And this is when we most need to remember the Lord stands beside us like a great warrior. His presence is enough to make the enemy flee. His shadow covers you. You are covered my friend, you are covered. You have a warrior next to you willing to go into battle for you. Don’t you know God is fighting for you? For you, not against you. In Isaiah 55:9 God says “For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” His ways are better. When will we finally understand that and fully surrender to it? Not my way, but yours Lord. I trust you. I trust your plan. I’m just going to snuggle in close under your shadow and let you stand beside me like a great warrior, and together we’re going to go right through this battle. Together we’re going to make it. And through it all you’re going to strengthen me, you’re going to guide me and you’re going to keep making me better. Today, may we find the grace to keep going. May we have the perspective to see things from God’s hands. May we find the perseverance to just do the next right thing. May we find the willpower to bite our tongue and zip our lip when the temptation is there to spew negative words. May we find the confidence to bring the injuries and insults laid upon us to God and leave them at his feet instead of piling them upon our own shoulders. May we live boldly and confidently as winners. Winners because of the great warrior standing next to us. Winners because we have wisely chosen the right team. Now, let me remind you of this. Perhaps you are at odds with someone today. Someone said something or did something and you’re offended or insulted or honestly you’re just hurt. Before you go into battle with them, ask if they’re on the same team as you. Are they one of God’s children? Are they a follower of Christ? If they’re not, then don’t battle them, fight for them. Fight for the thing which is much more important that the disagreement, fight for their soul. You may be the only Jesus they see. If this person is on the same team as you as a follower of Christ, don’t’ battle them either. You’re on the same team. Offer them grace. Go first in laying down the weapons and refusing to fight someone on your own team. What a work of the enemy to make us feud with our own teammates. How totally ineffective are we if we’re fighting and bickering? Aren’t there bigger battles to be fighting today? Here’s the all important question to put your perspective back into alignment. WILL THIS MATTER 5 YEARS FROM NOW?

Luke 11:5-10 Jesus teaching on prayer “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” This is a picture of persistent and expectant prayer. We trust that God is good, and so we ask for His gifts. In 2 Corinthians Paul asks the Lord for something three times, then Paul stopped praying about it. Why? It wasn’t because he had given up or because he thought it was only okay to ask 3 times. But Paul received his answer from God. His answer was no. Can we trust that sometimes his answer is no because he knows better than us? Because he sees the big picture and we don’t. Because he knows the end from the beginning. So we can keep asking until something happens or until God says no. And if God says no, may we have the grace to walk away from it and pursue that which God is saying yes to. (From Tera’s Online Christian Journey) I know, I know, you’ve already asked Him a million times, I see those eyes rolling. But today, ask Him a million and one. Yes. Ask Him AGAIN. Ask Him again for that child to come home. That marriage to be healed. That mountain to move. Ask Him again for that friendship to mend. That work to begin. That end-of-tunnel light to appear. Ask Him again for the one who needs rescue, the one who needs healing, the one who needs new direction, new guidance, new focus. Yes. Even if that ‘one’ is you. Ask Him again for what you need. For what you want. For joy in the sorrow. Help in the struggle. A sip of living-water in the heat of your schedule…and the time to just sit at the well, amen? Ask Him again. Ask Him again to provide springs in your land; and while you’re at it, give thanks for that land, no matter how dry it is now, knowing He’s given it to you with good purpose. Yes. Ask Him again. Ask Him again to dig up the soil and plant the seeds. Ask Him again to stir up and settle, make and remake, pour out His peace that passes all understanding, because frankly; you could use a hefty dose about now. Yes. And Amen. Ask Him again for all that seems lost and all that seems nowhere even near the city of possible…and ask Him believing He can. Yes. Ask Him again. Not because you don’t think He heard you the first million times, but because you are realizing the longer you {truly} live, that persistence is a pretty strong faith-builder; not to mention how close it keeps you to Him for whom all things are possible and nothing is too hard, and because faith-based strength to persevere and closeness with your Creator is what you REALLY need. Whew. Yes. Absolutely. Ask Him again. With fresh eyes and a renewed spirit and a passionate resolve that He can, and if it’s His Will…He will. And if it’s not, you will keep on asking. You will keep on seeking. You will keep on believing just like Steve Perry says. Because persistent faith is where it’s at. It fastens it’s gaze on hope. The hope that is always three steps {Father, Son, Holy Spirit} ahead, providing the perfect focal point.

How many times have you wanted to change and turn from an old bad habit, but ultimately you fail? That repeated failure to change begins eating away at you, robing you of your power and confidence, causing you to settle for less than you were created for and capable of. Romans 7:19 describes it perfectly. It says “I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.” Our willpower is weak at times. Whether it be trying to give up sugar or cigarettes, quit drinking, quit cheating, quit over spending, quit over sleeping, or start working out and start showing up to work on time, our willpower seems to come up short. We know what we should do and we even WANT to do the right thing, but we simply don’t. Not always. Now I hate to admit this because I know what a total powerhouse God created you to be, but sometimes you lack the power to truly change. I know his plans for you are so big they will blow your mind. I know you have all the potential in the world inside of you. But I also know your willpower isn’t going to be enough. Mine isn’t either. You can’t deliver yourself. Romans 7:24 says “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” You’re not the only one who struggles. We often hide out convinced every one else has their crap together and we’re some sort of epic failure flawed to the core. Nope, you’re human. We’re all human. We aren’t robots and we aren’t perfect. Our journey to becoming who we were created to be will take our entire lives. If you’re not struggling, it’s because you’ve given up. Join the rest of us who struggle, and let’s continue the fight darn it! We don’t have to sit in misery. We have an answer and it comes in the next verse, Romans 7:25 “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” Jesus is your answer. And how many times have we heard that? Yeah, so many times it sounds cheap, so let me dig deeper and be more specific. Have you really asked God to HELP you with the area where you struggle? Have you fully surrendered to him? This is where change really happens … where you surrender to God, ask him for help, and make a true commitment. EXAMPLE 1: You woke up late, you left for work late, you’re surely going to be late. But you’re praying. Oh yes you’re praying, “please Lord let all the lights be green. Let me somehow make it there on time.” Nope. God isn’t interested in magically transporting you to work in record breaking time so you won’t be late, but he would totally be game for helping you get your butt out of bed if you would ask him. EXAMPLE 2: Here’s what we typically do when we’re trying to be healthy and lose weight – It’s Friday morning, weigh in time. We step on the scale and we pray “please Lord, please let it go down. Please, come on God. Let the number be less.” Now why didn’t we pray on Monday morning that God would help us resist the doughnuts in the office? Seriously, why didn’t we ask God for help when it mattered instead of when we’re stepping on the scale? We want God to pull off a miracle without our participation. God doesn’t work that way. How many times have we prayed for God to let us get by with our wrongdoing instead of praying God would help us to STOP our wrong doing? You see, God has zero interest in helping you get by with it, get away with it, or continue life one more day settling for bad habits, sinful decisions, and little life living. In fact, it’s disgusting to him. Why would he want to help you hide it? Why would he want to help you reap the benefits from something you weren’t willing to do? God isn’t interested in your comfort – heR...