BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

I John 1:5 – In him there is LIGHT, there is no darkness at all. God doesn’t have a dark side. He’s not trying to punish you or get back at you. He’s not out to get you. He’s not angry at you. Nor is he ignoring you. Everything God does is for a purpose, and his purposes are good towards you. How do I know? Because as a believer and follower of Christ, you have been completely covered by him and his sacrifice. When God sees you, he sees his son. He sees a fully righteous, covered, paid for, priceless child whom he loves wildly. People may have a dark side. Their motives and intentions may be for personal gain and you may get used in the process. People get angry and lash out in painful ways. People say they will be there, then they’re no where to be found. All of this teaches us to be defensive and watch our backs. And maybe people have taught you no one can be trusted, but that’s not God. You don’t have to go through life being on the defensive with God. Ever. He is your Abba Father, your Daddy and let me tell you one thing for sure, He loves his girl. And you’re his girl. He loves his girl. You can write it down and you can bank on it. And here’s another thing I know. He has heard you, He sees exactly what is going on in your world, he holds your world in the palm of his hand, He cares about you and the details of your life and he is moving on your behalf. God hears you and he is moving mountains for you right now. He is working. Say that with me – He is working. He is working. Oh yes he is. We may not see the manifestation of the mountains he is moving and the doors he is opening at this moment, but be assured it IS happening. He is arranging and rearranging, moving hearts and preparing the path for YOU. Some things just take time. Not for God. With God ANYTHING is possible and it’s possible today. But maybe it’s taking time because although you THINK you’re ready for that breakthrough and the big answers, God knows you’re not really ready. And sometimes I believe it takes time because where’s the faith in plans all coming together exactly as they were planned a year ago? Faith thrives is that ‘last minute, down to the wire, facing the impossible with no other option but GOD’ kinda ground. Is that where you’re standing right now? That “only God” ground. You’ve tried it all and it’s not working? You’re down to the wire? Things are kinda looking impossible? Ahhhhh, that’s powerful ground sister. God has not forsaken you. He sees you, he hears you and he cares. God doesn’t have a dark side. He is light, pure light and he brings light into your life. He is moving on your behalf. He is working for you. You may not see it manifest today, but you can trust he is working. I know I needed this reminder today. I need to re-surrender for the thousandth time all my cares and thoughts and fully trust that my God is good to the core and there is only light in him and from him. I refuse to wander around in darkness fearful, stressed or anxiety ridden. Nope, not today Satan. Thank you for your offer of darkness, but I’m going for the light. Will you choose the same? Will you stop the cycle of living in the darkness of fear and stress and anxiety and step into the light starting right now at this moment? God’s light is shining on you. It is for you. In his light you will find your way. In his light you will taste a fullness and beauty of life you may have never known before. But first, you must choose, literally CHOOSE to step out of the darkness and into His light. No more hiding. No more running. No more pouting in your little corner mulling over how unfair life is. That’s darkness and there is no darkness in God. God is only light and he wants to shine in your life today.

Bold title. It’s not meant to offend you, but rather get your attention. Are we crappy people? Are we living as “less than” versions of who we were created to be, who we could be, who we want to be? I’ve met a whole lot of really good people in my life. People who would give you the shirt right off their own back. People who would bend over backwards for you. And even these good people, when being really raw and honest, would admit that deep down there’s a piece of them that’s rather crappy. I am far from the perfect Christian. I’m just the one that knows I need Jesus. I mean I NEED him. There’s a crappy part of me within that needs Jesus and nothing else will do. Today, I’m asking you to pray perhaps the boldest prayer you’ve ever prayed. This isn’t for the shallow or the weak. This is for those who are truly seeking to become the absolute best version of themselves. This is for those willing to stare down the crappiest part of themselves on the inside and dare to make a shift. If that’s you – if you’re bold and seeking, here’s the prayer: LORD, CONVICT ME. Convict me of where I’m being a crappy person. Convict me of what needs to change. Give me a strong conviction of where I am wrong on the inside and it’s causing a general crappiness to flow from me. Psalm 32:3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. If there’s crappy sin within you, holding it in and letting it grow in darkness and shame will cause you to rot from the inside out. Get it out of you. Yesterday I was speaking with a close friend of mine, a friend who is one of those people who is kind and generous and everybody loves. She shared with me her bold prayer asking God to convict her heart and show her anywhere that needed to be cleaned up. She said the result of that prayer literally made her skin crawl. She became aware of a habit of thinking poorly of others within and the result was gossip, complaining and condemnation with her words. That’s not who she is, but it was just a little crappy area within that had seeped through her thoughts and flowed from her mouth. I was immediately convicted in the same way. Convicted personally and convicted to share. Are you much like my friend and I who recognize we’re kinda crappy people sometimes. We say things that we shouldn’t say. We share things that simply aren’t ours to share. We take part in conversations we have no business being in the middle of. We’re good people, but something has taken root within our heart that needs to be plucked out. It’s a weed growing and weeds suck the life out of that which is good. James 1:26 “If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.” Where are you convicted? Have you been harsh? Have you been rude? Have you been negative? Have you been flirty? Have you been giving the silent treatment? Have you been part of the problem instead of part of the solution? As you keep silent about your sin, your body will waste away and succumb to the weeds of sin the enemy has planted. The solution is confession. James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. “ Confess where there’s a crappy part of you. Confess where you’ve been a crappy person. You see as long as you tip toe around it and make excuses for your behavior, it will continue to grow. When God convicts you, confess. Confess to God first. Maybe you even need to confess to someone else. Oh, that’s so difficult, but you talk about a release. What a gift you give yourself.

God never gives you a dream that matches your current budget. He never gives you a passion that is immediately easy for you. He never calls you to a place that is comfortable. And here’s why … God knows what you CAN be is so much more than you currently are. Now I’m not saying you’re slacking or even skimming through life. But what I am saying is you’re evolving. Evolution. Can Christians even talk about evolution? Evolution is the gradual development of something. You and I are evolving as God uses everyone and everything in our lives to grow us, transform us, and develop us into a being who is more Christ like. You aren’t who you used to be. Whew, what a relief. You simply are not the same person. Can people truly change? You bet they can. Practically every cell in your body has been replaced since 2011, so you are literally a new person. You have been evolving into the person you are today and hey listen up, God’s not finished with you yet. He is calling you into more. He is putting your feet on a path to a bigger life. He is preparing you for things your mind cannot even comprehend right now. You’re not quite ready for it yet, but God knows your potential. Why? Because he put it there. When he created you, he put all the potential in the world right inside of you. Deposited for the day when you would evolve into the woman he had in mind when he made you. Nothing has been wasted in the process. Every good experience has built you up. Every bad experience has refined you. Every hard knock has served to free you. Every bad example has shown you who you don’t want to be. Every good example has been deposited within you. All a process of the evolution of you. Maybe you never saw it coming, but I promise you, God did. Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” God has work for you to do and it’s good work. There’s a positive impact you are suppose to make. All your life God has been guiding your steps so you could walk in the life available to you. And all this time you’ve been saying you’re not good enough, you’re not capable, you’re not ready, you don’t have what it will take … and your loving, patient, all knowing and all powerful God has been saying, NOT YET, BUT YOU WILL BE. You’re evolving. The evolution of you is your life’s journey. You’re ever changing, and if you’re not, then you’re dead. You’re not given life to stay exactly the same. You’re given life to grow and become and evolve. You may not currently have the funds to follow your dream. That’s okay. Take the next step and see what happens. God’s not concerned about your bank account, he’s concerned with your obedience. You may not currently have ability or the strength to do what you want to do. That’s okay. God grows muscles by using little which creates more. This is evolution. The gradual development of something. What you’re developing here is YOU. Your life is under construction. Where you’re going isn’t going to be easy. But easy is so overrated. Easy is boring and you know what happens to human beings when we’re bored … we get ourselves in trouble. People who create drama are just bored. Bad habits and bad decisions often begin in a place of boredom. Boredom is a result of a life that is too darn easy. God isn’t calling you to ease, he’s calling you to more. More living. More faith. More surrender. More stepping out. More chance. More boldness. God prepared good works for you to do in your life, and currently the best of those works are out of your reach. Out of your budget. Out of your skill set. Out of your comfort zone.

This morning I have a question for you to consider. What if God is trying to do something miraculous in your life? What if he is preparing to make things happen? What if the very thing you have been seeking is available to you, but the path there will make absolutely no sense to you? I’m asking will you trust the God of miracles to work on your behalf? Psalm 77: 11-14 MSG – “Once again I’ll go over what God has done, lay out on the table the ancient wonders; I’ll ponder all the things you’ve accomplished, and give a long, loving look at your acts. O God! Your way is holy! No god is great like God! You’re the God who makes things happen; you showed everyone what you can do.” Don’t you know your God is the one who makes things happen? Jesus Culture has a song called Miracles. They lyrics say: The One who made the blind to see Is moving here in front of me, he’s moving here in front of me The same God who has given sight to the blind is here today to help you see. Help you see your way. Help you see the next step right in front of you. Won’t you let him help you see? Won’t you trust he can show you what to do next? Why is it easier for us to believe Jesus rubbed mud in a blind man’s eyes and gave him sight, than to believe he can show up in your life today and show you exactly what to do now? Why do we limit God’s miracles to the big things and not believe they apply to us right here, right now on this ordinary Tuesday? Hey, you and I don’t have to be blind for God to help us see. The song goes on to say: The One who made the deaf to hear Is silencing my every fear, he’s silencing my every fear How loud is the voice of fear in your ear? How many thoughts and possibilities are immediately talked down right in your own head with all the reasons it can’t and won’t work? Your fears are robbing you of the very life God created you for. Don’t you know the one who made the deaf to hear can help you silence those fears? Would that be a miracle if you could overcome the voice of fear that has spoken to you your entire life? Why yes, yes it would be. Don’t you see, this is what God wants to do for you. You don’t have to be handicap without the ability to hear for God to come into your life and heal you. Listening to the wrong voices is just as much as a handicap as being unable to hear. The God of miracles can take care of that for you today. If you lost your sight today, wouldn’t you seek God for a miracle? If you lost your hearing today, wouldn’t you fall to your knees and ask God to restore you? Then why wouldn’t we ask the God of miracles to help us see what to do next? Why wouldn’t we ask the God of miracles to help us silence the voice of fear we’ve been listening to? Why would we wait for absolute disaster before seeking his touch? God wants you to know something today. He wants you to know his miracles are available for you right now. He can make things happen. You don’t have to wait until things get worse. You don’t have to wait until it’s completely hopeless. He wants to guide you today. He wants to help you see the way today. He wants to help you with this next step today. He’s not trying to make things harder for you. Believe it or not, he is on your side. The one who does impossible is reaching out to make you whole. Reaching out to make you whole. And all you have to do to receive it is simply say “I believe in you. I believe in you.” He is asking for your faith today. Faith that he is capable. Faith that he sees you. Faith that he is reaching out to you. Faith that he can make you whole. l Faith that he can help you see. Faith that he can help you silence all the other voices. Faith that he can make things happen. I believe in you God.

Faithful. Today, will you be faithful. God was up all night lining up opportunities for you in this day. Will you be faithful with those opportunities? Or will you be too busy? Will you be distracted? What will you do with the opportunities which come your way today? And how about your commitments? Will you be faithful with that which you said you would do on this Monday? Did you wake up when you said you would, or did you bargain with your own self and decide your commitments weren’t important afterall? Oh how often we say we will do something, then we talk ourselves right out of it. And how does that feel at the end of the day? Pretty crappy, huh? Every single day we are being called to be faithful and we’re being continually tested. Did you know the little nudge in your heart to give a compliment to that stranger was a test? Did you know the cashier’s mistake in your bill was a test? Did you know that which went wrong yesterday was a test. And that which went RIGHT yesterday was a test. How have you been doing? Have you proven you will do the right thing? Have you proven you will be kinder than necessary? Have you proven you will be grateful for even the smallest of things? Or have you failed? I know it’s painful to admit our own shortcomings, but let’s be honest here. Are you passing the test of faithfulness? As a Christian, God’s spirit is living in you. His spirit comes bearing gifts which we also call fruits of the spirit. Galatians 5:22 says “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.” Yes, faithfulness is a God’s gift to you as he dwells in you and guides you. And what do you do with a GIFT? You receive it. Since the day you accepted Christ, the gift of faithfulness has been offered to you. It’s not something you have to cultivate on your own. It’s simply something you have to accept. Imagine God gave you a new coat. The coat is yours to wear. Now how silly would it be to walk around freezing when God has given you a coat and all you have to do is put it on. The same is true for the ability to be faithful. You can be constant. You don’t have to be wishy-washy any longer. You can show up when you said you would and do what you said you would do. That ability is within you. You can take every opportunity and run with it. You can fulfill your commitments with ease. It’s just like putting on that coat. God has offered you faithfulness, now put it on. You don’t have to go through one more day of your life disappointed in your own follow through. You don’t have to be disheartened by your ability to show up. You have the gift of faithfulness. You have it, now use it. Is this an area of struggle for you? Do you begin the day with good intentions and just talk yourself right out of doing these good things? Do you often come to the end of the day with more regrets than successes? Well today, my faithful sister with the spirit of God living in you … today you’re going to be different. Hour by hour, simply remind yourself to be faithful. Remind yourself to tap into what the spirit of God has already given you. When do you typically fall off the wagon in the day? Is it mid-morning when you get a little lazy? Is it lunch time when you typically fail on your commitments? Is it evening time when the opportunities to live as the woman you most want to be are quite simply squandered? Or perhaps it’s all above? Okay, fair enough. Here’s our plan of action. Set an alarm in your phone for those times when you have proven to hop on the struggle bus in the past. You know, there’s typically a schedule for the struggle bus. When does it pull into your neighborhood? Set an alarm with the title “Just Be Faithful”. When the alarm rings, remember to just be faithful.

James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above. That’s a scripture we typically throw out there when we’re talking about a baby being born. No doubt, a good and perfect gift from above. But hey, since we know that EVERY good and perfect gift is from above, we’re going to talk about something else good. Something all women want to know about. Let’s talk about eyelashes. Fake eyelashes are my one guilty pleasure. I straight up love me some big long lashes. They’re all the rage. Hey for 50 bucks you can go get you some lash extensions applied that will last a few weeks – or you can be like me and spend a whopping 3 bucks on the Salon Perfect brand at the local Wal-Mart and practice becoming a master at gluing them on. I’ve had 14 years of practice so I nearly have an unfair advantage. You see, I started wearing fake lashes when no one else knew they still existed in stores, probably still hanging there from the 60’s when American women were last obsessed with lashes. Hang with me – I’m going somewhere here folks. It was like my 2nd day of wearing lashes and a beautiful young girl in my office looked me in the eyes and said “wow … are those YOUR lashes?” Obvious answer – no. However my answer was – yes. Shamefully I said yes. Then our conversation turned into “what brand of mascara do you use and can I come over sometime so you can show me how to do that?” I avoided her from that day on. No joke. Why did I do that? I had literally just faced a spiritual battle. I knew the truth was better, but I just wanted for a moment to take credit for something that wasn’t mine. Life is always going to give us an opportunity to take credit for things we have no business taking credit for. The applause and the compliments are almost addicting. The spotlight feels good. We all crave to be recognized. But are we keeping the glory for ourselves, or are we turning the spotlight right back to God where it belongs. The average person in the world earns $2 per day. TWO DOLLARS. It’s amazing to me how quickly we can blow $2 and the average person had to put in a hard days labor (I’m talking labor like you and I have never experienced before) for the same $2 we spend on a chapstick we’ll lose tomorrow. So here we are with our money and our luxuries and our 1st world problems and we think it’s all because we’re good people. It’s because we are deserving somehow? It’s because we earned it. Pshhhhhhh – girl listen to me. None of the glory goes to us. Just as those weren’t my lashes and it was all a result of a $3 box of pixy wings affixed perfectly to my eyelids, all the goodness in our life is simply a result of God’s grace and mercy. Every success in our lives is all a result of God. I mean sure you worked – you put in some good effort. But don’t forget it was God that gave you the ability and the opportunity that TRULY made it happen. The credit goes to him. Make your life a stage which gives God the spotlight. Love God so big and so out-loud that your gratitude for all he has done in your life acts as a magnet to others. Pull them in to know your God by giving him the credit. It really wasn’t you. It was God. In Philippians chapter 3 Paul encourages us to stop bragging about ourselves and start praising God. I love how he puts together this impressive list of all his accomplishment and then he says they’re like “dung” – you know dung, manure, crap, a big pile of d00-doo – compared to what Christ is in his life. And that is us too. I don’t know how awesome your accomplishments are – perhaps your list of success will be mighty long this month, and I’m so proud of you – but please please remember this – God is the foundation of all those things. All good and perfect things are from above. Give him credit. The opportunities came because of Him. The connections were orchestrated by him. The strength is because of Him.

Today I will take you on a little journey through chapters 3 & 4 of Exodus. Oh I just know this will speak to you right where you are. Get ready, this one is for you. Yes, personally for you. In Exodus chapter 3, God speaks and says he has heard the cry of his people and he is moved to help them. His people were the Israelites and they had been held as slaves in Egypt. God says he saw how miserable they were and he was concerned about them. Did you know God gets concerned about you? He sees what you are going through. He hears your prayers. He is moved by you. He wants you to know today that he sees you. He knows exactly where you are and he’s going to do something about it. Verse 8 says “so I have come down to rescue them.” Oh yes, please Lord come down and rescue me. Is that your prayer this morning? Come rescue me. This is a big old mess. I see no way out. I’m completely stuck and God, you are my only hope. Come down and rescue me. So God has seen how miserable his people are. He has seen how they are being treated and he’s decided he’s doing something about it. I have come down to rescue them. Then he turns to Moses and says “So now, go. I am sending you.” Wait, hold up God, you said YOU have come down to rescue them, why are you sending me? Ahhhhhh, this is a powerful lesson today, listen up. God comes down with his power to work and move by sending us. We are his hands and feet. When God wants to do something, he moves you. So now, go. I am sending you. Wouldn’t we rather God just magically do something. Wouldn’t we rather him snap his fingers and change it all? I mean if I were God of the universe and this was my world, that’s the way I would have set it up. And you know what I would have on my hands? A bunch of ungrateful human beings who sat around and did nothing but complain waiting for their God to do everything. Maybe that’s why God doesn’t just say poof and fix our problems. He knows we would grow lazy. He knows we would be ungrateful. So instead he says, I’m coming down to rescue, but I’m coming down through YOU. So now, go. I am sending you. And here’s where it starts getting good. Moses begins arguing with God. Wait God, you’ve got the wrong guy. Can’t you pick someone else? Who am I that you would choose me God? God says, go I AM WITH YOU. But that wasn’t enough for Moses. Is it enough for you to know that God is with you? You do know that God is with you today. Whatever it is that you need to do today, whatever it is that you’re facing, you’re never alone. God is right there with you if you invite him. What I really love about God is he will not only be right beside you, but he will go before you at the same time. He will go in front to clear the way. And he will also go behind you. Oh yes, God’s got my back. He’s protecting me. And he’s protecting you. I like knowing I’m surrounded by God. I invite him into every car ride, every conversation, every meeting, every situation and he’s beside be, before me and behind me. I’m covered. Are you? Moses says, okay God I know you’re with me, but what if the Israelites don’t listen to me? What if they don’t believe me. After all, I’m just plain old Moses here God. And oh it’s about to get good. He says Moses, what do you have in your hand? A staff. God says throw it on the ground. Moses throws down the staff and it turns into a snake. Moses is a’scared of snakes and he runs. Then he says Moses, put your hand inside your coat and take it out. He does and his hand became covered in leprosy. Don’t you see, God just made things worse for Moses. What good he had in his hand he turned to a snake, then he gave him an illness. Why? Why did this happen to Moses? So that Moses would have a story.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die.” Life is like the changing seasons. There is a season for everything. Some seasons are harder than others. Some we look forward to and some we dread. Some times in our life are like the long hard winter where everything is suffering and stagnant. But what always follows winter? Always, since the beginning of time, spring time follows winter time. It was cold and bitter, then there’s sunshine and new growth. A very wise man taught me about the changing seasons and it began to change my life. About 12 years ago I became business partners with a successful businessman in El Paso, Texas. At the time he was in his late 70’s and had even more wisdom than he had money. His wisdom he shared. His money he invested. I was on the receiving end of his wisdom and he became my mentor. He introduced me to the teachings of a man named Jim Rohn. Jim was a motivational speaker whom I had never met in person, but I invited him into my life to speak to me every day in my bathroom. You see Jim Rohn had a 6 CD set of teachings called “The Art of Exceptional Living”. I listened to these same teachings over and over again until I had them memorized word for word. He taught me about the seasons. He made Ecclesiastes 3:1 come to life. He said “Life is like the changing seasons. You cannot change the seasons, but you can change yourself. Therein lies the opportunity to live an extraordinary life–the opportunity to change yourself.” And oh how right he was. As my life went through seasons, I learned I couldn’t change the seasons. Life was going to happen and I could fight it or I could learn from it. I could be miserable or I could seek the good. I could get bitter or I could get better. I COULD CHANGE. Each change of the seasons of life offers an opportunity to live an extraordinary life by changing yourself. I’m a summertime kinda girl. I love sunshine and sandals. I look forward to it every year. I also dread it’s end every year. But as I’ve grown, I recognize it is the winter that makes me appreciate the summer. It is the cold that makes the returning warmth so treasured. Do you think that perhaps God in all of his wisdom knew exactly what we needed for growth? Do you think it’s all by design so we could learn to grow and change ourselves and live the extraordinary life he has offered us from the beginning? I believe so. Life changes. Plain and simple, nothing stays the same. Sometimes that’s a good thing and sometimes it’s the most painful thing you will ever experience. One year ago today, I witnessed life forever change. My 34 year old best friend and mother of 4 babies took her last breath, and honestly it felt like things would never be okay again. It was a cold, dark season. For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die. I suppose it was her time to die and our time to let go. That was the season, and quite honestly it sucked. But seasons change and we must allow them to change. We can’t cling to a winter season forever. Spring arrives and we must step into it. Please listen to me, clinging to the winter where you lost something so precious doesn’t honor what you lost. When the winter passes and spring arrives, you honor what was lost in the winter by caring for what is now growing in the spring. Winter is now over. Spring is here. It is time for you to grow my friend. Your opportunity to get better is now. God allowed you to go through that winter in preparation for this new season. Deep down within you something has been changing and for the longest time you didn’t know what it was, but now it’s beginning to break through in your life.

Job 37 14: says “Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God’s wonders.” I always find it most powerful to personalize a scripture by inserting your own name. For me it’s “listen to this, Pamela; stop and consider God’s wonders.” Now it’s your turn – “listen to this, (insert your name); stop and consider God’s wonders.” Stop. Just stop. Right here, stop everything. In this moment, will you stop. Breathe. Do you feel that air filling your lungs? Don’t you know the very air your breath is the breath of God. He is the one who breathes life into you. You’ve been breathing your entire life, have you ever stopped to realize what this air is? Have you ever received it as the breath of God going into you, filling you, reviving you, strengthening you, sustaining you, giving you LIFE? Stop and consider God’s wonders. God’s wonders. A wonder is something beautiful and unexpected and inexplicable that causes admiration. God wants us to admire his wonders. He wants us to look at the painted sky during the sunrise and sunset and be speechless. Don’t you know that’s why it’s there? It’s a painting of his love for you, individually and personally. Today, you are surrounded by his wonders. The unexpected and inexplicable are all around you today. You can’t explain why or how your world is held perfectly in space and time, but it is. And you’re right here right now to experience it all. Stop and consider it all. Live in awe of the sheer, explainable awesomeness of life. Yesterday a friend of mine posted a video of her 9 month pregnant belly as her baby was rolling around. You could see this tiny miracle’s shoulder and elbow pushing from within, then it’s feet … you could see it’s feet kicking up again her belly. I can’t explain that. I don’t understand how that’s even possible. And yet every single one of us were once that baby miraculously growing within our mother’s womb. That was us. Jeremiah 1:5 says “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” God knew you before he made you. He chose you. He looked at you and said “Her. I want her. I choose her.” Won’t you stop and consider that today. You are chosen by the almighty. You are good enough. He has equipped you with every single thing you need to live your life and live it well. He is filling your lungs at this very moment with his breath, expecting you to show up and do something with it. Oh, the wonder of it all. May we all stop, just stop right here and consider the wonder of our very life. It is beautiful and unexpected and inexplicable. We can’t explain it or understand it all, so let’s stop trying. Let’s stop trying to figure it all out. Let’s stop worrying about how it’s all going to work out. Let’s lean into our creator who formed us in our mother’s wombs and knew us even before then, and trust the wonder of it all.  

Life sure has a way of knocking us down, doesn’t it? And when we are down we have a choice … stay down, or get up. What will your choice be today? What will you do when plans fall apart? What will you do when things don’t work out? What will you do when you’re disappointed? Will you stay down, or will you get back up? Yesterday in my church, our pastor takes the stage and says “Jesus got back up.” He repeated it over and over again. Jesus got back up. Oh yes he did. He got back up. You know the story having just celebrated Easter. Jesus had been buried in a tomb on Friday after being crucified on the cross. On Saturday the world fell silent. On Sunday women came to his tomb and found the stone had been rolled away. The tomb was empty. Two angels appeared to them and said in Luke 24: 6 “He is not here; he has risen.” Jesus got up. No, what happened on that cross wasn’t a bad dream. He did die. We did bury him, but he’s not here any more. He got up. He got up. He got up. And this is what God is asking you and I to do today. Get up. The first quarter of 2018 may not have gone as you had planned. Okay, welcome to the 2nd quarter, now get up. There may have been unfair things that happened to you and I’m truly sorry, now get up. You didn’t deserve to be knocked down, but do you deserve to have to stay down? If you stay down, you keep yourself there. You can get up now. Jesus left the grave behind him, now it’s your turn. Leave the grave behind you. Whatever has held you back in the past does not have to bind you today. Whatever tripped you up and caused you to stumble can be your history and it’s not part of your destiny. Leave it behind. You know what I love about Jesus? Well, there’s a whole lot of things I love about Jesus, but I love that he went through Hell for us, hung there on the cross and took on every sin and sickness on my behalf and your behalf, fully surrendered his life for you and I, was put in the grave where he stayed for 3 days … then he got up without the continual need to rehash all he had just gone through. When he showed back up with the disciples he was like “I’m here now. What’s done is done, that’s over now, I’m here and we have work to do.” As you get back up today, resist the urge to rehash how bad getting knocked down was. Don’t relive that crap. Don’t you know that’s what keeps you down? You’re only making it harder on yourself. Why would you reread that text message that rips your heart apart – delete it already. Why would you let the whole scene replay in your mind on a loop? Be done with it. When those images and thoughts start replaying in your mind, you change the channel. The remote for your life is in your hand. You choose what you think about. You choose what you talk about. It’s done. You can’t go back and change it. It’s over and maybe it really sucked. But you’re here now and you have work to do. Get up. You say, well just because Jesus got up doesn’t mean it will be that easy for me to get up. And you’re right – you’re not Jesus and it won’t be easy. But it is necessary. It is necessary for you to get up today and move forward. It is necessary for you to show up for your life and do what needs to be done. It is necessary for you to carefully choose your thoughts and your words so you don’t get stuck again. Wherever you once were in life, let it be said of you – oh, she’s not here anymore, she has risen. Yeah, maybe you were the girl who was really dealt a bad hand with your childhood, but you’re not there anymore, you have risen. Maybe you were the woman who went through one heck of a divorce and it nearly killed you, but you’re not there anymore,

Luke 23: 33 & 34 When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing. Today we remember the Crucifixion of Jesus. His execution on a cross. It’s called Good Friday. But how could this be good? How could the brutal death of Jesus, the perfect son of God who never sinned, how could that be good? Shouldn’t this be Dark Friday, or Sad Friday, or Forsaken Friday? Wouldn’t the title of “Worst Day Ever” be more fitting? But no, it’s Good Friday. And I want you to remember this forever … what seems bad today may be good for your tomorrow. What was terrible on that day when the skies went dark from noon to 3 pm, what was unthinkable on that day when they nailed our Jesus to a cross, what was horrendous on that day when the whole earth shook as Jesus died, was actually good for all of our tomorrows. The worst day ever changed everything for the good. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus on that cross, because of his blood that was shed for you and for me, we are now covered. We are forgiven. We are accepted. And we will have an eternal home in Heaven. But first, the bad stuff. First the suffering. First the death. Then the resurrection. Then the promise. And that is why today is Good Friday. What a glorious day. A day when the enemy surely thought he had won, but everything he did was used by God for good. And you can be assured God is working the same in your life today. Just as God has plans for you, the enemy has plans for you. Sometimes God allows the enemy’s plans to touch you and quite honestly, I don’t like it. I hate it when harm is allowed in my family. When people get sick, when our future is threatened, when dreams come crashing down, when we are shaken to our core. But then our mighty God comes in and says, “my daughter this may be bad today BUT I’M GOING TO USE IT FOR GOOD. JUST WATCH ME WORK!!!!!” Genesis 50:20 says You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Most everything good in my life has come as a result of something seemingly bad or hard happening first. Think about it, I bet the same is true for your life. Being unfairly fired from a job forced me to jump out in faith and follow my passion doing this. Learning how to walk and talk again after a stroke set my feet on a stage to share my story and find my purpose. How many children have been saved and adopted because first a family suffered from infertility. First it was bad, then God used it for good. How many financial disasters have been used as turning points. How many rock bottoms have been solid foundations to begin building again? Will you trust that although the enemy meant it for harm, God is indeed at work in your life right now, using it for good? He always has and he always will. Today we remember our Jesus willingly dying on that cross for us. For me and for you, individually. He didn’t have to. He could have saved himself. He could have called down a thousand angels from Heaven. But he didn’t. He was thinking of you and he shed his blood for you. Individually, personally for you. And it was good. That’s why today is Good Friday. Because we have a good, good father and a loving Jesus who couldn’t bare to leave you alone. And so he died just to know you.

Deuteronomy 20:4 – For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.” Whatever it is you are battling, may I remind you God is right there battling with you, fighting for you. But goodness gracious, sometimes it doesn’t feel like it, does it. This week I’ve spoken to several women who feel totally and completely defeated. They are exhausted from the battle. Do you relate? Are you growing weary of the struggle. You probably thought at this stage of life you wouldn’t be going through THIS (whatever this is). There are some things recently in my own life that have just shocked the crapola right out of me too. But this morning I want to give you a few truths. These truths will not get you out of the battle, but perhaps they will give you hope in the battle. First – YOU ARE OF TREMENDOUS VALUE. The enemy knows your potential much better than you do. He knows you have the potential to be the one to rise up and impact your entire family. He knows you are THE one who could create and influence and lead. And because you are so darn valuable with all this potential, honey you have a big target on your back. All good things come under attack. That’s just the name of the game. So you know what your struggle means my sister … it means you are a GOOD THING. Oh yes you are – you are a good, good thing. AND GOD IS ON YOUR SIDE. He is for you, not against you. Whatever you are battling right now, please understand this … GOD WANTS TO GIVE YOU VICTORY IN THIS. Not temporary victory – not kindof almost victory – FULL and complete victory. The enemy can’t permanently defeat you, so he tries to give you a defeated mindset. Those feelings of embarrassment, that’s where they come from. You know that feeling of, “I could never tell anyone my family has struggled with addictions, alcohol, drugs, pornography … aren’t those things only bad families face? So we hide behind our closed doors, creating our own private little hell. The victory has been won, but we live defeated. Embarrassed. Now, let me give you some hope – In those times when you have felt most alone, when the path you were walking was nearly impossible and you didn’t know how you would get up and do it again the next day … and yet somehow you did. THAT IS WHEN GOD WAS CARRYING YOU. Do you remember the poem ‘Footprints?” As a little girl I remember reading this poem at my grandma’s house over and over again to the point I have it almost memorized. Here goes …. One night I dreamed a dream. As I was walking along the beach with my Lord. Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, One belonging to me and one to my Lord. After the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that at many times along the path of my life, especially at the very lowest and saddest times, there was only one set of footprints. This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it. “Lord, you said once I decided to follow you, You’d walk with me all the way. But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life, there was only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.” He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you Never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you.” Perhaps you are in the middle of one of those “saddest and most troublesome times” of your life. GOD IS CARRYING YOU.

Today’s devotional is specifically for screwed up people. If you are less than perfect, if you are coming to the end of a month that didn’t go as you imagined and it’s kinda like 97% your fault, if you are a good starter – bad finisher, big talker – little doer, or somewhere in between, this is for you. If you’re living in a house with screwed up people, work with screwed up people, or share a highway with screwed up people, this devotional is for you. Okay great – we’re all here! Romans 3:23-24 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” GRACE IS THE UNDESERVED FAVOR OF GOD Maybe you deserve God’s favor more than I do, but I’m going to be honest and tell you I’m banking on God’s grace because I have a very unique and special way of screwing things up. I can be so totally scattered that I drive organized, routine people insane (ask my leadership team.) Having a conversation with me is like having a conversation with 5 people at once because I can jump from one topic to the next at lightning speed with no warning. I can literally see my husband’s face jerk from left to right and back to left as he’s trying to chase my rapid thoughts. And for all of this I have GRACE. And for all of your screw-ups, shortcomings and totally random quirky ticks, you have grace too. God’s undeserved favor covers you. I consider grace like a blanket that just layers right over all the holes in my life and makes me worthy and holy. God has been offering you GRACE your entire life – have you accepted it? Or are you still trying to beat yourself into submission, trying to contort yourself into something you’re not, relentlessly seeking more, newer, skinnier, and perkier? How’s that working for ya? You’re exhausted aren’t you? Won’t you just surrender to God’s grace and let him cover all that for you? One of my secrets to success is my Daily Checklist. I’ve shared it with you before, my simple little tracking tool of the daily stepping stones to success. Each day has a series of boxes. A box for your wake up time, exercise, meeting your water goal, eating healthy meals, making your bed, prayer and devotional, looking good, unplugging, and whatever else would be a daily step to your success. And each day you get to color in the boxes you complete. It takes us back to getting a star on our paper when we were in first grade and we can’t wait to show it to mama when we get home. We’re so proud of our little colorful boxes. Until we screw up … until we oversleep and that box is left blank. Until we fail to exercise and there’s another empty box. And dang that bed didn’t get made. One day goes by, then another of more empty boxes than colored boxes and pretty soon you know what we start doing … we start AVOIDING the checklist. What once helped us is now just an ugly reminder of how we screwed up again. The same thing happens outside of a daily checklist. When we don’t do what we know we need to do in life, we start avoiding LIFE. Relationships – we avoid relationships when we know we have failed. Finances – I mean who wants to look at the bank statement when we know we’ve been blowing our money? And so we avoid the areas where we’ve had a mis-step and what happens when you avoid it? Does it get better? No – of course not. It gets worse. There are a whole lot of marriages in crisis today because of a little neglect that grew out of control and neither the husband or wife wanted to face that initial mess up. And it doesn’t just stop at marriages. Moms and daughters no longer speak. Sisters won’t be in the same room with one another. Life long friends have severed ties. All because of a little neglect that grew out of control. So what do we do? We receive and we offer GRACE. Grace grace, God’s grace.

There are countless devotionals out there, perhaps this is the first one ever titled like this one. We warned you we wouldn’t be ordinary or boring. So here it is “When Life Sucks”, because sometimes it kinda does, doesn’t it? This time of year, farmers often burn their fields. Yes, the fields they work so hard to protect. The fields which produce their precious harvest. Right now, they burn them. Everything that was growing is set on fire to perish. It seems kind of counter productive. All growth is intentionally stopped. Everything is burned down to the bare ground leaving a charred black blanket. It wasn’t an accident. The fire was intentional. Sometimes we go through fires in our life. What we had is now lost. What once flourished is now a charred ground after destruction. And we’re left standing in the fields of our life wondering how it will ever be okay again. Why does this happen to us? Why does God allow the fires to strip us of the very things we’ve worked hard for? Why all the trials and stresses? Well, it’s not like God didn’t warn us. 1 Peter 4:12 says “Don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.” While the setbacks and trials you’re facing right now seem senseless and overwhelming, this isn’t strange at all. It’s all by design. And you can trust that design is FOR you, not against you. Oh, it won’t “feel” like it’s for you as your fields are on fire and things go up in smoke, but ultimately it is for your good. You see, those fields that are being burned right now by the farmers, the ones that are nothing but a charred black blanket today, will be florescent green in just a few weeks. Because the old has been cleared away, the new can grow in abundance. And isn’t it the same in our lives? We try so desperately to hold on to what has been when it’s season has already passed. Last year’s grass has died, let it be cleared away now. Let go of what was and embrace what God is doing in your life now. The fires you feel today are a sign God is about to bring growth and renewal to you. 1 Peter 1: 6 says “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.” There is wonderful joy ahead, but first trials. First fire. First the old must be burned away … then the new can flourish. I’ve learned to trust the fires in my life. Now it doesn’t mean I look forward to them, but it does mean I don’t fight them so darn hard anymore. Life is like the seasons. Constantly changing and evolving, growing and becoming. The more we fight it, the harder we make it for ourselves. Embrace the season of life you’re in now. There’s beauty around you. There are things you have today that you won’t have in the next season. Don’t miss it now. And when your fields get set on fire, know it is for a purpose. Don’t be surprised when some things go up in smoke. It’s all good. Say that with me, it’s all good. It may not feel good and it may not look good for a while. Charred black fields are an eyesore. But wow, when that brand new fluorescent green grass starts growing in, you see it was all worth it and your fields are better because of it. God’s not trying to destroy you. He’s always on your side, working for you, going before you and making a way. He knows what is best for you, he knows what will help you grow into the person he had in mind when he created you, and he’s not afraid of a little fire to get you there. New growth is ahead. Your season is about to change. Don’t give up in the fires.

Proverbs 4:23 – Above all else, guard your heart, or everything you do flows from it. Guard your heart. Imagine standing guard outside a gate. As the guard you decide what comes in and what stays out. And this is exactly what God’s word is telling us to do with out hearts. Guard it. Be diligent in care over what you allow into your life. Not everything that comes knocking on your door should be allowed entry. As the guard over your heart, you must carefully consider what enters in. Some translations of this scripture exchange the word heart for mind. Guard your mind. Your heart and your mind represent your power and both must be guarded. When we allow the wrong things to enter into our source of power, our very well being and futures are threatened. Why are we not asking, as the guard of our heart and mind, where does this thought come from? Who is the author of this story I’m believing? What is the intent of this person? Where will this lead me? We’ve stopped asking these questions, and therefore as the appointed guard over our heart and mind, we’ve stood down and allowed entry into our control central by unholy and corrupted thoughts and actions. And just as this scripture say, everything we do is flowing from it. Could this be why we end up doing the very things we say we don’t want to do? Could this be why we don’t do the very things we know we should be doing? Could it be because we have failed to guard our heart and minds? Your thoughts are powerful. God warned us to take every thought captive to obey Christ. As the guard of your mind, when you become aware of a thought that is not in alignment with God’s grace, mercy and love then you take it captive. You arrest it. You bind it. You evict it from the sacred space of your mind. The truth is sometimes we allow crazy thoughts to run wild in our minds. We allow painful reminders to have a rave in our hearts. And the result is chaos in our lives. We go to bed upset and we wake up overwhelmed before the day even begins. AND THAT IS NOT GOD’S WILL FOR YOU. That is not his best for you. He wants better for you. Don’t you want better for you? Everything you do is flowing from your heart and your mind. Guard it. Relentlessly protect what enters your life and what you accept as your truth. The enemy wants your heart. If he can’t get it, he will settle for your mind. And oh how often he wins that battle. He keeps you wrapped up in the plethora of your own thoughts, unable to take action. He keeps you confused and uncertain, bound in uncertainty and lack of confidence. He plants seeds of worry and doubt which create a harvest of depression and anxiety. All because you failed to keep guard. You let him in. You gave him access. Take back the authority over your own life. God gave you this life to live, now live it. Anything that is not in alignment with exactly who you were created to be has got to go. Banish it’s presence from your life. What are you watching? What are you reading? What are you listening to? Who are you hanging out with? Where are you going and what are you doing? How are you spending your time? Who is speaking into your life? Girl, you need to start asking for some identification from the thoughts knocking on your door. You need to ask for the ID of things which want to come into your life. Where are they coming from? Who sent them? Your ID please. You’re the guard. You have the power to allow or deny their entry into your heart and mind. And from your heart and from your mind, everything you do flows from them. Everything. If you’re not doing what you should be doing, struggling with making the right choices and taking action, then check what you’ve allowed to come into your heart and mind. Anything without the proper ID has got to be kicked out!