BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

Ephesians 2:10 – For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. One of my all time favorite books is Love Does by Bob Goff. Bob is a simple man who lives a totally incredible life. He has more stories and tales from one year of living than most of us have in a lifetime of living. Because of his love for Jesus, he simply lives differently. And isn’t that what you and I should be doing? Shouldn’t we be living differently than the rest of the world? Shouldn’t our faith cause us to do some pretty awesome things? Perhaps my favorite chapter of the book is chapter 22. Let me share one of his stories with you to illustrate today’s important and memorable devotional. Bob is not an art collector, but he fell in love with a magnificent oil painting hanging in a gallery. The piece was called ‘The Puppeteer.’ It was a painting of an old guy with his family gathered around and he’s dangling a marionette from strings, making everybody laugh. The artist was an 80 year old master painter from Europe who was going blind, making this piece pretty much priceless. For 1 year Bob saved up and finally bought the painting. When he walked into the gallery there were 2 paintings waiting for him to pick up. 2 paintings which looked exactly the same. Now how could this be? This was an original painting, how could there be 2? The gallery owner explained, when you purchase a priceless piece such as this one, you get the original, but you also get a copy. Because it is a priceless masterpiece you don’t want to take the risk of having it damaged or stolen, so you lock it away in a vault and you only display the copy. Now, because the most expense piece of art hanging on my wall likely cost about $69 from the local Hobby Lobby, I had never heard of such a thing. It’s like a 2 for 1 special … but they look exactly the same. But the really mind blowing part to me is you put the fake one on display and you hide the original masterpiece. Scripture tells us we are God’s masterpiece. There is no one like you. No one with your fingerprints. No one with your gifts and talents. No one with your passions and dreams. No one with your potential and possibilities. You are in fact hand crafted by the master artist, a work of pure perfection. Are you living your life as the original – or have you put the fake version on display? I’ll let that resonate for just a moment. Please someone tell me I’m not alone in this. There’s the real me … then there’s the fake me. That fake me plays it safe. That fake me intentionally shrinks back as to not be too much or too loud or too happy. Gosh, it almost sounds ridiculous even coming out of my mouth. I am guilty of intentionally hiding my happy because my sheer happiness seems to make some people uncomfortable. The real me – the original me – the priceless masterpiece me is often locked away in a vault, kept hidden from the world because: 1 – People might not like the real me and it’s easier to handle the rejection if it’s just the imitation of me. 2 – If the cheaper, fake version of me is the one on display, then the real me can’t get hurt. Are you living authentic to who you were created to be? Is the real you – the priceless masterpiece YOU the one waking up in your bed and making the choices in your life – or has that job been left to the fake imitation of you? The lesser than version. Have you been playing little? Acting less than? Diminishing your value? After years and years of pretending to be less than you were created to be, you eventually have no choice but to believe deep down in you that you’re not good enough. What a shame. Oh how the creator of the masterpiece must be heartbroken to know we doubt our value. We question our shape and our design. We hide who we really are to try to fit in when we were created to stand out.

2 Corinthians 9:7 “God loves a cheerful giver.” That could be the most hated scripture ever. Why? Because it’s a guilt trip over our money. Here take your hard earned money that you scratched and clawed your way up to make, the money that doesn’t ever seem to go far enough, the money that you desperately always need more of, and give some of it away. Oh and BE HAPPY ABOUT IT. It’s not just enough to give your money, but you better do it with a smile through your gritted teeth. Well, I’m not going to talk to you about money today. However, I will personally tell you, I’ve seen doors that were closed my entire life be flung wide open when I got my heart and mind right about money. But I truly believe that’s a lesson we each must learn on our own journey because no one is going to convince you the power of a dollar given away until you do it under your own might. God loves a cheerful giver. Now here’s where I’m going to blow your mind. Ready … you have more to give than just your money and you have more places to give than just Sunday in Church. This is about your life and this is about your life today. Right here, this Monday. Will you be a cheerful giver? Let’s take an inventory of what you have available to give today. Your time. In this single day you have 24 hours – or 1,440 minutes. Will you give your time cheerfully to someone today? OR WILL IT BE A CHORE FOR YOU TO SIT DOWN AT THE TABLE WITH THEM? How many of us are there, but we’re not really there? We’re begrudgingly showing up and checking the box (oh there’s a lesson from last week) but we don’t really want to be there. That’s not GIVING your time … that’s allowing someone or something to TAKE your time. Today will you GIVE your time. Purposely. Intentionally. Cheerfully. Will you gladly be there? Will you fully be there? God loves that. He loves when you cheerfully show up for your own life and invest in it. He loves when you are fully there, engaged. What else do you have to give today? Your energy. Within you is the power to GSD. Get stuff done today. You have a set of 2 choices. Do it – or don’t do it. If you should do it, then you have another choice to make – Do it happy – or do it miserable. Colossians 3:23 says “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.” There are a whole lot of people showing up for work today miserable. They’re there, they’re completing the tasks before them, but it’s not because they want to be. How incredibly sad. How sad that there are moms holding babies, wishing they were somewhere else. How sad that there are moms running forgotten lunches and backpacks to school, wishing they were somewhere else. How sad there a moms kicking off spring break with their kids, already exhausted and on edge, wishing they were somewhere else. Or the girl that landed the job and is bringing home the paycheck, you know the job she prayed for … and she’s just wishing she didn’t have to work today. Oh has she forgotten that job was given to her. It’s a blessing. She’s giving her energy to that work today, but it’s begrudgingly. But what if she could show up to work today and be a cheerful giver? Do you know how much better the day would be? Same work, different attitude. God loves a cheerful giver – yes I believe it brings him joy to see his girls giving of their time and energy with happiness – however on a deeper level I believe God loves a cheerful giver because he knows what it does for us. He knows he created us to thrive when we are giving our most valuable resources from a place of plenty. And there’s the secret … a place of plenty. Don’t you recognize you have more than enough? You don’t have to live in lack. Not when the creator of the universe is on your side. Not when the owner of the cattle on a thousand hills, the maker of heaven and earth,

I love check-lists. I like little boxes to fill in. I’m a ‘make a list and check it off one by one’ kind of girl. There’s a feeling of great success when I come to the end of the day and I’ve marked off each line of my long list of chores, tasks and duties. I have 21 items on my daily checklist that measure a successful day. Already by 6 am, if I’m on track I should have marked off 7 of the 21. BUT, there is great danger here. Life is so much more than a list of to-dos. We can’t be fulfilled by simply checking the box. How unfortunate would it be to look back on our life and realize all we really accomplished were thousands of boxes being checked. Life is more than folded laundry. Life is more than a wake up time and a bed time. Life is more than mopped floors. Life is more than a meal plan or a thrifty budget. Oh all of those things are wonderful … and necessary. But my love, don’t miss the LIVING while you’re living. Today isn’t just another day to be marked off the calendar. Don’t you realize the number of times you will drive your kids to school is in fact numbered? Limited. Don’t you realize the number of times you wake up in this home is numbered? Don’t you realize the number of times you go here and do that is numbered? Don’t you see it’s all more than just a task to accomplish today – it’s a moment to treasure. There’s an expiration date on everyone and everything around you. If we only knew that expiration date we would likely handle people with more care. If we only knew how temporary and perishable this all is today would likely look and feel a whole lot different. It’s not just a box to check. Get out of the darn box. Don’t get stuck in the list. If we’re not intentional and fully present, our whole life becomes one big box to check. Fall in love – check. Have babies – check. Work – check. Buy crap – check. Clean my crap – check. Go on vacation – check. Work some more – check. Wake up my friend. This day is God’s gift. It’s not a box to check. This is all you get. Make the most of this one. Whatever it is you have to do to, don’t just do it to do it, do it to experience it. Be fully present in the moment. Experience it all the way. Participate in your life. Remember why you’re doing it. What’s the blessing behind the chore? Dishes – oh that’s because your family just ate. That’s beautiful. Commute to work – oh that’s because they chose you for the job. Remember the day you got the call that you were hired? Yes, they still choose you. How fortunate. That workout you’re supposed to do today – oh that’s because you’re not laying in a hospital bed. You have this body that is working and now you get to work it. What a miracle. Ecclesiastes 9: 7-9 MSG Seize life! Eat bread with gusto, Drink wine with a robust heart. Oh yes—God takes pleasure in your pleasure! Dress festively every morning. Don’t skimp on colors and scarves. Relish life with the spouse you love Each and every day of your precarious life. Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange For the hard work of staying alive. Make the most of each one! Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily! This is your last and only chance at it. Have you let life become a series of boxes to check? Stop it. That’s nonsense. Breathe in life fully today. Be fully present. Seize life. When you’re eating, enjoy your food. When you’re driving, look at the world around you with fresh new eyes. As you live today, remember to really live. It feels oh so good to be alive. We are so fortunate. Participate in your life. Get off the bench and get in the game. Imagine this weekend centered around today’s scripture. Get out of the box. It’s not about the checklist.

Isaiah 40:31 – “Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” This is one of my all time favorite scriptures. Several years ago I was on about mile 20 of a marathon in Joplin, MO and we passed a church that was holding their worship service outside. Members of their congregation were holding signs to cheer on the runners. As I ran by one sign caught my eye and it said “you will run and not grow weary.” I burst out in tears. Okay, so I need to explain. I’m a crier. I don’t typically cry when I’m sad or angry, but rather when I’m happy. I will burst out in happy tears. I’m also a sympathy crier. I don’t even need to know you or know what you’re crying about, but I’ll cry with you. But I’m primarily a spiritual crier. I rarely make it through an entire church service without tears. Worship music gets me. Prayer gets me. 5 years ago when God instructed me to start hosting a live morning devotional call my first response was “God, you know me – you know I can’t quote a single scripture without crying. I can’t pray in front of people without crying. This will be a huge mess.” And he said, yes. So cry your way through it and I will strengthen you as you go. I’m here to tell you that very first live devotional I hosted last a whole 5 minutes and I was choked up the entire time. But still for some reason God chose this crier to be strengthened so I could show up every day and help put a pep in your step. Now, back to the story. I’m running. Mile 20. Church is on the side of the road with a worship service. Man holding a sign that says “you will run and not grow weary”. Me, burst into tears. Because you see, I was tired. My legs felt like they couldn’t keep going. Lord, my hope is in you, please renew my strength because I’m not sure how much longer I can keep running. Now, trying to run when you’re exhausted, hot, sweaty, and emotional … whew, that equals hyperventilation. Not a combination I recommend. But it’s exactly what I needed. You see, I felt weary. But I didn’t have to GROW WEARY. I didn’t have to let that tiredness seep into my mind and my soul. Maybe you feel weary too. It’s the halfway mark of March. Maybe things have been a little harder than you anticipated. Those big goals you wrote two weeks ago have gone untouched and at this point are pretty much impossible. What’s a girl to do when she feels weary? Answer – stop paying so much attention to how you FEEL. Those feelings will get you in trouble. Your feelings will talk you out of doing the very things you know you need to do. Your feelings will seep into your every thought and then right into your spirit and guess what, then you will GROW weary. You don’t want to grow that. That means it will multiply in your life. And before you know it you won’t feel like doing a darn thing. Now that’s a dangerous place to be. So, you may feel weary, but you don’t have to grow weary. Now, let me point out this scripture says you will run and not grow weary. YOU WILL RUN. This means you still gotta show up. You still have work to do. God’s not gonna run for you. You still have running to do. Maybe literally and maybe not. But you have things you need to be doing. What are those things you need to do today? No one else is going to show up and do it for you. Run your own race. You. And as you show up and do what you need to do and refuse to give in to all the feelings that tell you you’re too tired and too busy, God will protect you from growing weary. Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. Renew it. You know what that means?

You are a walking talking contradiction to yourself. You are complex and confusing. Oh come on and admit it you’re a strong independent woman who says “I can do this on my own” – yet you’re wondering why no one is helping you. You want one thing – you say another thing – and yet you do something totally different than both of those things. Girl you are complicated. And God totally gets you. He gets you. He knows your thoughts before you think them. He knows exactly what brings you happiness and he knows what trips you up. He knows the number of hairs on your head. And he is working hard for you. He is working to bring out the best in you. Working to grow you and strengthen you to walk in your full potential. While you may have forgotten who you were created to be, God knows exactly who he created you to be and HE IS NOT GIVING UP ON YOU. He is relentlessly pursuing you all the days of your life pulling strings, rearranging plans, creating roadblocks to slow you down so you don’t miss it and planning setups to launch you to new levels of living. You are not on your own. No matter how alone you may feel. Got gets you and he is with you. Besides God there is likely only one other who gets you. It’s not your husband, your mama, your bestie or even you. You don’t even really get you. You surprise and dismay yourself sometimes with your stubborn ways and stupid choices, huh? We’re all in that boat. The one besides God who gets you is not for you, he is against you. He is your enemy. Listen to me, please, this is important – Satan gets you. He knows exactly what brings you happiness and how to steal it. He knows what trips you up and has his finger ever ready to pull the trigger to make you fail miserably. You have the power to either slam the door on the enemy, or swing it wide open for him to run rampant in your mind, in your relationships, in your finances and in your health. Have you left your life open to the attacks of the enemy? Has the one who is against you been playing in your head? Has he been running the show and making your decisions for you? For many of us, the answer is yes. We’ve just been going through the motions of life and allowed the negativity to overtake our thoughts and actions and as a result we are living far below our potential as just a shell of the women we were created to be. That’s not God. That’s not his plan for you. That’s the result of an open door of access to the enemy and the destruction in your life is a result of his access. So, are you ready to close that door? Are you ready to reclaim the life and blessings God is offering you? Awesome, I’m really glad you are listening this morning. In James 4:7 the bible says Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. And this is exactly what we will do. We will submit ourselves to God and we will resist the devil. How about a breakdown in exactly how to do that today? First, submit yourself to God. There isn’t a 10 step detailed plan with a ritual you must follow. God is so accessible. He is personal. He is your Papa. To submit yourself to him you can simply quiet yourself and say God I am yours. My favorite way to surrender to God is to sing to him. I am yours. You are mine and I am yours. I need you. I want you in my life. I surrender every detail to you. Please guide me. Remember, he gets you. He understands you. And he still loves you wildly. He loves you even more because he gets you. Now, how do you resist the devil? First resisting the devil is a natural bi-product of submitting yourself to God. When you are submitting and surrendering to God, you are resisting the devil. You are clinging to truth instead of his lies. Focus your attention on the submission instead of the resistance. Recognize the imitations the enemy is offering you and turn away from his cheap dealings. He offers you quick and easy.

How hard is it for you to believe in yourself? Maybe you’ve spent your entire life being told that you’re not good enough, and maybe the person doing the talking has been you. When you start believing that you can, you’re half way there. Please my sister, recognize, you can be a masterpiece while still being a work in progress. Psalms 139:14 tells me that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Luke 12:7 tells me that I am of great value. Philippians 4:13 tells me that I can do all things through Him. Every one of those scriptures apply to you too. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, you are of great value, and you can do all things through him. You have been given this life to live, so today, do that. That’s what I want you to do. But more importantly, that’s what your creator wants you to do today. Live this day of life and live it well! Believe you are worthy of this life that you have been given. Be that girl who believed she could, so she did. I have a powerful question specifically for you. In fact it’s so powerful, I encourage you to write it down and put it on your mirror for the next week. Are you ready for the question: What will you do with this one beautiful life because you believed you could? That better stir something in you. God has already given you everything it takes, all that’s been missing is your faith. Faith in yourself. You’ve forgotten that you’re good enough. You’ve forgotten that you’re fully capable. Maybe you’ve forgotten that you’re worth it too. But hey you, you who was fearfully and wonderfully made by the creator of the universe. You who are of great value to the King of all Kings. You who can do all, A-L-L, things through him. Yes, all things and that includes whatever you’re facing right now. All includes this, and you CAN do it through Him. It’s time you start believing that you can, because actually, you can. So, what will you do with this one beautiful life because you believed you could? God has been working on you for years. Oh if you only knew all the behind the scenes work he has done to bring you to this exact place today. It’s nothing short of a miracle that you are here and you are listening, and it’s all by design. You are meant to hear this today and God wants you to know that YOU ARE READY. You’re ready to step into the fullness of your potential. You are ready to follow those dreams that he planted in you. He’s brought you through the fires, he’s protected you through the storms, he’s strengthened you through the battles and now you are ready. Look at all he has done; don’t you believe in Him? Look at all you have come through; don’t you believe in you? What will you do with this one beautiful life because you believed you could? God is looking for some bold girls to rise up and DO SOMETHING with their life. Do something to make an impact. Do something to make a difference. Do something that brings them back to life. Do something that makes them excited to wake up each morning. Do something that brings joy and passion and pizazz back to their family. Because you’re the girl. You’re the one he handcrafted as a masterpiece and included every single thing it would require to achieve it all. Now you have to believe. Have faith in the girl he made. Have faith he made you whole and complete. Have faith he gave you that dream. And have faith he’s going to go with you as you dare to do something with this one beautiful life.

How did you wake up this morning? I mean other than extra sleepy because of the time change. Did you wake up believing that today is going to hold something good, or did you wake up dreading what this day may hold? Faith is believing in a positive outcome. Fear is believing in a negative outcome. So which one was it for you this morning, faith or fear? Faith is a choice and it’s always an option. I’m encouraging you to choose faith today. Believe that God has already gone before you – he has made a way and because of that you can look forward to today. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is being confident in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” For some of us faith comes easily and natural because we’ve been taught that it’s safe to have faith. For others, faith is a real struggle because of our experiences. For some our personalities are more the questioning type and faith isn’t easily proven. I believe God is calling each one of us into a deeper faith in him. And God is refining us now into either an active faith, or a be still and know that I am God faith. What do I mean by that? An active faith. An active faith doesn’t sit on the couch begging God to show up, but an active faith brings its work boots and it’s ready to do everything it possibly can. You see, in my life I find that God shows up and does what only he can after I show up and do what I can. So ask yourself today, is there a relationship or a situation where you have been begging for God to show up, you have been begging for God to move mountains, but nothing’s been changing? You’re at a dead stand still. Well could it be because there’s still work that you could do? Stop expecting God to do work that you can do. He has equipped you to do some things and he’s expecting you to do them. You’re a grown woman! Get in there and do everything that you can with an active faith! Is God calling you into an active faith today and saying, “Put on your work boots sister!” But sometimes, God will give you clear instructions to be still. You may want to take crazy immediate action. You want to take this thing into your own hands, but God is speaking in your spirit saying, “Be still.” Is God calling you into a “Be still and know that I am God” faith today? I’ll admit, God has been calling me into that “Be still and know that I am God” faith lately and I don’t like it. I don’t. I want to take action, but instead it’s been a “Be still Pamela. Just be still. Keep your mouth closed. Resist the urge to take action, and be still.” It’s a reminder that I don’t have it all together and I can’t do it all on my own. I’m not supposed to do it all on my own. So today, where’s your faith in God needing a bit of refining? Do you need more active faith? Do you need to stop waiting for God to do it for you? Here’s a clue, how many times do you ask others to pray for you, or for a situation, that you haven’t prayed for yourself? Why is that so easy for us? We will run to anybody and everybody, but we haven’t even prayed. We haven’t been on our own knees. If you’re not willing to get on your knees, God has a unique way of bringing you there and you’re not going to like it. God has brought me to my knees many times because I refused to get there on my own. Today, do you need to improve your work ethic? Get your hands dirty? Do you need to remember to do all you can, then trust God to do all you can’t do? Or do you need refining in the “Be Still and know that I am God” way? Have you been doing, going, pushing, pulling and God is saying, “Girl! Be still! Trust me with this one, I’ve got it.” A simple way to know where your faith needs refining today is to examine what is natural to you. Are you naturally a doer, are you a go go go, push push push kind of person? Or are you a thinker? A planner that a ten-step plan in writing person. Which one are you more naturally like? The doers likely need to be still in their faith...

2 Timothy 1:7 – For God does not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-discipline. Did you get that? The Spirit God gives us doesn’t make us live in fear, but it gives us power, love, and self-discipline. God has given each of us gifts, and in this scripture we learn three gifts that God is trying to lavish on us daily. It’s like he’s constantly trying to deal them out to us. “Here, this is my gift for you today. I’ve got some power. I’ve got some love. And I’ve got some self-discipline.” Listen to me! The power, and the love, and the self-discipline that you need to live today isn’t all up to you. You don’t have to manufacture this stuff yourself. You’re not alone in this. God is offering you each of these as a gift through his spirit, and the only thing holding you back is you. The only thing holding me back is me. I know what I could do, I know what I should do, but when it comes right down do it, I’m lacking the power, I’m lacking the love, and I’m often lacking the self-discipline to do it. And for this I have the spirit of God living in me. Your lack of power, your failing love, and your weak self-discipline bring you back to God over and over again and the truth is, God allows some things in your life just to remind you that he is God and you can’t do it without him. You woke up this morning to God once again offering you the gifts of power, love, and self-discipline. So I have an idea, let’s thank him for these gifts and rip into them today. I need these gifts! Yes God! Thank you! I receive them! Along with these 3 gifts waiting for you today is another offer with a big bow on it. This gift is familiar to you, offered to you every day of your life from your enemy. Yes, Satan offers gifts and his signature gift for you is FEAR. How many days have you opened his gift and carried it around with you every hour of the day.? You put on that fear from the enemy and wear it like your favorite sweater. It’s become part of you – you don’t leave home without it – you don’t go to bed without it. May you remember that fear didn’t come from God. That wasn’t one of his gifts – that came from the enemy. Won’t you loosen your grip on the fear today? Won’t you release it so you can receive the 3 gifts God is offering you instead? Don’t you see how your fear has done nothing but hold you back and keep you stuck? That’s some of Satan’s finest work. Step out of his plan today! Next, decide you won’t try to power through in your own strength. You don’t have what it takes and you’re not supposed to. It doesn’t mean that you’re lacking or not good enough. Those are lies from the enemy. If you’ve been hearing that you’re lacking or not good enough, that message didn’t come from God. You were created to need God. I once heard that we all were created with a God-sized hole within that only he can fill. I don’t know which of these three gifts you most need today, whether it be power, love, or self-discipline, but God has the perfect sized power, the perfect sized love, and the perfect sized self-discipline available for you today. Whatever you may be facing right now, it’s an opportunity to experience a God sized power in your life. The mountain is too big for you to move yourself. Newsflash, you’re not supposed to move it yourself. For this you have the gift of God’s power. The person who is a thorn in your side, the one causing you havoc, the one who is so darn unlovable right now. You’re just done and you can’t love them on your own, well you’re not supposed to. For this you have the power of God’s love. The goal that you’ve tried again and again to achieve, the task that never gets completed, the one you simply don’t have enough self-discipline to be successful with, you’re not supposed to, for this you have the power of God’s self-discipline. God’s spirit living within you removes fear and comes bearing gifts.

I have a little quiz for you today, some bible trivia. I will quote the first part of a famous scripture and let’s see if you can complete it. Ready? “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us … “ This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. That’s Psalms 118:24. It’s saying God has made this day, now here’s what we should do with it – celebrate and be happy about it. God made the day, we should enjoy it to the max. No doubt God made this day, but will we rejoice? Will we be glad in it? Will we live it like it’s a gift? Will we squeeze every last ounce of goodness out of this day? Will we fill it with good thoughts and good deeds, or will we not? Will we thrive in this day God has made, or will we just survive? We’ve all heard of survival mode. Is that how you’re living? Are you in survival mode? I’m going to give you a few characteristics of survival mode and you can just do a little self-examination and ask yourself if it applies to the way you’re living. Survival mode; you simply do what you have to do, you do the bare minimum just enough to get by. You sleep as much as you possibly can and you only get up when you have to. You wear whatever is the easiest to get into. Pajamas are optimal, but sweats or yoga pants if you have to go in public. Hair, well hair is a daily ponytail or messy bun and it gets washed sparingly. Makeup, heck no! Meals, those are every man for himself, there’s no thought, time, or preparation put into what you or your family will eat. You either grab what’s available or you go order it through a speaker. Your actions and interactions are kept to a bare minimum. There’s very little energy and that energy is reserved for taking the kids to school and feeding the dog. That’s survival mode, and this mode is reserved for a time of crisis. This mode and way of living a means of survival when there’s a true crisis in your life, and yet the truth is many of us find ourselves living in survival mode on a perfectly good day of life. The majority of us woke up today to a good day of life. There is no crisis going on for the majority of us. And I’m going to be honest here, if you’re living in survival mode outside of a crisis in your life, you are wasting it. You were not created to live this day, free of crisis, in survival mode. On behalf of those who truly are going through a crisis, will you please, today, force yourself to get out of survival mode, and turn on thrive mode. What is thrive mode? Have you ever thought about that? We all know what survival mode is because many of us have been there. And most of us have been there when it wasn’t really necessary. But what about thrive mode? What does thrive mode look like? I believe thrive mode is two parts. It’s one part action and one part attitude. You see, in thrive mode you do more than what is required and you feel good about it. In thrive mode you are willing to get up an hour earlier just to squeeze more out of your day. In thrive more you spend your day fully awake and engaged. Wherever you are, you are there fully. You opt to wear what looks good on you and feels good on you, instead of what’s easiest to slip into. You accessorize. Man, you fancy it up so when you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror you question whether it might be a special occasion that you forgot because, whoa, you look good! In thrive mode you take time to look good and do your makeup. Today is worthy of false lashes and lipstick, even in the house. Meals are planned, prepared, and served on time. Your family can count on you to show up on time with joy. And in thrive mode, as we say around here, you G-S-D, Get Stuff Done. You use your time wisely according to your priorities. And you do all of this not because you have to, but because you get to. In thrive mode your thoughts are filled with gratitude and your words are filled with love.

Psalm 31:14 But I am trusting you, O Lord, saying “you are my God.” Life has a way of continually bringing us back to a humble place of being on our knees. We are high, then we are low. We are up, then we are down. We are hopeful, then the wind gets knocked right out of us. There are some things in life we simply can’t fix, we can’t control and we didn’t see them coming. And although they are out of our control, we still have a choice. We have a choice to keep trusting God. Our scripture this morning says BUT I am trusting you. Before this verse is an entire chapter of all that is going wrong in the author’s life. He is sad, he is frightened, he is being threatened, and his very life is at stake BUT. BUT, in spite of it all, I am trusting God. We like to live without the need for a BUT. Wouldn’t we love the opportunity to have the next 40 years of stress free, care free life, guaranteed to go exactly as planned. Come on God, give me a steady upper. Let all my goals be reached with minimal effort. I’m looking for easy. Yes, that’s it. Let’s just make life easy God. And God in all his wisdom knows that without the struggle, without the uncertainty, without the dark times, we would eventually stop needing him. We would become full of ourselves living under our own power. Things may not be perfect in your world right now, in fact I bet that’s approximately 100% of us today. You woke up to less than perfection. There’s a stress, there’s a worry, and one big huge uncertainty backed by several “what if’s”, “time’s almost out’s” and a “this isn’t getting any better”. And what follows all of this can be a really big but. But, God’s mercies are new each morning. But God will never leave me or forsake me. But God is working all of this together for my good. But God has a good plan for my life and he’s bigger than anything in my way. But God is for me not against me. Oh, how about a really big but today? But God … But God I am trusting you. Know that every hurt and struggle you face today may not have been orchestrated by God, but it has been allowed by him. As his child, nothing can touch you without first going through the Father. Nothing comes as a surprise to him and he uses even the attacks of the enemy and Satan’s ugly schemes to simply bring you back to him. Back to God. Back to your creator. Back to your father. Perhaps today is the day for you to say, this is not what I expected. This is not what I hoped for. I am frustrated and disappointed. I am angry, I am hurt …. BUT I AM TRUSTING YOU O LORD. I choose to say YOU ARE MY GOD. Imagine standing before a fork in the road. You have a choice to make. You go left, or you go right. One way is to try and handle everything on your own. Keep it together, pick yourself up, and muster up enough strength to just make it through today. It’s a heavy load carrying that bitterness, that anger, and that hurt, but you’ve kindof gotten used to it. That is one way. But (a really big but) there’s another way. This fork in the road presents another option. An option of opening your hands, dropping your heavy load and saying I trust you O Lord, you are my God …. now carry me. Carry me through this grief. Carry me through this trouble. Protect my heart and mind. Strengthen me with your power as I trust in you. I walk this path with you. I choose you. I choose to cling to you. I won’t try and do this on my own for one more day. Not for one more moment. I kinda suck at doing this on my own anyway. Do you desperately need God today? Well I’m so sorry for the situation that has brought you to a place of desperation, but I’m grateful for what will follow. This is where God comes running right to you, sweeps you up in his mighty arms and carries you. Allow yourself to desperately cry out to him. Trust him.

In today’s devotional, I’m taking you to the farm for a little lesson on a farm animal that is a whole lot like us. An animal that wanders off, gets in trouble and gets stuck just like us. Psalm 23: 1-2 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters This psalm was written by David. You know, David and Goliath … the little shepherd boy who slayed the giant? Yes, that David. He was a shepherd. He understood the relationship between a shepherd and his sheep. The closeness. The care. While David was a shepherd, he knew he too had a shepherd. The Lord is MY shepherd. David says he is mine. He didn’t say God is the shepherd, he said God is MY shepherd and there’s a difference there. What’s the difference? A personal relationship. Don’t you know God wants a personal relationship with you? He wants to personally care for you. What is it you’re worried or burdened with today? What is it that’s laying heavy on your heart or mind? What big decision do you need to make or step you need to take? Did you know God wants to guide you in that? That’s how much he cares. Maybe you think God doesn’t have time to be concerned about your ability to pay the mortgage payment this month, or that job interview, or your back that’s been hurting you, but the truth is he cares deeply about EVERYTHING in your life. He wants to be close to you. He wants you to come to him for everything. God is your shepherd. He is caring for you – Always. Because of him, you will lack nothing. Everything you need will be supplied. And we are sheep. Stubborn, foolish sheep. Did you know that sheep cannot live on their own – they require a constant caretaker. They are wanderers and they instinctively wander off into trouble … just like us. Do you seem to wander right into trouble quite often? Do you ever stop and look around and think “how did I get myself in this mess?” We wander around through life, we dabble here and we dabble there, never staying still long enough to create a foundation and so God MAKES us slow down. Does God have to make you slow down? That’s what the shepherd would do to a sheep that continually wanders off into danger. He would lovingly break one of it’s legs so it was forced to lie down in green pastures and stay close to him. Yes, the shepherd would break the sheeps leg, on purpose because that is what was best. Maybe you feel broken right now. And maybe that’s not by accident. Go ahead and lie down in that green pasture. See where God is trying to pull you in close to him and restore you. See where you may have been wandering off to could have been dangerous and your shepherd had to step in and protect you, metaphorically breaking something in your life to keep you from wandering off again. Recognize your need to slow down, tune out all the distractions and receive restoration from your shepherd. Are you currently being delayed? Is the process taking a lot longer than you ever imagined? Consider this … maybe that delay is for a purpose. Maybe you’re being held back by the shepherd himself, maybe he’s broken your leg to protect you, or perhaps to help you see the green pastures that are all around you. You want to dart off and seek out greener pastures, convinced it will always be better over here or over there, and you’re missing the green pastures you’re in right now. So our all knowing, ever loving and patient God says “girl, look around – today you’re surrounded by the very things you once prayed for. Don’t miss this!” (oh, that just got someone! You’re in your green pastures, you’ve just been missing it.) Sheep are not only wanderers, but they are quite helpless. Without constant sheering, their backs become so wide with wool that they literally cannot get up from their back and will lay there and die. Now that’s what you call getting stuck.

“A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” – Proverbs 14:30 We may be rotting from the inside out and not even realize it. The source of the destruction … envy. A feeling of discontentment because of what someone else has. And I don’t care how sweet and kind you are my darling, seeds of envy and jealousy have been planted in your heart somewhere along the way. And it may sound like this: Her husband is so loving and attentive … don’t you wish yours could be that way too? Her children behave, they don’t draw penis’ on the wall or eat the buggers in public – that must be nice. She’s on the same diet as you and somehow she lost 15 pounds this month – what the what … you’re still stuck on the first 3 pounds. That’s so frustrating. Her life just seems magical … and yours just seems miserable. You don’t wish her harm, but hey let’s be honest, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if she had a really bad hair day when you were looking top notch for once. This is all completely normal. We all battle these fleeting thoughts and feelings. AND IT’S ROTTING OUR BONES. Could envy and jealousy be the root of your anxiety? Could that tinge of jealousy be responsible for your unhappiness? Could those fleeting thoughts of “gosh if she posts one more positive thing on facebook today I’m gonna barf” be a thief of your own joy? Answer: YES YES and YES. We all battle it – some more graciously than others. And here’s the big kicker – thoughts of jealousy and envy aren’t always targeted towards “her”. They’re often targeted towards him. Him – your man. Why does he get to get dressed every day and just walk out the door and leave this mess behind? Why does he get to have a fulfilling job? Why does he get to go out to lunch? Then he comes home and does nothing. How dare he complain when I ask him to take out the trash. You may not say it, but if you feel it, it’s rotting your bones. It’s eating away at you from the inside and the result will be a weakness that eventually causes you to snap. He may not understand why you occasionally lash out over small things like shoes left in the kitchen – you may not understand why you occasionally lash out over these small things. But it’s all a result of a festering frustration that has grown because of a seed of envy or jealousy. They have it easier than you. They don’t understand your load and they certainly don’t help carry it. We’re all being offered the seeds of envy and jealousy today. Those seeds often just look like a truth. A dose of reality. But if you take those seeds and you allow them to grow inside of you, they not only ruin relationships, but they take a perfectly good life and make it less than. Maybe you’ve been feeding and growing that envy and jealousy without even knowing it. But what you do know is it doesn’t feel good inside of you. How do you stop it? You starve it. Is there a particular person or group of people you may be struggling with in this area? Think of him, her, or them right now. Now intentionally do 2 things. First, pray for them. Pray blessings and favor over them. Yes, the very person your a wee bit jealous of. Go ahead and do it. Second, think of all the areas of your life that you love. What is good and what is right in your world? Get down and wallow around in those things. Let those things cover you. Layer it on thick. You see when you layer on all that is good and right in your own world, you protect your heart from being infested by envy and jealousy. Some of us have simply left the door to our heart wide open by thinking and talking about the part of our life that we dislike. It’s natural to complain and whine – but it’s oh so dangerous. You’re inviting ugliness right into your heart and it wil...