BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

Matthew 7: 7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” These are words spoken by Jesus during his Sermon on the Mount, and he wants to remind you of the power of what you are asking for and the power of what you are seeking today. Everything you are going through is preparing you for what you asked for. Let me shoot it to you straight. How will you ever know Jesus is a healer if you don’t first face the illness? How will you ever know Jesus is a provider until you have lost the job, face the impossible, and are pretty darn sure the money has run out? How will you ever know your God is a mountain moving God until you are staring down the mountain? The difficulty, the failure, the struggle you find yourself in right now is preparing you for the breakthrough you seek. Strength first comes through struggle. We know that. The only way to build a muscle is to work it through resistance. We pray, “Lord, please give me strength” – well how else is he going to do that without some resistance to grow your muscles of faith and perseverance. Look around, you’re just in life’s gym. Opportunity for strength and growth is everywhere. Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find. And sometimes the preparation process for what you asked for can be a hot minute. It can seem to take forever to climb to that next level of living you seek – to get off the struggle bus – to break the bad habit – to repair the relationship – to be restored. But don’t you know you’re worth the investment? You’re worth the time. And if you do not give up, you will receive, you will find and the door will be opened. You’re likely just one of those overnight success stories 8 years in the making. It’s easy to see the success of others on the surface level and assume it must have been easy for them to lose the weight, their marriage looks like a walk in the park, everything they touch just turns to gold … oh sister, you have no idea all she went through to prepare her first for what you see today. But I bet she’ll tell you it was worth it. I bet she’ll tell you she’s glad she asked. I bet she’ll tell you she’s grateful she endured the process. Sometimes our God works instantly, and I honestly love it when he does. When he shows up and does the miraculous the moment I ask. When breakthroughs are immediate. When resolution comes quickly. But typically he allows me to go through a long preparation process first. A hard fought battle before the victory. A series of valleys and pits and lions on the prowl first … then the sweet taste of mountaintop success. I know God is a healer because of what I survived. I know God is a provider because of what we made it through. I know God answers because we’ve asked for some big things and YEARS later, I’ve been able to look back with proper perspective and see HE DID EXACTLY WHAT I ASKED FOR and it blows my mind. Not always in my way and certainly not in my timing, but I asked and he answered and I did indeed find what I was seeking. The words he spoke on the sermon on the mount apply to my life, and they apply to your life today. So, let me encourage you today. Everything you are going through is preparing you for what you asked for. Your soil is just being plowed and who knows being plowed is a painful process? Things have to be dug up and overturned. But the seed is being planted and eventually the harvest will come in your life. It’s just a process. Be willing to go through the process of preparation. Be willing to keep getting up every darn day and doing everything you can do.

It seems to me there are a whole lot of people waking up today totally stressed about money. Uh huh, I know, I used to be one of them. I was overwhelmed with debt, stretched to the max, and desperate to make the minimum payments on all I had accumulated. I was a slave to money and it seemed no matter how much I prayed about it, God wasn’t letting me win the lottery to fix that mess overnight. I understand money now. I understand because I screwed it up royally for years. It seems you can really understand something when you’ve first done it all wrong, then you finally get it right. I know there are a whole lot of people waking up where I once was … in debt, maxed out and stressed out. Listen to me sweet sister, God truly wants to help you, but he likely won’t be helping you with a massive pile of cash showing up on your front door step. Instead he will help realign your priorities. He will help you see your “stuff” with a different perspective. He will loosen your grip on all your pretty things, just as he did mine, and then you’ll see your life is so much more than the house you live in, the car you drive, and the clothes you wear. And when you finally get your money right and you begin truly being faithful with the little you have now, then he can bless you with more. Each morning I wake up to the song Glorious by Maclamore. Yes, I like rap and I love Jesus, I’m not afraid to admit it. My favorite part of the song says “En gaurd, things are just things, they don’t make you who you are. Can’t pack up a UHaul and take it with you when you’re gone.” That’s basically the rap translation of Matthew 6: 19-20 which says. “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.” But what does that mean? Does it mean it’s not okay to have pretty things? Does it mean it’s sinful to be wealthy? This scripture confused and burdened me for most of my thirties. If I’m not supposed to store up treasure here on Earth, how do I instead store treasures in heaven? He tells us to store up our treasures in Heaven, but HOW – tell me HOW. I’m a “tell me how and let’s get busy making it happen” kinda gal. But I struggled to wrap my mind around storing up treasures in heaven. Almost sounds boring doesn’t it? Live with nothing here – just get by – just get through – be miserable with this life and save it all for Heaven. Is that what we’re supposed to do, just save it all for Heaven? Gosh, I don’t think that’s what God means at all. He didn’t give you this one life to be miserable. He gave you this life to live it. Then, he provided you with blessings and opportunities to earn. With your earnings you can can make awesome memories and have nice things. The question is, does God get the glory for your nice things? And the even bigger question … have your nice things become more important than God? Have you filled your life so full of “things” that you not only have to work endlessly to pay for them. Now you’re working to make the payments on all the stuff you bought and you’re a slave to your things. And when you’re not working, you’re stressed about how you’re going to bring in more money. Let’s be honest, if the monthly bills weren’t so high, you could probably work less and do more of what you really wanted, right? You could follow your passion if you weren’t paying on everything else. There would likely be fewer fights in your home if money weren’t so tight. I’ve been there. We worked for years to undue our pile of debt and ridiculous obligati...

In the book of Judges we read about a group of people who were guided and protected by God, yet they failed to remain faithful. They got lost along the way, caught up in the details, and didn’t do their part. I wonder where God has guided and protected us, but we haven’t done our part? Judges chapter 2 verses 1 and 2, an Angel of the Lord came and spoke to the Israelites and says “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land …’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this?” God made a deal. I will rescue you, now you don’t break my covenant. A covenant is an agreement. An agreement to follow God and trust him. And these people failed. They failed to do their part. Have you failed to do your part? Could this be why you’re still waiting? Could this be why things aren’t happening for you? Could this be the source of your problem, your stress, your mess? A failure to do your part? I can’t answer that question for you, so you will need to seek God in your answer. HAVE YOU DONE YOUR PART? Sadly I must admit there are a few areas of my life where I became a little lax. I coasted, and as a result I drifted. I stopped doing all I could do and as a result I was not experiencing all I could experience. That’s just the cold hard truth. When we stop doing all we can do, we will not experience all we could experience. We’re in a partnership with God. God does his part without fail, but when we fail to do our part there is a break in the covenant. And God says “Hey, you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this?” We made a deal. God gave us this life to live, now we’re supposed to be living it well. We’re supposed to take everything we have and do something with it. We’re supposed to be showing up with our best effort every single day. We’re supposed to multiply what he has provided. BUT ARE WE? How about let’s get real clear on what God is expecting us to do today. 1 Peter 1: 5 reading from the Message translation: “Don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given …” Are you building on what you already have, or are you just skimming the top? Oh dang we fall into the trap of just skimming. We’re just barely using what we have. We’re just barely trying. Barely showing up. And as a result we’re doing exactly what this scripture warns us about, we’re losing our minutes. Translation, we’re wasting time. You’ve only been given so many days to walk this earth and make your impact, sister you can’t afford to waste a single one. But if you’re not building on what you’ve been given, you are wasting time. You’re wasting opportunities. You’re not doing your part and God is saying, YOU ARE DISOBEYING ME. WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS? You have faith. You believe God will provide. You believe God will make a way. That’s great. Faith is your foundation, but girl you can’t just sit around with a foundation and not build on it. 1 Peter 1: 5-10 goes on to break down our part in 7 simple steps. 7 things you can do today to ensure you’re doing your part, which then unleashes God to do his. “Don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love… With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you.”

Our scripture for today is I Peter 5:7. You’ve likely heard this scripture before “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” In my studies I came across this scripture using The Living Bible and honestly it rocked my world with a whole new meaning. “Let him have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you.” WHAT?!!!!!!!! In all my years, somehow no one has ever told me that God is actually thinking of me. I’ve always known God could hear me. That he could see me. But THINKING of me? His thoughts are filled with me? Oh this takes it to a whole new level doesn’t it? He is always thinking about you. God, the almighty creator of the entire universe, the master of all, the one who holds the whole world in his hand is THINKING OF YOU. You really must be someone special! I send and receive hundreds of texts per day. Occasionally I will receive a message that makes my entire day. It’s a simple message and it goes kinda like this … “Hey Pamela, I was just thinking of you today.” That’s it. Someone was thinking of me. I immediately feel loved and cared for, valued and important. Don’t you feel the same way when you know someone is thinking of you? And now we know, God is always thinking about us. At this very moment, God is thinking of you. Tiffany, I know you’re listening, God is thinking about you. Elisha, God is thinking about you. Becky, God is thinking about you. Brittany, God is thinking about you. Angela, Kim, Tracy, Jennifer, insert your own name and know with confidence God is thinking about you. You are on his mind. As he put the plans for this day of life into motion, he considered you. He thought about what would be best for you. He thought about what you need. Don’t you know you are THIS loved and valued? Don’t you know the almighty has his mind set on you? Let this bring you confidence. God wants you to know he is always thinking about you so that you can have complete confidence in WHO you are. He is not only always thinking about you, but he is watching everything that concerns you. You don’t have to fret and worry, God knows everything that is coming your way. Every possible thing about to touch your life has to first go through him. Know this so you can experience the REWARD of knowing he sees you and thinks of you in every detail. Truly, this is a reward. Wear it like a badge of honor. God is thinking of ME! Two of my children have gone through Basic Training is the US Army. Months of the hardest, most intense training away from every living soul they knew. When each of them left, their Daddy told them something of immeasurable value. He said, “you’ll be up early every morning (03:00 in fact). Every time you see that sun rise, know your Dad is up thinking of you and praying for you at that very moment.” Without fail, every morning as the sun came up, my husband was sitting on the deck thinking of his kids during their training. And this brought them confidence. The drill sergeants may have been barking down their throat, they may have been hating life, exhausted, missing home, and dreading the day, but they knew without a doubt when that sun was coming us, their Dad is up and thinking of them. Did you know when the sun comes up every morning, your God is thinking of you? Did you know the colors in the sky are a result of God thinking of you? What if that hot pink sky was a message with your name on it, a reminder of your creator’s love for you specifically? When the wind blows and you hear the rustle of the leaves, that’s God thinking of you. It’s all God thinking of YOU. And did you know while Jesus hung on that cross, sacrificing his life, he was thinking of you. I know that’s hard to imagine. You weren’t even born yet.

Romans 8:26 – “The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. We don’t know what God wants us to pray for, but the Holy Spirit prays for us …” And within that verse are 3 words that keep me awake at night “WE DON’T KNOW.” I like to know. I like to know exactly what I should be praying for. I like to know what I should be doing. I like to know how it’s all going to work out. And when I don’t know, I don’t like to admit it. I’m a natural born optimist. Like die hard, glass is half full kinda girl. And when you come to me with an empty glass and ask me how it’s going to be filled, I want to tell you a million different ways it could happen for you. But ultimately what I have to say is “I don’t know.” I’m currently praying for my BIG Life sisters who are facing such uncertain circumstances. One who’s mom is in the hospital on a respirator, another who’s beautiful young daughter is waiting for a liver transplant to save her life, one who lost her brother yesterday, one who’s husband of 14 years is having an affair, and a teenage listener who has lost her will to survive. I don’t know how this is all going to work out. I don’t know how it’s going to be okay. I don’t know how they’re going to make it through. I don’t know. Do you know? We’re like the blind leading the blind, grasping at straws, making assumptions and hoping something, anything will work. But ultimately, we don’t know. We don’t even know what to pray for. And it is this way by design. When we can do it on our own, WE WILL! Watch a child learning how to walk. They want the security of your hand to steady them. Once they have their balance and can do it on their own they resist any help. It’s “look ma, no hands” running wild. And we are the same way. When we feel we can do this life on our own, we push God away and say “I’ll do it myself”, and so God takes a step back and says “well, this isn’t going to end well.” But oh what a loving father he is, continuing to keep his eye on us even when we have pushed him away. Standing by ready to rescue us, pick us up and put us on our feet again. There’s no room for God in a mind and will that’s full of self. It’s when we know that WE DON’T KNOW that we lean into him. It’s at the end of our rope where we usually find God. It’s at our rock bottom where THE ROCK becomes our firm foundation. It’s when life gets dark that we ask God to get in the middle. But is there an easier way than coming to the end of our rope and hitting that desperate rock bottom? YES. We can just admit right here, right now, wherever we are that we don’t have this thing figured out, we don’t have it all together, and God if you don’t do it, it can’t be done. I AM NOT ALL THAT AND A BAG OF CHIPS. I am nothing without God. I do not know what to do and God, I’m looking to you for guidance. I’m asking you to guide my steps. I’m asking you to make my paths straight. I’m asking you, what should I even be praying? I admit I DON’T KNOW. And this is where God says “ahhhhh girl, now I can work!” Why? Because we are finally humbled. This is where God’s glory falls, in the middle. In the uncertainty, in the chaos, in the frustration. So here is our prayer for this day … “God, get in the middle of this.” Get all up in the middle of this God. Let me get out of the way so you can have your way. I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do next. I don’t even know what to pray here God. I came upon this scripture today in the Message translation and wow does it ever speak to me.

Isaiah 43:19 – See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. God is speaking directly to you today and he is saying “I am making a way.” There may be no way right now. It may currently be impossible. BUT HE IS MAKING A WAY. You can’t see what God has been working on for you. You have no idea what he has been doing, but you’re about to. You’re about to see. “See, I am doing a new thing!” Will you have faith that God knows exactly what he’s doing? Will you believe that he sees where you are and he knows your wilderness. He says “I am making a way in the wilderness.” Your wilderness is where you’ve been stuck. It’s where things haven’t been changing for you. It’s where nothing has worked. It’s where you’ve lost your hope. And now God is making a way IN the wilderness. IN the wilderness. In your mess. In your impossible. This is where he’s going to work. In the very area where you think things will never change, God is making a way. Where all the doors have been closed before, there’s one that is unlocking. The way for you is being prepared and that way is IN the wilderness. We want God to instantly remove us from our struggle, but instead he meets us in the struggle and makes a way right in the middle of it. Isaiah 41:13 says “For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” Right now reach out your right hand. Hold it out. God, here I am, help me. Grab me and lead me as you make a way in this wilderness. Our scripture today says he not only makes a way in the wilderness, but he brings streams in the wasteland. A wasteland is an area where nothing can grow. A dried up, wasted, useless area. Is there an area of your life that feels like a wasteland? It’s just useless. You’ve stopped hoping things would change because after all these years it’s only gotten worse. It’s been a waste of time and you’re not sure how much more time you’re willing to waste. So, you’ve stopped caring. You’ve stopped trying. And what is God saying to you today? He’s bringing streams in the wasteland. Streams of water are about to flow through your dried up dreams and they will come to life again. Will you believe that he can do this for you? Will you believe that he WANTS to do this for you? God’s desire is not for you to be miserable. No, no, no. That’s the enemy’s plan. The enemy’s plan for you is misery because when you’re miserable your power is rendered ineffective and your potential goes untapped. God’s desire is for you to grow and flourish. Jesus says “I came that you may have life and have it to the full!” God gave his son for you so that you would not only live, but so that you would live BIG!!! Your dried up dreams are about to receive a torrential downpour. Get ready for it! Streams will be flowing through your wasteland. The impossible can happen for you. Right in the middle of your wilderness, there will be a way. Where there has never been a way before, where nothing has ever worked for you in the past, exactly where you thought ‘this is just the way it will always be’, this is where God is making a way. This is where he is working for you. Why would God do this for you? Have you ever read a promise of God and dismissed yourself from being the recipient of it? It must be for someone else. Someone who came from more. Someone who’s better than you. Someone who has their crap together more than you. I mean why would the almighty make a way for you? Why would he bother himself with your wilderness and your wasteland? Well first because you are his daughter. He loves you wildly.

Were you once doing well, going strong, making major progress and then you got tripped up? Something stopped your progress and you’ve been a bit stalled since. You lost your get up and go. Your motivation is now low. You say you will, but you won’t. You get your hopes up that this time you’ll stick with it, this is it … then you’re disappointed once again with another start strong and stop quick. Or maybe you’re just now shaking off the past little hiccup in your journey and you’ve started again. You’ve made a little progress, but deep down you’re worried you’ll fail again. You know your own track record and feel it’s just a matter of time until you mess it all up. Have you ever wondered if maybe God gets frustrated with us? Imagine God has this great plan for your life and you’re missing out on it because you’re tripped up and can’t seem to stick with the plan. How does God feel about this? What does he have to say to you about it today? God wants you to know he’s in the business of redeeming and restoring, then refocusing. He’s got your number and he just called it! Look at Peter. Most of us know the disciple Peter for one thing … denying Jesus. You remember the story, Jesus is preparing the disciples for his own crucifixion which was ahead. Peter says “Jesus I will go with you even to death.” And Jesus says, Peter before the rooster crows, you will deny you even know me 3 times. And Peter failed Jesus, not once, not twice, but indeed 3 times. 3 times he denied Jesus. And when he heard that rooster crow he remembered what Jesus had said. Can you imagine his shame? Can you imagine the reality of his failure? But here’s the thing for us to remember and apply today. Jesus knew Peter would fail, and he chose him anyway. This was no surprise to Jesus. And God knew you would screw up too. He knew you would get lazy. He knew you would waiver in your commitment. He knew you would get distracted and lose your focus. He knew in advance every misstep you have taken and will take and he is choosing you still. GOD IS STILL CHOOSING YOU. He hasn’t thrown his good plan for your life out the window. God has chosen you and he wants to work with you through your failures and use them as a set up for your comeback. He sees your struggles and says “ahhhh, I can help her with that! I know exactly what to do.” God wants to partner with you. With his limitless power and your God given potential, you can do the impossible … but you can’t do it on your own. You’re going to kill yourself trying to overcome your past and future failures on your own. God wants to restore you. He wants to help you. Won’t you surrender to him and recognize YOU NEED HIM. You will always be a work in progress this side of heaven. Go ahead and make friends with the process. Now, shed the shame. Failures and shortcomings come with a natural measure of guilt and shame. But your failure is not the end of your story. Peter’s failure wasn’t the end of his story. He had this epic public fail that we’re still reading about today. Gosh, aren’t you glad to know your failure probably won’t even be remembered 5 years from now. If Peter can overcome his failure, I’m pretty sure you can too. Shame and guilt are and indicator of where you went wrong and what you can do different. It’s temporary. Recognize it, then shed it. But here’s what the enemy does. He comes in and takes that natural shame and guilt you feel and attaches it to your identity. The enemy takes your failure and says YOU ARE a failure. He’s a liar. He’s a manipulator. He twists the truth to rob you of your power and stall your progress. So you screwed up. So you’ve gone backwards again. So you wasted some time. Okay,

Today you and I woke up to the opportunity to start again. An opportunity to step into the fullness of God’s grace and mercy and receive a fresh start. But sadly, most will miss this opportunity. Instead we will receive the offer of the enemy to dwell on where we screwed up yesterday. The offer to stay stuck in the past hurts and failures. The offer to identify as a victim. And we belly up to the table time and time again to accept these worthless offers of the enemy which hold us back from our potential and have us playing little in our own lives. What if that were to stop today. What if from this day forward we recognized the offerings of the enemy and saw them for what they are. What if we were completely turned off by settling. I mean repulsed because we finally know the truth. In 2017 I lost one of my best friends. Catina was 34 years old and larger than life. No doubt if you knew her, you loved her. She was diagnosed with cancer, given 1 to 6 months to live and sadly the shorter end of that scale became the reality. One month was all she had. We immediately went into action mode when she was diagnosed grasping at anything, absolutely anything we could do to help her. This is when we came upon the research of the affects of sugar on our bodies. Did you know sugar feeds cancer cells? If you eliminate sugar, cancer cells begin to starve. With this knowledge, I went from a brownie loving, sweet tea guzzling, closet lover of Little Debbie snacks, to completely eliminating sugar from my diet. And it was easy. You know why? Because I was completely turned off by sugar. I was repulsed because I finally knew the truth. I knew sugar could kill my best friend. I knew sugar could kill me. Now when I see the Little Debbie nutty bars that used to taunt me and call my name “eat me Pamela”, ahhhh no, I see them for what they are … that’s cancer food and I want nothing to do with it. This is what I’m proposing. I’m proposing we see every worthless offer from the enemy for exactly what it is and let it repulse us. Be so turned off by his lousy offers that we are never fooled again. If you could see how dwelling on yesterday’s mistakes only robs you of your strength for today, wouldn’t you let yesterday go? If you could really see how today’s potential is only diminished moment by moment as you relive those past hurts and failures, wouldn’t you finally move on and promise to never ever go back? I know this much, if you could really see how playing the victim makes you pitiful, you would never see yourself as the victim again. If you could see it for what it’s worth, you would never chose to be pitiful over being powerful. Never. If you could see how lazy is going to make you feel, no one could hold you back from taking action. If you could taste even for a moment the life that is available to you, there’s not a person in this world who could make you settle for less. Your bad habits would be broken TODAY. Your laziness would vanish. Your procrastination would be left behind immediately. Nothing could hold you back from taking action if you could get a vision of your true potential. God has a plan for you that will blow your mind. A purpose that is bigger than you could ever dare dream or imagine. Impact beyond anything you could fathom. He has a future available specifically for you that is big, bright and beautiful. But you have to choose it. How do you choose what God has for you? You see the enemy’s offers for what they really are and you start refusing them. The days of settling have come and gone. That’s totally last year. Procrastination is out my friend. Just as I now see sugar as cancer food and I want nothing to do with it, you need to see the truth about guilt, shame, failure, insecurities, fear, and laziness. The truth is, these things are ruining your life.

For the past 24 hours, I’ve been hearing it. Mememememe. And typically when I hear something repeatedly it’s because God is speaking to me and asking me to share. You see, yesterday was my birthday. It was the first birthday of my life I didn’t have my Daddy here to sing to me. Every year for 43 years my Daddy would greet me with Mememememe, then the most ridiculous, boisterous rendition of Happy Birthday. To say I missed that yesterday is an understatement, however I heard it throughout the entire day. So, it’s today’s devotional, courtesy of my Daddy and my big Papa God. The 5 me’s. How God is speaking to me and what he has asked me to share with you. Me #1: God created me for a BIG Life. And what he did for me, he did for you as well. Genesis 1:27 says “God created human beings in his own image.” I take this to mean two things. First, he created you as the human likeness of himself, and second, he first imagined you, then he formed you. Our God is BIG. Bigger than anything we can possibly fathom or imagine. Scripture tells us he measured the entire universe between his outstretched thumb and pinky. Yo, that’s BIG. And God created me and you in his own image. We were created for a BIG life! He had BIG things in mind when he formed you, chose you, and gave you breath. He wasn’t playing little. He didn’t settle for you. No, you were his first choice. You are his best. You have all the potential for a BIG Life right inside of you, just as God imagined. Me #2: If I’m living little, that’s on me. Yes, life happens. It happens to all of us. But it was never meant to beat us down and keep us down. Life happens because first we live in a fallen world. Girl, this isn’t heaven and perfection isn’t found here. You can stop holding your breath for things to be all better. Life calms down when we die, that’s called flatline. Until then it will be a constant series of ups and downs. This is the heartbeat of life. If you’re sitting it out, afraid of failure, you’re missing out. Playing it safe isn’t what you were create for honey. 2 Corinthians 6: 12 & 13 in the Message translation reads “Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!” If you feel stuck, that’s because you’re living little. If you feel bored, that’s because you’re living little. If you feel restless and unfilled, that’s because you’re living little. It’s all a sign you were created for MORE but you’ve settled for less. How do you stop living in this “small way” that scripture refers to? Read the next verse. “Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively.” Translation … girl live BIG! Dare to do big things. Dare to take a risk and fail. Dare to go for it and know if you fall, God’s got you! Life happens to all of us who are alive, and maybe it’s for your benefit. Maybe the setback is a setup for your success. Maybe you’re getting ready to be launched into your destiny and first you’re being pulled back like the arrow. Uhhhh huhhhh, that’s what I’m talking about. Me #3: God is for me, not against me. At it’s core, this is a life changing truth. After life touches us a few times, we begin to believe somehow we’re being punished. We’re a disappointment. We’re a failure. We’re a hopeless “less than” version of what we were created to be. But understand this, God looks at you and all he sees is exactly who he created you to be. He knows what’s inside of you because he put it there. He’s rearranging heaven and earth to help you get on the path that takes you to the best life available to you, to fulfill your purpose and live up to your greatest potential.

If you know me, you know I love a good adventure. I have a unique skill set of turning most anything into an adventure. If you and I are going to spend time together, what I most want is to have an adventure together. I want to do something for the first time. I want to see something new. I want to experience something worth talking about. I want to take it to the edge, think maybe we’re dying, but totally live to tell about it. I want you and I to create a good story together. I have an adventure partner. This adventure partner of mine is a lover of all things outdoors and naturey. Her name is Christel and if you’re a member of BIG Life Mentoring, you know her. She’s the super inspiring one who’s lost like 150 pounds, loves without limits and will cheer you on as if helping you succeed is her one mission in life. Christel and I both love to go hiking. We pack 5 star picnics in our backpacks and pick a new trail somewhere within a 4 hour drive of one of our homes and we make time to have our adventure. One summer we hiked the Pigeon Creek Trail along the shores of Lake Norfork in Arkansas. If I were leaving a review of this trail I would say 2 thumbs down, zero stars. However, it did deliver my wish of “take us to the edge, think maybe w’ere dying, but totally live to tell about it.” Now, what I’m about to tell you I must first preface with a truth … I get lost in the mall. I’ve seriously walked around a Walmart parking lot for a good 10 minutes convinced someone has stolen my car because I can’t find where I parked it. But Christel, well I feel confident adventuring about with Christel. She’s never lost. She’s like an undercover park ranger. She knows every animal, looks up at the placement of the sun, and uses great logic when navigating. And me … well I’m just wondering when we’re whipping out the soup we packed and if it’s legal for me to take one of these pinecones home for my fall decorations. Less than a mile into our mighty adventure hike we came to an intersection. One trail turned into 3 trails with markings that made absolutely no sense. And when I say no sense, I mean like there’s a single tree with 2 arrows and they’re pointing at each other. But Christel, my trusty hiking guide with a built in compass, makes the wise decision to always stay right. Every intersection, we stay right. Easy enough. Well … something went wrong. Really, really wrong. And hours and hours later we realize we are lost. Like for real lost. Like holy crap this is how people die lost. Like I feel like we’re in a bad movie lost. Like it’s time to whip out our phones and call for help lost. But wait … we have no service. WE ARE LOST. Ya’ll, we were 10 MILES lost. It was hot, we were out of water and our GPS showed us walking in circles. With every new split in the trail and totally uncertain choice, we both realized just how lost we were. And I began to pray out loud … “Lord, we have loved this adventure. It has been grand. But you see, we’re kinda lost. We don’t know where we are, BUT YOU KNOW WHERE WE ARE.” The words were still coming out of my mouth when the view through the thick trees to our left revealed the sweet sweet sight of pavement! All this time, we were wandering around in circles on the windy paths, whipping out our cell phones trying to be smart and download maps, read our GPS, discover where North was (well Christel was doing that – knowing where North was would have done me zero good) all the while God knew exactly where we were and HE COULD MAKE OUR PATHS STRAIGHT. Isaiah 41:10 says “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

If you’re going through a storm in life, this devotional is for you. If you’re just coming out of a storm in life, this devotional is for you. If you see a storm brewing on the horizon, this devotional is for you. There, now we’ve covered everyone haven’t we? Psalm 91: 1-4 1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. 3 For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. 4 He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. We are all seeking shelter from the storms of life. Shelter is our safety. Life is easier when we know we’re safe. We’re all seeking shelter from the potential disasters in life, but the truth is, the only shelter is provided by God. Life is going to happen. People lose their jobs. Cars break down. Storms come. Houses get destroyed. Sickness threatens. Kids grow up and seem to be on a mission to ruin their lives. Disappointment comes knocking on our door and we act so surprised. Hey, this is life. God never promised it would be easy … and here’s why … we don’t grow in easy times. Faith isn’t even necessary in easy times. An arrow is only propelled forward when it is first pulled back. We all so desperately want to move ahead in life, climb the ladder, go to the next level and move on up, BUT FIRST we go backwards. Backwards is preparation for the launch forwards. This scripture reminds us that God is our shelter. We will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Now think about that image for a moment. On a hot sunny day, if you sit close enough to a tree, you will enjoy the protection of it’s shadow. It is the tree’s shadow that creates the shade for our benefit. Where is the shadow? Is it over on the other side of the yard? Is it across the street? No, the shadow is right by the tree. It is close. God is saying, my daughter, come get close to me, rest in my shadow. He will stand tall and mighty above you and provide shelter, protection and reprieve in his shadow … but you gotta stop running away from him. To benefit from his shadow, you have to come close to him. God is offering exactly what you need today. What is it you need? My sister, he has it in his shadow – won’t you come close to him today to receive? Verse 3 says “he will rescue you from every trap” He will RESCUE you. Repeat after me – He will rescue me. He will rescue me. Now, notice what rescue means. In order to be rescued, there has to be trouble. The damsel must be in distress to be rescued. You never say, here I am sitting on the beach in this sunny and 80 degree weather with a fruity drink in my hand … someone come rescue me. Please, I can’t take it anymore. Life is perfect here, rescue me! No, you don’t need rescuing when things are perfect. For God to rescue you, you must be threatened. But we sure don’t like that do we? No again, we like safe. We like secure. We like guaranteed paychecks, warranties, bumper to bumper coverage and security. We like it when everyone plays nice, walks in agreement, and sees things exactly the way we do. But that’s not how God works because that’s not where faith grows. That’s not where lives get bigger. So, he allows the traps. Again, if he’s going to rescue you from the trap, he must first allow the trap. The danger, the threat, the worry filled nights DO COME and because they come, then the almighty can swoop in and rescue you. He will cover you and protect you. HE PROVIDES the shelter. Your safety comes from him and sometimes he will allow the storms of life to ...

When God created you, he had the BEST in mind for you. He placed all the potential in the world inside of you, made a space for his Holy Spirit to dwell within you, then went about dreaming of the life you could live and the impact you could make. He imagined the partnership of you trusting him and him guiding you. Oh the life he has for you. If you could only see it, my sister you would never settle again. You would never let fear talk you down again. You would never stray from the best. Why do we stray from God’s best? Why do we settle into a life far short of what’s available to us? Why do we wake up one day disappointed in where we are and who we’ve become? Our answer is found in a story Jesus tells. A story we often dismiss ourselves from because we “haven’t messed up that bad.” And yet, it’s still our story. The story of the prodigal son tells of a son who betrayed his family, left home and got on the wrong path. Greed got the best of him. Wild living got the best of him. Maybe you can relate, but you probably can’t. Unless you’re one of the fortunate few who has royally screwed up their life then found their way back, then this story is for someone else. You – well you haven’t ever made that huge, epic bad decision that made the 10 o’clock news. Maybe you’ve never been the disgrace of your family. You’ve never landed yourself face down in a pig pen like the prodigal son. And it’s about this time we get all puffed up in our pride and self-righteouness and declare we’re doing pretty darn good with our lives. Ahhhhh, but wait. Isn’t the story of the prodigal son also about a child who strayed from the best? Isn’t this a story about someone who opted for instant gratification and paid a high price later. Oh yes, this is a story about us! The story of you and I, the ones who have strayed from the best is found in Luke chapter 15, verses 11-32. Reading from The Message translation Jesus says: “There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what’s coming to me. So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had.” And stop right there. I totally see me in this story. Do you see you? What gets us in trouble here is the “I want RIGHT NOW!” I want what I want and I want it right now. But typically what we can have right now is just a cheap imitation or a slighted version of what would be available to us later if we stuck with it. You can have it all, but you can’t have it all at once. How many times have you traded the greatness you could have in future for the taste of goodness you could have right now? And for many of us, it’s literally the TASTE we can have right now. So many of us have goals to be healthy. And it’s no big mystery, we know what we should and shouldn’t be doing. Oh we know, but we see what we want right now and we’re shoving our face in a bowl of something that goes directly against our goals. And then what happens … we regret it. Regret is a high price to pay for that little piece of immediate gratification. How many times have you bought something and regretted it? Our impusles get us in trouble, and in debt. The average American is in over their head in credit card debt, and you know what got them there … $20 here and $20 there. After one year we couldn’t even tell you what we bought, but we have a maxed out credit card with a minimum payment that’s eating us alive. Hello … prodigal daughter here! I want right now what’s coming to me. I want right now to feel happy and all three of these cookies right here in my hand will make me happy.

Ahhh, the struggle is real. Morning time can be tough. When that alarm rings and you know you have to get up. The day is starting and you’re already behind. The general consensus among Americans is, most of us hate mornings. If we could skip the wee hours of the morning, we would. If we could sleep away a few more hours of the day, we would. If we could delay our start, we would. You were calculating the amount of sleep you would get last night when you went to bed and you had already determined it wouldn’t be enough … am I right? The first hour of your day impacts all the hours to follow. For many of us, we’re losing before our feet even hit the floor. Why? Because we’re laying in bed not ready to receive the new day. We’re dreading the morning and we’re wasting this most precious time. Maybe you think I’m just saying this because I’m a morning person. Yes, I generally wake up farting rainbows, but do you know why? Because I grew up in a home where I was taught the rising sun is to be celebrated, not dreaded. Because as an adult I discovered something was waiting for me the moment I woke up. And something is waiting for you the moment you wake up too. And this something is more valuable than anything else you could ever receive. Unfortunately many are missing it. What is it? Mercy. Lamentations 3: 22-23 says “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” God’s mercy is new every morning. What is his mercy? His loving goodness, kindness and compassion. And when do you receive it new? Every morning. This is worth waking up for my friends! The creator of the entire universe wanted to pour out his best on YOU this morning, regardless of how you did yesterday. Did you wake up excited to receive it? Did you wake up in anticipation of this goodness, kindness and compassion? All good things come under attack. It’s the way of the world. You plant a beautiful garden and here come the weeds. Every morning you are offered the best of the best in the form of God’s mercy and as a result of this goodness coming your way, there’s a full on attack. The weeds come growing up around his love and kindness being offered as your alarm rings, ready to choke out every ounce of compassion you’re about to receive. If the enemy can keep you in bed, he wins. If he can delay your feet hitting the ground, he has more time to grow his nasty weeds. And while you snooze and dread the beginning of your day, here’s what happens … God’s mercies are being traded for the enemy’s condemnation. God offers you love and grace and compassion. He offers you energy and passion and purpose. But when you don’t wake up to receive it, you start trading all his goodness for the condemnation of the enemy. You feel defeated before you even get up. You dread the day. You are disappointed that once again you’re running behind, your morning has been ruined, and clearly there’s something seriously wrong with you because you just can’t seem to get up in the morning. That’s what condemnation sounds like. You’re broken. Everyone else can do this, but you can’t. You’re a disappointment. You’re wasting your life. This is condemnation and it only makes you feel worse, right. And that’s NOT from God. Romans 8:1 says “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” As a follower of Jesus, there is now no condemnation. What the enemy is trying to put on you is NOT yours to receive. Stop letting him win your mornings. Stop letting him steal your blessings. Every morning God is offering you his mercy (his loving goodness, kindness and compassion). Start receiving that and stop accepting the enemy’s condemnation that c...

God is more interested in changing your mind than your circumstances. Within your mind are thoughts that control your life. Your thoughts are either propelling you toward your destiny in Christ Jesus, or your thoughts are holding you back in a little life far short of what you were created for. Which is true for you? Are you being propelled forward towards more, or are you being held back into less? It’s all according to what you’re thinking about. And this is why God is far more interested in your mind than your circumstances. This is why God will allow you to stumble right into some messy circumstances and in the middle of that mess is where he does his finest work on your mind, changing the way you think. Every bad decision you have ever made is a result of a bad thought. Think about that and you’ll find it’s absolutely true. Every bad decision you ever made was first a bad thought that you acted on. There is a war within you for your thoughts. Your mind is the battleground. So could today be radically changed by a shift in your thoughts? Could changing your mind change your life? Is it a trendy new age thing to stand in the mirror and speak affirmations. Is it biblical to memorize your goals, envision your success, and harness your energy? Let me tell you, God hard wired you to become what you think about. Proverbs 23:7 says For as he thinketh, so is he. Your life becomes what you think about. Did you know God created you with a super power? Oh he sure did. It’s called your Reticular Activator. If I’ve been your mentor for very long, you likely know exactly what I’m going to say. In fact, members of BIG Life Mentoring, I just taught on this last night in our live mentoring session, so this is just a reminder to tap into your super power today. Or maybe you’ve gone your whole life without knowing you had one of these powerful little things inside of you, but none the less, it has been working in your life. Your Reticular Activator serves as the gate-kepper to you mind. It determines what you become consciously aware of and what remains as outside noise, never making it fully into your awareness. Your reticular activator keeps you sane. If you truly noticed every one of the 400 billion sights, sounds, scents and sensations flying at you at any given second, you would go straight up crazy. So, you block out the overwhelming majority of that which is around you and only see, hear, feel, smell and notice a tiny fraction of what there is. In fact, you’re not even consciously aware of 99.999% of all that is flying at you in this moment, it’s all just background noise. Well, doesn’t that leave you to wonder what you’re missing? Now, what is responsible for determining what you become aware of and what you never even notice – your reticular activator. And it’s not by accident. It was given to you by your creator by great design. And you can use it for your benefit. You are in charge of setting your reticular activator. How do you set your reticular activator? With your thoughts. Today, if you decide you want to think about things that make you happy, your reticular activator will be fine tuned to seek out those very things and bring them into your awareness. Suddenly you’re surrounded by things that make you happy. They were always there, now you just notice them. Sadly most of us have taken this amazing super power given to us by our creator and we’ve fine tuned it to find negative, stressful, overwhelming things to worry about. And as we think, so are we. We think overwhelming thoughts, so we are overwhelmed. We think worried thoughts, so we are worried. We think negative thoughts, so our lives are generally negative. AND IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY. Your thoughts have gone wild. It’s time to harness them, tame them,

Could the struggles in your life be the result of a priority issue? When we elevate certain things and people to a level of importance above God, we subject them to removal from our lives. Did you know the 10 plagues on Egypt were a direct response to 10 different gods and goddesses the Egyptians worshiped? They suffered the plague of flies, the plague of lice, plague of frogs, plague of locusts, plauge of sores and boils, of water turning to blood, of all their cattle and livestock dying, of losing their firstborn, the plauge of hail and the plague of darkness and each were a direct result of gods and goddesses they worshiped. Good things came under attack because their priorities were wrong. Their lives royally sucked because their focus wasn’t on God. I wonder how many good things we will lose as a result of a priority issue. I wonder how long God has been trying to get your attention and your trust as you cling to all the things that are falling apart instead of the one who holds the whole world in his hand? God knows we often won’t fall to our knees without first being knocked there. Lord, convict us of anything or anyone we have put in your place. Convict us of priorities that are out of alignment. Help us to get this right without the trouble. But if it requires trouble, then give us the strength and courage to make those changes. As we read in Exodus chapters 7 through 12 about the plagues on Egypt and their struggles through boils and frogs and flies, we see each time God would give them an opportunity to turn to him. Each time God would wait for them to change. We see there would sometimes be moments of surrender and moments of seeking God first, but then they would go right back to their old ways. Aren’t we the same? We get sick and we’re all up in the business of being healthy. Oh God, if you’ll heal me I’ll eat healthy. I’ll get up and exercise. I’ll do it right this time God if you’ll give me another chance. We make big commitments and promises in exchange for another chance to have our health. And how long does that last? We’re 3 days in and the aches and pains have subsided and we’re already bargaining with a bag of chips and a stack of oreos. Don’t you know God must be shaking his head here. “God, save me! If you do, I’ll change.” He does his part and we quickly fall back. What are your sores and boils? What are you plagued with at this moment perhaps as a result of placing other things in front of God? Where have your priorities been out of line and created a mess in your life? What will you do about it today? God will stop at nothing to get our attention. If it takes frogs, then he will bring the frogs. If it takes darkness, then darkness it is. Not because he doesn’t love you, but because he loves you relentlessly. His relentless love will stop at nothing to reach you. He will work through chaos and calamity, disaster and diagnosis, setbacks and sidetracks, hurt and heartbreak, delays and detours to get to your heart. He wants you. He wants the best for you. Don’t you know he has the absolute best in his hand for you? His plans and his ways are so far above yours you can’t even fathom what he has available for you. And you have to trust that what he has is better than what you have. When will we get to a place in our lives when we say with confidence, “God if it isn’t from you, then I don’t want it anyway!” When will we fully trust that if God closes the door, it’s to get us to keep moving forward? God knew the Egyptians would never turn to him without the plagues, and God knows we would never step into the life he created us for if all the doors were always open. We wander off and get sidetracked. We start knocking on doors we were never meant to knock on. We stumble around in the darkness,