BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” There is divine holy purpose in your life. It’s easy to look at someone on stage singing and see their purpose. It’s easy to see the missionary’s purpose. But what if you have no stage and you haven’t traveled to Africa yet? What if your days look more like wake up, cook something, clean something, go here and go there, cook more stuff, clean more stuff, then go to bed exhausted. Is there purpose in that? God created you with a plan in mind. He knew you and your potential before you were born. He not only set you apart, but he set you up. He put within you exactly what you would need to live your best life. Then he created a journey that would bring out the best in you. Now, he did not set you on an easy journey. Easy journeys leave us on auto pilot, checked out, just cruising. Hmmmm, cruising through life sounds kinda awesome right now doesn’t it? But it isn’t awesome for you. God knows that. He knows what you need is a challenge. A challenge to keep you engaged, focused and fully living. Yes, life is filled with mundane tasks that we repeat over and over again, but don’t allow a daily routine to become a joy suck. Every day right among your routine, are once in a lifetime opportunities specifically designed to bring you immense joy. Divine opportunities to make an impact. We often miss these opportunities because they’re sandwiched between all things ordinary. If you’re a mama of older children, think about this … there was a last diaper you changed. There was the last 2 am feeding. There was the last night they crawled in your bed. But you didn’t know it was the last. You knew it was the umpteeth time and you were exhausted. And so you missed the preciousness of it. Do you know what I would give for my little boy to sneak in my bed again to squirm his way between Daddy and I? Do you know what I would give to hear my daughters signing their sweet little songs and giggling when they were supposed to be asleep? There was a last time … and I missed it. I was likely trying to cruise through that time of my life. Less engaged and focused than I should have been. And now it’s gone. Today, as I record this episode, it’s Halloween. The memories of the past 18 Halloween’s come flooding back. The rush of putting together the costumes. The photos on the front porch. The buckets of candy. And me, sometimes the mom pouring glitter on the princess or putting eyeliner on the pirate, and other times being the mom on edge and grouchy about stupid stuff. I missed some prime opportunities back then and today Halloween is just a boring day where my doorbell may ring a few times. What I would give for a couple princesses and a pirate rushing to get ready in my house again. What if there’s a LAST happening for you today. I bet there is and you don’t even know it. Will you be engaged enough to catch it? Will you be aware enough to enjoy it? You will never, ever get this day back. The life that is happening today is only available right now. You have PURPOSE in this day. What is your purpose today? Your purpose in this day of life, today, is to live it fully. All-in, with eyes wide open, fully engaged, laser focused on right here, right now. In the grand scheme of things, nothing else really matters. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow may not even come, so we have today. This day. And God has given you this day to live. God set you apart before you were even born. What does it mean to be set apart? It means he singled you out. He chose you. He said “this one – she’s the one – she’s something special.” He knew today, this day in your life would come with it’s long list of ordinary and mundane, and it’s ever so elusive “lasts” a...

You and I are in a battle. Every day we are fighting. We’re fighting to live the life God has available for us and we’re fighting against the enemy who’s only goal is to steal, kill and destroy everything Jesus died to give us. But you and I are champions. We are more than conquerors. And understand when you are MORE THAN A CONQUEROR this means you have a habit of winning. You show up and win over and over again. You win when no one thought you would win. You win when everyone else counted you out. You win when everything was stacked against you. You win when you get knocked down because you simply won’t stay down. Get an image of this sister, because this is who God made you to be. This is MORE THAN A CONQUEROR. A champion. You were created to be a champion in this life. Whatever battle you’re up against, may I remind you that God is for you, not against you. He has made a way for your victory. Exodus 14:14 says “The Lord himself will fight for you, just stay calm.” Who needs that reminder this morning? Everything in you wants to freak the freak out right now. But God is saying, stay calm, I’m fighting for you. God is with you. You are not alone in this. Who doesn’t feel quite like a champion? Who feels more like a loser … or even more so like a quitter. Understand, that is NOT who you were created to be. You’re so much better than this. You have more in you. The reason you feel bad is because the potential within you has gone unused and you know it. That doesn’t feel good and it’s not supposed to. Let that discomfort move you to action. The life you were created for is BIG and beautiful and it requires your fight. You can’t sit this one out. You can’t keep delaying your action. WILL YOU FIGHT TODAY? WILL YOU FIGHT FOR THE LIFE YOU WANT? WILL YOU FIGHT TO BECOME EXACTLY WHO GOD CREATED YOU TO BE? Some of us need to let out a good battle cry this morning. A warning that we’re waking up and stepping up. A sign that we’re off the sidelines and in the game of our own life. You are not some helpless, weak, beaten down soul. Heck no! You’re a warrior ready for the fight. This is your time. Here’s a song for your battle cry. “I Believe” by KB: https://youtu.be/oFKBLzg1uak I – I BELIEVE – I BELIEVE THAT – I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!!!!!! (funny story from retreat) In this life you will have battles to fight. It’s guaranteed. We were never promised a trouble free life. But we were promised victory through Christ Jesus. We have been equipped for the battle, so suit up my friend, THE ENEMY IS ON ATTACK. And of course he’s on attack – he only attacks that which he is threatened by. The attack you’re under right now only reveals your value. You have something precious and it’s worth fighting for. Your marriage, your health, your family, your career, your dream, your goals – they will all come under attack. Suit up. Within the Bible we have been given instructions for our battle. A list of weapons and what to do with them. Ephesians 6: 10-11 “God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way.” God is strong. We don’t have a wimpy God. He’s not powerless over any situation in your life. He’s not stuck. He’s fully capable of moving any mountain or parting any sea. And you are created in his image, in his likeness. God wants you to be strong too. You were never intended to live this life powerless. You are not incapable! You are not broken and unworthy. If you’re stuck, you have chosen to be stuck. You have focused on perfecting the next 10 steps and been frozen in overwhelm,

Isaiah 43: 1-3 The Message translation: But now, God’s Message, the God who made you in the first place, the One who got you started, “Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you. I’ve called your name. You’re mine. When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end— Because I am God, your personal God, your Savior. Let’s get the bad news out of the way here. There will be times in your life when you’re in over your head. Times when you don’t know what to do next. Times when nothing seems to go right. You will go through rough waters, it won’t always be smooth sailing for your journey. You will find yourself between a rock and a hard place, darned if you do and darned if you don’t. You will face-plant yourself in a dead end. It’s all right here in this scripture. This. Is. Life. We were warned. Yet somehow when things happen to us we’re so shocked. We throw Hollywood worthy grand pity parties for a party of one. Let me tell you this straight up, not a single “why me” will ever solve a single thing in your life. Ever. Why you? Because you’re human. Because you’re alive. That’s why. I used to believe if you’re a good person and you love God, especially if you’re seeking to follow his will, then you’re insulated from hardships. And then I witnessed a sweet little girl named Phoebee lose her life and my theory was blown to heck. I had somehow twisted God’s word to believe I was entitled to things such as a healthy family. And then I saw a family much more sacrificial, much more Godly, much more lovely than my own lose their sweet little Phoebe. If they weren’t entitled to health, how could I possibly be? If Phoebee wasn’t entitled to a long life, how could I be? And that’s when I came to this reality … I’m entitled to nothing so I’m grateful for everything. When you realize everything you have, EVERYTHING is by the grace of God and you’re entitled to not a single bit of it, then your life is opened up to be truly grateful for everything. You earned none of it. It was given to you. And it was given to you with a great responsibility to take care of it. You don’t just receive a healthy body by the grace of God, not take care of it and expect to magically remain healthy. Nope it doesn’t work that way. You don’t receive a clean slate, a fresh start and opportunity for a do-over and not be required to DO anything. Your participation in your life is required. You are entitled to nothing. Once you understand that, you can be truly grateful for everything. And with that gratitude comes a sense of responsibility to take the best darn care you can of that which you have been given. So, that’s the bad news … some crap is going to happen in your life. Hard days will come. Good plans will fall apart. Now the good news. I mean the ridiculously good news. God’s already redeemed you. You may not see it yet or feel it right now, but you’ve already been redeemed. Every bad thing that’s ever happened to you is in the process of being whipped into something of purpose. Lives will be touched because of what you’ve experienced. You will be used to make a positive impact. This is part of your legacy. You are redeemed. God has promised you in this scripture that he will be right there with you. You are not alone. He sees you. Someone listening today just needs to know that your God, sees you. He is with you in this storm and you’re NOT going down. It may feel like you’re sinking. It may look hopeless, but God has his eye on you and he is making a way...

I wonder if there’s anyone listening today who has been hoping for something. You’ve been hoping for a long time, a really long time. And let’s face it, the expected time line for your hopes has already come and gone. Your current circumstances tell you it’s not gonna happen. What have you been hoping for? Something better. Something bigger. Something new. Something more. Something different. Something to change. There was a time when your hopes were high. You woke up believing it could happen and now it almost seems ridiculous to keep hoping. Is that you? Well I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’re listening today because God has a message for you. Here’s what he wanted me to tell you. This is God speaking here – He says – I AM ABLE TO DO EXCEEDINGLY AND ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL THAT YOU ASK AND THINK THROUGH MY POWER THAT IS GOING TO WORK IN YOU. Write it down, it’s Ephesians 3:20 – “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” That thing you’ve been hoping for. That thing you used to pray a whole lot about but now so much time has gone by with no change, no improvement, no growth that it seems ridiculous to keep praying about it …. yeah, that thing, well God wants you to know he’s about to do something exceedingly and abundantly above anything you could ever think of. This means he is about to blow your mind! You should get excited! How’s he going to do it? Through his power that is going to work in you. It’s going to happen IN you but it’s going to be because of HIS power. It’s impossible for you, but it’s not impossible for God. But here’s what’s been happening. Because of the delay, because it was harder than you ever imagined, you’ve slowly started to settle. You’ve started to lower your standards, release your hopes and level down due to circumstances. You’ve convinced yourself you’ll be okay if things don’t change. You’ll be okay if that dream planted down deep in your soul never happens. You’ll just live with it. Ahhhh, you can pretty it up all you want to, but the truth is, that’s settling. How do I know so well what that looks like? BECAUSE I’VE DONE IT IN MY LIFE. There have been times I’ve let the fire die because every time I tried to stir that old fire it was just a painful reminder of all that WASN’T. It became easier to let the flame go out and give up on that hope than to keep trying to fan the flame. What causes us to settle? Circumstances. Who here has less than favorable circumstances? You have something working against you. You have a mountain standing in your way. You have a clock that is ticking and the time seems to have already run out. You have a long hallway full of closed doors. You feel like you’ve tried everything and nothing has worked. You’ve just run out. I don’t know what you’re out of this morning – out of time, out of money, out of resources, out of support, out of ideas. Well girl, those are all just circumstances. Don’t you know your God isn’t limited by circumstances. He’s the God who tells 86 year old Abraham that he WILL BLESS him and Sarah with a baby, stop settling. He’s saying, I get it – circumstances say that baby isn’t going to happen, but I’m not limited by your circumstances. And did he do it? Darn right he did! Stop dwelling on your situation. Hey listen to me, God is sovereign over your situation. You may not see a way and there may not currently be a way – but God will MAKE a way. Circumstances may be unfavorable. Your situation may seem hopeless. But my God, your God,

Some things in life simply don’t make sense. I don’t understand how we’re standing on the earth at this moment as it spins 1,000 miles per hour and we don’t feel a thing. I don’t understand how there are 60,000 miles of blood vessels in my body and they’re all working together perfectly to supply blood flow and I’m not having to extend any sort of effort. I don’t understand how why some really bad things were allowed to happen to people I love. Have you ever been there? Standing in this place in life where you don’t understand WHY and HOW this could happen. Left questioning if God is really for you, then why did this happen? Asking how a God who loves could sit and watch this happen and do nothing. Earlier this month while speaking at a conference in Indianapolis I met this strikingly beautiful woman named Lindsey. She was just one of those people who had a presence about her. She walked with tremendous confidence, yet a humble, gentle spirit. I immediately liked her. After my speech she hugged me and said “you said something for every single one of us.” My initial thought was, what a kind thing to say, but then I felt it. There was more. Something more in her voice I didn’t understand. I came home and connected with her on FaceBook. I quickly learned she and her husband travel and have a boat and 2 big beautiful golden retrievers. Then the story started unfolding. Last week they received a foster child. A little girl with a broken past and aching heart joined their family. But there was more. I knew there was more. I could sense the meaning in her posts. With a little trolling and scrolling I found them … photos of beautiful Lindsey from a few years ago holding a 6 year old little girl with no hair. And in that moment I knew, she had lost a child. She had gone through the unimaginable. She has experienced pain on a level no mom should ever experience. We began messaging and I fumbled for my words to acknowledge her journey. She replied “I live every day knowing that it may not make sense now, but some day when we are reunited, I will understand it all.” She is saying I don’t understand but I trust one day I will. I trust one day it will all make sense. So here she is, not only continuing to live, but living BIG, taking in a little girl to give her the family she’s never had, to protect her and keep her safe, to love her and give her a future. I’m left looking at the things in my own life that I don’t understand, saying YO PAMELA GET IT TOGETHER … GIRL LIVE YOUR LIFE. How many times do we get hung up on why and how, and we waste perfectly good days of life being angry or frustrated. Have you ever let a broken appliance rock your world? Seriously the washing machine goes out and the dirty clothes quickly pile up, the refrigerator stops working and $200 worth of groceries spoil, the garbage disposal jams and there’s unknown objects awaiting your hands in dirty water. It’s like a personal attack on you as a human being! And things seem to happen in threes, right? Three bad things all happen in a series of events. Or we have a fender bender. We lose our wallet. We get a speeding ticket. Our phone takes a flying leap out of our hand onto the concrete and the earth stands still as you pick it up and ever so slowly turn it over, holding your breath saying please no, please no, no, no, no and yip, it’s shattered. Dang it! Why?!!!! Why me? Why today? Then we spend the remainder of the day ticked off over our bad luck and what it will cost us. GET A GRIP WOMAN! SERIOUSLY. What first world problems have you let get your panties in a wad this week while people like Lindsey are choosing to wake up each day and say “I don’t understand it now, but I trust one day I will.” This is the kind of faith we’re called to.

Are you hoping for BIG things in your future? Have you been praying for big breakthroughs and big changes? Well sister, you have a great BIG God capable of mind-blowing things and as his prized and precious child, you can boldly approach the throne of grace with your dreams and desires. After all remember, the desires of your heart are given to you by your creator in the first place. The seed was planted within you by Him. God doesn’t give you a dream without a path to get there. It IS possible, but likely not in the way you imagined. Here’s where we mess up … we believe if God gave us a desire within our heart for something in our future, one day we’ll just wake up and it will be there. Oh, you believe in magic. That’s magic. Believing in God looks a little different. Here’s how God works: He gives you the seeds and says plant it, water it, care for it, then you reap the harvest. The path to your dreams is a whole lot more about sowing and reaping than wishing and waiting. Boldly approach the throne of grace with your request and you will receive seeds. A little start. A beginning. A hand full of possibility, and what you do with it is completely up to you. Could you already have the answer to your prayers today? Could the seeds all be right here, right now? Look at the humble beginnings of these 5 powerhouse companies. Amazon, Apple, Disney, Google and Harley Davidson all began in garages. Not big grand buildings with thousands of employees. Not even a home office. We’re talking about homes so small they didn’t have room for an office in the house, they were in the garage. There’s likely something big you’ve been dreaming about for your life. Something currently out of your reach. You imagine that once you arrive to this destination you will be successful, disciplined, focused. When you’re the perfect size 6 you will of course eat salad for lunch. When your marriage is once again happy of course you will start going on dates again. When you have a big fat healthy bank account you’ll gladly give. And I’m here to tell you, if you won’t do it now where you are today, you won’t do it then either. And it’s not even me saying it, Jesus said it. Luke 16:10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.” Here’s what God knows about you: If you aren’t faithful in little things you simply won’t be faithful with more. You must first be faithful with the little you have before you can ever expect to be trusted with more. What are you needing more of today? Your answer is always found in being faithful with what little you have right now. Do you need more energy? Imagine all you could accomplish if you just had the energy, the pep, the zest, the get up and go to do more. Well I know the secret of getting more energy. The secret is to use every ounce of energy you have today, then tomorrow you will have more. Yes, this is being faithful with little, then more will be given. Energy grows and builds, but only when used. Use it or lose it. Get up and do something today or tomorrow you’ll feel even LESS like doing anything. Do you need more money? Be faithful with what you have today. I recently read that millionaires like Lady Gaga, Kourtney Kardashian and Carrie Underwood use coupons. Do they have more than enough money to buy whatever they want? Of course they do. But they’re choosing not to waste it. You may not have much money today, but are you wasting what little you do have by not being smart with your money? Can you be TRUSTED with money? Will you do what’s right with your money? Remember Jesus’ teaching on the talents? Perhaps you know the story. A boss gives his 3 employees each a measure of mone...

We are surrounded by earthly reminders of heavenly powers at work. What we have just accepted as normal shouts the miraculous truths of our creator. How many of us at this moment are wearing a diamond. Have you ever given thought to who created that diamond? That was his creation. He made that. And do you know how he made that diamond you wear today? A really long, hard process. Most natural diamonds are between 1 and 3 billion years old, formed deep within the earth, 100 miles below surface. Minerals under extreme pressures and extreme heat became the jewels which we treasure today, eventually brought to the surface in volcanic eruptions. That was a long hard process of difficult change and none of it was by accident. John 1:3 says “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” This was God in action, and it began long, long, long ago. Now remember we’re dealing with a God who could have turned corn into diamonds. He could have had them grow out of your ears if he wished. But I believe our mighty God and his ways are revealed in creation. This is how he works. He is the God of change. He is the God of the impossible. He takes something from deep within and through a process he forms and changes it into something precious. Isn’t that what God has been doing with you? You may not like the process, but you’re in the middle of it. The pressure and the heat in your life are serving a tremendous purpose, a purpose to change that which seems unwanted and unimportant and turn it into something of tremendous value. Have you ever thought of your value and worth? You, individually, how much are you worth? Scripture says in Isaiah 43:4 that we are precious in his eyes, we are honored and God loves us. The same God who made every single diamond made you and said you are more precious. The most expensive jewel to ever be sold at auction was a 60 carat flawless pink diamond which sold for $83.2 million. Then there’s the most precious diamond which is part of the British Crown Jewels with a value calculated to be 3.5 times the wealth of the whole world. And YOU, you are more precious and valuable than even this diamond. Than all the diamonds in the world combined. You know what you’re worth? You’re worth the price of a son. And for those listening who have a child of your own, you know that’s a price you’re simply not willing to pay for anything. Your child. And yet that’s the price that was paid for you. The diamonds know their value and worth. They know what they went through had a purpose. They know their God. Sure that may sound crazy, but listen to this scripture from Job 12: 7-10: “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” The diamonds know the power of the Lord. Don’t you? Don’t you know the same God who creates priceless treasures from deep within the earth under pressure and extreme heat, is the God who sees every detail of your life, everything you’ve ever gone through, every bad thing that has ever happened to you, every mistake you have ever made, every regret and burden you carry, and says I’M GOING TO DO SOMETHING GOOD WITH THIS. Yes, every thing in your life is at this moment working together for good. And if it isn’t good yet, then sister God simply isn’t done yet. What if the diamonds we treasure today were God’s way of reminding his girls that he’s working on you too? His power to change something undesirable into something beautiful is unmatched.

Luke 5:12-13 “A man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.’ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ And immediately the leprosy left him.” Back in this time, leprosy was a disease which declared you dead while you were still alive. They were given the label of leper. This disease became their identity. Their skin was covered in boils, they were in pain and agony, often losing their limbs as their body began to rot. Lepers were judged as being punished by God for their immorality and treated as “less than”. Leprosy was highly contagious, transmitted by touch, and therefore they were forbidden to live in the city, forced to live alone in the wilderness. When a leper walked through a crowd, they were required to yell “unclean, unclean, unclean” as a warning for everyone to stay a safe distance away. Unclean, unclean, unclean. This disease was this man’s identity. Unclean is who he had become. He believed he was being punished. He was still alive, but not living. And isn’t this us sometimes as well? Something that has happened to us has become our identity. We’re living in our own wilderness, cut off from the life once available to us. We are alive, but we’re not fully living. What is separating you? What have you taken on as your label, limiting you? Just as the leper was yelling “unclean” as people were near, are you yelling “unworthy”, are you screaming from the inside “unimportant”? Somewhere along the way maybe something happened that caused you to feel unworthy or unimportant, and you took that on as your identity. It became who you are. And it has separated you from the life God created you for. God’s desire is NOT for you to live one more day of your life believing you are too little of this and too much of that. Not one more day. Not one more moment. The world may offer it’s labels but you don’t have to put them on as yours. There’s a healing available to you today. A healing that will remove the layers of unworthiness you have felt for years. A healing that will restore your confidence to exactly who you were made to be. A healing that comes from one place, and one place only. We believe if we lose 50 pounds we will be restored. We believe if we wear the right clothes, work at the right job, have the right person, we will finally be whole. But we won’t. You won’t. The guy won’t fix this. The shoes won’t make it feel better. No amount of makeup or jewelry can cover this up. The leper knew the ONE who could restore him. That ONE is Jesus. When he saw Jesus he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Notice, he knew exactly who Jesus was. It was against the law to bow before anyone but God. Many didn’t recognize Jesus as God, but this man did. He knew exactly who he was and he had complete confidence in his power. Lord you CAN make me clean. There was zero doubt in that statement. You CAN. God CAN restore what has been broken in you. He CAN heal what is sick. He CAN provide where there has been lack. The question is, are you bold enough to stop yelling your own version of “unclean” and cry out to Jesus? This man was trained to only say “unclean, unclean, unclean” in the presence of another person. But he didn’t. What would have happened if he would have walked by Jesus and continued telling his sad story of his disease? What would have happened if his label would have defined him? Would he have missed his opportunity for healing? It was his bold faith that drew Jesus in. “Lord, if you are willing, YOU CAN MAKE ME CLEAN.

God is taking you somewhere. The enemy is trying to hold you back from going. God has a great plan for your life. The enemy has the opposite plan for your life. You’re either actively seeking God’s plan, or you’re passively settling for the enemy’s. This morning we will look at a story in the bible of a man being unleashed and set free and we’ll apply 3 lessons from this story to the chains which bind us today. Peter was the apostle who walked on water with Jesus. He’s my favorite because I think I’m most like Peter. He wanted more out of life, he wanted to experience it all, however he was always getting himself in trouble by talking before thinking. Anyone else relate to Peter? In Acts chapter 12 we read about Peter being in jail. In verse 6-8 it says “The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate. Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, ‘Quick! Get up!’ And the chains fell off his wrists. Then the angel told him, ‘Get dressed and put on your sandals.’ And he did. ‘Now put on your coat and follow me,’ the angel ordered.” And there they are, 3 steps for you and I to follow today to break free of that which holds us back: Get up, get dressed, go. First, Peter is told, “quick, get up!” and the chains fell off his wrists. Notice Peter was told to get up while the chains were still binding him. Ahhhh, he had to get up first. He had to put some effort in. He had a responsibility in his freedom. Quick get up, then the chains fell off. How often we lay around and wallow in our mess saying, “God, please help me – pick me up – set me free” but we aren’t willing to first get up. What if the chains holding you back will only be broken after YOU get up. Get up when you don’t feel like it. Get up when it’s not fair. Get up when you fear you’ll be knocked right back down again. Get up. Chains don’t fall off when you’re just laying there. You have a responsibility in this freedom you seek. It’s not just going to magically happen for you as you do nothing. Will you be willing to get up BEFORE you feel better? Before you feel there is a change? Before you know for sure you can stay up? Then the angel told him “get dressed and put on your sandals” and he did. Now that you’re up, get dressed. Why is this so important? Because getting dressed signifies you’re going somewhere. You’re no longer staying where you have been stuck. BELIEVE that God is taking you somewhere, so prepare yourself. This scripture shows us exactly how to do it. God says get up, get dressed and Peter just does it. Don’t question it. Don’t delay. Don’t make long lists and rewrite your lists. Don’t alphabetize your excuses. Just do it. Quickly. Now. When it doesn’t make sense. What if the amount of time it takes you to respond to God’s prompting determines the amount of time it will take you to have your breakthrough? What if this delay is of your own doing? What if God has been waiting on YOU to get ready all this time? When I first started in business years ago, my mentor told me “Pamela, you’ve got to fake it till you make it.” I would get up every morning and dress for a million dollar meeting all though there wasn’t a single person coming to my office to see me that day. My phone wasn’t ringing for me to make a sale, but I was rip roaring ready to answer that phone like a pro. Sometimes we’ve gotta dress the part to prove we’re ready for it. If you don’t want to be a frumpy mom today, then don’t dress like a frumpy mom today.

What happens when we get too comfortable in life? What happens when we resist the change God is calling us into? What happens when we settle for where we are instead of going where God is leading? We miss the opportunity of a lifetime. You have no idea what God has in mind for you if you would follow him fully. But we miss it because we’ve settled, we’re comfortable and we avoid the unknown. Here’s the kicker, we not only miss the opportunities God has for us, but we create an opportunity for disaster in our life. Our delay of obedience is an opportunity for the enemy to stir up trouble, and we all know the enemy is eager do some stirring in our lives! In 2 Samuel chapter 11 we read of King David and his mighty fall. Now let’s remember who David is. David, the little shepherd boy who boldly fought the giant Goliath and because of his mighty faith and willingness to go, he won. Eventually little David worked himself all the way up to becoming King. David, always with a willingness to go. God loves our willingness. He’s looking to bless the one who will boldly step up and say, “choose me, I will go.” That was David and we see how through his life God showed him favor and provided in supernatural ways in response to his willingness to go. But now little shepherd boy David is King David and power has gotten into his head. Now, let’s not be too quick to judge, I’m pretty sure we all struggle with properly handling power. Remember when you were the new girl in the office willing to happily do any job that needed to be done with no complaint and now with your seniority you’ve gotten a little lazy and there are jobs below you. Your willingness to go, to work, and to serve has lessened. Remember when you were a newlywed and you danced through the house like a Disney character smelling the fresh laundry? Uhmmmm yeah, when’s the last time that happened, right? Now laundry is a dreaded chore that you HAVE to do. That willingness in you that God so loves has grown a little dim, hasn’t it? You’re now too busy. There’s too much stress and pressure in your real life to listen to God’s prompting and just go. Our attitude of “choose me God, I will go” has turned into a “oh, please not me, I’m so busy.” We hunker low, hoping God will skim right over us and choose someone else for the work he has. But have we forgotten our willingness to go creates an undeniable favor over our lives and supernatural provision? Have we forgotten our unwillingness to go leaves the door open for the enemy to creep in and do his nasty stirring? David’s people were at war. David should have been with his soldiers. His place was with them. 2 Samuel 11 verse 1 says “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army and David remained in Jerusalem.” David was no longer willing to go. He lost his willingness to show up. He lost his fight. All the things that first set him on the path to his destiny, and now he has lost them. No longer willing to go. No longer willing to show up. No longer willing to try. Is that you this morning? You once had so much passion in you. You woke up at the first sound of the alarm ready to conquer the day … and now … not so much. You’ve gotten lazy and lax. Oh we can layer it with all kinds of flowery excuses that the outside world will buy, but deep down you know it’s still just an excuse of why you’re not doing what you know you should be doing. Sadly, we can get by on half effort. We can survive, eat and pay the bills just going through the motions. But are there dangers in not going where you’re supposed to go and not doing what you’re supposed to be doing? Oh you bet there are.

Today I get to speak to an audience which actually has me nervous. An audience which has me second guessing my clothing choice, changing outfits a dozen times. They’re my toughest crowd. They will look me up and down and within the first few seconds they will decide if they will listen or not. My audience … a group of high schoolers. Yes, I’m talking to a large group of Juniors and Seniors and let me tell you they’re a tough audience. I will have the opportunity to spend 30 minutes with them, and in those 30 minutes I get to share the greatest truth … they were each created for a BIG Life. God imagined them in great detail and envisioned the life they could have, then created them and equipped them with every single thing they would need to live it. They lack nothing and nothing they have done has disqualified them from that life. If you’ve been listening to this podcast for long, you may have heard me share the story of Ruth before, it’s one of my favorites. Ruth is a woman who’s world had fallen apart. Her husband had died and she was now homeless. Not only homeless, but hungry. She was caring for her mother-in-law trying to find enough food for both of them. This woman was in survival mode, just trying to make the best of a really bad situation. Everything had seemed to go wrong for Ruth. Let’s face it, some crap had happened for Ruth. And that’s life. Hey, crap has happened to all of us and my wild guess is, some more crap may happen in the future. But here’s what we often forget … that crap, that stinky unpleasant and undesirable stuff that happens in your life can serve a tremendous purpose. It can be used as fertilizer. Yes, don’t you know that’s what fertilizer really is … it’s crap. Farmers put piles of poo on their crops to make them grow bigger, faster, stronger. So don’t you think that God in all of his wisdom can lovingly apply piles of poo in your life to make you grow bigger, faster and stronger? After all remember, you were created for a BIG Life and God wants to help you step into that life he envisioned for you when he created you. If a little pile of crap here and there helps the process, then alrighty! So here’s Ruth, her husband has died, she’s taking care of her mother-in-law who’s husband had also died, and they have nothing. They’re hungry. And that hunger brings us to Ruth chapter 2, verse 2 where Ruth says, “let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up grains of stalk left behind.” Let me go out. Not let me sit here and worry. Not let me lay here and wallow in my mess. Nope – let me go out and do what I can do. It may not be a lot, but at least it will be something. So, crap happens, we’ve established that, now whatcha gonna do about it? Answer – get up and do what you can do. When you do all you can do, you’ve created an open invitation for God to come in and then do what only he can do. But what we often do is we sit in our mess, wallow in our pity, rehash how bad it is and we do nothing. Ruth would have starved to death if she would have just sat there. She got up and did what she could do. This is what life requires of us. This is what your future requires of you, and it starts today. Do what you can do. Do everything you can do. God supplies opportunities in abundance to us, but we often miss them. You know why we miss them? We’re looking for something BIG and we forget that all big things first begin small. We want that BIG breakthrough, that BIG hit, those BIG bucks and God says, nope first be faithful with little, then more will be given to you. The seed doesn’t look like what it will become. You can easily miss the little thing in front of you that has tremendous potential for your future because it doesn’t look like what you imagined. Today i get to host the #1 women’s devotion...

Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.” This is our prayer today: Where is my heart wrong? Where have I become hardened? Where have I become cynical? Where have I lost the heart you created me to have? Over time and through life experiences, we learn to be cautious. If you give money to him, he’ll just buy alcohol. If you give an inch to her, she’ll take a mile. If you open the door to them, they’ll never leave. And all of this may be true. You’ve been taken advantage of in the past. Maybe you’ve been used and run over and as a result you are one guarded gal with some big walls. It all makes sense. I get it because I too have taken bricks thrown at me and built walls. But what if that’s never what God wanted us to do? What if all this time instead of building walls with those brick we were supposed to be climbing up on them? What if those bricks thrown at us were nothing more than an offer of a new, higher perspective on life. What if on our climb up we were supposed to be reaching out a hand and helping the very people who threw bricks, to climb on up too? And here comes our guarded hearts with scars from the last time we stuck our hand out saying “noooooo … they’ll just do it again!” I wonder what God has to say about this? I wonder what his perspective is on loving anyway? I wonder what he would instruct us to do when there’s a strong chance of being taken advantage of? Well look no further than his son Jesus. I mean think about it, Jesus stretched out his hands to help some people who would be pretty crappy to him. And he knew it. Yet, he did it any way. Jesus gave his life for some who would never acknowledge him in return. Yet, he did it any way. It’s easy for us to wear the label of Christian and sit on our high horse, looking down our nose at these people, pointing our fingers and shaking our heads with disbelief. But honestly, we’re not a whole lot better on most days. We receive the gift of a new day of life and we complain it’s a little too cold for our liking. We are the recipients of the tremendous blessing of children, and we complain about their messes and all the work they require. We’re a bunch of ungrateful brats, given all these blessings and freedom and we act as if we’re entitled to it somehow. WRONG. But here’s the beautiful thing, God knew you would be a little bratty, but he gave you those blessings anyway. He knew on most days you would completely miss the sheer miracle that you’re alive, but he decided to give you another day of life anyway. He knew you would fail to say thank you and acknowledge it was him that has provided every single opportunity you’ve ever received, but guess what … he still decided to line up more opportunities for you today. Why? Because LOVE is his nature. It’s who he is. And it’s who you were created to be. You were made in the image of God. You were created to give and love, and when the world has taught you it’s not safe to love and give, you’ve turned from the very person you were created to be. While we can disguise it as being street smart and realistic, the truth is, we’ve lost who we really are in the process. We’ve become judgmental and cynical with a list of qualifications for our love. Oh Lord, create in me a clean heart. Help wash away all this crud that has built up. Remove the dark stains of hurt. Clean out the build up of rejection. Clear out the layers of disappointment. Remove the expectations, cut the strings, and help me to love again as you intended me to. At the end of each episode, you hear me say it … maybe you’ve caught on … it’s my thing. I say “I love you wildly.” And here’s what I mean by that.

Romans 5:20 “But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.” I personally love the old King James version in my big family bible ‘where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.’ Understand where there is sin, there is grace. Where there is failure, there is grace. Where there are shortcomings, there is grace. Where there is this “I can’t believe I screwed this up again”, there is grace. The more you need it, the more supply there is with your name on it. God’s got you covered my friend. May his grace cover your life, changing you from the inside out. I used to view grace as a “get out of jail free” card. An immediate pardon for my screw ups, then I would run away from it as quickly as I could. Now I view grace a little differently. Grace is what changes the hardest areas of my life. Grace is what unleashes God’s power to work within me. Grace is what covers this girl who gets it so darn wrong so much of the time and guides me in the right direction. I’ve found this is what we can’t live without. This grace. This is what the world doesn’t offer today. This grace. And that means our amazing, loving creator is offering it all that much more today, in an overflowing abundance just for you. This grace. A sermon by TD Jakes helped me understand what role God’s grace plays in my life. I have a few notes in my journal I would like to share with you. Perhaps something will stand out to you today and you can take notes. The enemy likes to take our sin and shortcomings and lather it with guilt. Guilt over what we have done, or over what we haven’t done, just brings us down into a place where we are stripped of power to make changes. Is this where you find yourself? Down and depressed over what you just can’t seem to STOP doing, or over those things you know you need to do but somehow can’t seem to make yourself get started? That’s a nasty little scheme of the enemy. This is where you get stuck and stay stuck, convinced you lack the power to do anything about it. But you have access to something so powerful it can part any sea, move any mountain, and change any situation. You have God on your side and in your corner saying “that’s my girl … I want her to win!” To win, we must understand the correlation between sin and grace. Wherever sin does it’s dirtiest work, grace climbs to it’s highest degree. Grace puts out the fire of raging sin. The raging sin of jealousy. The raging sin of laziness. The raging sin of no self-control. When sin has done every little dirty thing it can do to you, grace comes in and says “I can handle it.” GRACE COVERS YOU. Grace is defined as the unmerited favor of God, but it’s more than a saving agent – Grace is also an empowering agent. God wants to empower you through his grace. You can do what you do because of his grace. You have POWER here. You find your confidence. You tap into your courage. This is a total picture of grace. Lord, give us the grace for the challenges we face. God is offering you grace today. Grace over your failures. Grace over your shortcomings. Grace over your sin. Accept it today. Let his grace wash over you and as it does, it will empower you. You see, God’s grace takes the weight off our willpower and turns it over to God’s power. We straight up lack the power ourselves. The power must come from God. We can’t deliver ourselves. If we could, we wouldn’t need God. The grace of God allows us to change. The grace of God allows us to step out of what we simply can’t do ourselves. So God has given us his grace, now we have a responsibility. We must build on that grace. Grace is our foundation, now build on it. Take what God has given you and do something with it.

In John 10: 11-14 Jesus said “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. If you study sheep, you see how helpless they often are. How they wander off and find themselves in danger. Yip, that’s us. We lose our way and we end up in a mess. Sweet little sheep we are. And this is why we have a shepherd. This is our Jesus. To learn about a shepherd is to learn about our Jesus. I don’t suppose there are too many modern day shepherds around here out living with their sheep, so perhaps it would do us some good to have a little study to understand what Jesus is telling his sheep today. A shepherd lives with their sheep. He has 2 main jobs – Protect the sheep and guide the sheep. Sheep are rather helpless and without the shepherd guarding them, they will quickly fall prey to predator. I simply can’t imagine trying to go through this life without my shepherd. It is our personal relationship with Jesus that can give us peace in the middle of life’s greatest storms. Hey, if you’re trying to do this thing on your own, listen to me, you don’t have to. You were never made to do life on your own. You have a protector, and whether you acknowledge him or not, he has been watching out for you. Wow, if we only knew half the things God has protected us from that we never even saw coming. The enemy’s intended harm never even came into our awareness because our mighty shepherd was protecting us. I wonder how many disasters we were spared from just yesterday! Jesus is our protector and he is our guide. A shepherd guides his sheep to pastures where they will find exactly what they need. Our shepherd guides us and it’s a good thing because much like sheep, we sure have a way of messing up directions, don’t we? Why don’t we just stick close to Jesus and follow him instead of running off and trying to make our own way. That just never ends up good, does it? But thankfully Jesus knows our tendencies and he has already prepared for our wandering nature. When we get ourselves in trouble, all we have to do is call out to him and he will find us. Isn’t it amazing to know he cares so much about us that he will come hunt us down and pull us out of whatever mess we’ve gotten into. He won’t stop until he finds us. There’s nothing he won’t do for us. I mean he’s already proven that – he died for us to save us. We are his sheep. Remember this. We are not his pigs. Here’s the difference between a sheep and a pig. A sheep and a pig can fall in the same mud, but they have a different nature. When the pig gets in the mud, he wallows in it. When the sheep gets in the mud, he cries – “Help me, get me out. This isn’t where I’m supposed to be. SHEPHERD!!!!!” Stop acting like a pig. Stop hanging out with pigs. You were never meant to wallow in your mess. You were never meant to get stuck and stay stuck. Stop settling for your current situation. You’re not a pig. You are a sheep. Cry out for help to your shepherd and watch him come running for you. You aren’t meant to wallow. Get up sweet sheep, get up. Now, one last thing I would like to share. This week I’ve spoken to many mamas who are going through tough times with their teen or young adult children. Our kids are wandering off, going down the wrong path, on the wrong course making some majorly stupid choices. First, let me say, mama, drop the guilt and shame.

Whatever you’re going through right now, yes this present mess or stress, understand God is using it to prepare you for the role you will play in the future. You are being strengthened and refined today for a tomorrow full of purpose. We can make it through most anything if we know it’s for a purpose. If we know the path is taking us somewhere good we can stick with it. It’s when we lose faith in the destination that we wander off path and get stuck. God has a plan for you. He has a destination in mind for your life. A purpose that is a perfect fit for you in every way. A future that uses your every talent and every experience, making you the absolute ideal person for the job. No one else will be able to do this like you. But maybe you don’t see that future yet. Maybe God hasn’t revealed his plans to you … will you still trust him? Will you still trust that he has a plan, it’s a good plan, you haven’t screwed that plan up, you haven’t missed out on the plan, and everything you’re going through right now is simply preparing you better for that plan. Ahhhh, feel the release right there? You’ve been trying to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders all while God has been saying, “girl, if you’ll turn that over for me the whole world fits perfectly in the palm of my hand.” My son left for basic training in the US Army on July 21st. In 82 days they have trained him to be a true warrior. In 82 days his body has transformed, his mind has shifted, he has matured and he is no longer the person he was when he left his mama’s house. This is the result of an intense 82 days. Only the most extreme pressures could have made this impact. Only the most stressful of circumstances could have strengthened and refined him in this way, this quickly. You see we want change all while we want everything to stay the same. Life simply doesn’t work that way. Just as my son couldn’t become a warrior sitting in my basement playing Call of Duty, you can’t become the woman God created you to be living in comfort. Comfortable living leads to unmet potential. Comfortable living leads to drifting. Comfortable living leads to future disappointment where you wake up one day miserable in a life you don’t like, looking in the mirror at a person you no longer recognize. And your creator loves you so darn much that he just won’t let you sit there in comfort to waste away. This is why he has shaken your world up. Perhaps this is why he has allowed your current disaster. It’s so that you don’t miss the life available to you. It’s so that you are prepared for the role you’re going to play in the future. There’s a warrior inside of you and she simply couldn’t come out in the way things used to be. Genesis 50: 20 says “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Romans 8: 28 says “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” So here’s your choice today. As things are harder than you expected, as things take longer than you anticipated, as you are faced with tough decisions and stressful circumstances, you have a choice … GET BITTER OR GET BETTER. My son has been yelled at non-stop for the past 82 days. For 82 days he’s been told he’s nothing and he can do nothing right. For 82 days he’s running on a few hours of sleep, pushed beyond any physical limit he thought he had, And all the while he’s had a choice. Get bitter about it or get better. The bitter ones quickly fall to the bottom. The ones who chose to get better rise to the top. They excel. This is why it’s hard. It’s part of the training.