God created you to be you and placed youwith your skills, interests, and life experiencesat this precise moment in time for a reason; don’t thwart His plan. Be yourself.
Excerpted from Let Your Life Count by Donna Partow
Daily Reflection: How have you embraced being yourself for God?
“…You don’t have to know why you do the things you do to know that they’re not working for you. If you get stuck focusing on the “why,” you may never move forward. Understanding why can help you respond better and can even help you heal, but it’s not necessary to changing your behavior. In order to change your behavior, you simply need to identify the beliefs that limit you and undermine your self-esteem and self-confidence.”
Excerpted from Why Not You? by Valorie Burton
Daily Reflection: Have you identified a limiting behavior? How can you take action today to change?
One of the great fruits of growing close to God is asking and receiving information that leads to illumination. God is free to share His secrets with you as you ask for them. And nothing is more valuable to you than that, especially in those times when the future direction in your life is fuzzy, or when you’re in a crisis situation. We need God to turn the light on. We need to see, with fresh urgency, His divine purpose and direction for us. We want that clarity before we go forward. And it’s all a matter of prayer.
Excerpted from Dry Bones Dancing by Tony Evans
Daily Reflection: What do you need to let go of (or empty) to be filled with what God has for you?
“Not that finding Moses was all that difficult for God. He didn’t have to do a Google search. He knew exactly where to find him. For even though Moses was on the “backside of nowhere,” the nowhere he was on the backside of was a place called Mt. Horeba name which means the mountain of God. Moses probably thought he was alone with the flock for another dusty day, stranded in the wilderness, just counting the days in the closing chapters of his life. Little did he know that he was tending his sheep in God’s neighborhood, or that he was about to be invited to play a major role in God’s deliverance plan.”
Excerpted from I Am Not But I Know I Am by Louie Giglio
Daily Reflection: In His all-knowing power, God knows where we [ … ]
Everyone has pivotal experiences of God’s loving activity in their lives. I call them God Moments. You’ve had such moments. You may not have recognized God in the moments, but He’s been there. Think about it.
Have you ever had a narrow escape from a tough situation by some strange protection? It probably was God who rescued you.
Have you ever steered away from trouble and toward something more noble because something inside you quietly craved purity? Only God makes people want to be clean.
Have you ever received a blessing that you know you didn’t earn? God is the giver of all good gifts.
Have you ever made a good decision that took you in a surprisingly good direction just because you “felt led”? That was probably God speaking to you.
Have you ever gone through a hard time [ … ]
From the pages of Embrace Grace…
Wherever you are spiritually, whatever you have been through emotionally, you are already wrapped in the Lord’s embrace. Held close by nail-scarred hands. Enfolded in the arms of One who believes in you, supports you, treasures you, and loves you.
He is waiting for you to embrace him in return. To accept the gift he’s offering you. To listen for the whispered words you’ve longed a lifetime to hear:
You are loved. All is forgiven.
Incredible, isn’t it? To imagine God’s love reaching across the boundaries of time, encircling us in his ceaseless embrace.
“You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you.” Psalm 86:5
Excerpted from Embrace Grace by Liz Curtis Higgs
Join Liz for her Embrace Grace Bible Study online through February [ … ]
Starting the New Year with a Fresh Perspective by Mike Glenn
In the story of the prodigal son, Luke uses a curious phrase when the younger son realizes what he has lost and determines to go home. The King James Version translates the phrase, He came to himself. That phrase has always fascinated me. How do you come to yourself? Can you set yourself down somewhere and [ … ]
On days when it feels as if the walls are caving in on you and your backside is caked in mud, remember that God can do amazing things with a little bit of mud. He created Adam from it. He healed the blind man with it. The woman caught in adultery found freedom as she read His inscriptions in it. I wonder what surprises He has in store for those of us who are pooped-out parents today. The rule of grace says that His blessings can be found even at the bottom of a rut.
Excerpted from Espresso for Your Spirit by Pam Vredevelt
Daily Reflection: How will you show yourself grace while in your next rut?
“The crucial test in determining if we’re planting real seeds or just rocks emerges in our motivation for planting. Am I sowing seed to meet my own needs or to meet the needs of others? In John 12:24, Jesus explains, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” The seed has to go into the ground, and in the silence of the ground, it dies. All alone there, it opens up to bring forth life. In the same way, we have to die to ourselves—to our selfish desires and goals and dreams—so we can plant an unselfish seed. People are created in God’s image as spiritual beings who will live for eternity, either with Him or apart from [ … ]
