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Joining God in His Story

July 16, 2013

Genuine expressions of your love for Christ are often quite small, simple even.

• Join the girl no one ever sits with at lunch.
• Baby-sit for a single mom.
• Take a meal to a sick family.
• Rake the leaves in the yard of the grouchy old man next door.
• Take a walk with the little girl down the street whose parents are never home.
• Clean the house of a family in which the financially struggling parents are both working two jobs and never have time to catch up.
• Sit on the street with a homeless person, and listen to her story.

Your opportunities to work alongside God will be revealed through your friendship with Him. He will invite you into His story in ways that uniquely fit you—but [ … ]

Bad to the Bone

July 15, 2013

“Badness—in other words, sin—doesn’t have to be that dramatic. It can be something on the sidelines: an unkind word, a whisper of gossip, a neglected request, an unrepentant attitude, an intentionally forgotten event.

Ouch.

It all boils down to a heart that’s hardened against God—however temporary the condition, however isolated the tough spot…
Here’s the good news: He loves us anyway.”

Excerpted from Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs

Daily Reflection: How do you know God loves you in the midst of your “badness?"

Becoming like Him

July 12, 2013

“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!…Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled.… Do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’… Among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality. (1 Corinthians 10:12; 1 Peter 1:13-16; Ephesians 5:3)

Paul understood our very human tendency to live in denial, closing our eyes to the things in our lives that may need to change. Change is hard work, and we would rather stay as we are. But this is not how God has called us to live. He wants to help us control our minds and our desires so [ … ]

Ordinary’s Dream

July 11, 2013

“Not long ago and not far away, a Nobody named Ordinary lived in the Land of Familiar.

Every day was pretty much the same for Ordinary. In the mornings he got up and went to his Usual Job. After work, he ate almost the same dinner he’d eaten the evening before. Then he sat in his recliner and watched the box that mesmerized most Nobodies on most nights…

Time passed. Then one morning Ordinary woke up with these words echoing in his mind: What you’re missing, you already have…

Could it be? Ordinary looked and looked. And then he discovered that in a small corner of his heart lay a Big Dream. The Big Dream told him that he, a Nobody, was made to be a Somebody and destined to achieve Great Things…

Then he had a surprising idea. Could [ … ]

Doing Small Hard Things

July 10, 2013

“Doing hard things is how we exercise our bodies, our minds, and our faith. Small hard things are the individual repetitions— like a single push-up. They are seemingly insignificant by themselves but guaranteed to get results over time…

That’s where the ‘do hard things’ mentality comes in. It reminds us that sometimes the smallest things can be the hardest things and that the purpose of effort is to gain strength. Being faithful in the smallest things is the way to gain, maintain, and demonstrate the strength needed to accomplish something great.”

Excerpted from Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris

Daily Reflection: What small things can you work at this week?

Less Worry, More Time

July 8, 2013

“Here’s the problem with fear. It likes to hang around with a companion known as worry. Fear and worry work in tandem, like Batman and Robin. And before you know it, you find yourself caught up in a horrible game of ‘What if?’ These are two very powerful emotions. Worry is one of the most destructive forces a person can experience. Modern medical research has shown that worry breaks down our resistance to disease.

More than that, it can actually create diseases of the nervous system, the digestive organs, and the heart. It’s been said that excessive worry can literally shorten human life.

Isn’t that ironic? Because one of the very things we may be worrying about is how long we will live! …A life filled with anxiety and worry can slice years off your life, and life off your [ … ]

Finding Beauty

July 5, 2013

“Authentic beauty may very well be one of the rarest earthly treasures today. It holds a magnetism far beyond the loveliness of a properly painted face, and it possesses a
charm that towers over the enchanting grace of a sweet personality. It is not ever to be discovered in the pomp and polish of high society, nor in the silk and satin of those conformed to popular culture. Rather, it emerges only rarely in each generation, and that in the life of a young woman—a young woman who is deeply loved by the Prince of her soul.”

Excerpted from Authentic Beauty by Leslie Ludy

Daily Reflection: What kind of beauty are you searching for?

Celebrate Freedom and Discover Your Own

July 4, 2013

You should know that wherever you feel weakness, God is strong. He took me from disabled to enabled and instilled in me a passion for sharing my stories and my faith to help others cope with their own challenges.

I realized that my purpose was to turn my struggles into lessons that glorify God and inspire others. He blessed me as a blessing to others. Distribute your own blessings with enthusiasm, and know that whatever you do will be multiplied many times. In all things God works for the best for those who love Him.

Excerpted from Life Without Limits by Nick Vujicic

Daily Reflection: How can you live a life of freedom—one without limits—today?

Future Grace

July 3, 2013

“The Bible says that Jesus endured the cross “for the joy that was set before him” (Hebrews 12:2). In other words, the greatest act of loving sacrifice that was ever performed was sustained by the confidence that God would bring Jesus through it into everlasting joy with a redeemed and worshiping people. That is the way our love is sustained as well.

But there is a difference. Our willingness to endure the sacrifices of love ‘for the joy that is set before us’ was purchased by Jesus’ willingness to do the same. His suffering covers our sins and sets us free to love. Our suffering in the path of love is based on his. His future joy came to him as his right. Ours comes to us as blood-bought grace. His suffering is not just a model. It is the [ … ]

Life is So Much Better with Jesus in Command

July 1, 2013

Most of us want a helper, someone to lean on, to turn to; we want a boost from a copilot. That makes most of us insane, really, because sane people don’t want God as their copilot. Insane people do because that makes them the pilot and they can have the advantages of his help without the disadvantage of giving up the controls.

We like the whole idea of God working for us. Maybe that’s why we’re generally impotent in our faith, saltless, fruitless with the lost, and dismissed by the watching world. Maybe that’s why we’re frustrated, grasping, angry, and weary. Maybe that’s why others jump out our doors every chance they get!

Sanity really is better. When we’re sane—when we let God be our pilot—we’re inviting, welcoming to the watching world, relaxed, easy to be around.

What if we [ … ]