You Still Got It

Resist the urge to say you’re too old, too young, too busy, too scared, too worn out, too washed up, too anything to be useful to God. Truth is, you’ve always been part of his love-the-world plan. Need proof? From the day he formed you in your mother’s womb, God has watched over your every step, making sure you got where you needed to go.

When you stumbled, it was God who steadied you.
When you fell, it was God who rescued you.
When you lost your way, it was God who carried you home.
Why? Because he knows you fully, loves you completely, and holds you close to his heart. God will never give up on you, my sister. You claim a special place in his Big Picture.

As the book of Proverbs says, “You can [ … ]

Secure in God’s Love

I lived the first three decades of my life like an insecure adolescent, forever picking daisies and tearing them apart, never stopping to enjoy their beauty. He loves me, He loves me not, I would say subconsciously, plucking a petal as I weighed my behavior and attitudes against what the Bible said I should be.

Powerful church services and sweet altar times. Ah, I felt secure in His love. Real life and less-than-sweet responses? I felt lost and all alone. Unfortunately, all I got from constantly questioning God’s love was a fearful heart and a pile of torn, wilted petals. My overzealous self-analysis never brought the peace I longed for.

Because the peace you and I were created for doesn’t come from picking daisies. It only comes from a living relationship with a loving God.

Excerpted fromLazarus Awakening by Joanna [ … ]

Contentment through Flexibility

In a letter to friends at Philippi, the battered apostle [Paul] revealed his “secret”—doing all things through Him. There’s something commendable in that approach to life. There are simply some things—whatever our disability or life situation might be—about which we need to be flexible.

Leaning on the strength of his Lord, Paul learned to be satisfied. With an empty stomach or a full one. In days of health or when he had to depend on others in his disability. In the comfortable homes of dear Christian friends or deep in the bowels of a Roman dungeon. In Christ, he was flexible. And because of that flexibility, God blessed him with great contentment.

Excerpted from Secret Strength by Joni Eareckson Tada

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Daily Reflection:

In what situation in your life do you need to work on flexibility?

The Holy Spirit’s Friendship

More than the gifts the Holy Spirit brings, I want you to know the amazing person of the Holy Spirit! Fellowship, communion, and intimacy—in other words, the friendship—with the Holy Spirit is the greatest blessing of all.

The Holy Spirit is not mystical. He’s practical. He wants to come and help you every day. He wants to be your walk-beside, talk-to-every-moment, comforting, empowering best friend!

My prayer is that you won’t spend another day in meager cheese-and crackers Christianity when a banquet of gifts and empowerments has already been purchased for you. He came with the purchase of your ticket to heaven.

Is the Holy Spirit your best friend? He can be today.

Excerpted from The God I Never Knew by Robert Morris

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Daily Reflection:

What practical step can you take to begin viewing the Holy Spirit as [ … ]

Life Without Limits

Too often we tell ourselves we aren’t smart enough or attractive enough or talented enough to pursue our dreams. We buy into what others say about us, or we put restrictions on ourselves. What’s worse is that when you consider yourself unworthy, you are putting limits on how God can work through you!

When you give up on your dreams, you put God in a box. After all, you are His creation. He made you for a purpose. Therefore your life cannot be limited any more than God’s love can be contained.

Excerpted from Life Without Limits by Nick Vujicic

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Daily Reflection:

What “impossible” dreams do you need to trust God for?

God’s Plan A

A young man squandered his inheritance on wild living and prostitutes. During a famine, he came to his senses and reasoned, Even my father’s hired hands have enough to eat. I know what I’ll do. I will go back to my father and say to him,

Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of
being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant. (Luke 15:18–19)

This was his Plan B. So in desperation he rehearsed his speech and started for home. Then something unexpected happened.

While he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. (verse 20)

Then the son started to tell his father the speech he had [ … ]

God Knows You Intimately

I know everything about you. From far away I know what you’re thinking. I’m up-to-date on the details of your life. I’m right beside you—wherever you go. My powerful hands tend to the intricate details of your life. I was there when you were put together. I prepared each day of your life before you were born. I think about you all the time. And I’m ready to lead you to eternal life.
From Psalm 139

WARRANTY NOTES: The One who knows you best loves you most.

Excerpted from God’s Little Book of Guarantees – OH by Heather Kopp

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Daily Reflection:

God knows you better than anyone. How does your knowledge of that fact affect the way you live your daily life?

Grace Over Fairness

In order to untangle us from the web we had spun for ourselves, [God] had to do something very unfair. He had to send his son to this earth to die for sins he didn’t commit.

Is Christianity fair? It is certainly not fair to God. Christians believe that God sent his son to die for your sins and mine. Fairness would demand that we die for our own sins. But the good news is that God opted for grace and mercy over fairness.

Excerpted from How Good is Good Enough? by Andy Stanley

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Daily Reflection:

How is your life different because God shows you grace instead of fairness?

The Words of Christ

Think about getting to know the God who created the universe. What would it be like to know Him on a first-name basis—or, even better, to know Him so intimately that you could call Him your best friend, even your dad? Imagine what it would be like if you could consistently experience His presence and a level of peace and joy that no adversity could vanquish. That’s exactly what will happen as you begin to focus on the words of Christ.

Excerpted fromThe Greatest Words Ever Spoken by Steven K. Scott

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Daily Reflection:

How has knowing Jesus and studying His words helped your relationship with God the Creator grow?

Can’t Help but Worship

Worship is simply about value. The simplest definition I can give is this: Worship is our response to what we value most.

That’s why worship is that thing we all do. It’s what we’re all about on any given day. Because worship is about saying, “This person, this thing, this experience (this whatever) is what matters most to me…it’s the thing I put first in my life.”

That “thing” might be a relationship. A dream. Friends. Status. Stuff. A name. Some kind of pleasure. Whatever name you put on it, this thing or person is what you’ve concluded in your heart is worth most to you. And whatever is worth most to you is—you guessed it—what you worship.

Worship tells us what we value most. As a result, worship determines our actions, becoming the driving force for all we do… [ … ]