Explore every episode of the podcast BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

So, where are you from? Where do you claim citizenship? Wherever your citizenship is, is where you belong. You may travel other places, but home is always where your citizenship is.

Think about how where you are from has made a radical difference in your life. How different you would be if you were from somewhere else. You would talk different. You would have totally different customs. Your view on the world would likely be different. What you know is what you know, and to you it’s what is normal.

Some cultures eat with their hands. Other cultures would consider you downright barbaric if you dug into your bowl without a spoon or fork. Some cultures kiss when they meet – for others that’s just weird. In some cultures you take off your shoes before you enter someone’s home – but not everyone was taught that. We’re not being rude, we’re just different. Our culture shapes what feels normal.

With that perspective, think about what Paul says in Philippians 3:20, “But we are citizens of heaven.”

As a follower of Jesus, you’ve been set apart and your citizenship has changed. You’re not from here. You actually don’t even belong here. Your culture has changed and what used to be normal is no longer normal to you. God has been doing a work in you, changing your identity and reassigning your citizenship. You’re now a member of the Kingdom of Heaven.

You know what that means – that means everything is changing for you. You’re undergoing a radical shift. It’s why you just can’t do the things you used to do and feel the way you once did. It’s why you now desire such different things. Sis, you’re not from here! You belong to a different culture.

Yesterday I met a woman with a beautiful accent. I knew she was from somewhere very different than me. I asked and she said South Africa. Oh, everything she said just sounded so incredibly fancy to me. I really just wanted to have tea with her.

And really, as citizens of HEAVEN, that’s the way it should be with us. We should sound different when we talk to people who don’t yet have their citizenship in Heaven. We should be attractive, intriguing, inviting, irresistible. Girls, we are here representing Heaven – make everyone want to come visit! And once they visit, they will want to stay!

The girls from the Kingdom of God do things differently than the rest of the world. Instead of looking out for ourselves, we’re out here loving the heck out of our neighbors. We’re refusing offense, resisting bitterness, and continually choosing forgiveness. We’re stepping down from pedestals, canceling the performance, and learning to embrace humility. Our priorities have shifted from, “What can I get?” to, “What can I give?”

Kingdom girls walk in victory through surrender. Now, what a radically uncommon concept that is! In every other kingdom, surrender means defeat. If you wave that white flag, you’re giving up. You’ve lost. But in the Kingdom of God, surrender is not losing—it’s winning. Surrender is the highest act of trust. It’s laying down your need to control, your need to be right, your need to be seen, your need to win, and saying, “Jesus, I trust You more than I trust myself.”

Paul tells us in verse 19 about the world culture. “Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.” Welp, can’t you see how that was you? I was that person – weren’t you too?

What I wanted was all I craved. I made my desires my god, my goal, my focus. That’s natural in the world. Every marketing strategy tells you get what you want, and what you want is what they have to sell you. Wake up, Sis – we have to remember we are different! We don’t belong here so we can’t fall into that culture. We belong to Heaven and in the Kingdom of Heaven our King is our God.

Paul says when we are in the world’s culture, we brag about shameful things. Do you want to really see that? Ask God to open your eyes to see what that looks like. Then, scroll through your facebook memories and look at your posts from past years. I make my own self wanna gag! The things I used to brag about are shameful. The photos I used to post just hoping someone would see me. I’m embarrassed for myself. It didn’t used to bother me at all, but my citizenship has changed. How about yours?

When you finally know where you really belong, there’s a shift because you realize you no longer have to prove your worth. You’re a citizen of Heaven!

World culture thinks primarily about this life—what’s happening here, what’s happening now, what we can have, accomplish, experience, and enjoy in this moment. But Kingdom girls remember that this life is only a tiny fraction of our existence, with eternity stretching out before us.

So where are your thoughts? Are they consumed with what is happening here, or anchored in what is coming there?

Are you making decisions based only on what feels good right now, or are you considering what matters forever?

Because when you know you’re a citizen of heaven, eternity changes the way you live today. Suddenly, what looked so important yesterday may not seem nearly as important anymore. The applause fades. The possessions lose their grip. The need to prove yourself starts to loosen. And the things that last forever begin to matter a whole lot more.

Girl, don’t let a temporary world distract you from an eternal Kingdom.

You belong somewhere bigger than here.

Your circumstances are temporary. Your citizenship is eternal.

You are here to represent the place you belong to. So if heaven is your home, your life should increasingly look like the King you belong to. You belong where Jesus is, so his way becomes your way.

Jesus says to pray like this, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Have you ever thought about what that means as an action plan for you? You’re walking out God’s kingdom here on earth. You’re bringing the culture of heaven into this world where God has temporarily placed you.

You’re living here, but you belong there. You have an earthly address, but a heavenly identity. You participate in this world, but you don’t have to be shaped by this world. You represent another Kingdom.

And everywhere you go, you get to give people a little glimpse of what your home is like.

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Just how important is your image to you? The more you are driven by image, the more you are enslaved to performance. Do you deeply need everyone to see you win – is there a constant need for triumph – to look good – to be praised – to come out on top?

Tall pedestals create a long, hard fall, my friend.

This is real life and in real life there are battles in which you won’t always look good. There are times when you will fail and times when you will hurt. Times when your image will be disheveled. Are you just going to perform your way through that? Is it going to be more important for you to portray perfection than allow God to break you and work his perfection in you?

Look at a child. Aren’t they just perfect with their chubby little rolls and full face, open mouth giggles. Perfect babies, but so much growing to do. So much to learn. Still so much for them to become. My friends, that is us in our faith walk. As a child of God we are perfect in our creation, a true masterpiece of our Maker, yet we have so much growing to do. We are in process to becoming all we were created to be. And that process is sometimes messy, sometimes brutal, sometimes really imperfect.

There’s a work happening within each of us from the moment we accept Jesus as the LORD of our lives. That’s a work of the Holy Spirit. God’s presence dwells within us and cleans house. We’re undergoing a continual demo work inside. A reworking and restructuring of our attitude, our perspective, our desires and our priorities. And really, that’s what our entire lifetime here on earth is – the work of the Holy Spirit within us, growing us, teaching us, molding us, perfecting us.

When will that work be done? Not here. Not in this lifetime. But when we get to our eternal destination of glory, then the work in us will finally be complete. That will be our mark of perfection.

But here on earth as we’re walking out our lifetime, we’re not going to be perfect. We’re going to continually be a work of progress under the direction of the Holy Spirit.

Will you be willing to just show that? Really, that’s what this world needs. But not only the world as a whole, but your world, your little circle, your community, your office, your family – they need to see the work God is doing in you. In order for them to see that work, they need to know you struggle, they need to know you don’t really just wake up like that, they need to see behind the curtain, without the makeup, on the hard days where you still just show up and partner with the work the Holy Spirit is doing in you.

When you’re in performance mode with your display of perfection to be praised, you may look good but let me tell you what that’s doing for the people around you – it’s making it easy for them to see you, but hard to see your God. Everyone around you is dealing with a tinge of insignificance, a hint of ‘not good enough’ and when you dare to be real with them you allow space for their struggle to meet the Holy Spirit you carry.

Girl, you carry the presence of God in you. There’s zero need for you to portray yourself as perfect – there’s absolutely EVERY NEED for you to make space for the perfection of God. That means you’re going to have to admit you struggle too. You’re going to have to be make friends with that unpolished part of you that you would prefer no one else see.

What would you rather see – my perfection that tells you I’m perhaps better than you …. or the parts of me that God is still working on that show you if God loves, chooses and uses me in my state, he can love, choose and use you in yours.

Girls, why are we getting this so wrong? Why do we struggle with this balance? This life is not a performance to look impressive – this life is an opportunity to carry the presence of God and point to the working power of the Holy Spirit available to each one of us.

Paul says in Philippians 3:12-14, “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

Paul, the man who was responsible for starting some of the first churches to follow Jesus – Paul, the man responsible for writing the majority of our New Testament Bible – Paul, the one who had a very personal encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus that radically changed everything for him – THAT PAUL – and he’s saying I’m not perfect, but Jesus is working perfectly in me!

You are not perfect, but Jesus is working perfectly in YOU!

Maybe today you need to stop trying so hard to look like you’ve already arrived. Maybe you need to take the pressure off yourself to have it all together, know all the answers, respond perfectly, never struggle, never lose your temper, never doubt, never get discouraged, never make a mistake. Maybe you need to stop curating the image and start embracing the process.

God isn’t asking you to prove that He’s done a good work in you. He’s inviting you to let Him continue doing that good work in you. There is a huge difference.

Performance says, “Look what I’ve accomplished.” Grace says, “Look what God is doing.”

Performance needs applause. Grace is content with obedience.

Performance protects the image. Grace surrenders the heart.

Performance says, “I need you to think I’m doing well.”

Grace says, “I need Jesus to keep doing His work in me.”

Girl, you don’t have to be impressive. You have to be available. You don’t have to have the perfect marriage, the perfect kids, the perfect attitude, the perfect body, the perfect house, the perfect faith, the perfect morning routine, the perfect prayer life or the perfect answer. You don’t have to walk into every room looking like you’ve got it all figured out. You can walk in as a woman who is still becoming. Still learning. Still healing. Still growing. Still surrendering. Still getting things wrong and letting Jesus teach you how to get them right.

And honestly? That’s a much more beautiful testimony. Because nobody needs another woman standing on a pedestal telling them how to be perfect. We need women who will climb down off the pedestal, sit beside us in the mess and say, “Girl, me too. But let me tell you what Jesus is teaching me.”

That’s where connection happens. That’s where shame loses its power. That’s where grace gets room to breathe. And that’s where people begin to see Jesus instead of just seeing you.

People need to see what it looks like to have Jesus in the middle of a hard day. They need to see what forgiveness looks like when you’re still hurt. They need to see what humility looks like when you were wrong. They need to see what repentance looks like when you blew it. They need to see what faith looks like when you don’t know what’s next.

That is discipleship. Not perfection on display, but Jesus at work in real life. So let them see the process. Let them see the unfinished places.

Yesterday evening in front of the grocery store, I met a man named Jeff. Jeff pushes a shopping cart full of dirty bags and walks with his head down. As I parked my bike, he approached me and asked me for some spare change. Looking at his face, it appeared he had recently been in a fight and he was covered in shame. I told him I didn’t have any money on me, but I would most certainly buy him some food inside. He asked for a can of soup.

When I returned from my short shopping trip, I handed him a can of chili mac and cheese along with a can of chunky potato soup. He was grateful. Then I invited him to lock eyes with me and engage in conversation.

Standing there in my Natural Life dress with a credit card to buy anything I wanted in my pocket, a bag of fresh food to cook for my dog, and my $2000 e-bike, I didn’t exactly come across as someone who could understand his situation. He looked at me as if I were better than him. As if I had perfection while he didn’t. That’s when I asked Jeff if there was anything he needed prayer for. He said, “Well, yes – I need a house.”

I said, “Okay Jeff, I understand – is it okay if I pray with you right now?”

Ever so politely, he declined, explaining that he struggled with faith and he felt he was more of a toaist. That’s when I felt the Holy Spirit just take over. All my ‘perfection’ left me and I said, “I’m not familiar with that – can you tell me what that means?” Suddenly Jeff and I were in a conversation about faith, about a struggle to believe something he couldn’t see and simply couldn’t feel. He said he had tried many different religions and nothing ever worked for him.

I asked him if he had tried Jesus. He stood there with no answer in deep thought. Struggling. I looked him in the eye and told him, “Jeff, God created you, he knows you and he loves you.” That’s when his bright blue eyes filled with tears and he said, “I try so hard to be a good person.” I could see that. There was so much goodness in him.

Although he wasn’t ready for me to pray with him, he listened as I told him one encounter with Jesus could radically change his life. I told him I had seen people with a lifetime of addiction be set free, I had seen sickness be healed, I had seen families restored and it all happened with Jesus.

You see, last night in front of the grocery store, an imperfect struggling man met a very imperfect woman who carries a perfect God. I’m not his answer, but I carry his answer. I’m not his fixer, but I carry his fixer.

And that’s the whole point. Jeff didn’t need to meet a perfect woman in the parking lot of a grocery store. He needed to meet a woman willing to be real enough for Jesus to use her. He didn’t need my polished image, my answers, my accomplishments or my ability to make everything look good. He needed the presence of God I carry.

And maybe that’s what the people around you need too. So get off the pedestal. Lay down the performance. Stop worrying so much about how you look and start caring more about what Jesus can do through you.

You are not perfect, and you don’t need to be. You are being perfected. You are still becoming. You are still under construction. And every imperfect, unfinished, unpolished part of you is an opportunity for someone else to see just how perfect your God really is.

Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela
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Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

If you were to die today, what would happen to you after your final breath? Really – I want you to think about that. What comes after this life for you?

Would you say Heaven comes next? And what is it that makes you think you would gain access? What is it that qualifies you?

Have you been good enough? Does the good in you outweigh the bad? Have you asked forgiveness for absolutely every little thing? Have you made all your wrongs right? Have you done enough good deeds? Have you upheld all the laws and rules and lived a righteous enough life?

If all eternity hangs on this, then it’s important to know – right? You want to be certain of your fate. If there’s one thing you really want to get right, it’s this. It’s a big deal – FOREVER.

May I be honest with you? Sis, you haven’t been good enough. You haven’t upheld the laws. You have fallen short. You are not qualified for Heaven … not on your own. Your human effort has never been good enough, not even on your best day. And THAT is precisely why you need Jesus.

In the Bible, there’s a man named Saul who had every reason to believe he could possibly meet the mark on his own. He had done everything he was supposed to do from birth. He was born into the right line of people, he had studied the law and lived in strict obedience without fault. Up until his encounter with Jesus, his entire life had been nothing but self-righteous acts, checking boxes, and persecuting anyone that tried to remove his boxes. This movement of Jesus was an enemy to his continual effort of earning Heaven.

Saul wanted to put an end to the up-rise of the followers of Jesus who believed this one man’s blood could save them. He couldn’t possibly believe what had happened on that cross was a satisfactory fulfillment of the laws he had spent his life following. His full intentions were to kill the followers of Jesus – put an end to this nonsense of grace.

Saul had gotten a letter from the high priest requesting the arrest of every follower of Jesus he found in the town of Damascus where this Jesus movement had spread in the immediate years following Jesus’ death on the cross. He was going to shut down this blasphemy. He was going to wipe out these people who weren’t good enough for Heaven.

So now Saul is on his way to Damascus, mad as he can be with plans of destroying the hope of a faith that could save you from Hell – and there he has a divine encounter with Jesus. Yes, the Jesus who had died on the cross a few years earlier. The Jesus he was speaking out against. And here on the road as he was marching into Damascus to complete his mission of destroying this spreading faith, something miraculous happens.

Acts 9, 3-9, “A light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?’

‘Who are you, lord?’ Saul asked.

And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’

The men around him were speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one! Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. he remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink.”

Now, THAT is an encounter with Jesus. Saul could no longer deny him. He knew Jesus had been crucified. He knew he was dead. But now, he had experienced Jesus for himself and he just couldn’t deny him any longer.

What happens next is my favorite part of the story. God tells a man named Ananias to go to a very specific street to find a very specific man’s house. God said a man named Saul would be in that house. Verse 15, God says, “Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message.” Yes, this is who God wants to use. He’s chosen him.

Saul, the one who lived his entire life in self-righteousness, now completely humbled without sight, sitting in a house not eating or drinking, praying to God to understand how he could have possibly been so wrong all while he was trying to live so right. God had a message for him to spread.

So Ananias goes to that specific street to a specific man’s house, finds Saul there and lays his hands on him. Verse 17, Ananias said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Next it says, “Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. Afterward he ate some food and regained his strength.”

Do you know what he did immediately after this? He started preaching about Jesus! He began telling absolutely everyone he could about the Savior. The boxes of self-righteousness were gone, now, all that mattered was faith in the one who makes us righteous. JESUS.

Saul begins going by his new name with a new identity – Paul. This new name meant ‘humble’, and that’s what had happened to him. He had been humbled.

That’s what an encounter with Jesus does to us – it humbles us. It shows us that we alone could simply never be good enough – we desperately need him. Do you humbly accept what Jesus has done for you to gain Heaven?

As humans we battle with one thing that gets in the way of the humility required to believe in Jesus – that’s our PRIDE. Pride says, “no, I’ll earn it.” Pride says, “I’ll be good enough on my own.” Pride puffs us up in some imaginary competition where the best one gets to be saved.

After about 25 years of living with this new humble identity as Paul, the follower of Jesus covered and saved by grace, Paul writes a letter to the church he started in Philippi. He reminds them about the problem with self-righteousness and the beautiful solution of Jesus-righteousness. Philippians 3:3, “We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort.”

How can he write that so confidently? Because he lived the first half of his life being totally self-righteous. Because that unmistakable encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus left him forever humbled and changed. Now he knows the truth – the truth that he was never good enough on his own and never could be. The truth that his pride was taking him straight to Hell. The truth that he’s only saved by grace through faith in Jesus.

My sister, are you relying on what Jesus has done, or are you relying on what you’re doing? Is your confidence in what you can do, or is your confidence in what Jesus has already done?

Paul reminds us that we were never meant to earn our way into Heaven by being good enough. We need something—and Someone—we could never provide for ourselves: the righteousness of Jesus. He says in Philippians 3:9, “I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.”

So let me ask you one more time, Sis: if you were to take your final breath today, what would happen next?

And more importantly, what are you counting on to get you there?

Your goodness? Your church attendance? Your Bible reading? Your good deeds? Your ability to follow the rules? Your efforts to make things right? Your belief that, surely, the good in you outweighs the bad?

Or are you counting on Jesus?

Because there are only two ways to approach God: you can stand on what you have done, or you can stand on what Jesus has done. You can keep trying to be self-righteous, or you can receive the righteousness Jesus offers you.

Your goodness will never be enough. Mine won’t either. That’s not bad news—that’s actually the best news! Because Jesus never asked you to be good enough to save yourself. He came because you couldn’t.

You don’t have to earn what Jesus already paid for. You don’t have to prove yourself worthy. You don’t have to clean yourself up enough to deserve His grace. You simply have to surrender your pride, place your faith in Jesus, and receive what you could never accomplish on your own.

Paul spent the first part of his life desperately trying to be righteous enough. Then he met Jesus and discovered the freedom of knowing that Jesus would be righteous for him.

Sis, don’t spend another day trying to earn what Jesus is offering you as a gift. Drop your pride. Put down your boxes. Put down your self-righteousness. And put your confidence in Jesus.

Because when your final breath comes, the question won’t be, “Were you good enough?” The answer to that is no.

The question is, “What did you do with Jesus?” And if your answer is, “I put my faith in Him,” then you don’t have to face eternity hoping you were good enough. You can face it knowing He was.

Not self-righteous. Jesus-righteous. That’s the only righteousness that will ever be enough.

Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela
Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim
Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Girl, let me tell you something – God is working in you! You live with you every day, so you’re likely too close to the situation to see it, but I’m telling you, God has been doing a work in you. Deep within you, there’s been a shift. And this shift has been changing you from the inside.

Deep within, in your heart and your mind, your innermost being has been under the influence of the Holy Spirit. He’s been cleaning house in there! Some old things have been thrown out. Some new things have been brought in.

And here’s the really wild thing – you didn’t even have to do that yourself. GOD HAS BEEN DOING THAT WORK IN YOU.

We often dismiss ourselves from believing we could ever become someone new and different because we think it would all be up to us – under the power of our own will and strength. But honey, it’s just NOT. That’s a God work!

You don’t change you. God changes you. You partner with him in the process. He leads, you follow. He throws things out of your life, you let go. He brings new things into your life, you lean in. And through this process of letting go and leaning in, you find God is literally changing you. He’s making you this new person with a totally new inner being that looks nothing like the old you.

My friend Catherine is one of my favorite examples of this. She is absolutely unashamed of what God brought her out of and saved her from. She will drop her testimony into a normal conversation with zero concern of what anyone else may think. She lives so unapologetically FREE! Free from her past. Free from addiction. Free from performance. Free from fear of rejection or judgment.

She’s let go of so much and she’s leaned in day after day. Her life today looks nothing like it used to. And let me tell you something – If God can change her life, he can change yours.

If He can take a life devastated by addiction, a family deeply wounded, a woman who hit rock bottom in rehab, a soul desperately searching for answers in every other place—and turn it into a woman who walks in healing, restoration, wholeness, and joy—there is no telling what He can do in your life!

Today, Catherine’s family is so healed it’s ridiculous. She’s so filled with the power of God that you can’t help but see Him through her. The addictions of her past were left at the cross, along with the desire to ever return to them.

Catherine is now my traveling retreat assistant. You know why? She makes me better! The Spirit in her stirs up the Spirit in me. She makes me more bold and courageous. Her continual prayer today is, “God, break my heart for what breaks yours.” AND HE IS. She simply will never be the same. And because I’m close to her, I won’t be the same either.

Let me tell you exactly what happened for her, because it’s in the process of happening for you too! Philippians 2:13, “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”

Don’t make it any fussier than it needs to be. It really is that simple. GOD IS WORKING IN YOU. God is changing your desires. God is filling you with the power to do the things that please him.

This is how your life changes.

This is how your goals shift.

This is how what used to make you happy simply doesn’t make you happy anymore.

This is how you suddenly don’t want what you used to want.

This is how you begin to crave things you never used to crave.

This is how you find yourself saying no to things you once couldn’t imagine saying no to—and yes to things you once would have been afraid to do.

This is how you become different.

Not because you finally figured out how to change yourself. Because God is working in you.

Your role in this is letting go and leaning in. Whatever you’ve been too afraid to let go of is the very thing God is asking you to trust him with. Let him have it, then lean in to see what he has for you instead. Lean in by spending time with him. Lean in by seeking him. Lean in by daring to walk in obedience, even for just today.

Recently, there have been a few things God asked me to trust him enough to let go of. I hate to admit how long I reasoned with God and justified my excuses to keep holding on. And you know how God handled that – he was patient with me. He let me continue walking my own way while he went to work on me from the inside. He didn’t strike me with lightening, he just shifted my heart.

Eventually, I decided to lean in. And do you know what I found as I leaned in to him with open hands? He had shifted my desires. He had given me the power to turn away and not go back.

I didn’t do that – GOD DID. That was God’s work. I just finally partnered with him in the process.

Now, my desire has changed and the very thing I fought so hard to hold on to is no longer even wanted in my life. That’s healing!

My friends, God not only heals bodies of disease – He heals addiction – He heals hurts – He heals broken hearts. He heals relationships. He heals the places in us that have been wounded by rejection, betrayal, disappointment, failure, and fear.

And sometimes His healing looks different than we expected. Sometimes healing isn’t God changing the situation. Sometimes it’s God changing you in the middle of the situation.

He changes what you want. He changes what you tolerate. He changes what you’re willing to chase. He changes what you think you need in order to be happy. He changes what has power over you.

And sometimes you don’t even realize how much He’s changed you until you find yourself standing in a situation that used to have a grip on you—and suddenly, it doesn’t.

You don’t want it anymore.

You don’t need it anymore.

You don’t have to fight yourself to walk away anymore.

That’s God working in you.

Maybe you’ve been praying for God to change something around you, while God has been quietly changing something within you. Maybe you’ve been asking Him to remove the temptation, while He’s been changing your appetite. Maybe you’ve been asking Him to fix the relationship, while He’s been healing your heart. Maybe you’ve been asking Him to give you a different life, while He’s been making you into a different woman.

Don’t miss the miracle because it doesn’t look like the miracle you expected.

God is working in you. So let go. Lean in.

Open your hands and trust Him with whatever you’ve been white-knuckling. You don’t have to know exactly what He’ll do with it. You don’t have to understand the whole process. You don’t even have to feel ready. Just trust Him enough to release it.

Because when you let go of what God is asking you to surrender, you make room for Him to put something new in your hands. And girl, if God can change your desires, He can change your whole life.

You don’t have to manufacture the change. You don’t have to force the healing. You don’t have to become a brand-new woman by sheer determination.

God is working in you. Let Him work. Let Him lead. Let Him change you.

If you look at your life today and think, I’m still so far from who I want to be, I want you to stop and look again. Look a little deeper. Maybe the evidence isn’t in what you can see yet. Maybe it’s in what you no longer desire. Maybe it’s in the peace you didn’t used to have. Maybe it’s in the things that don’t have a hold on you anymore. Maybe it’s in the fact that you’re still here, still seeking God, still saying yes, still leaning in.

Girl, God is working in you.

And the beautiful thing is—you don’t have to finish the work.

He will.

And then one day, you’re going to look back and realize the thing you thought you could never live without is the very thing you’re now thanking God you had the courage to let go of.

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You and I are called to have the same attitude as Jesus.

That sounds beautiful, doesn’t it? And then you get out of bed.

Someone has already left a mess in the kitchen. You have too much to do and not enough time to do it. Someone says something that rubs you the wrong way. Your plans get interrupted. You feel overlooked. Somebody isn’t pulling their weight. And suddenly, before you’ve even finished your coffee, your attitude is showing you exactly what is happening inside your heart.

So let’s get personal. What is your attitude?

Not the attitude you wish you had. Not the attitude people think you have. Not the attitude you have when everything is going your way.

What is your attitude when you’re tired? When you’re inconvenienced? When you don’t get your way? When someone doesn’t appreciate you? When you feel misunderstood? Those moments reveal something.

Viktor Frankl said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Your attitude is your choice. It’s the way you think about what is happening, the way you interpret it, and ultimately the way you respond.

And your attitude doesn’t just affect you. It walks into the room before you do. It sits at the dinner table with your family. It gets in the car with you. It shows up in your texts. It comes to work with you. It affects the way you listen, the way you speak, the way you love, and the way you treat people.

Your attitude is shaping your everyday life. And sometimes… our attitude is the thing making an ordinary day harder than it needs to be.

Have you ever shared a house with someone who had a bad attitude? You know what I’m talking about. The sighs. The short answers. The eye rolls. The silence. The irritated tone. You can feel it before they even say anything.

Now here’s the uncomfortable question: Have you ever been that person? Have you ever walked into a room carrying an attitude and expected everybody else to adjust to you? I have. And if we’re honest, we all have.

So how do we snap out of it? How do we stop letting our circumstances dictate our attitude? Well, let’s put it simply … we stop being so self-centered. When we make life all about us, our attitude suffers.

Paul tells us like it is. Philippians 2:3–5 says: “Don’t be selfish: don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”

We have a unique way of continually making everything about ourselves. It’s what we want, how we feel, what we think. We end up spending our days in these self-absorbed worlds where our primary objective is to make everything easier for us, all while making everyone like us. Funny, because we never see Jesus doing either of those things.

It’s hard to admit how selfish we really are. But when we’re being honest, even the kind, generous, giving things we do are most often about making ourselves look or feel good. And if you think living with humility is hard today, consider how hard it was in the time when Jesus walked this earth. During Biblical times, humility was often seen as an absolute weakness. Social status was honored. It was all about what you were wearing, who you had to your house for dinner, and who you were seen with. You were either in, or you were out – everyone wanted to be in.

Then comes Jesus and he flips everything upside down.

He holds more power than anyone and everyone in all the world, yet he is without a palace. He had no value for money or riches or status. He let people talk about him. He performed miracles without explanation or a need to be understood. He let them make their assumptions. He let them join him, or just walk away. He took 12 men, and he changed the world forever.

And he did it all with humility. Wearing sandals, walking from town to town, staying where a place was offered, with no agenda other than fulfilling his Father’s will.

Was Jesus selfish? No. He literally gave up Heaven to come save us.

Was Jesus trying to impress anyone? No. He had all the power in the world to shut down every negative opinion and prove them all wrong in an instant. He could have called down a thousand angels to fight for him – that would have been impressive. But he didn’t. Instead, he let them nail him to the cross and crucify him.

And there, hanging on that cross, he shows us how to think about others more than we think about ourselves. I assure you he was not comfortable. Without a doubt he was suffering. This was NOT the easy way. Yet, he chose it – for you and for me. Then, he let us make up our own minds about him. Still today, we can live our lives for him, or deny him. He will let us make our own decision.

And Paul writes, “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”

Girls, how do we do that today? We start by asking a different question.

Instead of, “How can I get this day to go the way I want it to go?” we begin asking, “Jesus, how can I love the people in front of me today?” That’s a completely different way to live.

The goal isn’t to wake up every morning and force yourself to have a better attitude. The goal is to become so aware of Jesus that you begin responding to life the way He would.

When your husband says something that irritates you, you have a choice. You can make the moment about being right, or you can make it about loving him.

When your kids interrupt you for the hundredth time, you can see them as an interruption to your plans, or you can recognize that they are your opportunity to love someone God has placed right in front of you.

When a friend doesn’t text you back, you can create an entire story in your head about what she must be thinking, or you can choose not to make someone else’s silence about you. Why do we always make it about us? Really you know what the truth is – It’s usually not about you at all!

When somebody is rude to you, you don’t have to return the rudeness. When your plans fall apart, you don’t have to let your entire day fall apart with them. When you’re tired, you don’t have to make everyone around you pay for it.

And when you don’t get your way? Oh, girl. That’s where the Jesus attitude gets real.

Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself. It’s thinking about yourself less.

Jesus didn’t spend His days asking, “How can I make my life more comfortable? How can I make everyone understand me? How can I make sure people appreciate me? How can I prove them wrong?” He was free from all of that. He knew who He was. He knew Whose He was. And because He knew that, He didn’t have to spend His life defending Himself, impressing people, controlling outcomes, or demanding that everyone see things His way.

He was secure enough to serve.

That’s what we want. We don’t want to simply have a nicer attitude. We want the attitude of Jesus.

Imagine your life with the attitude of Jesus. How would Jesus see this? How would Jesus respond? What would Jesus do?

You want to be the woman who can walk into a difficult situation and bring peace instead of adding to the chaos.

You want to be the woman who doesn’t have to win every argument.

You want to be the woman who can apologize without adding a giant “but you…” to the end of it.

You want to be the woman who can celebrate someone else’s blessing without secretly comparing it to your own.

You want to be the woman who can listen without immediately turning the conversation back to you.

You want to be the woman who notices when somebody is hurting instead of being so consumed with your own stuff that you miss it.

You want to be the woman who doesn’t need everyone to like you because you know you are already deeply loved by God.

And you want to be the woman who can have a really, really bad day without becoming a really, really difficult person.

Because let’s be honest: You don’t get to choose everything that happens to you today. But you do get to choose what happens inside of you because of it.

That doesn’t mean pretending you’re not frustrated. It doesn’t mean stuffing your feelings. It doesn’t mean allowing people to mistreat you. And it certainly doesn’t mean becoming a doormat.

Jesus had boundaries. Jesus walked away. Jesus spoke hard truth. Jesus confronted hypocrisy. Jesus said no. Jesus wasn’t controlled by people’s opinions.

But He was never controlled by His ego. That’s the difference.

So maybe today, before you react, pause. Just pause. Take a breath and ask: What would the attitude of Jesus look like right here?

Not in some grand spiritual moment.

Just right here. In the kitchen. In the car. In the text. In the meeting. At the grocery store. When you’re tired. When you’re disappointed. When you’re misunderstood. When somebody pushes your buttons. When you don’t get your way. When nobody notices what you’ve done.

Right here.

Because this is where we become like Jesus.

Not just during our quiet time. Not just when we’re worshiping with our hands in the air. We become like Jesus in the tiny, ordinary, frustrating moments of everyday life.

Every time you choose patience instead of irritation… Every time you choose forgiveness instead of keeping score… Every time you choose encouragement instead of comparison… Every time you choose humility instead of needing to be right… Every time you choose to serve when you’d rather be served… Every time you choose love when your feelings are screaming for something else… You are practicing the attitude of Jesus.

Jesus, change my attitude. Not just my circumstances. Not just the people around me. Not just the things that are frustrating me. Change me.

Teach me to see people the way You see them. Teach me to hold my plans loosely. Teach me to stop making everything about me. Teach me to be secure enough that I don’t need to prove myself. Teach me to love when it’s inconvenient. Teach me to serve when nobody notices. Teach me to surrender my right to be right. Teach me to respond instead of react.

And when I forget—and I will—bring me back to You.

Because I don’t want people to encounter my mood when they encounter me. I want them to encounter Jesus.

Here we are girls – on the journey of a lifetime – a journey where we’re increasingly becoming like Jesus, one ordinary moment at a time.

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The enemy has been trying desperately to intimidate you. Intimidation through means of fear, through means of overwhelm, through means of anxiety, even through thoughts of not wanting the very things God has been revealing to you.

Check yourself – how successful have his ploys of intimidation been? Have you been quietly giving up? Have you been gradually pulling away? Have you been shrinking, fading, losing ground?

Sis, what you have to understand is the enemy has only fear tactics and intimidation against you. His threats against you are powerless when you’re covered in the blood of Jesus. 1 John 5:18 tells us that we are held securely by God’s Son and “the evil one cannot touch us”. Do you hear that – HE CAN’T TOUCH YOU. If you have surrendered your life to Jesus you are not only saved by Jesus, but you’re also protected by Him.

My dog Tank is a big boy with a fierce bark. In his prime, he was 130 pounds, one of the biggest yellow labs you will ever see. He decides to bark on the very rare occasion when the UPS man seems threatening. And when he does, you notice. His bark sounds furious. But there’s no bite behind his bark. He’s nothing but slobbers and tail wags. He’s anything but a guard dog. A little yappy chihuahua will put him in the corner every time.

Sometimes it’s as if we’re walking through this life terrified of a bark that simply can’t bite us. Girl, listen to me – THE EVIL ONE CANNOT TOUCH YOU. We’re so quickly to give the devil credit for the attacks in life, but most often he’s not even the source. Is there a spiritual battle happening all around us? Absolutely! Are we protected? NO DOUBT!

As a sold-out follower of Jesus, you are a girl with Heaven on her side. Angels are in charge all around you. God has good plans for your life that cannot be cancelled. Every moment of your life is held in the mighty hands of your Creator. Why in the world would you be intimidated by an already defeated enemy? Why would you play little with your life? Why would you dismiss your God-breathed dreams and desires because the enemy is barking?

LET HIM BARK. Let him hate that you are no longer paralyzed in fear. Let him shake when your knees hit the floor each morning and you’re infused with the power of the Holy Spirit. Let him know that Hell lost another one. Show him you’re on a mission to rob Hell and make Heaven crowded!

Paul writes in Philippians 1:28, “Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself.”

DON’T BE INTIMIDATED.

And Scripture tells us exactly what to do when the enemy comes at us with intimidation. James 4:7, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Notice the order: Submit to God, resist the devil.

We don’t defeat the enemy by becoming obsessed with the enemy. We don’t spend all day looking for demons behind every difficult circumstance. We don’t have to live on high alert, wondering where the next attack is coming from. We fix our eyes on Jesus, submit ourselves to God, and when the enemy comes with lies, fear, temptation, accusation, or intimidation, we resist.

How do you resist? You refuse to agree with the lie.

When he says, “You can’t do this,” you remember, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” When he says, “You’re alone,” you remember, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” When he says, “You should be afraid,” you remember that God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.

You fight the lie with the truth.

That’s why knowing God’s Word matters so much. Jesus Himself responded to the enemy’s temptation with Scripture. He didn’t negotiate with Satan. He didn’t entertain the lie. He answered with the truth of God’s Word: “It is written.”

Girl, you need some “It is written” in your life!

When fear comes, you need to know what God has already said. When anxiety starts shouting, you need truth louder than the thoughts in your head. When intimidation tells you to back down, you need the Word of God reminding you who you are, whose you are, and who is with you.

Ephesians 6:10–11 says, “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”

Did you catch that? TAKE YOUR STAND.

The goal isn’t that you never experience fear. The goal is that fear doesn’t get to move you. You may feel intimidated and still stand. You may feel anxious and still obey. You may feel overwhelmed and still take the next step. You may hear the bark and still keep walking.

That’s courage—not the absence of fear, but refusing to let fear become your master.

Your job isn’t to defeat Satan. Jesus has already defeated him. Your job is to remain surrendered to Jesus, stand firm in truth, resist the lies, and keep moving forward in obedience.

That’s what intimidation cannot stand against: a woman who knows who she is, knows whose she is, knows what God has said, and refuses to back down.

When you fear the enemy you give him hope and confidence in his schemes against you. If he sees his fear tactics against you are successful, he’ll double down to drag you into his darkness and keep you there. He’ll send his demons to attack your mind and discourage your heart. Is that what he’s been doing to you? Girl, are you going to let him have access to your heart and mind like that?

But let me tell you what happens when you’re NOT INTIMIDATED by him – he withdraws in defeat. Unlike God, Satan is limited. He does not hold all power. He cannot be everywhere at once. He cannot move heaven and earth. He is not unlimited. Therefore, he continually seeks the weak spot and attacks where his efforts are most effective. He zeros in on what is working. And honey, if his attacks haven’t been intimidating you, then he won’t waste his time continuing.

Today, you let the enemy of your soul know you will not live in fear of him. Shut down his fear tactics. Refuse his invitation to overwhelm. Stiff arm his offer of anxious thoughts. Deny his suggestions of no longer wanting everything God has for you. Don’t give him the satisfaction of intimidation.

Enemy, you’re wasting your time trying to keep me awake in worry. When my alarm rings, I’m still hitting my knees in prayer. I’m still showing up. I’m still giving God my best. That’s how you defeat him!

Satan, the anxious thoughts you try to offer me are straight up denied. You’re wasting your time with the attack on my mind. I know the truth, I stand in the truth, I speak the truth. You are powerless against God and I’m under His divine protection.

When spiritual enemies cannot intimidate you, they’ve lost all weapons because all they had was fear and intimidation. Now, you know how to disarm the enemy. Stop listening to him. Stop being influenced by him. Stop believing him.

You don’t have to argue with him. You don’t have to fight him in your own strength. You simply have to stand. Stand in truth. Stand in faith. Stand in the authority Jesus has given you. Stand your ground and keep moving forward.

Because here’s what intimidation is trying to do: it’s trying to make you smaller than your calling. It’s trying to convince you that the dream God whispered to you is too big, the assignment is too hard, the risk is too great, the people won’t understand, and you’re not capable of doing what God is asking you to do.

But God didn’t call you to live a small, safe, fear-controlled life.

So get back up, girl. Take back the ground you’ve surrendered. Start praying again. Start dreaming with God again. Start showing up again. Start saying YES to the things God has been putting on your heart. You don’t have to know exactly how it’s all going to work. You just have to be willing to take the next step.

The enemy can bark, but he cannot cancel what God has ordained.

He can make noise, but he cannot have the final word.

He can threaten, but he cannot separate you from the God who holds you.

So let him bark. You keep walking.

Let him make noise. You keep obeying.

Let him try to intimidate you. You keep becoming everything God created you to be.

Because, Sis, you are not walking into your future alone. You are walking with Jesus. And when Jesus is with you, fear doesn’t get to decide where you go.

The enemy’s bark is not your stop sign. It’s your reminder to keep moving forward.

DON’T BE INTIMIDATED. Don’t shrink. Don’t retreat. Don’t quit.

Stand up. Stand firm. And LIVE BIG.

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Something is happening within you as you surrender your life to God and grow more in Jesus – You are becoming so incredibly attractive. You have a certain glow about you. You stand out. There’s something magnetizing about you. There’s a deep joy within you and it just seeps out of your pours. Others are seeing it!

Something supernatural happens when your life is lived in close relationship with God. You can’t explain it and you can’t duplicate it in any other way. Let me tell you a story …

At our Redwood Forest Retreat this past weekend, there was a lady named Kayla. Kayla is a sold-out, bold and courageous follower of Jesus. She knows exactly what Jesus saved her from and she lives every moment of her life in loud praise of him for that rescue and redemption. Life hasn’t been easy for her, but God has done a radical work of redemption in her. Let me tell you, you don’t spend time with Kayla and walk away the same. The Holy Spirit she carries in her truly does shift the atmosphere.

On the final morning of our retreat, everyone except for Kayla went down to the shore for a time or worship, cold plunge and baptisms. Kayla said the Holy Spirit had prompted her to stay behind in the retreat house to spend alone time with him. That’s rare for her because Kayla has 10 kids and is actively involved in a street ministry in Sacramento. Sitting with God in this glorious cottage in the redwoods was perfection for her.

While we were all floating around in freezing cold water allowing God to breath into us, Kayla was singing and praising back at the retreat house. Without any of us knowing, she was specifically praying to be a Christ-like-fragrance. Hmmmm, have you ever prayed that? Well, me neither!

2 Corinthians 2:15, “Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God.”

We returned to the retreat house within an hour to find the praise music blasting. And one of our retreat girls, Janiel, caught a whiff of the most beautiful perfume. It was coming from Kayla. In fact, the fragrance was so unique and beautiful, Janiel turned to Kayla’s sister and asked if she knew what perfume Kayla was wearing. Later we found out about her prayer that morning to be a Christ-like-fragrance.

How wild is that? The Holy Spirit’s work in you makes you a beautiful fragrance!!!!!!

Now, understand why. Why does a life surrendered to Jesus and lived in close relationship with him make you stand out with a glow? Why does it change your very fragrance?

Well, this isn’t about you. This isn’t about you being noticed. This isn’t about you looking better. This isn’t about anyone admiring you. Trust me, this isn’t about you smelling good. This is about JESUS!

Philippians 1:11 MSG, “Live a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.”

There it is – the Holy Spirit’s work in us with the results of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control all growing in us – this makes Jesus Christ ATTRACTIVE! Our surrendered lives make Jesus look good to others! And yes, that makes us stand out, that makes people see us different, that can even make us smell different – to the point that they ask, “What’s up with her, what does she have, and how do I get some?”

But we have a unique way of making everything about us. We forget this isn’t about YOU being attractive – this is about JESUS BEING ATTRACTIVE IN YOU! Come back to that, Sis.

You don’t need anyone to give you glory or praise. If that’s what you’re seeking, this has gotten twisted. And really, that happens so easily – I know it got really twisted for me for a really long time. God has been so patient with me. His grace over me has been undeserved. He humbled me and continues to humble me so I untwist this – it was never about me – it was always about Jesus. MAKE JESUS ATTRACTIVE!

Then what happens as we make Jesus attractive with the way we live our lives? Go back to the rest of that scripture – We get “everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.”

I sat back and noticed exactly how this happens while at retreat. We sat around a firepit on opening night and each shared what God is doing in our lives right now. Many had praises of how God has worked things out for them. Some had stories of how God was still carrying them through a reality they would have never chosen, yet they could see his fingerprints in the details. With each shared story we could see God’s glory and participate in his praise. While our stories were different, we could relate to God’s faithfulness on our own journey and apply his promises to our own lives. Every time someone shared a piece of their story, we all got involved in the glory and praise of God!

On a very practical level, that’s how it happens! And let me tell you, Jesus was so attractive in our circle around that firepit! The fragrance rising up was glorious!

So, Sis, this is what I want you to remember: You don’t have to try to be attractive. You just have to stay close to Jesus.

Stay surrendered. Stay in His Word. Stay in His presence. Let the Holy Spirit keep doing His beautiful, sometimes uncomfortable, always transformational work inside of you.

Because when you spend enough time with Jesus, He starts showing up on you. His love starts coming out of your mouth. His joy starts showing up in your face. His peace starts changing the way you respond. His kindness starts changing the way you treat people. His goodness starts changing the way you live. His self-control starts changing what you say yes and no to.

And suddenly, without trying to be impressive, you become a living invitation to Jesus. People see something different. They feel something different. They may not even know what it is at first, but they notice. They wonder. They ask.

“What’s different about you?”
“How are you so peaceful?”
“How did you get through that?”
“Why aren’t you bitter?”
“What do you have that I don’t have?”

And that’s your moment. It’s not me. It’s Jesus. That’s the fragrance. That’s the glow. That’s the attraction.

Not so people will notice you, but so they will notice Him.

Your life becomes a little window through which someone else gets a glimpse of Jesus. Your story gives someone else courage. Your peace gives someone else hope. Your praise reminds someone else that God is still faithful. Your surrendered heart becomes an invitation for someone else to know the One who changed you.

All around you, Jesus is calling people to him, and he’s using you as the reflection of his love and life-changing power. Those whom he is calling to him will be attracted. Those who are not being called, well – they won’t like you at all. You need to know that so you’re not discouraged.

After Paul tells us about being a sweet perfume and Christ-like-fragrance rising up to God, he prepares us for the 2 very different ways that is received in this world. 2 Corinthians 2: 15-16, “BUT this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume.”

Remember this – it’s not up to you who is invited into that life-saving relationship with Jesus. This isn’t about you. To those Jesus is inviting, you will help attract them to him. To those who are not, you will be repulsive. You won’t be liked. They will not be receptive to you.

Can you be okay with that? Can you continue to show up has God’s sweet perfume in this world, even when some reject you, even while some ridicule you, even while some are hateful towards you? Or will you decide you’re too fragile for the criticism of a few so you stop showing up for the ones who are ready to respond to Jesus?

I’m so grateful Jesus didn’t sit out his mission because of the ones who would ridicule him. I’m so grateful he didn’t cancel his coming because some would be ugly. He came anyway. He taught anyway. He loved anyway. And he gave his life anyway.

Now he asks us to do the same. Stop being detoured by those who don’t like this Jesus in you. Stop playing little and hiding your fragrance and your glow because they don’t receive it well. It’s not about you – this is about Jesus! And there are people around you who desperately need it!

Make Jesus attractive.

Not with your perfection. Not with your performance. Not by pretending you’ve got it all together. Just live so close to Jesus that He can’t help but rub off on you.

And then walk into the room. Carry His fragrance. Shift the atmosphere. And let everybody around you get involved in the glory and praise of God.

Because the most beautiful thing about you should never be you. It should be Jesus.

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Today, there are 100 days left in this year of life. Just 100 days, and we all know how quickly those final days go. As of yesterday, we stepped into the new season of Fall, next will come Winter and we will be in the Holidays, then boom … the whole year is over … again.

It all goes by so fast now, doesn’t it? Have you noticed how the years are going faster and faster? Have you ever wondered why that is? There’s actually a reason. Each year of your life keeps going by faster because the older you get, the less one year of your life represents to your total life experience. When you were a little girl at 8 years old, it took a whole 1/8 of your life to get all the way back around to your next birthday. Now, if you’re 50, one year is only 1/50th of your life, so although the days are the same, they seem less.

Imagine how fast time will speed up in the future. If a year already goes this fast, add 20 more years to the clock … girls, this is all going by so quickly.

With 100 days left in this year, it’s important for us to pause and consider what these days could be. How could we use 100 days to grow and get better? I have an idea – LET’S ASK GOD!!!!!

Lord, what do you want for us in the final 100 days of 2026? What do you want your girls to do? What do you want us to commit to? We are asking you – please show us.

Now just sit in that for a moment. Listen. What is the Holy Spirit saying to you?

The world has countless ideas for you. Run every day for the next 100 days. Eliminate soda. Do a social media fast. Wake up earlier. Read. Let go of one thing in your house every day to declutter. And all of those are fantastic. Great ideas! I’m a fan. Do it!

But … what if God has something deeper for you? What if he has an invitation for you for the next 100 days, and accepting that invitation would be life-changing. I believe he does.

This morning, I asked God what scripture he has for us as a guide to step into these final 100 days, and here’s what he gave me. Psalm 90:12 TPT, “Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should.”

Number our days. Why? To make each one count. If they’re numbered, they’re singled out and separate. When days are lumped together they are not individually important, but our prayer for the final 100 days is to live each day as uniquely valuable. With the realization that these days are few, we will value each one more and spend them as we should.

If you have massive amounts money, it’s easy to waste money. You buy new things without consideration – and honestly when you can do that, you simply don’t appreciate it as much. But, when you are on a tight budget, buying something new is a big deal. You will choose wisely and that one thing becomes more valuable to you.

And so it is with the days of life. When you count them and recognize how few they are, you are less likely to waste days. You truly value a day and choose to spend it wisely. That is how God wants his girls to live!

But I want to go a little deeper with this idea of numbering our days. Psalm 90 doesn’t say, “Teach us to fill our days.” Isn’t that what we often do? We just fill the days. We fill them with tasks and chores. Checklists and routines. One day, two days, three days, there’s a week, then another week, soon a month. Filled. Just so filled. Let’s stop filling our days.

Scripture says, “Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to SPEND them as we should.” Spend them. Not fill them, spend them. Spend your days. Final 100 days – how will you spend them?

That’s an interesting word, isn’t it? Spend your days. We spend money. We spend energy. We spend our attention. And every single day, we spend a little bit of our life.

You are spending this day of your life right now. You are spending it whether you’re intentional about it or not.

You can spend a day worrying. You can spend it scrolling. You can spend it being offended. You can spend it comparing yourself to someone else. You can spend it trying to prove something. You can spend it chasing something you think will finally make you happy.

Or you can spend it loving someone. You can spend it serving. You can spend it laughing. You can spend it talking with God. You can spend it noticing God’s goodness. You can spend it doing the thing God has been asking you to do.

Either way, the day gets spent. And you don’t get to put it back. That’s why I think numbering our days is actually meant to wake us up. This day is valuable and it’s limited – how will you SPEND IT?

We’re not supposed to number our days so we become afraid of how little time we have. We’re supposed to number them so we finally realize how incredibly valuable today is.

Maybe you’ve been living like someday is guaranteed.Someday I’ll get serious about my relationship with God.Someday I’ll forgive them.Someday I’ll make that phone call.Someday I’ll take the trip.Someday I’ll use the gift God gave me. Someday I’ll slow down and enjoy my life.Someday I’ll stop letting that thing control me.

But girls, we don’t know how many somedays we have. We know we have today. And right now, we have 100 more days in 2026. (and even those aren’t guaranteed to us all.)

Numbering our days isn’t about creating an anxious panic – it’s about waking us up to the gift of today. The truth is, we’ve been sleepwalking through entirely too many of our days. We’re little zombies looking at screens and routinely living days we won’t even remember. Really, how many days of this year do you distinctly remember? How many days REALLY MATTERED?

We often live as though today is rehearsal for the real thing: I’ll start later. I’ll call her later. I’ll forgive later. I’ll serve later. I’ll slow down later. I’ll enjoy my kids later. I’ll do what God is asking me to do later. But eventually later becomes never.

And that’s the urgency of Psalm 90:12. These days are numbered, limited, precious and few. Teach me to live them now as I should!

So maybe the question isn’t, “What can I accomplish in 100 days?” Maybe the better question is: “Jesus, what do You want to do in me in these 100 days?”

What do You want me to release? What do You want me to begin? What do You want me to stop? Who do You want me to love? Who do You want me to forgive? Where do You want me to obey? What part of my heart do You want to heal? What have I been putting off that You’re asking me to finally step into?

Because I don’t want to simply have 100 more days. I want 100 days that matter.

I don’t want to just get to December 31 and say, “Wow, that went fast.” I want to look back and say, “God was in those days.”

I want to have grown. I want to have loved well. I want to have obeyed. I want to have noticed Him. I want to have made memories. I want to have helped somebody. I want to have become more like Jesus.

Ephesians 5:16 TPT, “Take full advantage of every day as you spend your life for his purposes.”

Take full advantage of every one of these final 100 days of 2026. Spend your life for HIS purposes. Well, what are his purposes for your life? His purposes for your life are to do the good things he has planned for you. (Ephesians 2:10). What if we just started asking him what good things he wants us to do each day? What if that became our daily ask of the Holy Spirit. “Holy Spirit, show me the good things You want me to do with You today. I’m available.”

So let’s stop asking, “How much can I get done in 100 days?” And let’s ask a better question: “Lord, how do You want me to spend them?” This isn’t about productivity, this is about stewardship.

Lord, who do you want me to become in these final 100 days of 2026? Give me wisdom about what actually matters here!

This isn’t a self-improvement project. Let’s go deeper than losing 10 pounds or reading a few books or eliminating sugar – let’s see the invitation beneath that from God – the invitation the steward these precious days better.

The goal isn’t to have a really impressive 100 days. The goal is to have 100 days that mattered to God.

These days belong to God. They are gifts He has placed in our hands, and we don’t know how many more we will be given. So, Lord, teach us to number them. Teach us to recognize how precious they are. Teach us to spend them well.

“Holy Spirit, show me the good things You want me to do with You today. I’m available.”

Not tomorrow.

Today.

Because these 100 days are going to pass whether we pay attention or not. December 31 is coming. The days will disappear from the calendar one by one.

But what if, when we get there, we don’t just say, “Wow, that went fast.”

What if we can say:

“God was in those days.”

I loved people.
I forgave.
I obeyed.
I noticed Him.
I said yes.
I made memories.
I used what He gave me.
I became more like Jesus.
I did the good things He prepared for me to do.

I didn’t just fill my days. I spent them well.

So, girls, we have 100 days. Not 100 days to become perfect. Not 100 days to prove something. Not 100 days to accomplish some giant self-improvement project.

100 days to be awake.
100 days to be available.
100 days to walk with Jesus.
100 days to love well.
100 days to do good.
100 days to live on purpose.

The clock is ticking. The days are numbered. And today is a gift.

Let’s not just let these 100 days pass. Let’s live them.

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Wherever you are, wherever you live, wherever you work, imagine how the atmosphere would shift if Jesus walked into the room. The energy, the conversations, the focus would be completely altered by his presence. There would be no complaining, no moping, no worry or fear, no gossip, no drama – everyone would be absolutely mesmerized by the presence of Jesus in the room.

Now, understand this … YOU CARRY HIS PRESENCE! That’s what the Holy Spirit is. God, the Father – and Jesus, the son, IN YOU. As a follower of Jesus, you become a vessel for the Spirit of God, and you literally carry him into every room you enter.

So, Sis, let’s be real clear – THE ATMOSPHERE SHOULD SHIFT WHEN YOU WALK IN!!!!

The conversations shouldn’t be the same when you enter. Worry and fear should be banished. Hope and joy should fill the room. When the Spirit of God is present, there should be an energy, a peace, a hope that changes what happens next. Not because you walked in with all the answers, but because Jesus walked in with you.

You don’t have to be the loudest person in the room. You don’t have to preach a sermon. You don’t have to fix everybody’s problems. You simply need to carry Jesus well.

Your presence should bring peace where there is panic.
Hope where there is heaviness.
Kindness where there is criticism.
Joy where there is complaining.
Grace where there is judgment.
Love where there is division.

Sis, you are an atmosphere shifter. Not because you change people, but because God does. Not because you’re the fixer, but because you carry the fixer!!!!!

If the atmosphere is not shifting when you walk in the room, it could be because you’re not declaring that power. It could be because you’re forgetting what you carry within you. It could be because you’re settling for what everyone else is doing and playing little. When your home is filled with chaos, when the office is nothing but division and tension, when the conversations are negative and hurtful, remember this – YOU ARE CARRYING THE PRESENCE OF GOD WITHIN YOU, AND THAT PRESENCE HAS THE POWER TO SHIFT THE ATMOSPHERE!

Scripture tells us there are two realms – there is the physical realm we see and the invisible spiritual realm. You may not see the spiritual realm, but it is real. What is happening in the unseen is just as real as what is happening physically. The spiritual real is continually affecting your life. The atmosphere of every room you’re in is being shaped by the spiritual realm.

You know this – you’ve experienced it. Sometimes there’s just a dark feeling. A weighted heaviness in the room. A tension. I’ve even been in some areas where the entire city has a dark oppression and you can feel it. I’ve walked into rooms and felt that total ‘ick’ feeling. That’s a spiritual atmosphere being created in the unseen. There’s something happening.

The spiritual atmosphere has the power to shape our lives – to confuse or inspire, to lift up or suppress, to bring happiness or sadness, to overwhelm or empower. The difference is in who is ruling the atmosphere in that given place.

Let’s look at the contrast. Romans 14:17 tells us the Kingdom of God is “goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” So this means when the Holy Spirit is in charge of your home or your office or the circle you sit in, there will be goodness and peace and joy. How? BECAUSE WE CARRY IT WITH US! We speak it. We share it. We shift the atmosphere with his Spirit!

But, it’s up to us to remember what we have in us. If we’re not prayerfully aware of the Spirit we carry, then we may be allowing a radically different power to rule the room. Jesus tells us in John 10:10 that our enemy the devil has come to “kill, steal and destroy.” When his dark forces are at work, you can feel it. The conversations are destructive. The energy is negative. Yeah – you want to know why? Because the presence in the room is there to kill our joy, steal our peace, and destroy our hope.

And sadly, sometimes we just allow that! We allow it in our homes. We allow it in our work place. We allow it in our car. We allow it in our circles. HOW ABOUT WE STOP ALLOWING IT AND SHIFT THE ATMOSPHERE.

Girl, the conversations shouldn’t be the same when you walk in the room. Why? Because you’re walking in with the power of God in you. The power to heal, the power to shift, the power to change, the power to restore, the power to create, the power to revive … That power now lives within you. So yes, the conversations should be different. Yes, the energy should be different. Yes, the atmosphere should shift.

If it’s not, it’s because you’re forgetting what you have inside of you. Jesus said in Luke 10:19, “Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy.”

Today, there’s a battle happening all around you. You may not see it, but you can probably feel it. It’s spiritual. Two spiritual forces at war. The battle of good and evil. The battle of light and darkness. Ultimately, this is a war over the presence of God – who will rule the atmosphere here. Will it be the Holy Spirit – or will it be something else? Well girl, you don’t have to depend on anyone else to determine that – you have the authority in prayer!!!!!

You can prayerfully evict every presence of evil and darkness. Every demon sent from hell to discourage, depress, disrupt, overwhelm, scare, or paralyze – cast them out in the name of Jesus. Speak up – bring Jesus into the room! Why in the world would a girl like you, carrying the power of God in the Holy Spirit, ever play little? Why would you watch the chaos and not call on God to stop it. Why would you sit in that conversation and not shift it?

You don’t have to yell. You don’t have to argue. You don’t have to prove a point. You don’t have to become the spiritual police of every room you enter. You just need to bring Jesus into the room.

Pray. Speak life. Speak truth. Change the subject. Refuse to participate in gossip. Encourage the person who is struggling. Bring peace into the conflict. Remind someone of what is true. Love the person nobody else is loving.

And sometimes, you won’t even have to say a word. The way you carry yourself will preach.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:6–7: “God has made his light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”

THIS IS YOU, SIS. A jar of clay carrying a treasure.

You are ordinary. You are imperfect. You don’t have all the answers. You don’t have to be the strongest person in the room. But you are carrying something extraordinary. You are carrying the presence of God.

So don’t underestimate what happens when you walk into a room surrendered to Jesus.

Don’t underestimate what happens when you pray before you speak.

Don’t underestimate what happens when you choose peace instead of panic.

Don’t underestimate what happens when you answer anger with grace.

Don’t underestimate what happens when you refuse to join the gossip.

Don’t underestimate what happens when you bring hope into a hopeless conversation.

Don’t underestimate what happens when you walk into darkness carrying LIGHT. Because you don’t have to become the atmosphere. You get to change it.

The next time you walk into a room, don’t just walk in. Bring Jesus with you. Walk in carrying peace. Walk in carrying hope. Walk in carrying joy. Walk in carrying truth. Walk in carrying love. Walk in carrying the very presence of God.

And then watch what happens. SHIFT THE ATMOSPHERE.

Jesus put it this way: “Behold I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19 NKJV). This means that we don’t have to submit to our negative circumstances and environment, we can change the atmosphere wherever we go by walking in our God-given dominion.

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The book of Philippians is a letter written by Paul to the Church in Philippi. And there’s a few important things to know about that – this church was the very first church in Europe. It was started by Paul about 20 years after Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected. The church all started when Paul was traveling through the city of Phiippi and came across some women praying on a riverbank. They were praying to God, but didn’t know about Jesus. Then Paul tells this group of women about Jesus and one woman named Lydia listened. The Lord opened her heart and she accepted everything Paul was saying about Jesus. She and her household were baptized, and they became the beginning of the first church in Europe.

The other key player in the start of this church was a prison guard in Philippi. This prison guard encounter Paul in one way – when Paul was thrown into prison. Why was Paul in prison? Because he cam across a girl who had a spirit enabling her to tell the future. She was enslaved by her owners making them money by telling the future. Paul commanded the demon to flee from her, and with that she was no longer able to be a fortune teller. The people who had been making money off her were so enraged now that there hopes of wealth were shattered and had Paul thrown into prison there.

AND THAT’S HOW PAUL MEETS THE PRISON GUARD who would be a key player in the first church in Phiippi.

While in prison Paul and his buddy Silas were singing praises to God at midnight and suddenly there was a massive earthquake and the prison was shaken. The doors flew open and the chains of every prisoner just fell off! When the jailer found all the prisoners had escaped, he grabs his sword and decides to kill himself. But that’s when Paul stops him, tells him about Jesus, and the prison guard and his entire family accept Jesus and are baptized.

So, we have Lydia and her family, plus the prison guard and his family in the city of Philippi who are the beginning of the first church in Europe. That’s how God started the spread of his message across the entire country. One woman who was praying on a riverbank, and one man who had a really bad day at work. Funny how God works!

So now the church has been going for about 10 years and Paul writes this letter to them. That letter is now our book of Philippians in our Bible. And … Paul is writing this letter from Rome while arrested AGAIN! With only 4 chapters, this is one of the shortest books in the Bible, and I believe one of the most powerful! If you’re looking for a place to start studying your Bible, may I suggest you start right there. Philippians – it’s almost at the very end.

Reading this letter written by Paul while in prison in Rome, delivered to the church he started in Philippi with this woman named Lydia and the local prison guard, we read these words in verse 6, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

Let’s just sit right there today. GOD STARTS THE WORK IN US – NOT US!

What work did God start in you, my sister? It’s his work. Your entire life is HIS WORK! He started it all. He gave you breath. He put dreams and desires in your heart. He filled you with purpose. He opened your heart to believe. You didn’t start any of that – that’s God’s work.

And listen to this – GOD FINISHES WHAT HE STARTS!!!!!

Look at creation. Do you see anything that God only did halfway? When he created the fish in the sea or the animals on the land, did he only do a little work, then get distracted and leave creation hanging?

No. When God starts something, he finishes it.

He didn’t create the ocean and forget to add the waves. He didn’t create the sky and forget the stars. He didn’t make a flower and decide halfway through that he was tired of it. When God creates, he completes.

And Philippians 1:6 is telling us something just as powerful about you.

God doesn’t start a work in you and then walk away. He doesn’t open your heart to him and then say, “Okay, you’re on your own now.” He doesn’t give you a purpose and then leave you to figure it all out. He doesn’t call you and then abandon you halfway through the calling.

GOD FINISHES WHAT HE STARTS.

Now, that doesn’t mean everything in your life will go the way you thought it would. It doesn’t mean there won’t be detours. There will be.

It doesn’t mean there won’t be seasons when you wonder what in the world God is doing. There will be those, too.

It doesn’t mean you won’t have moments when you feel like you’re going backward instead of forward. You probably will.

But here’s what it does mean: Your unfinished doesn’t mean God’s finished.

Let me say that again. Your unfinished doesn’t mean God’s finished.

You may look at yourself and see what still needs to change. God sees what he is still doing. You may see the mess. God sees the masterpiece in progress. You may see how far you still have to go. God sees how far you’ve already come—and he knows exactly where he’s taking you.

Think about the Philippian church itself. It started with a handful of people beside a river. A woman named Lydia. Her household. A jailer. His household. A few believers gathering together in Lydia’s home. That’s not exactly what we would call an impressive beginning. But God wasn’t finished. That little gathering became a church. That church became Paul’s partners in the gospel. And years later, Paul is writing to them from a prison cell in Rome, reminding them that the God who started this thing was still working.

I wonder if somebody needed Philippians 1:6 because she feels like a Philippi right now. Small. Unfinished. In the middle. Not what she thought she would be by now.

And I wonder if maybe that someone is YOU. Maybe you look at your life and think, “Surely this isn’t where I was supposed to end up.” Maybe there are things you thought God would have fixed by now. Maybe there are prayers you’ve been praying for years. Maybe there are dreams that haven’t happened. Maybe there are parts of your heart that still need healing. Maybe you look at yourself and think, “I should be farther along than this.”

But listen, my sister: God is not finished with you. You are not a finished product. You are a work in progress—and the One doing the work is God.

And here’s what I love about Paul’s words. He doesn’t say, “I’m confident that you will finish the work.” He says, “I am certain that God…will continue his work until it is finally finished.”

The confidence isn’t in the Philippians. The confidence is in God. That’s a huge difference.

Because if this were dependent on us, we would have plenty of reason to worry. We get distracted. We get tired. We lose our way. We make mistakes. We quit. We get afraid. We sometimes take two steps forward and three steps backward.

But God? God is faithful. He started the work. He is continuing the work. And he will finish the work.

This verse in TPT: “The one who began this gracious work in you will faithfully continue the PROCESS OF MATURING YOU.” That’s the season you’re in! You’re in the process of being matured!

So maybe today you don’t need to figure out the entire rest of your life. Maybe you don’t need to know how every piece is going to come together. Maybe you don’t need to have the whole thing finished. Maybe you just need to trust the One who started it.

Because the God who opened Lydia’s heart by a river… the God who met a desperate jailer in the middle of the worst night of his life… the God who took a tiny beginning in Philippi and turned it into a church… the God who took Paul from city to city spreading the gospel… the God who was still working while Paul sat chained up in Rome… that God is still working.

And he’s working in you.

So don’t give up on what God hasn’t finished. Don’t call it over because you can’t see what he’s doing. Don’t mistake unfinished for abandoned. Don’t mistake waiting for wasted. Don’t mistake a hard season for the end of the story.

God started the work. God is doing the work. And God will finish the work.

Philippians 1:6 isn’t just a nice verse to put on a coffee mug. It’s a promise to hold onto when you can’t see the finished picture.

The God who began the good work within you will continue his work until it is finally finished.

He’s not done. Not even close.

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Jesus says we will be known by our love, and our love is to make Him known. But let me ask you a question: Who is the hardest person for you to love? Oh, I know exactly who it is. It’s someone you live with. Someone you work with. Someone in every one of your […]

Today we’re living in the middle of a story that’s already promised an eternal ending, but we’re not there yet. We’re here – in the middle. In the middle of real life with real problems, real threats, real pain. Every day we are closer and closer to what is promised, but we’re not there yet. […]

Did you know in Jesus’ time of walking this earth and preparing his disciples to spread the gospel and reach the ends of the world with his offer of salvation, he never once taught them how to preach. He didn’t teach them how to organize a mission. He taught them this one thing … HOW […]

One day while Jesus is teaching, an expert in religious law asks a question – “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life.” Today we think of eternal life solely as life after death – heaven. But this word ‘eternal’ was used as a particular QUALITY of life that comes from God. Eternal life […]

Sometimes, to understand the meaning of a story Jesus told, you have to back up and understand the entire scene. For today’s parable, we can’t just jump into the story without looking at what happened right before it. The situation leading up to the parable is actually the key to understanding why Jesus told it […]

Luke 13: 6-9, “Then Jesus told this story: ‘A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. Finally, he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it […]

The Bible can be confusing – It can also be so powerful it will radically change your life. There are some books in the Old Testament you can flip to that seem so rigid and so impossible, that a life following God is unattainable. Then there are books in the New Testament filled with overflowing […]

Matthew 7: 24-27, “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is build on bedrock. But anyone who hears my […]

Luke 18: 9-17 “Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, […]

Luke 18: 1-8 “One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. ‘There was a judge in a certain city,’ he said, ‘who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this […]

This story told by Jesus is quite different. Unlike all his other stories, this story includes specific names. This tells us it’s a true story of real people living real lives with a real destiny. These are true events. I’m a documentary junkie. It’s the only TV I ever watch. So imagine this story as […]

This could be one of the most confusing and easily twisted stories Jesus told. Maybe you’re like me and you’ve read it before, said “well that doesn’t make sense”, and quickly moved on. On the surface this one doesn’t make sense. However, if you really seek, you will find a deep message that truly does […]

Jesus tells us a story of 2 sons. One was the prodigal, and one was not. Of course the prodigal, the one who struggled, the one who messed up is the one who often gets the focus in the story. Afterall, he is the one who was lost and was found. He was the one […]

This is the final of the trilogy of stories Jesus tells to explain the worth of a single soul to God. We had the Parable of the Lost Sheep where the shepherd leaves the 99 to find the 1 who has been lost. We had the Parable of the Lost Coin of the woman who […]

When Jesus tells a story, you listen. When Jesus repeats 3 stories with the same meaning, you REALLY listen. Every story he told during his time here on Earth was of important purpose, but to repeat the same lesson 3 times in 3 ways tells us Jesus desperately wants us to get this message. Today’s […]

Luke 12: 16-21 Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough […]

Jesus tells a little story with big impact. Luke 8: 16-17, “No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house. For all that is secret will eventually […]

If there’s one of these stories that Jesus told that has most impacted my life, it is this one. It’s a guide for daily living and it will meet you exactly where you are every day of your life. The moral of the story – JUST BE FAITHFUL. What happens when you are faithful with […]

Before we read this story Jesus told, I want you to do something. I want you to see it. Don’t just read the words on the page. Step into the story. Picture the wedding. Picture the bride. Picture the bridesmaids. Picture the anticipation of the groom’s arrival. To really understand what Jesus is saying, we […]

Jesus also told them other parables. He said, “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come! So he sent other […]

Today we will study a parable that seemingly has nothing to do with us. It’s easy to assume Jesus just told this story so the Pharisees who were in the crowd realized how bad they were. But haven’t we learned if Jesus told a story then, it applies to us today? Haven’t we discovered so […]

Matthew 21: 28-32 But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he […]

Jesus has great news for us today: We can be screwed up and late to the game, but if we will simply be available and show up, God has grace for us, work for us to do, and a great reward in store. Matthew 20: 1-15: For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner […]

Jesus is serious about forgiveness. He gave his very life to forgive you. And … he asks you to forgive every other soul who has hurt or offended you. Yes, everyone for everything. Now I don’t know, but maybe that’s a nearly impossible task. Forgiving them – what? They aren’t even sorry. Why should you […]

Matthew 18:12-14, “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more […]

Matthew 13:52, “Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.” Well what on earth is Jesus trying to show us here? Being a teacher of religious law means you know your Bible. […]

Matthew 13: 47-51, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind. When the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore, sat down, and sorted the good fish into crates, but threw the bad ones away. that is the way […]

Yesterday we studied the Parable of the Treasure. Now, Jesus continues his teaching with another similar story tied to it. They go together, so let’s read them together. Matthew 13: 44-45, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and […]

Matthew 13:44, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” I want you to imagine for a moment coming to the end of your life, and standing before your […]

Have you ever made homemade bread with yeast? How much yeast do you put in with the flour and water? Just a tiny amount. How much of a difference does the yeast make? ALL THE DIFFERENCE. As Jesus was teaching, he knew everyone listening understood this because bread wasn’t something they picked up at the […]

The next parable Jesus tells is one of the most debated in Scripture. Unlike some of the other parables, Jesus never explains this one. That means faithful Bible scholars have reached different conclusions. Let’s read it for ourselves. Matthew 13:31-32, “He put another parable before them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a grain […]

In our study of the parables of Jesus, we find the next story he tells. Remember, that’s what a parable is – it’s a story along with a teaching. It’s earthly stories with heavenly meaning told for a purpose by Jesus. Matthew 13: 24-30 Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is […]

While Jesus walked this earth, he taught us the truths of God and the secrets of living well. In just 3 years of ministry he said everything he needed to say, and he said it perfectly. Now, over 2000 years later, his words are our perfect guide for life. Some of Jesus’ teachings were on […]

It’s back-to-school time. Today, I have friends walking their baby into kindergarten for the very first time. And I have other friends helping their baby move into a college dorm. Those two days feel worlds apart… until you’ve lived them. Those of us a little farther down the road know the truth. One day you’re […]

Is there something from your past holding you back? It could be 50 years ago, or 5 days ago. Regardless, past regrets, guilt, and shame have a way of holding on to us. We replay the stories we have no way of changing because what is done is done. You can’t go back. You can’t […]

Maybe you’re living out a story that doesn’t look like you imagined. You had dreams, you had desires, you had plans … and your life seems to have fallen flat. You’ve been left wanting – left waiting – left wondering. When will things change for you? How much longer do you have to wait? What […]

Last week we talked about valleys and mountains. Valleys being those dreaded low places in life, and mountains being those beautiful highs. We all want to stay in our mountaintop experiences, but we can’t. Do you remember why? Because nothing grows on top of a mountain. If you go high enough, the view is breathtaking, […]

Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” Here’s what Jesus didn’t say – “Only a select few, super spiritual will hear my voice.” No, he said, “My sheep listen to my voice.” Jesus calls himself our Good Shepherd. What does that mean? In ancient […]

Have you ever questioned if God really likes you? We’ve been told over and over again that Jesus loves us … but does he like us? Is he pleased with us? How does he see us when we fail? When we struggle? When we wander? I met a beautiful woman at our Colorado Retreat named […]

God has promised He has good plans for you (Jeremiah 29:11), but wouldn’t it be nice if He included turn-by-turn directions? I mean REALLY nice. Not some vague “trust Me” and “walk by faith” business. I want GPS. I want step-by-step instructions complete with an arrival time and the occasional heavenly notification saying, “There’s a […]