All was good and dandy, until my mind started it’s endless twirling. I know you all have experienced it. It’s when you come face-to-face with that mean, burly voice that deeply grunts out, “What if?”
What if things don’t work out?
What if you get taken advantage of?
What if God doesn’t take care of you?
When we listen to that voice of misreason,
He almost always convinces us we’re moving into a bad season.
But, when we shut down that voice at first grunt,
we start to believe God is in front of us.
Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.
Deut. 31:8
I am beginning to realize it comes down to a split-second decision. If you can quickly identify the voice that beckons you into the darkness, you can choose to stay in the light. If you don’t realize who he is, you are bound to get lured in like a kid following sweet candy.
Will we listen for the voice of God or continually debate the antagonizer’s?
I know friends, it is not easy. Making the decision to hear and only hear the right voice is a battle. It is one where we have to grab the mindset and the determined will power to believe rightly about God’s righteousness.
But, it is possible. It looks like getting pro-active. It looks like getting smart about who God is. It looks like pledging allegiance to a King.
It goes like this:
I declare God is with me. He is Immanuel (Mt. 1:23). I know he is Wonderful Counselor. He is consoling me (Is. 9:6). I envision Mighty God – the one able to do the impossible (Is. 9:6). I have the Prince of Peace by my side. He will calm me as I turn into him (Is. 9:6). I know God saved me. I will rest there (Lu. 2:11). I trust the bread of life will feed me when I need to be fed (Jo. 6:35). I pledge my heart to the one and only light of the world (Jo. 8:12). I profess the good shepherd stands next to me and tends to my heart (Jo. 10:14) I reassert my heart to the great deliverer – the one who delivers again and again (Ro. 11:26) I know the way, the truth and the life, for I know Jesus (Jo. 14:6)
An amazing thing that happens when one’s mind carries these names on little notecards; they stand on them during the horrid and horrific moments. They stand on them as if they were tall walls moving them above the fray. And in a way they do.
On paper, they are just words, but when they are stood upon in a heart, they become fortresses of unbeatable power.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.
Prov. 18:10
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Things didn’t work out. They went south. They broke down.
Isn’t it funny how when things break,
what also breaks in our mind
is how God views us –
and how we view God?
We tend to think like this:
1. God is punishing me.
2. God is showing me how wrong I handled this.
3. God is taking this away because I don’t deserve it.
4. God is angry at me.
5. God doesn’t really want me to be happy.
6. God doesn’t hear me.
7. God doesn’t care about my feelings.
8. God isn’t tapped into what I need right now.
9. God’s plans don’t work well for people.
10. God forgot about me. He has many more to worry about.
*Bonus: I stink – and God knows it.
What we think about God, tends to define how we feel through life.
What do you tend to think about God?
A heart becomes unsettled when, rather than seeing problems as windows, letting in the air of new faith,
we see them as things God uses to slam us.
I do it all the time. Somehow I figure God has gone moody again and is well-done-and-over with my shenanigans. With this mindset, the swirling winds of conflict, complications or conditions unfavorable are bound to erase feelings of peace and comfort.
Does this happen to you too?
Do you tend to lose the image of a good God?
God is good (Ps. 136:1). Whether I believe it or not, God still stays exactly the same.
6 Ways God is Good:
1. He works alongside those who wait for him. No eye has seen a God besides you, who works for those who wait for him.” Is. 64:4
2. Like a daddy caring for a sick child, he doesn’t sleep, but watches non-stop. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Ps. 121:3
3. He needs nothing, but can give everything. God is not served by human hands as though he needed anything, but he himself gives life and breath and everything. Acts 17:25
4. He shows himself strong for those who persevere in trust. The eyes of the LORD run through the earth, to show himself strong for those who trust him. 2 Chron. 16:9
5. He delivers us so we can glorify him. If I were hungry, I wouldn’t tell you. Call on me, I will deliver you. You will glorify me. Ps. 50:15
6. He meets our needs according to his stockpiles of overflowing treasure. And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:19
What I am coming to terms with is – the alarm of sinking feelings sounds in order to awaken us to the reality of faith-stampeding lies. Finding the lie means finding truth. Finding truth means we can look at it and decide if we’ll continue to hold it or decide to stomp it down.
Will we believe that God is for us, not against us?
Not in words, but via our heart and in action?
The difference is tangible.
The results are palpable.
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Tomorrow, we will venture through the little notecards of truths that you can pull out of your pocket when your mind goes haywire. Hope you can join me!
I know, I know, this is going to sound weird. I am infatuated with the whole idea of airplane take-offs. Always have been.
I feel the rumblings of something new, the speed towards adventure and the call towards something greater.
I love it.
New places.
New people.
New encounters.
New opportunities.
New feelings.
Usually, as the plane rises, I know I am about ready to head to somewhere better. The stress is off; I have no control over the speed, the timing and the path – it is all in the captain’s hands. It is a trusting kind of thing; I know he will do his job.
I wonder though, why day-by-day I don’t rise with this same sort of
eager expectation towards life?
What really makes it any different?
I could wake excited. Knowing God will send me.
I could look expectantly. Believing God will lead me.
I could anticipate. Seeing life from the heights new opportunities.
I could be willing. Letting in feelings of purpose and passion, all the while – nodding yes.
All vision of my end destination belongs to him. All the controls are in his hands.
Why not let go?
We need no plans, except to be with him. He steers, we fly. He leads, we end up at the good works he has already designed for us.
If we have expectancy,
we won’t be prone to live complacency.
We see new journeys.
New heights.
New views.
New callings.
New pressures that he alone manages.
And right in the center of it all is our chosen seat. The one that allows us to enjoy the heights of his glory, the sprawling colors of his ownership and the gentle covering of his clouds.
So we go. We let go. We move. We explore. We adventure.
Tomorrow, let the morning alarm goes off. But, take a new look at your new day. Let expectations rise and – fly.
Will you join us? Sure, there may be turbulence,
but rest assured there will be magnificence too.
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This is my word. Defineredismableestly. Granted, I made it up. And granted, it is slightly ridiculous. But let me explain. I am at a crossroad; another adoption, another child launching, a new career in the making. We all come to them, repeatedly. For example, when I got married. I was no longer only defined as Don and Glenna’s daughter, I was now Justin’s wife. Later I became Maggie, John, Luke, Sophie, Sam, and Charlie’s mom. Grad student, blogger, Catholic, displaced Catholic, Spin instructor, injured Spin instructor, Chronically ill. Then, I became a foster mom and adoptive mom. I have been defined, redefined and undefined. I have added prefixes, suffixes and then, deleted and added again.
A woman on Twitter started following me the other day. I clicked on her profile to see who she was and this is what it said: Overweight, widowed, divorced, childless, unhappy, atheist. Working as a secretary for an arrogant windbag attorney. Living in a cramped apartment with a grumpy cat, two fish, and my dying mother. Follow me.
Hmm.
Click.
Follow.
Cause I respect the honesty, and I commit to pray for her.
I haven’t heard much else out of her. Although every time I get on Twitter I click on her profile to see if any of her adjectives have changed. They haven’t. Aside from some funny cat memes and derogatory comments about Christians, these definitions are all that I am left with in my assessment. And I could pity or judge her, but she could pity and judge me. And if I was asked to write a profile for myself similar to hers what would it look like? What defines me?
Simply stated? Tall, busty, married, blonde, 7 kids at the moment, happily seeking Jesus Christ. Stay at home mom, author, in love with my husband. Living in a large home with large family, two dogs, lots of laughter. Follow me.
And it does sound a bit more fanciful and bright. Well, I would have rather typed tall and rail thin, but that’s not the point. The point is the definitions we take on and the definitions we portray as truths of ourselves can both explain us or cripple us. And I wouldn’t want to represent myself to the masses as a complete failure or mess, and I certainly wouldn’t want to do that and preface or conclude with “Christ-seeker.”
There is both the societal and self-imposed assumption that I am better than or whole if I am a follower of Christ. And as Christians, we believe our souls are better off – as human beings we know the definition of Christian doesn’t crown us the definition “flawless.”
So maybe I followed this brutally honest and seemingly dark woman because I envied her rawness. And, I want to be frank, and raw. I recently ripped the Jesus fish off my van. Not to deny my Christ, but because I am a distracted driver and you can’t judge a Christian by their inability to maneuver a 12 passenger van. I honestly don’t want to portray Christians as lousy drivers.
The things that adorn my profile or my biography on my blog are definitions of the human Jami. The feathers in my cap or the bumper stickers on my van don’t convey the profound truths of what it means to be wholly seeking Jesus. At first glance, you might define me as funny, lighthearted, sweet, fanciful, vain, and bouncy. From inside my head I am a one-woman circus – desperately seeking Jesus.
And that is the most relevant definition of being me. My general identity can be found in excerpts on websites. My husband and children could give you a quick run-down of singular adjectives that would give you a universal idea of who I am. My parents and my siblings have an adjective or two. I have friends who think I rock. I have enemies that think otherwise. And I get down and can rip myself to shreds. Or, I can drop a couple pounds, get a syndicated post, and make a perfect pot roast and think I am the “grandiestly” momma on the block.
But all that fades without my Jesus. What I must remember and what I must cling to is my identity in Christ. This character never changes. No matter the number of children under my roof, the size tag on my jeans, the rejection letters in my inbox, for that matter, the acceptance letters either. My identity in Christ is an unchanging description. I strive to be better, and I ache to please Him – and He consistently loves a fearless, grand, unending, boundless, undefinable, indescribable perfect love.
He sees me as infinitely – HIS. Maybe that is what I’ll change my Twitter profile to read, just: HIS.
For in Christ, all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
And in Christ, you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. Col. 2:9-10
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Jami Amerine is a wife, and mother to anywhere from 6-8 children. Jami and her husband Justin are active foster parents and advocates for foster care and adoption. Jami’s Sacred Ground Sticky Floors is fun, inspirational, and filled with utter lunacy with a dash of hope. Jami holds a degree in Family and Consumer Sciences (yes Home Ec.) and can cook you just about anything, but don’t ask her to sew. She also holds a Masters Degree in Education, Counseling, and Human Development. Her blog includes topics on marriage, children, babies, toddlers, learning disabilities, tweens, teens, college kids, adoption, foster care, Jesus, homeschooling, unschooling, dieting, not dieting, dieting again, chronic illness, stupid people, food allergies, and all things real life. You can find her blog at Sacred Ground Sticky Floors, follow her on Facebook or Twitter.
She said to me, “If you see my face and I look not as happy, just know it is because some things are hurting right now.”
I loved her honesty. I think she felt like she owed me something though; I think she felt like she had to prove that she, as a Christian, was okay to feel down. It kind of bothered me.
Jesus didn’t say, “Happy face required” to follow me.”
He didn’t say, “Pull yourself together and say what I want to hear.”
He didn’t say, “If you are having a hard time, you can’t be near me.”
He didn’t say, “Isolate yourself in a little bubble of protection if you feed sad.”
On the contrary he said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”Mt. 11:28
Notice, he doesn’t say: I will give you giggles, a smile and a facade that looks all squeeky clean.
Here is what I have to say to you, brothers and sisters today, who are struggling:
It is okay to feel down, Jesus can handle it.
It is okay to wonder the whens, whys and hows – and to bring them to the Lord.
It is okay to tell us you are struggling, we often are too.
It is okay to say you need time away to pray; God will show up.
Greater is God than your greatest weakness.
God is mighty to save you from anything and everything.
Deep learning is in the deep reflection found through pain.
Trials that peel away self, so we find self looking a whole lot more like Christ.
Jesus suffered. He gets you and your pain.
There is no kind of bad attitude that will push God away from you.
Keep going.
Keep loving.
Keep surrendering.
He has you.
Keep abiding.
Keep asking.
Keep listening.
He will not abandon you.
Keep pressing on.
Keep moving your feet.
Keep trusting by faith.
He sees you.
Days will pass, emotions will ride out – and before you know it – you will be in a new season.
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God. If you look for him, you’ll find him. If you keep looking for him, you will find him some more. If you don’t stop looking, he’ll invite you in deeper and deeper, fuller and fuller and farther and farther.
He invites you.
Do you notice the welcome?
It is a white owl taking flight into the darkness,
a place where you are not sure what will happen.
Are you willing to go?
We don’t have to know where we’re going, just that Christ is taking us.
Another invitation.
He stands by the water,
arms open,
ready to hug you,
ready to feel your complete innocence, purity and beauty.
Will you allow him to hold you this way? Will you accept it as true?
It is often by faith, we receive the fullness of his love.
It arrives again.
You may not see it.
You may not notice it.
It sits right outside your window.
The colors are brilliant, the majesty spreads across the sky;
it reminds all of the orchestrator and creator of things big and small.
Will you take a second to look or will you continue to be rushed and busy with other things?
By keeping an eye on the one above our trial, we remember how all things work out under his might.
He calls.
Will you open your heart?
It’s another invitation.
Daddy waits…
Hoping beloved breaks out to run to him.
Seeing a grand return and his glorious rescue.
He doesn’t need strong; he loves weary; he can handle it.
Do you see him waiting to rescue and love you every minute?
In every weary and heart-wrecking task, God waits to rescue you time and time again. Will we accept his invitation?
He knocks,
in a way where it nags your soul.
You know you should, but can you? Can you open up?
Surely, it is an invitation, but will you permit it to be so?
For it hurts far more than it feels good to do.
Still, daddy, he is pushing you just a little to step out.
Will you listen or ignore?
Will you forgive or forget and pretend it never happened – like you always do?
He wants to do it for you. He wants to finally unclutter your heart of it’s bitterness to make room for his fullness.
We think our unforgiveness is right, but only one is right and that is Jesus and he says to forgive.
The invitations they never end for those with eyes to see and those with ears to hear.
It is a symphony of sympathy that plays the most desired harmony of humanity.
Yet, if you are busy, you’ll drive right past it.
If you are worried, your mind will not have space to receive it.
If you are distracted, you will blab on your phone, rather than hear his whisper.
It is an invitation for those who want more.
Who call out more.
Who long more.
Who ask more.
Who need more.
Who desire more.
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jer. 29:13
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Have you ever considered that life is just made up of a series of waits?
You wait to get through school.
You wait to find a spouse.
You wait to hear back from that job.
You wait to know if it is cancer.
You wait to see if your dreams ever will come true.
You wait with hope that a person might do something differently.
You wait and wonder if you will be rejected again.
You wait to go to heaven.
You wait and then you wait some more, nearly agonizing over every moment.
Waiting feels like grueling torture. It feels like a good God went into hiding. It feels like waiting for a hand-out from one who may not. It feels like doors shut. It feels like mountains unscalable. It feels uncertain. It feels like agony. It feels like…if-I-have-to-go-through-this-one-more-time-I-am-gonna…!
Why does a good God torture us?
Even more, why does he seem to love every minute of it?!
Therefore, return to your God, Observe kindness and justice, and wait for your God continually. Hos. 12:6
Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD. Ps. 27:14
Wait. He says. Wait again, he says. Wait well. Wait with courage. Wait with strength.
God knows something, we don’t often consider: Waiting is our wrestling ground with faith. It is here, where a believer gets on the mat, dukes it out and gets down to the heart of the situation, “Will I really believe?”
It is here where one rises up in victory, arms to the sky,
saying, “He is good. He has me. I trust” or
where they fall to the ground saying, “Curse God and die.”
Which way to do things tend to play out in your life?
Do you rise to trust a working God or do you fall
to your own strategies, plans, executions and wounds?
God is not preparing us for nothing, he is preparing us for his everything.
But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD;
I will wait for the God of my salvation My God will hear me. Mi. 7:7
The more we need God, the more we call on God.
The more we call on God, the more we lean on God.
The more we lean on God, the more we find God.
The more we find God, the more we rejoice in his greater gift.
We start to explode with greater vision. It transcends just the here and now, but it reaches out a hand to eternity to clip it and draw it near.
Things like this happen to waiters who are also trusters:
1. They want outta here! They rely on the eternal joy that sits just over the finish line called life. …even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” Romans 8:23
2. They end up hoping in the right thing, rather than their demanded thing. And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You. Ps. 39:7
3. They sit and see that the Lord is always fighting for them. Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. Ps. 33:20
4. They see God doesn’t give them their best answers, but his. Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails. Ps. 19:21
5. They look back and see, that far beyond what they wanted, was what God wanted. They see that they look a whole bunch more like Jesus. …knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope… Romans 5:4
6. All of a sudden they see God’s huge dump truck show up. It backs up and unloads, dumping in far greater weights of love than they ever expected. …and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:4
Are you a waiter and a truster or a hater and agonizer? Lean in. Lay back. Let go. Find hope. Great hope. Life-breathing hope…
Hope is waiting and believing – God will. Hope is knowing he is able – and we are not. Hope is calling out in prayer and believing. Hope is knowing God is above our situation rather than smothered and struggling under it. Hope is knowing his best plan is above ours. Hope is knowing his nature sees and cares. Hope is standing confident his timing could not be better. Hope is moving forward with joy. Hope is finding peace. Hope is leaning back and laying down into God’s love. Hope is not listening to outside voices, but Jesus’. Hope is not devising and strategizing. Hope is the greater expectation of God’s exaltation in our lives. Hope is the grain of longing for that greater thing he’s doing. Hope is seeing past feelings to the very being of Jesus that is being formed in us.
..those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Is. 40:31
That is hope; it is otherwise known as “waiting and believing well.”
May we do it.
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Listen, This is the News that Breaks Every Minute!
This is a Christian’s Always-Headline News!
Do you know it?
Have you not heard?
There is a King of Glory coming for you. He is coming to love you. To find you. To bring you home.
Have you not heard?
You will not know the hour (Mt. 24:36), but you will know the time, because you will see eyes like flames arrive, the white horses of victory drive in and the sword yielded over the nations. You will know because you see white: white robes, purity and holy arrive with power and might (Rev. 19:12-16)
Have you not heard?
The seemingly silent of God will be silent no more as lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail pour down like a stadium full of the Lion’s booming return. (Rev. 11:19)
Have you not heard?
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. (1 Cor. 15:52)
And in a split-second, according to the timing of Jesus, for believers, everything changes. Lives are restored. Pain is wiped away. Time never ends. Days continue in feast. Lives bask in presence. King rules with no obstruction. We are raised to the vision of all we ever dreamed of.
This is not light, fine and dandy, Christianity; this is the deep of our faith.
Things happen to those who know where they are bound to go:
1. Those who keep their eyes pasted on eternity, find they aren’t as easily torn from what’s right. They wake up with a purpose and then live by it. They see the wrongs, and decide to do right, for they know at the end of their fight, they will see his might.
2. Those with forever perspectives, find a forge-through attitudes no matter the barrier. It’s not so much about what they can do, but all about what God will do as they bow down to him. It is about becoming less, because they trust in the more.
3. Those with the seal of God (Eph. 1:13), know they will be signed, sealed and delivered into God’s arms forever.When you are sealed with the Spirit, there is no killing the Spirit. Soul is restored with the Spirit of God and one day body and mind are too.
Having an eternal view means running victorious marathons
verses short sprints of inspiration
followed by deep fits of frustration.
How do you live?
Do you live by the sound of immediate demands or by the trumpet sound that will resound on the day of Christ’s return?
Glory and strength to Christ, who loves us, who blood-washed our sins from our lives, Who made us a Kingdom, Priests for his Father, forever—and yes, he’s on his way! Riding the clouds, he’ll be seen by every eye, those who mocked and killed him will see him, People from all nations and all times will tear their clothes in lament. Oh, Yes.
(Rev. 1:7 MSG)
He is coming. Do you know him? Love him?
Like a groom at the end of the aisle, he is ready to see the brilliance, the beauty and his beloved, the one he loves. That is you. That is me.
May we live in eager anticipation of his return, not seeing the world as a here and now deal, but seeing the world through the deep of eternal eyes that know what the things we are pressing into are things that are bound to last.
Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. (Mt. 18:18)
May it all be so, may it all be just as God has proclaimed it to be – now and forever.
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It was the tipping point. The beginning of the fall. No, it wasn’t a crash, a sudden impact dive that you didn’t see coming. I saw this coming. I could feel it making its way toward me and yet, I was entirely helpless to stop it.
It was a slow, distinct unraveling. That moment where you can feel the wheels teetering ever so slightly out of balance until the whole thing comes unhinged. My heart, that is.
This was the season of my undoing.
I was quite certain I had never planned for this. My life was a well-structured agenda of fortitude, perseverance, accomplishments. They needed me in some misconstrued way, yet I needed them more.
From my earliest memories, I can recall that feeling, deep in my bones, that insane and horrific gnawing that I was not enough. That I would have to prove myself. I needed to be special. I needed to feel worthy. Loved.
I heard people say, If you try hard enough, you can accomplish anything.
I believed them.
So I set my face like flint against the wind, I measured my sails, and I set out to prove my worth to the world.
Whatever it takes, that was my motto.
Whether that meant hours of studying or practicing to be good enough. Whether it meant endless miles running wrapped in plastic wrap to be skinny enough, I did it. That was me.
I thought there would be some point where I arrived. Where I would attain. Where I would be enough.
Yet, inside I knew there was something adrift. If I was quiet enough, I could hear the tremors begin to quake. I felt the muffled pangs just beneath the surface.
I told myself, Just keep pushing and everything will turn out fine.
So I kept pushing. I pushed real good for awhile. I achieved what many said I’d never achieve. Nobody noticed the foundation beginning to crumble around me. I noticed.
I wanted to be healed. I longed to know what wholeness felt like. I craved peace more than anything I could imagine.
That must be for someone else, I thought, but it must not be for me.
I often felt like the woman in Scripture reaching out, desperate to touch the threads that lined the hem of Jesus’ robe. Surely if I could touch Him, she must have thought, then I would be healed. (Mark 5:21-34)
I understood the longing of the blind man, who day after day, hoped and prayed that he would one day see. How could he have known his Savior, his Healer would come with a little clay and a little spit near the pool of Siloam and give him everything he’d ever hoped for. How? (John 9:1-12)
I could see myself like Peter, shivering in the waves and wind as he stepped out of the boat onto the Sea of Galilee. If only I had enough fortitude to keep my eyes on Jesus, I could have walked on water without sinking beneath the waves of doubt and fear that pulled me under. (Matthew 14:22-33)
And then my healing came. Not in the way you’d expect. Jesus ushered me into a sacred place. A sacred season. Jesus led me to this season of healing and He never let go.
I heard Him whisper to me, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
I needed rest.
God gave me rest and He gave me so much more. Over the years of my healing journey, I discovered an abundance that was more than I had ever imagined. God was showing me how to build and live a life of peace. It was all I had ever hoped for. Longed for. To breathe. To feel solid and sure. To experience wholeness. To experience abundance. Physical abundance, spiritual abundance, emotional abundance.
3 Ways To Walk From Pain to Peace
Embrace Maximized HOPE! – Without a doubt your hope lies first and foremost in the person of Jesus Christ. He is your foundation spiritually, emotionally, and physically. As you learn to appropriate His hope, His healing into the emotional area of your life, you will experience the fullness, the abundance of hope He promises.
Jeremiah 29:11(NIV) states, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Discover Complete WHOLENESS! – God wants you to be not only healed, but whole. God doesn’t want his children limping through life, barely surviving. He wants you to thrive. He wants you to discover your unique calling, your passion and purpose so that you can make a difference for His kingdom. As individuals become whole, the entire body of Christ becomes whole.
2 Timothy 1:7 (AMP) tells us that, “God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well- balanced mind and discipline and self-control.”
Enjoy Enduring HARMONY! – You were not meant to live in chaos. Your relationships were never supposed to be a rollercoaster of pain and disappointment. God wants us to learn how to foster peace and strength in our relationships so that we can enjoy them without being dependent on them for our happiness or wellbeing.
Romans 15:5-6 (AMP) shares, “Now may the God Who gives the power of patient endurance (steadfastness) and Who supplies encouragement, grant you to live in such mutual harmony and such full sympathy with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may [unanimously] with united hearts and one voice, praise and glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).
This is the life God has for you. Don’t settle for anything less than Maximized Hope, Complete Wholeness and Enduring Harmony. In my book, Peace for a Lifetime– Embracing a Life of Hope, Wholeness, and Harmony through Emotional Abundance, I walk with readers through whatever season of life they are in, and lay out simple, practical life-steps that will help them find healing and will nurture abundance in every area of their lives.
You don’t have to keep trying so hard to prove your worth. You don’t have to keep pushing, hoping that everything will turn out okay. Healing isn’t just for someone else. Healing is for you.
Jesus is whispering to you, Come to me…
Will you come to Him today? Will you accept the peace He has for you? Will you let Him walk you from your season of pain right into His peace?
You can experience the love for which you long.
You can experience abundance beyond anything you can imagine.
You can experience peace, not just for today, not just for tomorrow.
You can experience peace —for a lifetime.
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About Lisa Murray
Lisa is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, author, coffee lover, and wife. Her online community lisamurrayonline.com provides a compassionate place in the midst of the stresses and struggles of life. While she grew up in the Florida sunshine, she and her husband now live just outside Nashville in Franklin, TN.
About Peace for a Lifetime
In her new book, Peace for a Lifetime, Lisa Murray shares the keys to cultivating a life that’s deeply rooted, overflowing, and abundant, the fruit of which is peace. Through personal and professional experience as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Lisa discovered how to take the broken pieces of life and find indestructible peace with herself, God and others. Through Lisa and other’s stories you’ll realize you can experience peace, not just for today, but you can experience peace —for a lifetime
The morning was full of potential. I got up on time, didn’t check social media, and made the kids breakfast.
Then, after dropping my son off at the bus stop, I checked my email. And everything went downhill.
The intent of the message was positive. My reaction to it was not.
This successful blogger wanted to let me in on all of the secrets to success. And I’m sure deep down somewhere that I craved this knowledge.
But what I saw? The numbers. How many readers visited her site. How much income she brought in each month. It was though these stats represented some invisible gate-keeper and I was stuck on the outside, pushing a door that wouldn’t budge.
Comparison turns our vision into opposition. It turns our joy into jealousy.
As I sat there that Tuesday morning basking in self-pity, and knew I needed an attitude adjustment. And do you know what’s beautiful about asking God to change your attitude?
He always answers.
Sometimes he asks us to take a good long look at ourselves. Other times he sends a word of encouragement through a friend or family member. But he never fails to deliver.
On this particular weekend in mid-winter, he drew my attention to my kids. Particularly my oldest son.
My firstborn delights in new responsibilities, no matter how small. You can give him the house key to open the side door as you labor up the steps with groceries, and he will skip to complete the task.
But more than that, he does it with love. Which is something I forgot in my moment of temporary insanity and comparison.
As my son grows older, my husband and I increase his jobs around the house. He takes care of the pets and helps clean up around the house, and we reward him for his efforts. But we don’t start him off with a huge list of chores to do. Nor do we trust him things we know are beyond his ability.
If we look at scripture, God follows the same pattern. When we first read of God’s call on David he is out in the middle of a field, tending sheep. When the angel of the Lord appears to Moses, he is tending the flock as well.
The Lord is pleased when we take the same care with the small as we do with the big. As a matter of fact, the Word tells us he “rejoices” in it.
“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin…” Zechariah 4:10 NLT
Friends, God does not see our work in the same way we do. And aren’t you glad? With each step you take to glorify his name and make him known, he is honored. He rejoices over you.
The absolute best words we could expect to hear from God on the other side of this life are, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Not, “Congrats on all the followers you had on Twitter,” or “That was a really solid platform you spent all those years building.”
It’s his platform, not ours. Let’s remember that even in the small, he is always faithful.
Even when we misstep.
Get all Purposeful Faith blog posts by email –click here.
Abby McDonald is a writer who can’t contain the lavish love of a God who relentlessly pursues her, even during her darkest times. When she’s not chasing her two little boys around, she loves hiking, photography, and consuming copious amounts of coffee with friends.
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Jami Amerine is a wife, and mother to anywhere from 6-8 children. Jami and her husband Justin are active foster parents and advocates for foster care and adoption. Jami’s Sacred Ground Sticky Floors is fun, inspirational, and filled with utter lunacy with a dash of hope. Jami holds a degree in Family and Consumer Sciences (yes Home Ec.) and can cook you just about anything, but don’t ask her to sew. She also holds a Masters Degree in Education, Counseling, and Human Development. Her blog includes topics on marriage, children, babies, toddlers, learning disabilities, tweens, teens, college kids, adoption, foster care, Jesus, homeschooling, unschooling, dieting, not dieting, dieting again, chronic illness, stupid people, food allergies, and all things real life. You can find her blog at 
Lisa
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