BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

Through mentoring thousands of women, it seems there’s a common thread among us … we all want to know our purpose. We’re searching for that deeper meaning. WHY DID GOD CREATE YOU? WHAT SPECIFIC WORK DOES HE HAVE FOR YOU TO DO? Some people have clearly discovered their purpose and you see them living it out so perfectly. Dang, ever wonder how it happened? Want it to happen for you? Today, I’ll show you how! This is going to blow your mind, make sure you’re ready for it. The hidden secret for discovering and fulfilling your purpose is found in Genesis 1:29: “Then God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth.” Boom! Blew your mind, right? Not really? OK, give me a minute. The secret is the SEED. God created one time and he never had to create again. Every living thing has been given a seed to produce again. God didn’t have to keep making oak trees, the seed for the next oak tree was in the first one. Nor did God have to keep creating people. The seed for the next generation was in the one before. All big things began with a small seed already in them. You were a seed that formed within your mother while she was still in her mother’s womb! Yes, the egg that God would use to create the one and only YOU was formed 2 generations before you! You began microscopically small. But no matter how small, you were still there. The potential would grow! And here it is, wait for it, wait for it, wait for it …. That big purpose that you’re searching for in your life, the answer to what you were created for and what you’re supposed to be doing STARTS WITH A SEED. A seed of purpose. God already put it in you. It’s already there! The purpose you’re searching for is already in you! But that seed of purpose doesn’t look like you thought it would. Think about it, why would it? You’re dealing with a purpose seed right now, the start of something bigger. You’re expecting it to look like what it will one day become, but it doesn’t! The oak tree seed doesn’t look like an itty bitty tiny oak tree now does it? No, an acorn doesn’t look like what it will become. Nor does an apple seed look like an ity bitty tiny apple. Wouldn’t that be cute if it did. But it doesn’t. The seed looks insignificant. It doesn’t look like what it will grow to be. But don’t miss it. And so it is with the seed of your purpose. Just imagine with me for a moment your specific purpose in life is to build an orphanage. That’s a noble purpose. But what does the SEED of that purpose look like? Does it look like an itty bitty orphanage? Nope. Let me tell you what the seed looks like … it looks like getting up early today, 20 years before the orphanage is ever built. It looks like making your bed today. It looks like giving your best effort in the job you’re currently in just answering phones and filing papers. That’s what a purpose seed looks like. And God wants to know, will you be faithful with this little bit today? Will you be faithful with waking up on time? Will you be faithful with making your bed? Will you be faithful with this seemingly insignificant job? Will you be faithful with this seed because before I grow it into something big, I need to know if you’ll be faithful with little. Are you really ready for bigger things? Were you faithful with your purpose seeds yesterday? Every hour of your day has a purpose. An intended use for that 60 minutes. There is something you are supposed to be doing. Are you doing it well? Are you fully there for that hour of purpose? Are you giving it your best effort? Or are you just kinda there? Kinda faithful. Today is nothing but a series of 60 minute purposes. Consider each 60 minutes a little purpose seed. Will you be faithful with it? If you are, it will grow. Your faithfulness will be noted,

I wonder how much of the journey you are on is a lesson in trusting God with TODAY? Success is trusting God with this day, and failure is worrying about tomorrow. Is this your journey? Is this what God is teaching you? Can you see the provision of today, enjoy the provision of today, without worrying what will come tomorrow? Or will you miss what you have now, stressed over what may or may not come later? This is the journey of life. The journey of going from where you are to where you want to be, and not being miserable along the way. Girl, can you choose not to be a miserable cow while your life is still a work in progress? This journey won’t be easy, so will you commit to not giving up? Will you commit to focusing on THIS day and resist the temptation to be overwhelmed with all your tomorrows? What is between where you once are and where you want to be … it’s the unknown. What will it take to get there? What will be required of you? How will you keep going? Do you really have what it takes? If these are the questions in your head today on your journey, God wants to remind you of what he did for the Israelites. In Exodus we read of God rescuing these people. Just as God has rescued you, right? He has saved you. He has set you apart. Generations of your family have been victim to the same thing over and over again, and he breaks the cycle with YOU. He’s making a way out for you. He has something more for you. He’s taking you from where you once were, setting your feet on a journey, and asking you to trust him to lead you to where you can be. To reach your full potential of the BIG Life you were created for. God was leading the Israelites. Their journey was from Egypt to the promised land. But to get from where they were to where they were going, they had to go through the wilderness. Isn’t the same true for us? To get from where you are to where you are going, it’s a wilderness. A desolate land. It doesn’t happen over night. You’re trying to lose weight. You left 260 pounds and you’re heading to 160, but this journey isn’t easy. In the beginning you’re like the Isralites leaving Egypt, wooohooooo we’re going on a roadtrip. We’re finally on our way. This is exciting. We’re doing it for real this time. And then shortly into the journey you realize this kinda sucks. You know if you keep going you WILL reach the land of 160 pounds but no one told you how tough it would be between 260 and 160. Maybe like the Israelites you hate the journey so much that you almost wish you could go back to where you were. At least back there you weren’t starving. And maybe that’s what you’ve done in the past. You gave up on the journey and went back to the bondage of being unhealthy and overweight because you hated the wilderness in between so badly. The Israelites were miserable on the journey through the wilderness. They had no food and they wished they would have never left Egypt. Although they were slaves back there, at least they weren’t starving. It’s easy to feel that way in the wilderness … the place between where you were and where you’re going. The place between spending more than you make … and … living completely debt free. Oh you know what I’m talking about. Where are my girls at trying to be financially fierce in 2019 and get out of debt. The journey isn’t quite so easy. You remember the days of walking in the store, buying it because you wanted it and just charging it. You were in bondage back then, but at least you got what you wanted. Now here you are in the wilderness and you’re growing tired of saying no. You just want to shop. You want to eat out. You want to go to the movies. But no, you’re saving money and it’s plain old no fun. And you know you have 5 more years of this? What do you do when the journey from where you are to where you want to be seems too long? Will you give up and go back to where you were?

Do you ever feel overwhelmed? Consumed? Did you know this is NOT God’s plan for you? He never intended for you to be consumed by stress and worry. He never intended for your schedule to be so busy that you’re frazzled. Nor did he intend for you to be consumed by a career, cars, clothes, a clearance rack or a cell phone. He didn’t create you to be distracted or divided. His plan for you is to be grounded, balanced, centered, focused, committed. That is your best life. This is your truest potential. So how do we get back to that? How do we snap out of the overwhelm? How do we keep from being consumed? God has a treasure for you in his word today. Words written by a broken hearted man named Jeremiah. A man who was surrounded by destruction, yet knew the secret to not being destroyed. In Lamentations 3: 21 he says “Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this …” He’s saying circumstances threaten to overwhelm me. Stress and fear are constantly knocking on my door. Darkness may threaten my happiness, yet I still DARE to HOPE. Today, will you still dare to hope? Dare to hope when it seems hopeless? Dare to hope when the time has run out? It’s easy to hope when it’s sunny and 75, but someone is listening today who is in a winter season in their life that doesn’t seem to end. A season of loss. A season of hardship. A season of dormancy. And hope means you must dare. You must take a chance. You must muster up all the faith you have and say I still dare to hope. Jeremiah gives us his secret to still daring to hope in the next 2 verses (Lamentations 3: 22-23) “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Do you know why he wrote these words? He was intentionally snapping himself out of it. Pain and sadness, worry and stress would threaten to consume him, then he would snap himself out of that sad state by meditating on a positive truth. What a valuable lesson this is for us. This is how we SNAP OUT OF IT. If you continue to dwell on all that is wrong, that is all you will see. Let us be like Jeremiah and regardless of the circumstances, meditate on God’s great love, compassion and faithfulness. Meditate on it. Did you know to meditate means to murmur to yourself. To repeat something to yourself over and over again. I imagine that’s what Jeremiah was doing. In the middle of a bad situation he was saying, “his compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness God.” Again – “his compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness God.” Over and over again. This is his focus. He has intentionally set his mind on God’s love, his compassion and his faithfulness. What a great thing for you and I to do today. Meditate on God’s love for you. I believe if we could ever really grasp the truth of God’s unending, immeasurable love for us individually, we would never be the same. GOD LOVES YOU. Oh how he loves you. I’m not sure if God has a need for a refrigerator up there in Heaven, but if he does, your picture is on it. He loves you, he loves you, he loves you. His compassion NEVER fails. This means God always cares. He cares about everything. There’s nothing too big or too small for his attention. He is moved by your circumstances and conditions and his desire is to help you. He hurts when you hurt. Part of compassion is sympathy. I guess I never imagined God as being sympathetic, but he is. Maybe God is like me, he’s a sympathy crier. If I see you crying, my eyes are immediately filled with tears. I may not even know why you’re crying, but girl I’m gonna cry with you because I’m immediately hurting for you. Isn’t it incredible to know the God of the universe hurts when you hurt. He is drawn to your pain in his compassion and is concerned for you.

Have you been trying, yet not succeeding? Have you been giving your best effort and not receiving your best results? Are you frustrated with the process? Disappointed in your progress? Disheartened by your position? What do you do now? What you do now can be best guided by the examples of Jesus’ disciples found in Mark chapter 6, verses 45-52. The disciples were out on a boat in the middle of the night. They were trying to row to shore but there was a wild head wind and they were going nowhere. Oh there you go, that’s how you feel. Rowing and going nowhere. Caught in the middle of a storm. See why I chose this story? Jesus was sitting up on a mountainside and he saw them struggling and he began walking out to them. And verse 48 says he was ABOUT TO PASS BY THEM BUT WHEN HE HEARD THEM CRYING OUT he went and got in the boat with them. And when he did, the wind immediately died down. Now don’t miss this, Jesus was watching their struggle. He had positioned himself high to see them. Jesus is now positioned high with the Father, and he sees you my sister. He sees your struggle. He understands your frustration. He knows you’re growing tired. He has seen it all. His eye is always on you. You have never been in this alone. Never. As he saw their struggle, he walked out on the water towards them but he was going to pass by them. Did you get that? He saw their struggle because he was watching them. He walked out towards them, but he was going to pass them by. He was going to just walk by them. Now I wonder why? I wonder if Jesus was just checking. He was just positioning himself to be nearby. He was just trying to comfort his disciples thinking if they could just SEE Jesus they would know they were okay. Right now, Jesus is walking towards you. He has seen your struggle. He has positioned himself near you. His presence is with you. Knowing this should bring us great comfort, but the truth is sometimes we miss it. We miss that Jesus is in the storm with us. We miss that he has his eye ever on us. We even mistake his presence for punishment. We fear condemnation, so we hide. Why is it we think if Jesus really knew my doubt, if he knew my sin, if he knew my shame, he wouldn’t come near to me. Girl listen to me, he knew every jacked up choice you would ever make before you ever made it, and it was all on his mind when he hung on that cross. He took it all on so you wouldn’t have to pay the penalty for your sin. He took it all on so you wouldn’t have to hide in your shame today. This has already been lifted from you. There’s no condemnation in Christ Jesus. None. You can stop hiding from God now. He knows your personal struggle and he’s heading straight for you, just to be near you. This is exactly what was happening for the disciples. Jesus was positioning himself to be nearby. He was making his presence known, but they missed it. They look out and see this figure walking on the water and it scared them. They begin crying out in fear … and guess what … it was their cries that brought Jesus to the boat. If you’re in the middle of a storm. If you’re struggling, WHY ARE YOU CRYING OUT TO JESUS? It is your surrendered cries for help that will bring him to your boat. Jesus, get in my boat. I don’t want to do this on my own. My way hasn’t worked, I need your way. Honestly, I will often try everything, and my everything will have to fail miserably, before I’m flat on my face crying out to Jesus. How foolish of me. Are you the same way? Hey, let’s get better at this together. Let’s start seeking him earlier. Let’s humbly cry out to him first, remembering our cries bring him directly to our boat. Yesterday a friend shared with me a lesson on worry. She said worry needs to be an alarm to pray. The moment you feel that worry and you start doing your “worry thang”,

Have you ever witnessed a changed life? A life that was on the wrong path, fully rescued, redeemed, restored and placed securely on the right path? This past weekend I was in the presence of redeemed lives, restored people and rescued destinies. Some still in the process and some now on the right path. I was part of a team of 65 women serving the Grace and Peace Revive Center in Chicago. There we met Maria. A homeless heroine addict for 24 years. A woman who’s story had been defined by her drug. A woman who grew so tired of living a life she was never created to live, that 93 days ago she sought God for healing and hasn’t been high since. Now just 3 months later, she led our group to the streets where she once lived to rescue others living the same story. Maria was created for more. She was destined for a life of quality and impact. She was designed with value and worth. She just lost her way. But what matters now is she found it. 24 years is a long time to be on the wrong path in life, but not too long to change it. God never gave up on Maria, and GOD HAS NEVER GIVEN UP ON YOU. EVER. God doesn’t have a time clock that’s ticking on your opportunity to come back to him. He’s not tallying your missteps and mistakes. There is no score. Today, God is saying TODAY is your opportunity. This day of life has been given to you to come back to who you were created to be. Come back to the life available to you. For some of us that journey feels so far because we’ve fallen so far from where we could be. We’ve traveled so far down that road that the journey back is overwhelming. We don’t even know who we are anymore. Somewhere along the way, we lost ourselves. May I remind you of the story Jesus shared of the Prodigal son in Luke 15? A father had a son who had chosen money over family, cheap highs over purpose, the right now over the future. This son had failed. He had brought shame to his family. He had lost everything and reached his rock bottom. And at his rock bottom scripture says “he came to himself.” He came to himself. Understand what happened here was this young man realized in his desperation, in his guilt and shame, who he had become, and who he could be. The great distance between the life he was living and the life available to him. God allows us to hit that rock bottom so we have that moment of coming to our true selves. When all the layers of pride are stripped away and we see through our failures that within there is still someone God greatly treasures and has a plan for. Someone God still loves and wants to use. Someone who has lost no value. Someone of tremendous worth still being fought for. Someone waiting to be welcomed home. Someone you may have lost, but God never did. The prodigal son started the journey back. Back to himself. Back to his family. Back to who he could be. And the father saw him in the distance and ran to him. He didn’t stand on the porch with his arms folded waiting to lecture him … no he ran to him. My friend, God is running to you today. No matter how long your journey is back to who you were created to be, he’s running to you the moment you decide you still want that life. The moment you decide you don’t want to stay lost in not knowing who you are anymore, this is the moment your glorious journey begins. The journey home. We can see it in the prodigal son and in my friend Maria. Clearly lives that were wasting away, falling so short of their potential, and now they’re fully rescued and redeemed. But what about the life that’s been making hidden bad choices, tip toeing down dark paths no one else even knows about? This is where the enemy plays. This is the danger zone. AND GOD IS CALLING YOU OUT OF THE DANGER ZONE TODAY. You were created for more. You are capable of more. You are worthy of more.

Do you need God to get up in the middle of a situation in your life and fight for you? Do you need him to swoop in and rescue you? Do you need him to intervene? Did you know this is exactly what he wants to do for you today? In fact, he has been fighting for you, he is rescuing you, and he is ready to intervene again at this moment … will you invite him into the middle? Psalm 91 says, “you who sit in God’s presence, you who spends the night in His shadow.” Hey, just in case you missed it, that’s YOU! You are sitting in God’s presence. You just spent the night protected in His shadow! He’s right here with you at this moment to guide you. This scripture says if that’s you, if you’re the one sitting in God’s presence and spending the night in His shadow (and it is you), say this “God, you’re my refuge. I trust in you and I’m safe!” Will you say that right now? God, you’re my refuge. I trust in you and I’m safe. The first 15 verses of Psalm 91 goes on to give us the image of God as our protector. That’s right—he rescues you from hidden traps, shields you from deadly hazards. His huge outstretched arms protect you— under them you’re perfectly safe; his arms fend off all harm. He ordered his angels to guard you wherever you go. If you stumble, they’ll catch you; their job is to keep you from falling. Now, God’s personal message to you in verse 14-16. “If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,” says God, “I’ll get you out of any trouble. I’ll give you the best of care if you’ll only get to know and trust me. Call me and I’ll answer, be at your side in bad times; I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party. I encourage you to read the transcript of this devotional today and take those words to heart. There are hidden traps set by your enemy trying to hold you back, God is rescuing you. His arms are stretched over you protecting you from harm. His angels are by your side every where you go and their one job is to catch you when you stumble and keep you from falling. Don’t you understand that’s why you’re still up today … because the mighty warriors of heaven are fighting for you! If you’re in trouble, girl you better hold on to God for dear life. He will give you the best care, but it’s up to you to get to know and trust him. To get a full visual of what God is trying to tell us here, imagine someone trying to break up a fight. We’ve all witnessed that scene, whether in person or in a movie. There’s trouble brewing between two people, it escalates and a fight breaks out. Then here comes a third person to intervene. They position themselves right in the middle and separate the two. They play the hero, protecting the weak, putting themselves in harms way to break up the fight. And isn’t this the perfect picture of what our Jesus does for us? He intervenes in our struggles in life and shields us. The hero who jumps right in the middle and stretches out his arms to protect. Oh yes, he stretched out his arms and DIED FOR YOU. And his huge outstretched arms continue to protect you today. He’s put his angels in charge over you. You’re never out of his sight or his care. You can rest in that today. You can lay down your worries and cares and trust that you are being cared for. The one who knows everything and can see it all is likely much more capable than you of working all this out, don’t you think … so just trust him today. Imagine that scene again of a 3rd person intervening to break up a fight, putting themselves in the middle with outstretched arms … who do they face? They always face the attacker. That means their back is to the one they are protectin...

This morning you and I woke up to a brand new day and a brand new month. Welcome to May 2019. This is your opportunity to start fresh and take all you have learned the first 4 months of this year and just GET BETTER. That’s it. That’s all you have to do. Get better. Will you use this month to simply get better? Our scripture for today is Isaiah 43: 18-19 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Do you believe God is about to make a way where there has been no way before? Do you believe a breakthrough is just ahead? At this moment, hold the very thing you’ve been struggling with in the forefront of your mind. There’s likely a goal, a relationship or a situation that you’ve been working on and it just doesn’t seem to be improving. You’re frustrated because all of your efforts seem to be for not. An area of your life you started making progress on, now you’ve fallen back again. A relationship that is nearly hopeless. That habit you can’t seem to break. The situation you’re stuck in. Go ahead and be honest, single it out. Which goal, relationship or situation hasn’t worked so far this year? Yes, that one. Think of it now. Now we will read that same scripture, Isaiah 43: 18-19 from the Message translation): “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand new.” God wants you to know he is about to do something BRAND NEW. It’s coming. Say that with me … it’s coming. It’s coming. It’s coming. He is about to do something brand new. It may not have worked before. You may not have seen any progress in the past. You may be feeling hopeless and tired from unsuccessful efforts, but it’s coming. So what does this scripture say? “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history.” Just because the door was locked last time doesn’t mean it will be locked this time. Give it another try. Just because the answer was no before, doesn’t mean you should give up asking. Ask again. You may have tried and failed, but TRY AGAIN. You may have written goals last month and totally bombed … will you try again this month? Will you be so bold to write new goals and believe it could be different for you this time? Many won’t be so daring … but the question is, will you? Will you stop dwelling on last month’s failures and focus on this month’s potential? Try again. Don’t keep going over how and why it didn’t work last time. That’s old history. Move on and try again. We can get ourselves stuck in a rut of utter destruction as we replay in our minds all that hasn’t worked for us. Have you ever tried to help someone and before you ever get your suggestion completely on the table, their immediate response is, nope that didn’t work. Hey, isn’t that us with God? Maybe he’s been trying to give you your answer but you’ve been so busy telling him how that has never worked for you before. Okay. Fair enough. It didn’t work before, BUT WHAT IF IT WILL WORK THIS TIME BECAUSE GOD IS ABOUT TO DO SOMETHING. It’s coming. It’s coming. Just because it’s a drought doesn’t mean God can’t bring rain now. It’s coming. Just because it’s been a long, hard winter season in your life doesn’t mean God can’t give you one heck of a summer. It’s coming. God is about to do something new. And then in our scripture God tells us to be alert and present. We just studied this word “alert” last week in episode 326 titled “Be Alive Today.” Being alert is part of being fully ALIVE. To be alert means wherever you are, BE THERE. Be in the moment, eyes wide open. BE LOOKING. What are you looking for today? Did you wake up expecting to feel good?

Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” This is one of the most memorized and quoted scriptures. Empowering, motivating, reassuring … yes … and it’s a call to action. Notice it doesn’t say, “I can do all things through Christ who does it for me.” Unfortunately, many times we view God as a genie in a lamp. God was never supposed to do your work for you. Think about Noah. God told him to build an ark, a huge boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet tall. If the ark were a house, it would have been over 100,000 square feet. Translation … it was big. Really big. There was a flood coming and his ark would be the only way of survival for man and animals. Now God being God, couldn’t he have just built the ark himself? But that’s not the way God works now is it? God told Noah to build the ark and Noah worked for nearly 100 years to build what God could have done in an instant. That almost doesn’t seem fair now doesn’t it? There are likely areas in your life where you wish God would show up and just do the work for you. But God called you to BUILD A LIFE and that requires work. Will you work for it? Let’s break this famous scripture down so we will never hear it the same. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. “I.” Who does it say? “I.” This is personal. You should be owning it. Insert your name into this scripture. Pamela can do all things through Christ who gives her strength. Yes, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. “I can.” Not “maybe, sorta, it might happen or it might not”, no! I can. Say that with me. I CAN. Sometimes we just need to remember we are more capable than we ever give ourselves credit for. We have all the potential within us. We are fully equipped by our maker. Listen to me right now … you are not broken. You are not incapable. You are not helpless or hopeless. You were made for more. You are capable of more. You are worthy of more. And you CAN. Now the third word “do.” “I can do.” Does that mean think about, contemplate, sit around and rationalize, talk about and plan for? No. “I can do.” This is a call to action. I can do. Your life requires action and you CAN DO IT. I know you can. You can rise up and make the changes you desire. You can radically change your life. What has this entire month of life been for you? Have you done what you can do? Have you taken action? Have you stepped out in faith? Or have you chosen to just remain where you are and think about what could happen? Have you been wishing for change but never doing anything about it? Let me shoot it to you straight … that’s never going to work! You can do it and you must do it. It’s time to go, do, show up, move forward, step ahead, now. Today. Be in action. Why are you sitting on those dreams and desires? You can do ALL THINGS. Did you hear that? How many things can you do/ Can you only do SOME things? Are there some things that will just be too hard? Are there some things that will be impossible for you? Nope, that’s a lie the enemy has sold you. YOU CAN DO ALL THINGS, and that includes “this” thing that you need to do today. The thing you’ve been avoiding – the thing you’ve been dreading – the thing you’ve tried before and failed – you can do it. The enemy wants you to believe you can’t. He wants to remind you of your past epic failures. He wants you to dwell on your weakness and shortcomings. DON’T LISTEN TO HIS NONSENSE TODAY. God says you can do all things, believe it! How? THROUGH CHRIST, meaning this is a partnership. When you live your life as a partnership between you and God, you realize he does his part and you do your part. He goes before you to make a way, he walks beside you to guide you, and he walks behind you to cover your back. Through Christ you can do all things today.

Genesis 2:7 “God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!” (MSG) Let’s make this personal. When I say blank, enter your own name into this scripture. God blew into your nostrils the breath of life. ___(blank)____ came ALIVE, a living soul. The purpose of life is to live it. Not just survive it, or endure it. Not sleep it away or wish it away. But live it. In order to LIVE this life you have been given and fulfill your purpose, you must be ALIVE. This breath of life God has breathed into you comes with a single expectation. That you would open your eyes, experience life fully and be ALIVE with life. Our scripture today says man came ALIVE – a living soul. Not a miserable soul. Not a tired soul. Not a worried soul. Not a stressed out soul. But a LIVING soul. Will you be a living soul? There is no time to waste. We can’t afford to wait until next month to wake up and start living. We can’t sleep away today. James 4:14 puts the brevity of life into perspective with “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” BUT YOU’RE HERE TODAY. You have a chance to live today. What a gift you and I have been given. And remember, with all great things comes great responsibility. Not everyone received the gift of life today, but you did, and you have a responsibility to live it. Today, let’s fulfill our purpose. Let’s do with this day exactly what we’re supposed to do. Let’s LIVE it! The dictionary uses 3 words to define ALIVE: Alert, Active and Animated. We will use that as our gauge and intentionally go to work. Today, we will be ALIVE by being ALERT. Wherever we are, we will actually BE THERE. Repeat to yourself, “right here, right now”. Hey, you will never get this back. Every moment today is a once in a lifetime moment, don’t miss it. Taste your food. Hear the sounds of life. Feel the touch of your loved ones. I mean really FEEL IT. See the beauty all around you. There is beauty before you, beauty behind you. Beauty to your left, beauty to your right. Beauty above you, beauty below you. Beauty within you. Today you will savor it because you are alert. Continue to bring your mind back to the state of right here, right now. Perhaps you need to write it on your hand. Second, today we will be ALIVE by being ACTIVE. We refuse to sit and wonder and worry. The waiting has come to an end. If we are stuck in a rut, we won’t be by the end of the day because today, we’re taking the next step. We will be in action. We will get up and get going. My Daddy used to see the buzzards circling in the sky and he would say, “Sis, you better look alive!” The morale of the story – buzzards are always looking to prey upon the things just sitting still. Maybe you’ve been sitting still, just thinking about making changes, worrying about all that needs to change, making plans for change, that the buzzards are circling you. Girl, you better look alive. Be ACTIVE today. And third, today we will be ALIVE by being ANIMATED. This means be excited, energetic and lively. Put some pep in your step. You say you don’t have anything to be excited about … ah girl, that’s the result of not being fully alive. I guarantee you there are 10 reasons to be over the moon excited about your life surrounding you at this very moment. Even in the darkest of times and hardest of seasons, there is good. You’re not discounting the hardships by being excited over all that is good and right. There’s no guilt in that. Show your creator some energy today. If you don’t have any energy, fake it. That’s the funny thing about energy, if you use all the energy you have today, tomorrow your energy tank will be refilled, plus a little more. You can literally BUILD your energy, but the only way is to use it all up today. Get up, get dressed up and show up.

Who is waiting for something, and struggling with the timing of it all? Who is stuck in uncertainty, unsure of how it’s all going to work out? Who feels stretched and pulled in a million different directions and losing themselves along the way? You too. Well, you’re in great company! I don’t know what is going to happen. I don’t know when it’s going to happen. I don’t know how it’s going to happen. But I do know my God, your God, OUR GOD has got this! And because of that truth, you and I can do 3 things when we feel like we don’t know anything else. We can: Trust the wait. Embrace the uncertainty. Enjoy the beauty of becoming. Trust the wait. Embrace the uncertainty. No thanks. We like to be in control. Where are my planners, my thinkers, my organizers? Life is tough when you’re not in control, right? Maybe you’re in one of those seasons of life right now where the timing is not your own … the number of uncertainties seem to outweigh the certainties … and you’re not quite so sure you’re equipped for the journey. If I were guessing, that’s likely the majority of us. How do I know? Because that is life. And it’s by design. Hey, if you could make a plan and force it all to come together every single time without fail, YOU WOULDN’T NEED GOD. It is our lack of control that keeps us dependent upon the one who holds the world in his hand. Do you remember the song – “he’s got the whole world in his hands.” It’s true. And let’s make it personal – he’s got YOUR whole world in his hands too. Isaiah 40:12 says “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?” (NIV) Our God is large and in charge. Oh yes he is! LARGE AND IN CHARGE! Our last family trip to Southern California left me with a newfound awareness of how tiny I am and how big our God is.. Our family was out in the water boogie boarding just when the rip tides became strong, singled me out of the crowd and drug me about 50 yards out. The waves pounded me, one after another and I simply couldn’t catch my breath. I was straight up scared, and quite irritated that Lonnie thought my cries for help were a joke. I eventually drug myself to shore, exhausted, slightly peeved, and sporting myself a major wardrobe malfunction. My daughters looked at me and said, “woah mom … you look rough.” We all burst out laughing. In that moment I realized just how big that ocean is, and how little I am. And my God – your God held the entire ocean in the palm of his hands. Those are some big hands. And those hands HOLD YOU. They hold you right now. Whatever you’re going through, wherever you are, his mighty hands hold you. And what does this mean in today’s scripture – the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? The MSG translation puts it this way – he measured the sky between his thumb and little finger. Imagine God looking at the space between his thumb and his little finger and saying – yeah, I’ll make the universe about that big. Oh goodness gracious, our God is magnificent. And yet he is so personal. While he created this tremendous universe, he also individually created YOU and he holds you in his hand. There’s nothing he doesn’t see, nothing he doesn’t care about, and nothing can escape him. There’s no need you have that he can’t handle. No question you hold in your heart this morning that stumps him. There is no where you can go that you are not in his presence. So my friend, trust the wait. God’s plans are beyond our plans. His ways are not our ways. He is preparing and equipping you for greatness in the wait. You’ll see. Just trust it. Embrace the uncertainty. Release the need to know.

Who needs a change in their life? I’m not talking a little change, I’m talking a big radical change. You’re seeking a complete turn around. You need a new beginning, either for you or a loved one, because the way things are going, you know where it’s heading, and it isn’t good. Awesome … you’re seeking the right God and listening to the right devotional today! Philippians 4:19 – And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. (NLT) This scripture comes from a letter which Paul wrote to the Philippians. Paul was an interesting character. A crusader for Christ, bold and relentless in fulfilling his purpose. But remember this, Paul wasn’t always Paul. Before becoming a crusader for Christ, he was Saul, a brutal persecutor of all Christians. He was wrong and he did wrong. He looked to cut off the head of anyone who believed in Jesus. Now stop for a minute and think about that. This is the man who’s words we read today? This is the man entrusted to write much of the New Testament. This is the man God says he has chosen as his instrument? What? Oh you bet and it was all by great design. Here’s why I believe God chose Paul and told us all about his history … because our God wants to show you and I even today that he is in the business of changing lives. The perfect example is right here for us. When God got ahold of Saul, nothing in his past could keep him from becoming the man God created him to be. Isn’t that amazing. God still loved him and still saw potential in Saul and said “boy, I’m going to give you a new beginning. You’re going to get a do-over. Your name is no longer Saul, you are now Paul and you’re working for me.” And from that moment on, everything changed. Oh there’s so much we can learn from this. Someone can be radically wrong. They can royally mess up and be on the wrong side, BUT GOD CAN CHANGE IT ALL. God hasn’t given up hope on his children who are on the wrong path. No one is beyond his life changing power. A do-over is available. Who needs one? Paul says, “and this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs.” Yes, the same God who came in and stopped a brutal killer in his tracks and turned him into a crusader for Christ, he can do the same for you. I’m pretty sure I’m not talking to any brutal killers today, but maybe I’m speaking to someone with a bad habit. A habit that you know is wrong. A habit of worrying. A habit of drinking. A habit of binge eating. A habit of gossip. A habit of cursing. A habit of nagging. A habit of procrastination. Have I hit yours yet? Let me keep going. A habit of negativity. A habit of laziness. A habit of distraction. A habit of complacency. A habit of complaining. A habit of giving up. Oh, I know one of these spoke to you. God can help you change. God can help your husband change. He can help your child change. Nothing is too big for him. Nothing is impossible for him. The same God who changed the killer Saul into the Apostle Paul, wants to help you change. He wants to help your family change. It’s the same God with the same power. Remember our scripture today: Philippians 4:19 – “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” The same God who radically changed this man’s life can change your life too. The same God who didn’t give up on Paul when he was wrong, hasn’t given up on you while you’ve been wrong either. The same God who was seeking him with a good plan for his future, is seeking you with a good plan for your future. And your change can happen in an instant just like Paul’s did. But there’s a little kicker in the story you should know about …

In the book of Exodus God commands Moses to go to Egypt and rescue the Israelites. Moses was like “okay God, but you know, like what should I say?” Basically Moses is saying, yo, I don’t want to look all crazy when I get there. You know sometimes when you tell people GOD spoke to you, you look a little crazy. So Moses is looking for a sane, reasonable way to explain what he is about to do. And God said to Moses in Exodus 3: 14 – “I am who I am – so you should say “The I AM has sent me.” Well that helps a lot. God, is the I AM. Jesus too referred to himself as the great I AM. But what in the world does that mean? I just sounds like an incomplete sentence to me. Like a long pause I am …. and it’s a cliff hanger as you’re waiting for the words to follow. So this morning, we will look at 5 “I am’s” that tell us exactly who our Mighty God and Sweet Jesus are. I AM the bread of life. This means Jesus will sustain you. He will strengthen you. He will fill you. And I don’t know about you, but I straight up love bread. I’m still searching for the all carb diet. Bring on the bread – I like it all. Sweet bread, buttered bread, garlic bread, cinnamon bread. Bread sticks, bread rolls, sliced bread. Bread just makes everything better. And Jesus is reminding us HE is the bread of life. He wants to make your everything better. Next, Jesus says “I am the door.” Jesus is the way out of the situation you’re in. He is your escape. You can try to beat down the walls, but all you need is the door. And he’s also your way in. He is the door in to the house of rest and refuge. This door says welcome. You belong here. You belong to me. Come inside. Jesus also says “I am the good Shepard.” Scripture uses the reference of a Shepard and his sheep many times. Let me tell you something about a Shepard, they live WITH their sheep. Now let me tell you something about sheep, they wander off constantly. Sheep are like me in the mall. They never know where they’re going and they can’t find their way back to where they came from. So the shepherd ever so patiently gathers his sheep, calls them to him, and when there is one who is lost, he searches for his sheep. That is our Jesus with us. Oh how we wander. We get ourselves into some messes don’t we? We fail and we get stuck, and here comes our great Shepard, time and time again, to pull us out and put our feet on the ground again. He will never leave us or forsake us. “I am the vine, you are the branches.” The vine is the source of life to the branches. The branches are connected to and dependent upon the vine. Without Jesus we will wither and die. Connected to him, we receive life. Connected to him, we bear fruit. Good things come in our life as a result of Him. Apart from him, we can do nothing. There is no fruit, no success, no breakthrough, no progress, no good things apart from God. Cut yourself off from God and try to do this thing on your own and you will just be a branch without a vine. A dying, brittle, unproductive, disconnected woman unable to produce anything in life. Uh, yeah, no thanks. I think I’ll stay connected to the Great I Am. Jesus said “I am the light of the world.” He is the light of YOUR world. You don’t have to live in darkness. Nor do you have to hide things in darkness. He is the light. He not only shows you the way, he MAKES the way. He is your guide. Because he is the GREAT I AM. He is the light, he is the vine, he is the good Shepard, he is the door, he is the bread of life … because of who God is, I am… Who are you because of God? Could you say – Because of God I am saved. I am blessed. I am whole. I am new. I am confident. I am able. I am strong. I am loved. And like Moses, the great I am is speaking to you and sending you. The great I am came so that you could be all of these things. Think about that today.

Who remembers the show “Extreme Home Makeover”? At the end of the miraculous makeover of a home, the family would stand on the street with a bus blocking the view of their new home. Then Ty would yell, “move that bus!” In the same way we’re yelling today, “move that mountain!” There’s something blocking your view. Something standing between you and the life God has available for you. Between you and your greatest potential. Between you and your destiny. Hey mountain, it’s time to move! In Matthew 19:26, Jesus said “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” WITH God. In partnership with God. Working WITH Him, ALL things are possible. However, it will be impossible without Him. Where is the impossible in your life? The definition of impossible is not able to occur, exist or be done. Where is it not happening? Where have you tried and failed? Where do all doors seem to be closed for you? Have you given up? Are you losing hope that things will ever change? The very words I share with you today I actually journaled a few years ago. I was facing the impossible, and I had been staring it down for so long I was at the point of giving up. I was walking away from this dream of impacting YOUR life. It was my final declaration of “God, I can’t do this. I’ve tried it all. You’re going to have to show up here.” I introduced my impossible situation to my unstoppable God. And while it didn’t happen in any way I imagined, it happened. Doors opened and here I am getting to talk to you today, fulfilling my purpose in life. And this is exactly how it happened. It’s time to introduce your impossible to an unstoppable God. God has good plans for your life and NOTHING and NO ONE can stop those plans … except for you. In his infinite wisdom, our creator has given each of us free will, the ability to choose on our own. And the truth is, we can make a real mess of things. At the root of our bad decisions and wayward ways is fear. Fear we’re not good enough. Fear God’s plans won’t measure up to ours. Fear we’re alone. Looking back, I see it was fear that overwhelmed me and had me quitting when I should have been pushing. It had me complaining when I should have been praying. It had me wallowing when I should have been rising. And that’s what fear does. So, let me speak to your fear this morning. It’s not too late for you. You haven’t screwed this things up beyond repair. Every misstep you’ve ever taken and every delay you’ve caused can and will be used for good now. I know, you’re thinking, “yeah right … you don’t know how bad I’ve messed up.” Hey, most of us have that one thing we would never want to tell anyone. That shame that eats us up on the inside and reminds us of our guilt. But let me remind you of your unstoppable God. His love for you is unstoppable. There’s nothing you have done, or could do, that would stop his love for you. Girl, He will move mountains for you. And even more than that, he’s given YOU power to move mountains. Jesus says in Matthew 17:20 – If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Do you know how tiny a mustard seed is? When we were battling to keep our daughters, we had to prepare them for being taken from school by strangers and rushed back across the border to Mexico. That’s a terrifying thought to little girls only 10 years old. Then, it was our impossible. And so I went to the pantry and grabbed the jar of mustard seeds. I put a tiny seed in each of my daughter’s hands and told them what Jesus said about faith that tiny with the power to move a mountain. And together we said “we believe … mountain, move.” Did the Earth shake? Nope.

I once heard everyone is an example. An example of what to do or an example of what not to do. You can learn from every person you ever come in contact with, and let me tell you, knowing who you don’t want to be is pretty priceless. Use it! Nothing goes to waste here my friends, nothing. I’ve had several examples of what not to do. Perhaps I’ve even been the example of what not to do a few times in my life. But one thing is always true, Jesus has always been the ultimate example of what to do. Jesus showed us how to live and how to love, and Jesus showed us how to get back up! Jesus got back up! Oh yes he did. You know the story having just celebrated Easter. Jesus had been buried in a tomb on Friday after being crucified on the cross. On Saturday the world fell silent. On Sunday women came to his tomb and found the stone had been rolled away. The tomb was empty. Two angels appeared to them and said in Luke 24: 6 “He is not here; he has risen.” Jesus got up. No, what happened on that cross wasn’t a bad dream. He did die. We did bury him, but he’s not here any more. He got up. He got up. He got up. And this is what God is asking you and I to do today. Get up. Don’t stay where you have been. Don’t get stuck here. Move on and rise up. Let is be said of you, “she is not here, she has risen.” Oh she once was stuck here. She once struggled here, but she isn’t here anymore. She has risen! You can’t wallow and rise up at the same time. The first quarter of 2019 may not have gone as you had planned. Okay, welcome to the 2nd quarter, now get up. There may have been unfair things that happened to you and I’m truly sorry, now get up. You didn’t deserve to be knocked down, but do you deserve to have to stay down? If you stay down, you keep yourself there. You can get up now. Jesus left the grave behind him, now it’s your turn. Leave the grave behind you. Whatever has held you back in the past does not have to bind you today. Whatever tripped you up and caused you to stumble can be your history and not part of your destiny. Leave it behind. You know what I love about Jesus? Well, there’s a whole lot of things I love about Jesus, but I love that he went through Hell for us, hung there on the cross and took on every sin and sickness on my behalf and your behalf, fully surrendered his life for you and I, was put in the grave where he stayed for 3 days … then he got up without the continual need to rehash all he had just gone through. When he showed back up with the disciples he was like “I’m here now. What’s done is done, that’s over now, I’m here and we have work to do.” As you get back up today, resist the urge to rehash how bad getting knocked down was. Don’t relive that crap. Don’t you know that’s what keeps you down? You’re only making it harder on yourself. Why would you reread that text message that rips your heart apart – delete it already. Why would you let the whole scene replay in your mind on a loop? Be done with it. When those images and thoughts start replaying in your mind, you change the channel. The remote for your life is in your hand. You choose what you think about. You choose what you talk about. It’s done. You can’t go back and change it. It’s over and maybe it really sucked. But you’re here now and you have work to do. Get up. You say, well just because Jesus got up doesn’t mean it will be that easy for me to get up. And you’re right – you’re not Jesus and it won’t be easy. But it is necessary. It is necessary for you to get up today and move forward. It is necessary for you to show up for your life and do what needs to be done. It is necessary for you to carefully choose your thoughts and your word...

Luke 23: 33 & 34 When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Today we remember the crucifixion of Jesus. His execution on a cross. It’s called Good Friday. But how could this be good? How could the brutal death of Jesus, the perfect son of God who never sinned, how could that be good? Shouldn’t this be Dark Friday, or Sad Friday, or Forsaken Friday? Wouldn’t the title of “Worst Day Ever” be more fitting? But no, it’s Good Friday. And I want you to remember this forever … what seems bad today may be good for your tomorrow. What was terrible on that day when the skies went dark from noon to 3 pm, what was unthinkable on that day when they nailed our Jesus to a cross, what was horrendous on that day when the whole earth shook as Jesus died, was actually good for all of our tomorrows. The worst day ever changed everything for the good. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus on that cross, because of his blood that was shed for you and for me, we are now covered. We are forgiven. We are accepted. And we will have an eternal home in Heaven. But first, the bad stuff. First the suffering. First the death. Then the resurrection. Then the promise. And that is why today is Good Friday. What a glorious day. A day when the enemy surely thought he had won, but everything he did was used by God for good. And you can be assured God is working the same in your life today. Just as God has plans for you, the enemy has plans for you. Sometimes God allows the enemy’s plans to touch you and quite honestly, I don’t like it. I hate it when harm is allowed in my family. When people get sick, when our future is threatened, when dreams come crashing down, when we make bad decisions, when we are shaken to our core. But then our mighty God comes in and says, “my daughter this may be bad today BUT I’M GOING TO USE IT FOR GOOD. JUST WATCH ME WORK!!!!!” Genesis 50:20 says “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Don’t you see this is exactly what God is doing in your life? He’s taking everything that was ever meant to harm you and he is using it for good today! That is his plan, won’t you let him work? Most everything good in my life has come as a result of something seemingly bad or hard happening first. Think about it, I bet the same is true for your life. Being unfairly fired from a job forced me to jump out in faith and follow my passion doing this. Learning how to walk and talk again after a stroke set my feet on a stage to share my story and find my purpose. How many children have been saved and adopted because first a family suffered from infertility. First it was bad, then God used it for good. How many financial disasters have been used as turning points. How many rock bottoms have been solid foundations to begin building again? Will you trust that although the enemy meant it for harm, God is indeed at work in your life right now, using it for good? He always has and he always will. Today we remember our Jesus willingly dying on that cross for us. For me and for you, individually. He didn’t have to. He could have saved himself. He could have called down a thousand angels from Heaven. But he didn’t. He was thinking of you and he shed his blood for you. Individually, personally for you. And it was good. That’s why today is Good Friday. Because we have a good, good father and a loving Jesus who couldn’t bare to leave you alone. And so he died just to know you. There’s an inner circle of BIG Life consisting of 320 women I get to mentor, called BIG Life Mentoring. Within this inner circle, this week we’ve been sharing our life stories as an offering to help one another.