BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

Ahhh, the struggle is real. Morning time can be tough. When that alarm rings and you know you have to get up. The day is starting and you’re already behind. The general consensus among Americans is, most of us hate mornings. If we could skip the wee hours of the morning, we would. If we could sleep away a few more hours of the day, we would. If we could delay our start, we would. You were calculating the amount of sleep you would get last night when you went to bed and you had already determined it wouldn’t be enough … am I right? The first hour of your day impacts all the hours to follow. For many of us, we’re losing before our feet even hit the floor. Why? Because we’re laying in bed not ready to receive the new day. We’re dreading the morning and we’re wasting this most precious time. Maybe you think I’m just saying this because I’m a morning person. Yes, I generally wake up farting rainbows, but do you know why? Because I grew up in a home where I was taught the rising sun is to be celebrated, not dreaded. Because as an adult I discovered something was waiting for me the moment I woke up. And something is waiting for you the moment you wake up too. And this something is more valuable than anything else you could ever receive. Unfortunately many are missing it. What is it? Mercy. Lamentations 3: 22-23 says “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” God’s mercy is new every morning. What is his mercy? His loving goodness, kindness and compassion. And when do you receive it new? Every morning. This is worth waking up for my friends! The creator of the entire universe wanted to pour out his best on YOU this morning, regardless of how you did yesterday. Did you wake up excited to receive it? Did you wake up in anticipation of this goodness, kindness and compassion? All good things come under attack. It’s the way of the world. You plant a beautiful garden and here come the weeds. Every morning you are offered the best of the best in the form of God’s mercy and as a result of this goodness coming your way, there’s a full on attack. The weeds come growing up around his love and kindness being offered as your alarm rings, ready to choke out every ounce of compassion you’re about to receive. If the enemy can keep you in bed, he wins. If he can delay your feet hitting the ground, he has more time to grow his nasty weeds. And while you snooze and dread the beginning of your day, here’s what happens … God’s mercies are being traded for the enemy’s condemnation. God offers you love and grace and compassion. He offers you energy and passion and purpose. But when you don’t wake up to receive it, you start trading all his goodness for the condemnation of the enemy. You feel defeated before you even get up. You dread the day. You are disappointed that once again you’re running behind, your morning has been ruined, and clearly there’s something seriously wrong with you because you just can’t seem to get up in the morning. That’s what condemnation sounds like. You’re broken. Everyone else can do this, but you can’t. You’re a disappointment. You’re wasting your life. This is condemnation and it only makes you feel worse, right. And that’s NOT from God. Romans 8:1 says “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” As a follower of Jesus, there is now no condemnation. What the enemy is trying to put on you is NOT yours to receive. Stop letting him win your mornings. Stop letting him steal your blessings. Every morning God is offering you his mercy (his loving goodness, kindness and compassion). Start receiving that and stop accepting the enemy’s condemnation ...

God is more interested in changing your mind than your circumstances. Within your mind are thoughts that control your life. Your thoughts are either propelling you toward your destiny in Christ Jesus, or your thoughts are holding you back in a little life far short of what you were created for. And this is why God is far more interested in your mind than your circumstances. This is why God will allow you to stumble right into some messy circumstances and in the middle of that mess is where he does his finest work on your mind, changing the way you think. Every bad decision you have ever made is a result of a bad thought. There is a war within you for your thoughts. Your mind is the battleground. So could today be radically changed by a shift in your thoughts? Could changing your mind change your life? Is it a trendy new age thing to stand in the mirror and speak affirmations. Is it biblical to memorize your goals, envision your success, and harness your energy? Let me tell you, God hard wired you to become what you think about. Proverbs 23:7 says For as he thinketh, so is he. Your life becomes what you think about. Did you know God created you with a super power? Oh he sure did. It’s called your Reticular Activator. If I’ve been your mentor for very long, you likely know exactly what I’m going to say. Great, this is just a reminder to tap into your super power today. Or maybe you’ve gone your whole life without knowing you had one of these powerful little things inside of you, but none the less, it has been working in your life. Your Reticular Activator serves as the gatekeeper to you mind. It determines what you become consciously aware of and what remains as outside noise, never making it fully into your awareness. Your reticular activator keeps you sane. If you truly noticed every sight, every sound, every scent and every sensation flying at you, you would go straight up crazy. So, you block out the overwhelming majority of that which is around you and only see, hear, feel, smell and notice a tiny fraction of what there is. Now, what is responsible for determining what you become aware of and what you never even notice – your reticular activator. And it’s not by accident. It was given to you by your creator by great design. And you can use it for your benefit. You are in charge of setting your reticular activator. How do you set your reticular activator? With your thoughts. Today, if you decide you want to think about things that make you happy, your reticular activator will be fine tuned to seek out those very things and bring them into your awareness. Suddenly you’re surrounded by things that make you happy. They were always there, now you just notice them. Sadly most of us have taken this amazing super power given to us by our creator and we’ve fine tuned it to find negative, stressful, overwhelming things to worry about. And as we think, so are we. We think overwhelming thoughts, so we are overwhelmed. We think worried thoughts, so we are worried. We think negative thoughts, so our lives are generally negative. AND IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY. Your thoughts have gone wild. It’s time to harness them, tame them, and make them work for you instead of against you. Your thoughts control your life and they may just be ruining your life. 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Take captive every thought. Grab ahold of your thoughts, examine them. Are they serving you? Are your thoughts even true? Take it captive and make it obedient. You can change your thoughts. You can intentionally change your mind and it will change the very things you see in your life. Why? Because it resets your reticular activator and the gatekeeper to your mind will begin ushering in supporting evidence for the thoughts you are thinking.

In Exodus chapter 3 we read about God and Moses having an argument. God is giving Moses very clear and detailed instructions on what to do next. How many of us would love for God to show up right now in our house and tell us exactly what to do? We think we would like that, but we would likely do the same exact thing Moses did … argue. God would tell us YOU do this and we would tell him WE can’t and then give him a laundry list of reasons why we’re not good enough, why we’re not ready, why we’re not able. This is exactly what Moses did. God tells Moses to go to Pharaoh (remember we talked about him yesterday) and lead the Israelites out of Egypt where they had been held captive. That was a big job with a whole lot of risk and Moses quite simply didn’t feel equipped for the job. He’s like “me, little old me? Oh come on God, you know I can’t do this!” So God goes about teaching him a lesson. That lesson is for every single one of us today who question our value, our worth and our ability to do what needs to be done today. So we pick up in Exodus chapter 4, verses 1-4 But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?” 2 Then the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied. 3 “Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back. 4 Then the Lord told him, “Reach out and grab its tail.” So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd’s staff in his hand. Understand what was happening here was God was preparing Moses to do things he himself couldn’t do. He was proving his power to him. He was giving him a taste of the miraculous things he would do through him to complete this job he had been given. Now, let’s spend some time unpacking this lesson and apply it to our lives today. In my journal, I have 3 lessons on this small portion of Moses’ story. First, why was Moses arguing with God? Well, he was full of what if’s – God, you want me to go talk to these people, but what if they won’t believe me? What if they won’t listen to me? Have you ever had a strong case of the what if’s? What if they don’t accept me? What if no one likes me? Let me tell you what your what if’s are – they are simply a reflection of your own feelings about you. You fear others not accepting you because somewhere deep down YOU don’t accept you. You assume people won’t like you because there are parts of you that YOU don’t like. And let me tell you something, God doesn’t like this one bit. He looks at you and sees your full potential still inside you untapped. He sees you as the complete creation he made you to be from the very beginning and he’s willing to push you and stretch you until you finally overcome all your what if’s. And the only way to overcome a what if is to be faced with the very thing you fear and then find you can overcome it. You’re entirely too powerful, too beautiful, too special to go through another day of your life questioning who you are. You have been chosen by God for a job – quit trying to convince him you’re not good enough. If God says you’re good enough, you’re good enough. He has work for you to do – now for goodness sake, stop arguing with him. You’re the one. You’re the one he has chosen. You’re the one he is equipping. You’re the one he will work through. It’s you. Guess what, you’re never going to feel good enough, so stop relying on your feelings and waiting for them to confirm what God has already told you. YOU ARE THE ONE. You have a mission. Now how does God respond to Moses’ fears and what if’s ...

Could the struggles in your life be the result of a priority issue? When we elevate certain things and people to a level of importance above God, we subject them to removal from our lives. Did you know the 10 plagues on Egypt were a direct response to 10 different gods and goddesses the Egyptians worshiped? They suffered the plague of flies, the plague of lice, plague of frogs, plague of locusts, plague of sores and boils, of water turning to blood, of all their cattle and livestock dying, of losing their firstborn, the plague of hail and the plague of darkness and each were a direct result of gods and goddesses they worshiped. Good things came under attack because their priorities were wrong. I wonder how many good things we will lose as a result of a priority issue. I wonder how long God has been trying to get your attention and your trust as you cling to all the things that are falling apart instead of the one who holds the whole world in his hand? God knows we often won’t fall to our knees without first being knocked there. Lord, convict us of anything or anyone we have put in your place. Convict us of priorities that are out of alignment. Help us to get this right without the trouble. But if it requires trouble, then give us the strength and courage to make those changes. As we read in Exodus chapters 7 through 12 about the plagues on Egypt and their struggles through boils and frogs and flies, we see each time God would give them an opportunity to turn to him. Each time God would wait for them to change. We see there would sometimes be moments of surrender and moments of seeking God first, but then they would go right back to their old ways. Aren’t we the same? We get sick and we’re all up in the business of being healthy. Oh God, if you’ll heal me I’ll eat healthy. I’ll get up and exercise. I’ll do it right this time God if you’ll give me another chance. We make big commitments and promises in exchange for another chance to have our health. And how long does that last? We’re 3 days in and the aches and pains have subsided and we’re already bargaining with a bag of chips and a stack of Oreos. Don’t you know God must be shaking his head here. “God, save me! If you do, I’ll change.” He does his part and we quickly fall back. What are your sores and boils? What are you plagued with at this moment as a result of placing other things in front of God? Where have your priorities been out of line and created a mess in your life? What will you do about it today? God will stop at nothing to get our attention. If it takes frogs, then he will bring the frogs. If it takes darkness, then darkness it is. Not because he doesn’t love you, but because he loves you relentlessly. His relentless love will stop at nothing to reach you. He will work through chaos and calamity, disaster and diagnosis, setbacks and sidetracks, hurt and heartbreak, delays and detours to get to your heart. He wants you. He wants the best for you. Don’t you know he has the absolute best in his hand for you? His plans and his ways are so far above yours you can’t even fathom what he has available for you. And you have to trust that what he has is better than what you have. When will we get to a place in our lives when we say with confidence, “God if it isn’t from you, then I don’t want it anyway!” When will we fully trust that if God closes the door, it’s to get us to keep moving forward? God knew the Egyptians would never turn to him without the plagues, and God knows we would never step into the life he created us for if all the doors were always open. We wander off and get sidetracked. We start knocking on doors we were never meant to knock on. We stumble around in the darkness, wondering why life is so hard and it’s a result of going down a hallway we were never meant t...

Fair warning on this Friday morning, the Devil woke up early and he’s in a bad mood. He’s trying to wreck havoc in your life and today his mission is to be the biggest butthole he can be. You’ll likely see his works around you. You’ll see his attempts to twist and manipulate. You’ll see his offering of a bad mood, a bad attitude and a bad day. But if anyone is going to have a bad day, let it be him! He may have ruined perfectly good days for you in the past, but it doesn’t have to go down that way today. Not this time. You’ve been properly warned and you can be on alert of his sneaky ways. Remember last week in episode 140 I told you of his crappy plans for you. Oh please tell me you haven’t been falling into his plans. Please tell me you haven’t been believing his lies this week. The devil knows your name, but calls you by your sin. God knows your sin, but calls you by your name. You don’t have to be defined by your screwups and failures. If you are, that’s the work of your enemy. And remember, he’s just being a butthole so don’t let him ruin your day. Here’s the thing you need to know about this enemy you battle … he’s a wanna be … but he ain’t gonna be. He wants to rule your day. He wants to wreck your plans. He wants to stir up trouble. He wants steal your joy. He wants your focus to be on him. You’ve heard the saying “there’s no such thing as bad publicity”. If they’re talking about you, it’s good, even when they’re talking bad. That’s the plan of the devil. He doesn’t mind if you hate him. He loves it when you talk about it. Because here’s the thing, if you’re thinking about him, you’re not thinking about God. If you’re talking about him, you’re not talking about God. You’re focused on his works and he receives the publicity. The truth is, we give him way too much credit! He’s just a butthole. End of story. He’s already been defeated by Jesus Christ on the cross. He is the loser. Don’t focus on the loser. Focus on the winner. The battle is real but spoiler alert, JESUS IS THE WINNER EVERY TIME. So I will speak of the enemy and his butthole ways no more. You’ve heard the truth about him. You’ve been warned of his crappy plans. Now let’s focus on the winner. You and I are on the winning team. We get to celebrate the victory that has been won on our behalf. We are covered, we are claimed, and we are celebrated. Hold your head high today knowing GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN YOU THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD. (1 John 4:4) Romans 8:31 says “If God is for you, who can be against you?” Deuteronomy 31:8 says “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Hang on to that today. God is FOR you, he is WITH you, he has already gone before you and made a way. What was impossible is now possible because God is in the middle of it. Today, God is being awesome. He is being powerful. He knows your name and he is calling you. He is drawing you in to his great plans and your mighty purpose. He is directing your every step and he is aligning every detail. Let this be your focus today. Search out proof of his truths. See his fingerprints all around you. You don’t have to live in fear of what will go wrong, not when you have a God like this who reigns! Not when you have a savior like this who loves. Not when you have a Lord like this who works. All of heaven and earth is conspiring to bring out the best in you today. Everything is coming together to help you live up to your potential and step into your destiny. All things truly are working for good because you have chosen to follow the right one. You have chosen to focus on the right one.

This is a special back to school devotional … for parents. Our schools may have kicked God out, but we have the power to invite his presence back. Today is the first day of school for my family and it is our last first day. Our youngest are both seniors and they’re beginning a brand new school for their senior year. That’s not easy, but good things typically aren’t. It’s back to school season for most of us, some having already started school and some starting in the coming week. Several years ago, my husband and I read a book that changed they way we pray. It’s one of my all time favorite and most highlighted books – The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. I learned the more faith you have, the more specific your prayers will be. And the more specific your prayers are, the more glory God receives. Why? Because if our prayers aren’t specific, God gets robbed of the glory that He deserves because we second-guess whether or not he actually answered them. Have we been praying vague prayers to a specific God? Yes, it’s easier to be vague in our prayers because it insulates us from the pain of disappointment. I mean if I didn’t pray for it specifically, when I don’t get it, I won’t be so disappointed. Specific prayers are risky. It’s easier to just not ask for much of anything that way we’re not so disappointed when we don’t get it. Scripture says we have not because we ask not. Our vague, half-hearted prayers indicate our lack of faith in God’s individual and specific care over us. We question if God hears, and if he hears, does he really care? And if he cares, is he capable? Well, let me answer those questions. Psalms 34:17 says – The Righteous cry, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. Oh, that’s only for the righteous you say. Yes, and that is you if you are a follower of Christ. Not because of anything you have done or could do, but because God has chosen you as righteous. He has covered you as righteous. And therefore, he hears your prayers. John 10:11 Jesus says – I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Now that is caring. Oh the care of a shepherd. This is God’s care for you, that he would lay down his life for you, sacrifice his only son for you. Don’t you understand there’s no mountain he won’t climb up, wall he won’t kick down and lie he won’t tear down coming after you. This is how much he cares about you. Individually and specifically. He hears you, he cares about you, and HE IS CAPABLE. Ephesians 3:20 says Now all glory to God, who is able … to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Imagine right now what God’s power can do in your life. Whatever you just imagined is a row boat in comparison to the ark God can build for you. Is he ABLE to do for you what you need done? Is he able to rise up and answer your prayers? More than we could ever ask or imagine. So out of faith in a mighty, powerful, loving, caring God who hears our specific prayers and moves on our behalf to do more than we can even imagine, let us lay before him our requests for this school year for our children. The Circle Maker taught me to not only be bold enough to pray very specific prayers, but to pray in circles. Unlike running around in circles, praying in circles is getting you somewhere. It is productive and it is powerful. Perhaps you remember the story in the bible of the walls of Jericho that came tumbling down. The wandering Israelites came upon the city of Jericho, their promised land, and found it would be impossible to take. Impossible.

Psalm 139:23 – Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. If God were to search your heart this morning and examine your anxious thoughts, what would he find? Hmmmm, did you know he already has. Every moment of every day, God has been listening to your anxious thoughts. Your random worries – your stressed schedule – your stretched finances – your overwhelming choices – your distracted mind – your strained relationships. Yes, God knows about all your anxious thoughts, he has heard every one and he has an answer for you today. Our answer comes to us in Philippians chapter 4, verses 6 and 7. This scripture was written by Paul. Paul knew a thing or two about stress. After all, he wrote 4 chapters of the bible while in prison being unjustly persecuted. Oh yes, Paul knew stress. He knew how to turn a mess into a message. He knew how to use all his pain to lead him to his purpose. And here’s what he says: Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Don’t worry about anything, pray about everything. Well that’s easy to say when things are going peachy, but what about when your stresses are real and your anxious thoughts are off the charts? Remember, Paul wrote this IN PRISON where he was beaten, neglected and mocked. Don’t worry about anything, instead pray about everything. Could this be applicable to you today? Let’s read both verses again and we will see a 3 step pattern here. If you have your bible open to Philippians chapter 4, verses 6 and 7, there are 4 words I would like you to underline. “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. TELL God what you need, and THANK him for all he has done. THEN you will experience God’s PEACE, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” 4 words – Tell, Thank, Then Peace It’s a pattern. Tell, thank, then peace. We want peace. We want the storms in our life to be quieted. We want smooth sailing. We want to have money left at the end of the month. We want our relationships to be fixed. We want our bodies to be healed. We want peace, but look at the order, you can’t miss it. Tell, Thank, Then Peace. You must tell God what you need. Now does he already know what you need before you speak it? Of course he does – but this isn’t about God knowing what you need, this is about you knowing you need God. You are required to show up. You are required to work. But you are not required to be in control of it all. Tell God about your messes and stresses. Tell him what worries and overwhelms you. Tell him. Release it to him and tell him you’re counting on him to show up. Second, thank him for all he has done. Has God ever saved you from disaster before? Ahhhh, more times than you know. Has God ever provided in supernatural ways? Remember when you found that $10 bill in your coat pocket just when you didn’t have any gas money? Remember when you dug for change and you found it? Remember when you got that random insurance refund check in the mail? Remember when the food that wasn’t enough was somehow enough? Remember when that tank of gas just kept going and going? My sister, let me remind you, you have a 100% survival rate so far. I would say God has done a whole lot for you. Thank him. Thank him for what he has done in your life. I’m a words of affirmation person. Occasionally someone will send me a text just to say thank you. I will reread that text a dozen times throughout the day. And then you know what it makes me want to do,

This isn’t just another day of life. This is something remarkably special. This is the single day of your life that all the other days of your life have brought you to. You stand on the cusp of something – on the cusp of your potential – and God wants to know if you will step INTO it. Will you step into the life he is offering you. Remember, God is offering you a BIG Life. Scripture says “I long for you to enter this wide-open spacious life. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively.” What does this mean … live BIG! And today is an opportunity to do exactly that. But most will miss it and believe it’s just an ordinary Tuesday sandwiched between an ordinary Monday and Wednesday. Will this day go unappreciated and unrecognized as the pure gift and tremendous opportunity it really is? Will you make your God look at you and say “Woooohoooo, I’m glad I gave that girl life!” Here’s my wish for you … Today, may you be led by what is IN you instead of what is around you. Around you are all sorts of distractions and drama. The invitation to melancholy living is everywhere. But you don’t have to go through life downbeat, down cast and down in the dumps. DOWN isn’t the direction you should be looking or heading. Here’s how I know … because of what is IN you. The title of today’s devotional is “Straighten Your Crown” As a follower of Christ and daughter of the King, the very Spirit of God is IN you. Romans 8:9 You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. a few verses later it says – 15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. God’s spirit is in you. Do you get that? His spirit is IN you. The mountain moving, sea parting, chain breaking, prison wall shaking, master of the winds and waves, creator of the Universe, IS IN YOU. The enemy wants to beat you down and remind you of your failures and shortcomings all so you forget who is in you. He trips you up with an obsession over your weight, your money, your job, your house, your image … all so that you fail to recognize what is most important and what is truly powerful. God’s spirit lives within you. If you’re obsessing over the size of your butt and the pooch of your belly, then you forget about the power inside of you. Hey if you’re upset about your butt or your belly, your house or your job, then woman DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT ALREADY! You have the ability to change anything you want to change. Don’t sacrifice your power. Because of his spirit living in you, you should no longer settle for defeat. You should no longer wake up expecting nothing great. You should no longer be okay with mediocre. Not when the spirit of the almighty is in you. Oh heck to the no! This is why you should be excited. This is why you should get fired up about the new day of life being offered to you today. This is why you should anticipate seizing every opportunity that comes your way and being fully capable of slaying your obstacles, overcoming time and time again, and being more than a conqueror. BECAUSE GOD’S SPIRIT LIVES IN YOU. You are not controlled by the flesh. Your feelings no longer have to run the show. You are not a slave. You are a daughter of the king and quite honestly, princesses receive good things. As you go through your day today, remember this truth: nothing you come up against could possibly match the power of the spirit of God within you. You are not helpless, you are not hopeless, you are not stuck. And if you feel any of these things it is a result of the enemies lies and you bought them.

Our scripture today is 2 Corinthians 12 verses 7-10, written by Paul. Paul was a great messenger of God. God chose him, an unlikely candidate to leave such a legacy, then he changed him. I believe Paul’s past kept him humble and real, remember he was once Saul, the persecutor of Christians who went around beheading people. You think God doesn’t change the people he chooses, oh think again. And just in case you’re wondering if God has chosen you, the answer is YES. Yes, he has chosen you and he can change anything that needs to be changed in you. Anything. Lets read starting in verse 7: “To keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Honestly, that never made a whole lot of sense to me – for when I am weak, then I am strong. So I thought perhaps different translations of the bible would give me some insight. Could it really mean when I am weak, then I am strong. Seems like an oxymoron to me here people. So I looked in the New Living Translation, the New International Version, and the King James Version, and all 3 translations say it the same confusing way – when I am weak, then I am strong. Where are my girls at that are feeling a little weak on this Monday morning – a little beat down by the storms of life – overwhelmed by the demands and pressures – stuck in the messes and stresses – WELL GET READY TO BE STRONG. You really never know how strong you are until you have to be. When strong is your only choice, then you come face to face with what’s really deep down inside of you. God is making you stronger than you ever imagined. For when I am weak [in human strength], then I am strong [truly able, truly powerful, truly drawing from God’s strength]. My human strength won’t get me through this – I must draw from God’s strength. And you must do the same. And this is why God allows storms in our lives. This is why he allows our plans to fall apart. This is why he allows difficult people and stressful situations. So you become weak in your own strength and draw from His strength. Paul was given a thorn in his flesh, he called it a messenger from Satan to torment him and keep him from becoming proud. It wasn’t a literal thorn in his flesh, it was a symbolism of something that continually bothered him. We’re left to wonder what it might be. It could have been a physical ailment, many suggest migraines, epilepsy or seizures. Others believe it could have been a temptation he struggled with or a specific person always stirring up trouble for him. Why wouldn’t Paul tell us what his torn was? I believe it was left open ended to encourage us to consider our own thorn. What is the thorn in your side? What is it that continually bothers you? What is it you have struggled with? Maybe you’ve begged God to heal you, take it away from you and yet you still struggle. Why? Because His power works best in weakness. If you could do this all on your own, wouldn’t you? Sure you would. We are vain creatures and we love the credit. We crave the praise. We like the power and control. We want to rise up and conquer on our own AND WHEN WE CAN’T, then we are faced with our own truth – WE NEED GOD. Every day we need him. And, here’s the good news … you need him AND he is already in you. You are lacking nothing. As a follower of Christ,

In 2 Corinthians chapter 2 Paul is writing about the need to forgive someone who has offended you. And he wraps it up in vs 11 by saying “so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.” Are you familiar with the evil schemes of your enemy? My sister, don’t you know he’s been taking notes on you? All your life he’s been studying you and he knows EXACTLY what trips you up. He knows what steals your peace, causes you to flip out, and brings out the worst in you. God has a plan for your life and scripture tells us it’s a good plan, a plan to prosper you and fill you with hope. And you can be assured the enemy’s plans are the EXACT OPPOSITE for you. He wants you to be defeated – desperately defeated until you lose all hope. He wants you to wake up this morning and dread every part of this day of life. He wants you to be overwhelmed with all you have to do so you find zero blessings in it all. He wants your first thoughts to be “oh gawd, I don’t want to get up.” Depression, anxiety, worry, jealousy and stress are all on his list of plans for you today. Why? Because they render you ineffective and leave you discouraged. Listen to me right now, don’t fall into the crappy plans of the enemy. Step intentionally into the good plans of your heavenly father who loves you and was up all night creating this day of life for you. Sure Satan is smart and cunning and crafty with his crappy ways, but we are familiar with his evil schemes and darn it, today he will not outsmart us. Remember 2 Corinthians 2:11 says “Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.” What are your triggers? What little things get under your skin and cause you to act irrationally? What trips you up? For some of you, it’s a rough start to the morning. It’s the snooze button and running late. Hmmmmm, did you face that this morning? Yeah, that battle was handcrafted for you by the enemy, part of his all too familiar evil schemes. Or maybe it’s waking up to a messy kitchen, a sink full of dishes and a reminder that the people you live with are 73% pig. That’s always a trigger for the wild eyed crazed ugly woman to come out in me. Yip, another handcrafted battle part of the evil schemes to trip us up. For others the irrational actions are the result of assuming the worst in our overactive imagination where everyone is talking about us, against us, or leaving us. Our minds are filled with negative thoughts and Proverbs 23:7 tells us “as a man thinketh, so is he.” So we think crappy thoughts and of course we start acting crappy. Now who’s plan do you think that was? Ding, ding, ding, you’re right … not God’s! And here’s the sad thing, WE ALLOW IT. We fall for it, stumble right into it, and find ourselves living this perfectly beautiful day of life upset, overwhelmed, frustrated and annoyed over the silliest things. Don’t let Satan outsmart you – aren’t you familiar with his evil schemes by now? Are you really going to let those stupid arguments ruin your relationships? Are you really going to let those dishes ruin your morning? Are you really going to let bad hair create a bad day? Are you really going to be stirred up and upset that you are going to work at a job you once prayed for? Are you really going to let those negative thoughts float around in your mind unleashed? It’s a trap. Recognize these things for what they are! The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. He’s after your joy. He’s after your peace. He’s after your energy. Protect it. Intentionally step into the plans of God by looking around at this moment and seeing all that is good and right in your life and appreciate it.

This morning we’re going to do something a little different for our devotional time together. We will take a scripture from the King James version of the bible and we will break it down and apply it to our lives today for 3 Step Success. Our scripture for today is I Corinthians 15:58. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” Now let’s break it down. First, be steadfast. Steadfast is from the root word SIT. In other words, you must be seated. Be settled in the truth. We live very unsettled lives in an unsettled world. We are tense, uptight, anxious and always stirred up about something. And God says be steadfast – sit down – settle down. Be RELAXED. Did you know you can be working and still be relaxed? God never intended for you and I to go through the days of our life so unsettled. Don’t you know you are way too blessed to be stressed. Stress is the plan of the enemy. Have you fallen into his trap? You see, as long as you are stressed and anxious, you can never be seated in truth. You can never be steadfast in knowing who you are and who’s you are. Today, take a seat in what you know to be true. You are forgiven, you are chosen, you are blessed. Settle into that. Sit down in that truth today. Resist the temptation to be constantly stirred up and upset. Let’s look at our scripture again – “Be steadfast and unmovable.” Unmovable like a solid rock. James 1:6 says “the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” Our doubt causes us to be seasick. We’re constantly tossed around and stirred up on the inside. We stress over making the right decision, then question the decisions we make, changing our mind, going back and forth, back and forth, tossed around like a little boat on a big stormy ocean. And God says be unmovable. Stop doubting. Stop doubting God – Stop doubting his plan for you – Stop doubting your ability to walk in his plan for you. Your doubt is making you sick. Be unmovable like a solid rock. Let your yes be yes. Let your no be no. Have boundaries. I will do this, I won’t do that and I will be unmovable with my commitments. Some of us need to start with the basics. Choose your outfit, put it on and resist the urge to stand in your closet wondering if you should change. Stop it. Woman this is madness. Make a decision, then be confident in your decision. So step one, we are to be steadfast – meaning we are seated in truth and relaxed. And step two, we are to be unmovable – A solid rock no longer tossed around by doubt. Next in our scripture is says “always abounding in the work of the Lord.” There’s step three, always abounding. Abounding means plentiful, abundant. Be abundant in your work. For you today, this means go the extra mile. Stop doing the minimum. Colossians 3:23 says “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as if working for the Lord.” God wants to talk to you about your work today. Whether you go to an office, a factory or a school. Whether you’re the boss or the employee. Whether you’re punching the clock, running the shop, or the boss of your house, you are working today. And God expects you to work for Him. Everything you do, do it with all you heart as if working for God, because actually YOU ARE. You are working for God. Everything you do today matters. Everything makes an impact. And he wants to know if you will always abound in your work today. Will you go the extra mile? Will you do it right? Will you give it your absolute best effort? Will you finish it today? Yes, mama who is at home doing laundry today – will you abound with your work today? Will you fold those socks as if they’re God’s socks a...

In Acts chapter 3, Peter and John, disciples of Jesus, healed a lame man in the name of Jesus Christ. As a result of this one person being healed 5,000 men came to believe in Jesus that day. Peter and John had done a good thing, the right thing, and then a bad thing happened to them. They were thrown in prison. Hey listen to me sister, just because bad things are happening in your world right now doesn’t mean you’re on the wrong path. The very troubles around you may very well be a sign that you are doing a darn good job. The enemy doesn’t attack things which are of no threat to him. So don’t you be discouraged. If God is on your side, who can be against you? Ask God to help you differentiate between problems which are the result of being on the wrong path, and problems which are the result of doing the right thing and now being under attack. These problems can appear the same so be sure you’re asking for wisdom. When in the middle of problems I simply pray, “God, if this is of my own doing, please show me a different way. If this is a result of doing the right thing, please give me courage to keep going.” The disciples of Jesus spent a lot of time in prison. They were constantly under persecution for doing the right thing. God gave them courage to keep going. So here Peter and John are in prison after doing nothing more than healing a lame man and then helping lead 5,000 men to believe in Jesus in one day. That’s a sucky ending to a really good day. But God was still working! The rulers questioned the disciples and in Acts 4:13 it says “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” COURAGEOUS, ORDINARY people who had BEEN WITH JESUS Let this be us. Let us be known as courageous ordinary women just hanging out with Jesus. Does God hang out in your house? Do you hang out with him in HIS house? Something special happens when you hang out with someone long enough, you become like them. I remember in high school I had a friend named Holly. Holly had the sweetest southern accent. After 1 week with her at camp, I came home talking like her. I also remember having a friend with a real potty mouth and one time I came home talking like her. Whoever you are hanging out with IS influencing you. Look around – would you want to BE like the people you are with? Would you want marriages like they have? Would you want morals like they have? Would you want a life like theirs? THEY ARE INFLUENCING YOU. Be wise in your relationships. It’s been said you’re the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. They are rubbing off on you. Let one of them be Jesus. Hang out with him. Let him rub off on you. Let his thoughts influence your thoughts. Let his words influence your words. Let his ways influence your ways. I’m currently mentoring a sweet young woman in her early 20s. Her name is Haylee and she’s started hanging out with Jesus. She changed the music she’s listening to. She started studying her Bible. She listens to this devotional every day. She’s seeking God and his plan for her life. As a result, she is changing. Gosh, it’s a beautiful thing to witness. There are no magic formulas here, she’s just hanging out with Jesus. She’s seeking him. And as scripture promises, when we seek we will find. Be that ordinary girl living boldly, just hanging out with Jesus. The more you hang out with him, the more he will transform your life. The more you hang out with him, the more like him you will become. How do others know you? Do they know you as someone who hangs out with Jesus? Me on my own I am no one special – Me with God, I can change the world. You on your own,

In John chapter 16, Jesus has gathered the disciples, his best friends, sharing a final meal with them. He is preparing them for his death on the cross, telling them all they needed to know. He’s encouraging and equipping them. He warns them in this world they will have trouble, then he leaves them one thing greater than any weapon he could have given them. And what he left the disciples during his last supper, he offers to you and I today. In verses 23 and 24 Jesus says, “My Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” We have power in the name of Jesus. Whatever you ask in his name, God will do. If you ask, you will receive. Jesus also said, you have not because you do not ask. Let me ask you something, have you specifically prayed over your current circumstances? Have you come to God in the name of Jesus and asked him to work and move? Why is it we will do everything else – we will stay up all night worrying, we will call our girlfriends and complain, we will cry to our mama, we’ll hash it out for hours with a counselor, but will we tap into the power Jesus left us here on Earth to overcome the trouble in this world? We view prayer as some ritual we must complete to look all spiritual. Blah, blah, blah, Jesus. Check the boxes, throw out the name of Jesus and boom, we’re done. There’s no power in that. Jesus came to replace the ritual and routine. He broke all the rules. He took the place of the sacrificial lamb and blood offering. He is the blood offering. He changed everything. Because of what he did on that cross for you, you now have power when you ask in his name. What will you ask the Father in the name of the son today? If you ask, you will receive. I wonder what is totally and completely available to you right now in your life, but you do not have it because you have not asked for it. I wonder what breakthrough has been waiting for you, but you haven’t asked. I wonder what provision is available, but you haven’t asked. I wonder how God is willing to work on your behalf moving mountains and breaking chains, if you would only come to him in the name of Jesus and ask. As a US Citizen, I have rights in this country that others do not. As a believer and follower of Christ Jesus, we have power others do not. We have access to God almighty when using the name of Jesus. Are you using your power to access God, or is what Jesus came to give you going untapped? Jesus said in John 10:10 “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Well … have you tapped into that? Are you asking God for the abundant life Jesus came to give you? I’m not suggesting the ol’ “name it and claim it” like God is some kind of genie in a bottle and the magic word is Jesus. But what I am suggesting is, in the name of Jesus God moves. In the name of Jesus God’s power is released. In the name of Jesus we are covered. My friend Laura is a prayer warrior. I can’t tell you how many times she has stopped in mid sentence with me and said “here, we’re just going to pray about this.” She knows the power of asking in the name of Jesus. She was reminded of that power just a few days ago when she had a front row seat to God’s protection over her family. Laura had taken her car in for repair 2 weeks ago. Since the repairs, they had driven all over Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Then on Friday when pulling off the interstate, the car would no longer drive. The wheels locked up and she was stuck. Now most people would consider this bad luck. What a sucky thing to happen. She was stranded on the side of the highway in the hot sun, waiting for a tow truck. But you see, Laura prays in the name of Jesus. Not just when she’s in trouble,

How many times do we stumble over the small thing and fail to appreciate the big thing? Now that’s not typically the way we view life these days. We’ve been taught to appreciate the little things, oh and how I believe in that. I find tremendous value in living in a heightened state of awareness and intentionally soaking in the little moments of priceless life so they don’t escape us. Yes, do that. Live with awareness and intention. Don’t miss the little things in life that escape so many. But today, we turn our focus on the big thing. What little silly thing are you stumbling over and what big important thing are you failing to appreciate? In our bibles, Luke chapter 15 is a series of 3 parables. Parable of the lost sheep, parable of the lost coin, and parable of the lost son. These were stories told by Jesus to help us understand a deeper lesson in practical ways. Today, we will focus on my personal favorite, parable of the lost son. You’ve likely heard of this lost boy, also called the Prodigal Son. A father had 2 sons and the younger son was a bit of a brat. His father was wealthy and he knew he had an inheritance coming to him, he had a right to his money, but he didn’t want to wait nor did he want to be part of the family. He wanted his money and he wanted to live a wild free life. So the father gave him his money and the son went and blew it all quickly. The son stumbled over the small thing and failed to appreciate the big thing. The big thing here was he had a father who loved him. He had a good life. But he stumbled over his desire for immediate money. Oh how dangerous this is even for us daughters of the king. Have we stumbled over chasing success and size 6 jeans and forgotten we are already adored by the most high? Have we failed to appreciate God’s ultimate provision as we stumble over our desire for a little newer and a little bigger of this or that? The prodigal son was stumbling over a small thing and failing to appreciate the big thing. Now after all his money was long gone, he found himself in the middle of a real mess. Oh how this can happen when we get so wrapped up in the little things and miss the big things. A mess. In fact, the prodigal son was living with pigs, begging for the pigs food, when all the while he had a rich father who loved him more than anything else, longing for him to come home. Luke 15:17 says “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!’” Oh when we come to our senses and realize how foolish we have been. How we have gotten tripped up over the small things and missed the big thing that was right in front of us all along. Today, may we come to our senses. My sister, where have you been so wrapped up in the small nuisances and annoyances that you’ve missed the big ol’ blessing you’re living with? I’ve learned a whole lot from a woman I refer to as Silver Fox. She’s one of those classy, slightly edgy gray haired women that has truly lived. You can see it in her eyes and hear it in her stories. Silver Fox often comes to our BIG Life Retreats and teaches a marriage class that will wake you the heck up and send you home a different wife. You see, she teaches from a widow’s perspective. She shared with us the story of how she used to get so annoyed by her husband always leaving his dishes all over the house. He seemed completely incapable of cleaning up after himself. So she would nag and she would complain and he would never change. And one day her beloved husband passed away. And then there were no dishes. She looks out at our audience of wives who have fallen into the same trap of tripping up over the small things and failing to appreciate the big things and she says, “what I would give to clean up after him one more time.”