Friday, June 29, 2018

Follow Me, He Says


Follow Me, He Says

To follow Christ is to truly follow his leading and example, not our own agenda or our own thoughts. 

How might that look?

When someone cuts you off in traffic just stay calm, smile, brake and wave them in. Keep your heart clean.  Mercy.

Your husband forgets a special occasion. So, you improvise and call to make a reservation yourself or put the kids to bed early and make a cheese tray for you both to enjoy together.  Unity.

A co-worker is grating your nerves and driving you nuts. Ask that person out to lunch or if there is something you can pray for them about. Praying for someone immediately sets your heart right for them. Patience.

Your child or student is doing something that has you concerned. Instead of harmfully labeling them with that thought, speak life into the child and lift them up. Tell them how much you believe in them while pointing out their strengths.  Goodness.

You loose a valuable client, someone else got that promotion, a deal you were working on falls though, the house you loved sold to someone else... 
Take a deep breath, choose to keep your peace and trust Him.  Faith


"Teach me to do you will, for you are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness."  Psalm 143:19

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee."  Isaiah 26:3

"This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."  John 15:8

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Friday, June 22, 2018

Life By The Spirit


Life By The Spirit

When walking in the Spirit you have all the benefits. Here are some examples:

You don't worry about tomorrow.
You trust God at His Word.
You are not easily offended and you won't 
offend others.
Stress and fear leave and
Peace and Joy replace them.
You have a radiance that others will notice.
You set an example for others.
You see the best in people.
You give His grace.
You love unconditionally.
You know when to speak and when to keep quiet.
You do not judge.
You comfort and encourage others.
You make friends easily.
You leave others better.
You have a legacy of faith and goodness.

"So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit is what is contrary to the flesh.  They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."
Galatians 5:16-18







Friday, June 15, 2018

Change Your Focus


Change Your Focus

When we put our labels or judgements on others 
we are not in alignment with the Spirit of God. 

Acting as judge by falling for every thought we have against others or ourselves is wrong.

Parents, we are the worst at this...the what if's and the oh my gosh's can take us to a dark and slimy pit of fear concerning our children.

By doing this we are projecting our fears and the lies of evil on our children. 

I love to say and pray the opposite of my fears. Speak into them what you know the Lord can do. 

Raise them up. 
I mean, literally RAISE THEM UP with your affirmations, your trust and belief in them. 
Raise them up in the trust of God the Father, the maker of Heaven and Earth.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
2 Corinthians 4:18

"Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart."
Proverbs 3:3

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Friday, June 8, 2018

Joy Of The Lord


Joy Of The Lord

Let your smile change the world, 
but don't let the world 
change your smile.

The happiest people don't have the best of 
everything, only they make the best 
of everything.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power 
of the Holy Spirit." 
Romans 15:13


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Friday, June 1, 2018

Receiving God's Grace To Move Past Your Crushing Hurts


Receiving God's Grace To Move Past Your Crushing Hurts
by Joyce Meyer


Everyone deals with emotional pain to some degree. Whether it's a difficult relationship, an addiction, abuse, depression ... it can cripple us and prevent us from moving forward. But regardless of what's happened in our past, God still wants us to have a great future.
For years, I thought I had to settle for a second-rate life because I had been sexually abused by my father. I thought my future would never be as good as it could have been.
That's what our enemy, Satan, wants us to believe. He wants us to believe that our past pain has permanently damaged what God can do with our future.
Maybe that's where you are today. You look at everything you've been through and think, My situation's just a hopeless mess. Maybe it would be different if God had done something sooner, but now it's beyond repair.
If so, I want you to know that God can fix the unfixable and bring dead things back to life! (See Matthew 19:26.)
If you are brokenhearted—if you've been hurt, abused, disappointed or unfairly treated in any way—it doesn't limit what God can do in your life. In fact, God can give you a future that's better than it would have been if you had never gone through painful experiences.
Isaiah 61:7-8 (AMP) has meant so much to me over the years. It says, "Instead of your [former] shame you will have a double portion; and instead of humiliation your people will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore in their land they will possess double [what they had forfeited]; everlasting joy will be theirs. For I, the Lord, love justice..." 
This Scripture helped me understand that no person could pay me back for what I'd gone through—but God could! And He'd even give me double for all the pain I'd been through.
I've witnessed this firsthand in my own life. God has used His Word to transform me from the inside out. Instead of anger and bitterness, I now have peace and joy. Instead of being a victim of past abuse, He is using my experiences to help many find healing and total restoration from emotional pain!
Leave It All Behind
Isaiah 61:1-3 (NKJV) says Jesus came "to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound ... to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness..." (emphasis mine).
Jesus has already opened the prison doors! We no longer have to stay in the "prisons" of emotional pain, rejection, disappointment, worry, depression, anger, addictions or bad habits.
If you've ever dealt with any of these things, you know they can have long-lasting consequences. Pain from the past has a way of lingering and even affecting your future.
But you don't have to live stuck in the pain of your past. You can make an exchange—you can trade your pain for God's promise and have beauty instead of ashes.
God offers each one of us healing and restoration, but we also have a part to play in the process. We can't expect to keep our "ashes" and still receive God's beauty. We have to choose to move forward and leave things like bitterness, resentment, and self-pity behind.
Self-pity was a hard thing for me to give up. I used it for years to comfort myself when I was hurting; however, the Lord showed me that it's actually idolatry—it's turning inward and pitying ourselves when we should have compassion flowing out of us to other people.
Self-pity is a major trap that will keep us stuck in our pain. It's the same with bitterness and resentment. It took me a long time to get past the point of thinking, Someone owes me. I was bitter and angry about my past, and I ended up taking it out on the people around me, trying to "collect" from those who had no way of paying me back.
I had to decide to let go of my anger and resentment and trust God to restore what I had lost. He alone could make wrong things right, in His way and in His timing.
Whatever you've gone through or wherever you are today, your pain doesn't have the final say in your life. God can take any situation and turn it around for His good.
If your life is a fragmented mess, let Jesus gather up the pieces. Be determined to maintain a positive, grateful attitude, focusing on God's blessings and the great things He is doing in your life.
As you do, your pain will become someone else's gain, your mess will become your message and what you've walked through will become someone else's miracle. You'll have a life of beauty, joy and praise!
Joyce Meyer is a New York Times best-selling author and founder of Joyce Meyer Ministries, Inc. She has authored 100 books, including Battlefield of the Mind and Get Your Hopes Up! (Hachette). She hosts the Enjoying Everyday Life radio and TV programs, which air on hundreds of stations worldwide. For more information, visit www.joycemeyer.org.
Connect with God in a deeper way as you read His Word. 
"I will both lie down in peace and sleep; for You, Lord, make me dwell in safety and securely." Psalm 4:8  
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