God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!…Be still, and know that I am God! Psalms 46:1-3,10

Life can easily become overwhelming. Just turn on the news and watch for a few minutes. By the sounds of things, the world may not be here by the end of the week. And not just globally but personally too. We all have stuff. Pressures at work. Bills to pay. Projects to finish and deadlines to meet. We may relationship struggles, and we all have insecurities. The list can go on and on.

It is natural to let our fears and our stuff start to define the boundaries of our life. But it’s not right.

If you want a safe, mediocre life, the let your fears win. If you want to not live up to your potential and your calling, let stay inside your comfort zone and let your fear win. But I believe we are called for more. We are more than conquerors. We are able. We are not on this journey alone.

Whatever your battle may be right now, just remember who is really in control. (hint: it’s not you!)

God is.

He wants us to cast our cares on Him. He wants to journey with us and take the burden off our shoulders. Put your faith and trust in Him today. He is always there to help us. That is a promise and He will not break that. He will never leave you. Let Him lead. Give up the control you don’t actually have to begin with. He is always ready to help. Always.

Now, be still and let Him fight for you.

The mirror can sometimes lie. (for some, maybe most of the time.) Sometimes what we see is not who we are. Our perception is everything. Most of the time the mirror tells us what we should look like and how we should feel based on fictional cultural standards. We are so bombarded with these influences that we tend to let them define us…

But the mirrors lies.

The mirror can tell you that you are not good enough, not talented enough, not happy enough, and not pretty enough. We live in a materialistic society with a self-esteem problem. It is focused on one’s vanity and accomplishments. It’s hard not to let these things seep into how we view ourselves and often times it does.

But as Christians, our culture doesn’t have to define us. The supermodels and celebrities don’t have to define us…and the mirror doesn’t define us. Only Christ does.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. Psalm 139:13-14

We are Christ’s masterpieces! We are wonderfully made. The best of the best. Very good.

So the next time you look in the mirror, remember this: You are good enough. You are talented enough. You are beautiful. You are worth it. You do have purpose. You are wonderful. A beautiful work of art.

Don’t let you mirror lie to you.

Do you find that you are listening to the mirror?

“To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side I learn who I am and what God’s grace means.”

I know at times in my life I don’t acknowledge my whole life story, and I only want to show my best qualities. This is most especially true for me when I approach God. I know that this is natural but it is not best for us.

It is easy for us to fall into the trap of being fake in front of God even when we are along with him. We can deceive ourselves to actually believe we can fool him. We may think that if I pray a certain way, or use certain words, or act a certain way in front of him, that He somehow can’t see who we really are. Adam and Eve did this too…I know I have done this many times myself. But the truth is, by acknowledging the shadow side and running to his feet and being real before Him, we can activate grace in our lives. This is only way to truly understand the weight of grace. We are given 100% more grace than we deserve.

I need to remind myself often to be real and authentic in front of Christ. To truly acknowledge my shadow side in front of Christ. Regardless of what I do, His feelings and love for me will not change. He can and will not love me any more or less because of what I do. His grace and love are a constant.

Do you need to be work on acknowledging your shadow side in front of Christ as well?

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.    2 Cor 12:9 NLT

“…And then he told me, My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.” 2 Cor 12:9-10 The Message

A few days ago, I talked about worry. It is a big subject so I thought I should do a follow-up post and add to it. As it would happen, my pastor’s message this week was about worry, so let’s dive right in.

We all worry from time to time, and some to a much higher degree than others. And the truth about worry is that it paralyzes you. It keeps you stuck where you are and clouds your judgment moving forward. The moment is all that we have, and unfortunately worry keeps you from living in the present and in the moment. Ultimately worry robs you from living life to the fullest.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? ² My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. ³ He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; ⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.⁵ The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand; ⁶ the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; ⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. Psalm 121:1-8

This set of verses has some great depth to it and touches on worry, so let’s explore the passage deeper.

…My help comes from the Lord.

Notice our help comes, not from ourselves, but from the Lord. Usually when we worry, it is out of a desire to control, and control our circumstances. {Take a moment and think about how much time you spend worrying about things that are honestly completely out of your control?} Remember God, not you, is in control. Worrying will get you nowhere.

…the maker of the heavens and the earth.

Again, God, not you, is the author. He writes the story of our lives.

…He will not let your foot slip.

I hope this verse by now is resonating with you. It is put simply, He will not let us slip. God is always watching over us. It says in Matthew that if God watches over and provides for the birds, how much more would he provide and watch over us? This verse alone is enough to put our trust and faith in God. God is always watching. His full attention is on us at all times. He will take care of us.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Phil 4:6

I’m sure most of you have read this verse. There is a lot of truth in it. Instead of worrying, pray. I love how this verse is presented in the Message translation.

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

This particular translation touches on a profound truth that I think is important to understand in order to start to not let worry control your life.

Worry will not go away on its own.

It will not go away just because you try harder to not worry. In order to start to live a life not ruled by worry, you need to replace it.

Replace your worry with praise.

Whenever you start to get overwhelmed and feel like you are worrying about something…lay it down. Immediately start to pray. Turn on some worship music and begin to praise God. Quote Scripture to yourself over and over and over again until it sinks in. The only way to get rid of worry, is to replace it.

Do you need to replace your worry?

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. Psalm 55:22

It is easy to worry. Life gets hectic and stressful, problems arise, and we start to worry. Fear and doubt consume us and we let them run our lives. Let’s not go down that path any longer.

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. Psalm 46:1

Honestly we are not built to handle the weight of the world on our shoulders. We need to be more open to casting our burdens on Jesus and laying them down at his feet. This does not mean that we no longer give thought and attention to our troubles; but it does mean that we are no longer going at it alone. It does mean that we admit that we can not do it by our own strength, and it does mean that we are not going to be defeated and dictated by our circumstance.

Too often we hold worry so tight and close to ourselves…but it’s not healthy. We need to give God our trust. And the truth is, when has our worrying really ever solved any problem? Usually it keeps us stuck and paralyzes us from making a good decision. Worrying simply doesn’t do us any good.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3:5-6

Our own logic will fail us. It is easy to get caught up emotionally in a situation and make a poor decision, usually based on fear. Let’s not do that. Let’s trust, believe, and have faith that He will come through for us in his timing, and that we are be led down the correct path.

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30 MSG

Is there anything you are worrying about that you need to let go of?

This could not be a more relevant series for people these days.

I’m very excited for this series.

What are your thoughts?

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. ~Ephesians 3:17-19

I have been thinking about love a lot lately. I am engaged and getting married and am very much in love. But I can’t help but notice how overwhelmingly present the love of God is in my life! His love is amazing. We are so loved. To think about how good it feels to be loved by another human, and then think about how much more Christ loves me is overwhelming. It’s indescribable really.

Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.
~Aristotle

I’m so blessed to be where I am in my life right now. Even though this is the busiest and most demanding season of my life yet, I can’t help but appreciate all that is happening around me.

I am loved.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
~Romans 5:8 

Today, just think about how loved you are. Realize that no matter how bleak your situation may be today, or whether or not you actually feel like you are loved…the truth is that you are. Christ loves you more than you could even comprehend. And his love is eternally at capacity; meaning he could not love you any more or any less than he does right at this very moment! That’s a neat thought. Even though we fail him, mock, and betray him, he loves us. Forever he loves us.

Think about how loved you really are today.

It is difficult to know at what moment love begins; it is less difficult to know that it has begun. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Alright, I have one simple question for you today:

If you could change one thing, what would it be?

I would love to get a great conversation started...

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Enjoy!

“Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action. Grace, you know, does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone.” Dallas Willard

Grace is quite an amazing thing. It is something that I still don’t fully understand. God’s grace is everything. It is simply enough.

No matter what you do or what you have done, God will never love you less than He does right in this moment…pretty cool thought.

His grace is enough.