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Pursuit: The Founders' Guide to Happiness

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Episode 1: In Order to Be Happy 29:27

11 hari yang lalu29:27

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29:27

The “pursuit of happiness” is one of the most famous phrases in American history, and when America’s founders wrote it in the Declaration of Independence, they intended it to mean happiness through lifelong learning and self-improvement. To start our series, Jeffrey Rosen and scholar Robert P. George , the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, trace how the meaning of pursuit of happiness has changed. Then, American filmmaker Ken Burns shares how — even as he has spent his “entire life trying to figure out the United States” — daily self-reflection has given him new perspectives on what the founders faced 250 years ago. Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org . Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Explore the America at 250 Civic Toolkit. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly , our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Follow, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube . Support our important work. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Donate Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide To Happiness is made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation. © 2025 National Constitution Center. All Rights Reserved.…

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BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

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1958 Because of One 20:27

9 hours yang lalu20:27

20:27

It’s easy to look around and ask what has happened to our world. Why have things gotten so bad? Who’s fault is this? The truth is, it all began with the sin of one. The failure of one introduced sin and our perfect world was forfeited. That doesn’t seem fair, does it? It seems so totally unfair that someone we don’t even know forever ago screwed up and now we all pay the price for it. BUT – isn’t there someone else a really long time ago that we’ve never met who did something right that paid the price to save us? Neither are fair. We are fallen because of one and we are saved because of one. That’s not easy to understand. Romans 5: 18-21: “Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous. God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Humanity failed. Jesus fixed it. God said, “Don’t do this,” and we did it anyway. So Jesus did what we couldn’t do. The first sin was from Adam and Eve. Because of their sin, we live in a fallen world where bad things happen. Perfection has been cut off because of the presence of rebellion and our own way. I’ve always read their story and felt like it had nothing to do with me. It was their problem and their punishment, so why would I still be paying the price for it? But I’m beginning to see it very different now. Let’s study it together. Genesis 2, God creates the first man and breathes life into him to become a living person. Then God plants a garden in Eden and puts the man in that beautiful garden. In the middle of that garden he placed TWO trees, one was the tree of life and the second was tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God warns the man, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden – EXCEPT the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” Fair enough. You can live in this paradise. You can have anything you want and do anything you want, except for this one thing. That one tree is not good for you, don’t eat it’s fruit. Then God takes one rib from the man and he makes a woman. Now together, they live in paradise. But literally a few verses after the introduction of this first man and woman, there comes a shrewd snake into the garden and that snake whispers to the woman. He whispers a suggestion that is a twist on God’s truth. Notice what he says. Genesis 3, begging in verse 1, “Did God REALLY SAY you must not eat the fruit from ANY of the trees in the garden?” “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die!'” “You won’t DIE!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment their eyes were opened and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.” That was how it all started. And I’ve struggled with a few parts of this for many years. Now, God is showing me his love and grace through this. Just in case you’ve struggled with the unfairness of how this impacts you, let’s dig deeper and seek God’s message. First, do you understand you too would have done exactly what Adam and Eve did? Every single one of us would have eaten that apple. We would have been tricked by the enemy. We would have caved to the temptation. We would have wondered why we couldn’t have it and that curiosity would have driven us to do the same exact thing. God knows that. He knows every human he ever created would have failed here. What? You think you wouldn’t have? You think God could have told you not to eat from that tree and you would have never touched it? Just like you’ve never ever failed in any other way, right? Just like you’ve always been blameless and perfect in every decision? Uh huhhhh, like that. Just like you have never tried it your way and put God’s instructions on the back burner. Yeah. Girl, you and I both would have been sneaking that apple at the first opportunity. But, why did God say they would die if they ate from this tree? I mean really, Adam and Eve both ate it and they lived. So, was God wrong? Was God making an empty threat? What really happened here? Actually, this was the introduction to life without immortality. Immorality cancelled immortality. God’s design of humanity was eternal, but their sin of eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil took away their forever. Now they knew what it meant to do wrong, that’s the knowledge of evil, and if God allowed that to continue forever things would only continue to get worse and worse and worse without an end. God, in his love and kindness said I cannot allow things to grow worse forever, I must bring an end to it. So, death entered. Did they die the moment they ate the fruit? No. It wasn’t like that. But they did die. Their life was now limited. And so is ours. That’s what sin did. It limited our lifetime. Now, what about the other tree in the middle of the garden. Remember there were two and they are different. One is the tree they were told not to eat, that was the tree that would bring awareness of evil, and the other tree was the tree of life. That tree would bring eternal life causing them to live forever. Notice the devil didn’t trick them into eating from that tree. They were never told they couldn’t eat from that tree. But now that they had entered into sin, they couldn’t be allowed to live forever. Genesis 3:22-23, “The the Lord God said, ‘Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!’ So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” That’s why we live here instead of paradise. We couldn’t be trusted with the tree of life. We can’t live forever when we can’t trust God enough to follow his instructions. We were created for perfection and eternal bliss, but we couldn’t be trusted with it, so we were separated from it. BUT it doesn’t end there. God doesn’t just leave us out here, sinning and dying. He doesn’t just abandon us to the evil we have chosen. He saves us. Through one man sin began, but through another sin was cancelled. That’s our Jesus! Jesus said in John 10:10, “I came so that you might have life and have it to the full.” He restores us to a place where we can eat from the tree of life and be eternal, just as God designed in our creation. The tree of life appears again in the very last chapter of our Bible. Revelation 22, an angel shows John a river with the water of life that flows from the throne of God. And on each side of that river grows a tree of life, and it says its used for medicine to heal the nations. The angel says to John in this revealing of our eternal paradise that awaits, “No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. And there will be no night there – no need for lamps or sun – for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.” My friends, that’s our future because of Jesus. That’s what he has done for us. He makes us right and forever good enough and brings us back to the tree of life where we will be healed and made eternal. We will live forever in paradise, just as God originally designed. One man introduced sin to the world, and if he wouldn’t have done it, every single one of us would have. You didn’t have to be the one to eat the apple – the truth is, you would have. And one man saved the world, and not a single one of us could have done that. We couldn’t have even saved ourselves. We could have never been good enough. We could have never met the requirements. Every one of us would have sinned and fallen short of the standard. But we didn’t have to be good enough – that’s why we have Jesus! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com…

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

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1957 My Ultimate Name Drop 15:55

1 day yang lalu15:55

15:55

What would Jesus do for his friend? A friend – one he personally is connected with and cares deeply about. One who is more than just known or seen or heard, but one who is truly considered a friend. For his friend, Jesus woke him up from the dead. He literally gave his friend life again. The one person listed as Jesus’ friend was Lazarus, and Lazarus had become very sick. Lazarus’ sisters reached out to Jesus in despair to tell him. John 11:3, “So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, ‘Lord, your dear FRIEND is very sick.'” Jesus waits two days after hearing the news, then he travels to him. Verse 11, Jesus said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.” By the time Jesus arrives to his friend, he’s already been in his grave for 4 days. Jesus demanded they roll the stone away and verse 43 says. “Jesus shouted, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ and the dead man came out.” This is what Jesus did for his friend. He did the impossible. He went the distance. He brought him out of his grave. Are YOU a friend of Jesus? Is there a special relationship between you and the Lord? Do you know that’s actually what God wants for you more than anything else. He wants a RELATIONSHIP with you. He’s not only your heavenly father. He’s not only your creator. He’s not only your savior. But he is your friend. Somehow that’s the hardest for me to get. How could he WANT to be MY friend? Why would he ever CHOOSE ME as his friend? The truth is, it’s so much easier for me to imagine God as angry, disappointed and distant than it is for me to imagine him as seeking the relationship of a friend with me. Do you feel the same way? A friend – one you would want to spend time with. A friend – one you want to talk to. A friend – one you find joy in. A friend – one you want nothing but absolute goodness for. A friend – one you will share every emotion with. You can be happy with them, you can be sad with them, you can be excited, you can be quiet, you can be crazy, you can just be real. That’s a friend. And that’s what God desires of you. Be his friend. Don’t believe me? Read it for yourself – Romans 5:10-11, “For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.” It’s always fun to name drop. I have a friend who went to high school with Snoop Dog. I have another friend who dated Ricky Schroder from Silver Spoons as a teen. I have none of those great stories. I know no one famous, heck I’ve never even met anyone famous. My name drop game is lame … except for this one. Ready? GOD IS MY FRIEND! That’s right, the maker of heaven and earth is my friend. The one who holds the whole world in the palm of his hand is a friend of mine. And Jesus, well yeah, he died on the cross just so God and I could be friends. Boom. I just won the name drop game. And it’s actually true. I’m not making it up. I’m just claiming it. I’m letting it become part of my identity. God is my friend, and I am God’s friend. It’s true for you too, my sister. Jesus did that for you, all so you could be friends with God. Now, here’s the really wild part – without Jesus, we were enemies of God. Sin had separated us from our Creator. We couldn’t even come into his presence. There was a thick veil separating us from the presence of God. Only the Priest could enter his presence, and only once a year after sacrifices and atonement. God was untouchable, inaccessible, distant. This strict access was to maintain holiness and prevent sin from entering God’s presence. If you or I were to go behind that curtain to access God, we would have been struck dead immediately. And in that state of separation where we were enemies of God, he made a decision. A decision to fix our relationship with him. To offer a sacrifice for our sin that would forever make us good enough. That sacrifice was Jesus. JESUS MAKES US FOREVER GOOD ENOUGH. JESUS MAKES US A FRIEND OF GOD. So think about this, if while we were God’s enemy he sent his son to save us, what in the world will he do for us now that we’re his friend? Won’t he come save us from our grave just like Jesus did for his friend Lazarus? Won’t he pull us out of what has been threatening our life? Won’t he save us from that threat? Won’t he free us from that trap? Won’t he do the impossible for us? YES HE WILL! Why? Because Jesus has made us friends of God. A friend – one you would want to spend time with. A friend – one you want to talk to. A friend – one you find joy in. A friend – one you will share every emotion with. You can be happy with them, you can be sad with them, you can be excited, you can be quiet, you can be crazy, you can just be real. That’s a friend. That’s your God. God loves to hang out with you. He loves to talk to you. He loves to be there for you. He loves to help you, celebrate with you and be crazy with you. You can be real with him. All this time you may have felt like you had no one to do that with, and all this time you’ve had the best of the best wanting to be friends with you. God wants to be friends with YOU! Now, when I think of myself, I’m learning a new identity. I’m Pamela – I’m forever good enough because of Jesus and I’m a true friend of God. God and I are besties. He chose me first and I choose him back. In this broken world full of hate, let me remind you, LOVE WINS. Love will win over and over again. As a friend of God, you are called to carry that love to this hurting world. In America, we’re hurting right now because an act of hate has tried to silence love. Now it’s up to us. Will we join the hate? Will we be part of the problem or part of the solution? The solution for our enemies is the same solution God had when we were his enemies. Love. And let’s be clear – love is not just soft and mushy – love is real, love is honest, love is tough. Love speaks truth from a desire to heal, not hurt. Love overcomes. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7, “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” THAT IS LOVE. That is what we receive from God as his friends and that is what we’re called to live in and stand for. God loved us while we were still his enemies. Read Romans 5:10 again, “Our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while were were still his enemies.” God acted in love to his enemies and brought us into relationship with him to be his friends. Now, he gives us not only the power, but the calling to do the same. Get out there and love. Love those who disagree with you. Love those who hate you. Love those who have been hateful. Sacrifice for them. Offer them friendship. Offer them love. It’s what God did for us and it changed everything. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com…

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

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1956 Notice God’s Pattern 19:06

2 hari yang lalu19:06

19:06

Did you know God works good things into our lives through patterns? There’s always a pattern to God’s work. Know the pattern – trust the work. If you don’t know the pattern, you may question what’s happening in your life. Here’s the good news: The pattern is clearly spelled out in God’s word. Now, here’s the bad news: You won’t like how it starts. Ever. So, here’s God’s pattern of work – it begins with problems. Always. Romans 5: 3-5, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” That’s a pattern. It starts bad and leads somewhere good. It’s how God works and how we grow. Think about what a seed must go through to grow and become more. A seed must first be planted into the ground. Do you know what it feels like to be planted? Girl, it feels a whole lot like being stuck. It feels like darkness. It feels like death. But never forget it’s for a purpose and that purpose follows a pattern. After the seed is planted, then it must break. Yes, a breaking happens in that darkness where it is buried. It breaks open, and from that breaking a root shoots out, going deeper. After the root comes another shoot breaking out of the seed and rising up out of the dirt. It grows and grows, becoming more and more. Look at any large tree today and remember, it started as a small seed that was buried in darkness, felt like it was dying and forgotten, went through the pain of breaking, then it grew into something beautiful. Look at the scripture again with the visual of a seed in the ground. “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials (that’s the stuck part – the darkness – the burying), for we know that they help us develop endurance (that’s the root shooting out to grow deeper), and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation (that’s the breakthrough out of the darkness, growing in the light, producing in our purpose.) My sister, I know this feels like you’re being buried, but this is the beginning of the process of tremendous growth and purpose. This is not just some random hardship come to attack you – this is your planting. There’s beauty to come from this. Trust the gardener of your soul. Isaiah 58: 11, “The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.” God will give you what you need. He will grow you. But growing you isn’t always sunshine and cool breezes. Growing you begins with burying and breaking. The seed doesn’t first grow in sweet sunshine, that sweetness comes after the season of wrestling it out in the darkness. The Message translation helps us understand the 3 part pattern of God’s work in our lives. Look for the 3 parts. Again, this is Romans 5: 3-5: “There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary – we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit.” 1. Trouble 2. Passionate Patience 3. Alert Expectancy Trouble will come. It’s a guarantee in this world. Jesus said in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world!” Trouble is coming. Hard times will happen. You’ll be touched by struggles. You can call it being buried alive, or being planted. That’s up to you. When you trust God’s patterns, you can see it’s being planted for a purpose. There’s something so much better coming, but first you have to be planted. Then, you have to break a little. You have to go through a transformation that’s simply not easy. This is where you develop passionate patience. I love that term. It’s not just patience. Patience can be a ‘hold on through the misery’. Patience can be a ‘I’m going to hate every second of this until it’s over.’ But passionate patience says ‘I still have hope in the waiting.’ Passionate patience says, ‘God’s doing something in me and I’m trusting this.’ Passionate patience says, ‘This is going to be so worth it so I choose to praise God even while it’s still dark down here, even while I appear stuck, even while I’m hurting. I will praise Him.’ That’s passionate patience. We hold onto our hope. We trust all the more!!!! This trouble will not last forever and with God I’ll come out of this so much better! Can you dare to believe that today? Whatever you’re going through, God is going to use it for good. You know what that deep belief is – that’s the alert expectancy. That’s expecting God’s going to do something good with this. That’s expecting the breakthrough. That’s expecting the change. That’s expecting God to do something next. That’s hope!!!!! And Romans 5:5 says, “And this hope will not lead to disappointment.” God is not going to disappoint you in this. You may feel disappointed right now. This trouble may seem like absolute nonsense. This time spent suspended in darkness and breaking may feel like undeserved punishment. But there’s breakthrough beyond this and a sudden growth like you’ve never experienced before. There’s purpose in this. There’s fruit in your future! God has a loving purpose to accomplish in every allowed and measured trouble that ever touches your life. He may not have orchestrated the trouble – oh that trouble may have come from the pits of hell as an attack, or that trouble may have knocked on your door as a natural result of choices of yours or actions of others, but either way, that trouble has been measured by God and it will be used for a loving purpose. Will you just trust God’s love in everything he allows? Lord, I trust you have allowed this trouble and you will use it. I will passionately wait as you work out your purposes. I will not give up my hope. It will be protected here within me. I will praise you even when I can’t see it and even when I don’t feel it. I will continually look for you. I will search for your fingerprints on the details of my life, expecting you to do good things. There’s a pattern to God’s work and it looks like this: 1. Trouble hits. 2. We develop passionate patience as we go through the trouble, trusting God’s plan. 3. We refuse bitterness and hopelessness and we instead choose alert expectancy, believing God is working to grow something good. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com…

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

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1955 Let God Love You 17:05

3 hari yang lalu17:05

17:05

Some people are just hard to love. We know that – but what if you’re one of them without realizing it. What if you’ve become hard to love? You pull away. You put your walls up. You self-protect. You pretend. You hide. You keep everything surface level and superficial. And even worse – you do this with God. Girl, YOU WON’T LET GOD LOVE YOU. And here’s why – you feel unworthy. All your life you’ve been certain that if people really knew you they wouldn’t love you, and you know you can’t hide anything from God. He knows it all, so surely he doesn’t really love you. Not all of you. So, you’ve become hard to love. You push God away without even realizing it. You keep him at a distance so he doesn’t get too close. You put those walls up. You check boxes to be “good enough” but that heart of yours is highly protected. Oh how God wants to tear down those walls around your heart and bombard you with his love. Oh how he wants to lead you into a true relationship with him that reveals who he really is, and who you really are to him. Will you let God love you? Yes, while you’re unworthy. While you’re still a little messy. While things still aren’t right and you still have questions. Will you just consent to being loved by God exactly as you are, where you are – fully, thoroughly, wholly, completely, perfectly. While you are still unworthy, God wants to love you perfectly. This week we’re studying Romans chapter 5. Romans is my absolute favorite book in the entire Bible, and chapter 5 is perhaps the most simple, literal and powerful explanation of our salvation. If you don’t know where to start, start there. If everything else confuses you, just believe this. Today, let’s read the first 2 verses. Romans 5: 1-2, “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.” Your faith in Jesus makes you RIGHT in God’s sight. Jesus has made you worthy. Even while you’re still wrong, even while you still feel unworthy, God looks at you and sees you as completely covered, forgiven, justified and whole. You are perfectly lovable to him in every way. It’s an absolute work of the enemy to make you think and feel anything else. It’s easy to label it as humble and walk around feeling unworthy, but the truth is, that’s a work of Satan. Stop welcoming that. Stop partnering with the devil in deciding you’re inadequate. That’s absolutely nonsense. But it’s nonsense you’ve been hearing your entire life, so you’ve believed it as your truth. But Sis, when your truth doesn’t align with THE TRUTH, then your truth is UNtruth. It’s a lie. Satan is the father of lies and some of his lies have gotten into your head and heart as your truth. Right now, pray with me: Lord, I release all of my truths to you. Everything I believe and everything I say about myself, I lay them out for you to examine. If any of my accepted and believed truths are not THE TRUTH from you, please shine your light so I am no longer fooled by the lies of the enemy. I want THE TRUTH in everything you say about me. Now, look where this truth leads us – it leads us to PEACE WITH GOD. “We have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.” We often talk about the peace OF God. That feeling of calm within even when circumstances are uncertain or unfavorable. That’s the peace OF God. But, what is this peace WITH God? This is actually a legal issue. Sin has sentenced us as guilty. We haven’t met the standards. We haven’t fulfilled the laws. We haven’t been good enough. We’ve fallen short and deserving of a God who is against us. But instead, we have a God who is FOR US. A God who stopped at absolutely nothing to save us. A God who gave his absolute best to make us right again. And because of Jesus, we have not only the peace of God, but we have peace WITH God. He’s not mad at you. God is not the gray haired old man with angry eyebrows, sitting on a throne with a big stick, ready to strike you. He’s not looking down, shaking his head at you in disapproval. He’s not conjuring up ways to punish you. Quite the opposite! He’s at complete peace with you. He looks at you with Fatherly love for his precious girl and he wants nothing more than a relationship with you. He wants to draw you near. He wants to bless you. He wants to share his joy with you. I don’t know about you, but no one ever told me that. I was afraid of God. I was so consumed with trying to perform to please him or impress him so that maybe he would bless me, that I completely missed the fact that he already wanted to bless me without the show. When I prayed, it wasn’t because I was seeking a relationship with God, it was to try and make peace with a God who must have been disappointed with me. And now I see, gosh, I was hard to love. All this time, all I had to do was let God love me. Is that you too? Have you been missing the fact that God did all the heavy lifting for you? There are no hurdles for you to jump or boxes for you to check – No, just a surrender to be loved by a God who makes you enough. A God who speaks the truth about you. A God who loves you endlessly and wildly. All that’s left for you to do is just let yourself be loved by Him. Verse 2 says, “Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of UNDESERVED PRIVILEGE where we now stand.” Nope, you don’t deserve it, but it’s yours anyway. Privilege is yours. The meaning of undeserved privilege is: An unearned benefit received due to your identity rather than your effort. It all comes back to our identity. If you don’t know who you are in Christ, then you forfeit these truths and subject yourself to twisted lies. You forfeit your peace with God and instead you feel unworthy, unseen and unloved. And we’re right back to the battle for identity again. Remember, in this world all good comes under attack. Who God says you are is good, so the devil attacks that goodness and twists your identity. He leaves you believing you are what you earn. You are how you look. You are what others think about you. You are what you can do. WRONG. Those are lies. When you understand your identity through Christ, then you can stand in this undeserved privilege Paul tells us about. Even though you didn’t earn it, you can stand there with gratitude and confidence and receive it because of Jesus. You can let God love you! We’re often wandering around looking for our place. If your only place is the mother of your house, then your whole world is turned upside down when those kids grow up and leave the house. You don’t even know who you are if you’re not the mom. If your only place is the wife, then what happens when husband goes through a mid-life crisis and brings crisis to yours, or when husband’s life ends before yours? You don’t know who you are anymore if you’re not his wife. If your only place is the girl who gets the job done, but then finally the job is done and there’s no more work to do, then who are you? Where’s your worth? Where’s your value? What’s your identity? But Jesus has shown us our place. Our place is standing in God’s grace. A permanent place of undeserved privilege. A standing of forever good enough. A place of worthy and chosen and loved. Now, let God love you! Jesus, thank you for making me forever good enough. God, thank you for loving me. I’m going to just let you love me now! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com…

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

1
1954 Jesus, Help My Thoughts 19:57

6 hari yang lalu19:57

19:57

The key to you having a good day or a bad day isn’t in the weather, it’s not in your circumstance, it’s not in the actions or mood of others. The one key to your day is all in your head. Your THOUGHTS write the definition of this day. Your thoughts are either lifting you up, or dragging you down a dark alley to be beat. Your thoughts are either highlighting all that is good and right, or they’re underlining all that’s bad and wrong. Have you ever tried to reason with a 13 year old boy or a 17 year old girl? After having raised a few kids, I’ve discovered those are the key ages for each. It’s at the point of 13 in a boy’s life, and 17 in a girl’s life, that you thoroughly understand why some animals eat their young. I’ve always loved my children, but this stage really pushed the limits of me liking them. Their thoughts get all infected with hormones and they go temporarily crazy. Everything becomes an argument. Everything is made harder than it has to be. Everything is a battle. They’re not thinking rationally. Every thought they think is solely focused on them being right and everyone else being wrong. Their thoughts are anchored to all things being unfairly against them, so the simplest of things erupt in a full blown war. Now, here’s the good news parents of 13 year old boys and 17 year old girls, as quickly as they changed into this difficult, irritable being, they will change back to a somewhat tolerable individual in your house at some point. I can’t promise when, but eventually their thoughts change and they calm down. If you’ve lived through this stage with your children, you know. You know everything can be right, but they can make it so totally wrong. Well girlfriend, we are no different. Everything can be reasonably right in your life and you can be responsible for making it totally wrong. If your thoughts are focused on how unfair things are for you, how unappreciated you are, and how hard things are for you, every day starts lining up to meet your expectations. You’re seeking … and surprise …. you’re finding! Just like the 13 year old boy looking for an argument always finds one, your search for things being unfair will always bring you to evidence your thoughts were correct. It’s all unfair for you. But then what? What is your reward? Now this day is foundationally unfair. Everyone has it better than you. Your life is unfairly hard, so you drag your butt through the torture of another day where you get a whole lot less than you feel you deserve. But guess what … your thoughts ordered that for you. How about you don’t order than anymore? The 17 year old girl looking for a battle always finds one. It’s as if she hand selects the clothes to start the battle. She plants the evidence for you to find just so the battle rages. Things can’t just stay calm … no, there’s always a battle because she’s looking for one. And you always find something to be stressed about when you look for it. Look at your schedule, the long list of all you have to get done. That’s stressful. Look at how far you still have to go. That’s stressful. Think about what could happen next, all that could go wrong, the disaster that could be waiting just around the corner. That’s stressful. Your thoughts have stressed you out and not a darn thing has even happened. But, what you look for you will find. And if you think about it, your body responds as if it’s happening. You can think yourself into a full blown anxiety attack. You can also think yourself into a state of absolute bliss and peace. You choose. I’ve seen peace in a hospital room when a loved one is dying. I’ve seen bliss in the middle of the biggest mess that doesn’t seem like it will ever be fixed. I’ve seen it and lived it because I’ve chosen those thoughts. I’ve sought it and found it. I’ve learned to control my thoughts and make them obedient, regardless of circumstances. 2 Corinthians 10:5 “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” The question is, Jesus, what should I be thinking about? What do you want me to focus on? What do you want me to notice? You, and only you, get to choose your thoughts. You think about what you chose to think about. And those thoughts have power and create a ripple effect in your life. They’re either causing you to feel good or feel bad. Those feelings then impact your attitude and actions. And this is how your entire life changes directions. Your thoughts are like the rudder on a boat, steering you right into chaos or peace. Let me give you a practical example. I’ve been married for 31 years to a truly amazing human being. My husband loves me and every day his love for me is on full display. I chose whether I see it or not. I can talk myself into feeling totally unloved. That’s not his doing, it’s my own thoughts. If you’ve studied love languages, you understand most couples are the result of opposites that attract. You may have a love language of quality time and all you desire is one on one time together to feel loved, but he may have a love language of physical touch that comes across as a physical desire that exhausts you. What you don’t understand is that as a physical touch person, his continual touching, groping, and advances, is his love on display. This is how he speaks love. And if it’s not your own love language it just annoys you. I’m primarily a words of affirmation girl. Just say something nice to me. Silence is brutal. Criticism cuts me. Negativity crushes me. I could count on one hand the number of times this year my husband has told me I am doing a good job. ONE HAND. If my thoughts focus on this, I feel totally unloved. I feel unappreciated. I feel neglected. If I choose to do that what I’m missing is the fact that my husband is an Acts of Service guy. This man makes my coffee and puts it in my favorite mug every morning. He always keeps me equipped with the newest and best equipment to work because I have a tendency to break it often. He plans our meals, ensures they meet my chosen regiment, then plates my meals perfectly and serves them to me. Why? Because he loves me hard. Yet, if I don’t take my thoughts captive and make them obedient, I will feel unloved. Where have your thoughts been running wild and causing you to feel ways you don’t have to feel? I promise there is someone waking up today to circumstances less favorable than your own, and they’re waking up with gratitude and energy. The only difference is their thoughts have been harnessed and tamed, and as a result those thoughts are now obedient. Where are your thoughts taking you? They’re running off in some direction … make sure it’s a direction you want to go. If I want to feel loved, I only need to get my thoughts in alignment with a different perspective. He may not have called me beautiful this morning, but at this moment he’s out walking our dog praying for me. It’s up to me whether or not I’m grateful. You may be breaking good relationships with untamed thoughts. You may be ruining a job that could be a pure blessing with negative thoughts on a rampage. You may be taking perfectly good days of life and making them feel overwhelming and stressful all with thoughts seeking the negative. God has given you the power to change that. You, and you alone, control your thoughts. Check the trajectory of your thoughts. Where are they trying to take you? Is that where you want to go? Don’t blindly follow every thought that pops in your mind. Honey, your thoughts can’t be trusted. Philippians 4:8 “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com…

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

1
1953 Reason For Hope 17:37

7 hari yang lalu17:37

17:37

Our faith is what pleases God most. It’s our deep belief in him that he desires. A knowing within that he will do what he said he will do and his promises for me are guaranteed. Abraham is our example of faith. Because of his faith, he was counted as righteous. Was he perfect? No. But did he believe God continually against all odds? Yes. That’s what we are being asked to do now. Just believe God CAN. Believe God WILL. Believe every promise he’s ever made will be fulfilled and not withheld. In Romans 6:18, Paul recounts the story of Abraham and says, “Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping.” Oh may that be said of us. May our hope stay alive even when everything around us says there’s no hope. May we cling to the promises of God and not waiver in the wait. What was Abraham hoping for? Flip all the way back to the beginning of your Bible and read his impossible story. Genesis 15:5, “Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, ‘Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!'” Now, what you need to know is this is absolutely ridiculous. Abraham is 75 years old at this point and his wife Sarah is barren. They have no children and now they’re entirely too old to even imagine still having a baby. But when God made this promise to him, he chose to believe. He believed against all odds. He believed even though it was impossible. He believed even though it was ridiculous. Verse 6, “And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.” But then comes the wait. 24 more years pass and Abraham is now 99 years old. Still Sarah has a dried up womb and no child. Instead of things getting better after the promise, things got worse. There was no reason for hoping anymore, but still Abraham kept hoping. What have you been hoping for, but as you’ve been hoping things have only been getting worse? What have you been waiting for, but you’re no closer after the wait than you were before? Will you keep hoping when there’s no reason to hope? Sarah overheard a messenger from God tell Abraham, “I will return to you about this time next year, and your wife, Sarah, will have a son!” Sarah overheard the conversation and laughed. She said to herself, “How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my husband is also so old?” Circumstances said it was impossible. Every reasonable thought told them it was far too late. All these years of hoping and trying with nothing ever happening. Is there something in your life that feels the same? Something that feels impossible? Something that’s too far gone? Something that’s so broken it could never be repaired? Something you’ve given up hope on because it just never happened? Well listen up because God has a very specific answer for that. Genesis 18:14, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Really, is this too hard for God? The God who created the entire Universe, the God who makes the earth to spin and the sun to rise. The God who knit you together in your mother’s womb and breathed life into you so that you may live. Is your broken thing too hard for God to fix? Is your impossible thing too hard for God to make possible? Is this really beyond hope with God? ABSOLUTELY NOT! This is not too hard for the Lord. If God says a 90 year old woman and a 100 year old man can have a baby, then against all odds, they can have a baby. If God says that wayward child who’s been walking the wrong path for all these years can come home and be restored to their family, then God can bring them through that door any day now. If God says that man who’s battled addiction most of his life will be set free, then those chains absolutely will fall to the ground. If God says it will be saved, it will be saved. If God says it will be changed, it will be changed. If God says it will happen, then absolutely nothing in the world can keep it from happening. What’s your hard? Where’s your wait? Your impossible is possible with God. This is not too hard for the Lord. You don’t have to know how or when, you simply must believe. Believe if God wants to do it, he can. Believe if God wills it, it will happen. Believe when it’s time, nothing will delay it. Even when there’s no hope, you keep hoping. Genesis 21: 1-2, “The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would.” God did it. He did the impossible. He fulfilled his promise. He did it right on time. And if he did it then, he can do it now. He can still do the impossible. He can still fulfill his promises that seem so hopeless. Today, you stare down that mountain that stands in your way – yes, that mountain that just won’t seem to budge – that mountain that’s been ever unchanging no matter what you’ve done – and you tell that mountain the truth. You tell that mountain when God says it’s time to move, it will have to move. Quote scripture to that mountain. Genesis 18:14, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” You’re not too hard for my God. It’s not too late for my God. This is not impossible with my God. I still believe. I still have hope. Remember what we talked about last week in episode #1949 titled “I Still Want It”. Protect your heart from becoming hardened and bitter during the wait. Your natural self-protection will make you want to withdraw and disconnect from the things that are hurting you. You’ll feel like you want to just give up. You’ll begin telling yourself you don’t really want what you’ve been waiting for and you’re okay without the fulfillment of the promises God whispered to your soul. You’ll begin to lose hope. And this is where you have to cling to faith. Faith that this is NOT too hard for the Lord. This is where you say, I’m hurt, but I’m not giving up. I’m disappointed, but I’m not turning back. This sucks, but I’m not building walls. If God has it for me, I still want it. After all those years, God still had a baby for Abraham and Sarah. But it was up to them to still want it. This was not an immaculate conception. It was a miraculous pregnancy, but they still had to want it and do the things required for it to happen. I don’t know what you’re about to give up on, but God is reminding you it’s NOT TOO HARD FOR HIM. He can still do it – do you still want it? Your faith is what pleases God most. It’s your deep belief in him that he desires. A knowing within that he will do what he said he will do and his promises for you are guaranteed. May it be said of you that even when there was no reason for hope, you kept hoping. There’s one reason for hope still – God is involved. It may be too late, it may be too far gone, and it may be against every odd there ever was, but it is NOT TOO HARD FOR GOD! And because of God, there is hope. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com…

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

1
1952 An Echo of Yes 21:11

8 hari yang lalu21:11

21:11

God has spoken promises over your life. Do you know his promises? Do you walk confidently in what God has promised, knowing that the maker of the Universe will move Heaven and Earth to keep his promises concerning you? Nothing can cancel God’s promises. Nothing can overpower what God has promised. And the greatest news is the only thing required of you to walk in his promises over your life is your faith. Not your perfection. Not a cleaned up, holy version of you. Only your faith. The labor of salvation is solely on the back of Jesus. He has done the work, now only our faith is required. We just have to believe it. Believe God loved us so much that he sent his Son, Jesus, as a substitute sacrifice to cover our sins and make us right with Him. Believe the cross was for us. For me and for you, personally. Over 20 years ago, someone rang my doorbell and when I answered, they introduced themselves and asked my name. I told them, “I’m Pamela.” They looked me in the eye and without knowing my past problems or my current struggles, they said with absolute confidence, “John 3:16 – For God so loved PAMELA, that he gave his one and only Son, so that when she believed in him she would not perish, but have everlasting life. Pamela, if you were the only person in the world, God would have sent Jesus to save just you.” Believing that has forever changed my life. Do you believe that? Do you believe God loves you that much? No matter what you’ve done, no matter what you are doing right now, God offers Jesus for you to be saved. The total work of salvation is all on Jesus. All you have to do is believe it. And if you believe it, your whole life is covered in specific promises from God. Romans 4: 14, “If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless.” Verse 16, “So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift and we are all certain to receive it.” Faith is the only thing that makes your righteous. There’s not a single good work you could do that would make you righteous. It’s only by faith in Jesus. Remember last week our study on being made right with God? Romans 4:3, “God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” Counted is an accounting term. It’s a deposit into our account so that we have what is needed. In exchange for your faith in Jesus, God has made a deposit into your account that forever keeps you in good standings with him. Even when you waver. Even when you wander. Even when you mess up again. God counts you as righteous because he sees your faith. Now, because of our faith, we have promises of God over our lives. Do you know about these promises? Girl, start studying the promises of God and you will find confidence like you’ve never had before. You know when God makes a promise, he not only has every intent to fulfill it, but he has all the power in the world to do it. Not a single promise of God will go unfulfilled. If God promised it, it WILL happen. Numbers 23: 19, “God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?” There are a whole lot of unknowns and variables in this life that may leave us all stirred up and worried. But we can be absolutely assured that if God promised us something, he will fulfill his promise. It’s ours. It’s as good as done. Together, let’s open our Bibles and read a few of God’s promises for his girls who have faith in Jesus. 1. We are promised to have God watching over us, protecting us, always. Girl, did you know God’s eye is literally on YOU today. He knows everything concerning you. You are not hidden from him. You are not forgotten by him. He cares for you. Psalm 121:5, “The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. Verse 7-8, “The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.” Absolutely nothing touches my life without the permission of God. If God allows it, then that means he will use it for good. So what in the world do I possibly have to worry about? 2. We are promised to walk in divine provision. Every need will be aligned and no detail will be overlooked. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Do you know what this means? Let’s put this in practical terms. When you get to the place of faith that says, “God, if you’re in it, I want it, but if you’re not, I don’t” then you will have absolutely everything you need. Your surrendered will and complete trust in God will open the doors to the storehouses of Heaven. Everything will be yours. That’s a promise. I’ve discovered I could only come to this place of surrender and trust through several failed attempts on my own. God graciously let me do things on my own and fail miserably. He let me make my messes. He let me be embarrassed. Not because he was ashamed of me, but because he knew he had put so much better in me. He let me come to the end of myself. And finally in that place of learning God’s ways are truly better than my ways, and his timing is perfect even when I wish it were faster, then I really seek His will and that makes me start living right. My heart then stays in a place of surrender only wanting what God is in, and here I find I have absolutely everything I need. I’ve seen it. I’ve walked in it. I know it. It’s the promise of God for his girls when we have faith. 3. We are promised to be made new. The things you struggled with will no longer hold you back. You will overcome those struggles. The path you once walked will be left behind and you will walk a new path with Jesus. A path that is taking you to the most fulfilling purposes and divine destiny. That’s a promise. 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” Do you belong to Christ? Meaning, have you surrendered your life to Jesus? Have you placed your trust in him? Do you accept what he has done for you to save you? If so, you are promised to be made a new person. Your life has started over. Everything else in your past has been washed away, you’ve been given a clean slate and a life overflowing with promises. No guilt. No shame. You’re brand new. That’s a promise. Now, here’s the thing about promises. You can either believe them, or not. You can either live counting on them, or not. The promise still stands but you get to choose what you do with it. Imagine I promised to give you a new car if you showed up at my house tomorrow. The promise was made. I really have the car. I’m fully prepared to hand the keys over to you. But I can’t make you show up to claim it. You have the power to decide, and your decision will determine whether you get that car or not. God has promises for you. The promises have been made. He really has everything he has promised you. He has a new life for you. He has everything you will ever need. But you get to choose whether or not you walk in those promises. You have the power to decide, and your decision will determine if you go through this life with peace and power, or filled with worry and overwhelm. The promises of God are all yours if you only believe in his Son, Jesus. 2 Corinthians 1:20, “For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding ‘Yes!’ And through Christ, our ‘Amen’ (which means ‘yes’) ascends to God for his glory.” God has said YES! A resounding YES means yes over and over again. The echo of yes. We live in the echo of yes to all of God’s promises because of Jesus. Now, God asks us to echo that yes back to him. That’s what amen means. When we pray, we give him our worries and our troubles, we remember his promises and then we say, “amen”, we are saying “Yes, Lord. I believe it. I agree with it. I receive it.” YES Lord. YES to all your promises. We believe it, we agree with it and we receive it. How many times have you said no to God’s promises? You’ve dismissed yourself. You’ve settled for less. You’ve opted for easy. No more of that, Sis! Now, you’re living in the echo of YES. God has said yes over and over again through Jesus, and now you echo that yes back. Yes, God I believe, yes God I agree with it, and yes God I receive. Song: I’m Trading My Sorrows I’m trading my sorrows I’m trading my shame I’m laying it down For the joy of the Lord I’m trading my sickness I’m trading my pain I’m laying it down For the joy of the Lord Yes Lord, yes Lord, yes yes Lord! Amen Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com…

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

1
1951 That’s The Truth 19:21

9 hari yang lalu19:21

19:21

Retreat recap – Main session on the banks of the river. There is an attack on your identity. Who you really are, who you were created to be, and how God sees you is the target of the enemy of your soul. All good comes under attack. Who you are created to be is good. Now, who you are us under attack. The temptation of Jesus was an attempt to steal his identity. Luke 4: 1-13 Then Jesus, full of the Holy spirit, returned from the Jordan River. (What had just happened at the Jordan River – he was baptized.) He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry. Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.” But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.'” Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. I will give it all to you if you will worship me.” Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.'” Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t eve hurt your foot on a stone.” Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.'” When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until they next opportunity came. When did the attack happen? After Jesus’ baptism. After a mighty public move of God within his life. And when Jesus was most weak. He was hungry. Wow – isn’t this exactly how it happens in our lives too? After we make a commitment or after we’ve seen God work, then comes the attack. And the enemy always attacks when we are at our weakest. When we are exhausted. When we are emotional. When we are fragile. When we are insecure. That’s when the enemy pounces. Satan comes in when Jesus is hungry and weak and attacks his identity. It sounds like this, “Well if you’re really all this, then why can’t you do that.” Satan starts making an unfair comparison. A comparison that makes us question who we are and what God must think of us. And let’s be very clear … Satan’s tactics have not changed. He’s still doing the same thing thousands of years later – and he’s doing it to me and you. He’s constantly trying to make you compromise. He’s continually trying to rob you of God’s truth about you and replace it with some cheap imitation that hinges on appearances. So, what’s the solution for this attack of identity? Look what Jesus did – he stiff armed Satan with the never changing truths of God. Jesus knew what God’s word said. My sister, if you don’t know what God’s word says, then you will be vulnerable to the twisted suggestions of Satan. There’s only one way to know God’s word – be IN God’s word. You literally have to open it up and read it yourself. His word is alive, it’s like no other word. It will get in you and change you. It will change your heart and your mind. It will change your life. When you know God’s word, then you know God’s truth. When you know God’s truth, then you won’t be so vulnerable to the suggestions of the devil. What does your inner voice sound like? You know, that chatter that constantly goes on in your head that no one else can hear, but it’s loud and clear to you. It’s either speaking the truth of God about you, or it’s speaking the twisted suggestions of Satan about you. What’s it saying? Is it saying you’re a masterpiece – or is it saying you’re an embarrassment? Is it saying you’re enough – or is it saying you’re never enough? Is it saying you’re loved – or you’re unlovable? Is it saying you’re a miracle – or you’re a mistake? Is it saying you’re treasured – or you’re trash? Is it saying you’re forgiven – or you’re to be punished? Is it saying you’re chosen – or you’re unwanted? Is it saying you’re known – or is it saying you’re forgotten? This is the attack on your identity. The enemy of your soul knows if he can replace God’s truth about you with a twisted suggestion that causes you to doubt, causes you to play little, causes you to sit it out, causes you to become defensive, or causes you to become jealous – then you will never rise up and live in the fullness of who God created you to be. You see, my sister, who God created you to be IS ENOUGH. Who God created you to be is a masterpiece, she is endlessly loved, she is an absolute miracle, she is treasured, she is fully forgiven, she is chosen, and she is known. She’s set apart, called, equipped, valued and wanted. She is made new, she is redeemed, she is restored, she is favored, she is blessed, she is healed, she is whole, she is transformed, she is made perfect. She is gifted, she is appointed, she is free. She is God’s girl, God’s vessel and God’s messenger. THAT’S YOUR IDENTITY. THAT’S THE TRUTH. THAT’S WHO YOU ARE. And that’s exactly what the devil so desperately DOESN’T WANT YOU TO KNOW. So, at retreat, sitting on the banks of that river, each girl was randomly given a gift bag. A bag that had been prayed over. A bag that contained a mirror with a special truth written on it. God’s truth about them. For the one questioning if she was really still enough – she received ‘YOU ARE ENOUGH.’ (That was me.) For the one questioning her next steps, she received ‘YOU ARE CALLED.’ For the one questioning her value, she received ‘YOU ARE WORTHY.’ For the one battling the pull of an addiction, she received, ‘YOU ARE FREE.’ Over and over again, God aligned his truth for his girls to overcome the attacks of Satan on their identity. As they looked in their mirrors, stared at the written truth about them and their own reflections, we played the song ‘The Truth’ by Megan Woods. You remind me who I am When I look in the mirror and I’m not so sure Lord, I don’t wanna listen to the lies anymore The truth is I am my Father’s child I make Him proud and I make Him smile I was made in the image of a perfect King He looks at me and wouldn’t change a thing The truth is I am truly loved By a God who’s good when I’m not good enough I don’t belong to the lies, I belong to You And that’s the truth I pray you can feel the power in this moment wherever you’re listening, just as we did sitting on the banks of the river holding our mirrors. Then, it was time to wash away the dirt from our journey. Did you know that was the very practical meaning of foot washing in the times of Jesus? They wore sandals and traveled by foot on very dry and dusty dirt roads. When you visited someone’s home, they would often wash off your feet upon entry so that you didn’t carry the dirt from your journey inside. Gosh, I wonder if the dirt from our journey gets inside us sometimes? What we’ve been walking through gets in our hearts and in our heads and God just needs to wash it off. So, at retreat, we stepped into the flow of that river, and we let God wash our feet. We just let the water run over our feet so the things we had been walking through couldn’t build up on us and get in us. Life is hard, we need our feet washed. While we were walking in the river, the song “Left It In the River” by Jamie MacDonald played. Listen to these words: My life was changed When I stepped into the water Ain’t seen my chains Since I gave ’em to the Father Hallelujah, I’ve been delivered Where is my guilt? Where is my shame? I left it in the river Maybe what you need to do is find you a river to walk in, Sis. Maybe you need to step into the water and let God take those chains off you. Maybe you need to give it all the to Father – all that guilt – all that shame – all those questions – and just leave it in the river. God wants to wash our feet on this journey so the dirt doesn’t continue to build up on us. He wants to wash away the lies of the enemy. He wants his girls to know the truth and walk in the truth. Free. Healed. Renewed. Called. Chosen. Whole. Held. Made new. Known. Special. Treasured. Seen. Loved. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com…

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

1
1950 Just Add Water 15:03

13 hari yang lalu15:03

15:03

Have harsh conditions caused you to put living on hold? Are you waiting for more favorable circumstances to show back up for your life? Is your plan to really start living this life of yours once the fires are put out and the smoke has cleared? Girl, don’t you know you were made for this storm? You are built for tough times. You’re like a 4 wheel drive truck with big muddin’ tires … you can get through this honey because you were designed for times like this. If you should choose to lay low and wait for another day, just know your life isn’t waiting for you. As the days pass, opportunities pass with them and they won’t come back around for you to grab them again. It’s now. Living is here. You don’t have to wait for more perfect days to show up and use what God has put in you. But hard times cause us to let dreams go stale. Let talents go dormant. Let hopes fade. Have we forgotten we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus, and that means we are made for this battle. We are built for less than perfect conditions. You are fully equipped for the specific hardship you face. Now is actually the perfect time for you to show up and live. Right here in the middle of this is the ideal setting for you to decide you are more than what happens to you because you have the power of God living inside of you. These ashes are the ones you’re supposed to rise from. Here, where it seems you’ve let things slip too far gone … Here, where life is freaking hard and you don’t know how you’re going to make it through this … Yes, right here is where you decide you’re going to live! Why? Because girl you’re not some packaged science experiment. You’re not a sea monkey. That’s right … I said sea monkey. Remember those miraculous little creatures in a packet that would come to life when you add water? Like for real, they go from dust to tiny little living sea creatures that grow? I always thought it was some kind of trick. How in the world is that even possible? Sea monkeys. That can’t be real. BUT IT IS REAL! And yes, they come to life when you add water. Sea monkeys are a breed of hybrid shrimp created in the 1950s by a scientist. This living creation is derived from crustaceans that undergo a process called “cryptobosis.” Cryptobosis is a physiological state where all activity is reduced to an undetectable level without disappearing completely. It’s life with a suspended life brought on by times of adverse conditions. Survival has been adapted to basically put life on hold until things get better. And these sea monkeys can stay in this state of suspension indefinitely, waiting for better conditions. Is that you? Are you living in a suspended state going through what you’re going through? You’re here, but you’re barely here. You feel like you’re just disappearing. Oh my sister, this is for you today. You don’t have to wait for conditions to improve to spring to life. You were designed to continue living right through this. How do you get through this? How do you face the reality of your life when things are unbelievably hard and incredibly uncertain? Just like the sea monkeys, you need water. LIVING WATER. Better conditions for a sea monkey is water. The moment water is introduced, they spring to life, and begin eating and growing. That is our Jesus for our real, messy, hard lives. Remember when Jesus met the woman at the well? A woman who was an outcast from society because of the choices she had made and the way she was living. A woman ashamed of who she had become. But Jesus knew exactly who she was and everything she had ever done. He met her there at the well that day as she was drawing water and asked her for a drink. She basically tells him to get his own water, SHE’S BUSY WITH HER HARD LIFE? Girl, are you so busy with your hard life that you’re not seeing what God has for you? Then Jesus says in John 4: 10-14 “‘If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.’ ‘But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,’ she said, ‘and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?’ Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who drinks this water will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.’” Jesus is the living water we need. He is the answer for your drought, for your hardship, for your harsh conditions and unlivable circumstances. You’re right, you can’t do this. This is too much. It is too hard. How could you ever be expected to carry this heavy weight on your own? Honey, you’re not alone. Jesus is right here with his living water to give you life in this hardship. Remember those sea monkeys? You don’t have to cease living while going through this. You don’t have to shrink back to minimal existence. You don’t have to wish this away or sleep it away. You don’t have to take that bottle of pills to numb out the reality of your life. God is offering you something so much better. Just as water brings the sea monkeys to life again, Jesus is the living water offering you life right here today in the middle of this mess. Won’t you accept it? Won’t you let him fill you, strengthen you, renew you, and guide you? You have a choice to make. You choose whether you melt back into minimal existence and wait for this to get better, or you choose to accept all Jesus is offering you and rise up and live your life. You CAN live well today. You CAN find strength today. You CAN be filled with joy and peace today. But you could also can spend this day examining and categorizing all the reasons why this is insanely unfair, and you would be right. You can make a list and alphabetize the list of people who should have been there, but weren’t. Add to that list every bad thing that’s ever happened to you and all that could go wrong next. It’s a long list isn’t it? But remember this, as you do this, life is passing you by and the opportunities to live are limited. This isn’t living. This is a state of undetectable activity without disappearing completely. This is a waste. Don’t waste what God has given you. He has given you life, but are you going to live it? Jesus has offered you living water and he is exactly what you need to keep living during this hard time and not go back into a state of non-existence. Let’s go back to the woman at the well. The woman who’s life was a mess after going through 5 husbands and lining up the next one. Jesus offered her water and she questioned. Why would I need something you have? Who are you? How could you possibly have what I need? You don’t know me. But he proved he knew her by telling her everything she had ever done. However, what she had done did not disqualify her from what Jesus was offering her. You are not disqualified from the offering of Jesus. Your sin isn’t too big. Your problem isn’t too far gone. GOD ACTUALLY DOES HAVE WHAT YOU NEED. LIKE EXACTLY WHAT YOU NEED. This is all workable in the hands of the Almighty. I like to call it “work-out-able”. Won’t you trust him here? Won’t you receive his living water and be strengthened? This is exactly what you need to get back to living here. Take a drink. Jesus is offering you life right now, and this life is worth living! Your song for today is “Always on Time” by Elevation. Listen to these words: I remember how you provided How you held me through the night And I remember how you sustained me When you stepped in to save my life If I knew then what I know now I would be still and let you work it out Jesus I was tossed in the water But I never went under You were always on time Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com…

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

1
1949 I Still Want It 18:59

14 hari yang lalu18:59

18:59

This morning, the Lord hit me with a revelation of his word that left me in absolute awe. It just makes so much sense and I can’t believe I never saw this before. This revelation is new and fresh to me, so I may stumble my way through sharing it with you. My prayer is that you will hear God loud and clear as well and receive precisely what you need for where you are on your journey. We all have something we’re waiting on – something that’s taking too long. Something that’s not getting better so you’re getting discouraged. Something that still hurts when you just don’t want to hurt anymore. Something that you desperately want to change, but it’s just been continuing, so to self-protect you’ve disconnected. Do you see how you’ve done that? You’ve distanced yourself in this wait because the constant struggle just eats at you. So, you’ve separated yourself from what your heart most desires so that your heart won’t be continually hurt. If it’s your marriage, you’ve distanced yourself so that his refusal to change won’t be so painful. If it’s your wayward child, you’ve disconnected from their chaos because otherwise it will just break you. If it’s infertility, you stopped getting your hopes up because every passing month without getting pregnant is like a slap in the face. What’s your story? We all have one. This is precisely what I’ve done. I have something in my life that I’ve been waiting 6 years on. It’s my youngest daughter. For 6 years she’s been away from our family. Disconnected. Wandering. Struggling. Suffering. This prolonged disconnect has created a roller coaster ride in my life of ups filled with hope of re-connection, then downs filled with deafening silence and rejection. And I realize to protect myself, I’ve just stopped trying so hard. I’ve released her in a sense of trust in God, but I’ve also kinda given up in a sense of hopelessness. You know why? Because I don’t want to hurt anymore. Can you relate? When the years just keep passing without the change you desire, the discouragement seeps into your soul and you disconnect. They can’t hurt you so bad if you don’t care about them so much. That failed dream of yours can’t crush you if you just give up on it and let it go. Distance. It’s what we do. We distance ourselves. We literally create our own wilderness. Now, here’s what God showed me this morning: You know how God’s people were given a promise of a future land they would posses? They were promised they wouldn’t suffer forever in the land of Egypt where they were slaves. They would live in freedom and blessings. They would be surrounded by goodness in an abundance. It was a promise over their lives. God had it waiting for them. Aligned. Destined. But on their journey from Egypt to their land of promise, they had to go through the wilderness. The wilderness was NOT what the children of God were expecting. It was a disappointment to their weary souls. The journey was hard. And just when they were exhausted and regretting even trying to leave Egypt, they learned the land they were trying to possess was filled with giant people who would certainly fight them. And this is when they gave up. They began telling themselves they didn’t really want the land God had promised them that bad. In their disappointment, they distanced themselves from the hope of a better future. They disconnected from the whole purpose of staying in the fight. That’s precisely what we do. Isn’t that what you’ve done? You’ve disconnected. You’ve told yourself you don’t want it that bad. In your disappointment, you’ve distanced yourself from the hope you once had. And you know what that does? That builds walls. Walls protect us from getting hurt – but walls also hold us hostage where we are. My sister, God wants you to hear loud and clear from him right now: WHERE YOU ARE IS NOT WHERE YOU HAVE TO STAY. God is not finished here. There’s more for you. There are promises that still stand over you and your family. Do you know what God calls that ‘give up spirit’ that wants to disconnect from his promises when it gets too hard and too disappointing? He calls it rebellion. In your own feelings and your own mode of self-protection, you rebel. You go your own way. Your own way that protects your heart. Your own way that doesn’t get your hopes up anymore. Your own way that shrinks back behind walls. That’s rebellion. Numbers chapter 14 in my Bible is titled “The People Rebel”. These were God’s people who had been miraculously freed from Egypt and led by the very hand of God through impossible seas and a harsh wilderness. They had been fed daily by God in astounding ways. God had sustained them. He had provided. But it was still hard. It was still a long journey. It was still scary. And when they got to their breaking point of discouragement, they decided they didn’t want God’s promise for them bad enough to keep going. They wanted to turn back. Verse 1-4, “Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. ‘If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!’ they complained. ‘Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?’ Then they plotted among themselves, ‘Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt.'” That’s what disconnect looks like. I don’t want God’s promise that bad – this is too hard – it’s taking too long – I just don’t want to hurt anymore – so I’m turning back. I’ll just go back to not needing anything different. I’ll go back to doing what I’ve always done. Because in our mind, going back is easier that the pain of hoping for more. God calls that rebellion. And when we continually rebel, God eventually responds. Verse 20-23, The Lord says, “I will pardon them, BUT not one of these people will ever enter that land. They have all seen my glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again they have tested me by refusing to listen to my voice. They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors.” This whole pretending like you don’t care because you’re disappointed is NOT going to help you. This whole disconnecting because you’ve been hurt is NOT going to get you where you want to go. God says, “I’ve shown you I’m here with you, now stay with me in this.” 2 Corinthians 4: 8-9, “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.” Repeat after me: I’m hurt, but I’m not giving up! I’m disappointed, but I’m not turning back. This sucks, but I’m not building walls. I will not disconnect. I will not rebel against God. If he has it for me, I still want it!!!!! Yes, say that to God now. God, if you have it for me, I still want it! Have you given up on your Promised Land because the journey there has been entirely harder than you imagined? Honey, God’s calling you back to his promises. His promises for you still stand. Do you still want them? Nehemiah 4:14 is a scripture I repeat to myself daily after my prayer time. Maybe this is for you today. “Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your homes!” Translation – FIGHT FOR YOUR FAMILY. FIGHT FOR THE PROMISES GOD HAS GIVEN YOU. FIGHT FOR THE DESIRES HE HAS PLACED WITHIN YOUR HEART. Don’t disconnect. Don’t allow this distance. It’s time to reengage in the fight for what God has given you and promised you. Do you still want it? Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com…

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

1
1948 I’m Coming Back 23:24

16 hari yang lalu23:24

23:24

One of my favorite scriptures is Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” That has always brought me tremendous comfort when life goes sideways and things don’t go as I had planned. I see how the enemy […]

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

1
1947 Not Good Enough 21:01

17 hari yang lalu21:01

21:01

I don’t know about you, but I seem to get things right for a while, then I stray. I start strong, then I just stop. I mean well, then I just fizzle. I’m up, then I’m down. I’m all in, then I’m tip toeing my way out. It’s as if I have this inner struggle […]

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

1
1946 Your Secret Life 19:39

20 hari yang lalu19:39

19:39

You may have a secret life that no one knows about. Something you do or someone you become that’s hidden. It’s your little secret. You feel you must keep it hidden because others might judge you or shame you. But, my friend, God knows about that thing. He knows every secret you hide. He knows […]

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

1
1945 Just So You Know 19:32

21 hari yang lalu19:32

19:32

Seeing God’s creation, I’m in awe. As the galaxies spin in a heavenly dance, I’m so captivated. I’m delighted in the beauty of this world. All of it. It’s so overwhelming. If you’re going to be overwhelmed today – be overwhelmed by the beauty of God’s creation. His fingerprints are everywhere if we only look […]…

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

1
1944 Hold Space Here 15:55

22 hari yang lalu15:55

15:55

Romans 1:12, “When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.” You acting like you don’t need anyone to help you or encourage you is NOT being Christlike. You being all self-sufficient, not accepting help, keeping to yourself and trying to do it […]…

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