Transformation
Encouragement on how life's trials and struggles can lead to the transformation that will shape your heart to be more like Christ, bring greater joy, and usher in the fulfillment you crave.
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How to Be Still and Listen to God: 7 Practical Tips
Daylight finds us with an unseasonable chill, and we close the windows and wrap ourselves in fleece blankets. Pulling out my Bible, I flip to a familiar Psalm. It reads, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). I’ve been learning how to be still and listen to God for decades and have yet to master the practice. My mind has been racing again lately, and silencing my thoughts today feels next to impossible. Instead of being critical of my racing mind, I am kind to myself today. I lean back and let the thoughts pass like clouds in a sapphire sky. Finally, after several minutes, my mind…
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8 Bible Verses About Self-Worth: See Yourself as God Sees You
Do you ever compare yourself to others and feel like you don’t measure up? Maybe you want to learn how to embrace yourself the way you are, but you don’t know where to begin. Today, we’ll explore eight powerful Bible verses about self-worth. 8 Bible Verses About Self-Worth Our self-worth is not found in others say about us or even what we think about ourselves. We find our worth through God’s thoughts about us. Soak in these eight Bible verses about self-worth as you let God’s love fill your heart today. Bible Verses About Self-Worth 1. Song of Solomon 2:16 My beloved is mine, and I am his. If you…
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15 Bible Verses for Wives: Encouragement and Hope
Many young girls dream of growing up, getting married, and raising families. When these dreams finally come true, they realize that being a wife is far more challenging than they imagined. Today, we’ll explore 15 encouraging Bible verses for wives. Then, we’ll look at a way to find great joy in our marriages and lives. I also invite you to read to the end of today’s post for a free devotional eBook to encourage you as a wife. 15 Bible Verses for Wives Let’s begin with God’s Word. Bible Verses for Wives: Encouragement for Your Marriage 1. 1 Peter 3:4 (ESV) But let your adorning be the hidden person of…
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Submitting Your Emotions to God: 3 Steps to Help You
I spent most of my life believing that my emotions needed to be controlled and surpressed. Not recognizing the biblical truth that my emotions were God-given, I often wrestled with the intensity of my feelings. If you can relate, you’re in the right place. Today, I’ll invite you to begin the process of submitting your emotions to God. As we walk through this process, I invite you to join me as I walked through this process myself. Submitting Your Emotions to God Tufts of fog hover beneath an apricot sky as storm clouds roll eastward on the wings of dusk. I sit by the window and focus on breathing slowly.…
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Pursuing God: 15 Ways to Stir Your Longing for Jesus
Last summer, I decided to write our eleven-year-old daughter Bekah a note for each day she would be away at summer camp. After writing a note for each day of the week and tucking them into her backpack, I thought about how excited sweet Bekah would be to read them. I had no idea that the experience was about to become a heartwarming lesson about pursuing God. The day she left for camp, I spotted a stack of envelopes labeled with the days of the week on top of the bookshelf in our hallway. Had she removed my notes from her bag? Looking closer, I realized that I couldn’t have…
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5 Morning Routines to Help You Start Your Day With God
Autumn rain hangs from the spruce boughs like glass beads. Cleansing the sleepy earth, it feels like God’s invitation to begin again. I’ve been thinking about my rhythms lately—analyzing the morning routines that are working for me in this season as well as the ones that aren’t. The Importance of Morning Routines Last week, I felt tempted to return to self-effort in an attempt to restore some off-kilter areas of my life. However, this morning, the ivory mist reminds me that a Spirit-filled life is not built around willpower but around rhythms. The rhythms we establish ultimately make up our lives. 5 Morning Routines to Help You Begin Well If…
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12 Empowering Scriptures on Insecurity
Most of us deal with insecurity. This week, let’s take a few minutes to explore the ways comparison keeps us from fulfilling our God-given assignments and explore 12 powerful Scriptures on insecurity. Be sure to read to the end of today’s post for a free devotional eBook to help you overcome insecurity. 12 Empowering Scriptures on Insecurity Are you feeling insecure today? Let’s look at what God’s Word has to say about overcoming insecurity. Scriptures on Insecurity 1. Psalm 139:13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. God created you just the way you are to fulfill his unique purpose for you in…
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How to Be Gentle With Yourself
Do you need to learn how to be gentle with yourself? If so, you are in the right place. Today, we’ll have an honest conversation about what it looks like to treat ourselves with kindness and gentleness. I’ve spent most of my life being unreasonably hard on myself. I stand in front of mirrors, roll my eyes, and commit to more rigorous ab workouts. I regularly push myself beyond exhaustion and feel guilty for taking naps—even after staying up all night tending to fevered children. Often, I tell myself to suck it up, try harder, go faster, and give more. You might not push yourself through exhaustion or condemningly grab…
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How to “Be Still and Know That I Am God”
The shaded canopy at the trailhead fluttered to the ground, one golden leaf at a time. I was in the woods because I’d grown weary from juggling the many commitments in my life. I was desperate to quiet my soul and relearn how to “be still and know that I am God.” You probably know about the exhausting effort of juggling your commitments. Your arms grow weary, and you desperately need rest. In an attempt to rest in God’s presence, you go to a quiet place, but your mind refuses to settle. When I can’t quiet my mind, I find a few minutes to walk outside. I breathe deeply and…
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Knowing Jesus: Four Ways to Go Deeper in Your Relationship
The peepers sing their sweet serenade while raindrops crackle like fire licking up a pine bough. I search the skyline for a hint of lingering daylight and breathe a prayer that God will take me deeper on this journey of knowing Jesus through experience. “What do I need to know as we prepare to head into the summer season of noise and activity?” I pray. The words of Philippians 3:8 come to mind: “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” I’m…
