A Prayer for Fresh Starts
(Rachel Barrentine)
O God, in You, I have a fresh start.
New mercies, a clean slate, a blank page...
Because Spiritual Detox Is Worth It
Stop Agreeing With The Enemy
"Anything less than truth, will leave you less than free."
Little whispers. Little lies. Sometimes we can be talked into something that has no business being in our brain. Usually these little lies have a fair amount of truth twisted in with them. This is what makes it so difficult to untangle and figure out. But if we aren't paying attention, we begin to agree with something that's downright harmful to us.
For example…
Uphill Hopes
I attended the Global Leadership Summit a couple weeks ago. One of my favorite speakers and thought leaders is John Maxwell. He said this,
"Everything worthwhile is uphill. Most people have uphill hopes, but downhill habits."
Dang. So true.
In recent years God has been leading me toward book writing. I've always been the 3.5 minute song girl. But books? That's a whole different deal. I wrote a devotional book a couple years ago. It was a stretch. It was an uphill dream I never had. I argued with God at first. I was determined to let him know I don't write books. He was obviously misinformed...
S.O.A.P - A Tool for Spiritual Growth
SOAP...what's that? It's a crazy acronym I got from hanging out with Jesus the other day. When we approach God, our relationship with Him, and His Word...this is what God's been encouraging me to be mindful of.
S - Surrender.
What if we started our day in a space of surrender? What if we told God, "I surrender" even before we knew what He was asking us to do? What if we decided to let go of our own control...and just trust Him? That's what I'm praying for...more surrender in my life. I wanna live life with a white flag in hand.
3 Spiritual Lessons I Learned from Poop
Ok, I admit it. Sometimes I'm a little gross. I've experienced a lot of GI issues...so these funny analogies just come out. Pardon the pun.
LESSON #1: WHAT GOES IN EVENTUALLY COMES OUT.
It’s true on every level! If you fill up with Eminem or you’re watching HBO with 500 F-bombs…why are you surprised when you can’t control your thoughts or your tongue? It's the old adage: Garbage in, Garbage out.
However, the opposite is also true. If you think on these things…"whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable”, these things will eventually make their way out of you. Your thoughts lead to actions. You become what you ruminate on and let camp out in your head...
What I Learned from a Little Shard of Glass
So I had this thought today... maybe you can follow my logic here. But our lives are like little shards of glass mirrors. We each have the potential to reflect great things. Whole things. But instead our lives are broken. When darkness broke into our world, it shattered the mirror of life. We now hold our little slivers of glass, fragments of broken potential.
But maybe as time moves on, as we seek to surrender to a faithful God, as we lay our shards before the Lord...He comes in and pieces us back together.
Shard by shard.
Day by day.
Moment by moment...