by Live Original | May 16, 2018 | Life Advice |
Are you feeling weary, burdened or overwhelmed today? Take a deep breath. God sees you. We all have moments in our lives that try to overtake us, but the truth is, they don’t deserve that kind of power! The best way to fight worry is to dive straight into scripture for encouragement and peace. Here are some verses to meditate on today.
Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you.
He will not permit the godly to slip and fall. Psalm 55:22
Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you
when my heart is faint, lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Psalm 61:1-3
Though we are overwhelmed by our sins, you forgive them all. Psalm 65:3
For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs. Zephaniah 3:17
I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift
the world cannot give. So, don’t be troubled or afraid. John 14:27
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
God,
We come to you now and thank you for who you are. Thank you for the way you love us—unconditionally, uncontrollably and so undeservingly. Help us to lay our worries at your feet. When we are overwhelmed, lead us to the rock that is higher than us. Lead us to you. We love you, father. It’s in your name we pray. Amen.
by Live Original | Apr 4, 2018 | Life Advice, Testimonies |
One of my favorite people in the Bible is David. I think he was actually convinced that God was with him. That’s huge. Did it keep David from making mistakes? Nope. Despite David’s sins, he was called a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). And I think he was one of the most willing people in the whole Bible—willing to follow God, to worship with all his heart, to lead a nation, to humbly repent when he sinned, to receive God’s forgiveness and go on. He was willing in so many ways.
When Samuel the prophet went to the town of Bethlehem to anoint David as the future king of Israel, he didn’t know yet exactly who would be king. So he went to the home of Jesse because God told him that He had chosen one of Jesse’s sons for the job (1 Samuel 16:1). When Samuel asked Jesse to let him see his sons, Jesse did everything he could do to avoid mentioning David. David was just the shepherd boy, so maybe Jesse thought there was no way he could ever be king.
Pause right here and think about this: before David was King David, before he was warrior David, before he was champion David, before he was musician and psalmist David, he was shepherd-boy David. Before that, he was David, son of Jesse, living in Bethlehem. All his life, from its very ordinary beginnings, David let God lead, and he walked forward with no agenda. That’s why God was able to do through him what only God can do.
Life wasn’t always easy for David. I’ll write about his encounter with the giant, Goliath, in another chapter, but here let me just say that he had to fight a lot of enemies. He did this, of course, as Israel’s king, but he also did it on a personal level when Saul (the previous king) wanted to kill him (1 Samuel 19). In 2 Samuel 22, toward the end of David’s life, he wrote a song to the Lord as he remembered how God delivered him from “all his enemies and from the hand of Saul” (v. 1). He said, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation” (vv. 2–3). See how personal these words are? They are the words of someone who really knows God and has a deep, personal relationship with Him.
Later in this chapter, David writes, “He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters” (v. 17). You know what that tells us, in the con- text of the rest of his story? Two things: (1) David could depend on God to deliver him because he was coming from a place of already being delivered. The reason he had already been delivered was that he had already fallen in love with who God is. Whenhe cried to God, it was inthe context of a relationship, not merely to save his life. And (2) you can takethis as a promise: God willpull you from the depths ofthe ocean, whatever your ocean is. If it’s feeling left out, not knowing what your future will bring, struggling with some kind of temptation, or something else, God is able to reach down and bring you out. He will bring you back to the top.
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by Live Original | Apr 2, 2018 | Life Advice |
We can all agree that feelings of worry, stress, fear, anxiety, and doubt are unfortunately normal and natural parts of life. There are very real reasons in our lives and in our world to feel these feelings, but thankfully there is a bigger Truth at play. There is only one way to live above worry, stress, and fear and that is by faith in God. It is by faith in Him that we can get through the very real feelings that hard situations and challenging circumstances bring. Our God promises to be with us through everything and that is a promise that is bigger than anything in this world!
“When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” (Isaiah 43:2-3 NLT)
By faith, we are able to cast off worry, stress, and fear by turning away from those negative feelings and turning to our all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving God. When we put our trust and confidence in Him, we become free from having to bear the hard parts of life on our own shoulders. Faith allows us to give all worries and cares to Him, believing that He is capable of handling what is too much for us to bear. We are not designed to carry God-sized worries, but He is!
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you (1 Peter 4:7 NLT)
What a blessing that our God is willing, wanting, able, and made to carry our heavy burdens. Matthew 11:28 reads: Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light” (NLT).
This verse is so powerful because it is calling and inviting the weary souls and the burdened hearts to come to Jesus. If we start to view moments of worry, fear, and stress as opportunities to become closer to Jesus and cling on to Him, our souls will be able to find rest and we will also grow in faith. When you feel fear, run to Jesus. When anxiety attacks, run to Him. When doubt is determined to sneak in, call out to Jesus.
It is only in Him and by faith that we are able to find true rest and real freedom. The truth that His yoke is easy and His burden is light is such a source of comfort during our hardest moments. When we feel the burdens of this world weighing down on us, we are to immediately lay everything down at the feet of Jesus.
The lyrics of Chris Tomlin’s song, “Home”, speak to this truth so well:
Lay down my burdens, I lay down my past
I run to Jesus, no turning back
Thank God Almighty, I’ll be free at last.
Another worship song that beautifully depicts the power of faith is “He Is With Us” by Love & The Outcome. The below lyrics portray the most beautiful picture of His outstretched hand in times of fear, worry, and doubt. We don’t know what is coming and we might be heartbroken over what has come to pass, but no matter what, we can find comfort in the truth that we have Him through it all.
Remember when your hope is lost and faith is shaken,
Remember when you wonder if you’re gonna make it,
There’s a hand stretched out through your deepest doubt.
We can’t pretend to see the ending or what’s coming up ahead,
To know the story of tomorrow, But we can stay close to the One who knows.
by Live Original | Jan 1, 2018 | Life Advice |
Wow, can you believe it’s 2018!? I have a feeling this is going to be the best year yet! I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite things about a new year is the possibility to start fresh in so many areas of our lives. As we dive head first in to January, let’s all jump in on this one goal together—to grow closer and closer to Jesus.
Here are some verses to help us get ourselves in the right mindset, as we pursue the heart of Jesus together this year!
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. Psalm 96:1-3
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Psalm 33:11
Lord, Thank you for another new year, another fresh start. You are so faithful to meet our needs, to lead us in the way we should go. Help us to hold fast to your word. May we stay focused on you, Father, in the midst of all we have going on in our lives. You hold it all together, Father. Help us to remember we don’t have to. We love you. In Your name, Amen.
by Live Original | Dec 11, 2017 | Life Advice |
“So, God throws open the door of this world—and enters as a baby. As the most vulnerable imaginable. Because He wants unimaginable intimacy with you. What religion ever had a god that wanted such intimacy with us that He came with such vulnerability to us? What God ever came so tender we could touch Him? So fragile that we could break Him? So vulnerable that His bare, beating heart could be hurt? Only the One who loves you to death.” -Ann Voskamp
Did you get chills reading that? Me too. He became vulnerable, so we may find intimacy. Tender, so we may touch him. Fragile, so we could break him. Bearing his heart openly, so we may break it. Why? How? This sums it up – He literally loves us all….to death.
During this beautiful Christmas season, let us all take time to remember the true reason for the season. The gift of all gifts. Jesus.
Here are some verses to meditate on as we lift up praises to God for the gift of his precious son, Jesus.
“Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” Isaiah 9:6-7
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
God,
We come to you know, remembering the gift you have given us in Jesus. Your one and only son, for us. Thank you for His life, for the beautiful example it is to us. Make us more like you, father. May we reflect Jesus in all that we do. All for your glory, honor and praise. We love you. Amen.
