Posts

There is Victory in Celebration!

“Everything has its time.  “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:  A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted:  A time to kill, And a time to heal;  A time to break down, And a time to build up:  A time to weep, And a time to laugh;  A time to mourn, And a time to dance;”  Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

It’s Time to Celebrate!  This season we are celebrating…..

  • The Start of a New School Year
  • One year of blogging!
  • A New Bible Study:  “The Victorious Life”

A lot has happened over this past year.  It’s hard to believe it’s been a whole year since I took a step of faith and started blogging on heathergillis.com.  God was calling me to write.  I had no idea what I was doing, no idea how to get started.  But then God stepped in….. He made everything happen.  I only had only had to take one step of faith and God opened the many doors of opportunity.

Our steps of faith are meant to be celebrated.  Our steps of faith lead to God’s greater victory.  

If we never took steps of faith, we would never see all that God can do.  We would never see how all-powerful God really is.  You may be enduring a trial that seems way too much to handle.  Or carrying a burden that seems way too heavy to carry.  You are not meant to go through these trials and burdens alone.  God is with you and will be your strength and your comfort.

There is Victory in our Trials and Burdens.

There is Victory in our Steps of Faith.  

Keep holding onto God’s promises.  His love and truth mends broken hearts, eternally heals, and allows us to be filled with His abundance of everything He has to offer. You can rejoice even in your circumstances because of God’s love for you.  Here are 10 reminders when life has you feeling defeated.  Don’t allow the lies of Satan to keep you defeated.  You are victorious!  Nothing in this world can ever change God’s love for you!

10 Victory Bible Verses to Remind you:  You Are Victorious!  1.  “The LORD is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.”  Psalm 118:14 NLT

2.   “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”  1 Corinthians 15:57-58 ESV

3.  “I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.”  1 Peter 1:6-7 MSG

4.  “For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.” Deuteronomy 20:4 NIV

5.  “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

6.  “for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” 1 John 5:4

7.  “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 1 Corinthians 15:55 NIV

8.  “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 8:37-39 NIV

9.  For the Lord takes delight in his people;  he crowns the humble with victory. Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds.  Psalm 149:4-5

10.  “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the LORD.”  Proverbs 21: 31 ESV

“Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God;  I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you, with my victorious right hand.”  (Isaiah 41:10, RSV).  

We are over-comers in our faith.  These trials refine us like pure gold, building our strength, preparing us for greater things to come, which give birth to something new.

When we celebrate what God has done for us;  it leads us from defeated to victorious.  You are meant to live the most victorious ever in Jesus.  No matter what your circumstances are, you can celebrate because of what Jesus has done for you!  It’s time to celebrate!

There is Victory in Celebration.    

Jesus changes everything. In Jesus, we are never defeated! Click To Tweet

What are you celebrating?

Has God called you to take a step of faith?  

How has Jesus changed your life?  

Did you like this blog post?  Please share with others!  If you would like more encouraging messages sent right to your inbox, Subscribe to my blog and receive a weekly Monday Message or like my Author Facebook page to catch the latest posts.  Have a Blessed Week!

I would love to hear from you.  Leave your comments below.

Free Printable Bookmark. Click on the link to download. Victorious Bible Verses-3.  

  


Subscribe

Receive Daily Encouragement Right to Your Inbox

Finding Victory in the Storms

“That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.”  Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat.  There were also other boats with him.  A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped.  Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.  The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”  He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be Still!”  then the wind died down and it was completely calm.  He said to his disciples, “Why are you afraid?  Do you still have no faith?”  They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this?  Even the wind and the waves obey him!”  Mark 4:35-41 NIV

Have you ever felt like the disciples before, being caught in a storm and didn’t know what to do?  The storm came upon the boat fast and furious, filling the boat with water.  The disciples’ fears of sinking and drowning were soon going to become a reality if something didn’t happen to change their situation.  The disciples then wake Jesus to ask ‘Don’t you care?’  Jesus responded not to the disciples but to the storm itself and says only three words, ‘Quiet, Be Still!’  

It wasn’t until the disciples turned to Jesus, that their situation was changed.  They could have lingered in the ‘what ifs’ or the sinking of their boat, but that would have never changed their situation and put the trust in themselves.  It wasn’t until they turned to rely on Jesus and asked Him for help, that the storm was calmed.

Jesus then asks the disciples, “Why are you afraid?  Do you not have faith?”  Jesus is basically saying, ‘you silly disciples, haven’t I taught you anything?’  ‘I am right here with you in the same boat you are, why do you fear the storm?  Why are you putting your faith in what you see?’  Up until this point Jesus had already performed many miracles, such as His disciples catching a large amount of fish (Luke 5:3-10), to healing many such as a leper (Luke 5:12-15), a paralyzed man (Luke 5:18-26) and raised a widow’s son from the dead! (Luke 7:11-17).  Jesus is saying, ‘Hello!  What else do I have to do to prove my abilities to you?  I can make all things possible!’   Jesus was trying to teach the disciples, stop relying on your circumstances in which you see and start relying on and depending in Him!

There is Victory when you put our faith in what God can do.  

Maybe you have been there before, in a middle of a storm and all you see is your circumstances bringing you down.  Oh, how I have been there many times before, where all I have seen is a hopeless situation.  It is in those hopeless moments, God uses them to display his divine intervention.  God doesn’t want us to put our hope and trust in ourselves, He wants us to put our hope and trust in Him.  We will never know the abilities of God if we don’t let him handle our storms.

If Jesus can quiet a storm by merely saying three words, imagine what he can do in your situation if you just ask Him?

Nothing is impossible for God.  He is capable of all things.  

There is Victory when we allow God to handle our storms. Click To Tweet

Even if we can’t see how it is all going to turn out, it doesn’t matter.  God knows and sees the bigger plan.  Putting our faith in God’s abilities will always lead to a victorious life in Him.  

Where do you find your hope in your storms?

Do you allow God to handle your situation or do you try to handle things on your own?

Did you like this blog post?  Please share with others!  If you would like more encouraging messages sent right to your inbox, Subscribe to my blog and receive a weekly Monday Message or like my Author Facebook page to catch the latest posts.  Have a Blessed Week!

I would love to hear from you!  Leave your comments below.  


Subscribe

Receive Daily Encouragement Right to Your Inbox

The Victory of Your Worth

On one of our family vacations this summer we went to a fishing town in Alaska.  It was a rainy day and I was out walking our dog.  She was a brand new edition to our family of four.  She’s was a super adorable labradoodle puppy and at the time was only 4 months old.  As I was walking, I passed a gentleman who at first glance looked tattered and worn, (in fact he may have been homeless), says to me, “That’s a very nice looking dog you have there, she’s a little raggedy, but a nice looking dog.”  Don’t you love when people give you a roundabout compliment?  The comment struck me as funny because of the same raggedy appearance the man had himself!?!?!

I’ll admit, her wet fur did make her appear ‘a little raggedy,’ BUT if the man even knew how much value she added to our family and the price we paid for her, he would not have described her as raggedy!

But that’s just it.  This story describes many of us.  You may be tattered, worn and a little raggedy, but do you know how valuable you are?  Or do you know the price that was paid for you?  How much more valuable is something when you know the value of it?

It doesn’t matter how torn, tattered or ragged you are, your worth and value is not determined by external appearances.  Our value and worth are not measured by what color hair or eyes we have, not how tall we are, or even how much we weigh.  Our worth is determined by the blood of Jesus who paid the price for us.  What do you see when you look in the mirror?  Someone who has more value and worth than all the rubies and diamonds in the world or …….?  Truth is there is no amount of money that can pay the price for your life because it is priceless and beyond valuable.  This world can never pay a high enough price for the worth of your life.

Your life, your value, your worth, is priceless in the eyes of God. Click To Tweet

You don’t have to find your value in the acceptance and approval in what the world says about you (Rom. 12:2).  The world constantly changes its definition of what makes you valuable and worthy.  There will never be an end to keeping up with what they say makes you worthy.  The good news is God loves you just the way you are and would never have sent Jesus if he didn’t think you were worth it.  God sent Jesus for everyone.

There is victory when you live in who God says you are.Click To Tweet

You don’t have to try to fit into a mold of who the world says you should be.  God wants you to be who you are, how he created you to be, not try to be something your not.

Ephesians 2:8-9
“For it is by grace you have been saved through faith- and not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works so that no one can boast.”

Did you like this blog post?  Please share with others!  If you would like more encouraging messages sent right to your inbox, Subscribe to my blog and receive a weekly Monday Message or like my Author Facebook page to catch the latest posts.  Have a Blessed Week!

I would love to hear from you!  Leave your comments below.


Subscribe

Receive Daily Encouragement Right to Your Inbox

Finding Victory in Our Struggles

Have you ever struggled with something and wondered ‘God where are you?’  Or asked God, ‘Why Me?’ or ‘God do you even care?’  

Have you ever prayed so hard for God to answer a prayer and wondered, ‘God are you even listening?’  

I have been there.  I have asked God all of these questions before.  I don’t have all the answers to why things happen the way they do.  I do know God loves us and desires us to live a victorious life in Him, despite our defeating circumstances.   So how does one go from Defeat to Victory?  

The answer lies at the cross.  

Where do you stand at the cross?

Sides of the Cross:  
Do you stand behind the cross?  You can see the cross, but you can’t see the victory or the suffering of Jesus.  You can’t bring yourself to walk up to the cross because you don’t think the cross can help and can’t see it’s true meaning.  You live in continually defeat of your circumstances, because you put your faith in what you see.  

Do you stand at the side of the cross?  You can see the cross and the suffering, but you can’t bring yourself to walk up to the cross and reach out your hand because you are holding onto your sin.  You have deemed yourself not worthy of the cross.  You live with unforgiveness and can’t seem to let go.  

Do you stand in front of the cross?  You go ahead of God, get in a mess look around and then ask ‘God where are you?’  You can see the cross but it is far out of your reach.  You desire the crown but not the suffering.  You chase what the world considers valuable.  You want to pick and choose the parts of Jesus you want.  You’re surrounded by busyness and distractions.  Temptations are running you’re life drawing you further away from the cross with each choice you make.  The enemy is claiming victory over you keeping you far from God’s truth and out of reach of the cross.   The enemy doesn’t want to let you get too close to experience and see the victory of Jesus.  He doesn’t want you to see the whole Jesus and experience Him in his entirety in his suffering, his mercy, his grace, his richness, his servanthood, or his enduring love.   

Do you stand at the cross?  You partake in everything Jesus has to offer;  the suffering and the crown.  You allow the power of the cross to intercede on your behalf.  You lay your burdens and sin at the cross, you have given everything to God, there is nothing getting in the way of him.  Your life has been completely surrendered to him.  You allow the cross to empower you to live in the victory of Christ!  

OR

Do you even see the cross at all?  You are surrounded by unbelievers.  You have stopped going to church altogether and don’t even know the last time you’ve prayed.  You have fallen far away from God.  Maybe you used to have a relationship with him, but you have been burned, either by a judgmental Christian, a corrupt church, or dead-end circumstances that lead you to know where you want to be.  You have lost your hope and don’t trust God at all.

Jesus didn’t die on the cross for nothing.  He didn’t stay in the grave– He was resurrected.   Our burdens were meant to be left in the grave and never carried beyond the cross.  The power of the cross is nothing without the resurrection.  Satan would like nothing more than to keep us broken inside that empty tomb.  He would like to keep us blinded and whisper lies from the world to keep us from seeing the truth.  We can have all the evidence in front of us, but if we don’t have faith we will miss it altogether. 

Do you live in the power the cross or continual defeat?  Victory lies within the cross, not far away from it, not behind it, not beside it, not ahead of it, but within it.  

There is victory in our struggles.  To experience the entire victory, we must allow Christ to live within us by inviting him in so he can work and within us. 

The victory will never be experienced on the sidelines.  It will never be experienced when the cross is out of our reach.  The victory is something to be done together as a team  (Jesus and us) to be fully engaged in, participating in, not just watching.  The victory is won by actively living out our faith even in our trials, even when we’re persecuted.  Oh, how glorious is the reward of the victory.  It’s all for us to have right now and it’s right in front of us.

Our victory is only one step away.  We are only one step away from surrender.  One step away from forgiveness.  One step away from letting go and letting God.

Where do you stand at the cross?  Are you able to confidently live out your faith to overcome your everyday battles?  You are made to be victorious.  Don’t allow circumstances to conquer and defeat you.  Satan is the defeated one, not you.

Where do you find your victory when you have struggles?

Did you like this blog post?  Please share with others!  If you would like more encouraging messages sent right to your inbox, Subscribe to my blog and receive a FREE e-book “God’s Plan for Victory:  Esther” or like my Author Facebook page to catch the latest posts.  Have a Blessed Week!

I would love to hear from you!  Leave your comments below.


Subscribe

Receive Daily Encouragement Right to Your Inbox

3 Things We Can Do When Tragedy Strikes

What a heartbreaking week it has been for the city of Orlando.  For all the victims, their families, the devastation and lives that have been lost.  It’s an unnerving feeling when evil shows it’s face, lurks around in unexpected places and attacks when you least expect it.

It is a face I know oh too well and a face I’d rather not see over and over.  If there is one thing tragedy has taught me is there is a choice to make.  To allow evil to illicit fear and dictate our actions or to choose love and allow love to dictate our actions.  

When love is the choice, evil never has a chance. No amount of evil can ever destroy God's love. Click To Tweet

When love is poured out onto tragedy good things grow from it.  Nothing ever good grows from hate or evil.  The face of evil may change, how they attack, what they target, but God’s love never changes.  It is and always will be bigger.  It will never fail you and is what will keep you anchored in the storm.

No one chooses for tragedy to happen.  But when it does there is something YOU and I can do when tragedy strikes.

3 Things We Can Do When Tragedy Strikes:

1.  Love-  We are called to Love.  God loves sinners.  God does not love sin, he may not always agree with what we do but his love is unconditional.  We are all sinners.  God still loves us even if he doesn’t always agree with what we do.  Just like a parent loves a child.  His love not dependent on what we do or don’t do.  To love someone doesn’t mean you have to agree with them.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.”  John 13:34-35

God loves broken people and our brokenness.  When we hurt God hurts.  He loves and accepts us for who we are right now.  As Christians what an opportunity to love those who God loves.  To love how Jesus loves.  To choose love despite tragedy.  How will anyone know the love of God if we don’t love them?  

How will anyone ever know
There is Hope in Devastation
There is Order in the Chaos
There is Healing for the Broken Hearted
There is Help for the Hopeless
There is Beauty found in the Pain
There is Peace in Storm

If WE don’t show them?  

'Encourage one another, build each other up.' 1 Thessalonians 5:11Click To Tweet

2.  Pray-  “Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone, be joyful always, pray continually.”  1 Thessalonians 5:15-17 Prayer moves mountains.  It allows God’s divine intervention to intercede on our behalf.  Prayer joins us, connects us unites us.  It is our communication with God.  Prayer is powerful in numbers.  Sometimes prayer not only changes the situation but our hearts as well.  When we pray specific prayers it makes a difference.  

  • We can pray for the victims and their families to be able to get connected to receive the help they need to start their healing process,
  • Pray this will be an opportunity for them to receive God’s love and receive the beautiful message of the gospel, they can find hope and healing in God
  • Pray that Christians and the community would rise up and extend God’s love, mercy, grace and not judge, but love
  • Pray God would reveal to you how you can help and be apart of something bigger than yourself.  

3.  Come alongside those who are hurting-  “He Comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.”  2 Corinthians 1:4 MSG


Just as God comes alongside us when we go through hard times we can come alongside others who are going through hard times.  Not that you desire tragedy upon anyone, but how comforting is it when you meet someone who has gone through a similar situation?  Our pain is not meant to be wasted but to turn into something good.  In a past blog post, I wrote  How to Come Alongside Others Who Are Going Through Hard Times.  We can always do something.  We can make a meal, pray, offer help and support, our time, just being available in their time of need.

God did not do this.  He does not like evil nor wishes it upon anyone.  Evil is Evil.  Evil does not come from God. Evil comes from the Prince of darkness himself, Satan.  Evil can never change the fact that God already conquered death.  Evil will keep trying to put division among us, turn us away from God making us believe God doesn’t love us, that God is not good.  If God didn’t love us he would have never sent Jesus to die for us.  He loves us more than anything, He sent his own son for us.

'For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ' 1 Thessalonians 5:9Click To Tweet

I do not have all the answers.  We may never know why tragedy happens until we go to heaven one day.  Even if God told us the answer we still may not understand.  Choosing to continually search for the answer to the ‘Why’ will only leave you on a desperate weary chase for more.  Because you will never be satisfied even if you received the answer.  

It all comes down to a matter of faith.  Trusting in God’s plan and his promises.  Please know that he only wants the best for you, He loves us beyond measure and he has the best plans ever.  His word and truth will keep you safe.  God has already fought the battle and won.  Even if evil strikes, when God’s love is the choice it will…..

Turn Terror into Triumph.
Turn Victims into Victors.
Turn a Bad situation into a Blessing.
Turn a Mess into a Message.
Turn your Pain into something Beautiful.

What evil intends for evil God will use for good (paraphrased Genesis 50:20)Click To Tweet

God loves you!  Have a Blessed week!  

I would love to hear from you!  How has God’s love transformed your situation?  Please Share!  Leave Comments below.  

Did you like this blog post?  Please share with others!  If you would like more encouraging messages sent right to your inbox, Subscribe to my blog to receive a weekly Monday Message or like my Author Facebook page to catch the latest posts.  Have a Blessed Week!


Subscribe

Receive Daily Encouragement Right to Your Inbox

The Joy of Less: The Power of Contentment

What’s your dream?  Everyone has a dream about what type of life they want to be Living.  Are you Living the best life ever?  You were Made for More, to live the Best Life Ever.  One that is filled with abundance, fullness, and richness.

Below is a story which I hope challenges you to ask important questions.

A Parable of the Mexican Fisherman and Investment Banker (Author Unknown)

An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.  Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna.  The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, “only a little while. The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos.  I have a full and busy life.” The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually, you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”

To which the American replied, “15 – 20 years.”

“But what then?” Asked the Mexican.

The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part.  When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!”

“Millions – then what?”

The American said, “Then you would retire.  Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

Moral of the Story:  Live Simply, Love More.  When we Live in the Present we will always find Contentment.  

This story really challenges us to ask, “Am I really Living life the way life was meant to be Lived?

Sometimes bigger isn’t always better.  There will always be another dollar to make, a bigger house to buy, a nicer car, a nicer life.   Then what?  The chase for more will only rob us of life’s precious moments that are meant to enjoy NOW not LATER.  It’s time to ask, When is Enough, ever Enough?

Where does Contentment get lost?  When your need for more money and stuff is greater than your purpose.  Sometimes purpose can get lost along the way when trying to reach your goal for more when in reality your purpose was right in front of you the whole time.

True Contentment will never be found at the bottom of a shopping bag, the bottom of a wine glass, at the top of the corporate ladder,  in a pair of smaller jeans, in an empty mansion with a bunch of stuff.  (Temporary Contentment)

True Contentment is always found in who God says you are.  God says you are worthy and valuable just the way you are, you are beautiful and you have a purpose.

You are loved by a God who loved you first.  When you have God’s love, that makes you the richest person alive.  God’s love gives you more value and worth than anything this earth could ever offer.  (Eternal Contentment).  Here are 10 Ways to Always Be Content.

More money doesn’t make us rich, the love and time we invest in your relationships do.  “Don’t put your hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but put your hope in God, who richly provides you with everything for your enjoyment.”  1 Timothy 6:17

When we have God’s love, We are RELEASED from the BURDEN of trying to do it all.
When we have God’s love, We are FREE from trying to live up to worldly standards.
When we have God’s love, We will be ETERNALLY SATISFIED never wanting more.
When we have God’s love, We learn GOD IS ENOUGH and all we will ever need.  

Living within God's boundaries of love, Trusting in his provision--We will always be abundantly filled with the fullness of everything He has to offer and live in Eternal Contentment. Click To Tweet

God desires for us to Live the Best Life Ever in Him, so he can provide us with eternal riches.  

Are you truly Living the Best Life Ever in who God says You are?  

What do you put your hope in?  Circumstances or relationships?

Do you trust God Enough to Provide the Best Life Ever in Him? 

'Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.' (Matthew 6:20)Click To Tweet

'The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.' Isaiah 40:8Click To Tweet

Going Deeper:  Read 1 Timothy 6:6-10, 6:17-19

Did you like this blog post?  Please share with others! If you would like more encouraging messages sent right to your inbox, Subscribe to my blog and receive a FREE e-book, “Esther:  God’s Plan for Victory.”  Or like my Author Facebook page to catch the latest posts.

Want to know more about the Joy of Less?  Read Heather’s story in Chicken Soup for the Soul “The Joy of Less.” Click Here.

I would love to hear from you.  Leave your comments below.


Subscribe

Receive Daily Encouragement Right to Your Inbox

The Joy of Less: Becoming More With Less

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched–they must be felt with the heart.”  Quote Hellen Keller

Has God ever asked you to walk away from it all?  To give everything up and walk in a totally different direction?

That is our story.   In fact, God did a complete overhaul and did the impossible, transforming our hearts.  It all started three years ago when God starting working fervently in our hearts.

It started with a prayer.


God, I pray that your desires will be my desires.  I pray my heart will be filled with what you desire for me.  

Be careful what you pray for. That prayer opened the door for God to do something amazing.  It allowed him to orchestrate the impossible.  God asked me a very tough question, “Will you allow me to be the one to fill you with more of what I have planned for you?  Will you trust me to lead you to the best life ever?”  

What God was asking us to do, was a tall order.  He was asking us to walk away from the life we had been working toward, that we had built over the past 10 years.  He had asked us to walk away from our house, our family and friends, our jobs, everything we knew.  Why?  To be filled with the more God desired for us.  

By allowing God to fill us with His desires it opened a door for so much more.  It allowed God to rid of us anything getting in the way of him so he could fill us with his abundance and not the world’s.  To the world we seemed crazy, giving up a life that is considered the ‘American Dream.’  You could say we had it all according to the standard of the world.  But there will always be something more the world is telling you to buy and achieve, this will only leave a person weary and depleted.  

Allowing God to have our struggles, made more room for Him to orchestrate the impossible and re-directed our focus to what mattered most;  God, each other, making memories and serving others.

Clutter, busyness, and distractions will always get in the way of God's plan for us. Click To Tweet

Quote Chicken Soup for the Soul:  The Joy of Less- “Life is focused now on what we are putting into our hearts and not what we are putting into our closets.” ~Heather Gillis  

It is amazing what God can do when we allow Him to have all of our heart, and give Him all of our struggles, trusting Him with the plans he has for us.  


Will you allow God to lead you to the best life ever in Him?Click To Tweet

I promise when you take one step of faith, God will work out the details and open many doors of opportunity. Click To Tweet


Did you like this blog post?  Please share with others!   Want to know more ways to de-clutter, simplify and how we become more with less?  
Read our story published in “Chicken Soup for the Soul:  The Joy of Less,” Click Here. 

When we get rid of the physical clutter it helps to also get rid of clutter in your hearts as well.  Want more encouraging posts? Subscribe to my blog and receive a FREE e-book “Esther:  God’s Plan for Victory” or like my Author Facebook page.  

I would love to hear from you!  Leave your comments below.

What have you cleared from your life to make room for what matters most? 

How do you become more with Less?


Subscribe

Receive Daily Encouragement Right to Your Inbox

The 7 Kindest People in the Bible

Kindness.  It is something that touches our hearts and changes live deeply.   Kindness empowers others to be the difference and speaks volumes to those who receive it.  When I think of kindness I think of some of the people in the Bible.  

The 7 Kindest People in the Bible
7.  Niccodemus and Joseph of Arimethea–  These two men are known for preparing Jesus’s dead body for burial after he was crucified.  These two men risked everything;  losing their family, their religion, their status, their friends all to show their love for Jesus.  Even though Jesus was crucified as a criminal they wanted to give him a burial of a king.  Joseph even gave Jesus his own personal tomb! Their loving kindness was all apart of God’s plan.

6.  Pharaoh’s Daughter (Exodus 2:5-10)-  She is known for saving baby Moses from the river when he was laying in the reed basket.  Even though she knew he was a Hebrew baby (which her father ordered to have killed) she still took him in as her own to raise and care for him.

5.  Joseph (Genesis 37:12-36)-  Joseph is known for being sold into slavery by his 11 brothers.  In the time he was a away from home he had been falsely accused, thrown into prison, became an interpreter of dreams for Pharaoh and became in charge of Egypt.  When famine hit the land where his brothers lived, they came to Egypt to buy grain.  They did not know their brother was still alive and the governor of Egypt.  To their surprise, Joseph was not angry at his brothers but showed them compassion when he saw them again.  Instead of taking revenge, Joseph took them in and cared for them.  Joseph knew it was all apart of God’s plan, what his brothers intended for harm, but God intended it for good.” (Genesis 50:20)

4.  Boaz/Ruth-  (Ruth 3 and 4)
 To truly understand the relationship between Ruth and Boaz you will have to read Ruth 3 and 4.  Their relationship is so unique because Ruth showed kindness to Boaz in a way that truly touched his heart. In return, Boaz dedicated the rest of his life to her by making her his wife.

3.  The woman who washed Jesus feet with her hair (Luke 7:36-50)-  This woman who is not mentioned by name in the Bible, but by her actions showed Jesus one of the most compassionate acts of love by washing his feet with her tears and her hair and anointing his feet with expensive oil.  Even though he was invited to dinner by the Pharisees, not one of them offered to wash Jesus feet or even a drink of water a common custom done for guests.  The woman saw Jesus for who he was and poured out her love to him.

2.  Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)-  The good Samaritan is known for stopping to help a man who was robbed, beaten and left for dead after a priest and a Levite saw him and passed him by.  The good Samaritan saw him, took pity on him, cared for him by bandaging his wounds and paying for his stay at the inn so he could recover.

1.  Jesus-  There is no one is kinder than Jesus.  When he walked upon this earth he showed us how to be kind to others in a way that goes beyond comprehension.  He showed compassion on the lepers, the prostitutes, the lame, the forgotten.  Jesus showed us there is no end to the kindness that can be given and should be given to everyone, everywhere at anytime.  He showed the ultimate kindness by giving us the gift of eternal life by dying on the cross for our sins.

Just imagine if Nicodemus and Joseph never took the time to show lovingkindness to Jesus, we would never have known the true power of the resurrection.

Imagine if Pharaoh’s daughter never took in Moses to care for him, we would never know the power of God’s miracles and the ability to use the unlikely.

Imagine if Joseph took revenge upon his brothers instead of loving them, we would never know the power of compassionate forgiveness.

What if Ruth didn’t show kindness to Boaz?  They would have never been married and Jesus would not have been part of the lineage to king David.  (Ruth and Boaz are the descendants of Jesus).

If the sinful woman never came to wash and anoint Jesus’s feet, we would never have seen the power of forgiveness given through her faith.

Because of the Good Samaritan’s kindness, generations have been able to model him as an example of how to treat others.

If Jesus never showed kindness when he was here, we would never know the love that is given to us from God. We love because he loved us first.Click To Tweet

I could go on and on about all the kind and loving things Jesus and the others in the Bible have done.  We are called to Be Kind and Loving to one another.  The love God gives us, is meant to be given and shared with others.

How will anyone know the love of Jesus if it is not shared with them?

How can you be an advocate for kindness?

You are loved by a God who loves you! How has kindness affected your life? How or in what way?Click To Tweet

Do you have a loved one you would like to honor by doing acts of kindness?  Do you like spreading kindness to others?  Kindness is contagious Pass it on!  Would you like more encouragement sent right to your inbox? Subscribe to my Blog or like my Author Facebook Page.  

FREE Printable Click Link to download 7 Ways to Show Kindness


Everyone deserves kindness from their Savior!  I would love to hear from you!  Please share how Kindness has affected your life how and in what way?  Or how do you like to spread kindness?

Sponsor a Child in Jesus Name with Compassion


Subscribe

Receive Daily Encouragement Right to Your Inbox