The Skin I am In

Written by Linda McCutcheon

“Our earthly bodies, which die and decay, will be different when they are resurrected, for they will never die. Our bodies now disappoint us, but when they are raised, they will be full of glory.” (1 Corinthians 15: 42-43, NLT)

We live in our frame. We are all so different with bone structure, skin tone, height and weight all meshed together making us who we are.  While on earth, we try and take care of these earthly vessels. (Which we should!)  However, they don’t always cooperate.

I recently had major surgery.  I am very grateful for our amazing technology and gifted of surgeons, but it is unnatural to be poked and prodded.  Healing takes time.  I am not very patient and the worry bug gets to me.  As scripture says “our bodies now disappoint us”.  I wasn’t healing as quickly as I wanted.  I was frustrated and disappointed.

Tenacious Trust

Written by Becky Toews

Take today’s next step: We need more devotional writers. If you write, join us! 

“Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.”  (Job 13:15a)

I came across a billboard the other day that said, “Everything works out in the end. If it hasn’t worked out, it isn’t the end.”  It takes an element of spiritual audacity to trust God no matter what. Job provides one of the most profound examples of spiritual audacity in the Bible.

He loses everything—family, wealth, reputation, health—and he doesn’t understand why. He’s confused. His concept of God’s righteousness and fairness is tested to the last degree. He didn’t have an assurance as to how his situation would turn out, but there was no way he was going to “curse God and die” as his wife suggested. If he was going to die, he would die hoping and trusting.

No Delays, No Limits

Written by Carolyn Savelle

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!  (Eph. 3:20 MSG)

Today's Confession: God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that I could ask or think.

Becoming intense on the inside of you will stop the struggle in your prayer life. Once the struggle is gone, then the delay will be gone. Why? Because we've run out of time. Time is being compressed down to these last moments that we have left on planet Earth, and God's Word will be fulfilled for His children.

I'm not just telling you something I made up. This works! I have tapped into something from God. I have become intense in my prayer life. I just won't settle for anything less.

Come to the End of Yourself

by Rick Warren

“It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God.” (2 Corinthians 3:5 NLT)

Life is a struggle, but what most people don’t realize is that our struggle, like Jacob’s, is really with God! We want to be God, and there’s no way we’re going to win that struggle. But we try anyway.

A.W. Tozer said, "The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they haven’t yet come to the end of themselves. We’re still trying to give orders, and interfering with God's work within us."

We aren’t God, and we never will be. We’re humans, and the times when we try to be God are the times we end up most like Satan, who tried to be equal with God, too.

We accept our humanity intellectually but not emotionally. We give mental assent to the idea, but when faced with our own limitations, we react with irritation, anger, and resentment. We want to be taller (or shorter), smarter, stronger, more talented, beautiful, and wealthy.

WHAT IF I FALL? (How To Face Failure And Recover From It)

Randy Bataanon

WHAT IF I FALL?
How To Face Failure And Recover From It
Matthew 26:31-35

INTRODUCTION:

First of all, I want to make it clear that this message is not for perfect people. If you are already perfect in your Christian life then you can stop reading this sermon. Because this message is for anyone who can say honestly that they experience struggles and even fall sometimes. This message is for ordinary person who knows the feelings of failures therefore admits that he cannot manage his life apart from God.

The gospel of Jesus is not for the saints but for the sinners. The Great Physician came to the world for the sick and not for those whose life needs not healing.

THIS MESSAGE IS FOR THOSE WHO DID THEIR BEST SHOTS BUT STILL MISSED THE TARGET

• For the parent who did their best but it seems that they are losing the battle for their kids

The Broken Way

Gwen Smith

Today's Truth
Moses answered the people, 'Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today ... the LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still (Exodus 14:13-14, NIV).

Friend to Friend
While at a football game of my son Preston's, I had a moving conversation with another team mom. It was the first time we'd ever dialogued beyond socially expected niceties. Between cheers that went up to our football-playing boys, she stumbled upon the fact that I was a Jesus-loving girl and was excited to share about how God has intimately drawn her heart to his over the past five years. How He met her where she was, ministered to her through the hands of others. How He sparked life into her soul through His Son Jesus Christ. She was radiant and she spoke with excitement, joy in every sentence, praise on her tongue for the God who gives her strength and life. This dear lady opened her heart and told me of her grueling battle with an aggressive form of breast cancer.

Thorn Ministry

Written by Marsha Pope

Take today’s next step: Are you a writer? We are always on the lookout for new authors to add to our devotional writing team. Learn more and apply here.

“To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.  But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

This opportunity to write devotionals has by far been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I’ve been so richly blessed by those that have shared how the devotionals have blessed their lives and how they’ve shared them with friends and family. My greatest hope is that God would be glorified and that His people will be blessed by what I write.

I Want to Run Away

By Lysa TerKeurst

"If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast to him—then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you." Deuteronomy 11:22-23 (NIV)

One of the worst feelings in the world to me is feeling stuck.

Stuck in a situation where I can't see things getting better. I look at the next 5 minutes, 5 hours, 5 days, and all I see are the same hard patterns being repeated over and over.

I try to give myself a pep talk and tap into that part of me that chooses to see the bright side. But it isn't there.

Life suddenly feels like it will forever be this way.

What It Takes to Struggle with Something Hard

By Rachel Olsen

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Romans 8:37 (NIV)

Beginning in my twenties, I wrestled each day with chronic pain and fatigue. The first few years of it, doctors had no idea why.

Then came the diagnosis: fibromyalgia.

I was told this condition was poorly understood, not very treatable, and also not reversible. In fact, they called it "degenerative," meaning it would worsen as I aged. In short, doctors said I had no chance to conquer this pain.

The pain worsened for a couple years and I couldn't image what my life would be like five, ten or fifty years down the road. I prayed for deliverance.

True Faith Looks to God

WILLIAM WILBERFORCE

 

13

 

1

 

1

 

151

 

William Wilberforce

Perhaps the struggles we endure in trying to live for Christ are due to our faulty understanding of Christianity

All the defects of the faith of many people in our day can be traced to a misunderstanding or lack of understanding of the foundational doctrines of the faith they profess: the true state of human nature, the truth of what Christ accomplished on the cross and the transforming influence of the Holy Spirit. Here is the watershed between nominal Christians and those who truly practice the faith that Christ came to make possible. The difference is so critical that I will attempt to further illustrate the problem.

Many people give no serious consideration to Christ and spend their lives drifting along with the culture's ideas of the good life. Then, through some circumstance, these people experience a wake-up call about their faith.

Reaching the Promised Land

JOYCE MEYER

 

56

 

3

 

0

 

340

 

Is your attitude causing you to journey in the wilderness longer than you should?

If you are facing a struggle in your life, perhaps the problem isn’t what you think it is. Many times, we focus on another person or a situation and we think that’s what is causing us to be unhappy. But the real issue might be that you have a bad attitude.

It may seem like your problem is your spouse, your children, a co-worker, the traffic, the economy, your church ... but actually, you might be wandering around in the wilderness, unable to find your promised land because your attitude stinks.

Believe God Will Help You

by Jon Walker

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6 NIV)

You learn to trust God by obeying him in small ways.

You probably agree God is the supreme ruler of the universe, powerful enough to overcome any problem or defeat any enemy, that “everything comes from him; everything happens through him; everything ends up in him” (Romans 11:36 MSG).

What to do when God doesn't answer...

Today, I just want to share to you Pastor Bill Hybels' interesting experience after a baptism service in their church. 

He writes: "I bumped into a woman in the stairwell who was crying. I thought this was a little odd, since the service was so joyful. I asked her if she was all right. 

She said, 'No, I'm struggling.' 

She said, 'My mom was baptized today. I prayed for her every day for almost 20 years. The reason I'm crying is because I came this close to giving up on her. 

At the 5-year mark I said, "Who needs this? God isn't listening." 

At the 10-year mark I said, "Why am I wasting my breath?" 

At the 15-year mark I said, "This is absurd." At the 19-year mark 

How to Win ANY Battle in Life

Steve Arterburn 

You've tried it your way and failed. Don't give up! Choose to stay in the game and see how God even takes our mistakes and builds them into our greatest victories. 

How many times have we heard this one: “It doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's how you play the game that counts.” Some of us realized winning meant a lot when we noticed that the guys who got the girls were the ones who won the starting positions on the team. Even if how they played the game was anything but nice, they still won and got the girls.

Stop, Look And Listen

Growing in the Lord.

A corn plant when it is fully grown and at harvest may have 2 -3 cobs per plant.

However when the plant is only a few weeks old and has sprouted it doesn't have the strength or ability to hold the corn cobs. 

If we focus upon growing the harvest will eventually come.

Too often we focus upon the wrong areas of life.

So how do we grow in the Lord.

One way is by knowing what God says about you and accepting this. 

I consider this to be one of the hardest areas of our lives.

When Life Seems Unfair - Spending time with God puts everything else in perspective.

by Joe Stowell

• Subscribe on iTunes
• Play MP3 (Mobile)

Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn

Read: Psalm 73

I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. —Psalm 73:3

Bible in a Year:
2 Kings 24-25; John 5:1-24

Have you ever felt that life is unfair? For those of us who are committed to following the will and ways of Jesus, it’s easy to get frustrated when people who don’t care about Him seem to do well in life. 

A businessman cheats yet wins a large contract, and the guy who parties all the time is robust and healthy—while you or your loved ones struggle with finances or medical issues. It makes us feel cheated, like maybe we’ve been good for nothing. 

If you’ve ever felt that way, you’re in good company. The writer of Psalm 73 goes through a whole list of how the wicked prosper, and then he says, “Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain” (v.13). But the tide of his thoughts turns when he recalls his time in God’s presence: “Then I understood their end” (v.17).

When we spend time with God and see things from His point of view, it changes our perspective completely. We may be jealous of the nonbelievers now, but we won’t be at judgment time. As the saying goes, what difference does it make if you win the battle but lose the war?

Like the psalmist, let’s praise God for His presence in this life and His promise of the life to come (vv.25-28). He is all you need, even when life seems unfair. 

All wrongs will one day be set right 
By God who sees both bad and good; 
All motives and all deeds will then Be fairly judged and understood. — D. De Haan  

  Spending time with God puts everything else in perspective.

http://odb.org/2011/05/16/when-life-seems-unfair/

Healing for the Brokenhearted Coping with Unfaithfulness

http://powertochange.com/itv/family/healing1/

To earn someone’s trust is surely an honour beyond measure; therefore, it is unsurprisingly one of the most fundamental elements of a strong and successful relationship.  

Dealing with an unfaithful spouse is indubitably one of the hardest ordeals any relationship can go through. Whether you are at the receiving end of the betrayal, the unfaithful spouse, or even a friend of someone undergoing such plight, FamilyLife life coach Beth Scholes offers some tips as to how to face one of life’s darkest moments. 

Watch the video

Take the next step:
Going through tough moments in marriage
Has your trust been broken?


Are you struggling in your marriage? Talk to a mentor

http://powertochange.com/itv/family/healing1/

How Do I Know if I Need Healing?

Written by Barbara Wilson

Sometimes we can feel a certain way for so long that it starts to feel normal, comfortable even. It becomes so familiar that we stuff down that nagging thought that we should do something about our struggles. The process of healing can seem scarier than what we’re experiencing now.

I met a woman at a retreat who began to share with me that her abuse at 10 years old was surfacing again now that she was 40. Despite her efforts to will it away year after year by stuffing away the memories and emotions, instead it had grown to a frenzy of fear, shame and pain. Even worse, it was impacting the intimacy she longed to enjoy with her husband. She agreed that she needed to ‘deal’ with it, but in order to do that, she would need to bring the past into the open and that was just too scary.

I assured her of two things…the same two things I suggest to you. First: there is hope for healing. She can be free of the impact of the abuse. Not the memories, but the haunting control the memories were having on her life. Second, it was not going away on its own. Until she took the steps necessary to allow for healing, every morning for the rest of her life she’d wake up longing for peace from its torment.

So how do you know if your sexual past is still hurting you today? This list describes some of the ways that your abuse could still be impacting your day to day life:

• You’re having trouble functioning at home or work
• You’re suffering from severe fear, anxiety or depression
• You’re unable to form close, satisfying relationships
• You’re experiencing terrifying memories, nightmares, or flashbacks
• You’re avoiding more and more things that remind you of the abuse or trauma
• You’re feeling emotionally numb and disconnected from others
• You’re using alcohol or drugs to feel better, or to be able to be intimate with your spouse
• You’re not enjoying intimacy with your spouse, you feel like there should be more .

gotquestions http://powertochange.com/family-life-canada/need-healing/

Talk to a Mentor

Life is a journey and it’s best shared with others. We want to be there for you during your life celebrations and when you go through struggles. Let us walk this path together, we want to help. Just fill in the form below and one of our email mentors will respond. All emails are responded to personally and privately.

Please read the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy before you submit a request.

Please be careful to enter your email address correctly so we can contact you.

Your Name *

Your Email *

Confirm Email *

Male or Female *

 Male

 Female

City

Country

Please describe your situation or question in the space provided below...

Request

http://powertochange.com/experience/talk-to-a-mentor/

http://powertochange.com/experience/talk-to-a-mentor/