BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

Luke 18: 1-8 “One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. ‘There was a judge in a certain city,’ he said, ‘who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’ Then the Lord said, ‘Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?’” What’s the meaning of this story? Thankfully Luke tells us completely in the first verse: “You should always pray and never give up.” Okay, so this circumstance you’re dealing with, this decision you have to make, the situation with this person – what should you do? You should PRAY ABOUT IT! Whatever it is, whoever it is, no matter what, you should always be praying about it. What exactly does that mean? Really, what would it look like to really pray about what you’re facing or what you’re going through? We can make prayer overly fussy and complicated. It is just conversation with our Father. It is a continual consideration of his input. It means you don’t just think about it – you talk to God about it. You have a decision to make? Talk to God about it. You’re frustrated with someone? Talk to God about it. You’re worried about what might happen? Talk to God about it. You don’t know what to do next? Talk to God about it. And then—and this is the part we sometimes miss—you listen. Prayer isn’t just presenting God with your list of requests and then going back to doing whatever you were going to do. Prayer is inviting God into the situation and then being willing to consider what He has to say about it. God, what do You want me to do? Is there something You’re asking me to see differently? Is there something I need to surrender? Is there something I need to do? Is there something I need to stop doing? How do You want me to respond? That is prayer. And sometimes the answer comes through Scripture. Sometimes it comes through wisdom. Sometimes through a sudden clarity or conviction in your spirit. Sometimes through circumstances. Sometimes through another person. And sometimes you simply don’t get an answer right away. But you keep the conversation open. Do you know what really happens in an open conversation with God? He goes to work on YOU! We pray asking God to change the situation. But while we’re talking to Him about the situation, He’s changing us. You’re coming to Him looking for solutions to a problem, a situation or a relationship, and while you’re talking to Him about it, He’s working on you in the process. Conversations with God give Him space to align your will with His. They give you a different perspective, a softened heart, a renewed mind and a clearer understanding of what really matters. You may come to God asking, “God, what are You going to do about them?” And somewhere in the conversation, you begin to realize He’s first doing something in you. You may come asking Him to change your circumstances, and He begins changing your attitude. You may ask Him to fix someone else, and He begins revealing something in you. You may ask Him to give you an answer, and He begins giving you wisdom. You may ask Him to take away the problem, and He begins giving you strength to walk through it. Prayer changes things. But sometimes the first thing prayer changes is YOU. That’s why we don’t give up praying when the answer doesn’t come quickly. We keep the conversation open because God is still working—even when we can’t see Him working on the situation. He’s working on your heart. He’s working on your perspective. He’s working on your faith. He’s working on your trust. He’s working on YOU. And sometimes, while you’re waiting for God to change what’s happening around you, God is doing something far more important within you. For seven years, I prayed over a situation that seemed to get worse before it got better. And now, seven years later, that prayer has been answered. Is it sweet? Ahhhh, yes it is! Has a burden been lifted? Absolutely. But let me tell you something: I’m not the same person I was when I started praying seven years ago. Those years of continual conversation with God changed me. Those moments on my knees changed me. Those tears on the days when things got worse instead of better changed me. The waiting changed me. The disappointment changed me. The desperate prayers changed me. God was doing something in me while I was asking Him to do something about my circumstances. And looking back now, I can honestly say this: I don’t wish I could have those seven years back. Not because they were easy. They weren’t. Not because I enjoyed the waiting. I didn’t. But because I can see now what God was doing in our lives during those years, and what He built in me through those years is far too valuable to trade away. I wanted an immediate answer. God was building something eternal. I wanted Him to change the situation. He was changing me. I wanted Him to restore what had been lost. He was preparing me to receive the restoration. And now I can look back and see that not one of those years was wasted. I cling to this promise found in Joel 2:25, “The Lord says, ‘I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts.'” This promise from God comes after a historic and devastating plague of locusts and a with a severe drought that had completely stripped the land of Judah. All the crops had been destroyed. The vines and the trees were dead. The entire community was in deep famine and mourning. Through years, they had watched nothing but destruction. But then God says HE WILL GIVE THEM BACK WHAT THEY LOST. God sends rain to heal the soil, he provides an OVERWHELMING harvest that overflowed their barns, he restored them with MORE than enough. But God didn’t stop there, when God gave them back what they had lost, he also drove out the enemy that had threatened them and, most importantly, he poured out his spirit. After this time of hardship, this time of loss, this time of waiting, then God brought spiritual renewal. My sister, I may not know what you’ve been waiting for and what damage has been done, but I know our God is the God who can give you back what you lost and he can make it sweeter than you ever imagined. He can drive out the enemy, bring an overwhelming harvest, and start a spiritual renewal in your entire family. For 7 years the enemy divided my family, but nothing in that time was wasted! God was doing his work and he’s given us back everything we lost. And I assure you, God loves you just as much as he loves me, and he can do the same thing for you! The point of Jesus’ story of the persistent widow is not only that you should always pray, but that you should never give up. When is it time to give up? Never. I don’t know what you may be growing weary of, but God’s word says IT’S SIMPLY NOT TIME TO GIVE UP. I don’t know what seems hopeless in your life right now, BUT GIRL, DON’T YOU GIVE UP! Jesus says, “Don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly!” YOU are God’s chosen people. There’s only one way you’ve come to this place of knowing him and believing in him – HE CHOSE YOU FIRST. That alone proves you are chosen. And because you are chosen, he hears you when you cry out to him day and night. HE HEARS YOU. Honey, he’s not ignoring you. Daniel 9:23, “The moment you began praying, a command was given.” Heaven moves when you pray. But you don’t always see that movement immediately. Why is that? If Jesus tells us God will grant justice quickly – why did I wait for 7 years – why are you still waiting? Well, quite simply, when God holds all eternity, his ‘quickly’ may not align with our ‘quickly’. He sees the bigger picture and he knows perfect timing over immediate timing. Left to myself, I would always choose immediate timing, but I’m grateful I don’t get to control that – perfect timing is always worth waiting for. And knowing that our God holds the ultimate power to restore everything that was lost during that time of wait means nothing is wasted! In the story Jesus tells of the persistent widow, she is dealing with an unfair judge who didn’t care. THAT IS NOT WHO WE ARE DEALING WITH! Our God is not reluctant, he is sovereign. In this delay while you continue to ask and pray, you’re not changing God’s heart. Sometimes that’s what I think I’m doing. I think I’m somehow going to convince God to change his will to match mine. That’s embarrassingly foolish of me. I wonder if you do the same thing? When what’s really happening is in this delay, in this waiting, in this struggle, in the seasons where things just get worse, while we keep praying and fight to keep from giving up, the heart being changed is OURS. The will being changed is OURS. Persistent prayer isn’t about wearing God down until He finally gives you what you want. God isn’t the unjust judge who has to be convinced to care about you. He already cares. Persistent prayer is about refusing to disconnect from God simply because the answer hasn’t come yet. You keep talking to Him. You keep bringing it to

This story told by Jesus is quite different. Unlike all his other stories, this story includes specific names. This tells us it’s a true story of real people living real lives with a real destiny. These are true events. I’m a documentary junkie. It’s the only TV I ever watch. So imagine this story as we read it unfolding like a docuseries. I’ll split it into episodes for effect. Follow along in Luke 16: 19-31 Episode 1: “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores.” —— Understand this scene. In these days, the rich were extravagant in their wealth and it was most displayed in their meals. The fatter a person was, the wealthier it showed them to be because they had the pure luxury of abundance. The rich would often wipe their messy food covered hands on pieces of bread while they feasted on their massive meals. And these pieces of bread used as napkins, were what the poor man named Lazarus lay at the gate begging for. The rich man was aware of Lazarus. He was aware of his need. And fully aware of his own ability to meet his need by simply affording him the bread where he wiped his hands. The rich man passed by him each time he left his palace. But, Lazarus was left laying there longing. Episode 2: “Finally the poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the heavenly banquet. The rich man also died and was buried and he went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side. The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’ But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from here.” —— So, they have both died, but their destinies were eternally different. Lazarus, the beggar, went to Heaven. The rich man went to hell. Why would that be? Lets be clear – it wasn’t because of money. Money has nothing to do with our future with God. You can’t buy your way into Heaven and you can’t spend your way into Hell. This is the great separation that Jesus warned us about in Matthew 25. He says, “There will be a time when all will be gathered in his presence and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. On his right, he will says, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. What you did this for the least of these, you were doing it to me.’ Then he will turn to those on his left and say ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. When you refused to help the least of these, you were refusing to help me.’ And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.” Lazarus is on his right. The rich man is on his left. Lazarus is credited as righteous. The rich man is indebted to eternal punishment. And now, after their death, there’s no changing their fate. They can’t go back. They can’t cross over. They can’t change it. When time is up, eternity is sealed. It’s easy to twist this and assume there’s a heavenly reward happening for suffering, and a hellish punishment happening for refusing help. But that’s not what Jesus is teaching. The issue wasn’t Lazarus’s poverty or the rich man’s wealth. The issue was the heart. Lazarus wasn’t saved because he was poor. And the rich man wasn’t condemned simply because he was rich or greedy. Scripture is clear that salvation has never been something we earn by suffering, by giving, by serving, or by doing enough good things. We are saved by God’s grace. So what is Jesus exposing? A heart that could see suffering and remain completely unmoved. The rich man wasn’t unaware. That’s what makes this story so uncomfortable. Lazarus was lying at his gate. He knew his name. He knew his condition. He knew his need. And he had more than enough to meet it. The need wasn’t somewhere across town. It wasn’t hidden. It wasn’t complicated. It was literally at his doorstep. And every day, he stepped over it. The rich man’s problem wasn’t that he had possessions. His problem was that his possessions had possessed his heart. He had become so consumed with his own comfort that someone else’s suffering could sit at his gate without disturbing his life. The rich man’s greatest problem wasn’t what was in his bank account. It was what was missing from his heart. Compassion. Mercy. Generosity. Love. This was a heart issue. What happens in the heart eventually reveals itself in how we treat people. And his heart condition is what led him to an eternal place of misery. A hardened heart that had refused God. Episode 3: “Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’ “But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’” —– Now, in this place of eternal torment, understanding what really brought him here was not accepting God and allowing his heart to be transformed, his concern turns to his brothers who are still alive. He knows it’s not too late for them. He begs for his brothers to be warned so they can have a changed heart and not be tormented as well. Imagine this for a moment. Imagine knowing what you did wrong and wanting desperately to go back and warn your loved ones, but not being able to. Wouldn’t that be torment in itself? But, my sister, here’s the beauty in this – we don’t have to wait until our eternal destination and then wish we could go back and tell others. We’ve been told what is coming – we already know – so the time we have here today is our opportunity to do precisely what we would want to do from our eternal destination. We would want to warn others. We would want to tell them the truth so they could avoid future torment. AND TODAY WE STILL HAVE THE GIFT OF TIME. One day, we won’t. Notice what the rich man is told – he’s told his brothers had the opportunity to read what was written. They’ve been warned. What was written? The Bible. Scripture was always there telling the truth, inviting a change of heart. Have we forgotten the power in God’s word? When is the last time you gave someone the gift of a Bible? Do you have an extra just ready to give someone who needs to know God’s truth and God’s promises? Episode 4: One last effort from the rich man to reach his brothers who are still alive with the warning from hell. “The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’ “But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’” ——- The rich man thinks of someone came back from the dead and told his brothers they would surely repent of their sins and turn to God. But God knows better. Do you know how? BECAUSE IT HAPPENED. Someone did rise from the dead – that was his son Jesus. And even with Jesus rising from the dead and reports of him being seen again, evidence of his Holy Spirit then filling people – still people choose not to believe and turn to God. It’s still happening today. Jesus came back from the dead to tell us, and we still ignore him. We have His Word. We have His warning. We have His invitation. We have His Spirit. We have the testimony of people whose lives have been transformed by Him. And most importantly, we have Jesus. The rich man wanted a miracle to change his brothers’ hearts. But he is told, “They already have what they need. They have God’s Word. They have the truth. They have the opportunity to respond.” And so do we. We don’t need another sign. We need a surrendered heart. That’s the sobering message of this story. The greatest danger isn’t that we don’t have enough evidence. It’s that we can have all the evidence in the world and still choose not to let God change our hearts. So while we still have time, let God search yours. Don’t wait for eternity to recognize what matters eternally. Don’t wait until the chasm is fixed forever to wish you had crossed it today. Don’t wait until someone you love is gone to wish you had told them about Jesus. Don’t wait until your heart is so hardened that you no longer hear His voice. Today, you can respond. Today, you can surrender. Today, you can soften your heart. Today, you can love the person at your gate. Today, you can give someone a Bible. Today, you can tell someone about Jesus. Today, you can turn toward God. Because there is one gift we have right now that the rich man no longer had: TIME. Time to choose. Time to repent. Time to believe. Time to love. Time to obey. Time to tell someone else. One day, our time will be finished. And when it is, our eternity will be sealed. So don’t waste the gift you’ve been given today. Let God have your heart while there is still time. Let this question settle into your heart today, “What am I doing with Jesus while I still have time?” Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

This could be one of the most confusing and easily twisted stories Jesus told. Maybe you’re like me and you’ve read it before, said “well that doesn’t make sense”, and quickly moved on. On the surface this one doesn’t make sense. However, if you really seek, you will find a deep message that truly does make sense. So, let’s read this story together and this time we’re committed to not digging deep for the message instead of skimming on through. Luke 16: 1-9 Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’ The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’ So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.’ ‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.’ The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.” First glance – is Jesus telling us to cheat? Is he praising twisting the truth or dishonest business? Absolutely not. This manager was no doubt doing wrong – he cheated and he was caught cheating by his boss. He knew his boss was going to fire him, so before he could, he made friends with everyone who owed his boss money. He lowered their bills in order to earn their good graces. Now, when he was fired, he would have friends who would help him. And the boss had to “admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd.” The confusion comes in this word ‘shrewd’. I liken that word to mean slimy, sneaky, crooked – but that’s actually not the definition of the word. Shrewd actually means wise and strategic. The boss admired this man for seeing what was coming (getting fired), and making strategic decisions now (using what he have to prepare for the future.) Now, understanding this word ‘shrewd’, we understand what Jesus is saying – “Children of this world are more wise and strategic in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light.” As followers of Jesus, personally chosen by God and redeemed to be considered righteous, we are living in this world, but we are not children of this world. We are children of the light. We live by different standards. We have a different calling and a different compass. Children of this world are those without Jesus – those who aren’t covered in the grace of his blood. And Jesus is saying as children of the light, we can use a lesson in being more shrewd – that is more wise and strategic. And here’s why … Every single one of us will be called to give an account of our stewardship. We are all just managers here of things that don’t really belong to us. Everything you think you own doesn’t really belong to you – you can’t take it with you. That’s all on loan. The people you love and care for, they don’t belong to you. You may get to raise them, you may get to share life with them, but they’re not yours. You’re a manager of all that really belongs to God. And just like the manager in Jesus’ story, you will be held responsible for how you’re managing your bosses affairs. I will literally stand before God one day and give an account for everything I did and didn’t do. Every word I spoke, and every word I didn’t speak. Every time I helped, and every time I walked on by. Every time I made the right choice, and every time I made the wrong choice. How I spent every dollar and every day. How I treated others. I’ll be held responsible for how I managed my entire life … and so will you. Romans 14:12, “Each of us will give a personal account to God.” Imagine God reviewing your life and asking why you walked by when you saw someone in need. What will you say? Imagine God asking why you wasted your time (which was really his time being given to you to manage) on things that didn’t matter. What will you say? Imagine God asking why you spent so much energy trying to impress people instead of minister to people. What will you say? Imagine God asking why you were so consumed with accumulating things that you couldn’t take with you, while neglecting the things that would last forever. What will you say? Imagine God asking why you had opportunities to love, serve, encourage, forgive, give, speak up, invite, pray, or share Jesus – and you didn’t. What will you say? Imagine God asking, “I gave you that money. I gave you that time. I gave you those relationships. I gave you those gifts. I gave you that influence. I gave you that platform. I gave you that opportunity. What did you do with what I gave you?” What will you say? Because that’s the point Jesus is making. Be shrewd. Look ahead. Think beyond today. Recognize that this life is temporary and eternity is coming. Then use what you have TODAY to prepare for what is coming TOMORROW. The manager in this story understood something that many of us forget: What I have right now is an opportunity. He knew his time was limited, so he acted. If we know we will be called to stand before God and give an account for how we managed all that was his, why aren’t we living different? And if we know every single person we come in contact with is one day soon going to stand before God as well, why aren’t we aggressively pointing them towards Jesus? SOULS ARE ON THE LINE! Isn’t that what really matters? All of this is going away, but eternity is waiting. What are people willing to do to grow a business, to make more money, to get another client, to make a deal … practically anything, right? Billboards, advertisements, slipping up in your text messages, spamming your email, paying influencers to use their products. People will beat the streets, pull overtime, get another degree, invest, and sacrifice – just to make more money. BUT WHAT ARE WE WILLING TO DO TO REACH ANOTHER SOUL FOR JESUS? If we pursued the Kingdom of God with the same zeal as the children of this world pursue profits and pleasure, everything would be different! If we used our present resources to plan for eternity the same way we use our resources to plan for our next vacation or promotion, imagine how many more people would be saved, rescued, redeemed, healed and changed! THAT’S WHAT JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT! WHY AREN’T WE USING EVERYTHING WE HAVE TO PLAN FOR THE ETERNITY WE KNOW IS COMING? Jesus is telling us that we should have the same urgency as this manager who knows his time to prepare for the future is limited – not to cheat, not to manipulate, not to be dishonest – but to be wise and strategic with what God has given us to manage. To use this time to prepare for what is coming and what truly matters. If you have money, use it strategically for God’s purposes. If you have time, don’t waste all of it on things that won’t matter in eternity. If you have influence, use it to influence people toward Jesus. If you have a home, use it to welcome people. If you have a gift, open it and share it. If you have a story, tell it. If you have resources, share them. If you have relationships, invest in them. If you have a voice, speak life. If you have an opportunity to do good, don’t keep waiting for a better one. Be shrewd. Wise and strategic for eternal good. Because one day, the opportunity will be gone. The money will be gone. The house will be gone. The career will be gone. The possessions will be gone. The calendar will be empty. And all that will remain is what you did with what God entrusted to you. That’s why Jesus isn’t telling us to become more like the dishonest manager in character. He’s telling us to become more like him in urgency. The manager looked at his future and allowed it to change the way he handled his present. The manager knew he had to give an account to his boss for how he managed things and he started preparing immediately. We should do the same. We know where our story ends. We know eternity is real. We know Jesus is coming. We know our time here is limited. We know we will give an account. So let’s stop living like we have forever. Let’s be shrewd. Let’s live today with eternity in mind. Let’s manage what God has placed in our hands in a way that makes sense in light of where we’re going. Maybe Jesus wants us to wrestle with a few questions today through this story he told. What are you doing with your time? What are you doing with your money? What are you doing with your influence? What are you doing with your relationships? What are you doing with your gifts? What are you doing with your story? What are you doing with the opportunities God keeps putting in front of you? You don’t have to have more. You just need to become more faithful with what you already have. You are the manager. God is the owner. And one day, the Owner will ask for the report. So make today’s report count. See what’s coming. Understand what matters. Act accordingly. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapame

Jesus tells us a story of 2 sons. One was the prodigal, and one was not. Of course the prodigal, the one who struggled, the one who messed up is the one who often gets the focus in the story. Afterall, he is the one who was lost and was found. He was the one who the father celebrated. But what about the other son. The son who didn’t struggle. The son who didn’t mess up. The son who stayed close to the father the entire time. Jesus’ story is about TWO SONS. It’s not just about the lost son, but it’s also about the son who was never lost. We find ourselves in one or both of these sons. Yesterday in part 1 of this parable we saw how the younger son asked for his share of the father’s inheritance early and left home. He quickly wasted all his money on wild living and end up starving and literally living with the pigs. But then he finally comes to his senses and realizes it would be better to be a servant in his father’s house than stay where he was. So, he prepares a big speech to return to his father and beg for forgiveness. But before he even reaches home, his father sees him still a long way off and runs to meet him. He doesn’t need to hear his speech, he celebrates that his lost son has returned and he throws a big party. The prodigal has come home and the father gladly welcomed him back. Yay! But there’s the other son. Jesus continues his story and you need to know about the other son, because maybe you find yourself more in the son who never left than the son who did. Here’s the rest of the story when the party began. Luke 15: 25-32: “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to do. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’ His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!” Can’t you understand how the older son must have felt? He never felt celebrated. He never felt rewarded for his faithfulness. But now his screw up brother comes crawling back and he’s given a full blown party? What about his reward for never leaving? Really, isn’t that a fair feeling? We celebrate the milestones of recovery in addiction, but what about the one who has always chosen sobriety? We celebrate the marriage saved after the affair, but what about the spouse who never strayed? We see God in saving the business from the brink of disaster, but what about the business that has always seemed to just thrive? We praise the girl who lost 60 pounds, but what about the one who has consistently chosen health the entire time? Where’s that party? Where’s that recognition? When the older son asks that very fair question, the father answers, “YOU HAVE ALWAYS STAYED BY ME AND EVERYTHING I HAVE IS YOURS.” Jesus is saying, the best rewards have always been here for you. The benefits have always been yours if you stayed. You’ve been given the best because you didn’t stray. Really think about that – do you need a big celebration for returning if you’ve enjoyed the daily benefits of never leaving? Are you being shorted when your life has been blessed with all this goodness all along? Are the angels full on celebrating in heaven over us continually getting it right, staying on the right path, seeking God first, and living well? No – they don’t have to. They’re celebrating the ones who have been lost and finally comes back. And if that seems unfair – if that makes you feel like your faithfulness doesn’t matter because only the rebellious one is celebrated, think about this: YOU’VE ALWAYS HAD WHAT THE REBELLIOUS ONE HAD TO COME BACK FOR. The fact that you’ve ALWAYS HAD IT is the reward! If you’ve never left God’s goodness, you’ve been living in a continual reward. God doesn’t need to throw us a celebration – we need to celebrate him! Every day we wake up to everything he has for us. GOD WE CELEBRATE YOU! And really, that’s where the older son had failed. He had missed the fact that he always had everything at home with his father. He was jealous of the celebration his brother received, all while he had taken for granted what he had every day of his life. He failed to celebrate the RELATIONSHIP he had always had with the father. All this time he had remained physically close to his father, never leaving home like his brother did – but his heart had become distant. He says to his father, “All these years I’ve SLAVED FOR YOU …” He missed the relationship with his father. He was never asked to treat life at home as a servant trying to earn a reward – he was invited to live as a son receiving an inheritance. While he was standing outside the party, angry, keeping score, comparing his faithfulness to his brother’s failure – he had missed the relationship he always had. Girls – have we taken for granted what we’ve always had as we stay here close with God? Have we taken his protection for granted? Have his blessings become expected? Are we no longer in awe of what he does for us every single day? Woah – isn’t that us? I think so. I see myself in the older son who had grown ungrateful. I see myself in the older son who stayed but lost the sweetness of the relationship. I see myself in the one who started going through the motions of all he “had” to do and forgot the blessing in it all. The father didn’t see him as a slave. He saw him as a SON. The older brother had been living in the father’s house, but he had forgotten what it meant to live as the father’s son. He was so focused on what his brother had received that he had forgotten everything he already had. And maybe that’s the warning Jesus is giving to those of us who have stayed. You can do everything right and still miss the joy of being God’s child. You can stay close to God and still become resentful when someone who wandered receives grace. You can be faithful and still start keeping score. You can obey God and secretly believe He owes you something for it. You can spend so much time watching what God is doing for someone else that you forget to celebrate what He has already done for you. The father doesn’t tell the older son, “You’re right. Your brother doesn’t deserve this.” He simply reminds him: “You have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours.” In other words, my child, you haven’t been forgotten. You haven’t been overlooked. You haven’t been cheated. You have been here with me all along – and everything I have is already yours. That’s the beauty of staying. Girls, we already have it all! There may not be a dramatic testimony of what you were rescued FROM, because you never went there. There may not be a spectacular story of what you came BACK FROM, because you never left. But don’t ever mistake a quiet life of faithfulness for an insignificant one. There is a miracle in never needing to be rescued from the pit. There is a blessing in never having to rebuild what you chose not to destroy. There is freedom in not carrying the wounds that come from years of running from God. There is something incredibly beautiful about a life that simply keeps saying, “Yes, Lord.” So if you’re the older son today, don’t stand outside the party. Don’t let someone else’s restoration steal your gratitude for your own journey. Don’t resent the grace God is giving someone else. And don’t believe the lie that because your story isn’t dramatic, it isn’t powerful. Your reward isn’t that God throws a bigger party when you mess up and come home. Your reward is that you never had to leave home to experience the goodness of the Father. Don’t wait for God to throw a celebration for you – live in such continual awe of God’s faithfulness and goodness that you throw the praise party for HIM! You got to live in His presence. You got to know His voice. You got to experience His protection. You got to receive His provision. You got to walk with Him through the ordinary days. And when you really understand that, you don’t need to stand outside with your arms crossed asking, “What about me?” You can walk into the party, put your arm around the one who finally came back and say, “Gosh, I’m so glad you’re home. Look at all our blessings here together!” Because the Father’s heart isn’t choosing between the two sons. He wants both sons at the table. The younger son needed to discover that he could come home. The older son needed to discover that he already was home. Are you the one who needs to come home? Or are you the one who needs to stop standing outside the party and realize just how good it is to already be home? Either way, the Father is coming toward you. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

This is the final of the trilogy of stories Jesus tells to explain the worth of a single soul to God. We had the Parable of the Lost Sheep where the shepherd leaves the 99 to find the 1 who has been lost. We had the Parable of the Lost Coin of the woman who has 10 coins, but when she loses 1 she looks relentlessly until it’s found. Notice the numbers – 1 out of 99 – 1 out of 10 – and now Jesus takes it down to even a more personal and direct number – 1 out of 2 with the Parable of the Lost Son. This is the story we often refer to as the Prodigal son, depending on the translation you’re reading. This story told by Jesus has so many layers and so many life changing truths, we will divide this one into 2 devotionals. Today will be part 1, only covering the first half of the story. Let’s read it together in Luke 15: 11-24: “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.’ So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’ But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began. This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible, and really for many reasons. I’ve been rather open about the 7 year journey with our own prodigal daughter. She walked out of our house at 17 and just never came back. Many times we had no idea where she was or if she was even alive. She made horrible, dangerous choices, and just kept running further and further. The Lord showed me how to wait in hope and faith. He showed me how not to chase her and make things worse. He showed me his faithfulness in the wait. I learned my job was to pray relentlessly for her and always be ready with the welcome home party when she returned. And when our girl finally did return to her family this year, he showed me how he had been allowing my daughter to step into her own testimony of his faithfulness. And yes, we had a party – a wedding party! My prodigal had come home and our relationship continues to grow and flourish every day. It’s truly one of my greatest joys. But this story is also one of my favorites because I realize it’s my own story as well. I am the prodigal. No, I never ran away from my family. No, I’ve never had a wild lifestyle or racked up a bunch of regrets. But gosh have I ever missed out on God’s best by chasing after something else. I am the prodigal. I am the lost one. The Father waited for me to come home and return to his best. Can you see how that’s you too? That’s all of us. The youngest son in Jesus’ story had made a mistake. His mistake was in LOCATION. The provision of his father was in location. He left his father’s house and he struggled fiercely. He ends up living with the pigs, just wishing he could eat the pigs food. But you know what that hunger did – that hunger brought him back home. God lovingly allows us to struggle and suffer when we have chosen to be away from him. He allows hunger because hunger brings us back. Desperation makes us hit our knees. Rock bottom becomes a solid foundation for a turn around. But wow, have you ever noticed that some of us have basements to our rock bottoms? We can go further and further down – further and further away – run harder and harder – make even worse choices with harder consequences … but let me tell you something, THE FATHER IS STILL WAITING FOR OUR RETURN. He’s still waiting for our surrender. He’s still waiting for us to stop running, stop resisting, stop making this worse. The timing of this particular parable is so perfect because just last night I went to a really special service at our church here in Carlsbad, California. Surfers and beach babes basically went to a rodeo at our church. It was the strangest mix of beach people trying to be country. In our church parking lot was a corral surrounded by hay bails and bleachers. In the middle of the corral was a wild horse. Then a legit cowboy enters the corral. Have you heard of this guy? His name is Todd Pierce with Riding High Ministries. In front of a live audience, he trains and rides a wild horse for the first time, all while giving us the most powerful visual of God’s loving patience with us. If you ever get a chance to go see Todd in action, I highly recommend it. I cried through the entire experience. It was one of the most spiritual things I’ve ever witnessed. This horse was 2 years old and up until that week, he had never been touched by a human hand. He had been roped and trailered into California from a ranch in Idaho … and he was NOT happy about it. Todd enters the corral and this horse runs. He wanted absolutely nothing to do with this cowboy. Todd every so slowly works his way closer and closer to the horse as it’s running in circles. He introduces the touch of his rope, then the touch of his hand. Little by little, the horse comes to trust him. But then, the horse would get scared and it would run wild again. Todd explained that this is so often us with God. God begins His work in our lives. He gets closer. He reaches for us. We begin to trust Him. And then something scares us. So we run. But God doesn’t give up. He waits. He tries again. He gets a little closer. And when the horse would refuse his touch, Todd would do something that absolutely broke my heart. He would get down on his knees. He would lower himself beneath the horse and show him tenderness and care. He wasn’t chasing him. He wasn’t forcing him. He was allowing the horse to see that he wasn’t there to hurt him. The horse still had the power to run. And Todd was willing to let him. But as that horse watched this cowboy kneel before him, something began to change. Little by little, he came closer. And closer. And closer. I’m sitting there crying and crying because suddenly I recognized myself. I’m the wild horse. I’m the one resisting. I’m the one who gets scared. I’m the one who doesn’t want to surrender. I’m the one who sometimes runs when God gets too close. And yet…. God waits. God doesn’t stop loving me because I run. He doesn’t abandon me because I resist. He doesn’t force me into surrender. He patiently pursues me. He keeps reaching. He keeps waiting. He keeps inviting me closer. But there was another part of this demonstration that really got me. Todd explained that every horse is different. Some surrender quickly. Some take much longer. Some fight hard. Some even try to hurt him. But ultimately, if a horse refuses to be trained, it loses. Not because the cowboy doesn’t love it. But because the horse cannot become what it was created to be while it remains wild. Think about that. A horse can spend its entire life running wherever it wants, doing whatever it wants, refusing every bit of restraint. That may look like freedom. But it isn’t freedom if it keeps the horse from becoming what it was created to be. A trained horse can do incredible things. It can carry someone into battle. It can help a rancher. It can serve a purpose far greater than simply running wild. But a horse that refuses to surrender to its trainer will never experience that purpose. And I couldn’t stop thinking about how often I do the same thing with God. I want His blessing, but I resist His training. I want His purpose, but I don’t want His process. I want Him to lead me, but I still want to choose the direction. I want the life He has for me, but I don’t always want to surrender the life I have chosen for myself. And maybe that’s the question this parable is asking us: Am I willing to be trained? Because surrender to God isn’t losing my freedom. It’s finally becoming free to be who He created me to be. The wild horse thinks the cowboy is taking something away. But the cowboy knows what the horse doesn’t yet understand: Surrender isn’t the end of the horse’s life. It’s the beginning of its purpose. And maybe that’s what God is saying to you today. You don’t have to run anymore. You don’t have to fight Him. You don’t have to be afraid of what happens when you finally let Him get close. The One asking you to surrender isn’t trying to diminish you. He’s trying to develop you. He’s not trying to take away your purpose. He’s trying to lead you into it. So maybe today isn’t about trying harder. Maybe it’s about stopping. Turning around. And letting the Cowboy come close. Stop running. Stop resisting. Stop fighting the hands that are trying to heal you. Let Him train you. Let Him lead you. Let Him transform you. Because the greatest version of your life isn’t found in running wild.

When Jesus tells a story, you listen. When Jesus repeats 3 stories with the same meaning, you REALLY listen. Every story he told during his time here on Earth was of important purpose, but to repeat the same lesson 3 times in 3 ways tells us Jesus desperately wants us to get this message. Today’s parable is part of that trilogy teaching. The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin and the Lost Son. The teaching of the Lost Sheep was recorded by both Matthew and Luke, so we already looked at that teaching earlier in our series. But now as we look at the accounts of Luke, we see the remaining 2 stories taught back to back by Jesus to the same crowd of people. Who were these people in the crowd, and why would they so desperately need to understand this message? This was a mixed crowd of religious leaders, along with as Luke puts it, “tax collectors and other notorious sinners”. These were people who didn’t mix. Religious leaders of this day made very clear distinctions between who was considered acceptable and who was not—who was “clean” and who was “unclean.” And the people Jesus was attracting—the tax collectors and notorious sinners—were the very people the religious crowd believed should be kept at a distance. They didn’t mix. But as Jesus taught this trilogy of stories about the lost, the sinners came crowding in. The people who had been pushed to the edges were now pressing into the center—right there at the feet of Jesus. Why were the unclean and the sinners coming in? Because for the first time, they were being told they belonged, they mattered, and there was a path for them to be made clean. Up until then, as part of the unclean, they had been pushed to the edges. They were the people you avoided, the people you didn’t touch, the people you didn’t invite to your table. They couldn’t simply blend in with everyone else. Their reputation went ahead of them. Their past followed them. Their failures had become their identity. Imagine that for a moment. Or maybe you don’t have to imagine too hard because this is a story you continually tell yourself now. You don’t belong. You’re unworthy. No body wants you. You’ve felt like part of the “unclean”. For these people being constantly told that they’re not good enough, not acceptable, not clean, eventually they started believing it themselves. Maybe they had assumed God was only for the clean people. The religious people. And then Jesus came. And Jesus changed everything. Jesus didn’t stand on the other side of the crowd pointing at them. He moved toward them. He welcomed them. He ate with them. He touched the untouchable. He talked to the unacceptable. He gave dignity to people who had been reduced to their sin. And suddenly, these people who had been told, “You don’t belong here,” were crowding around Jesus because Jesus was telling them something completely different: You matter. You are wanted. You are worth finding. You are not too far gone. That is the setting for these three stories. And that is why Jesus tells them three times, in three different ways: God goes after what is lost. He tells the story of a shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to find one lost sheep. Then a woman who turns her house upside down to find one lost coin. And finally, a father who watches the road, waiting for his lost son to come home. Three stories. One message. God is not standing far away waiting for the lost to find their way back to Him. God is actively pursuing them. And Jesus wants these religious leaders—and every outcast listening at His feet—to understand something that would have been almost scandalous to them: The lost are not an inconvenience to God. They are His pursuit. The very people everyone else had pushed away were the people Jesus was drawing near to. What was literally happening in this moment was James 4:8, “Come close to God, and God will come close to you.” The unclean were drawing in close for the first time believing maybe this man Jesus was sharing the Good News with them, and as they came in close, God came in close to them. A message worth repeating 3 times! So today, we look specifically at “The Parable of The Lost Coin”. The short little story tucked in between the other 2 more popular stories of something that had been lost. Luke 15: 8-10 “Suppose a woman has 10 sliver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lot coin.’ In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.'” And here in the crowd were the sinners who were told they were unclean and unworthy of anything from God. They were written off and excluded. Now, Jesus is telling them, YOU ARE LIKE A LOST COIN THAT IS WORTHY OF BEING SEARCHED FOR! What does a coin have to do to be found? Absolutely nothing! The coin doesn’t crawl its way out of the corner. The coin doesn’t shine itself up to be found. No, the owner comes looking and will not quit until it is found! Notice what the woman does when she loses the coin – She specifically lights a lamp and sweeps the entire house in a careful search. This is precisely what God does when he comes looking for one of his lost children. One who has gotten lost in the darkness, swept to the side, fallen in the cracks and been left alone. First, HE SHINES THE LIGHT. What is this light? John 1:4-5, “In HIM was life, and that life was the LIGHT of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” But, the light doesn’t stop with God. Through Jesus, we become his light bearers. Matthew 5:14, Jesus says, “YOU are the light of the world.” Girls, this means for those of us with the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we carry the light that God uses to search for his lost coins. WE ARE PART OF THE SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM FOR LOST SOULS!!!!!! Are they unclean? Are they not to be touched? Are they to be avoided? NOT ACCORDING TO JESUS!!!!!!!!!! THEY ARE TO BE SEARCHED FOR! Jesus says with this light, the woman sweeps the entire house in careful search. GOD IS WILLING TO GO ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE LOOKING FOR A LOST SOUL. He will move the furniture. He will lift the rug. He’ll turn the sofa upside down. He’s not quitting the search for what is his. Here in the crowd, lost souls are hearing Jesus say that he will not stop caring about them. And here today, those within the sound of my voice are hearing Jesus still saying the same thing – HE WILL NOT STOP CARING ABOUT YOU. No matter where you’ve been hiding – no matter what darkness you’ve been stuck in – no matter how dirty you’ve become – HE WANTS YOU BACK!!!!!!!! You are his daughter. You belong to him. Nothing changes that. Just because the coin was lost didn’t mean the woman no longer claimed it. No, she said, “MY COIN”. It was hers when she held it, hers when it was lost, and hers when she found it. “I have found MY lost coin.” You’ve always been God’s girl. That’s not changing. Let yourself be found! Do you know what will happen when he finds you? A FULL BLOWN CELEBRATION!!!!!!!!! Literally Jesus says “There is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” The angels are throwing a party over every soul who is pulled up out of the darkness. Over every soul who is picked up and dusted off. Over every soul who is restored to the place where they belong. THERE IS JOY WHEN THE LOST IS FOUND! Not disappointment. Not condemnation. Not, “Well, look who finally came crawling back.” JOY! Jesus is painting a picture for these sinners sitting at His feet—and for the religious leaders standing there judging them—that would have been impossible to miss. THIS is how God feels about sinners coming home. And I think sometimes we forget that. We know how to feel guilty. We know how to beat ourselves up. We know how to replay our failures and remind ourselves of every place we’ve fallen short. We know how to tell ourselves that we should have known better, done better, been better. But Jesus tells a different story. He tells us that when we are lost, God searches. When we are in the darkness, God brings the light. When we are buried under the mess of our own making, God starts moving things around to find us. And when He finds us, He celebrates. Girl, let that sink in. God isn’t looking for a reason to reject you. He’s looking for you. You may have wandered. You may have messed up. You may have made choices you wish you could undo. You may feel like you’ve fallen so far into the cracks that nobody could possibly find you. But you are not forgotten. You are not disqualified. You are not too dirty. You are not too far gone. You are still His. The coin didn’t become worthless because it was lost. Its location changed. Its condition may have gotten dirty. It may have been sitting in a dark corner where nobody could see it. But its value never changed. And neither has yours. Let Jesus find you exactly where you are. Because He already knows where you are. He’s already looking. He’s already searching. And when He finds you, He’s not going to pick you up and say, “What a mess you are.” He’s going to say, “There you are. I’ve been looking for you.” And heaven will rejoice. If you’ve believed the lie that you’re unworthy, let Jesus tell you the truth. You are His. You have always mattered. You have never been too far away for His light to reach. And you are worth finding. Because that’s the message Jesus repeated three times so we would never forget it: The lost matter to God. The lost are worth pursuing. And when the lost are found, HEAVEN REJOICES. So, Sis, let yourself be found. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela

Luke 12: 16-21 Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.” What if the things God has blessed you with slowly become the things you live for? Have you ever seen a hearse pulling a Uhaul? No – you truly can’t take it with you. Everything you’ve ever bought – everything you’ve ever built – everything you’ve ever worked for – it will all be gone in an instant when you take your final breath. And my friend, I assure you of this – your final breath is coming. One day you will wake up, and it will be your last. You may not know it, but that day will come – and when it does only heavenly things will matter. Every earthly thing will be over. But while we’re here having our earthly experience, it’s so easy to get wrapped up in our earthly things. It’s so easy to allow this entire life to become about work – about earning, about building, about buying, about having. All while we forget the entire point of our existence – this is our opportunity to have a rich relationship with God. The one who created you wants you to know him. The one who imagined you, designed you, and knit you together cell by cell in your mother’s womb – the one who watches over you, the one who aligns good plans for you, the one who is always working all things together for good concerning you – he has given you this time to grow to know him, trust him and love him. Everything else is temporary. Everything else is either a bonus – or it’s a distraction. In this story, there’s nothing wrong with the man being rich. He had a fertile farm. Guess where that fertile farm came from? That was God’s creation. God made that land. God allowed that land to be fertile. And that land produced fine crops. That’s a blessing. But here’s what those blessings did – they created wealth for this man and that wealth became a problem for him. He was so successful that he didn’t even have room to store all his crops. So of course, he plans to builds bigger barns. But, in all his success he failed to realize how extremely numbered his days were and his time was up that very night. Is it sinful to be successful? Is is wrong to have money? No. That’s not the point of Jesus’ story. The point here was this man had spent his life building success but hadn’t built a relationship with God. The man didn’t do anything obviously evil. He worked. He was productive. His land produced. He succeeded. He planned for the future. He built bigger barns. None of those things, by themselves, are bad. The problem is that God was completely absent from his plans. Notice how many times he says “I” and “my.” My crops. My barns. My wheat. His entire world had become about himself and what he could accumulate. Everything is “mine”. And yet, the truth is, everything he had was ultimately something he had received. The land wasn’t his creation. The rain wasn’t his creation. The fertility wasn’t his creation. His ability to work wasn’t his creation. His life itself wasn’t even his creation. BUT HAD HE FORGOTTEN ALL THAT IN HIS SUCCESS? This is really a story of building a life that looks successful on the outside but is becoming spiritually empty on the inside. This is a story of allowing the things God has blessed you with to become the things you live for. And really, isn’t this a huge threat to all of us? Have your blessings become the reason you live? If you lost those blessings, what would you have? You would still have your relationship with God – but if you haven’t been building that relationship with God, then you would be completely without a reason to live. And in the end, in that last breath, all you have is God. That moment is coming for every one of us. We all fear failure, but you know what’s more dangerous than failure … success. When life is hard, we tend to reach for God. When life is going swimmingly well, we get all wrapped up in our blessings and God gets crowded out. That’s dangerous. We pray when we’re desperate – but do we pray when we’re successful? We seek God when we’re broken – but do we seek him as much when everything is working? We beg God for provision when we don’t have enough – but do acknowledge him with that same fervency when we have more than enough? The danger isn’t having a lot. This is all God’s and he’s happy to share everything he has with his children. The danger is in having a lot and forgetting who gave it to you. I’ve done that. Haven’t you? The man in Jesus’ story didn’t make a mistake by building a bigger barn. His mistake was building a bigger and bigger life without building a bigger relationship with God. What’s the title of this podcast? BIG Life. We’re here seeking the BIG Life God created us for. We believe each of us were created for a big, beautiful life. What’s the key part of that BIG Life – our relationship with God. Otherwise, we’re just building barns that we can’t take with us! Here’s what God wants to ask his girls today: All while you’re working on building a bigger life with your business, and your house, your family, and your health – how’s your relationship with ME? With all this building, HOW IS YOUR SOUL? My girl, are you becoming more like Jesus? Are you learning to trust me? Are you growing to be more generous? Are you living more peacefully? Are you loving my people better? Are you spending time with me? Are you really enjoying this life I gave you to live? If all you’re doing is building bigger barns, your soul may be getting smaller. And Jesus says that’s dangerous! The man in Jesus’ story is planning for YEARS, but in reality his timeline is brutally short. We plan as those we have forever, but God asks us to live faithfully today with an eternal focus. We don’t know how many more summers we get. How many Christmases. How many mornings with the people we love. How many conversations. How many sunsets. God doesn’t remind of this to make us fearful – he reminds us of this to help us WAKE UP. When you remember how temporary this life is, you can actually learn to live more fully. In my moment of believing this life was truly over there were only 2 thoughts in my mind – I was going to see Jesus THAT day -and- did I tell my people that I love them. That’s it. Nothing else mattered. When I received the miraculous gift of more time, I was forever changed in how I woke up to each new day. I know what’s important, so I know how to live. All this other stuff is temporary. If you knew you only had one year left, what would suddenly become important? Would you still work the same amount? Would you still care about having the same things? Would you still spend hours scrolling? Would you still keep putting off that conversation? Would you still be waiting for someday to do what God has been asking you to do? Would you still be obsessed with how you look? Would you still be trying so hard to impress people who won’t even be at your funeral? Would you spend your time differently? Would you love differently? Would you give differently? Would you slow down? Why are you waiting for a terminal diagnosis to start living like your life matters? You don’t have to know when your last day is to start living differently. Jesus isn’t saying: Don’t have anything. He’s saying: Don’t let what you have become who you are. You can enjoy beautiful things without worshiping beautiful things. You can dream BIG without making your dreams bigger than God. The issue isn’t what is in your hands. The issue is what has captured your heart. Before we build absolutely anything – let us make sure we are building the one thing that that matters – our relationship with God. The rich fool spent his life accumulating things he couldn’t keep. But Jesus invites us to spend our lives building something we can take into eternity—our relationship with Him. If I keep living exactly the way I’m living today, what will my life look like five years from now? Will I simply have more stuff? More money? More accomplishments? More things checked off the list? Or will I know Jesus more deeply? Will I love people better? More faithful? More courageous? More alive? Because that’s the measurement Jesus gives us. Not how much we accumulated. Not how impressive our barns became. Not how successful we appeared. But whether we became rich toward God. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Jesus tells a little story with big impact. Luke 8: 16-17, “No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house. For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.” Imagine a dark room where you can see nothing. You light a lamp so you can find your way around. How ridiculous would it be to cover that light up and stumble your way through darkness again? You have light now – use it! Jesus is reminding us that he has put his light in us. And his light within us is meant to be seen. Here’s where we get this twisted – we make this about us. Girl, this isn’t about you. This isn’t about others seeing you, noticing you, or liking you. This is about others seeing JESUS IN YOU. The lamp doesn’t say, “Look at me, look at me, I’m so glorious.” No, the lamp simply shines the glorious light it has from within. The lamp doesn’t create the light – the lamp CARRIES THE LIGHT. You don’t have to manufacture God’s light. You don’t have to become impressive. You don’t have to have your life perfectly together. You simply have to stop hiding what God is doing in you. What is God doing within you? If you’ve surrendered your heart and mind to him, he’s changing you. Can you see how he’s rewritten your desires to align with his desires? Can you see how he’s realigned your priorities? Can you see how he’s changed the way you see people and respond to situations? This is the literal work of 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun.” Do you see how Jesus’ work within you is making you a new person? Can others see it? THAT’S WHAT JESUS IS TELLING US! Let me light something within you that everyone can see. Don’t hide it – let it shine! Does anyone else look back on their journey and cringe at who they once were? Y’all, I disgust my own self. My number 1 goal was to own a private jet. My number 2 goal was to look ridiculously good in my private jet. And you know what I see when I look back on this journey – God was so incredibly patient and gracious with me. While I was growing materialistic and self-absorbed, he was absolutely determined to relentlessly chip away at my heart and recreate me. Now, the deepest desires of my heart are to have an old 1970’s Volkswagon bus where I can roadtrip to a parking lot near you, invite you to come sit down with me for coffee and a devotional, then we lock arms that day and go serve together in your community. I just want to hit the streets with you and shine Jesus in dark places. I want to get my hands dirty. I want to hit my knees. I want to sweat with hard work right along side you that makes a difference. I want my heart to break for the things that break God’s heart and actively do something about it. I want to dance and celebrate and relentlessly cheer for the good things God is doing. And then I want to hop back in my old 1970’s Volkswagon bus and roam around with God to find the next Jesus follower who wants to hop in for some coffee and live devotional and go out on another mission opportunity in their community. This is what Jesus has done in me. He changed me. He changed my desires. He changed my goals. He changed my priorities. I went from wanting a jet to an old van and a mission roadtrip. What has he done in you? What is he DOING in you? Don’t hide it – let it shine! Jesus warns of the danger of the bowl or the bed. He says, “No one lights a lamp and then COVERS it with a bowl or HIDES it under a bed. What’s your bowl? What’s your bed? It’s the things that try to cover or hide the light of Jesus within you. • It’s fear. Fear says hide while Jesus says SHINE. Then your fear becomes the bowl that hides that Jesus light in you. • It’s comfort. Sometimes it’s not that you’re really afraid, it’s just that you’re so darn comfortable as you are. God’s been nudging you to do something, but doing nothing is just easier. God’s been telling you to go, but you’ve been thinking maybe later you’ll do it. God’s been telling you to say something, but you’re just hoping someone else will speak up. Then you know what – your comfort becomes the bed where you lay and hide that Jesus light underneath it. • It’s shame. Shame whispers secrets of the past to us. Shame tells us we’re not worthy. Shame throws every bowl it can find over that Jesus light so the real you isn’t revealed. But there’s one thing you need to remind your shame – Your testimony was never ‘Look how good I’ve been’ – your testimony is forever ‘Look what Jesus has done.’ The darkest places in your life are actually where that Jesus light shines best! You know what else is the bowl trying to cover that Jesus light in you, or the bed trying to hide his light … • It’s busyness. Oh that sneaky little sucker that will slip right into our days and just make us so busy doing a thousand things, but still be hiding the light. We’re busy. We’re accomplished. We’re looking good. But we are so distracted that we aren’t actually showing the light of Jesus to the very people God has placed all around us. That’s my biggest bowl right there. I just get too busy. And my busyness will cover the light of Jesus in me and I’m just leaving people in their darkness instead of just showing them Jesus. Are you doing this too? Let’s get rid of these bowls that try to cover the light of Jesus in us. Let’s banish the beds that try to hide his light. Girls, let’s let what he has put within us SHINE! Matthew 5:16 says: “Let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” Notice what Jesus doesn’t say: “…so everyone will praise you.” He says: “…so everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” That’s the whole point. We don’t shine so people will see us. We shine so people can see Him. That’s a powerful test for our lives: When people encounter me, do they see more of me—or more of Jesus? Your job isn’t to create the light. Your job is to carry it. And your job isn’t to make people admire the lamp. Your job is to make sure the lamp isn’t covered. Jesus, where do You want Your light to shine through me today? And then pay attention. Your life is someone’s opportunity to see Jesus. Don’t hide the light. Carry it. Let it shine. And when somebody sees something different in you, you don’t point to yourself. You point to Jesus. A few years ago I learned a prayer that Mother Theresa would pray every single day. I put that prayer in my notes and began praying it daily myself. It’s not magic words – it’s just a reminder to throw the bowl away and move the bed out so the LIGHT OF JESUS CAN SHINE. Here’s the prayer and how I say it: Dear Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that my life may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel your presence in my soul. Let them look up and no longer see me, but only you, Jesus. Shine on others through me.
Let me praise you in the way you love best, by shining on those around me. Let me preach YOU without preaching, not by words but by example of everything I do in love for you. Amen. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

If there’s one of these stories that Jesus told that has most impacted my life, it is this one. It’s a guide for daily living and it will meet you exactly where you are every day of your life. The moral of the story – JUST BE FAITHFUL. What happens when you are faithful with little? God sees you can be trusted with more. What happens when you aren’t faithful with little? God knows he simply can’t give you more. Whatever you’re doing with what you’ve already been given determines what you’re given next. The story Jesus tells is about money, but I assure you this is a lesson on more than just finances. This is about your time. This is about your talent. This is about your treasures. Today, God is asking each of his girls to take an inventory and measure what we’ve been doing with what we’ve been given. Maybe you’ll find what I’ve found … it’s time to step up and do more with what I already have before I ask for one more thing. Okay, so it’s story time and it’s a long story. Grab your Bible and read along. I’ll insert a few details along the way to help you understand the story Jesus is telling us. Matthew 25: 14-30 Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. Some translations will read ‘talents’ and that means money. My translation reads silver, again meaning money. How much money are we talking about? Answer: A ridiculous amount of money. All 3 of them received MUCH. One talent or bag was around 75 pounds of silver. To put that into perspective, the smallest measure of money given here was about 16 to 20 years of daily wages. The story Jesus is telling isn’t about the dollar amount – everyone received a lot from their master, even the one who received the least. The story is about faithfulness with what is given. The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money. What do you think digging a hole in the ground and hiding away what you’ve been given would look like? Wouldn’t it look like wasting it? Wouldn’t it look like doing nothing with it? Wouldn’t it look like playing it safe? Yes. And wouldn’t it sometimes look like waiting until you’re more qualified, more confident, more ready? Wouldn’t it look like comparing what you have to what someone else has and deciding yours isn’t enough? Wouldn’t it look like being so afraid of losing what you’ve been given that you never actually use it? A buried gift is simply an unused gift. It’s the thing you’ve been entrusted with, but you’ve done absolutely nothing with it. It’s the talent to sing, but you’re too afraid to raise your voice for the One who gave it to you. It’s the money to give, but you’re too concerned about what they might do with it. It’s the story you’ve lived, but you’re too ashamed to tell it because you don’t want anyone to know where you’ve been. It’s the opportunity in front of you, but you’re too afraid to fail. It’s the idea God put in your heart, but you’ve talked yourself out of it before you’ve ever taken the first step. It’s the time you have, but you’ve spent it scrolling and staying busy instead of investing it in what matters. It’s the people God has placed around you, but you’re so distracted by your own life that you never stop long enough to pour into theirs. It’s the calling you’ve sensed, but you’ve buried it under a thousand excuses: “I’m too old. I’m too young. I’m not qualified. I’m not ready. Someone else could do it better.” Are you the one who has buried what you’ve been given? You haven’t invested it. You haven’t put it to work. You haven’t used it to build or grow or impact. You’ve simply buried it. Waiting. Sometimes that’s exactly how we waste what God has given us. Not by doing something terrible with it—just by doing nothing with it. Girl, do you have a hole in the ground where your calling is buried? You’ve been given so much, but you’re not doing anything with it. Not really. And you know it. What has God placed in your hands that you’ve stopped using. Look at your time, your talents and your treasures – what’s sitting stagnant in your life? What opportunity, gift, resource, idea, story, or calling have you buried because fear convinced you it was safer underground? Well, what happens when God has given us something but we have refused to use it? What happens when we’re not faithful with what we’ve already been given? Here comes the rest of the story … After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’ The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’ The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’ But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’ Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ The master is God, and when the master returns he calls for each of us to give an account of how we used everything he has given us. It doesn’t matter what you’ve been given or how much you’ve been given – what matters is what you’ve done with it. The master wants to know. It matters! If you’ve been given 40 years of life – what have you done with those 40 years? If you’ve been given 2 children – what have you done with those 2 children? If you’ve been given a weekly paycheck of $1000 – what have you done with that pay? If you’ve been given a 2,000 square foot house – what have you done with that house? If you’ve been given mercy and grace from past mistakes – what have you done with that mercy and grace? If you’ve been given health – what have you done with that body that can move and go? You never see the master asking a servant to produce the same as what another servant produced. He’s not comparing. The master is asking each one to produce with precisely what they’ve been given. He expected each one to do something with what they had. It’s so easy for us to look at someone with extreme wealth and assume we would be so ridiculously generous if we were in their position. Oh, the good we would do with their money! But God isn’t fooled! Who you are with a $40,000 salary is who you would be with a $40 million dollar salary. More money just makes you more of who you already are. Without children it’s easy to paint a fantasy world of how we would sing sweet songs as we cooked breakfast for our little angels. Girl, if you’re not singing songs while you feed the dog, you certainly wouldn’t sing cooking for ungrateful creatures who refuse to eat. Isn’t it fun to fantasize about what you would do with a big new house with all that storage space? Oh to have a butler’s pantry! Oh mercy, walk in closets in every room! Built in storage in the garage. But do you know what you would do with it – the same exact thing you’re doing with a smaller house. If you’re complaining about this one, you would complain about that one. If you’re messy with this one, you would be messy with the next one. If you’ve overfilled this one with junk, you would overfill the next one with bigger junk. Have you ever thought – well if I could sing like her I would use it for God in big ways? Uh huh – well girl, you can cook – are you cooking for God? You can talk to a rock – are you talking to others for God? You can clean – are you cleaning that church building for God? Really, let’s check ourselves. So, let’s get to the point of the story Jesus is telling. The point isn’t to make you feel guilty about what you haven’t done. The point is to wake you up to what you still CAN do. Because here’s the beautiful thing about this story: You are not standing at the end of your story. You’re standing in the middle of it. And if you’ve buried something, you can dig it up now! If you’ve been sitting on something, you can put it to work today. If you’ve been waiting, you can start right here. The master hasn’t returned YET – but he may soon. And he’ll wan

Before we read this story Jesus told, I want you to do something. I want you to see it. Don’t just read the words on the page. Step into the story. Picture the wedding. Picture the bride. Picture the bridesmaids. Picture the anticipation of the groom’s arrival. To really understand what Jesus is saying, we need to understand a little about Jewish weddings in His day. There were several important stages in the Jewish wedding process. First came the arrangement. The families were involved in establishing the marriage, and there were formal agreements and financial arrangements that made the commitment serious and binding. Then came the betrothal. This was far more significant than what we think of as an engagement today. The couple was legally committed to one another. Promises were made. A covenant was established. And then came the waiting. This is where I want you to really picture the scene. The groom would leave and return to his father’s household because he had work to do. He was preparing a place for his bride. He was getting everything ready for the day they would finally be together. But the bride wasn’t sitting around doing nothing. She had work to do, too. She was preparing herself. Preparing her clothing. Preparing for the celebration. Preparing for her new life as a wife. And here’s the part that makes this story so beautiful: She didn’t know exactly when he was coming back. She knew he was coming. She just didn’t know when. So imagine waking up every morning thinking, Could it be today? Imagine hearing a noise outside and wondering, Is that him? Imagine living in a constant state of anticipation because you know the one you’ve been promised to is coming for you—but you don’t know the day or the hour. And then, one night… The announcement comes. The groom is coming! The bridesmaids grab their lamps and rush out to meet him. Their job is to join the procession, light the way, and lead the groom back to the wedding celebration where the bride is waiting. This wasn’t a quiet little ceremony. It was a celebration. A procession. A moment everyone had been waiting for. And Jesus begins His story with ten bridesmaids who are all waiting for the exact same thing: The groom is coming. But here’s the problem… Not all ten of them are ready. And that’s where Jesus wants us to lean in. Matthew 25: 1-14: (A few terms to know – bridesmaids are as they are today, the bride’s attendants. The bridedroom is the groom, the man getting married.) Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’ All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’ But the others replied, ‘We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’ But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’ But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’ So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return. Oh dang. What happened here? What is this warning for us today? The bridesmaids had a job to do. They were supposed to be ready for the groom. But half of them weren’t prepared. And here’s what gets me: they were all there. They were in the right place. They were waiting for the right person. They knew the groom was coming. They even had lamps. But half of them didn’t have what they needed when the moment came. And when the groom finally arrived, there was no time left to get ready. The moment they had been preparing for this entire time was suddenly here—and they weren’t ready for it. Because they weren’t prepared, they missed the celebration. They weren’t rejected because they didn’t know about the groom. They weren’t left out because they weren’t invited. They were left out because they weren’t ready. PEOPLE, GET READY! So who is Jesus talking about? Who is the groom? Who is the bride? Who are the bridesmaids? And what is this wedding feast? The groom is Jesus. Earlier in Matthew, Jesus refers to Himself as the bridegroom. When people ask Jesus why His disciples aren’t fasting, Jesus answers: “Can the wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom?” (9:15) Jesus is telling them, The Groom is here. But He also tells them that there will be a time when the groom will be taken away. He will leave. And that’s exactly what happens. Jesus is crucified, resurrected, and then ascends to the Father. The Groom leaves—but He has promised to come back. And that puts us right into the story. The bride is the Church—the people who belong to Jesus. Jesus is preparing a place. Jesus will return. And Scripture ultimately describes His return as a wedding celebration—the great wedding feast of the Lamb. Revelation 19:7, “Let us be glad and rejoice… for the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself.” So where does that leave the bridesmaids? That’s us. In this story Jesus is telling, ten bridesmaids represent people who are waiting for Jesus. And notice something important: All ten were waiting. All ten had lamps. All ten knew the groom was coming. All ten expected to be part of the celebration. But only five were prepared. That’s the warning Jesus is giving us. You can be around the things of God and still not be ready for God. You can know the stories. You can go to church. You can carry a Bible. You can sing the songs. You can call yourself a Christian. You can even be waiting for Jesus. But Jesus isn’t asking, “Are you around Me?” He’s asking, “Are you ready for Me?” Because eventually, the waiting will end. The Groom is coming. And when He comes, there will be no more time to prepare. So Jesus says: “Keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” People, get ready. The question wasn’t “Do you believe in the one who is coming?” The question was, “Are you ready for him when he comes?” Jesus wants us to LIVE READY FOR HIM! Here’s what this is really about – THE OIL. The 5 bridesmaids without oil weren’t invited to the wedding feast. The 5 bridesmaids with oil couldn’t give them their own oil, each had to have oil for themselves. You need your own oil. What is this oil – this is your relationship with Jesus. Others can do many things for you, but no one can have your relationship with Jesus for you. You can’t live on someone else’s faith. When it’s wedding time, your own faith will be required. This faith relationship will be required when Jesus returns for us – and you simply don’t know when that day will be. It could be today! So how do we live ready? Because Jesus isn’t telling us this story so we can become obsessed with predicting when He’s coming. He’s telling us so that we’ll be ready whenever He comes. And that’s a very different thing. Living ready doesn’t mean living scared. It means living surrendered. It means waking up every morning and saying, “Jesus, if You have something for me today, I’m available.” If You say go, I’ll go. If You say stay, I’ll stay. If You say forgive, I’ll forgive. If You say surrender, I’ll surrender. If You say speak, I’ll speak. If You say be quiet, I’ll be quiet. Readiness isn’t perfection. Readiness is responsiveness. The wise bridesmaids prepared before they needed to be prepared. They didn’t wait until midnight to go looking for oil. They had been preparing while they were waiting. And that’s what our relationship with Jesus is supposed to look like. You don’t wait for the crisis to learn how to trust Him. You don’t wait for the heartbreak to learn how to surrender. You don’t wait for the temptation to decide what you believe. You don’t wait until you’re desperate to start praying. You fill your lamp while there’s still daylight. You spend time with Jesus now. You learn His Word now. You practice obedience now. You surrender the little things now. You deal with the unforgiveness now. You say yes to His invitations now. Because you don’t know when Jesus is returning – but you need to be ready. And here’s the beautiful thing: The wise bridesmaids weren’t ready because they were afraid the groom might come. They were ready because they were excited that he might come. That’s how I want to live. Not terrified that Jesus might return. Thrilled that He will. I don’t want to spend my life hoping Jesus doesn’t come back until I’ve had a chance to do everything I want to do. I want to live so close to Jesus that when I hear the announcement: “The groom is here!”, I don’t want to run and hide. I want to run toward Him. The question for God’s girls today is, “Am I living like someone who expects Jesus?” If Jesus walked through that door today, would you be excited to see Him? Or would you immediately think of the things you’d wish you had made right? Why are you waiting? The goal isn’t to spend your whole life trying to figure out when Jesus is coming. The goal is to live every day as though you would be thrilled if He came today. PEOPLE, GET READY. Keep your lamp burning. Keep your heart soft. Keep saying yes. Keep walking with Jesus. Keep your relationship with Him alive and growing. Because the gro

Jesus also told them other parables. He said, “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come! So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them. The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town. And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” Jesus is using the example of a royal wedding. The prince is getting married and the king is sending invitations to the celebration. It would have been considered an absolute honor to receive this invitation. There would be no reason NOT to go to the wedding. Everyone hearing this story knew you simply would not miss this opportunity. How foolish to not go when the king has invited you to be part of the royal celebration. And Jesus is saying, the true King of all kings, the maker of Heaven and Earth, our Heavenly Father, has invited us to his celebration. How unbelievably foolish would it be for us to refuse his goodness. For real, why do we resist? God says in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for YOU. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.” Why in the world would we refuse his good plans? But we do, don’t we? A few months ago I was trying to make a decision. It was a pretty big decision and I didn’t know what to do. I knew what I wanted to do because I was just tired. But I didn’t have any peace about it. So, I sat down and journaled my prayer asking God for his direction. Afterwards, I sat and waited for the Holy Spirit to show me God’s answer. His answer to me was I had free will to make any choice I wanted, but God had an invitation for me to trust him. An invitation to continue on with him on the journey even when I was really tired. I had received an invitation to God’s goodness – why in the world would I refuse that? With this new perspective of God’s invitation, I accepted, I trusted him, I continued, and he renewed me. It was one of the best decisions I’ve made this year. I bet right now God is inviting you into his goodness. The problem is, it might require you to step out of your comfort zone. It might require you to put a bra on, along with some real pants and show up early. It might make you meet new people, go where you’ve never gone before, forfeit control and forfeit comfort. Trade your known for the unknown. And here’s the thing, if your world has slowly shrank in and become smaller, that invitation is becoming harder and harder for you to accept. That’s the way a little life works. Our life just keeps shrinking and shrinking, while the confines of our comfort zone tell us to just stay here where it’s known and where it’s safe. All while God created you for a great big, beautiful life! Girl, you’ve been missing out! There’s so much more for you. God’s goodness is out here, available for the taking – but you’ve been choosing comfort over Kingdom. You’ve been choosing what is easy over what is eternal. You’ve been choosing what you know over what God is inviting you to discover. If God is inviting you, why are you not going? If your life has gotten too busy to accept an invitation to God’s good plans, then quite simply, YOUR LIFE HAS BECOME TOO BUSY. If your life has become so comfortable that you don’t want to be inconvenienced, YOUR LIFE HAS BECOME TOO COMFORTABLE. If your life has become so predictable that you don’t have room for the unexpected things God wants to do, YOUR LIFE HAS BECOME TOO SMALL. If you have so carefully built your life that there is no room left for God to interrupt it, you aren’t actually living surrendered – You’re living scheduled. And maybe that’s the invitation today. Not an invitation to do more. An invitation to make room. Make room for God to surprise you. Make room for people you didn’t plan to meet. Make room for places you didn’t plan to go. Make room for opportunities you didn’t see coming. Make room for obedience that doesn’t make sense yet. Make room for a life that is bigger than the one you could have planned for yourself. Because here’s what I’ve learned: God’s invitations rarely come wrapped in comfort. Sometimes His invitation looks like an uncomfortable conversation. Sometimes it looks like showing up when you’d rather stay home. Sometimes it looks like saying yes before you know how. Sometimes it looks like releasing something you’ve been holding onto. Sometimes it looks like walking into the room where you don’t know anybody. Sometimes it looks like putting on a bra, real pants, and getting your butt out the door. And sometimes the invitation is simply: “Trust Me.” That’s what mine was. And when I said yes, I discovered something I don’t want you to miss: God’s invitation wasn’t taking something good away from me. It was leading me into something better. I thought I was sacrificing my comfort. God was expanding my life. I thought I was choosing obedience over what I wanted. But what I discovered was that obedience was actually the doorway to what I wanted most. That’s the deception of a little life. We think we’re protecting ourselves when we’re actually restricting ourselves. We think we’re choosing peace when we’re actually avoiding growth. We think we’re choosing comfort when we’re actually missing the whole point. We think we’re keeping our lives manageable when God is standing outside the door saying, “Girl, I have so much more for you.” Where is God inviting you? What have you been saying no to because it’s inconvenient? What have you been avoiding because it’s uncomfortable? Where have you allowed fear to make the decision for you? The King has prepared the feast. The table is set. The invitation is in your hand. Don’t miss the feast because you’re too comfortable sitting at home. Don’t miss God’s goodness because you’re afraid of what saying yes might cost you. Don’t keep choosing a little life when you’ve been invited into a BIG one. And here’s the really crazy thing about this parable: The invitation is not the end of the story. The king invited everyone. The good. The bad. The people who had their act together. The people who absolutely did not. The people who looked like they belonged at a royal wedding and the people who probably showed up wondering if they had accidentally walked into the wrong party. Some accepted, most did not. Everyone was invited, deserving or not. And you know what that is – That’s grace. You didn’t earn the invitation. You didn’t clean yourself up enough to deserve it. You didn’t become good enough to get through the door. You were invited because the King wanted you there. The King will not have an empty banquet. Girl, if you don’t accept his invitation to goodness, he will find someone to fill your spot at the table. But then Jesus tells us something strange. The king walks into the banquet and notices a man who isn’t wearing wedding clothes and has him thrown out. Wait what? At first this seems harsh. The guy was invited off the street – How was he supposed to have wedding clothes? But Jesus isn’t talking about a literal dress code. Dig deeper. Jesus is talking about someone refusing to CHANGE. (Let that set in). The man refused to change, so he was thrown out. When you accept God’s invitation, grace gets you in the door. But grace doesn’t leave you the same once you’re inside. Grace changes you and makes you new. The invitation says, “Come.” The wedding clothes say, “Now become.” God doesn’t invite you into his Kingdom just so you can keep living exactly the way you were living before you met Him. He invites you into something new. A new way of thinking. A new way of loving. A new way of living. A new way of responding. A new way of trusting. A new way of seeing yourself. A new way of seeing other people. A new way of doing life. You don’t have to earn God’s invitation. But if you accept the invitation, you have to be willing to let the King change you. You weren’t invited to a better version of your old life. You were invited to a completely different life. A BIG life. A Kingdom life. A life where you don’t have to be driven by fear, because you trust God. A life where you don’t have to control everything, because you know who is in control. A life where you don’t have to protect yourself from every possible disappointment, because you know God is faithful. A life where you don’t jump through hoops trying to be accepted, because you already know you’re loved. What is God inviting you into? And maybe even more importantly: What are you allowing to keep you from accepting the invitation? Is it comfort? Fear? Control? Busyness? Your need to know exactly how it’s going to turn out? Your fear of what other people will think? Your exhausti

Today we will study a parable that seemingly has nothing to do with us. It’s easy to assume Jesus just told this story so the Pharisees who were in the crowd realized how bad they were. But haven’t we learned if Jesus told a story then, it applies to us today? Haven’t we discovered so far in our study of the parables that Jesus’ stories are layers and layers deep? So, as we read this next story, as yourself this question – “Am I faithfully tending what God has entrusted to me in this life?” Remember this is all on lease and God’s going to ask for it back. Even your very life! Matthew 21: 33-45 Now listen to another story. A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country. At the time of the grape harvest, he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop. But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. So the landowner sent a larger group of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same. Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’ But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ So they grabbed him, dragged him out of the vineyard, and murdered him. When the owner of the vineyard returns,” Jesus asked, “what do you think he will do to those farmers? The religious leaders replied, ‘He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest.’ Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the LORD’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’ I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit. Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on. When the leading priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. Okay, let’s pull out a few things and apply them to our lives today. The vineyard belonged to the landowner. The farmers were only leasing the vineyard. Notice how much work the owner did before the farmers ever touched the vineyard. He planted it. Built the wall. Dug the winepress. Built the tower. Then he LEASED it to the farmers. They didn’t create the vineyard. They didn’t buy the vineyard. They didn’t make the vines grow. They didn’t own the harvest. They were managers of something that belonged to someone else. And THAT IS US! Your life is a vineyard God has entrusted to you. Your body, your marriage, your children, your friendships, your home, your career, your money, your gifts, your talents, your time, your opportunities … None of it is ultimately yours. It’s been ENTRUSTED to you. Think about your children – are they really yours? Did you knit them together in your womb? Did you create them yourself? Did you design them? Is it you that breathed life into them? No, they are and always have been God’s. He’s entrusted that child to you to raise, to guide, to love. All of this is on lease. God has chosen you to steward what is HIS for the short span of your lifetime. So, Sis – how’s your stewardship going? We’re so quick to ask, “What do I want to do with my life?” But girl, this life isn’t even yours! You’re stewarding this time and these opportunities given to you by God. The question is, “God, what do you want done with what you’ve given me?” Jesus says the Kingdom would be given to those who would “produce the proper fruit.” God isn’t simply looking for people who hang out in the vineyard. He’s looking for fruit. You can be in church and produce no fruit. You can know Scripture and produce no fruit. You can have great success, look incredibly good, be totally impressive and produce no fruit. What fruit are we talking about? Ahhhh yes, remember back to our Fruits of the Spirit study together. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control. If you’re stewarding the vineyard of your life well, then girl, your life should look different! People should see evidence that Jesus is growing in you! We are not people riddled with anxiety and fear. We are not impatient, irritated, grouchy souls. We are not negative, impulsive or judgmental. NO – that’s not what Jesus grows. The world grows that, but we are called to be different, empowered by the Holy Spirit to produce a radically different fruit in our leased vineyard. My friend, your life is producing something. What is it? Now, this story takes a turn. A turn that is a personal conviction on our tendency to claim “mine.” The farmers eventually say: “Let’s kill the heir and get the estate for ourselves.” They didn’t want to just work the vineyard. They wanted to own it. Dang – don’t we do this? God gives us something to steward and we get all clingy and bratty claiming “mine”. This is my time. This is my money. This is my body. They are my children. These are my plans. This is my life. Here’s the real problem with that – when we start believing it’s OURS, we have a real problem when God asks for his share. And that’s the real heart issue Jesus is exposing in this parable. Where have you taken what God has temporarily entrusted to you, claimed it as solely yours, and now you want to maintain control over it? You’re essentially telling God to stay out of your vineyard, forgetting IT’S HIS! In Jesus’ story of the Evil Farmers, we see the vineyard owner repeatedly sends servants in to visit and collect his share. The tenant farmers reject the servants. So, the owner sends more messengers. Eventually he sends in his son. We read this and immediately know how this plays out. That’s our Jesus. They kill our Jesus. God always knew that would happen. But here we see his patience. He sends messengers and reminders, giving the tenant farmers more time and more opportunities. Oh how God repeatedly comes after us. He sends us just the right sermon when we need it. Just the perfect devotional at the right time. Just the right conversation with the right friend. He interrupts us with his presence. What’s really happening is God is trying to get your attention. He loves you so much that he’s coming at you in every way to send you the message about his vineyard. Hey, this life you’re living belongs to God and he expects you to produce fruit. Again and again, he shows you mercy. What has God entrusted to you that He is now asking you to surrender back to Him? Maybe it’s your time. Maybe it’s control. Maybe it’s your money. Maybe it’s a relationship. Maybe it’s your body. Maybe it’s a gift or a dream that started with God but has slowly become about you. God doesn’t ask you to give Him what He never gave you. He’s simply asking for the fruit from the vineyard He entrusted to you. The religious leaders rejected Jesus. But Jesus says the very stone they rejected becomes the cornerstone. A cornerstone determines the alignment of the entire building. That’s a beautiful picture for us. Jesus isn’t supposed to be an addition to your life. He’s supposed to be the thing your life is built around. Not: “Where can I fit Jesus into my plans?” But: “How do I build my plans around Jesus?” Not: “How can Jesus help me achieve my dream?” But: “Jesus, what dream are You building in me?” God doesn’t give you things so you can possess them. He entrusts things so you can steward them. Everything and everyone you have and love today is on lease from God. You have it for just a little bit of time to care for, nurture, and help grow. What does the owner want you to do with those things today? When you really consider what the owner wants, it changes how you parent. How you spend. How you work. How you respond. How you show up. How you make decisions. WHAT DOES THE OWNER WANT? TEND what God has entrusted to you. PRODUCE the fruit God is looking for. RETURN to God what already belongs to Him. SURRENDER your life to the Jesus. You are not the owner of the vineyard. You are the steward of it. Everything you have is something God has entrusted to you for a season. And one day, the Owner comes looking for His harvest. How different would your life look today if you truly lived like God owns everything and you’re simply his steward? If the Owner walked into your vineyard today and asked for His harvest, what would you have to give Him? Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Matthew 21: 28-32 But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go. Which of the two obeyed his father? They replied, “The first.” Then Jesus explained his meaning: I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do. For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins. ———- So, Jesus tells this story and he asks us a question – “What do YOU think about this?” Really, what do you think about this? Are others who are doing far worse things than you ultimately better than you from a Heavenly perspective? In this culture, the fastest and surest way to refer to someone you would look down on is to associate them with two categories of people: Tax collectors or prositutes. Tax collectors were notoriously crooked and corrupt. They would steal from anyone for their own benefit. And prostitutes were considered the lowest of women, who made their living off other’s sins. So for Jesus to say both of these looked down on categories of people would get into the Kingdom of Heaven before them, it brought everyone who heard it down off their holy pedestal. Those listening thought they were righteous. Those listening thought they were better than others because they knew what to say and said it well. But Jesus essentially says, “It’s not what you say with your mouth – it’s what you refuse to do because of your twisted heart.” You say you will, but you don’t – Jesus is not impressed and he’s not pleased. Jesus is not saying sin doesn’t matter. He’s saying repentance matters more than reputation. The tax collectors and prostitutes Jesus is referring to had heard the Good News, they had believed it and they had changed. The religions people Jesus is talking to now had heard the same thing, watched it all happen, and refused to repent for themselves. The danger is when we don’t think we need a Savior. WE DESPERATELY NEED A SAVIOR. And when we know we need a savior, we surrender our lives and change our direction. The greatest barrier between you and Jesus may not be your sin. It may be your belief that you don’t have any. What you say you will do has no impact on God’s eternal work. Your words do absolutely nothing for you, for him, or for anyone else. It’s your changed heart that He is looking for. It’s your surrendered will that moves your feet even when your first response was to not go. Here’s the great news – God is more interested in your direction than your first reaction. The first son said no. He didn’t give the right answer. He didn’t sound spiritual. He didn’t politely say, “Absolutely, Dad!” He actually said, “No.” But then something happened. He changed his mind. (Girl, maybe you got it wrong at first, but God has given you time to change your mind!) Your first response doesn’t have to be your final response. You can say, “I’m scared. I don’t want to. I’m not ready. God, I don’t think I can.” AND GOD CAN STILL WORK WITH YOU!!!!! You don’t have to get the first response right. You just have to be willing to change your response. You know what that is? That’s grace. God isn’t looking for a perfect first response. He’s looking for a surrendered final response. I don’t know, maybe you’ve said no for 10 years. Maybe you’ve been running for a long time. Maybe you’ve resisted far more than you’ve surrendered. Maybe you’ve made some epically wrong choices. The Father is still standing in the vineyard saying, “Come work with me.” Jesus doesn’t praise the first son because he said no. He praises him because he eventually went. That’s repentance. Repentance isn’t simply: “I’m sorry I did that.” Repentance is: “I’m going somewhere different now.” You can cry and never change. You can apologize and never change. You can feel convicted and never change. You can know Scripture and never change. Repentance puts feet on conviction. Repentance is when your feet finally agree with what your heart has realized. Repentance is moving forward in obedience with what you’ve been delaying for so long. Did you know you can say “yes” to God with your mouth while saying “no” with your life. We can get all religious, and be radically wrong. The second son sounds perfect. “Yes, sir. I’ll go.” Beautiful answer. But then he doesn’t go. And Jesus is essentially saying: Don’t confuse agreement with obedience. We can become very good at Christian language. “I trust God. I surrender. God is good. I’m praying about it. I’m waiting on His timing.” But eventually, the vineyard requires you to go to work. There is a point where faith has to leave your mouth and enter your calendar. Enter your relationships. Enter your finances. Enter your habits. Enter your decisions. Enter your obedience. God isn’t impressed by the “yes” you say if your life keeps living “no.” Now, notice this about the story Jesus tells – These were both SONS of the Father. They weren’t hired workers. They were sons. They were close. And they were asked to work in the family business. The Father doesn’t say: “Go build your own vineyard.” He says: “Go work in MY vineyard.” That’s different. God has a work already happening. People need Jesus. Families need healing. The lonely need friendship. The hurting need someone to sit beside them. The lost need someone to point them home. The discouraged need encouragement. The next generation needs somebody willing to mentor them. And God says: “Come work with Me.” You aren’t trying to build God’s kingdom from scratch. You’re being invited into something God is already doing. Have you ever met someone who stepped into a successful family business? My son moved from Hawaii to Southern California last week. During his first morning on the beach, he ran into someone he knew from middle school. Our family lived in Carlsbad, California for exactly 1 year when the kids were growing up. For 1 year my son went surfing every day, my girls rode their bikes along the coast, and we thoroughly enjoyed the SoCal life. We couldn’t afford to stay, so we quickly moved away – but everyone remembers that one year with delight. So here my son is, back where he always wanted to be, now beginning a new life with his wife – and he runs into this old friend of his from middle school. He’s driving a $200,000 porche, still living on the beach, and working in the family business. His Dad started a technology institute and it grew wildly successful. So here’s this 27 year old young man who stepped right into riches. And then there’s my son. We have a pretty successful podcast that operates completely for FREE, refuses to sell advertisements, and intentionally dropped off all social media platforms. Here’s our family business which does NOT include a porche. Not all family businesses are the same. But have you ever stopped to realize that YOU have been invited into a family business that changed the entire world? A family business that saves lives. A family business that holds unseen treasure. A family business guaranteed to last forever, through the end of time?!!! There are family businesses where the inheritance looks like money. But our family business with the Father has an inheritance that can’t be measured in dollars. We get to participate in something eternal. How wild is that?!!!!!! And remember this – you’re not trying to earn your way into the family through your performance. YOU ALREADY BELONG TO THE FAMILY! The sons were already sons before the father sent them to work. We don’t work for God to become His children. We work with God because we are His children. We don’t work in the vineyard to earn the family name. We work in the vineyard because we carry the family name. You and I have been invited into a family business that cannot fail. Our Father is in the business of rescuing people. Healing people. Restoring people. Redeeming people. Bringing people home. And He doesn’t need us. He invites us. That’s the miracle. The God of the universe looks at you and says, ‘Come work with Me.’” Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Jesus has great news for us today: We can be screwed up and late to the game, but if we will simply be available and show up, God has grace for us, work for us to do, and a great reward in store. Matthew 20: 1-15: For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work. At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day. So they went to work in the vineyard. At noon and again at three o’clock he did the same thing. At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’ “They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’ “The landowner told them, “Then go out and join the others in my vineyard.” That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage. When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage. When they received their pay, they protested to the owner, “Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.” He answered one of them, “Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?” God is looking for absolutely anyone who is available. It doesn’t matter if you think you’re unqualified. It doesn’t matter if you feel you’re too late. It doesn’t matter if you’ve wasted years chasing the wrong thing and racking up a long record of losing. GOD WANTS YOU DOING HIS WORK IN HIS VINEYARD. The world all around you is his vineyard. Everywhere he has work to be done. All he has ever asked of you is to be available to him. If you are available, then you’re in! 1. You are never too late to get in the vineyard. Some were there at dawn. Others at 9. Others at noon. Others at 3. And some didn’t get invited to come and work until late in the day at 5 pm. There was barely any time in the day even left, but the landowner still said, “Come work in my vineyard.” And here’s what that means to you – Your past doesn’t disqualify your future. You may look at your life with regret and think you should have started sooner, you wasted so many years, you made too many bad decisions, and you don’t have enough time left. But let me tell you something – God isn’t intimidated by how much time you’ve wasted. He’s not asking “Girl, why weren’t you here at 8 am. He’s asking, “ARE YOU AVAILABLE NOW?!!!!!!” Look around and you’ll see others who are so far ahead of you – and that’s okay. There are some who have written 5 books already, turned there hardship around for good, and walking in a full harvest. Good for them. That doesn’t take an ounce of God’s light from you. You have light and there’s time for you to get to work! It’s never too late to become useful in the hands of God. Are you ready to get started now? 2. God doesn’t need you qualified. He needs you available. Notice what the landowner asked the people at 5 PM: “Why haven’t you been working today?” And their answer was basically, “Nobody hired us.” They weren’t saying, “We don’t want to work.” They were saying, “Nobody gave us a place.” And the landowner immediately gave them one. Sometimes we’re waiting for for the perfect opportunity, or more experience, or more knowledge, or more confidence – all while there is work to do right where we are. Sis, you don’t have to be impressive to be useful. You don’t have to have a platform to have influence. You don’t have to know everything to help somebody. You just have to say: “God, I’m available.” And then look around. Who needs encouragement? Who needs prayer? Who needs someone to listen? Who needs Jesus? Who needs what God has already put inside of you? There’s your work! 3. The vineyard is wherever God has placed you. Humans are funny in our pursuit of the perfect place. We think we have to have some sort of big spiritual assignment to be effective for God. All while we miss that the vineyard is your LIFE. It’s all around you. The work is here. Your home is a vineyard. Your marriage is a vineyard. Your friendships are a vineyard. Your workplace is a vineyard. Your neighborhood is a vineyard. Your children’s lives are a vineyard. The woman sitting next to you at the coffee shop may be a vineyard. You don’t have to go somewhere extraordinary to do God’s work. God’s work is happening in ordinary places through ordinary people who are willing to participate. Isn’t it wild to think the Creator of the universe is literally inviting you to come be part of his work with him? That Jesus, the savior of the world, has chosen YOU to be his partner. 1 Corinthians 1:9, “God has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” And then what’s really wild is to think that exactly where you are – where you live, where you work, where you drive every day – none of that is an accident. God has placed you exactly where you are in his vineyard, right where he wanted you, because there’s work there for you. How often we miss the vineyard so desperate for workers all around us, thinking we have to go somewhere else to partner with God in his mission. Girl, your home is a mission! Have you missed that? 4. Don’t waste today mourning yesterday. The workers hired at 5 PM couldn’t go back and reclaim the morning. They couldn’t say, “Give me the hours I missed.” They had one choice: Use the hour they had left. That’s us. You can’t go back and parent differently. You can’t go back and make the better decision. You can’t go back and say yes to the opportunity you missed. You can’t go back and recover the years you spent chasing the wrong things. But you can do something with today. You can’t change the hours you’ve lost, but you can surrender the hours you have left. If the landowner was willing to hire workers at 5 pm for the tiny amount of time left in that work day, then Jesus is telling us the little time we have left is of value too. You and I have time left. We don’t know how much time, but we have some. God is not hung up on where you’ve been until now – He’s asking if you’re available now. Yes – GREAT! 5. Don’t let comparison steal your gratitude. This is where the parable takes a sharp turn. The people who worked all day weren’t upset because they were cheated. They were upset because someone else was blessed. They received the payment they were promised, but when they saw those who worked far less than them receive the same pay, they were now unhappy. The landowner says: “Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?” Ouch. How often do we secretly resent God’s generosity toward someone else? “Why did she get that? – Why did God answer her prayer? – Why does her marriage look so good? – Why did she get that opportunity?” And Jesus essentially says: Why are you making somebody else’s blessing an insult to you? God’s goodness to her does not mean God’s goodness to you has run out. Someone else’s blessing is not evidence of your lack. 6. Don’t turn your obedience into a contract with God. The first workers had an agreement: A day’s wage for a day’s work. And they got exactly what they agreed to. But somewhere along the way, they began calculating. Here’s what that looks like in our heads: I worked more, I sacrificed more, I’ve been faithful longer, therefore I deserve more. God owes me. That’s dangerous spiritually! Does God really owe you? God is not our employer. We’re not earning God’s love through our performance. We’re not accumulating points with God. We’re not competing for a bigger piece of heaven. We are His. And everything he gives us is ultimately grace. I hope God doesn’t give me what I deserve because I don’t deserve heaven. I don’t deserve forgiveness. I don’t deserve his blessings. I certainly don’t deserve Jesus. I can only hope to receive his grace. Sometimes we want God to operate according to fairness. But if God gave us exactly what was fair, we’d all be in trouble. We want justice when someone else has wronged us. But we want grace when we’re the ones who have messed up. The message of Jesus isn’t that God gives everyone what they deserve. The message of Jesus is that God gives us what we could never deserve. That’s why the 5 PM worker is such good news. I’m the 5 PM worker over here getting what I don’t deserve simply because God is so good and generous. 7. Your reward isn’t based on how impressive your story looks. One woman may have followed Jesus since childhood. Another may meet Him at 70. One may have a dramatic testimony. Another may have a quiet one. One may preach to thousands. Another may faithfully love the five people God put around her. God doesn’t measure significance the way we do. The woman who spends decades faithfully serving God isn’t more loved than the woman who finally surrenders at the end of her life. And the woman who arrives late isn’t less valuable because she arrived late. The value isn’t in when you entered the vineyard. The value is in whose vineyard you’re working in. The workers who came at 5 PM didn’t know how much they would receive. They simply said yes to the invitation they had. That

Jesus is serious about forgiveness. He gave his very life to forgive you. And … he asks you to forgive every other soul who has hurt or offended you. Yes, everyone for everything. Now I don’t know, but maybe that’s a nearly impossible task. Forgiving them – what? They aren’t even sorry. Why should you offer them forgiveness? If for absolutely no other reason, because of this – JESUS SAYS TO. And if Jesus says to forgive, then it’s for a good purpose and you can trust him. Jesus teaches this lesson in another parable and this story makes it very clear the torment we subject ourselves to when we withhold the very forgiveness we have received. Matthew 18: 21-35: Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!” Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt. But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full. When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart. To begin, understand the bar Jesus is setting on how many times you should forgive someone for their sins against you. By Jewish law, you should forgive 3 times. So, when Peter suggest forgiving 7 times, he’s being generous. Then Jesus comes back with a number that doesn’t even make sense – “No, not 7 times, but 70 times 7.” Here’s what that means – that means every limit you’ve had on forgiveness is blown out of the water and there’s zero use in keeping score here. You forgive over and over and over again. This is supernatural forgiveness. This is a level of peace making within your heart that is beyond you. For this, you will need Jesus! Remember, you are a girl who has been forgiven of much. You have no right to turn around and withhold forgiveness from someone else. The first servant owed the King millions of dollars. This man had no possible way to repay his debt. No matter how much time the king granted, there was still no way for him to pay it back. Knowing this, the King had compassion and showed his servant mercy, forgiving his debt completely. This man’s weight had been lifted. He walked in full forgiveness for his very large debt. But, he refused to offer that forgiveness to one of his own servants who owed him far less. When his servant begged him for more time to pay, the forgiven man refused to offer forgiveness and ordered his servant to be thrown into prison. When the King hears of this, he says to the man, “I forgave you of your tremendous debt. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant just as I had mercy on you?” Here’s the problem – so many of us forget the mercy God has shown us. In our own little world, we’ve somehow convinced ourselves we’re good enough for our perfect and holy God on our own. Girl, you and I have fallen so miserably short! We have zero right to the forgiveness we walk in. One of our sins disqualifies us from Heaven, let alone the piling of our sins. Isaiah 53: 5-6, “He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.” Yes, girl, your sin was absolutely unbearable. You were not good enough. You were disqualified. That’s precisely the reason Jesus gave his life for you. Now, Jesus requires that forgiveness to flow through you. What happens if you hold on to bitterness, anger, and resentment because of what someone else did to you? Well, Jesus is actually quite clear here – You will be tortured. This is serious. You need to understand what unforgiveness does to your heart and your mind – it brings torment. But you already know that, don’t you? If you just can’t forgive them for what they did, you have felt that torment. It’s been eating away at you. You can’t find peace. You’re continually upset and wrestling with thoughts, reminders and feelings that torment you. And here’s what is truly heartbreaking – you’ve allowed that. Your refusal to forgive has permitted the torment. Of course it’s easy to pull the “unfair” card. What they did to you was unfair. So it’s unfair to ask you to forgive them. Well, here’s what I know – we really don’t want to play the “fair” game. If God judges us from a “fair” standard, we lose. If God does to me what’s fair, then I don’t get his grace and mercy. If I get justice, then I get eternal punishment. No Lord, please don’t give me justice – give me mercy. As the recipient of his unfair mercy, I’m out of playing the “fair” game. It doesn’t have to be fair. Is unforgiveness a sin? Yes – it is. Jesus says in Matthew 6: 14-15, “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” That’s clear. If you hold on to unforgiveness, you will be walking around with the weight of your own sin. Here’s the warning in scripture that should scare the bejesus out of you if you dare hold on to unforgiveness, therefore bearing your own sin. Psalm 38: 3-8, “My health is broken because of my SIN. (Unforgiveness is a sin – it will break your health.). My guilt overwhelms me – It is a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds fester and stink because of my foolish sins. I am bent over and racked with pain. All day long I walk around filled with grief. A raging fever burns within me, and my health is broken. I am exhausted and completely crushed. My groans come from an anguished heart.” Where is this exhaustion, sickness and crushing feeling coming from? SIN. What is a sin we often hold on to out of hurt because something wasn’t fair – UNFORGIVENESS. And it’s tormenting us!!!!!! Unoforgiveness is sin and allows torment in our body and mind. Read Jesus’ warning in the parable again – “Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you? Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be TORTURED until he had paid his entire debt. That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you REFUSE TO FORGIVE your brothers and sisters from your heart.” The king turned him over to the torturers. Do you realize there are demons from Hell with the assignment of torturing the hearts and minds of those who hold on to unforgiveness? Peace and healing from that torment can only be found one way – FORGIVING THE ONE WHO IS SO HARD FOR YOU TO FORGIVE. My friend, I pray you don’t allow this torment to continue in your life. You don’t have to carry this anymore. You don’t have to keep replaying what they did, rehearsing what you wish you had said, or carrying anger into every new day. Jesus is inviting you to lay it down. And maybe you’re thinking, “But I can’t forgive them.” You’re right. You can’t—not in your own strength. This kind of forgiveness is supernatural. So don’t start by asking yourself, “How can I possibly forgive them?” Start by asking Jesus, “Will You help me forgive them?” Bring Him the betrayal. Bring Him the injustice. Bring Him the anger. Bring Him the memories that still hurt. Bring Him the part of you that doesn’t want to let go. And then surrender it to the One who has already surrendered everything for you. You may never get an apology. You may never get an explanation. They may never understand what they did to you. Forgiveness doesn’t make what happened okay. It doesn’t erase the consequences. It doesn’t require you to trust someone who has proven untrustworthy. Forgiveness simply releases your right to keep carrying the debt. You are handing their debt over to the King. And remember this: you were carrying a debt you could never pay, and Jesus paid it for you. You have been forgiven. You have been shown mercy. You have been set free. So now, let that same mercy flow through you. Today, you can say, “Jesus, I forgive them. Not because what they did was okay. Not because they deserve it. Not because I feel like it. I forgive because You have forgiven me. I release them to You. I release the debt. I release the anger. I release the right to make them pay. And I ask You to heal what they broke in me.” And when you do that, something changes. The prison door doesn’t just open for them. It opens for you. Because forgiveness isn’t saying, “What you did didn’t hurt me.” Forgiveness is saying, “What you did will not own me anymore.” That’s

Matthew 18:12-14, “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.” Here Jesus tells a story that shows the individual value of each and every one of us to the Father. God knows about you. He knows where he wants you to be and when you have wandered off from that place. He doesn’t just stop caring about you when you go astray. In fact quite the opposite. He cares about you so much that he will stop everything to go and find you. Now that is an image of love. You are his child. He cares about YOU. Let’s really examine ourselves – How angry would we get if we have a problem sheep that keeps wandering? It’s wandering causes extra work for us. Every time that one sheep goes astray it takes us away from all our other sheep who are staying put. Eventually, wouldn’t we be willing to just let that sheep go and focus on the 99 that stay where they’re supposed to be? Wouldn’t we label that one wanderer as our problem child and grow in resentment? Wouldn’t we begin to talk bad about that wayward sheep, comparing it to the others who stay close to us? And wouldn’t that one sheep that causes us stress and anxiety be a little harder to love? But Jesus tells us our heavenly Father will relentlessly search for us. He will do whatever it takes. And when he finds us, he will rejoice over us. He will celebrate that we’re no longer lost. The Father isn’t focused on the time and work it took to get that wandering sheep back. He has zero regret and no shame or guilt to put on the sheep – only joy. Could this really be our God with us? Could this truly be the way he looks at us when we wander? Notice Jesus says this sheep wanders away. Away from what? Away from the shepherd’s care. Away from the rest of the flock. Away from where it’s supposed to be. Why would it do that? Why would it leave green pastures? Why would it stray from the clear path? Because a sheep gets another thought in its head and those thoughts lead it’s feet. The sheep doesn’t have to be bad to become lost. It just has to wander. And isn’t that how it happens with us? Most of us don’t wake up one morning and say, “Today I’m going to walk away from God.” We wander. One thought leads to another thought. One desire leads to another desire. One compromise leads to another compromise. One distraction becomes a habit. One hurt becomes resentment. One curiosity becomes an obsession. And before we know it, we’re standing somewhere we never intended to be. My sister, right now at this moment – are you standing somewhere you never intended to be? You didn’t intentionally run off to get here. You wandered here. Now you’re lost. You’re not bad, you’re just lost. The shepherd doesn’t hate you, he lost you. He loves you, so he comes looking for you. Not to punish you, but to bring you back to where is best. The sheep probably didn’t think it was leaving the shepherd. It probably thought, “What’s over here? Maybe there’s better grass over there. Maybe I’ll just wander a little bit. Maybe I want some space. Maybe I want to see what’s on the other side of that hill.” And that’s the danger of wandering. You don’t usually feel lost while you’re doing it. You feel curious. You feel independent. You feel like you’re making your own choices. But eventually you look up and realize, “I’m a long way from home. What have I done and how do I get back to where I was before?” But here’s the heartbreaking part: The sheep doesn’t know how to get itself back. It has wandered farther than it intended, and now it needs someone to come find it. Sheep are inherently directionally challenged. Sometimes you don’t even realize how far you’ve wandered until you’re in trouble. You thought you were just exploring. You thought you were just taking a little life detour. You thought you were just doing your own thing. Until you look around and ask, “How did I get here? Where is everybody? Where is my shepherd?” And now you’re trying to find your way back, but you’re struggling. Oh Sis, you may not be able to see the shepherd from here, but he can see you. The shepherd sees you, he sees the mountain, he sees the cliff, he sees the ditch, he sees the lion, and he sees the path back home. In this parable Jesus doesn’t say, “The shepherd waited for the sheep to figure out what it had done.” He says the shepherd went looking for it. He doesn’t stand on the hill yelling, “You made your choice! You should have stayed with me!” Nope – he goes after it. And when he finds it, he doesn’t punish it. He doesn’t shame it. He doesn’t lecture it about how much trouble it caused. He rejoices. That might be one of the most beautiful pictures Jesus ever gives us of the heart of God. You are not loved because you stay perfect. You are loved because you are His. And guess what – you simply can’t change that. You’ve always been God’s girl and you always will be. There’s no changing the father’s love for you. And when you wander, His love doesn’t wander with you and then disappear. His love comes looking for you. Maybe you’re the one who has wandered. Maybe you’ve been exploring places God never intended you to go. Maybe you’ve gotten distracted. Maybe you’ve followed a thought that led your feet farther and farther away. Maybe you look at your life right now and think, “I don’t even know how I got here.” I want you to hear what Jesus is saying: You are not too far away to be found. The shepherd knows where you are. He knows the path you took. He knows the cliff you’re standing on or the ditch you’ve been stuck in. He knows exactly where you wandered. And He’s coming for you. And when He finds you, He’s not going to say, “I can’t believe you did this to me.” He’s going to say, “There you are.” Because the Father isn’t looking at you thinking about all the trouble you’ve caused. He’s looking at you thinking, “That’s my child.” When the lost sheep comes home, heaven doesn’t throw a party because the sheep finally got its act together. Heaven rejoices because the one who was lost has been found. So maybe today the question isn’t, “How far have I wandered?” Maybe the question is: Will I let the Shepherd find me? Because sometimes coming home isn’t about finding your way back. Sometimes it’s simply about stopping your wandering long enough to hear the Shepherd calling your name. The sheep doesn’t end up back at home because it finally changed it’s mind, got it’s crap together and figured out how to get back. Nope – the sheep only gets back because the shepherd came and got it. The sheep doesn’t have to become smart enough to save itself. It doesn’t have to retrace every step. It doesn’t have to prove that it’s sorry enough. It doesn’t have to find the shepherd. The shepherd finds the sheep. If you’re hearing this, the shepherd has found you and he’s leading you back. Yes – before you know how you’re going to ever make this right again. Yes – before you’ve fixed this entire mess. Yes – before you’ve cleaned yourself up. The shepherd comes and finds the sheep stuck in the briars with its hair all matted, it’s wounds all infected, it’s legs nearly broken, and he carries that sheep back home. Girl, JUST LET HIM CARRY YOU HOME!!!!!!! You’ve been trying so hard to fix this. You’ve been trying to understand it. You’ve been trying to clean yourself up. You’ve been trying to make yourself worthy of being found. You’ve been thinking, “When I get myself together, then I’ll come back to God.” But that’s not how this story works. The Shepherd doesn’t come looking for the sheep after it has fixed itself. He comes looking for the sheep while it’s still lost. While it’s still tangled. While it’s still wounded. While its hair is matted. While its legs are weak. While it’s exhausted from trying to survive in a place it was never meant to be. He finds it exactly where it is. And then He picks it up. And He carries it home. He doesn’t say, “Walk.” He doesn’t say, “You got yourself into this mess, now get yourself out.” He doesn’t say, “I’ll carry you if you promise you’ll never wander again.” He just picks up the sheep He loves. And maybe that’s what somebody needs to hear today. You don’t have to figure out the whole way home. You just need to let yourself be found. You don’t have to fix your entire life today. You don’t have to know how God is going to untangle every relationship. You don’t have to know how He’s going to heal every wound. You don’t have to know how you’re going to undo every mistake. You don’t have to have the next ten steps figured out. You just need to let the Shepherd carry you through the next one. Because the Shepherd knows the way home. He can see what you cannot see. He knows the dangers you don’t know are ahead. He knows the path you need to take. And He knows exactly how to get you back to the place where you are safe, loved, known and fully His. So stop running. Stop hiding. Stop pretending you’re okay. Stop believing that your mess has made you unlovable. Stop thinking you’ve wandered too far. Look up. The Shepherd is already there. He’s been looking for you. And if you can hear His voice right now, that’s not condemnation. That’s your Shepherd calling your name. “There you are.” Not, “What have you done?” Not, “How could you?” Not, “Look at all the trouble you’ve caused.” Just— “There you are. I

Matthew 13:52, “Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.” Well what on earth is Jesus trying to show us here? Being a teacher of religious law means you know your Bible. You know facts. You know history. You know verses. You know order. But there’s more than just knowledge of the Bible for us – we are invited to become DISCIPLES. As a disciple of Jesus, we are his STUDENTS. Do you see the interesting dynamic Jesus is introducing here – for those who call themselves teachers, those who know all there is to know about the Bible, we can then go even deeper by being a student of Jesus. We can learn from him. Jesus wants to take us beyond the written word, he wants to reveal to us the things of Heaven. Have you ever studied scripture and simply gotten nothing out of it? My friend, you could have the entire Bible memorized from cover to cover, which many ‘teachers of religious law’ did in these days, but fail to be a discipled as a student of Jesus. You could know everything there is to know about God’s word, but only have knowledge without meaning. God hasn’t called you to gather up more and more knowledge so you’re the most intelligent person with massive amounts of information. He’s called you to be a student of Jesus, learning spiritual ways beyond the words. Jesus calls us into relationship with him. In close relationship we can see how Jesus works. He says in Matthew 11: 29-30 MSG, “Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” You can’t learn that from reading. You could study for the rest of your life and never learn the unforced rhythms of grace. These are the things you will only learn in close relationship with Jesus as his disciple. Are you ready to really be a student of Jesus? Okay, then KEEP COMPANY with him. What would that really look like? Keeping company with Jesus means you invite Jesus to be with you in your everyday life. It’s beginning to live in a continual awareness that he is there. Wow, to think that Jesus is personally interested in YOU and every detail of your life. There’ a line in a song I love that says, “Never thought to stop and wonder – You made a million colors – And now you’re thinking about me.” Let that settle in for a moment. God had the capacity and creativity to make a million different colors in every different tone and shade, and now that same God is thinking about YOU!!!!! What???!!!!!! That must mean you’re special. That must mean he sees you as worthy. That must mean your life is for a purpose. And when you live with that awareness, life begins to take on a different color. Nothing is an accident. All things are truly working together for good in the hands of the God who is wild about you! And now, this great big, huge, all-knowing, all-powerful God has invited you to personally be his student and keep company with him?!!!!!!!!!!!!! As you’re walking through your every day, ordinary life, recognizing Jesus is actually with you – you will begin to open yourself up to what he is trying to teach you. THAT IS DISCIPLESHIP. This is how you will learn the unforced rhythms of grace. This is how you will learn to live freely and lightly. And this will change your life completely! These are the things you don’t get from just reading. This isn’t a class you can go to. This is one-on-one life training with the one who created life. Jesus teaching you. When Jesus says, “Walk with me, work with me – Watch how I do it”, he’s not asking you to take a class. He’s inviting you to be his apprentice. This is an apprenticeship. You watch the expert! Watch how Jesus handled hardship. Watch how he handled criticism. Watch how he responded when he was tired. Watch how he spent time with the Father praying. What how he dealt with interruptions. Watch how he LOVED. Watch how he forgave. Watch how he handled power. Watch how he trusted God. YOU LEARN BY WATCHING JESUS. Then, you start doing what you see him do. Today, this day of your real life, it is a classroom. Jesus is teaching you something here. Something beyond the typed words in your Bible. Something beyond the same stories you will read. Something personally designed for you to see Jesus working so you can learn to do the same. Today, you will learn patience. Today you will learn trust. Today you will learn surrender. Today you will learn peace. Today, your life is filled with opportunities to be disciplined by Jesus. YOU DON’T ALREADY KNOW EVERYTHING! Jesus has so much more he wants to teach you. Now, back to this parable. In the story, Jesus says the disciple (the student who is constantly learning) is like a homeowner who brings things out of his storeroom. Okay – you can’t bring out what you haven’t put in. Every time you spend time with Jesus, you’re putting something in the storeroom. This is how scripture comes alive. This is how lessons grow deep. This is when you see God’s answer to prayers. This is personally experiencing the faithfulness of God. THIS IS THE STOREHOUSE. You’ve been storing up all this goodness so you can bring it back out at any time. Old things and new things. Old promises and brand new revelations of how Jesus is working personally in your life. Old stories of how they’re unfolding in awesome new ways in this season. Isn’t it incredible how you can read the same verses and same stories in your Bible in a different season of life and find a whole new meaning? Yip – that’s what happens in the storehouse. As a student of Jesus you’re adding more and more and it just keeps growing and becoming more. Maybe the goal of your Christian life isn’t to become someone who knows the most about God. Maybe it’s to become someone who knows God so well that His ways become your ways. That’s why Jesus doesn’t simply invite you to read about Him. He says: “Come. Follow Me.” Walk with Me. Work with Me. Watch Me. Learn from Me. Keep company with Me. And eventually, without even realizing it, you’ll start responding like Him. You’ll start loving like Him. You’ll start forgiving like Him. You’ll start seeing people like Him. You’ll start trusting like Him. You’ll start living like Him. And that’s when the storeroom starts filling up. Not just with facts about Jesus. But with experiences of Jesus. Not just verses you’ve memorized. But truth you’ve lived. Not just knowledge in your head. But Jesus shaping your heart. And then, when life gets hard—or when someone else needs what you’ve learned—you can walk into your storeroom and say: “Oh, I’ve got something for this.” Because you’ve been keeping company with Jesus. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Matthew 13: 47-51, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind. When the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore, sat down, and sorted the good fish into crates, but threw the bad ones away. that is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous, throwing the wicked into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Do you understand all these things?” So, Jesus is saying in the end there will only be 2 categories of people and they will be separated out by the angels. There will be the wicked and the righteous. The wicked’s fate is the fiery furnace of misery. The righteous will be kept and carried off. We know from earlier parables in this chapter that the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. So, it’s clear who we don’t want to be – we don’t want to be the wicked. And it’s clear who we do want to be – we want to be the righteous. Now, how can we be sure because this is eternity we’re talking about. There will be no undoing this. After sharing this story, Jesus says, “Do you understand all these things?” No – I honestly don’t at this point, Jesus, help me understand. Explain this to us. He wants us to understand this, so let’s dig deeper here for understanding. When I’m trying to understand scripture, I do a few things: 1. I look at different translations for clearer wording. 2. I look up the original Greek or Hebrew words and their definitions. 3. I read commentary to get additional understanding. Looking at other translations of this parable, they all say it in the same words – there are the good and the bad – the righteous and the wicked, and in the end they are getting separated. Until then, they will be in the same waters living together. God doesn’t separate us now, but the day will come when he does. Now, let’s look at the original text. These spoken words of Jesus were recorded by the disciple Matthew after he personally heard them. The language was Greek. In Greek, the two groups people will be separated into are the ponēros and the dikaious. The ponēros are the wicked ones. The word means evil, bad, harmful, morally corrupt. It describes one who is not only bad in character, but produces bad effects. This isn’t the person who messes up in their life and fails – this is the person who is truly bad. This isn’t about just doing bad things – this is about BEING bad. It’s a moral corruption from within. It’s a genuinely rotten, poisonous fruit. Religion has warped this word to make us think we’re going to Hell if we sin. Well, here’s the really bad news about that teaching – WE ALL SIN. Every single one of us. There has only been one without sin and that was Jesus. The rest of us aren’t good enough – but that doesn’t mean we are wicked. This word ponēros is used when Jesus teaches us how to pray in Matthew 6. Verse 13, “deliver us from the evil one.” That’s the ponēros one. Satan. So his people, his followers, his devoted workers are the ones who Jesus tells us are wicked. They are the ones who will meet the fate of the fiery furnace. These are NOT the ones who have made wrong choices and wandered off the path occasionally. These are the ones who are inherently evil. —— Then there are the dikaious. Here’s what that word means – those who are in right standing with God. Here’s what that word doesn’t necessarily mean – a good person. We try to make this all about us, about our acts, our deeds, and our track record. And if we do, we always fall short. We simply are not righteous. No matter how good you are, it hasn’t made you right with God. There is one thing and one thing only that has made you right with God – that’s the man on the middle cross. Jesus gives us right standing with a Holy and perfect God. JUST JESUS. 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be MADE RIGHT WITH GOD through Christ.” This is how we are the diakious – the righteous – the ones who will get to shine bright in the Kingdom of God forever! Jesus did that for us. Romans 5:17, “God’s wonderful grace and his GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.” Righteousness is a gift of God’s grace. No, we don’t deserve it, but he gives it to us anyway. You can stop thinking you have to make yourself good enough and receive the grace that completely covers you. Romans 3:22, “We are made RIGHT WITH GOD by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. yet God, in his grace, freely makes US RIGHT in his sight. People are made RIGHT WITH GOD when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.” It just couldn’t be any clearer than that. We are made right with God through one thing and one thing alone – BELIEVING IN JESUS! And no matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, no matter where you’ve come from or how wrong you’ve been, this is true for YOU. YOU ARE RIGHTEOUS THROUGH JESUS. So my friend, your destiny is sealed. If you believe in Jesus, you are in the diakious, the righteous, the ones in right standing with God. And your future is secure in Jesus – you get to shine in God’s Kingdom forever! So let’s go back to Jesus’ question: “Do you understand all these things?” I think I finally understand what He’s trying to show us. One day, the net is going to come ashore. One day, there will be a separation. One day, this life will be over, and eternity will begin. And on that day, the question won’t be, “Were you perfect?” Because none of us were. It won’t be, “Did you make good choices every day?” Because none of us did. It won’t even be, “Were you good enough?” Because none of us are. The question is: What did you do with Jesus? Because there are only two categories in the end: the wicked and the righteous. And here’s the incredible news for every person who has put their faith in Jesus: Jesus makes you righteous. Not your performance. Not your religious résumé. Not how many Bible verses you know. Not how many times you’ve gotten it right. Jesus. The man on the middle cross took what belonged to you so that you could receive what belonged to Him. He took your sin. He gave you His righteousness. He took your shame. He gave you His grace. He took your condemnation. He gave you right standing with God. So stop trying to earn what Jesus already died to give you. You don’t have to spend the rest of your life wondering, “Am I good enough?” You aren’t. Jesus is. And that’s the whole point. The Gospel isn’t that you finally became good enough for God. The Gospel is that Jesus was good enough for you. So when the net comes ashore, I don’t want to be standing there hoping my good outweighs my bad. I want to be standing there covered by Jesus. I want to be found in Christ. I want His righteousness to be my righteousness. And then—because I have received His life—I want that life to change the way I live here and now. Because this isn’t just about where we go when we die. It’s about who we become while we’re alive. If Jesus has truly gotten into your life, He should eventually begin getting into everything. Your thoughts. Your words. Your relationships. Your decisions. Your money. Your marriage. Your work. Your habits. Your reactions. Your dreams. Your disappointments. Everything. He becomes the center. And when Jesus becomes the center, He begins changing what your life produces. So don’t spend your life trying to prove you’re good enough. Receive the righteousness Jesus freely gives you. And then spend the rest of your life letting Him transform you from the inside out. Because someday the net will come ashore. And when that day comes, I want to hear Jesus say: “You are Mine.” And I want to shine like the sun in my Father’s Kingdom. Not because I was good enough. Because Jesus was. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Yesterday we studied the Parable of the Treasure. Now, Jesus continues his teaching with another similar story tied to it. They go together, so let’s read them together. Matthew 13: 44-45, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field. Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it.” Remember yesterday was all about a man who discovered hidden treasure in a field. He just found it there – stumbled upon it. But now in this story of the pearl, we have a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. A merchant is on a mission to find something specific. He is trained, he is experienced, and he knows exactly what he is looking for. One wasn’t looking and found hidden treasure. One was searching intentionally and discovered a pearl of great value. And isn’t it the same with finding Jesus. Some of us just stumbled right into Jesus when we weren’t even looking for him – while others of us found him after searching through every other religion, every other way of life and then we finally found Jesus. Which one is right? BOTH because they both result in the same life changing encounter. I didn’t go searching for Jesus. I had a beautiful childhood and lived in a sweet little bubble. At 15 my family started going to church and I was happy to go because in my tiny country town there wasn’t much else to do. I wasn’t expecting to meet a Savior, I didn’t even know I needed one – but there he was, so sweetly awaiting our encounter. It wasn’t dramatic. I didn’t have a bunch of bad decisions and regrets to lay on the altar. I just knew there was a prompting from within calling my surrender to his divine guidance. I was the one who stumbled on hidden treasure in a field when I wasn’t even looking for it. That’s the kingdom of heaven. Then there’s my friend Cat. In her 30’s she had walked down a path of addiction that had led her to a crashing end. While in rehab trying to get sober and regain her life, she was introduced to a variety of “higher powers” for the choosing. She began studying and trying them. Buddhism was surely it, so she tried it – but felt nothing. So on to the next one. How about Hinduism. No, that wasn’t it. She left rehab now sober, but still searching. On the way out, her counselor handed her her own personal copy of ‘Jesus Calling’ and said, “At some point you’re going to need this.” Cat tucked that little devotional book away in a closet and returned to life. It was a better life sober, but not a whole life. When the next big family catastrophe hit, she knew she needed something to carry her through and not return to the familiarity of her addiction, and she remembered the words of the counselor at rehab who had said, “At some point, you’re going to need this.” And Cat knew – if there was ever a time I need something, it’s now. So, she found that book, ‘Jesus Calling’ in the closet, she opened the page to that day’s date, and there she found every single word she most needed. But more than words, she found the loving, forgiving, life-changing Savior she had been searching for all along. AND SHE KNEW IT. She knew this was THE ONE. Jesus was the pearl of greatest value and nothing would ever be the same for her. Cat was the one who had been searching for years and finally found her pearl. That’s the kingdom of heaven. Isn’t it amazing that we have BOTH? Both a Savior who will pursue us when we aren’t even pursuing him – AND a Savior who will patiently wait as we pursue everything that isn’t him and perfectly align an encounter with him when everything else has failed? Jesus doesn’t fit in our little box. It doesn’t have to be one way. He is THE WAY, and he will make the way to you in whatever way that needs to be. He’s the hidden treasure you stumble upon without even looking – and he’s the pearl of great value you’ve studied and searched for your entire life. But remember this – either way, he’s worth giving up EVERYTHING for. In both parables, when found, everything else was sold. Remember that. Jesus requires everything. He’s worth everything. He’s greater than everything. For my sisters who are more like me without the dramatic story of searching for Jesus, and more just stumbling upon him when you weren’t even looking, remember you’ve found the greatest treasure of all! And for my sisters who have searched their entire lives, here’s Jesus and he’s everything you’ve been looking for! He is your pearl! And really think about Jesus being our pearl. How wild that he would use that as the example in his teaching. Do you know how a pearl is formed? A pearl begins with an irritation. If an oyster never has an irritation, they simply never have a pearl. But if their little world inside their shell is penetrated by the irritation of a grain of sand, then that irritation creates something that becomes valuable. The irritation of sand inside the shell causes the oyster to respond. Their response covers the sand with layers of naturally produced protection from within. Layer after layer, something beautiful is formed around something that originally caused great pain. Think about that – the very thing that irritated the oyster becomes part of what makes the pearl so valuable. Of course that’s why Jesus uses the pearl as an example – he knows this is how God works sometimes! Something you never asked for gets into your life. A disappointment, a betrayal, a loss, a failure, a terrible season, an series of bad decisions that turned into an addiction. Irritation grows. It gets worse. You’re so uncomfortable. But God is growing something within you. Something of great value. This is where Jesus shows up!!!!!!! Don’t you see how God can use what was so painful to produce something so beautiful in your life? He wastes nothing. The oyster doesn’t wake up one morning and say, “I think I’ll make a pearl today.” It simply responds to what has entered its life. And slowly, layer by layer, something extraordinary develops. Maybe that’s what God has been doing in you. You thought you were just surviving. God was forming you. You thought you were just getting through another hard season. God was adding another layer. You thought you were being delayed. God was developing depth. You thought the pain was ruining your story. God was making something beautiful from it. And then you find your pearl. You find your Jesus, that is what you’ve been searching for all along. And what do you do when you find that pearl – You don’t just keep looking for something else. You don’t keep trying other things. NO. You know this is what you’ve been looking for all your life. This is your answer. Here he is. And you give up everything else because you know there’s absolutely NOTHING better! What if some of the things you’ve spent your life chasing were never the pearl? But Jesus says, “You found it.” The Kingdom is the pearl. Jesus is the pearl. And when you finally understand His worth, you realize, I don’t have to spend the rest of my life searching. I’ve found what my heart was looking for. Jesus is worth everything. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Matthew 13:44, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” I want you to imagine for a moment coming to the end of your life, and standing before your Creator as he shows you a life of your movie. Everything you did in your entire lifetime. And imagine realizing you missed the whole point of life. Sadly, that will be many of us. Oh we’ll make it to heaven, we’ll gain our ticket of entrance into the Holy Gates – not because of a single thing we did, but all as humble and unworthy recipients of what the man on the cross did for us. But the time we had here on earth was wasted. We focused on the wrong things. We stressed about things that weren’t within our control. We rushed through the important things. And we quite simply missed the point. Here, standing with God having the experience of eternity and seeing our life as a movie, we would have a new found perspective of the time we were allotted on Earth. We would see that this entire time we were spiritual beings having our human experience. Really nothing more and nothing less. We were never bodies that just happen to also have a soul. We were first and foremost souls that were gifted these bodies for just a brief moment in the history of the world. Seeing this, knowing this, understanding this – we would be able to return to this life and get it right. With Heaven’s perspective we would know what’s truly important and what isn’t. And what is it we would have found – TREASURE. Hidden treasure. Right here in our own lives. Now, let’s read Jesus’ Parable of the Treasure again. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Oh that God would give us a heavenly perspective, right here as our spiritual selves have our brief human experience. We would let go of everything we’ve been holding so tightly in order to obtain the real treasure. The treasure of the time and opportunities we’ve been given here of eternal importance. Once you recognize what is truly valuable, your entire definition of a good life changes. WHAT IF YOU COULD SEE THE TREASURE NOW? What if God could give you just a glimpse today of what you will understand when this life is over? What if you could see your life from Heaven’s perspective—not to make you feel guilty about what you’ve done, but to help you recognize what actually matters while you still have time to do something about it? I think we would be shocked. We would look at the things we spent so much time worrying about and wonder, ‘Why did I give that so much of my attention?’ We would look at the things we were chasing and say, ‘Why did I think that would make me happy?’ We would look at the things we were so afraid of losing and realize, ‘Those things were never mine to keep anyway.’ And then we would see the things we almost missed. That conversation that was the last one, when we didn’t know it was the last one. The sunset we were too busy to notice. The person God put in our path. The chance to say, “I love you.” The ordinary Monday that we rushed through because we were waiting for something more exciting to happen. And we would realize: THAT was the treasure. Not the bigger house. Not the nicer car. Not the perfect body. Not the job title. Not the bank account. Not the perfectly organized life. Those things aren’t necessarily bad. But they were never the point. The treasure was hidden in the middle of the life God has already given us. And isn’t that exactly what Jesus says? The man finds treasure hidden in a field. He doesn’t have to travel across the world to find it. He doesn’t have to manufacture it. He doesn’t have to earn it. He discovers something of incredible value that was already there. I wonder how much treasure is already buried in your life. THE TREASURE IS OFTEN ORDINARY We tend to think God’s best things must be big things. A big calling. A big breakthrough. A big adventure. A big answer to prayer. But some of the most eternally significant things God will ever do through you may look incredibly ordinary while you’re doing them. A meal around your table. A prayer whispered over someone who is hurting. A simple phone call you make time for. A child who knows they are loved. A stranger who experiences kindness. A person who comes to Jesus because they watched you live differently. A quiet morning where you opened God’s Word instead of opening your phone. These moments don’t look impressive on Instagram. But Heaven doesn’t measure life the way Instagram does. Heaven knows the value of things Earth overlooks. And that changes the question we should be asking. Instead of: “How can I make my life bigger?” Maybe the better question is: “How can I make my life matter?” Instead of: “What can I accomplish?” Ask: “Who can I love?” Instead of: “What can I accumulate?” Ask: “What can I give?” Instead of: “How can I protect my time?” Ask: “What is God asking me to do with the time I’ve been given?” Because someday, every single one of us will discover that time was the most valuable thing we ever possessed—and we were spending it every single day. WHAT ARE YOU TRADING YOUR LIFE FOR? The man in Jesus’ story discovers the treasure and then does something radical. He sells everything he has. Why? Because he finally understands value. He isn’t making a sacrifice because he’s miserable. He does it “in his joy.” That’s important. When you really understand the value of the Kingdom, surrender doesn’t feel like losing. It feels like trading up. You aren’t giving up your life. You’re finally learning what your life is for. And maybe that’s the question Jesus wants to put in front of us today: What are you trading your life for? Because you are trading it for something. Every day. Your time is being spent. Your attention is being spent. Your energy is being spent. Your thoughts are being spent. The question isn’t whether you are spending your life. The question is: Are you spending it on what is actually valuable? Because you can spend your entire life building something that disappears in an instant. Or you can spend your life investing in things that outlive you. HEAVEN’S PERSPECTIVE CHANGES TODAY And here’s the beautiful part: We don’t have to wait until Heaven to get Heaven’s perspective. We can ask God for it now. “God, show me what I’m missing. Show me what I’m holding too tightly. Show me what I’m worrying about that doesn’t matter. Show me where I’m wasting time. Show me who needs me. Show me what I need to release. Show me the treasure that is already buried in the life You’ve given me.” Because maybe your life doesn’t need a complete overhaul. Maybe you don’t need a new house, a new job, a new relationship, or a new body. Maybe you need new eyes. Maybe the ordinary life you’ve been overlooking is the very life God wants you to live intentionally. Maybe the people you’ve been taking for granted are the treasure. Maybe the time you’ve been wasting is the treasure. Maybe the season you’re complaining about is carrying something God wants to teach you. Maybe the field you’ve been looking past is the field where the treasure is buried. SO WHAT DO WE DO WITH THIS TODAY? Look at your life today and ask: What matters for eternity? Then do more of that. Who matters for eternity? Love them. What relationship needs attention? Give it attention. What conversation have you been putting off? Have it. What grudge are you carrying? Release it. What’s keeping you distracted? Put it down. What has God been asking you to do? Stop negotiating and do it. What are you constantly worrying about that you cannot control? Give it to God. And what ordinary, beautiful thing have you been rushing past? Slow down long enough to see it. Because one day, we will see this life differently. We will understand what mattered. We will understand what didn’t. And I don’t want to wait until then. I want to recognize the treasure now. I want to live today like the woman I will wish I had been when I see my life from Heaven. Because the Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. And perhaps the most incredible thing about the parable isn’t that the treasure was there. It’s that the man found it. Maybe that’s what Jesus is inviting us to do today. Look again. Look at your life. Look at your people. Look at your time. Look at your opportunities. Look at this very ordinary Monday. There is treasure here. Don’t miss it. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Have you ever made homemade bread with yeast? How much yeast do you put in with the flour and water? Just a tiny amount. How much of a difference does the yeast make? ALL THE DIFFERENCE. As Jesus was teaching, he knew everyone listening understood this because bread wasn’t something they picked up at the grocery store. It was made every day in their homes. The women especially knew exactly what He meant. They had watched a tiny handful of yeast disappear into a massive bowl of flour, only to come back hours later and find every bit of dough changed. So Jesus said… Matthew 13:33, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.” How much of the dough was affected by only a little yeast? EVERY PART OF IT. And how many of you have personally experienced the impact of little things over your entire life? Really, that’s all of us. Looking back, we see how little things changed the entire trajectory of our lives. Sometimes that can feel overwhelming because what if you mess up that one little thing that would make all the difference? Before you get all anxious about the enormity of this – please remember your life is under the divine direction of an all-knowing God, IF you surrender to his ability to guide you exactly where you need to be. Surrender is the key. Without surrender – you’re a bowl of flour sitting flat wondering why your life isn’t rising up. I wonder if you can see how in your own life some of your biggest blessings didn’t come from one big decision you made, but a combination of tiny turns left and right with split second perfect timing. Did you do that on your own? Oh no you didn’t girl. God was leaning over the rails of heaven, watching your life with great delight, aligning things you didn’t even know to ask for, and sprinkling in a little yeast to make his good plans for you grow. And as you grew, the angels cheered! Here’s our problem – when we don’t surrender. When we think we don’t need God because we can make our own plans, force our own way, and direct the timing of it all to fit our liking. We try to make our own yeast, but guess what – YOU CAN’T. Yeast has to come from a start. And you are not that start. GOD IS! Here’s what surrender really is. It’s opening your clenched fists and saying, “God, you have permission to work anywhere you want.” IT STARTS THERE!!!!! Most of us try to first hand God one part of our lives. “God, here’s my marriage, fix this. But, don’t touch my priorities. Don’t touch my habits. God, I just want you over here.” But Jesus says the yeast doesn’t stop at one corner of the dough. It permeates every part. God loves you too much to leave any part of your life untouched. If you invite him into your marriage, he will be there – but he will also go right for YOUR HEART. All while you just want him to work on your husband’s heart, he first starts with yours. You’ve been praying for your kids, and before he works on them, he works in YOU! Sometimes I wonder if my family’s 7 year journey to healing took so long because I was delaying the work in my heart first. Which part of your life have you been asking for God to take over? You know that one very well, don’t you? Now, let me ask – which part of your life have you been holding back from God? Yeah – that one. That one that you’ve been trying to hide or excuse or separate – God says, “I WANT TO GET ALL UP IN THAT TOO!!!!!” If you surrender your life to Him, He will begin working in places you didn’t even invite Him. But my sister, you can trust him. Remember, he is for you, not against you. His plans for you are to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) In this parable, notice what Jesus doesn’t say – He doesn’t say, “The Kingdom of God is like bread.” No, he said it’s “like yeast”. There’s a difference. Yeast gets INSIDE something before it changes anything on the outside. My mama taught me how to make homemade yeast rolls as a young girl. You get the water and milk temperature just right, then you sprinkle in the tiniest amount of yeast. And then you lean in real close and you watch. Guess what – Nothing happens. You ever so gently stir in the yeast. Still nothing happens. Then you let it sit for a bit. Still nothing. Next you add in the flour and create this messy sticky dough. Nothing looks radically different. But you come back an hour later and your little ball of dough has risen ten times in size to overflow the edges of your bowl. How did it happen? Gradually from the INSIDE. That is exactly opposite of how most of us try to change. We start with the outside. • I need to lose weight. • I need to stop yelling. • I need to stop cussing. • I need to be read my Bible more. • I need to get organized. • I need to stop shopping so much. So we try harder. Jesus says, “That’s not how My Kingdom works. I don’t start by changing your behavior. I start by changing your heart.” Everything else grows from there. He isn’t trying to improve your circumstances first. He’s trying to transform you. I really don’t think God cares about the size of your butt or the jiggle of your belly. He’s not impressed by that tiny little ab you’ve been working on. Your bank account isn’t his primary concern. HE IS GOING STRAIGHT FOR YOUR HEART. Why? Because the heart is the yeast. If he changes your heart, it will affect EVERYTHING!!!! But here’s the warning – YOUR ENEMY KNOWS THIS TOO! Your enemy knows if he can make you insecure, it will affect everything. If he can twist the way you feel about yourself, he can keep you in the corner. He knows if he infects the way you think about everyone else, he can render you bitter, cynical and ineffective. Bad yeast makes bad bread sis. Check what is growing in your life! Finally, notice there’s something specific Jesus mentions in this story. He says the woman mixed the yeast into 3 measures of flour. Anytime you see something this specific, take notice – it’s a deeper lesson. Here, 3 measures of flour means about 40 to 50 pounds of flour. This large amount of flour when mixed with a little bit of east would be enough to feed a hundred people. Why would Jesus mention that detail? Because the amount is intentionally extravagant. A tiny handful of yeast transforms an enormous amount of dough. That’s the Kingdom. One life surrendered to Jesus can influence far more people than you ever imagined. One praying Mama. One teacher. One girl in the office who shares a devotional. One friend who points a hurting soul to Jesus. That’s just one little bit of Kingdom yeast. AND IT GROWS and grows and grows. Bigger and bigger and bigger. Generations are changed as a result of one surrendered life. That’s yeast! And let me tell you something, I think God wants YOU to be that surrendered life. He wants to start with YOU. His Spirit at work within you, changing you from the inside out, starting with your heart then flowing onto every area of your life, every single relationship, in every way. Imagine one day arriving to Heaven and meeting a whole line of people waiting to tell you how YOU helped them get there too. How the Jesus in you was the light showing them the way. How what God grew in you flowed over onto them and grew in them. And because of your surrender, they learned surrender, their children learned surrender, their grandchildren surrendered – and now there’s an entire corner of Heaven crowded – and it started with ONE. And that my friends, is how the Kingdom of God is – It’s like yeast. Tiny, working in unseen ways from the inside, affecting EVERYTHING! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

The next parable Jesus tells is one of the most debated in Scripture. Unlike some of the other parables, Jesus never explains this one. That means faithful Bible scholars have reached different conclusions. Let’s read it for ourselves. Matthew 13:31-32, “He put another parable before them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” So…what do you think? Is this story about the beautiful growth of God’s Kingdom? Or is it a warning that evil can quietly grow alongside it? So what do we do when Scripture isn’t immediately clear? We go to Jesus. Because Jesus didn’t just tell the truth… He IS the Truth. John 14:6 says, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” So I asked Him, “Jesus, what do you want me to see here?” Here’s what I believe the Lord showed me. This parable has two sides. Like a coin. If I flip a coin and it lands on heads, does that make tails false? Of course not. Both are always there. I believe this parable contains both a beautiful promise…and a loving warning. So the heads side of this parable is a story of growth. The mustard seed is known as a tiny seed. This isn’t the only time Jesus talks about the mustard seed. There’s a much more familiar scripture many of us remember. Jesus says to his disciples in Matthew 17:20, “If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.'” Throughout Scripture, the mustard seed represents something tiny that carries incredible potential. God specializes in starting with what everyone else overlooks. A tiny seed. A shepherd boy. A teenage girl. Twelve ordinary fishermen. Five loaves and two fish. Heaven has never been impressed by size. Heaven has always been impressed by surrender. The mustard seed is something that is so small and seemingly insignificant, but within it is potential for big things. Even the tiniest grain of faith can move mountains. So, this tiny grain of the mustard seed can be planted in a garden and become larger than all the other plants in the garden and grow to be a tree where birds make their nests. What begins so small, with God, can grow to become greater than you can possibly imagine. Zechariah 4:10, “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.” We all love the idea of doing something BIG for God. We dream about changing lives. Writing books. Starting ministries. Launching businesses. But most of us don’t love the tiny assignments that produce those things. We want the tree. God hands us a seed. “God, send me across the world as a missionary…” …but I don’t want to pray with my neighbor. “Lord, use me in powerful ways…” …but I don’t want to serve where nobody notices. We want significance. God offers faithfulness. Most of us woke up today holding seeds from God. The problem is… Seeds don’t look impressive. They don’t look like the future God sees. And because we can’t see the tree… we underestimate the seed. We’re not willing to start small. We want big full blown trees, not tiny seeds. People ask me all the time how to build their own mentoring, or a podcast, or retreats. They usually don’t like my answer. I tell them… Start with the seed. Do it when you’re unsure. Do it when you’re uncomfortable. Do it when nobody applauds. Do it when almost nobody shows up. Do it for free. Keep planting. Keep watering. Keep showing up. But we want to be great from day 1. We want immediate success. We want a full blown tree by day 2 please. But Jesus says, “from this tiny seed, something big can grow.” GROWTH TAKES TIME. We all want overnight success. God almost always chooses faithful consistency. Trees don’t explode into existence. They grow. Slowly. Quietly. One ordinary day at a time. There’s one way you grow something great … be willing to be bad at it long enough to get good! I remember my first ever mentoring session in 2012. I was cutting edge hosting live videos before live videos were a thing outside of the nightly news. Facebook live didn’t exist. There was no zoom. I had a full blown studio set up in our master bedroom, special lights and cameras and programs. That first live mentoring session I had like 12 people watching and I was a nervous wreck. I taught my lesson, then I thought I was done. But there was one problem – we had practiced how to start the live broadcast, however we had failed to practice ending the broadcast. We literally didn’t know how to stop recording. My husband signaled to me to continue as he frantically searched for a way to stop recording. By this time I had said absolutely everything I knew to say and I had nothing left. So you know what I did … I started dancing. Yip, just me in front of a live camera dancing. Y’all, I cannot dance. It was so awkward. Finally in desperation my husband just unplugs the entire thing from the wall and cuts power. We both looked at eachother and said, “Whew, now that was a mess! I never want to do that again.” Then the next week, we did it again. And again, and again. Over 700 weekly mentoring sessions later, we’re still just showing up and doing it again. Looking back now, that wasn’t embarrassing. That was a seed. Seeds are awkward. Seeds are unimpressive. Seeds are hidden underground where nobody celebrates them. But without the seed… there is never a tree. It was a small seed and a messy process, but with God, it has grown into more than we could have ever imagined. Again, Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” This is how God has always worked. He works through small beginnings. He works through ordinary obedience. He works through people who are simply willing to keep planting. Never underestimate what God can do with one tiny act of faith repeated over and over again. He works in small beginnings. He works in unseen potential. Don’t let unseen potential become unmet potential because you’re not willing to put in the ground work. But every coin has another side. The same principle is true of evil. Sin rarely shows up looking dangerous. It usually arrives looking small. Harmless. Easy to justify. One compromise. One lie. One bitter thought. One secret. One click. One missed opportunity to forgive. They’re just tiny seeds… Until they aren’t. Left unattended, what began as something small quietly grows in the dark until it takes over far more of your life than you ever intended. Be careful what you’re planting. Tiny seeds always become something bigger. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

In our study of the parables of Jesus, we find the next story he tells. Remember, that’s what a parable is – it’s a story along with a teaching. It’s earthly stories with heavenly meaning told for a purpose by Jesus. Matthew 13: 24-30 Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew. “The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’ “‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed. “‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked. “‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’ Okay – now what does that mean exactly? Once again a planting story to tell us more about the Kingdom of Heaven. The disciples were unsure what this meant, so they asked him. WOW – what a concept. When you don’t understand, ASK JESUS. Really, have you done that? What uncertainty are you facing right now? What confusing situation are you in? Where are you right now that just doesn’t make sense and you don’t know what the next right step is? You honestly don’t know the solution. You don’t know the right thing to do? You don’t know what to think or what to say. Well, there’s one place to turn for that – YOU GO TO JESUS! Jesus, I don’t understand this – please help me to understand. Jesus, I don’t know what to do, but you tell me that YOU ARE THE WAY and I’m trusting you. Show me the next step in your way. When the disciples ask Jesus what this parable meant, guess what happened? HE EXPLAINED IT TO THEM! Wow, just like that. They didn’t have to sit around arguing about it. They didn’t have to wander around confused and perhaps getting it wrong. They just asked Jesus! Girl, just ask Jesus! Have you done that yet? So, here we go – Still in Matthew 13:36-44: Then, leaving the crowds outside, Jesus went into the house. His disciples said, “Please explain to us the story of the weeds in the field.” Jesus replied, “The Son of Man is the farmer who plants the good seed. The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one. The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are the angels. “Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Thank you Jesus for making that clear. Thank you for helping us understand these heavenly things with this earthly story. Now, because we may be slightly removed from the experience of growing wheat today, let’s dig deeper so we really get it. The farmer is Jesus. The field he is working in is the world. The good seeds he plants are his people. The enemy is the devil. The weeds he plants are those who reject God’s kingdom and oppose Jesus’ work. The harvest is the end of the world. The harvesters are the angels. There are 2 eternal destinies: • The fiery furnace • The Father’s radiant Kingdom My friends, there is evil among us. There are counterfeits all around us, sent by the enemy do to evil. There is a real spiritual battle taking place all around us. Wherever God plants truth, the enemy plants deception. Wherever God brings life, the enemy tries to sow destruction. Wherever God grows wheat, Satan tries to plant counterfeits. They were sent to destroy us, but God won’t let that happen. The work of the enemy is to destroy all God’s good work. God plants good seed, then the enemy sneaks in and sows weeds in the field. But God is wise and he will NOT allow the enemy to succeed. So here’s what God does – he waits. Oh how patient our Lord is. He waits for the good seeds to grow. And he waits for the weeds to grow. He allows it. It’s easy for us to question why. Why would God allow evil? Why would he permit for the enemy to be trompsing around in this field doing his nasty work? Well first, remember this, the world we live in has been given over to Satan. This is a fallen world and the prince of this world is the devil. How can he do his nasty work here – well girl, this is where he reigns. BUT ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS – his reign is temporary and he’s already been defeated!!!! He knows his destiny and it cannot be undone. Jesus promises victory! 1 John 5: 18-19, “We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them. We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.” You and I are just passing through this world. This isn’t our home. We’re on our way to a radically different destination – the Father’s radiant Kingdom is our destiny. We are set apart, untouched by the evil one, promised at eternal paradise on the other side of this brief life in a fallen world. Will there be evil here? Yes. Will the enemy plant weeds here and cause trouble? Yes. Do we have to worry about it? Nope. We just stay close to Jesus and remain in his truth! The farmer delays judgment because pulling up the weeds too soon would damage the wheat. His patience protects His people. Here’s what we often overlook today – There was a weed called darnel that looked EXACTLY like wheat. This weed was poisonous but you couldn’t tell the difference as it was growing. But when the wheat started producing and the darnel started producing, you could tell the difference. Until then, they looked exactly the same. It was an imitation plant bearing poison. And yes, that’s what we have around us. Imitations. They look like what God is doing, but they’re NOT. They are planted by the enemy to bring destruction. With time, they are revealed. What sets the wheat and the weed apart? What they produce! When the wheat grows to maturity and begins producing, then you can tell it apart from the weeds planted by the enemy. Before then, it all looks the same. Jesus said in Matthew 7:20, “Just as you can identify a tree by it’s fruit, you can identify people by their actions.” You know that saying, “When people show you who they are, BELIEVE THEM!” Actually, yes. We will be known by our fruit, and our lives look completely different based on if we are God’s wheat or the enemy’s weeds. Remember our study on the fruits of the Spirit? The fruit we produce when God’s Spirit lives within us: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control. Over time, fruit tells the story. We all have bad days, but over a lifetime, what grows out of us reveals if we are wheat or a weed. But here’s what the wheat is not called to do. The wheat is not called to identify weeds. We are not called to police the field. We are called to do one thing – become faithful wheat! That’s it – grow, bear fruit and trust the Lord of the harvest. In the end, God will sort this all out. That’s not our job. Our job is grow in this field and know when we’re done growing we will be gathered into the farmer’s barn. That barn is the radiant Kingdom of Heaven where we will get to shine forever. God will take care of these weeds. We don’t have to worry about them. So today, stop looking around the field. Stop counting the weeds. Stop obsessing over who’s fake and who’s real. Stop letting evil steal your attention. The enemy would love nothing more than for God’s people to spend their lives staring at weeds instead of becoming healthy wheat. Jesus never said, “Go inspect the field.” He said, “Follow me.” Your assignment isn’t to expose everyone else’s fruit. Your assignment is to produce your own. Become a woman whose life is overflowing with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Let your roots grow deep in Christ. Stay planted. Stay surrendered. Stay faithful. Have you ever noticed that healthy wheat doesn’t spend its energy competing with weeds? It simply keeps reaching for the sun. That’s our calling too. Keep reaching toward the Son. The healthier your relationship with Jesus becomes, the more fruit your life naturally produces. There will always be weeds in this world. There will always be deception, evil, heartbreak, betrayal, and counterfeit versions of what God intended. Don’t be surprised by that. Jesus told us it would be this way. But don’t let the weeds make you question the Farmer. The Farmer hasn’t lost control. Not for one second. He sees every seed. He knows every counterfeit. He misses nothing. He never loses one stalk of wheat. And He has already determined how the story ends. One day the harvest will come. One day Jesus will make every wrong right. Every counterfeit will be exposed. Every injustice will be answered. Every tear will be wiped away. And on that day, those who belong to Him “will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom.” Can you imagine that? No more weeds. No more temptation. No more evil. No more fear. No more tears. Only the radiant Kingdom of our Father. So until that day… Keep growing. Keep trusting. Keep producing good fruit. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Because the field is temporary… but the harvest is forever. Follow Pamela on Instagram – h

While Jesus walked this earth, he taught us the truths of God and the secrets of living well. In just 3 years of ministry he said everything he needed to say, and he said it perfectly. Now, over 2000 years later, his words are our perfect guide for life. Some of Jesus’ teachings were on deeply spiritual things that he knew we would struggle to understand. Not all things needed to be understood, but for some things we would need to understand so we could live well. For these things, Jesus often taught in parables. Parables are stories. The word parable means “to throw alongside”. So, Jesus is teaching using a story thrown alongside a truth. These are earthly stories with Heavenly meaning. Today, we begin our study of the parables of Jesus. We will read the stories he told, understand them, and apply them to our lives so we grow and get better. Through these parables we will see how a holy God speaks to ordinary people with everyday stories we can see, understand and remember. Some things God says are mysteries and simply cannot be figured out – but these are not. God essentially leaned down and brought his wisdom in a way we would actually get it. (Now you will notice with these parables, they are often found in a few of the gospels. Remember the 4 gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the accounts of 4 of Jesus’ disciples as they walked with him. They are retelling everything they saw, experienced, heard and learned from Jesus. So, you may read the same parable in the gospels and that’s why. For simplicity, I’ll just be choosing one of the gospel accounts and reading it. You could also study the other books to see if there’s any special differences noted by the authors.) Ready to get it? Let’s dive in to the Parables of Jesus! —————— Part 1: The Parable of the Sower Scripture: Matthew 13: 1-23 Here’s the setting. Jesus is in his 3 years of actively teaching and preaching here on earth and more and more people are beginning to follow him. On this particular day Jesus was staying at a house near the sea and when he walks outside a large crowd starts gathering around him. So, Jesus gets in a boat, goes out a little on the water and sits down in the boat to start teaching. The crowd of people stood on the beach to listen. First, just knowing that the King of the Universe, the Savior of the world, the divine Creator in human form didn’t choose a fancy synagogue like all the other teachers. He didn’t choose a formal stage or a platform. No, he chose a boat floating on the sea, wearing his ordinary robe and sandals like everyone else there that day. We see through this example that Jesus really didn’t come to judge the world, he came to save it. In humility, he met us right where we are to teach us the highest of lessons. And here, in this boat, is where Jesus begins teaching in parables – again earthly stories with heavenly meaning. “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” That was Jesus’ story. But what was the point in this? Was he giving a gardening lesson? For some listening, it would seem like nothing more than that – but for those God was calling to follow him and setting apart as his people, he was speaking in a way they could truly understand. Everyone in this day understood farming. Everyone had to grow crops to survive. Their survival depended on a successful harvest. They knew seeds, they knew soils. And for those who were called as followers of God, he was about to open their minds to how his word works in their lives through the example of the sower, the seed and the soils. The disciples heard Jesus’ story and came to him asking why he was speaking in such a different way, then Jesus explains the story. The seed is the word of God. This seed falls on 4 different types of soil, and it is the soil that makes all the difference. It’s the same seed. The same sower. Different soil. ————— Soil #1: The Path Verse 19, “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.” Do you ever read your Bible, skim the words, get through the whole chapter so you can check the box, but not actually understand it? Yip, that’s seed hitting the soil along the path. That’s seed that won’t grow. That’s knowledge that quickly gets snatched up by the evil one. He swoops in like a bird and takes the surface level seed. Growing in God’s word isn’t about speed reading and getting through chapters. That’s just the path – that’s where everyone is walking – that’s ground that can’t really grow anything. If it’s worn with traffic, fast moving ground, it’s not growing ground. Surface level knowledge of God’s word will get snatched up every time by the evil one. Satan knows the life changing power of the Bible even more than you do – that’s why he continually tries to hinder you from really diving into it. He’s perfectly fine with you keeping it on the surface, speed reading to check a box, and never have it actually grow in your life. Life doesn’t change on the soil of the busy path. The seed never changes. The Sower never changes. The harvest is determined by the soil. ————— Soil #2: The Rocky Ground Verses 20-21, “As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.” Rocky soil is shallow dirt mixed in with rocks. This little bit of soil warms quickly with the sun and the rocks, creating fast growth of the new seed, but it simply won’t last. The rocks keep the seed from ever growing roots. While it sprouts up fast, the first hard rain will wash it right out. That can be us. We can get all excited about what God says to us, we can be all gung ho in the beginning, convinced we’re going to really do it this time, but as soon as life gets hard and the storms hit, we just get washed right out. Life hits and we’re out – why? Because our soil was rocky and allowed for no permanent growth. Everything was temporary and short lived. Have you noticed how you get excited fast but fizzle? That’s rocky ground. There’s ground work to be done. The seed never changes. The Sower never changes. The harvest is determined by the soil. ————— Soil #3: Thorns Verse 22, “As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” Notice something. The seed actually grows here. This isn’t the path where nothing happens. This isn’t the rocky soil where it dies immediately. The plant starts growing, it just never produces what it was created to produce. Why? Because something else is growing right beside it. Jesus says the thorns are “the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t have to plant weeds. Have you ever noticed that? You can spend all weekend pulling weeds out of your flower beds, and two weeks later they’re back like they own the place. You never planted them. You never watered them. You never invited them. They just showed up. Our hearts work the same way. Nobody wakes up and says, “Today I’d really like to become anxious.” Nobody decides, “I’m going to slowly make my job my identity.” Nobody plans to let social media steal their contentment. The weeds just grow. The bills. The schedules. The kids. The comparisons. The endless to-do lists. The pursuit of more. The fear of not having enough. The pressure to keep everyone happy. None of these things may be sinful by themselves… But together they quietly choke what God is trying to grow. Notice Jesus didn’t say the thorns killed the believer. He said they made them unfruitful. You can know Jesus, love Jesus, go to church, read your Bible… And still have a life where God’s Word never reaches its full potential because everything else is competing for your attention. Maybe today isn’t about planting more seed. Maybe it’s about pulling weeds. Sometimes growth doesn’t require adding one more Bible study. Sometimes it requires removing what has been choking the life out of the one you’re already doing. The seed never changes. The Sower never changes. The harvest is determined by the soil. —————— Soil #4: The Good Soil Verse 23, “As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” This is beautiful. Notice Jesus doesn’t say good soil is perfect soil. He simply says it receives the seed. It welcomes it. It protects it. It gives it room. It lets it sink deep. It keeps coming back day after day. And eventually… Fruit. That’s God’s goal. Not information. Transformation. God isn’t trying to make you a Bible trivia champion. He’s trying to make you look more like Jesus. Fruit takes time. An apple tree doesn’t apologize because it didn’t produce apples the week after it was planted. Growth is slow. Roots grow before fruit shows. Sometimes you’ll wonder if anything is happening at all. Keep showing up. Keep reading. Keep praying. Keep obeying. The roots are growing

It’s back-to-school time. Today, I have friends walking their baby into kindergarten for the very first time. And I have other friends helping their baby move into a college dorm. Those two days feel worlds apart… until you’ve lived them. Those of us a little farther down the road know the truth. One day you’re zipping a backpack that’s almost bigger than they are. The next day you’re hugging them goodbye in a parking lot, trying not to cry until they can’t see you anymore. The days are long. The years are unbelievably short. And that’s exactly how it’s supposed to be. We aren’t raising children to keep them. We’re raising them to release them. But before that day comes, God gives us something incredibly sacred. Influence. During the school year, our children will spend nearly half of their waking hours at school. Nearly half. Half of their conversations. Half of their friendships. Half of their victories. Half of their disappointments. Half of the voices speaking into their lives. As moms, that realization can make us want to tighten our grip. We want to protect them from every hurt, every bad influence, every disappointment, every temptation. But we can’t. We can’t walk beside them every minute. God can. He’ll be in the classroom before they arrive. He’ll be standing in the hallway when they feel alone. He’ll be at the lunch table when they’re wondering where they belong. He’ll be on the bus ride, at practice, during the test, in the hard conversation, in the moment they need courage, and in the split second when they have to choose right over wrong. There isn’t one place your child will go where God cannot meet them. But here’s the beautiful and really really important thing… We get to invite Him there. We’ll buy the new shoes. We’ll pack the lunches. We’ll label the notebooks. But before we send them out the door… Let’s send them covered in prayer. Our my greatest assignment as a mother was never to control my children. It is to continually talk to God about them. Not lecture them more. Not yell louder. Not worry harder. Prayer is the most powerful thing you will ever do for my children. James 5:16, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” Do we actually believe that? If we do, then let’s pray like it. One of my favorite pictures of bold prayer comes from Joshua and the walls of Jericho. Jericho looked impossible. The walls were too high. Too thick. Too strong. Humanly speaking, there was no way through. But God didn’t hand Joshua a cannon to blast through the walls – He gave him marching orders. “Walk around it.” Once a day for six days. Seven times on the seventh day. After the 7th circle on the 7th day, have the priest blow their horns, let the people shout, and those walls will just fall down. Read the story in Joshua chapter 6. The battle plan from God sounded foolish. Marching doesn’t knock down walls. Trumpets don’t break stone. But obedience invited the power of God. And when God’s people obeyed, the walls that looked impossible suddenly came crashing down. Ever since reading The Circle Maker, I’ve loved the picture of praying circles. Sometimes I literally walk around the thing I’m praying for. Sometimes I simply picture it in my mind. Not because there’s something magical about circles. There’s not. The power isn’t in the walking. The power is in the God we’re walking with. The circle simply reminds me that I’m surrounding something with persistent, believing prayer. Mama… This school year, your Jericho may be the very building your child walks into every morning. So go make a circle. Walk around that school. Pray over every classroom. Pray over every teacher. Pray over every coach. Pray over every bus. Pray over every lunch table. Pray over every child who walks through those doors—including the ones who have no one praying for them. Pray that truth would be louder than lies. Pray that kindness would overcome cruelty. Pray that lonely kids would find friends. Pray that teachers would have wisdom and patience. Pray that they would have JESUS! Pray that your child would have courage to stand for what’s right. Pray that God would place divine appointments in their path. Pray that lives would be changed. Pray that walls would come down. But this isn’t just a call for mom’s with kids in school – this is a call for every single one of us listening. Listen to me – at a school near you, there are children inside those walls who desperately need someone talking to God on their behalf. THEY HAVE NO ONE PRAYING FOR THEM! Someone is carrying burdens no one else knows. Someone is terrified. Someone is lonely. Someone is one encounter away from discovering Jesus. Someone needs heaven to move. And prayer still has the power to move heaven. WHY NOT BE THE ONE WHO PRAYS FOR THEM? So let’s get to marching. Let’s get to praying. Let’s circle our schools until the God who brought down the walls of Jericho does what only He can do. Because while our children may spend nearly half of their waking hours at school, they never have to spend one moment there without the presence of God going before them. Could your prayer really make a difference? Absolutely. Read James 5:16 again: “The prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” Do you know who that righteous person is? You. Not because you’ve done everything right, but because Jesus made you right with God. Through Him, you have been given the incredible privilege of approaching the throne of God with confidence. You don’t have to wonder if you’re worthy enough to pray. Jesus settled that once and for all. Now pray. Pray boldly. Pray specifically. Pray expectantly. Your prayers aren’t empty words floating into the air. They are powerful conversations with the God who moves mountains, breaks chains, opens doors, and brings down walls. So start praying your circles. Circle your children. Circle their school. Circle their teachers. Circle the principal. Circle the coaches. Circle the staff. Circle the lonely kids. Circle the hurting families. Invite the presence of God into every classroom, every hallway, every bus ride, every friendship, and every decision. Because your prayers have great power and God still produces wonderful results. If you don’t know what to pray, you pray scripture! Yes, pray God’s own word, declare his promises over the school. I have a easy guide in the transcript of this devotional at biglifedevotional.com. (Thank you, Darlene!) Prayer Circle: Jeremiah 29:11 – “‘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.'” Proverbs 3:5-6 – “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.” 2 Timothy 1:7 – “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” School Entrance & Main Gates: Welcome and Protection Psalm 121:8 – “The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Deuteronomy 28:6 – “You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.” Prayer Focus: Pray for a hedge of protection around the building, safety from violence, and that everyone entering feels welcome Classrooms: Wisdom, Truth, and Learning James 1:5 – “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” Colossians 3:23 – “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” Prayer Focus: Pray for academic integrity, clarity of mind for students struggling to learn, and that truth and wisdom prevail in the curriculum. Teachers: Strength and Patience Galatians 6:9 – “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Proverbs 16:24 – “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” Prayer Focus: Pray against teacher burnout. Ask God to give educators an extra measure of grace, renewed energy, and the tools to reach every unique child. Hallways, Lockers, & Common Areas: Peer Influence and Identity • Romans 12:2 – “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Proverbs 13:20 – “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.” 1 Timothy 4:12 – “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” Prayer Focus: Pray against bullying, isolation, and peer pressure. Ask that Christian students find a godly community and have the courage to stand strong in their faith. Cafeteria & Playgrounds: Kindness and Light John 13:35 – “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Matthew 5:14 – “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.” Prayer Focus: Pray for students who feel lonely or sit by themselves at lunch. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Is there something from your past holding you back? It could be 50 years ago, or 5 days ago. Regardless, past regrets, guilt, and shame have a way of holding on to us. We replay the stories we have no way of changing because what is done is done. You can’t go back. You can’t undo it. So, what do you do? Too many of us are serving life sentences for sins Jesus already died for. We keep dragging yesterday into today and wondering why it’s so hard to move forward. We allow our worst moments to become our identity. We introduce ourselves to God with our failures, while He calls us by our name. Maybe you wish you had made different choices. Maybe you stayed too long, left too soon, trusted the wrong person, or became someone you’re not proud of. Maybe you did things that still haunt you. Or maybe things were done to you that have created a deep shame. Maybe you’ve asked God to forgive you a thousand times, but you’ve never forgiven yourself. You’ve accepted His grace for everyone else while withholding it from yourself. Regret has a way of convincing us that our past gets the final word. Shame whispers, “This changes everything.” But grace declares, “No, Jesus does.” Once, there was a woman caught in a shameful act of sin and brought before a crowd for Jesus to judge. Now imagine that for a moment. You know what you did, but imagine standing before a crowd with your sin announced and Jesus looking right at you. You have no excuse. No justification. It’s just the truth of what you’ve done as your full identity. What would Jesus say to you? You don’t have to guess. What He said to one daughter about her guilt and shame is what He says to every daughter about her guilt and shame. Hear Jesus today. John 8: 2-11, “At dawn Jesus appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, which with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir’,’ she said. ‘THEN NEITHER DO I CONDEMN YOU.’ Jesus declared. ‘GO NOW AND LEAVE YOUR LIFE OF SIN.’ How incredibly remarkable. Jesus didn’t turn away. He didn’t shame her. There was no condemnation in the presence of Jesus—not by Him or anyone else. And don’t miss this. Jesus knew everything. He knew the details no one else knew. He knew every choice that led her there. He knew the things she was ashamed to say out loud. There were no secrets remaining before Him. Yet Jesus did not condemn her. Instead, He invited her to leave it all right there and walk away without that burden. Without that secret. Without that regret. Without that shame. A woman set free from the very mess she had created. A woman given a new life as fully forgiven. And that is you. How do I know that’s you? Because not a single one of us is without sin. No one has gotten this all right. We’ve all failed and fallen short. Every single one of us deserves condemnation, but praise God, we don’t receive what we deserve. We receive what Jesus purchased for us instead. There are two things Jesus says to this woman, and I believe we often embrace one while completely missing the other. First, He says, “Neither do I condemn you.” We love that part. We underline it in our Bibles. We thank Him for it. But then we spend the rest of our lives condemning ourselves. Isn’t that strange? Jesus releases us while we keep ourselves imprisoned. Jesus says, “I don’t condemn you.” And we reply, “Thank you, Jesus, but I do.” He says, “You’re forgiven.” We say, “Yes, but I’m ashamed.” He says, “I’ve removed your sin.” We say, “Yes, but I still carry it.” Can I lovingly tell you something? It is not humility to carry what Jesus died to remove. Some of us have made self-punishment our penance. We secretly believe if we carry our shame long enough, somehow we’ll finally pay for what we’ve done. But my sister, that’s not repentance—that’s pride dressed up as punishment. You cannot pay for a debt Jesus already paid in full – stop trying. If Jesus doesn’t condemn you, then who gave you permission to condemn yourself? The second thing Jesus says is, “Go now and leave your life of sin.” Notice He didn’t say, “Neither do I condemn you, now stay here and live defined by what you’ve done.” No. Grace never leaves us where it finds us. Jesus didn’t simply free her from condemnation, He freed her for transformation. He drew a line in the sand that day. Everything before this moment was her past. Everything after this moment would become her future. And do you know what Jesus refused to allow? He refused to allow her past to cross over that line. I wonder if that’s what Jesus is doing for you today. Perhaps He’s drawing another line in the sand – not because He has grown weary of forgiving you, but because He is weary of watching you carry what He has already removed. How many times has He offered you this forgiveness? Every single day of your life. And every day you’ve picked it back up again. You’ve brought Him the same regret. The same shame. The same failure. Not because His forgiveness isn’t enough, but because you’ve struggled to believe it really applies to you. Today can be different. Today can be the day you finally realize that you cannot change what you did, but it has never changed the way Jesus sees you. You think what you did changed everything, but you’re wrong. WHAT JESUS DID CHANGED EVERYTHING. Your choices are not more powerful than His cross. Your failures are not more powerful than His forgiveness. Your past is not more powerful than His grace. He hung on that cross to forgive you. Not partially. Not temporarily. Completely. And now He asks you not to carry this beyond the line He has drawn. He already died for this, and He doesn’t want a part of you dying too. Jesus said in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” That includes you. Not someday. Not after you’ve punished yourself long enough. Not after you’ve finally become who you think you should be. Today. And my sister, that doesn’t merely include you – it is about you. If you were the only person in the world, Jesus would have died for you. He would have stretched out His arms on that cross simply so you could hear Him say, “Neither do I condemn you.” He drew the line to create a boundary for your past. Don’t drag your past across the line He has drawn. He meant it when He said, “I do not condemn you.” And He meant it when He said, “Go now and leave this.” The enemy wants you looking over your shoulder, grieving what cannot be changed. God invites you to lift your eyes and look ahead at what can still be redeemed. You may not be able to rewrite the story, but God is able to redeem it. He has never once looked at a broken life and said, “There’s nothing I can do with that.” In fact, broken pieces are often His favorite place to begin. At some point, you have to stop visiting the graveyard of your past and start walking into the purpose of your present. What happened matters, but it doesn’t get to matter most. God’s grace is greater than your greatest regret. You cannot change yesterday, but you don’t have to keep carrying it into tomorrow. So today, I want you to picture Jesus bending down and drawing a line in the sand for you. On one side is everything you’ve done. Every regret. Every failure. Every shame-filled memory. And on the other side is the abundant life He died to give you. Hear Him say it one more time: “Neither do I condemn you.” And then hear the rest of His invitation: “Go now.” Leave it here. Leave it forgiven. Leave it buried. And walk away free. And you know what free women do … they help set others free. There are others just like you. Others dragging around that same guilt and shame. Others who have suffered too. And now you, with the power of the Holy Spirit within you, and the personal experience of forgiveness and freedom, you can lead those women to the same encounter with Jesus and the line he has drawn for them. LET HIM USE YOU NOW! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Maybe you’re living out a story that doesn’t look like you imagined. You had dreams, you had desires, you had plans … and your life seems to have fallen flat. You’ve been left wanting – left waiting – left wondering. When will things change for you? How much longer do you have to wait? What if what you want will never happen? Then what? Will you just be miserable? Or what if it does change? What if your waiting is over. What if the very thing you’ve always wanted is on it’s way to you now, it’s literally happening. Then what? Will you finally be happy? One thing I know for sure – we’re in a continual pursuit of what we think will make us happy, and that mark constantly moves. Most of us literally woke up surrounded by answers to the very prayers we once prayed. Yet we didn’t wake up feeling like we have it all. The mark moved. The distant land of happiness is still just out of your reach. But you tell yourself when you finally get there life will be so good. It’s almost like the end of the rainbow. It looks like it’s just right over there. Like you can walk right to it. But when you get there, the end of the rainbow has moved on you, so you never quite arrive. Within our Bible is the story of a woman who waited well. A woman who was brutally honest with God instead of faking her way through it. And a woman who finally got what she wanted and shows us precisely what to do then. That woman is Hannah. Her story is found in 1 Samuel chapters 1 and 2. Hannah was married to a man with one of those really hard to pronounce names, so we will just call him E. E had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Hannah was the one E really loved, but Peninnah was the one who had given him children. Verse 5 says, “The Lord had closed her womb.” Why wasn’t she able to have children? It’s actually very clear. The Lord had closed her womb. Now of course to us that doesn’t seem fair. Why? That’s what Hannah was asking as well. And guess what? God didn’t fault her for asking. He doesn’t find fault in our asking either. You can ask God why. Why are you left waiting? Why has your life turned in a direction you would have never asked for? What do you have to do to get this to change for you? Here’s what I notice in these stories in our Bible – if our questioning is directed to God, it is always handled with care and powerful resolve. God always makes a way, or He reveals how His way is for a greater purpose. It’s never left unresolved. He answers. But the issue becomes when we’re turning to anyone or anything other than God for solutions to our problems. In your wait – in your struggle – in your trial – who are you bringing your questioning to? Where are you going when you are seeking? Those self-help books are not your answer. That relationship isn’t your answer. That promotion isn’t your answer. That number on the scale isn’t your answer. That next accomplishment isn’t your answer. Your answer is God. Hannah could have become bitter. She could have become resentful. She could have given up on God altogether. Instead, she ran to Him. At this time in history, once a year you could go up where the priest was and offer a sacrifice and worship the Lord. Yes, just once a year. Every year when Hannah would go to worship the Lord, there E’s other wife would be as well. And there, Peninnah, the wife with children, would poke at her. Verses 6-7, “Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat.” Every time Hannah went to worship God, she was only reminded of what she didn’t have. Reminded of what she wanted but still lacked. Reminded of her struggle, her short-coming, and her future that looked nothing like she had imagined. Year after year. Prayer after prayer. Disappointment after disappointment. But you know what she didn’t stop doing – she didn’t stop going to worship God. She didn’t sit in her hurt, wallow in her disappointment, and give up on God. She kept going to worship. Even when this awful woman would be there. Even when she was reminded of what she didn’t have. SHE KEPT GOING TO GOD. Girl, whatever you’re waiting on, you keep going to God. Don’t let anyone discourage you. Don’t let anyone or anything get in your way of going to God. Now, this part of the story shows us our most important move. Verse 10, “In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly.” She didn’t hold it in. She didn’t pretend like she was okay. She let it all out. She was desperate before the Lord. Jamie Macdonald has a song called Desperate. Girl, cry out those words to God if you’re waiting for him. Don’t hold it in. Don’t pretend like you’re okay when you’re not. I’m at the end of myself and I’m Tired, I’ve tried all that I know to do Right now it’s just by a thread but I’m I’m hanging on to you I’m running out of hope I need a miracle And if I ever needed you, it’s right now Oh God, I’m desperate Down on my knees Send help from heaven ‘Cause that’s what I need Redeem this wreckage Restore my peace I’m not asking, I’m begging Lord, come through for me I need heaven and I’m Desperate Get desperate before God. Hannah was so desperate before God, praying, begging, crying, the priest thought she was drunk. No, Hannah wasn’t drunk, she was desperate. Girl, let yourself be desperate for God. Stop trying to hold it all together. Stop pretending you’re okay. Stop with the facade. Get real before the Lord. If you’re not fine, stop saying you are. Somewhere along the way we’ve gotten the idea that faith means pretending we’re fine. Hannah would disagree. Faith isn’t pretending you’re okay. Faith is bringing your honest heart before a faithful God. God can handle your questions. He can handle your tears. He can handle your disappointment. He’s not intimidated by any of it. And perhaps this is what you need to hear today—you don’t have to fake contentment while you’re waiting. God isn’t asking you to pretend you don’t care. He’s asking you to bring what you care about to Him. Notice what happened after Hannah prayed. She didn’t immediately become pregnant. Her circumstances hadn’t changed. God hadn’t yet answered her prayer. But here’s what she did after she cried out to the Lord – verse 18, “She went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.” Something shifted in Hannah. She no longer carried this burden. She had left this in the hands of God. Let me tell you something—whatever you’re waiting on, whatever you’re hoping for, whatever you’re desperate for—it is perfectly held in the hands of God. PUT IT THERE. And when you do, your circumstances may not change immediately, but you can feel different. You can feel lighter. You can live better. At that point, nothing had changed, but Hannah had. She walked into God’s presence carrying her burden, and she walked out having left it there. I wonder if that’s what God is inviting some of us to do today—not to stop wanting what we want, but to stop carrying what He has invited us to surrender. You don’t have to know what God is going to do next. You simply have to know where to go while you’re waiting. Go to Him. So how does the story end? Well, it’s easy to say the story ends with God giving Hannah what she had begged Him for. Verse 20 says, “So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, ‘Because I asked the Lord for him.'” The end of the rainbow? No. This isn’t the end. Let me tell you what Hannah did after she got what she had waited for so long. Let me tell you what she did when the Lord answered and her story changed. Verse 27, Hannah goes to worship the Lord and she once again prays, “I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I GIVE HIM TO THE LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” In chapter 2, her prayer continues, “My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. I delight in your deliverance.” Who is Hannah worshiping? The Lord. And here’s where we often mess up—God gives us what we asked for, our prayers are answered, we’re living in His blessing, and that thing becomes our god. Our focus shifts to what God gave us instead of the God who gave it to us. Whatever God does for you, make sure you give it back to Him. Don’t let your blessing take the place of the Blessor. And maybe that’s been God’s invitation all along. When you don’t have it—trust Him. When you’re waiting—trust Him. When He says no—trust Him. When He says not yet—trust Him. And when He says yes—trust Him still. Hannah teaches us that contentment isn’t found in finally getting what you’ve always wanted. If it were, she would have ended her story in chapter 1 holding Samuel in her arms. Instead, she begins chapter 2 with her hands lifted in worship. Her greatest joy wasn’t that she had a son. Her greatest joy was that she had her God. Perhaps that’s the secret of contentment. It’s not found in getting the life you imagined. It’s found in knowing the God who is writing your story. Whether you’re in chapter 1 weeping bitterly or chapter 2 singing joyfully, He is still worthy. He is still good. And He is still enough. So bring Him your waiting. Bring Him your questions. Bring Him your disappointments. Bring Him your answered prayers. Put it all in His hands and leave it there. Because the greatest gift God will ever give you isn’t what comes from His hand—it’s His hand itself. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com

Last week we talked about valleys and mountains. Valleys being those dreaded low places in life, and mountains being those beautiful highs. We all want to stay in our mountaintop experiences, but we can’t. Do you remember why? Because nothing grows on top of a mountain. If you go high enough, the view is breathtaking, but the air is too thin for anything to grow. And that’s the way we are. The highs are beautiful, but we’re not growing when we’ve reached the pinnacle. God wants His girls continually growing. Don’t you realize there is so much more potential in you? God loves you so much, He won’t allow you to remain in a place where that potential becomes stagnant. So, to the valleys we go. The valley is where everything grows. Down here, sis, in these trenches, is where you grow. God’s greatest desire isn’t simply for you to be happy or comfortable. It’s for you to know Him, trust Him, and become the fullness of who He created you to be. Can you see that? Your valley isn’t evidence that God has forsaken you—it’s often evidence that He hasn’t. He loves you entirely too much to leave you standing on that mountaintop. Where would I be if I hadn’t struggled with my health and faced death? Where would I be if I hadn’t gone through financial disaster and lost it all? Where would I be if I hadn’t been crushed on this journey to the point of wanting to quit? Where would I be if my family hadn’t endured seven years of division and separation? Would I be happier? Actually, no. Would I be further along? Absolutely not. Without those hardships, those struggles, and those deep valleys, I wouldn’t have discovered I could really trust God. I would still be so full of myself—convinced my success was something I had earned. I would think the house I owned, the car I drove, and the clothes I wore defined me. I would have missed the miracle of waking up to another day of life. I would still be standing on my mountain, looking down on those who were struggling, quietly assuming they must have done something wrong while I had somehow done everything right. Thank You, Lord, for not leaving me there. Because on that mountain, I would have missed the sweetness of humility. I would have taken so much for granted. I would have remained trapped in my performance, my striving, and my self-importance. And perhaps most tragically of all, I would have walked through this life with knowing ABOUT God, but not really KNOWING him, not really TRUSTING him, not really LEANING on him, not really changed by him, and not really truly LOVING him. Here, in the middle of those struggles and hardships, I found something I never would have discovered on the mountain: He didn’t leave me here. He’s growing me here. So why am I coming back around to this valley teaching? Quite simply, because that’s exactly where the Holy Spirit led me this morning. And I believe this message isn’t just for someone out there—it’s for someone listening right now. Here’s what He put on my heart… Someone woke up today feeling incredibly alone. Someone is dealing with people who are exhausting, difficult, and beyond their ability to change. Someone is married to an unbeliever and wondering how much longer they can carry the weight of that burden. Someone is watching their aging parents face decisions they never wanted to make, navigating circumstances where every option feels impossible. Someone is crying out for their prodigal, wondering when they’ll finally come home. Someone is facing financial devastation and doesn’t know how they’re going to make it. Someone is standing in the middle of a mess they cannot fix, no matter how hard they try. Someone is walking through the darkest wilderness season of their life and quietly wondering, “Am I ever going to get out of this?” Sis, if that’s you, I want you to hear this clearly: You are not forgotten. You are not abandoned. You are not stuck in a place where God cannot reach you. The same God who meets you on the mountaintop is the God who walks with you through the valley. And maybe, just maybe, this valley isn’t where your story is falling apart. Maybe it’s where God is growing something in you that could never grow anywhere else. So for you, my sweet sister, God knew you would be listening today. And for you, He asked me to remind you once again of the growth in the low places. The fruit you will produce because of your time in the valley. Remember those fruits: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Yes, here in the valley of loneliness. Here in the valley with difficult people. Here in the valley with an unbelieving spouse. Here in the valley with aging parents. Here in the valley with your prodigal. Here in the valley with no money, messes you can’t fix, and this dreaded wilderness—God is drawing closer and closer to you. Why? Because it’s here that you realize you need Him. It’s here that you hit your knees. It’s here that you draw near to Him because He is your only way, your only refuge, and your only hope. And James 4:8 promises, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” This is the valley of closeness. This is the valley of abiding. This is the valley of dependence. This is where your prayers change from rushed and routine to desperate and real. This is where His Word becomes more than words on a page—it becomes your daily bread. This is where worship becomes your warfare and peace becomes your victory. This is where you stop asking, “Lord, how do I get out of this?” and begin asking, “Lord, what are You growing in me here?” This is where you discover that Jesus really is enough. And isn’t that what we’ve wanted all along? Not merely a better life, but a deeper one. Not merely God’s blessings, but God’s presence. Not merely a mountaintop experience, but a relationship so intimate that we can whisper, “Whether I’m on the mountain or in the valley, it is well with my soul.” Sis, don’t waste your valley wishing you were somewhere else. God has fruit growing here that couldn’t grow anywhere else. One day you’ll stand on another mountaintop and realize you didn’t get there in spite of your valley – you got there BECAUSE of it. Yes, what’s growing in you HERE will take you to greater places next than you’ve ever imagined. This is where you learn a deep abiding faith and trust that creates a HOLY YES to God’s next invitation. An invitation you would dismiss if you didn’t first grow here in this valley. An invitation to higher ground which you would have been to afraid to accept if you wouldn’t have see the hand of God in this low. Grab your Bible and open it to 2 Corinthians. This is a book written by Paul as he was suffering greatly. He was being beaten, being imprisoned, facing constant turmoil and threats, all because he knew Jesus, he loved Jesus, and he was spreading the teaching of Jesus. He’s not writing about these things for pity, he’s sharing of his valley because he’s personally experiencing the growth and change within. Chapter 1, verse 8-9, Paul writes, “We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure and we thought we would never live through it.” Okay – let’s pause right there. Is that how you feel? Are you questioning how you’re going to live through this? Do you feel crushed? Do you feel overwhelmed? Do you feel you simply don’t have the ability to continue in what you’re going through? Yes? KEEP READING!!!!!! The next thing Paul says is “BUT AS A RESULT …” Underline that. Highlight it. Circle it. Draw arrows to it. Paul is saying this horrendous valley he went through, uncertain he could even make it through produced a result. It caused something in his life. It wasn’t meaningless. It was all for a purpose. What resulted? “AS A RESULT, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.” And what this says is if God can raise the dead, if he can defeat the most final of all finals which is death itself, then he can bring life, bring hope, bring light back to whatever hard, dark, overwhelming, and too far gone thing you’re dealing with. Through this valley, through this hardship, through this thing you question if you’re going to be able to even make it through, something is going to shift and you’re going to change. That change is you will STOP RELYING ON YOURSELF AND LEARN TO RELY ONLY ON GOD. Jesus says in Matthew 19:26, “For with God, all things are possible.” Not without him. You’ve tried that. BUT WITH GOD – have you tried that yet? WITH GOD, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. This is you learning to rely only on God. I love to study different translations of a scripture to really understand it. Using the Bible app, I have my preferred translations set to NLT, NIV, TPT, and MSG. Then, when reading a specific scripture in the app, I can just hold down on it, then hit “compare” and it will show me that exact verse in all those different translations. If you’re not using that tool, try it. So, for example, that same scripture, 1 Corinthians 1:9 in the MSG translation says this, “As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. WE WERE FORCED TO TRUST GOD TOTALLY.” Well doesn’t that explain this season of your life? This wilderness, this hardship, this struggle. This isn’t because God has forsaken you here – this is because God is working here. He’s growing you. He’s literally allowing the best thing that could ever happen. What’s that … he’s allowing you to experience first hand that you can trust him totally. God knows most of us wouldn’t just naturally trust him totally. God knows we will have to experience that impossible situation for ourselves, come to the very end of ourselves, sit in the mess without a way to fix it, and then call out

Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” Here’s what Jesus didn’t say – “Only a select few, super spiritual will hear my voice.” No, he said, “My sheep listen to my voice.” Jesus calls himself our Good Shepherd. What does that mean? In ancient Israel, a shepherd wasn’t just the owner of sheep – a shepherd was the one who lived with the sheep. His entire life was dedicated to his sheep. He slept near them at night. He protected them from danger. He led them to green pastures to eat and water to drink. The shepherd of this day knew each one of sheep individually. He knew which one was stubborn. He knew which one was prone to wander. He knew which one would lollygag and get lost. He also knew the dillydallyer that would inevitably get stuck in a ditch somewhere. A shepherd wasn’t like a cattle rancher driving a herd from behind. A shepherd led from the front and the sheep followed him. My friends, THAT’S OUR JESUS. He could have called himself anything. He could have called himself the General of the Army of followers. He could have called himself King. He could have given himself a crown of immeasurable value. But instead, he chose to be a shepherd to his sheep. To lovingly stay close. Shepherds in Jesus’ day would often bring their sheep into a communal sheep pen at night. Several flocks would be together in one place with one gatekeeper watching over them. The next morning multiple shepherds would come to collect their sheep. There weren’t separate sections. They weren’t color coded. The shepherd simply called his sheep. And his sheep got up and followed him. The others didn’t move. Can you imagine the noise? Hundreds of sheep. Multiple shepherds calling out. Yet somehow each sheep knew which voice belonged to the one they trusted. They knew because they had heard it thousands of times before. They learned their shepherd’s tone, their shepherd’s call, their shepherd’s character. Their shepherd wasn’t a stranger to them – the other voices were. A shepherd would continaully speak to his flock while leading them. He wanted his sheep to know his voice so if they wandered, they would return. A study was once done testing a flock of sheep to see how they recognized their own shepherd above anyone else trying to lead them. Thinking perhaps it was the scent of their clothes or their appearance, they dressed another man in the shepherd’s clothing and had him call to the flock of sheep. They would not listen. But their own shepherd, in completely different clothing could call out, and all the sheep would come running to his side. There was one thing they recognized – one thing they followed – HIS VOICE. Jesus doesn’t say his sheep will always make the right decisions. Sheep are generally rather ignorant and they continually get themselves into perdicaments where only their shepherd can rescue them. But what matters is his sheep know his voice. They know when he calls. They know when he directs. But I know the question we all have – DO I REALLY HEAR GOD’S VOICE? Am I good enough to know when it’s him guiding me? The sheep has no qualification here. The sheep just naturally know. The work is of the shepherd. The sheep simply listen. And isn’t that our problem – sometimes we’re simply not listening. We live in a world that is so busy and loud that we can’t hear our shepherd. We’re so quick to turn to anyone and anything that might give us immediate answers. We’ll turn on a podcast, we’ll call a friend, we’ll look for a sign, we’ll seek anything for a little guidance, but we won’t get still. We won’t get quiet. We won’t just sit with our shepherd and be close. So we miss it. Can we hear him – YES. We are sheep and the one thing we have the ability to do is hear our Shepherd. We don’t have the ability to figure things out on our own. We don’t have the ability to navigate our own way. We don’t have the ability to fix or change things. But we have the ability to listen and hear the voice that guides us. But we often don’t because we’re won’t … We won’t be still. We won’t be quiet. We won’t wait for his voice. Here’s what we often do – “God please speak to me. Tell me what to do.” While God is saying, “Would you please just spend time with me?” When an audiable voice becomes more important than a close relationship, we’ve missed the point. The sheep weren’t just wanting the voice of their shepherd to make them feel more confident. The sheep wanted the closeness of their shepherd because it was their way of life! What if instead of asking God to speak to us, we begin by saying “God, I just want to draw near to you.” The goal isn’t to get better at hearing voices. The goal is to spend so much time with Jesus that you become familiar with him. When you’re familiar with him, you’ll know his ways. You’ll know his rhythm. And when he speaks, you will KNOW it’s him. Relationship produces recognition. Ask anyone who truly receives the promptings of the Lord and his clear directions and I guarantee you they have a RELATIONSHIP build from a foundation of TIME spent with God. When you spend time with the Shepherd, you become familiar with his voice and you won’t be fooled by other voices – including your own. Relationship changes our ability to recognize Him. Our Good Shepherd says in John 10:5, “My sheep will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” And that’s our problem. We’ve spent too much time with strange voices. We’ve wandered off into flocks we don’t belong in with shepherds who are not our own. So we’ve gotten confused. The voice of the world is no longer a stranger to us – it’s so familiar that we don’t run from it. Social media is loud. Our own voice of fear and shame and comparison has been listened to so often that it’s just normal for us to do the stupid stuff our own mind comes up with. We’ve crowded out the voice of our shepherd and that’s why we’re confused. So what do you do? TURN OFF THE NOISE. GET BACK TO YOUR SHEPHERD. Where do you find your shepherd? Verse 4 tells us, “When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.” HE’S AHEAD OF YOU. Look forward. Don’t look back. Don’t wander in circles. He is in front of you, making a way, clearing the path for you. Wherever you’re walking today, Jesus has already been there. This isn’t about asking Jesus to hurry up and catch up with you – this is about looking up and seeing where he is in front of you. What if today we changed our prayers a bit. What if today we prayed, “Jesus, where are you already going? I simply want to follow you.” It’s never about the sheep charting their own way. Sheep aren’t bucketlist destination diving out there. They’re following where the shepherd leads and finding the most perfect green pastures along the way to enjoy. The shepherd was already going great places, the sheep simply had to follow. I assure you, Jesus, your Good Shepherd, is going to better places than you have ever imagined. His plans are higher, better and bigger than anything your human/slash/sheep mind could ever dream up. If you will just follow him, you’ll get to experience the most beautiful things this life has to offer. Jesus, where are you already going? I simply want to follow you. Are you already going over here to this new job opportunity – I want to follow you. If you have something else in mind, then Jesus I don’t want to wander off into fields of my own. I want to stay close to you. I’ve decided I’m just following Jesus. His voice is heard when I stay close. His voice is heard when I am still and quiet. When I stay close, I don’t have to wake up every morning worrying if the voice I’m hearing is my shepherd. If I’m close, then I know. But if I’ve been scrolling all night, watching countless videos, reading the posts of strangers, then I am confused. I’ve drawn close to strangers and their voices may be calling me. Girl, get yourself back to Jesus. Stay close to him. That is truly your answer. Shut out everything else. The sheep don’t follow because they understand everything. They follow because they trust the One who is speaking. We tend to put all the pressure on ourselves. What if I miss him? What if I make the wrong decision? What if I’m just making this up? All while Jesus is saying, “I’m a shepherd. This is what I do!” He knows how to lead sheep. He isn’t intimidated by stubborn sheep. He isn’t surprised by wandering sheep. He isn’t confused by lost sheep. That’s His specialty. The pressure isn’t on the sheep to become brilliant navigators. The pressure is off because we have a brilliant Shepherd. The shepherd is speaking to you. He’s calling you to just go where he goes. Decide now you simply want to follow your Shepherd. Friend, perhaps you’ve made hearing God’s voice far more complicated than Jesus ever intended. He didn’t say His sheep would have extraordinary wisdom. He didn’t say His sheep would never wander. He didn’t say His sheep would always make the right decisions. He simply said His sheep know His voice. If you’ve wandered, come back. If you’ve grown confused, come back. If you’ve filled your mind with stranger’s voices, come back. He’s not disappointed that you’re returning. He’s a Shepherd. This is what He does. He goes before you. He calls your name. He lovingly leads. And all He’s asking of you today is what sheep have always done—simply follow. Jesus, where are You already going? I simply want to follow You. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BI

Have you ever questioned if God really likes you? We’ve been told over and over again that Jesus loves us … but does he like us? Is he pleased with us? How does he see us when we fail? When we struggle? When we wander? I met a beautiful woman at our Colorado Retreat named Stevie. Stevie is this strikingly woman with black hair, a huge smile, tattoos, and rides a Harley. Honestly, she’s pretty cool. At Retreat, Stevie shared her testimony so boldly and courageously that you couldn’t help but listen. She said she had been married, then after divorce she went wild. She did everything wrong. She ran from God and ran into a wild way of living that took over her entire life. She drank way too much, she partied, she slept around. But then, she said it was if God just snatched her up and said, “My girl, that’s not the life I have for you.” And THAT is the perfect image of how God looks at us when we’re failing, when we’re struggling or when we’ve wandered. He looks at you as HIS GIRL. You are never NOT his girl. You are his beloved, his masterpiece, his chosen. There’s nothing you can do that changes that. No matter how far off track you’ve gotten and no matter how twisted your life has become, you’re still his girl. And you know what he wants to do … he wants to just snatch you up from that. You know what that’s called? THAT’S CALLED GOD’S GRACE. When instead of getting what you deserve, you get forgiveness before you even ask for it. When instead of being left to your own ways, you get lifted up out of it before you ever even sought it. Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.” Who’s the Son – that’s Jesus? What did he come for? To seek and save the LOST. Who are the lost? The ones who are failing – the ones who are struggling – the ones who have wandered. And the ones who don’t even realize they’re failing – the ones who are so wrapped up in performance that they don’t realize how far they’ve wandered. Jesus didn’t come waiting for lost people to stumble upon Him. He came looking for them. Girl, Jesus is LOOKING for you. And what will he do when he finds you – he will snatch you up and cover you with GRACE. Grace is God coming for you when you’ve done nothing to deserve it and everything to convince yourself He shouldn’t. Grace is God’s love moving toward you before you ever think to move toward Him. Grace is God giving you what you could never earn because Jesus paid for what you could never afford. Here’s an image of GRACE: Imagine you’re stranded in the middle of the ocean. Grace isn’t someone standing safely on shore yelling, “Swim harder!” Grace jumps into the water… swims to you… pulls you onto the rescue boat… wraps you in a blanket… and carries you home. You contributed nothing to your rescue except your need. Whatever you’ve done, wherever you’ve strayed, no matter what you’ve been thinking, saying, doing or not doing … there’s GRACE FOR THAT! For most of my life, grace was something that was never personal to me. To be honest with you, I felt I didn’t really need it. I’ve been married to my one and only high school sweetheart for 31 years. I’ve literally never been drunk in my entire life. I’ve never tried a single drug. I’ve been the picture of the good girl. And what grace is really needed for a good girl? I performed for my approval. My success would vouch for me. Grace is for the ones who just can’t get it right on their own – and I was really getting it right all by myself. For real – that was the voice in my head. That’s what I told myself, and that’s what I believed. And then I went and messed it all up. I prayed a prayer I had no idea would completely wreck me. I prayed that God would search my heart. I wrote a devotional on Psalm 139: 23-24, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” But you see, I wasn’t doing it because I thought I needed it – I thought you needed it. But, I mistakenly prayed it too. And with access of my heart granted, the Holy Spirit began a revealing work within me that made me sick of my own self. I saw how incredibly self-righteous I had become. I saw how twisted my pursuits had become and how wrong I had been. Everything I did carried the label of God, but there simply wasn’t a lot of God beneath the label – there was self. And here’s the part that slayed me – GOD HAD ALLOWED ME TO DO IT. I had sat behind a microphone for years, professing Jesus, but my own life wasn’t fully surrendered. I had played the part, but my part was a show for a stage. I had built this entire thing, and I had done it so wrong for so long. I had lead so so so wrong. AND YET GOD ALLOWED ME TO DO IT. He never struck me with lightening. He never brought it all crashing down. No, actually continued to let it grow. I walked in success I didn’t deserve. And he waited for the surrender of my heart. That’s GRACE. Grace is God coming for you when you’ve done nothing to deserve it. Grace is God’s love moving toward you before you ever think to move toward Him. Grace is God giving you what you could never earn because Jesus paid for what you could never afford. There’s been a grace over my life through all these years of getting it really wrong. There’s been a grace over my life that I simply never asked for because I didn’t know I needed it. God searched my heart, and he found some really ugly things in there. But instead of punishing me, he began reshaping me. Instead of canceling me, he called me. Instead of condemning me, he gave me a holy conviction and the special strength to change it. Just as there’s grace for Stevie who made a mess of her life with some epically bad choices – and there’s grace for me, the girl who thought she never really screwed up bad enough to need grace …. well, there’s perfect grace for you too, my sister. JESUS LEFT HEAVEN TO RESCUE US!!!!! He didn’t wait until we called out to him. He didn’t wait for us to realize we needed him. He didn’t wait for us to clean ourselves up and turn our lives around. Nope, he came for us first. THAT IS GRACE! And you know what I’ve really come to realize, Grace isn’t God just giving you a second chance. Grace is really God giving you a whole new life you could have never earned. You want a new life? A life lifted up from this mess you’ve been living in? A life that breaks free of the chains that have held you back? A life that’s bigger and better than anything you could have imagined? LET GOD’S GRACE CATCH YOU. Girl, just let him snatch you up. God has made a relentless decision to pursue YOU. A relentless decision to rescue YOU. A relentless decision to forgive YOU. And a relentless decision to transform YOU. When God looked at Stevie, he saw his girl who he would turn into an evangelist that would reach people with the raw truth of how God never gives up no matter what we do. When God looked at me, he saw his girl who he could humble and use as a vessel of humility to remind people of just how patient our God while we fiddle fart around not even knowing we need him. When God looks at you, he sees his girl who is worthy of being pursued, worthy of being rescued, worthy of being forgiven, worthy of being made radically new. And right here today, HE IS SNATCHING YOU UP AND CALLING OUT, “MINE – SHE’S MINE!” Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

God has promised He has good plans for you (Jeremiah 29:11), but wouldn’t it be nice if He included turn-by-turn directions? I mean REALLY nice. Not some vague “trust Me” and “walk by faith” business. I want GPS. I want step-by-step instructions complete with an arrival time and the occasional heavenly notification saying, “There’s a problem ahead. I’ve found a better route.” And if we’re being really honest, I’d also like Him to show me where all the potholes are, who I should avoid, and whether or not this particular problem could perhaps be skipped altogether. Is that too much to ask? I’ve learned there are two kinds of travelers in this world. First, there’s the planner. I present to you my husband as Exhibit A. He plugs in his destination, then immediately zooms out to study the entire route. He knows which highways he’ll take, approximately where he’ll stop, and could probably tell you which side of town he’ll be approaching from. Then he zooms in to study the intersections and lane changes. After reviewing the route for a solid five minutes, he calmly begins driving without the voice prompts because he has become one with the GPS. Then there’s the other traveler. We’ll call this one the follower. I present to you…me. Actually, I don’t even qualify as Exhibit B. Let’s call me Exhibit L. L for Lost. Perpetually lost. I don’t know where I am, I don’t know where I’m going, but strangely, I’m never really stressed about it. Here’s how I roll. I plug in a destination. Let’s say the TJ Maxx. I don’t really care which TJ Maxx. Any one will do. I don’t stop to consider which side of town it’s on or how many toll roads are involved. If the GPS lady picks one, I trust her judgment entirely. Then I do something that absolutely horrifies my husband. I just press START. That’s it. No studying. No planning. No zooming in or zooming out. We’re just going. Then I pull out of the parking lot in whatever direction seems easiest while my GPS gets her bearings. Is it the correct direction? Typically, no. Is it even remotely helpful? Also no. But soon enough, that sweet little lady comes through my speakers and says, “Make a U-turn.” Yo-kay! Let me whip this baby around and let’s get to the TJ Maxx. Friends, which traveler are you? Here’s what I know. Whichever one you are, you’re convinced you’re right and the other one makes absolutely no sense. And isn’t that exactly how we approach our lives with God? Some of us want the five-year plan. We want the destination, the route, and every major intersection highlighted before we’ll take the first step. Others of us are saying, “Jesus, if you’ll just show me what to do before lunch, we’re making progress.” But regardless of which traveler you are, we’re all asking the same question. What’s the way? Jesus answered that question in John 14:6 when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Notice He didn’t say, “I’ll SHOW you the way.” He said, “I AM the way.” And I wonder if we’ve missed just how profound that is. Jesus isn’t simply giving directions to God’s good plans for your life. Jesus IS God’s good plan for your life. He’s not merely the GPS helping you arrive at your destination. He is both the Guide and the Destination. We keep asking God, “Show me where we’re going!” And He’s saying, “I’m right here.” Honey, if you know Jesus, then you know the way because HE IS THE WAY. He’s the way you’re going to survive this heartbreak. He’s the way you’re going to make it through this diagnosis. He’s the way you’re going to overcome this addiction. He’s the way you’re going to begin again after failure. And He accounts for all the wrong turns. Have you ever noticed your GPS doesn’t throw a fit when you miss your turn? It doesn’t sigh dramatically and announce, “Well, that’s it! You’ve ruined everything! You’ll never make it now!” No! It simply says, “Recalculating.” Friend, can I tell you something? God has been recalculating your life since the day you were born. You haven’t surprised Him once. That divorce didn’t surprise Him. That addiction didn’t surprise Him. That diagnosis didn’t surprise Him. That bad decision didn’t surprise Him. He’s never once looked at your life and said, “Well, I certainly didn’t see THAT coming.” While we’ve changed directions, Jesus NEVER has. Romans 8:28 is still true. God is still working ALL things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. He doesn’t run out of routes to redeem your story. He allows U-turns. And when you’re convinced you’ve gone too far in the wrong direction, He simply whispers, “Recalculating.” You don’t need to know the whole way. You simply need to know the One who is the way. ——————- But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He’s not only the way, He’s the truth. Isn’t it funny that we’ll trust a complete stranger with an Australian accent to get us across town, but we struggle to trust Jesus with our eternity? We trust Siri. We trust Google Maps. We trust Waze. But when Jesus says, “I’ve got another route for you,” suddenly we’re skeptical. Why? Because the route doesn’t look true. The route to freedom looks like surrender. The route to strength looks like weakness. The route to greatness looks like serving. The route to life looks like dying to ourselves. The truth is, God’s truth rarely looks like the world’s truth. Friend, there are voices giving you directions every single day. Social media has directions for your life. Your fears have directions for your life. Your past has directions for your life. Your feelings have directions for your life. Your wounds have directions for your life. And Satan most certainly has directions for your life. The question isn’t whether you’re listening to a voice. The question is WHICH VOICE is leading you? Jesus says you’re chosen. The enemy says you’re forgotten. Jesus says you’re forgiven. The enemy says you’re disqualified. Jesus says you’re being made new. The enemy says you’ll never change. Jesus says you’re more than a conqueror. The enemy says you’ve already lost. Honey, somebody is lying. And Jesus has never lied. Know the truth so well that every lie immediately sounds like the wrong voice giving wrong directions. ________________ Finally, Jesus says, “I am the life.” Notice He didn’t say, “I’ll GIVE you a life.” He said, “I AM the life.” We spend so much of our lives chasing life. We think life is found in losing the weight. In getting married. In having the baby. In making more money. In retiring someday. In getting the promotion. In taking the trip. In finding the relationship. And so we keep moving the finish line. “I’ll finally be happy when…” Except when we get there, we simply create another “when.” Jesus says, “No sweetheart, LIFE isn’t found there. It’s found here. It’s found in Me.” Life isn’t waiting for you 40 pounds from now. Life isn’t waiting for you after the divorce is finalized. Life isn’t waiting for your prodigal to come home. Life isn’t waiting for your circumstances to improve. Life is available to you right here, right now, because Jesus is here right now. Stop putting your life on layaway. Stop waiting to start living someday. Stop surviving until circumstances improve. Jesus didn’t come so you could merely exist. He came that you may have life and have it abundantly, to the full, overflowing, BIG! (John 10:10). ————– So maybe you’ve been asking the wrong question. You’ve been asking WHERE when Jesus has been saying WHO. Where am I going? To Jesus. How am I going to make it? With Jesus. What should I believe? Jesus. What was I created for? Jesus. What’s God’s plan for my life? Jesus. We’ve been asking God for directions while He’s been offering us a relationship. My sister, Jesus isn’t merely showing us the way to some future destination. He IS the destination. He is the way. He is the truth. He is the life. So let’s get going. Just press START. Will there be wrong turns? Absolutely. Will there be delays? Probably. Will there be seasons when you have absolutely no idea where He’s leading you? Most certainly. Will there be times you find yourself sitting on the side of the road wondering what in the world God is doing? Oh, girl. Without a doubt. But here’s what I know after all these years of following Jesus—I have never once regretted trusting Him with the route. I have regretted my own directions a thousand times. I have regretted my detours. I have regretted my delays. I have regretted grabbing the wheel and trying to become my own GPS. But I have never regretted following Jesus. So where will He take us? I don’t know. But I know who will be walking beside me every single step of the way. And really, that’s enough. Quit worrying so much about where you’re going and pay attention to Who you’re going with. Follow Jesus. Trust the next instruction He gives you. Because when Jesus is both your Guide and your destination, you can never truly be lost. He is the way. He is the truth. He is the life. And He’s really, really good at recalculating. We’ve changed directions a thousand times. He never has. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

This week, I watched a simple video of a man in a suit with a strong Irish accent explain something so beautifully and so clearly. He talked about how easily we twist salvation into being faith plus works. He posed one question: If you were to die tonight and stand at the gates of Heaven, how would you explain why you’re there? He said if you answer that question in the first person, you’ve already gone wrong. Because I believed. Because I had faith. Because I trusted. Because I did good things. Because I served. Because I stopped doing bad things. Nope. You’ve made it about you. Your way to Heaven never started with you. Look at the thief on the cross. Remember the one hanging beside Jesus? Jesus told him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” And so he was. Just like that. This man was a criminal. He wasn’t baptized. He wasn’t in a Bible study. He never served in children’s ministry. He never got his life cleaned up. He had no opportunity to prove himself worthy. And yet, he made it to Heaven. Imagine the angel guarding Heaven’s gates asking him, “On what basis are you here?” And all he can say is, “The man on the middle cross said I could come.” My friends, that is our only answer too. The Man on the middle cross. It’s not about the Scriptures I’ve memorized, the good works I’ve done, or the sins I’ve walked away from. It’s all about the cross. If I take my eyes off the cross, then suddenly my salvation depends on me. And if your salvation depends on you, it will always lead you to one of two places—absolute despair or horrible arrogance. You’ll either never feel good enough, or you’ll start believing you’re better than everyone else. Both are lies. Keep your eyes on the cross. You are not saved as a result of anything you have ever done or will ever do. You are saved solely because of what Jesus accomplished on that middle cross. And here’s the beautiful thing—your relationship with your Creator isn’t the result of your performance either. You’ve been offered a relationship with Almighty God because of His relentless pursuit of YOU. Grace didn’t simply save you. Grace has been pursuing you all along. The Bible is filled with story after story of God’s pursuit of people who had strayed. People who had failed. People who had royally messed up their lives. People the world had written off as too far gone. And Jesus? He pulled up a chair at their table. He pursued them. Relentlessly. From the moment you were born, God has been pursuing you. Now maybe you’ve spent most of your years running. Yep, me too. Not necessarily running from God, but keeping myself so busy, distracted, and self-sufficient that His knocking went unnoticed and unanswered. And yet, He pursued me. Aren’t you grateful God doesn’t give up easily? Because if He did, how long ago would He have given up on you? How many times have you ignored Him? How many times have you chosen your own way? How many times have you settled for comfortable when He was offering abundant? And still, here He stands today. Offering again. “Will you let me in?” “Will you let me help you?” “Will you draw close to Me? I’ve been drawing close to you all the days of your life.” This is His relentless pursuit of you. And even during the times you’ve given up on yourself, He hasn’t. He has never backed down. God. Still. Wants. You. Psalm 139:7 says: “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!” You can’t outrun Him. God loves running rebels. He sent His Son on a search-and-rescue mission for YOU. His mission was to seek and save the lost and bring you close to the Father. And that’s still His mission today—to keep bringing you in. Could that be why some of this has been happening in your life? Could the lost job, the financial struggles, the health scare, the crisis, the stress, and the worry be part of God’s relentless pursuit of your heart? Not because He’s punishing you, but because He’s pursuing you. Or perhaps He’s about to show you His power through it all so you’ll never doubt His presence again. If you’ve been running, stop. Just stop. And let Him catch you. That’s my prayer for you today—not that you’ll try harder or do better or become more impressive. My prayer is much simpler than that. Be caught today. Let Him wrap you in His love. Let Him strengthen you. Let Him shield you. Let Him provide for you. Take your refuge in Him. Many years ago, my life seemed to be falling apart. We had run out of money. Our business had dried up. Every light we saw at the end of the tunnel turned into a freight train heading straight for us. I had come to the end of my rope. One day, I sat down on my couch and surrendered. And He caught me. He and I sat on that couch and wrestled it out. I was angry. I was scared. And God was faithful. That day changed my life. God’s relentless pursuit through it all had finally captured my heart. This is where we often get it wrong. We think God primarily wants us to do something for Him. Yes, He calls us to action. Yes, He calls us to be His hands and feet. But don’t twist that. He doesn’t NEED anything from you. Your performance isn’t required. Your trophies aren’t necessary. Your winning record isn’t impressive to Him. More than anything else, He wants YOU. He wants to catch you. He wants you to stop running and simply run to Him. He’s got you. I promise He does. Elevation Worship has a song called Jireh that begins with these words: I’ll never be more loved than I am right now. Wasn’t holding You up, so there’s nothing I can do to let You down. It doesn’t take a trophy to make You proud. I’ll never be more loved than I am right now. Those words get me every single time. Maybe because I’m the girl who has always feared being a disappointment. Maybe because failure has haunted me more times than I’d like to admit. But there’s such freedom in knowing I can’t let God down because I wasn’t ever holding Him up. God isn’t impressed by my trophies, so He’s not disappointed when I don’t win them. And I couldn’t possibly be more loved than I am right now. Maybe you need to hear that too. There is nothing you could do that would make God love you more than He already does. You don’t have to perform for Him. Your failure hasn’t distanced Him. Your weakness hasn’t surprised Him. Your wandering hasn’t stopped Him. He loves you. He loves you so much that after all these years of your running and your trying and your striving and your bright ideas, He is still pursuing you. The fact that you’re hearing these words today is once again evidence of His relentless pursuit. You. Precious and priceless you. The one and only you. He sees you and knows without a doubt—you are worth pursuing. You have not escaped His Spirit. You have not gotten away from His presence. Through it all, He has been right beside you whether you recognized Him or not. You’ve been caught from the fall. You’ve been captured from the running. You’ve been chosen by grace. And when the enemy whispers that we’re not enough, that we’ve failed too many times, wandered too far, or missed our chance, may we remember our answer has never changed. If someone were to ask us, “How did you get here?” the answer isn’t because I was good enough. Or faithful enough. Or disciplined enough. Or because I finally got my life together. It’s much simpler than that. The Man on the middle cross said I could come. The Man on the middle cross pursued me when I was running. The Man on the middle cross caught me when I fell. The Man on the middle cross paid what I could never pay and opened what I could never open. And one day, when I take my final breath here and my first breath in eternity, if I’m asked, “On what basis are you here?” my answer will still be the same. The Man on the middle cross. That’s it. Not my trophies. Not my performance. Not my victories. Not my failures. Not my story. His. And until that day comes, may we stop settling for a comfortable life when God has a great big, beautiful life waiting for us. Not my way, Lord, but Yours. May you be drawn deeper into the life He created for you, all by His grace. And may you stop running long enough to discover you’ve been pursued all along. May you be caught today. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Life is full of mountains and valleys. One day we’re standing on the mountaintop, taking in the view and thanking God for how good life feels. The next, we’re walking through a valley we never saw coming, wondering how we got here and how we’ll ever make it through. That’s life. No one gets a permanent address on the mountaintop, and no one stays in the valley forever. We all experience seasons of joy and seasons of sorrow, seasons of abundance and seasons of struggle. There are moments when we feel strong, confident, and full of faith, and there are moments when we’re tired, discouraged, and simply trying to take the next step. The mountains and the valleys are both part of the journey. Does this mean we hate the valleys and only live for the mountaintops? If so, we’re wasting much of our lives. It’s like the person who chooses misery all week long and only lives for the weekend. Or the person who is continually chasing greener grass, only to get there and find it’s always greener somewhere else. They’re waiting for life to begin when life has been happening all along. Sometimes I wonder if we’re guilty of doing the same thing spiritually. We endure the valleys and merely survive them while we wait for God to get us back to the mountain. We decide the mountaintop is where God is blessing us and the valley is where he’s forgotten us. We assume one is good and one is bad. But what if we’re wrong? What if God never intended for us to love one and despise the other? What if he designed both? God is in control of all things, so why does he allow these low valleys in life? Why doesn’t he take us to the mountaintop experiences and let us stay there? Why not total bliss all the time? Why can’t everything just be good and stay good? My husband and I have often joked over the years of raising three kids that when the rare moment comes along when all three are doing great at the same time—with no problems—we hold our breath. Experience has taught us it doesn’t last long. It’s our mountaintop. It’s bliss. It’s rare. We know we’re here, but we also know we probably don’t get to stay here. Before long, back down into the valley we’ll go with at least one of them. Have you ever noticed that’s the way life seems to work? We just can’t keep things at their very best for very long. The job is good, then the job is hard. The marriage is happy, then the marriage is struggling. Our bodies are healthy, then suddenly they aren’t. The bank account is full, then an unexpected expense arrives. We finally catch our breath, and then life takes it away again. The mountains are beautiful, but they’re temporary. The valleys are difficult, but they’re temporary too. And that’s not a flaw in God’s design. It’s part of it. If mountaintops became permanent, we would begin to worship the view instead of the God who brought us there. If valleys never came, we would never learn surrender and trust. The mountain gives us perspective, but the valley gives us depth. God has never promised us a life of uninterrupted mountaintops. What he has promised is something far better—His uninterrupted presence. He’s God on the mountain, and he’s God in the valley. He isn’t waiting for you at the top. He’s walking with you wherever you are. And perhaps that’s the invitation—not to spend our lives trying to escape the valleys or cling to the mountains, but to learn to look for God in both. 1 Kings 20:28, “The LORD says, ‘Because the Arameans think the LORD is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the LORD.” If you just pluck this one scripture out, it won’t make sense. So, let’s study the context and see what God is telling us. Israel are God’s people who seek him and trust him. They have enemies constantly trying to defeat them. One of those enemies is the kingdom of Aram who’s King is Ben-Hadad. The Arameans greatly outnumbered the Israelites, yet the Israelites had just defeated them in battle. As the Aramenas were trying to understand their battle and how they could have lost to an army so beneath them, they came to the conclusion it was because of the Israelites’ God. Verse 23, they said “Their gods are gods of the mountains. That is why they were too strong for us. But if we fight them in the valleys, surely we will be stronger than them.” With that in mind, the Arameans planned their next attack on God’s people in a valley. A valley, a low spot, where the Israelites’ mountaintop God would have no reign and no power. They didn’t doubt God’s existence, they doubted his authority over both the mountain and the valley. BUT THEY WERE WRONG! Our LORD isn’t just a mountaintop God. He’s not limited by good experiences and positive outcomes. He’s not just in the highs – he’s in the lows. His jurisdiction is not limited by location or circumstance. And this is why the LORD said in verse 28, “Because the Arameans think the LORD is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the LORD.” Essentially God is saying, “You’ve seen me work on the mountain, NOW WATCH ME WORK IN THE LOW VALLEYS TOO!” This is a lesson not only for the enemy, but for God’s people. “Stop thinking I will only give you victory up here, I can work in the lows too!” This was more than God winning a battle, this was God revealing himself. What? You think God has boundaries? You think there’s somewhere he doesn’t rule? Somewhere out of his reach? Somewhere his power isn’t effective? Something too hard or too big and beyond his dominion? You think there’s a place God can’t give victory. GIRL, JUST WATCH HIM. Today, we often live exactly as the Aramean’s who thought God was only the God of the mountain. We believe: God is with me when my marriage is good! God is with me when my body is healthy! God is with me when the money is there! God is with me when all the kids are doing well! God is with me when my prayers are answered! Yes, he’s with me … I can see him … look at all this goodness in my life! I’m on the mountaintop! But life doesn’t stay there, and soon we’re in a low valley and we begin asking: Where is God? Why isn’t he helping me? Has he left me? Did I do something wrong? Is he punishing me with this deep dark valley of hardship and struggle? And really what we’re wondering is if God stayed on the mountain and he’s not with us in the valley. But I want to give you one memorable fact that will stay with you forever. NOTHING GROWS ON THE MOUNTAINTOP. Have you ever climbed a really tall mountain – I’m talking a legit mountain. Have you noticed the higher you go, the thinner the air gets. And as you continue the climb, it just becomes rocky. No trees. No fruit. No grass. No flowers. The view is remarkable and it feels great to stand on top of the mountain, but NOTHING GROWS UP THERE. That, my friends, is life. You don’t grow in your moutaintop moments. When everything is so perfectly good, you’re not growing. And that’s why God doesn’t leave you up there. He lovingly brings you back down to the valley because in the valley is where YOU GROW! Trees grow in the valley. Fruit is produced in the valley. Flowers are in abundance in the valley. It’s the low places where we grow. I find it interesting that God could have simply prevented the second battle altogether. Instead, He allowed Israel to go right back into another fight. Why? Because there was something about Himself He wanted revealed that could only be revealed in the valley. God isn’t better on the mountain. He’s simply different there. The mountain may reveal His majesty, but the valley reveals His faithfulness. What God is showing us is regardless of the place we are in life, regardless of the highs and lows, he is the LORD over every place. Just as the mountain doesn’t make him God, neither do the valleys of life diminish him. He is just as present, just as powerful, and just as soverign in the lowest and hardest of valleys in your life as he is on the highest and most victorious mountain. I have a beautiful friend currently battling a relentless and ugly cancer. This cancer has dragged her through one heck of a dark valley. But here in this valley, she has discovered God’s presence unlike ever before. She has learned He is her only hope. She has learned peace that doesn’t make sense. She has learned full surrender and unwavering faith. That’s what valleys do to us, and I have to believe that’s one of the reasons God allows them. He reveals Himself in such personal and powerful ways. Perhaps her mountaintop moments will come and she will stand whole, healthy, and healed with a long, beautiful life ahead of her. Oh, how I pray she experiences that. But here’s what I know—she won’t grow up there. She’s growing down here. And maybe that’s why God doesn’t allow us to permanently live on the mountaintops. We would enjoy him there, but we wouldn’t NEED him there. We would celebrate him there, but we wouldn’t CLING to him there. It is in the valley where we discover he really is enough. It’s in the valley where we learn he wasn’t kidding when he said he would never leave us or forsake us. It’s in the valley where we find his strength made perfect in our weakness. It’s in the valley where we discover his peace isn’t dependent on our circumstances and his goodness isn’t diminished by our suffering. Mountaintops are where we often celebrate God. Valleys are where we come to know him. So perhaps we’ve had it wrong all along. Perhaps the goal isn’t to spend our lives desperately trying to escape the valleys and cling to the mountains. Perhaps the goal is to stop asking, “How do I get out of here?” long enough to ask,

What do you do when it’s over? Not when it’s hard. Not when it’s uncertain. Not when things could still work out. What do you do when it’s OVER? When the divorce papers are signed. When the prodigal still hasn’t come home. When the doctor’s report confirms your worst fear. When the bank account is empty. When the addiction wins again. When what was already bad somehow gets worse. What do you do when you’ve prayed, believed, hoped, waited, and fought … and the situation is now lying in a grave of impossibility? Because if we’re honest, every one of us will face something that feels dead. A dead dream. A dead relationship. A dead opportunity. A dead hope. A dead part of ourselves. Life happens. Hell attacks. Hearts break. And there are moments when we simply cannot see a way forward. Maybe that’s where you are today. Maybe you’ve reached the place where you’ve stopped asking, “How will God do it?” and you’ve started wondering, “CAN God do it at all?” If so, I want to remind you of something that has never changed: Our God is not stopped by the grave. The grave is where human ability ends, but it is not where God’s power ends. In fact, throughout Scripture, God has a habit of showing up where things appear most hopeless. When Sarah’s womb was too old. When Israel was trapped at the Red Sea. When Ezekiel stood in a valley of dry bones. When Lazarus had been dead four days. When Jesus Himself was placed in a tomb. Again and again, God steps into situations everyone else has declared finished. Because what is impossible with man has never been impossible with God. Matthew 19:26 says: “With God all things are possible.” And hidden inside that one sentence are three life-changing truths. With God. All things. Are possible. 1. With God. Not without him, but with him. Whatever you’re going through, are you going through this WITH God? Or are you trying to do this on your own? Are you pushing through with your own strength, looking for your own answers? Are you relying on someone else, but that someone else isn’t God? You will fail and so will everyone else. This is ONLY WITH GOD. So, how do you do this WITH GOD? You seek him. You talk to him. You read his word. You fill your life with nothing but God, then every area of your life is under his power. I’m talking about the music you listen to, the friends you talk to, the books you read, the things you watch. Have you heard that song, “Dusty Bibles”? It says: We got dust on our Bibles, brand-new iPhones No wonder why we feel this way We walk with our eyes closed, blind leading blind folks And I’m done with those idols and dusty Bibles Is there dust on your Bible? Yeah – no wonder why you feel this way. You’ve been trying to do this with WITHOUT God, and my friend, it simply won’t work. Looking back on my own journey, I realize just how patient the Lord has been with me. I tried to do this without him for so many years. I even used him to make my things grow. But it wasn’t about him, it wasn’t for him, and it wasn’t really with him. And yet, he allowed me to do it my own way. He didn’t strike me with lightening. He didn’t even publicly shame me. But what he did do, is he allowed me to create my own messes and struggle. And through his gracious allowance of struggle, I finally came to realize I don’t even WANT to do this without him. Is that where you are? Are you finally seeing through God’s gracious allowance of messes and struggles that you no longer want to do this on your own? Are you finally at the point of surrender in your life where you’re truly praying, “God, if you’re in it, I want it … but if you’re not, I don’t.” Yes, girl, this is learning to do life WITH GOD. And with God, ALL THINGS … 2. All things. Not just some things, but truly all things. This means the things that have always been too big and too hard. The things that seem too far gone, too late, too hopeless. The things that are buried, without life, without a future. That’s ALL things. There has never been a moment when Jesus looked at a situation and said, “Well, that’s beyond me.” Cancer isn’t beyond Him. Addiction isn’t beyond Him. A prodigal isn’t beyond Him. A broken marriage isn’t beyond Him. A shattered heart isn’t beyond Him. Death itself isn’t beyond Him. In fact, one day Jesus walked directly into a funeral procession and completely interrupted it. Luke 7:11-15, “Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said. Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.” Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.” The funeral was already under way. They were walking this young man’s body to the grave. His life was over. And not only his life, but his mother’s life. Notice the detail is given that this woman was a widow and this young man was her only son. In this culture, that meant not only grief, but this meant desperation. Yes, it was the death of a child, but it was also the absolute crash of her future. Without a husband or a son, she was left without care and faced a life of extreme poverty. And when Jesus became aware of this need, His heart overflowed with compassion. No one asked Him to step in with His power. No one expected Him to change the situation. But His heart responded to her broken heart. The miracle began because Jesus was moved by compassion. Jesus sees what nobody else sees. He sees the tears you hide. He sees the burden you carry. He sees the disappointment you don’t talk about. He sees the thing that keeps you awake at night. And just as His heart overflowed with compassion for that widow, His heart is moved by your pain. He’s not indifferent. He’s not distant. He’s not unaware. He is responding. The miracle—YOUR miracle—begins with the compassion of Jesus. Now understand the true significance of this scene. The body isn’t being carried in a closed coffin; it’s more like a wooden stretcher. The young man is likely wrapped in burial cloths. Under Jewish law, touching something associated with a corpse brought ceremonial uncleanness. Everyone else was moving away from what was dead. Jesus moved toward it. Everyone else saw a corpse. Jesus saw an opportunity for resurrection. Everyone else saw an ending. Jesus saw a beginning. Without even being asked, Jesus walks right up to the body and touches him. Not a coffin as we imagine, but an open stretcher where the dead man is lying. Yes, that’s our Jesus. Throughout the Gospels, we see Him touching lepers, touching the sick, and touching the dead. And never once did the uncleanness spread to Him. Instead, His life spread to them. That’s what happens when Life Himself shows up. “With God all things ARE POSSIBLE.” 3. Are possible. ARE POSSIBLE. Not probable. Not likely. Not easy. Not immediate. But possible. Because the possibility doesn’t depend on you. It depends on God. And if God is involved, the story is never over. If God is involved, the grave never gets the final word. If God is involved, what appears dead today may be alive tomorrow. Yes, your too-far-gone situation. Your without-hope circumstance. Your dead dream. Your untouchable mess. Your shame. Your struggle. Your brokenness. When it is brought to Jesus and touched by Him, it can receive His life. I assure you this is your answer. That thing you’ve been struggling with for years and seem powerless to change—it needs the touch of Jesus. That relationship everyone has given up on and left for dead—it needs the touch of Jesus. That habit you keep fighting but never seem to defeat—it needs the touch of Jesus. That dream you buried because disappointment convinced you it would never happen—it needs the touch of Jesus. That part of your heart that has grown cold, weary, and numb—it needs the touch of Jesus. The same Jesus who walked into a funeral procession and interrupted death is still interrupting impossible situations today. Then Jesus spoke these simple words: “Young man, I tell you, get up.” And death had to let go. The young man sat up. He began to speak. Life rushed back into what moments before had been lifeless. What if the thing you’ve declared dead is only waiting for the voice of Jesus? What if the story isn’t over? What if God is not standing at a distance from your impossible situation, but is already walking toward it? What if the marriage isn’t beyond Him? What if the prodigal isn’t beyond Him? What if the diagnosis isn’t beyond Him? What if the dream isn’t beyond Him? What if your story isn’t over? The widow thought she was walking her son to a grave. She had no idea she was walking him into the presence of Jesus. And maybe that’s where you are today. What feels like a funeral may actually be the setting for a resurrection. Because our God has never been intimidated by dead things. He speaks to dry bones and they rattle back to life. He stands before Lazarus’ tomb and calls him out. He steps into a funeral procession and sends everyone home stunned. He walks out of His own grave on the third day. And He is still the God who brings life where everyone else sees death. So don’t bury what God is still breathing on. Don’t abandon what God is still working on. Don’t give up on what God hasn’t given up on. Because with God… ALL THINGS… ARE POSSIBLE. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find

Here’s my prayer for you today: May you be led by what is in you, not by what is around you. Because what is around you is loud. Distractions. Drama. Disappointment. Fear. Bad news. Negative people. The invitation to live a small, defeated, mediocre life is everywhere. But daughter of God, you were never created to live looking down. Downcast. Downtrodden. Down in the dumps. Down is not your direction. And here’s how I know: Because of what is in you. Romans 8:9 says, “You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.” Then just a few verses later, Romans 8:15 says, “You have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.” Did you catch that? God’s Spirit lives in you. Not beside you. Not near you. Not occasionally visiting you. In you. The mountain-moving, sea-parting, chain-breaking, prison-shaking, death-defeating power of Almighty God lives in you. Let that sink in. Because the enemy works overtime trying to make you forget it. He wants your attention on your failures instead of your Father. He wants your focus on your flaws instead of God’s power. He wants you obsessing over your weight, your money, your job, your house, your image, your circumstances—anything that keeps your eyes off the greatest reality of your life: The Spirit of God lives within you. If you’re consumed by what you see in the mirror, you’ll forget what Jesus placed inside of you. If you’re focused on your problems, you’ll forget you already have access to the power to overcome them. If you’re drowning in negative thoughts, you’ll start believing you’re stuck. But you’re not stuck. You’ve just forgotten what’s in you. The Spirit of God has already given you power to rise. Power to heal. Power to overcome. Power to keep going. Don’t sacrifice your power by entertaining pitiful. I know I’ve done it. I’ve had seasons where I focused more on my problems than my power. More on my circumstances than my Savior. And every single time, I felt defeated. Because when I play pitiful, I stop walking powerful. So let me ask you: Have you been focused on your problems? Have you been rehearsing your disappointments? Have you been sitting in self-pity? Because here’s something I learned a long time ago: You can be pitiful or you can be powerful, but you cannot be both. (Thank you Joyce Meyer.) At nineteen years old, I suffered a massive stroke. I was unable to walk or talk. While I was in the hospital, my newlywed husband kept my family away. He told them I was okay. At the time, I couldn’t understand why my mama and daddy weren’t by my bed. But he understood something I didn’t. Pity would have paralyzed me. Pity would have kept me in that bed. Pity would have convinced me I was a victim instead of a victor. My parents would have given me pity. So my young husband pushed me. He challenged me. He refused to hand me pity. And today I walk, talk, and live whole because I was offered God’s power instead of people’s pity. So why would we choose pity now? Girl, pity never looks good on you. But God’s power? That looks absolutely beautiful on you. Because of the Spirit living in you, defeat is no longer your identity. Mediocrity is no longer your calling. Fear is no longer your master. You don’t wake up expecting less. You don’t settle for surviving. Jesus didn’t die so you could live a little life. He came that you might have life—and have it abundantly. So stop sitting in pity over everything that’s wrong. Not when the Spirit of the Almighty lives in you. Oh no. You have every reason to get excited about today. Every reason to expect good things. Every reason to believe that what stands before you is smaller than the God within you. Why? Because God’s Spirit lives in you. You are not controlled by your feelings. You are not a slave to fear. You are a daughter of the King. And daughters of the King don’t walk through life defeated. They walk with authority. They walk with confidence. They walk knowing who they belong to. So remember this today: Nothing you face is greater than the Spirit within you. You are not helpless. You are not hopeless. You are not stuck. And if you feel that way, you’ve believed a lie that was never yours to carry. Don’t buy what the enemy is selling. A daughter of the King should never settle for the leftovers of a defeated devil. Remember what’s in you. The same power that spoke the universe into existence lives in you. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. The same power that shattered prison walls and broke chains lives in you. The same power that turned water into wine lives in you. That means life is in you. Healing is in you. Freedom is in you. Victory is in you. Change is in you. Hope is in you. Power is in you. So don’t let what is around you make you forget what is in you. The circumstances are real. The challenges are real. The obstacles are real. But none of them are greater than the Spirit of God dwelling within you. That Spirit does not make you a fearful slave. That Spirit makes you a daughter. He brings you into the family. He places a crown upon your head. He declares, “You belong.” So straighten your crown, girl. Life may have knocked you around, but it has not changed who you are. You are chosen. You are loved. You are redeemed. You are a daughter of the King. And the power of Almighty God lives within you. So today, be powerful. Not pitiful. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

There are probably things you do every day without really knowing why you do them. Think about it. When we meet someone new, we shake hands. But why? The original purpose was to show that your weapon hand was empty and that you came in peace. Most of us aren’t checking each other for concealed swords anymore, yet the handshake remains. We do it because it’s what we’ve always done. Or take Daylight Saving Time. Twice a year, many of us change our clocks and grumble about losing an hour of sleep or it getting dark too early. Ask the average person why we still do it, and most aren’t quite sure. We just know it’s time to change the clocks again. Even the phrases we use have outlived their original purpose. We still say, “Hang up the phone,” even though most people haven’t hung a phone on anything in decades. And let’s be honest—tapping the “End Call” button just doesn’t have the same satisfaction as slamming down a receiver! One of my favorite examples comes from a friend of mine. Every holiday, she cut the end off the ham before putting it in the oven. One day I asked her why. “Because that’s how you’re supposed to do it,” she said. I told her that’s not the way I do it. Unsatisfied with that answer, she asked her grandmother why she taught her to cut the end off the ham. Her grandmother laughed and said, “Because my baking pan was too small.” For 50 years, a tradition had been passed down from generation to generation, long after the too small baking pan no longer existed. It got me thinking: How many things am I doing simply because I’ve always done them? How many things have I been taught that I’ve never really stopped to examine? And then one practice came to mind. Prayer. More specifically, ending a prayer with the words, “In Jesus’ name, amen.” Do you do that? I do. Since I learned to pray as a teenager, I have ended my prayers that way because that’s what I was taught to do. It’s what I heard in church. So I said it too. “In Jesus’ name, amen.” But have you ever stopped and asked yourself why? Why do we pray in Jesus’ name? Is it simply a religious phrase we attach to the end of our prayers? Like a Christian version of saying “goodbye”? Or is there something deeper happening? What authority are we invoking when we pray in Jesus’ name? What did Jesus mean when He taught His followers to ask in His name? And what difference does it make when we truly understand it? Girls, let’s dig deeper together. Because when you understand what you’re saying, why you’re saying it, and whose authority you’re standing in, prayer becomes far more than a routine. It becomes powerful. And when understanding meets faith, prayer changes. The simple answer of why we pray in Jesus’ name is because Jesus told us to. John 14: 13-14, “You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!” As Jesus is explaining to his disciples that he is about to die and no longer be with them in physical form, he says in John 16: 23-24, “At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name. You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.” Yes, Jesus told us to pray in His name. But if that’s all we understand, we’ve missed the deeper meaning.” This isn’t like cutting the end off your ham because your grandma’s old baking pan was too short 50 years ago. This isn’t continuing something that no longer really applies to our lives today. This is of paramount importance still today – we pray in the name of Jesus. We ask the Father in the name of Jesus. But has it become nothing more than words you add to the end of your prayer – or are you REALLY approaching the Father through Jesus? 1 Timothy 2:5, “There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity – the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone.” Jesus is our mediator. A mediator is someone who stands between 2 parties and brings them together. Think of a negotiator helping 2 people who are separated by conflict find reconciliation. Here’s the truth – we’ve screwed up. Every single one of us have fallen so short of the glory of God. We could never stand in his holy presence. Sin caused Adam and Eve to be kicked out of the garden, and we’ve been separated since. No matter how good we may try to be, in our own human effort, we simply cannot bridge that gap. The distance between us and our holy, perfect God is massive. Only the cross could bridge it and make a way for us to God. Jesus literally stepped into the middle for us. Because Jesus is both fully God and fully man, He represents both sides. His life sacrificed and blood shed for us then makes a way for us to come into God’s presence. We are for real coming to God in the name of Jesus. Our name isn’t good enough. Only the name of Jesus grants us access to God. But, I must admit, I’ve treated Jesus more like my heavenly mail carrier at time than my savior. Here’s my prayer request, Jesus, deliver this to God for me. Put your stamp of approval on this and maybe God will move for me. Is that what Jesus has become to you? You pray in his name because he’s the stamp for your letter to be delivered to God? Oh Jesus, please forgive us. JESUS IS THE REASON WE HAVE ACCESS TO GOD AT ALL!!!!!! When we pray “in Jesus’ name” we’re acknowledging this important fact – I’m not coming to God based on my goodness, my worthiness, or my achievements – I’m coming to God because Jesus has made a way for me! This is NOT a magic phrase that unlocks heaven – although we have sometimes treated it that way. The power is not in just saying the words, “In Jesus’ name”. The power is the holy One behind the name. Jesus himself has said, “She’s with me – she has access.” So now we show up in God’s presence through prayer and we acknowledge, “I’m only here because Jesus says I can be.” Hebrews 4:16 tells us to “Come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.” There’s only one way you can do that – back up a verse and you’ll see – it’s because Jesus is our High Priest. In the Old Testament, the high priest was the one person appointed to represent all the people before God. This one person stood in the gap between a holy God and sinful humanity. Once a year, the high priest would enter into the presence of God and offer sacrifices for their sin. If an ordinary person went into the place within the temple where God’s presence was, they would be struck dead. Only the high priest could enter. Now, we are told WE (yes me and you) can come boldly to the throne of God. We have access. We can talk to God directly. How? Because we have a High Priest who is Jesus. When you come to God in the name of Jesus, you’re remembering Jesus has already gone before you making it possible for you. As our High Priest, Jesus continually represents us before God. And knowing this can transform your prayers. We don’t have to end our prayers with a phrase we repeat out of habit – we can say it with understanding. I’m praying under the authority of Jesus. I’m approaching the Father through Jesus. I am accepted by God because of Jesus. “In the name of Jesus” isn’t a closing phrase – it’s a declaration of faith. It’s a reminder that every prayer reaches the Father because Jesus stands in the gap and makes a way for us to come near. JESUS IS THE REASON WE HAVE ACCESS TO GOD AT ALL!!!!!! The miracle isn’t that God answers our prayers. The miracle is that we are invited to pray at all. Have you ever prayed a prayer, even ended it with “in Jesus’ name,” and it didn’t get answered? That really causes us to struggle, doesn’t it? It’s easy to take Jesus’ words, “Ask anything in My name, and I will do it,” and twist them to mean that as long as we add His name to our request, it’s guaranteed to happen. What a dangerous little game we can play there. We must always remember that God sees what we do not see. He holds ETERNITY while we are stuck in the right here and now, wanting immediate answers, immediate relief, and immediate results. We see today. God sees forever. We see the request. God sees the outcome. We see the closed door. God sees what is standing behind it. Sometimes the most loving answer God can give is “yes.” Sometimes it is “wait.” And sometimes it is “no.” Not because He isn’t listening. Not because Jesus’ name lacks power. Not because our faith is too small. But because a wise Father is answering from an eternal perspective while we are praying from a temporary one. Praying in Jesus’ name is not giving God our agenda and expecting His signature at the bottom. It is bringing our requests under His authority, His character, His wisdom, and His will. When I pray in Jesus’ name, I am essentially saying: “Lord, this is what I desire. This is what I hope for. But more than anything, I want what You want. If this request honors You, advances Your purposes, and aligns with Your will, then let it be so.” That kind of prayer requires trust. It means trusting that when God says yes, He is good. When God says wait, He is good. And even when God says no, He is still good. The power of praying in Jesus’ name was never found in getting everything we ask for. The power is found in knowing that the One who hears us sees the whole picture—and we can trust Him with the answer. So why do we pray “In Jesus’ name”? Why do we end our prayers in this way? Well maybe we didn’t know before, but we know now! John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. NO ONE can come to the Father exce

In Scripture, there is great significance behind a name. A name was much more than a label or a way to identify someone. Today, names often carry little significance beyond what sounded good to our parents at the time. We choose names from baby books, family traditions, or popularity lists. Most people never stop to ask what their name means. It’s simply what people call us. Take me, for example. I’m Pamela. You’ve known me as Pamela for years. You’re probably not sitting there wondering about the deeper meaning of my name. Honestly, I’ve carried this name for over fifty years and had to look it up myself. It means “all sweetness.” I’ll let my family decide whether that’s accurate! But the names in our Bible are of great meaning. Mother’s didn’t pick names based on an internet list of popularity. Names were given to reveal a person’s identity, character, reputation, purpose, and sometimes even their destiny. Names carried meaning, and they often told a story. If you were given a bad name from birth with a bad meaning. Poor kid. Imagine being given a name that meant “sorrow,” “fool,” or “no mercy.” Every introduction would become a reminder of a negative identity. In biblical times, names carried such weight that a person could spend a lifetime either living into that identity or fighting to overcome it. We also see throughout Scripture that when God gave someone a new calling, He would sometimes give them a new name to reflect their transformed identity. Their new names signified that God was doing something new in their lives and inviting them into His greater purpose. That name carried a calling and an identity. Here on this podcast, we spent a few weeks studying the names of God found in our Bible. Through those names, we gained a deeper understanding of His character, authority, power, and love. We encountered Him as: YHWH, the self-existent and covenant-keeping God Adonai, our Lord and Master Elohim, the Creator El Shaddai, God Almighty Yahweh Rapha, the Lord who heals El Roi, the God who sees Abba, our loving Father Jehovah Jireh, our Provider Yahweh Shalom, our Peace The Good Shepherd who faithfully guides and cares for His people What became clear through that study is that God’s names reveal who He is. They unveil His nature, His attributes, and His relationship to His people. Every name teaches us something about His character and His work. So if names matter this much throughout Scripture, and if God’s own names reveal His character, then we should expect the name of Jesus to be overflowing with meaning. Yet many of us hear “Lord Jesus Christ” so often that we stop hearing it altogether. It becomes a familiar phrase. But to the first-century believer, every word in that name carried enormous significance. “Lord Jesus Christ” is not merely a title. It is a declaration. It announces His authority, His mission, and His identity. A few months ago in Venice, Italy, my friend and I knelt beside a woman who spent her days lying face down on the streets begging. I’ll never forget the moment she looked up at me and said in her language, “Jesus Cristo?” Immediately, there was recognition. Immediately, there was connection. Immediately, there was hope. We didn’t share the same language. We didn’t share the same culture. But we shared one name. The name above every name. The Lord Jesus Christ. What is this name … The Lord Jesus Christ? 1. LORD: This word Lord was originally spoken in Greek as Kyrios. Kyrios means master, owner, one who has authority. When Jesus said in Matthew 28:13, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth”, he’s showing that he is the Lord. He has all authority – not some authority, not a little authority. ALL authority. And where is this authority? In both heaven and on earth. He’s in charge of everything. All things everywhere in heaven and on earth are under his divine authority. We call Him Lord because there is nothing above Him, nothing outside His authority, and nothing beyond His rule. So, when you pray to make Jesus the Lord of your life, that’s what you are affirming – Jesus is over everything in your life. He has ALL authority and you bow down to him. Quite honestly, at 15 years old when I prayed and asked Jesus to be the Lord of my life, I had no idea what that actually meant. Now I know. And so do you – He is Lord, he is master, he is above all with ALL authority. Do you believe that? Is Jesus your Lord? 2. JESUS: What a holy and sacred name chosen by God and delivered through an angel. In Matthew 1: 20-21, an angel came to Joseph and told him that his fiance Mary had conceived a child through the Holy Spirit. The angel said, “She will have a son, and you are the name him JESUS, for he will save his people from their sins.” That’s the very meaning of the name Jesus – Yahweh saves. The name announces his life mission – To save sinners, to reconcile humanity to God, to defeat death, to bring God’s kingdom. In this time, everyone knew the meaning of the name Jesus. It was pronounced Yeshua in Hebrew, Yahweh saves. Who is Yahweh? He’s the God who always has been, and the one who made a covenant with his people to save them. Jesus is the fulfillment of that covenant. Jesus SAVES US! Before Jesus ever preached a sermon, performed a miracle, or went to the cross, His mission had already been announced through His name. Do you call on the name of Jesus knowing he is the son of God sent to save you? Do you know him as your absolute only answer, only way and only source? 3. CHRIST: In Greek, it is spoken Christos and means “Anointed One.” The anointing of oil signified God’s appointment of a specific person. When someone was called to a high position of power such as a priest or King, they were anointed. So, to call Jesus CHRIST, Christos, it says this is God’s anointed one. God’s chosen one. The one God has called to a high position of power. In Hebrew, this word was Messiah. For centuries, Israel waited. Generation after generation looked for the promised Messiah. Prophets spoke of Him. Kings anticipated Him. The faithful longed for Him. Then Paul declares with one word: Christ. The waiting is over. The Messiah has come. He is the promised one. He holds the power of God and is on an appointment. Jesus is the King who’s rule will never end. He holds the eternal kingdom. That’s who our Christ is. So now, when we put all these names together as 1 Corinthians 1:3 does, “Call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” we see the full picture of our Jesus. The order is important. First, he is Lord – the exalted sovereign ruler. Then he is Jesus – the man sent to save. And finally he is Christ – the appointed and promised Messiah King. Together, the Lord Jesus Christ proclaims fully who he is. He is God. He is man. He is savior. And, he is ours!!!!!!!!!! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Under the direction of the Spirit and his inner influence, you live DIFFERENT. Absolutely nothing changes a person like the Spirit of God. This is change from within, change at the very core of who you are. It is lasting change that makes you into a radically new person. The Holy Spirit leaves nothing untouched, nothing undone, nothing unchanged. Gradually and continually God’s presence within you reshapes your heart, renews your mind, and aligns your life with his purposes. As cliche as it may sound, it’s true – JESUS WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE! The old self is made new. You receive a new way of thinking, new desires, new priorities, and a new perspective on life. What once controlled you no longer defines you. 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”” Yeah – that’s real!!!! As this transformation takes place, different fruit naturally begins to appear in your life. You are no longer producing the works of the flesh; instead, the life of Jesus is begins flowing through you. And that’s really what we’ve been studying – It’s less of you and more of Him. That’s what FRUIT is. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. And the beautiful thing, it all happens so naturally. This isn’t a matter of your extreme effort to try and be better – this is all because of the Holy Spirit at work within you. The fruit of the Spirit is the visible evidence of an invisible presence. It is proof that God is changing you from the inside out. You are simply not who you once were, and the fruit your life now produces shows it. Remember when we began this study all the way back in episode #2141? We created two columns. On the left was the column labeled “Without the Holy Spirit” from Galatians 5:19-21. On the right was the column labeled “With the Holy Spirit” from Galatians 5:22-23. That left column was the list of yuck. It’s what naturally grows in our lives when we’re left to ourselves. When we follow our own desires, allow the world to become our primary influence, and ignore the leading of God, we drift to the left. We don’t have to strive for it. We don’t have to work at it. The acts of the flesh come naturally because they flow from our fallen nature. The list was difficult to study because it’s painfully familiar. We’ve seen it in our own lives. We’ve watched it unfold in the lives of people we care about. We’ve witnessed the damage it causes. Deep down, we know Paul wasn’t describing “those people.” He was describing what happens to ALL people apart from the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. All people, including us. There’s an inward battle taking place, and eventually that inward reality produces outward evidence. That’s why Paul begins with sexual immorality, impurity, and lustful pleasures. How many homes have been broken, marriages destroyed, and lives derailed by those acts of the flesh? Good people become entangled in destructive choices. They didn’t wake up one morning intending to wreck everything. It happened gradually. The seeds were planted, watered, and allowed to grow because they followed the desires of the flesh instead of the direction of the Spirit. That’s life on the left side of the page—life without the Holy Spirit’s influence. Then Paul moves to idolatry and sorcery—our pursuit of meaning, security, answers, and power apart from God. We take the sacred place in our hearts that belongs to God alone and fill it with substitutes. We trust things more than God. We seek things before God. We look to people, possessions, experiences, success, or substances to satisfy needs only God can meet. No one has to teach us how to do that. Our flesh naturally gravitates in that direction. We self-medicate. We chase escapes. We look for shortcuts. And before long, what we thought we controlled begins to control us. We arouse the ugly demon of addiction and end up with a life that looks a whole lot like hell. My friends, that’s life without the Holy Spirit. That’s where the flesh leads. That’s life on the wrong side of the page. That’s life in the yuck. But Paul isn’t finished. The list continues with hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Notice how much of this list destroys relationships. The flesh doesn’t just corrupt us personally—it fractures families, divides churches, ruins friendships, and turns people against one another. Wherever the flesh is leading, unity suffers and people get hurt. And perhaps the most gut wrenching truth of all is this: None of these things require effort. Left to ourselves, this is the direction we naturally drift. The works of the flesh are not learned behaviors as much as they are revealed behaviors. They expose what happens when self sits on the throne and God is pushed aside. Hell’s marketing strategy is to make the left side of the page look more fun, more free, and more desirable. But the truth is, life without the direction of the Holy Spirit is hell on Earth. It’s not freedom, it’s bondage. All that looked desirable quickly turns to destruction. This proven reality we’ve seen play out in countless lives makes the right side of the page in contrast so beautiful. Life WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. Life under the influence of God. Galatians 5:22-23 shows us what happens when the Holy Spirit takes His rightful place in our lives. Instead of the works of the flesh, there is the fruit of the Spirit. Instead of destruction, there is transformation. And it looks like this: Love Joy Peace Patience Kindness Goodness Faithfulness Gentleness Self-Control That’s MORE JESUS flowing through us. Less flesh. Less world. Less “left side” and more “right side.” The Holy Spirit is steadily, faithfully producing something new in us. These qualities begin to grow naturally as we walk with Him, changing not only what we do, but who we are becoming. The works of the flesh are things we do because of who we are apart from God. The fruit of the Spirit is what grows because of who God is within us. Fruit is evidence of life. An apple tree doesn’t strain to produce apples. It produces apples because that’s its nature. In the same way, when the Holy Spirit is alive and active in us, spiritual fruit begins to appear. Not perfectly. Not overnight. But steadily. Consistently. Supernaturally. Love starts replacing selfishness. Joy starts overcoming despair. Peace starts calming anxiety. Patience starts slowing anger. Kindness starts softening harshness. Goodness starts reshaping motives. Faithfulness starts creating consistency. Gentleness starts replacing forcefulness. Self-control starts winning battles that once seemed impossible. This is what the Spirit does. This is the miracle of transformation. He doesn’t just change our destination; He changes our character. He doesn’t simply forgive us and leave us as we are. He renews us from the inside out. Now let’s look at the final sentence in Paul’s teaching on the fruit of the Spirit. After listing all these qualities, he says: “There is no law against these things!” At first glance, that almost sounds unnecessary. Well, of course there isn’t a law against love. Of course there isn’t a law against kindness or goodness or self-control. Why would Paul even need to say that? Because throughout the book of Galatians, Paul has been addressing people who were obsessed with rules, regulations, and religious performance. They believed spiritual maturity came through keeping laws. They thought holiness could be achieved by trying harder, performing better, and following more rules. Paul is making a point. You will never legally work your way into the fruit of the Spirit. No law can make you loving. No rule can make you joyful. No regulation can produce peace. No amount of external pressure can create genuine patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control. Laws can restrain behavior, but only the Holy Spirit can transform the heart. The law can tell you what is right, but it cannot give you the power to live right. The law can expose sin, but it cannot produce fruit. Only the Spirit can do that. And when the Spirit produces these qualities in a person’s life, no law is needed because the very purpose of the law is already being fulfilled. A person walking in love doesn’t need a law telling them not to harm their neighbor. A person walking in self-control doesn’t need a law warning them against excess. A person walking in goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness is already living in a way that honors God and blesses others. Paul’s point is that the Spirit accomplishes what the law never could. This life of following Jesus is not primarily about trying harder to be better. It is about surrendering more deeply to the One who can actually change us. And that’s really the lesson of the fruit of the Spirit. The goal was never to memorize a list. The goal was never to grit our teeth and manufacture more patience or force ourselves to be more loving. The goal is to stay connected to Jesus, yield to the Holy Spirit, and allow Him to produce in us what we could never produce on our own. Because when the Spirit has His way, the flesh loses its grip. The old life begins to fade. And little by little, day by day, the life of Jesus becomes visible in us. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Here it is—today we study the final fruit of the Spirit. And isn’t it just like God to save a grand lesson for last? The one fruit every one of us knows we desperately need: Self-control. In mentoring women to pursue their God-given goals and live the life they were created for, I hear this all the time: “Pamela, I just don’t have any willpower. I have no self-control.” Have you ever said that about yourself? But let’s stop and ask a deeper question. Is that really true? Can someone who has been filled with the Holy Spirit truly say they have no self-control? I believe that’s one of the enemy’s favorite lies. It’s a limiting belief designed to keep us striving in our own strength instead of living from the power already at work within us. It’s a lie that makes us buy our own excuses and settle for a little life, all while we were created for a BIG Life. The very presence of God living within you PRODUCES self-control. Let me show you how I know. Most of us refer to Galatians 5:22-23 as the “fruits” of the Spirit—as though Paul is giving us a basket filled with different kinds of fruit. Maybe you’re naturally patient but struggle with kindness. Maybe you have joy but not peace. Maybe you have love but not self-control. It’s like saying, “the basket I was given has grapes, but no strawberries. I just have to struggle through this life with never getting strawberries because I wasn’t given any.” But that’s not what Paul wrote. Look closely. He doesn’t say, “The Holy Spirit produces these fruits.” He says, “The fruit of the Spirit is…” Let’s read it for ourselves, Galatians 5: 22-23, “But the Holy Spirit produces THIS KIND OF FRUIT in our lives: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Fruit is singular. Paul isn’t describing 9 separate fruits we can pick and choose from. He is describing one Spirit-produced life that reveals itself in 9 beautiful expressions: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Think of it like sunlight passing through a prism. It’s one light, yet it displays many colors. If a prism has sunlight, then it has all the colors. There’s not one defective prism just lacking pink. There’s not another just lacking yellow. They’re all there if the prism has sunlight, just turn it to see. The fruit of the Spirit works much the same way. It is one supernatural life produced by the Holy Spirit, expressed in multiple ways. That changes everything. Self-control isn’t an isolated virtue reserved for naturally disciplined people. It isn’t a personality trait. It isn’t something God gives to a select few while withholding it from everyone else. Yet somehow we believe only the super fit get self-control. Only the ones losing weight, or saving money, or with a clean house have self-control. Only those who consistently meet their goals have self-control. Isn’t that what you’ve believed? And haven’t you dismissed yourself at some point because you just don’t have the same self-control they do? Girl, don’t let the enemy twist this. Don’t let him convince you that you’re lacking the fruit. Are you a believer and follower of Jesus? Have you placed your faith in him and surrendered your life to him? Yes? Then you have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. God’s presence dwells within you. And just like when sunlight hits the prism, all the lights are present when you turn it – all 9 expressions of the Spirit are growing in you! You’re not missing one. You weren’t just left out. Self-control is part of the very character the Holy Spirit is growing in EVERY believer – and that means YOU. Self-control is growing in you right along side love and joy, and peace and patience, kindness, goodness and gentleness. Now, does that mean every Christian demonstrates perfect self-control? Of course not. Fruit grows. No one plants an apple tree on Monday and expects a harvest by Friday. Growth is gradual. It is cultivated. It is nourished. It matures over time. The question isn’t, “Do I already have perfect self-control?” The better question is, “Am I yielding to the Spirit who is producing it in me?” That’s an entirely different conversation. You may feel like someone who lacks self-control because you’ve looked at your failures more than God’s promises. But your failures don’t define what the Holy Spirit is capable of producing. If you belong to Christ, the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. That means the seed of self-control has already been planted. The issue isn’t whether God has given it. The issue is whether we’re allowing Him to cultivate it. This life isn’t about gritting our teeth and trying harder. It has always been about surrendering more deeply. Now, let’s study self-control and see what it really means. The Greek word translated as ‘self-control’ means power and strength within. What this means is the Holy Spirits gives every believer an internal ruler stronger than external temptation. No matter what temptation you’re facing, there’s an internal ruler stronger! There’s a power within you that can turn away, resist, and overcome. Y’all this past weekend I was at my Mama’s house and she made her award winning, best thing you’ve ever eaten in your whole life, blackberry cobbler. She had gone out and picked the fresh blackberries herself. She had made her secret pie crust that’s thick and perfectly flaky and buttery. Then, she made homemade icrecream to go with it. BUT I am committed with a healthy meal plan right now that does not include cobbler or ice cream, dad-gum-it! So, how do you think I did? Do you think I was able to withstand the temptation of this culinary perfection? You bet your butt I did, and here’s how – I HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT WITHIN ME and I KNOW THERE’S AN INTERNAL RULER STRONGER THAN THAT TEMPTATION. (I just have to listen to the right voice.) Does God really care if I eat mama’s blackberry cobbler and homemade icecream? Nahhh, I don’t think so. But I do believe God cares about my health because this body is a vessel for his Holy Spirit. And I do believe he cares about the commitments I make and my willingness to tap into the power he has given me to follow through with those commitments. What the Holy Spirit is growing within us isn’t the absence of desire. (I still really wanted a very large bowl of that greatness.) What the Holy Spirit is growing within us is proper rule OVER DESIRE. It’s the internal governor that says, “You don’t have to do every little thing you feel like doing. You don’t have to get everything you think you want. You don’t have to have immediate gratification. You’re not a victim to your every desire. Yield to God’s power within you.” 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline.” That’s what God has given you. Now it’s up to you to abide in him and surrender to the power he has put within you! Before Jesus saved us, our flesh ruled. We set on our throne, our desires issued commands and our minds justified them. Our bodies obeyed. But with Jesus we have the Holy Spirit, now we’re under a different command. There’s a different ruler on the throne. Jesus sits in authority. The Spirit empowers new desires. And yes, our flesh still speaks, but it is not longer the king. Self-control is evidence there’s a new king governing our heart and life. We become a new person with the fruit of the Holy Spirit growing in us! Now, understand this, the Holy Spirit does not merely hand us extra strength. He reshapes our loves. God’s commands come with God’s enabling grace. The Spirit writes God’s law on our hearts, creating new desires that increasingly align with His will. As we grow in Christ, we don’t just have stronger disciple, we actually grow to WANT WHAT GOD WANTS. The deepest direction of our heart is changing!!!!!! You can’t will yourself into that change – that’s a direct result of the Holy Spirit working within you. Now here’s what I hope you’ll never forget – Self-control is not about becoming a stronger version of you. It’s about becoming a more surrendered version of you. The world says, “Try harder.” Jesus says, “Abide in Me.” The world says, “Get more disciplined.” The Holy Spirit says, “Walk with Me.” Maybe you’ve spent years telling yourself, “I just don’t have any self-control.” Maybe you’ve believed that’s just the way you are. Maybe you’ve looked at other women and thought, “They’re disciplined. They’re organized. They’re healthy. They’re financially wise. They have self-control…I just don’t.” Sweet friend, that’s not your identity. If you belong to Christ, the Holy Spirit lives within you. And if the Holy Spirit lives within you, then He is producing His fruit within you—including self-control. The question isn’t whether God has given it. The question is whether you’ll believe it’s there…and begin partnering with Him instead of arguing with Him. Every time you’re tempted to quit… Every time you want to say something you’ll regret… Every time you want to give in to fear… Every time you want immediate gratification instead of God’s best… Pause. Remember who’s on the throne. Remember there is an internal Ruler who is stronger than every external temptation. Then choose to listen to His voice instead of the voice of your flesh. Will you still have moments where you fail? Absolutely. But failure is no longer your identity. It’s simply another opportunity to turn back to the One who is faithfully growing His fruit in you. Fruit doesn’t grow because we strain harder. Fruit grows because it stays connected to the vine. Jesus said in John 15, “Abide in Me.” He didn’t say,

As God’s presence takes up residence in you and becomes your guide, that harsh outer shell begins to break away. The walls you’ve built crumble. And what grows like fresh ivy taking over that old exterior is GENTLENESS. Gentleness is not weakness, nor is it passive. This word translated into ‘gentleness’ was used to describe a powerful horse that had been trained. The horse doesn’t lose it’s power when trained, it learns discipline. Gentleness is one of the most misunderstood Fruits of the Spirit because many people hear the word and think “weak,” “passive,” or “timid.” But in Scripture, gentleness is actually controlled strength under the direction of God. God never seeks to take away your strength, he works to direct your strength with discipline. When your strength is submitted to God, you receive gentleness. Then, just like a well trained horse, you are powerful with a purpose. Galatians 5: 22-23, “But the Holy spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, GENTLENESS. You don’t produce this kind of controlled strength and discipline on your own, it grows when you surrender your life to God and the work of the Holy Spirit. Remember, the horse doesn’t train itself – it submits itself to training. It doesn’t relinquish it’s strength, it surrenders its strength to direction. God isn’t asking you to be weak and incapable – he’s working in you to make you stronger than you ever imagined! He’s training you for great purposes. Jesus describes himself in Matthew 11: 29 as “humble and gentle at heart.” Humble and gentle – they go together. This is how God’s Spirit works within us. First, he humbles us to help us see who we are without him. From that inward humility grows gentleness, changing how we treat others. Humility is the root, gentleness is the fruit. The life surrendered to Jesus is humble like him, and grows in gentleness. Was Jesus ever without strength and power for a moment? Never! Yet, his gentleness was all his strength under control and all his power held in discipline, as he hung on the cross to die. Gentleness allowed him to fulfill his purpose. So, are you called by God to be harsh and rigid? Absolutely not. Are you designed to be the angry one – the destroyer – the one who tears things down? No, his spirit prodcues GENTLENESS in you. Your strength will never be stronger than it is when it is submitted to the training of the Holy Spirit. Gentleness doesn’t need to dominate or control. Gentleness doesn’t need to win every argument. Gentleness is strength restrained with discipline, under the direction of God. I love spending time in Bali. The Balinese people are truly some of the most humble and gentle people on earth. On my most recent trip, my drive Panji taught me that in their culture, the angry and demanding person is not the strongest person, in fact they are the weakest person. Anger is seen as weakness. Power trips are seen as failure. Humility and gentleness are true strength. Seeing this lived out by an entire culture is one of the most refreshing things I’ve ever seen. AND THEY ARE WITHOUT JESUS. They have to work to produce that on their own. We have the gift of the Holy Spirit living in us, naturally growing GENTLENESS, so why on earth do we fight it? Why are we trying to be the boss? Why are we trying to gain control? Why are we trying to force or manipulate? Why are we so angry and unbridled? Girl, LET THE HOLY SPIRIT DO HIS WORK IN YOU. LET HIM GROW GENTLENESS FROM WITHIN YOU. Here’s how God’s gentleness grows within you. First, the Holy Spirit begins to expose any harshness. You start noticing your impatience. You become aware of your tendency to get defensive. You see your controlling tendencies for yourself. You hear your own angry voice and you grow to dislike it. This is holy conviction, and it’s the work of the Holy Spirit in you. This is how change happens! As you lean into the work of the Holy Spirit, you begin to see how God changes people so much better than your force ever could have. You begin to see how your anger was never necessary. You understand how your ploy for control was always making things worse. Now, with this awareness, you grow in trust and dependence of God. The more you grow in trust, the more Christ’s character is formed in you. As you walk with Jesus, you begin naturally walking like him. The gentleness of Jesus begins to grow within you, reshaping you from the inside. Philippians 4:5, “Let your gentleness be evident to all.” Looking back, my best parenting was always gentleness. Every time I was harsh or angry, I generally made things worse. What my husband has needed was gentleness. The Holy Spirit is growing gentleness within you – yes, let it be evident to all. Gentleness is strength under control. Gentleness reflects the heart of Jesus. Gentleness makes restoration possible. Gentleness is evidence of the Holy Spirit growing in you. As God’s presence takes up residence in you and becomes your guide, that harsh outer shell begins to break away. The walls you’ve built crumble. And what grows like fresh ivy taking over that old exterior is GENTLENESS. Have you ever noticed an old wall covered in ivy? This is such a picture of the Holy Spirit transforming us. Imagine an old stone fortress. For years it has stood alone. Thick walls. Cold stones. Sharp edges. Built for defense. And maybe those walls were necessary at one time. They were built after betrayal, disappointment, criticism, fear, rejection, or loss. They kept enemies out—but they also kept love from freely flowing in and out. Many of us become emotional fortresses without realizing it. Then Christ comes to dwell within us. He doesn’t begin by demolishing the fortress with explosions. He begins by making it unnecessary. The walls just aren’t necessary any more. Then, like ivy taking root in the cracks, His Spirit quietly begins to spread. At first, the ivy seems insignificant. You still react sharply sometimes. You still become defensive. You still protect your pride. Yet something new is growing within. Something is changing. Season after season, the ivy grows. It softens every hard line. It reaches places no hammer could. It finds tiny cracks where grace can enter. Eventually people no longer notice the fortress first—they notice the living green that covers it. That is gentleness. Not the absence of strength. Strength clothed in life.The goal is not to become more gentle by sheer effort. The goal is to abide in Christ. As His presence fills every room of your heart, His gentleness quietly overtakes the old cold walls of self-protection. That is the quiet miracle of the Holy Spirit. Gentleness is one of the clearest signs that this transformation is taking root. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Faithfulness isn’t something our culture celebrates very much. We celebrate talent, success, influence, and achievement. But heaven celebrates something different. Heaven celebrates faithfulness. In the life of someone not under the influence of the Holy Spirit, faithfulness is a constant struggle. But in the life of someone filled with the Spirit, faithfulness begins to grow naturally. It becomes part of who they are. Galatians 5:23, “The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: Love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, FAITHFULNESS …” Again, it’s a fruit. It’s not something we strain for, it’s something that grows within us and is naturally produced in our lives when we are abiding in Jesus. Faithfulness is a translation of the Greek word ‘pistis’ which means, reliability, trustworthiness, fidelity, loyalty and dependability. Yip, all the things you would look for in a partner – that’s what God naturally GROWS in US! But faithfulness is born out of trusting God. BECAUSE we trust God, we can be absolutely steadfast. We can stay the course and continue forward no matter what because of our unshakable faith in God. Without God, we waiver. With God, we are faithful. Faithfulness isn’t flashy. It rarely gets applause. It’s the behind-the-scenes commitment no one notices. Faithfulness quietly keeps promises. It shows up long after the excitement has faded. It finishes what it starts. It stays when circumstances become difficult. It keeps loving after feelings change. It keeps serving after recognition disappears. It keeps trusting when prayers seem unanswered. Lasting faithfulness is impossible without Jesus. We may keep a promise here and there through sheer determination, but only the Holy Spirit can produce a life marked by consistent faithfulness. When you have Jesus, an unfaithful life feels so incredibly wrong in every sense. The Holy Spirit lovingly refuses to leave us comfortable in unfaithfulness. He convicts us, stirs our hearts, and keeps drawing us back toward obedience. The gift of the Holy Spirit won’t let us sleep when we are being unfaithful. The Holy Spirit will stir us up, poke at us, and leave us in a state of complete unrest when we’re unfaithful. Thank you Lord, for not leaving me like I was! Once again, recognize this is a character of God, not of humans. Adam and Eve lived in paradise. There was no sin, no brokenness, no pain. God gave them one command—just one—and they couldn’t keep it. That’s the story of humanity. Left to ourselves, we aren’t naturally faithful. We wander. We quit. We compromise. We break promises. We fail. But God is different. Deuteronomy 7:9, “The LORD your God is indeed God. He is the FAITHFUL God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands.” God has never broken a promise. He’s never abandoned a plan. He’s never walked away from His people. God is faithful. It’s who he is and what he does. **Now here’s the miracle… The faithful God now lives in you. Think about that. The God who has never broken a promise… The God who has never abandoned His children… The God who always finishes what He starts… lives inside you through His Holy Spirit. So it only makes sense that His faithfulness is beginning to grow in you too. So you know what you absolutely MUST do – Stop introducing yourself by your old nature. STOP excusing yourself as someone who simply can’t finish what you start. That may have been the old you, but remember the Spirit of God is now working in you to make you NEW. You’re not who you once were, you’re becoming more and more like Jesus with the character of God reshaping you. Without God, we waver. With God, we are faithful. Maybe you’ve never stuck with anything your entire life – okay – but it doesn’t have to continue that way. Something new is growing now. With the power of the Holy Spirit, let me tell you exactly who you are becoming: You’re becoming the girl who is obedient when no one is watching. Yes, you’re proving you can be trusted with little, so now God is going to trust you with much! You’re becoming the girl who is faithful in her relationships. You keep your commitments and you remain loyal – no matter what. You’re becoming a girl who gives her best even when no one is watching. You work with your whole heart in all you do, as if you’re doing it for God himself. You’re becoming that good and faithful servant. Maybe not always successful, but that’s never what Jesus asked for. He honors your faithfulness over your success. You’re becoming the girl who can wait. The girl who can trust even when the answers don’t come. You’re living out Hebrews 10:23, “Let us hold tightly to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.” You trust God, so you faithfully wait for the fulfillment of his promises over your life. Without God, we waver. With God, we are faithful. And let me tell you something, your life now feels different with the fruit of faithfulness growing in you. You’re stable. People trust you. You live so much deeper now, stronger now, healthier now. And most importantly, your faithfulness reflects that genuine character of God and people are continually catching a glimpse of Jesus through you. Yip, every time you show up because you said you would – every time you keep going and don’t give up – every time you keep your promises – every time you give your best effort – every single time, you’re shining Jesus to this world. When people know they can count on you, when you are known to keep your word, when you are consistent and steady, when you are unwavering even under pressure, when you are still there even when life gets hard, when you finish the things God asked you to begin, when you stay instead of walking away …. THAT’S THE FRUIT OF FAITHFULNESS GROWING IN YOUR LIFE. That’s the power of God in you! Without God, we waver. With God, we are faithful. Faithfulness looks like Abraham and Sarah trusting God’s promise for a baby for decades. Faithfulness looks like Joseph as a slave, Joseph as a prisoner, and Joseph in power with the same unshakable character. Faithfulness looks like Ruth out gathering what little food there was, doing what she could do to survive and care for her mother-in-law, when she stumbled into the field of a rich man who would love her. Faithfulness is Mary, a teenage virgin willingly accepting a miraculous pregnancy that would turn her whole world upside down. Faithfulness is Jesus – walking out his calling and purpose all the way to the cross, eyes always on the Father. Faithfulness – you are being called to it. Faithfulness – it’s being produced in your life through a power so much greater than you. You’re growing in faithfulness and it’s changing you. Recognize this change. Without God, we waver. With God, we are faithful. Challenge for Today: “Be Faithful in the Small Things” Choose one area where you can intentionally practice Spirit-produced faithfulness today. Here are a few ideas: Keep every promise you make today—even the small ones. Arrive early for every commitment. Complete a task you’ve been postponing. Spend your planned time with God, even if you don’t “feel” like it. Encourage someone you’ve committed to pray for, and then actually pray for them. Follow through on something without seeking recognition. As you do, pray: “Holy Spirit, make me a faithful person. Form in me a character that reflects the unwavering faithfulness of Jesus. Help me to be trustworthy in the little things, steadfast in difficulty, loyal in relationships, and devoted to You. May my life proclaim Your faithfulness to everyone I meet.” The Holy Spirit delights to produce that kind of steady, enduring faithfulness— one faithful choice at a time. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

When we are under the influence of the Holy Spirit, our very character changes. From within, we become different. Girl, you’re simply not who you once were. Have you noticed as you change and grow it almost puts a spotlight on our loved ones who are NOT. Maybe someone you love is NOT under the influence of the Holy Spirit and they seem to be stuck in old way … well, they are. When you invite the presence of God into your life HE makes you new. 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” This means if someone DOESN’T belong to Christ, they’re still the same old person living the same life. Their answer is not to try harder – their answer is to surrender their life to Jesus and let the Holy Spirit change them from within! So, here we are as surrendered souls being made new. We’re being reworked from the inside so we’re becoming different, growing different fruit in our lives. Naturally, when the inside has changed, the outside begins to change as well. Today we study the next fruit produced in our life under the influence of the Holy Spirit – GOODNESS. The Greek word translated into goodness has a root word meaning good, upright and excellent. When the suffix is added, it turns into a character trait. The full meaning of this word “goodness” means to have moral excellence, an upright heart, integrity and goodness in action. And where does this goodness come from? Only ONE source – this is God’s goodness flowing through us. This is not self-produced goodness. This isn’t a 10 step program to change your heart and realign your morals. This isn’t being kind, doing nice things, changing your morals – this is God himself expressing HIS character through your surrendered life. This is simply the goodness of God himself dwelling within, transforming you, and then naturally flowing out from you. When you surrender your life to God, HE makes you good. If you’re struggling with a twisted heart or mind, there’s ONE who is in the business of untwisting – that’s the work of the Holy Spirit. And every single one of us have gotten a little twisted. Life in this world has a way of doing that. Human nature is a twisting. We simply can’t live well without God’s influence and direction. This is NEVER a matter of you being a better person than someone else – this is always a matter of God’s almighty work within you. Without God, you would be one twisted girl living in utter darkness – and that’s just the humbling truth. The Holy Spirit changes our character to GOODNESS. He aligns our morals with God’s. He teaches us to do what is right even when no one is watching. He grows our desires in the direction of integrity. We don’t do that ourselves. Girl, if there’s goodness in you, that’s a work of God, not of you! This fruit of goodness is a growing of WHO YOU ARE. It’s an external proof of the internal transformation happening. God is GOOD. His power is good. His ways are good. His plans are good. And when your soul is surrendered to Him as Lord and He is in control of your life, then He is living inside of you, making you good. It starts with Him and flows into you. This isn’t an act of willpower on your part; this is an act of surrender. This isn’t an achievement; this is a transformation. Goodness is the overflow of abiding in Christ. The fruit isn’t something you force—it is something God grows as you remain connected to Him. Goodness starts with God. Goodness flows into you. Goodness grows through you. Goodness blesses everyone around you. If you take GOD out of GOODNESS, you are left with o-ness. If you’re trying to make yourself be good without the power of the Holy Spirit working in you, you may achieve good behavior for a while, but you’ll never produce godly goodness. Only God can produce God’s character. GOODNESS IS GOD’S CHARACTER. We try to be good without God and we just end up exhausting ourselves trying to become by effort – but this goodness is only produced through surrender to God. Do you want to be better? SURRENDER! Then the fruit of goodness will naturally grow! Jesus shows us what the goodness of God within looks like in action. Acts 10:38 puts it simply, “Jesus went around doing good.” The character of goodness always produces goodness in action. The more the Holy Spirit works his goodness in you, the more your actions align to those of Jesus. Girl, you’re going to be going around DOING GOOD! What if your entire life became about going around just doing good! You want to represent Jesus to this world – go around doing good! Let God’s goodness flow through you onto everyone you encounter! Ephesians 2:10 says we’re created to do the good things God planned for us. Doing good things doesn’t save us – But the goodness of God growing in us naturally has us going around doing good things! Think about that – do you notice that in your own journey with God? The more you grow in Jesus – the more you learn and follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit – the more he has you going around doing good things! How radically cool is that? THAT’S THE FRUIT OF GOODNESS GROWING IN YOUR LIFE! So today, don’t leave our time together thinking, “I need to try harder to be good.” Leave thinking, “I need to stay closer to God.” Fruit never grows because the branch strains harder—it grows because it stays connected to the vine. The closer you live to Jesus, the more His goodness becomes your goodness. Before you know it, you’ll find yourself speaking with more integrity, loving more deeply, giving more generously, forgiving more freely, serving more joyfully, and doing good almost without thinking about it. That’s the Holy Spirit transforming your character. Girl, this world doesn’t just need more nice people. It needs more people so surrendered to Jesus that His goodness overflows into every conversation, every decision, every relationship, and every ordinary day. So stay surrendered. Stay connected. Stay under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Then go around doing good, because everywhere the goodness of God goes, darkness loses ground and people catch a glimpse of Jesus. And really that’s what it’s all about – show the world JESUS! Every act of goodness points beyond us. Every kind word, every generous act, every choice of integrity, every quiet sacrifice becomes another opportunity for someone to catch a glimpse of Jesus. So let His goodness grow in you, flow through you, and reveal Him to the world. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

In our study of the fruits of the Spirit, we’re understanding this isn’t a list of attributes to strive for, it’s not a checklist for being a follower of Jesus, it’s the tangible results that grow in our lives when we’re connected to God. FRUITS of the Spirit. Fruit grows. Fruit is the natural outcome of a healthy tree. The Holy Spirit is God’s presence living within us, and that Spirit changes our heart. And very naturally without force, when our heart changes, our behavior changes. We start seeing things and people differently. We start responding differently. Our priorities shift. And even our very character is changed. With the Holy Spirit, we naturally begin to grow in love, in joy, in peace and in patience. Now the next literal change we can see as the Holy Spirit works to change our hearts, we grow in KINDNESS. Galatians 5:23, “The Holy Spirit produce this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness …” The Greek word translated into kindness is chrēstotēs. This word means being a blessing wherever you go. It is more than just a smile, it is an intentional act that benefits others. This is a disposition, meaning WHO YOU ARE. Who you are is blessed and what you do is be a blessing – that is the true meaning of kindness as a fruit of the Spirit. Kindness is a focus on others that continually asks, “How can I help? How can I lift their burden? How can I bless?” Kindness takes the focus off self and sees the needs of others. When kindness sees a need, it springs into action – not for how it makes them look, but for how it makes others feel. Acts of kindness reveal the kindness of our God. Did you know scripture calls God KIND? Psalm 145: 13-20, listen to this description of our God – “The LORD always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does. The LORD helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their loads. The eyes of all look to you in hope; you give them their food as they need it. When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with KINDNESS. The LORD is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth. He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them. The LORD protects all those who love him …” Y’all, that’s OUR GOD! He is so genuinely KIND. He blesses us beyond measure. As a recipient of his kindness in the Holy Spirit, we then begin to grow that same kindness from within. It becomes who we are. We are blessed to be a blessing. Everywhere Jesus went, kindness followed. Think about it. He touched lepers when no one was willing to even stand next to them. As a woman caught in adultery was about to be stoned to death, he drew a line in the sand and defended her. He stood in a hungry crowd of thousands and decided he would feed them their next meal. As he hung on the cross dying the most painful death imaginable, he forgave. Kindness wasn’t something Jesus occasionally did – it was who he was. And we’re called to be more and more like Jesus. We can’t be like Jesus without being KIND. Kindness moves. Kindness responds. Kindness steps right into the messy need and gets their hands dirty. As kindness grows within us through the work of the Holy Spirit, we will no longer be able to just walk by anymore because we’re too busy. THAT’S CHANGING. The fruit of kindness changes what we see. Instead of seeing interruptions, we see opportunities. Instead of seeing differences, we see hurting people who God loves. Instead of seeing ourselves as better, we see ourselves as a vessel that carries a blessing, and that blessing is to be poured out! Imagine three people walk into a room where someone is hurting. The first person says, “I’m praying for you.” That’s compassion. The second person says, “God is with you in this.” That may be goodness. The third person says, “I brought dinner. I’ll watch your kids. I’ll mow your yard. I’ll sit with you.” That’s chrēstotēs KINDNESS. Kindness doesn’t just merely notice pain. Kindness enters it. In this world, our hearts naturally become impatient and critical. Life can make us harsh and suspicious. We can begin building our walls and our judgments. But the Holy Spirit starts tearing down those walls. The work of God’s presence living within us softens our hearts again. Here’s the thing, when you know you have been overwhelmed by totally undeserved kindness from God himself, then you can’t help but turn around and show undeserved kindness to others. If you’re amazed by the sheer kindness of Jesus, then you can’t remain indifferent toward people. Kindness changes who you are! Kindness at work within you has no limits. The Holy Spirit wants to grow kindness is you that changes absolutely everything you do. Suddenly you’ll notice the way you talk is kind. The way you drive is kind. The way you parent is kind. The way you lead is kind. They way you follow is kind. Kindness will permeate everything about you and everything you do. God’s kindness toward us becomes God’s kindness through us. It’s one of the clearest proofs that Jesus is changing your heart! As you walk with Jesus and grow in his Spirit, have you noticed yourself changing? It hasn’t been an overnight change, but a gradual growth. You don’t see things the way you used to. You can’t just walk by what you used to walk by. You’re moved by the needs of people now. You hurt when they hurt. You’re no longer serving from a self-seeking position, but a heart that has been transformed by the love of Christ. His Spirit is teaching you to love what He loves, to value what He values, and guess what that is … PEOPLE. God loves his people. God values his people. Now his Spirit teaches us to do the same. What once seemed like an interruption now becomes an opportunity to show compassion. What once felt like a burden now becomes a privilege to carry. This is the evidence of spiritual maturity—not perfection, but transformation. As God continues His work in you, your life begins to reflect His kindness, His patience, His mercy, and His grace. The more you abide in Him, the more His character is formed in you. Others may not notice every small change, but over time they begin to see Jesus in the way you speak, the way you forgive, the way you serve, and the way you love. Keep walking with Him. He is faithfully shaping you into the person He created you to be. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Patience is actually NOT something you lack when the Holy Spirit dwells within you. Patience is something that naturally grows within you and is produced in your life. It’s a byproduct of the presence of God. Just as an apple tree naturally grows apples, as God’s girl, you naturally grow patience. So why do you feel like you’re lacking it? Why do you still get frustrated in the waiting? Why do you still rush and push and force? Did you not get patience? The Spirit produces; but we still participate. Yes, the Holy Spirit changes our desires and empowers obedience, but God’s Word also repeatedly calls believers to “LET the Holy Spirit guide your lives” (Galatians 5:16) and to “FOLLOW the Spirit’s leading” (Galatians 5:25). If you’re not letting the Holy Spirit guide you and if you’re not actively following His leading, then you’re simply not experiencing everything He wants to grow in you. If an apple tree refused to drink the water provided through the rain, do you think it would produce the fruit it was created to grow? Of course not. So girl, you have a role in this. As you surrender to the Spirit, stay connected to God, and choose His way over your old patterns, you’ll find His fruit growing in your life. God’s job through the Holy Spirit is not to completely override your personality. His work is to transform you into the fullness of His image as you walk with Him in that transformation. You still have a choice. Sometimes, you may still choose your old impatience. Here’s the great news: Even when you’re impatient, God is not. He is patiently extending the next invitation for you to depend on Him rather than your own strength. Again and again, He offers you a better way and lovingly waits for you to choose it. God will out-wait your stubborn era. He’ll out-wait your striving. He’ll out-wait your need to control the outcome. He’ll out-wait your fear that if you don’t make something happen, nothing ever will. And really, when you boil it all down, isn’t that how you feel? You seriously think you have to make something happen or nothing will ever happen for you. You think you have to somehow get control. You think you’re going to force this. Oh sweet girl, you’re simply not that powerful. God is not anxious about your timeline because He’s not limited by time. Time is a human constraint, not a Godly constraint. When God says in Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega – the beginning and the end. I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come.” – well, he actually means that. He has always been in every yesterday and he’s already in every tomorrow. Yes, he’s already there. He has always held the entire future in his hands. We’re stuck in today, but God is not. Peter probably explained it best when he said in 2 Peter 3:8, “But you must not forget this one thing: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.” My friend, TIME IS NOT A PROBLEM FOR GOD. Your timeline is self-imposed, God is above your timeline. Even in the moments when he saw the very beginning of this for you, he was already at the very end of it too. God can do in 1 day what you and I could not do in a thousand years. And in God’s time, a thousand years is like a single day. Is God in a rush? Not at all? Has he called you to be? Not in the slightest. He has allotted your time on this Earth in advance. he knows precisely the number of days you have in this life. He has held every one of those days since the beginning of time. And as you live, he’s been teaching you to trust his timing. Can you look back and see how his timing is always perfect? Can you see how he moved mountains, opened doors, changed hearts, opened eyes, and collided worlds precisely in the best timing? Yes? He’s proven you can trust him with the timing of what is next too! But if you’ve been waiting for a while, you’re likely feeling a little anxious questioning when it’s going to happen. Your mind has likely been running off into ways you can just make things happen on your own. Don’t miss this, Sis – every delay becomes another opportunity to trust him. Every moment of waiting becomes another chance to let the Holy Spirit produce what you could never manufacture on your own. So the next time you catch yourself rushing, forcing, or growing frustrated, recognize the invitation. Pause and ask, “Holy Spirit, what would it look like to follow Your pace right now?” Woah – that’s powerful. Would you try that? Today, when you realize you’re rushing – when you realize you’re frustrated waiting in line – today when you’re trying to force things to move faster ask the Holy Spirit what it would look like to follow his pace. I bet you will feel a sense of calm rush over you. I bet all that tension in your forehead will release and your eyebrows won’t look so angry. I bet you’ll suddenly feel fresh breath fill your lungs and remind you of God’s presence. That’s what patience feels like. Patience isn’t something you’re trying squeeze out of yourself. It’s not a posture you’re trying to contort yourself into. You don’t have to beat yourself into patience. Patience is someone you’re learning to surrender to. That’s right, patience is a surrender to God’s unique way of working in the details and timing of your life. And the more you walk with Him, the more you’ll discover that patience isn’t just what He asks of you—it’s what He faithfully grows within you. I’ve always heard you should never pray for patience. Why? Because you’ll be given a dumptruck load of crap that goes wrong and takes too long so that you’re forced to be patient. Show me where that is in your Bible – it’s not there. But also notice this – Scripture never tells us to pray, “God, give me patience.” Instead, it tells us to walk with the Holy Spirit, who produces patience in us. The goal isn’t to chase the fruit – it’s to stay connected to the One who grows it. The growth of fruit happens slowly, not overnight. Apple trees don’t suddenly wake up one morning and say, “Woah, look at that full grown apple that appeared on my branches while I slept.” No, the growth happens ever so gradually and continually. That’s the way fruit grows. Patience is a slow-growing fruit. Perhaps it’s been growing so slowly in you that you haven’t even noticed it’s development. But look back and see the evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Do you recover more quickly than you used to? Wow – that’s the fruit of patience growing in your life. Do you now pray instead of exploding? Yip – that’s the fruit of patience growing in your life. Do you actually apologize now? Hey girl, that’s growth right there! Do you trust God more deeply that you once did? Oh yeah, there’s the fruit of patience growing! Scripture is filled with faithful people who had to wait. Waiting for freedom. Waiting for a baby. Waiting for change. Waiting for victory. Waiting for healing. Faith doesn’t erase the experience of waiting. It changes HOW we wait. May you wait more like a girl who trusts the God who is in complete control. May you wait more like a girl who trusts her good, good Father. May you wait more like a girl who knows that what God has promised, He will be faithful to fulfill. May you wait with peace instead of panic, with expectation instead of anxiety, and with open hands instead of clenched fists. Because waiting isn’t wasted when you’re waiting with God. He’s working in the waiting. He’s shaping your heart in the waiting. He’s growing something in you and preparing something for you in the waiting. So don’t rush what God is asking you to trust. Don’t force what God has asked you to surrender. His timing has never been late, and His plans have never needed your panic to come to pass. Wait well, sweet girl. The God who holds your future is holding you, too. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

The fruits of the spirit are the direct results of God’s presence in our lives. It’s the natural byproduct produced from within us when God’s Holy Spirit lives in us. Today we study the 3rd evidence that grows like fruit on a tree. Galatians 5:23, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, PEACE …” Peace. In Greek, Jesus would have often used the word ‘shalom’. It means completeness, wholeness, everything being as God intended it to be – nothing missing and nothing broken. So when Paul says the Holy Spirit grows peace, he’s not talking about someone who simply doesn’t get upset. He’s talking about a soul that has been made WHOLE by God. This is not a guarantee of an easy life. This is not peace that comes through an absence of trouble. Oh no, Sis. This is a peace that remains regardless of the trouble. This is a divine calm in the storm and a guard for our heart in the heat of the battle. The world says, “I’ll have peace when…” When the bills are paid. When the diagnosis changes. When my kids finally straighten up. When the relationship gets better. When life slows down. But the Holy Spirit says, “You can have peace now.” Not because everything around you is settled, but because the One within you is settled. Before facing the cross, Jesus tells his disciples that he is about to die and would no longer walk with them, but God would give them another Advocate who would never leave them. He is the Holy Spirit. God’s presence to live within them, teach them and guide them. Further describing this divine internal presence that’s so hard to understand, Jesus says in John 14:27, “I’m 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. There’s absolutely nothing you can do to produce this peace for yourself. There’s no meditation or deep breathing that brings this peace. There’s no soundtrack for this, no magical place on a mountaintop or hidden away in the woods. No, this peace isn’t found in the world or in yourself. It is ONLY through the presence of the Holy Spirit. You don’t have to work for it, you simply have to abide in Christ and this unspeakable peace grows. Peace isn’t pretending everything is okay. It’s knowing that even when everything isn’t okay, God still is. As I mentioned last week, while at our Lake Retreat, one of our really special BIG Life girls received the phone call that her husband had died. While her whole world is absolutely shattered and she has walked through this unimaginable and unexpected loss for the past week, something remarkable has happened. She has literally felt God strengthening her. When she can’t catch her breath, she says she can feel God breathing into her. In this time where nothing makes sense, not even the time of day, there is a settled peace living inside of her. My friends, that is the Holy Spirit. Have you ever experienced that level of peace? Peace that Philippians 4:7 says, “exceeds anything we can understand. Peace that will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” It’s a settled knowing from within when everything else is spinning out of control. It’s an anchor for your soul that holds you steady when the waves come crashing against you. But this peace isn’t reserved for times of trouble. This peace can be your constant. On the bad days and the good days. In the highs just as much as in the lows. You know when you need the peace of the Holy Spirit? … in the battle and in victory. In the storm and in the blissful sunshine. The truth is, without God’s peace, you can be sitting in the most beautiful day of life and be radically upset. Without God’s peace you can miss the goodness of the moment and be all stirred up about things that aren’t even a real threat. Are you in a reasonably good season of life right now? Did you wake up today without crisis or deep grief? Pause for a moment and think about that. You’re okay today. Your people okay are today. Let your mind settle in peace. You don’t have to manufacture the next thing to worry about. You don’t have to busy yourself. You can sit here in this peace and let it wash over you. PEACE CAN BE YOUR CONSTANT. When the Holy Spirit is living inside of you, this level of peace naturally grows in your life. You wake up with this peace. You walk in this peace. You are held steady in this peace. You move forward in this peace. You rest in this peace. And you know what else you do – YOU BRING PEACE TO EVERY TABLE YOU SET AT. Girl, that’s what your family needs! That’s what your office needs. That’s what your neighborhood needs. They don’t need you to be the one with all the answers and solutions. They don’t need you to be the one that takes charge and creates radical change. Actually what they need is for you to bring the gift Jesus brought to his disciples on the night before the cross. THE GIFT OF PEACE. Think about that – how can you offer the gift of peace today? It is a gift you can give because it’s growing in your life. Have you ever seen an apple tree straining and groaning trying to push out apples? No. It simply stays rooted. The fruit is evidence of the life inside it. That’s our job too. Stay rooted in Jesus. The Holy Spirit grows the fruit. If I’m an apple tree growing apples, I can easily offer you an apple. I can’t offer you a ribeye steak because that’s not what’s growing on my limbs. But as an apple tree, I can always give you an apple. And it’s really that simple. As God’s girl with the very presence of God within, you’re growing peace on your limbs. Peace during the good and peace during the bad. Peace in the storm and peace in the calm. You can always offer peace. It’s not your calling to bring the freak-out. Freak-out doesn’t grow in the life of a girl carrying around the Holy Spirit. It’s not your calling to bring the negativity. Negativity doesn’t grow in the life of a girl carrying around the Holy Spirit. It’s not your calling to bring the drama. Drama doesn’t grow in the life of a girl carrying around the Holy Spirit. It’s not your calling to spread fear. Fear doesn’t grow in the life of a girl carrying around the Holy Spirit. Your calling is to bring the peace. PEACE GROWS IN THE LIFE OF A GIRL CARRYING AROUND THE HOLY SPIRIT! Peace in your home. Peace in your office. Peace in your neighborhood. Peace in your car. Peace everywhere you go. Don’t be a thermometer that only reflects the temperature of the room. Be a thermostat that changes it. When everyone else is anxious, you stay steady. When everyone else is panicking, you stay prayerful. When everyone else is arguing, you stay peaceful. Why? Because you’re carrying the Holy Spirit. Every room you walk into has an atmosphere. Some rooms feel tense. Some feel fearful. Some feel angry. Some feel rushed. But because the Prince of Peace lives in you, every room you enter has the opportunity to become more peaceful simply because you showed up. Show up today and bring PEACE WITH YOU AS YOUR PLUS ONE! Hey girl, it’s me, plus PEACE today! I interrupt your chaos with God’s peace. I interrupt your stress with God’s peace. I interrupt your worry with God’s peace. Don’t confuse peace with being passive. Jesus had perfect peace—and He still walked straight toward the cross. Peace doesn’t make you weak. Peace makes you unshakable. Imagine what would happen if every daughter of God decided today: “Wherever I go, peace goes.” Into my marriage… peace goes. Into my parenting… peace goes. Into my workplace… peace goes. Into the waiting room… peace goes. Into the hard conversation… peace goes. Into the celebration… peace goes. Why? Because I carry the Holy Spirit. I don’t have to manufacture peace. I don’t have to chase peace. I don’t have to wait for peace. I carry Peace Himself. And wherever the Spirit of God lives, the fruit of peace grows. You are a soul who has been made whole by God, so you have PEACE. SHALOM. With God, everything is as it should be. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Joy is one expression of the life of Jesus growing within us. What exactly is joy? It’s deep, not surface level. It is permanent, not circumstantial. It’s a settled confidence, not a mood. It’s a spiritual strength, not a changing emotion. And this joy, according to Nehemiah 8:10, is the source of your strength. Joy is supernatural, not natural. The source of joy is God – not a personality type, not positive thinking patterns. No, joy is the result of God’s Holy Spirit dwelling within you. The closer we remain to Jesus, the more joy grows in our lives. Not by force, not by will, but by connection. The world searches for joy through outside sources. We look in relationships, and we’re left disappointed. We strive for success, and we’re left stressed. We think joy is found in having money, then we realize we always want more. We look to entertainment and we’re left empty. We think joy is found on vacation, then the vacation ends and it’s back to regular life and where’s the joy in that? None. Joy is not found out here. So where is joy found? Psalm 16:11 tells us where joy is and it’s very clear. “In your presence, Lord, there is fullness of joy.” And because the Holy Spirit within us is the literal presence of God, we are carrying the SOURCE of JOY. It’s not out here in anything external, created or strived for, it’s right inside of us. It’s God in us! He is our source of joy. This is why it’s possible to have joy wherever we go, whatever we go through, regardless of circumstances – we carry the joy with us. We have the SOURCE – that is the presence of God. There’s a difference between happiness and joy. Some times are simply not happy times. Some times we hurt, some times we grieve. And yet joy remains. How is that possible? Joy depends on one thing – God within you. And guess what, he’s not leaving! So joy is always present regardless of the season or the circumstance. Happiness depends on what happens. Happiness changes hourly. But joy abides and survives tragedy. Even on the cross, Jesus was filled with joy. Even in agony, joy was within. Hebrews 12:2, “For the joy set before him he endured the cross.” With eyes set on the joy of fulfilling his purpose and completing his mission of saving YOU, he endured and he remained. He held the perfect power to take himself down from that cross at any moment, yet he remained, and he remained with the joy of knowing God’s goodness through it all. Jesus shows us how to endure, how to suffer, how to go through the very hardest of times. He doesn’t run. He doesn’t hide. He doesn’t try to change it. He endures it with joy set before him. God was right there with him, therefore he had supernatural joy to stay in the moment and fulfill his purpose. That’s what the Holy Spirit does in our lives – He helps us look forward knowing this is temporary and eternal promises are ahead. The Holy Spirit reminds us of God’s good plans and his perfect track record of fulfilling them. Joy is not the absence of sorrow – sometimes sorry and joy are present at the same time. The Holy Spirit teaches us to hold grief in one hand while still holding joy in the other. Here’s the truth, at any given moment, someone is having the absolute best day of their life. At that same moment, someone else is experiencing the absolute worst day of their life. And here we are in the middle of it all. What do we do with that? With the power of the Holy Spirit, we faithfully hold both. Last weekend at retreat, in the middle of all our fun, all our happiness, all our games, all our laughter, one of our BIG Life girls received the phone call that changed absolutely everything for her. Her husband had just died at home. He was gone and she was states away there with us. Oh the grief that overtook her. The pain that was palpable in the room. We fell to our knees with no words, only breathing out the name of YAHWEH. And let me tell you from that experience, I see how when life hits that hard, you want to be surrounded by people like that! You want your army of girls who can lay on the floor with you, then help pick you back up. You want your people who can pray with you and walk with you. Once we had her fully cared for and being escorted by the right girls back home, we were left in a house that had just held so much sorrow. What do you do after that? How do you salvage a weekend retreat when tragedy has hit for one among you? Well my friends, JOY IS STILL THERE. We had ourselves a real life lesson of holding grief in one hand and joy in the other. What did we do? We lived. We allowed God’s joy to well up from within us and we intentionally chose to create memories. The weekend was not wasted. That’s the reality we live in. If we’re waiting for perfect moments where everyone and everything is all good, then we spend our whole lives waiting while life passes by. We can hold grief with one hand and joy with the other. Jesus showed us how on the cross. 2 Corinthians 6:10, “Our hearts ache, but we always have joy.” We grieve with hope. We cry with confidence. We hurt without despair. The Holy Spirit gives joy that coexists with tears. The Spirit gives joy that coexists with tears. There’s this strange little verse in the Bible that sometimes doesn’t make sense – James 1:2, “When troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.” This isn’t a command to enjoy suffering – this is a reminder that we can rejoice because we KNOW God is accomplishing something through whatever we go through. We can set our eyes on the joy ahead, just as Jesus did. God is doing something good. We can trust that always. Whatever you may be going through, joy can grow here. Joy grows whenever eternity becomes more real than temporary pain. That’s how the Holy Spirit constantly lifts our eyes upward. There’s so much more than what we see and know here – we can count on that! And when we live in that awareness, joy grows. The joy of the Holy Spirit is not shallow optimism or denial of hardship. It is the settled delight that comes from knowing God, trusting His character, walking in His presence, and seeing life through the lens of eternity. As you abide in Christ and yield to the Spirit, this joy is not something you force—it becomes something the Spirit steadily grows within you, enabling you to rejoice even when circumstances remain unchanged. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Galatians 5:22, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: LOVE …” God isn’t asking us to manufacture love. This isn’t about trying harder. God invites us to connect with him and grow in him, and as we abide in him, his love naturally flows through us. Jesus says “Apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) This is why some people are incapable of loving well or loving at all – they don’t have the love of Jesus flowing through them. It’s like expecting the limb of the apple tree lying on the ground to keep producing apples. Of course it can’t – it’s disconnected from it’s source of life so no fruit will grow. When we are detached from our source, we are incapable of loving well. We don’t need more effort, we need more connection to our source. Every detail of God’s word is specific. The order here is important. Love comes first on the list of fruits because every other fruit grows out of love. Think about it: Joy is love rejoicing. Peace is love resting. Patience is love enduring. Kindness is love serving. Goodness is love acting. Faithfulness is love staying. Gentleness is love responding. Self-control is love choosing. Love is the root. The other fruits are expressions of it. So doesn’t it make sense that the enemy goes to work on our ability to love and be loved? If he takes away our love, he takes away every other fruit in our lives. For this reason, love in this world gets twisted. It becomes lust. It becomes self-serving. It becomes pain. Love is like the weapon taken right out of our hands and pointed at us by the enemy of our soul to destroy us. Loving like Jesus will defeat the enemy, but when that love is turned on us and twisted, the enemy nearly destroys us. If you watched the news at all yesterday, you likely saw a man and woman dressed in black illegally climb the Empire State Building yesterday. On the very top of the building, towering 1400 feet above New York City, they flew a flag that boldly proclaimed, “WHEN THE POWER OF LOVE BEATS THE LOVE OF POWER, THE WORLD KNOWS PEACE.” So true – but only when we remember this – 1 John 4:8, “GOD IS LOVE.” Love can get twisted, God cannot. God is strong and steady throughout the history of the universe. He is the same today, tomorrow and forever. His love is pure, and when his pure love flows through us, the world is radically changed. When God literally lives in us through his Holy Spirit, our nature is changed. We become a vessel of his love and it flows so naturally. Jesus teaches us that he is the vine and we are the branch. We aren’t created to survive without him. We aren’t created to grow without him. And we’re certainly not created to produce any type of goodness in our lives without him. Jesus says, “ABIDE IN ME.” (John 15:4) This means stay connected. Stop trying to do this on your own. Stop seeking the answer somewhere else. Fruit will grow because we stay connected to the vine of Jesus. Our job is abiding. God’s job is producing fruit. Have you been trying to produce fruit and will yourself into loving better instead of focusing on staying connected to Jesus? That’s exhausting and disappointing isn’t it? Trying to love someone better without a life-giving connection to Jesus will leave you absolutely depleted. You are trying to give what you cannot self-produce. You’re not capable of loving them enough on your own. You’re not the vine they need, Sis. Sometimes it’s humbling to realize you can’t love them enough to change them. BUT JESUS CAN! The more you get to know Jesus, the more you will naturally overflow in love. It’s not something you have to work for, it’s something you have to stay connected for. Love is like the electrical energy that flows through an extension cord when plugged in to the outlet. Unplug it and there’s no flow. Unplugged the extension cord has absolutely nothing to give. Plugged in, the energy is continually available. Honey, you’re not a power generator. You’re not the source. You’re the extension cord. LOVE FLOWS THROUGH YOU, BUT ONLY WHEN YOU’RE CONNECTED TO THE SOURCE! Love doesn’t come from you first – no, first you receive LOVE, then love flows through you. Jesus tells us that we will be known as his disciples through our love. Not through our memorized scriptures, not through our long wordy prayers, not through our church attendance – nope, through our love. When asked what the most important commandment was, Jesus replied in Matthew 22: 37-40, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law is based on these two commandments.” It all boils down to LOVE. It started in LOVE, “For God so loved the world” and it continues in LOVE, “Now you go love.” But some people are really hard to love, aren’t they? Do you have some of those people in your life? I do. And some people are so easy to love. It’s easy to give them our best. Which one are we commanded to love? BOTH! It’s not always easy, but you don’t love under your own power – you love through the power of the Holy Spirit. This isn’t your love you’re giving, this is God’s love. Romans 5:5, “God has given us the Holy spirit to fill our hearts with HIS love.” You don’t have to produce this love, you simply have to let it flow through you. Sometimes we create a dam within our own hearts and keep his love from flowing. We decide to withhold love thinking it will teach a lesson or it will protect our hearts. Instead all it does is create a blockage within our own selves. Have you heard of the Dead Sea? The Dead Sea is called dead because nothing will grow in it. Do you know why nothing grows in it? Because it is so filled with nutrients and minerals that it’s become toxic. It has an inlet, but no outlet. So everything just sits within the Dead Sea and evaporates, leaving this dense, hardened water that nothing can live in. That’s really the picture of our hearts when we dam it up with self-protection or restriction. We become toxic to our own selves. You need an outlet. Let me tell you who is worthy of LOVE today – EVERY SINGLE SOUL YOU COME IN CONTACT WITH! Yes, every one of them – starting with that hard to love person in your own home, perhaps. Ask the Holy Spirit to love them through you today. Ultimately, here’s the goal – YOU BECOME MORE AND MORE LIKE JESUS. Jesus didn’t hang on the cross and say, “This is for the nice people, but all you mean people get none of my blood.” He didn’t say, “This is for the ones who act right, but all you jackwagons get none of my love.” No, he did it for every single one of us, even in our jackwagon era. As we become more and more like Jesus, we allow that kind of love to flow through us. Love isn’t becoming a nicer version of yourself, it’s Jesus becoming visible through everything you do. Faith without love becomes cold. Truth without love becomes harsh. Power without love becomes dangerous. Love is the life-changing power of God that flows through us. What the world most needs is precisely what we have in our connection with God! So here’s how love works in 4 parts: 1. The Father is the source of love (“God is love.”) 2. The Son perfectly reveals that love in His life, death, and resurrection. 3. The Holy Spirit pours that love into believers’ hearts and forms Christ’s character within them. 4. The believer abides in Christ by faith, and love emerges as fruit rather than as self-generated effort. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Returning to our study on the Fruits of the Spirit, this is part 6. So far we’ve looked at living on the wrong side of the list – what happens when we live WITHOUT the direction of the Holy Spirit and under the influence of the world and our flesh. We see all those things that create destruction and chaos in our lives, but wow, they happen so naturally. We don’t have to try to be selfish, that comes easily. We don’t have to strive to be jealous. Sexual immorality is something that peaks its head up as a temptation early in our teen years and continually pesters us. Then notice what Galatians 5:21says, “Anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” Woah, now that’s scary. Heaven is on the line here? What exactly does this mean? Every single one of us have struggled with at least one of these things on the wrong side of the list. Does this mean we’re all excluded from eternity with God? Does this mean we’re out? This is a big deal, so we need to be sure. If Heaven depends on getting it right, let’s get it right! Nothing is worth missing out on Heaven. Here’s what this DOESN’T mean. This doesn’t mean that as a follower of Jesus we could never commit any of these sins. What this does mean is that as a follower of Jesus we can’t STAY in these sins. God has given us something that calls us out of that old way of life. He has made us new with a new operating system. Our new operating system as a follower of Jesus is the Holy Spirit. We studied the Holy Spirit in depth in episode #2146. This is literally God living IN YOU. This is the direct guidance and influence of something greater than you now directing your life. Do you know what this means? This means with a new operating system, you are naturally changing and you’re no longer who you once were. Girl, YOU’VE CHANGED! You don’t have to keep living the way you used to. You no longer have to struggle with the same things you’ve always struggled with. The Holy Spirit is changing you from within. Now, you get to be DIFFERENT. Under the direction of the Holy Spirit and it’s inner influence, you live different. This isn’t a New Year’s resolution that you forget about by February. This isn’t an “I’ll try to be better”. This is the true inner change that we seek. A change of your desires. A change of your will. A change of your operating system. Does Jesus really change lives? ABSOLUTELY AND THIS IS EXACTLY HOW. I’ve seen the soul who has struggled with addiction for years absolutely SET FREE when surrendered to Jesus. I’ve seen the hardened heart absolutely HEALED when surrendered to Jesus. I’ve seen the depression and anxiety lift. I’ve seen the change from within. I know it to be true because I’ve experienced it. What nothing else in the world can do, JESUS CAN! Oh what a little box we put our God in when we think this is too big for him. Girl, absolutely nothing is too far gone for the work of his Holy Spirit. Nothing is beyond his reach. Nothing is too late or too hard. God is good enough and God is BIG enough to change EVERYTHING inside of you, everything you’ve ever struggled with, everything that has ever bound you up and caused you to struggle. And here’s how he does it: The Fruit of His Spirit. Fruit. Fruit naturally grows on the right kind of tree. It’s not forced, it’s natural. If it’s an apple tree, it produces apples. If it’s a cherry tree, it produces cherries. If it’s a pear tree, it produces pears. Not because the tree has tried hard to change or willed itself into production, but because it naturally lives as it was created to live. And this is the example God chose to use to represent what happens in our lives when his Holy Spirit dwells within us. We just naturally begin producing very specific fruit that comes from our attachment and growth in Him. Galatians 5: 22-23, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” How does that verse begin? BUT. BUT the Holy Spirit produces something different in our lives. This is an interruption to what has been explained in the verses before. Before we have what our lives naturally become without the Holy Spirit. That was the list of yuck we went through all last week. That was the envy, the drunkenness, the selfishness, the anger, the jealousy, the quarreling, the hostility, the immorality and impurity, and seeking everything but God. Thank God for his interruption. BUT THE HOLY SPIRIT. You can live on the wrong side of the list and be ruled by the world and your flesh. However, that’s not the way to Heaven. The way to Heaven is to connect and grow in Jesus – and when you do, the Holy Spirit begins doing his work in you to change you from the inside. These fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, NATURALLY grow in your life as a result of abiding in Jesus. This isn’t something you set your alarm for and work for. This isn’t something with a goal box you can check. This is something that GROWS within you because of connection. It’s a change that happens naturally that makes you different. Your focus is connection. The fruit will happen naturally. God didn’t have to design it all that way. He could have designed right living to be a goal we achieve. He could have designed the required change within us to be a 10 level system we work our way through. He could have given it all a grading curve in which only a few pass. BUT HE DIDN’T. It’s not about our work at all. It’s about the work of the Holy Spirit within us. Our job is to stay connected. Our job is to surrender to the change he starts within us. Our job is to embrace the growth. Our job is to naturally produce what he promises to grow within us. FRUIT. It’s the evidence of a different operating system. FRUIT. It’s not achieved by working, but by abiding. FRUIT – it’s fragile, it’s attractive, it’s nourishing, and it’s natural. So as we begin this study on each of the Fruits of the Spirit, don’t hear this as another list of things you have to go accomplish. Don’t turn this into another burden you carry or another measuring stick you beat yourself up with. Instead, let every fruit become an invitation. If I’m lacking peace, I don’t need to try harder—I need to draw closer. If I’m struggling with patience, I don’t need to grit my teeth—I need to stay connected to the One who grows patience in me. If I’m battling self-control, I don’t need more willpower—I need more surrender. The fruit is never the source. Jesus is. And here’s the beautiful thing: Fruit doesn’t appear overnight. It grows. Slowly. Steadily. Sometimes so gradually you don’t even notice it until one day you realize you don’t react the way you used to. You don’t chase the things you used to chase. You don’t become undone by the things that once controlled you. Why? Because the Holy Spirit has been faithfully doing His work all along. Don’t despise the growing season. Don’t quit because you’re not fully mature yet. Healthy things grow, and if you’re connected to Jesus, you will too. So over these next several days, we’re not studying a checklist. We’re studying the evidence of a life surrendered to God. We’re studying what naturally happens when His Spirit is alive within us. This is what Jesus came to do – not just forgive your past, but transform your future. Not just rescue you from sin, but restore you into the person you were always created to be. So stay connected. Stay surrendered. Stay growing. Because the Holy Spirit is still producing fruit in you. And one day, you’ll look back and realize the miracle wasn’t that you tried harder. The miracle is that Jesus changed you. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

(This is an unscripted devotional sharing the story of a 7 year miracle in the making.) Story of the Prodigal – Luke 15: 11-24 Waited for 4 years – began to run out of hope – tried in desperation to do it my way – to regain control – to force, manipulate Story of Waiting – John 5: 2-9 38 years, but he still showed up there. He still had someone carry him there that day to await for the healing that still hadn’t come. God asked me for 30 years. Would I still trust him if it took 30 years for my daughter to come home? Would I choose joy over misery while waiting for 30 years? The moment I intentionally chose joy even if it took 30 years, I was given the gift of PEACE. Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” Although God asked me for 30 years, HE DID IT IN SEVEN!!!!!!! The wedding – the party – the perfect peace! Here’s what I have learned: • 1. In the wait, you have a choice – choose faith and joy. Misery does not honor God. Psalm 42:11, “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again – my Savior and my God!” • 2. There’s power in your thoughts. KEEP YOUR THOUGHTS FIXED ON GOD and HIS PROMISES. Again, Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” • 3. You can’t always make it better, but you can make it worse – DON’T MAKE IT WORSE. • 4. Do everything in LOVE. If you can’t do it in love, don’t do it. • 5. Stop trying to save them from their testimony. Let God do his work in their lives. • 6. God is faithful beyond measure and his promises will stand through it all. (God had made promises to the Israelites of a future home of bountiful provision and blessings. A land he would make their own after hundreds of years of slavery in Egypt. Although the Israelites got lost along the way, wandered and wavered, God brought them to the land he promised. Joshua 21:43-45, “So the Lord gave to Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. And the Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had solemnly promised their ancestors. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the Lord helped them conquer all their enemies. NOT A SINGLE ONE OF ALL THE GOOD PROMISES THE LORD HAD GIVEN TO THE FAMILY OF ISRAEL WAS LEFT UNFULFILLED; EVERYTHING HE HAD SPOKE CAME TRUE.” • 7. Drop your expectations of perfection and trust God’s eternal plan. Every single thing I “wished” wouldn’t happen actually happened and then God used it all for good. I wished there wouldn’t be drugs or addiction involved. Then there was. God worked with that. I wished there wouldn’t be a baby. Then there was. God worked with that. I wished it wouldn’t get worse before it got better. Then it got worse. God worked with that. If you’re so busy with expectations of what you think it’s supposed to look like, you may miss the full blessing of God’s best plans. Proverbs 19:21, “You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.” Isaiah 55:8 the Lord says, “My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.” JUST TRUST HIM – HIS PLAN – HIS TIMING – HIS WAYS! You know what I realize now … God wasn’t just working on my daughter, HE WAS WORKING ON ME! I had so much to learn and so far to grow. I can honestly say today I’m better because of the long hard wait. I know how to pray. I know how to trust. I know how to seek. I know how to love. I know how to wait. I know how to live in peace. I know how to choose joy. If God pulled off a 7 year miracle for my family, he can pull off a 7 year miracle for your family! If I could find peace and joy in the wait, my friend, so can you! If God can receive glory in my story, then he can receive glory in your story. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

This week we’ve studied what our lives looks like without the Holy Spirit. Without God’s influence, without God’s direction over our life, we naturally drift toward dysfunction, selfishness, broken relationships, and sin. Left to ourselves, our sinful nature becomes the driving force behind our decisions, our attitudes, and our actions. That’s exactly what Paul describes in Galatians 5. He paints an honest picture of what life looks like when the flesh is in control. It’s not a list meant to shame us – it’s a mirror showing us what every one of us is capable of apart from God. But thank God, we’re not left there. The good news is that God didn’t simply save us from our sin; He gave us His very presence. When we place our faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us. We are no longer left to navigate this life in our own strength. We have a Helper, a Guide, a Teacher, and the very power of God at work in us. So before we can understand the fruit of the Spirit, we have to understand the Spirit Himself. Who is the Holy Spirit? Why did God give Him to us? What is His purpose in our lives? And what does it actually look like to live under His influence every day? The fruit of the Spirit isn’t about trying harder to become a better person. It’s about allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us from the inside out. I spent many years not understanding who the Holy Spirit is and what it mean to have this influence in my life. Maybe you’re in that place. This doesn’t quite make sense to you. It can be a little confusing, so lets slow down to understand. Quite simply, the Holy Spirit is God HIMSELF. God reveals himself to us in 3 ways which we call the trinity. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – all God. Think of it this way, the Father loved us, the Son saved us, the Spirit changes us. The Holy Spirit is God’s very own presence dwelling within us. Before Jesus returned to Heaven after his crucifixion, he made an incredible promise. In John 14: 16-17, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. You will know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.” In verse 23, Jesus says, “We will come and make our home in each one who loves me.” Jesus had been walking with his disciples. He had been living with them, teaching them, guiding them. In flesh, he was there with them. Now, before he returns to Heaven, he is promising for everyone who loves him, they will be given ANOTHER who will actually live in you and never leave you. The Greek, word translated “another” means another of the same kind. So we have been given someone exactly like Jesus in nature and purpose to live inside of us. That’s the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit makes God’s presence permanent in everyone who believes in him. As real as Jesus walked this earth as God in human form, God now lives within us in Spirit form. The Holy Spirit empowers us to live like Jesus. So this isn’t about trying harder and harder, this is about allowing God to live through us. In the Old Testament, God’s Spirit dwelt in the tabernacle and later in the temple. Occasionally his Spirit would come upon specific people for specific purposes. Through the cleansing power of Jesus to make us holy and righteous, God Spirit is now available to each of us and we become his temple. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God.” For real, God now lives within us! My mind can’t comprehend that, but by faith I choose to believe it. Do you? Let’s look at 3 things the Holy Spirit does: He teaches us, empowers us and transforms us. The Holy Spirit teaches us. When you read the Bible and actually understand it, that’s the work of the Holy Spirit. When you listen to this podcast or a sermon and it hits just right, that’s the work of the Holy Spirit. When you’re living your regular life and you remember what God said about it, that’s the work of the Holy Spirit. What a lot of people describe as a “gut feeling” is actually the prompting of the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit empowers us. Acts 1:8, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” Have you ever been stronger than you ever thought you could be? Girl, that was the Holy Spirit. Have you ever had the power to do things you never thought you could do? That’s the power from the Holy Spirit. We’re so quick to think we’re weak and incapable, but as a believer, remember who is living within you. God himself is inside of you! His power is in you! So yes, you do have the strength for this through the Holy Spirit. Yes, you are good enough. Yes, you are capable. Remember what’s in you! And ultimately what the Holy Spirit does within us is he transforms us. That’s where the Fruit of the Spirit comes in in Galatians 5. WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, we are changed naturally. This change isn’t something we have to force and will, it’s a change that grows in us and makes us more like Jesus. That’s the goal of the Holy Spirit, to make us more and more like Jesus. As we move to the right side of our list and begin to see what it looks like to live under the influence of the Holy Spirit, rather than without him, think of it like this: If you are under the influence of alcohol, you think different, you talk different, you walk different, you have different emotions, and you make different decisions. Why? Because you’re under the influence of that alcohol so you operate different. Now, think of the influence of the Holy Spirit in your life. It changes everything. You think different under the influence of the Holy Spirit. The way you see things changes. The way you see people changes. Your thought process is changed. You talk different under the influence of the Holy Spirit. You don’t even want to be in the conversations you were once in. You walk different with different emotions, making different decisions. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, your desires are literally changed. Your heart begins to align with God’s heart and you begin to pursue the things he created you for. And what happens when there’s a different life within us – FRUIT! Fruit is evidence of life. An apple tree doesn’t struggle to tape apples to its branches to look more like an apple tree. An apple tree just naturally produces apples. When the Holy Spirit lives within us, we don’t have to struggle and strive, we just surrender and then we naturally produce the Fruit of the Spirit. This is what makes us more and more like Jesus. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Today, we’re wrapping it up – the yuck list of what our lives can become when we are not under the influence of the Holy Spirit and following his guidance. So far in Galatians 5: 19-21 we’ve seen the sexual sins we so easily fall into, then the attitudes and behaviors that damage our relationship with God and others. It’s been a real yuck fest hanging out on the wrong side under the wrong influence. What we’ve learned so far is that’s not what we want, nor is that who we want to be. Now finally in verse 21, we have our final things to add to the column on the left labeled ‘Without the Holy Spirit’ – “Drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.” Before you push away and think the Holy Spirit would never allow you to have fun, that’s not what this is about. This isn’t about making your life boring. This is truly about taking away every imitation of happiness the enemy has tried to entangle you in. God offers us immense joy and overflowing happiness, then Satan swoops in and tries to twist that into a pursuit of things that simply aren’t good for you. Do you realize when God calls something a sin it’s because it’s not good for you. He created you with a specific design, and as your creator he knows what is harmful to your design, so he warns you, “Hey, my child, don’t do this … it’s not good for you.” It’s like the warning label on a hair dryer that says don’t put this in water … Why fight that? We have warning labels on us, why are we fighting it? Understand what is specifically being said—drunkenness and wild parties. The sin is not drinking. The problem is not a party. Jesus was once at a wedding celebration where the wine ran out, so His first public miracle was turning water into wine for the wedding feast (John 2). The sin is intoxication that masters the person. The problem is the party that celebrates the loss of self-control, encourages excess, and creates an atmosphere where people cast off moral restraint. The concern here is not with joy or celebration; the concern is with a culture of indulgence where people surrender themselves to their desires rather than submit themselves to the Spirit. The problem is the party that is built around excess. The Greek word kōmoi used in this scripture refers to revelries—wild, drunken celebrations where restraint is abandoned and sinful behavior is encouraged. This is not a condemnation on gatherings, celebrations, or even the enjoying good things. This is about the kind of partying where intoxication and reckless behavior become the purpose of the event. You know that, “We’re gonna get drunk tonight! Get lit! Let loose!” … yeah that is NOT from the Holy Spirit. It’s hard for me to talk about these things because I have to be honest with you – I have absolutely no experience with it. At 50 years old, I’ve never been drunk a single time in my life. I’ve never been to the club or a bar. I’ve never gotten tipsy and let loose. So no, I really don’t know what that is like. But let me tell you what I’m qualified to talk about – I’m absolutely certain you can have fun and be 100% sober. There’s not a gathering I don’t have fun at. There’s not a celebration where I can’t laugh and enjoy. You can throw a party and it not become wild and wreckless. You can dance, you can sing, you can celebrate, and you can be the life of the party without a single regret. Think about how Jesus must have been when he walked this Earth. The gospels are full of accounts of Jesus being invited to weddings, invited to celebrations and gatherings, continually invited to come over for dinner. Children loved to be around Jesus. You know what this tells me – this tells me Jesus wasn’t boring. He wasn’t a stick in the mud. He wasn’t a downer. He was LITERALLY the life of the party in every sense of the word. Now we carry his spirit within us as his followers. He lives within us. We are empowered to be the life of the party with what he has put within us through our connection with him – and we’ve gotten it all twisted thinking in order for us to be fun and have fun we have to get drunk? That’s just straight from Hell right there. Tomorrow is opening day of my 111th BIG Life Retreat. It’s a girls weekend on the lake where we will tie together all of our floaties and float in the sunshine on the lake. We’ll be playing music and singing. There will be dancing. There will be uncontrollable laughter. There will be random last minute competitions of floating obstacle courses, relays of nonsense, and cheering team mates like we’re winning real gold medals. It will be a full on celebration of happiness. And there won’t be a drop of alcohol. None. When I first started hosting retreats, a whole lot of people didn’t come because they thought it would be impossible to have fun at a gathering without something to loosen them up. How could a girls weekend be a good time without the good stuff? Now, we know THE GOOD STUFF isn’t found in a bottle. The GOOD STUFF is found in God showing us how to celebrate life with pure joy and no regrets. Drunkenness and wild parties intentionally lower restraint with a celebration of impulsiveness, excess and indulgence. That’s the problem. A drunken person often pulls others into the same behavior. It becomes a chain effect. One person gets stupid, then the next person gets stupid. And with a bunch of stupid people not thinking right, sin becomes normalized. That’s not under the direction of the Holy Spirit. God says, “That’s not good for my creation.” So, we come with a warning label just like the hair dryer that’s not to be put in water – we’re vessels for the Holy Spirit and we are not to be drunk going to wild parties. It’s simply not good for us. This isn’t a matter of having all our fun taken away from us. Actually quite the opposite – this is a matter of not being fooled by the enemy and living in such a deeper level of fun offered by God. A fun with no regrets. A fun with full awareness. A fun that represents the joy of the Lord. This week, I’ve given the girls I mentor a challenge – a challenge to be the Ambassador of Fun wherever they are. Fun is a ministry. Really think about that. Fun shows the goodness of God and draws others into him. Misery doesn’t do that. Boring doesn’t do that. But fun sure does. Fun is a breath of fresh air for the soul who questions how much longer they can carry their burden. Fun invites them to see the good in life again. Fun is warfare against darkness, pushing back what the enemy has tried to use to overwhelm. And we can literally minister to others through our holy fun. Walk into every room asking, “How can I leave this place lighter than I found it?” My friend, THAT IS MINISTRY! Do you think I’m a fun person? Do you think I know how to enjoy life? Do you think I know how to throw a party others really want to come to? I can promise you there’s something better than alcohol and stupidity … there’s the Holy Spirit and genuine fun! After the past 4 days of studying the list on the wrong side, maybe you’re breathing lighter because your specific sin hasn’t been listed. That’s why I love it’s all wrapped up with a “and other sins like these.” Yip, it’s covered. Anything not under the guidance of the Holy Spirit is not producing goodness in our lives. It is hurting us or hurting others. It’s not God’s best for us. There’s a song called “Search Me” by Kristian Stanfill that has given me the words to pray. Each morning during my time with God on my knees, I pray these song lyrics: Search me, Lord, and know me Purify my life Find in me anything That doesn’t bow to You as King I’m not ok to stay the same From now until life’s through Jesus, make me more like You Do whatever You have to do That’s what it’s about – Allow the Holy Spirit to search you and know you. Allow him to find anything within you that doesn’t bow to him as King. Decide right now you’re not okay with just staying the same. You want more – let the Holy Spirit set you free to experience the fullness of life Jesus came to offer you! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Open up your Bibles to Galatians 5 and we’re going to add a few more to the list of yuck – Yes, the left side of the list under the label “Without the Holy Spirit”. We’re looking at what we do and who we naturally become the Holy Spirit isn’t given room in our lives and we’re directed by the world and our flesh. This list is like a blarring alarm, “WARNING, THIS ISN’T WHAT GOD WANTS FOR YOU”. If you find yourself doing these things continually, you can now know why. If someone you love is doing these things, you can know why. Wrong director. Wrong influence. Wrong side of the list. Looking at Galatians 5: 19-21, in part 1 we studied “sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures and idolatry”. In Part 2 we studied “sorcery, hostility, quarreling and jealousy”. Well, that’s been fun, hasn’t it? Let’s address the next 5 today with what happens when our lives aren’t following the direction of the Holy Spirit, “Outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division”. These are 5 attitudes and behaviors that damage our relationship with God and with other people. 1. Outbursts of Anger This is a desire to control situations or people when things don’t go our way. We lash out, we say things to hurt others, we lose control of our emotions and our mouth. This is not under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. God never leads us to just blow up. It’s never his desire for us to lose our temper. Scripture says, “In your anger do not sin.” It’s okay to be angry sometimes. There are things that should make us angry. But there’s righteous anger and outbursts of anger. There’s anger that leads to healthy change, and there’s anger that just hurts people. Check your anger sis. God didn’t design you to be continually angry and disgruntled about something. Some of us walk around continually angry about life and we wonder why we struggle to have good relationships and feelings of happiness. Girl, you’ve got a grouchy bug in you. 2. Selfish Ambition This is a self-seeking attitude that says, “What’s in it for me?” Do you have a unique way of making everything all about you? Yeah, that’s selfish-ambition, and guess what, that’s not from the Holy Spirit. When we pursue our own success, happiness or advantage at the expense of everyone else, this not only makes us look like a real crap person, but it grieves God. Selfish was NOT the example of Jesus. Never once do we see Jesus in all of his righteousness, in all of his glory, in all of his power making everything about him at the expense of others. When really, it really was all about him. He was and is the answer to everything, but he sits down with the sinner, he draws near to the pain, he stretches out a hand to the hurt. If we’re going to be like Jesus, all our selfish ambition has to be stripped away. If we’re going to be like Jesus, we will willingly bend down and wash feet even if we are the greatest in the room. So really, what is the Holy Spirit calling you to do in the group you’re in … he’s calling you to make it about them and not about you. 3. Dissension This might be a new word for you. What does this mean? Dissension is a critical spirit that constantly looks for flaws and faults in others. Rather than building up, it tears down, creating conflict, tension, and division. Have you ever heard someone use the expression, “Well, I’ll be the devil’s advocate”, then they stream a bunch of negative punches and critiques. Hey let me tell you something, the devil doesn’t need an advocate! Why would we advocate for the one who is against us? Why would you ever speak up for him sharing his opinions? The child growing up under dissension feels never good enough. The wife living in dissension feels continually defeated. You know that if you’ve lived in it. Now the question is, are you creating it in your home? Are you constantly correcting, belittling, nagging and critiquing? Is it just never good enough for you, always needing improvement. The dish washer just can’t be loaded right by anyone else. Their driving is never okay. The way they fold laundry drives you insane. And oh my gosh, why do they do what the do the way they do it? Girl, stop that! That is dissension. That’s looking for the flaw. That’s creating fault. And it’s coming from a heart that is more focused on finding faults than extending grace. If you’re searching for weaknesses and tearing down rather than building up, that’s simply NOT from the Holy Spirit. That’s the other side of the list. – Game around the table – imitate someone else – if they were to imitate you at the table, in the car, at the office, would you like what you heard and saw? – Friends – Monica’s mother – that’s dissension Being the fault finder is not our calling! 4. Division Instead of bringing people together, sometimes we thrive in dividing people and putting them against one another. We create an “us against them” script. We retell the story so more gather on your side. But opps, take a look where that is on the lists, that’s the wrong side. This isn’t what the Holy Spirit guides us to. This is what the world does. This is what our flesh desires. Some families do this against eachother. There’s mom’s side versus dad’s side, and you have to choose one. Hey let me tell you what that creates – a whole bunch of losers. No one wins in that game. You’re just divided. 5. Envy This is like jealousy, but even more so than you wanting what someone else has, you don’t want them to have it either. Envy comes from a deep insecurity and unhappiness with self. The Holy Spirit wants you to have a holy confidence in precisely who you are and where you stand with God because when you don’t you project that doubt onto others. If you can’t celebrate someone else, there’s a problem. If you are in a constant mental comparison with someone else, there’s a problem. If you’re secretly wanting someone else to fail, there’s a problem. And let me tell you, that’s such a foothold to the enemy of your soul. He’ll eat you up with envy and he’ll turn you into someone you never wanted to be. You can’t be grateful when you’re envious. You can’t be happy when you’re envious. So you’re left weak, disappointed, and sad. That’s NOT the direction of the Holy Spirit. Outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy. With each of these is an invitation to examine ourselves. Is this showing up anywhere in our lives? Where does it come from – NOT from the Holy Spirit. Where does it lead – NOT to God’s good plans for you. What can you do about it? Recognize it – take responsibility for it – ask forgiveness for it – and seek God for special strength to change it. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

When you live under the influence of the Holy Spirit, beautiful things naturally grow in your life. However, when you lack the things that grow in our lives under the direction of the Holy Spirit it’s because you’re NOT under the direction of the Holy Spirit. You’re not connected to Jesus. You’re connected to the world and you’re under the influence of your flesh. Yesterday we began creating 2 columns on our piece of paper. Grab that paper today as we continually refer to it. The left column is labeled “Without the Holy Spirit”. The scripture is Galatians 5: 19-21. The right column is labeled “With the Holy Spirit. The scripture is Galatians 5: 22-23. Before we get to the right side, we must see the left side. Galatians 5: 19-21, When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: (Yesterday we talked about the first 4 on the list) • Sexual immorality • Impurity • Lustful pleasures • Idolatry Today, let’s move on down the list. Remember, this is what happens in our lives when we are NOT led by the Holy Spirit. When we receive our guidance from the world, when we are under the influence of our flesh, these are the things we begin to battle and fall into. • Sorcery Are we talking about some hocus pocus? Magic? Spells? Witchcraft. Yes … but more than that actually. The Greek word translated into sorcery is ‘pharakeia’. This is actually where we get the word pharmacy. Sorcery is an attempt to gain power, knowledge or experiences apart from God. Drugs to alter your mind, to numb you, to achieve a euphoric feeling, or to reach a higher level of creativity … NOT FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT. I assure you of this, the Holy Spirit has the power to raise your thinking. The Holy Spirit has the power to heal you. The Holy Spirit is far greater than any drug the world can produce. 1 Peter 5:8, “Be alert and of sober mind.” Why? Because “your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” I’ve seen people I love absolutely consumed by sorcery. Again, not witchcraft, but using drugs to alter their mind. I’ve seen addiction take over their lives. I’ve seen it literally take their lives. The roaring lion found a way in and he indeed devoured. So God warns us, don’t even open that door. Don’t play around with it. This is dangerous. If it’s not from the Holy Spirit, you don’t want it. Don’t live on the left side of the list, it’s the wrong side. 1 Corinthians 6:12 is like a step into our mind that tries to argue for the things we want on the wrong side of the list. “You say ‘I am allowed to do anything’ – but not everything is good for you. And even though ‘I am allowed to do anything’, I must not become a slave to anything.” The truth is, some of us have become slaves to the drugs we have come to depend on. It may have started off innocent, but it has grown to an addiction and now you need it. You need it to relax. You need it to focus. You need it to be creative. You need it to have fun. You need it to sleep. You can argue that you’re allowed to, but God’s word asks “IS THIS GOOD FOR YOU? ARE YOU A SLAVE TO THIS?” Would you be willing to ask the Holy Spirit if you’re taking anything to feel good or better or happier that has taken his place? Here’s what I am NOT saying – I’m not saying medication is bad. I’m not saying there’s not a place for medical intervention, there absolutely is. But what I am saying is for some, it’s become sorcery. It’s the potion you depend on that is spiritually problematic. Pray about this. Ask yourself why. Why are you seeking this altered state? Is this drawing you towards God or away from him? Has this replaced your dependence on God? If you’re not willing to ask these questions, then there might be a reason. I’m not your Holy Spirit. I’m not here to provide conviction. I share God’s word and the meaning behind it that applies to our lives today. And here’s what I know, every single thing on the left side of the list under the heading of “WITHOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT” is not what we want in our lives. Next on the yuck list, we go into a series of sins that damage relationships. Let me tell you, God cares about how we treat each other. He has called us above everything else to love him and love others and sometimes that gets messy. Here are the things that get in the way of loving others: • Hostility • Quarreling • Jealousy Yuck, yuck, and more yuck. But honestly, there are a whole lot of us living on this side without the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our relationships. We feel the way we feel, act the way we act, and excuse it all. Stop excusing it. If it’s on the wrong side, then it’s wrong for us and we must seek the Holy Spirit to change. Your flesh will always lead you to hostility. Hostility is a heart issue where you have decided certain people are your enemy. You are hostile towards them. Maybe even without them knowing it, you’ve set up a position of you against them. There’s bitterness, unforgiveness and resentment. You’re cold and harsh towards them because YOU have put them in the enemy category. Think about that – is there anyone you have just decided you’re against? Anyone you’re harsh towards? Anyone you just don’t like so they get the worst of you? Yeah, that’s not from the Holy Spirit. Even more than that being bad for the other person, my friend, that’s really bad for you. That’s not who God created you to be. That’s not his best for your heart. You can surrender that hostility to God and ask him to heal your heart issue – or you can choose not to. That’s up to you. I bet I know what the Holy Spirit is prompting you to do. It’s your choice to listen or not, and your choice will determine just how free your heart is. Quarreling is the behavior that flows from hostility. It’s the outward expression of an inward twisting. Some people seem energized by disagreement. They have to win every discussion. That’s not by God’s design, nor is it under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Which side of the list is it on? The left side – the wrong side. When you turn every conversation into a debate, start arguments online, create tension wherever you are, and become more interested in winning than understanding, you are QUARRELING. God cares about how you treat others. Knock that crap off. Proverbs 21:23, “Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut, and you will stay out of trouble.” Sometimes we partner with the devil with our tongue. He comes to kill, steal and destroy, and we’re killing spirits, stealing hope and destroying hearts with our quarreling. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck. But we don’t have to keep doing that. At absolutely any point we can seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit and receive a completely different influence in our lives. We can change. We can be filled with a different source and create radically different results. Finally today on the yuck list is jealousy. Jealousy hides behind comparison. It’s wanting what someone else has. It’s a feeling of resentment over another person’s blessings, gifts, opportunities, relationships or recognition. Jealousy is rooting in thinking God is limited and what he has given someone else will shortchange you – and you couldn’t be more wrong. My blessings do not steal from your blessings. Your gifts do not threaten my gifts. But the one who would love to destroy our relationship with one another wants to stir up an unnecessary competition between the two of us to compete for it. It’s simply NOT a competition. I wonder what the world of social media has done to our overall jealousy. We simply weren’t created to see all these things. We weren’t created to hold all of this awareness and details on the lives of others. I’ve noticed a radical shift in my contentment since completely eliminating social media in December. I’m no longer in some unspoken competition against everyone else. I don’t have to have what they have because I don’t know what they have. I don’t have to try to look how they look because unless I spend real life time with you, I don’t know how you look. And if I’m spending real life time with you, there are a million things more important about that time than how either of us look. The enemy has done a real work on our hearts and minds through the jealousy created in social media. He turned it into a competition of likes, shares, comments and follows. And we’ve played right into it. Here we sit on the wrong side of the list, wondering why we feel so empty inside. The Holy Spirit has something so much better for us. On the other side is a list of real offerings we can live in every day under his influence. These things are not found in the world. They are not found in our flesh. They are not found in social media. They are the fruits of the spirit. They are love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. With these growing in our lives, we treat each other totally different. May the Holy Spirit open our eyes to any of the ploys of the enemy to be on the wrong side, living in the wrong feelings, dabbling with the wrong things, where he gets our hearts and minds all twisted. May the influence of the Holy Spirit cause you to jump ship and get on the right side of living, starting today! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

There is something directing your life. You’re not doing this on your own. You’re either under the influence of the world and the flesh, or you’re under the influence of the Holy Spirit. One of these guides your thoughts, your attitude, your perspective and your actions – and your life looks radically different depending on your influencing factors. Look around my friend – if you aren’t pleased with what’s growing in your life, it may be a result of what you’re attached to – because whatever you’re attached to is drastically influencing every area of your life. Paul writes in Galatians and tells us of what is naturally produced in our lives when we’re attached to Jesus. Growing in Jesus means God’s Holy Spirit is influencing you. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, you are different than you would be on your own. Different things grow in your life. You are given a different perspective with different priorities. And the beautiful thing is, it happens so naturally. This isn’t something you will or force, it just grows. We’re given a list of 9 fruits that grow in our lives as a result of the direction of the Holy Spirit and it’s inner influence: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control. These are the fruits of the Holy Spirit, meaning what grows from connection. And really think about the real life circumstances and struggles you woke up to today – what you need to face this is right here within the list of things that grow from within you when you’re connected to Jesus. Your answer … CONNECT TO JESUS! You don’t have to force this. You don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not. The Holy Spirit will work within you to produce precisely what is needed and it will come from inside you, naturally producing in your life. Now maybe you’ve heard of the Fruits of the Spirit before. Maybe you even have them memorized and can ramble them off. Maybe this is brand new to you. Awesome. This is for you. Exactly where you are, in this season of life, with what you’re facing. Love for you. Joy for you. Peace for you. Patience for you. Kindness for you. Goodness for you. Faithfulness for you. Gentleness for you. Self-Control for you. I bet you can identify someone in your life who needs this too, huh? Someone who is lacking joy. Someone lacking peace. Someone living without kindness or faithfulness or self-control. What is happening in their life? Maybe that was you at one time. Or maybe that is a current struggle. Why is that? Scripture is actually quite clear. We don’t have to guess and wonder. When you lack the things that grow in our lives under the direction of the Holy Spirit it’s because you’re NOT under the direction of the Holy Spirit. You’re not connected to Jesus. You’re connected to the world and you’re under the influence of your flesh. We don’t have to hate the person who is without kindness and goodness, we have to see it for what it is. This is a hurting soul who either has never connected to Jesus or has become disconnected. We must love them enough to point them back to Jesus and back to his life-giving connection. Back to the direction of the Holy Spirit. It’s not our responsibility to change them. That’s the job of God’s Holy Spirit. YOU ARE NOT THEIR HOLY SPIRIT. Before we jump into the Fruits of the Spirit and this list of beauty that naturally begins to grow in our lives through connection with Jesus, we have to know about the other side of the list. You see there are two very clear lists. A list of what your life looks like WITHOUT the direction of the Holy Spirit and WITH the direction of the Holy Spirit. If you were to take a piece of paper and draw a line down the center, you would have two columns. On the left you could label that column “Without the Holy Spirit”. On the right you could label that column “With the Holy Spirit”. The column on the left is described in Galatians 5: 19-21. The column on the right is described in Galatians 5: 22-23. Let’s begin with making the list in the left column. Galatians 5: 19-21, When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: • Sexual immorality • Impurity • Lustful pleasures • Idolatry • Sorcery • Hostility • Quarreling • Jealousy • Outbursts of Anger • Selfish Ambition • Dissension • Division • Envy • Drunkenness • Wild Parties • Other Sins Like These Well that was yucky, wasn’t it? Yip, that’s what our lives become without the influence of God’s Holy Spirit. This is what we naturally get ourselves into. Our nature is sinful and leads us into some absolutely yucky things in our lives. Look around … there it is. We can see it in our own life or in the life of someone we love. Why has this happened, why do they act that way, why do they continue to do these things … because as verse 19 says, they have “followed the desires of their sinful nature and the results are very clear.” You’ve been asking why. That’s why, my friend. This is a matter of influence. The wrong influence creates the wrong results. The wrong direction grows the wrong fruit. For anyone with the wrong fruit growing in their lives, this is a matter of the wrong influence coming through the wrong connection. Maybe not a bad person, a bad connection. Have you ever traveled internationally and tried to plug your electrical device into a foreign outlet? It doesn’t fit. If you force it, you’ll blow something up. You could burn the whole building down! Some of us have lives burning down around us because we’ve plugged into the wrong thing. We’re connecting to things we simply weren’t created to be connected to. Over the next few weeks we’re going to do a deep dive on the divinely beautiful things that grow in our lives when we’re connected to Jesus and abiding in him. We’re going to grow in this process. It’s going to be so good for us to see the works of the Holy Spirit that happen so naturally in our connection. But first, we’re going to look at the column on the left. The yuck. The consequences. This is where you life will be without Jesus. Very clearly, this is what happens. Verse 19 in the NLT says “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature …” NIV says, “These are the acts of the flesh …” MSG puts it like this, “It’s obvious what type of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time …” There it is – when we try to do this on our own, when we do what we want, follow our own feelings, focused on self, letting our flesh lead the way, these are the messes we create for ourselves and others. Maybe you’re in one of those messes right now, either self-created or created by someone else. You’re living in that left hand column all while the Holy Spirit is inviting you to jump to the other side of the page and get on the right side. Is that possible? Absolutely! That change can begin today. Looking at our column on the left listed in verses 19-21, there are a few words we may not fully understand. So, let’s not skim over them, let’s understand. The first 3 are all sexual sins: Sexual immorality, Impurity, Lustful pleasures. These are things we all fall into without the direction of God’s Holy Spirit within us. It’s natural. We get all twisted up. We seek love in the wrong places and boy do we find it in all the wrong ways. There, we get stuck in tangled webs and suck others into that web of destruction. The next word on the left side are may be a little more unclear: Idolatry. It’s easy to assume that’s not us, nor is it anyone we love … but often it is. Idolatry is putting anything or anyone above God. Anything that gets God’s place becomes our idol. Anything we value more, anything we trust more, anything we seek first. Our spouses can become our idol. Our jobs can become our idol. Our image, our money, our hobbies can become our idols. And guess what – that happens so naturally in this world. Without the direct influence of the Holy Spirit, we are making stars our guide, we’re allowing horoscopes make our decisions, and putting flawed humans on pedestals thinking they hold our answers. Jesus is calling us back. Back to connection with him. Our lives naturally change when we connect with him. Recognize what is growing in your life – if it’s on the left side realize you’re on the wrong side, connecting to the wrong thing that is threatening to burn your whole life down. Your answer, CONNECT WITH JESUS. Let the Holy Spirit become your guide and influence. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Luke 13:10-13: “On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, ‘Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.’ Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.” Ya’ll this woman had been crippled for 18 years and with the touch of Jesus, she was immediately healed. WooooHoooo, that’s my Jesus right there. Boom! Now where is our focus on this story? The miracle right? We focus on the miracle. But I want you to focus on something else. I’ll read the scripture again, let’s not focus on the miracle, let’s focus on what LED to the miracle. If you need a miracle in your life, learn from this woman’s miracle and see exactly what brought her to it. “On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.” The miracle did not begin when Jesus touched her. The miracle story began when she got out of bed that morning and made her way to the synagogue. Before there was a healing, there was a decision. Before there was a breakthrough, there was obedience. Before there was a miracle, there was a woman who showed up. Here’s what we’ve been missing in this miraculous story of healing. This poor, crippled, bent over woman, GOT UP AND WENT that day. She showed up. In order for her to be at the synagogue where Jesus was teaching, she first had to get up and go there. The miracle didn’t begin with healing; it began with showing up. Notice something remarkable. The woman did not come to the synagogue because she knew she would be healed that day. She came because that’s where God was being worshiped. She showed up without a promise of a miracle. She showed up without evidence that today would be different. She showed up because faithfulness does what it knows to do even when feelings say otherwise. I bet she didn’t feel like getting up that day. I bet she was aching and hurting. I bet she was even embarrassed by her condition. BUT SHE GOT UP ANY WAY. That’s exactly what we need to do. We can’t sit around doing nothing. You have a responsibility in your story. Your responsibility is to get up and position yourself. Do what you can with what you have right now. Stop focusing on what you can’t do, and girl, do what you can do. This woman got up and went even when she didn’t feel like it. Even when it was HARD FOR HER. Even when it had been hard for her for 18 years! Eighteen years is a long time. Eighteen years of disappointment. Eighteen years of pain. Eighteen years of waking up with the same problem. Yet somehow she refused to let a long season become a permanent mindset. Her condition lasted eighteen years, but she refused to let hopelessness last eighteen years too. Ahhhhh, sister will you bring your 18 year struggle to an encounter with Jesus? Or will you give up thinking your miracle will never come? Have you bought into the lie that it will always be this way? One encounter with Jesus could radically change your life but you must position yourself for the encounter. Jesus performs the miracle, but the woman positioned herself for an encounter. There are some things only God can do. Healing is God’s job. Deliverance is God’s job. Miracles are God’s job. But positioning ourselves for an encounter with Him is our job. We cannot create a miracle, but we can create the opportunity to meet with the Miracle Worker. But may I take you even deeper? Can I take you deeper this morning? There’s one more thing we may be missing in this story. How did this crippled woman make herself get up and go even when she didn’t feel like it? How do you make yourself do what you know you need to do when you plain ol’ don’t feel like it? What you don’t see in this story is what made this woman get up and show up for her encounter with Jesus was she had been THINKING. Yes, she had been thinking. Her thoughts didn’t heal her. Jesus healed her. But her thoughts influenced her actions. Her actions placed her where Jesus was. And there, in the presence of Jesus, everything changed. WHAT YOU THINK DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Your thoughts are the seeds, your actions put those seeds in the ground, and your results are the harvest. You get a harvest because you grew some plants and those plants first began as seed. Your results today are because of your actions. Your actions first began as thoughts. Your thoughts today will grow something … will you be pleased with that harvest? What if this woman would have THOUGHT she was too sick or tired to go see Jesus that day? Ahhh, she would have missed her miracle. I wonder how many times she had been to this place before? How many times had she gone bent over, then walked back home bent over? How many times had she struggled though her day and came to the end of the day no better, with no change? Likely a lot. Likely 18 years. If she would have been thinking “well, what’s the point of even going there today, it’s never done anything for me” what would have happened? NOTHING would have happened because she wouldn’t have even been in the position to encounter Jesus. Does it feel like nothing is happening in your life? Nothing has ever changed and therefore nothing will ever change? That must have been how this woman felt too. But she had been thinking. She had been thinking, “I’m gonna get up and go even if I don’t feel like it. I’m gonna see what I can do. I’m gonna go even if people look at me. I’m gonna walk in there all crippled like even if people talk about me. I’m gonna get myself there. I’m gonna get up.” The woman could not straighten herself up, but she could get herself there. And it was her THINKING that led to her ACTION. It was her ACTION that led to her ENCOUNTER. It was her encounter that led to her MIRACLE. We all want the miracle. God please save my marriage. God please change my child. God please heal my body. God please bring that job. God please just hand deliver it all to me as I sit right here on my couch because I really don’t feel like getting up. God, you’re gonna have to bring it to me because I gave up on showing up. What good place have you stopped going to? What prayer have you stopped praying? What act of obedience have you postponed because eighteen years feels too long? The woman could not heal herself. But she could get up. She could take a step. She could show up. And that was enough for Jesus to meet her there. Maybe your next miracle isn’t waiting on God’s ability … Maybe it’s waiting on your willingness to get up and go. Woman, STRAIGHTEN UP. You can’t get the miracle without the encounter. You can’t get the encounter without the action. And you’ll never take the action without first THINKING. What are you thinking today? Do your thoughts align with your doubts or your faith? Are you focused on what you CAN do or what you can’t do? Straighten up. You’ve felt sorry for yourself too long. You’ve been letting people run over you too long. You’ve been wallowing in this too long. You’ve been worried about this too long. Straighten up. In the words of Jesus, “woman you are set free.” Start thinking like it. Start talking like it. Start acting like it. Your thoughts lead to an action. Your action leads to an encounter. And that encounter brings you to your miracle. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

God isn’t looking for the strongest, the smartest, the most experienced, or the most qualified. None of the things we place such importance on are on God’s list of expectations of us. God asks for something specific from us … believe. Simply believe he will do what he says he will do. Believe he can do it through you and he can do it for you. We are so quick to dismiss ourselves. We’re so accustom to playing little and sitting it out. Experience has shown us if we will just sit and wait, someone else might step up and do it for us. But really, is that what God created you for? Did he create you to be the girl who never does anything hard? Did he create you to be the girl who watches others do what you should be doing? I think not! Your Creator expects you to believe his power is enough to overcome every single inadequacy you may have. Your Creator expects you to show up like you’re chosen, and count on divine providence to make things happen as you go. This whole laying low, hiding in dark corners, and playing little nonsense has got to stop. Your muscles are atrophying because you’re not using them. And let me tell you something, your faith is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. But lack of use causes it to wither and deteriorate. If you haven’t been showing up in the middle of circumstances that are beyond your own ability and putting yourself out there in the face of potential failure, then you’ve started to believe you never could. Your focus has become set on all you can’t do, rather than what GOD COULD DO through you. What could God do through you? Oh girl, you have no idea! But don’t you want to know! I totally want to know what God could do through an ordinary girl like me. I want to know what my life could become with a disciplined surrender to his promptings. Notice I said “disciplined surrender” to his promptings. I’ve discovered this journey of being led by the Holy Spirit is a daily act of discipline. It means I get up when I don’t want to get up. It means I show up no matter what. It means I believe there’s something greater guiding me than my feelings in the moment. It means I start small and humble and refuse to give up in the struggle, because eventually God will grow it to something greater. But he doesn’t grow great things out of our nothing. He doesn’t show up and use magic in our lives. Is that what you’ve been counting on? Magic. God, just make it happen. Do something big, while I do nothing. Nope. God uses seeds. Your disciplined surrender every day is a seed. If you don’t plant it by showing up when you don’t feel like showing up, then guess what … you forfeit the blessing of seeing what God could have done with your little. You dismiss yourself from growth. So, God will grow someone else. God will use someone else’s seed of disciplined surrender to create what you’ve been dreaming of, and you’ll sit there and watch it happen wondering why it couldn’t be you. Well, honey, maybe it couldn’t be you because you weren’t willing to believe to the point of action. Yes, that’s what we’re talking about today. Belief in God that makes us move. Believing so much that we can’t sit in inaction. Believing God is doing something so good, no one could make you sleep the day away. Believing God is guiding you so powerfully, that nothing could hold you back from taking the next step. Would God really choose someone like you for that? YES – You’re perfect for this! In the Old Testament, the Lord chose Gideon as his mighty warrior to rescue his people. But there was one little problem, Gideon was a very unlikely candidate for a warrior position. No one else would have chosen Gideon, but God did. And you need to know why. You need to know why God chose someone totally unlikely for great things, because you’ve been focusing on how unlikely you are while God has been trying to tell you YOU ARE CHOSEN. Judges 6: 11-16 “The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you,mighty warrior.” “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”   Why would God choose the least person out of a family in the weakest clan to rise up as a warrior? Oh honey, don’t you remember what Jesus said in 2 Corinthians 12:9 “My power is made perfect in your weakness.” Gideon being a total unlikely warrior was God’s divine opportunity to show his power. So, Sister, all the reasons why you can’t … all the reasons why you’re not good enough … all the reasons why you dismiss yourself … those are the exact reasons God has chosen you. YOU ARE THE ONE HE WANTS because his power is made absolutely perfect in you. You can’t do this on your own, and you’re not supposed to. But you are supposed to do this with his power! Gideon began following God’s promptings with disciplined surrender. He did things that were hard for him to do. He did things that made absolutely no sense to him. He did things that would cause others to question. And with each act of disciplined surrender, God’s power was made perfect within him. This is how the least person in a family of the weakest clan became a mighty warrior. He actually BELIEVED what God said about him. And he believed it so much, he took action. And this is exactly where you are today. You’re at this place where God is speaking to you. He is telling you you are his beloved and chosen girl. He is telling you he created you for a purpose and he has great plans for you. He is telling you the deepest desires of your heart have been put there by him, written into your soul by your creator, as a guide to your destiny. Will you BELIEVE IT? Will you believe this could be true for you? Will you believe your weakness makes you a perfect candidate for God’s power? Will you believe it so much that you stop dismissing yourself? Will you believe it so much that you greet the feelings that tell you you don’t want to, and show up with disciplined surrender anyway? Will you believe it in the face of your most recent set back? Will you believe it when it looks totally unlikely? Will you believe it when you’re tired? Will you believe it when it doesn’t make sense? Will you believe it to the point of action? God has aligned things for you that your mind simply cannot even begin to fathom right now. It’s crazy perfect how God’s plans for your life will fulfill every dream you’ve ever had and bring purpose to every struggle you’ve ever lived through. Yip, God meant it when he said he will give you the desires of your heart. He meant it when he said he would take everything the enemy ever meant for harm and use it for good. Now, you get to choose whether you believe it. And if you choose to believe it, something will start shifting within you. That belief will stir up power and courage and strength you never knew possible. The warrior stuff inside of you will start showing up. And every day, through disciplined surrender pushing you through all the things you don’t feel like doing, you will discover you really are the one God has chosen! Your job today is to start believing it and start showing up for it. My whole world changed when I spent more time believing I could be the one God spoke through than dismissing myself from the calling. No more dismissing yourself. God is calling you. He’s calling you out of the corner where you’ve been hiding. Out of the rut where you’ve been stuck. Out of the comfort you’ve been clinging to. Out of the excuses you’ve been using. Believe it and see where your feet are guided next! Each act of your disciplined surrender invites God’s power to be made perfect within you. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Is there a decision you’ve been avoiding because you’re afraid of getting it wrong? How long have you been waiting for certainty before taking a step? Here’s the problem: Certainty rarely comes before obedience. When you make a choice, you stand a chance of being wrong, and who likes being wrong? I’ve never met a single person who enjoys being wrong. Because of our fear of being wrong, we’re often stuck in indecision. Who am I talking to today? Who’s sitting in indecision today, hiding behind a pile of choices because it’s safe to stay there? The truth is, this is an area of great frustration and confusion for many. MAKING A CHOICE is hard to do. And because you fear making the wrong choice, you avoid choosing and thus you stay STUCK. Here’s the question: Is it actually better to be stuck than to be wrong? What if staying stuck is the greater mistake? God isn’t always clear with his direction. I’ve confused what I wanted with what God was leading me toward and it’s taken me down the wrong path. How about you? I’ve cleaned up plenty of messes following wrong choices. But wow did I learn a lot in the process. Looking back, I ask if it would have been better to do nothing? Would it have been better to sit and wonder for a few more years? How many opportunities would I have missed as I waited for that clear sign? My daughters might have spent their entire childhood in that orphanage if I’d demanded absolute certainty before adopting. I’d probably still be in a career that drained the life out of me. I’d still be living somewhere I didn’t want to live, wondering if full-time travel was possible. This podcast might still be sitting in a notebook instead of reaching people today. I would still be stewing over how to make that first retreat work, instead of stepping into retreat 111 next weekend. I bet the same is true for you. You would probably still be waiting to have that first baby, unsure if you were really ready to raise a tiny human being, huh? That career move was risky, but it worked out didn’t it? It’s all working out, even when it was uncertain. Even when you didn’t know what you were doing. Even when you never felt ready. But that first step in faith has brought you further than you ever imagined. There were things you were seeking God for and you never did get that crystal clear answer, but you showed up and did your best instead of sitting in the corner … and aren’t you glad you did? Aren’t you glad you tried? Here’s another question – can God handle our wrong choices? Absolutely. Our mistakes have never been bigger than his sovereignty. He is constantly moving among us to work all things together for good … even our bad moves and wrong turns. If God can hold the universe together, don’t you think he can redirect a missed opportunity? If he can number the hairs on your head, don’t you think he can guide your next step? Isn’t God that big? Isn’t he that powerful? Stop putting him in a box assuming your uncertainty has confused or limited him. God is not limited. God is not stuck. God cares about our choices. Some choices carry consequences, and some paths are wiser than others. But our mistakes are not bigger than God’s ability to redeem, redirect, and restore. Psalms 23:3 tells me “He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.” He guides ME. Say that with me. HE GUIDES ME. HE GUIDES ME. HE GUIDES ME. Do you believe that? God is guiding you … if you’re seeking him. God is guiding you … if you’re willing to actually follow him. God is guiding you … if you’re refusing to stay stuck in indecision. Are you calling on God for his guidance? Are you seeking his will? GREAT. Then don’t be so afraid to make a choice. If you are genuinely seeking him and your heart’s desire is his will above your own, then trust that he will hold true to his word and he will guide you along the right path. However, if you’re not seeking God, you’re likely to get yourself into so many more messes than necessary. If you’re impulsive and led by desires of your flesh over desires of the Spirit within you, get ready for some ditches and trenches. Deep in those ditches and there in those trenches you will undoubtedly learn it would have been far better to pray about it before you jumped into it. Honey, God will still meet you there. And if you take a wrong turn? God isn’t standing there wringing his hands, wondering what to do next. He’s already making a way forward. Who else thought they’d be further along by now? Who else is wondering why the journey is taking so much longer than expected? Me too. Looking back, I can see a few wrong turns and a few unnecessary detours. But I can also see God’s faithfulness in every mile. Somehow, even the roads I wouldn’t have chosen taught me something valuable and brought me closer to where he was leading me all along. So maybe the answer isn’t to obsess over every turn. Maybe it’s to trust the Guide and enjoy the journey. I often pray for doors of opportunity to be opened, but even more often I pray for doors to be closed if they’re the wrong doors. I ask for God to lock ‘em up, dead bolt them, seal ‘em tight if I’m not supposed to go through them because I know this much after 50 years of life … if it’s not what God wants for my life, I really don’t want it either. That’s a powerful prayer. God, if it’s not what you want, I DON’T WANT IT EITHER. Lord, if you’re in it, I want it. If you’re not, I don’t. That all sounds good, doesn’t it. I bet you can agree with me so far. But what does that really look like in real life? What do locked doors look like? Sometimes a locked door looks like failure. It looks like the opportunity disappearing. The contract falling through. The promotion going to someone else. The relationship ending. The answer being no. And maybe—just maybe—that isn’t God’s absence. Maybe it’s God’s guidance. GOD GUIDES ME. He is guiding you, honey. I can look back over the past years of my life and see clearly all the closed doors I prayed for. I had some really big ideas that fell flat, and some hopeful situations that never quite panned out. And you know what that was? Upon first glace it looks like disappointment. It looks like setback. But the truth is, that was God faithfully guiding my family. But it kinda sucks when you’re going through it. And it sucks so bad most of us just decide to never make a move or dare to change. We won’t try the new flavor because what if it’s wrong and what if it’s a major disappointment. We won’t make a choice and say what we really want because what if it doesn’t work out? You are called to be guided, not certain. Certainty doesn’t require faith. If you can see every step, know every outcome, and eliminate every possibility of failure, you don’t need faith at all. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” God never promised certainty. He promised guidance. Faith is taking the next step when you don’t have all the answers. Faith is moving forward when the outcome isn’t guaranteed. Faith is trusting that God is leading even when you can’t see the entire path. But sitting in indecision, refusing to move until every risk is removed and every question is answered—that isn’t faith. That’s a demand for certainty. And God didn’t call you to certainty. He called you to seek and trust his guidance. God is a master at redemption. He can turn wrong turns into wisdom, mistakes into growth, and setbacks into stepping stones. Nothing is wasted when it’s placed in his hands. Stop waiting for certainty that may never come. Seek God. Trust God. Make the decision. Take the step. Walk through the open door. And if you stumble along the way, trust that the same God who guides your path is more than capable of redirecting it. God is guiding you. Remember this, you are called to be guided, not certain. Seek and trust his guidance. Take that next step in faith. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Have you ever been on a boat in a stormy sea? Have you ever seen waves so big they can swallow your boat? Have you ever felt the panic of beginning to sink? I haven’t, and I must say, I’m quite grateful. I love living through an adventure to get to the other side with a good story, but that’s one I prefer to just read about. The disciples had this real-life experience, and Mark gives us a vivid picture of their desperation as they became convinced they weren’t going to survive. And what’s crazy is, this is the storm Jesus led them into. It was Jesus’ idea to get in the boat and head in this direction! Mark 4: 35-37 “As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind. But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.” Fierce storms, high waves breaking into your boat, and water filling the only thing that’s keeping you afloat, is NOT a favorable situation. And maybe that’s the way life feels right now. You’re struggling to make ends meet, and now another thing breaks needing repairs. How will you pay for that? Your marriage has been on the rocks, now you’re dealing with sickness too. You’ve been battling feelings of depression and anxiety, now there are more messes and stresses coming your way, just when you feel you’re already at your breaking point. How much more can you take? These are the storms of life. These are the waves that come crashing into our boat. These are the winds that blow and the waters that threaten. And we ALL go through them. We all deal with our crossing to the other side that goes all wrong. Why does Jesus allow this? Heck, not only allow it, but actually lead us into it? Jesus knew of the storm the disciples would encounter on the boat that night, and he knew of the storms you would encounter too. Yet, he still allowed you to be right here in this boat to meet the waves. Where is Jesus when life grows out of control? Where is Jesus when you feel like you’re sinking? Where is Jesus when it’s all just too much and you don’t know how to save yourself? Verse 38, “Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion.” As the waves are breaking over the boat and water is filling the hull, Jesus is peacefully asleep. There wasn’t an ounce of freak out going on for Jesus. There was no worry, no stress. He was resting in complete assurance. Jesus could sleep through the storm because he was in charge of it. And, Sis, Jesus is here going through this with you, and he’s absolutely NOT flipping out. He’s not worried how this is going to work out. He’s not upset over these hard times. He’s not stressed over what just happened, or anxious about what will happen next. It’s not because he doesn’t know. Oh, he knows. And it’s not because he doesn’t care. Oh, he cares. It’s because of this one thing, through it all, he’s in total and complete control. Verse 38-41, “The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!” Jesus asks why fear has taken over when he’s right there in the boat. After all he has brought us through before, do we still have no faith? After all he has done, do we still question his power? Do we still dismiss ourselves from his love and care? Do we still doubt his control over every detail of our lives? Jesus could sleep through the storm because he was in charge of it. If the winds obey Jesus, so does the housing market, the job market, the dating market and every door that seems closed to you. If the waves obey Jesus, so do the doctor’s reports, the pregnancy results, and the recession. With a single command, Jesus stopped what no human could control. How did Jesus stop the wild storm? He simply said, “Silence! Be still!”, and boom, the wind suddenly stopped and there was a great calm. Looking back, has God ever suddenly stopped the very thing that was threatening you? He has, hasn’t he? It was awful one moment, then it was completely gone the next. It was overwhelming, then it was over. It was way too much, then it was suddenly nothing at all. Recognize who did that. That was Jesus! Jesus calms storms. Jesus changes circumstances in an instant. Jesus brings peace where chaos has threatened. He holds that power. This isn’t too hard for him. Everything is possible in the hands of our God. But sometimes those storms you don’t want and the waves that scare you silly are part of the ride in learning to trust him. How would you know that baby is a miracle if you didn’t wait so long for him? How would you know God opened that door if you hadn’t first watched so many others close? How would you know God is the ultimate provider if you wouldn’t have hit rock bottom first? You see there’s only one way the disciples came to know that the wind and waves obey him, they had to be in the middle of the uncontrollable storms with a sinking boat. Jesus allowed it, and through it he revealed his power and strengthened their faith. Jesus could sleep through the storm because he was in charge of it. Jesus is in charge of what you’re going through too, Sis. As big and scary as it may be, as uncertain as it feels, he has not surrendered one ounce of control. You’re not in charge. You don’t have control. You’re going to wear yourself out trying to act like you do. Here’s the one thing you can do in this storm … choose where you look. You can look at those waves crashing over you, or you can look at Jesus. You can look at the water filling the boat, or you can look at Jesus. I’m not saying to be oblivious to the mess and ignore the problem. Sometimes you gotta pick up an oar and row. Sometimes you gotta grab a bucket and start bailing out some water. Sometimes you gotta cut out the extras and log yourself out of the Amazon. Sometimes you gotta update your resume and go door to door. Sometimes you gotta be honest, take responsibility, and make some necessary changes. But always, always, always, keep looking at Jesus. Keep looking to him for peace. Keep finding assurance in his control over your circumstances. Keep seeking his guidance through your storm. He’s here, and he’s not freaking out. Yes he’s near and yes he cares. He’s resting in the middle of your storm because nothing about it is outside of his authority. Remember how God has gotten you through before, and know he will do it again. Again and again and again, he will be in your boat, riding the waves, with complete authority over everything that comes your way. And there’s nothing wrong with waking up Jesus and asking if he could help you with these waves. Go ahead and wake him up. Cry out to him. Ask for help. Ask him to calm the wind. Ask him to stop the waves. But don’t wake him up because you think he’s forgotten you. Wake him up knowing he’s the only one in the boat who has authority over the storm. Hey Jesus, would you wake up and be near me in this storm? I would really like for it to go away. Would you stop the wind? Would you calm the waves? And if now isn’t the time to calm this storm, will you help calm your girl, because I really don’t want to freak out. I know you’re in control. I trust you. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Life has a way of convincing us that nothing will ever change. Faith reaches for Jesus anyway. Jesus specializes in restoring what looks lost. Mark 5: 21-43 (two separate stories intertwined) Has the vibrant, joyful woman God created you to be been buried beneath years of disappointment? Have the circumstances of life pressed down so heavily on you that you’re no longer truly living—you are simply surviving? Maybe you’ve carried a burden for so long that it has become part of your identity. You’ve prayed. You’ve tried. You’ve waited. Yet instead of getting better, things seem to have grown worse. The greatest danger isn’t the problem itself. The greatest danger is when the problem convinces you that nothing will ever change. When disappointment becomes your expectation. When survival becomes your lifestyle. When you stop believing tomorrow can be different than today. But today I want to remind you of something: One encounter with Jesus can change what years could not. First, let’s look at the woman has has been suffering for 12 years. Scripture is specific and says “She suffered for 12 years with constant bleeding.” This isn’t just an inconvenience, this is cause for being excluded. She was considered unclean. Unable to go to the temple to worship. Unable to touch anyone or be touched. Weddings – she wasn’t allowed to be there. Family gatherings – not invited. She had been left alone in her suffering for 12 years. But it’s not like she had just sat in her suffering and done nothing. She had tried everything. She had spent all her money on doctors and her condition had only continually gotten worse. Twelve years of pain. Twelve years of disappointment. Twelve years of unanswered questions. Twelve years of trying everything and watching things get worse. Can you imagine that? At some point most people would stop expecting anything different. Because that’s what time does. Time can make temporary struggles feel permanent. Time can convince us that our current reality is our final reality. But the woman refused to let twelve years decide her future. She heard Jesus was near and she said: “If I can just touch Him.” Not if He touches me. Not if He notices me. Not if someone invites me. If I can get to Him. Faith doesn’t wait for perfect circumstances. Faith moves. Faith reaches. Faith presses through crowds. Faith says, “I know what my reality has been, but I also know who Jesus is.” Can you say that? I KNOW WHAT MY REALITY HAS BEEN, BUT I ALSO KNOW WHO JESUS IS! Don’t let a long battle convince you that God is finished. ___________________________ Notice something powerful in this story – it’s in the middle of another story. Jesus wasn’t looking for this suffering woman. In fact, he was on His way somewhere else. Yet her faith interrupted His journey. Think about that. The crowd was touching Jesus. But only one person touched Him in faith. Many people were around Him. One person reached out to him in faith. There is a difference between being near Jesus and reaching for Jesus. Really, why are you listening today? Are you listening just because it’s part of your morning routine – or are you listening because you’re desperate for Jesus? There are some who are just in the crowd, but there is one who is reaching for Jesus. For the one reaching, there is power! Is that you today? Are you listening because you’re reaching for Jesus? Because she reached, power flowed. What people called impossible, Jesus called healed. Will you still reach today? After all this time, after all this disappointment, will you still reach for Jesus in faith? But remember, this isn’t just one story – this is two intertwined stories. When Mark retells the stories, he leaves these 2 stories together for us to see how Jesus works. 12 years, 2 daughters. Different stories, different needs, the same answer. Jesus steps into both situations. Why leave these 2 stories together? To show Jesus doesn’t just heal suffering – He restores life itself. _________________________________________ Jesus was on his way to heal Jairus’ 12 year old daughter, but his journey was interrupted by this suffering woman. While Jesus was ministering to the woman, terrible news arrived. The report comes in to Jairus in verse 35, “Your daughter is dead.” In other words: “It’s over. Too late. Don’t bother Jesus anymore.” Isn’t that exactly how the enemy speaks? It’s over. Nothing will change. Stop believing. Stop praying. Stop hoping. You’re just bothering Jesus at this point. But Jesus immediately responded in verse 36: “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.” Notice what Jesus did not say. He didn’t explain. He didn’t defend Himself. He simply called Jairus to keep believing. Faith often has to survive the gap between the promise and the miracle. My friend, is that where you are – you’re in the gap between the promise and the miracle. You’re waiting for something to shift. You’re desperate for that change. Healing hasn’t come yet. Restoration is still unseen. But remember this, what looks dead is not beyond Jesus. How do I know? Because it’s right here in the stories in our Bible! Because I’ve seen it in real life. I’ve seen it in marriages. I’ve seen it in cancer diagnoses. I’ve personally experienced that healing touch after a massive stroke and here I am walking and talking against all odds. I’m finally in the season of seeing my prodigal come home. THIS IS NOT BEYOND JESUS. You can trust him with this. So now, Jesus goes to Jairus’ house where his 12 year old daughter has died. When Jesus entered the room everyone else saw death. Jesus saw possibility. Everyone else saw an ending. Jesus saw an awakening. Then He spoke those powerful words in verse 41: “‘Talitha koum.’ Which means, ‘Little girl, get up.’ And the girl, who was 12 years old, immediately stood up and walked around.” I believe those words are still echoing today. To the woman who has stopped dreaming: Get up. To the woman who has accepted discouragement as normal: Get up. To the woman who has been defined by disappointment: Get up. To the woman who has allowed past failures to write her future: Get up. To the woman who feels like she has lost herself somewhere along the way: Get up. Because Jesus never called you to merely survive – He called you to live. The woman with the issue of blood teaches us: Never stop reaching. Jairus’ daughter teaches us: Never stay down. One reached for Jesus. The other responded when Jesus called. And both received life. Maybe you’ve been struggling for twelve years. Maybe you’ve been carrying something so long that you’ve forgotten what freedom feels like. Maybe you’ve stopped expecting change. Maybe you’ve fallen asleep beneath disappointment. But today Jesus stands before you with the same power He carried in Mark chapter 5. The same power that stopped twelve years of suffering. The same power that raised a 12 year old girl from her bed. And His message is still the same: “Daughter, be healed.” “Little girl, get up.” This is not where your story ends. Reach for Him. Respond to Him. Believe Him. Because one encounter with Jesus can restore what years have tried to steal. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Alright, my armored up sister – we have a battle all around us – what are we going to do about it? Well, here’s what we’re NOT called to do – we’re not called to run head first into battles with the enemy.  We’re not told to sneak into enemy territory and plan an attack.  We’re told to put on our armor and STAND FIRM.  Do not waver.  Do not back down.  Don’t give an inch of territory.  Don’t settle.  STAND FIRM. Our job is to stand with our armor, eyes fixed on Jesus.  Hey Rambo, settle down!  Lone Ranger, you’re not supposed to do this alone.  God has a resounding message for us throughout scripture: Exodus 14:14 – “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Deuteronomy 1:30 – “The LORD your God… will fight for you.” Deuteronomy 3:22 – “The LORD your God himself will fight for you.” Deuteronomy 20:4 – “For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies.” Joshua 23:10 – “The LORD your God fights for you.” 2 Chronicles 20:15 – “The battle is not yours, but God’s.” Nehemiah 4:20 – “Our God will fight for us.” God is fighting – you are to be standing firm.  If you’re in the middle of a battle, you keep standing and trust God to fight for you as he promises.  But make sure you have all your armor on! Let me tell you what is NOT part of God’s armor: • Worrying • Whining • Wallowing Paul tells us there’s one final thing we must do in the spiritual battle in the unseen … After all this armor, we MUST STAY IN COMMUNICATION WITH OUR COMMANDER.  All the armor in the world will do you no good if you’re out Rambo-ing alone.  God isn’t looking for a Lone Ranger. Ephesians 6:18, “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion.  Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” Oh if we truly had any idea of the power of our prayers, we would never fail to pray about anything ever again.  We just don’t see how our prayers move Heaven.  We don’t see how our prayers allocate God’s divine power.  We don’t see how an army of angels are dispatched for the battle with our prayers. Prayer is your communication with your commander.  The one who holds the battle plan, the one who sees every detail, the one who promises the victory – you have a direct line of communication with Him!  And yet here we are, God’s girls with divine armor, trying to fight our battles without talking to God first. Remember when Paul writes the book of Ephesians and tells us about this Armor of God in chapter 6, he’s likely chained to a literal Roman soldier, keeping him in prison.  He’s looking at this soldier, recognizing piece by piece how his armor relates to everything God has given us for the battle we’re against Satan and his demons.  And he’s witnessing this soldier receiving orders from his commander.  The soldier is there doing what he’s been told to do.  He’s not alone, he’s on assignment. He’s seeking his commander for his next move.  He’s on the orders of a higher power than himself. Girl, you’re on the orders of a higher power than yourself.  You can’t afford to be running off into battles, trying things your own way, hoping to fix and save everyone, without constant communication with your Commander.  PRAY IN THE SPIRIT AT ALL TIMES AND ON EVERY OCCASION. The Greek word translated “Pray in”  means “in connection to” and “with the help of”.  This isn’t about the words we are saying.  This is about HOW we are praying.  This is a connection with God through the Holy Spirit to receive divine orders. Now we can make this complicated and messy and really awkward if we want, but it doesn’t have to be that way.  Some say this means you have to be speaking in tongues, but scripture tells me that praying in a language you cannot personally understand is a GIFT.  Some have that spiritual gift, while others have different spiritual gifts.  Praying in an unknown language is not a badge of spiritual superiority.  Don’t make this weird.  Don’t make what God has given as a gift to some as a reason to be divided or turned away. Praying in the spirit is a heart posture.  It is a yearning for God’s will above your own.  It is a surrender, a submission.  It is a connection void of boxes to check and vain words to repeat.  This isn’t habit or custom.  Praying in the Spirit is a connection with God through conversation. If I’m praying for you in the Spirit, it means more than just speaking your name in prayer.  It means I’m allowing the Holy Spirit to direct my prayer.  When the Holy Spirit is directing, you begin praying over things you may not even know about.  Chains to be broken that you don’t even see.  Healing to happen from within.  This is an unrushed, unscripted prayer directed by the Spirit.  THAT IS WHAT WE ARE CALLED TO. Praying in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion is a continual connection with your commander.  It’s seeking his plan and receiving his plan. “Pray in the Spirit”: This means praying under the influence, guidance, and power of the Holy Spirit. It involves aligning your desires with God’s will rather than just listing personal wants. “At all times”: This calls for a constant posture of awareness and communication with God. It means maintaining an open, internal dialogue with God throughout the day, not just during formal prayer times. “On every occasion”: This tells us to bring everything—both joys and crises, routine tasks and major decisions—to God. No event is too small or too large for prayer. A few weeks ago, I found myself on my knees with a woman on the busy walkways in Venice.  This was a hurting soul.  Aching as thousands of people walked by her day after day.  There she lay on her face continually in prayer, begging God for the healing of her 12 year old daughter and the rescuing of her family.  My BIG Life sister Jessica and I wrapped our arms around her, cried with her and connected with our Commander.  We prayed for her in the Spirit, meaning, we let the Holy Spirit guide us in what to pray because we didn’t know how to fix her situation. Now keep in mind, there was a massive language barrier.  Yet somehow (and I know how) we were able to understand her and she was able to understand us.  Jessica prayed aloud in English, not knowing what to pray, but allowing the Spirit to guide her.  The words flowed.  Words she couldn’t have orchestrated on her own.  Requests she didn’t even know to make. We returned to find her the next morning in the same place, kneeling, on her face, literally begging God.  And that day, we sat with her and shared a picnic breakfast.  We treated her like a friend.  We laughed.  We connected.  We shared.  We loved.  It didn’t matter who saw us.  It didn’t matter what a single other soul thought.  And then we once again sought our Commander in this battle.  We prayed as the Spirit instructed. Every day since I’ve been on my knees for Maria and her family.  I don’t need to be a Lone Ranger out fixing her situation.  My money isn’t needed.  I have a direct line of communication with the Commander of Heaven’s Armies, and I’m calling on him for his will, his move, his power, his healing. No Lone Ranger.  No Rambo.  Just a girl in communication with the Commander through the Holy Spirit.  And as he prompts me to pray for her, I do.  Not to check a box.  Not out of habit or routine.  But out of relationship with the One who can truly battle for her. Ephesians 6:18 in the Amplified Bible says, “With all prayer and petition pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all God’s people.” The Message translation says, “Prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.” This prayer is a continuous, divinely guided LIFESTYLE rather than an occasional activity.  God really isn’t interested in what you do once in a while or even what you do out of routine, he’s interested in true relationship and connection with YOU!  Isn’t it wild to think the Creator of the entire Universe desires a real relationship with you, and the way you have it is through continual conversation with him?! Prayer is the ultimate weapon that activates all the other pieces of spiritual armor.  Without communication with our Commander, we’re just girls with all the armor, running in the wrong direction, fighting battles we have no business fighting. Let’s shift from routine to lifestyle.  Move from treating prayer as a morning or evening chore to practicing it as an ongoing conversation. Let’s rely on spiritual guidance.  When you don’t know what to pray, pause and ask the Holy Spirit to guide your thoughts and words.  You don’t have to make it weird. Let’s cover all situation.  Bring your daily work, your stress, your relationships and your gratitude to God instantly as they happen. Talk to your Commander!  Don’t be the Lone Ranger out trying to do this alone! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Now that we have all 5 pieces of our armor, the belt of truth around our waist, the breastplate of righteousness covering our heart, the shoes of peace for our ready feet, the shield of faith in one hand to protect us from the fiery arrows, and the helmet of salvation protecting our mind, we have one last thing to do … Ephesians 6:17, “Take the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.” We have been given a sword to fight this battle. That sword is the very word of God. That word is given to us by the Holy Spirit. Notice Paul says, “Take the sword of THE SPIRIT, which is the WORD OF GOD.” This is more than just having the Bible app on your phone. More than posting a few scriptures on your social when you’re having a bad day. This is the Holy Spirit giving you a literal weapon to use in the spiritual battle raging all around you. That weapon is a sword in the word of God. The Bible isn’t a book of magic words to repeat to get what we want. Speed reading it isn’t going to arm you, that’s just going to check a box. The ol’ “let me crack this puppy open and just see what scripture jumps out at me” isn’t a real sword for the battle against evil. Here’s what the Bible really is, it is GOD-BREATHED. God breathed his very word into the writers of scripture. Our Bibles are HOLY and DIVINE, unlike any other book ever written. We attribute books to Moses, David, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, and others … but the foundation of our belief is that it’s ALL from God. 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “ALL Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” When you understand the sheer miracle it is to be able to hold God’s actual word in your hands and read it with your own eyes – wow!!!! Before modern day, God’s word was reserved for a select few. It was all handwritten on scrolls of parchment or animal skin, stored away somewhere sacred. To hear his word read, you would have to go to the temple. For this reason, people would literally seek to memorize God’s word fully so they could carry it with them. Did you know Kings of Israel were require to transcribe the Bible for themselves to have while they ruled their country? To lead well, they had to let God’s word get within them and know it personally, so they wrote it word for word themselves. Hey, I don’t know what you’re leading – if it’s a family or a business, a circle of friends or a mission of some sort, but it’s very clear what you need to lead that well – YOU NEED GOD’S WORD. It’s not enough to just have someone read it to you. You need to know it for yourself. If you’re wondering what’s wrong with your life, God’s word will reveal it to you. If you’re seeking the right thing to do, God’s word will reveal it to you. Your answers are all here. And of course, that’s why in this spiritual battle the enemy has tried everything to keep you OUT OF GOD’S WORD. No, he doesn’t want that sword in your hand! Some of us finally have that sword in our hand, but we don’t know how to use it. We’re just randomly pulling out scriptures, twisting them to fit our situation. We’re throwing around God’s word, hoping something sticks and makes a magical change. No, girl – you need Sword School. You have to know how to hold the sword of God’s word. How to swing it. How to stand with it. How to fight with it. I once had a little stalker incident that scared the bejesus right out of me. Someone had broken into our home and stolen all our photo albums and a few of my very personal items – nothing of monetary value. The next day, my husband bought me a pistol and he took me out to the desert to teach me how to shoot it. Just having the gun didn’t give me any safety – in fact, it just made me dangerous. I had to know where to find it for quick access. I had to learn how to handle it. I had to know how to load it. How to take the safety off. How to aim and pull the trigger. No amount of instruction could give me the confidence to handle this weapon – I had to use it for myself. I had to get familiar with it. I had to practice using it until I could do it in the dark. What good is a weapon if in the middle of the night the bad guy comes and I’m like, “Ahhh, wait a second, let me turn on the light so I can find my weapon and figure out how to get it ready to point at you.” Isn’t that the way we are with our Bibles? We don’t know how to use them. We don’t know it’s power. We’re not trained up for this battle. And honestly, with our habit of just pulling out random scriptures and trying to apply what feels good at the moment, we are dangerous. Just a few years ago, I didn’t even own a Bible. I just looked up random scriptures online to pull them out when needed. And yes, it got me through a few battles, but I wasn’t trained up. I didn’t know how to hold that sword. I didn’t know how to swing that sword. I had no confidence fighting in the dark. I was more of an imposter than a swordsman. In February 2024, I bought a bible and a pack of bible highlighters. I began my Sword School. This training has given me confidence unlike anything before. I’ve trained for and run several full marathons.- they never gave me this kind of confidence. I’ve put on a fancy dress, worn the good jewelry, and had my hair and makeup done by a professional – I learned to walk with purpose and power – all of that never gave me the confidence of my Sword School! True confidence comes from knowing the God-breathed word of our Bible. Knowing God’s ways, knowing his promises, understanding how to use his power. It’s in his word we begin to understand what his voice sounds like. And once you know what his voice sounds like, you can know when it’s God speaking to you and when it’s not. We all want to hear from God. We all want that divine direction and clear path. It’s available to each one of us if we will study his word with the intention of letting it shape and form us. If the intention is to check a box, then a checked box will be our only reward. If the intention is to impress someone with highlights on pages or a memorized scripture, then that will be our only reward. But if you are studying God’s word as Sword School so you know how to hold it, how to swing it, how to stand with it, and how to fight with it … then girl, your life is about to change. There’s only one problem with my Sword Sessions and Sword School. I never seem to graduate. I can read the same scripture I did a year ago and there’s something more for me to learn. Isn’t it bizarre how God’s word can fit your specific situation so absolutely perfectly, and yet it was written thousands of years ago? Or how crazy it is that his word will speak to you so divinely in this moment, but it was there all along? So, because I’m still learning so much, I must always carry my sword with me. And that’s a problem for me – you see, I travel full time. And I travel light. I’ve been traveling internationally for the past 3.5 months and I have only a carry on and backpack. Everything – all my outfits, all my shoes, my hiking clothes, my mountain clothes, my beach clothes, my retreat clothes, my tolitires – all of it has to fit into a carry on and small backpack. BUT MY SWORD COMES FIRST. My sword is a worn out, falling apart, turquoise Bible filled with notes, stickers and letters. It’s heavy, it’s bulky, and totally NOT travel friendly. BUT I’M GOING NOWHERE WITHOUT IT! It’s an absolute requirement! You know why? Because I’m in a battle and I know this is my weapon. These are God-breathed words I carry. Holy instructions for life. Battle plans for victory. I must be ready at all times! Now here’s the truly beautiful thing – with Sword School (my fancy little name for personal Bible study), something divine happens … You begin depositing God’s word IN YOU. And Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “The world of God is ALIVE and POWERFUL. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword …” Reading God’s word to actually deposit it into your life and receive it, puts something LIVING inside of you. Then you have his word growing because it is alive. And yes, it is powerful. With God’s living word in you, you begin seeing things differently. You begin responding differently. Your heart’s desires begin to change. Your will becomes meshed with his will. Your life changes because the living word is alive in you, unleashing its power. And girl – that’s how you show up for battle! Every time you sit down and study God’s living word, you are preparing yourself for the battle. You are learning how to hold this sword. You’re learning how to swing this sword. You’re learning how to stand with this sword. You’re learning how to fight with this sword, his living word. And the more your practice, the more confidence you have. You’re becoming a real life swordsman! God-breathed words. Words that are alive. Words that have the power to radically change your life. Words that will win this spiritual battle. So my sister, take up your sword given to you by the Holy Spirit, God’s breathed words, his divine instructions, his eternal promises and truths. Practice using it every day. Let it take hold of you. Take it with you everywhere you go. Get serious about your Sword School. Then let’s stand together with our swords and take down the devil! I challenge you to study Matthew 4: 1-11. This is the account of Jesus himself fighting the devil with the sword of God’s word. You gotta know how to handle it in this fight! Jesus shows us how. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.

In the halls of our Venice, Italy retreat house are priceless paintings and works of art. Clearly, the owner is a serious collector. But one piece stopped me. It hangs in a second-story hallway—gold-framed, almost sculpted into the canvas itself. It’s not just a painting; it has depth, dimension, movement. Figures seem to step forward out of the frame and cast real shadows on the wall. And it tells a story. A man is kneeling in prayer, hands lifted, eyes fixed on a crucifix of Jesus on the wall before him. His posture is steady. His focus is anchored. But beside him stands another figure—dark, winged, intent. Not attacking violently, but persistently present. Watching. Pressing. Distracting. And yet the man does not turn. He stays fixed on Jesus. That image is not just art—it is a spiritual reality. We live in that scene. There is always a battle for the mind. Not always loud. Not always dramatic. Often subtle. Persistent. Relentless. The enemy does not need to destroy you if he can distract you. Because where your attention goes, your life follows. My friends, this is a real picture of what is continually going on around us. The spiritual battle of Satan’s demons forever against us, flying around, shooting flaming arrows, throwing threats and insults – all while Jesus is strong and steady above it all. The question is, where are we looking? What are we focusing on? What gets our mind? If your mind isn’t saved by Jesus, then it is completely vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy. If you’re not focused on Jesus, you are continually distracted by the forces of darkness, acts of evil, and threats of terror. Your mind is the battlefield of this spiritual war. If the enemy captures your thoughts, he doesn’t just influence your mood—he distorts your vision. If he gets your thoughts, you spiral in fear. If he gets your focus, you lose peace. If he gets your attention, you forget truth. This is why Scripture is so direct: The battle is not first in your circumstances—it is in your mind. For this battle, God offers a very specific piece of armor over your mind – the helmet of salvation. Ephesians 6:17, “Put on salvation as your helmet.” It’s the final piece of your defensive armor. The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, and finally the helmet of salvation. “Put on salvation as your helmet.” This is not decorative language. It is defensive language. A helmet exists for one reason: to protect what cannot afford to be struck. Your head. Your mind. Your thoughts. In Roman warfare, the helmet marked identity and provided protection. It told others who you belonged to—and it guarded what could end the fight instantly. Because a blow to the head ends everything. So Paul is saying something deeply practical and deeply spiritual: God is not only saving your soul—He is guarding your mind. The phrase translated “take” or “put on” carries the idea of receiving what is being handed to you. This matters. Because salvation is not self-produced. It is not achieved through willpower or positive thinking. It is received. You don’t fabricate salvation. You accept it. You don’t defend yourself from the enemy by willpower alone. You stand under what God has already given. The word “salvation” here is not abstract. It means rescue. Deliverance. Being pulled out of danger you could not escape on your own. So the “helmet of salvation” is not just: “I am forgiven.” It is also: “My mind belongs to the One who rescued me.” It is the assurance that “I am saved, I am held, I am not defenseless in my mind.”   The enemy rarely begins with destruction. He begins with intrusion. The crafty enemy of our is soul doing everything he can to distract us, torment us, fill us with doubts and fears. He says, “take off that helmet and let me get in your head!” That’s the battle. If he can saturate your thoughts, he doesn’t need to change your circumstances. He simply convinces you that darkness is all there is. But the helmet of salvation interrupts that lie. Girl, did you take off your helmet? Did you let the devil get in your head? Are you filled with doubts, worries and fears? Oh, my sister, your eyes aren’t on Jesus because your head isn’t protected. God is offering you a helmet to protect your mind, but it’s always up to you to accept it and put it on. The helmet of salvation reminds us of this: WE ARE SAVED, WE ARE REDEEMED and WE ARE PROMISED A FUTURE. When your mind knows that full well, it changes the way you live. You’re no longer distracted by the wispers of Hell. You’re no longer fearful of the pokes of Satan. You’re locked in to Jesus. There is an old story often told of two wolves—one feeding darkness, one feeding life. It goes like this: An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life: “A fight is going on inside of me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between 2 wolves. One wolf is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, jealousy, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.” He continued, “The other wolf is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. The same fight is going on inside of you – and inside of every other person too.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.” Whatever you feed grows stronger. And the truth is simple: Your thoughts are your daily feeding ground. What are you feeding? Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose THOUGHTS ARE FIXED ON YOU.” This is not for those who are partially focused. Not for those who are occasionally focused. This is for those who have a FIXED FOCUS on God. That’s what the helmet does. It fixes our focus. The helmet of salvation is not just protection from attack—it is alignment of attention. It brings your mind back into place. Back to truth. Back to Christ. Back to peace. Not shallow peace. Not temporary peace. But perfect peace. “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose THOUGHTS ARE FIXED ON YOU.” Remember the art work in the Venice retreat house – the man kneeling in prayer with his eyes fixed on Jesus even while Satan’s demon is present and making his attack. The protected mind that knows it is saved by Jesus is unbothered, held in perfect peace. And so the works of God grows in his life while the works of Satan diminish. Have you been giving the enemy daily food with your thoughts? Has he been growing stronger and stronger in your life because you’ve allowed your mind to be attacked by him? Girl, put on your helmet. Your helmet reminds you who God is and who you are in him. You are saved. You are redeemed. You are promised a future with him. A soldier’s helmet includes a marking identifying who they are fighting with and for. A crest or emblem on their helmet would signify their allegiance. When you put on the helmet of salvation, you’re taking a stand in this spiritual battle of whose side you’re on. But when your identity is unclear, your thoughts become vulnerable. You gotta know your identity in Jesus – then you know who you are saved, redeemed, held, secured, and the accusations from Hell lose their power. The enemy cannot easily dominate a mind anchored in identity. You’re standing with Jesus in victory. Your enemy has already been defeated – he fights from a place of defeat, settling for the spoils of your wandering thoughts and dark corners of your mind left unprotected. Give him NOTHING. The bad wolf gets NOTHING from you. Starve him out! Satan doesn’t even get the crumbs of your thoughts today. Nothing. Give him no space in your mind. Billy Graham said this, “If you get your mind off Christ and you get it on some things you shouldn’t be thinking about, then you pray, ‘Lord, forgive me and help me to get my mind back on Christ.’ I do many times.” This is the action of putting the helmet of salvation on. The moment you recognize your mind is wandering, you get it back under the protection of your salvation offered in Jesus! This is the discipline of the helmet. Not striving. Not panic. Just returning. Again and again. To Jesus. That painting in Venice shows it clearly: A man kneeling in prayer. Darkness present—but not dominant. Eyes fixed on Christ. That is the helmet of salvation. A protected mind is not a mind that never sees darkness. It is a mind that refuses to be ruled by it. So keep your focus. Keep your identity. Keep your helmet on. Because you are not fighting for victory. You are standing in it. 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Here we are, God’s daughters, under attack. Every day the enemy attacks with the hopes of distracting us or distancing us from God. That’s why we must put on the full armor God has offered us. He doesn’t want his girls vulnerable to the devil, he wants us victorious. Last week we studied the first 3 pieces of our God given armor for the spiritual battle: The Belt of Truth The Breastplate of Righteousness The Shoes of Peace Now, it’s time for us to pick up our shield. Ephesians 6:16, “In addition to all these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.” Okay girls, let’s learn about this shield and about those fiery arrows coming our way. Roman soldiers had 2 kinds of shields. One was a small, handheld shield. This is not the shield Paul is talking about. Paul is talking about the other type of shield – the one almost as big as a door. This shield was called the scutum (pronounced sk-U-tum). This shield, the sputum was about 4 feet high and 2 feet wide, made of layers of laminated wood, then covered with leather and bound with iron. The shield was big enough for a soldier to crouch behind and be completely protected. You’ve likely seen the movies where soldiers are carrying these large rectangular shields and when the enemy forces shoot their arrows, the soldiers stand together in formation with their door like shields held tightly ,forming a barrier all around them, in front of them and above them. That’s the precise image of our faith as a shield. We are protected, but not only protected, we are enabled to move forward even while under attack. In this formation with their shields fully protecting them on all sides, the army wouldn’t just crouch and endure the attack, they would MOVE FORWARD. Forward towards the objective. Forward towards the goal. Forward towards their mission. Forward, even while the enemy attacked. This is the power of our shield of faith. Now, what bout those arrows? Paul says the devil shoots “fiery arrows” at us. Soldiers in these days would often dip their arrows into a flammable liquid, then light them on fire before launching them at their enemy like a missile. AND THAT IS SATAN’S STRATEGY AGAINST US. Fiery, blazing arrows. His objective is to destroy you and he’ll use every single thing at his disposal to do so. Don’t be so naive to think he won’t come after you. Scripture says he’s “like a roaring lion”, and honey, lions don’t care if you’re cute, they don’t care if you’re happy, they don’t care if you’re rich, they don’t care if you’ve got a whole family depending on you … lions want to kill you. Period. You have been under attack. No doubt, it’s been happening. Even just this past week, fiery arrows were flying at you. Let me help you identify them: Arrow 1: Tempt you to sin Arrow 2: Get you to ignore the things that would help you Arrow 3: Make you miserable Arrow 4: Make you doubt Arrow 5: Make you settle Remember when you just ignored praying about it? Yip – that was an arrow. Remember when you didn’t make time to open your Bible? Yip – that was an arrow. Remember when you thought it wasn’t a big deal and you could hide it? Yip – that was an arrow. Remember when you felt so tired, so defeated and so discouraged that you just sat there? Yip – that was an arrow. Remember when you checked the box but didn’t really give it your best? Yip – that was an arrow. Remember when you knew you should, but you didn’t – Yip that was an arrow. Remember when you felt guilt and shame over it – Yip that was an arrow. Not to mention all the things you’ve been dealing with that make you scared, make you hurt, and make you question – All arrows. Now do you see the attacks you are continually facing? This is your every day reality. Girl, you are always under attack. That’s why you need this shield of faith. To put it quite simply, the way you defend yourself from Satan’s attacks is on a very practical level TRUST WHAT’S TRUE ABOUT GOD. Faith isn’t just hearing about God – Faith isn’t even just knowing about God – Faith is actively positioning God’s promises between your vulnerability and the enemy’s fiery assaults. The devil is going to shoot his fiery arrows to tempt you, distract you, discourage you, detour you and defeat you, but that big ol’ shield of faith in God’s promises is what you actively pick up and hold up to protect you. I know my God. I know his ways. I feel his presence. I receive his strength. I believe his promises. I trust my God. My sister, that is your defense! Faith is what will protect you when the fiery arrows are coming at you. Faith is what will help you advance even when you’re under attack. Faith is not optional for this battle, it is essential! So really, what is faith? What a really hard thing to describe. If we’re not careful, faith becomes nothing more than hoping or wishing. You know when you apply for a job and you’r pretty sure you’re not going to get it because you’re not even remotely qualified for it and someone says, “Well, you’ve got to have faith.” No, that’s not faith. That’s not what our Bible is talking about. That kind of faith is not a defense. When you’re under attack, just wishing that something is true will never give you the defense you need. Let’s give faith a real definition. I read about a missionary named John Paton – someone you’ve likely never heard of before. He was a Scottish missionary who went to the islands of the South Pacific in the 1800’s to tell these remote people about Jesus for the first time. He wasn’t welcome there. His wife and child died. Yet, he continued. He learned their language, then he set out to translate the entire Bible into their language so they could know about Jesus. While translating scripture, he got to Ephesians chapter 6 and he was stuck on verse 16, “Hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.” Their language had no word for faith. Faith was non-existent in their world, without even a word for it. As John sat in his island hut, stuck on translating this word “faith”, a local man came running and and flopped himself in a chair. He said to John, “It’s just so good to rest my whole weight in this chair.” And that’s when John knew – that’s what faith is. This is how he could explain faith to the islanders. Faith is resting your whole weight on God. With that translation, the islanders understood faith and they came to put their whole weight on God through Jesus. Faith is putting your whole weight on God. If God said it, then it’s true, and I believe it. That is faith. Faith is believing what Jesus has done for us, believing what God says about us, and living it out because it’s THE truth. That’s a shield of faith. Protected from the attacks of the enemy and able to advance! Through the Bible, we know: • God has chosen us. Before this world even began, he predestined that we would be his girls. He chose us first, gave us the family name, and bestowed upon us all the privileges of being his daughters. • God has blessed us. In everything that God has done for us, his intention is to bless us and give us what we don’t deserve. • God has sealed us. He put his mark on us saying we belong to him and we’re protected by him. • God has promised us an inheritance. We are in line to inherit the kingdom of God and eternal life. Through Jesus, it’s our guaranteed destiny. Girl, that’s where you’re heading and today you’re one day closer! God has held absolutely nothing back from you. He’s given his all, he’s given his best. He’s actively taking everything in your life and making it work together for eternally good purposes. And when you put your whole weight on that, you will be able to survive the attacks of the evil one. Not only survive, but advance! When the fiery arrows come flying at you, and they always do – When you’re tempted to doubt, leaning towards fear, hurting and questioning, avoiding the very things that will help you most, wandering down paths not meant for you and knocking on the wrong doors – STOP AND REMEMBER WHAT YOU KNOW OF GOD. Remember his promises for you. Remember what he’s already done for you through Jesus. But don’t just think about those things, LIFT THEM UP. Lift up that shield of faith by actually leaning into what you KNOW IS TRUE ABOUT GOD. Put your full weight on him. You know what you need to do in that moment of wandering, wallowing, wondering and wavering … you need to have a good talk with yourself. Listen here, self, stop this depressed, unhappy nonsense. Stop this wavering. Stop this delaying. Stop wallowing. You stop it now. Stop letting this steal your praise. Stop letting this distance you from Jesus. Stop it. Put your full weight on God. Remember his promises. Lean on them now! It’s not going to be easy, but we all need to do this. We need each other to do it for us. Preach to yourself. Remind yourself of God. Arrange your life so that you’re in the path of grace as much as possible — reading Scripture daily, praying, surrounding yourself with the right people. Know where you’re vulnerable. Look to God, who will grant you the strength that you need. Then put your whole weight in what we know to be true about God. Remember the Roman shield formation? It’s one thing to be a single soldier with a shield. Something much better happens when we come together with faith. As we create a shield-wall of faith, we’ll be able to advance even when we’re under attack. That’s why you and I are connected. That’s why God has given us an Army of sisters here. We fully put our weight on God in this together and we move forward even while under attack. Where are you being attacked? What fiery arrows are coming your way? What truths about God can you lean into today? Take up your shield of

There are 3 pieces of God’s armor we are to “put on”. 1. The belt of truth. 2. The breastplate of righteousness. 3. The shoes of peace. In getting dressed for the unseen spiritual battle, the final thing we put on are our shoes. And think about it, you’re not ready to leave if you don’t have your shoes on. My husband knows I’m not really walking out the door if my shoes aren’t on. My shoes are the sign I’m really ready and we’re going … until then, I’m not really going anywhere. God has places for you to go. A stand you are to take. Purposes you are to fulfill. Good plans you are to walk in. But, without your shoes, you’re not really ready to go with him. The soldier’s shoes were a valuable piece of their armor. Remember in these days, they were foot soldiers. They weren’t riding around in tanks and helicopters. They were marching in, climbing up, standing ground. In military battles of these days, the army who had the best battle shoes was set apart. There’s a story of an army who won countless victories because they put nails in their shoes, creating the first cleats. They could climb what no other army could climb. As women, we know shoes make or break the outfit – but in battle, shoes can make or break the victory. So Paul says in Ephesians 6:15, “For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.” Without your shoes, you’re not ready. With the wrong shoes, you’re not winning. Barefoot, you’re injured. The shoes in the Armor of God are specifically the PEACE that comes from the Good News. Sounds a little fruity doesn’t it? That’s sweet – but does it really mean anything to you? I’ll be honest – that just never meant anything to me at all – until today. Until I really studied what Paul is saying. Now I get it, and I’m so excited to share it with you. Peace – what’s your image of God’s peace? Someone once asked 2 very famous painters to each paint a picture of God’s peace. One painted the image of a beautiful, calm, serene lake in the most peaceful setting you could imagine. It’s basically where I am right now – North Italy’s Dolomite mountains. The lakes here are the deepest, calmest blue, fully protected by stunning mountains that reach straight up in the sky. Such calm. Such peace. That was one artist’s painting. But the other artist paints the ocean. Not calm water, but the ocean in a violent storm. Massive waves crashing in the fierce winds. Lightening flashing in the sky. And in the very bottom corner of the painting was a small bird, totally protected from the storm, standing on a rock with a solitary beam of light shining on it. If there was a soundtrack to the painting it was the bird singing his completely unbothered song of perfect peace in the midst of that raging storm. Both are pictures of peace. One is a picture of peaceful circumstances – the other is a picture of the power of God’s peace. God doesn’t promise peaceful circumstances, in fact Jesus warns us of the oppoisite – “in this world you will have trouble”. But God does promise us the power of his peace – the unshakable knowing he is with you, he sees you, and he is in control. We’re so quick to assume only the good days contain God’s peace, but you’ve never experienced God’s peace on the most extreme level until you’re in the middle of something that demands you absolutely freak out, but instead you have an unspeakable peace within. With this peace you’re not rendered incapable, you’re strengthened in the battle. My friend, if you find yourself currently in a battle, God has peace available for you. And his word isn’t just offering it to you as an option, his word is telling you, “PUT THIS ON!” But how? How do you put on God’s peace? Thank God, his word actually tells us. We’re not left to guess and wonder. It’s clear. Philippians 4: 6-7. First, there is an offer you have to REFUSE to make room for God’s offer of peace. If you don’t refuse it, there will simply be no space for peace in you. What is the offer you have to refuse? Worry. Here’s precisely what God’s word says, “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.” This is a formula and a process. First you refuse worry. Worry is always in the offering. There’s always something to worry about, right? But you must turn away from it. Turn it off. Resist it. Evict it. Absolutely take a stand against worry. You know what we often do instead? We make excuses for it. “Oh, it’s just who I am. I’m a worrier. I always have been.” That’s the equivalent of saying, “Oh, I’m just muddy, it’s just who I am. I go out and roll around in the mud so I’m always muddy. I always have been.” ALL WHILE YOU COULD CHOOSE TO TAKE A SHOWER! If you’re a worrier, there’s something you can do that’s the equivalent of a shower for a muddy person – PRAYER. And just as you have to take a shower again and again, you must pray again and again. The only way you refuse worry is to talk to God about it. Push it right over to God and let him have it. Tell him what you need. Thank him for everything he has already done for you. That’s your part of the equation. Then, God does his part. His part is filling you with PEACE. Peace that doesn’t make sense. Peace like the little white bird sitting in a beam of light during a furious storm on the ocean, just singing his happy song. I don’t care how much you worry or how long you’ve been worrying, peace is available to you. But my sister, you always have to choose it. Now you may think your worrying is harmless, but it’s not. Without God’s peace, you’re facing a battle with no shoes on. Without your shoes you’re simply NOT READY!!!!! Now here’s where this gets really really really good. This is the part you may not have ever understood before and you’re going to have a little light bulb go off. Paul says these shoes of peace come from the Good News. What is the Good News? It’s literally the message of Jesus. It’s the salvation story of God sending his own son to die for you so that you might be saved. It’s the promise of his Holy Spirit dwelling in you offering what you could never manufacture for yourself. It’s all this GOOD NEWS, not bad news that applies directly to our lives because of Jesus. Good, good, good news. Shoes of peace from this Good News of Jesus. And here’s why this is important in battle – GET READY … Your enemy, the devil, is always going to try and convince you that God is against you, that God doesn’t love you, that God is too busy for you, angry at you, distant from you. The devil continually tries to convince you that every little bad thing, and certainly every big bad thing, that happens in your life is proof of God’s absence, God’s distance, or God’s disapproval of you. You’ve heard it and felt it before. You’ve questioned why God would allow this to happen to your family and you start feeling like God doesn’t care about your family. Like he’s too busy for you. Like he doesn’t hear your prayers. Like he’s always out to take things from you. Like he’s just against you. The more you hear it and the more you feel it, the more dark your thoughts become, the more alone you feel, and the more hopeless the future looks. And that’s precisely what happens if you don’t have your shoes on. Your shoes of peace from the Good News know exactly who Jesus is, what Jesus did, and what he has promised. And just like a pair of cleats can dig in and hold your ground, KNOWING the GOOD News can help you stand firm when every doubt comes to rock you. The devil wants to remind of you all the bad news, but Jesus says, “I’ve GOT GOOD NEWS!” Feel the peace in that! The shoes of peace tell you even when bad things have happened, “GOD USES ALL THINGS TOGETHER FOR GOOD”. The shoes of peace tell you even when the storm rages that, “YOUR GOD CONTROLS THE WINDS AND THE WAVES.” The shoes of peace tell you when everything falls apart that, “GOD HOLDS IT ALL IN HIS HANDS AND NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH HIM.” The Good News fills us with peace when the battle rages. And in peace, we stand, We don’t run. We don’t panic. We don’t worry. We stand firm. Girl, put your shoes on and dig in! Dig in to God’s promises over you and refuse to back down. Refuse to be shaken. Refuse to give in to worry. His promises will fill you with peace so you can stand through the storm and come out the other side. Jesus made us a promise of HIS PEACE. His peace that would hold us steady. His peace that would guide us. His peace that would fill us in ways that don’t make sense. But do you know precisely WHEN he promised us this peace? Jesus promised us that peace on the edge of his own horrific storm. On the very night one of his very best friends would betray him – on the night he would be arrested – on the night before he was to bear the sin of the entire world on the cross, on the edge of the greatest storm all creation had ever seen, Jesus promised us his own peace. John 14:27, “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.” Jesus had immeasurable peace, and he offers us that same peace. But it’s always up to us to PUT IT ON. With peace, you are ready for battle. With peace you can stand on God’s promises and not worry. With peace as shoes, you can dig in with cleats and stand your ground regardless of circumstances. With peace as shoes, you can climb any mountain and overcome the obstacles in your way. You have to choose what you’re walking in – Peace or

Part of your armor against the ploys of the enemy is a bulletproof vest for your heart. If Satan can twist your heart, if he can harden your heart, if he can damage your heart, then he renders you ineffective. Nobody looks at a cynical, irritable, negative, grouchy Christian and says, ‘wow, I gotta have what she has.’ Yip – ineffective! Zero impact for Jesus. Saved but not set apart for good works. For these reasons you are given the breastplate of righteousness, the bulletproof vest for your heart. If you feel righteous, there’s a problem. You’re not. There’s nothing you could ever do to make yourself clean enough, good enough, or holy enough to be considered righteous in our perfect God’s sight. And this is exactly why Jesus was required. Only he could make you righteous. His righteousness is imparted to you. His name is stamped on your account of debts and you’re forever marked as “GOOD ENOUGH”. Not because of what you’ve done, but because of what Jesus did for you. Righteous – this means to be free from guilt or sin. Not without guilt or sin, but free from it. No longer bound by it. No longer in debt to it. No longer victim to it, but FREE from it. And the righteousness of Jesus has now empowered you to live better. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:14, “Put on the breastplate of righteousness.” Other translations call it the “body armor of God’s righteousness” or “God’s approval as your breastplate.” TPT says, “Put on holiness as the protective armor that covers your heart.” Here’s what we know – without this right standing, without God’s approval, our most vital organs are completely vulnerable. The chest shot is the easiest shot and without God’s covering, we will go down in the battle against our enemy. God did for us what we could never do for ourselves. No amount of good works, no amount of changed habits, no amount of perfectly met goals, nothing we could possibly do would make us righteous. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”, Romans 3:23. That includes you on your worst days and you on your best days. So here’s what God did – he stepped in and bridged the gap where we fell short of his glory. He bridged that gap with a cross. A literal cross where Jesus hung – and that cross allows us to cross over from forever not good enough no matter what we do, to forever good enough because of what was done for us. When you wear that as your bulletproof vest, the flaming arrows of the enemy just bounce right off. Oh, he’ll still shoot them out you, but ping ping ping, they just bounce. Your heart is untouched when you fully know the stamp of Christ’s full approval on you. But … there’s one little problem. The devil and his demons know full well how unworthy of this bulletproof vest of righteousness you feel when you aren’t living right. It’s hard to put on our divinely given righteousness when deep down we know darn good and well we’re not living right. When we engage in sin, we open the door for the devil to have influence in our lives. You don’t even have to open the door fully to him, but a little crack will do. A little dabble in that sin. A borderline gray area that no one knows about. Even that crack in the door will give him an opportunity. Ephesians 4:27 says, “give NO opportunity to the devil.” About 2 years ago, I began praying that God would reveal to me any part of my life that was not pleasing to him. Well that was dangerous and I didn’t even know it. Suddenly the Holy Spirit started revealing all my little cracked doors to the enemy. But these were really fun things. Things I enjoyed. Things that made me happy. Things I wrestled to understand how they could be wrong. After wrestling and reasoning for months, I finally began to release these things and make changes. And let me tell you what happened – it’s like the lid was taken off! I was free like never before. Blessings upon blessings. Now I wonder why I waited so long to trust God with those doors that needed to be closed. The devil had access to my heart through the little cracks I had left open, doing things God had asked me not to do. When I finally partnered with God and slammed those doors, my heart was once again fully protected with the righteousness Jesus offers. Here’s the truth – the devil can’t take your righteousness from you, but he sure will offer you temptations to enter into a life that is so far from God’s way of living that you just dismiss yourself. When you know you’re living in wrong ways, it’s almost impossible to keep putting on that breastplate of righteousness. What God has given you as protection becomes a heavy reminder of your unworthiness today because of what you did yesterday. So, guess what … guilt and shame eventually make you leave the breastplate in the corner. It’s too painful to put on righteousness when you know you’re not living right. And boom – you’re vulnerable. Now with your hidden guilt and quiet shame, your heart is left unprotected. The offered righteousness of Jesus lays on the floor as the enemy’s fiery darts come flying. No, your righteousness cannot be taken from you. What Jesus did is forever done. But what can happen here is you can feel so terrible about your life that you no longer put on that righteousness. PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. THIS IS PART OF GOD’S DIVINE ARMOR FOR YOU IN THE UNSEEN SPIRITUAL BATTLE. GOD. LOVES. YOU. With full awareness of every single thing you would ever do wrong, every bad choice you would ever make, every failure, every wandering step, he knowingly and willing CHOSE to give his son Jesus for you. He knew it was the only way you could be made right, and he deemed you worthy of that sacrifice. SATAN. HATES. YOU. With full awareness of God’s covering of undeserved righteousness over you, Satan continually tries to remove that covering. Let me tell you something, Satan has no power to take the breastplate of righteousness from you but he certainly can convince you into living a life that makes that breastplate feel entirely too heavy to wear. Tricky little sucker will deceive you into picking up guilt and shame instead of righteousness, and wear that over your heart. My human mind cannot understand why God would do this for me. I’m messed up, and wow, I have a really special way of getting things wrong sometimes. But I choose to believe His word concerning me – I choose to believe that I am made righteous through Jesus. That his cross allows me to cross over to the righteousness I fall short of. Over and over again, God helps me when I cannot help myself. On the days when I get it right, I must remember that breastplate of righteousness has absolutely nothing to do with my good works. It was given to me to wear. It protects me from pride. On the days when I get it wrong, I must remember the breastplate of righteousness is still mine. It was given to me to wear. It protects me from guilt and shame. For his girls wearing this breastplate of righteousness, we are called to then live RIGHT. Clean up our lives. We’re not given permission to continue living in the ways his Spirit tells us are wrong. That’s the beauty of this walk with Jesus – we learn more and more how to live right. And as he lovingly invites us into better living, it’s for our greatest benefit to trust him and leave behind our old ways. Continuing in our old ways makes it harder to put on the armor over our hearts, and without that armor, our hearts are left vulnerable. Jesus, I’m not a good guard of my own heart – I need your righteousness to guard this heart of mine. So today, for the one who feels so totally unrighteousness because of your past or present choices, please know the breastplate of Jesus’ righteousness is still here for your heart. Bring him your guilt, bring him your shame, bring him your regrets and receive his holy exchange. You, the real you, all of you, forever made righteous. That’s everything Satan doesn’t want you to know. But when you know, your heart is protected! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

When you really know about the unseen spiritual battle happening, you then have a choice … stand with God in the battle, or sit down and dismiss yourself from it. Sadly, most of us either refuse to acknowledge the battle happening at all – or – we refuse to allow our self-centered little lives to be bothered with it. But the truth is, we are bothered by it, continually. Every single family has wounds from a spiritual battle. God’s word calls us to know about it and then do something about it. Ephesians 6:13, “Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.” What is this time of evil? You can assume it’s a future time that may not even impact your life, but I encourage you to consider the time of evil is anytime the enemy zeroes in on you. Remember, the devil is like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. His plan is sure: Kill, steal and destroy. If you are without the supernatural infusion of God’s strength that comes through a connection with Jesus, and if you are without the full armor of God, you won’t be able to stand up against the enemy’s attack. There is a battle. It’s real. And my friends, it’s personal. Have you ever felt like the devil just had your number? Like his attacks were so personal and so direct? Yeah – well they are! As real as God’s good plans are for you, the devil’s bad plans for you are real too. Yes, God sends his angels to protect you, but Satan sends his demons to attack you. No, I don’t like it, but that doesn’t change the battle. What changes the battle is believing what God’s word tells me and receiving everything he offers me. He offers me supernatural strength for his power to flow in me and through me. How? Through connection and relationship with Jesus. Then, he offers me detailed pieces of armor for the battle against evil. But it’s always up to me whether or not I put on the armor. It’s up to you to either put on the armor, or not. And if you don’t, you are vulnerable. When the time of evil comes and the enemy zeros in on you, he’ll know you’re like a sitting duck. If your family is unprotected, it’s time you realize it and change that! God has armor for you, and the armor is guaranteed to protect you from the spiritual battle happening in the unseen … but it’s up to you to put it on! Some of us have all our armor piled up in a corner collecting dust, while we wonder why life is so darn hard. Why does this stuff just keep happening? Maybe, you’ve been sitting when you should have been standing with God. Maybe you’ve been fighting with your own power and you’re 100% outmatched by powers greater than you. Maybe you’ve picked up a couple pieces or armor here and there, but you don’t know how to use it so you’re a dangerous disaster with weapons you’re throwing around. The enemy is after you and you have to be able to resist him. If you can’t resist him, you will fall prey to him. You will be fooled, you will be subdued, you will be overcome, and then you’ll be held as his prisoner, stuck in a life that is far short of all God created you for. Look around – are you living a life that is less than the great big Almighty God really has for you? Did you get stuck somewhere along the way, discouraged and depressed, so you gave up and let that little flame within you just go out. And here you are settled in, just trying to get through life when that is such a distant cry from God’s great big plan for you. But how do you resist the devil? WITH THE TRUTH! Now we begin looking at each piece of the Armor of God as written by Paul. First, understand that Paul was never a Roman soldier. He was never in the military. He didn’t have armor, he didn’t wear armor. He was a scholar, not a soldier. But what Paul did have was a personal and up close encounter with a real Roman soldier. As Paul wrote the book of Ephesians, he was in prison. When I was in Rome, I listened to the audio of a guided tour to orient precisely what I was looking at. Sometimes the very things that looked like nothing were totally something. In very broken English, my audio guide pointed out locations of important events and buildings to examine. As a total side note, he said, “Look to the left of this stately building – there you will see a small, unassuming, stone building – this is where Paul was impriosoned.” The guide quickly moved on to other facts and ruins. But here I was, standing in front of the very building where Paul sat imprisioned. Radically important events happened right here! Here was where the Holy Spirit guided him to tell us about the spiritual battles happening in the unseen and how to stand with God in the battle. And while Paul had never worn a soldier’s armor before, he was likely sitting on a prison floor literally chained to a Roman soldier in that moment. Envision that – Paul is looking at the soldier he’s chained to, the one guarding him and holding him captive, the one to ensure he was there to face his future death sentence. And piece by piece, Paul notices the literal armor of the solider and the Holy Spirit reveals to him the armor God has for us. Paul begins the listing of the armor in verse 14, “Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth.” Maybe you’re familiar with this list of armor – but have you ever questioned why it would begin with the BELT? Isn’t the belt the accessory? Isn’t the belt the last thing you put on when getting dressed? Why would we begin with the BELT OF TRUTH. Well to understand, you have to first remember the dress of the day … literally, the dress. Even men, and yes even soldiers, wore dress like long garments. Running and fighting in this long garment was very troublesome. You would easily get tripped up and lose the battle before your enemy even hit you. So the belt was perhaps one of the most important pieces in the soldier’s armor. The belt tied up the long garment so their legs were free to run. The belt held their weapons in place. The belt literally tied the other armor together and without it, they would be defeated. So Paul says, to stand your ground against the devil and his demons, you begin with the belt of truth. My friend, if you don’t know the truth, you will get tripped up before you even get to the real battle. The devil is called the deceiver. His number 1 tactic is to twist the truth and sell you a lie. It was how he made his very first move against humanity. In the garden, he shows up to Eve as a snake and he introduces a lie. “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” Eve engages. HUGE MISTAKE. When you know you’re being questioned by the devil, don’t engage. Don’t talk to him, and for heaven’s sake, don’t dance with him. There’s a whole lot of God’s girls getting throughly confused and lost in life because we’re just dancing with the devil, assuming it’s harmless. He’s not harmless. He’s vicious. He’s on attack. He’s a liar, an absolute deceiver. Now Eve is engaged in conversation with the enemy, and he confuses her. He tricks her into thinking God won’t let them eat from that one special tree in the garden because God is hiding something good from them. The devil convinces her God is holding out on her. So, she eats the apple, gets Adam to eat the apple with her, and now sin has an entry into humanity. God wasn’t holding out on Adam and Eve by telling them they couldn’t eat the apple – God was PROTECTING them. But, they didn’t know the TRUTH – and because they didn’t know the truth, they fell for the enemy’s lie. They were deceived. The TRUTH is ground zero for the unseen spiritual battle. If you don’t know the truth, you will battle the wrong things, hide when you should be standing, play little when you have a BIG spirit within, and settle for a defeated life when the victory has already been won through Jesus. My friend, do you KNOW the TRUTH? I mean for real – the truth. The truth about God. The truth about God’s plan. The truth about who you are. The truth about who you’re battling. The truth about God’s ways and the tactics of the enemy. Without the truth, everything else is twisted and useless. Faith without truth becomes wishing thinking. Salvation without truth becomes cultish and self-created religion. Righteousness without truth becomes pride and self-will. Peace without truth becomes a naive la-la land. The word without truth becomes nonsense stories we believe and then fight over. And that is why the enemy is the deceiver. He’s most afraid of the truth and he works his hardest to keep you confused and without God’s truth. So yes, Paul begins teaching us about the Armor of God for our spiritual battle, first with the belt of truth. This is what holds everything together. You begin with truth, otherwise everything else is wrong. You may be climbing a ladder, but what good is it if the ladder is against the wrong wall. You may be fighting for what you think is right, but if what you think is right is actually wrong, it doesn’t matter how much you believe in what you’re fighting for, it’s still wrong. What is the TRUTH about this God who created you, chose you, loves you and saves you? What is the truth about this one life you have been given to live? What is the truth about mercy and grace that covers you and makes you whole? What is the truth about a deeper calling on your life and a heavenly purpose for your days? The devil’s first tactic is always to confuse you and deceive you. Do you know what you believe? Do you know why you believe it? You will get tripped up on your way to the battle if you don’t. God has a whole lot of his daughters running around without their belts on! We’re confused, we’re naive and we have been deceived. Now he says,

Yesterday we studied the importance of becoming strong in the Lord before we try to armor up for battle against our enemy, the devil. Again, what good is the best armor in the world if the soldier has no strength to stand? God is strong and he wants his girl strong. God is strong and he’s not raising weak daughters. Remember, how do you gain this strength? By supernatural infusion! It’s our CONNECTION with Jesus that allows God’s strength and power to flow in and through us. Now, the next 2 verses in Ephesians 6. Verses 11 & 12, “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” Spending time with Jesus and growing in your relationship with him through connection then makes us ready for God’s armor. Piece by piece, we will put it all on. But don’t miss this – you are in a battle you cannot see, but you absolutely feel. Some of the pain you’re carrying didn’t start with a person – it started with a battle you couldn’t see. All those wounds you carry in this life of struggles, hardships, broken relationships … that’s proof of the unseen battle. Hurt people hurt people – but behind a lot of hurt people is a deeper enemy who has been wounding them for a long time. The devil and his demons have created a whole lot of hurt people who are now making real messes in real life. You see that mess, but you haven’t see the real battle happening creating those messes. Colossians 1:16 tells us, “God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see.” It’s foolish for us to deny the reality of all things just because we can’t see them. I’m a strong 7 on the enneagram. I avoid all things negative, all darkness and all threats. I have a tendency to stick my head in the sand and pretend everything is okay. That makes me an incredibly fun person to be around … and potentially oblivious to the true threats happening on the daily. But God has made me aware of these things through personal encounters with the miraculous as well as the darkness. I’ve witnessed the hand of God and I’ve experienced the presence of evil. I’ve spent over 2000 episodes of this podcast generally avoiding the topic of evil, but what good does that do you when you’re in a real spiritual battle with the unseen? I’ve avoided talking about evil for a long time – but avoidance doesn’t make it less real. Scripture doesn’t just acknowledge a spiritual world – it shows us active engagement on all sides. With God and with the devil. With angels and with demons. The Bible makes it clear that there is a real interaction between us and God. God promises when we draw near to him, he will draw near to us. (James 4:8). God says, “Call to me and I will tell you great and unknown things.” (Jeremiah 33:3). God is literally working within you. (Philippians 2:13). On the contrast, the bible also makes it clear there is real interaction between us and Satan. One of Jesus disciples warns us that the “devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8). Jesus tells Peter how “Satan has demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat.” (Luke 22:31). That’s real. He’s here and he’s roaming this earth actively. There are also real interactions between us and angels, God’s agents sent on his behalf. In Psalm we read, “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” (Psalm 91:11). Lot is visited by 2 angels. Abraham is visited by 3 angels. The angel Gabriel speaks to Mary. The angel Michael fights for Daniel. An angel rescues Peter from prison. Girl, you have no idea how many times God has sent help you never saw. But even so, there are interactions between us and demons. Demons are the fallen angels that chose to follow Satan in his rebellion. Many believe scriptures are describing 1/3 of the angels in Heaven became Satan’s demonic warriors. Yes, fallen spiritual beings opposed to God – and therefore opposed to us, his girls. Nope, I don’t like it, but it’s foolish of me to pretend it’s not real. How will you battle what you won’t even acknowledge as real? Here’s the thing about these spirit forces – God, the devil, angels and demons – they are invisible to human eyes, but look around – their fingerprints are all over our world. We see the beauty and we see the distraction. We see the miracles and we see the evil. The wounds from the spiritual battle are felt in our lives and in our families. What if it’s time to stop just surviving your spiritual life – and start walking in the strength God is actually offering you? Don’t you think it’s time you learn how to be the warrior God created you to be, stand on his side, and join the forces of good against this evil? There’s an old saying, “All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” If we do nothing, darkness grows and consumes. Darkness grows not because it is stronger – but because light stays silent. We have a light within us that must be unveiled. DON’T HOLD BACK WHAT GOD HAS PUT WIHTIN YOU! Don’t just walk by – shine your light. Don’t settle for doing nothing – shine your light. Evil triumphs when God’s girls do nothing about the darkness, the hurting, the suffering, and the evil around us. There was a time in my life where I did nothing about the darkness growing in my own family. I just made it look pretty on the outside and ignored the reality within. That darkness was given power because my light was silent. I played little. I don’t do that anymore – how about you? Oh that God would open your eyes to see the real battle happening in the unseen places. May he make you SPIRITUALLY AWAKE AND AWARE. We’ve been sleeping, girls. Many of us have been spiritually dulled – distracted, overwhelmed, and constantly stimulated – while unaware of the deeper battles affecting our minds, our peace and our relationships. We’ve been hypnotized by our screens and lulled by TikTok. And you know what is happening … the enemy has been attacking our minds, making us depressed and anxious, making our families distant, twisting our desires to be all about our image and our imagined influence. Lord, WAKE US UP!!!!!!! In 2 Kings 6 there’s a story of Elisha facing a battle where he and his soldiers are outmatched. Elisha’s young servant boy was terrified at the sight of the enemy’s great army with chariots and horses surrounding their city. But Elisha had such a connection with God, such an infusion of supernatural strength and power, that he knew about the UNSEEN. And this is what Elisha prays for his young servant who was afraid, “O Lord, open his eyes so that he may see.”. Then verse 17, “The LORD opened the young man’s eyes, and then he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.” The army of God was already there – Elisha just had the spiritual awareness to know it. Heaven’s army was there, fighting for them. Battles in the unseen heavenly realms. What do we have to be afraid of when we understand Heaven is literally on our side when we stand with God? Oh that our eyes of faith may be opened. Dare to believe there’s MORE happening all around you! Here’s what you have to know, while the devil and his demons are real, they are already defeated. Jesus defeated them at the cross. But the defeated Satan and his demons are still present trying to do their damage. It’s a whole lot like this story: A little girl was riding in the car with her father. She cries out, “There’s a bumble bee in the car!” The father grabbed the bee, got stun in the hand, and released the bee. The little girl cries again, “There’s a bumble bee in the car!” But the father answered, “No problem, I’ve got his stinger in my hand.” Yes, Satan roams around like a roaring lion looking to kill, steal and destroy, BUT HE HAS NO TEETH. A lion with no teeth. Your Heavenly Father took away his bite. Satan is defeated – but he is not silent. He still roars, still pressures, still intimidates. But he is a lion without authority over those who stand in Christ. But here’s the problem … when we don’t connect with Jesus for our infusion of supernatural strength, then put on the full armor of God for the battle, we end up being gummed to death by Satan. He just chews away at us. He can’t bite, but he sure can chew. That’s what he does – he just chews away at you. He discourages you and wears you out. He roars and scares you into settling for a little life. He keeps you cornered and makes you play little. Even a toothless Satan is stronger than us when we don’t use our divine resources to defeat him. Every single believer and follower of Jesus is involved in spiritual warfare to some degree. Every believer is powerless in this battle unless they rely on the resources God has given them. But every believer can achieve victory over Satan if we receive strength in our connection with Jesus and then put on the full armor of God. Every piece of armor is important and every piece is effective. You may not even realize how spiritually tired you’ve become. May God awaken your spirit – not to fear the battle, but to finally see it clearly. Up next in our series, we will study each piece of the armor. Gear up, Sis. The battle is real … but remember, he’s a toothless lion! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Ephesians 6:10, “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” This comes BEFORE you put on the armor in verses 11-17. Putting even the best armor on a weak soldier does no good in the battle. The soldier must be strong to use the armor. Maybe you’re weak right now – girl you don’t need heavy armor – first you need to be strengthened. How do we gain this strength? “Be strong IN the Lord and in his mighty power.” IN THE LORD. Strength comes IN union with God. The original greek used a passive verb literally meaning “be strengthen by someone else”. We are strengthened by God, not by ourselves. If we run into battle without HIS strength, we will lose. If we are strong but without God’s armor, we will be defeated. We must have his strength AND his armor. But his strength comes FIRST. Before we are given weapons to fight, we must gain strength and learn how to use our weapons. (Soldiers in basic training). We are called on to actively stand against the enemy, but we are never expected to do so in our own strength—that would be suicidal. “Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.” This is a divine-human partnership. Not for a moment are we to fight the devil with our own ideas, our money, our strong will, or our own talents. Let’s look at this scripture in different translations (Ephesians 6:10) • MSG – God is strong and he wants YOU strong. • TPT – Be supernaturally infused with strength through your life-union with the Lord Jesus. Stand victorious with the force of his explosive power flowing in and through you. Think about an infusion. An infusion is the delivery of fluids, medications or blood from an OUTSIDE source, flowing directly into a person’s bloodstream through an IV. The IV is the connection allowing the flow. Without the IV, there is no connection and there is no flow. No flow, no infusion of what is needed. God’s word is telling us WE MUST HAVE A CONNECTION TO BE INFUSED BY HIS STRENGTH. That connection is our relationship with Jesus Christ. As we connect with Jesus, we are infused with God’s supernatural strength flowing in us and through us. We don’t generate that strength, it is divinely infused strength. Spiritual power through connection. Now, with that image, read Ephesian 6:10 TPT again, “Be supernaturally infused with strength through your life-union with the Lord Jesus. Stand victorious with the force of his explosive power flowing in and through you.” (See yourself hooked up to an IV receiving everything you need just flowing into you from an outside source. Strength, healing, power. Receive that!) Jeusus assures us in John 16:33 that, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. BUT TAKE HEART, BECUASE I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.” That’s the power of Jesus and that’s the power that flows through you when you are connected to him and infused by God’s strength! Will there still be problems? Yes – and here’s why – because there’s still a spiritual battle happening. Our problems are like visible wounds from the unseen spiritual battle. Behind most every problem is a spiritual battle to distract us, discourage us, dismiss us or distance us. Our problems are the visible wounds of the battle. Addictions, problems in your marriage, problems with your children, financial struggles, health battles – yes, those are the visible wounds of spiritual battles. But always remember this – 1 John 4:4, “Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world.” MSG, “The Spirit that is in you is far greater than anything in the world.” If you’re feeling weak from the battle, my sister, it’s time for your infusion. Before you step into the next battle, before you make another decision, before you quit or before you move forward, be supernaturally infused with strength through your life-union with the Lord Jesus. Stand victorious with the force of his explosive power flowing in and through you. Isn’t that the answer for what you’re facing? Yes. Isn’t that the answer for how you’ve been feeling? Yes. You’re in a battle and before anything else, you need to be supernaturally strengthened. You only receive that through connection with Jesus. Seek him, lean into him, spend time with him, talk to him, rest in him, connect with him. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Remember how yesterday we talked about Jesus and Peter needing to pay their taxes, and Jesus tells Peter to do what he’s always done – go fishing. But this would be a completely different fishing experience because this time, Peter was fishing with Jesus – and Jesus is the difference maker. God had perfectly aligned just the right fish with a valuable coin in its mouth to bite Peter’s hook. That coin was the extraordinary way Jesus would provide that day. Right place at the right time. Not an accident – absolutely miraculously divine. Well let me tell you what happened yesterday at retreat. We had taken a train from Venice to Lake Garda. Not the original train we had planned – a different train, so our arrival had been a little delayed. Once at the lake, we hopped on our private chartered boat for the most gorgeous adventure. About 1 hour into our adventure on the water, our captain drove the boat under the drawbridge of a castle where we docked for lunch. At the precise moment all 11 of us are stepping off our boat, a frantic mother comes running up screaming, “Have you seen my son?” She can barely put together a cohesive sentence. “My son, my son, he’s missing. 5 years old. My son.” All the BIG Life girls spring into action. We scatter in all directions, yelling, “5 year old boy. White shirt. Missing.” Most everyone we encounter responds with, “Haven’t seen him” then continues on with their day. But not my girls – we’re searching for this missing boy. It’s one thing to be missing your child in a crowd. It’s another thing to be missing your child in a crowd on the edge of deep water. We all felt the desperation. Eventually, far from where we had started, someone heard us and shouted back, “He’s here!” We found him. And he was in the complete opposite direction of where the mother had run. There was no way the boy would have heard his mom. There was no way she was going to find him with such a distance between them. BUT GOD. God perfectly placed a boat full of 11 BIG Life Girls from all the way around the world at precisely the right moment to step onto that dock, hear her desperate cry and spread out on a mission to find her boy. Watching that reunion left every one of us in tears. Right place, right time. We got to be part of Jesus’ extraordinary plans. We were the fish with the coin. Ordinary girls with a changed travel plan, stepping on shore later than scheduled, equipped with precisely what was needed. That, my friends, is how God works! Now, let’s go even further. Here in Venice we seem to be having encounters with hurting souls in need of the Jesus we carry. I bet it’s not just Venice – I bet it’s in your town too. Hurting souls – they’re absolutely everywhere. In need of what we have. But have you ever just gotten in your own way? Have you ever talked yourself right out of doing precisely what the Holy Spirit has prompted you to do? Have you ever felt way too ordinary to be used for God’s extraordinary purposes? How can you possibly be their answer? Well, you’re not their answer. You simply CARRY THEIR ANSWER! Remember that. You’re a contagious carrier of Jesus. Allow contact so it spreads! That’s it. Why make it more complicated than that? Here’s the barrier with the hurting souls we’ve been coming into contact with here in Venice … we don’t speak their language and they don’t speak ours. Well that’s simply NOT a problem for our EXTRAORDINARY GOD! Let me tell you a little story from your Bible. Imagine you’re in the middle of this story. Okay, picture this … you’re one of Jesus’ closest friends. You’ve given up your job and your home, you’ve left everything and everyone you’ve ever known, to go with Jesus on his mission. You’ve been personally walking with Jesus. You’ve been part of some absolutely crazy miracles. You’ve seen his power. You know it’s real. And you thought you would be doing this with Jesus for the rest of your life. But just 3 years into you and your tribe of 12 doing all these miraculous things, Jesus gets killed. Your leader is crucified. And now what? It’s easy for us to rush to the rest of the story, but remember this – Jesus’ friends didn’t know the rest of the story as they were sitting in it. They never saw this hardship coming. They never, in a million years, thought Jesus could be killed. Now what were they going to do? They had given up everything to go with him. They are afraid. Afraid they too would be killed. Afraid everything they had believed in and worked for was ruined. They were confused. Then, Jesus shows up in the room where they are hiding. Now remember, Jesus has died. They saw him hanging on the cross. They knew his body was put in the tomb. They also knew the doors to the room where they were hiding were locked. And boom, here’s Jesus, standing right there among them. And this is what Jesus says to them, Mark 16:15, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” Then Jesus is taken into heaven. Jesus tells them to go. But HOW? Jesus, how are we supposed to go into ALL the world and preach to EVERYONE? We don’t have an airplane. The internet sucks here. We are poor fishermen, how are we supposed to go do all of this? We have no education. We have no resources. We have no connections. Jesus, I heard what you said, but we’re just so ordinary. For 10 days they waited. For 10 days they must have wondered how Jesus expected them to tell everyone about God. For 10 days they must have felt so unequipped and unqualified for the calling. But on the 10th day, they were all together for the day of Pentecost. This was the day all of Israel gathered in Jerusalem to offer to God their first harvest of wheat for the season. There were people from Judea, people from Asia, people from Egypt and Rome, people from every nation all gathered to make their offering. Also there were Jesus’ 12 friends, his disciples. Suddenly God’s power came and rested on each of them and Acts 2:4 says, “Everyone present was filled with the Hoy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.” These ordinary men spoke Aramaic, but now filled with the Holy Spirit, they were speaking every language of the entire crowd. All of these people from every nation, all with their own languages, miraculously heard the magnificent acts of God being declared in THEIR OWN language. This is how God would use these 12 common friends of Jesus to fulfill his purposes. This is how they would go into ALL the world and preach the Good News to EVERYONE as Jesus had told them. God would do it through them in ways they could have never imagined. He would speak through them. His power would flow from them. He would give them the words which they couldn’t even possibly know. Literally a different language – hundreds of languages, spoken perfectly through common men who were unsure how God could use them. Now, back to you, Miss Ordinary. Why not you? Whatever it is that has been blocking you from being the hands and feet of Jesus wherever you are – you just need to know the Holy Spirit can perfectly equip you with absolutely anything and everything needed to spread what you’re carrying. You’re a contagious carrier of Jesus. Make contact! How exactly? Well I don’t know. When exactly? Well I don’t know that either. But here’s what I do know … you will have to show up unsure, uncertain, feeling totally unequipped, and be available for God’s Spirit to equip you. The disciples spent 10 days wondering how they were ever going to do what Jesus had asked them to do. It seemed an impossible task for them to tell the world about the good news of Jesus. And in that 10 days, they must have been drawing maps and making plans. They must have been overwhelmed with such a huge task and unanswered questions. Just like you … you’re in your 10 day waiting period that may have stretched out to cover a few years. You’re waiting and wondering. Questioning. Planning and preparing, but all of it seems inadequate. But my sister, the answers you’re seeking can’t be found in your elaborate 10 year plans. These answers are only found in the power of the Holy Spirit. God will equip you! He will enable you to do what you’ve never done before. He will bring everything together just as it needs to be, and you just need to show up and be available for it. At the end of Acts chapter 2, we see what God was doing by enabling Jesus’ 12 friends to speak all these different languages – THREE THOUSNAD WERE BAPTIZED THAT DAY!!!!!!!!!!! What the Bible doesn’t tell us is the conversation Jesus’ friends must have had AFTER Pentecost. Imagine their after work dinner that night. Matthew says, “Dude, I was speaking to an Egyptian in his language, saying things I don’t even know how to say.” Then John says, “Dude, me too! Did you hear me talking in Latin?” And of course, here comes my favorite, wild and impulsive Peter and he says, “Guys, I don’t even know what language I was speaking, but that was awesome!!!” Then there’s a pause and they all realize … ohhhhh, so THIS is how we’re going to go into all the world and preach the Good News to all people.” God has given us the power to do it and it’s already started. Now, let’s just keep going! You are the contagious carrier of what every person in this world needs. You’re surrounded by hurting souls who are desperate for the Jesus you carry within you. MAKE CONTACT! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to miss God when life feels ordinary? We pray for miracles, yet overlook the countless ways Heaven is already moving around us. We beg God for provision while standing in the middle of prayers he’s already answering. We ask him to open doors, never realizing the door in front of us was opened by his hand all along. Girl, God is working in your life right now. Not someday. Not when things finally change. Not only in dramatic, jaw-dropping moments. Right now. In the ordinary conversation. In the unexpected timing. In the strength you somehow found to keep going. In the opportunity that “just happened” to appear. In the little things you almost brushed past without noticing. Because our God specializes in taking ordinary things and adding his extra. And when God adds his extra to your ordinary … it becomes extraordinary. Our God is not limited to meet needs in ordinary ways, practical ways, or expected ways. Although often times his power meets us in disguise, so we are unaware of how miraculous it truly is. We experience split second perfect timing that was orchestrated in heaven just for us, but it seems ordinary so we don’t recognize it as miraculous. We walk into divinely opened doors which only God could open for us, but because it was open when we got there and required no extra effort on our part, we failed to notice God did that. But all around you, God has been working. Every day of your life, God’s power has been on miraculous display in everything that seems ordinary. You likely never even notice … until God shows up and does something extraordinary. God is our extra. He can take our ordinary lives that seem unimpressive and normal, and he can make them radically extraordinary. You bring your ordinary, and he brings his extra. Let that be your prayer today. God, take my ordinary and make it extraordinary. I need the extra only you can offer! One of Jesus’ extraordinary miracles on earth is recorded by Matthew in a single verse. None of the other gospels mention the miracle, so it seems to be less impressive than his other miracles. But I believe this miracle is precisely what you and I need today. We need to see Jesus’ extra meeting the ordinary. Peter has just confessed that Jesus is the son of God. He has placed his faith in Jesus, committed his life to him. Then Peter is approached by tax collectors asking about Jesus’ payment of taxes. Funny, even Jesus was pestered by tax collectors. And this is what Jesus tells Peter to do in Matthew 17:27, “Go to the sea, cast in a fishhook, and take the first fish that you catch. When you open its mouth you’ll find a coin. Take it and give it to them for me and you.” This is what you call extraordinary. This miracle hidden in a single verse in our bible shows us so much about our Jesus! 1. God works through the ordinary. 2. Obedience unlocks provision 3. God partners with what’s already in your hand. My friends, not everything miraculous looks dramatic. God works through ordinary things like a fish to do radically extraordinary things. Jesus could have avoided paying the taxes. Afterall, this was the temple tax, money collected to build the temple. Jesus was greater than the temple. He could have flexed just a bit, shown who he really was and proven he was exempt from this tax. But, he didn’t. Jesus is humble, there’s no need to flex. So, money was needed to pay the tax. A half-shekel, which was about 2 days wages. Jesus could have manifested the money in the pocket of his robe, and Peter would have never known the difference. But Jesus decided to be extra so Peter could be in on the miraculous. Gosh, I love that about our Jesus … He actually lets us be part of his extraordinary works. We’re not needed … but we’re wanted! All Peter had to be was obedient. Jesus didn’t say, “Hey Peter, your tax bill is just going to be magically erased.” No, Jesus said, “Go to the sea, cast in a fishhook, and take the first fish that you catch.” Peter was being called to obedience. Action was required, and actually quite ordinary action. Isn’t that what we often miss – when we need an extraordinary act of God, we overlook the very ordinary acts of obedience on our part. We want God to show up and do miraculous things without us getting our hands dirty. Girl, you still gotta put the bait on your own hook. Obedience unlocks provision. Peter still had to bait the hook and put it in the water! Sometimes the greatest miracles happen in the middle of ordinary obedience. I have to be honest with you – it’s the absolute only reason I was willing to get up at 3:30 this morning to work on this devotional while at retreat on a very busy filled day. I want to see God’s miracles, so I will be obedient in the ordinary things like waking up as early as needed to give God his time. Jesus didn’t ask Peter to do anything insanely courageous. Nothing flashy. Not even anything exciting. No Peter, just fish. Do what you already know how to do. He uses precisely what Peter is good at … fishing. Jesus simply tells Peter to go fishing, do what he’s always done, and the money will be provided. God partners with what’s already in your hand. Peter was a fisherman. He had fished nearly every day of his life. He knew how to tie a hook on. He knew how to cast that hook out. And he knew how to bring that fish in. And Jesus told him to do what was so ordinary for him, but this time it would be EXTRA. Jesus’ extra on your ordinary is … extraordinary! What feels routine to you may be the very place God wants to reveal his glory. Do you want to be part of Jesus’ miraculous works? Jesus will do his thing with or without you. His power will not be stopped. But you’ve received an invitation to be part of that work and it will be the most fulfilling and beautiful part of your entire life. Oh how I pray you won’t miss it. Peter was invited into partnership to be part of this miracle, not because he was needed but because he was wanted. When Jesus invites you into a partnership with him, what is it you imagine you will need to do? Do you imagine you will need to do something big? Something really special? Something flashy? Something everyone will see? Honey, what if it will be as simple as doing what you’ve always done, but this time you just do it with Jesus working in and through you? Peter fishing wasn’t anything big and special. If anyone would have seen Peter fishing that day, they would have thought absolutely nothing of it. But, Peter was fishing in partnership with Jesus and the catch would be radically different. The difference wasn’t the fishing. The difference was Jesus. JESUS IS YOUR DIFFERENCE MAKER! What if Jesus is inviting you into this miraculous partnership with him, but it’s not nearly as flashy as you imagined. It’s really quite ordinary. It’s what you’ve already been doing. It’s what you’ve been doing every day. It’s what you already know how to do. Would you do it? Really, would you show up and do what you’ve always done, but this time do it with Jesus? Peter didn’t need a new calling. He needed Jesus in his current calling.   Now, REALLY think about the power of God that is displayed in this single verse tucked away in a miracle no one else talked about. Of all the fish in the sea, Jesus knew precisely which fish had a coin in its mouth. He also knew exactly where that fish would need to be in order to bite Peter’s hook. God orchestrated all of that! Before Peter ever cast the hook, God had already prepared the fish. And what … you think God doesn’t care about the little details of your life? He cares where your hook lands. He directs which fish bites your hook. He orchestrates it all in such ordinary ways you may have missed it before. You miss it until he adds a little extra to it. Do you need God to add a little extra today so you know it’s really him? Do you need to see his fingerprints so you know he’s really working in the details of your life? Girl, ask him! Ask him for a glimpse of his extraordinary power today. I bet he’s done it for you before. I bet you’ve been in the right place at the right time. I bet you were enabled to speak words you didn’t know you had. I bet you had supernatural strength just when it was needed. I bet you’ve reached into your pocket and found forgotten money. How absolutely extraordinary!!!! It’s already happening for you!!!!! I wonder what else God will do for you and through you if you will keep showing up, doing the ordinary things you do, but do it as a committed partnership with him? What will he divinely align for your catch? What will he miraculously provide when you try again? God already knows what you need. Before Peter ever reached the shore, the fish was already swimming with provision in its mouth. Before you ever prayed, God was already preparing an answer. Before you knew the need was coming, Heaven was already in motion. But putting the hook in the water is still your call. Yes, get up early. Yes, show up again. Yes, you make that phone call. Yes, you do the ordinary work again. Do the ordinary thing God has placed in front of you and trust him to add his extra. Because remember this – one ordinary act of obedience with Jesus can become absolutely extraordinary. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Have you ever listened to someone tell a story and thought, “Please get to the point.” Some people include every detail, every side story, every random moment. And when they say, ‘To make a long story short,’ you know the story is about to get longer. Now, when it comes to your Bible, long stories are kept short. One encounter with Jesus would be an entire best selling book, and instead we read about it in a single paragraph. Many details are left out for the sake of not losing our attention. How sweet of God to get to the point and keep it short. However, when studying our Bible, it’s important to remember, there’s always more to the story than you read. You have to read between the lines and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the details and feelings that apply to you today. Don’t just speed read the story, slow down and imagine it fully. What you will find is a lesson that applies to you today. Let’s practice together today. Take a few minutes and read Acts 3. In my Bible, this story is titled, “Peter Heals a Crippled Beggar.” Acts 3: 1-10, “Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money.” “Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, ‘Look at us!’ The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. But Peter said ‘I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!’” “Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping and praising God, he went into to the Temple with them.”   Now, let’s dig deeper. Let’s read between the lines and find more in this story. First, get the visual. This gate outside the temple is not just an ordinary gate. It is the Beautiful Gate, literally. It is 75 feet tall, made of solid bronze. It is the massive entrance to the temple where people would gather to pray. And here this man sat at a beautiful gate while living a broken life. Isn’t it interesting that a broken man was laid daily at a gate called Beautiful? You can be surrounded by beauty and still feel broken inside. You can sit at the entrance of worship while silently carrying disappointment, pain and unanswered prayers. It was customary to give to those in need on the way to the temple, so the gate was the gathering place for anyone seeking spare change. But don’t you know, God is interested in more than spare change, he is interested in soul change! He wants to create a change in you that cannot be denied, and he wants to use that change in you as a display of his undeniable power to everyone around you. Now this man who was born unable to walk was over 40 years old. And we’re told that he was carried there each day to beg from those entering the temple. This is the same temple Jesus himself had gone to just weeks earlier. Jesus had likely walked through this exact gate. And if this man was carried there every day, odds are Jesus had passed right by him. Weeks earlier, Matthew 21:14 says, “The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.” Yes, this same temple with this same gate. Jesus had been there. Jesus had healed other. So, why hadn’t Jesus healed this man when he was there? I want you to imagine for a moment being this man, laying by the temple every single day, begging for a little change, and one day Jesus shows up and heals people just like you, BUT NOT YOU. Imagine seeing others get their miracle, but not you. Why are you left still begging and waiting? Why couldn’t Jesus change your situation when he so clearly changed others? And maybe that’s exactly how you feel right now. Other people have gotten what you’re still begging for, so why were you overlooked? If God has the power to do it for everyone and you’ve seen him do it for someone else, why won’t he do it for you? You’ve heard those love stories of the girl finally finding the man who could love her so perfectly … but why not you? You’ve heard about people with your exact same illness being miraculously healed, but why not you? You’ve heard about God showing up and providing in the wildest ways, but why hasn’t he shown up for you? Nothing tests your faith quite like watching God do for someone else what you’ve been begging Him to do for you. Or maybe someone you love has been left still waiting and wondering ‘why not them’? If Jesus can do it, and he has done it for others, why hasn’t he done it for them? What do you say to that? Could Jesus have passed by this man before? Could he have chosen not to heal him? Could this man have been left out when others were healed? Absolutely. But why? Everything God does and doesn’t do is for the perfect timing for the greatest glory and eternal purposes. There’s always a much bigger story unfolding. We only see the current page in our present chapter, but God knows the whole story and he’s not rushing to get to the end. God is not willing to waste a single opportunity or miss one detail. God’s purpose is always greater than our understand, even when the outcome is different than we expected. Before Peter ever noticed this man laying at the gate called Beautiful, Jesus already knew his name, his pain and every day he had spent waiting. Jesus always knew about this lame man laying at the gate called Beautiful. Remember, Jesus is God in the flesh. They are one. God created this man. God knew every detail about him. He wasn’t overlooked. He wasn’t forgotten. Delay is not denial when God is still writing the story. He was left still waiting and begging in the weeks after Jesus had come to the temple and healed others, and he was waiting for a greater purpose. It was for the greater glory of God that Jesus would heal this man from Heaven, through Peter and John. We need to see that Jesus doesn’t have to personally be seen for his power to be at work. He heals from Heaven, and he does it through us! So, yes, Jesus likely had walked by this man at the gate before. And no, Jesus didn’t heal him when he was there, he left him waiting. Waiting but not without purpose. My sister, you are still waiting because there’s a greater purpose. There’s a bigger story. Let’s read between the lines. Just a few days before the cross, Jesus came to the temple. He helped the blind and the lame. People saw his wonderful miracles live and in person. But, scripture says they were indignant, meaning they were annoyed, irritated and angry. But now when Peter and John come to the temple a few weeks after Jesus, they heal this one man and something huge happens. Acts 4:4, “Many who heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to about 5,000!” Could this crippled man have been left waiting for healing because God had bigger plans to use his later healing for the saving of thousands of lives? YES!!!! And could you be left still waiting, not because God has overlooked you, but because God has bigger plans for things you can’t even imagine? YES!!!! My sister, your story is part of a bigger story. Have faith in God’s perfect timing to show up for you, then use you for his glory. Now, let’s dig even deeper. Remember, you’re getting a very long story made very short, but the Holy Spirit wants to show you more. This man was begging for money to just get through the day, and there’s no fault in that. There were no government programs to assist him. They had no special jobs for those who couldn’t walk. The only thing he could do was beg. But God can do more than make our current condition more bearable, he can radically change it! This man would have settled for a little change that day to buy his next meal, but what God had in mind was a big change so he could earn his next meal. We would all be so quick to settle for a little change to make our current conditions more bearable. But God wants to change something within you and empower you to live like you’ve never lived before. Are you up for that change? Are you up for never sitting where you’ve been stuck before? Are you up for being strengthened to show up different? Are you ready to leave behind the identity you’ve carried in your brokenness? Are you ready to stop living limited by what once held you down? Not everyone is ready for that, so really consider what you would do if your excuses were stripped from you and you have absolutely no viable reason why you can’t show up in life. If you’re ready for that, God’s got something for you! One more aspect of this story I feel the Holy Spirit is prompting us to see is the details of the healing. Let’s read verse 7 & 8 again, “The man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk!” It’s so interesting that the word translated “feet” only occurs in this scripture. It is never used anywhere else. It was a word used to differentiate between parts of the human heel. The word “ankle” is a medical term also found no where else in scripture. The phrase “jumped up” describes the coming suddenly into socket of something that was out of place. This is literally a medical description of what happened for this man. The power of God put what was out of place into place. What’s out of place in your life? Do you need God to suddenly put it into place? GOD CAN DO THAT!!!!!! He can take what has always been out of place in your life and put it right where it needs to be so that you c

Today in Venice, I will take my retreat girls to a church most tourists will never enter. Not because they can’t—but because they pass right by it. There’s no line wrapping around the building. No admission ticket. No crowds shuffling through with cameras. It’s not treated like a museum or a famous attraction. Years ago, when I was completely lost wandering the winding canals of Venice, I stumbled into this church by accident. And somehow… it captured my soul. It wasn’t the magnificent architecture. It wasn’t the intricate stonework or priceless paintings. But there is one thing inside this church I have never forgotten. One image that still grips my soul years later. It was one statue. A statue of the Archangel Michael. Michael stands there with a sword raised high, his foot crushing Satan beneath him. The imagery is unforgettable. Evil beneath his feet. Darkness defeated. Heaven victorious. Not fighting for victory – but FROM victory. Evil beneath him. Defeated Crushed. Satan rendered powerless. And every time I see it, I’m reminded: There is far more happening around us than what we can see. Thousands walk right past this church every day unaware of what’s inside. And I think we often live that way spiritually too—unaware of the unseen reality surrounding us. Heaven may be fighting while you think nothing is happening. Most people live only aware of the physical world—the meetings, the schedules, the disappointments, the conversations, the bills, the diagnoses, the delays. But Scripture pulls back the curtain and reveals another reality entirely: A spiritual battle raging in the unseen realms. This statue always brings me back to one story in Scripture about Daniel. In Daniel chapter 10, we find Daniel praying with no answer. Now remember, Daniel is a man who knew God. He’s the one who was in the den with lions all night and walked out without a scratch. But now we find Daniel praying and praying and nothing. He’s been praying for 3 weeks and Heaven has been silent. But heaven was not silent. Remember, heaven may be fighting while you think nothing is happening. In Daniel 10: 12-14, an angel finally appeared to Daniel and said: “Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me.” Daniel thought nothing was happening. But heaven had been responding SINCE DAY ONE. The answer was sent the FIRST day Daniel prayed. But for 21 days there was warfare in the heavenly realms over the delivery of that answer. While Daniel kept praying on earth, angels kept fighting in heaven. While Daniel prayed on earth, heaven fought on his behalf. I wonder how many times we quit praying because we assume nothing is happening. We pray for … the prodigal child the healing the marriage the breakthrough The depression The addiction The loneliness And when we don’t immediately see movement, we quietly stop asking. But what if heaven was moving the entire time? What if there was a battle happening over your breakthrough that you could not see? Heaven may be fighting while you think nothing is happening. While you pray on earth, heaven fights on your behalf. Literally. What prayer have you stopped praying because heaven seemed silent? Ephesians 6:12 tells us: ““For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly realms.” What is happening behind the scenes in the spiritual realm is a full on battle! Behind every scene, the angels and demons are fighting. The demons are fighting to delay you, distract you, discourage you, overwhelm you, depress you, and destroy you. All the time. Every time. But God’s angels are battling them to protect you, deliver you, encourage you, strengthen you and move you forward. It. Is. Real. But know this, God is sovereign. Victory is already Christ’s. The battle is real but it is never, not even for one second, uncertain. Do you understand there’s a battle happening in the heavenly realms over the answer to your prayer? I don’t think we get that. Satan knows what will happen if your prayers are answered – oh the unstoppable faith you will have – oh the praise you will give – that’s the last thing Satan wants! So he sends his demons into battle to delay your answers. Are there delays in the spiritual realm? Clearly, this is an example. Heaven may be fighting while you think nothing is happening. So, that leaves me to wonder … were you praying specifically for something, but then you gave up? What if you gave up while the angels were battling for you and the day you quit praying was the day God called the angels back and said, “She’s just not asking anymore.” How much angelic assistance have I forfeited because I failed to be consistent in prayer? Here’s what I’m learning: PRAYER REALLY MATTERS! An angel was dispatched because of Daniel’s prayers. For every day he continued to pray, that angel continued to battle the demon sent to block him. Jesus refers to Satan as the “Prince of this world” 3 times in the book of John. These spirit princes being revealed to Daniel are Satan’s demons, his battle buddies, his soldiers of evil. They are the evil spirits battling God’s angels, trying to block God’s answers, God’s blessings, God’s breakthroughs and God’s works. But what we see here is as long as we pray, the angels will not quit fighting for you. I know what it feels like to pray for years and still be waiting. I know that weariness. I know that disappointment. I know seasons of giving up. But I’m reminded I’m not battling alone. Maybe it’s time to call in the archangel Michael! When the battle keeps going, Michael is called in for help in the spiritual realm. Yes, that spiritual warrior in the statue I told you about. He’s crushing satan beneath his feet. Michael’s foot is on his neck. Y’all, that’s what our angels are doing for us! It’s real. It’s happening. There’s a battle, and the battle is often over your prayers. Don’t stop praying now! Why is there a delay in your answer? Well maybe there’s a battle happening for you! Maybe God has sent your answer the moment you began to pray, but the journey to you has been a fight. Here’s what you need to know … God says you’re worth fighting for. 2 Chronicles 20: 15-17, “This battle is not yours, but God’s. You will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you.” Deuteronomy 20:4, “For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!” Now is NOT the time to quit praying. There’s a battle happening in the spiritual realm and your angels will not stop fighting as long as you’re praying. They are not giving up on you, now don’t you give up on them. God has a victory here for you and for your family. So if heaven feels silent today, don’t mistake silence for inactivity. The first day you prayed, heaven heard you. And while you kneel on earth, there may be battles being fought in heaven that you cannot yet see. Heaven hears. Angels are fighting. Christ has already won. Keep praying. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Basilica of Santa Margherita — the big church perched high above Cortona. From down in the valley, it almost seems to float above the town. This church is dedicated to Margaret of Cortona. Margaret is unlike any other saint you will likely ever hear about. Her story is fascinating and dramatic. If you were choosing the story of a woman to become a saint known for her faith in Jesus, this would not be the chosen one. But, thankfully God doesn’t choose as we would choose. He never dismisses us because of our past. Our shame or guilt is never beyond his touch of redemption. His good plans for us still stand even when we have done our best to mess them up. Margaret of Cortona’s body rests in a sealed tomb behind glass within the church high on the hill above the Tuscan town of Cortona. Yes, a corpse now 729 years old on display. I’ve never seen anything like it. But it wasn’t her preserved body that has left me in awe – it’s her story. Margaret was born in 1247 in rural Tuscany, in a tiny village near Cortona. Her mother died when she was young, and much like a Cinderella story she was then under the rule of a mean stepmother. As a teenager, she ran away with a wealthy nobleman named Arsenio. They lived together for years and had a son, but they were never married — quite scandalous by the standards of the time. They never married and Margaret had decided she would be okay with that since being Arsenio’s mistress afforded her a life of luxury and wealth. She was attached to her new lifestyle and she build her identity around a relationship with a man that wasn’t honorable. Hmmmm … not so saintly, huh? Then came the event that changed everything. One day Arsenio never returned home. Margaret followed his dog into the woods, which led her to his murdered body. The shock shattered her old life. Yes, her old life of luxury. Her old life of wealth. And her old life of being the mistress that had settled for a life that fell so short of God’s standards. After the death of Arsenio, Margaret left everything behind and went back to Cortona in deep grief and repentance. She knew the life she had been living was wrong and she wanted to make it right. At first she was rejected — even by family — but eventually the Franciscans took her in as someone who wanted to repent and do better. She became deeply spiritual, seeking God’s way instead of her own. But what made her beloved wasn’t just repentance; it was what she did afterward. Margaret devoted herself to the poor, the sick, and the outcast. She founded a hospital in Cortona and became known for fierce compassion and being in the presence miraculous acts of God. Margaret’s story reminds us you can have grief, you can carry shame, and God can still use you in powerful ways. In the hands of God, that’s a life that can reach other lost souls who feel distant. Her troubled past is still being used today, 729 years after her death to reach others with a troubled past. She was often compared to Mary Magdalene of the Bible. Remember Mary Magdalene – the woman no one else would have chosen, but Jesus chose her as one of his closest followers. Luke 8:2, “Jesus took his 12 disciples with him, along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them was Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out 7 demons.” It’s often thought Mary Magdalene is the sinful woman seen anointing the feet of Jesus in Luke 7. A woman believed to have been a prostitue. A woman who simply needed healing from all the enemy had used to destroy her in the past. Mary Magdalene was deeply afflicted and Jesus freed her. And afterwards, she devoted her entire life to him. She was at the cross when Jesus was crucified. She was the first one Jesus appeared to after his resurrection. She was the woman with an imperfect past that was chosen personally by Jesus. AND THE SAME IS TRUE FOR YOU AND I. CHOSEN. REDEEMED. HEALED. SET APART TO NOW DO SOMETHING GOOD WITH OUR LIVES. You may think certain things disqualified you, but God says surrendered things become powerful things. Your past does not cancel your purpose. Your story still belongs in the hands of a redeeming God. God wants to use ALL of your story — not just the polished parts. The healed parts. The overcoming parts. The still-growing parts. Stop believing you have to be perfect to be used by God. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Ephesians 5: 15-17, “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools (asophoi), but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.” Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Just as God has a work he wants to do in your life, so does the enemy. The devil wants to do a work in your mind. He wants to do his nasty work in your heart. And he wants to bring absolute destruction to your relationships. And here’s the really dangerous thing … you may just be doing the devil’s work for him. That’s right – you might be causing the destruction yourself. Most of us have partnered with the enemy and without even knowing it, we’ve been doing his nasty work for him. We’ve made his job easy. Paul warns us of this in Ephesians 4: 26-27, “Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.” Here’s what this DOES NOT MEAN – this does not mean you can never be angry. This doesn’t mean you have to smile and always be happy. There is righteous anger. There are times when it is right to be angry. Jesus flipped a few tables in his day. You don’t have to be a pushover. In fact, God’s word even warns us that it’s not good to just go along with the crowd. We are to stand up for what is right. We are to be the light in the darkness. We are to cast out demons and evict evil. But, here’s what we cannot do – we cannot let anger control us. You can have anger – but don’t let anger have you. There’s a difference. When anger has you, it takes control of your mind and your mouth. When anger has you, you lash out and you act in a way that is not honoring of God. When anger has you, you sin. Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Where has anger taken control of you and left you thinking, saying and doing things you don’t even want to? Do you see this anywhere in your life? Do you know how that happened? Plain and simple, you didn’t put a time limit on that anger. You can feel what you need to feel, but you can’t allow yourself an open ended space to feel those negative feelings because then they take root and they begin growing in you. Whatever grows in you begins to take over you. This week I was sitting in a small village in southern Italy just looking at the old stone buildings and architecture. I noticed a grapevine that had grown up the side of the building. But then the grapevine had began to grow into the building. Attaching itself to the stone, wrapping itself around the railings, and literally growing to become part of the building. The grapevine was creating damage to the stone walls and taking over the walkway. This is the perfect picture of what happens within us with anything we allow to grow. We are taken over. Some of us have angry grapevines growing on every surface, creating damage and destruction. It didn’t happen instantly, it happened over time. Time. God works with time, but so does the enemy of your soul. If you give God time, he will radically change your life and set you free. If you give the devil time, he will wreck your heart, corrupt your mind, and destroy your life. And this is why Paul says, “Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.” This is about time. If you give the devil time with your anger, he will do his nasty work and eat you up on the inside. All anger, even justified anger, must be managed with a time limit. Anger absolutely cannot take up permanent residence in your heart and mind! How much time will you give anger? Something makes you mad – okay – so how long will you allow yourself to be mad over that? Paul says, NOT EVEN A FULL DAY. That’s what it means to not let the sun go down on your anger. Don’t let today’s anger flow into tomorrow. Don’t go to bed mad about this and wake up mad about it again. Set a time limit on that anger. Unlimited anger with the free rein of time gives the devil a foothold. Do you know what a foothold is? Think of it like this – if a bad guy is chasing you and you run into your house, but he sticks his foot in the door before you get it closed, that’s a foot hold. With his foot in the door, he can gain access and do damage. It might only be a 3 inch crack, but if he gets his foot in the door, then you are left vulnerable. That’s what anger without a time limit does in your life – it lets the devil get his foot in the door to your life. That small opening gives him access to do great damage. It may not feel like it, but even that justified anger that lingers can make you spiritually vulnerable. There comes a point with anger where we almost cherish it. We find delight in replaying the story, retelling the events, and rekindling the anger. The more people we can get to join us in that anger, the better. But that’s only better for the enemy. Now he has greater access to more hearts. Footholds are everywhere, and we are creating them! 1 Corinthians 13:6 TPT says, “Love finds no delight in what is wrong.” Really think about that. We are called to love. That is our purpose and our mission. Love finds no delight in what is wrong. That means when we are living according to the way God has called us to live, we don’t happily point out and talk about what is wrong. We don’t joyfully retell the story about what is wrong or who is wrong. Why are we making our conversations all about what is wrong? We have to stop that! Find something better to talk about. My goodness, there has to be something better to talk about. And here’s the thing … someone just has to turn the conversation and redirect it to what is right … I’m pretty sure God has asked YOU to be that person. I often make it a daily goal to “take no delight in what is wrong”. I can fall into the trap of watching something bad unfold and secretly enjoy the show. I caught myself just yesterday watching an angry old man on the train to Rome causing a ruckus for everyone around him. It was delighting to my eyes like entertainment. I wanted to hear the fighting. I wanted others to get involved. I was literally delighting in what was wrong, and that simply IS NOT LOVE. The enemy had a little opening to my heart and actively began working on my dislike of this human who I didn’t even know. My facial expressions told everyone else on that train that I was with them in their anger towards an old man who was clearly having a very bad day. That’s not right. That’s not God’s way. In fact, I’m just actively doing the devil’s work for him. I’m part of the problem. Paul gives us the solution earlier in Ephesians 4:2, “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” Can we just make allowance for each other’s faults? Can we be tolerant with one another? Can we remember that sometimes people have bad days? Can we remember that some people are carrying heavy burdens within that we know nothing about? Can we assume the best instead of the worst and allow space for our differences without anger? This isn’t just for strangers on a train, this is for the people we live with. Can we just allow space for rough mornings, overwhelmed minds, and poor choices of words sometimes? Can we give grace where they are wrong without making it all about us? You know what that does – that slams the door on the enemy. If his foot was trying to slip in there, his toes got smashed! The devil gets no foothold because my anger isn’t necessary and it’s simply not allowed here in the things that ultimately don’t even matter. But when it does matter – and sometimes it does – what’s important for us to remember is SET A TIME LIMIT on that anger. Don’t let the anger grow and fester. If you keep replaying the offense, the resentment will grow and bitterness will take root. And that bitterness is like the angry grapevine that attaches to you and creates destruction. It just won’t let go. It will wrap around you and force its way in. The foothold given to the devil becomes his stronghold. And if he has a stronghold on your heart, then you become the angry bitter woman you never wanted to be – and the woman no one wants to be around. Clinging to anger helps the enemy accomplish his work. He is the accuser, the divider, the destroyer, the condemner … and we partner with him in our anger and begin doing his work for him. We accuse instead of restore. We divide instead of reconcile. We wound instead of heal. We rehearse offenses rather than extend grace. This isn’t love … this is the enemy’s trap and we fall right in and become his slaves in his nasty work. When you feel angry, deal with it quickly. Don’t nurture it. Don’t let it settle it. Set a time limit and when the time is up, let it go. Your heart NEEDS YOU TO LET IT GO NOW. Before the sun goes down, let it go. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

When you realize how truly loved you are by God, you are made complete with two things: the fullness of life and the power that comes from God. Knowing you are loved frees you to live like never before. Not in fear and not in shame, but in bold courage to show up in this life you have been given and live like the girl you were truly created to be. Oh how I pray you are living in that freedom, my sister. You don’t have to play little. You don’t have to shrink back. You don’t have to sit it out. You can show up as the unique masterpiece you were created to be and live as only you can live. Now, today let’s talk about the second thing that makes you complete in God’s love … POWER that comes from God himself. What a trick of the enemy to make you think you are helpless and hopeless. What a lie from the pits of hell that tells you you’re just a victim to life’s circumstances and bad luck is all you ever have. No, my sister, you have power. And what can the power at work within you do … well, you have absolutely no idea! Like truly, your mind can’t even comprehend the power working in you as the recipient of God’s love. Ephesians 3:20, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” You literally have no idea what God’s power within you can do. You have never even dreamed up a dream comparable to what is truly possible with this power of God’s you have within you. BUT DON’T YOU WANT TO? Don’t you want to start living with a better awareness of this power? Don’t you want to wake up with the knowledge of what can happen with God? When you begin to know about God’s mighty power that is working inside of you, you start living different. You stop backing down in fear. You stop dismissing yourself. You stop allowing fear and anxiety to take root in your mind and rob you of your joy and peace. This is not God’s promise to give you bigger stuff than you ever dreamed of … this is God’s promise of his power to do greater work IN YOU than you can currently imagine. Read it again – Ephesians 3:20, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” He can change you. He can supernaturally strengthen you. He can make you in tune with his voice and sensitive to his promptings. He can give you holy courage to do what you’ve always been to afraid to do. He can guide you to be in the right place at the right time for his perfectly right plans to unfold. Sounds great, doesn’t it? We all want that. But don’t pluck this single scripture out and miss the full picture of God’s word. The revelation of this power at work within us comes AFTER experiencing the true measure of God’s love for us. This power doesn’t come without relationship. God is not a genie in a bottle with 3 wishes. He’s your loving creator who designed you to need him and thrive in the experience of his love for you. You are not complete without his love and you are not filled with this power without a relationship with him. Nothing is impossible with God – that’s true. But let remind you of the impossible work God focuses on BEFORE the open door, before the opportunity, before the success, and before the breakthrough … he begins by giving you a new mind with new thoughts. He begins by healing your heart to make it soft again. He starts by strengthening your spirit. Before he builds your business, he builds your courage, grows you in maturity, sets you free, and teaches you to love like him. If you’re only looking for the perks of riches, worldly success and selfish dreams, you may be sorely disappointed. God holds all those things, but he focuses on who you are becoming within FIRST. It’s his power at work WITHIN YOU, and that power can accomplish infinitely more than you could ever ask, think or imagine. Those habits you feel can never change … oh they can change! That old way of worrying about everything and overthinking all things … well that’s all powerless compared to God’s power now at work. Maybe you were once jealous, negative, or fearful … welp, all that is subject to the power of God now working in you. Once you know just how loved you are, then you’re under his power to change everything within you. Is there something you will boldly dare to ask God to go to work on in you? Something you want to surrender to his power and release to his control? Something you want to lay down right here and now and never pick it back up again? What is it? What yucky thing within you do you struggle with? This morning I sat down with God and I wrote a list of 34 different inner battles. Things I’ve personally battled or seen others battle. Every single one of which God has the power to change, but first we must acknowledge our own struggles before God. Don’t ignore this – if you really want God to do impossible things within you starting today, then it starts right here. Where have you struggled and you want God’s power to change: • Your tendency to perform • Your deep need to be liked • Your fear of disappointing people • Your negative self-talk • Your constant comparison • Your default of inappropriate flirtiness • Your need for validation • Your emotional over-eating • Your inability to say no • Your fear of being overlooked • Your inability to rest without guilt • Your twisted thought patterns • Your instant anger • Your overwhelming worry • Your need to control • Your unquinchable thirst for more • Your busy mind • Your negative thoughts • Your inability to finish what you start • Your tendency to embellish the story • Your constant scrolling and distraction • Your default of gossip • Your jealousy of others • Your bitterness from past hurt • Your addiction to comfort • Your fear of failure • Your perfectionism • Your procrastination • Your inability to trust God fully • Your secret pride • Your habit of settling for less than God’s best • Your tendency to quit when it gets hard • Your obsession with appearance • Your struggle to believe you’re already enough in Christ Oh my sister, you’re not alone – we all need God’s power at work within us. There’s no shame in what you’re willing to surrender right here to God. Decide now, are you going to continue to wrestle with this, or are you going to seek the power of God at work within you that can accomplish infinitely more than we could ask or think. This isn’t about your willpower to change, this is about your surrender to God’s power. Will you surrender this? If you’re really serious about this, I would recommend you go back and really listen to this list and with each one, ask God if this is an area you need his help with. Write them down, then bring them to God in prayer every day. Here’s how you could do that Example: If you struggle with negative thoughts, a default of gossip and an obsession with appearance, write them down in your journal. On one page write NEGATIVE THOUGHTS, then write Ephesians 3:19-20 to yourself, “I’m open to experiencing the love of Christ. Now I’m being made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. God is able, through his mighty power at work within ME to accomplish infinitely more than I could ask or think.” Then, in your own words, invite God’s loving power to go to work on your negative thoughts. Ask him to heal your mind. Ask him to do things you don’t even know to ask for. Then on the next page, write your next struggle, DEFAULT OF GOSSIP. Once again, write out Ephesians 3: 19-20 to yourself, “I’m open to experiencing the love of Christ. Now I’m being made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. God is able, through his mighty power at work within ME to accomplish infinitely more than I could ask or think.” Then, in your own words, invite God’s loving power to go to work on your default of gossip. Ask him for holy conviction so you’re aware when it’s happening and special strength to change. On another page write your next struggle, OBSESSION WITH APPEARANCE. Once again, write out Ephesians 3: 19-20 to yourself, “I’m open to experiencing the love of Christ. Now I’m being made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. God is able, through his mighty power at work within ME to accomplish infinitely more than I could ask or think.” Then, in your own words, invite God’s loving power to go to work on your obsession with appearance. Ask him to take away the desires that are not of him. Ask the Holy Spirit to heal what has been broken within that makes you unhappy with who you naturally are. Keep going back to this in prayer. As you recognize another need for God’s help, write it down in prayer. Will it work? Absolutely it will work. Not because of a magic formula, but because of God’s promised power for the girls he loves … and that’s you! He wants to work in you. He wants to heal what has been broken, he wants to restore what has been stolen, he wants to fix what has been twisted, and he wants to renew what has gone bad. Bring it to God, surrender it all to his power, and watch him work within you in unimaginable ways. He will radically change your life … and he’ll start with what’s happening inside of you. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Something happens in your life when you have a personal encounter with God’s love.  Something that changes you. I’m sure you know that God loves you.  But do you only know that on a surface level? For some, it’s a mere blanket statement of faith – nothing more than a thing you say because it’s what everyone else says.  “Jesus loves me this I know – for the Bible tells me so.”  But God wants his love to reach you in a deep, personal way to the core of your identity.  More than just because the Bible tells you so, but because you’ve personally experienced his love.  What God has for you is this, “Jesus loves me this I know – for he met me in my soul.” Before you are anything else, you are loved by God.  Before you are pretty enough, smart enough, or good enough in any way, you are LOVED BY GOD.  Before the first thing you did right or after the last thing you got wrong, you are loved by God.  Your mere existence proves the fact of his love for you. But because you’ve had his love every day of your life whether you acknowledged it or not, maybe it’s just become ordinary and unimpressive to you.  Sure, I’m loved by God – but what about these bills?  Yeah, I have God’s love, but what about all the things I don’t seem to have right now?  What about this mess?  What about this problem?  What about next month?  God’s love seems irrelevant in my real life of real struggles. Really, what does God’s love do for you?  Well, besides the fact that his love for you created you, gives you breath, saves your soul, and gives you a promised eternity in paradise … there’s more.  More for your real life right here today. Satan can’t take away the fact that God’s love gives you life.  He can’t cancel your promised destiny in heaven.  But what Satan can actively do is make your world so busy, so loud, and so fussy with absolute nonsense that you forfeit the power of God’s love here and now.  And then here you are walking around so totally loved by a God who holds all the power in the world, and totally unaware of how his love can radically change your life TODAY. Yes, today.  God’s love can change your experience in this day of life.  God’s love can open your eyes to what you’ve never seen before.  God’s love can change your thoughts and fill your entire existence with peace and joy.  God’s love can supernaturally strengthen you to do things you’ve never ever been able to do before. That’s what the enemy doesn’t want you to know.  Satan wants to keep you stuck in your pit of darkness, your overwhelm of sadness, your little hell of stress and worry.  Why?  Because there you are ineffective to share the light of Jesus.  There you are just another soul trudging through the existence of life waiting for it all to be over. Wait – has the enemy of your soul tricked you into living like that?  If so, recognize at the core of his trickery is the web of lies from the pits of hell telling you that you’re not REALLY loved by God.  His lies tell you that you’re just one of millions and millions of people and life is just happening to you.  His lies tell you you’re not really important to the creator of the Universe and there’s no divine power over the details of your days.  His lies tell you your prayers have no power, you don’t really hear from the Holy Spirit, and God Almighty is a little too busy to constantly be caring about you. Hmmmm – you’ve heard those lies, haven’t you?  Have you started to believe them? How do you overcome a lie?  WITH TRUTH!  Here’s the truth from God’s word. Ephesians 3:19, “May you experience the LOVE OF CHRIST, though it I too great to understand fully.  Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” This is the scripture directly after yesterday’s verse giving us the measurements of God’s love through the cross.  Remember, we can look at the cross and know how WIDE God’s love is, how LONG God’s love is, how HIGH God’s love is and how DEEP God’s love is.  But it’s not enough to just know about these measurements of love through the cross, you must EXPERIENCE THIS LOVE. No you will never fully understand it, but you can still experience it.  You will never have the right words to express his love, but you will feel it deep within your soul when you encounter it.  Jesus loves me this I know, for he met me in my soul. May you EXPERIENCE the love of Christ.  The Greek word translated into ‘experience’ in this scripture is ginōskō.  This is a word for knowing firsthand after a personal encounter.  It’s deeper than knowing because you were taught or told – it’s a knowing because you’ve experienced it.  It’s a shift from “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so” – to – “Jesus loves me this I know, for he met me in my soul.”  It’s a shift from “I know God loves me”, to “I have BEEN loved by God in a way that changed me.” How does God’s love change you?  It completes you.  It fills that hole that absolutely nothing else can.  You can achieve everything you’ve ever wanted to achieve, and still you need God’s love.  You can have purely wonderful relationships all around you, and still you need God’s love.  You can have the perfect body to include the hair, the clothes, the eyes, the smile, absolutely all the things, and you will still need God’s love.  You can have everyone’s approval and applause, and you will still feel a void within – a void that is only filled by God’s love.  You can have everything – and everything will never be enough, without God’s love. And here’s why – Completeness comes from experiencing the love of God through Jesus.  Again, look at our scripture, “May you EXPERIENCE the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.  THEN you will be made COMPLETE with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”  The answer for your emptiness is the love of Jesus.  The solution for your longing is the love of Jesus.  Yes, that wide, long, high and deep love represented through the cross.  Have you experienced his love for you? Oh how I pray that you would be caught by God and completely swept away in his love.  I can’t give you a formula for experiencing that.  I can’t tell you, go to this exact place, pray this exact prayer, wait for 5 minutes, then his love will meet you and change everything.  It’s simply not like that.  God’s love meets us each in different ways at different times. I specifically remember the first time I experienced God’s love on this level.  It was at one of my worst moments.  A moment where I was utterly disappointed and broken by the way my steps of faith had been rewarded by more hardship.  I had grown angry and bitter in the hardship, convinced God has messed up.  Sitting on my couch that day, I wrestled with my true feelings and tried to suppress it all.  My husband said, “Pamela, why don’t you just say it – you’re mad at God.”  I had never been told I could have that feeling and still be loved.  I never knew God was bigger than my disappointment.  I seriously thought I would be struck by lightning if I told God how I really felt about the crap happening in our life.  But in that moment I just couldn’t hold it back any longer.  I screamed out, “God, I can’t believe this is how you repay faithfulness.  I can’t believe this is your good plan for me.  I’m so angry right now.” And then I held my breath waiting for the withdrawal of his presence.  But instead of being struck by lightening, I was struck by his unfailing love.  I personally experienced the LOVE of CHRIST there in my weakest and most vulnerable moment.  He didn’t turn away from me, instead I could feel his peace fill me.  In unspeakable ways, I was loved like I had never been loved before.  In my most unlovable moment, I was fully loved. That was a turning point for me.  I stepped out of being the victim and I harnessed new power.  Yes, power.  Power that comes from God when you experience the love of Christ.  Things didn’t instantly change for us, but I can look back and see exactly how God was working for good in every detail.  Our struggles prepared us for the outpouring of blessings to come.  We came out stronger, more grounded, stripped down of all the excess, and our hands were open to receive what God had for us next. Honesty allows us to experience God’s life changing love.  You don’t have to pretend you’re okay.  You don’t have to play along like you’re happy about the way things turned out.  You don’t have to smile your way through the pain.  God can handle your honest emotions – but you have to surrender them to him.  When you do, you’ll be met with a love you could never earn.  And that love changes everything. Paul writes that once you experience the true measure of God’s love that is wide, long, high and deep, “THEN YOU WILL BE MADE COMPLETE WITH ALL THE FULLNESS OF LIFE AND POWER THAT COMES FROM GOD.” To have fullness means you lack nothing that is needed – you are perfectly filled.  Filled with LIFE and POWER. Have you ever met someone that is filled with LIFE and POWER?  They just glow different don’t they?  There’s something magnetic about them.  That’s the power of Jesus’ love within them.  If you want it, it’s available to you too. You’ll never understand this love, but you can live in it.  Faith is required here.  Surrender is your next step.  Go ahead and fall apart and let his loving arms catch you.  Experience his love. This is the flow: • Experience God’s love • Be made whole in his love • Live filled with God’s life and power The life God has for you and the power to fully live

You were specifically designed with love for love. At your very core is the need for love. As humans, we are in constant pursuit of love. And ultimately, every behavioral issue we ever experience is in some way trying to earn love, experience love, experience love or force love. What messes we create when we fear love is uncertain, conditional, or unavailable to us. This is why as women we seek attention, and often act in ways we’re later ashamed of. It’s why we are so quick to settle for the scraps of love because some type of love is better than the thought of no love. And this is truly why the enemy attacks so hard in making us feel unloved. Have you ever felt unloved? What did you do in that space of feeling unloved? It wasn’t healthy, was it? It was far short of God’s best for you, wasn’t it. And now you know that was a scheme of the enemy to attack the very thing you are designed in and for … love. You will never not need love. You will never love yourself enough to fill that hole. There’s no surgery, no hair extensions, no diet, no new shoes, purse or outfit that will ever make you love you enough to fill your core craving for love. And there’s no human who can fill that hole. Oh how they will fall short. Why? Simply because that was never within their design. That man will fall short. Those children will grow up and move on. That best friend will get busy. BUT GOD. This is your BUT GOD moment. But God’s love will perfectly fill the hole within you. Why? Because your creator lovingly designed you to need his love, and only his love will ever do. God’s love is like the key to the lock that opens the door to the fullness of life you most desire. But if you don’t know the measure of God’s love for you personally, then you will always feel lacking and unfulfilled. Right here, today, it’s time to learn the MEASURE OF GOD’S LOVE. Do you realize that God’s love isn’t a feeling, it isn’t a thought, it isn’t a magical state or some future destination. God’s love is real and it’s measurable. This is why Paul writes in Ephesians 3:18, “May you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.” Literal measurement’s of God’s love. And Paul says you “May you have the power to understand it!” You see my friends, if you understand the measurement of God’s immense love for you, all that striving, all that twisting, all that forcing can end. Every ounce of loneliness, every desire for something more or something different can be quenched in understanding the true measure of God’s love for you. How can we understand how wide God’s love is? How long God’s love is? How high God’s love is? How deep God’s love is? We look at the cross. The cross where Jesus hung and died, thinking of you and I individually and personally, is the measurement of God’s love. May you never ever see the symbol of a cross again without knowing the measure of God’s love for you. Looking at the cross, let’s look at the 4 measurements. WIDE – The horizontal cross beam. His love is WIDE enough to include everyone. Jesus stretched His arms outward toward sinners, doubters, outsiders, the broken, the religious, and the ashamed. The cross is open-armed love. Jesus extends his invitation of love to every single one of us. No one is too far gone. Absolutely no one is excluded. To the very people killing him, he extended his arms. To the sinners hanging on the cross beside him, he extends his arms. To you and I, he extends his arms. WIDE IS GOD’S LOVE. ⸻ LONG – The long vertical beam . This is not just about physical length, it represents enduring love through all time. His love is LONG enough to outlast your failure, survive every season of life, remain faithful even when you aren’t, and continue through every generation. The vertical beam stands like an enduring pillar. ⸻ HIGH – The top reaching upward toward heaven. His love is HIGH enough to lift us. The cross raises us up from shame to identity, from bondage to freedom, from earthly living to eternal purpose. God’s love doesn’t merely comfort you in your condition — it lifts you up out of it. ⸻ DEEP – The buried portion beneath the ground. The deepest part of the cross is hidden underground. Much of God’s greatest work happens beneath the surface. His love is DEEP enough to enter your suffering, descend into grief, reach your hidden shame and rescue you from the pit. Jesus descended into humanity’s deepest brokenness. There is no depth your pain can reach where His love cannot go deeper still. The deepest part of the cross is the part nobody sees. ⸻ His love is wide, it’s long, it’s high and it’s deep. The dimensions form a cross… but the cross itself also points in every direction. The cross becomes the measurement of immeasurable love. ⸻ Now, notice this – Paul doesn’t say: “May you understand theology.” He says: “May you have power to understand love.” Because love this large cannot be grasped intellectually alone. It must be experienced.This is how wide His love is. This is how long His love lasts. This is how high His love lifts. This is how deep His love reaches. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Your thoughts have a massive effect on your life. Every single day, your thoughts are either running the moment or allowing you to enjoy the moment. The truth is, you simply can’t have a positive life with a negative mind. God created your mind for life and peace, but the enemy fights hard to distort our thinking. Understand, today there’s still a battle going on in your mind, and it’s creating either defeat or victory in your life. Ephesians 6:17 tells us to “Put on the helmet of salvation.” What does a helmet do? It protects your head. Do you see what the helmet of salvation is? This is Jesus’ protection for your mind! The enemy is after your thoughts. He’s after your mindset. Your mind is the full on battlefield. And Jesus says, “Let me protect your mind!” The enemy cannot steal your salvation, so he attacks your thoughts instead. Romans 1:28 warns of what happens when God’s creation no longer seeks Jesus for protection over their thoughts. It says, “And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right.” Their thoughts were wrong so their actions were wrong. Why were their thoughts wrong? Because they no longer gave any effort to seeking God and God gave them over to their worthless mindset. So the battlefield of their mind was lost to the enemy. You eventually move in the direction of your strongest or repetitive thoughts. The Message translation says it like this, “Since they didn’t bother to acknowledge God, God quit bothering them and let them run loose. And then all hell broke loose. They made life hell on earth.” Who made life hell on earth? The people did. What caused it? Their unprotected mind and thoughts that ran wild. Whew, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want God to quit bothering me. I don’t want him to quit waking me up. I don’t want him to quit convicting me. I don’t want him to quit giving me that icky feeling in my spirit when I’m out of alignment. Lord, don’t quit bothering me! Bother the heck out of me. Don’t let me sleep if I am wrong! Have you seen a life where all hell broke loose? We all have seen that example. We’ve seen a life ruined because of a worthless mindset. We’ve witnessed the battlefield of the mind defeated by the enemy. A life filled with potential that falls so short. But understand, Jesus always wanted to protect that mind! Jesus always wanted to fight that battle. Jesus always had victory for them. But when we don’t choose Him, our minds go unprotected. Girl, put on the helmet of salvation! Make time for God so he can protect you from the battle over your mind. Your mind was never meant to lead you – it was meant to be lead by the Spirit. Our minds are wild little beasts. The moment you tell yourself not to think of something, what do you do … you start thinking of the exact thing you just said NOT to think about. I often teach how to harness the power of your thoughts using the example of a refrigerator. Close your eyes and think about your kitchen right now. Think about all the details of your kitchen, just don’t think about your refrigerator. You can think about everything but your refrigerator. Think of your kitchen, just not your refrigerator. Your entire kitchen and it’s details are what I want you to think about, just as long as you’re not thinking about your refrigerator. Now, what were you thinking about? Your refrigerator! Isn’t it crazy how the more you say “don’t think about that”, the more you DO think about that exact thing. Sounds a whole lot like what Paul is saying later in Romans 7:15, “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I dow what I hate.” He’s saying, I keep thinking about the things I don’t want to think about. I keep dong the things I don’t want to do. I keep saying things I know I shouldn’t say. I can’t control myself and I can’t change myself. Finally he says in verse 24, “Oh what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this …” What will change us? What will help us control this mind that continually thinks about the very thing we don’t want it to think about? What will help us win this war on the battlefield of our mind? Let’s return to your kitchen to see! Close your eyes again, and think about your kitchen. You can think about all the details of your kitchen, but I specifically want you to think about your sink this time. In your kitchen is your sink. What color is your sink? Is it white? Is it silver? What does your faucet look like? Does your faucet have a knob for hot and cold individually, or just one knob in the middle. Do you have one of those detachable sprayer things? Is your soap dispenser built into the sink? Which side of the sink is the garbage disposal? Is your sink currently empty of full? Okay, now open your eyes and tell me what you were thinking about. What? Your kitchen sink! Precisely! And what were you NOT thinking about this time? Your refrigerator. This time, it took absolutely no effort to ignore your refrigerator. Now, why was that? Because I gave you something specific to think about instead. I offered you a new mindset. A new focus for your attention. Your mind always moves toward what you magnify. Girls, that’s what JESUS does for us! Do I believe in the power of positive thoughts – absolutely. But it’s so much more than that. Victory isn’t found in thinking more positively – Victory is found in thinking more spiritually. Thoughts led by the Spirit bring us breakthrough and victory! Thoughts led by the Spirit radically change our life! Romans 8:9 says, “BUT YOU ARE NOT CONTROLLED BY YOUR SINFUL NATURE. YOU ARE CONTROLLED BY THE SPIRIT IF YOU HAVE THE SPIRIT OF GOD LIVING IN YOU.” The Spirit of God lives within us through Jesus. And Jesus is our helmet of salvation. He protects our minds. When our minds are right, our actions can be right! We no longer have to do what we don’t want to do! We no longer have to think all the things we don’t want to think. Jesus has rescued us from the flesh that causes us to resist what is good. He is the only answer. His Spirit living within you changes your mindset! This is how the war on the battlefield of your mind is fought and won. JESUS! Remember, what happens to us when we no longer bother with acknowledging and seeking God … God stops bothering us. We’re turned over to a worthless mindset. We’re filled with thoughts of all we don’t want, and pulled right into those thoughts and create a living hell, doing all the things we know we don’t want to do. But when we seek God, when we acknowledge him, we are given a new mindset led by the Spirit. We no longer think about what we don’t want, but about what we do want. Our thoughts are Spirit led! Our thoughts are filled with goodness, and our actions flow from that goodness. We are able to take our wild thoughts captive and make them obedient to Jesus! Naturally, we will no longer dwell on the things we don’t want to because we’ve replaced it with the things of the Spirit. You don’t have to avoid thinking about your refrigerator when I redirect you to your kitchen sink. Jesus redirects us to our sink. Jesus doesn’t merely remove bad thoughts, he replaces them with life-giving truth. To the good story he has for us. To the power he has given us to change. To the mind that is set on him. There’s a battle going on in your mind. The enemy of your soul wants to keep you stuck in a pattern of doing what you don’t want to do, and not doing what you do want to do. He wants to make you feel powerless and out of control. He thrives on this chaos and brings his hell to your corner of this earth… IF YOU LET HIM. Don’t let him. Devil, you’re out. Jesus, you’re in! My thoughts are fully on you! I find my strength in you. I put on the helmet of salvation and receive protection for my mind. Through his Spirit, I have the power to control and direct my thoughts. The last paragraph of Romans 7 reflects exactly what we battle in our minds and therefore in our choices. (Reading from the MSG translation): “What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? NOW here comes the answer with the final verse in chapter 7 and the opening verse in chapter 8: “The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. With the arrival of Jesus that fateful dilemma is resolved. A new power is in operation.” My mind has been reset by Jesus, and Jesus brings LIFE! Now living within us is God’s Holy Spirit who gives us a holy conviction when our thoughts are out of alignment. That’s where that icky feeling comes from, and thank God for it! And now you know, that’s God’s redirection of our saved mind to get in alignment with him. To help us stop thinking about our refrigerator, and think about our story. To shift our thoughts and therefore shift our entire perspective, attitude, words and actions! Today, practice allowing God’s spirit to help you shift your thoughts from negative to positive. From what’s wrong to what’s right. From what you don’t want to what absolutely beautiful thing God is doing all around you that you will so

How many of you would admit you over-complicate things sometimes? You overthink things and make things harder than they really need to be. Today, let’s let God drastically simplify a few things for us so we really get it. Yesterday we looked at that well known scripture, Romans 8:28, “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Other translations put it in terms we can really understand. “We are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together for good. We have been called to fulfill his designed purpose.” Now today, let’s go deeper! My sister, EVERY DETAIL of your life becomes part of something good when given to God. He wastes nothing and uses everything. God doesn’t merely work around your story – he weaves through it. You can’t lose what you surrender. But, it doesn’t stop there. I usually stop there. I read verse 28 and I’m off searching for my purpose. I’m digging through the bad things in my life and reminding God they’re not good yet. But today, let’s keep reading beyond the popular verse 28. Romans 8: 29 & 30, “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his own glory.” Woah, that’s a lot. We have an entire waterfall of promises here. Don’t choke on the overflow, let’s get in the flow. Stop trying to control the river and learn to move with it. One leads to the next, then the next, flowing over our lives and flooding us with hope and assurance. Today, let’s get in the flow and receive everything God is offering us! This flow begins with those God knew in advance. And honey, God knew you before! Nothing about you has ever surprised God. He knew you before you achieved any level of success and before you screwed up. He knew you before you got it wrong and before you got it right. He knew you before. Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” Oh yes, he definitely knew you BEFORE. He knew you before because he CREATED you with a great purpose in mind. You have been known in advance. And with that, the flow over your life begins. For those he he knew in advance, he chose them. YOU. ARE. CHOSEN. God Almighty, the creator of the universe, chose YOU. He wanted you. He knew everything about you and said, “She’s the one I want.” Girl, stop dismissing yourself! You have not been dismissed. God doesn’t regret his choice. What has he chosen you for? He has chosen you to become like his Son, Jesus. Woah – big pressure, right? Actually, no. You naturally become more like Jesus with each surrender of your own way. Every surrender makes more room for Jesus in you. When you’re living in the flow, it just flows. Ultimately, this means we’re just returning to what we were always meant to be from the beginning. Remember back in Genesis 1:27, “So God created human beings in his own image.” We were always created to bear this image, now God has chosen to bring us back to it. You are chosen to bring life to the room. You are chosen to bring hope to the people. You are chosen to bring love to the table. You are chosen to wash some feet. If you’ve been looking for your destiny, here it is. Your destiny is to become more and more like Jesus! Before God calls you to a place, he calls you to himself. The closer you walk with God, the better you learn to serve, to love, to forgive, to touch, to walk with, and to invest in God’s people. And for those God has created, he has chosen, and for those he has chosen, he has called. And this is where God got me. I am called. You are called. We are called. But, we all want to know to WHAT? Where am I being called? What am I being called to? What is my calling. Of all the questions I receive, this is probably a top 3. “Pamela, how do I know I’m being called and how do I discover my calling?” Is that a question you’ve been asking? Well first, we KNOW you have been called, because you’re in the flow of all of this. God created you, right? Because he created you, the flow tells us he chose you. Chosen to become more and more like Jesus to reflect his image. And that now leads to what God’s word says is next – CALLED. But called to what? I began studying this word, “called.” And you know what I found? I found we’ve been over-complicating it! We’ve made this a whole lot fussier than it needs to be. Think of it like this … If we were in the store together, but on separate isles and I called out to you, it would be for 2 purposes: First, I’m making it known where I am, and second, I’m leading you towards me. If you’re a mom and you call out your child’s name, they hear you, then they know where you are and they know to just come to you. And that is precisely what a calling is. To be called by God is two things: God is breaking into your awareness so you know he is there, and he is drawing you toward him. Calling is less bout finding a destination and more about following a voice. Look at our scripture today again – Romans 8:30, “Having chosen them, he CALLED them TO COME TO HIM” If you feel “called” toward a new job, that is simply because God is making you aware of his presence and he is drawing you to move toward him. This is how you step right into a new job … you follow the calling. God, I am aware of your presence in the details of my life. I’m moving toward you in faith. Where do you sense God’s presence? Move in that direction! Ahhhh, so simple. 1 Samuel 3: 1-10 shows us exactly what a calling sounds like and how we’re supposed to respond to it. This chapter in my bible is titled “The Lord Calls Samuel”. I think that’s the chapter you’re at in your life. The Lord is calling you. Oh, yes he is. How do I know? Because he created you and he chose you, and the flow from there is to be called! Samuel is a young boy and he’s living under the care of his mentor, Eli. It says: “Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon. One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle. Suddenly the Lord called out, “Samuel!” “Yes?” Samuel replied. “What is it?” He got up and ran to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?” “I didn’t call you,” Eli replied. “Go back to bed.” So he did. Then the Lord called out again, “Samuel!” Again Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?” “I didn’t call you, my son,” Eli said. “Go back to bed.” Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before. So the Lord called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?” Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy. So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed. And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.” The people most led by God are usually the people most willing to listen. God is making his presence known. He is breaking into your awareness. If you feel God is calling to you, simply say, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.” For real, why would we make it more complicated than that?!!! When you sense his presence, move toward it. To step into your calling, you simply need to be aware of God and move toward him! You don’t have to have it all figured out. You don’t have to understand the next 10 steps. You don’t have to see precisely where it’s all leading. You simply ask, “God, is this you? I’m listening.” Then start taking some steps of faith in that direction. And there’s more great news standing in this overflowing waterfall of God’s goodness. For those he created, he chose. For those he chose, he called. For those he called, he gave them right standing with himself. There it is – you’ve been made forever good enough because of Jesus. Not because of anything you have done or could ever do, but because of what God has done for you. You have been made right. Ahhhhh, yesssssss. Breathe that in. Jesus has brought you into right standings with God. You have been given full access to the throne! And for those he made right, he gave them his own glory. Yes, we are to bring glory to God, but did you know he also wants to glorify us, his children? Do you know how he does that? He makes us more like Jesus! He redeems us. Your story doesn’t end in struggle, it ends in transformation! Here on earth, to be glorified means we have the privilege of seeing him in everything and being transformed from the inside out. In Heaven that means full redemption of our bodies. Honey, this body will be made glorious after your journey here is complete! Who’s excited about a new glorious body?!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whoop Whoop … it’s coming. It’s promised. Get in the flow. That’s God’s promise. That’s how this all ends!!!! Stand under that overflowing waterfall and get in the flow. The flow begins with: YOU ARE CREATED. YOU ARE CHOSEN. YOU ARE CALLED. YOU ARE MADE RIGHT. YOU ARE GLORIFIED. And God, well he is in every detail of our lives, continually weaving it all together for good. And he’s calling out to his girls. Calling out so we are aware of his presence, and we continually move toward him. Just keep moving toward him. This is living in the flow and fulfilling his designed purpose for your life. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Nobody loves having their plans ruined. Nobody loves seeing all they’ve been working on completely fall apart. It feels discouraging. It feels overwhelming. But what if we’re just looking at it wrong? What if all that’s happening here with your ruined plans and failed attempts is heavenly things interrupting earthly things? Think about that! You’re dealing with earthly things. You’re planning earthly things. You’re in the mix of earthly details. But God is high above it all in heavenly things. From his vantage point, he sees it all. But remember this, he not only sees it all, he can control it all. And if God steps in and rearranges a few things, don’t you think it’s because he sees what you cannot? MAY HEAVENLY THINGS CONSTANTLY INTERRUPT YOUR EARTHLY THINGS. Maybe this isn’t an inconvenience, this is a divine intervention! Many years ago I simply decided to change my personal philosophy from the victim mentality of why were things always happening to me, to believing things weren’t happening to me, they were happening for me. This isn’t naive. This isn’t clueless. This is faith. This is trusting God is in every detail, and if the details change, then either he is already at work, or he CAN work it out for my benefit. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” You either believe it, or you don’t. If you believe it, then you can trust this isn’t happening to you, it’s happening FOR you, because God is working all things together for good concerning you. Why? Simply because he loves you and you have chosen to love him. Sometimes life just happens – but nothing can happen that hasn’t passed through the mighty hands of God first. The truth is, we live in a broken world, but we serve a redeeming God with unlimited power. Some things happen that God didn’t orchestrate, but he allowed because he knows he can work with it in good ways that grow your faith and trust in him, lead you to deeper purpose, and ultimately bring him glory. 1 Corinthians 2:9, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” And because God loves us, he will interrupt us. He will intervene on our behalf. He will rearrange, delay, cancel, and create a total upheaval. All to bring us into alignment with these good plans he has prepared for us that are promised to be better than our own. Do you remember the story of Joseph in your Bible? This guy had seemingly unfortunate things happen to him his entire life. As a teenager, he was thrown in a pit and sold by his jealous brothers into slavery. As a young adult, he’s thrown into prison for a crime he didn’t commit. As the continually good guy, he’s used, he’s forgotten, and he’s blamed. Where was God in all of that? VERY PRESENT! Joseph’s betray looked like destruction, but it was divine positioning. The pit he was thrown in interrupted his plans. The prison he sat in interrupted his plans. But every interruption was leading him toward a greater purpose. A purpose of God’s good plans that saved the lives of many. Heavenly plans that interrupted earthly things. MAY HEAVENLY THINGS CONSTANTLY INTERRUPT YOUR EARTHLY THINGS. Now, here’s the wild thing about God’s interruptions to our plans, we have a few options. We can live in confusion and disappointment or – we CAN actually SEE them for what they are and we can KNOW it was him working for us. How? His Spirit that lives within us. 1 Corinthians 2, verses 10-12, goes on to say: “The Holy Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets… We have received God’s Spirit so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.” Let me put this into simple terms. God works in mysterious ways, but through the Holy Spirit we have been given the gift of understanding these mysteries! The next time you lose your keys and you’re delayed leaving the house, in the middle of your panic, just pause and check God’s spirit within you. Is he saying, “My girl, calm down, I did this FOR you. I’m protecting you from what you do not see.” Maybe he’s even saying, “You’re making this a big deal, calm down and let me guide you.” The next time things don’t work out the way you thought they would, check God’s spirit within you. Is he saying, “I closed that door because I have a better one for you?” Or maybe he’s saying, “This is a lesson in trust. Will you release your grip and live in my flow?” Sometimes we’re obsessed with the destination, while God is focused on transformation. We want arrival – and we want it now. God wants refinement – and he’s willing to take the time! Take the exact disappointment you’re dealing with right now … that thing that still hasn’t happened … that unanswered prayer, that relationship that ended, that opportunity that disappeared, the timeline that fell apart, the plans that got wrecked … what is God’s spirit within you saying? Is he saying, “This is so much bigger than what you currently see. Trust me, I’m working here.” Seriously, listen to that prompting you’re receiving right now. You have the ability to hear God. You have the ability to tap into his secret and mysterious ways. That’s exactly what scripture tells us. So start doing it. He’s speaking. Listen. What is he telling you now? Leaning into the truth that things are working together FOR me helps me hear the whispers of his Spirit that remind me maybe this isn’t happening to me, this is happening for me. Heavenly things are interrupting earthly things! Heavenly things are always better! Girls, we have to look up. Look up from the mess you sit in the middle of. Look up from the plans you’re totally counting on. Look up from all you feel like has to happen next. Colossians 3:2, “Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.” The MSG translation says it like this, “Look up. See things from His perspective.” I’m always blown away by the fact that God is so big and magnificent to create the entire universe, and yet he is so personally involved in the details of our lives. If he intervenes, if he delays, if he cancels, if he redirects, it’s because of a higher perspective with heavenly plans. We can trust that. And we can also tap into the truth that his spirit living within us speaks, and we can see HOW he is working on our behalf. We can trade our frustrations for faith filled gratitude, knowing if God interrupted our earthly plans, it was because of his ridiculously good heavenly plans. We can hear the whispers of his spirit which calm us and assure us he’s not working against us. Remember, GOD IS FOR YOU. Well, all our anxiety and overwhelm just went right out the window. To all my control freak sisters, loosen the grip and listen to his Spirit! James 4:14, “But you don’t have a clue what tomorrow may bring.” Right … but I’m leaning in to the one who does! And the one who does know has put his spirit within me. And that spirit is what guides me to step into all the wonderful things God has prepared for me. MAY HEAVENLY THINGS CONSTANTLY INTERRUPT YOUR EARTHLY THINGS, and may you have the clarity of his spirit to receive it with gratitude! If heaven interrupts your plans, trust the interruption. Can’t you see how God is continually teaching you to move from panic to trust? Can’t you see how he is helping you release control and surrender to his higher ways? Girl, God is personally working in your life – and when he’s working, you can trust he’s doing something good! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Ephesians 2: 1-5, “It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! “ Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

The Lord is My Banner Exodus 17:15 Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Life isn’t always going to get easier, but God can always offer you peace. Solutions may not come today, but peace can. Oh what a place to find yourself in life when you realize peace can be yours precisely where you are with things exactly as they are. You don’t have to live so upset, so stressed, so unsettled and so unsure. The name you need to call on is Yahweh Shalom. Yahweh, as we know from the beginning of our study of the names of God, is the covenant, relationship, promise up-holding name God reveals of himself. It is the name we speak with our breath. The name we have called on every moment of our lives by simply inhaling and exhaling. YHWH. Shalom, a word we often translate as peace – but in reality, it’s so much deeper than just peace. Shalom is a state of wholeness, completion and restoration. It’s a state where things are exactly as they are meant to be. Yahweh Shalom, a mighty and holy God who assures us with him things are exactly as they are meant to be. Now that is peace. I may not understand it. I am not in control of it. I don’t see how it’s all going to work out. But Yahweh Shalom understands completely. Yahweh Shalom is in total control. And Yahweh Shalom sees precisely how it’s all going to work out, and he’s predetermined that it will work out for good according to his eternally good plan. Yahweh Shalom, the God of Peace, invites his beloved girls to trust him knowing he’s got you and he’s got this. Your stress is unnecessary. Your worry is unwarranted. Your ‘freak-out’ is unfounded. Plain and simple, when you have a God like Yahweh Shalom, you would be foolish to not accept his peace in every situation. He will create the path for your feet. He will carry the burden for you. He will ensure the battle is won. You can trust the God of Peace. This name is introduced in scripture in the book of Judges, chapter 6. The previous chapters are a series of God’s people, the Israelites, being rescued by God, then forgetting God and going astray. They would fall into slavery to evil Kings and live miserable lives. Each time their lives would get worse and worse until finally they cried out to God again for help. Then God would rescue them, restore them, and bring them peace again. But over time, they would fall back into old ways and wander away from God in a life of self and sin. Chapter after chapter, generation after generation, it continues. They’re in trouble and they suffer – until they just can’t suffer any longer and they call out to God – God rescues and restores – life gets better – then they wander again, forgetting God – Life gets worse, and then they’re right back to trouble and suffering again. Through these chapters in Judges, sometimes we see God’s people waiting a few years before calling out to God – other times we see them waiting for 20 years. Each time, as long as they waited to call on God for help, the suffering continued and life got worse. But each time they turned to God and called on him for help, he restored their peace. Without fail, as long as they delayed calling on God, their rescue and peace would wait. But also without fail when they cried out to God, he would help. The question is, why would they wait so long? Why wait 8 years? Why wait 20 years? Oh my goodness, WHY ARE YOU WAITING? This will NOT get better without God. He’s waiting on you to call out to him! But, there’s danger in our pre-conceived notion of what it might mean for things to “get better”. Getting better doesn’t always mean fixed – getting better can mean peace in the mess and joy on the journey you didn’t expect to be traveling. My family has been in a less than favorable situation for 7 years. Life with our family is far short of anything I imagined it would be. It’s not what I would wish for, but let me tell you what it is … IT’S FULL OF PEACE. I’m no longer upset, angry, hurt or empty in the waiting. I have nothing but peace because we’ve called on God and that’s what he brings. You may think calling on God immediately fixes the situation – sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn’t. But calling on God always brings his presence, and with his presence comes an unspeakable peace. The truth is, I don’t have to have this situation fixed to feel peace and joy … Yahweh Shalom has given me everything I need. I can trust he’s making it right. I can trust he sees what I do not see and he is actively involved to make things exactly as they should be. Here’s the truth – our God holds eternity. He’s not on your timeline. He’s not in a rush. He has all the time in the world to make things exactly as they should be … and he is! What he offers you and I in that process in PEACE every time we call on him. So, back to our story in the book of Judges. God’s people were stubborn, always straying away from God in between getting saved, continually going back to old ways of self and sin, until they finally cry out to God again for help. By chapter 6 we find the Israelites 7 years into their current unbearable struggle of life. They were hunted and haunted by their enemies and now resorting to hiding in caves for survival. Life was the hardest it had ever been for God’s people – all while God was just waiting for them to turn back to him. Judges 6:6, “So Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites (their enemies). Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD for help.” FINALLY – why would they wait so long? For the same reason you would wait so long. You’re just sure you can make things work, until nothing works for you. You’re sure this is just the way life is going to be, so you settle in to the normal of life just sucking. You discount God’s power to change it for you, so you forget you can call on him. Until finally, you just can’t take it anymore and God is your only way. Here’s what happens when they call out on God after 7 years of waiting … God responds. He sends help. This is where an angel is sent by the LORD to a young man named Gideon who is just trying his best to gather a little bit of food and hide it so his family can survive. These conditions were absolutely as bad as they could possibly be. That’s where God meets Gideon. And it’s here the LORD says to Gideon, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” Then the LORD said to him (verse 16), “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites.” Wow, what a promise from God to a young man who from the smallest clan and the least in his family , in a suppressed land struggling to simply survive, hiding in caves and starving to death. It was an impossible promise after 7 years of life getting worse and worse. But they had finally cried out to the Lord, and this was their answer. A promise of freedom, restoration, wholeness. And this is where Gideon, a small young man who was nothing but absolutely normal and easily overlooked, calls God ‘Yahweh Shalom – the God of Peace’. Had the battle been fought yet? No. Had the enemy been destroyed yet? No. Had the people even been given food to eat yet? No. But God had brought peace. Peace BEFORE the situation changed. Peace BEFORE the promise was fulfilled. Peace BEFORE peaceful conditions. While their families were still hiding in caves – while their crops were all stolen – while they were in survival mode – God brought PEACE. Peace that assured them God was making everything as it should be. Peace that God heard their cry, God was moving on their behalf, God was for them and not against them. Their enemies were still there. The oppression had not ended. But when Gideon personally encountered God, he walked away with PEACE. Peace that comes before the victory – before the change – before it’s fixed – before you have an answer. What I’ve found in my own 7 year journey of waiting is that peace can exist before circumstances change. The world will tell you peace comes when the diagnosis changes, when the relationship heals, when the bills are paid and when the uncertainty ends. That’s nothing but counterfeit and circumstantial peace. The moment you encounter the next problem, that peace will fade. But the peace offered by Yahweh Shalom is strong and steady before the change, before the fix, before the shift, and regardless of next. Jesus says in John 14:27, “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.” If you’ve ever experienced the gift of his peace, then you know it simply doesn’t make sense, but it’s real. Philippians 4:7 tells us that God’s peace “exceeds anything we can understand.” And by golly, that’s exactly right! Yahweh Shalom says, “My peace can hold you perfectly BEFORE anything changes.” God’s peace is strong enough to exist in unfinished, unhealed, and uncertain situations! I know, because I’m in the middle of it and yet I have immeasurable PEACE. It’s here for you too, my sister. Don’t wait for things to get worse. Don’t wait until you just can’t go on. Don’t wait until you’re a shriveled up piece of who you once were. Don’t wait until fear has taken your identity and anxiety has crushed your spirit. CALL ON YAHWEH SHALOM NOW! His peace is truly available to you right now! Peace isn’t pretending everything is okay. Peace is knowing God is still with you even when it’s not. There’s divine stability for you here in God’s peace. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

In Genesis 22, Abraham has a personal encounter with God and he walks away with a personal name for him – Jehovah Jireh. If you have a pressing need and you don’t know how it will happen for you, Jehovah Jireh is the name of God you can call on. If you’re walking in the middle of a situation where you don’t have what is required and you don’t know how you ever will, Jehovah Jireh is the name of God you can call on. If you don’t know how to give what is being asked of you, Jehovah Jireh is the name of God you can call on. Jehovah + Jireh. Two names together that radically change everything. Jehovah is a translation of the name of God in our breath. This is YHWH, the LORD who has made a personal covenant with his people. Jehovah is the one who has made promises and will be faithful to his promises. When Abraham uses the name Jehovah, he’s not just talking about “a god” – he’s referring to the personal, covenant-keeping God he knew he could trust in. Jireh comes from the Hebrew word “ra’ah” which means to see, to perceive, and to provide. It’s a word that means seeing a need is connected to acting on that need. When you put Jehovah and Jireh together, it means, “The Lord will see to it” or “The LORD will provide.” If God sees a need, he doesn’t just ignore it. He doesn’t turn his back on a need. He doesn’t just walk on by. When God sees a need, his holy power is moved with love and compassion and he takes action to provide for that need. God’s seeing always leads to action. Yesterday we learned from the story of Hagar how El Ro’i is the name of God who always sees you. He saw even Hagar, the one no one else saw. And now we learn another name given to God, Jehovah Jireh which assures us if God sees it, he will SEE TO IT. This is more than just seeing and observing. This is moving in response, this is meeting the need, this is divine provision, this is love in action showing up on the scene. You can be assured that God sees you, he sees where you are, he sees what you need, and his seeing always leads to his action on your behalf. God’s provision is never random, it is always intentional and it is personal for you. So why did Abraham call God Jehovah Jireh? It’s important to understand the setting so you can understand how Jehovah Jireh will show up for you too. This moment of naming God comes right after one of the most intense tests in all of scripture. Abraham has waited for 99 years for his promised and beloved son Issac. God’s promise for the future rested on the life of Abraham’s son Issac. Knowing this, God speaks to Abraham and says, “Take your son, your only son – yes, Isaac, whom you love so much – and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” Scripture says, “The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped woofdfor a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about.” What in the world is happening here? What’s happening here is a picture of the deepest trust and holy surrender of a faith filled man. Faith that told him his God is good and his specific promises would be upheld. What’s happening here is Abraham knowing that no matter what, God will take care of every need, God will provide precisely what is needed, and his timing will be perfect. On top of the mountain, God shows Abraham where to build the fire. Just as Abraham is trusting God enough to let go of his son, the Lord shows him a ram caught by its horns in the brush. The ram was perfectly placed at the perfect time for the substitution sacrifice. The fire was for the substitute sacrifice. Abraham’s son, Isaac, would come down off that mountain with him. The Lord saw the need and the Lord provided for the need. And right here is where Abraham gives a personal name to his personal God who has show up so personally for him. Jehovah Jireh, the LORD will provide. Now remember, God told Abraham to go to a mountain that he would show him. It wasn’t that Abraham knew exactly where he was going in advance, he was trusting God to lead him there. Abraham was willing to follow even when it was the hardest thing he would ever do. Abraham was willing to go even when he didn’t know where or how. And where God led him was to the exact place he already had a ram waiting stuck in the bushes for him. What this tells Abraham is God saw it all ahead of time, God provided what he could not provide, and God did it in ways he could have never expected. What that tells us is the personal God of Abraham is our personal God, and he will do the same for us. Jehovah Jireh – he will see to it for you – he will provide. The LORD sees everything concerning you way ahead of time. Before you ever get there, before you even know about it, God sees it. And because he sees it, he is working far in advance to provide for it. He’s already aligning everything that will be needed for you when you follow him with your steps of obedience. He will provide specifically for you in ways you could never expect. And Jehovah Jireh shows us something even deeper – he shows us he will provide the sacrifice to cover us. He will do what we cannot do. He will make it right. The LORD did not require the sacrifice of Abraham’s son – no, instead that’s what the LORD did himself – he himself gave his Son, Jesus, as the sacrifice to make things forever right. Again and again, God gives the sacrifice we could never give, all to perfectly provide what we could never supply on our own. We couldn’t save ourselves, but God saw the need and he did it for us. That’s Jehovah Jireh. The LORD will provide. The LORD will see to it. He will do it for us and he will do it perfectly. Beyond salvation, here’s what this means for you today: • God sees your situation fully. Not just one side of it. Not even just from a distance. He sees the big picture and he sees the tiny details. He sees what was, what is, and what is to come. He sees it all fully. And when God sees it, he does something about it! • God’s provision will come on time. Abraham didn’t see the ram until the moment of sacrifice. God had aligned the ram in perfect timing just when it was needed. He will do the same for you. Just because you don’t see it now, doesn’t mean God hasn’t already aligned it for you. What you need will be there when the time is right. And God will get it right. The key here is trust. Abraham had a choice to make that morning. He could choose whether he obeyed God or not. He could choose whether he got up and gathered the wood for the fire or not. He could choose whether he climbed the mountain or not. He could choose whether he brought his son or not. His trust in the LORD led him to obedience. And his obedience led him to meeting God in a personal and powerful way. His obedience led him to really knowing Jehovah Jireh, the LORD who personally provided for him. Do you need Jehovah Jireh to provide for you? You can honestly tell him your needs. He’s listening. He sees. And he is responding. You can trust him. You can trust his ways and you can trust his timing. Jehovah Jireh is inviting you into a deeper relationship where your feet move in obedience well before you have clarity of where exactly and how exactly. This obedience is what leads you to a revealing of just how personal and powerful your God really is. Jehovah Jireh is the God who sees ahead – the God who acts faithfully – the God who provides what aligns with His greater purposes. LORD, you are Jehovah Jireh – the God who sees and provides. You know what we need better than we know what we need. Help us to trust you, even when we don’t see the answer. You will provide what is right, and you will provide it in your perfect timing. Here’s my heart, LORD, shape it to follow and obey you. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Through studying the names of God, we understand our God is a personal God. In the past 9 devotionals, we’ve seen 10 names and we now know so much more about our God. As YHWH, God has revealed himself to be so near that he’s our very breath. As Adonai, God reveals that he is our Master, and therefore responsible for our care and our protection. As Elohim, God reveals he is our Creator who continues to create and make us a new creation even today. As El Shaddai, God reveals he is the Almighty one whose hand is in everything. As Yahweh Rapha, he tells us we can count on him to be the LORD who meets us in the bitterest of places in life and heal us. As Yahweh Mekaddishkem, God makes us forever good enough by calling us his own, making us holy and then teaching us to rest in him. God has revealed himself as a Shepherd, caring for his sheep. Through Jesus, God is revealed as Abba, Papa. Then Jesus goes on to call him Holy Father and Righteous Father. We now have 10 names for God, each that reveal his character, his power and his heart towards us. Have you been using these names in your conversations with him? Have you been calling on him by specific name according to how you need him to show up for you? He promises to respond. Now, we go even deeper. Beyond these 10 names, we read of dozens of other names given to God by people in the Bible who have had a personal encounter with him. The names they give God define how they’ve met him and what he has done for them. And my friend, if God did something for them, he can do something for you. What he did then, he can do today. We’re in relationship with the same God of the Bible. In Malachi 3:6, God says, “I am the LORD, and I do not change.” God showed up for people personally in the stories in your Bible, and he can and will show up for you personally now. Remember that as we study the names of God given by other people in scripture – he’s revealing what he did for them personally and what he can do for even YOU personally. He is the same God and he hasn’t changed. He has a personal encounter waiting for you too. One person in scripture who had a very personal encounter with God is Hagar. Yes, a woman. In these times, a woman was a second-class citizen. She didn’t have rights. She didn’t have her own life. She was completely dependent on the man of the family to care for her. And for a woman, if there was no man to care for her, she was in a truly desperate situation. Hagar didn’t have a man, she was only used by a man. (Perhaps you can relate.) But Hagar wasn’t only used by a man, she was used by everyone in her entire life to get what they wanted. She was a totally unimportant character in everyone else’s story. Have you ever felt that way? Like you’re not important enough for your own dreams, your own desires, or your own story. Like you’re stuck in the story of someone else and you’re always just along for the ride. Like the life you live isn’t your own. Like you’re forever forgotten – forever overlooked – forever unimportant. That was Hagar – that was her life and that was her story. In Genesis 16, Hagar was the slave of a woman named Sarah. Sarah was the wife of Abraham. They were a couple who had been unable to have children, and now in their old age, they had lost all hope for the family they so badly wanted. That’s wasn’t Hagar’s fault or Hagar’s problem – but she became their solution. Hagar’s boss lady, Sarah, decided she would use Hagar to give her the baby she had always wanted. Sarah sent her husband Abraham to sleep with Hagar, and so she became pregnant. It wasn’t love. It was ownership. Sarah owned Hagar, and Hagar’s body was used to get what she wanted. This wasn’t Hagar’s choice. It wasn’t her dream. It wasn’t her plan. But it became her life as she was used in someone’s else’s story. While Hagar is pregnant, Sarah begins to treat her so harshly that Hagar finally runs away. Now remember, where they are is surrounded by nothing but wilderness. Running away was a sure death sentence. There was no water, no food, and no help beyond the borders of their city. But Hagar was so desperate for something different that she runs. And there, in the wilderness, the Lord sent an angel to find her, care for her, and redirect her back home. And it was there, for the first time in Hagar’s entire life that she felt personally seen. There, she gives God the name El Ro’i. Genesis 16:13, “You are El Ro’i”. In Hebrew El is “God”, and Ro’i is “who sees me”. El Ro’i – The God who sees me. El Ro’i meets us in the moments we didn’t plan, the plans we didn’t want, and the reality we didn’t think God could be in. And right there, when life has been unfair, when the story isn’t the one you wanted, God says, “I SEE YOU, MY GIRL.” To everyone else, Hagar was unimportant and discarded. To everyone else she was someone to be used for their own gain. But to God, she was worth pursuing, worth rescuing, worth restoring, and worth giving hope for the future. For the one absolutely no one else valued, El Ro’i, the God who sees, personally saw her and declared she mattered. You know where God sees you clearest – in the places you never wanted to be. In the places where you are trying to run away. In the places where you hurt and feel lost. God’s eye is on YOU. (Remember he leaves the 99 to find the 1 who is lost and struggling – YES HE SEES YOU IN THAT STRUGGLE). Here in this place in the wilderness, where Hagar is running away, pregnant, alone, mistreated and hopeless, God meets her. If that’s the place you’re in, this is the perfect place to be found by El Ro’i! You see, he’s not the God who waits for you to figure it all out and get it together – he’s the God who meets you in the mess and calls you back to his plans for your future. Yes, the Shepherd who brings the lost sheep back home again. The Lord says to Hagar, “Return home and I will give you more descendants than you can count.” He’s not only comforting her in her pain, but he’s giving her direction and promise. He’s giving her an identity where she’s never had one before. When God sees you, that’s what happens – you get direction to your destiny! I may not know where it is you feel overlooked, but I know we all feel that way at times. We work so hard and no one notices. Our efforts aren’t applauded or appreciated. The good things sometimes seem to happen for everyone else – and where does that leave us. Oh let me tell you where that leaves you – that leaves you SEARCHED OUT AND SEEN BY EL RO’I!!!! And you have no idea how important that really is. Girl, if I see you, that won’t change your life. I might be able to encourage you for a moment, give you a hug, or make you smile, but that’s temporary – if God sees you, your whole life changes. And may I remind you, HE SEES YOU! He sees what they did to you. He sees how you were left out. He sees how you were used. He sees how it wasn’t fair to you. He sees how that made you feel. He sees how that made you question your worth. God sees you when you’re running and he calls you to QUIT RUNNING NOW. Honey, you can’t outrun the God who sees you. The angel of the Lord says to Hagar, “Where have you come from and where are you going?” Did he ask because he didn’t know? Of course not. He asked because Hagar needed to stop running and realize while she knew what she was running from (her mean boss lady Sarah and this life she didn’t want) – she had no idea what she was running to. The question is helping her see she’s running without thinking, without a future and without hope. God is helping her see the path she is on isn’t leading anywhere good. Lord, if any of your girls listening today are running – stop them. For real, stop them right now in their tracks. You see them where they are at this moment – meet them there and stop them. Help them to see the path they’re on and where it’s leading. Help them to stop running and surrender to you. You are the God who meets us when we’re running and calls us back to the future you have for us. Call her back now, El Ro’i. God told Hagar to go back. Yes, go back where life was hard but where there was purpose. Listen now – what is God telling you to do now? Will you listen for him? Will you stop running? Will you obey? Here in the wilderness, God appeared to Hagar. The wilderness where nothing else was there for her – God was there for her. This was the place of his appearance. If you’re in your wilderness, will you ask God for his appearance? He may not radically change your situation, but he will change you – that’s always bigger and better. Hagar returned home where she had that baby and then she saw God’s bigger plans unfold for her future. She went home knowing one thing for sure – El Ro’i, the God who sees her, had a future for her! If you feel stuck in a story that’s not your own – call on El Ro’i. If you feel unseen, unwanted, unappreciated or unworthy – call on El Ro’i. If you’ve been running away without direction of where to go – call on El Ro’i. If you’re in a wilderness season of life, struggling and suffering – call on El Ro’i. God wants to meet you in what you’ve been running from. How would this change if you really knew that God sees you here? What would you do if you knew God has a promise for your future? Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Jesus not only tells us to call God our Father, Abba, Papa and we see Jesus personally calling God by this name.  God is his Father.  Jesus is deeply connected with God – they are one and they always have been – while at the same time he is the Son and God is the Father.  They’re as close as they can possibly be.  They have the same mind, the same will, the same love, the same power.  Jesus is 100% familiar with God in every way … however, he doesn’t lose his awe of God just because he has this closeness. Yes, Jesus teaches us to be close to God. Yes, he teaches us to trust him as our Papa God and we as his beloved children … but Jesus also teaches us how to be in absolute AWE of God still.  He shows us his awe of the Father in two specific descriptive names:  Holy Father and Righteous Father. Jesus calls God ‘Holy Father’ in John 17:11, “Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you.  Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are.”  Jesus is praying these words right before he is betrayed, arrested and led to the cross.  And understand, he is praying these words for you and I.  He’s calling on the name of Holy Father, that we would be protected by the power of his name – that is HOLY FATHER. Do you know the power of this name?  Holy Father. This is actually the only place in scripture where Jesus directly combines these two words when addressing God. • Holy = completely set apart, pure, transcendent • Father = relational, close, personal We tend to lean towards one of these – either God is completely set apart, distant and intimidating to us, or he is so personally close that he’s become familiar and expected.  Jesus shows us how to hold both in awe, reverence and confidence.  God is both perfectly holy and perfectly relational at the same time. Last night I watched a documentary on Hulk Hogan.  I’m a bit of a documentary junkie.  I love the behind the scenes look at real lives that we often miss.  Hulk was this larger than life character with a handle bar mustache and bleach blonde hair known for ripping his shirt off.  But at home, he didn’t rip his shirt off.  At home, he was a husband and dad named Terry and he played in the floor with his children.  He was both, but the true man was only seen behind closed doors.  The rest of the world only knew the character making a scene in the ring.  He was one or the other, but he couldn’t be both at the same time.  So, it caused a split in his life and a loss of his true self. But the Holy Father is not split.  He is the same behind the scenes and on the scene.  He is forever both completely set apart and completely up close and personal.  He is beyond understanding and personally understanding at the same time.  He is Holy and he is Father – and not just for Jesus, but for us too. At the time of Jesus praying this prayer in the book of John, everyone knew holiness was associated with distance.  There was a system in the temple and only priests could approach God’s holy presence.  If you did it wrong, you died.  Holiness meant you couldn’t casually approach God.  But then on the other hand, ‘Father’ implies direct access through relationship and belonging.  Jesus is normalizing closeness with a HOLY FATHER, and he’s literally praying you and I can have that closeness too. Will you allow God to be both for you, both Holy and Father?  Will you grow close in relationship with the Father while remaining in reverent awe of his holiness?  He isn’t one or the other – he is both, always, forever, and fully. Jesus prays, “Protect them by the power of your name.”  What was that name Jesus just spoke?  Holy Father.  This is where your personal protection comes from.  God’s holiness means absolutely nothing impure can stand against him.  No evil will prevail.  His holiness protects you from every scheme and attack of the enemy.  And God’s fatherhood means he actively cares for and defends you as his daughter. You’ve heard of the threat of the Mama Bear coming out to protect her children – Well, that’s nothing compared to the Holy Father! Nobody messes with the children of the Holy Father!  Do you know him as your Holy Father?  Do you know the power of that name? If God is only Father – you lose reverence.  If God is only Holy – you lose relationship.  If God is both Holy and Father, you experience transformation in holy relationship with him. Now, Jesus continues to pray and he shifts from the name Holy Father which focuses on God’s nature, and now he calls him the name Righteous Father, which is a focus on God’s character in action.  John 17:25, “O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do.”  This name is about how God acts.  If you know God as your Father, and you know how your Father acts, then you know how you can count on him to show up for you personally.  Righteous Father. The word ‘righteous’ appears in greek as ‘dikaios’, which means just, morally right, fair and faithful to what is true.  With this name, Jesus is remembering in prayer that God ALWAYS does what is right.  God ALWAYS keeps his promises. Wow, do you remember that in your prayers?  God, you are my Righteous Father.  I know you always do what is right.  I know you always keep your promises.  You do not fail.  Ever.  I can fully trust you, your ways, and your timing. My friend, just in case life has been touching you hard lately, I whisper this truth to your soul – you truly can trust every decision God makes.  He is the Righteous Father, and he is 100% right! You won’t always understand it, but you can trust it.  He works in ways you cannot see to accomplish things you cannot comprehend, in a dimension you have not yet experienced – but you will.  That deminsion is eternity, and it’s where God is working everything together for good, yes everything, and yes real good.  One day you will take your first breath in the dimension of eternity and you will see it all for yourself.  Every single decision God ever made was divine perfection. And notice this, Jesus doesn’t say “Righteous Judge”, he says Righteous Father.  God’s righteousness doesn’t make him lose his love relationship for his children.  He’s the one who judges justly and he is also the one who loves you wildly.  He holds the law, but he also holds unstoppable love!  God doesn’t choose between being loving and being right – He is perfectly both. Even if everyone else in this world misjudges you, God understands you perfectly.  He knows you because he made you.  He wanted you, so he formed you and breathed life into you.  The Righteous Father is RIGHT ABOUT YOU and he rightly loves you. Your Father is Righteous.  This means wrong will not win, the broken will be made whole, and complete restoration is coming.  Righteous Father is making all things right.  Really, really, really right. Prayer Prompts: • Holy Father, where have I grown too causal with your presence?  How are you calling me to live differently because I belong to you? • Righteous Father, where do I need to trust your justice?  Where do I need to align my life with what you say is right? Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Jesus gives us a name to use for God. Matthew 6:9: “This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father…” Right there. The first two words of the prayer. Our Father. Before anything else… before the structure, before the requests, before the “give us” and “forgive us”… Jesus starts with identity and relationship. Our Father. That’s how He teaches us to approach God. He is our Father and we are his beloved daughter. Now here’s something really beautiful – It is believed Jesus originally spoke this in Aramaic, the everyday language of the people he was speaking to. The word would have been “Abun.” Later, when written in Greek, we see the word “Abba.” And these words “Abba” and “Abun” weren’t formal, distant titles. These were words a child would use for their father. Daddy. Papa. A word of closeness. A word of trust. A word of belonging. So when Jesus says, “This is how you should pray,” He is saying… come to God like this. Come as a child comes to a loving Father. Not distant. Not afraid. Not trying to impress. But close. Known. Loved. Now let me ask you…. Who is this God we pray to? Are we bothering Him with our requests? Are we even doing it right? Does the Creator of the universe really hear us… and if He does, does He really want to? Scripture tells us to talk to God about everything—all the time. Not with fancy or showy words, but with our real, everyday language. Philippians 4: 6-7, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” And this conversation with our Father, our Abba, our Papa hold tremendous power! James 5:16 says, “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” That’s you. Righteous not because of what you’ve done, but because of your faith in Jesus. And your earnest prayer—the sincere one, the one that comes from relationship and not obligation—that prayer has power. Power to move mountains. Power to break chains. Power to make the impossible possible. But so many of us miss out on that power because we don’t really understand who we’re talking to. I missed out for years, and maybe you are too. All too often we approach God like we’re interrupting Him… like we should keep it short, wrap it up, or say it just right. But Jesus tells us there’s a different way and a better way to approach God … “Our Father.” That’s our Abba. Our Papa. Not a distant God. Not an annoyed ruler. Not an angry man with a stick. Our Father. I sometimes listen to the teaching of a man named Bill Lokey. At the time of his latest recording, he had been battling cancer for several years, continually given only weeks to live. And this man decided, if he was only going to live a very short time, he would actually LIVE! His final recording was just 2 weeks before what he referred to as “a step from the boat to the dock”. Yes, his final breath and step into eternity. I’m literally listening to a man in his final 2 weeks of life teach me how to truly LIVE. I’m learning many things from Bill and his legacy, but the one thing that has impacted me most is an interaction he had with God during his private prayer time. He was in the car, and he began praying as he normally did, and God interrupted him and said, “I want you to call me Papa.” This man had followed Jesus for over 60 years, and he said in that moment, he experienced a whole new level of relationship with his Creator. He’s not just God. He’s not just the Maker of Heaven and Earth. He’s not just the God of all gods. He’s not just the Almighty. He is your Father, and he wants you to call him Papa. Papa. Let that settle into your soul right now. Romans 8:14–16 (MSG) says,“This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike ‘What’s next, Papa?’ God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children.” Oh… to be adventurously expectant. Did you wake up this morning expecting adventure from a Father who loves you? Did you wake up to this new month of life remembering He is for you and not against you? That He has already gone before you and made a way? If you didn’t, it’s so easy to feel stressed or overwhelmed… worried about your future and dreading the day ahead. But you have received a resurrection life. A life that has been raised up. A life that is new and fresh. A life that can break free of overwhelm. And when God’s Spirit touches your spirit, you know who you are. My friend, may you’ve forgotten who you really are. Maybe life has gotten loud and busy and you’re just trying to keep up. Today, Abba, Father, Papa is inviting you to slow down, come close and remember again. If you’ve lost yourself along the way, pause right here. Let truth settle in to you. You are not who the world says you are. You are not who your past says you are. When His Spirit meets yours, you remember your identity. And when you know who you are… then you know who He is. Father. Daddy. Papa. We know who He is, and we know who we are: Father and children. So let me ask you…. How do you sound when you pray? Do you come as a confident daughter, trusting in His love for you? Or do you come like a beggar… hoping maybe you catch Him in a good mood? Or maybe you’ve stopped coming at all… because somewhere along the way, you lost your belief in His personal love for you. The enemy would love nothing more than for you to see God as distant, cold, and unapproachable. But God is saying, “No… I’m your Papa God.” I used to wonder… am I bothering God? Should I just ask once and be done? Should I keep it short, like a quick summary prayer that covers everything? Sometimes I think we treat God like there’s a limit, like we should hurry. But that’s not what Jesus taught. Our Father. A Father doesn’t get annoyed when His child keeps talking. A Father doesn’t say, “You’ve already asked that.” A Father leans in, listens again and does everything he can for his beloved girl. That’s who he is and that’s who you are to him. I think about how much it means when a child says “Mama” or “Daddy.” The first time… it changes everything. And it never stops mattering. When my adult children call me Mama, my heart responds instantly. And that’s just a glimpse—a tiny glimpse—of how God responds when you call Him Father. He’s not rolling His eyes. He’s not checking the clock. He’s not saying, “Wrap it up.” His heart overflows. And here’s what is so incredible… The same God who created the universe… Who holds everything together… Who is all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present… He invites you to call him Daddy. Papa. Abba. That is the relationship He wants with you. But let’s be honest for a moment. For some, this is a hard name to hear and receive. You see, for many, this is hard because our idea of “father” has been damaged. Maybe your earthly father fell short. Maybe he fell absent. Maybe that image just doesn’t feel safe or real. And that matters. But don’t miss this… God is not a reflection of your earthly father. He is the perfection of what a father was always meant to be. A Father who chose you. Ephesians 1:5 says, “He decided in advance to adopt you into His family… and it gave Him great pleasure.” You are chosen. Wanted. Adopted. I’ve seen the power of adoption up close. To be chosen. To be claimed. To finally belong. That’s what God has done for you. He didn’t just allow you into His family—He wanted you there. You are His daughter. So what does this relationship actually look like? It looks like pulling up an extra chair and inviting Him into your day. It looks like sitting with Him… talking with Him… or sometimes just being with Him. It looks like saying, “Hey Papa… what’s next?” Not out of fear… but out of excitement. Not out of obligation… but out of relationship. What if you lived your life like that? Adventurously expectant. Waking up saying, “Papa God, You’ve given me this day… so what are we going to do together?” What if prayer wasn’t a task… but a conversation? What if God wasn’t distant… but right beside you? Papa. Feel the closeness of that. Feel the safety of that. Feel the invitation in that. You are not a burden. You are not an obligation. You are his child. He is here. He is available. And he wants nothing more than a life giving relationship with you. Yes, he is all the things that are far above all the other things. Yes, he is to be honored. Yes, he is to be respected. Yes, he is to praised. And yes, he is to be YOURS! Your Father. Your Abun. Your Abba. Your Papa. So today… pull up a chair. Invite Him into your space. Don’t worry about saying the right words. Just be with Him. And maybe start right here: “What’s next, Papa? I’m ready.” Because this life you’ve been given…. It’s not timid. It’s not small. It’s a resurrection life. And it’s meant to be lived… side by side with your Father. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Yesterday I gave you a new name you couldn’t pronounce, but a powerful promise from our God through a name he reveals. Remember, Yahweh M – God’s promise of actively sanctifying you to make you holy simply by relationship with him. Not through your perfection, but through his. Not by your works, but the works already done for you. And because of this, you can surrender and find sweet rest. Now today, we will study a name you really know. A name you can pronounce. A name you can understand. And we will see God’s perfect fulfillment of this name in the work of Jesus. Psalm 23:1 (You complete the sentence) – “The LORD is my …. SHEPHERD” Yes, God is our shepherd, meaning he is our guide, our provider, and our protector. He is present, and he is personally aware of YOU. This is your game changer! Recognize, you are the sheep. The one created and designed to need help. You were never intended to know the way. You were never expected to get there on your own. You simply can’t – you’re the sheep. You were designed to need a shepherd. Ezekiel 34:11-12, This is what the Sovereign LORD says, “I myself will search and find my sheep. I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day.” Have you ever had one of those dark, cloudy days? One of those days that rocked your world and caused you to get lost in the darkness? One of those days that made you question everything you thought you knew. Yes, those are the days when sheep tend to get scattered. We run and hide in our thoughts and try to isolate from the pain. And my friend, don’t you know that’s when you are in the most danger? Running and hiding is never your answer. If you watch a few nature shows on Africa, you will quickly see the lesson play out. If there’s a group of zebra (which by the way are called a dazzle), and those zebra are being chased by a lion, they are safe as long as they stay together. But inevitably, do you know what happens – there’s one who strays from the dazzle and runs to hide by itself. THAT’S THE ONE THAT GETS EAT EVERY TIME. What’s the moral of the story? Don’t run and hide. Stay with your people. I’ve intentionally created my own small zebra herd to go through life with. We are accountability sisters. We don’t let each other hide. If one is suffering, we all gather around. If one is struggling, we pick them up. We continually call on the God for each other. Because here’s the truth, our enemy is like a lion! 1 Peter 5:8, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” God tells us he is the shepherd finding his sheep that have scattered. He is rescuing them from the places where they run on their dark, hard days of life. Girl, if you’ve been hiding, he’s looking for you! Ezekiel 34 goes on to say in verses 15-16, “I myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign LORD. I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak.” Wow, what a promise we have from God. He is our shepherd. To study a shepherd is to study the ways of our God. A shepherd doesn’t just watch sheep, he LEADS his sheep. The shepherd knows what his sheep need and he knows where to find it. He knows where those green pastures are. He knows where those still waters are. Every step, he leads his sheep to what they need. A shepherd fights for his sheep. There’s always a lion looking to devour that helpless sheep and without a shepherd to protect them, they will never survive. Scripture talks about King David as a young boy being a shepherd to his father’s sheep. He became strong and ready for battle against the giant Goliath because he had been fighting off lions to protect his father’s sheep for a long time. A shepherd is actively fighting to protect his sheep. You simply have no idea the battles God fought for you just YESTERDAY. You are very likely completely unaware of all God did to protect you from harm. That’s the thing about sheep – we can be completely clueless about the dangers. We can be so hyper focused on trying to run to the next pasture that we are oblivious of the lion that was waiting around that corner. But the shepherd knew and the shepherd protected. Do you ever wonder why where you wanted to go and what you wanted to do didn’t work out? Do you ever wonder why you can’t just go where you want to go and have it the way you want it? LIONS!!!!!! Hidden dangers of the enemy. You may be clueless, but your shepherd is not. He redirects you out of protection. How about you stop fighting against his guidance and trust him. Once again, we’re back to that same word again – SURRENDER. The LORD is your shepherd – sweet sheep, will you trust him? Will you go where he is leading you? Will you trust where he guides? Will you lay down and rest when he says to stop? Will you stop wandering off convinced there’s something better somewhere else? When a sheep is injured, the shepherd literally carries them. He lovingly binds up their wounds and brings them healing. He restores them. This is the work of the shepherd. And the LORD says, THAT IS WHO I AM FOR YOU, my girl. I AM YOUR SHEPHERD. A shepherd doesn’t just show up for working hours and then leave. No, a shepherd lives with his sheep. He walks with them. He lays down with them. He stays with the sheep. The truth is, you are never alone. You are never in this by yourself. You never have to look out for yourself all on your own. Whether you know it or not, you’ve had a shepherd right there with you every day of your life. If the Lord is your shepherd, you are never lost, you are never alone, and you are never without what you truly need. You are perfectly cared for. You can call on the Shepherd. That’s who God is for you. He is your guide. He is your provider. He is your protector. And he’s sent a GOOD SHEPHERD to be forever with you. That’s our Jesus! Here’s what Jesus says in John 10, starting in verse 11, “I am the GOOD SHEPHERD. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. I am the GOOD SHEPHERD: I know my own sheep, and they know me.” You can call him GOOD SHEPHERD. You can CALL ON the GOOD SHEPHERD. You can absolutely COUNT ON the GOOD SHEPHERD to show up for you. He literally knows you. He knows precisely where you are at this very moment, and he has a good place to take you to next. Isn’t that amazing to think that our Good Shepherd actually sees what is ahead for you and is continually leading you to that good place?!!! And he knows every threat along the way so he protects you. He knows every need for the journey so he provides for you. If you get hurt on the way, he heals you. He stays close. But if you get yourself a wild hair and decide to not stay close to the Good Shepherd, he will go search for you and rescue you. If you’re the one who is hiding, he is looking for you. If you’re the one who has strayed, you’re not beyond his reach, just fall back into his arms. If you’re one who is hurting, let him heal you. If you’re one who is worried about future pastures, stay close and let him show you the way. God made a promise to be your shepherd, and he sent his only son to be YOUR GOOD SHEPHERD! You can call him by name now. Good Shepherd, this sheep really needs you today. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

There is power when a specific name is called on. Hypothetically, let’s say we’re on a boat in Bali, charting to the island of Nusa Pineda. If you hear me say, “Girls, come over here”, you would think, “hmmm, am I a girl? Yes – she wants to show me something and maybe it’s something great I don’t want to miss. But let’s say we’re on that boat in Bali, chartering to the island of Nusa Pineda for great adventures and you hear me say, “NURSE!”, you know that means something totally different. That means if you’re not a nurse, this doesn’t apply to you. But that means if you are a nurse, I need you to come quickly and help with a medical situation. That’s all in the calling of a name. The name defines who is needed. You have many names perhaps. Friend, daughter, honey, mom, nurse, teacher … and each calls to you in a different way. For a mother, the sound of “Mom” turns every head in the grocery store. I’m Mom – what do you need? How can I take care of you? Now think about God. He reveals his different names to us for a reason – he wants us to call on him for who we need. The more you know his names, the better you can call on him and the more you can trust him. Remember, this study of the names of God comes from Psalm 9:10, “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O LORD, do not abandon those who search for you.” So far, we’ve studied 5 of the names of God. Let’s do a review. Episode #2100: YHWH – The name you’ve always known since your first breath. A name not spoken, but rather breathed. LORD Episode #2101: Adonai – Lord, Master. The one responsible for you. Episode #2102: Elohim – Creator. The one who makes a new way when there is no way. The one who is making you new. Episode #2103: El Shaddai – God Almighty. The one whose hand is in everything and pours out his blessings on you. Episode #2104: Yahweh Rapha – The Lord who heals you – but not just your body, your mind, your heart, your relationships. Your entire life finds healing in him. Now, today, the 6th name of God revealed by God himself in scripture. A name he wants you to know so you can call on him in a very specific. A name he gives you so you can trust him more. Today’s name is likely one you’ve never even heard of. A name that is very hard to pronounce, so together we’re going to learn something new. Repeat after me – Mehhh Ka Desh Kem Together, Mehhh-ka-desh-kem. A name that tells you that you belong to him and he is actively shaping you. A name that gives you identity, value, worth, confidence and rest. A name that tells you to stop performing, stop trying to achieve so hard, stop trying to bend and contort yourself into perfection, and trust Yahweh Mekaddishkem to do his work in you. Is that what you need today? Girl, you don’t have to figure this all out – you don’t have to force anything – and you don’t have to perform to please the Father. He’s actually already done the work for you. We find this name in Exodus 31:3, but you won’t see it in your English translation Bible. Without studying the original text of Hebrew, you’ll completely miss this name God has shared of himself. Here’s what you will see in your Bible: The LORD then gave these instruction to Moses: Tell the people of Israel: ‘Be careful to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sing of the covenant between me and you from generation to generation. It is given so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.” The LORD who makes you Holy in Hebrew was YHWH Mekaddishkem. Mekaddishkem comes from the Hebrew root “qadash” which means to sanctify, set apart, and to make you holy. So, what God is saying to his people here is I AM THE ONE WHO MAKES YOU FOREVER GOOD ENOUGH. It is my work in you that makes you holy. It’s on ME to sanctify you. What does it mean that God will sanctify you? That’s hard to explain isn’t it? What does that really look like? My friend, it’s this simple and this incredibly unbelievable – You, in your totally flawed and imperfect state within the human condition are set apart for God’s divine purpose and he is progressively and continually working on you to be more and more like Jesus. That is something you simply cannot do yourself, no matter how hard you try. What God is revealing to his people here isn’t some unreachable complex theology, it’s an identity shaping truth meant specifically of this people. YOU BELONG TO ME AND I AM ACTIVELY SHAPING YOU. You are “becoming” in me and through me. And who you’re becoming is who he always created you to be – a girl who reflects Jesus! That’s holy. That’s sanctified. That’s forever good enough. Your holiness is not self-produced. Think about God in his infinite and perfect ways – think about his unimaginable creation of the Universe all by just his spoken word – think of his power to do absolutely anything he wishes at any time – now really, do you think there’s anything YOU could do that would impress HIM? Never. So, you can’t stop trying to perform and earn your way to God’s good graces. He’s already declared you as worthy of his love. He’s already claimed you as his dearly beloved Daughter of the Dance. You’ve already been set apart because of what HE did, not because of anything YOU have ever, could ever, or would ever do. You are set apart by God – you are different – you are HIS! This wasn’t your responsibility. Your change, your growth, your newness comes from a source – that source is GOD – not you. You don’t first act holy to be set apart. No, you are set apart, and once you understand that as your identity, you naturally begin to live differently. That’s God’s active, ever present, holy work happening IN YOU. You can’t manufacture this holiness, you can only receive it. Open your hands and receive it. For real, open your hands right now and just receive his holiness. He’s set YOU apart to be made holy by HIM. My sister, trying harder isn’t your answer. Have you noticed all your efforts continually fall short. You know what gets you where you need to be? SURRENDER. You can’t manufacture what God is trying to give you. You can only receive it with that open, surrendered hand and heart. Old Testament was about what you could do. Rules, laws, rituals, ceremonies, cleansing, sacrifices … and God’s people continually messed that up. We simply couldn’t get it right. We couldn’t make ourselves holy. So, that’s what our Jesus did for us. We’re no longer a slave to continually trying to do the right thing. It’s no longer about what you can do and what you can’t do – it’s solely about WHO you belong to. This is belonging, and God says, “YOU BELONG TO ME – NOW I WILL MAKE YOU HOLY. I ALONE WILL SANCTIFY YOU.” Because God is the one who sanctifies you, you can know that your failure simply isn’t in the way for him. You may stumble, God says that’s all part of the process, and this is HIS PROCESS. Surrender and trust him along the way. Now, in closing, notice specifically where this revealing of God’s name, YWHW Mekaddishkem comes – it comes after God gives his people the sabbath – a day of rest in his covenant with them. A day where he says, “Stop working. Stop striving. Stop trying to fix everything, and just rest in me. Let me work.” Is that what you need to hear today? Rest is part of the process of you becoming everything God desires of you. Will you trust God enough to STOP sometimes? Will you trust God enough to rest from the work too? YHWH Mekaddishkem means: God is not waiting for you to become holy – He is already committed to making you holy. He is actively sanctifying you. Stop trying to fix everything and start yielding to the one who is shaping you. You can trust YHWY Mekaddishkem completely. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

If I told you I’m a nurse, you know you could come to me for health advice.  If I told you I’m a dentist, you know you could come to me for your teeth.  If I told you I’m an accountant, you know you could come to me for your taxes.  If I told you I’m a banker, you know you could come to me for a loan.  If I told you I’m a travel agent, you know you could come to me for your vacation plans.  Who I tell you that I am directly tells you what could expect of me. So, when God tells us he is something specific, we know specifically what we can come to him for.  This is what we’re learning in the names of God. How sweet for God to tell us he is our HEALER.  What do you come to a healer for?  HEALING, my friend.  Yes, healing of your body – but more – healing of your entire being. Restoration of what has been broken. A healed mind that is damaged. Renewed peace where anxiety has taken root. Mending of strained relationships. Softening of a hardened heart. Comfort for a hurting heart. This is what God can heal – Your body, your heart, your mind, your family, your relationships, your circumstances.  God is the great healer, you can call him Yahweh Rapha. Exodus 15:26, God announces to his people, “For I am the LORD who heals you.”  LORD is in all caps so we know the original spoken word of God was his name YHWH, and heals is Rapha.  In Hebrew, I am Yahweh Rapha. Rapha means to heal, restore, make whole and repair.  If our God is Yahweh Rapha, we know we can come to him for healing, restoration, wholeness and repair in every way. Notice precisely where God speaks these words, because it’s only spoken one time in scripture, then displayed hundreds of times in action. Exodus 15 comes at a critical time for God’s people, the Israelites.  They have been rescued from captivity in Egypt and set free.  They have been supernaturally protected and guided right through the parting of the Red Sea, then turned around and watched their enemies be swallowed by the sea.  And now they’re walking through an unknown wilderness and dying of thirst.  They have gone 3 days without water.  This is the limit of a human body in these harsh, hot conditions. They finally find a small body of water, in this desert, but can you believe the water is bitter and undrinkable.  Moses seeks God for help and God gives Moses a solution that turns the bitter water sweet, and the people are saved by having water to drink in their wilderness.  And THIS is exactly where God introduces himself as Yahweh Rapha, the Lord who heals you.  Here where God turned what was unbearably bitter into sweetness to not only satisfy but to save.  God restored what had been corrupted.  The water was corrupted with bitterness, but he restored it to sweetness with his healing touch. This is where Yahweh Rapha meets us – in the bitterness we find unbearable, and he turns it sweet. Oh what a threat bitterness was to God’s people there in the wilderness – and what a threat bitterness continues to be for us, his girls on our own journeys.  Life has a way of being bitter sometimes.  It stings.  It stinks.  It disappoints.  And through it all, our hearts grow hardened, we become guarded, and bitterness creeps in.  Yahweh Rapha wants to heal that! Now, God reveals specifically how this healing is going to take place.  Back up and read the beginning of Exodus 15:26, “IF YOU will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, THEN I WILL not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you.”  God is saying your healing will not come through a transaction, but through a relationship with me.  A relationship where we have a role and he has a role.  Our role is trust and obey him – his role is to bring healing. Walk with God and you will live different.  Live different and you will be healed.  Healed of what?  The very things that threaten your being with bitterness.  We’re talking your entire body, but also those emotional wounds, your past trauma, your anxiety, your broken identity, your shame, your regret …. Anything that has become bitter in you, Yahweh Rapha restores. God could have given his people new water there in the wilderness.  He could have rained down water from heaven at that very moment.  He could have supernaturally quenched their thirst in some other unfathomable manner.  But that’s not what God did.  God addressed what was bitter and he healed it.  He changed the nature of the water and transformed it from bitter to sweet.  And if God can do that with a pond of nasty water in a wilderness, don’t you know he can do that with your heart, with your mind, with your family and with every other threat of bitterness in your life? Yes, God could bring something totally new, but Yahweh Rapha heals what already is and transforms the existing to health again. My friend, where has life turned bitter for you?  Where have you swallowed a hard pill and don’t understand why it has to be this way?  Where have you settled into dysfunction or disappointment, all while a little piece of you is dying?  Yahweh Rapha wants to heal that bitterness for you.  He wants to bring a sweetness back to your life.  That’s what he does, so now you know that’s what you can call on him for. God, heal your girls.  Heal our wounds.  Heal our brokenness.  Heal our bodies.  Heal our minds.  Heal our families.  Bring a sweetness back to what has grown bitter. Let me show you 3 specific places the word rapha is used in scripture so we can see the work of our Yahweh Rapha. • Psalm 147:3, “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.”  The Hebrew word for heal here is rapha.  This is literally the work of Yahweh Rapha, healing those broken hearts and bandaging up the wounds of life hitting hard.  He wants to do that for you. • Hosea 14:4, The LORD says, “Then I will heal you of your faithlessness; my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever.”  Again, this word translated heal here is rapha.  The work of Yahweh Rapha is to heal us of every way we have struggled to be faithful.  Of every wayward wandering, God heals us.  His love meets us right where we are and changes that bitter root within us to be sweet.  And guess what, God isn’t angry about the work he does in you either.  Yahweh Rapha loves to heal you and restore you and make you right again. • In 2 Kings 20, we read about King Hezekiah becoming deathly ill.  God has told him to get ready because he is for sure dying and will not recover.  But Hezekiah prays and says, “Remember, O LORD, how I have always been faithful to you and have served you single-mindedly, always doing what pleases you.”  Hezekiah breaks down and cries, begging God.  And this is wild, but check it out – Verse 5, God then says, “I have heard your prayer and seen your tears.  I will heal (rapha) you, and 3 days from now you will get out of bed and go to the Temple of the Lord.  I will add 15 years to your life!”  Verse 7, “Hezekiah recovered!”  This is the miraculous healing work of Yahweh Rapha, the Lord who heals you. Let’s be clear, if Yahweh Rapha can do that for King Hezekiah, a man most definitely dying, then Yahweh Rapha can do that for you too.  If you are sick, what should you do?  ASK HIM!  Just as Hezekiah did.  Bring your real emotion, your honest plea and ask for the healing touch of Yahweh Rapha. He is the LORD who restores every part of you – spirit, soul, body, family, and everything surrounding you.  Nothing stays broken in his hands.  He uses it for good.  He restores bitterness to sweetness.  He adds life. While we only see God speak of being Yahweh Rapha one time in scripture, we see proof of his healing power throughout the Bible, in the testimonies of real lives all around us, and I bet even in your own life.  Has Yahweh Rapha done his healing work in your body – in your mind – in your family – in your circumstances?  Has he turned something bitter to absolute sweetness for you?  Look closely, you will see the fingerprints of Yahweh Rapha – he is still working. And no doubt, he’s not done working.  He still brings healing. If you need healing in your life in any way, call on him by name.  Yahweh Rapha, I now know what you do, so I know what call on you for and what to trust you with.  Here’s my brokenness, here’s my sickness, here’s my disappointment, here’s every bitter thing in my life – will you touch me with your sweet healing? Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

There is a name God reveals of himself for when things look absolutely over.  When the world says it’s officially impossible.  When you’re at your end, without further possibility or hope and in need of a true miracle.  This is where God says he is “El Shaddai”. El Shaddai.  El means God and Shaddai means many things in many ways.  It’s not just one thing … just as God is not one thing. • Shaddai comes from the root word shadah which means to shed or to pour out.  In this way, God is the one who pours out blessings, abundantly and continually. • The Hebrew word shad means chest or breast.  God is both the strength of a man’s chest and the all-sufficient nourishment of a woman’s breast. • Shaddai also comes from the root word shadad, which means to display great power. • And when Shaddai was translated into Greek, the word pantokrator was used – which in English is Almighty.  Specifically, one who has His hand on everything. Layers upon layers of deep meaning are in this name God reveals of himself.  El Shaddai.  He pours out blessings, he is strong with great power, he is more than enough, and his almighty hand is in everything, always.  Girls, THAT IS OUR GOD! We see God use this name in Genesis 17:1.  Speaking to Abraham, he says, “I am El-Shaddai – ‘God Almighty.’  Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life.  I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.” The truth of this situation is Abraham is 99 years old and what God is saying is officially impossible.  But God had made a promise to Abraham when he was 75 years old, a promise for descendants of his own.  A man who had waited his whole life for children and he finally gets a promise from God in his old age, and then he’s left waiting again.  Waiting and waiting and waiting.  And while he’s waiting, God stops speaking.  At this point, he’s been waiting on the promise for nearly 25 years and even worse, it’s been 13 years since the last recorded word from God to him.  It was if God had gone silent and forgotten his promise.  Abraham is 99, ain’t no way it’s happening now! Have you ever felt like God has gone silent on you?  Like he used to be so near and so clear, but you somehow lost that connection.  And with this disconnect, you are left wondering if his promises still stand for you and your future.  That’s a real feeling – one I have felt before and I bet you have too.  My sister, God can handle those feelings.  You don’t have to hide them from him, you can be honest. This is where God meets Abraham – in the long waiting and wondering after years of silence and messy self-created problems.  This is where God reveals that he is El Shaddai.  Here, where the promise still hadn’t happened, Abraham’s body was incapable and Sarah’s womb had cobwebs.  God introduces himself right here at this point of impossibility.  El Shaddai, Almighty and All-Sufficient.  He is the God who can override natural limits without permission, understanding or explanation. And notice this … God waited all this time to reveal himself as El Shaddai.  He waited for 25 years AFTER he made an impossible promise to Abraham.  He waited for 13 years after he had last spoken to him.  He waited in the painful silence and the impossible growing even more impossible.  He waited until Abraham had absolutely no ability left whatsoever, and he waited until there was no hope left in that promise at all.  And this is where El Shaddai comes on the scene. Why?  Because only the Almighty, All-Sufficient one could do anything about this situation. Here’s the truth, you don’t need El Shaddai when you can work things out on your own.  You don’t need El Shaddai when you have other options.  You don’t need El Shaddai when there’s still time.  You need El Shaddai when it’s humanly OVER.  When the doctor says it’s incurable.  When the door is not only closed, but dead bolted shut.  When it’s 25 years past the deadline.  When it’s so far gone there’s nothing but a pitch black tunnel ahead with no light to be found.  That is when you need El Shaddai. This name of God comes with promise, it comes with identity, and it requires trust.  Trust for what seems ridiculous to be trusting for.  I don’t know what you’re finding so hard to trust for, but I bet there’s something in your life that requires the power of El Shaddai.  My friend, he is here for you.  His hand is in everything, including your thing.  He is more than enough for this situation that’s way too far gone.  His power is still over this! What God is saying to Abraham here is, “I am El-Shaddai, God Almighty.  I am FULLY CAPABLE, so you just stay fully surrendered.  Abraham, you live right and I will get this right!” Wow – there it is.  That’s precisely the message God has for you today.  Hear him loud and clear.  My girl, you live right and I will get this right!  I am fully capable, you stay fully surrendered.  El Shaddai requires trust over control and faith over striving. When you feel not enough…  When you feel so far behind. .. When you feel completely incapable…  When you feel like the opportunity has already passed and it’s too late … El Shaddai says, “I am not limited by what you lack.”  Your lack of answers doesn’t limit God.  Your lack of time doesn’t affect God’s infinite timeline.  Your lack of resources doesn’t deplete God of his resources.  My friend, your timeline isn’t restricting God and your resources are not defining his outcome.  Go ahead and give him that impossible – give him that wayyyyy too late – give him that dead end and no hope – watch El Shaddai work!!!  He will be more than enough for you. For my friend who is overwhelmed and stressed at work with an impossible load to carry – you need El Shaddai. For my friend who has watched the last thread of hope for someone to truly love you unravel and left you with a broken heart again – you need El Shaddai. For my friend who is still waiting and waiting and waiting, as you watch the promise coming true for everyone but you – you need El Shaddai. For my friend who doesn’t even know how to hope anymore – you need El Shaddai. He doesn’t need you to be strong here, he simply needs you to be surrendered here.  Bring him that hopeless heart.  Bring him that desperate need.  Bring him that empty chair, that empty crib, that empty account, that empty spirit.  El Shaddai, we’re calling on you!!!!!!!! Remember what God is asking of you – LIVE RIGHT and stay surrendered – he will get this right for you. El Shaddai.  The 4 meanings: 1.  Shadah, shed your blessings.  Pour them out abundantly, God. 2.  Shad, both the strong powerful chest of a man and the all-sufficient nourishment of a woman’s breast. 3.  Shadad, displaying great power. 4.  And pantokrator, the one who has his hand on everything! El Shaddai.  He pours out blessings, he is strong with great power, he is more than enough, and his almighty hand is in everything, always.  THAT IS YOUR GOD! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

The third stop in our names of God study brings us to Elohim, and it’s actually where it all begins. Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The Hebrew word used here for God is “Elohim”. This is how we meet God, and before he asks absolutely anything of us, he reveals who he is. Who is he? He is Elohim, meaning he is the Supreme One, the Mighty One, the Creator. The name Elohim tells us our God is all power and absolutely zero limitation. Nothing and no one is above him and everything begins with him. Nothing exists without the Creator. To understand our Elohim, look at his creation. Look at the magnificent universe and its perfect balance to sustain life. Look at the intricate details of life. Nothing is by accident, everything is the intentional thought and spoken word of Elohim, the Creator. But you know that, right? You know he created all of this and holds all of this, but do you realize, Elohim doesn’t stop there. A creator doesn’t create once and never create again. He continues to create. He continues to make things new … for you! Not only for you, but IN YOU. 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a NEW person. The old life is gone; a NEW LIFE has begun!” This is the work of Elohim, the Creator who is still creating new things in you. As long as you’re alive, he’s still creating in you. New things are growing and developing because of his continued work of creation in you. Question – Where do you need Elohim to create something new in you? God is working in you, and he’s working all around you. Elohim can work in anything and everything because it was all his original work anyway. The one who created it can change it or redesign it in any way he wishes. He alone holds that power. Maybe what you need doesn’t even exist right now. Do you honestly think that’s a problem for Elohim, the Supreme One, the Mighty One, the Creator? Girl, he can create the solution for your problem. He can design the pathway through your impossible. He can make a brand new, never been seen before creation to meet your need. He is not limited to what has been before. He is not limited to what makes sense. He’s not limited to what you know or what you understand. He can make a new cure. He can make a new way. He can make a new solution. Our God is a CREATOR. He creates things that have never existed before. Did you know you can call on him to create for you now? Think about this – when Moses and the Israelites stood before an impassable Red Sea with their enemies closing in from behind, there was no way. There were no solutions. This was hopeless. So Elohim, our God the Creator, created a new way that had never been seen or imagined before. He created a dry path through the Red Sea by splitting the waters and making them stand on their ends. And let me tell you something you need to know – If God can do that then for them, God can do something radically new for you now! Call on your Elohim. God, create a way for me. Maybe what you need is a new opportunity. You’re at a dead end with no viable options and you feel desperate. You’ve looked for a different opportunity and found absolutely none. Well – LOOK AGAIN, Sis. For real, God can create a new opportunity for you that simply wasn’t there before … but it can be now. In my journey of faith I’ve found this simple truth – God loves to show up for the one who is looking for him. Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:7, “Seek and you will find.” I believe Jesus really meant that and I believe Elohim can really back it up. If you look for him, you will find him … and you’ll find him doing new things for you all the time! Creating ways where there were no ways before. Creating new opportunities where old opportunities spoiled. Creating new solutions to impossible problems and letting you stumble right into them as you seek his hand. Question – Where do you need Elohim to create something new for you? You can trust God’s unlimited hand over your limitations. You can trust God’s power over your problems. He can speak into existence absolutely ANYTHING NEEDED HERE. Elohim is the creator of all things, including YOU. Nothing in your life is beyond his power. He can create in you what you cannot create on your own. He can align for you in one day what you couldn’t possibly make come together in a hundred lifetimes. Get a glimpse of how big your God, Elohim, really is … now know that anything you can dare to imagine is the tiniest proportion of who he really is and what he can really do. Elohim doesn’t just create worlds with mountains and valleys, rivers and oceans, the sun and moon and stars – he creates moments – he creates solutions – he creates connections – he creates paths that lead to eternal destinations. Elohim creates abundance where there was lack, order where there was chaos, and life where there was death. In Exodus, we see God create manna out of absolutely nothing and make this dewy food substance just appear on the wilderness ground every morning for his people. It had never been there before and likely has never been there again since – but he made it new for the Israelites just when they needed it. This shows us Elohim doesn’t need resources – HE CREATES THEM. Maybe you’re standing here today empty handed feeling like you have nothing to even start with. Okay, that’s not a problem for our God. He can create the resources you need. He can create the job. He can create the opportunity. He can create the connection. He can create the need and then allow YOU to be the one to meet the need in a perfect way. How many times in scripture do we see God create new life in a womb that was declared barren and broken? That’s not a limitation for the Creator. He can create in impossible places and grow miracles. I’m literally watching him do that right now in one of my friend’s lives. Elohim is still working! In 2 Chronicles 20, God gives a new battle plan for Jehoshaphat against a mighty army he didn’t have a chance winning against. The new battle plan God gave was to go out and sing praises the next morning and this would send the enemy armies into a frenzy and fight against one another. As Jehoshaphat and his tiny army of men sang praises to the Lord, this massive army slaughtered each other until not a single enemy remained. I need a battle plan like that for some battles I’m facing. A new plan straight from Elohim! How about you? He creates solutions we would never think of, and even when they sound crazy, God’s solutions will NOT FAIL! Elohim spoke a new identity over Gideon. In Judges 6 Gideon felt like the smallest nobody of a whole tribe of nobodies. But Elohim speaks a new identity into Gideon as a mighty warrior. That mighty warrior went on and did mighty things with his new identity. Question – Do you need Elohim to speak a new identity over you? Remember, he’s already doing the work in you! Going back to 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a NEW person. The old life is gone; a NEW LIFE has begun!” Let him create a new identity in you and do a new work through you leading you to a radically new life! Elohim – our God the Creator is all power and zero limitation … and he’s still creating today! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Yesterday we learned anytime LORD (all caps) appears in your bible, the original Hebrew text was referring to YHWH, the name God revealed of himself to Moses. The name that wasn’t spoken, but rather breathed. The breath sound of Yah (inhale), weh (exhale). So, what about the times in scripture Lord is not in all caps? Was this a translation of something different? Yes. Let’s find out what it meant then and what it means to us today. Remember, we are studying the names of God to better understand his character, his ways, his nature, and who he is for us personally so we can confidently stand on his promises for us. Psalm 9:10 says, “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O LORD, do not abandon those who search for you.” This is simply a study in getting to know God’s names so we grow in trust of him as he has promised to never leave us. Lord (when NOT in all caps), is the English translation of another name for God in Hebrew, Adonai. We first see the introduction of the name Adonai in Abraham’s conversation with God about the promise of countless future descendants. And Abraham replies to God in Genesis 15:2 by calling him , “Adonai YHWH”. The English translation is often LORD God. Here, Abraham is recognizing God as not only his source of life by breathing his holy name YHWY, but also recognizing God as his Master by calling him Adonai. Moses refers to God in this same way in prayer. So does King David, Ezekiel and Daniel. Look for it in your Bible. LORD God means Adonai + YHWH. We know YHWH, so let’s get to know Adonai. The Hebrew root word here is “Adan” which means lord and master. When referring to a human master, they were called “adoni” (Ah-doh-NEE – rhyming with knee). But when referring to God as the supreme Master, he is called “Adonai” (Ah-doh-NAI – rhyming with eye). In Biblical times, it was common for a household leader to be master over their servants or for a king to be master over his subjects, even a teacher to be a master over his students. As the master, they were not only in charge, but they were to be the provider, the protector and the decision-maker. The complete care fell as the responsibility of the lord and master. Yes, the master has authority, but the master also assumes responsbility. Now, consider this – Abraham is standing before God as a fatherless old man with a barren old wife, receiving a promise of descendants that number as many as the stars, and Abraham calls him Adonai, Master. God, you have all authority and you are fully responsible for me. I am in your hands. You are in charge here, you are my provider, you are my protector, and you are the ultimate decision maker. Adonai, my Lord, my Master. Every time you see Lord (not in all caps) in your Bible, God is being referred to as Adonai, Lord and Master. Can you call him Lord? Will you call him Master? Is he your Adonai? The world tries to lord over us to control us, so naturally we resist. But God, as Adonai, is our Lord and Master to lead us to good plans of eternal destiny. When you understand God by the name Adonai, you understand a relationship of true belonging. Your life is connected to your master. Your purpose is to serve the purposes of your master. Adonai is your everything, your reason for living – literally. And to the master, you are loyal. You serve not because you have to, but because serving your master is your complete identity. He is the lord over you. Adonai is not your equal. He is infinitely higher and greater than you. Adonai is not just your helper – He is your source of life, your divine designer, your destiny keeper. Adonai is not some angry, tempremental old fella sitting on some distant throne with a big stick, sometimes working for you and sometimes working against you – He is in complete control of his eternally good plans, and those plans include every day of your life before you ever took your first breath. When we call God Adonai, we are confessing, Lord, you are in charge – not me, and I fully surrender to you. When God is your Master, Adonai, you are choosing to follow his will. You’re choosing to trust his plan and his timing over your own. Why? Because he is in charge of you, fully, completely, in every way, every day. He is responsible for the details of your life, and he holds it all in his mighty and capable hands. Now remember this if you should you ever question the hand of your Master … it was his hands that were nailed to the cross while he thought of you. It was his nail-scarred hands that made a way for you to be fully forgiven and forever good enough. Can you really trust those hands – oh you bet you can! You can trust Adonai, your Master, to lead you well. You can trust Jeremiah 29:11 to be written all over every detail of your life. “For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.” That’s the Master’s plan for your life – and here’s the really good news – the Master’s plan is the true MASTER PLAN for your life. It will not fail. Adonai will not fail. He says in Isaiah 46:10, “Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.” Now receive that personally. Adonai, your Master, WILL NOT FAIL YOU. The Master’s plan is for you, not against you, and absolutely nothing can block his plan, cancel his plan, or override his plan. Adonai has no master above him. He holds all power! His plan for your life WILL COME TO PASS. Now that, my friend, should give you absolute confidence. That’s who your Master is. That’s your Lord. This is Adonai. That’s who is in charge of you. This is who is responsible for your care. The one with the good plans and all the power to fulfill them! It might not be natural for you to see a master as a good thing. You may have had a bad boss or a demanding parent or an abusive relationship, and this may have caused you to rebel against all authority and control. That’s normal and that’s understandable, however it’s completely unnecessary with Adonai. Our Master has never misused his power. He has never been wrong. Yes, in the Old Testament he was harsh and even angry over the rebellion of his people, and that’s exactly why he sent Jesus as the sacrifice to make us forever good enough. So he wouldn’t have to be harsh and angry with his people again. So he could be our Master with love and authority that are never in conflict. Romans 8:28 says, “For we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” When you truly KNOW (and I mean your heart knows it as well as your head knows it), you know that you know that you know this about God, Adonai, your Master, Lord, then you can enter into a relationship with him of complete surrender and trust for every detail of your life. Do you know just how good God’s got you? When God is acknowledged as Adonai, the Master of your life, it’s not about losing freedom … instead it’s all about placing your life under the absolute best possible leadership. This is as good as it gets. The one who has declared responsibility for your care, your provision and your future is the one and only God who loved you so much that he gave his son for you. Your Master is the one who knows everything. He is the one who has always seen the end from the very beginning. He is the one who can truly work all things together for good, even the bad parts, and even the parts you don’t understand. Oh he’s working, and he’s working it out for good. Is there an area of your life where you’re still trying to act like you’re in charge? Is there something you’ve been holding back? Something you’ve been questioning God about? Something in your life that hasn’t bowed to him as Adonai, Lord and Master? Now that you know this name of God, Adonai, and you know what it means, will you begin using it in your conversations with him? Acknowledge his as your good Master with a good plan and all the power in the world to fulfill it. He is – that’s exactly what he is doing in your life. Honor him for it! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

The names of God reveal his character, his ways and who he is for you personally. God has invited you into a relationship journey with him, and knowing all of his names mentioned in scripture will build your relationship with him. After all, he knows everything about you – don’t you think it’s important we learn all we can about him too? Name are important in the bible. When a family named their child, it was with great thought and intention. That name would become their identity. God has an identity to share with us in his names. An identity that gives us promises. Psalm 9:10, “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O LORD, do not abandon those who search for you.” Now, let’s get to know his names so we can trust him even deeper. First, the name God gives himself, YHWH. The name YHWH appears over 6,000 times in Scripture, but in English we see it translated in a unique way – LORD (all caps). Every time you see LORD (all caps) in your bible, what you’re actually seeing is the ancient Hebrew, YHWH. Look at Psalm 23:1, “The LORD is my Shepherd” it’s actually saying “YHWH is my Shepherd.” Ancient Hebrew did not include vowels. It was hard to read and very few people knew how to read. So instead God’s word was heard and then memorized. While those original transcripts of Hebrew bible include the written name of God as YHWH, it wasn’t spoken and therefore lost. Why wasn’t the name of God spoken? Jewish tradition was to never speak the name of God aloud out of reverence. (Exodus 20:7, “You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.” What they wouldn’t even speak, we use so casually. Where is our awe? Where is our reverence? Most scholars believe “Yahweh” is the closest reconstruction of how YHWH was originally pronounced, This name, YHWH, the name of God ,sounds like breathing. God gives himself a name we cannot speak, but instead we BREATHE. YHWH. This name, YHWH, is made of breathy consonants with no vowels. It couldn’t be pronounced, but rather breathed in and breathed out. Inhale YH Exhale WH In awe, in reverence. YHWH. Later, we added vowels to make it a name we could pronounce, Yahweh, the name of our God. This is a name introduced in Genesis 2 now appearing as LORD in all caps, but explained in Exodus 3: 15 when Moses asked God for his name and God answers with, “Yahweh, the God of your ancestors – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” YHWH – Root word “to be” – the self-existing one, the ever-present one (the ONLY one who can say this) Inhale YH Exhale WH The name of our God through breath. Your breath is a God-given rhythm of dependence. Genesis 2:7, “God breathed life into us.” Without God, you don’t breathe. Without God, your lungs have no air. Without God, you simply do not exist. The moment he stops filling your lungs with his breath is the moment you no longer exist in this life. You are, and always have been, and always will be, completely dependent on God. It is the rhythm of your breath. Inhale, God I need you. Exhale, thank you, I give it back to you. Now God I need you again, inhale. Think of breathing like a game of catch. God throws you breathe, you receive it, then you give it back to him. And so the rhythm continues. Given and received, then given back, to receive again. And this is NOT AN ACCIDENT. This is God-designed for his creation. A rhythm of dependence that speaks his holy name. With your very first breath, you spoke the name of God. YHWH. – Psalm 8:2 MSG, “Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you; toddlers shout the songs that drown out enemy talk and silence atheist babble.” In every crisis that caused you to gasp for air, you spoke the name of God louder. YHWH. With complete unawareness on an average of 20,000 times every day of your life, you’ve been speaking the name of God. YHWH. And in your final breath, you will speak his name. YHWH. All of creation is wired to speak the name of the Creator. Psalm 150:6 (the very last line of all of the book of Psalm closes with), “Let everything that breaths sing praises to the LORD!” Every inhale is a gift. Every exhale is a reminder. Every breath is a connection, calling on the name of our God. YHWH. You breathe with no intention, it’s just natural. You breathe without awareness, it’s habit. You breathe for survival, but truly it’s sacred. Since the very beginning, you were designed to speak the sacred name of God with your every breath. Let’s return to our posture of AWE – God is too holy to speak of casually, so let us breathe with awe and reverence. God gives himself a name we cannot speak, but instead we BREATHE. YHWH. Your life is meant to be a constant communion and connection with God. You don’t have to constantly be in prayer, how about you just start being aware of what your breath really is – a call to the name of God. A connection with your creator and your sustainer. Remember, when you see LORD in all caps in your Bible, this is YHWH, the name God reveals of himself. The name that is spoken in your breath. Psalm 23:1, “The LORD is my Shepherd” means YHWH. The I AM. The self-existing one. The ever-present one. The only one given the name YHWH which we speak with our breath. Girl, that’s your Shepherd. Whom shall you fear? He’s the one guiding you. He’s the one taking care of you. He’s the one staying close to you. YHWH is your Shepherd, you have absolutely nothing to worry about – ever. Now, when we read it, may we recognize this isn’t just a title, this is a personal name. The name God has given himself. The name he created us to breathe our entire lives as we draw close to him. 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God has a promise, and we possess the promise through HIS process Exodus 23: 27-30 Exodus 23: 31-32 Ephesians 1:3 Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Exodus 19: 4-8 Exodus 20: 1-5 Exodus 20: 22-23 Exodus 24: 3 Exodus 32: 1-8 Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Exodus 17: 8-16 Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Exodus 17: 1-7 Psalm 95: 8-9 Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Luke 23:44 Luke 24:49 Acts 2 Exodus 33:3 Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com