To live free: Slipsliding away
I hiked this past week with family. As I climbed over rocks and up steep trails to view the beautiful scenery ahead, my foot hit a slick spot and suddenly I was airborne. It wasn’t pretty, but somehow I landed on my feet.
“Wow, that was close,” someone said.
Have you ever felt that way spiritually? You’re focused on what is ahead and suddenly you start slipsliding backwards. Your feet are no longer on solid ground.
Peter reminds us that in order to live free we can’t slip back into our old ways of living (1 Peter 1:14) We may not have known better back then, but we do now and he adds this caveat: ”God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. (1 Peter 1:18)”.
Are you slipsliding backwards in your thoughts — anger, bitterness, gossip, slander, unforgiveness — or your actions? Are you going back to what once held you captive, what held you back, and exchanging what God so freely forgave and offered freedom for something of so little value?
Maybe it won’t look pretty, but adjust your course. Put your feet back on solid ground. The beauty that God promised is still ahead.
To live free: Don’t slip back into your old ways.
Scripture: So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. (1 Peter 1:14 NLT)
Today: Take an honest look at your life. Are you slipsliding into an old way of living? Ask God to forgive (which He freely offers) and start fresh. Don’t look back, not even for a second. Keep walking toward God’s best for you.
Posted by Suzie @
4:08 am |
What’s your “word” for the new year?
Every outside electrical outlet at my house has decided to die. We discovered that when we my husband hung Christmas lights this year. So instead of a seamless display of beautiful lights, there are large orange and yellow cords hanging from the roof.
It’s working and it sends power to the twinkling lights, but it’s not exactly what we wanted, and some work has to take place before next year.
Kind of like me. And maybe, you. We are approaching a new year. It’s a great time to reflect. To look back and see what you desire to do differently, to pray and ask God to show you the next step in growth and joy. (more…)
Posted by Suzie @
3:55 pm |
When you feel pressure
If you came over from Encouragement for Today, welcome!
It’s the day after Christmas. My house looks like a bomb exploded . . . and I love it, because that means my home has been filled with my children, their spouses, and my three grandbabies (all under the age of 17 months).
I couldn’t help but think about that moment I shared in the devo. The moment I had no strength as my young children ran up the steep path without me. I had no idea what the future held, or if I’d ever be myself again.
But that leads to my promise I made to you today in the devo: to share three principles that can help you when you feel under pressure. (more…)
Posted by Suzie @
10:35 am |
Charlotte’s Heart revisited
I wrote this post in 2009. It was shortly after a She Speaks event and she made an impact. Today Charlotte is battling colon cancer. In the past few months she’s gone through surgery and now she’s going through chemotherapy. Will you stop and pray for my friend today? As she faces her biggest battle yet, her faith and honesty about her struggles is real, raw, and inspiring.
I met her in the prayer room. The She Speaks conference was over and I just needed a little alone time with God. I saw a woman sitting in a chair.
“Do you need someone to pray with you?” she asked.
I sat next to her. “I’m just so grateful,” I said. “I really don’t need prayer, so much as I just want to thank God for what He’s done this weekend.”
She took my hand and we thanked God together.
I asked her if I could pray for her and then we talked. She shared her story, and it became another highlight in my week. (more…)
Posted by Suzie @
4:40 am |
Nevertheless
Nevertheless.
She was in jail, addicted to meth; nevertheless, today she is a godly woman, she has recaptured the love of her children, and ministers as a chaplain in the jail in which she was once imprisoned.
She had an affair and wanted to die; nevertheless, she found hope in Jesus, and now leads a flourishing ministry for women who walk in the shoes she once wore.
She was high, destitute, pregnant; nevertheless today she worships in the front row, her hands lifted high, her beautiful little girl receiving a different life than the one momma once had.
He was lost, couldn’t get past the hurt of losing someone he loved, unable to reach out for hope; nevertheless God reached for him and he opened his arms wide and today he knows the love of a Heavenly Father.
I love this word: nevertheless. Perhaps it is the word that most resembles salvation to me. Not rules. Not people’s expectations. But rather God’s abounding love that runs deeper than any river. God’s mercy that is wider than the Grand Canyon. (more…)
Posted by Suzie @
10:03 am |
Live free: Don’t forget the secrets found in the “secret place”
I opened my journal today. The last date was marked November 16th.
Was that possible?
Had I really not taken the time to sit alone with my Heavenly Father for over a month?
The “good girl” in me wanted to not share this. After all, how could I talk about the joy and freedom of knowing God and not be alone with Him? Would you think less of me?
But the reality is in the busyness I placed God last.
I didn’t stop loving Him. I didn’t stop reading about Him. I didn’t stop calling myself His.
But I want so much more than that. (more…)
Posted by Suzie @
4:25 am |
