God has placed a passion in you to do something special. Do you know what it is? It’s easy to dismiss our dreams and passions and aspirations as things that aren’t really that important. We can lose heart when things seem totally out of our reach, we doubt ourselves, or when we face other types of opposition. But God has already done something about that!
Do you ever wish you had more wisdom for making good decisions in life? Are you having trouble sorting out what’s next? Ever feel like you are just standing in the middle of the road wondering which way to turn? Decisions are hard, aren’t they?
Read more to find a passage from Proverbs that will help you know how to ask the right questions!
Today I’m delighted to share a post with you written by my friend, Lori Schumaker. Lori shares an incredible story of love and hope inside the pages of her book, Surrendered Hearts. If you are journeying through a difficult situation that is not turning out as you expected, you’ll find that you are not alone when you read the book or take a peek at parts of her story below.
Today Lori is sharing her own true story that points to our real source of hope when life doesn’t go as planned – Hope that came to us in the form of a tiny baby, born in a manger so long ago. It’s Jesus’ love that reached out clear across the world to bring a family together. And this is the love that reaches out to you today, no matter where you are, no matter what you are facing.
From Lori’s post: “Hope is something we cannot live without. In order to walk through this life, we must believe in what may come and we must believe in the good that is just around the next corner. Without hope, we don’t find joy nor do we experience peace. Without hope …
Suffering isn’t easy. Whatever we are going through often seems to make it harder to have the right attitudes and do the right thing, doesn’t it?
If you are going through a time of trial and suffering, you’ll find a lot of wisdom in this guest post from my friend, Beth Steffaniak. Beth’s words have always been an encouragement to me, and today is no exception. In her post below, she shares a verse with us that can make all the difference in how we handle suffering. I was encouraged by this verse, just has Beth has been, and just as I feel you will be, too!
Click below to read Beth’s post and find 6 ways to navigate suffering like Jesus.
The joy of the Lord is my strength. Have you ever wondered about this verse? I’ve often thought about it and felt a little bit like I wasn’t doing something right. I’m sorry to say, but when life is hard, I don’t feel happy.
Have you ever been there? Have you ever asked yourself the question, “I wonder what I’m doing wrong?” Me, too.
It’s taken a long time, but in all my wrestling around with trying to find the joy of the Lord, I’ve realized there are quite a few things that hold me back. They are concepts about joy and happiness that I’ve struggled to make sense of. Understanding them (or not) makes a big difference. Take a look at my list of these concepts and see what you think.
Click through to read the list and find out more!
Have you ever felt called by God to do something, but it seems an impossible thing for you to do?
•Perhaps you feel inadequate or that you lack the necessary knowledge.
•Maybe you are asking yourself this question, “Who, Me?” (The calling is way out of your comfort zone.)
•You may feel that you lack abilities or talents to do what you know Lord is calling you to do.
•Perhaps you have a physical limitation or an illness that makes it difficult to follow through.
•You know of others that would do a much better job and be more suited to the work.
•You fear you don’t know the Bible well enough.
•You think you will make mistakes.
•In a nutshell, you are afraid.
These concerns and fears are so common that I imagine each one of us reading here today can relate to at least a few if not all of them. If you are experiencing this kind of fear in your life or you are trying to discern what the Lord wants you to do, there’s something special for you in the following verse.
For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. (2 Corinthians 1:5 NASB)
The sufferings of Christ are ours. On the surface, this truth from 2 Corinthians 1:5 doesn’t bring favorable feelings, does it? When we think about suffering, all sorts of thoughts about the awful things we see in the world today may come to mind. Or perhaps we might think of long-drawn-out painful situations we’ve experienced or watched others walk through. Suffering, on the surface, really seems to have no benefits.
But if we are walking in faith, something surprising happens – suffering becomes a powerful catalyst for growth. And incredibly, in His kindness and grace, God sends Jesus to walk beside us and comfort us in as we walk through adversity. Even when we can’t see the changes as they happen, even when we have no answers to the “whys” we may be asking, one thing is sure – the abundance of suffering we see around us or face ourselves today is always balanced by the abundant comfort we have through Christ.
Click through to read more! FREE PRINTABLE! A Prayer for Adversity
Grace to you and peace be multiplied. This greeting from the apostle Peter just leaps out to me on this New Year’s Day. It’s such a good verse for new beginnings and hope for the new year, isn’t it? It’s full and rich just as it is, but if we look into the Greek root words we’ll find even more!
Did you know that the word grace in this verse comes from the Greek word xáris? This kind of grace refers how God is always leaning toward us freely giving Himself away to us because He wants to be with us.
The word peace comes from the Greek word eirḗnē, and it means “wholeness.” It refers to all the essential parts being joined together. Peace is God’s gift of wholeness.
The word multiplied comes from the Greek word plēthýnō, and it means made full to maximum potential.
How would our new year be different if…
Click below to read more! Find out what we’ll be doing this year at Journey to Imperfect!
Freedom. It’s a powerful word. It is a gift given through the most costly of circumstances.
When I think of freedom, I think of God’s grace. It’s a deep, deep love, wrapped up in a gift created for each one of us. If we will reach out and take that gift and experience the freedoms wrapped up inside it, we can move forward into a better place.
Here is what grace can do.
Read more by clicking below and find a {FREE PRINTABLE BOOKMARK} too!
How do you feel when you think about praying for yourself?
As women, I think we often see the importance of praying for others. We pray for our children, our husbands, our family, our friends, our difficult situations. But what often happens when we think about praying for ourselves?
We believe that we are being selfish.
Why is that?
*Maybe we feel there are so many other needs that are so much more important than our own, so praying for ourself takes away from praying for others.
*Maybe we feel that if we pray for ourselves, we are being ungrateful to God. He has done so much for us already. How could we ask for more?
*Maybe we feel as if we are not trusting God if we pray for our own concerns and needs. He has a plan for us, right? Asking for things for ourselves may sometimes make us feel as if we are taking matters into our hands rather than trusting Him.
These are all common thought process we have, especially those of us who deal with perfectionism. Perfectionism has a myriad of ways of keeping us from taking care of ourselves in a healthy manner. But let’s see what we can do to get beyond what perfect says we should do and instead, let’s focus on what the Bible says.
Read more to find out more and to learn how to pray 7 verses that will equip you for life! {FREE PRINTABLES!}