Do you have a regular practice of writing out scripture? It is one of the most powerful ways to cement God's Word in your heart. This morning as I wrote out Jeremiah 31:3, journaled about the passage, then wrote out a prayer in my You Are Loved Scripture Journal, I was reminded that God always has and always will love me. I am encouraged that He pursues me with kindness.

Scripture journaling is a vital practice for anyone seeking to grow in their faith. The act of writing down your thoughts and reflections on the scriptures provides a way to document your journey of faith and track your progress as you grow in your understanding and relationship with God.
When I encourage those in my Bible Studies to engage in this practice, I often find that they develop a deeper understanding of the scriptures and a greater sense of personal connection to God.  If you are looking to apply the teachings of the Bible to your life scripture journaling is an important discipline that can help you grow in your faith and deepen your relationship with God.


Thank you, Warner Press for this meaningful journal and encouraging note cards!!
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In a noisy world where we’re constantly bombarded by negative messages, the You Are Loved Collection delivers a much-needed dose of encouragement and soul-affirming messages from God’s heart to yours.

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​After some hard and heavy years of loss in family, ministry, relationships, and unexpected hardships that rocked my world and emotions, I am finally in a place where I feel I am coming out the other end. 

Maybe you can relate to my journey toward healing. I have sought out healing and clung to the Lord. I have cried my eyes out and waved my fists at injustice. I have felt all the feelings! The one thing left is to leave the past in the past and move forward. And that's easier said than done.

Enter God Knows by Lisa Whittle. It is just the encouragement and guidance I need right now. God Knows offers a reminder that God sees you, your pain, AND your future and gives you a nudge to move forward with Godly confidence. 

I know this book will encourage you too!

Here is my review on Instagram.  Click below:

ABOUT THE BOOK
​If we really believed that God knowing was enough—and left it there—our questions, worries, and angst over life's struggles would find more than temporary relief.
Many of us wake up every day with looming anxieties over our future and a weariness we can't shake. We have more questions than answers and live with difficult daily realities and secrets we feel we cannot share. The question remains for most believers: How can I fix it, make sense of it, or solve it?
Enter God Knows: a guidebook to lead the modern believer to a place of release, relief, and reliance upon the omniscience of God. Inspired by the seldom-studied book of Nahum, God Knows details the behind-the-scenes picture we are missing, what His great knowing entails, and how his omniscience provides daily perspective to bring the healing and peace we are all desperate to find.
In God Knows, you will:

• experience freedom by learning the difference between privacy and secrecy,
• develop renewed belief in your abandoned dreams and goals, still known by God,
• realign your idea of God's omniscience being far away to how it daily affects you,
• release your fears for the future as you develop a different outlook on tomorrow through God's lens, and
• learn how to deal with injustice in light of God's knowledge of it.

God is doing his job well: the justice, the plan, the working together for our good even when we can't see or understand. The problem is not God. Learn to release what has been burdening you and watch His plan for your life unfold.

As Christians, we are called to be salt and light in the world (Matthew 5:13-16), and one way we can do that is by using our influence for good. We all have influence in some capacity, whether it's with our family, friends, coworkers, or even strangers on social media. But the question is, how can we use that influence in a way that honors God and benefits those around us?

First, we need to recognize that our influence is a gift from God. It's not something we earn or deserve, but something we are entrusted with. As 1 Peter 4:10 says, "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms." Whether we have a large, small platform, or if our cirlce of influence are our family and friends, we can use it to serve others and bring glory to God.

Second, we need to be intentional about the messages we are sharing and the actions we are taking. Proverbs 25:11 says, "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver." Our words have the power to build up or tear down, to encourage or discourage, to inspire or demotivate. We need to be mindful of the impact our words can have and use them wisely.

Similarly, our actions speak louder than our words. James 2:17 says, "Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." If we want to be a positive influence in the world, we need to not only talk the talk but also walk the walk. We need to live out our faith in tangible ways that demonstrate our love for God and others.

Third, we need to be humble and willing to learn from others. Proverbs 15:31 says, "Whoever heeds life-giving correction will be at home among the wise." None of us have all the answers or know everything there is to know. We need to be open to feedback, willing to admit when we're wrong, and eager to learn from others. This attitude of humility and teachability will influence others greatly.

Finally, we need to remember that ultimately, our influence is not about us. It's about pointing others to Jesus and glorifying God. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:31, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." When we use our influence for good, we are reflecting God's goodness and love to the world around us.
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Using our influence for good is a high calling and a great responsibility. It requires us to be intentional, humble, and focused on serving others and bringing glory to God. May we all seek to be faithful stewards of the influence God has given us, using it to make a positive impact in the world and point others to the hope and love found in Jesus Christ.

​The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is one of the most well-known tales in the Bible. It tells the story of how God created the first humans, placed them in a paradise, and gave them everything they needed to live a happy and fulfilling life. However, things took a turn for the worse when Eve disobeyed God's command and ate from the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and evil. Many people today struggle with the question of whether God is holding out on them, just as Eve may have felt in the garden. In this blog, we will explore this idea further and see what lessons we can learn from Eve's disobedience.

The story of Eve's disobedience begins in the book of Genesis, where we are told that God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden. In this paradise, they had everything they needed to live a happy and fulfilling life. However, God had placed one restriction on them. They were not allowed to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God warned them that if they ate from the tree, they would surely die.

One day, the serpent came to Eve and convinced her to eat from the forbidden tree. He told her that God was holding out on her, and that if she ate from the tree, she would become like God, knowing good and evil. Eve was tempted by this idea and ate from the tree. She then gave some to Adam, who also ate from it.

The consequences of their disobedience were severe. They were banished from the garden and forced to work hard to survive. Pain and suffering became a part of their lives, and they experienced the full weight of sin for the first time. However, the story of Eve's disobedience also teaches us a valuable lesson about the nature of God and His relationship with us.

Many people today struggle with the idea that God is holding out on them. They may feel like God is withholding blessings from them or that He is not answering their prayers. However, the story of Eve's disobedience teaches us that God is not holding out on us, but rather He is protecting us from harm. God knew that eating from the tree would bring death and destruction, and He warned Adam and Eve to protect them from those consequences.

In the same way, God may withhold blessings from us or not answer our prayers because He knows that it would not be good for us. We may not always understand His ways or His timing, but we can trust that He has our best interests at heart. As the prophet Isaiah wrote, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways" (Isaiah 55:8).

The story of Eve's disobedience also teaches us the importance of obedience to God's commands. When Eve disobeyed God's command, she opened the door to sin and suffering in the world. Similarly, when we disobey God's commands, we open ourselves up to the consequences of sin. However, when we obey God's commands, we invite His blessings and favor into our lives.
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In conclusion, the story of Eve's disobedience in the Garden of Eden teaches us many valuable lessons about the nature of God and His relationship with us. We can trust that God is not holding out on us, but rather He is protecting us from harm. We must also strive to obey God's commands, knowing that doing so will bring blessings and favor into our lives. Let us learn from Eve's mistake and seek to live a life of obedience and faithfulness to God.

Season 2 of the Faith For Her Podcast is dropping next month with Bible teachings that follow this thread and conversations with amazing women that will help you gain a deeper understanding of God's love for you, His great redemption plan for all of us, and encouragement to walk out your faith.

Listen to the teaser here: ​

Yesterday, I sat around a table with 3 men, two I have served with and admire and Ernie who I just met.  We were planning out a communications plan for the Vulnerable Children's ministry at my church.  I was there because in a debrief meeting after an event serving foster families it came up that there was a dire need for communications help.  

I recall the drop in my stomach as I heard the need.  "But God, this can't be what you have for me.  I teach the Bible."  Then I felt the deep stare from my daughter sitting next to me and then an elbow in my ribs.  I looked into her face as she mouthed, "mom, that's you."  This would not be the first time God has used my daughter to nudge me down His path for me.

As I sat in the planning meeting yesterday we laid out the communication needs of the ministry and I took notes to create a process and procedure for managing communications. 

"I don't want to over ask, I know you are volunteering," staff member and ministry leader, Max, had said this to me before.  God knew I would need gentle leadership as I eased back into serving at church.  His mercies are new everyday.

"You are not over asking, " I assured him.  "I will get this organized, I will meet the needs with volunteers and train them, but long term doing the day to day execution is work to me, literally, since that is what I do for a living." 

Ernie who has a calm and quite way about him looked at me for a moment.  "What is it that brings you joy in serving?"

"Teaching the Bible is my passion."

Earnie smiled, "I was just in South America teaching the principles of Trust Based Relational Intervention for children who have experienced trauma and when I would share the science behind it and why it works the people didn't want to accept it.  They wanted to know what God said about it.  They trust God not science in their culture.  There is a need for Bible teaching in caring for vulnerable children."

I smiled this time.

Then Max asked me, "would you want to do Biblical teachings on TBRI and connecting with children from hard places?"

"Maybe," I answered, "but right now God has asked me to do this."

My answered surprised me a bit, it may surprise you, why wouldn't I jump at the chance to teach again and leave all this communications stuff that felt like work to someone else?  The answer is simple, experience in trusting God and not rushing what He has for me at the cost of building His kingdom.  Funny enough, I started in women's ministry in the trenches of communications before ever taking the stage to teach a Bible Study.    It is in these quiet places of serving behind the scenes that learning takes place, relationships are built, and faithfulness in serving where God places you is tested.

Is God asking you to serve in a place that doesn't make sense?  Don't be a Jonah.  Say yes.  Abide in Him and allow Him to teach you in a season of ambiguity.  Serve selflessly because there is a need, not because you love doing something.  Heed the words of Jesus who said he came not to be served but to serve.

Kingdom work always requires the hard and holy yes if you want to see God move.  When you stand before God and give an account of your life don't let his words be, "You saw a need and you didn't fill it."  Let His words be, "Well done good and faithful servant."

​Have the faith to say yes.

I'd love to hear from you.  Is God asking you to say yes to something but you are struggling to commit to it?  Let me know so I can pray for you and encourage you.

​Two years ago, I felt a prompting to visit other churches.  I had no intention of leaving my church; I just felt a stir by the Holy Spirit to go and see how He was moving in other churches.  The big shutdown came soon after and so I shelved that call to go and meet others walking out their faith in the churches around me.

But now, ​God has stirred anew in me, and I set off this month to my first church in my ten-church tour.  I was not intentional about going to this church first but rather led by the spirit to visit.  Something was awaiting me at this church, breakthrough and healing.

Holy Spirit led me to this adventure, and I trust him to guide me to the churches he intends to have me visit.  Now that I have said that my next statement may make you laugh; I found this church while scrolling through Facebook events.  God can make even the unholy holy, am I right?
 
Anyhoo, I saw this healing event and I was intrigued.  I saw that it was at a Presbyterian church, and I was even more intrigued.  I felt God say…go.  I grabbed my keys while my family looked at me dumbfoundedly about where I was going, begging me to not leave our church.  I assured them I was not leaving our church, just visiting God’s Church.
 
It turned out this Irvine church with wooden pews, big glass windows, and a statue of Jesus tending sheep in the front garden is pastored by the namesake grandson of Robert Schuller of the Chrystal Cathedral.  It was not Bobby Schuler that took the pulpit that evening, it was his wife, Hannah.  

It was clear Hannah had a passion for the healing power of God and was eager to take him at his Word.  Honest that God does not always heal this side of heaven she reminded us that God does still heal and shared some stories and invited some to the stage with testimonies of miraculous healing.  She read from Scripture and encouraged with the word before leading us all in prayer and inviting people to come forward to be prayed for by her and the congregation.  We stretched our hands forward and believed for each person that God would heal them.
 
“Now do what you couldn’t do before,“ she would proclaim to the person who was prayed for encouraging them to take God at his word and trust in his healing power.  Some expressed that maybe they felt a little better, some had ailments that couldn’t be seen with the naked eye and were told to go home trusting they were healed, and one woman put down her walker and lifted her knees to her waist and praised God that she could move with no pain. 
 
Hannah reminded us to keep praying and trusting in God, knowing that if He doesn’t heal this side of heaven, He will give us the grace we need to keep going.  Then she invited whoever else that wanted prayer to come find a prayer volunteer and be prayed over.  Now it was my turn.
 
I needed healing.  Not from a physical ailment you could see but one that was deep, my very heart had been broken and had never fully healed.  Each additional crack in my unmended heart led me to thought patterns that had stolen my peace, had stolen the way I operated in the world, had stolen my ability to trust.  I wanted freedom from this bondage that I beat myself up for not being able to kick.  I had spiritual warfare to attend to in order to get my peace and my joy back.
 
I approached a sweet couple ready to pray over me.  I shared a small piece of recent heartbreak and the desire to be free from the heaviness on my heart and scatteredness in my mind.  The wife spoke a word over me, an extremely specific prophetic word that had been spoken over me before.  At that time, I didn’t want to receive it because I wasn’t sure if the person who first spoke it was just being kind because she knew me.  (Talk about a Gideon and the fleece moment.)  But this woman didn’t know me, she didn’t even know what church I attended.  The Holy Spirit took her obedience and ministered right to my heart filling me with hope and peace.

​Next, her and her husband prayed for me, and I felt a heaviness go.  The fruit of the Spirit evicted all adversity trying to steal my peace and joy.  I cannot explain it except to say it was a miracle.  I felt a move of God in my very soul tending the wounds in me, his beloved.  I felt grateful for the Church.  The big C Church where God is alive and well working in and through his people.  

To the girl struggling to find hope this season,
 
Hope can feel elusive, especially this time of year.  Outside the world shouts “be happy” with twinkling lights and bustling stores filled with holiday décor but inside you feel a bit dim.  You wonder if you will be able to endure this hopeless holiday season once more without exploding or imploding.
 
Friend, I see you.  And friend, I want to tell you that it’s OK that you feel the way you do. 
 
Our emotions were given by God.  If you don’t believe that to be true you need only to look at scripture to be assured.  Jesus was God in the flesh.  Jesus got angry and threw over tables.  Jesus wept.  Jesus loved his friends and family.  Jesus also got up in their faces from time to time.  (Friend, read your Bible…it’s really good!)
 
My point is this, if you are trying to stuff your feelings in order to put on a happy face this season.  Stop.  God never asked you to not have feelings.  He gave them for a purpose…embrace them, explore them, kick out the ones that don’t belong, but feel them.  They are a sacred gift; they are part of your humanity.
 
I started off writing about hope and moved on to feelings pretty quickly and here is why.  Our feelings are an important part of life, but we must learn to discern when our feelings are sabotaging us.  Feelings unchecked can take a bad day or a bad relationship or a bad situation and make us feel that life is hopeless.  Feelings can make us decide that things will never change.  Feelings can tell us to give up when we should hold on.  Feelings can tell us that it would be better to just stay in bed until after Christmas.  Feelings can lie to us.
 
We must learn to check our feelings against scripture.  We must hold up our feelings to the light of truth and see if they can stand in the light.  Have you ever noticed that feelings of sadness, depression and hopelessness prefer a dark bedroom with covers over your head?  Girl, there is always a time and place for a good cry, but when we are done staining our pillow with mascara tears we must move towards the light.  This is where we find hope.
 
What does moving towards the light look like?  It looks like opening the blinds and opening your Bible.  It looks like rather than replaying a situation over and over in your head you recount it to God in prayer and ask Him to help you overcome it.  It looks like boldly declaring in the morning, “I can’t change this hopeless fill in the blank, but God can”!
 
Simple steps like this are the cornerstones of hope that will lead us to the solid rock foundation we find in Jesus.  Starting with these steps moves us out of the natural and into the supernatural place of hope beyond hope in a hopeless situation.  This space is where you enter into the glorious mystery of God’s realm.  I know because I have been there and when I drift, I always find my way back.  When everyone around you can look and ask, “how can she still have hope?”, you know you have tapped into the true source of hope that only Jesus gives.
 
This is hope.  Jesus, God in the flesh, came to earth for us. When we couldn’t make ourselves right with God, when the world was too broken and people were breaking each other, when obedience to God was impossible and humanity couldn’t measure up to the standard of holiness, He came.  He didn’t turn his back and walk away.  He came near and whispered as gently as a baby cooing, “I will make this right, I will stand in the gap for you”.
 
Sister, you are loved.  You are cared for beyond measure by a God who came down to earth to die for your sins to make you right with Himself.  The division between you and God is not there.  This is where your feelings will lie to you.  You can’t earn this kind of love.  You can’t justify yourself in the court of grace.  When God came as Jesus, then died on the cross, then rose from the dead, then promised to return he had you in mind.  He did it all for you.  You simply believe it and receive the blessing of everlasting life.
 
Everlasting life outshines all the dim things on this earth.  Everlasting life reminds us that this world is temporary and so are it’s worries and hurts.  It reminds us to endure knowing we have a friend in Jesus to journey with us the whole way.  Everlasting life is our future and our hope. 
 
Friend, if you were here with me right now I would take your face in my hands and breathe the weary but stubborn hope I have into you.  I would remind you that you are loved beyond measure by God and that He provides temporary support in the form of other humans.  I would encourage you to reach out to a safe human and tell them, “I’m not OK today, do you have some hope to share?”.  I would help you write down a prayer to God giving Him all your worries and hurts and asking him to spark a flame of hope in your heart.  Then I would hug you and whisper in your ear that you are going to be OK, and that I will too, because Jesus promised he would never leave or forsake us.
 
Your partner in hope,
Katie
 
Here are some Bible verses to remind you of the hope you have in Jesus.
 
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
 
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.  Romans 15:13 ESV
 
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.  Romans 12:12 ESV
 
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  Hebrews 11:1 ESV
 
But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.  Isaiah 40:31 ESV
 
For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.  Romans 8:24-25 ESV
 
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  1 Peter 1:3 ESV
 
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.  Romans 15:4 ESV
 
“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.  Psalm 39:7 ESV
 
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.  Revelation 21:4 ESV
 
Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.  Proverbs 23:18 ESV
 
So that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.  Titus 3:7 ESV

You are doing it.  You are waking up each day putting one foot in front of the other and making it happen.  Good on you!
 
Now, let’s talk about your heart for a minute.  While we are all waking up in the morning and laying down at night, how is the condition of our heart throughout the day?  It’s one thing to tackle a day and a totally other thing to embrace it.   Tackling requires determination and force, embracing requires acceptance and surrender.
 
I’ve talked to a lot of people who are tackling this season:  powering through with gripes and grumbles, holding on by a thread, falling back on old vices.  I’ve talked to very few who are embracing it, gracefully surrendering, and saying no matter what God is good so my day will be too.  I fall somewhere in the middle (though I’d love to say I am perfectly surrendering).
 
Friends, it is only in surrender that we find peace.  But what are we surrendering to?  A pandemic?  New schedules?  Lost jobs?  No in person schooling?  Yes, and no.  Yes, because this is what God has for us in this season or He wouldn’t allow it.  I know your heart wants to push back on that.  I didn’t say God caused it.  I said He allowed it.  The Bible is full of bad situations God allowed but used for good.  No, because we are not surrendering to a temporary situation but rather to a God that we trust.  We are abandoning ourselves entirely to a God that knows better than we do.  Surrender requires humility and recognition of our mortality.
 
Surrender your heart to God, turn to him in prayer, and give up your sins— even those you do in secret.  Then you won’t be ashamed; you will be confident and fearless.  Job 11:13-15
 
I wonder if some of us have “secret sins”?  I wonder if our secret sin is the condition of our heart.  We keep the smile, do the right things in public, post all the pretty pictures and Bible verses on social media, but behind closed doors we are cursing the situation we are in.  Worse, we are cursing our brothers and sisters made in the image of God because of how they are handling things.  We have created a false confidence because we are afraid, pride.
 
Job 11:15 promises that when you surrender your heart to God “you won’t be ashamed; you will be confident and fearless”.  This is not a prideful false confidence that tackles each day with the appearance of fearlessness.  It is the fruit of surrender, it is peace.  It is what makes people ask, “how are you so calm and happy right now with all we are facing?”  It looks a lot like hope.  It looks a lot like light in a dark world, and isn’t that what we are called to be?
 
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.  Hebrews 10:22-23