“Can I Hear from God?”
People are always saying to me, “I wish I could hear from God.” You can!
Hope starts with a personal relationship with God. Just like me, you might be broken in some way. Maybe your finances are broken, your marriage or your emotions. Maybe you have been through something painful and your life will never be the same again. I want you to know that regardless of your circumstances, you can be healed in your soul with the peace of God. If you have a disability, I want you to know that God can still use you. He doesn’t look down on you. He looks on you MORE. The weakest people have done the most for God... because in our weakness, He is strong!
God wants you to see the potential of who you are going to be with His help.
Every morning when I roll out of bed, I land immediately on my knees and surrender my day to the Lord. I know I can’t take one step without God’s help. Because of my brain injury, I don’t know what day it is or what year it is. I am desperate for God and know I need Him just to get through the day. My prayer is simple and sounds something like this...
“Good Morning, Daddy!
I can’t wait to experience You today! I need You every hour. Please empty me of all my fears and fill me with Your strength. I choose to walk in the power of Your Holy Spirit. I don’t want to miss one plan You have for me today. I know You will equip me to do the things You want me to do. I love being on an adventure with You. You are so fun and exciting! Thank you for using me just as I am. Amen.”
Recently, a beautiful little girl came up on stage to talk to me. She clung tightly to my leg and looked up at me with tears in her big brown eyes and said, “I don’t have a daddy I can call.” I replied, “Oh sweet girl, you have a Heavenly Daddy. He loves you so much. You can talk to Him anytime, any place, and He will listen. He is holding your hand and He will never abandon you!”
Do you need peace, courage, or strength? Ask your Heavenly Father for what you need. His power is available to you, too. He longs to come to your rescue. I am praying that He will cradle you in His everlasting arms and whisper hope in your ear today!
Taken from Hope Out Loud Prayers- Get Yours Today: https://www.hopeoutloud.com/store/p/jens-prayer-book-bundle
Spanish Version: https://www.hopeoutloud.com/store/p/hope-out-loud-prayers-spanish-paperback
Russian EBook Version: https://www.hopeoutloud.com/store/p/russian-prayers-of-hope-ebook
The Lord Carries You
Lord Jesus, thank You that even when I feel alone, I can put my hope and trust in You. Lord, You are walking by my side and holding my hand. I’m so grateful for how You carry me on the hard days. I want to be so close to You that I feel Your heartbeat. Thank You for whispering to me... “I love you. I’ve chosen you. I’ve called you to this. Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am Your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. And I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness.” Amen.
The best is yet to come!
“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” - Isaiah 41:10
Stop Begging and Start Praising!
When Jen was emerging from a coma after her brain injury, the only time her voice sounded clear and uninjured was when she was praying. She would talk to God for hours but didn’t ask for one thing. All she did was PRAISE Him! She would say over and over, “Lord you are so good. You are so faithful. There aren’t words to describe You.” Jen would praise God for healing her and raising her up, even though she could not sit up or follow a verbal command. She was choosing to praise God in advance with childlike faith as if He had already answered. It was in those moments in the hospital that God was teaching me to stop begging and start praising. When we praise God, it puts our focus on who He is instead of our own circumstances.
One night when Jen was in extreme pain, our whole family was kneeling around her bed praying for God to heal her. Her dad was rubbing her feet for over an hour to calm her. Suddenly, Jen started praying out loud,“Lord, did I meet all Your expectations today? Did I fulfill everything You had for me to do today?” She was so broken and in so much pain, yet all she cared about was praising and serving God. My prayers were always, “Lord serve me. Help me.” I had never prayed a prayer like Jen’s before where I was asking God how I could serve Him.
It is such a privilege that we get to have direct communication with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. If you could see Jesus, what would you do? Would you kneel? Would you bow before Him? God is worthy of all our honor and glory and praise.
“When we praise God, we are putting our hope in Him. He is our EXPECTATION! When you put your hope in something, it is what you believe in. When we Praise God, it takes the weight off of our shoulders. It reminds us of WHO He is... the Great I AM! Praise shows a grateful heart. If we don’t praise Him even the rocks will cry out. We were made to praise Him. He deserves our praise. He conquered death for us. He gave us a second chance.”
Stop begging and start PRAISING! I challenge you to try it! You will be forever changed!
GOD’S JOY
Galatians 5:22-23a “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23a gentleness and self-control.”
As Christ followers, JOY is an unlimited gift from God! JOY is renewed day by day.
Friend, JOY is “TRUE” contentment based on our relationship with the Lord and our faith in Him (Let’s stay here for a moment and let that sink in)! By God’s grace, may you experience his JOY this day!
Dear friends, here is our challenge for today:
JOY ACRONYM:
J= Jesus
O= Others
Y= You
I encourage us to live our lives with this mindset!
Let’s pray together! Dear Heavenly Father, WOW!! I am so honored for your gift of JOY!! It means so much to me!! I want to be filled with your JOY this day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
DOWNRIGHT DISAPPOINTING
Sometimes our circumstances feel permanent and downright disappointing. It’s easy to dwell on the way things used to be or how we wish they were. But God wants us to look beyond.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
That is our hope! Not what is right in front of us, not the painful realities or even the momentary joys of today, but the wonderful things God has in store for us in the future.
Where are you placing your hope right now?
“For we live by faith, not by sight.” - 2 Corinthians 5:7
Dear God, sometimes it feels like nothing will ever change. Give me faith to believe in the things we cannot see. Remind me, Lord, that the future with You is absolutely amazing.
Does My Pain Have A Purpose?
A few years after our accident, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. This was really tough news for my parents because they found out my cancer was the result of all of the x-rays and scans I had on my head after our car wreck. They felt like I was still suffering because of the sins of someone else. Maybe you can relate. Maybe you are still suffering because of the poor choices someone else made that hurt you.
I saw it differently. I had seen God use my brain injury, and I had no doubt that He could use my cancer too. In fact, I told my parents, “Not many people can relate to having a brain injury, but everyone can relate to cancer. Everyone knows someone who has cancer. God is expanding my ministry! I’m going to share Jesus with every person in the cancer center!” That is exactly what happened. When I went to the UVA cancer center for radiation treatment, I took copies of this prayer book you are reading right now and handed them out to every nurse, doctor and patient I met.
Two years later, I was speaking at a church with my parents, and a precious lady named Florence, wearing a navy blue baseball cap came up to me after the service. I could see that she had lost all of her hair. She hugged me and pulled a tattered and worn book out of her purse. It was my prayer book! Florence had been battling cancer for two years, and one of the nurses at the UVA cancer center had given her my book to give her hope. She said, “I hope it’s ok. I’ve been praying your prayers for two years. I even prayed the prayer in the back of the book to accept Jesus as my Savior!”
Six months later, Florence passed away. At first I was tempted to be disappointed with God, but then I realized that she was completely healed in Heaven, dancing on streets of gold. If I had never had cancer, Florence would not be with Jesus. WOW! That’s how God turns our pain into purpose. Your pain might save a life. God never wastes a tear or a trial. He wants to use your story to change someone else’s eternity. So, whenever bad things happen to you, know this: God is up to something big. He has a great purpose for your story. It may be tough for awhile, but it will all be worth it in the end.
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 (Romans 8:28).
Taken from Hope Out Loud Prayers- Order Now: https://www.hopeoutloud.com/store/p/jens-prayer-book-bundle
Spanish Version: https://www.hopeoutloud.com/store/p/hope-out-loud-prayers-spanish-paperback
Russian EBook Version: https://www.hopeoutloud.com/store/p/russian-prayers-of-hope-ebook
Changing Your Scars into Beauty Marks
Do you have any scars? The other day, I was looking at my scars in the mirror and was curious to know how many I had, so I started to count them. As soon as I discovered the number, I heard God whisper to my heart, “Jen, the number doesn’t matter. When I look at you, I don’t think, she’s the girl with all the scars. I think...You are beautiful. You are worth it. You are priceless. You are mine.”
The same is true for you. When God looks at you, He doesn’t see your brokenness or your scars. He sees you as beautiful, priceless and redeemed. It doesn’t matter if you have physical scars or emotional scars. Many of us have scars hidden deep in our hearts. God sees those too, and He knows about all the pain that you have endured.
One of the verses that has helped me the most is Psalm 56:8: You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. God saw each and every tear you have ever shed. He cares about each and every pain you have ever felt. He keeps track of your tears and your scars, so He can wipe them all away one day in Heaven where there is no pain or suffering forever.
I have to admit, I don’t like my scars very much. I used to talk about them all the time and my mom told me something really cool about my scars. She calls my scars beauty marks and told me they were evidence of God’s faithfulness, that He had spared my life and helped me survive something impossible. Now I choose to see my scars as beauty marks. My scars are my story. They give me a voice to help encourage others. Your scars have a story too. God has something very important for you to do with your story. That’s what makes your scars beautiful.
Taken from Beauty Marks- Order Now https://www.hopeoutloud.com/store/p/beauty-marks-paperback
SCARS
I have a scar. It runs from one eyebrow to the other. It’s like my own permanent road map marking the shortest distance between one eyebrow and the other. My scar is evidence that I was wounded in the accident that changed my life forever. I should probably have plastic surgery to get it fixed once and for all. But when you’ve lived in the hospital for months, had multiple orthopedic surgeries, had a husband battling prostate cancer and a daughter with a traumatic brain injury, the last thing on your priority list is elective cosmetic surgery. So my scar remains.
Scars are evidence of wounds.
Though my left side was completely crushed, the scars no one saw were on my heart and in my soul. If you’re like me and a lot of women I’ve met over the past few years, you may be living with internal scars as well.
Maybe it was something a father said or didn’t say.
A betrayal by a friend.
A promise a spouse didn’t keep.
A dream shattered by a boss or coach or spiritual leader you once admired.
A misunderstanding among neighbors or business partners. Something unexpected.
Something unthinkable.
Something unspeakable.
Whether it happened yesterday or fifteen years ago, it still stings. You’d rather not revisit the source of that hurt, yet it left a mark on you that’s impossible to erase. It resurfaces when you least expect it and flares up even though you try to suppress it, reminding you that you are no longer whole. You were wounded.
Scars are reminders of the wounds we’ve endured. They trigger memories of the traumatic experiences we’d rather forget. We think scars are ugly. That’s why we’re driven to alter them, minimize them, or hide them. But even with all the Mederma cream in the world, they never completely fade.
The good news is that God longs to transform the scars on your wounded heart into marks of beauty. He can use them to bless the world. Beauty marks are wounds that have been transformed into purpose. They remind you that God is redeeming what you’ve suffered and can heal you from the inside out. Maybe your heart feels as if it’s bleeding right now, and healing seems impossible. Trust that the God who created you and loves you is able to heal every broken place.
Your pain makes you passionate to help others. Every time you use your story to encourage someone and share your faith, God is turning your scars into beauty marks of purpose for His glory!
Taken from Beauty Marks: Healing Your Wounded Heart- Order Your Book Now: https://www.hopeoutloud.com/store/p/beauty-marks-paperback
LEVERAGE YOUR LIFE- GUIDANCE OF THE SPIRIT
Jesus called the Holy Spirit the “Spirit of Truth” and promised He would remind us of all truth. The truth Jesus was talking about is the Word of God. God’s Word is truth (John 17:17). Not only does the Holy Spirit guide and direct us to these absolute truths in the Scriptures that He inspired to be written thousands of years ago, but He also helps apply these truths specifically to our unique situations. Once again, you just have to ask Him. The Holy Spirit is there to help you know God’s best plan for every situation.
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:14).
Here is an example of how to replace lies with truth by the power of the Holy Spirit:
UNLOVED
Name the Lie: I am unloved.
Discover the Root: Holy Spirit, please show me when I first felt unloved.
Speak Truth Over It: Nothing can separate me from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39).
Receive God’s Love: Holy Spirit, give me a picture, a word, or a feeling of how much You
love me. Write it down. (Every time you feel unloved, STOP and picture what God revealed to you about how much He loves you and choose to receive it.)
Taken From Leverage Your Life: Six Week Study That Will Empower You To Make A Difference-Order Yours Now: https://www.hopeoutloud.com/store/p/leverage-your-life-small-group-curriculum
GOD’S LOVE
Galatians 5:22-23a “But the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
God’s LOVE is PERFECT!
It is AGAPE LOVE!
LOVE originates in God!
LOVE is the perfect gift of God’s Son, Jesus! God’s LOVE is always steadfast, regardless of our circumstances!
Only through God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit can we LOVE like this. We LOVE because he first LOVED us (1 John 4:9-11)! Friend, With Gods help let’s take this challenge together to REFLECT the LOVE of Jesus to the world!
Dear Heavenly Father,
I am so excited to be equipped each day with Your LOVE for the world! Please help me to reflect Your LOVE in every way! Amen.
Don’t Cover Up
Every day I watch my daughter Jen raise God. She isn’t bitter or angry about her brain injury. Instead, she is honored that God would use her for His glory. She has the wonderful FREEDOM of childlike faith for each and every moment.
When I am sad, she will say to me, “Mom, your problem is that your brain gets in the way and you think too much. You need to let go and trust God!”
Jen is absolutely right. I think too much. Like any mom, I want to fix Jen’s problems. My heart aches when she is in pain, doesn’t fit in, or can’t remember where she is going. It’s a constant battle with my mind: Has God been good to my family? Why would God want Jen to suffer when she loves Him with all of her heart? Am I going to be disappointed with God?
Just like you, I have the choice every day to be ‘bitter’ or ‘better.’ For several years, I concealed my emotions to cope with the pain. I put up walls and told myself I was ‘fine’ because I didn’t want to hurt anymore. I was trying to do things in my own strength instead of asking God for help. Maybe you can relate. Everyone else thinks you are fine, but the truth is you’ve been covering up. Your friends and family might be fooled, but God isn’t. He sees the cover-up and knows what a mess you really are inside.
The good news is that your Heavenly Father loves you just as you are. He doesn’t try to fix you before He helps you. God says, “Come to Me just as you are. I know everything about you... every failure, every past mistake, every heartache and... I still love you.” God wants to take all the broken pieces of your life and put you back together again into a beautiful masterpiece that He can shine through. With God’s help, you can be ‘better.’ You can win the battle every day for your mind. You can have hope and a future.
Jen often reminds me, “Mom, Jesus is standing right beside you holding your hand. Ask Him for what you need.” Your Heavenly Father longs to give you what you need to get through the day. He is just waiting for you to ask.
Taken from Hope Out Loud Prayers book – Order Now: https://www.hopeoutloud.com/store/p/jens-prayer-book-bundle
UNBREAKABLE
Have you ever been broken? Do you know what it feels like to run out of your own strength? Chances are, you’ve been run over by something in life. It may not have been a full-sized truck, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t full-sized. Maybe an addiction, a betrayal, a loss.
I want you to know it’s OK for you to quit trying to be strong. It’s OK for your life or your family’s lives to be in pieces because of something you did or couldn’t do. The fact that you might be running on empty means that there is room for God to become powerful in you. My hope and prayer is that one day at a time, God’s power will become perfect in your weakness as you begin to surrender your broken parts to Him.
In the months and years following our accident, we often survived moment by moment on the promises of God. We kept a book of promises, Bible verses organized by topics, on our kitchen table. We sat around that table in wheelchairs, with feeding tubes, before and after surgeries, and repeated those promises out loud while God slowly began to heal our hearts and bodies.
It was in the midst of that desperate survival mode that we learned there is only one thing in this world that is unbreakable, and that is God’s Word.
We survived by clinging to the promises in His Word. They became our lifeline. We read them out loud, prayed them out loud, memorized them out of desperation, and slowly but surely saw them override our helplessness with hope.
Taken From Unbreakable- 30 Days To Strengthen Your Faith- Order Yours Today: https://www.hopeoutloud.com/store/p/unbreakable-30-days-to-strengthen-your-faith
LEVERAGE YOUR LIFE- THE SECRET WEAPON
Once you receive God’s Spirit at the point of salvation, you can never lose it. He does, however, come to dwell in your flesh, so the natural human desires of your flesh and God’s Spirit are now at war within you. If you choose to live by your flesh, you’ll be exhausted, depressed, and full of anxiety, shame, and burdens. Anytime you experience those feeling, you simply need to pray and ask God’s Spirit to give you His unlimited joy, love, or peace through His authority and power.
It’s almost like recharging your cell phone. It’s something you have to do again and again daily. The “charger” is prayer. All we have to do to access the power of the Holy Spirit is truthfully ask for it! Sound too simple? Well, have you actually taken the time to genuinely ask the Holy Spirit for His fruits to supernaturally shower over your life?
The next time you feel defeated, try praying:
“Holy Spirit, you know I am struggling right now. I can’t do this on my own. I believe you are more powerful than my flesh. I give my situation to you. Please give me your joy, peace, self-control (or whatever fruit of the Spirit you need).”
He can, and will, give you exactly what you need in your moment of struggle if you come to His throne room with a humble heart.
Taken From Leverage Your Life: Six Week Study That Will Empower You To Make A Difference-Order Yours Now: https://www.hopeoutloud.com/store/p/leverage-your-life-small-group-curriculum
Jesus Has Scars Too
The prophet Isaiah made this prediction about the Messiah:
He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isa. 53:5)
Scars mark the wounds that were inflicted on Jesus. On His hands. On His feet. On His side. On His head. If you’ve read the story of the crucifixion, you know that the risen Jesus is probably covered from head to toe with scars from the beatings and the piercings He endured. The obvious scars were on His hands and His feet. But He had soul wounds too. His friends betrayed Him. His family abandoned Him. Religious leaders despised and rejected Him. He was forgotten. Forsaken. Falsely accused. Yet when Jesus appeared to His followers after dying on the cross and rising from the dead, one of the first things He did, according to several gospel accounts, was to show them His scars. Isn’t that interesting? He didn’t try to hide them. In fact, it’s as if Jesus was announcing, “You know it’s Me because of these scars!” when He said, “Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself!” (Luke 24:39).
Because I’m a woman with scars, I’m compelled to ask, Why does Jesus, the Son of God, still have scars? He is God Almighty in a resurrected, glorified body! I don’t know about you, but I’m hoping to get rid of all of these scars when I get my new body in heaven. Though I don’t know exactly what glorified bodies will look like, I do know that Jesus has “all authority in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18), and I don’t think He had to keep His scars. I think He chose to. His scars are evidence that He was wounded for us. His wounds heal our wounds. His scars are proof that we can be healed!
I think Jesus kept those scars to remind us that He loves us, that we are not alone, that we were worth all the pain and piercing. Every time we doubt, every time we have fears, every time we feel troubled or unworthy, we can look at the body of Jesus. Look at His hands! Look at His feet! Consider that these aren’t merely scars. They are shouts of victory. Symbols of triumph.Statements of His unending love for us.
Jesus’s scars became beauty marks. His suffering was transformed into purpose when He brought salvation to the world. And those holy marks tell a story. Death could not stop Him. Sin could not keep Him in the grave. Sorrow could not tear Him apart. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
He kept the scars to prove that because He was victorious, we can be too!
Jesus faced everything that threatens to hurt you—sorrow, sin, and death—and He was stronger still. He conquered them all for you. His love for you is written all over His body in scars. He chose not to erase, minimize, or hide them. He left them to remind you that every time you doubt, every time you fear, every time you hurt, you can be healed.
Taken from Beauty Marks: Healing Your Wounded Heart- Order Your Book Now: https://www.hopeoutloud.com/store/p/beauty-marks-paperback
LEVERAGE YOUR LIFE- SATAN’S LIES
Have you ever had a really good idea that you thought God was telling you to do, like giving something away, dropping everything on your calendar to go help a friend, or making an encouraging phone call? One minute you are so excited to act on the idea, and the next minute you find yourself thinking of a million reasons or excuses why it’s not a good idea at all. You got robbed! Satan, the Master Thief, wants to keep you from being effective. He works the same way every time... God places His plan or dream in your mind, and Satan tries to steal, kill, and destroy it... and he does it with totally believable, rose-colored lies! That’s right, he lies! The enemy uses lies to make you ineffective. His very name is “the father of lies,” and he tries to stop you with confusion, doubt, shame, and false accusations.
... He [the devil] was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44).
Whenever you try to do something for the Lord does any of these excuses come to mind?
- I’m not good enough.
- I’m too busy.
- It’s too complicated.
- I could lose my job or my friends over this.
- What if people think I’m crazy?
- It would cost me too much. I cant afford to…
- What if I fail?
- Someone else would be much better.
- I’m too old; I missed my chance.
- The last time I tried something for Jesus it failed. Everything went wrong.
Guess what? Those are all LIES, every single one, and Satan has been using them over and over for thousands of years to cripple the spread of God’s Good News. Once you become a Christian, he can’t have you, so he moves on to plan B trying to make you ineffective in sharing the gospel. Satan’s goal is to get us so caught up in our past regrets and inner turmoil that we become useless for God’s Kingdom.
So… you have to learn how to fight back!
Taken From Leverage Your Life: Six Week Study That Will Empower You To Make A Difference- Order Yours Now: https://www.hopeoutloud.com/store/p/leverage-your-life-small-group-curriculum
IS YOUR FRUIT HEALTHY?
Galatians 5:22-23a
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
In my next few blogs, let’s unpack the fruits of the Spirit together!
I am excited to tell you that the Holy Spirit is an unlimited and renewable gift from God!! He wants to equip you with his power to declare victory!! When we are filled up with God’s Spirit, the overflow of the heart will produce GOOD FRUIT.
My challenge would be for us to read this verse together daily
Galatians 5:22-23a
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for this beautiful scripture of hope! I want to stand and find security in it this day. Thank you for Your faithfulness! Amen.
Life Is Painful Sometimes…
By Jen Barrick
I know life can be confusing at times. It can be unfair and painful. But God loves everything about you! He even knows how many hairs are on your head. He created you and He takes great delight in you. There is nothing you can do to make Him love you any more or any less than He does right now. He loved you so much that He gave His only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross and pay the penalty for your sins.
God’s Word says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).
God doesn’t force us to love Him. If He did, it wouldn’t be real love. He gives us a choice. God longs to have a personal, intimate, love relationship with you. He wants to be your Healer, Deliverer, Shield and Defense, Strong Tower, and Best Friend. Once you pray and invite Him into your heart and life, His Spirit lives in you and fills you with His power and strength.
This life is not all there is. One day, I will live in heaven for all eternity with my Lord and Savior where there is no more pain and tears. I can’t wait! But I want you to know for sure that you will be in heaven too!
If you don’t remember a time when you prayed and asked Jesus to be your Savior, I’m hoping you will pray out loud and mean in your heart today...
Dear God,
I know I’m not perfect. I need You to forgive me of my sins and save me. I believe that You sent Your Son, Jesus, to earth to see for me. I want His pain to count for me. I believe tray you raised Jesus from the dead. I believe that you have power over death. Come into my heart and give me new life. I want to live forever with You in heaven. And until you take me home to Heaven, I want You to be my friend on earth. Help me to follow You in everything I say and do. Thank You for saving me. Amen!
Let us know if you want to commit your life to Jesus today! We would love to talk with you. Click the following link: Connect
Close At Hand
Andy Barrick
“For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, ‘Do not fear; I will help you.” Isaiah 41:13
My only daughter, Jen, had always been daddy's little princess. So, I was heartbroken when she hit her early teenage years and started to pull away from me. I'm told this is common while girls awkwardly transition into womanhood, but it's really hard for a dad who is used to dancing with his daughter and being showered with her hugs and kisses.
Suddenly, she preferred the privacy of her room to hanging out together and communicated with me through abbreviated text messages - wdym, ikr, lol. I didn't know how to get through to her, and I didn't like it, so I started leaving her sticky notes (without abbreviations) telling her how much I loved her and reminding her who she was in Christ. At the same time, my wife began praying that God would renew our father/daughter relationship.
This turned out to be one of the hidden blessings of our accident. Even though I would still never, ever choose it, Jen's injuries caused her to be completely dependent on me. I held her hand every day as she emerged from her coma, fed her every bite as she learned to eat again, walked beside her for every step as she learned to walk again. Most parents say they won't let their children out of their sight; I wouldn't let Jen out of arm's reach. Every time she got up to go up the stairs or walk into another room, I was close enough to reach out my hand and catch her. There was no way I was going to let her re-injure herself. It didn't matter how weary or tired I was, I would always be the first to jump up to be right beside her. That's what dads do.
I don't know what your relationship with your Heavenly Father is like. Maybe you've started pulling away from Him for one reason or another. Maybe you view Him as a distant, far-away being. Maybe you are angry with Him because He didn't do something the way you asked Him to do it. Whatever it is, strained relationships between children and fathers are painful. I'm praying that you'd let God renew His relationship with you. What I do know is what Isaiah 41:13 promises, "For I am the Lord your God, who takes hold of your right hand..." I know from my experiences with Jen that in order for God to be able to take hold of your hand, He has to be close. That means He is jumping up to be near you at all times. He doesn't just hear you and see you. He is right there within arm's reach, ready to catch you when you need Him.
Perhaps God allows us to suffer for a time to give us reason to reach out and notice that He is right beside us. He always has been and always will be. Trials don't make Him suddenly come close; they just make us aware that He always was close. When we start to hit an independent stage where we'd prefer to keep our distance and communicate with God through abbreviated, routine prayers, He might just orchestrate a plan to bring us back to Himself. When times get tough, don't run. You can't outrun Him. He'll never leave your side. Don't be afraid. You can't upset Him. Reach out to God. Let Him take you by the hand and help you.
Leverage Your Life
By Josh Barrick
If you are reading this post, that means you're still alive and breathing. God is not done using you on this earth. He has a purpose for you that is far greater than yourself. He wants to use you in ways you never dreamed possible for His glory. God has people for you to reach with the gospel and the love of Jesus that no one else can touch.
You are uniquely gifted. Your talents, passions, hobbies, trials, failures, pain- everything that makes up your life- can be leveraged to point people to Jesus. God doesn't waste anything that you have gone through in life. He has handcrafted and prepared you for a time such as this to make a difference in your generation.
What if we told you that YOU were meant to have a ministry?
What if you changed the way you thought about ministry?
What if we said that your life is your ministry?
What if the ministry God has given to you to help someone go from death to life was something you already had, something you were already doing, or something you were already passionate about? What if it was something that came naturally to you? Often the supernatural starts with what comes naturally. Just add God's power, and BAM- now it's a way to help people meet Jesus.
What if your ministry was...
Your Ability to Fish (Take people fishing and talk to them about what God has done for you while having fun.)
Your Cooking Skills (Invite people over for dinner and break down faith barriers by being interested in them.)
Your Boat (Entertain teenagers and give them an option for good clean fun.)
Your Past Addiction (Help someone else a few steps behind you on your journey to freedom.)
Your Car (Give people rides to the grocery store or church)
Your Business Knowledge (Help young adults get started in life)
Your Story (Whether it is written, spoken, or shared online)
For our family, our pain became our ministry. Our brokenness became something we could leverage to relate to others. Everyone is broken. Everyone needs some kind of healing. Our tragedy gave us the perspective and opportunity to humbly speak into the lives of others going through their darkest days and point them to the healing power of Jesus.
Each of you already has something- a hobby, skill, talent, habit-something you own, something you've been through, something you care about that you could use to tell someone the message of God's love. You don't have to change careers, start a non-profit, or move to another country; you just have to start where you are, as you are, leveraging what you have already.
Will you leverage your life for eternity?
Why Should I Forgive?
By Jen Barrick
The drunk driver changed my life forever. He took a lot of things from me. He took my teenage years from me. He gave me a brain injury, and left me in a lot of pain. If you have been hurt by someone, you know that forgiveness is really hard. You can’t do it in your own strength. I had to pray and ask God to help me to forgive.
The reason I wanted to forgive was because I wanted to be free. I didn’t want anything to grow into bitterness and hinder my purpose. I didn’t want anything or anyone to consume my thoughts, but Jesus. Before I chose forgiveness, the drunk driver could hurt me emotionally again and again by controlling my thoughts. After I forgave, I finally felt free to use my story to make a difference in the world.
One thing that helps me is to visualize taking the drunk driver “off of my hook” and putting him on God’s hook. I no longer expect him to pay for what he did to me. I have given him to God. He’s on God’s hook. Jesus paid for what he did to me when he died on the cross.
Colossians 3:13 says, “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” I had to remember all the times that God had forgiven me and given me grace. Knowing that I was forgiven, helped me make the choice to forgive. If you have never asked Jesus to forgive you, it will probably be impossible for you to forgive. You need His unlimited love and mercy to fix your heart before you can offer forgiveness to someone else.
Another thing that helped me was praying daily for the drunk driver. Bitterness cannot grow while you are praying for someone. When we don’t forgive, bitterness spreads in our hearts like a toxin. I wanted to be free of that, so I started to pray for my offender and asked Jesus to helped me forgive him.
in my situation, my offender was not physically able to say he was sorry or fix what he had done to me. He is still more injured than me. I decided to write him a letter and let him off my hook. I still have never talked to him, but I am free. Forgiveness does not mean that everything gets fixed perfectly. Forgiveness means that you are free to receive all the love and hope God has for you. One day everything will get fixed perfectly in heaven where there is no more sorrow or pain. Until then, we have forgiveness.