Stress Points to Life Points Day 8

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Welcome to Day 8 of Stress Points to Life Points!

In case you missed it over the weekend:

Stress Points to Life Points Day 6—read HERE

Stress Points to Life Points Day 7–Read HERE

Day 8 Stress Point Out On Your Own: Do You Know It All?

As a twenty-two year old, I seriously thought I knew it ALL. I thought I was miss hot stuff with a “grown-up” job and my own apartment. I thought I had it all together when for one month my check book balanced perfectly down to the penny. (yeah…that only lasted a month, but, hey!) I got pretty cocky thinking I had it all together now that I lived out on my own. Looking back at those years I realize I was far from a know it all and it is quite embarrassing thinking about that arrogance! Miss Independent desperately needed to get a grip and cling tight to her King.

Instead of sitting my “Miss Independent” hiney right at the throne of my King, I came up with my own answers and solutions to life. Thank goodness that our God doesn’t waste any mistakes because those years were ones I look back and think, “whew! What was I thinking?” Lesson learned, maturity gained. I could have saved myself a lot of heart ache and head ache had I approached my King and trusted Him for guidance and direction during those years of my twenties.

 

Truth Point: Your word is a lamp for my steps; it lights the path before me. I have taken an oath and confirmed it: I pledge to do what You say is right and just. (Psalm 119: 105-106 THE VOICE)

 

From Stress Point: Thriving Through Your Twenties In A Decade Of Drama

The journey through life as Miss Independent, fully dependent on your King, will not be without bumps and mess-ups and cleanups. Too often we pretend as if we know all the answers so we don’t have to depend on any- one for direction when we step out on our own into a grown-up life. The misconception that you have to know it all in order to live on your own blocks us from the meaningful experience of personal growth. Our King offers a wealth of wisdom in every area of life, even our Life Mechanics. Too often we think the concepts of the Bible don’t apply to the mundane details of our day, but they do! Though the Bible doesn’t directly address how to fix a discrepancy in our checkbook, it does give us encouragement to live life responsibly and with integrity. When we need direction on how to handle a disagreement with our coworker without causing a ruckus at our cubicle, the Word leads us to an attitude of humility and understand- ing. All of our Life Mechanics are addressed when we make ourselves avail- able in the Hiding Place, at the throne of our King, with an open mind and a need for His perfect wisdom.

 

Psalm 139:7–12 (THE VOICE) will lead us to grasp just what our Hiding Place, our King, has to offer when we worship, wait, and focus at the throne:

Can I go anywhere apart from Your Spirit? Is there anywhere I can go to escape Your watchful presence? If I go up into heaven, You are there. If I make my bed in the realm of the dead, You are there. If I ride on the wings of morning, if I make my home in the most isolated part of the ocean, Even then You will be there to guide me; Your right hand will embrace me, for You are always there. Even if I am afraid and think to myself, “There is no doubt that the darkness will swallow me, the light around me will soon be turned to night,” You can see in the dark, for it is not dark to Your eyes.


Life Points: As we move through our stress and find life abundant an important habit to form is to dig into God’s word on a daily basis. It is when we immerse ourselves in God’s life changing book –– the Bible –– that we find answers to life’s biggest stress points. When we fill our heart with His goodness and wisdom, we replace our own weaknesses with His strength. This can only happen with consistent time in the Bible. For today’s life point, I encourage you to start reading through the Gospels. Just take a chapter a day starting with the book of Matthew in the New Testament. Before you begin say this prayer…

Father God, I want to know You more so I can live out my faith in all my stress points. Show me, through Your word, how to order my day. I’m trusting You to give me answers I need when I think I can come up with solutions on my own. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!

Find a quiet time in your day. Maybe it is in the morning before you start your crazy day. Maybe it is during your lunch hour at work. The key is consistency. Take a chapter a day starting with Matthew with the goal of simply getting to know Jesus through His story. With a prayerful heart and a mind that is full of His word (after reading the Bible), we will encounter God and order our lives so that our stress points become true life points. True answers are found in the Holy Word.

What do you think? Leave a comment…let’s chat!

Spread the word! Share this on Twitter or Facebook… 

I’m living as Miss Independent AND depending on my Jesus. #stresspointstolifepoints www.liveitoutblog.com

 

***Click HERE to get your copy of Stress Point: Thriving Through Your Twenties In A Decade Of Drama

Stress Points to Life Points Day 7

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Welcome to Day 7 of Stress Points to Life Points!

Day 7 Stress Point Money: Money ≠ Value

 Raise your hand if you are or have ever been flat B.R.O.K.E? If you raised your hands (c’mon, don’t be shy!) how did it feel to look at your bank statement or empty wallet? Can we say pit in stomach? I wonder if you were tempted to let that empty wallet nurture an empty feeling in your heart that effected the way you view your personal value?

On the flip side, when our bank accounts overflow with cash we must remember that in God’s economy, having tons of money DOES NOT EQUAL value. I don’t know about you but when the cash is flowing I’m all too susceptible just doing my own thing aside from Jesus. That fragile security blanket of having money and feeling comfortable pulls me away from full dependence on my King. Are we also too susceptible to placing a dollar figure on our personal value –– how others value us and how God values us –– based on how much money we do or do not have?

 

Truth Point: God chose us to be in a relationship with Him even before He laid out plans for this world; He wanted us to live holy lives characterized by love, free from sin, and blameless before Him. He destined us to be adopted as His children through the covenant Jesus the Anointed inaugurated in His sacrificial life. This was His pleasure and His will for us. (Ephesians 1:4-5)

Let us redefine personal value and success…

The very Creator of the universe chose YOU, my friend, to be His daughter. He chose YOU and welcomes YOU to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). He is the only ONE who assigns true value and purpose. That means God is the ONE who determines what you are worth. And do you want to know what? He already determined that you are INVALUABLE.

God demonstrated that when He sacrificed His only son, Jesus, on the cross so that you and I will have forgiveness from sin and a true relationship with the Creator. Heck yeah! That rocks!

 

From Stress Point: Thriving Through Your Twenties In A Decade Of Drama

Oftentimes we want others to recognize our personal value or the value of our contributions, forgetting that we’re already of infinite worth to God—the only One who really counts. That’s right: You are of great importance to God, no matter what you buy, where you work, or where you vacation. That’s all that matters. End of story. I would hate to find myself in heaven one day, hearing Jesus say to me, “You did an alright job with the time I gave you in life. But why did you put so much effort into what others thought of you? Didn’t you know that you’re the apple of My eye and that this is all that matters?”

Godly success starts with knowing His Word and letting it speak to your heart. When you’re tempted to show off your latest high-ticket fashion item to prove your worth to your girlfriends, rest and wait. Remain secure in the knowledge that no shopping spree can ever boost your value to match your worth to Jesus.  {From Stress Point page 157}


Life Point: Take out your journal (or even just a pen and paper). Write out your definition of value and worth. How have you seen that play out with your money?

Now, write out this prayer and fill in the rest of it with your own words as a prayer to your King who loves and adores YOU no matter how much money you have.

Lord, the world tells me that the number in my bank account reflects my personal worth. Show me, Lord, how You see me. Help me to know with out a doubt that You find me valuable…

I feel these things about my worth…

Spend some time in the Bible with the following Bible verses. Let His word pour into your heart. Soak in the TRUTH that God loves you with an infinite love and finds you INVALUABLE.

 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Colossians 1: 13-14

Philippians 1:6

Ephesians 2:10

What do you think? Leave a comment…let’s chat!

Spread the word! Share this on Twitter or Facebook…

Declaration: Our bank account doesn’t define our worth. #stresspointslifepoints www.liveitoutblog.com

Stress Points to Life Points Day 6

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Welcome to Day 6 of Stress Points to Life Points!

Day 6 Stress Point Family: Redefining Normal

As I’ve navigated through my own twenties I’ve grown in real appreciation of my family. Too many life changes happen in this decade and the realization that my parents really were “right” hits me all too often. Life’s twists and turns remind me of a firm constant in my life: my family.

Your family might not be the typical nuclear family. You might consider your family to be whoever is your constant and this is ok.

Definition of a normal family: There is no normal!

God blesses us with people in are life that stick by us and love us no matter what. But that doesn’t mean that not-so-normal family will be with out drama. I always say, if we were a normal family, we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves. Ha! The sooner we embrace our family quirks and drama, the sooner we will come to appreciate them. The sooner we put aside our difference and cling to our family as a group of imperfect people, the sooner we can love them with a more godly love. Forgiveness comes into play here when drama threatens to weaken the familial bond. And in the midst of fights and struggle with in the entity that we so desire to cling to and love we can remember that God gives us the ultimate example of love. He is our ultimate constant.

Truth Point: Jesus the Anointed One is always the same: yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8 THE VOICE)

From Stress Point: Thriving Through Your Twenties In A Decade Of Drama

Living out the Kingship of Christ in the area of family and friend relationships isn’t something that happens overnight. We won’t wake up tomorrow to a life where every friendship is beautiful and every family member treats us kindly just because we made the decision to give this stress point over to our King. Our friends and family might not understand our journey toward placing Jesus, our Eternal King, at the center of our lives. I’ve even seen relationships break down because one friend is jealous that the other places Jesus on His throne. These types of friends or family expect us to place them as our priority, and that stands directly against what the Bible teaches us.

He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. (Matthew 10:37–38)

This passage isn’t an easy one to swallow, but it points to the hard truth about placing Jesus as our priority. By taking up our cross we are putting aside everything that used to be of utmost importance in our life, including our friends and family, and following our Eternal King. It hurts to think that best friends or siblings or parents can’t be at the top of our list, but there is great benefit and blessing if we love Jesus more than our earthly friends and family. When we let Jesus have our full attention and our whole heart, He teaches us how to love our friends and family in a way that is outside of our own capabilities.

~When our sister or brother annoys us to no end . . . Jesus gives us the patience to refrain slamming the door in frustration.

~When our parents don’t understand our life choices and refuse to support our dreams . . . Jesus gives us the strength to continue to respect them while prayerfully pursuing that life choice.

~When our girlfriend forgets our birthday . . . Jesus teaches us to forgive and move on.

~When an acquaintance gossips about our latest life drama . . . Jesus reminds us not to return the favor with more backstabbing. {Stress Point page 144-145}


Life Point: Is there some unresolved junk between you and a family member or a friend? Did something happen that caused some division and maybe some fights and loud voices? I encourage you to take out a pen and paper and write a letter to that person. Whether or not you actually send the letter, you might find some emotional resolution in just writing out your feelings. Pray before writing. Ask God to give you a heart of forgiveness and understanding as you write the letter.

If you are not in the middle of present family or friend drama, I encourage you to take out a pen and paper anyway. Write a letter to a loved one just to tell them how much you love and appreciate them. This will bless them and build on a foundation of love and respect that will pay off when the day comes that drama does, in fact, strike your family.

What do you think? Leave a comment…let’s chat!

 

Spread the word! Share this on Twitter or Facebook…

I heart my not so normal family. #stresspointslifepoints www.liveitoutblog.com

**Click HERE to get your copy of Stress Point: Thriving Through Your Twenties In A Decade Of Drama