God Is Not in Control – And That Proves How Much He Loves You

God Is Not in Control – And That Proves How Much He Loves You

Last weekend was Father's Day; we're taking some time to look at what kind of father God is. Some key points: * Most of us are going through life very unaware of how loved we are. * God created the world so that everything in it's pure form is meant to show us what he is like. * The Trinity models family to us. * Earthly fathers are never perfect, but they are a picture that God intends to use to show us what he is like. * Our biggest hangup around God being a good father is usually the question, "If God is good and in control, why do bad things happen?” * Is a manager in charge or in control? * Are we puppets? * Jesus came so we could have abundant life; Satan is the one who is stealing, killing, and destroying. * The most commonly held, widespread lie on the face of the earth - bad things happen because God is not always good rather than because there’s an enemy seeking to steal, kill, and destroy us in any way that he can "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." -Jesus in John 10:10 "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." -Paul in Ephesians 3:16-21 I hope you have a fresh vision of how extravagantly you are loved, how much God is for you, and how he delights in seeing you thrive in your life! He really is so much better than we can even imagine, I'm convinced of it! *** Most of us are looking for a breakthrough somewhere in our life. Remember this - you probably don’t need a big change; you just need a small revelation that can shift everything. So don’t overlook the small stuff! Click the link below to get the pdf Truths to Remember When I'm Feeling Afraid or Overwhelmed, a Scripture-centered guide to refocus your mind and bring you from chaos and fear back to truth and peace. subscribepage.io/MbmSZU [http://subscribepage.io/MbmSZU] Follow me on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sherri_miller55?igsh=MWduMWMwMW9kcmlxMg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/share/1HSC2gAyVa/?mibextid=wwXIfr].

The Exchange Zone: Where Prayer Actually Happens

I’ve been thinking about prayer recently, specifically the verse in I Thes. 5:17 that says, “Pray without ceasing.” I’m likely thinking and asking about this because there are a few areas of my life that I find myself constantly talking with God about. What is prayer? * It is conversation with God. * It is an exchange zone. * It is direct access to God. God is teaching me things about the exchange zone. I've been handing him the baton but then chase him down and take it back. Prayer is like having a student athletic pass; it gives us full access unles we don't take advantage of it. How do we make our life a prayer? * “Instead of worrying, pray.” Phil. 4:6 Worry is simply thinking thoughts without God at the center. Let’s shift our worrying thoughts into thoughts/conversations with God. “Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." Phil. 4:6, 7 Most of us are looking for a breakthrough somewhere in our life. Remember this - you probably don’t need a big change; you just need a small revelation that can shift everything. So don’t overlook the small stuff! Click the link below to get the pdf Truths to Remember When I'm Feeling Afraid or Overwhelmed, a Scripture-centered guide to refocus your mind and bring you from chaos and fear back to truth and peace. subscribepage.io/MbmSZU [http://subscribepage.io/MbmSZU] Follow me on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sherri_miller55?igsh=MWduMWMwMW9kcmlxMg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/share/1HSC2gAyVa/?mibextid=wwXIfr].

Stop Trying Harder. Get Connected.

The word "abide" has been on my heart recently. Abide - to remain; continue; stay “As you live in union with me as your source, fruitfulness will stream from within you - but when you live separated from me, you are powerless.” John 15:5b “The Son is unable to do anything from himself or through his own initiative. I only do the work that I see the Father doing, for the Son does the same work as his Father.” John 5:19 What do powerful lives look like? And the opposite - what does a powerless life look like? Jesus did, in our definition, both "big" and "small" things. He didn’t waste time trying to make something happen that his father wasn’t doing. He lived completely connected to his Father. A life connected to our Father is a powerful life, and a powerful life is an effective life, totally in sync with the Father. A powerless life is focused on self, not on God. How do we connect with God if we are disconnected? * Slow down, become aware of him * Read the Bible - the youversion Bible app is great! * Journaling * Community * Prayer “As you live in union with me as your source, fruitfulness will stream from within you." - Jesus (John 15:5) Most of us are looking for a breakthrough somewhere in our life. Remember this - you probably don’t need a big change; you just need a small revelation that can shift everything. So don’t overlook the small stuff! Click the link below to get the pdf Truths to Remember When I'm Feeling Afraid or Overwhelmed, a Scripture-centered guide to refocus your mind and bring you from chaos and fear back to truth and peace. subscribepage.io/MbmSZU [http://subscribepage.io/MbmSZU] Follow me on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sherri_miller55?igsh=MWduMWMwMW9kcmlxMg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/share/1HSC2gAyVa/?mibextid=wwXIfr].

The Day Fear Took Over - and How God Took It Back

Have you ever been ready to walk into a room and before you did, just known someone was there — not because you saw them, but because your stomach dropped and dread hit you? Even without seeing them? There was a season of my life that this happened quite regularly to me, but it wasn’t God showing me things. It was a spirit of fear that was controlling me. Today I’m sharing a middle school story of betrayal that happened to me and that ‘radar’ feeling it created. The radar wasn’t some special gift; it was a signal that there was a wound that God wanted to heal and turn into strength. Painful moments don’t have to define us negatively — they can become tools that deepen our trust in God and build real confidence in our identity in Christ. I was being controlled by fear and pain, but God was waiting for me to let him come to my pain. He was waiting to bring healing, truth, and restoration. Steps I had to take for healing: 1. I had to acknowledge the pain. 2. I had to receive truth from Holy Spirit. (Psalm 147:3; Psalm 34:18; 2 Tim. 1:7) 3. I had to choose to forgive. (Col. 3:13) 4. I had to renounce fear and break its power. 5. I had to ask for Holy Spirit’s guidance instead of the fear-based radar. (John 16:13) 6. God had to become my Protector, my High Tower, the one I went to when I was afraid. (Psalm 27:1-6) 7. I had to walk in a new belief. (Eph. 2:10; 2 Cor. 5:17; John 15:16; Psalm 139) Painful moments can become positive defining moments and tools in God's hands. Are there places in your heart where you are carrying the pain of something that happened to you? Do you feel shame or condemnation? God does not intend for you to carry the weight of that. He wants you to be healed. He wants to restore to you, too, everything that fear, pain, and disappointment want to steal from you. * Jeremiah 30:17: "For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord." Heavenly Father, Thank You that You see every hidden wound and every moment I’ve tried to protect myself. Today I bring my middle school pain straight to You. Lord, I acknowledge the hurt. I was betrayed. People spoke against me. I felt the dread, the gut-wrenching knowing, and the fear that followed me into hallways, classrooms, and other places. I confess that this pain taught me to live in self-protection instead of trusting You as my Protector. Right now, I choose to forgive. I forgive the person who warned others about me. I forgive everyone who gossiped, excluded, or hurt me. I release them into Your hands. I will not carry this bitterness or resentment anymore. As an act of my will, I forgive them completely, in Jesus’ name. Father, Your Word says You have not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. So I renounce the spirit of fear that attached itself to that wound. I rebuke the dread, the hyper-alertness, and the anxiety that rise up in me. Fear, you have no more right to rule my emotions or my body. I command you to leave in Jesus’ name. Holy Spirit, come and heal the places in my heart that were wounded. Replace every traumatic memory with Your peace. Where I feel unsafe, make me secure in You. Where I feel rejected, remind me that I am accepted in the Beloved. From this day forward, I ask for Your godly discernment. Teach me to walk by the leading of Your Spirit instead of by old fear. Let me sense Your peace more than I sense danger. Help me to enter rooms and relationships with confidence because my identity is rooted in You, not in what people say or think about me. I declare today: I am a new creation in Christ. The old things have passed away. I am no longer defined by betrayal — I am defined by Your love. I am strong, confident, and free. No weapon formed against me will prosper, and perfect love casts out all fear. Thank You, Lord, for turning my painful story into a testimony of healing and growth. I trust You deeply. I walk in freedom. I walk in confidence. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Most of us are looking for a breakthrough somewhere in our life. Remember this - you probably don’t need a big change; you just need a small revelation that can shift everything. So don’t overlook the small stuff! Click the link below to get the pdf Truths to Remember When I'm Feeling Afraid or Overwhelmed, a Scripture-centered guide to refocus your mind and bring you from chaos and fear back to truth and peace. subscribepage.io/MbmSZU [http://subscribepage.io/MbmSZU] Follow me on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sherri_miller55?igsh=MWduMWMwMW9kcmlxMg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/share/1HSC2gAyVa/?mibextid=wwXIfr].

Comfort Is Killing Our Calling

A couple weeks ago, I went to a women’s retreat that was so good and challenging and refreshing - all the things at once, and what I've been going back to the most since then is what I heard on wrestling from Lindsey Tedder. I'm sharing with you what I've been processing since then. “Wrestling is the moment of tension when God exposes how what I’ve been depending on is no longer going to work.” When there is a disruption, we either start wrestling with what the disruption exposed or numb the pain somehow then start drifting back to our comfort zone. * "Choosing comfort will always cause us to leave the path God has for us - ALWAYS!" * "The greatest threat to our calling is our desire to be comfortable." * “Wrestling is the collision between having faith in God and my need to control.” * "We wrestle when we don’t have clarity, but God is asking us to move anyway." Wrapping it up - * What current disruptions do you need to wrestle with? * What do you do to numb or find false comfort rather than wrestling? * Where have you settled back into a comfort zone that is keeping you in tension? * How might your life look different in the future if you engage and wrestle with it? "The greatest threat to our calling is our desire to be comfortable." Most of us are looking for a breakthrough somewhere in our life. Remember this - you probably don’t need a big change; you just need a small revelation that can shift everything. So don’t overlook the small stuff! Click the link below to get the pdf Truths to Remember When I'm Feeling Afraid or Overwhelmed, a Scripture-centered guide to refocus your mind and bring you from chaos and fear back to truth and peace. subscribepage.io/MbmSZU [http://subscribepage.io/MbmSZU] Follow me on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sherri_miller55?igsh=MWduMWMwMW9kcmlxMg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/share/1HSC2gAyVa/?mibextid=wwXIfr].