I Am NOT Just a Number

Every day can be a battle. A battle for our hearts, a battle for our minds, a battle to discourage, a battle to get out of bed, a battle to be content in whatever state we are in, a battle to bless God even in the darkest times. Satan seeks to crush and destroy us. When we are so focused on our own pain and battles, we are less useful. Think of a nice shiny car, but with a broken hose. This small hose can cause the entire car to be out of commission. This too is how Satan works in our life. He may sit back and watch us break with the smallest hose. That is all he needs to put us out of service. Many of us have been out of service for quite some time. This is because we have so focused on goals or things that may be outside our purpose. How do we fight battles in our life and overcome them? What should our only purpose be? Praise and worshiping God. That is it. God is constantly seeking out people who just want to worship Him. We constantly ask for blessings in our life, but how many ...

It’s not what you do that gives you worth but to whom you belong. This was in a recent devotional by Pastor Rick Warren. He goes on to say, "Did you know that God has a tattoo of you? Isaiah 49:15-16 says, “Can a mother forget her little child and not have love for her own son? Yet even if that should be, I will not forget you. See, I have tattooed your name upon my palm” (TLB) ." Our worth is so many times defined by things that don't really matter: our profession, Klout score, friend count, followers, likes, snap score. Our online highlight reel that only defines small moments in our life, but not the whole picture. We don't showcase our brokenness, put on blast our hurts and failures, display our ugly side. We only display our bests. Rarely though, is this a true picture of our lives. Many of you may feel very alone in whatever situation you are in. You may be in a plane headed to a funeral, you may be headed to a dead-end job in which you feel like you make no...

Dealerships can be a place where dreams or nightmares begin or end. Shiny new things litter the parking lot. The options are endless. Each and every car appearing to have one more feature than the next. The car salesman focused and resolved. The buyer unaware and driving their minds to reconcile. A price point is given, the paperwork begins, negotiations continue. The buyer gets up to walk away. Panic erupts. The general manager has reconsidered. New options are provided, but no real budging in price. This is a vehicle that will be with you no less than 3 years and is a big decision. Most people crumble to the pressure and follow their feelings. Not a lot of thought goes into the payout or the payment. Instead of looking at what matters, sometimes we focus on the inconsequential factors that make the decision less stressful at the time. We will worry about the bigger questions later. Then we drive away. A shiny new toy that sits most days in a random driveway. Thankfully, not all of ...