Today’s devotional is specifically for screwed up people. If you are less than perfect, if you are coming to the end of this month and see it didn’t go as you imagined and it’s kinda like 97% your fault, if you are a good starter – bad finisher, big talker – little doer, or somewhere in between, this is for you.

If you’re living in a house with screwed up people, work with screwed up people, or share a highway with screwed up people, this devotional is for you.

Okay great – we’re all here!

Romans 3:23-24 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

I sin, regularly. I fall short, every darn day. And for this, through Jesus, I have grace.

GRACE IS THE UNDESERVED FAVOR OF GOD

Maybe you deserve God’s favor more than I do, but I’m going to be honest and tell you I’m banking on that undeserved favor which comes through grace because I have a very unique and special way of screwing things up. I can be so totally scattered that I drive organized, routine people insane (ask my leadership team.) Having a conversation with me is like having a conversation with 5 people at once because I can jump from one topic to the next at lightning speed with no warning. I can literally see my husband’s face jerk from left to right and back to left as he’s trying to chase my rapid thoughts.

And for all of this I have GRACE.

And for all of your screw-ups, shortcomings and totally random quirky ticks, you have grace too. God’s undeserved favor covers you. Ahhh, don’t you pretend like you’re not screwed up in some way. You don’t have to be all self-righteous with me. I know you’re jacked up too! I’ve spent enough time with enough people to know it’s not just some, it’s ALL of us!

I consider grace like a blanket that just lays right over all the holes in my life and makes me worthy and holy. God has been offering you GRACE your entire life – have you accepted it? Or are you still trying to beat yourself into submission, trying to contort yourself into something you’re not, relentlessly seeking more, newer, skinnier, and perkier? How’s that working for ya? You’re exhausted aren’t you? Won’t you just surrender to God’s grace and let him cover all that for you?

One of my secrets to success is the checklist of my Daily Goals. This is my simple little tracking tool of the daily stepping stones to success. Each day has a series of boxes. A box for your wake up time, exercise, healthy meals, drinking water, devotional, and whatever else would be a daily step to your success. And each day you get to color in the boxes you complete. It takes us back to getting a star on our paper when we were in first grade and we can’t wait to show it to mama when we get home. We’re so proud of our little colorful boxes.

Until we screw up … until we oversleep and that box is left blank. Until we fail to exercise and there’s another empty box. One day goes by, then another of more empty boxes than colored boxes and pretty soon you know what we start doing … we start AVOIDING the checklist. What once helped us is now just an ugly reminder of how we screwed up again.

The same thing happens outside of a daily checklist. When we don’t do what we know we need to do in life, we start avoiding LIFE. Relationships – we avoid relationships when we know we have failed. Finances – I mean who wants to look at the bank statement when we know we’ve been blowing our money? And so we avoid the areas where we’ve had a mis-step and what happens when you avoid it? Does it get better? No – of course not. It gets worse.

Have you been avoiding something, only to watch it get worse? Covering your own eyes, pretending you don’t see? Well that’s a recipe for a pile-up in your own life! Yet we do it don’t we?

Something is being held over your head. Something you’ve done in the past now threatens to darken your future. You have been held back from your God-given potential because of your past mistakes.

Now, understand, it is not God’s will for you to be held back, he’s not the one doing the punishing. It is not his desire for you to be reliving the mistakes and shortcomings.

It is God’s plan for you to live in absolute freedom and walk in full redemption. It is by his divine direction that every bad thing would be turned around and used for good. Has that bad thing been turned yet, or is it still creating bad feelings within you? Is it still telling bad stories stirring up guilt and shame in you head and in your spirit? Is it still poking at you, taunting you with threats of uncovering, revealing and exposing?

You’ve been blackmailed. Blackmailed by the devil. He is the one threatening to reveal this compromising or damaging information about you. He is the one demanding payment for what has already happened, holding you hostage in a past you can’t go back and change now. So your future is sacrificed because you’re busy making payment for the past.

How much longer will you pay for this?

Girl, are you ready to be set free of that? Are you ready to stare down the one who holds these threats against you and declare they are now powerless? It is time!

I remember as a little girl blackmailing my older brother. I heard him cuss on the school bus. That day as we got off the bus I told him of my plans to tattle on him. Because I had incriminating evidence against him, he agreed to make a deal with me. I wouldn’t tell mom and dad about him cussing in exchange for his obedience to my every demand. I had him cleaning my room, doing my chores, and giving me his toys so that I would hide his secret.

And it worked. It worked for a long time. One day he didn’t comply with my demands and I reminded him of his offense and the ammunition I had against him. He was tired of me ruling him, so he finally said, “go ahead and tell mom and dad. So, that’s exactly what I did. I marched my happy little bossy butt right in to my parents and I proceeded to tell them about the time my big brother said a cuss word on the buss.

Oh I felt so powerful. I was sure he would most definitely regret not continuing to hide behind my blackmail. Instead, mom and dad scolded me. I was punished for being a brat and he was dismissed from his wrong doing because it no longer mattered. What’s done had been done and he had punished himself enough over it!

Oh girl, don’t you know the devil has been a brat to you. Just how long has he been threatening to reveal your mistakes? How long has he had you cowered down and missing out? For real, missing out on the fullness of life offered to you because of something you can’t go back and change?

So the payment continues as you are blackmailed by the devil. Reminded of your past. Haunted by that decision. Tricked by your shortcoming. Tormented by your failure. You pay with your shame that causes you to hide. You pay with your guilt that causes you to settle. You pay with your sacrifice of the abundant goodness available to you here and now. And you end up living a little life when you were created for a BIG Life!

Hey, let him tell! I want you to imagine the devil running up to Jesus and tattling on you. “Jesus, this girl isn’t who you think she is. She has a dark spot in her past. She really screwed some things up. She isn’t deserving of your love and good plans. She should have absolutely no breakthroughs. She is unworthy! Punish her!”

And Jesus says “Boy, sit down! I knew every single thing she would ever do before I even chose her. I was fully aware of this very thing you’ve been holding over her head when I decided to hang on the cross for her....

Job 37: 14: says “Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God’s wonders.”

I always find it most powerful to personalize a scripture by inserting your own name. For me it’s “listen to this, Pamela; stop and consider God’s wonders.” Now it’s your turn – “listen to this, (insert your name); stop and consider God’s wonders.”

Stop. Just stop. Right here, stop everything.

In this moment, will you stop? Breathe. Do you feel that air filling your lungs? Don’t you know the very air you breathe is the breath of God. He is the one who breathes life into you. You’ve been breathing your entire life, but how many of those breaths do you actually receive as the breath of God going into you, filling you, reviving you, strengthening you, sustaining you, giving you LIFE?

This is God’s breath. Breathe it in. This is life. God didn’t just breathe life into you one time and say ‘there, now you’re on your own’. He continues to breathe life into you, intentionally, purposefully, and you’ve just become so accustomed to breathing you don’t even recognize the wonder of it all.

“Stop and consider God’s wonders.” God’s wonders. A wonder is something beautiful and unexpected and inexplicable that causes admiration. God wants us to admire his wonders. He wants us to look at what he has done and be speechless. All around you he’s trying to show you his wonderful works.

Last night I stood on the beach here in Hilton Head Island with a few of my retreat girls who joined me for a quick walk before dinner. The sky began to turn orange with the sunset, as it does on most nights. We paused to enjoy it and take a few photos. Then, the wonder show began. And when I say “wonder”, I mean literal wonder. What we saw in the sky we had never seen before and we were wondering what in the world was going on.

The glow of the sun intisified to 10 times it’s normal size, then a broad rainbow appeared completely around the sun. I mean a full rainbow with all it’s colors. It lasted for several minutes, and we all stood speechless and in complete awe.

I’m gonna be honest with you, it was so bizarre and unlike anything any of us had ever seen before, we were looking around for Jesus. Is this the rapture? Is this the moment? We stood and held hands, cried, and watched in wonder. It was a moment I will never forget.

What we were witnessing is a rare occurance called a sun halo. Like a rainbow, it is light forming through water, but this is frozen water. Ice crystals at a perfect 22 degree angle from the sun is required for this wonder. And there it was for us!

It has to be a 22 degree angle, and it has to be cold enough for ice instead of water. Amazing. The detail God goes to just to show us his wonders. Sis, stop and consider them!

I don’t know how he paints the sky in such magnificent colors. I don’t understand gravity that makes the ocean disappear in a perfect line on the horizon. But I sure can enjoy the wonder. I believe that’s exactly what God wants us to do.

Today, you are surrounded by his wonders. The unexpected and inexplicable are all around you. You can’t explain why or how your world is held perfectly in space and time, but it is. And you’re right here right now to experience it all. Stop and consider it all. Live in awe of the sheer, unexplainable awesomeness of life.

I have no words. No words can aptly describe God’s wonders all around us today. There are no words.

A friend of mine posted a video of her 9 month pregnant belly as her baby was rolling around. You could see this tiny miracle’s shoulder and elbow pushing from within, then it’s feet … you could see it’s feet kicking up again her belly. I can’t explain that.

God is calling you forward. He’s calling you boldly onward to your destiny. A pursuit of your purpose is ahead, will you go forward? They say fortune favors the bold, therefore those who sit and stew, those who get stuck in their own head, those who delay and defer are often passed over and left behind. How very unfortunate. How unfortunate to miss the favor that has been planned for you.

Did you know God has favor not only available for you, but planned for you? Psalm 5:12 says “you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.” Before you dismiss yourself from his favor because you believe you will never be righteous, understand the meaning here. The Message translation describes the righteous as a “God seeker”. Isn’t that you? Isn’t that what you’re here doing? You’re seeking God. You’re seeking his will. You’re seeking his way. Seeking his counsel. As a God seeker, you are surrounded by favor.

Knowing this favor is planned for you, won’t you be bold today in moving forward? Will you take the next step on your journey?

For some listening, you’ve already felt the stirring of God’s calling in your life. You’ve already been given a whisper of his plans. A seed has been growing within you and you’ve seen a glimpse of what God is preparing you for. And perhaps it scares you. You have a long list of why you can’t and why it won’t work, and yet you still feel a pull towards a destiny that seems out of reach. Here is your word today: FORWARD BOLD ONE!

Dare to take the next step on your journey. Dare to believe you are EXACTLY who God has chosen for this job, and show up for it. Be so bold as to speak into that which God has been stirring within you. Go forward.

That’s what God wants of you today … forward motion. It takes no courage to stay where you already are, you know what that looks like. Yes it may be comfortable, but it’s sucking the life out of you! FORWARD BOLD ONE.

Not everyone is so bold. Many have sold out to the easy way. Many have settled into the rut of the ordinary. And they have allowed the favor which had their name on it to pass by them. BUT NOT YOU. No, no, no, not you.

You are no longer satisfied with the rut of the ordinary. You are no longer seeking easy. You’re a God seeker. You desire the destiny you were created for. You’re hungry for the life available to you. You are ready to move forward. You are grabbing for the favor destined for you. Stand up and get it sister. Chase after what you missed before when you were hunkering down and playing little.

Now, warning to my fellow forward moving, bold God seekers … this journey will not be easy. But the good news is we already said we were no longer seeking easy, right? This journey will not be straight nor quick. You will endure many storms on this journey. Storms which beat you down and weather you. You’ll come out soaking wet and stronger. You will endure the hot flames of the fire on this journey. Fire which feels absolutely miserable in the moment, unbearable heat that pushes you back. You’ll come out smelling smoky and refined. This process is often painful, but the wheat must be separated from the chaff. Layers peeled back to reveal the treasure within.

For others listening, if you’re being honest, you’re straight up confused what God is trying to do in your life. There have been no whispered plans. You feel no seed growing within, no glimpses of preparation from God. I’ve been there. That still, quiet season of life where you feel God has gone silent. Maybe he’s given up on you? Maybe it’s too late for you? Maybe he found someone else better for the job he had planned for you? No! Let me tell you what is happening here … you’re being prepared for radical growth.

You’re facing a situation you think is terrible, but sister, it’s not what you think. You’re stepping into this assuming one thing, but God wants to reveal to you another. God is asking you to stop fighting this and trust him here. Trust this isn’t what you’ve built it up to be in your head. Trust it’s more than it appears on the surface. Trust this is FOR you, not against you.

What if life isn’t happening to you, but it’s happening FOR you,. What if God really is in the details and the very thing you’re resisting is God’s good plans for you unfolding in mysterious and unexpected ways.

This morning after praying and inviting God to use me to speak to you, he vividly reminded me of one of the funniest things I’ve ever pulled off. He took me back to 2015 on a ranch in Texas where I was hosting an adventure retreat. There, I partnered up the participants into pairs for retreat imitations. The moment I said initiations, they knew they were about to be challenged. And they were right, this would be a challenge.

On a tray I had a clear glass bowl full of goldfish. Not crackers, real fish. They could see them swimming and they watched me reach my hand into the water, grab a fish and put it into a red solo cup. Exactly enough cups for each partnered pair, each with a live fish. Then I announced one person would be the feeder and the other would be the eater. Choose their positions now and blindfold eachother.

As the blindfold was put on their eyes, they could still see me scooping out the fish into the cups to be distributed. As you can imagine, they are panicking. They are questioning my choices as a leader. They are wanting to escape the situation, but here they are on a stage, preparing to be the person to either feed someone a live goldfish, or worse, be on the receiving end of the transaction.

After they are securely blindfolded, I reveal a hidden can of peaches in heavy syrup. Peaches perfectly cut to the size of a goldfish, as well as perfectly slimy in their syrup, just as you would imagine a slimy fish. The cups are switched and distributed in place of the real fish.

What follows is complete pandemonium. Grown women are squealing and squirming reaching into a cup they cannot see, to grab a live goldfish … or so they thought. All while the other blindfolded part of the duo is shivering with her mouth open, awaiting the fish. I’m screaming over a microphone, “Don’t chew, eat it whole. You’ll be fine. This is completely safe!!!!”

There’s such chaos and panic during the exchange, no one ever stops to realize, wait … this isn’t what I think it is. The feeder is convinced the fish is squirming in their hands, and the eater is absolutely certain they are indeed swallowing a live goldfish whole. There’s gagging and crying as they hype themselves up to complete the challenge. And they did it! One person peed a little, but the challenge was completed.

As they remove their blindfolds they see me holding the cans of peaches, and then they realize they were just freaking out over absolutely nothing. Nothing. All along it was a peach.

But sis, when you think it’s a live goldfish, it feels like a live goldfish. It tastes like a live goldfish. Maybe you’re THINKING about things wrong. Maybe you’ve assumed this is going to be way worse than it is. Maybe things have changed since you first started and things are no longer the same. You don’t have to be afraid here, this isn’t going to hurt you!

Perhaps there’s something in your life right now you’re stressing and fretting over that really isn’t a threat at all. You’ve just assumed it’s a threat because of what you’ve seen before. Stop and consider it may not be so bad after all. Remember you said you believe God is in the details of your life ...

God will do what he intends to do. Nothing can stand in his way. Nothing can stop him. The question is, will you accept his open invitation to be part of what he’s doing, or will you miss out?

This is your opportunity to be in partnership with the Almighty. To to be divinely led by the Spirit, and walk in purpose,. To step into the good plans God has always had for you and be part of something greater than you ever imagined.

With this invitation is your option of choice. Will you say yes … or will you keep believing you’re not good enough? Will you dismiss the potential God has placed within you … or will you dare to believe God wants to use you for more? Will you dwell on your long list of shortcomings and failures … or will you dare to accept what your Creator has spoken over you?

Just how much of God’s plan for your life do you need to see in advance before you’re willing to trust it? How certain do you have to be of the future before you leave the shores of today? Understand, your tight grip on certainty and comfort potentially forfeits you ever holding what was truly meant for you. Those hands have to be open sister. Open to the unknown with the All-Knowing.

Isaiah 6:8, God is looking for one who will partner with him in a mission. One who is courageous enough to believe maybe they could be used by the Creator of the Universe for something more. The Lord said, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

Isaiah immediately responds in the same verse “Here am I. Send me!”

Send me where? Oh, well I don’t know exactly. To do what? Yeahhhhh about that, I’m not sure. For what purpose? Uhhhh, well that’s unclear, but I’m all in. I’m here, I’m available, send me.

Isaiah was signing a blank check to the Lord, declaring a universal YES to God’s plan for his life. He didn’t know where God wanted him to go, but he agreed to go anyway. He didn’t know how God would use him, but he believed God could do anything he wanted to do and he simply wanted to be part of that. So, he did the only thing that needs to be done, he declared himself AVAILABLE.

Although Isaiah sounds confident with his bold response to God of “Here am I. Send me!”, the truth is, he felt extremely inadequate. Just 3 verses earlier Isaiah says ““Woe to me! I am ruined! ”

He felt unworthy. He saw himself as inadequate. But he was called. All Isaiah had to do was answer. “Yeah, hello God? Here I am. Sure, I’m available.”

Unworthy and inadequate do not seem to go together to create called, but they do. This is God’s math, and in God’s math that’s the perfect combination of purpose. Unworthy + Inadequate = Called. It doesn’t matter how unworthy you believe you are. It doesn’t matter how inadequate you have felt before. All that matters is answering the call. The phone is ringing!

I understand that feeling of smallness. I struggle daily with the voices that tell me I can’t possibly do great things. That old Imposter Syndrome kicks in and tells me this is all a facade and soon it will come crashing down. And when you know something will come crashing down, you prepare. How do you prepare? You hold back. You stop the investment. You withdraw. You search for signs that it was all too good to be true and you find the cracks. The cracks in you. The weaknesses and faults you tried to hide, but they’re there. Staring at these cracks, you see the potential for the crumble and you run. You run from what you could be doing because ultimately you feel too inadequate to keep doing it.

Trust me, God sees those cracks. He knows every weakness and fault within you. He knows your potential to royally screw this thing up, and he still believes in your potential to get it right. And he calls that potential out. He’s calling.

My sister, there are good plans for your life. Ahead of you are good things just waiting to come together. Goodness awaits your faithful next step. When you start tasting this goodness and seeing for yourself, that darn devil will no longer be able to trick you into settling for anything less. He won’t be able to hold you back. He won’t be able to stir up fear and doubt within you. That procrastination that has plagued you your entire life will be defeated. That doubt that has tossed you around causing chaos in your spirit will be hushed. But first, you have to taste and see that indeed, God is good. Yasssss girl, get you a bite of what God is offering you and you’re going to want the whole darn plate!

He has an abundance for you. He has overflowing portions for you. Personally for you. If you’re hungry wondering if there’s more to life, the answer is YES. My sister, there’s so much more for you that is literally overflowing from the storehouses of heaven. You’re hungry because God gave you an appetite for more and you have yet to step fully into it.

Will you trust that God’s plan for your life is greater than your biggest, wildest dreams? Will you trust that he is using all things together for your good? Will you trust that he sees what you do not see, knows what you do not know, and is doing for you what you could never do on your own? Will you surrender control and step into the divine unknown? Will you believe that you are equipped with the giftings of the Almighty and finally start living in the freedom and purpose God intended for you? Now’s the time for you to hold nothing back and courageously move in the right direction. TRUST THIS!

It’s so easy to trust God when things are all aligning as you imagined, but how do you trust him when the door is shut, the answer is no, the way gets hard, and the next step is unclear? How do you trust him when what you thought was good turns bad? Answer: YOU LEAN IN EVEN HARDER.

This is where you take your thoughts captive. This is where you make your heart and mind obedient to Christ as 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to do. This is where you stare down your struggle and say “I KNOW GOD IS FOR ME! Even in the middle of this mess, I know God’s plans for me are still greater than my biggest, wildest dreams. So darn it, I WILL TRUST THIS!”

Trust God when the doors are opened and you have the invitation to proceed. Yes girl, go! Move forward. Accept the invitation and step into what he has for you next.

And just as much, you have to trust God when nothing is working and you have to turn back. There are no mistakes in the divine workings of the Lord. He is sovereign. He is mighty. He is all-knowing, and you are not. You don’t know everything.

You know how you look at your child and think “they don’t know really know anything about yet” … yeah, that’s the way God looks at you. You don’t know anything yet, but he’s showing you. He’s showing you how these disappointments were actually a blessing to guide you to the better plans that you would have never chosen on your own.

Will you trust God even when you’re disappointed? Will you trust God even when this doesn’t work the way you imagined? Will you trust God when your good plans get cancelled?

Yesterday, I had plans to take my retreat girls to the adventures of Daufuskie Island. I had chartered a boat to take them on a 45 minute ride to the wild and largely untouched island where there are no cars and only dirt roads to explore on golf carts. I had it all planned out for them to see the old lighthouse, walk the beach, stand under the 450 year old massive live oak trees, and experience God’s raw and natural beauty there. But a short distance into our boat ride, the winds created such wild waters, the boat could go no further.

I once heard everyone is an example. An example of what to do or an example of what not to do. You can learn from every person you ever come in contact with, and let me tell you, knowing who you don’t want to be is pretty priceless. Use it! Nothing goes to waste here my friends, nothing.

I’ve had several examples of what not to do. Perhaps I’ve even been the example of what not to do a few times in my life. But one thing is always true, Jesus has always been the ultimate example of what to do. Jesus showed us how to live and how to love, and Jesus showed us how to get back up!

Jesus got back up! Oh yes he did.

You know the story. Jesus had been buried in a tomb on Friday after being crucified on the cross. On Saturday the world fell silent. On Sunday women came to his tomb and found the stone had been rolled away. The tomb was empty. Two angels appeared to them and said in Luke 24: 6 “He is not here; he has risen.”

Jesus got up. No, what happened on that cross wasn’t a bad dream. He did die. We did bury him, but he’s not here any more. He got up. He got up. He got up.

And this is what God is asking you and I to do today. Get up. Don’t stay where you have been. Don’t get stuck here. Move on and rise up. Let is be said of you, “she is not here, she has risen.” Oh she once was stuck here. She once struggled here, but she isn’t here anymore. She has risen!

You can’t wallow and rise up at the same time.

The first 2 weeks of 2022 may not have gone as you had planned. Okay, welcome to week 3 now get up. The past 30 years of your life may have been dark. There may have been unfair things that happened to you and I’m truly sorry, now get up. You didn’t deserve to be knocked down, but do you deserve to have to stay down? If you stay down, you keep yourself there. You can get up now.

Jesus left the grave behind him, now it’s your turn. Leave the grave behind you. Whatever has held you back in the past does not have to bind you today. Whatever tripped you up and caused you to stumble can be your history and not part of your destiny. Leave it behind.

You know what I love about Jesus? Well, there’s a whole lot of things I love about Jesus, but I love that he went through Hell for us, hung there on the cross and took on every sin and sickness on my behalf and your behalf, fully surrendered his life for you and I, was put in the grave where he stayed for 3 days … then he got up without the continual need to rehash all he had just gone through.

When he showed back up with the disciples he was like “I’m here now. What’s done is done, that’s over now, I’m here and we have work to do.”

As you get back up today, resist the urge to rehash how bad getting knocked down was. Don’t relive that crap. Don’t you know that’s what keeps you down? You’re only making it harder on yourself. Why would you reread that text message that rips your heart apart – delete it already. Why would you let the whole scene replay in your mind on a loop? Be done with it. When those images and thoughts start replaying in your mind, you change the channel. The remote for your life is in your hand. You choose what you think about. You choose what you talk about.

It’s done. You can’t go back and change it. It’s over and maybe it really sucked. But you’re here now and you have work to do.

Get up.

You say, well just because Jesus got up doesn’t mean it will be that easy for me to get up. And you’re right – you’re not Jesus and it won’t be easy. But it is necessary. It is necessary for you to get up today and move forward. It is necessary for you to show up for your life and do what needs to be done. It is necessary for you to carefully choose your thoughts and your words ...

Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”

This is one of the most memorized and quoted scriptures. Empowering, motivating, reassuring … yes … and it’s a call to action.

Notice it doesn’t say, “I can do all things through Christ who does it for me.” Unfortunately, many times we view God as a genie in a lamp. God was never supposed to do your work for you.

Think about Noah. God told him to build an ark, a huge boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet tall. If the ark were a house, it would have been over 100,000 square feet. Translation … it was big. Really big. There was a flood coming and his ark would be the only way of survival for man and animals.

Now God being God, couldn’t he have just built the ark himself?

But that’s not the way God works now is it? God told Noah to build the ark and Noah worked for nearly 100 years to build what God could have done in an instant.

That almost doesn’t seem fair now doesn’t it?

There are likely areas in your life where you wish God would show up and just do the work for you. But God called you to BUILD A LIFE and that requires work. Will you work for it?

Let’s break this scripture down so we will never hear it the same. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

“I.” Who does it say? “I.” This is personal. You should be owning it. Insert your name into this scripture. Pamela can do all things through Christ who gives her strength. Yes, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

“I can.” Not “maybe, sorta, it might happen or it might not”, no! I can. Say that with me. I CAN. Sometimes we just need to remember we are more capable than we ever give ourselves credit for. We have all the potential within us. We are fully equipped by our maker. Listen to me right now … you are not broken. You are not incapable. You are not helpless or hopeless. You were made for more. You are capable of more. You are worthy of more. And you CAN.

Now the third word “do.” “I can do.” Does that mean think about, contemplate, sit around and rationalize, talk about and plan for? No. “I can do.” This is a call to action. I can do.

Your life requires action and you CAN DO IT. I know you can. You can rise up and make the changes you desire. You can radically change your life.

What has the first 13 days of this year of life been for you? I’m not asking what has happened to you, I’m asking what you’ve done with it. Have you done what you can do? Have you taken action? Have you stepped out in faith? Or have you chosen to just remain where you are and think about what could happen? Have you been wishing for change but never doing anything about it? Let me shoot it to you straight … that’s never going to work!

You can do it and you must do it. It’s time to go, do, show up, move forward, step ahead, now. Today. Be in action. Why are you sitting on those dreams and desires?

You can do ALL THINGS. Did you hear that? How many things can you do? Can you only do SOME things? Are there some things that will just be too hard? Are there some things that will be impossible for you? Nope, that’s a lie the enemy has sold you. YOU CAN DO ALL THINGS, and that includes “this” thing that you need to do today. The thing you’ve been avoiding – the thing you’ve been dreading – the thing you’ve tried before and failed – you can do it. The enemy wants you to believe you can’t. He wants to remind you of your past epic failures. He wants you to dwell on your weakness and shortcomings. DON’T LISTEN TO HIS NONSENSE TODAY. God says you can do all things, believe it!

How? THROUGH CHRIST, meaning this is a partnership. When you live your life as a partnership between you and God, you realize he does his part and you do your part. He goes before you to make a way,

Today I had a light bulb moment. A moment of complete clarity to see where we’ve been holding on to what needs to go and throwing out what we need to keep. The throwing of one thing and holding of the other brings great peace when we get it right, but when we switch the hands we experience chaos.

Maybe you’ve been throwing away what was meant to be held on to, and clinging to what you were meant to drop a long time ago. Let’s check our hands today and make sure we’re doing this thing right!

What does the bible say about casting? Most of us are somewhat familiar with 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

This means we throw all the things we worry about to God, and release our grip on the outcome. We turn it over and forfeit ownership of our worries. Girl, there is such power in simply saying “this isn’t mine to worry over.”

Have you been assuming ownership of orphaned worries? You just go around collecting things to worry about like stray cats, and bring them all home with you. You’re worse than crazy cat lady, you’re crazy worry lady. All the worries, all the time, right on your lap. And these worries have become your continual companions, now you don’t know what to think about if it’s not a worry. You literally don’t know how to carry on a conversation without worry being your lead.

And God says, “Hey, throw that to me. I never intended for you to carry that around.”

What are you holding back sis? What anxiety have you claimed as your own, believing it’s just who you are and how you function, and now it rules you? You’re hearing this today because God is asking you once again to give that to him. Throw it on over. Don’t hold this in your hands. Don’t walk around with it in your head. Don’t carry it in your heart.

When those old familiar worries come knocking on your door, trying to claim their familiar space in your life, you need to quickly declare “NOT IT!” I won’t be the one to drag this worry home and feed it. I won’t be the one to claim this worry as my truth. I won’t be the one to welcome this worry in my day and let it infect every area of my life. I’m not it. I don’t want it. It’s not for me. God, here you go.

The less time you let that anxiety sit in your hands, the better you will be. And aren’t we all here this year trying to get better? Aren’t we seeking to live better, do better, and be better? Great … this is a very practical way to do that. Let the worries spend less time in your hands and cast them faster.

Girl, you should have thrown that anxiety 5 years ago, but instead you’ve been holding on to it. That was your choice. Make a better one now. God is open, throw it to him! It’s like a game of hot potato, the object is to hold that in your hands for as little time as possible. Sometimes people throw crap on you that you didn’t ask for. Hot potato, don’t hold it, pass it. Not mine, God it’s yours!

As parents we sometimes take our kids hot potato and carry it around for them. Mama, you’re doing them no favors. This isn’t your worry to carry. Now you’re burdened and your child has only learned how to throw their problems on other people instead of casting them on God. Teach them now you can’t fix their problems, but if they will throw it to God, he will.

Repeat after me: This isn’t my burden to carry.

Okay? This isn’t your cat to take home. Don’t feed that. You’re allergic to this chaos. Seriously, you don’t react well to this anxiety, so don’t gather it up for yourself. God says he wants it, dang it, give it to him!

I have some worries that keep coming to my front door over and over again,