Do you covet rest? But you're swamped in busyness? Do you push yourself to the limit? Sadly, our society practically demands it. Rest is undervalued and even considered lazy or wasted time. Time—we need more of it, don't we? That is the lie of multitasking, says author and physician Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith. If you had more time, what would do with it? Most of us would do more, not rest more. Dr. Dalton-Smith says rest is not optional if you want to "recover your life, renew your energy, and restore your sanity."

• Lack of energy
• Trouble falling asleep at night even though you're tired
• Frequent muscle pain and soreness
• Depending on substances (like caffeine) to give you more energy

These are just a few of the physical symptoms. There are many more signs of seven different kinds of rest we may be lacking: physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, sensory, social, and creative. Dr. Dalton-Smith explains each type and gives practical advice on how to rest and restore ourselves in each area.

Rest is not what we often think it is. We may think we need more sleep, and a lot of us probably do—but sleep is not rest. Sleep is passive, but rest is conscious and focused. Rest is not mindless like vegging in front of the TV, and it doesn't need to take a lot of time. It's a focused state of mind that we bring ourselves back to throughout the day. Dalton-Smith suggests creating a "mental sanctuary." Choose a characteristic of God to rest on each day (such as love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, gentleness, or faithfulness). Let that characteristic be the mental place you return to and rest in throughout the day.

Listen to the podcast as Vickie and Jasa discuss the book in more detail and share their own thoughts and stories. 

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The five love languages, according to Dr. Gary Chapman, hold the secret to lasting love. Dr. Chapman has observed, through 35 years of pastoral and marriage counseling, that everyone expresses and understands love in different ways. Just as an English-speaking person and a Chinese-speaking person will have trouble communicating, two people who speak different "love languages" will struggle to understand one another. Relationships end up strained when a language barrier between people's expressions of love leaves them feeling misunderstood, frustrated, or even unloved. 

• Words of Affirmation – Being told that you are loved, valued, and appreciated 
• Quality Time – Spending one-on-one time together with undivided attention 
• Receiving Gifts – Gifts are not just material things, but tangible expressions of love 
• Acts of Service – Someone going out of their way to do something for you 
• Physical Touch – Showing love through affection and physical closeness and intimacy

We all use each of these love languages to some extent, but one usually stands out as the most important to us. If you're not sure, think about the ways you usually express love, care, or appreciation to others. If you're always offering advice or words of encouragement, your language may be words of affirmation. Or if you love to do things for others to help them, acts of service may be your love language. Sometimes, though, it's not so clear cut. We may express our love in a different way than we prefer to receive it. And within each love language, there are different dialects. 

The book explains the love languages and their nuances in detail, and at the end, provides a quiz to help determine your own preference. With this information, you can learn to recognize these differences in your own relationships and to communicate more effectively with one another.

"The whole idea of sin has virtually disappeared from our culture," writes author Jerry Bridges. "Unfortunately, the idea of sin is all but disappearing from many churches as well." Messages from the pulpit are watered down, and Christians deflect the offense of sin to those outside the church. We may be preoccupied with causes against major offenses, but this distracts us from our own sins, which we like to consider acceptable, or as the author calls them: "respectable sins."

• Ungodliness, unthankfulness
• Anxiety, frustration, discontentment
• Pride, selfishness
• Impatience, irritability, anger
• Judgmentalism, sins of the tongue (gossip, etc.)
• Lack of self-control, envy, jealousy

Any of those sound familiar? Respectable sins are the ones we tend to gloss over and justify. If we recognize them at all, we think they are minor or less important than the more blatant sins listed in the Ten Commandments. But God hasn't given us the authority to establish value for different sins. Those sins that we tolerate in our lives are serious in God's eyes. Some sins may be more serious because they have greater consequences (to us or to others), but all sins have the ultimate consequence of separating us from God. 

Think of sin like a cancer. Some cancers go undetected until they reach the terminal stage. It's the same with sin. If it goes undetected in our lives, we may not realize it until it's too late. 

• Recognize and acknowledge sin (even the "little" ones)
• Confess and repent
• Rest in God's grace
• Practice thankfulness
• Focus on God's goodness
• Be aware of His presence

God is omnipresent: He is everywhere. He sees all, knows all, hears all. Knowing God's omnipresence can change everything. If you imagine that God is always there with you and sees and hears everything, does that change the way that you embrace your sin?

From Pride to Humilityis a small book packed with biblical insight about overcoming the root of all sin: pride. In his 35 years of experience, author Stuart Scott has narrowed down pleasing God into one word: humility. But pride is the enemy of humility, and it infiltrates our lives in ways we may not even realize.

• Lack of gratitude
• Anger
• Talking too much
• Seeking independence or control
• Being consumed with what others think
• Being angered or defensive by criticism
• Minimizing your own sin and maximizing others' sin

Just as pride is the root of all evil, humility is the root of all virtue. 

• Focusing on Christ as our first love
• Being overwhelmed with God's undeserved grace
• Being thankful and grateful
• Being gentle and patient
• Being a good listener
• Building up others, being an encourager
• Forgiving

Humility doesn't come naturally to us, so we have to be intentional about moving from pride to humility. The book includes examples, diagrams, and questions to help you along the way.

• Humble yourself with the Gospel
• Pray for God to search your heart and help you repent
• Study Jesus, his life and character
• Ask others to hold you accountable
• Spend time in the Word of God

If you're spending time in Scripture, you will be confronted with the sin of pride. God's Word will cleanse and purify you little by little, day by day. It takes persistence, perseverance, obedience, and surrender. 

The examples listed here are just a sampling of the ones given in the book. To get the full benefit, order the 25-page booklet and challenge yourself to work through it.

Listen to the podcast to hear Vickie's and Jasa's insights.

Listen on iTunes, and we'd love it if you'd leave a review while you're there.

Find previous podcasts here.

It's Not Supposed to Be This Way 

by

Lysa TerKeurst

This is Part 2

Click here for Part 1

We begin the podcast this week with Chapter 8: "When God Gives You More Than You Can Handle." We've all heard the cliché, "God doesn't give us more than we can handle." But He does! As Lysa TerKeurst says, "God doesn't want us to rally more of our own strength. He wants us to rely solely on His strength." He gives us more than we can handle so we will turn to Him. The good news is, He can handle it.

In the next chapter, we talk about letting go of what's holding us back. We all have moments of weakness, but "weak moments don't make weak faith." Our weaknesses clue us in to our untended wounds. Don't beat yourself up over them, but don't ignore them either. We also all probably have a little unforgiveness. Or a lot. We think we've forgiven someone and then we start assigning labels to them: uncaring, irresponsible, cold-hearted. This is not an indication that you're not healing but that you're human and still have some things that need to be resolved. 

The most difficult truth to grasp is that God allows us to suffer for His own purposes. Your suffering may not be a consequence of sin or anything you've done. You may simply be chosen by God for suffering. It may seem unfair and cruel. But if you turn your eyes to God, He'll change your perspective. You still may not know the reason or purpose for it, but you'll begin to see the beauty and blessings in it. "When you're chosen for suffering, you're chosen for the blessing of displaying the works of God." 

What if the worst parts of your life are actually gateways to the very best parts you'd never want to do without? @LysaTerKeurst #ItsNotSupposedToBeThisWay #TheHeartoftheAuthor #podcast 

In the epilogue, TerKeurst concludes: "We trust a God who allows hurt . . . Being hurt isn't the worst thing in the world. It's actually the very thing that makes us closer to Jesus and closer to our fellow humans."

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 

Don't miss listening to the podcast to hear Vickie read a beautiful excerpt from the book that touched her in a profound and personal way.

It's Not Supposed to Be This Way

By

Lysa TerKeurst

We've all suffered disappointments. Some are just bumps in the road, and others completely derail our lives. We find ourselves at a dead end with no road leading back to the life we knew. Our dreams shatter, and we scream, "It's not supposed to be this way!" Author Lysa TerKeurst has been in that place and says, "Sometimes to get your life back, you have to face the death of what you thought your life would look like."

We tend to plan our own lives and paint a pretty picture of how it's supposed to be. But when we write our own version of the perfect life, we're trying to play the role of God. We may say we trust Him, but behind the scenes, "we work our fingers to the bone and our emotions into a tangled fray trying to control the outcome." It's hard to let go, but God's plan really is better than our own. As Lysa TerKeurst says, "The very things I assumed would give me a better life are the exact things that would kill me eventually."

God may not give us back the life we lost, but maybe He is instead making something brand new. He uses suffering to empty us of ourselves and to make us need Him. Then He can give us far better gifts than we could've imagined for ourselves. Our hope cannot be tied to our circumstances. We overcome our circumstances by following Jesus because following Jesus Christ is the victory.

There is so much more to share from this book that we are splitting it into two podcasts. Join us again next week for part two!

Just Do Something

by

Kevin DeYoung

Are you struggling to find God's will for your life? Most of us have, at one time or another, sought direction from God for our lives. What should I major in? Who should I marry? Which church should I go to? Where should I live? Please, God, tell me what you want me to do. Pastor and author Kevin DeYoung tells us how to know God's will so we'll never have to be stuck in indecision again. But first, he will expose our motives. 

Five reasons we seek God's will for our lives: 

1. We want to please God.
2. We're timid and insecure about making decisions.
3. We want perfect fulfillment.
4. We feel paralyzed by too many choices.
5. We want a guarantee of no pain.

When we say we want to know God's will for our lives, we really just want to know our decisions are blessed by God. We're afraid of letting God down, or maybe we're afraid God will let us down. We want to know how things are going to turn out. But, DeYoung writes, "…showing us the future is not God's way. His way is to speak to us in the Scriptures and transform us by the renewing of our minds."

God's way is not a crystal ball. His way is wisdom. @RevKevDeYoung #JustDoSomething #TheHeartoftheAuthor #podcast

Reading this book will help you understand why searching for God's perfect will for your life is getting you nowhere. Being in God's will is not about choosing a career or marrying "the one" right person. "It's the daily decision we face to seek God's kingdom or ours, submit to His lordship or not, live according to His rules or our own." We may not know all of God's plans for our lives, but His will is not hidden from us. God's will is in His Word. As long as we are seeking Him and living according to His Word, we will be in His will.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33

The Spirit-Led Heart 

by

Suzanne Eller

Is the Holy Spirit a mystery to you? Do you strive to live the fulfilled and fruitful life God calls you to, but you find yourself burned out? Join us on today's podcast with author Suzie Eller as she shares how God infused her life with the power of love.

The Holy Spirit is easily the most misunderstood and neglected person of the Trinity. Differing theologies can leave us confused and uncertain of the Holy Spirit's role in our lives. The Spirit-Led Heart provides sound Biblical teaching about this powerful gift available to all believers.

Jesus promised the disciples before He left them:

"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you." John 14:16-17

Jesus' promised Helper is just as relevant today as in the early church, and the world is desperate for Him. The Holy Spirit helps us live our faith in such a way that the world is drawn to God's love. And as believers, we have an open invitation to show up each day and go where the Spirit leads us.

Suzie Eller doesn't just teach on the Spirit-led life...she's living it. And you can too.

Hope in the Dark: Believing God Is Good When Life Is Not 

by

Craig Groeschel

Pastor and author Craig Groeschel wrote Hope in the Dark from a place of deep compassion and familiarity with pain. "Everyone I knew was going through hell on earth," he said. This book is for people who are hurting and don't understand why, and maybe they're questioning God. Maybe they want to trust God, but they feel like He's abandoned them. Groeschel invites the reader to bring all those feelings and questions and doubts to God. 

Where are you, God?

Why did this happen?

When will you answer?

How long will you let this go on?

The premise is based on an interesting little book in the Bible, Habakkuk, which means "wrestling with God." Wrestling, if you think about it, is an intimate activity, and the word "wrestling" also means "embrace." We can embrace the goodness of God even while we're wrestling with Him about what He's allowing in our lives. We do not wrestle with the goodness of God's character…that is what we embrace.

We don't understand the complexities and sovereignty of God, and it's hard to exercise faith when we can't see what He's doing. But God is faithful even when we are faithless. Our God didn't just tell us how much He loved us from Heaven. He came down to us and showed us in the flesh. On the Cross, Jesus took not only our sins and the wrath of God for us, He took our sorrows upon Himself as well. He identifies with our pain.

Tune in to the podcast to hear more about Hope in the Dark.

Click here to listen on iTunes. We'd love it if you'd leave a review while you're there.      

Dwell in the Psalms: Finding Our Home in God's Word 

By

Mitzi Neely with Jana Kennedy-Spicer

Join us on the podcast today with special guest, author, speaker, and educator, Mitzi Neely of Peacefully Imperfect Ministries. Neely invites us to immerse ourselves in the Psalms with her new soul-inspired Bible study journal. Dwell in the Psalms: Finding Our Home in God's Word includes four weeks of study in which Neely shares how she navigated through different scenarios using the instruction of God's Word and the comfort of the Psalms. 

Much like our lives, the book appears beautifully put together on the outside, but the details within reveal the familiar difficulties of life that we all face. In the Psalms, David is a man after God's own heart, but at times he struggles through great turmoil. His gut-honest cries to God don't gloss over his troubles but serve as an encouragement to us. God loves us unconditionally and wants us to be real and honest with Him. He cares for us and protects us. He gives us grace and mercy. Like David, we can turn to Him in good times and bad.

My time with God is my dwelling place. @a_joyfulpeace #DwellinthePsalms #TheHeartoftheAuthor #podcast

Dwell in the Psalms is more than a Bible study. It's a place to journal, pray, and express your heart to God. It's a training ground to develop the habit of doing a daily scripture reading, a daily prayer time, a daily memorization. When we're in the habit of reflecting on God's Word, it takes root in our hearts and transforms our lives. God's truth and promises dwell in our minds, and we are equipped to deal with life's trials before they come. 

Listen to the podcast to hear the interview with Mitzi Neely. 

Or click here to listen on iTunes, and we'd love it if you'd leave a review while you're there.