God Is Never a Passive Listener

Worship focuses on who God is. During prayer, make time to give praise to God. Pray because God loves you so much He sent His only begotten son to die on a cross for you. When you develop an active prayer life, you begin to see the ways that God responds to your requests.

David recorded an exciting moment in Psalm 18.

“In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.” - Psalm 18:6

Prayer directs our thoughts and our hearts to God. David speaks about God hearing his prayers, but he makes one more point. In the next verse, David discusses how smoke poured from God’s nostrils and how God was furious on his behalf. God is more powerful than any problems we face.

God is already at work around you. It is tempting to consider God as a passive listener. You might imagine Him as this kindly grandfather type listening to your prayers before patting y...

I permit myself to be open to my feelings, good and bad. I realize positive and negative emotions are parts of our lives. By staying open to both, I stay emotionally balanced.

If I open myself to go through all feelings, I will know some negative ones. What goes up must come down. There will be good; there will also be bad. It is the way of keeping a balance. But, in my life, good far outweighs bad.

I accept that I have feelings like anger, grief, regret, and sadness. I also enjoy positive feelings of confidence, happiness, joy, and peace.

I will not permit negative feelings to construct a wall and block out all emotions. I know it is far more worthwhile to feel everything.

Today I gladly experience all my feelings. If bad things transpire, I acknowledge the emotions and deal with them positively.

By staying open and accepting all emotions, I healthily deal with them. This lets me stay open and honest with myself and others.

Self-Reflection Questions:

1. What ar
...

What does it mean to hide behind what is easy?

When you decide to hide behind what is easy, you limit yourself to safe or comfortable options rather than stepping outside your comfort zone to try something new or challenging.

Hanging out in your comfort zone and surrounding yourself with the familiar feels like the best place to be.

It is termed the "comfort" zone for a reason – when you let yourself stick to the expected and easy, you never face any adversity, challenge, or strange territory. You never have to fear surprises or discomfort when choosing the easy route in life.

However, hiding behind what is easy offers minimal chances to learn new things and grow. Your comfort zone is a place of homeostasis – not much changes, and things tend to stay the same there. If everything always stays the same in your life, you are not learning new things or developing as a person.

This is why your comfort zone is such an easy place to hide.

When you surround you...

Human beings are highly social creatures who develop many relationships throughout their lives. As you meet new people, some of the relationships you form will become intimate and serious, such as your best friends and romantic partners.

Others will be formal, such as your coworkers or supervisors. Some will be cordial, like the neighbors that live two houses down from you or the girl who works at your local coffee shop.

Regardless of who you meet or how serious the relationships you form become, there is always a way you can divide these many connections: Ones that are right for you and ones that are wrong for you. Differentiating the right relationships from the wrong ones is a crucial skill to excel in life.

What does it mean to identify the “right” and “wrong” people for you?

“Right” and “wrong” can assume a variety of definitions between different people. Since all human beings are distinctive and have their preferences, quirks, and traits, some people will mesh we...

Why is it so tough to talk with people?

You must be able to communicate to succeed in any business and make money.  Oddly enough, we are constantly communicating. But living in an era of direct messages, emails, texts, and tweets, it is becoming harder and harder to talk to one another. The heartbreaking thing is a conversation is an art form that is necessary more now than ever.

To get ahead, whether in business or your personal life, you must know how to communicate with people using something more than content on a screen. If making conversation is intimidates you, then use these tips to master the art of talking. 

4 Tricks for Talking to Anyone

1. Ask Thought-Provoking Questions

Instead of asking questions that can be responded to with ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ try raising questions necessitating more complicated answers. For example, if you are in a networking situation, learn something about the people you will meet. Asking specifically about a project they are working on will ...

What do you suppose it means to be happy?  There is a lot of exploring going on these days for the elusive emotion of “being happy” --where do you find it, how do you create it, even what it is.

 But I would like to share a little secret with you -- happiness is not only for a lucky few born with it.

Happiness is not a thing that you can reach out and touch or leave in the fridge and take a sip when you need it.  Happiness is not on a beach in Hawaii (really!) or a perfect body.  It is not even in that ideal relationship that Chris Pratt tries to sell us in movies. 

With the images bombarding you every day, it is easy to think that happiness will arrive on your doorstep if you have the newest car, the best clothes, a fancy home.  It is easy to get caught in the trap of thinking that if you could find the right person, they would arrive with a box of happiness attached to his hip.  But all this does is persuade you that happiness is something to be found outside of yourself. 

There is probably no woman alive who would tell you her life is anything but busy – and sometimes challenging. Women are pulled so many directions at once it can be easy to get stretched thin.

Women face trying situations among their friends and family, at home, at work, even with strangers. Everything taps into your inner strength and can drain it little by little.

You cannot do anything about what you experience because it is simply a part of life. But what you can do is learn ways to improve your inner strength to have the calm necessary to deal with all that comes your way.

There are tools you can utilize to help increase your ability from an internal mindset perspective - so that irrespective of what you face, you can have a life of calm.

 

One of the most accessible tools to help when you want to enhance mental strength is physical activity. Exercise does so much beyond giving your muscles strength and helping to manage weight.

Exercise is needed to strength...

In today’s fast-paced world, many Christian women struggle with rest. Between managing family, work, church responsibilities, and personal commitments, it is easy to neglect rest in favor of productivity. However, embracing a Truth Mindset can radically change your relationship with rest. God designed rest for our good, and it is not just a physical necessity—it is a spiritual practice that reflects trust in Him.

Rest is more than sleep; it is about entering into God’s peace and allowing His truth to guide our decisions regarding our health and well-being. A Truth Mindset helps us recognize that God cares deeply about our rest and that rest is a form of worship, acknowledging His provision and control over our lives.

"It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep." — Psalm 127:2 (KJV)

This verse reminds us that endless striving and worrying accomplish little without God’s provision. He desires that we rest ...

Women have the opportunity to bring Jesus into our homes daily. Sometimes our lives can get hectic, and we can forget the most important things. But I know as we keep Christ as the center of our homes, we can feel peace and happiness there.

How do you make time for Jesus in your house?

Life is hectic. I appreciate that. But you cannot let your life come to be too busy to recognize, communicate, and serve your Savior, Jesus. It starts with an attitude of acknowledgment. "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." Romans 1:21

Once you acknowledge Jesus as the giver of life and all its blessings, you will be more motivated to…

Give thanks all through the day. Amid the bustle of our days, it is a great idea to pause, take a deep breath, and thank Jesus that we can be busy. Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundan...

I know habits are patterns of behavior that are automatic responses or actions. This takes place after doing a specific routine for a duration of time until it becomes instinctive. I have had many habits during my life. 

By focusing on healthy and productive routines each day, I begin to create positive habits. Nourishing my body with healthy foods every morning is a healthy habit I maintain each day. Setting aside time each day for self-reflection and prayer has also become a positive habit in my life.

My character is made stronger by positive habits. These habits have become a part of me. I am a stronger and healthier person because of my healthy routines. I continue to create healthy behaviors and habits, leading to my positive transformation and growth. I become healthier as I practice my healthy routines.

Today, I honor my existing positive habits and continue them because they are a part of who I am. I create more positive behaviors and continue doing so until they ar...