LOL: in Praise

Memory/Meditation Verse: Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Don’t stay in the stronghold. Leave and return to the land of Judah.” ~ 1 Samuel 22:5 (HCSB)

Living Out Loud has been my focus this year. As I get deeper into this concept, God is getting louder. The louder He get, the more we hear Him, right? But hearing alone is not loud enough for our response to Him. We have to do something about it and that is what I am learning.

The same message keeps spreading before me. It has been in my pastor's sermons, in my quiet times, in my readings, on the radio and with a message this morning on TV.

Pastor Jentenzen Franklin is one of my favorite ministers to watch on TV. This morning he spoke of the chaos of our lives and he stated...

"Gratitude is the seed for more of God in your life."

I post it again on today's blog because it is something I have learned well in my relationship with Him. No matter how bad life could get for me, I have learned that turning to scripture has been my life line, my salvation from a mental, physical or spiritual breakdown.

Scripture has breathed life into my soul when I wanted to throw in the town. Scripture has made God my best friend, the one I run to first. Scripture has closed the wounds of my past and covered me with protection.

I have been strongly convicted that Scripture alone isn't the only recipe for a fulfilled life that Lives out Loud. You cannot Live Out Loud without praising God. Its not just the praising of what He has done in your life, which is necessary, but more so, it is the praising of who He is.

On this particular morning Jentenzen Franklin from the Free Will church in Georgia referenced our memory meditation verse above. A gem hidden in the Old Testament that spoke so loudly for Living Out Loud. David was running from his chaos-Saul. He was hiding in his chaos.

Isn't that so like us?  To run from the problem or the pain? To  hide or wallow in it? If I am honest here, it sometimes takes me a good 24 hrs to clear my heart and mind and respond appropriately to the stressor. And how should that response be? Look at our memory/meditation verse again...

Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Don’t stay in the stronghold. Leave and return to the land of Judah.” ~ 1 Samuel 22:5 (HCSB)

What did Gad tell David to do? To leave the hold that had him gripped and paralyzed from Living Out Loud. But not just to leave but to do what? Did you know that Judah means praise? Gad instructed David to leave the chaos, the pain and to instead praise.

Such strong implications for us today. Supporting implications from my previous post you can read here. Selflessly living and seeking God for who He is and not just for what He does for you. Selflessly seeking God because He is enough. Reacting to His greatness in gratitude and humility.

This week, I am focusing on Living Out Loud in praise. Praising Him in my quiet times, my prayers, and throughout my day for who He is. A constant praise that will draw Him closer to me. Words of praise no matter the situation. Yes, I will still pray for his covering on my children, healing for a sick friend, wisdom for a difficult situation but maybe worded differently...praising and thanking Him of His control and His outcome of the need.

Thank about it. He knows what is on our heart before we even pray the words, right?  If so, then instead of asking God to cover a wayward child far from a godly life, maybe you praise God in that He is in control of that child's life, teaching them life lessons for His greater plan and thanking Him for loving her and protecting her when you cannot.

Maybe you spend a day praying back praise verses to God about His glory and majesty. No request. from your end...just praise and reverence to Him. Imagine the depth of love that grows within your relationship with Him?

Selflessness and praise go hand in hand when striving to Live Out Loud your relationship with God. Here are some verses to help carry you through this week as leave your chaos and turn to praise instead. I skimmed through my bible for verses I have underlined in purple to signify God character. Here are a few to use this week as you praise Him for the fullness of who He is...

Sovereign Lord, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do?  ~Deut 3:24 (NIV)

Yahweh, the God of our ancestors, are You not the God who is in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand, and no one can stand against You. ~ 2 Chronicles 20:6 (HCSB)

The Lord is holy and kind. Our God is full of tender love. ~ Ps 116:5 (NIV)

Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. ~ Jeremiah 32:17 (NIV)

Christ is all, and is in all. ~ Col. 3: 11b (NIV)

God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords,  who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen. ~ 1 Tim 6: 15b-16 (NIV)

Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.  Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. ~ Heb. 7: 25-27 (NIV)

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” 

~ Rev 4:8b (NIV)

LOL: Selflessness

Memory/Meditation verses: "...asking the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, to give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you will know him better. I pray also that you will have greater understanding in your heart so you will know the hope to which he has called us and that you will know how rich and glorious are the blessings God has promised his holy people. And you will know that God's power is very great for us who believe. That power is the same as the great strength God used to raise Christ from the dead and put him at his right side in the heavenly world." Ephesians 1: 17-20 (NCV)


Live Out Loud...that has been my motto for this year. I have been hit with a lot of internal realizations of how silent my life has been for God. I am too embarrassed to identify those here but my heart just down right aches over it.

This year has been more defined by chaos than anything else. Oh, it could be worse and I am thankful that its not. But the reality was I had come to a point of throwing my hands up in the air and screaming "Seriously God?!?!"

We have all felt that way at times and we all get through it, right? I seriously don't know how people live without faith in God, our Creator. It is in my chaos that my heart yearns to reach out to just those people...people suffering with the same sufferings of my own life but without the Ultimate Healer. My soul desires to serve and minister to the chaotic lives of my fellow humans because there is a Peace that surpasses all understanding in all of it.

And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. ~ Phil 4:7 (HCSB)

Chaos will control my thoughts when I allow it. It deprives me of my spiritual, mental and physical well-being. This past week I allowed chaos's grip to do just that. Late one night when I couldn't sleep I was skimming through my favorite on-line book store and I came across this book an Internet friend Jenny Smith had recently wrote...

Could the timing had been more appropriate? Had I not just said the words on this book cover before turning on my computer? Yes. Parts of my life may be crumbling around me and stress levels may be higher than they have ever been and my God puts this book cover in front of my eyes and delivered it to my mailbox in a record two days! I read the title and that still quiet voice drew me to the words "I hear you, now hear Me."

I have made it to page seven and I have had to stop and ponder this sentence God laid on Jenny Smith's heart. She is referencing the crowd that was following Jesus in John 6...

"Instead of recognizing and embracing the fullness of the Provider they were stuck concentrating on the provisions"

Christ had performed a tremendous miracle by feeding the 5000 and how did the people respond? They followed Him for the miracle, not for who He was. They were a people desperate for a Savior, living chaotic lives and all they wanted was the miracle. When there wasn't more...they walked away.

Ouch. My heart grieves.

How many times have I prayed for the miracle in my chaos more concerned on the provision than the Provider? How many times have I asked God to go above and beyond in my life for my own desires, maybe not His?

Do I not see Him in the chaos? Am I not praising and worshiping Him for who He is anyway? Do I not thank Him for the blessing I have in spite of my chaos? Am I any different than these people who walk away from Jesus when I turn from scripture and allow the chaos to consume me more?

How many times must one walk down that road to know the calm in chaos is all about resting in Him and His Word? I KNOW THAT yet in my selfishness, all too often I choose to fret over the situation even when I reach for the Scripture.

The fullness of God in my life and my reaction to Him...appreciation, praise, love, thankfulness, more importantly.....SELFLESSNESS.

"Gratitude is the seed for more of God in your life" ~ Jentezen Franklin

Living out loud is selflessness. The chaos is all about me. The Peace that surpasses all understand is all about Him.

I love those God moments in my life. I want others to see that in their chaos. My heart yearns, my heart grieves, and my heart is humbled that God gives me this chaos to learn from and then to reach out to others through.

Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”  ~ John 6:27 (NKJV)

Father, Abba, my Holy and Sovereign God, I praise you for you and all that you are. Last week when I stood before that massive ocean, I sense your power and majesty. In my chaos I praise you for that same power and majesty of who you are. Use my chaos to draw me closer to you and to draw others to you. Lord, I am tired of being selfish...guide me to live selflessly for you.  I want to follow you for who you are, not just for what you do in my chaos. ~ Amen

Striving to Live Out Loud ~ Pamela

LOL: "But God...."

Memory/Meditation Verse: "...and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."~ Phil 4:7 (NKJV)

Living Out Loud (LOL)...in the chaos, in the noise, in the trials. That's what I write about today.

These past weeks have been a trial. I struggle with what to do with this trial. Do I stay? Do I leave? What if I lose control within it? My stress levels have been very high.

A recent blessing in my life is being surrounded by a pretty strong negative. Resistance is tearing down any confidence that attempts to rise above it. Integrity seems to be overshadowed by its opponent. I keep reminding myself that I am trusting God to carry me through this.

Some minutes have proven too hard to hold on to even that. Several nights of sleep have eluded me no matter how many times I prayed the situation into God's hands. I know better. I know that God always comes through so why would I be weak in the difficult times with my trusting of His control?

 On my birthday a few weeks ago I decided to read the correlating chapters of Psalms to match my birth month, day and year. It was a sweet quite time. Each morning that I found my anxiety hung over me as a dark cloud, I repeated this process. In these readings I would find that "peace that passes all understanding". Peace for a situation that reminds me that God IS in control and He will handle the thorn in my side.

His sweet words written and the timing of His penmanship for my situation now then would confirm over and over His peace. God's sweet peace that would wash over me and calm my spirit. Utterly amazing.

In everything there is a "but God..."

It reminds me of a theme I found as I studied Ephesians 2 for our community Bible study this past week. There are seven words that stuck out to me:

"You were..."

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins (vs 1)

"but God....because"

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us (vs 4)

"through faith..."

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift 
(vs 8)

Now how can I apply this to this to my anxiety and the peace I found in the Psalms I read?

I am not a perfect Christian, nor have I been perfect in every situation of life. There have been some mistakes (past tense) and I have accepted responsibility for those areas. I have been many things in life...many sins have touched my life. I am a stone in the path  that Jesus walked to Calvary.  It is in this knowing I am driven to Him more today.

That "peace that passes all understanding" comes in with the "but God..". This is were my faith and trust is fueled. Notice the "but God...." is followed with "because". Why does he intervene in our lives? Because He loves us with a compassion we do not fully comprehend and I am humbled. It is in His "because" I know that His plan will prevail in my anxiety and I accept it.

It is not through my own professional achievements that I alone will come out victorious in this situation. That has become clear. But I know God, I know His work in my life and though this obstacle seems big at the moment, I am trusting His grace and asking for His mercy in it.

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness..."
~Isa 61:10 (NKJV)

Saved by grace is not just limited to salvation...it can be found in any area of our life. And I am so thankful for it. But God...two of the strongest words in your faith walk.

Striving to Live Out Loud~Pamela 

 

LOL: Bucket List

Memory/Meditation Verses: In the same way, older women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not addicted to much wine. They are to teach what is good, so they may encourage the young women to love their husbands and to love their children, to be self-controlled, pure, homemakers, kind, and submissive to their husbands, so that God’s message will not be slandered. ~ Titus 2:3-5 (HCSB)

Living out Loud (LOL)....

I came across this familiar piece of scripture above this weekend and it really grab my soul. I have been reflecting on my daughters own life as she has graduated high school and how I as a mother failed her and helped her. I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me to reflect on my own life. Our study of Galatians 5 in our community Bible study addressed the offense of the cross and I haven't been able to release those words "the offense of the cross". I find that it drives me spiritually just as it has driven other Christians to reflect on their life, their living and breathing of each day.

The offense of the cross is so powerful and should drive each of us. Mel Gibson portrayed it so well in The Passion of Christ...the inhumanity and cruelty of an innocent God-man's journey to a cross for the failure of human kind to God. It so easy to look away due to the repulsiveness of it but instead we need to look at it strait on and allow it to change us and drive us closer to God. Man-kind wants to alter the value of the cross, our lives should instead model the worth of the cross.

The cross offends men and women, because it is contrary to their ideas of human worth." 

~ Charles Spurgeon

Does the offense of the cross, the injustice and inhumanity of an innocent God-man for our own selfish choices, draw you to change and to live life on purpose? Do you have written goals for your life? 

A Christian author in my current reading wrote she and her husband had written goals for their life when they became Christians and still lived to those goals. They have been very successful in this world and successful spiritually. Today, we have people in the spiritual and secular world talking about having a "bucket list". So I ask, do you have one?

The offense of the cross and my devotional reading yesterday of Titus 2 lands me here contemplating a "bucket list" of goals for my life. I couldn't help but cringe at my own failure towards these verses in Titus 2, those things that drew Jesus to that cross. My longing to change grew as I reflected on the implication of these verses. What a good "bucket list" for the Christian woman. Read it again...

³ In the same way, teach older women to be holy in their behavior, not speaking against others or enslaved to too much wine, but teaching what is good.⁴ Then they can teach the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,⁵ to be wise and pure, to be good workers at home, to be kind, and to yield to their husbands. Then no one will be able to criticize the teaching God gave us. (NCV)

The Christian woman's "Bucket List" would entail...

1. To love the Lord her God with all her heart, mind and soul and to love others more than herself (Matt 26:36-39)
2. To be godly in behavior (vs 3)
3. T be truthful and kind in speech (vs 3)
4. To be disciplined and self-controlled (vs 3)
5. To be a teacher and encourager of good things (vs 4)
6. To be devoted to her husband and honor him (vs 4)
7. To be a blessing to her children (vs 4)
8. To be discreet and wise in her actions (vs 5)
9. To be chase and pure inside and out (vs 5)
10. To be focused on her home (vs 5)
11.  To be a message of Christ (vs 5)

To be holy so that others are drawn to Jesus...to put others before yourself and be free of selfishness...to be a model wife and mother...to love God above all other things...driven by the offense of the cross.

What would you add to this  bucket list" for the Christian woman? How does the offense of the cross compel you?

Striving to Live Out Loud~Pamela

For my daughter Emma...

I don't know how to even start this letter to you Emma, I struggle to find the words that are qualified to speak my heart.  I know I could start with...

I blew it...

I really messed it up...

I tried and failed miserably...

You and I know how true those words are. But these words resound even louder from my heart...

I'm sorry...

I love you more than what these words can imply on this screen...

I will never stop believing in you...

As you end your journey of childhood and enter adulthood, I could also leave you thoughts from my broken but redeemed heart. Somewhere in my mess there is a message for you. Such as.....

Life is hard and it will get harder...you will only succeed by holding onto God... 

“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him,
    for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders. ”
~ Deut. 33:12

Mistakes come easy, forgiveness is hard but the freedom from forgiving is far easier to live with than the bitterness of unforgiveness. We hurt ourself more when we hurt others. Healing starts in forgiving yourself so you can forgive others...

All bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ. ~ Eph 4:32 (HCSB)

We were created for more and you will find that more when you give of yourself to others...

 Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity."~ Luke 6:38 (Message)

Scars from our past can be made beautiful but not by anything that we do but what God does in and through our life...

 I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
    out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
    and gave me a firm place to stand.

He put a new song in my mouth,
    a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. 
~ Ps. 40-1-3 (NIV)

Joy is not found in self-gratification but rather in self-denial. Putting the needs of others before your own will fill your life with contentment...

And most importantly...

Nothing you do is too great to be forgiven.

Your mother learned many of life's lessons the hard way and you seem to be falling into those footsteps. but what choose to give you andwhat I wish I would have done differently in my own life  would be this...

I wouldn't walk a day without first walking it with God and being in His Word.

Every decision in life will affect you-either for the good or the bad. Our choices make us who we are. As ugly as it can get, and it was at times for me, there is peace,there is joy and there is healing from brokenness and poor choices in life. My own unhappiness and bitterness has been replaced with these things: joy, peace and healing when I  searched for God and grew in my knowing and believing of Him. When all else was chaos around me, I could pull a piece of scripture to meditate on and move forward without anxiety, pain or fear.

I have learned you can't do life without God and succeed.

I can look back on my life with so many regrets but my biggest regret is that I did not live each day for God. I know some of my decision could not be a part of His plan for my life but they have shaped me for His ultimate plan. I don't want you to be sitting at a laptop at the age of 49 saying those same words. 

As your mother I have wanted so much more for you. I had a plan for your life and wanted the best for you and from you. You choose a different path than my plan and I have come to accept that this path is part of God's bigger and better plan for you. Everything up to this point has happened for a reason. Find that reason...find His purpose for your life!

Let the mess of my life be a message to you to consider what God wants from you in life. Allow Him to turn your own choices into a message that will blow this world away with who you really are...

"The King is enthralled by your beauty. Honor Him for He is your Lord." Ps 45: 11

I love you Emma and I can't wait to see what God is going to do in and through you! ~Mom

LOL: Actions Matter

Memory/Meditation Verse: Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. But as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct;  for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy. ~ 1 Peter 1:13-16 (HCSB)

I have a question for us today...

Why do our actions matter as long as we believe the right things?

Our community bible study has begun a journey of walking through the Letters to the Churches. Verse by verse we are dissecting Paul's writings and looking for spiritual application. It is here in Galations 2 that this question came to me.

Paul had just spent three years exploring his conversion, his faith, his beliefs. He came to an understanding of Calvary that went beyond his Jewish upbringing. His religion became a relationship. During those three years God became real to him and the magnificence of this new found faith could not be contained. As he met up with Peter and other apostles of the church he met up with a demon we all have encounter...hypocrisy.

Take a few minutes to read Galatians 2:11-21 here in the Message version 

Hypocrisy...a state of pretending to have moral or religious beliefs, principles, virtues. Pretending. Not real. False. Peter found this in Antioch among the religious leaders of his day. They had created a ladder of legalism trusting it to lead to God. A standing before God was being promoted on a basis of efforts to keep the law. Yet Paul knew first hand from his conversion that legalism had nothing to do with God's grace.

John Piper stated in a sermon: 

"God gave the law originally as a railroad track to guide Israel's obedience. The engine that was suppose to pull a person along the track was God's grace, the power of the Spirit. And the coupling between our car and the engines was faith, so that in the Old Testament, like the New Testament, salvation is by grace, though faith, along the tracks of obedience (or sanctification)."

Paul's relationship with God drove him to be confrontational with Peter in this situation and point him to the truth that the closer you think you get to God by your works, the further you actually drive Him away and the further you drive others away. 

Have you ever noticed how contagious hypocrisy can be? Even Barnabas, a man of compassion, was sucked into this false belief. A fear of not "fitting in" was evident and Paul knew it could be corrected. But for Paul, actions matter--actions that were driven by faith, reflecting Calvary's message. 

Living out loud may require a confrontational living because Calvary matters to your heart. When one Lives Out Loud they Act Out Loud. Dare we say as Paul did that actions without faith is dead and a hypocrisy to Calvary's message.

Actions matter. Calvary mattered. Faith matters. It's about God-knowing Him, believing Him, embracing Him, obeying Him and living that relationship out loud. Its about taking your stand beneath Calvary's cross, crucifying your selfish reliance on anything other than God himself. From the moment you awake in the morning until the moment your eyes close in sleep at night, you look to Christ for protection, motivation, courage, and direction.

So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that's coming when Jesus arrives. Don't lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn't know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God's life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, "I am holy; you be holy."

~ 1 Peter 1:13-16 (Message)

Holy and Sovereign God, you are worthy of only our best. Hypocrisy nulls your grace and tarnishes your truth. Enable us to identify any hypocrisy in our lives, to confront it, remove it and live loudly your truths. You matter therefore our actions matter. Guide us to live moment-by-moment out loud for you.

Striving to Live Out Loud~ Pamela

LOL: Fill My Cup Lord

 Memory/Meditation Verse: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. ~ Gal 5:22-23 (HCSB)

I had one of those disheartening, just slap me in the face kind of moments with one of my daughters a couple of days ago. I was walking out of the restaurant with our carry out. When I opened the door to the car where my daughter was waiting she stated "You look mad. What did they do?" I wasn't mad and told her so. She responded with "You always look mad."

My heart sunk. I wanted to scream "NO! No I don't!! You don't see a hard face, you see the glow of the Holy Spirit in my life! Why can't you see that?!?!?!?" So the whole ride home I soaked that statement in..."You always look mad". It was very hard not to have a burrowed brow and huge frown on my face at that point.

Is that what others see? Do I carry the stress of my life in my facial reflections? Is the pain and frustrations that have made me who I am today mirrored when I think no one else is looking?

My heart broke. My spirit was humbled. That's not what I want others to see. I want them to see Jesus. I want them to see how I could mess it up and He could clean it up. I want the errors I made to be seen in His redemptive control. I want the sins and rejections of my life seen for what they are, a growing of a grace-filled Jesus girl. 

The unforgiveness has been replaced with love. The rejection replaced with compassion. The ugliness replaced with humility. The loneliness replaced with dependence on the One with the bigger plan for my life.  If that is so, why does my face not radiate God's presence?

The next day my girls found an old photo album with my spring break pictures of when I was in nursing school. I wasn't only skinny in those pictures but I appeared relaxed and my smile was vibrant. That night I looked hard in the mirror and tried to capture that smile again...but I couldn't.

 God has brought me so far and I cherish each growing pain. I really do. I wouldn't want to be back in that spring break place. I didn't know Him then like I do now. I have found a better joy. But I am still taken back to the thought of what I reflect to others. I determined in my heart and mind that I need a facelift... a Galatians 2:22-23 kind of facelift.

 I need a facelift in the worse kind of way. One that will open up and allow my inner presence to come forth. One that doesn't allow the hardness of life to camouflage the joy He has given me. In this imperfect world with my imperfections, I plan to take a daily does of the fruits of the spirit this week. Here are the verses I plan to meditate on in an attempt to create a new presence of my being, a filling of my cup, my soul:

A Mark 12 kind of facelift....
Monday: "...'The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” ~ Mark 12:29-31 (HCSB)

A Colossians 3 kind of facelift...
Tuesday: "Therefore, God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive."~ Col. 3:12 (HCSB)

A 1 Timothy 6 kind of facelift...
Wednesday: "...pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight for the faith; take hold of eternal life that you were called to and have made a good confession about in the presence of many witnesses. ~ 1 Tim. 6:11-12 (HCSB) 

A Titus 1 kind of facelift...
Thursday: ^"Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it" ~ Titus 1:7-9 (NIV)

An Ephesians 5 kind of facelift...
Friday: "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light— for the fruit of the light results in all goodness, righteousness, and truth— discerning what is pleasing to the Lord". ~ Eph 5:8-10 (HCSB)
 

 My holy and Sovereign God, I want to be a woman that reflects your Son. I desire to reflect Your grace and goodness as the gift that transforms and beautifies. Give me a heart that is affectionate for others, exuberance about displaying your truths. I pray the serenity I have discovered in you would be reflected in my living. Help me to develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. I want to radiate Your presence in my life, not my mistakes. Fill my cup with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Radiate through me Lord.

Striving to Live Out Loud~Pamela