The Game Has Been Won

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

– 1Corinthians 15:57

Are you competitive enough that you even bend the rules a bit at times?  My family has accused me more than once of changing the rules at the last minute so I can win the game.  They’re crazy!  I won fair and square.

When I was a little girl, I traveled on summer vacations with my grandparents, my mom’s folks, my Mama and Papa.  Papa was a fierce card player.  As soon as we’d arrive at the cabin in North Carolina, Papa would set up the card table and chairs and pass around the card game rules.  One of my favorite games was called, Shanghai Rummy.  I loved playing it and never lost interest because each round of the game, you were in search of different cards.  One round you needed “four of a kind” to win, then the next round you needed a “five card run” to win.  How you won changed every round.

Aren’t you glad God doesn’t change the rules for victory?  Our victory has already been won by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.  All we do is confess with our mouths and believe with our hearts, and that’s it, we claim victory over sin and death.  Amazing!

Our victory is secure from that day forward, no matter what we do in the game of life.  We can mess up big time and God still loves us and promises us victory through our faith in Jesus.  We’ve won victory on earth and scored eternal life in heaven not because of what we’ve done, but by what Jesus did for us.  It’s hard to grasp at times but really quite simple.

Grace wins!  Thanks be to God.  I love being on the winning team!  What about you?

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World!

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You Are....

So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are His child, God has made you also an heir. – Galatians 4:7

When I was a little girl, I loved playing Little House on the Prairie with my friend Kathy. I always wanted to be Mary because she was smart, pretty, and the oldest sister. But because my name was Laura, I was almost always cast as Laura.

Laura was always getting herself into trouble; falling in the mud, ripping her dress, disobeying the rules. Mary was just the opposite. Her hair was neat, her dress always pressed, and her grades consistently good. The mean rich girl, Nellie never plotted against Mary. It was Laura she teased and lied about. It was Laura, Nellie tried to ruin. (I still can’t stand Nellie.)

No matter what heartache or drama Laura faced, usually with tears streaming down her dirty face, her loving father Charles Ingalls, played by Michael Landon, would scoop her up in his arms, sweep her onto his lap, and gently calm her runaway emotions. Why? Because he was her loving father.

God calls you His child and longs to scoop you up in His loving arms just like Charles did with Laura. He wants to remind you that you are no longer a slave to your mistakes or held in bondage to the lies you’ve heard spoken or tell yourself. You are God’s heir, adopted into His family forever. You belong to God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. As God’s heir, your identity is sealed never to be changed. You are a daughter or son of the King. 

So walk like an heir. Hold your head up and thank God for your place in His palace. Stand firm when the enemy tries to steal your true identity and tells you you’re not worthy of such a powerful position. Let your Father in Heaven see you every day walking by faith and courage not fear and shame. 

The next time you introduce yourself to someone, be reminded that you are an heir to God. You are chosen and dearly loved. You’ve been casted in the greatest love story ever. You have a leading role. You are God’s child, heir to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, today and every day.

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World

Thank You for Being a Part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement

Quick to Listen

Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. – James 1:19

I am guilty of talking more than I listen.  

When my husband reads this confession, I’m sure he’ll let out a huge AMEN!  I have been interrupting that man for more than thirty years.  (We met in high school)

I recently read somewhere that on average, women speak 20,000 words a day. Men, on the other hand, utter only around 7,000.

That explains why my daughters will tell me about their day in detail, while my son will give me only a sentence or two. It also explains why my husband’s body language will signal “get to the point” when all I am processing out loud. (Sometimes he’ll just say it out loud, but he’s learning better).

Are you an active listener? 

• Do you lean in and patiently wait for your turn to speak? 

• Do you make eye contact, face the person, and ignore the distractions around you? 

Or, do you find yourself stealing glances at your phone, thinking about the rest of your day, and interrupting to steer the conversation towards the points you want to make?

Tough questions in our fast paced lives, but so important to think about, because listening grows love relationships. Love relationships are most important to God. The greatest command given to us is to love the Lord your God with all our hearts, minds and souls and to love others. 

Let’s actively show our love this week by listening on purpose, one person and one idea at a time, even if they’re just processing out loud.. 

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World

Thank You for Being a Part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement

Unstoppable Strength

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. 

– Ephesians 3:20-21

In my dream vacation, every day would be filled with relaxation and fun exploration. My husband, Dan would agree. The only problem is that we define these things differently. 

Relaxation for me means laying on the beach, drifting in and out of sleep while the

waves wash up on shore. Dan gets restless after ten minutes of this, and I'll wake up to find him either surfing or swimming laps in the ocean. My agenda for “fun exploration” is snorkeling with colorful fish, stand up paddle boarding, or leisurely biking to lunch. Dan is happy to join me, but I can tell that he's itching to go a little faster or farther. 

This past summer I let Dan plan our vacation. Big mistake. He chose mountain biking... and not just leisurely rides to lunch. I found myself on trails far beyond my strength and ability. Through it all, though,he encouraged me, saying that I was stronger and braver than I perceived myself to be, and that I could keep going when every muscle in my body was screaming to STOP.

God does the very same thing with us. He promises that His power alive and active in

us can do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine. It’s through His strength that we

can do all things (Philippians 4:13).

While gripping tight to the bike’s handlebars, I was reminded of the" ten finger

promise" I have taught so many children to say over the years. (I smiled in being reminded that all God’s children, no matter their age, need to be reminded of this truth at times.) 

Here's how it works: As you say the following sentence, count each word off with a different finger. 

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

High Ten you did it!

Remember that the next time you’re pushed beyond your limits, way out of your comfort zone. Throw your hands up and give God a High Ten. Stop striving in your own strength, and tap into a power that never gets exhausted or quits.

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World

Thank You for Being a Part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement

By Faith, You...

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. – Hebrews 12:1-2

In the past three years, cancer has stolen four incredible women from my Bible Study circle. One of the women, Jane had the gift of encouragement. She handwrote cards to spur me on and often stopped me after Bible Study to tell me how God used my stories or insight to move her heart closer to Jesus. Another one of the women, Alice had the gift of teaching. She edited my paragraphs with precision and taught me lessons about journalism as if she were a professor.

Why God numbered their days as He did, I will never fully understand. But what I do know is that I now have four women in heaven cheering me on. I call them my “great cloud of witnesses.” Just like the saints of old: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and David, I picture Arlene, Gloria, Alice and Jane as my cheerleaders in heavenly bleachers. Their legacy of faith and love lives on because they built their life’s story on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.

While reading about The Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11, I was shocked to discover that there are fourteen men’s names listed but only two women, Sarah and Rahab. 

Sarah was familiar with disappointment, having to wait until she was in her 90s to finally become a mother. And Rahab was familiar with guilt and shame, having been labeled “the prostitute” in Jericho. Looking closely into these women’s lives, we see blemished track records and broken hearts, but God still used them divinely for His good purposes.  

Isn’t that wonderful news? God chose to lift up two not-even-close-to-perfect women in the Bible and listed them as Women of Faith. God weaved their broken and messed up stories into His one and only Son’s lineage. Both Sarah and Rahab are distant grandmothers of Jesus, the Savior of the world. 

Doesn’t that give you hope for your life as well? No matter our past sins or our present situation, we can choose to hand Jesus the pen and ask Him to be the author of our faith story, restoring our hearts, and changing our lives. 

In the Greek, when Jesus is mentioned as the “author” of your faith it translates to mean that Jesus is the captain, chief leader, or prince. Will you let Him be the chief leader over your plans and purpose? When you do, others will tell of your great faith. You too will be a “great witness” for future generations.

The Bible tells us that every single person in the Hall of Faith was still living BY FAITH when they died. So were my sweet friends when they left this earth. That is what God is calling us to do today. 

What is your BY FAITH statement during this season of your life?

Here are a few examples to spur you on:

• By faith Alice give thanks no matter what, even during pain and suffering, because she knew this was God’s will for her life.
• By faith Jane trusted God’s Word and obeyed Jesus’ command to love others, even those who were hard to love.
• By faith Laura trusted God with her teenagers because she believed He loved them even more than her heart was capable of loving. 

Now it’s your turn. During this specific time in your life, what could be your personal BY FAITH statement? Ask God for guidance then fill in the blanks below. 

By faith (your name) ___________________, when ____________________________

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World

Thank You for Being a Part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement

Down to Sleep

“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace.” – Numbers 6:25-26

This is a blessing God instructed Moses to say over His people. It’s so much better than the first blessing I can recall from childhood. Did someone pray this prayer over you before you went to bed at night?

Now I lay me down to sleep.

I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

If I should die before I wake, 

I pray to God my soul to take. 

A friend of mine grew up praying this prayer at bedtime but she wouldn’t say “amen” at the end, because that way, she thought, God would still be listening to her even while she snoozed. She related prayer to being on the telephone with God. If she didn’t hang up, He would remain on the line and not answer her request to die. In the morning when her eyes popped open, she’d jump out of bed relieved that she was still alive and conclude the prayer with a grateful “Amen!”

When my kids were little, I refused to pray about their death before they slept. I wish I’d known Moses’ blessing back then. I think it’s a beautiful blessing we can pray over our children, our communities, and our country. This blessing has five hopes that God would:

1. Bless and keep them. 
2. Shine His face upon them.
3. Be gracious to them.
4. Turn His face toward them.
5. Give them peace.

When we pray this blessing, we’re asking God for His favor, protection, mercy, compassion, approval, and peace. When we seek God’s face, we’re really seeking His presence, His closeness, His guidance in our lives. 

Who comes to your mind that greatly needs this beautiful blessing?

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World

Thank You for Being a Part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement

News Flash

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. – 1Thessalonians 5:18

Reading the passage above, I’ll bet you had one of two reactions:

1. a). Sure, sounds simple.
2. b). Yeah, right. You don’t know my life.

If you thought “yeah, right,” would it make it any easier to heed the author’s advice if you knew that he had endured thirty-nine lashes five different times, been beaten by rods three times, pelted with stones, shipwrecked three times, stranded at sea, almost drowned, and was often on the run from dangerous bandits, enemies, and even friends? 

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 11:24-26 that he endured all these things. Later, to add insult to injury, he was bitten by a poisonous snake, imprisoned, and executed. Yet through it all, he was able to give thanks to God. 

God clearly communicated to Paul thousands of years ago that gratitude was His will for us, that it could powerfully change our lives. It seems that science is starting to prove Him right.  There’s been a recent surge of gratitude research, particularly by Dr. Robert Emmons out of UC Davis. 

Here’s a summary of his findings, pulled right from his website:

• In an experimental comparison, those who kept gratitude journals on a weekly basis exercised more regularly, reported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives as a whole, and were more optimistic about the upcoming week compared to those who recorded hassles or neutral life events (Emmons & McCullough, 2003).

• A related benefit was observed in the realm of personal goal attainment: Participants who kept gratitude lists were more likely to have made progress toward important personal goals (academic, interpersonal and health-based) over a two-month period compared to subjects in the other experimental conditions.

• A daily gratitude intervention (self-guided exercises) with young adults resulted in higher reported levels of the positive states of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness and energy compared to a focus on hassles or a downward social comparison (ways in which participants thought they were better off than others). 

• Participants in the daily gratitude condition were more likely to report having helped someone with a personal problem or having offered emotional support to another, relative to the hassles or social comparison condition.

• In a sample of adults with neuromuscular disease, a 21-day gratitude intervention resulted in greater amounts of high energy positive moods, a greater sense of feeling connected to others, more optimistic ratings of one’s life, and better sleep duration and sleep quality, relative to a control group.

• Children who practice grateful thinking have more positive attitudes toward school and their families (Froh, Sefick, & Emmons, 2008).

These are pretty powerful conclusions!  Do you realize that with your 3 O’Clock reminders, you are participating in a “gratitude intervention” every day?  Your daily thankfulness is unlocking all of these benefits.  If you haven’t started yet, then I urge you to try the first two things on Dr. Emmons’ list. 

Start recording what you’re doing and thankful for at 3pm every day. You can keep a journal, write it down on your phone’s notepad or even on a piece of scrap paper. You can also take a photo or text yourself. Consider linking up with a few friends and sharing your gratitude list.

I was recently looking through one of my old gratitude journals, when I realized God had used a tough time in my life to restore an important relationship. Looking back, I can now see how thanking God helped get me through it. 

So let’s follow God’s timeless Word and what science is proving to be extremely beneficial in our lives: Give Thanks Every Day No Matter What!

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World

Thank You for Being a Part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement

Jail Break

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? – Psalm 13:2

What negative thoughts have you stuck in a rut? What creeps into your mind on a daily basis, leaving you feeling helpless, hopeless, or hurt? These thoughts have too much power over us. It’s time to take action and fight back.

Gratitude releases us from the prison of negativity we put ourselves in. 

Let’s try it…Think of ten things you are thankful for right now. Count your blessings. List each one on a piece of paper or in your notes on your phone. Reread your list and thank God for each one. 

Done? Now answer these quick questions:

1. Do you feel differently now? How?
2. While counting your blessings, did you forget about your negative thoughts?
3. Do you agree with the quote below?

“Positive minds produce positive lives, but negative minds produce negative lives.” - Joyce Meyer

Proverbs 23:7 reminds us as well that, “For as she thinks in her heart, so is she.” Our thoughts create our character and our character creates our life. What kind of life do you want? 

Before the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Call from God, I was trapped in negative thought patterns every day. I never thought I’d change. I never imagined there was a way out. 

But God knew that if I simply stopped every day and gave Him thanks, I’d be released from that prison of negativity. Boy, am I thankful He came to my rescue and I’m not passing negativity down to the next generation. 

On Friday, I’ll share with you some scientific evidence that proves what God’s known all along. Gratitude is the pathway out of pain. It can get you unstuck and out of your rut. So remind yourself again what you’re thankful for. Awesome! You’re warring against negativity when you do.

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World

Thank You for Being a Part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement

Promises in the Storm

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. – Psalm 46:1-3

Driving in the car with my fourteen-year-old daughter we sang an Old Dominion song, “You can’t keep the ground from shaking, no matter how hard you try. You can’t keep the sunsets from fading…You’ve got love like there’s no such thing as a broken heart.” When the song ended, she turned to me and asked, “Why do you think so many natural disasters are happening in the world right now?”

Before I had a chance to answer, she listed what’s hit us recently: Hurricane Harvey just swept through Houston, and it’s predicted to take years to clean up all the mess. An 8.1 magnitude earthquake was felt from Mexico City to Guatemala City, the largest in a century for Mexico. Several nations in East Africa are on the brink of famine due to a severe drought. And Hurricane Irma has just devastated many Caribbean Islands, Cuba, and the Florida Keys.

I still couldn’t answer her question but I did remember some promises of God. 

• The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:8).
• God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).
• The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him (Nahum 1:7).
• Our help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth (Psalm 121:2).
• All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

C.S. Lewis wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” 

Ok God, we’re listening. Speak to us and remind us of your promises in the storms we face around the world. Comfort those who mourn. Guide the lost and helpless. Provide shelter for the homeless and rain down on dry land. We know the wind and waves obey Your voice. Bring peace and mend our broken land. We thank you for all that is good in our lives and in this world. And we believe your word that says:

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. – 2 Chronicles 7:14 

Thank you God that your promises are steadfast and secure in every storms, in every nation, every day. 

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World

Thank You for Being a Part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement

God Thinks You're the Greatest

In Jesus and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. – Ephesians 3:12

I heard a story of a little boy who placed his baseball hat on his head, grabbed his bat and ball, and headed out into the backyard alone. His mother could hear his kindergarten voice through the kitchen window saying, “I’m the greatest hitter in the world!” He threw the ball up, swung the bat, and missed. “Steeerike one.” He tried again, “steeerike two.” His mother secretly hoped he’d hit the next ball over the backyard fence. Unlikely for a little guy his size, but still she sent up a prayer. The last pitch went up… a big swing… then “Steeeeerike three! You’re out!” 

His mother’s head dropped, shoulders slumped, and she wrung her hands on the dishtowel. After a few seconds, the little boy smiled and yelled “I’m the greatest pitcher in the world!”

I love that story because it fills my heart with child-like hope. I’ve come to realize that hope is something we can’t live without. No matter our age or stage in life, we all need hope. Hope for today and hope for our future. 

When we’re young, we tell people we’re going to grow up and become firefighters, police officers, astronauts, ballerinas, or super heroes. The sky’s the limit. If you can dream it, you can become it. Then one day we grow up, and wonder where all that confidence went.

We may no longer have the confidence to change careers or leap across a stage.  None of us are the “greatest pitcher in the world,” but God still has great plans for our lives.  He calls us His beloved child (Gal. 3:26) and wants us to go to him confidently with our hopes and dreams, hurts and disappointments. 

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World

Thank You for Being a Part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Call Movement