Offering women a biblical solution for inner healing
by Aliene
Unhealthy relationships are sometimes hard to discern because they can be very deceptive. I know this because it happened to me. Your close connections matter because they impact your life.
In today’s podcast discover how to guard your heart so you can give yourself fully to your God given purpose.
Podcast: Play in new window
by Aliene
Have you heard the news?!? Sabbath is God’s gift to every woman to retreat, regroup and rebuild but often we don’t open this gift out of guilt. Sometimes God has to put the breaks on our hustle for us by creating interruptions! Can you relate- or is that just me?!?
In today’s podcast understand why pausing from life’s hustle is one of the most selfless choices you can make. – In our cra-cra busy world that clamors for your every minute, carve out time, put the break on cra-cra and bring balance to your life. #letsdothis
Podcast: Play in new window
by Aliene
Ready to JUMP?!
Today, we close our series Brave Heart with a benediction to inspire you to follow God with your whole heart and become the woman God created you to be!
Hey, brave heart, I love that you will jump into the unfamiliar. I love that you are bold. I love that you dare to do what I am asking you to do. I love your passion to pioneer (Isaiah 42:16).
So be free to become the beautiful you I have created (Ephesians 2:10).
Let go of what others say and find the freedom to walk in your authentic identity in Christ (Galatians 1:10). Let go of every other hand you are holding so you can grab tightly onto mine (Proverbs 29:25).
I am looking for someone whose heart is fully committed to me and not afraid to walk differently by following me completely. Walking outside the world-defined box takes you beyond what is temporary into living for eternal treasures (2 Corinthians 4:14–18).
My presence and my purpose for you do not promise the absence of adversity; rather, they provide the assurance that you will never face adversity alone (Hebrews 13:5). With me, you have a love that will never let you go (Romans 8:38–39).
You see, I need someone to be first (Isaiah 42:16). Yes, I am looking for the pioneering spirit inside you that says, I will not settle for what has always been.
I want to uncover what can be.
I need you to be the first in your family to walk a different way (1 Peter 1:18–19). I see the generations beyond you who can be blessed. Indeed, my child, I have created you for this time appointed under heaven to leave blessings in your wake as you live for me.
When I formed the world, I did not rest until I’d made a woman, because she was needed to complete my plan. Today I still work to release the God-given potential within women, because they are an important part in a great story written for my glory.
So don’t be afraid to jump out of the boat. I created you to be brave! You’ll leave ripples of eternal blessings when you walk in courage, trusting in me. Fear is something you learned. Love is what you are wired for, and you’ll walk in love when you follow me because I am love.
My dear daughter, if I am for you, who can be against you? (Romans 8:31). My perfect love can cast that fear right out of you (1 John 4:18). Nothing can separate you from my love—and my love is enough.
So walk in that security. If worry walks through the front door, push it back out by casting all your cares on me and trusting me with your whole heart (1 Peter 5:7). And if waves of adversity steal your focus, get your eyes right back on me (Matthew 14:30; Hebrews 12:1–2). Find a promise in my Word and cling to it with all your might (Mark 4:20).
Yes, brave heart, flex your faith muscle. Walk differently by living fully for Christ. You are bold, beautiful, and brave.
Blog written by Aliene Thompson. Aliene Thompson is the founder of Treasured Ministries and the Author of the Nourish Bible Study Series. © 2019 Treasured Ministries.
by Aliene
In Joshua’s old age, he gathered the Israelites together to say his goodbyes. Knowing his life was coming to a close, Joshua shared from his heart about the promises and faithfulness of God in order to inspire the children of Israel to guard their hearts and give them to God:
So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:14–15)
Joshua’s challenge to the Israelites is our challenge today.
To find abundant life we must give total commitment to the giver of abundant life. God will never make us choose him because real love always gives free will. God’s authentic love invites you to choose. Our choices will empower one way or another. Your free will is a precious treasure to guard so you can give it fully to God.
However, as Joshua warned the Israelites, choosing God is not always easy in a culture that contradicts God’s truth. Often attachments to the past or fear over the future govern our choices to cling to the world instead of surrendering to God.
A woman’s heart is the center of this battle.
The enemy seeks to take our heart captive to destructive sources that prevent us from becoming the person God designed us to be. God wants to release his potential within each of us so we can walk in our authentic identity and bring the love of Christ to others. However, Satan, the enemy of our soul, would love to shut down our heart by convincing us we are not valuable; that we do not matter—and that we cannot trust—God.
But remember this: Jesus laid his life down to fight for our heart, releasing us to live fearlessly for his glory as we look to him as our sole source for life. When our thoughts change, our choices will change. The battle is won through the eyes of faith as you renew your mind to God’s love for you and choose to follow God.
A brave heart walks by faith in God and his Word and not necessarily by what she sees. Oh, she still feels afraid when adversity arrives, but understands that the source of her courage and strength comes from looking at life through the lens of who God is and believing the voice of truth over the enemies’ lies taunting her to fear.
Her heart is determined to believe God. In doing so, she invites others to do the same.
Brave hearts believe God, experience the Promised Land, and lead others to do the same. Only by encountering Jesus and embracing his words through faith will we find true freedom. Open your heart to God’s Word, allow Jesus to capture your heart and become the woman God created you to be.
Nourish Scripture: Joshua 22–24
Blog written by Aliene Thompson. Aliene Thompson is the founder of Treasured Ministries and the Author of the Nourish Bible Study Series. © 2019 Treasured Ministries.
by Aliene
Sometimes the greatest change in the lives we love come when we let others go to make their own choices. Sometimes love means letting go. Sometimes giving ourselves and others the freedom to fail can be the greatest gift!
Love is not manipulation. Real love—authentic love—does not try to control. Manipulation, even if our motives are good, cannot bring about real change.
Inspiration, not manipulation, is the key. Inspiration speaks truth, prays, lives by example, encourages and empowers by letting others own their choices.
God calls us to encourage one another but realize we cannot change one another.
You and I have a will that chooses. The Holy Spirit will invite you to yield to him—but he will not force you to follow. Authentic love does not force or control but invites and gives freedom to make choices and experience the results from our choices.
Failures are not to be feared—they teach us. I am told that babies fall some 700 times before they learn how to walk. When they push themselves up again, they build the muscles in their arms, legs and core. As their muscles grow stronger, they gain the ability to walk. If they never fall, they will not build the strength to walk. Falling is essential to walking.
Grace allows us to be growth minded. If I fall, I can admit my mistake and reach out to Christ by asking for help, take his hand, make a U-turn and learn from my mistakes. I have the confidence God loves me despite my failings and will use every mistake to build me into a stronger servant for him. If I get off the path, God in his love for me will discipline me back on track.
Manipulation, even with the best of intentions, is not God’s way. Sometimes love means letting others go to make their own choices. When this involves loved ones, nothing could be harder.
The Lord promised a land flowing with milk and honey to all twelve tribes in the Israelite family. While the Promised Land was for all twelve tribes, only nine and a half tribes took hold of that promise and settled inside the land. The Reubenites, Gadites, and half of the tribe of Manasseh (the Transjordan tribes) asked Moses if they could settle just outside the borders of the Promised Land because they thought that land was “suitable” for their livestock (Numbers 32:1–33).
Although Moses pleaded with the two and a half tribes to reconsider their decision, he granted their request with the stipulation they fight beside their brothers until the Promised Land was secure. Now that the battles were over, and the allotments made, Joshua blessed those Transjordan tribes and sent them on their way.
Even when God calls us to speak the truth in love to individuals, we must then release them to make their own decisions. The Transjordan tribes wanted to be identified as God’s children, but could not fully commit to Promised Land living.
God will never force us to move forward and partake of our spiritual inheritance in Christ. He will never violate our free will. Jesus has opened the door for abundant life; it is our choice whether or not we will follow his voice (John 10:1–10). His love invites us to follow—it never forces.
God calls us to encourage one another, but realize we cannot change one another.
Part of love is letting go. You cannot manipulate anyone into the Promised Land. God has given all of us free will, and we cannot force anyone to live out his or her spiritual inheritance. But we can love them, speak truth, and encourage them live to follow Christ—especially by the way we live our lives.
Nourish Scripture: Joshua 23
Blog written by Aliene Thompson. Aliene Thompson is the founder of Treasured Ministries and the Author of the Nourish Bible Study Series. © 2019 Treasured Ministries.
by Aliene
by Millicent Phillips
Harmony happens when we realize two truths: our voice is valuable and different voices do not COMPETE with our sound they COMPLETE our sound. I was asked to speak on unity this past weekend at a church retreat and I asked Millicent Phillips to write a poem that paints this picture. What she wrote brought me to tears – and I wanted to share it with you.
©2018 Millicent Phillips
Please forgive all typos – spelling mistakes and other stuff 🙂 My notes are always in draft form
Without authenticity, there is no vulnerability. Without vulnerability, there is no intimacy. Without courage to be authentic and release your voice, the connections God created for you cannot happen.
Everything you are—your authentic self, your story, your imperfections, your fears, your dreams, your past—all God has created you to be is a beautiful pearl to treasure and share with those who value your whole heart.
Formed by adversity of sand and surf, true pearls are imperfect, yet they carry great value to those who understand, appreciate, and respect the journey of this jewel. When a pearl comes out of its shell to connect with other treasures, something special happens.
A pearl alone is a beautiful treasure, but when anchored with other treasures on a strong strand, the results are extraordinary. Similarly, when we are authentic with each other, share our voice and held together by God’s agape love, we find the true connection God created us for.
But great courage is required for this true connection. Experience has taught us to fear bringing our real selves and our resources to the table. Perhaps that deep desire for connection deceived our hearts and we made bad decisions to share our treasure with those who had no empathy or because of their own pain could not value our journey.
And so we falsely believed we were not enough. We stopped really living. We hid. We shut down. We made perfection our goal to shield rejection. We stayed on the surface and had many acquaintances but nothing deep. In our shame, we pulled others down to prop ourselves up. We swung between the two extremes of hiding or trying to hot-wire connection by giving our pearls away to those who trampled on them.
by Aliene
You were designed by God. When he designed you, he was not using a formula. He was flowing with the creativity of his divine nature. The Bible says we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). He didn’t overlook any detail. He even knows the number of hairs on your head (Luke 12:7). He made a masterpiece when he made you. You are “a kind of first fruit” among his creations (James 1:18).
You are a designer’s original.
God was not concerned with worldly standards when he made you. He did not use a mold or cookie cutter. He did not copy you from a magazine cover. He was not concerned with lining you up for perfection. He chose to create and design you so you could fulfill your purpose in life. He put those cracks in you so your life could bring him glory (2 Corinthians 4:7).
The Lord gave each of us gifts according to his plan for us (1 Corinthians 12:4–12). We are anointed to carry out different callings. When we find our purpose, we are to use our gifts to accomplish God’s plan for us instead of putting ourselves into someone else’s mold, trying to be someone we were not designed to be, desiring someone else’s gifts. Only then are we free to follow the Holy Spirit in fulfilling our calling.
Jeremiah 29:11 says, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
In this scripture, God says, “I know.” In other words, it is the Lord who knows the most marvelous plan for our lives. Even though God has designed us for his purpose and has plans to prosper us, I am afraid many of us do not know what those plans are because we have not allowed the Lord to define them for us.
The Israelites looked to Joshua to define their boundaries inside the Promised Land. Just as God defined the physical land boundaries for the Israelites, God defines the boundaries of our Promised Land: who we are, what gifts we have, and how we are to use those gifts. After Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land, he defined each tribe’s allotment in the Land (Joshua 11:23). All Israelites were God’s chosen people, but they lived in different tribes, with different borders.
True success is defined as knowing God’s will and doing it.
The psalmist says, “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance” (Psalm 16:6).
God gives us all different gifts and callings. The boundaries we have are perfect—anything more would be a burden. He has created us and knows what is best for us. Looking beyond your borders prevents you from cultivating your God-given gifts
The Holy Spirit will reveal God’s marvelous plan for our lives if we pursue Jesus.
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him—but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:9–10).
Stop allowing the world to set your standards for excellence, and look to Jesus for your boundaries. Value and believe in the divine creation that you are. God does not make mistakes. You are perfectly designed to do what he has called you to do.
True freedom comes when we follow Jesus to be the woman God created us to be.
Jesus is the only one who can bring you into your Promised Land, and Jesus is the only one who can show you your place there. As Christians, we are all God’s children, but we have different allotments and different boundaries—gifts and callings—Jesus gives us through the Holy Spirit. So, take the pen and put it into the Author’s hands by allowing his words to frame your soul. ONWARD!
Nourish Scripture: Joshua 13–21
Blog written by Aliene Thompson. Aliene Thompson is the founder of Treasured Ministries and the Author of the Nourish Bible Study Series. © 2019 Treasured Ministries.
by Aliene
Are you are overwhelmed because God has asked you to do something beyond your ability and doubt is starting to build. The next time you catch yourself speaking doubt, quickly choose to exchange those words for a prayer of faith in His unfailing Word.
Childlike faith says, “God, I trust you to answer my prayer in your appointed time by your ability according to your unfailing Word.”
Faith acts like a bridge between God’s promises and the fulfillment of those promises. Prayer is a part of that process. Our prayer life reflects what we believe about God and ourselves. If my prayer life is small what does this say about what I truly believe about God?
A religious mindset might lead you to think you must earn God’s answer or even do your own mountain moving, but faith says to stop striving and ask and believe!
Faith says to pray based on who God is not what you think you deserve. Let him sort out your motives, but never pull back in false humility and decide to pray small because the enemy has told you are unworthy to ask. Pray boldly and then leave the results to God.
Joshua was not reluctant to pray boldly. When Joshua fought the five kings of the Amorites, he prayed that the sun would stand still:
On the day the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel. He said, “Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies. (Joshua 10:12–13)
Now that was a bold prayer!
Back in biblical times, people believed the sun revolved around the earth. Joshua was asking God to make time stand still. Joshua’s prayer inspires me. The God we serve created the world in six days and invites me to ask him in prayer? For heaven sakes! Pray big and bold!
Joshua’s prayer was not a long one—or even well thought out. It was not a religious prayer, but it was a bold one—and God answered. Never let a Pharisee convince you that prayer has to be a complicated formula with hoops for you to jump through. Prayer is talking to God and he commands us to ask boldly! Because of God’s grace, we can expect God to move mountains for us in his own timing according to his will.
We are blessed to have the King of all creation listening and answering our prayers.
Jesus said, “Ask and you shall receive.”
We serve a big God who not only made the sun stand still but can move mountains in our lives. Child of God, pour your heart out to him and ask for the impossible. Brave heart, prayer keeps you dependent on God. When was the last time you poured your heart out to Him in your prayer time and asked for the impossible?
Jesus said, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’ Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs. So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (Luke 11:5–10)
Pray boldly and see God answer mightily. So today meditate on these three truths and build childlike faith by rekindling your prayer life.
In life, it’s only natural for our faith to become fragile. When this happens choose to PRAY! The enemy of your soul would love nothing more than for you to become so frustrated that your prayer life fades. Your prayers are powerful, brave heart. So keep on praying!
Nourish Scripture: Joshua 10–11
Blog written by Aliene Thompson. Aliene Thompson is the founder of Treasured Ministries and the Author of the Nourish Bible Study Series. © 2019 Treasured Ministries.
