The Unmasked Life Podcast

Excerpt: As God lays something on your heart, you won't be able to shake it. He'll keep bringing it to mind. It may be he wants you to help a neighbor, invite a friend to church, or something as big as starting a business. Whatever God is speaking to you, the more you respond to his “still small voice,” the louder and more assured you will be of what he is asking you to do. The amazing part of all this is that God doesn't demand of you and me. He simply invites us into a relationship with him. That invitational approach will follow you the rest of your life as he extends one invite after another to trust him.

Excerpt: Jesus showed us that we need to be in alignment with God's will and purpose in heaven and pray to that end here on earth. Allowing God to redirect you is allowing God's will to be done in your life as it is in heaven. Allow God to pull your heart into the auto show of heaven and align your heart with his heart for you.

Excerpt: As you hear God's Word, read God's Word, and study God's Word, you can meditate on God's Word in your mind. If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate. This is how you renew your mind and create a life you love. This process is what it means to live by faith that is not just in your head or heart, but a faith that is lived out through your daily habits. So we can say the life we now live is one completely by faith. We have to be careful not to try to live it in our own power but through the help of the Holy Spirit working in and through us.

Excerpt: To create a life that is going somewhere instead of nowhere, start by putting God first each and every day. Ask him what he has for you for the day. Allow him to direct each and every step. If we do this, we won't get to the end of our lives and find ourselves in a place we never thought we'd be.

Excerpt: We need Jesus, first of all, to be our source of strength. We need each other to help us grow and get through the tough times. What's most amazing is that you are more resilient than you think. When you're spiritually healthy, you can produce a life that brings life to those around you as you find your strength in Jesus.

Excerpt: We have to find a way to find our encouragement in God each and every day before we go about our day, or we will never have what we need to give out to others. One of the best ways to do that is to spend time with God before you get your day going. Scripture: David was greatly distressed; but [he] encouraged himself in the Lord his God. -1 Samuel 30:6

Excerpt: You can live a life for God and for others. That's not a life you “have” to live as though it were a burden. That is a life you “get” to live as a blessing to others. Your dream job, dream home, the opportunity of a lifetime is no longer about God just blessing you. Creating a life you love is about pursuing God's blessing on your life so that you might be a blessing to others. Pray today, “God use me so that I might be a blessing to others.” Scripture: 11 Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. 12 So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God. -2 Corinthians 9:11-12 NLT

Excerpt: A life spent living for myself is a wasted life. It's a waste of time and resources; it's a waste of love. God created us to live a life of abundance. The only way to find that abundance is to live a life that empties us of self and flows into other people. Scripture: The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. -John 10:10 NLT

Excerpt: Each of us has a purpose for our life. God created you specifically to be able to fulfill the plan and purpose he has for your life. God has not given up on the gift he placed in your hands. Don't give up on the gift, either.

Excerpt: Walking worthy of God's purpose for your life isn't about whether you have what it takes to live for God. Walking worthy of God's purpose is not about if you are enough, adequate, or even the best qualified. Walking worthy simply means you give your time, your energy, your health, and your energy to walking out God's purpose in your life. “Walk worthy” means you make God's purpose your goal, you take people with you, and you raise awareness for God's glory and for the benefit of others. Scripture: "...that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;" -Colossians 1:10 NKJV

Excerpt: No matter where you are, your purpose is not determined by a place. Your purpose is determined by your Creator. Lean into, love, and live out with passion who God created you to be and what God called you to do.

Excerpt: God has not given up on you. Don't give up on pursuing your purpose. In time, you'll find your rhythm. You'll find what works and what doesn't. You'll discover you have a whole lot of beautiful pieces of pottery of all shapes, sizes, colors, and kinds. Just remember: if you're not dead, God's not done with you.

Excerpt: God created you for a purpose that will be born out of your pain and problems and even your passions. God put you on this earth to be His solution for the problems people are facing. What pain are you feeling? What problem are you facing? What passion are you finding deep in your heart?

Excerpt: Before you lose heart and get discouraged by failure and difficulty, remember: Jesus made you. To put it in non-grammatical terms so you don't forget, I'll put it this way: Jesus don't make junk. Keep serving, working, writing, inventing, thinking, singing, producing, managing, building, mentoring, helping, teaching, dancing, and creating.

Excerpt: The treasure you unearth in understanding who God created you to be is worth far more than any sunken treasure hidden on the ocean floor. Live out who God created you to be and make your life a gift to the people around you.

Excerpt: The truth is that God has created us all completely different from each other. In the end, we are all just “special snowflakes.” While we may roll our eyes and laugh at that, there is truth behind that statement. Be the snowflake, just not an entitled one.

Excerpt: The key is living each day as if it were your last. Clarity comes when we focus on Jesus. If Jesus were to call you home to heaven a week from now or a month from now, how would that change how you live today?

Excerpt: Know your personality, and you'll know your place. Know you are beloved as you are, and you'll know you belong where you are.

Excerpt: Our responsibility is two-part: (1) to understand our God-given wiring and personality so that we can better understand other people's God-given wiring and personality, and (2) to use the healthy, mature, Spirit-filled personality God created in us to show his glory and bring good into the world.

Excerpt: Just as much as your eye color, height, and other physical features are created by God, your personality is a part of who God created you to be. You may struggle with accepting how God created you physically. That's for another study. The struggle you face of not liking your personality is simply a matter of understanding a few principles from Scripture and applying them to your life and relationships. Once you begin to see your personality as a strength and not a weakness, you'll learn to be free to impact your world for God's glory and others' good. Order the Finding Free Devotional. You can get a copy of the devotional here.

Discover the five simple steps to a more peaceful, happy, and content life by living free. In this six-week devotional study you will learn to understand your personality, discover your purpose, create a life you love, allow God to redirect you, and release your shame. Order the Finding Free Devotional here.

Excerpt: Each passing day is one step closer to finally and forever being home. As we run from this earthly home searching for more, we will never be fully or finally satisfied until we arrive in our eternal home. Find You Are Not Alone on Amazon: You Are Not Alone Find Books / Journals / Bible Studies to Grow your Faith and Change your Life at ManneyResources.com Watch the Devotionals on YouTube.

Excerpt: David could face his fear of death because he was certain that this was not the end but just the beginning of a life in eternity or as he puts it, “forever.”

Excerpt: When you need courage, God is standing with you! “In his unfailing love, my God will stand with me.” (Psalm 59:10)

Excerpt: All the good we read in Psalm 103 is forfeited when we refuse to forgive. I don't know about you, but that's a forfeit of forgiveness I can't afford to lose. Who do you need to forgive today as God forgives you?

Excerpt: I love second chances. I think we all do. Second chances are the thing we hold on to for hope. It's the flip side of a “what if” worry to “what if” wonder. “What if things did turn around, work out, and succeed?” Yes, that is what we're hoping for.

Excerpt: Jesus prayed, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12) Why should we forgive? Paul tells us to forgive others because God forgives us. (Philippians 4:32)

Excerpt: The right response to our sins is to confess and take responsibility. We confess to receive forgiveness from God. We confess to restore our relationship with others. The goal of confessing is responsibility and restoration.

Excerpt: Sometimes it feels like God is actively working against us. It's in these times, we seek God's rest. What's God's answer for you when you're exhausted? More work? Trying harder to do better? No.

Excerpt: Waiting is the most active action you and I can take in light of what we learn from David. How is God inviting you to wait today?

Excerpt: Life is tough, but life also affords amazing results for those who plant in one season to reap in the next. The reminder today is you are not alone when you win or lose. Win or lose God is with you.

Excerpt: Remember: Fear is just “False Expectations Appearing Real.” You have nothing to fear when you have God with you, for you, and in you.

Excerpt: Overwhelm: bury or drown beneath a huge mass. Have you ever been there? Are you there? Overwhelmed?

Excerpt: You may not have physical mountains to run to per se, but where do you turn for help when you need it? What do you have in your life that is a cue and reminder that God is your help? For David, it was a mountain.

Excerpt: No matter how much your heart is breaking, God's heart is breaking for your children no matter what age they may be.

Excerpt: Grief isn't just for the loss of a loved one. Grief is essential to process any loss, period.

Excerpt: Whatever pain you may feel, choose to accept the truth that God loves you. Overwhelm your pain with the power of the word of God. Overcome your pain with the peace found in the presence of God.

Excerpt: God's plan and purpose for us and our loved ones who put their trust in God is for us to live with him forever. As the pain of loss ebbs and flows in our heart, God will wipe away the tears from our eyes one day when we have the greatest and grandest family reunion.

Excerpt: God won't leave us. It's in the times of obscurity God did his greatest work in the lives of so many heroes of the faith. Just look at Hebrews 11 to see how God used seasons of obscurity to prepare people for seasons of opportunity, maturity, security, and prosperity. Are you in a season of darkness that God is using to prepare you for a season of deliverance?

Excerpt: There are times in our lives that we cry out to God and hear no answer. We wonder if it's that God can't hear us or that we can't hear God. It's the chicken or the egg. Which came first? Which is the problem?

Excerpt: When you are discouraged, remember that God goes before you. God is with you. God loves you.

Excerpt: David knew that the only steps worth taking were steps following God. Stepping in any other direction wouldn't take him where he needed to go.

Excerpt: You can't feel your way into obedience. You can't feel your way into action. God wants us to act our way into a feeling. That happens when we let God lead. What is God leading you to do?

Excerpt: When you have little to no defense, you can fight your battles by letting God fight your battles.

Excerpt: No matter what new legislation prevails or injustice goes unanswered, God is still in control. Our trust is in God, not the government.

Excerpt: Remember God has not left you or abandoned you. You may feel lonely, but you are never alone.

Excerpt: Hope is always an option. Hope is never a feeling and always a choice. What will you choose to believe today? Where will you put your hope? Find You Are Not Alone on Amazon: You Are Not Alone Find Books / Journals / Bible Studies to Grow your Faith and Change your Life at ManneyResources.com Watch the Devotionals on YouTube.

Excerpt: The times we want to throw in the towel, remember that a boxer in the fight no matter how tired they might be can't throw in the towel. Only the boxer's coach can make that call. Similarly, we have to choose to stay in the fight and not give up. It will be worth it one day. Find You Are Not Alone on Amazon: You Are Not Alone Find Books / Journals / Bible Studies to Grow your Faith and Change your Life at ManneyResources.com Watch the Devotionals on YouTube.

Excerpt: It could be that you gain perspective when you take a posture of worship instead of worry. It could be that you ask God to bring you clarity the next time you're sitting in church or hear a sermon preached. God has the last say in who wins. Trust in God's timing and don't despair. Find You Are Not Alone on Amazon: You Are Not Alone Find Books / Journals / Bible Studies to Grow your Faith and Change your Life at ManneyResources.com Watch the Devotionals on YouTube.

Excerpt: If you feel forgotten, let those emotions be the cue to remember, “I may feel forgotten, but I will not forget God is good.” Find You Are Not Alone on Amazon: You Are Not Alone Find Books / Journals / Bible Studies to Grow your Faith and Change your Life at ManneyResources.com Watch the Devotionals on YouTube.

Excerpt: No matter where you are, no matter where you go, no matter how far you run, you are never too lost to be found by God. Find You Are Not Alone on Amazon: You Are Not Alone Find Books / Journals / Bible Studies to Grow your Faith and Change your Life at ManneyResources.com Watch the Devotionals on YouTube.