Learn to let go of your guilt, fear, and regret by turning to God in this book by the bestselling author of Bad Girls of the Bible. The forgiven life. The grace-filled life. It begins with an embrace. Wherever you are spiritually, whatever you have been through emotionally, you are already enfolded in the arms of One who believes in you, supports you, treasures you. He is waiting for you to embrace him in return. To accept the gift he's offering you. To listen for the whispered words you've longed a lifetime to hear: You are loved. All is forgiven.
We all face stress and tension in our daily lives. We might even wonder why our God of abundant goodness doesn’t remove the everyday struggles we face. Jesus’ interactions with Martha and Mary in the Gospel provide us the key to understanding how God shows us his love by allowing tensions in our lives. As we follow the sisters’ transformative journeys through their own struggles, reflecting on what transpires between Scripture verses, we see their initial tension become the catalyst that drives both Mary and Martha to the feet of Jesus — the place where all discover peace. Grace in Tension explores the areas where stress arises in our own lives. Each chapter ends with a thought-provoking prayer to inspire us to go to God with our problems, followed by questions for reflection to help us see all the ways he’s working for our good. God doesn’t create any of it, but he does show up amid life’s difficulties, ready to lead us through. No matter how big or small our struggle, when we seek him out, he reveals what we need to do to resolve our tension, transforming it into grace. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Claire McGarry is the founder of MOSAIC of Faith, a ministry for mothers of infants to school-aged children to explore their faith through motherhood. She contributes regularly to CatholicMom.com and blogs at ShiftingMyPerspective.com. She is the author of Lenten devotional With Our Savior, and her work has appeared in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Keys for Kids, These Days, and Focus on the Family magazine. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children.
Learn to let go of your daily toil towards perfection and fall into the lasting freedom of God's grace. As a wife, new mother, business owner, and designer, Emily Ley reached a point when she suddenly realized she couldn't do it all. She needed to simplify her life, organize her days, and prioritize her priorities. She realized that she had been holding herself to a standard of perfection, when what God was really calling her to do was accept the welcoming embrace of his grace. In this four-session video-based study (DVD/video streaming sold separately), Emily—author of A Simplified Life—describes the journey that led to her pursuing a life that allowed her to breathe, laugh, and grow. Along the way, she'll take you and your group through strategies to simplify your lives. Because God so abundantly pours out grace on us, we can surely extend grace to ourselves! This message is for anyone who has been trying to do it all…only to feel like you're burning out. Learn to find joy, acceptance, and clarity in the midst of life's beautiful messes. Sessions include: Let Go of the Perfect Life Surrender Control Build True Community Live in God’s Grace Designed for use with the Grace, Not Perfection Video Study (sold separately).
Explore this stunning quality of God’s grace: It never ends! In this revision of a foundational work, John Piper reveals how grace is not only God’s undeserved gift to us in the past, but also God’s power to make good happen for us today, tomorrow, and forever. True life for the follower of Jesus really is a moment-by-moment trust that God is dependable and fulfills his promises. This is living by faith in future grace, which provides God's mercy, provision, and wisdom—everything we need—to accomplish his good plans for us. In Future Grace, chapter by chapter—one for each day of the month—Piper reveals how cherishing the promises of God helps break the power of persistent sin issues like anxiety, despondency, greed, lust, bitterness, impatience, pride, misplaced shame, and more. Ultimate joy, peace, and hope in life and death are found in a confident, continual awareness of the reality of future grace.
This collection of 408 meditations by America's foremost retreat master and preacher follows the Church's liturgical cycle, striking the spirit of each season.
Popular Bible teacher and host of the Gospel Truth broadcast, Andrew Wommack takes on one of the biggest controversies of the church, the freedom of God's grace verses the faith of the believer. Wommack reveals that God's power is not released from only grace or only faith. God's blessings come through a balance of both grace and...
Are you standing in the middle of opportunity and being overwhelmed of crazy when you really need calm? Not sure where to start to simplify and bring grace and peace to your home? A Standard of Grace is a gorgeous four-color, joy-inspiring guided journal designed to help you nurture your dreams, discover your hopes, and pay attention to those things you hold dearest to your heart. With quotes, journaling prompts, and Scripture, bestselling author of Grace, Not Perfection and A Simplified Life Emily Ley, encourages you to reach for the life of you want—all while holding to a standard of grace. Both gorgeous and useful, A Standard of Grace will make a lovely gift and keepsake as well as be a powerful tool for both embracing where you are while reaching for your goals and dreams. Through practical, easy-to-follow prompts for journaling and reflection, Scriptures, and inspiring imagery, you'll find an accessible, inspirational journal that to enjoy personally and to share with friends.
Have you ever wondered if you’re the only one who’s hurt, struggling, lonely, and confused? It’s not just you. Grace Valentine wants you to know one thing for sure: You’re not alone in your struggle. You’re not the only one feeling freaked out by the future. You’re not the only one dealing with crap. You’re not alone! Many women joke about having trust issues—laughing at their struggle because it feels common but secretly feeling there is no hope. Grace Valentine was one of them. In her twenties, she realized her trust issues were not humorous because, in reality, hers were trust issues with Jesus, her community, her family, and herself. And they were destroying her faith. Grace told herself she was simply being realistic, but the truth was, she was entangled with doubt and lies. In Grace’s second book, Is It Just Me?, she’ll walk you through how to handle rejection, stop joking about your issues, and find peace and healing for your scars by answering five deeply felt questions: Am I the only one who is tired, overwhelmed, doubting, and fearful? Am I the only one who feels hurt and lonely? Am I the only one who still is struggling to find my purpose? Am I the only one struggling to trust that God is there? Am I the only one confused about how to be an adult? Grace’s prayer is that as you journey with her through early adulthood, you’ll remember you have a Savior who loves you, flaws and all. By learning to trust in God’s design and His plans for your future, you’ll find you have everything you need to thrive in your twenties—and beyond.
Liz Curtis Higgs deflates the do-it-all, be-it-all myths that prevent women from enjoying their lives and finding spiritual fulfillment. With an eye for the humorous even in the most trying circumstances, Higgs encourages women with her message of hope and laughter.
Life Is Never Mainly About Love and Marriage. So Learn to Live and Date for More. Many of you grew up assuming that marriage would meet all of your needs and unlock God's purposes for you. But God has far more planned for you than your future marriage. Not Yet Married is not about waiting quietly in the corner of the world for God to bring you "the one," but about inspiring you to live and date for more now. If you follow Jesus, the search for a spouse is no longer a pursuit of the perfect person, but a pursuit of more of God. He will likely write a love story for you different than the one you would write for yourself, but that's because he loves you and knows how to write a better story. This book was written to help you find real hope, happiness, and purpose in your not-yet-married life.