Showing results for "The Change Up" in Christianity

The lioness rises from her slumber, a magnificent image of strength, passion, and beauty. Her mere presence commands the landscape, protects her young, and empowers the lion. In groups, lionesses become a creative and strategic force to be reckoned with, acting as one to change the world around them. You too are a lioness. In Lioness Arising, author and speaker Lisa Bevere offers the life and image of the lioness as a fierce and tender model for women.

But Christians are still called to live a life that glorifies God and blesses others. How do we do that when we’re stretched to capacity? Just Show Up answers that question with a liberating message: God doesn’t expect you to do everything. And He certainly doesn’t expect you to do it all overnight. Simply showing up is often the most important thing.

In John 10:10, Jesus tells us that, "The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." Do you ever wonder why life seems to reflect the first half of this verse more than the second? Why is it that Jesus came to give us abundant life, yet so many Christians are living lives full of hopelessness, fear, and depression? In Look Up and Live Free!, Alicia V. Sharpe addresses how our minds and thoughts are some of the main factors behind it all.

Going outside is not an option. It's an urgent mandate. Going outside often starts small - a desire for change, a crazy concept or a pesky idea that doesn't go away. It's the realization that a dream will stay just that if we fail to take action in our daily lives. It's getting off the bench and in the game. Outside often takes us to the uncomfortable - away from familiarity - towards people we normally wouldn't be associated with. It unfolds beyond temporal or practical thinking. In fact, going outside is best fueled by the haphazard idea to serve others at all costs.

When difficult or unwanted change enters our lives, it can cause fear, anxiety, and anger to bubble up from within. We want to quiet that simmering stress, but how do we do that, especially when we know our circumstances aren't going to calm down any time soon? By regularly meeting with God and exchanging our worries and fears for his assurances that he is using our difficult change for us, not against us.