Category: God’s Purpose for Your Life

Why You Are Enough

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Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 1 Peter 1:18-19 (ESV)

The conversation was light and friendly enough to pass the social meter test, but the pointed tone of her dialogue was lacking. It was clear that I didn’t measure up to her standards. The heart knows when it’s been embraced and this person’s distance is close enough to discern. In fact, this relationship has been a source of constant prayer for many years. I can’t put my finger on the problem, yet I know its there.

We will never know this side of heaven why people choose to see what they see in us, or rather why they don’t see what they should? Or rather what God sees.

The pain of subtle rejection is the enemy’s playground. He loves to slowly chip away at our hearts with a steady repetition of slight snubs, outright oppression, and unfair eliminations. Reminds me of the beautiful Woodpecker that faithfully drills his holes into our Bradford Pear trees outside our windows on a daily basis. He’s always at it, come rain or shine.

But knowing my worth in Christ has been a theme in a long season of healing. God has made Himself real to me by ushering in His presence when my heart is downcast. The first chapter of Ephesians is helping me see the truth of who I am in Christ and all the benefits I have as His child. I challenge you to study this chapter in depth, marking the truth statements that you can recall consistently.

Knowing the truth will help us refocus on the lavish blessings we have “in Christ.” In the past, rebuffs would cause me to focus on my flaws and shortcomings. God has made it ever so real to me that the rejection I feel is not about me, it’s all about what’s going on inside of those who come against me.

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So, here are some truths that God reminded me of recently:

  • The measure of your worth is not found in man’s opinion. Your worth is measured by God’s unending love.

Goodness … if only we could grasp the Father’s love for us, then we would never care about man’s opinion ever again. You are beyond valuable to your Creator. He gave His son to die on a cross so that you could live and breath every day. (John 3:16) Your worth is equal to His only child’s precious blood. That’s a BIG LOVE. (Romans 8:37-39) Recall all His benefits that are evidence of His great love.

  • Faithfulness always outlives the enemy’s lies.

Keep showing up and being who God created you to be. It doesn’t matter what you’ve been redeemed from or the mistakes you’ve made. (Romans 8:1) God sees your faithfulness and when His purposes are exalted in your life, no man will be able to hold you back.

Show up, be faithful, love people (even those who look at you with that brow of disdain) and share the Gospel. God is for you and He is always fighting for you. (Exodus 14:14, Romans 8:31) You were given specific gifts to be used for the Kingdom, don’t let man determine your faithfulness to the Great Commission.

  • Regardless of our messiness, Grace is our anchor.

Fight for grace in your heart toward others and let God handle the rest. We can’t change hearts, only God can do that, but we can control how our hearts respond. Nevertheless, be encouraged! God can do a work in your critic’s heart and they could one day become your biggest fan. Where Grace abounds, trust is found. Trust God and His redemption process.

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  • Big Love covers it all. Your insufficiency and their insufficiency. Love regardless. Love even if you are disrespected, ignored, or discouraged. Just love BIG.

From one messy girl to another, God has shown me how important love is … even if it’s from a distance or practiced in my prayers.

Not everyone will believe in you, like you, or even love you. But I share these words to encourage you to continue on in your calling. The enemy knows how to discourage you and just who to use in that process. Don’t let him mess with your future, your purpose in Christ is of Kingdom importance. Believe who you are in Christ. Think about His love for you and recall all He’s done for you in the past.

Remember, you have a Father in Heaven who is always in your corner … and that’s why YOU ARE ENOUGH!

Love,

Mel

Four Signs You Are Living A Life That Matters #MakeItCount Day 2

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past doesnt matter

You know the unsatisfying feeling in your gut that you were created for more?

What about that restless feeling? Or the gnawing sense of feeling trapped?

It’s like being stuck in the movie “Ground hog Day” right?

Day in and day out, you are just going through the motions. Nothing seems to change.

When I was a stay at home mom, the enemy had convinced me that I had no purpose in life besides being a mom. It wasn’t until my kids were becoming teenagers did I realize how very important that season was.

Oddly I felt as though I had wasted opportunities. I even listened to the lie that I would never be used of GOD because of my past.

The enemy doesn’t want you to think that GOD has something for you to do in this life.

Oh beloved…..please don’t  believe him.

Your past doesn’t matter to GOD….but your future does.

Satan maims our outlook by dragging us through our cluttered past.

Everyone is born with a purpose.

I think we miss it too often.

What are you good at?

What obvious talents do you have?

What are your passions?

Who do you think gave you these attributes to your personality?

GOD of course…..weaved straight into your DNA.

an originalGOD made you a one of a kind. No knock offs of you beloved….you are an original.

GOD will never draw you to do something HE has not already given you the ability to do.

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HE may desire you to develop those abilities, get more education or hone those talents…so that you can be more effective….but make no mistake….HE has something for you to do.

Today we talk about purpose as we continue in our series of the “Four signs of living a life that matters.” The second sign is….

  1. You live life with a purpose.

Every day that you climb out of bed….know that GOD has something for you to do.

HE not only gives us a purpose for our life…but HE gives you a specific purpose to accomplish for every day.

This life is not about pleasing our flesh…..when we please the flesh…eventually we are dissatisfied…there is no true, lasting happiness.

This life is about being light bearers in the image of GOD.

If you can lighten someone’s burden by giving a helping hand….that is your purpose for the day.

If you can wash peanut butter and jelly off of a precious, chubby faced toddler….that is your purpose for the day.

If you can serve, love, or encourage by dropping off a meal for someone who’s lost a loved one, or just send a note through the mail sharing hope….that is your purpose for that day. The scriptures tell us…..

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5

HE made us to share HIS love. But…those talents and attributes that are unique to you….HE wants you to use those gifts for HIS GLORY.

If you determine to find your purpose for each day…..everyday…something along the way happens.  As you seek to be the light for someone….you are learning to be sensitive to the leading of the HOLY SPIRIT.  Stay with me here……

As you respond to that urging of the SPIRIT….using your gifts in some simple way….HE starts leading you to new places. I promise you!

When you give more of yourself to GOD….HE takes delight, and sees your obedience.

The more obedient you are to HIM…the more HE will trust and use you.

Start where you are at…using what you have….for whoever GOD has put in your life for that day or season….and you will be amazed how GOD will bring you to the purpose you were created for.

And be mindful…there are different seasons for your purpose. Just because you may be limited or feel stagnant for a time….be faithful….just like the Winter, Spring, Fall and Summer brings change, growth and new life…. the same will be for the purpose you were created for.

Determine to live every day with a purpose….make a difference…be the light.

See you tomorrow sweet friends!

love mel

Four Signs You Are Living A Life That Matters #MakeItCount Day 1

Published on by melanieporter454 Comments

IMG_0620When your life is over….will how you lived have value?

I’m not talking about matters of melancholy……

                                     I’m talking about living a life that matters.

Time is painfully deceitful.

We think we have plenty of it to do what we want in life, or someday we will arrive at what is meant to be.

But the truth is we’re always putting things off….dreams, goals, education, good deeds…ministry.

I look back and kick myself for losing 10 years of life in what was a very dark period. I don’t know what is worse….wishing our lives away to dodge the bumps and hit the highlights…. or being stuck in the past?

Will it matter that I even walked the face of this earth?

Will GOD be pleased with me?

Or will HE be disappointed because I didn’t live up to the potential HE weaved into my DNA?

What about you?

Are you living with purpose?

Are you stuck living in the past?

Do you think you have plenty of time to get to those dreams in the future?

Does your life reflect value or fleshly causes?

Over the last 3 years my life has changed drastically….for the good…..but it wasn’t easy to face this simple truth……

              “You can’t change your life until you change your choices.”

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Miserable in a dead-end job traveling and working for a foreign company that did not value me, I prayed for a way out. GOD answered and brought me a new job working for Christian owners.

Battling health issues like blood sugar problems ….out of shape…poor sleep habits….I didn’t feel great on a regular basis. But I changed my habits…I lost weight and I can accomplish more now.

Being the book nerd I am, my dream to write words to impact people beyond the stage, was just a faraway dream. Then I stepped out in FAITH – believing the LORD was calling me to share hope and just be real….just be me.

No longer am I putting off my future.

As I reflect back…..I see years wasted, hope deferred by fear or lack of faith, and missed opportunities.

Does the landscape of your life look the same? Regrets….waste….shaky faith?

As long as we are still breathing…there is time to live this abundant life that JESUS sacrificed HIS life to give us.

So I lay my heart out for you…. to share what GOD has shown me…and just maybe it will help you.

I’ve decided to give you one sign a day for four days….just so you can let it soak in and pray about what GOD may be speaking to you.

HE is so sweet to show me things in my obsessive thinking….perhaps you can relate?

Four Signs you’re living a life that matters

1. You’re living in the present.

Living in the present means we’re not looking back at loss or the good ole days. We can’t see the future if we are always looking back. It’s not healthy and it’s not wise to long for days that have come and gone.

GOD has a new day waiting and it’s our responsibility to go forward.  HE clearly tells us in Jeremiah…

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11

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I love the old Hebrew King James Version of this verse – there is so much depth to specific words. “End” translates to reward, posterity, and a remnant.

Even though end may sound final, in GOD’S economy…it means we have blessing awaiting us. Even if we’ve blown it…we can try again and there is still hope in a remnant of blessing.

There is no end in GOD’S kingdom….if you are HIS child….you will live in HIS love infinitely.

And backing up to the word “thoughts”….it translates to imaginations, intentions, purpose and plans. This is so beautiful; I don’t want you to miss this….

                                    GOD is dreaming for you.

Isn’t that cool? HE’S thinking about what will be best in your life…what goals you can rock and what lives you can affect for good. This fact… just wrecks me.

Write this on your heart beloved…….GOD is dreaming for you.

 Living in the present means you are living in expectation of the future GOD has for you, and not looking back.

Don’t let the enemy rob you of your future by holding you hostage in the past.

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GOD has a new path….a new beginning and a new work HE wants to do in you.

So let it go…whatever is hanging over your head….let it go. Be present in what today has waiting for you.

“Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”  Isaiah 43:18-19

Let this permeate your heart today….HE wants to do a new thing in you!

See you tomorrow sweet friends.

love mel

When Life Turns Upside Down ~ An Honest View Of An Undone Life

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How can a girl ardently seek Jesus every day and still worry? How I’ve wrestled with this question so many times.

“Those who have faith, deep abiding faith in an artist who has all things under his control, have no need to rehash the past or predict the future.”                                                                               Michele Cushatt

Such wise insight from Michele’s new book, Undone.

Bottom line, if we don’t choose faith….we won’t have faith.

Michele’s story is probably similar to the rollercoaster story we all find ourselves riding, yet somewhere between the hurts, the heartaches, the losses, the failures and even the cancer….

Michele finds the beautiful artist, lovingly at work……one brushstroke at a time…..in a life that is undone.

“Faith isn’t rooted in the past or the future. It’s birthed in how we approach and handle today.”    Michele Cushatt

This resolute heart for Jesus has met him in the tender, swollen and irritated moments of weakness…and found….his presence is enough for each moment.

She reminds us that even life with the most imaginable hurts is in the here and now.

You see….when life becomes undone…..in just one phone call or one indiscretion or one bad decision…..we are forced to stop in the middle of the road.

We can catapult to the pits of worry and despair.…

Or we can breathe in the presence of the great artist and choose faith.

Jesus asked…..

“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” 

What has worry ever done for you? Nothing friend…nothing.

“Worry like cancer consumes life, eating away at a person from the inside out. It exaggerates the unknown and clouds the known until the worried person sees only the horror of what might be, rather than the beauty of what already is.”                                                                                                   Michele Cushatt

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Worry seeks to take what good there is in life and condemn it with the hurt, the pain, the cancer and the loss.

This beautiful memoir met me in a recent battle that had turned into a stronghold of worry. A blessing from God that I thought was secure in my life….all of a sudden became unsure because of greedy man.

Two days ago I hit my knees at 1:36 a.m. and …..I chose faith.

Life is going to come at us with both fists wielding. It may knock us down, but we can look up before we get up….and remember who is in control…trusting him to help us in each unknown moment.

This is a beautiful book, one that you must read. It is a book for the divorced, single parent, the perfectionist mother or wife, the blended or new foster family, the career professional, the struggling faith walker and yes even the cancer patient.

Michele relays the poignant details of her struggles refreshingly real….. yet agonizingly raw. She can take a simple bible story and retell it in a way that makes you forget you have heard it before.

Filled with gospel truth yet soaked in intimate honesty, I feel like I have known Michele for years.

I can’t wait to meet her face to face one day soon and put my arms around her neck, and give her a holy kiss. This brave woman gives me hope…and a new perspective.

Reading this book will be a wise investment to your spiritual bank…..it will greatly strengthen and prepare you for the undone moments of life.

I just want to share one more nugget of wisdom from Michele, plucking at my heart strings for this undone life I too am living….

“Only a marred life gives birth to the most beautiful redemption.”

It seems we don’t see the richness of the struggle and how we mess it up at times….until after we have experienced the mercy.

What a beautiful work the great artist can do when we trust him in the unexpected and unknown.

Oh thank you, thank you Jesus.

If you find yourself at a place in life that is undone…..take heart my friend….God’s presence is here and now….so choose faith. He promises to never leave you nor forsake you….even when life is undone.

It is an unspeakable honor to be a part of Michele’s launch team for this beautiful book. You will be able to find it in stores on March10th or go to the Undone website and preorder it now. You can also read a sample chapter and find out more about this awesome lady. 

“A Love Letter To A Prodigal Child”

Published on by melanieporter458 Comments

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Dear Prodigal Child,

I dreamed you came home today. Oh the joy in my heart as I hugged you in an emotional momma moment. You know those moments…the ones with the tears and the kisses…and the antidotes of all the dramatic, annoying things a momma can say in a moment of pure ecstasy.

Your eyes were dancing with exuberant bliss….a pureness I haven’t seen since you were an innocent child and full of so much happiness.

I know the past has been confusing and disappointing. The enemy has chosen you to sift…… and sift he has child.

I wish you truly understood, the numerous attempts to snuff you out is because he doesn’t want you to reach God’s purpose for your life. He comes to kill, steal and destroy…but by the grace of God, you’re still standing child.

And be encouraged, because God will restore what the locust has stolen from you.

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The world fooled you with its pleasures, leaving you bruised, unsatisfied and isolated.

No matter how long you have traveled the wrong way, you can always turn around.

Jesus can fill all the holes in your heart….even the ones you are running from.

You’ve been gone for too long child.

So many nights, prayer replaces sleep. I hate to admit, sometimes worry replaces peace. I know you belong to the Father, but the enemy taunts me with fear.

Thank goodness, the Father reminds me that He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and He loves you more than I ever will.  It’s so hard to wrap my mind around that because I would die for you child…. until I remember …..He actually gave his son to die for you. I could not give my child’s life for another.

Your earthly father continues to fatten the calf for the day when you return home. Oh the celebration we will have.

Momma will make all your favorites, the prime rib, the fried chicken, the mashed potatoes, the fried corn and the homemade macaroni and cheese.

I’ll even make the chocolate cake you love, along with some hot, chocolate chip cookies.  Remember how sweet those warm cookies taste with a glass of cold milk?

We’ll call your siblings, your cousins and have a big party and play games like we used to on family night. Dad will build a fire and let you have the recliner you love. I bet there will even be a good movie on the tv we can watch together, like we used to.

Your pup will be so glad to see you, he misses wrestling and playing fetch. Remember how excited he gets when you come through the door? Why at the sound of your voice, his little paws sound like he’s tap dancing on the wood floor.

Oh child, the thought of your arrival delights my heart to the point of rapture.

We’re waiting precious one and while we wait, we are praying and anticipating the victory you will have with Jesus.  And beloved, upon your arrival, you no longer have to look back.

The past is the past, because with Jesus….. His mercies are new every day.

Isn’t that cool?

Just think of the dreams in your heart?  It’s not too late child. All that potential He gave you is simply simmering beneath your soul. He wants to unleash the supernatural power of heaven to restore and replenish you.

He loves you so. Oh how He loves you…..it may be hard to fathom ….but He does….and He has two nail scared hands to prove it.

Come home child. We all miss you…we all long to sit and laugh with you. Your momma misses you so……but Jesus misses you most.

Love,

Momma

  If you have a loved one who has traveled far from home, may this love letter encourage you to never give up on your prodigal….so keep the faith…..and keep praying…..the Father has his eye on your prodigal.

Love to you all,

Melanie        

Honored to link up today with the precious Suzie Eller at #live free Thursday – if you are not familiar with Suzie’s writing – consider yourself now blessed to have been introduced. Her writing is anointed and cuts straight to my heart.  This post was partly inspired by my new pastor, Jeff Laborg.