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What Root Are You Tripping Over?

06.04.2019 by Tracy Stella //

The FACETS of Faith team is excited to share what God placed on our hearts for this month’s topic. Why? Because we believe God’s kids are going to get some freedom! That’s our prayer: freedom and fullness of life for all who read and engage with what God inspired us to write. Thanks for stopping by. Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule. Snuggle up. Settle in. And let’s see what He has to say to us all. He’s given Kim, Jen, and our guest writer a voice in this as well. Can’t wait to see what God has to say through them too!

Life is full of moments, some of them defining. Choosing to forgive is one of them. I know forgiveness is complicated and getting to that place isn’t always easy. Forgiveness has its roots in love. Our lives are better for it.  When we invest ourselves in the conscious choice to choose love, we win.

We can’t choose love if we don’t know who He is. Love is sacrificial like Jesus.

“If you have experienced the power of love and forgiveness in your life, you’ll probably give away a lot of both. …. We can reflect the angst we felt or the grace we’ve received.”1

What root are you tripping over? (Tracy Stella)At this point in my life, I’ve experienced God’s love in profound and deep ways. That wasn’t always the case. I didn’t always know His love for me.  It was always there waiting. It just took me awhile to be ready to receive it.  I pray you have encountered this love, a well so deep, a knowing so intimate and personal, and safe. Jesus, He’s safe.  (I feel like someone needs to know that right here, right now.)  If that’s you, you need to know Jesus is SAFE.  I get that.  And He is!

I’ve experienced deep violations in my life. Maybe you have too.  The ones they write trauma recovery books about.  If that’s you, I pray you open your heart to the safety who is Jesus. Let Him into your life. I promise, sweet one, He is safe, true, loving and kind.  In fact, I just read this today. Perhaps, it’s for you.

The LORD is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.─Psalm 145:9

Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous─how well I know it.─Psalm 139:14

God made you. He thinks you’re marvelous! And He has compassion for you.  He’s not looking at your situation through blind eyes. He knows you. He knows what hurts you. He knows what He has for you, and it’s so much greater than unforgiveness.  He knows it will be hard, but He’s not asking you to do anything He wasn’t willing to do Himself.

Jesus forgave many who betrayed Him, belittled Him, and took advantage of Him when all He wanted to do was make this world and the people in it better, good.

Yes, He’s God. But He was also fully man. I’m grateful for that truth, because it helps me to know He understands.  He understands, sweet one!

Forgiveness Frees Us from Tripping Over Pride’s Root

Unforgiveness has its roots in pride.  How’s that, you ask?

If I choose not to forgive, it’s as if I’m saying my problem is bigger than my God. It’s as if I’m saying my thoughts are higher than His thoughts.  It’s as if I’m saying I know more about what’s good for me than God does.  The problem, the violation wasn’t good, but where God desires to bring us is good.

He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.─Psalm 18:19 NIV

Forgiveness is the spacious place God desires to bring us to.  It’s a peaceful place, one where we can breathe freely. Fully.

Does God have great grace for us on our journey toward forgiveness? You bet He does!  And when we need to travel that path again, He’ll walk with us. Sometimes, it’s not as simple as merely saying, “I forgive you.”  But it’s a good place to start.

Forgiveness is like a decadent wedding cake. There are many layers to it. God gets that, because He gets us. All He’s asking for us to do is bite into it. His promise is that we’ll taste His goodness when we do.

The thing that happened to us isn’t good, but God is.  His desire is to set captives free.  Forgiveness is a giant key that opens the door to our freedom.

Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.─Proverbs 16:18 NASB

Pride trips us up with a knotted root of unforgiveness.

On the other hand, forgiveness elevates us.

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive any complaint you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.─Colossians 3:12-13 BSB

If you have accepted Christ into your heart, you ARE one of His elect, holy and beloved. Stop right there. You are holy. You are beloved.

From that position, clothe yourself with compassion and humility.

Forgive ANY complaint you have against one another.

Any.

(I know. I know. Sometimes, that’s hard. Don’t do it in your own strength. Do it in HIS.)

I’m forever taking the pressure off myself. There’s just too much in the world. A lot could weigh us down.  We can’t get to where God is taking us if we let that happen. Choose to seek Him as you take a bite out of unforgiveness.  Here’s a prayer to start:

Lord, You know my heart and You know every act committed against me. You also know the things I have done to hurt others. Thank You for Your gift of forgiveness to me, so that I don’t need to wear the weight of that burden. Help me, instead, Lord to put on your righteousness and holiness. Clothe me in Your love, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. I can forgive if you help me to get there, Lord. Please bring me to that spacious place. Help me to bask in Your love and peace as I do so, Lord. In Jesus’ precious name, amen!

Forgiveness Frees Us to Receive God’s Abundance

When God knows He can trust us to forgive, He can trust us with more.

To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.─Matthew 13:12 NLT

Joseph comes to mind. He was deeply betrayed by his brothers. He was put in a well and left for dead, all because they were jealous and annoyed with their baby brother who had a God-given dream and needed some growing up to do as to how he shared it.  He suffered and was estranged from his family, even his brother Ben (because I like to imagine Joseph called him that versus Benjamin).  I drop syllables on people’s names whom I’m close to.  Jennifer becomes Jen. Samuel becomes Sam. So in my mind, Benjamin is Ben to Joseph.

Joseph also lost time with his father who deeply loved him.  He didn’t get to make the memories with his father that his other siblings did.

We’d understand if Joseph let a bitter root of unforgiveness take over like vines that cling to a brick façade.  The vines eventually tear down the structure by weakening it.

Have you ever seen a home unattended to? After awhile things deteriorate. Go back decades later and its almost unrecognizable. Overgrown and in disrepair, its former beauty and purpose hidden.

That’s what can happen to people once happy, who get wounded by other broken people when we choose not to live in the freedom of forgiveness.

Talk about clothing himself in kindness, Joseph did that!

He could have turned his brothers away when they needed food. Instead he used wisdom to test their heart. And he blessed them greatly.

Notice what I wrote above. Joseph tested their motives. Sometimes, people still aren’t safe for us. Forgive them and move on.

But sometimes it’s safe to let people stay (or to let them back in). Pray on this. Ask for God’s wisdom and discernment.  And if you’ve never read the story of Joseph, I encourage you to do so. If you have, maybe God is calling you to read it again. This time through the lens of forgiveness.

Joseph rose above circumstances and was given a position of honor and authority. Nothing could thwart God’s plan for Joseph’s life.  To fulfill His plan for Joseph, it did require his obedience.

Remember, when God knows He can trust us with a little, He’ll give us more.  I’m not saying it will be easy, but start with small acts toward forgiveness.

Practically, what does that look like?

First, ask God to fill you with His love. It’s only out of His overflow that we can sacrificially love. Not out of a place of lack, but of much love.

Second, you could go back up and pray the prayer if you didn’t earlier.

Third, you could ask God for His wisdom and discernment as to whom is safe for you and who is not.

Fourth, pray for the person, especially if he or she is still living. No one is beyond God’s reach. No one.

Fifth, remember, just because we’re supposed to forgive those who trespass against us doesn’t mean we give them full access to tramp upon our hearts. God will show you who and how much access to give.

Lastly, ask God if there is a tangible way you can demonstrate forgiveness.

Maybe there is an act of “releasing” that you can do, ceremonially, that releases that person or circumstance to God.  Like planting a flower (a bulb) that symbolizes forgiveness coming up from the darkness.  In the future, whenever you see the flower come up each spring, you’ll be reminded of the fresh renewal forgiveness brings.

Maybe it’s placing lights along your sidewalk as a reminder that God’s path is well lit and He’s leading you on a journey toward forgiveness. Every time you see the light, be reminded of Christ’s light and love for you as He leads you on the narrow path. But the path of forgiveness leads to goodness, peace, and truth. The one that leads you to Him.

For me I have another bite of wedding cake God is calling me to take. It’s an easier bite than those I took earlier. The lump in my throat from the pain of the situation made the first bites of forgiveness hard to swallow. That’s how it often is, but if we choose to chew the pain and let Christ help us, we’ll live vibrantly again. Fully. Wholly. Completely.

I don’t want to live a half-eaten life. I don’t only want the leftovers. I want a full plate of God’s goodness.  So I’ll chew, even when it’s hard.

The person I’m feeling called to bless didn’t directly hurt me, but a shared circumstance did (kind of – it’s complicated – it’s life, after all).   I’ve felt led to pray for this person, so I have. And now I am feeling led to bless the person, which I will do.  I’ve been praying about how God would want me to bless this person. He’s given me a few ideas, and we’re still working out the details.

He just kind of dropped the idea in my brain yesterday while I was out on a motorcycle ride.  (Because that’s one of the spacious places He brings me to where I find peace. The open road, the more winding the better.)

I cried a little underneath my helmet, not because I’m mad or upset anymore. I cried at God’s goodness. I knew I would never have been able to easily accept His idea to bless a person involved with a circumstance that had wounded me deeply if it hadn’t been for Him. They were kind of celebratory tears of sorts.  The deep pain had turned to a “small scar”.

What happened didn’t go away, but the excruciating pain had. In its place was God’s love and peace and the ability to bless.

If that’s not a spacious place, I don’t know what is.

Forgiveness Frees Us to Take Up Great Causes

There’s a song by Francesca Battistelli that keeps going through my brain. The lyric is this:

“It’s your life–what you gonna do? The world is watching you
Every day the choices you make
Say what you are and who your heart beats for
It’s an open door”2

Life is full of moments, some of them defining. Choosing to forgive is one of them. I know forgiveness is complicated and getting to that place isn’t always easy. Forgiveness has its roots in love. Our lives are better for it.  When we invest ourselves in the conscious choice to choose love, we win.

I want to win. Don’t you?

One of the ways we win is when we take our deepest tragedies and turn them into triumphs.

I think of the mom who lost her son in a terrible tragedy. MADD was started because a mom chose to do something worthy and worthwhile with her pain. She chose to invest in forgiveness and used that horrific event as a platform to make the world a better place.

I want that for us. I want each of us to have the courage to take some of the darkest moments of our lives and turn them into something beautiful with Christ’s help. That is my prayer for all who are reading this.

How that looks for you will be dramatically different than how it looks for me. We don’t need any copycats. We are all originals, made in God’s image, but with a specific plan and purpose.  I pray God shows you what that is and how to take the dark moments of your life and turn them into something beautiful.  Only He has the power to do that, to transform our thinking (and our theology). Forgive. Love. Live. Go on vacation from the enemy’s tricks and choose God’s way.

If you’ve ever been to Hawaii, you know how breathtaking it is. I’ve visited the island of Kawaii a few times. It’s nothing short of paradise. (And it always reminds me of Fantasy Island since the opening scene was shot there.)  You may already know this, but for those of you who don’t, the islands were formed from volcanic eruptions.  From something cataclysmic, beauty emerged.  When the lava cooled, it left something to build upon.

“Somewhere along the way, a lot of us misplaced our childlike imaginations and stopped believing we could either get around the lava or build something beautiful on top of it when it cooled. We began to question what was possible and what we’re actually capable of. We ran and fell, or tried and failed, or risked and lost.  … Don’t let what’s happened in your past stop you from moving forward with your future. Give it some time. We can find our way around the lava where it flowed and build something beautiful on it when it cools. … We don’t need to run from the lava anymore, but instead imagine what it might become in time.”1

Isn’t that beautiful?  I’ve been very touched by the book Love Lives Here.  If you’re looking for your next book, this is a good one!

There was a dream I had. It got scorched. I could relate to the lava metaphor. It was like I had something – a dream God had given me – and it was burned to the ground. All that was left were ashes and a broken heart.  The lava flowed and consumed it. It oozed and clung, ember red, everything up in flames. Then fear that hadn’t been there before set in. Fear interfered like an intruder. The scars limited my mobility. My imagination wasn’t able to stretch as far as it once had.

But rather than letting the lava scare me, I feel God calling me to rebuild upon the ashes. To let any little embers remaining spark something good and beautiful, something purposeful.

God is calling me to imagine again.

I wrote in my journal, “Lord, if I imagined, what? What then?”

As I did so, tears quickly slipped down my face. They poured. Not anything like lava. Like a rush.

“What then? I do not know. I don’t know how. I don’t know when. I don’t know even if I can. What, Lord? What then? What do You have to say about this? What does the still, small voice say?”

And do you know what? He “spoke”. He cast vision afresh.  He knows I’m afraid. I don’t want to get hurt again. I wasn’t afraid the first time, but sometimes the second time around makes our knees knock a bit.  (At least mine.)

It takes more courage to do something twice.

We know more. We know the cost.  We’re definitely counting it.

Without forgiveness, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. God helped me to forgive. He helped me to heal. And He’s helping me to rise up out of the ashes. There’s still some ash, but I see hibiscus rising up out of the ground. The colors are bright and their smell is sweet.

We’re back to where we started.

Life is full of moments, some of them defining. Choosing to forgive is one of them. I know forgiveness is complicated and getting to that place isn’t always easy. Forgiveness has its roots in love. Our lives are better for it.  When we invest ourselves in the conscious choice to choose love, we win.

Let’s pick up our feet and step over the tangled root of unforgiveness. God’s got places He wants to take us to.

Join the conversation here or on our Facebook page.

Signature Image: Tracy Stella

1 Goff, Maria. Love Lives Here: Finding What You Need In A World Telling You What You Want. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2017.

2 Battistelli, Francesca. “It’s Your Life,” track #4 on  My Paper Heart. Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group, CAPITOL CHRISTIAN MUSIC GROUP, 2008.

Categories // Faith, Forgiveness, Freedom, Tracy Stella's Perspective Tags // abundance, Betrayal, Calling, causes, choices, Colossians 3:12-13, Courage, Dream, forgiveness, Humility, It's Your Life, Joseph, Life Moments, Love, Love Lives Here, prayer, pride, Proverbs 16:18, Psalm 145:9, Psalm 18:19, tragedy, triumph

What Are You Desperate for God to Do?

03.06.2018 by Tracy Stella //

Welcome to Facets of Faith. Whether it’s your first time reading or you frequently join the conversation, our team hopes you’ll stick around to read the other perspectives for this month’s topic. Jennifer and Kim will share their hearts as to what they are desperate for God to do, and we have a new guest writer coming up in week four. The beauty of writing with a team is one of our perspectives will likely hit home with you. We pray God ministers to your hearts and minds as you read what God puts on our hearts to share with you. Be blessed sweet friends!

Have you ever had one of those days? You know the kind. The ones you think it would be so much easier to throw in the towel. Mentally you resign yourself, wanting nothing more than to check out and let someone else deal with the situation, project, or person.

I have never felt that way.

Not even once.

Ha!

Not true!

Some days I am full of joy and zest for life, passion overflowing, spilling upon everyone around me. I like those days. I like myself on those days. Sunny side up. Lots of yellow to brighten spirits, mine and others’.

But what about the days when I feel downcast and discouraged?

Those are the days when I need extra doses of God and His love for me. Those are the days when I don’t care what any human being has to say (no offense intended). Human voices may be the very ones who discouraged me most that day.

Oh, I know intellectually where the source of that discouraging voice comes from. The enemy is on the sidelines gloating when he sees any of God’s children gloomy and discouraged. Perhaps he enjoys it the very most when he thinks he is interfering with God’s plan for our lives. He deludes himself into thinking he can win.  But he’s not on the winning team!

Some days I need to remind him – and myself – of that fact.

According to Merriam Webster, discourage means

1: to deprive of courage or confidence: dishearten

2a: to hinder by disfavoring

2b: to dissuade or attempt to dissuade from doing something

Recently, discouraging words were spoken within my earshot. It wasn’t a word or two. It went on and on for an extended period. The longer the conversation continued, the more I withered inside. Unbeknownst (at first) to the person, little by little the lies of the enemy began to drown out the sweet still small voice of the Lord. Each word the person spoke stabbed at my heart. I wanted to leave, but I felt trapped.

Chisel, chisel, chisel … the words chipped away at my heart and my spirit. I went from excited about what God is doing in my life to disheartened.

Not because of anything God had said or done. This wasn’t the voice of encouragement, or even quiet correction that God might need to give. No. This voice was downright discouraging, intent on stealing every ounce of courage and joy within me as I embark upon a new endeavor.

I know why that happened. God has plans for my life. They are good. They involve others. I feel like there are amazing things He has on the horizon. My strategic brain can see His fuzzy plan in the distance. Not every step mind you, but some strong hints at where we’re going. And it’s good. It’s awesome. And the enemy wants to discourage my heart in the infancy of this new endeavor. He wants to silence me before I’ve barely gotten started.

The enemy wants to steal my courage. Remember, that’s what discouragement is, a stealing of our courage. The enemy tries to steal, kill, and destroy us at every turn (John 10:10). Discouragement is one of the tools in his arsenal of weapons.

Because the enemy has been defeated, he attempts to make us walk in defeat.

Our task is to not let him, to be spiritually aware enough to shake off his slimy words intended to weigh us down.

Many of you have probably heard that God’s Word tells us 365 times not to be afraid. In other words, to take courage. Not to be discouraged.

In moments when I feel discouraged, I am most desperate to hear God’s voice.

In moments when I feel discouraged, I am desperate for God to encourage me. I NEED His encouragement. He knows EXACTLY what words I need to hear in any given moment.

I am DESPERATE to hear God’s sweet, encouraging words. He is always in my cheering section!

Yes! This way My dear! Don’t let anyone discourage you. If you need to borrow courage, I will give you Mine.  You discern correctly. We are going somewhere really wonderful together. And we will do good things together. My love for you will drown out the deceptive voice of the discourager. Take courage, dear heart. Take courage. Through My encouragement, take courage.  You know how it says in My Word that the humble come to Me and I hear them? I hear you. I hear your desperate cry for encouragement. I hear your silent prayer, from your heart, for help. I hear you, dear one. I hear you.  

Maybe you needed to hear those words too. Are you desperate for encouragement? Know that God hears you. I pray God speaks the words your heart needs to hear and that you absorb them into the very fiber of your being. I pray you take courage from God’s encouragement to you. Because He’s got something good for you too!

God understands our needs and desires. He understands our desperation. I am grateful for His insight and understanding. I am grateful for His still small voice that continues to speak in the midst of our despair and discouragement, The Voice that guides our heart back into alignment with His view of us and our situation.

This doesn’t mean God will never correct us, but His voice isn’t the one condemning and chipping away at our courage. Never would God speak to us in that tone. Never!

For consider Him who endured such hostility against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.─Hebrews 12:3 NKJV

As I think about Jesus and His assignment to come and save the world through His death and resurrection, I wonder how discouraged He must have felt. He was on assignment from God the Father. He was sacrificing much! Ultimately, His life. But even before that, He gave His time, talent, and attention to those around Him. He ministered from a deep well of love. Yet He experienced hostility against Himself.

If Jesus can go to the cross for my sins and your sins too, can’t we consider Him and what His Word says?

Any sacrifice I am making is nothing compared to what Jesus sacrificed (obviously). Nothing! I heard some words that I wish I wouldn’t have. But I (none of us) has endured hostility anything like what Jesus had to endure as a result of people’s sin. My sin. Your sin.

If He can utter, forgive them Father for they know not what they do as He hung from a cross, what is left for me to consider? (Luke 23:24)

I have sinned. I have been given God’s free gift of forgiveness as a result of Jesus’ sacrifice. His death and resurrection conquered the hostility that came against Him and each of us as His followers. His death conquered MY hostility toward the gospel, because I didn’t ALWAYS believe. And even as I believe, I still do things out of alignment with God’s heart. I need to forgive, because I’ve been forgiven.

If we are His children, He left us with the greatest encouragement of all. One day, heaven will come down to earth and we will abide in a peaceful dwelling with Him for all eternity. Words of discouragement and deception will not exist. Sin, mine and others’, will not exist.

Until that time, we can take courage.

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.─Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV

 Jesus, who came to do good encountered great hostility and yet He still finished His assignment. He wants us to lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares (ours and others) in order to run our race with endurance. God is the author and finisher of our faith. Let His Word encourage you when others’ words attempt to weigh you down. Nothing can weigh us down when we walk in the fullness of understanding of God’s truth. Our inheritance is to be seated with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). Nothing the enemy tries to say can change that. Nothing!

Join the conversation here or on our Facebook page.

Signature Image: Tracy Stella

Categories // Forgiveness, Resurrection Power, Tracy Stella's Perspective, Uncategorized Tags // Assignment, Cross, Death, Desperate, Discourage, Discouragement, encouragement, Enemy, forgiveness, God's Plan, Hebrews 12:1-2, Hebrews 12:3, Hostility, Hurtful Words, Inheritance, John 10:10, Luke 23:24, Perseverance, Resurrection, Sacrifice, Seated with Christ, Take Courage, Voice

What’s So Good About Good Friday?

04.03.2017 by Tracy Stella //

Before getting into the question we are all answering at FACETS of Faith this month, I (Tracy) felt it would be remiss of us not to provide a brief explanation of what God’s resurrection power means for those who may be unfamiliar with the term. We celebrate Easter, because Christ died on the cross (Good Friday) for the forgiveness of all our sin. He rose again on the third day (Easter) overcoming death.

Imagine the supernatural power required to rise above death. Jesus was sealed in a tomb guarded by Roman soldiers. When the women (Jesus’ followers) ran to His gravesite and saw the tomb empty, they were curious as to where Jesus’ body went. They knew He couldn’t have opened the tomb by Himself. The rock which sealed it was immovable by man. They also knew Jesus couldn’t have slipped past the Roman soldiers. The empty tomb pointed to only one thing: Jesus rose from the dead! (Just as He said He would) That’s God’s resurrection power!

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.─1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 HCSB

God’s resurrection power gives us Hope. Hope points us all to heaven for ourselves and those we love. The only requirement to access the hope of heaven is to have a relationship with Jesus.

If you don’t know Jesus personally, you haven’t accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, you can do that today. It’s never too late as long as you are alive to say “yes” to Jesus and all the hope He has for you─here on earth and eventually forevermore in heaven.

You may be wondering what’s so good about “Good Friday” if God had to die in order for it to happen. The only reason Good Friday is good is because God rose from the dead. He didn’t stay buried.

Figuratively speaking, we don’t have to stay buried in our sin, our lack of hope, our worry and wondering what will be for our future.

When you know Jesus, you know your future is good. THAT’S what’s good about Good Friday! And your good future can start as soon as this next moment.

Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for the forgiveness of my sin. I ask You to come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Teach me who You are more-and-more each day. Lavish Your love upon me and lead and guide my steps. Help me to stand firm in your love and truth as you strengthen and encourage me as I walk with You. Give me a love for You, Your Word, and conversations with You through prayer. Thank You, Jesus, for Your ultimate sacrifice for the forgiveness of my sin. Thank You, too, that I am never alone, that You keep Your promises and You promise I will never be alone again. You will never leave me nor forsake me. I will never have another lonely day in my life. Thank You Jesus for loving me with an everlasting love. In Jesus’ name, amen!

Share with someone the commitment you just made. If you don’t have a church home, it’s really important to find a church that loves Jesus and teaches from His Word (the Bible). If you’d like some help with that, please leave us a comment.

CONGRATULATIONS! From personal experience, I know you are in for the sweetest, most intimate relationship you’ve ever had in your life!

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.─John 3:16 NIV

Join the conversation here or on our Facebook page.

Categories // Faith, Forgiveness, Tracy Stella's Perspective Tags // 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, Easter, Good Friday, hope, Jesus, John 3:16, Resurrection, Salvation

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  • Do They Know They Are Loved?
  • Do You Believe God?
  • Do You Give Her the Royal Treatment?
  • Do You Kow You Are…
  • Do You See What I See
  • Expecting the Unexpected
  • Faith
  • Finding Family
  • Forgiveness
  • Freedom
  • Freedom on the Road to Calling
  • Friendship
  • Going Through Change
  • Going Through the Change
  • Guest Perspectives
  • How Do You See 2020?
  • How does God respond to me?
  • How Does Prayer Fuel Hope?
  • How Does the Enemy Try to Silence You?
  • How to Love When It's Hard
  • Intimacy
  • Jennifer Howe's Perspective
  • Joy/Humor
  • Kim Findlay's Perspective
  • Life
  • Life Lessons
  • Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Surrender
  • Mama Guilt
  • Megan Abbott's Perspective
  • Perspective
  • Precious Attributes of God
  • Resurrection Power
  • Safe to be Really Me?
  • Say No
  • Say Yes
  • Singing in April's Showers
  • Spring Forward with God
  • Thankfulness: How do we serve?
  • The Blessing
  • The Blessing: January 2021
  • The Do Over
  • The FACETS Team
  • The Lion the Lamb and the Mirror
  • The Story of Christmas
  • The Trinity: Intimately knowing and growing
  • Thelma! Who's Your Louise?
  • Tracy Stella's Perspective
  • Trusting God When Afraid
  • Truth and Denial
  • Turning Little into Much
  • Uncategorized
  • What are You Going Back to?
  • What Do I Have to Offer
  • What Do You Do for Fun?
  • What Do You Dream About?
  • What has God rescued you from?
  • Who Burnt My Turkey?
  • Who Do You Love?
  • Who Do You Say I Am?
  • Woman of God?

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