Brought To His Banqueting Table

November 23, 2016 By Jennifer Hand Leave a Comment

It is the day before Thanksgiving. I actually will be sitting down with my family to celebrate a little early, on this day.

You may be at the height of preparation for this day, when we get together with the people we love (or ask God to help us love) and basically do one thing. Eat.

You may be traveling. You may be in the last minute, grocery store line. No matter what stage you are in prep for Thanksgiving, you are getting ready for time around a table.

When I lived overseas, it was always interesting to explain to my friends that this holiday really was centered around food and a table.

There can be some major expectations set for Thanksgiving Day if you look at the Hallmark Movie channel or spend time on Pinterest. The table exquisite, the food never burned and always made right on time, the family getting along, and the turkey turning out perfectly.

Why does it look so easy on TV and the glorious world of the Internet but not always feel so easy in our real lives?

Dreaming God-sized dreams can be the same way. It feels like it should be easy and all work as planned…after all, other people do it. We can see our friends grow their speaking platforms, get the writing deals, have incredible God-sized dream experiences.

What we don’t see is the behind-the-scenes stories. The hard work. The sometimes-shed tears. The fears of failing. The wanting to give up. The rejections that lead to the open doors.

Just because my Thanksgiving table does not look like yours does not make it less than or a failure–it makes it a place for the joy of shared experiences with my people–to experience thankfulness with those God has given me to celebrate life with.

I don’t want to miss the joy of what happens around my table by comparing it to someone else’s table.

Let’s not miss the joy of our God-sized dream journey by comparing to someone else’s God-written story. Both are written by the God of glory.

Let’s not miss the joy of our God-sized dream by comparing to someone else’s God-written story.

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True story. Last week I hosted “Friendsgiving” in my one bedroom basement apartment. I had eight people I dearly love around my table.

It could have been easy to think about the fact that I live in a tiny apartment and have a flimsy card table, decorated with Dollar Tree decorations for people to eat around. To think about how I slightly burned the casseroles, how the homemade rolls did not look as pretty as the Pioneer Woman’s, and how the gravy turned out more like glue or wallpaper paste.

It would have been easier to compare to the other Thanksgivings I see and miss the joy of what was in front of me.

We had a wonderful time that night laughing, talking and eating, all while making sure not to lean too hard on the card table so it would not collapse.

When I compare my God-sized dream story to other’s journey, I can lose heart. I can find myself feeling those twinges of envy, wondering why my story looks different from your story.

That is Satan’s sneaky way of making us miss the table God has set before us.

God has brought us to His banqueting table, His banner over us is love. (Song of Solomon 2:4)

He has set the table for your God-sized dreams. He has invited you to feast at the table with Him. Let’s not miss it by dreaming of sitting at a different table.

He has set the table for your God-sized dreams. He has invited you to feast at the table with Him.

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I pray you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your people at your places.

Maybe at some point during the day, you can sneak away and make a list of all the thanksgiving you have for the ways God has shown up this year.

Maybe it has been in surprising ways. Maybe it has not looked as you expected.

I can guarantee that as you make that list you will see, He has been among you, your dreams, and in your story, all for His glory.

Happy Thanksgiving Dreamers!

Shared By: Jennifer Hand

He Called Her Daughter

January 4, 2016 By Kristin Smith Leave a Comment

In November I had the honor of speaking to a MOPS group in my local community. I had all these plans about what I was going to say but several weeks before the actual talk, life happened and it hit me hard. I figured that God had other plans for my talk and just prayed that ultimately it would be His words and not my agenda.

I was personally going through a time where I was having to face some of my own failures and character defects, and also some of my misconceptions about myself and of God. This isn’t really a fun place to be, but ultimately I wanted to know God more. Scratch that, I knew that I needed more of God in my life if I was going to find true contentment and happiness.

I started thinking about some of the more “emotional” moments of my life. I am an off-the-charts “feeling” person all the way. So I remember those events in my life that created the biggest feelings…and typically they are the negative ones that stick out the most.

The time that I was embarrassed in front of my entire 1st grade class. Or in 6th grade when I was one of the few unfortunate not to be invited to the biggest boy/girl party of the year. The day I learned that I didn’t make the cheer-leading squad, the one thing I was sure would make me someone. Getting pregnant outside of marriage and the struggle my husband and I had for so many years, Or the day I knelt on the bathroom floor and begged God to save my pregnancy from the miscarriage that was happening.

EMBARRASSMENT / NOT ENOUGH / DOESN’T MEASURE UP / SINNER / ANGER / RESENTMENT / LOSS

Each of these moments, and so many more, were like rocks that I have carried with me my entire life.

I am not sure why I felt so strongly about hanging onto these rocks, but I did and man, did they weigh me down.

Pretty soon this baggage created other problems in my life.

Unforgiveness, unrealistic expectations, anger to name a few.

It was a hard place to find myself, and the more I tried to manage my hurt/anger/frustration the less I became willing to hand anything over to God.

Oh but friends, I am learning ever so slowly that He doesn’t want us to live this way!

He never asked us to carry the rocks,

He sent His only Son so that He could make a way for us…to let go and let God have all of us.

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The good and the bad.

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I was studying in Mark 5:21-43 as I prepared for this MOPS talk and was re-reading the story of Jairus’s daughter and “the woman with a blood disorder.” This is one of my favorite stories in the New Testament. Maybe I can relate to the woman, sick and hurting and desperate for healing.

Because of the customs of those days this woman would have been considered unclean because of this disorder. She would have been separated from society, alone. She had sought medical help and had exhausted all she had, only to find herself even more sick.

I can imagine she was lonely and maybe, if she was anything like me, a little resentful at her current fate.

And then somehow she hears about this Jesus. This man who is healing the sick and He is in her town. The crowd is large that day but she pushes through. If only she can touch the hem of his garment, maybe she too will be healed.

When she reaches for him she is immediately healed. She knows it and Jesus knows it too. The Bible says that Jesus feels the power leave Him and turns and asked who touched Him. The disciples with Him ask – “don’t you see how many people are surrounding you? How could we possibly know who touched you?”

But the woman comes forward and admits it was her and tells Him the whole truth. And he says “Daughter, your faith has healed you, go in peace and be healed of your disease.”

Now I have heard this story over and over again, but I have always missed one of the most important parts….at least for a girl like me.

He calls her Daughter.

Here is an unclean woman by societies account. By touching Him she was risking making Him unclean as well, and yet He calls her Daughter.

I want you to stop a minute and take that in with me. Do you believe that for yourself?

With all the baggage that you are carrying around, do you believe that you are a Daughter of God?

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I grew up in the church, I have Christian parents, I have known about God my entire life and yet I still struggle with understanding the unconditional love that God has for me.

I haven’t fully accepted that carrying my rocks is not my burden to bear. Jesus paid the sacrifice for my sins, my failures long ago. He is my comforter and my strength if I call on Him; He is my provider, my protector…why do I insist on carrying all of these myself?

He calls me Daughter.

I place my worth on the worst parts of me…and all He sees is His Daughter.

Friends, I don’t know where today finds you.

For many the start of a new year can bring what feels like defeat at all we haven’t accomplished yet. Maybe you have been carrying around a pile of rocks like I have and you are desperate to be free of them but you just don’t know how to let go.

Can I challenge you, with a challenge I give first to myself…bring them to your Father. He can and will carry them. Don’t let your past mistakes and hurts define your future. You sister are a Daughter of the King.

Wear that crown with pride and start walking forward with me in finding the freedom that is only found in a relationship with a God who loves us more than we can ever imagine.

Shared By: Kristin Smith

Entitlement, Hope, Dreaming, And Thanksgiving

November 20, 2015 By Jennifer Hand 13 Comments

You know the moment when God is asking you to respond. The moment He is asking you to move toward His altar and fall on your knees before Him. For me, in these moments, my heart beats faster, my palms start to sweat and I know I must respond to His invitation.

Sometimes this can be when I am home all alone and God wants me to fall down on my knees before Him and worship—or at least put my coffee cup down and raise my hands up.

Sometimes this can be when asked by someone to do something way outside of my comfort zone, and I feel the familiar knock on my heart from the Spirit of God to say yes—or to be brave and say no.

I had that moment the other day at church. I could sense God speaking through the worship and then through the powerful sermon. When our pastor extended the invitation to come to the altar, I knew I was to come. Heart pounding, palms sweaty, I was not sure exactly what God wanted from me there at the altar. But as I knelt, He spoke.

Jenn you are a dreamer. You have big Hopes. Big dreams. You are willing to follow your God-sized dreams. However, you have taken steps from hoping and believing into a sense of entitlement.

The definition of hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

The definition of entitlement is belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or has a right to something.

The Lord whispered to my heart – Just because you have dreams that are FROM me and FOR me does not mean you are entitled to the fulfillment of those dreams by me.

You may have dreams FROM and FOR me but it doesn’t mean you are entitled to the fulfillment of them.

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He asked me that day to repent of my feelings of entitlement. My belief that because I was writing for God, that God was entitled to honor my performance with certain rewards.

Hoping in a God who could do more than I can ask or imagine does not mean He is entitled to do what I am imagining.

Just because I hope in God to do what I imagine does not mean He is entitled to do what I am imagining.

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Romans 5:5 New Living Translation, “And This hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.”

Hope is God will never disappoint. My sense of entitlement will.

As I was at the altar, God whispered He wanted me to turn my entitlement struggles into thanksgiving. To spend the month of November really examining my thoughts.

Where do I feel entitled? How am I expecting God to move versus expecting God?

In each of my thoughts to pause and press into thankfulness.

Philippians 4:8, Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise think on these things. (ESV)

As we prepare for the crazy hustle and bustle of holidays, I want to be full of thanksgiving for who God is and what He is doing.

To celebrate.

To trust.

To hope but not expect my own expectations.

I would love to offer a giveaway of my Christmas advent book as we prepare for the advent season!

To enter to win a copy of my new book 25-Days to Coming Alive at Christmas and a copy of my book 31-Days to Coming Alive (Available on Amazon)leave me a comment below and I will randomly pick a winner!

Shared by: Jennifer Hand

We are so excited to show you our winter sale items! Designed by the talented Lisa Larson, we are offering you two different style shirts (a flowy long-sleeve and a super soft slouchy sweatshirt) in three different colors. This design was created out of our love for not only anchors but the Bible promise of Hebrews 6:19, “Hope anchors the soul.”

But hurry! You only have until November 24th to order!! Get yours today!

Anchored Hope

I Will Lift My Hands In Praise

November 9, 2015 By Alecia Simersky 13 Comments

I’m gonna lift my hands
Till I can reach Heaven
I’m gonna shout Your name till the walls come falling down
I’ve come to worship, I’ve come to worship
(Place of Freedom, Highlands Worship)

Do you have a song that makes you want to touch heaven with your worship? This song by Highlands Church, Place of Freedom, does that for me. I close my eyes, lift my hands, and sing unashamed.

I worship.

I give thanks.

This time of year brings out the best of both of these two things. I remember all that I have to be thankful for and I am humbly grateful.

There is no one else in this world who deserves our praise more than God.(<====Click to Tweet)

From Him all blessings and good gifts flow.(James 1:17)

I want to encourage you, today, shout for joy, lift your hands, and worship Him. Your life doesn’t have to look the way you thought it would in order to give thanks.

When life is hard, when it seems your dreams are dying, give thanks in all things. It will change your perspective and your circumstances will not seem as overwhelming.

Fall is a season of change. The leaves turn beautiful colors of brown, amber, and gold. The air turns crisp.

The sweet aroma of apples, cinnamon, and pumpkin waft through the air.

Fall reminds us to watch God make dead things beautiful. This goes for your dreams as well. What you thought to be a long forgotten, fleeting idea can still turn into something beautiful.

My dream of a lucrative sewing business fell flat many years ago. I had visions of boutiques buying up my dresses and selling them in their fancy stores across the US. I only wanted to do what God created me to do. I knew I was born to create and I thought dresses were it.

Instead He had a different way of creating in mind, writing.

But before I could move onto to this new dream of writing I had to let go of the old one. I had to let it die.

I miss it sometimes and I still “pin” sewing projects on my Pinterest board in hopes of one day finding time to at least sit in front the sewing machine and create something beautiful if only for myself.

But this dream of writing is strong and one I never would have come to if not for failing in sewing. It’s become a dream I never knew I had.

I write to know what I think, how I feel, to give my thoughts a voice. (<====Click to Tweet)

I give all thanks to God for knowing what I need better than I do.

Today, I confidently lift up holy hands and give thanks. I may not always understand the path He has me on, but I can be assured His plans are for my good, to give me a hope and a future beyond what my eyes can see. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Do you believe He is for you? Try today, despite the circumstances going on in your life to praise. Don’t stop until you feel His peace and joy flood your spirit.

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Shared by: Alecia Simersky