relationsihp – Grow Anyway

GATHER WITH GRATEFUL HEARTS

November 24, 2021November 23, 2021by Liz GossLeave a Comment

Thanksgiving Day is arguably the best holiday of the year because… FOOD. Here is a glimpse of what I cooked last year:

But menu aside, this November holiday is deeply rooted in spending time with family, and above all else, gratitude, making this special day the perfect opportunity to tap into a more reflective mindset. So after you’ve said a Thanksgiving prayer over the bounty of food, consider capping off your meal with a few meaningful Thanksgiving Bible verses to share around the table.

NOTE: Even if you are not surrounded by food and family on Thanksgiving Day, you ARE surrounded by the love of your Heavenly Father. Paul assures us of this in Romans 8:39, saying, “No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And that’s worth being thankful for!

I have compiled a bunch of verses from the Bible on gratitude, Thanksgiving, and praise. In case you don’t have time to make a list of your own during the hustle & bustle, feel free to use mine. Adding Thanksgiving to God into the mix of holiday traditions may just be your NEW favorite reason for loving Thanksgiving.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.
1 Chronicles 16:34

And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
Colossians 3:15

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.
Colossians 4:2

I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Corinthians 1:4

Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. For we know it is made acceptable by the word of God and prayer.
1 Timothy 4:4-5

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.
Jonah 2:9

Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High.
Psalm 50:14

You have given me greater joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.
Psalm 4:7

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.
Colossians 3:16

Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.
Hebrews 12:28

Let the whole earth sing to the Lord! Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods. The gods of other nations are mere idols, but the Lord made the heavens!
1 Chronicles 16:23-26

O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name!
1 Chronicles 29:13

Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.
Hebrews 13:15

The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.
Psalm 28:7

I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?
Psalm 56:4

Then I will praise God’s name with singing, and I will honor him with thanksgiving.
Psalm 69:30

I will sing of the Lord’s unfailing love forever! Young and old will hear of your faithfulness. Your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.
Psalm 89:1-2

Come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him. For the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods.
Psalm 95:1-3

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening, accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument, a harp, and the melody of a lyre.
Psalm 92:1-3

Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them. For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
Psalm 107:8-9

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Love is a Highway

April 7, 2021April 7, 2021by Susan Collins1 Comment

Life is a Highway, I wanna ride it all night long! ♫♩♯

This song was originally recorded by Tom Cochrane in 1991. The song was originally conceived in the 1980’s with the working title “Love is a Highway.” Then was made popular again in 2006 by its use in the movie Cars.

Highways are interesting things. They are so common to us that we don’t see them as an invasion of the environment, but that’s exactly what they are. They are envisioned, created, and maintained by humans for our convenience.

Sometimes religion is like that. Religion can be so much a part of our interactions with God, that we fail to see it as an invasion of that relationship. In the Resurrection message, Matt talked about how God was robbed of the relationship He had intended to have with humankind. Then he set out on a journey to reconcile that relationship.

Like most highways, that journey has lots of ups, downs, twists and turns. Several side roads that eventually make us turn around and go back to where we started.

Human nature is to want the road to look like this:

Or I at least want other people to THINK this is what my highway looks like!

For most of us it actually looks like this:

As I contemplate what Jesus went through from Palm Sunday through Resurrection Sunday, I think of a bumpy, curvy, unpredictable road. He knew what was going to happen, and He still willingly went into the journey to restore the relationship between humans and God.

When I think of the working title “Love is a Highway” as it relates to God’s love for me it becomes very personal.

Jesus didn’t make a turn down a side street then find out it was not where He wanted to go. He intentionally and deliberately set off on a journey down the most dangerous highway imaginable because He loves you and me. Religion can be a vehicle on the highway to God, but it is not the Way, the Truth, and the Life. That is Jesus.

God has given us the relationship that restores what was stolen from Him and us in the garden. Will you accept the gift? It comes completely free….that’s Amazing Grace!

liz goss

Satan is a One Trick Pony

February 17, 2021February 16, 2021by Liz Goss2 Comments

**St. Michael expelling Lucifer and the Rebel Angels**
Artist: Peter Paul Rubens (ca. 1622)
*Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid*

In Isaiah 14:12-15 we read why Satan was thrown out of Heaven. Oh yes, he was an angel once but… “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.” Satan wanted to be like God.

But enough ancient history, let’s look at how humanity fell from the perfect relationship with God we once shared in the garden. We all know it was Satan who tricked her but what exactly did he say? Do you know? I mean most people brought up with the Bible know the story but I bet you can’t quite put your finger on what he tempted her with. It wasn’t just a delicious apple. Genesis 3:5 tells us that Satan told Eve, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” It was a calculated, diabolical move that Satan knew would get us separated from God like he had been once before. Satan convinced Eve she could be like God.

And Satan is a master at gaslighting humans. He manipulates the world in such a way that leads us to question our thoughts, memories, and the events occurring around us. His greatest weapon is… forgetfulness. Because if he can get us to lose track of EXACTLY what happened in the past we just might fall for it again. Oh and he loves to try his one trick on us all, whispering:

Do you really need to tithe when you could use that money to buy new clothes? You don’t need to follow what God says, you can decide what’s right just as well as God can. ☠️

Gluttony is not a sin in 2021. It’s been a hard year. It’s called self care. Okay so it’s in Proverbs 23 but those are “proverbs” not laws. You do you. ☠️

Sexual immorality? That whole phrase is super vague. I mean… in Matthew 5 it says that if you LOOK lustfully at a woman you have committed adultery in your heart. Don’t you think that’s an impossibly high standard? ☠️

Every time Satan suggests that “it doesn’t really matter this time” he is asking us to believe we are just as good at judging right and wrong as God is. Friends… this the the ultimately audacity of blasphemy straight from Satan. We are not like God. We were created to be in close relationship with Him but that does not mean we are on His level.

Satan is a one trick pony. He has one trick. Just one. And that is to convince you and me and all of humanity that we are just as good as God. It’s what caused him to fall from heaven and he’s good at spreading his fall by causing us to forget. But we won’t! Remember that you will do what is right because God is God and we are not. He is our loving Heavenly Father who would never withhold any good thing (Luke12:32). We can trust his heart. He is for us (Romans 8:32). So next time you wonder if choosing the right really matters… it does. For the love of Christ compelled us (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).

amy oberg

Why Do We Need Each Other!?!

December 28, 2020December 29, 2020by amyobergLeave a Comment

We are women who are normal. Not normal in a boring sense but normal in a human sense. We are everyday women who work, stay at home moms, corporate executives, small business owners, love our kids with every ounce of our beings, love being married, love being single, strong, meek, quiet strength, foodies, teachers, readers, animal lovers, writers, students, and every where in between or over the top.

Why are YOU important?

YOU MATTER to God and to us! We NEED you! Your gifts, talents and strengths fill in weaknesses of others. We believe our weakness could be your strength. Then how do you fit?

What are your strengths?
What can you do that can help build other women up?
Where does your heart and talent collide?

Typically, God gives you eyes to see things only you can see or do. An early childhood development teacher can easily spot a way to help a new teacher create a space that would encourage a student’s learning environment. A nutritionist easily spots how my diet can change to improve my health. A marketing director can spot the holes in a website and how the prospective client interacts with the site. This is an endless analogy of one person seeing a perspective that others cannot. There is no judgement or condemnation, but confident perspective and constructive information. In business, this is an acceptable form of interaction of building each other up. Can it live inside relationships too?

What if we saw a group of women as someone on your team? God gifting them to help build you up. Unfortunately, we are not really that good at this. We live in relationships that could build our lives up but rarely use the relationship resources around us. Why?

Fear
Judgement
Bad experiences
Bad relationships
Vulnerability

We cannot choose that we don’t need other (1 Corinthians 12:12-31). God has given and gifted us with each other. We need you! We need your eyes in our life to build us up.

How do we do that?

We need relationship with you. What I have learned over the last year: Only a relationship with respect will allow opinions to be valued and heard. Proximity in business or family does not determine relationship per se…no matter how much we want it too. Position does not determine relationship. Relationship must be granted, accepted and mutual—opinions are only allowed in relationship.

What does all that mean?? We need relationship so we can value your opinion. Yes, YOU MATTER! You have something we don’t—our weakness may just be your strength. How would we know that if we don’t know you? Ready to go to coffee and start a relationship? Let’s do it! Email women@journeykingman.com.

Be bold and share your strengths in the comments! What are you awesome at? Or share how you met a new friend.