Book Review: The Day I Met Jesus

June 9, 2015 By: Melissa

My Thoughts About the Book:

The Day I Met Jesus – The Revealing Diaries of Five Women from the Gospels will absolutely change the way you read your Bible and the way you will see, hear, smell and feel the love of Jesus in your everyday. I wept as I read through their stories. Mary DeMuth brings such depth, character and insight into the every day lives of these 5 women. Yes, chances are that you’ve read about them and maybe even “know of them” but after reading this book you will have a heart to heart connection with these women like you never dreamed you could.

I love the pairing of Mary’s storytelling with the heart and passion pursuit of truth, details and facts that Frank Viola brings to the table. I never would have dreamed that this partnership would be so amazing, but after reading, soaking, enjoying and devouring this book I would say that it was a divine connection.

Run, don’t walk to wherever you need to go to get a copy of this book. I have treasured my time in it and can’t wait to go back and re-read it again. As a women’s ministry leader this one book that I’m absolutely going to make sure every woman I know hears about. It’s really just that amazing! Well done Mary & Frank, this was spot on incredible!

About the book:

Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ met face-to-face with people just like you. Broken, imperfect, sometimes fearful and without hope. The Day I Met Jesus is a beautifully crafted narrative that chronicles the remarkable encounters of five women in the Gospels who were desperate to find wholeness, security, and purpose. Like all of us, these women struggled with the regrets of their pasts, the stresses of their presents, and the worries of their tomorrows.

Join Mary DeMuth and Frank Viola on a fascinating journey back in time as they retell the dramatic accounts of five women who met Jesus. Each narrative is told from each woman’s unique perspective, yet tightly grounded in the Gospel accounts and faithful to first-century history. Elegantly written and profoundly stirring, this book blends creative narrative with uncommon insight, spiritual depth, and practical application.

If you are someone who seeks a renewal of hope, faith, and love, The Day I Met Jesus will make your Bible come to life and usher you into a fresh encounter with your Lord.

You can purchase a copy of the book here.

About the Authors:

Frank Viola has helped thousands of people around the world to deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ and enter into a more vibrant and authentic experience of church. He has written many books on these themes, including God’s Favorite Place on Earth and From Eternity to Here. His blog, frankviola.org, is ranked in the top ten of all Christian blogs on the Web today.

Mary DeMuth is a former church planter in France and the author of more than sixteen nonfiction and fiction books. A sought-after speaker and longtime blogger, she has overcome (through Jesus’s healing) a difficult childhood full of neglect, abuse, and familial dysfunction to become a living example of what it means to live uncaged. She lives in Texas with her family.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Sometimes You Just Need To Remember That You Are Not Alone

April 7, 2015 By: Melissa

Dear one, I see you there struggling to make ends meet. Trying to make things make sense and just clear your head from all the distractions pulling on you right this very minute. Your mind is racing and you begin to wonder how you even got to this place, but here’s one thing you need to know – you are not alone.

I know it might feel like it at times.

Believe me I know.

That’s just not the truth though. Oh yeah, sure. the enemy is going to do his best to try to get you to give up hope. To feel lost. To isolate yourself. To just plain give up. But don’t because there’s a truth that you need to grab hold of — not just in your head, but also in your heart.

Our Heavenly Father is madly, deeply in love with you and He wants to rescue you from the pain that has a grip on your heart.

He wants you to know that…You are not alone.

Yes, I know that it’s easy to believe the lies that you are alone. I also know that the stress, pressure and stuff weigh heavy on your heart. To the point that some days it is hard to even get out of bed. I get that, because I’ve been there too.

I know what it’s like to;

– feel like I’m the only one going through this difficult situation.
– think that no one would love me or accept me if they knew me, I mean really knew me.
– believe that people would abandon me if they saw the scars from my pain or my past.
– hurt from deep down in my soul and wonder why this is happening to me.

Yes, I my friend, I am just like you.

Our stories and struggles might not be the same, but this much is true. How we “feel” doesn’t decide how we are loved or if we are lonely. As Lysa TerKuerst so eloquently says in her book Unglued, “my feelings are indicators, not dictators”.

Sweet friend, whatever you are going through right now you must grab hold of this — You never have been and you never will be alone.

You want to know how I know?

Then join me over at the Internet Cafe Devotions site… click here to read the rest of the post.

Oh…maybe you are like me and you like to have these reminders for your phone or for your Instagram, then here’s a pic that is sized perfectly to share just for YOU. You are more than welcome to snag it for yourself. Enjoy! 🙂

Taking Down the Facade

March 17, 2015 By: Melissa

If you’ve spent any time in ministry, especially with women, chances are you’ve been hurt, burned, back-stabbed or misunderstood.

It’s painful. It’s brutal. It flat out sucks the wind from your sails. And in order to protect yourself from getting hurt again, you put up a façade.

Chances are you probably don’t even remember when you started to wear that mask, but to protect your heart, you did.

I did it too. After fifteen years in ministry, I have seen it all, experienced a lot of incredibly tough stuff and had my heart broken many times.

I built a protective barrier around myself—the façade—in order to keep people from getting close to the real me.

In doing so, though, I also kept myself completely isolated.That led to feelings of loneliness, isolation and, at times, even depression. It wasn’t until about six years ago I decided to lay down the mask and let God show me how to put away the façade.

Paul told the Roman Christians,

“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other” (Romans 12:9-10 NLT).

In other words, God tells us,

“Lay down your mask! Get real! Love people!”

If you are struggling with this like I have, here are a few things to help you as you learn to lay down your mask.

1. Pray First

Ask God to open your heart and allow you the opportunity to just be you. Ask Him to be your protector, and to also bring you a few truly special, safe friends who can come around you as you take these steps.

2. Talk to Your Spouse or Close Family Member

If you’re married, talk it over with your spouse. Ask him to be a part of the process with you and seek out his prayers.

If you’re not married, talk it over with a close family member who understands you and your struggle to be more authentic in ministry.

3. Talk to Your Pastor

If you’re in ministry at a local church, I encourage you to talk it over with your pastor. Ask him to pray for you as you step into new territory in ministry.

This takes another step of vulnerability. I understand that. But by bringing your pastor in on this process, he can help you venture into new territory.

4. Give Yourself Time

If you’ve been in ministry for more than ten years, you’ve probably slowly built up the façade. It’s not going to just disappear; it will take time.

Make sure you allow yourself time to release years of protective layers around your heart.

5. Give It All Back to God

Whatever steps you make, and however long it takes, if God has called you to ministry, He has equipped you to do it as well.

Celebrate the small steps. Give Him all the glory and continue moving forward.

I know it’s not going to be easy—it wasn’t for me either—but the women God has brought into our lives are desperate for women in ministry to be real, to show them what it is like to live out ordinary lives with God at the forefront.

Let’s take this step together and see what God will do.

Are you wearing a mask today? What is keeping you behind the façade? What will you do to “get real” so God can minister through your transformed life?

This post was originally posted on 2/24/15 over at Upgrade with Dawn. DawnHeader

Have you heard of Upgrade with Dawn? You should check it out…

Just as we upgrade our cell phones, appliances, hairstyles and so many other things … we can UPGRADE our lives. We can make positive decisions for change.

FRESH, ENCOURAGING Guest BLOGGERS on this site share how we can UPGRADE our attitudes, marriage, finances, parenting, and so many other areas. Especially our heart. Their voices will encourage, teach, and show how to improve, boost, enhance, uplift, repair, renovate and rebuild our lives – all synonyms for “UPGRADE!” UPGRADE also offers helpful tools and resources.

The Secret To Living A Defiant Joy: An interview with Margaret Feinberg

January 22, 2015 By: Melissa

One of my favorite authors, Margaret Feinberg, has been through a brutal fight with cancer and shares the unexpected lessons she discovered along the way in her new book and Bible study Fight Back With Joy.

It’s been inspiring to learn how Margaret has been practicing a defiant joy, and I and thought you might like to get an insider’s look, a sneak peek of the video and read an interview with Margaret.

Preview the 6-Session DVD Bible Study, here.

Your newest book and Bible study, Fight Back With Joy, was born out of your fight with a life-threatening illness. What was your difficult diagnosis, and what has your journey to health entailed?

For the last 18 months, I’ve been battling breast cancer. Breast cancer isn’t just one disease represents thousands of different diseases with their varying components and factors. Being diagnosed under the age of 40 is significant. I’ve been through a brutal year of chemotherapy, radiation, and more surgeries than I can count or want to remember.

Why did you write Fight Back With Joy?

I studied joy for a year and was putting the finishing touches on book on joy—just two weeks from turning it into the publisher, when I received the diagnosis. I had been pursuing and activating joy in my life in the relatively good times, now I had to do it in the midst of darkness, depression, and torturous pain. Through the process, I’ve discovered the breadth, depth, and power of joy—that despite hundreds of sermons and many decades in the church—no one had told me of before.

MF_QuoteImages_2-300x300

In Fight Back With Joy book and Bible study, you really push the reader to reevaluate their definition of joy. Why do you think this is so important?

Much of the teaching I’ve heard on joy over the years is oversimplified. I remember those days in Sunday school learning that JOY is spelled Jesus, Others, Yourself. While that made perfect sense at 9 years old, I’ve seen how distorted that can become as an adult.

I see friends who love Jesus but spend so much time pouring into their kids, grandkids and others that their joy looks something like this: jOy.

Technically, it still spells joy, but more than anything, these men and women who are so exhausted, so empty, so running on fumes from pouring into others need to pause and take time to focus on themselves. Laying hold of joy right now will require them to reevaluate for a season and discover the joy that comes with JYo.

I also noticed how most of the definitions of joy define it more by what it isn’t than by what it is. I constantly heard that happiness is based on circumstance but joy is not dependent on circumstance.

Biblical expressions of joy turn out to be far different than what I had been taught. I am now convinced the writers of the Bible would say that, the reason we have joy is because we have great circumstances. If you are a child of God, you are drenched in the grace and mercy of God.

No matter what you’re facing: Your circumstances are better than you think.

If you’re not experiencing joy, perhaps it’s because your definition of joy is too narrow.

On a scale of 1-10, how hard was it for you to write this book and Bible study?

An eleven! This journey has been the most painful experience of my life. And, to share about it requires some vulnerability. Okay, a lot of vulnerability. And, that’s really, really hard. But I feel like I’m finally ready to share what God has stirred in my heart along the way because although cancer has been the most painful journey—it has also been the most joyful. And no one is more surprised than I am.

Pick up a copy of Fight Back With Joy at Amazon or Barnes and Noble today.

They Can Choose To Go Their Own Way

November 18, 2014 By: Melissa

Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6 NKJV

Chances are if you’ve been around any mom of faith then you’ve probably rubbed up against this verse a few times. It’s sort of like the parenting “go-to” verse. It’s a great truth that I’ve clung to many times while raising my boys…but, there’s one part of it that I never fully was able to grasp until now.

Here’s what I’ve been learning on my twenty first year as a mama bear, we can train up them up–but they can choose to go their own way.

Gulp. That one has not been an easy pill to swallow for me. I have crossed all my t’s and dotted all my i’s along this parenting journey and truth be told, I thought I would get to this point and be able to sit back and rest in the fruit of those many years of godly parenting.

Go ahead, you can laugh out loud.
I did too.

Seriously, I just had to stop and laugh at myself for thinking that if you did “all the right things”, or at least tried to, while your kids were growing that you would miraculously end up with these perfect adults and then…ta-da, you’re done.

……….I’m over at the M.O.M. Initiative today talking about this, stop by and take a few minutes to find out what I’ve been learning along the way.

The M.O.M. Initiative website exists as safe place to grow as a mother, to gain a better understanding of what a mother is and what a mother does and to foster and support mentor and mentee relationships. Along with practical tips, helpful tools, informative insight on current issues and godly wisdom on just about every aspect of a mother’s life, this website also offers a private chat room where a mom can connect with a ‘virtual’ mentor and find help in times of need.

The primary vision for The M.O.M. Initiative is that it not only be limited to those who enter the four walls of the church, but that it also be used to facilitate mentor relationships in homes for unwed mothers, in low income housing projects, apartment complexes, homeless shelters, prisons, juvenile shelters, schools, hospitals, the mission field and anywhere young mothers can be found. Planning guides for each of these venues will be available in the back of the book.

The M.O.M. Initiative is not just a book. It’s not just a website. IT’S A REVOLUTION!