2209 The Jesus Attitude

You and I are called to have the same attitude as Jesus. That sounds beautiful, doesn’t it? And then you get out of bed. Someone has already left a mess in the kitchen. You have too much to do and not enough time to do it. Someone says something that rubs you the wrong way. Your plans get interrupted. You feel overlooked. Somebody isn’t pulling their weight. And suddenly, before you’ve even finished your coffee, your attitude is showing you exactly what is happening inside your heart. So let’s get personal. What is your attitude? Not the attitude you wish you had. Not the attitude people think you have. Not the attitude you have when everything is going your way. What is your attitude when you’re tired? When you’re inconvenienced? When you don’t get your way? When someone doesn’t appreciate you? When you feel misunderstood? Those moments reveal something. Viktor Frankl said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Your attitude is your choice. It’s the way you think about what is happening, the way you interpret it, and ultimately the way you respond. And your attitude doesn’t just affect you. It walks into the room before you do. It sits at the dinner table with your family. It gets in the car with you. It shows up in your texts. It comes to work with you. It affects the way you listen, the way you speak, the way you love, and the way you treat people. Your attitude is shaping your everyday life. And sometimes… our attitude is the thing making an ordinary day harder than it needs to be. Have you ever shared a house with someone who had a bad attitude? You know what I’m talking about. The sighs. The short answers. The eye rolls. The silence. The irritated tone. You can feel it before they even say anything. Now here’s the uncomfortable question: Have you ever been that person? Have you ever walked into a room carrying an attitude and expected everybody else to adjust to you? I have. And if we’re honest, we all have. So how do we snap out of it? How do we stop letting our circumstances dictate our attitude? Well, let’s put it simply … we stop being so self-centered. When we make life all about us, our attitude suffers. Paul tells us like it is. Philippians 2:3–5 says: “Don’t be selfish: don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.” We have a unique way of continually making everything about ourselves. It’s what we want, how we feel, what we think. We end up spending our days in these self-absorbed worlds where our primary objective is to make everything easier for us, all while making everyone like us. Funny, because we never see Jesus doing either of those things. It’s hard to admit how selfish we really are. But when we’re being honest, even the kind, generous, giving things we do are most often about making ourselves look or feel good. And if you think living with humility is hard today, consider how hard it was in the time when Jesus walked this earth. During Biblical times, humility was often seen as an absolute weakness. Social status was honored. It was all about what you were wearing, who you had to your house for dinner, and who you were seen with. You were either in, or you were out – everyone wanted to be in. Then comes Jesus and he flips everything upside down. He holds more power than anyone and everyone in all the world, yet he is without a palace. He had no value for money or riches or status. He let people talk about him. He performed miracles without explanation or a need to be understood. He let them make their assumptions. He let them join him, or just walk away. He took 12 men, and he changed the world forever. And he did it all with humility. Wearing sandals, walking from town to town, staying where a place was offered, with no agenda other than fulfilling his Father’s will. Was Jesus selfish? No. He literally gave up Heaven to come save us. Was Jesus trying to impress anyone? No. He had all the power in the world to shut down every negative opinion and prove them all wrong in an instant. He could have called down a thousand angels to fight for him – that would have been impressive. But he didn’t. Instead, he let them nail him to the cross and crucify him. And there, hanging on that cross, he shows us how to think about others more than we think about ourselves. I assure you he was not comfortable. Without a doubt he was suffering. This was NOT the easy way. Yet, he chose it – for you and for me. Then, he let us make up our own minds about him. Still today, we can live our lives for him, or deny him. He will let us make our own decision. And Paul writes, “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.” Girls, how do we do that today? We start by asking a different question. Instead of, “How can I get this day to go the way I want it to go?” we begin asking, “Jesus, how can I love the people in front of me today?” That’s a completely different way to live. The goal isn’t to wake up every morning and force yourself to have a better attitude. The goal is to become so aware of Jesus that you begin responding to life the way He would. When your husband says something that irritates you, you have a choice. You can make the moment about being right, or you can make it about loving him. When your kids interrupt you for the hundredth time, you can see them as an interruption to your plans, or you can recognize that they are your opportunity to love someone God has placed right in front of you. When a friend doesn’t text you back, you can create an entire story in your head about what she must be thinking, or you can choose not to make someone else’s silence about you. Why do we always make it about us? Really you know what the truth is – It’s usually not about you at all! When somebody is rude to you, you don’t have to return the rudeness. When your plans fall apart, you don’t have to let your entire day fall apart with them. When you’re tired, you don’t have to make everyone around you pay for it. And when you don’t get your way? Oh, girl. That’s where the Jesus attitude gets real. Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself. It’s thinking about yourself less. Jesus didn’t spend His days asking, “How can I make my life more comfortable? How can I make everyone understand me? How can I make sure people appreciate me? How can I prove them wrong?” He was free from all of that. He knew who He was. He knew Whose He was. And because He knew that, He didn’t have to spend His life defending Himself, impressing people, controlling outcomes, or demanding that everyone see things His way. He was secure enough to serve. That’s what we want. We don’t want to simply have a nicer attitude. We want the attitude of Jesus. Imagine your life with the attitude of Jesus. How would Jesus see this? How would Jesus respond? What would Jesus do? You want to be the woman who can walk into a difficult situation and bring peace instead of adding to the chaos. You want to be the woman who doesn’t have to win every argument. You want to be the woman who can apologize without adding a giant “but you…” to the end of it. You want to be the woman who can celebrate someone else’s blessing without secretly comparing it to your own. You want to be the woman who can listen without immediately turning the conversation back to you. You want to be the woman who notices when somebody is hurting instead of being so consumed with your own stuff that you miss it. You want to be the woman who doesn’t need everyone to like you because you know you are already deeply loved by God. And you want to be the woman who can have a really, really bad day without becoming a really, really difficult person. Because let’s be honest: You don’t get to choose everything that happens to you today. But you do get to choose what happens inside of you because of it. That doesn’t mean pretending you’re not frustrated. It doesn’t mean stuffing your feelings. It doesn’t mean allowing people to mistreat you. And it certainly doesn’t mean becoming a doormat. Jesus had boundaries. Jesus walked away. Jesus spoke hard truth. Jesus confronted hypocrisy. Jesus said no. Jesus wasn’t controlled by people’s opinions. But He was never controlled by His ego. That’s the difference. So maybe today, before you react, pause. Just pause. Take a breath and ask: What would the attitude of Jesus look like right here? Not in some grand spiritual moment. Just right here. In the kitchen. In the car. In the text. In the meeting. At the grocery store. When you’re tired. When you’re disappointed. When you’re misunderstood. When somebody pushes your buttons. When you don’t get your way. When nobody notices what you’ve done. Right here. Because this is where we become like Jesus. Not just during our quiet time. Not just when we’re worshiping with our hands in the air. We become like Jesus in the tiny, ordinary, frustrating moments of everyday life. Every time you choose patience instead of irritation… Every time you choose forgiveness instead of keeping score… Every time you choose encouragement instead of comparison… Every time you choose humility instead of needing to be right… Every time you choose to serve when you’d rather be served… Every time you choose love when your feelings are screaming for something else… You are practicing the attitude of Jesus. Jesus, change my attitude. Not just my circumstances. Not just the people around me. Not just the things that are frustrating me. Change me. Teach me to see people the way You see them. Teach me to hold my plans loosely. Teach me to stop making everything about me. Teach me to be secure enough that I don’t need to prove myself. Teach me to love when it’s inconvenient. Teach me to serve when nobody notices. Teach me to surrender my right to be right. Teach me to respond instead of react. And when I forget—and I will—bring me back to You. Because I don’t want people to encounter my mood when they encounter me. I want them to encounter Jesus. Here we are girls – on the journey of a lifetime – a journey where we’re increasingly becoming like Jesus, one ordinary moment at a time. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

The enemy has been trying desperately to intimidate you. Intimidation through means of fear, through means of overwhelm, through means of anxiety, even through thoughts of not wanting the very things God has been revealing to you. Check yourself – how successful have his ploys of intimidation been? Have you been quietly giving up? Have you been gradually pulling away? Have you been shrinking, fading, losing ground? Sis, what you have to understand is the enemy has only fear tactics and intimidation against you. His threats against you are powerless when you’re covered in the blood of Jesus. 1 John 5:18 tells us that we are held securely by God’s Son and “the evil one cannot touch us”. Do you hear that – HE CAN’T TOUCH YOU. If you have surrendered your life to Jesus you are not only saved by Jesus, but you’re also protected by Him. My dog Tank is a big boy with a fierce bark. In his prime, he was 130 pounds, one of the biggest yellow labs you will ever see. He decides to bark on the very rare occasion when the UPS man seems threatening. And when he does, you notice. His bark sounds furious. But there’s no bite behind his bark. He’s nothing but slobbers and tail wags. He’s anything but a guard dog. A little yappy chihuahua will put him in the corner every time. Sometimes it’s as if we’re walking through this life terrified of a bark that simply can’t bite us. Girl, listen to me – THE EVIL ONE CANNOT TOUCH YOU. We’re so quickly to give the devil credit for the attacks in life, but most often he’s not even the source. Is there a spiritual battle happening all around us? Absolutely! Are we protected? NO DOUBT! As a sold-out follower of Jesus, you are a girl with Heaven on her side. Angels are in charge all around you. God has good plans for your life that cannot be cancelled. Every moment of your life is held in the mighty hands of your Creator. Why in the world would you be intimidated by an already defeated enemy? Why would you play little with your life? Why would you dismiss your God-breathed dreams and desires because the enemy is barking? LET HIM BARK. Let him hate that you are no longer paralyzed in fear. Let him shake when your knees hit the floor each morning and you’re infused with the power of the Holy Spirit. Let him know that Hell lost another one. Show him you’re on a mission to rob Hell and make Heaven crowded! Paul writes in Philippians 1:28, “Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself.” DON’T BE INTIMIDATED. And Scripture tells us exactly what to do when the enemy comes at us with intimidation. James 4:7, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Notice the order: Submit to God, resist the devil. We don’t defeat the enemy by becoming obsessed with the enemy. We don’t spend all day looking for demons behind every difficult circumstance. We don’t have to live on high alert, wondering where the next attack is coming from. We fix our eyes on Jesus, submit ourselves to God, and when the enemy comes with lies, fear, temptation, accusation, or intimidation, we resist. How do you resist? You refuse to agree with the lie. When he says, “You can’t do this,” you remember, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” When he says, “You’re alone,” you remember, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” When he says, “You should be afraid,” you remember that God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. You fight the lie with the truth. That’s why knowing God’s Word matters so much. Jesus Himself responded to the enemy’s temptation with Scripture. He didn’t negotiate with Satan. He didn’t entertain the lie. He answered with the truth of God’s Word: “It is written.” Girl, you need some “It is written” in your life! When fear comes, you need to know what God has already said. When anxiety starts shouting, you need truth louder than the thoughts in your head. When intimidation tells you to back down, you need the Word of God reminding you who you are, whose you are, and who is with you. Ephesians 6:10–11 says, “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Did you catch that? TAKE YOUR STAND. The goal isn’t that you never experience fear. The goal is that fear doesn’t get to move you. You may feel intimidated and still stand. You may feel anxious and still obey. You may feel overwhelmed and still take the next step. You may hear the bark and still keep walking. That’s courage—not the absence of fear, but refusing to let fear become your master. Your job isn’t to defeat Satan. Jesus has already defeated him. Your job is to remain surrendered to Jesus, stand firm in truth, resist the lies, and keep moving forward in obedience. That’s what intimidation cannot stand against: a woman who knows who she is, knows whose she is, knows what God has said, and refuses to back down. When you fear the enemy you give him hope and confidence in his schemes against you. If he sees his fear tactics against you are successful, he’ll double down to drag you into his darkness and keep you there. He’ll send his demons to attack your mind and discourage your heart. Is that what he’s been doing to you? Girl, are you going to let him have access to your heart and mind like that? But let me tell you what happens when you’re NOT INTIMIDATED by him – he withdraws in defeat. Unlike God, Satan is limited. He does not hold all power. He cannot be everywhere at once. He cannot move heaven and earth. He is not unlimited. Therefore, he continually seeks the weak spot and attacks where his efforts are most effective. He zeros in on what is working. And honey, if his attacks haven’t been intimidating you, then he won’t waste his time continuing. Today, you let the enemy of your soul know you will not live in fear of him. Shut down his fear tactics. Refuse his invitation to overwhelm. Stiff arm his offer of anxious thoughts. Deny his suggestions of no longer wanting everything God has for you. Don’t give him the satisfaction of intimidation. Enemy, you’re wasting your time trying to keep me awake in worry. When my alarm rings, I’m still hitting my knees in prayer. I’m still showing up. I’m still giving God my best. That’s how you defeat him! Satan, the anxious thoughts you try to offer me are straight up denied. You’re wasting your time with the attack on my mind. I know the truth, I stand in the truth, I speak the truth. You are powerless against God and I’m under His divine protection. When spiritual enemies cannot intimidate you, they’ve lost all weapons because all they had was fear and intimidation. Now, you know how to disarm the enemy. Stop listening to him. Stop being influenced by him. Stop believing him. You don’t have to argue with him. You don’t have to fight him in your own strength. You simply have to stand. Stand in truth. Stand in faith. Stand in the authority Jesus has given you. Stand your ground and keep moving forward. Because here’s what intimidation is trying to do: it’s trying to make you smaller than your calling. It’s trying to convince you that the dream God whispered to you is too big, the assignment is too hard, the risk is too great, the people won’t understand, and you’re not capable of doing what God is asking you to do. But God didn’t call you to live a small, safe, fear-controlled life. So get back up, girl. Take back the ground you’ve surrendered. Start praying again. Start dreaming with God again. Start showing up again. Start saying YES to the things God has been putting on your heart. You don’t have to know exactly how it’s all going to work. You just have to be willing to take the next step. The enemy can bark, but he cannot cancel what God has ordained. He can make noise, but he cannot have the final word. He can threaten, but he cannot separate you from the God who holds you. So let him bark. You keep walking. Let him make noise. You keep obeying. Let him try to intimidate you. You keep becoming everything God created you to be. Because, Sis, you are not walking into your future alone. You are walking with Jesus. And when Jesus is with you, fear doesn’t get to decide where you go. The enemy’s bark is not your stop sign. It’s your reminder to keep moving forward. DON’T BE INTIMIDATED. Don’t shrink. Don’t retreat. Don’t quit. Stand up. Stand firm. And LIVE BIG. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Something is happening within you as you surrender your life to God and grow more in Jesus – You are becoming so incredibly attractive. You have a certain glow about you. You stand out. There’s something magnetizing about you. There’s a deep joy within you and it just seeps out of your pours. Others are seeing it! Something supernatural happens when your life is lived in close relationship with God. You can’t explain it and you can’t duplicate it in any other way. Let me tell you a story … At our Redwood Forest Retreat this past weekend, there was a lady named Kayla. Kayla is a sold-out, bold and courageous follower of Jesus. She knows exactly what Jesus saved her from and she lives every moment of her life in loud praise of him for that rescue and redemption. Life hasn’t been easy for her, but God has done a radical work of redemption in her. Let me tell you, you don’t spend time with Kayla and walk away the same. The Holy Spirit she carries in her truly does shift the atmosphere. On the final morning of our retreat, everyone except for Kayla went down to the shore for a time or worship, cold plunge and baptisms. Kayla said the Holy Spirit had prompted her to stay behind in the retreat house to spend alone time with him. That’s rare for her because Kayla has 10 kids and is actively involved in a street ministry in Sacramento. Sitting with God in this glorious cottage in the redwoods was perfection for her. While we were all floating around in freezing cold water allowing God to breath into us, Kayla was singing and praising back at the retreat house. Without any of us knowing, she was specifically praying to be a Christ-like-fragrance. Hmmmm, have you ever prayed that? Well, me neither! 2 Corinthians 2:15, “Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God.” We returned to the retreat house within an hour to find the praise music blasting. And one of our retreat girls, Janiel, caught a whiff of the most beautiful perfume. It was coming from Kayla. In fact, the fragrance was so unique and beautiful, Janiel turned to Kayla’s sister and asked if she knew what perfume Kayla was wearing. Later we found out about her prayer that morning to be a Christ-like-fragrance. How wild is that? The Holy Spirit’s work in you makes you a beautiful fragrance!!!!!! Now, understand why. Why does a life surrendered to Jesus and lived in close relationship with him make you stand out with a glow? Why does it change your very fragrance? Well, this isn’t about you. This isn’t about you being noticed. This isn’t about you looking better. This isn’t about anyone admiring you. Trust me, this isn’t about you smelling good. This is about JESUS! Philippians 1:11 MSG, “Live a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.” There it is – the Holy Spirit’s work in us with the results of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control all growing in us – this makes Jesus Christ ATTRACTIVE! Our surrendered lives make Jesus look good to others! And yes, that makes us stand out, that makes people see us different, that can even make us smell different – to the point that they ask, “What’s up with her, what does she have, and how do I get some?” But we have a unique way of making everything about us. We forget this isn’t about YOU being attractive – this is about JESUS BEING ATTRACTIVE IN YOU! Come back to that, Sis. You don’t need anyone to give you glory or praise. If that’s what you’re seeking, this has gotten twisted. And really, that happens so easily – I know it got really twisted for me for a really long time. God has been so patient with me. His grace over me has been undeserved. He humbled me and continues to humble me so I untwist this – it was never about me – it was always about Jesus. MAKE JESUS ATTRACTIVE! Then what happens as we make Jesus attractive with the way we live our lives? Go back to the rest of that scripture – We get “everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.” I sat back and noticed exactly how this happens while at retreat. We sat around a firepit on opening night and each shared what God is doing in our lives right now. Many had praises of how God has worked things out for them. Some had stories of how God was still carrying them through a reality they would have never chosen, yet they could see his fingerprints in the details. With each shared story we could see God’s glory and participate in his praise. While our stories were different, we could relate to God’s faithfulness on our own journey and apply his promises to our own lives. Every time someone shared a piece of their story, we all got involved in the glory and praise of God! On a very practical level, that’s how it happens! And let me tell you, Jesus was so attractive in our circle around that firepit! The fragrance rising up was glorious! So, Sis, this is what I want you to remember: You don’t have to try to be attractive. You just have to stay close to Jesus. Stay surrendered. Stay in His Word. Stay in His presence. Let the Holy Spirit keep doing His beautiful, sometimes uncomfortable, always transformational work inside of you. Because when you spend enough time with Jesus, He starts showing up on you. His love starts coming out of your mouth. His joy starts showing up in your face. His peace starts changing the way you respond. His kindness starts changing the way you treat people. His goodness starts changing the way you live. His self-control starts changing what you say yes and no to. And suddenly, without trying to be impressive, you become a living invitation to Jesus. People see something different. They feel something different. They may not even know what it is at first, but they notice. They wonder. They ask. “What’s different about you?” “How are you so peaceful?” “How did you get through that?” “Why aren’t you bitter?” “What do you have that I don’t have?” And that’s your moment. It’s not me. It’s Jesus. That’s the fragrance. That’s the glow. That’s the attraction. Not so people will notice you, but so they will notice Him. Your life becomes a little window through which someone else gets a glimpse of Jesus. Your story gives someone else courage. Your peace gives someone else hope. Your praise reminds someone else that God is still faithful. Your surrendered heart becomes an invitation for someone else to know the One who changed you. All around you, Jesus is calling people to him, and he’s using you as the reflection of his love and life-changing power. Those whom he is calling to him will be attracted. Those who are not being called, well – they won’t like you at all. You need to know that so you’re not discouraged. After Paul tells us about being a sweet perfume and Christ-like-fragrance rising up to God, he prepares us for the 2 very different ways that is received in this world. 2 Corinthians 2: 15-16, “BUT this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume.” Remember this – it’s not up to you who is invited into that life-saving relationship with Jesus. This isn’t about you. To those Jesus is inviting, you will help attract them to him. To those who are not, you will be repulsive. You won’t be liked. They will not be receptive to you. Can you be okay with that? Can you continue to show up has God’s sweet perfume in this world, even when some reject you, even while some ridicule you, even while some are hateful towards you? Or will you decide you’re too fragile for the criticism of a few so you stop showing up for the ones who are ready to respond to Jesus? I’m so grateful Jesus didn’t sit out his mission because of the ones who would ridicule him. I’m so grateful he didn’t cancel his coming because some would be ugly. He came anyway. He taught anyway. He loved anyway. And he gave his life anyway. Now he asks us to do the same. Stop being detoured by those who don’t like this Jesus in you. Stop playing little and hiding your fragrance and your glow because they don’t receive it well. It’s not about you – this is about Jesus! And there are people around you who desperately need it! Make Jesus attractive. Not with your perfection. Not with your performance. Not by pretending you’ve got it all together. Just live so close to Jesus that He can’t help but rub off on you. And then walk into the room. Carry His fragrance. Shift the atmosphere. And let everybody around you get involved in the glory and praise of God. Because the most beautiful thing about you should never be you. It should be Jesus. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Today, there are 100 days left in this year of life. Just 100 days, and we all know how quickly those final days go. As of yesterday, we stepped into the new season of Fall, next will come Winter and we will be in the Holidays, then boom … the whole year is over … again. It all goes by so fast now, doesn’t it? Have you noticed how the years are going faster and faster? Have you ever wondered why that is? There’s actually a reason. Each year of your life keeps going by faster because the older you get, the less one year of your life represents to your total life experience. When you were a little girl at 8 years old, it took a whole 1/8 of your life to get all the way back around to your next birthday. Now, if you’re 50, one year is only 1/50th of your life, so although the days are the same, they seem less. Imagine how fast time will speed up in the future. If a year already goes this fast, add 20 more years to the clock … girls, this is all going by so quickly. With 100 days left in this year, it’s important for us to pause and consider what these days could be. How could we use 100 days to grow and get better? I have an idea – LET’S ASK GOD!!!!! Lord, what do you want for us in the final 100 days of 2026? What do you want your girls to do? What do you want us to commit to? We are asking you – please show us. Now just sit in that for a moment. Listen. What is the Holy Spirit saying to you? The world has countless ideas for you. Run every day for the next 100 days. Eliminate soda. Do a social media fast. Wake up earlier. Read. Let go of one thing in your house every day to declutter. And all of those are fantastic. Great ideas! I’m a fan. Do it! But … what if God has something deeper for you? What if he has an invitation for you for the next 100 days, and accepting that invitation would be life-changing. I believe he does. This morning, I asked God what scripture he has for us as a guide to step into these final 100 days, and here’s what he gave me. Psalm 90:12 TPT, “Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should.” Number our days. Why? To make each one count. If they’re numbered, they’re singled out and separate. When days are lumped together they are not individually important, but our prayer for the final 100 days is to live each day as uniquely valuable. With the realization that these days are few, we will value each one more and spend them as we should. If you have massive amounts money, it’s easy to waste money. You buy new things without consideration – and honestly when you can do that, you simply don’t appreciate it as much. But, when you are on a tight budget, buying something new is a big deal. You will choose wisely and that one thing becomes more valuable to you. And so it is with the days of life. When you count them and recognize how few they are, you are less likely to waste days. You truly value a day and choose to spend it wisely. That is how God wants his girls to live! But I want to go a little deeper with this idea of numbering our days. Psalm 90 doesn’t say, “Teach us to fill our days.” Isn’t that what we often do? We just fill the days. We fill them with tasks and chores. Checklists and routines. One day, two days, three days, there’s a week, then another week, soon a month. Filled. Just so filled. Let’s stop filling our days. Scripture says, “Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to SPEND them as we should.” Spend them. Not fill them, spend them. Spend your days. Final 100 days – how will you spend them? That’s an interesting word, isn’t it? Spend your days. We spend money. We spend energy. We spend our attention. And every single day, we spend a little bit of our life. You are spending this day of your life right now. You are spending it whether you’re intentional about it or not. You can spend a day worrying. You can spend it scrolling. You can spend it being offended. You can spend it comparing yourself to someone else. You can spend it trying to prove something. You can spend it chasing something you think will finally make you happy. Or you can spend it loving someone. You can spend it serving. You can spend it laughing. You can spend it talking with God. You can spend it noticing God’s goodness. You can spend it doing the thing God has been asking you to do. Either way, the day gets spent. And you don’t get to put it back. That’s why I think numbering our days is actually meant to wake us up. This day is valuable and it’s limited – how will you SPEND IT? We’re not supposed to number our days so we become afraid of how little time we have. We’re supposed to number them so we finally realize how incredibly valuable today is. Maybe you’ve been living like someday is guaranteed.Someday I’ll get serious about my relationship with God.Someday I’ll forgive them.Someday I’ll make that phone call.Someday I’ll take the trip.Someday I’ll use the gift God gave me. Someday I’ll slow down and enjoy my life.Someday I’ll stop letting that thing control me. But girls, we don’t know how many somedays we have. We know we have today. And right now, we have 100 more days in 2026. (and even those aren’t guaranteed to us all.) Numbering our days isn’t about creating an anxious panic – it’s about waking us up to the gift of today. The truth is, we’ve been sleepwalking through entirely too many of our days. We’re little zombies looking at screens and routinely living days we won’t even remember. Really, how many days of this year do you distinctly remember? How many days REALLY MATTERED? We often live as though today is rehearsal for the real thing: I’ll start later. I’ll call her later. I’ll forgive later. I’ll serve later. I’ll slow down later. I’ll enjoy my kids later. I’ll do what God is asking me to do later. But eventually later becomes never. And that’s the urgency of Psalm 90:12. These days are numbered, limited, precious and few. Teach me to live them now as I should! So maybe the question isn’t, “What can I accomplish in 100 days?” Maybe the better question is: “Jesus, what do You want to do in me in these 100 days?” What do You want me to release? What do You want me to begin? What do You want me to stop? Who do You want me to love? Who do You want me to forgive? Where do You want me to obey? What part of my heart do You want to heal? What have I been putting off that You’re asking me to finally step into? Because I don’t want to simply have 100 more days. I want 100 days that matter. I don’t want to just get to December 31 and say, “Wow, that went fast.” I want to look back and say, “God was in those days.” I want to have grown. I want to have loved well. I want to have obeyed. I want to have noticed Him. I want to have made memories. I want to have helped somebody. I want to have become more like Jesus. Ephesians 5:16 TPT, “Take full advantage of every day as you spend your life for his purposes.” Take full advantage of every one of these final 100 days of 2026. Spend your life for HIS purposes. Well, what are his purposes for your life? His purposes for your life are to do the good things he has planned for you. (Ephesians 2:10). What if we just started asking him what good things he wants us to do each day? What if that became our daily ask of the Holy Spirit. “Holy Spirit, show me the good things You want me to do with You today. I’m available.” So let’s stop asking, “How much can I get done in 100 days?” And let’s ask a better question: “Lord, how do You want me to spend them?” This isn’t about productivity, this is about stewardship. Lord, who do you want me to become in these final 100 days of 2026? Give me wisdom about what actually matters here! This isn’t a self-improvement project. Let’s go deeper than losing 10 pounds or reading a few books or eliminating sugar – let’s see the invitation beneath that from God – the invitation the steward these precious days better. The goal isn’t to have a really impressive 100 days. The goal is to have 100 days that mattered to God. These days belong to God. They are gifts He has placed in our hands, and we don’t know how many more we will be given. So, Lord, teach us to number them. Teach us to recognize how precious they are. Teach us to spend them well. “Holy Spirit, show me the good things You want me to do with You today. I’m available.” Not tomorrow. Today. Because these 100 days are going to pass whether we pay attention or not. December 31 is coming. The days will disappear from the calendar one by one. But what if, when we get there, we don’t just say, “Wow, that went fast.” What if we can say: “God was in those days.” I loved people. I forgave. I obeyed. I noticed Him. I said yes. I made memories. I used what He gave me. I became more like Jesus. I did the good things He prepared for me to do. I didn’t just fill my days. I spent them well. So, girls, we have 100 days. Not 100 days to become perfect. Not 100 days to prove something. Not 100 days to accomplish some giant self-improvement project. 100 days to be awake. 100 days to be available. 100 days to walk with Jesus. 100 days to love well. 100 days to do good. 100 days to live on purpose. The clock is ticking. The days are numbered. And today is a gift. Let’s not just let these 100 days pass. Let’s live them. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Wherever you are, wherever you live, wherever you work, imagine how the atmosphere would shift if Jesus walked into the room. The energy, the conversations, the focus would be completely altered by his presence. There would be no complaining, no moping, no worry or fear, no gossip, no drama – everyone would be absolutely mesmerized by the presence of Jesus in the room. Now, understand this … YOU CARRY HIS PRESENCE! That’s what the Holy Spirit is. God, the Father – and Jesus, the son, IN YOU. As a follower of Jesus, you become a vessel for the Spirit of God, and you literally carry him into every room you enter. So, Sis, let’s be real clear – THE ATMOSPHERE SHOULD SHIFT WHEN YOU WALK IN!!!! The conversations shouldn’t be the same when you enter. Worry and fear should be banished. Hope and joy should fill the room. When the Spirit of God is present, there should be an energy, a peace, a hope that changes what happens next. Not because you walked in with all the answers, but because Jesus walked in with you. You don’t have to be the loudest person in the room. You don’t have to preach a sermon. You don’t have to fix everybody’s problems. You simply need to carry Jesus well. Your presence should bring peace where there is panic. Hope where there is heaviness. Kindness where there is criticism. Joy where there is complaining. Grace where there is judgment. Love where there is division. Sis, you are an atmosphere shifter. Not because you change people, but because God does. Not because you’re the fixer, but because you carry the fixer!!!!! If the atmosphere is not shifting when you walk in the room, it could be because you’re not declaring that power. It could be because you’re forgetting what you carry within you. It could be because you’re settling for what everyone else is doing and playing little. When your home is filled with chaos, when the office is nothing but division and tension, when the conversations are negative and hurtful, remember this – YOU ARE CARRYING THE PRESENCE OF GOD WITHIN YOU, AND THAT PRESENCE HAS THE POWER TO SHIFT THE ATMOSPHERE! Scripture tells us there are two realms – there is the physical realm we see and the invisible spiritual realm. You may not see the spiritual realm, but it is real. What is happening in the unseen is just as real as what is happening physically. The spiritual real is continually affecting your life. The atmosphere of every room you’re in is being shaped by the spiritual realm. You know this – you’ve experienced it. Sometimes there’s just a dark feeling. A weighted heaviness in the room. A tension. I’ve even been in some areas where the entire city has a dark oppression and you can feel it. I’ve walked into rooms and felt that total ‘ick’ feeling. That’s a spiritual atmosphere being created in the unseen. There’s something happening. The spiritual atmosphere has the power to shape our lives – to confuse or inspire, to lift up or suppress, to bring happiness or sadness, to overwhelm or empower. The difference is in who is ruling the atmosphere in that given place. Let’s look at the contrast. Romans 14:17 tells us the Kingdom of God is “goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” So this means when the Holy Spirit is in charge of your home or your office or the circle you sit in, there will be goodness and peace and joy. How? BECAUSE WE CARRY IT WITH US! We speak it. We share it. We shift the atmosphere with his Spirit! But, it’s up to us to remember what we have in us. If we’re not prayerfully aware of the Spirit we carry, then we may be allowing a radically different power to rule the room. Jesus tells us in John 10:10 that our enemy the devil has come to “kill, steal and destroy.” When his dark forces are at work, you can feel it. The conversations are destructive. The energy is negative. Yeah – you want to know why? Because the presence in the room is there to kill our joy, steal our peace, and destroy our hope. And sadly, sometimes we just allow that! We allow it in our homes. We allow it in our work place. We allow it in our car. We allow it in our circles. HOW ABOUT WE STOP ALLOWING IT AND SHIFT THE ATMOSPHERE. Girl, the conversations shouldn’t be the same when you walk in the room. Why? Because you’re walking in with the power of God in you. The power to heal, the power to shift, the power to change, the power to restore, the power to create, the power to revive … That power now lives within you. So yes, the conversations should be different. Yes, the energy should be different. Yes, the atmosphere should shift. If it’s not, it’s because you’re forgetting what you have inside of you. Jesus said in Luke 10:19, “Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy.” Today, there’s a battle happening all around you. You may not see it, but you can probably feel it. It’s spiritual. Two spiritual forces at war. The battle of good and evil. The battle of light and darkness. Ultimately, this is a war over the presence of God – who will rule the atmosphere here. Will it be the Holy Spirit – or will it be something else? Well girl, you don’t have to depend on anyone else to determine that – you have the authority in prayer!!!!! You can prayerfully evict every presence of evil and darkness. Every demon sent from hell to discourage, depress, disrupt, overwhelm, scare, or paralyze – cast them out in the name of Jesus. Speak up – bring Jesus into the room! Why in the world would a girl like you, carrying the power of God in the Holy Spirit, ever play little? Why would you watch the chaos and not call on God to stop it. Why would you sit in that conversation and not shift it? You don’t have to yell. You don’t have to argue. You don’t have to prove a point. You don’t have to become the spiritual police of every room you enter. You just need to bring Jesus into the room. Pray. Speak life. Speak truth. Change the subject. Refuse to participate in gossip. Encourage the person who is struggling. Bring peace into the conflict. Remind someone of what is true. Love the person nobody else is loving. And sometimes, you won’t even have to say a word. The way you carry yourself will preach. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:6–7: “God has made his light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” THIS IS YOU, SIS. A jar of clay carrying a treasure. You are ordinary. You are imperfect. You don’t have all the answers. You don’t have to be the strongest person in the room. But you are carrying something extraordinary. You are carrying the presence of God. So don’t underestimate what happens when you walk into a room surrendered to Jesus. Don’t underestimate what happens when you pray before you speak. Don’t underestimate what happens when you choose peace instead of panic. Don’t underestimate what happens when you answer anger with grace. Don’t underestimate what happens when you refuse to join the gossip. Don’t underestimate what happens when you bring hope into a hopeless conversation. Don’t underestimate what happens when you walk into darkness carrying LIGHT. Because you don’t have to become the atmosphere. You get to change it. The next time you walk into a room, don’t just walk in. Bring Jesus with you. Walk in carrying peace. Walk in carrying hope. Walk in carrying joy. Walk in carrying truth. Walk in carrying love. Walk in carrying the very presence of God. And then watch what happens. SHIFT THE ATMOSPHERE. Jesus put it this way: “Behold I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19 NKJV). This means that we don’t have to submit to our negative circumstances and environment, we can change the atmosphere wherever we go by walking in our God-given dominion. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

The book of Philippians is a letter written by Paul to the Church in Philippi. And there’s a few important things to know about that – this church was the very first church in Europe. It was started by Paul about 20 years after Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected. The church all started when Paul was traveling through the city of Phiippi and came across some women praying on a riverbank. They were praying to God, but didn’t know about Jesus. Then Paul tells this group of women about Jesus and one woman named Lydia listened. The Lord opened her heart and she accepted everything Paul was saying about Jesus. She and her household were baptized, and they became the beginning of the first church in Europe. The other key player in the start of this church was a prison guard in Philippi. This prison guard encounter Paul in one way – when Paul was thrown into prison. Why was Paul in prison? Because he cam across a girl who had a spirit enabling her to tell the future. She was enslaved by her owners making them money by telling the future. Paul commanded the demon to flee from her, and with that she was no longer able to be a fortune teller. The people who had been making money off her were so enraged now that there hopes of wealth were shattered and had Paul thrown into prison there. AND THAT’S HOW PAUL MEETS THE PRISON GUARD who would be a key player in the first church in Phiippi. While in prison Paul and his buddy Silas were singing praises to God at midnight and suddenly there was a massive earthquake and the prison was shaken. The doors flew open and the chains of every prisoner just fell off! When the jailer found all the prisoners had escaped, he grabs his sword and decides to kill himself. But that’s when Paul stops him, tells him about Jesus, and the prison guard and his entire family accept Jesus and are baptized. So, we have Lydia and her family, plus the prison guard and his family in the city of Philippi who are the beginning of the first church in Europe. That’s how God started the spread of his message across the entire country. One woman who was praying on a riverbank, and one man who had a really bad day at work. Funny how God works! So now the church has been going for about 10 years and Paul writes this letter to them. That letter is now our book of Philippians in our Bible. And … Paul is writing this letter from Rome while arrested AGAIN! With only 4 chapters, this is one of the shortest books in the Bible, and I believe one of the most powerful! If you’re looking for a place to start studying your Bible, may I suggest you start right there. Philippians – it’s almost at the very end. Reading this letter written by Paul while in prison in Rome, delivered to the church he started in Philippi with this woman named Lydia and the local prison guard, we read these words in verse 6, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Let’s just sit right there today. GOD STARTS THE WORK IN US – NOT US! What work did God start in you, my sister? It’s his work. Your entire life is HIS WORK! He started it all. He gave you breath. He put dreams and desires in your heart. He filled you with purpose. He opened your heart to believe. You didn’t start any of that – that’s God’s work. And listen to this – GOD FINISHES WHAT HE STARTS!!!!! Look at creation. Do you see anything that God only did halfway? When he created the fish in the sea or the animals on the land, did he only do a little work, then get distracted and leave creation hanging? No. When God starts something, he finishes it. He didn’t create the ocean and forget to add the waves. He didn’t create the sky and forget the stars. He didn’t make a flower and decide halfway through that he was tired of it. When God creates, he completes. And Philippians 1:6 is telling us something just as powerful about you. God doesn’t start a work in you and then walk away. He doesn’t open your heart to him and then say, “Okay, you’re on your own now.” He doesn’t give you a purpose and then leave you to figure it all out. He doesn’t call you and then abandon you halfway through the calling. GOD FINISHES WHAT HE STARTS. Now, that doesn’t mean everything in your life will go the way you thought it would. It doesn’t mean there won’t be detours. There will be. It doesn’t mean there won’t be seasons when you wonder what in the world God is doing. There will be those, too. It doesn’t mean you won’t have moments when you feel like you’re going backward instead of forward. You probably will. But here’s what it does mean: Your unfinished doesn’t mean God’s finished. Let me say that again. Your unfinished doesn’t mean God’s finished. You may look at yourself and see what still needs to change. God sees what he is still doing. You may see the mess. God sees the masterpiece in progress. You may see how far you still have to go. God sees how far you’ve already come—and he knows exactly where he’s taking you. Think about the Philippian church itself. It started with a handful of people beside a river. A woman named Lydia. Her household. A jailer. His household. A few believers gathering together in Lydia’s home. That’s not exactly what we would call an impressive beginning. But God wasn’t finished. That little gathering became a church. That church became Paul’s partners in the gospel. And years later, Paul is writing to them from a prison cell in Rome, reminding them that the God who started this thing was still working. I wonder if somebody needed Philippians 1:6 because she feels like a Philippi right now. Small. Unfinished. In the middle. Not what she thought she would be by now. And I wonder if maybe that someone is YOU. Maybe you look at your life and think, “Surely this isn’t where I was supposed to end up.” Maybe there are things you thought God would have fixed by now. Maybe there are prayers you’ve been praying for years. Maybe there are dreams that haven’t happened. Maybe there are parts of your heart that still need healing. Maybe you look at yourself and think, “I should be farther along than this.” But listen, my sister: God is not finished with you. You are not a finished product. You are a work in progress—and the One doing the work is God. And here’s what I love about Paul’s words. He doesn’t say, “I’m confident that you will finish the work.” He says, “I am certain that God…will continue his work until it is finally finished.” The confidence isn’t in the Philippians. The confidence is in God. That’s a huge difference. Because if this were dependent on us, we would have plenty of reason to worry. We get distracted. We get tired. We lose our way. We make mistakes. We quit. We get afraid. We sometimes take two steps forward and three steps backward. But God? God is faithful. He started the work. He is continuing the work. And he will finish the work. This verse in TPT: “The one who began this gracious work in you will faithfully continue the PROCESS OF MATURING YOU.” That’s the season you’re in! You’re in the process of being matured! So maybe today you don’t need to figure out the entire rest of your life. Maybe you don’t need to know how every piece is going to come together. Maybe you don’t need to have the whole thing finished. Maybe you just need to trust the One who started it. Because the God who opened Lydia’s heart by a river… the God who met a desperate jailer in the middle of the worst night of his life… the God who took a tiny beginning in Philippi and turned it into a church… the God who took Paul from city to city spreading the gospel… the God who was still working while Paul sat chained up in Rome… that God is still working. And he’s working in you. So don’t give up on what God hasn’t finished. Don’t call it over because you can’t see what he’s doing. Don’t mistake unfinished for abandoned. Don’t mistake waiting for wasted. Don’t mistake a hard season for the end of the story. God started the work. God is doing the work. And God will finish the work. Philippians 1:6 isn’t just a nice verse to put on a coffee mug. It’s a promise to hold onto when you can’t see the finished picture. The God who began the good work within you will continue his work until it is finally finished. He’s not done. Not even close. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Jesus says we will be known by our love, and our love is to make Him known. But let me ask you a question: Who is the hardest person for you to love? Oh, I know exactly who it is. It’s someone you live with. Someone you work with. Someone in every one of your circles. It’s YOU. You are the person you are hardest on. You know every flaw, every failure, every awkward quirk, every stupid thing you’ve ever said, and every way you think you should be doing better. And because you spend a whole lot of time with you, you’ve become really good at criticizing you. I’m a fan of long-distance relationships. Our time together is short and sweet. It is savored and precious, then you go home. I don’t have to deal with your quirky self on the daily, and let me tell you, girl, you are quirky! You’ve got some weird things you do. Some of y’all label stuff, then alphabetize it. Some of y’all can’t sit and keep your hands still. Some of y’all eat really loud. And some of y’all come up with the craziest cockamamie ideas that no one understands. Oh wait. That’s me. It’s cute for a short amount of time, but then it’s best if we have some space. And that’s the problem. Wherever you go, THERE YOU ARE! You can’t get space from you. You intimately know your struggles. You have to put up with your own darn quirkiness twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. You had a front-row seat to every one of your failures. You don’t even like the sound of your own voice. And let’s not talk about looking in the mirror or seeing yourself in photos. Oh mercy. It’s a real issue. Do you have a hard time loving you? Let’s make this real clear: this is a problem. You will be known by your love, and your love is to make Him known, but you refuse to fully love the one person you can simply never get away from: YOU. I promise you this: you hating you is not an honorable representation of your Creator. You may cover it up as humility, but at its core, it’s hateful. You’re hateful toward you. And you being hateful toward you doesn’t make a single soul say, “Wow, I just gotta know what that girl is doing! I gotta know about the One who helps her hate herself so well. I just gotta know where she gets this deep critical spirit for herself, because I really want some of that too.” Nobody ever says that. In fact, what if your self-hatred is actually telling the world something about your God that isn’t true? Imagine something you own now that you really love. Maybe you love your Roomba. Maybe it’s your Sleep Number bed. How about your Lululemon workout pants? Or your Stanley cup, your Dyson hair dryer, your UGG winter boots, your jacked-up Jeep, your fancy Tesla, or your Dawn Dishwashing Spray (because that stuff is pure magic and gets a three-month-old stain out of your favorite shirt.) You have something you love. Now imagine that product you love started telling you all about how much it disliked itself. What if your UGG boots constantly told you how truly ugly they were? Because let’s face it, those boots are ugly. You know that’s why they’re called UGG, right? Ugg-ly! If every step you took in your UGG boots came with a little voice saying, “I’m so ugly. I hate how I look. I don’t deserve to be worn,” you would eventually start believing there was something wrong with them. ****And there’s certainly something wrong with whoever made those boots, because boots aren’t supposed to talk about how ugly they are. What if your Roomba roamed around on your floors, vacuuming up all that dog hair like she always does, but she started incessantly talking about her clumsiness and her tendency to bump into things? “Oh my gosh, I can never just get from the kitchen to the bedroom without running into everything. I always get stuck under the couch. Gosh, why do I do that? I hate that about my Roomba self. I’m always just wandering around lost, and then I start running low and run out of energy. I just can’t do it all.” If your Roomba started talking like this, you would think the insanely rich creator of the Roomba wasn’t so great after all. Dude, what you made hates itself! Here’s your ah-ha moment: Could that be your representation of God? “Oh, God is sooooo good. He is sooooo faithful. I loveeeeeee God, but I just can’t love me. I’m just messed up. I’m flawed. I’m never good enough. I’m unworthy. But everybody, you should really love the One who personally designed me. He’s great!” Do you see what you’re doing when you are unloving toward yourself? Do you see how it’s totally NOT humble, totally not honoring, and totally not God’s will for you? You see it, don’t you? So when are you going to get serious enough to do something about it? The Bible says in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Girl, you are God’s workmanship, his masterpiece. You are not an accident. You are not a mistake. You are not some random collection of flaws that happened to land on this planet. You were made by a Maker. And the Maker gets to decide the value of what He made. Psalm 139:14 says: “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it.” What if you started seeing yourself through the eyes of the One who made you? Not through the eyes of comparison. Not through the eyes of your worst day. Not through the eyes of the person who rejected you. Not through the eyes of the mirror. Not through the eyes of the scale. Through the eyes of your Maker. Because you know what? The person you have spent the most time criticizing is the person God has spent your entire life loving. You have been rehearsing your failures. God has been lavishing you with grace. You have been pointing out what’s wrong with you. God has been calling you His masterpiece. You have been disqualifying yourself. God has been inviting you closer. Romans 8:1 says, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” That little voice in your head that never stops reminding you that you’re not enough? That isn’t the voice of your Savior. Jesus convicts, but He doesn’t condemn. There is a difference between God lovingly showing you something He wants to change – and you continually beating yourself up for being human. One leads you toward Jesus. The other makes you hide from Him. Do you want to know why loving others exhausts you so much sometimes? Because you show up already worn out from the battle you’re fighting with yourself. Before you ever greet your family in the morning, you’ve already beat yourself up for how your body is aging, how your energy is never enough, and how you’ve secretly failed yourself. Maybe you put on a good show so no one else sees it, but you hear it. That little voice in your head just never stops. It’s why we struggle with relationships. We’re looking for someone to fill that empty hole within us, but no matter how much they pour into us, it’s never enough because, girl, you keep poking at the hole. God wants to heal that hole in you. He wants to help you calm the voices. He wants you to receive His love so deeply that you no longer need everybody else to convince you that you are worthy of being loved. He wants you to love yourself in a way that reflects the love He already has for you, so you can show up in this world in a way that glorifies your Creator. Jude 1:20–21 MSG: “Stay right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!” Stay right at the center of God’s love. That’s what we are supposed to do. And we do precisely the opposite of this. Us beloved girls of the Almighty, we tear ourselves down in comparison and shortcomings. We disqualify ourselves from the love of God. All while we are supposed to be building ourselves up in faith and keeping ourselves in the love of God. Instead, we shut down. We shrink and hide. We build walls. And we live on the outskirts of God’s love instead of staying right smack dab in the middle of it. God’s love for you hasn’t changed. But when you continually tear yourself down, you are living outside the reality of the love He is inviting you to receive. THIS IS A PROBLEM. A serious problem. And God wants to change that. What if you started practicing the mindset of being profusely loved by God? Think about that. The mindset of being profusely loved by God. If you knew how much your Creator loved you, you would find it easier to love you too. And if you loved you as you were created, you would represent your Creator in a magnificent way. But instead, sometimes you’re the Roomba, wandering around cleaning floors and blasting to the world about your low battery, your tendency to get stuck, and the corners you constantly miss. It’s hard for me to praise your Maker when you’re continually telling me what He made in you isn’t enough. Whew. Let that one sink in. Beloved, build yourself up and keep yourself in the love of God! Today, practice this mindset of being profusely loved by God. Invite your soul to plunge into His love like a dolphin romping in the sea. Go ahead and get that visual. The dolphin clearly doesn’t hate itself. It swims and jumps and celebrates everything it was created to do. And every single one of us absolutely LOVES watching a dolphin. We all literally delight in seeing a dolphin just being a dolphin and doing its dolphin things. A dolphin doesn’t make a lot of money. A dolphin doesn’t speak eloquently. A dolphin doesn’t run marathons. A dolphin doesn’t have a degree. A dolphin does dolphin-ing, and we love it for it! And I’m telling you, we need to see you living like that! We need to see you plunging into God’s love, building yourself up. We need to see you jumping up, unafraid to be seen, loving how your Creator created you. I need to see Catherine Catherine-ing. Rhonda, you honor your Creator when you are Rhonda-ing. Lynette, please bring your Lynette-ing today. Julie, get your Julie-ing on today. Kristin, girl, only you can Kristin like you Kristin. Jessica, your Jessica-ing and Stephanie, your Stephanie-ing shows me your Creator! You don’t glorify God by becoming somebody else. You glorify God by becoming fully who He created you to be. Actively engage in His unending, extravagant, no-strings-attached affection for you. That’s not bragging, boasting, or showing off. That’s saying, “Hey, I’m an UGG boot, and I’m showing up exactly as I was created to. I was designed to look like this, and the One who made me really likes me!” That’s saying, “I’m a Tesla Model 3, and I’m not going to beat a Porsche 911 GT2 RS in a race, but I’m going to get you where you’re going in my own way!” That’s saying, “I’m a Stanley cup. I can’t make my own water, but girl, I can keep your water cold and I can also keep that coffee hot! I’m magical in my own way!” I’m not like you, and you’re not like me. But we can each glorify our Maker when we adopt the mindset of being profusely loved by our Maker. We can glorify our Creator when, like a dolphin romping in the sea, we plunge into God’s love for us—totally enough, wholly chosen, and confidently placed in a time such as this. I’ll stop everything I’m doing to watch that dolphin naturally doing dolphin things, loving its dolphin life. In the same way, I’ll stop everything I’m doing to see YOU naturally doing your thing, loving your life. Ohhhhh, what a beautiful representation of your Creator you are when you keep yourself in His love! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Today we’re living in the middle of a story that’s already promised an eternal ending, but we’re not there yet. We’re here – in the middle. In the middle of real life with real problems, real threats, real pain. Every day we are closer and closer to what is promised, but we’re not there yet. Within our Bibles is a story which so sweetly shows us our Jesus standing with us in our real life. He’s not just standing by in Heaven awaiting your arrival at the end of this life – no, he’s right here beside you, walking this out. Let’s read a familiar story with a new perspective. Jesus had a friend named Lazarus. Lazarus was sick, so his sisters, Mary and Martha, sent a message for Jesus to come. But, by the time Jesus gets there, Lazaraus is already dead. In fact, he had been in his grave for four days. Jesus meets with Lazarus’ sisters in their grief. John 11: 32-44, “When Mary saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, ‘Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. ‘Where have you put him?’ he asked them. They told him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ THEN JESUS WEPT. The people who were standing nearby said, ‘See how much he loved him!’ But some said, ‘This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?’ Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. ‘Roll the stone aside,’ Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, ‘Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.’ Jesus respond, ‘Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?’ So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.’ Then Jesus shouted, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, ‘Unwrap him and let him go!'” Question – Did Jesus go there that day knowing Lazarus was dead? Yes. Did Jesus already plan to heal him, even in death? Absolutely. Did Jesus already know how he was going to turn their weeping into sheer joy when he brought life back to this dead body? Yes! So, why did he still weep? Answer – because Jesus was still walking through every moment with them. He allowed himself to feel the pain, to know the loss, even while fully knowing the way he was going to work it all out. He already had a plan, but in the ‘not yet’ of the plan, he wept too. And my friends, that’s where we are – We’re living in the ‘not yet’, but never forget there is a already a plan. A plan which God promises is good. A plan where God will take every intended harm and use it for good. A plan which ends with an eternal paradise spent with Jesus. Why do some prayers feel unanswered? Why do good things get taken away? Why do we go through loss? Jesus stood at Lazarus’ tomb, with tears running down his face. He KNEW death wasn’t the ending, but he still entered into the pain. He stood there with his friends as they ached, as they grieved. It was already done, already made good in the hands of the Father, already answered, already healed, already restored – BUT NOT YET. Your prayers have already been answered – but today you’re in the not yet. God already holds those answers for you and he’s so lovingly guiding your every step on the path to those answers. You’re simply on the journey there. The things that have been taken away, the losses you’ve experienced – God holds them so perfectly, not in punishment, but in His hands. He is not standing at a distance watching you suffer, waiting for you to finally make it to the other side. He is right here in the middle of it with you. He knows what you don’t know. He sees what you cannot see. He knows what is coming when all you can see is what has already happened. Every broken thing will be made whole again. The battle has already been won. Today, you hold on to the promise. Already … but not yet. And sometimes the miracle isn’t that God keeps us from the tomb. Sometimes, like Lazarus, we find ourselves standing in the middle of something that looks completely dead. We don’t understand why He didn’t come sooner. We don’t understand why He allowed it. We don’t understand why the stone is still there. But Jesus is there. And if Jesus is there, the story is not over. That’s the hope of the “already, but not yet.” We don’t have to pretend the pain isn’t painful. We don’t have to force ourselves to smile when we’re grieving. We don’t have to act like we understand what God is doing. If Jesus wept, so can you. But we also don’t have to believe that what we can see is all there is. Lazarus was dead, but death wasn’t the end. The tomb was sealed, but the story wasn’t finished. Mary was grieving, but joy was already on its way. Jesus was standing in the “not yet” with them, while already knowing exactly what the Father was about to do. And He still does that for us. Maybe today you’re standing in front of your own “tomb.” Maybe you’re waiting for healing, restoration, provision, reconciliation, direction, or an answer to a prayer you’ve prayed so many times you don’t even know what to pray anymore. Don’t confuse “not yet” with “no.” Don’t confuse silence with absence. Don’t confuse what you can see with all that God is doing. You may be standing in the middle of a story that God has already written the ending to. So we can grieve AND have hope. We can weep AND believe. We can hurt AND trust. Because Jesus doesn’t ask us to skip over the “not yet.” He meets us right there. And one day, there will be no more “not yet.” There will be no more death, no more crying, no more pain, no more loss. Everything Jesus has promised will finally be fully realized. Until then, we walk with Him. We trust Him. We keep believing. And when the road gets hard, we remember: Jesus is already holding the ending, even when we’re still living in the middle. Already promised. Already held. Already His. But not yet. I don’t understand the waiting I don’t understand the pain But You came into our suffering You wept You bled You stayed So until You make it right, Lord I’ll keep whispering through the ache: Already… Not yet… But soon Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Did you know in Jesus’ time of walking this earth and preparing his disciples to spread the gospel and reach the ends of the world with his offer of salvation, he never once taught them how to preach. He didn’t teach them how to organize a mission. He taught them this one thing … HOW TO PRAY. In teaching how to pray, we learn how to surrender to the Father, how to grow in trust, how to ask for his healing, seek his will, and follow his plan. All from the power of prayer. If Jesus puts this level of importance on prayer, we should too! He even gives us a way to pray – not a magic formula, but a guide for approaching our Holy God as our Father in Heaven. “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ‘ ” Immediately after Jesus shared this prayer example with his disciples, he followed it up with a parable showing HOW TO APPROACH GOD. As we now hear this story from Jesus, remember that’s what we’re learning. This is how we approach God in prayer. Luke 11: 5-10: Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.'” Again, what is Jesus teaching us through this story? HOW TO APPROACH GOD. This story can be confusing if you focus on the reluctant sleepy friend who doesn’t want to answer the door. That’s not the focus. The focus is on the man beating on the door at midnight asking. Asking is the point. The man knocking is not worried about being a nuisance. He’s not worried about being rejected. His need outweighs his embarrassment. Why do we hesitate to ask God, thinking he might be annoyed by us. We tell ourselves God has so many other more important things to deal with that he can’t possibly have time for our prayers too. Girl – God doesn’t fit in your little box! He’s not limited, he’s not overwhelmed, he’s not stressed, and he’s not annoyed. He created you to need him – Now admit that you do – CONSTANTLY! Do other people have bigger things they’re dealing with – Perhaps. But this isn’t a competition for the one with the most urgent crisis and the winner receives God’s help. This is an invitation to bring your needs to the Father and be personally attended to every single time. The man knocking on the door was asking for bread to share with his house guest – it wasn’t a life or death situation, yet he asked. And because he asked, he returned home with bread to share that night. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus would use an example like that? It wasn’t a mother beating on the door of a doctor begging for help for her dying child. It wasn’t a desperate plea for a bucket of water as their house was on fire. It wasn’t a midnight run for safety. It was a midnight run for bread to feed a guest – like a late night trip to the Walmart for a welcome snack to put on the table. THIS IS THE EXAMPLE JESUS USES FOR PRAYER. Yes, you should ask God for help with what you’re dealing with. Yes, you should ask God to provide for that. Yes, you should ask God to intervene when the situation feels impossible. But don’t wait until your life is falling apart to talk to God. Don’t wait until you’re starving to come knocking – Knock when you only need a little bread for a guest. That’s a little deal. But if you have a big deal, you can still come knocking! Just realize you didn’t have to wait until the need got so big – you could have asked all along. Ask him about the big things AND the little things. Ask him for wisdom about the decision you’re making. Ask him to help you know what to say in that conversation. Ask him to give you patience with that person who is driving you absolutely bananas. Ask him to provide what you need, even when what you need seems small and insignificant compared to someone else’s crisis. If it matters to you, it matters to your Father. You don’t have to rank your problems before you bring them to God. You don’t have to clean up your request, make it sound spiritual, or prove that your need is important enough to bother him with. Just ask. Remember this, we’re not dealing with a reluctant God. The friend in this story was reluctant. He was sleeping. He didn’t want to answer the door. He was bothered. THAT IS NOT OUR GOD. God is not reluctant – because he’s not sleepy – he’s not busy – he’s not annoyed. God says in Isaiah 65:24, “While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!” Does that sound like a reluctant God? NO – not at all. So the man keeps knocking, keeps asking, and his persistence finally works – the reluctant, sleepy, annoyed friend finally opens the door and gives him the bread. And here’s the point: IF PERSISTENCE WORKS WITH A RELUCTANT HUMAN, HOW CERTAIN CAN WE BE OF A WILLING GOD? Jesus shares this story to encourage us to approach God with honest, unashamed persistence. Don’t be distant. Don’t be hesitant. Don’t be ashamed to ask. Don’t wait until you think the time is right. Go to God and ask – then ask again – and again – and again. Jesus uses the term, “shameless persistence” – girl get you some of that in your conversations with God. Be absolutely shameless in going to Him again and again. Stop worrying about being too much. Stop worrying about bothering God. You know he has what you need – ASK HIM! That’s how Jesus is teaching us to approach God. Not timidly. Not reluctantly. Not wondering if we’ve bothered him enough already. We come boldly, persistently, confidently—not because God is reluctant to help us, but because he is our Father and he has invited us to ask. Prayer isn’t about convincing God to care. Prayer is about trusting the God who already does. Now, let’s read the final 3 verses as Jesus is teaching his disciples about prayer. Verses 11-13, “You fathers – if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” I’ve always focused on the snake and the scorpion here – completely overlooking what Jesus is telling me to ask the heavenly Father for. What does he say? “How much more will your heavenly Father give the HOLY SPIRIT to those who ask him.” Girl, ask God for his Holy Spirit! Ask him to fill you with his spirit. With his spirit, you begin to change from the inside out. You are filled with power and directed with purpose. You aren’t left trying to muster up the patience, the wisdom, or the strength on your own. He hands you the ultimate source of comfort and guidance. When you get the Holy Spirit, you don’t just get an answer to a prayer – you get the Answerer Himself living inside you!!!!! Think about it: Jesus shifted the whole conversation from a loaf of bread to the third person of the Trinity. He started with a guy asking for a midnight snack for a guest, and He ended with a Father overflowing with His very presence for you. Why? Because God knows that what we need most in this life isn’t just our physical requests met. What we need most is Him. When we ask for a little bit of bread to handle our immediate problems, God looks at us and says, “I will give you that, but I want to give you so much more. I want to give you My Spirit.” Do I need bread for today? YES, that would be great! Do I want the Holy Spirit for today? OH MY GOODNESS, YES!!!!!! I get God himself within me! I get supernatural peace, I get divine wisdom, I get the fruits of the Spirit growing within me, and I get this boldness to keep knocking on heaven’s door without an ounce of shame. So, stop overthinking your prayers. Stop holding back because you think your request is too small, or because you think you’ve asked too many times. Your Heavenly Father is sitting on the edge of His seat, waiting to hear your voice. He isn’t asleep, He isn’t annoyed, and He certainly isn’t going to hand you a scorpion. Go to Him today. Knock loudly. Ask boldly. And most of all, ask to be filled fresh with His Holy Spirit. He is ready and excited to open the floodgates. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

One day while Jesus is teaching, an expert in religious law asks a question – “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life.” Today we think of eternal life solely as life after death – heaven. But this word ‘eternal’ was used as a particular QUALITY of life that comes from God. Eternal life was a life that could be had living right here and right now when living God’s way. This man was asking Jesus, how do I get God’s quality of life? How do I live better? The answer was, “you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind – AND – Love your neighbor as yourself”. And then Jesus is asked an important question – WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR? It’s an honest question. If I’m going to follow Jesus’ instructions to love my neighbor as myself, I first need to understand who my neighbor is – then I need to understand what it would mean to love them as myself. And that’s where our next parable comes in. To explain who our neighbor is and how we are supposed to love them, Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan. Luke 10: 30-37: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’ “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.” So here we have a Jewish man who is attacked and left dying beside the road. The locals see him and walk by. They’re not only locals, but one is a priest and one is a temple assistant – they literally work for God – but they pass by the man in desperate need and don’t get involved. Then comes a “despised Samaritan”. To really understand this story, you have to understand why he would have been despised. A Samaritan was from the region of Samaria. Samaritans and Jews had a long history of hostility. They had deep religious and cultural differences, and there was tremendous prejudice and mistrust between them. They didn’t associate with one another the way you might expect neighbors to. So when Jesus tells a story about a Jewish man in need and makes a Samaritan the one who stops to help him, there is serious shock factor. The most unlikely one was the neighbor. The outsider was the neighbor. The one who was different and disliked was the neighbor. The one kept at a distance was the neighbor. And the people who saw the need, crossed to the other side of the road, and kept walking? They were not acting like neighbors. Remember, the original question was, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus turns that question completely upside down. The question isn’t simply, “Who qualifies to receive my love?” The better question is, “Am I willing to become a neighbor to the person in front of me?” And that brings us right back to the command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” My friends, how many times are we failing to love our neighbors as ourselves? And is it because we don’t know how to first love ourselves? Nope. That’s cheap. Don’t settle for that answer. This isn’t a self-love message. Quite honestly, most of us are so totally selfish, so completely wrapped up in our own feelings and desires that we only think of ourselves. Here’s the truth – you know how to care about yourself. You know how to make sure you have food to eat. You know how to protect yourself. You know how to make sure you’re comfortable. You know how to avoid things that inconvenience you. We really don’t have a problem loving ourselves. We have a unique way of making everything about ourselves. We take the command of loving others as ourselves and twist it into a self-love lesson on putting ourselves first so we can then love others better. Don’t twist this. Jesus is simply telling us to take that same concern we naturally have for ourselves and extend it outward. Loving our neighbor as ourself is having the same concern for others as we do for ourselves. We care about us eating dinner – we should care about them eating dinner. We care about us being warm – we should care about them being warm. The Samaritan didn’t just notice the man’s need. He allowed the man’s need to interrupt his own life. That’s the part that gets me. The Samaritan was traveling this road because he had somewhere to go. This wasn’t a road you just took a joy walk on. He wasn’t out getting in his steps. He had things to do. He had his own life. And yet, when he saw someone hurting, he stopped. He got close. He got involved. He gave his time. He gave his resources. He gave his attention. He gave what he had. He’s the neighbor. He’s caring. He’s loving. Love isn’t always convenient. In fact, sometimes love is wildly inconvenient. Sometimes loving your neighbor means crossing the road instead of crossing your arms. It means noticing instead of ignoring. It means stopping instead of rushing. It means getting involved when it would be easier to mind your own business. Imagine the excuses the first 2 people had walking by this man laying on the side of the road bleeding to death. Maybe justified excuses. It was dangerous. They weren’t medically trained to save a life. They didn’t know how to help. Wow – how many times is that our leading excuse for not stopping, for not getting involved – I just don’t know how to help. What – girl, you don’t know how to just CARE about someone else? Jesus knows better. And sometimes the person God is asking you to love isn’t the person you naturally like. That’s the whole point of the Samaritan. Jesus wasn’t impressed by proximity to God. The priest was close to the temple. The temple assistant worked in the temple. They knew the Scriptures. They knew the commands. But when love required something of them, they walked away. The Samaritan may have been the last person anyone expected Jesus to put in the hero role, but he understood something the religious insiders had missed: Love doesn’t just know what is right. Love does what is right. We get so hung up on “who is my neighbor” – here’s the better question – “Who is God putting in front of me that I am tempted to walk past?” Who is hurting that I’ve learned not to notice? Who is difficult that I’ve decided isn’t my responsibility? Who is different from me that I’ve kept at a distance? Who is inconvenient? Who requires more of me than I’m comfortable giving? Love your neighbor. Even when it’s inconvenient. Even when they’re different. Even when they wouldn’t be your first choice. Even when you don’t get anything back. I know we can’t help everyone. I know our job isn’t to save everyone. I know sometimes it’s even dangerous to get involved. So how do we know? Really, on a practical level, how do we get started with this? I read this quote by Spurgeon, “When we see innocent people suffering as the result of the sin of others, our pity should be excited.” Maybe this is a good way to start getting involved. Is that an innocent person suffering as a result of the sin of someone else – STOP AND CARE ABOUT THEM. We don’t have to run after every need we see. However, when we see the innocent suffering, we are supposed to get involved! And what do we receive as a result? Remember where this story started? It started with the question of eternal life. The word ‘eternal’ here meaning God’s kind of life – a God QUALITY life. Here it is! Care about your neighbor – the innocent one in need right in front of you. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com