The final week of Jesus’ life shows us how he prepared for the end by living now. His final week shows us how to live, knowing our time is limited, this life is temporary, and we have a mission to fulfill. Matthew 11-15 Mark 11-15 Luke 19-23 John 12-19 Scripture: Philippians 2:5 “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.” We know how the final week for Jesus ends – and so did he. He knew the cross was coming, and he knew his death was not defeat, it was victory. It was mission complete. With the example of Jesus, knowing he was about to die, knowing every detail of what was to come in his final week, what if we stopped fearing death and truly lived in the time we have? What if we truly treated each day as purposeful and valuable, knowing it takes us one day closer to our reward – an eternity in Heaven. What if we could treat our time here as important, but remember this is just the beginning. When our time is up on this earth, it’s not over, it’s just the beginning of what we were truly created for. You were created for eternity. Your soul was designed for forever connecting with your Creator. Your existence on this earth is a tiny pre-show where you grow to know your Creator and choose his path of salvation so you can dwell in your forever with him. The Garden of Eden is restored. We’re back where we belong. A perpetual paradise with God. The only way we get there is with Jesus. And what Jesus did in his final week not only makes it all possible, but his final week gives us a blueprint for living well. The final week of Jesus’ life wasn’t just about what he endured – it’s about what he demonstrated. He shows us how to live with purpose. He shows us how to love under pressure. He shows us how to surrender through struggle. He shows us how to trust God completely, even when it’s hard. Jesus Didn’t Just Die for Us—He Modeled Life for Us In His final days, Jesus compresses a lifetime of teaching into lived example. Under pressure, facing betrayal, injustice, and unimaginable suffering, He reveals what a God-centered life actually looks like. We often ask, “How should I live?” Jesus answers that question most clearly in the week leading to the cross. The cross is where He paid for our salvation. But the path to the cross is where He showed us how to live. In 1 week, Jesus would finally hang on the cross and speak the words, “It is finished” … but before he said ‘it is finished’, he showed us how to begin. To begin our journey to our final destination. Final destination is where Jesus was going to prepare things for us. That’s where God’s children are destined. That’s our promised land. And this entire life here on earth is the beginning of our journey there. You’re in the beginning – already on your way to Heaven. Now, live well, my friend. This will all be over soon. This week, study the path to the cross Jesus walked with tremendous intention. He moved forward without rushing. He was fully present in every opportunity. He sought his Father through the struggle. And oh how he loved with his life. He did more than die for us. Dying for us would have been enough. But Jesus showed us how to live. To live with eternity on our mind. To love with our entire being. And to be loved by God. 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

Have you ever asked God for one thing and you feel like you got something totally different? Jesus tells us, “ask and you will receive”, but maybe you’re not so sure that applies to you because you haven’t gotten what you’ve asked for. Yes, girl, ask. He wants you to ask. He answers every time you ask – it just might not look like what you thought it would. The Israelites were hungry in the desert and they asked God to supply their needs and give them food to eat. AND GET THIS – The next day they woke up to manna!!!! We know manna as this miraculous bread directly from God which sustained the Israelites where there was nothing else to eat. But let me tell you, THIS WAS NOT WHAT THEY WERE EXPECTING. Exodus 16: 13-15 “The next morning the area around the camp was wet with dew. When the dew evaporated, a flaky substance as fine as frost blanketed the ground. The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. ‘What is it?’ They asked each other. They had no idea what it was. And Moses told them, ‘It is the food the Lord has given you to eat.” I propose they woke up that morning and saw this white dewy, sticky substance all over the desert ground and they really said “What in the world is THIS?” I don’t know, maybe they were expecting Sarah Lee herself to appear at sunrise baking her fresh loaves of bread, but this … this is not what they were expecting. What is this and what am I supposed to do with it? Understand, nothing like this dewy, flaky substance had ever been seen before. This was totally new to them. And quite honestly, it didn’t look like the miracle they were expecting of the God they were counting on for survival. And this is why they called it manna. Manna literally means “What is it?” For real, that’s the defintion of manna – what is it? And if you don’t know what it is, you certainly don’t know what to do with it. The Israelites expected food they recognized. God gave them something they had to learn HOW to use. Sometimes the reason we miss God’s provision is because it doesn’t match our expectations. We expect things to look a certain way, but God works in the unexpected. You can’t figure him out. You can’t predict him. Your God is continually going to show up in ways that surprise you. And honestly, sometimes it’s initially a disappointing surprise. A question of, really, what is this? What do I do with this now? Can you see how what God has given you is provision, even if it doesn’t look like the “bread” you were expecting? The confusion you currently feel is the first stage of revelation to God’s answer. In the beginning, you’re asking, “Why did this relationship end?” – later you see God’s protection in it. In the beginning you’re asking, “Why did I lose that job?” – later you see God’s great redirection. In the beginning you’re asking, “Why did this happen to me?” – later you see God’s preparation for something better he had for you next. Just because you don’t understand it doesn’t mean God isn’t in it. The Israelites didn’t understand this bizarre looking substance all over the ground that morning, but it was still their miracle. Now it was time to learn what to do with their miracle. And my friend, if you’ve asked God to show up for you, he has … maybe you just don’t understand what he is doing. It’s time to learn what to do with the minunderstood miracle he has given you. In studying manna, this miraculous bread from Heaven that appeared on the desert ground each morning, I’ve learned the most practical and applicable lessons for exactly where we find ourselves today. Lessons on what to do with God’s answers that you don’t understand. It is believed that this manna was like a coriander seed covered in dew. Not loaves of bread, but a seed which could become something. Not a seed to be planted, but a seed to be ground. When worked, when crushed by hand, when grinded out, this substance miraculously covering the desert floor each morning became much like wheat and could be used to make bread. It wasn’t what they expected and they didn’t recognize its potential because IT HAD TO BE WORKED. They prayed for bread and they got something they could USE TO MAKE bread. God didn’t drop baked loaves into their hands. They had to go out each morning, they had to gather this strange substance from the ground, then they had to prepare it. Now remember, they’re in the middle of the desert where nothing grows or flows. This is literally a life-saving miracle. This was bizarre and beautiful. But it was only bizarre until they worked with it – then it became beautiful. I don’t know what bizarre thing you might be facing right now, but maybe this is God’s answer to your prayers, but some effort is required from you now to see it as beautiful. You have to get out there and gather this up. You’ve got to grind this out. You’ve got to work with this. And when you do, it will become exactly what you truly need. What if the very thing you’ve been confused about… The thing you’ve been questioning … The thing you’ve been overlooking … IS ACTUALLY YOUR MANNA?!!!! What if you’ve been asking God for bread, and he’s been faithfully covering the ground in front of you every morning and you just keep walking past it because you don’t recognize it. Well, my friend, you’ll never recognize it for what it could be if you don’t work with what God has given you! If you’ve asked God, he has heard you and he is moving on your behalf – just perhaps not in a way you recognize. But it’s here. Can you see it? What will you do with it? 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

Sometimes it feels like we don’t have enough. There’s not enough time. Not enough money. Not enough help. Not enough energy. Sometimes we feel like we’re not enough. We’re not good enough. Not smart enough. Not pretty enough. Not anything enough. So, we walk around looking at our life as if nothing is enough. We’re always lacking. Always in need. Always coming up short. Always feeling if we had more of this or more of that we would be better and do better, but we don’t. So we don’t. We don’t live better because we’ve blindly assumed we always need more in order to do so. All while the one thing we truly need, and already have, is God. If you have God, then you will always have what you need. He’s a good father and he takes care of his girls. So here’s what’s really happening – God designed your entire life around a relationship with him. If you have an abundance of everything, guess what … you no longer need the Almighty. When life is good and easy, you fail to recognize your total dependence on the One who has made every single detail even possible. Hey girl – you didn’t wake up today without God. God allows a need to bring you back to him. Your daily need actually creates a daily relationship with your Creator. Your need and his faithful provision forms a level of trust you wouldn’t know otherwise. In our study of the Israelites in the wilderness, they’re now free from slavery in Egypt, but wandering through a desert without provisions. Nothing grows or flows in a desert. They have a daily need and that daily need was designed by God to bring his people to him. Here, God shows up in really out of the norm ways to provide precisely what is needed. Exodus 16: 4-5, God says, “Look, I’m going to rain down food from heaven for you. Each day the people can go out and pick up as much food as they need for that day. I will test them in this to see whether or not they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they will gather food, and when they prepare it, there will be twice as much as usual.” Yes, God gave them enough for the day only. Enough. Just for one day. Why? To build their trust and test their faith. Maybe that’s where you are today. You have enough, but it’s only enough for today. You have no idea how you’re going to make it through tomorrow. You don’t see tomorrow’s provisions here today. And what are you going to do next month? How the heck is this going to work next year? What you have certainly doesn’t look like enough and the truth is you’re freaking out a little. How will you make this work? How will you find the strength? Where will you go for what is needed later? But maybe, just maybe, in this season God is building your trust and testing your faith. Will you trust his provision is here for today and see that it is enough? Will you have faith he will do the same for you tomorrow too? See what God has done for you today and trust he will do whatever is needed tomorrow too. Maybe you’ve gotten ahead of yourself and that’s why you’re so overwhelmed. Your mind is already in next week, next month and next year. Girl, you can’t see God’s hand way out there, but you can see his hand right here. Just stay here with God. What happened when the Israelites didn’t trust for God’s provision the next day and gathered extra of this bread from heaven on the ground just in case? Verse 19-20, Then Moses told them, “Do not keep any of it until morning.” But some of them didn’t listen and kept some of it until morning. But by then it was full of maggots and had a terrible smell. Moses was very angry with them.” This break in trust and lack of faith created a rot in their provision. It went bad. And sister, the same exact thing happens to us now. When we start thinking God is not trustworthy for our tomorrow, we create a rot in what we do have. Things go rotten for us. What has grown rotten in your life? What has gone bad? Could it be because you tried to do this thing on your own? Could it be because your priorities got all out of order? Could it be because God was no longer the recognized provider? Could it be because deep down, you really didn’t trust God was going to show up and do anything for you? Could it be because you needed to know exactly what you would have tomorrow, and this need for security and certainty just turned everything bad? God wants us to depend on him daily. Honey if you have this whole thing figured out with your fool proof 10 year plan, why would you need God? Eventually you would stop seeking his hand because your hands are already full. So, he fills your hands, but he fills them with only enough for today. And that is enough. Yes, this is enough. Say it … I HAVE ENOUGH. Why does God work this way? So you keep coming back tomorrow. A daily relationship. A daily trust. A daily connection. That’s the whole point. God wants a daily connection with you. You were created to need him, so stop trying to build a life where you don’t need him for every day. I may not be exactly comfortable with the unknown. I may not see how in the world this is going to work out. I may not understand how God is going to show up tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. But, I know today he has given me enough. I have enough. So do you. The Israelites soon became ungrateful for their daily supply of ‘enough’ and started grumbling and complaining. Whining and wallowing. As a result, they sacrificed where God was leading them and settled in the desert for the rest of their lives. Their potential was unmet. Their Promise Land was unattained. All because what was enough for the day was not enough for their happiness. Read that again. What was enough for the day was not enough for their happiness. Oh sis, don’t let that be us. If it’s enough for today, will it be enough for you to be happy over? Don’t let us be spoiled brats complaining over the miraculous provision of God each day. Don’t let us complain over the job we hate while we’re not doing a darn thing to change it. Don’t let us worry over the stresses of tomorrow when tomorrow hasn’t even shown up yet and today is going unlived. Don’t let us waste what we have been given today with an arrogant assumption there will always be more. More time, more opportunities, more blessings. No, what we have is for today. You can’t save this time for tomorrow. You can’t hold back these opportunities for when you feel more ready. You can’t store up these blessings and hope to pull them out in the future. It’s here for today. Girl you have enough. Enough for today. Receive it with gratitude, don’t waste it, and trust that tomorrow will come with tomorrow’s provision. Enough. This is enough. It is enough for me to be happy. It is enough for me to be grateful. It is enough for me to work with. It is enough for me to trust God. This is a test. A test of trusting God on the daily. How are you doing with that test? Look around, God has given you everything you need for today. You have enough. Now gather up what God has given you and use it today because this stuff can’t be saved for tomorrow! You’ve got some living to do here and you have just enough to live today! 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

Whatever your problem is, your solution is nearby. God does not promise a problem free journey, he promises provision for every problem along the way. Look around, your solution is likely less miraculous in appearance than you imagined and actually more practical in nature. It’s the offering of the little you have which somehow becomes enough to feed thousands. It’s the marching in circles that brings walls down. It’s the singing of praise that makes chains fall off. God works miraculously through the practical. Don’t miss the solution he is offering you today as you wait for something that appears more miraculous. Yesterday we read about Moses leading the Israelites in the worship of God after he saved them from their enemies. Real worship for an audience of one broke out in the desert! Women dancing with their tambourines, praising God! Awesome – let’s see what happens next. Now the Israelites are in the desert and what’s lacking in a desert? Water. That’s a problem. Exodus 15:22-24 “Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea, and they moved out into the desert of Shur. They traveled in this desert for 3 days without finding any water. When they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was too bitter to drink.” Here we have a real problem. No drinkable water in the middle of a desert. Imagine walking from Yuma Arizona to Tuscon with no water. That’s a problem. So, God offered a solution. A solution that looked more ordinary than miraculous. A solution that required obedience and trust. The solution could not be found in complaining. As the people complained, dying of thirst and facing the disappointment of finding water that was undrinkable, the water remained as it was. God did not respond to their complaining. As God’s people complain, their problems remain. Whatever you complain about will remain about. How much are we complaining right now, and how much is it helping anything? God isn’t drawn in to our complaints, instead I believe our complainging proves we’re not ready for what he is offering. Our complaining proves the lesson hasn’t been learned and the bitterness is still within us. The bitter water represented the bitterness of the Israelites. Even after witnessing the miraculous work of God as they crossed the Red Sea and were saved from the Egyptian Army, they fall back into complaining and wanting to return to Egypt as soon as they faced the next problem. Isn’t that us … we go from praise to complaint in the same day. Whew God you are so good … to …. Oh my gosh this sucks and I hate it. From shaking our tambourine to shaking our head. God did not respond to their complaining. Mamas, how do you respond to your kid’s complaining? Are you eager to jump in and help when they’re whiny? No! That’s what time out is for. Little girl, sit yo’self over here for a hot minute and work on your attitude. After a little time out and attitude adjustment, my kids would typically come back with a different attitude and a tender voice saying “Mama, can you help me now?” My answer … of course honey, now I can help. Papa, can you help me now? I love the Message translation of the Bible because it often refers to God the Father as Papa. That’s who he is, he is YOUR PAPA. Papa, can you help me now? The people complained and the water remained bitter. Moses cried out to God, and God guided him to a solution. Maybe your complaints in the past proved you weren’t ready, but now you’re here with a better attitude, ready to seek God for help. And THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING. God says, of course my girl, now I can help. The solution – a piece of wood that would turn the bitter water sweet and make it drinkable. Exodus 15:25, “Moses cried out to the Lord for help, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. Moses threw it into the water, and this made the water good to drink.” What a simple solution! But how would they have known to do this to make the water drinkable without the intervention of God? That solution was always there. The tree growing next to the water had been growing for years on purpose to be used. God has a solution for all our problems before they ever happen to us. Before they ever came to the bitter water thirsty, God had provided the tree as a solution. Yes we will have bitter water as a problem in life, but we will also have a sweet tree as provision from God. With the problem comes God’s provision, but do we not perceive it? Jesus said he is going to prepare a place for us, won’t he also provide a way to get there? And won’t he be in every detail along the way? All is prepared between here and heaven, his provision has been planted, we just need to seek God with open hearts, open hands and open eyes to see it. Complaining does not open our eyes to solutions. Only seeking God shows us his divine solutions. When Moses cried out to God for help, the Lord showed him the wood. This wood would turn the bitter waters sweet and make them drinkable. It was a practical solution for a real problem. Maybe while you’ve been seeking some miraculous magical feat, God actually has a very practical solution you’ve been overlooking. God, help me see what you’ve placed right here for a purpose. Lead me to the solution. I will stop complaining and I will seek you. Guide me. After turning the bitter water sweet and hydrating them for the next part of their journey, they continued on, led by God. And look at this: verse, 27, “After leaving Marah, the Israelites traveled on to the oasis of Elim, where they found 12 springs and 70 palm trees. They camped there beside the river.” This was a place of extreme provision. An oasis of bliss in the middle of the desert. God was leading them there, they just needed to stop at the bitter water on the way to work on their complaining attitude. There was a lesson to learn before they could come to the place God had for them. God has provision waiting for you too, my sister. A place he is leading you. If you find yourself at some bitter waters complaining and wanting to go back to the way things used to be, maybe you’re here for a sweet little lesson. A lesson on seeking God over complaining. A lesson on provision in the practical found right by the problem. And on the other side of this lesson is a beautiful oasis you didn’t even see coming. More than enough. Abundance and beauty. A place surely worthy of your tambourine once again. You’re going to want to keep that tambourine sister. Pack your praise and keep it with you. God’s just working through this problem to bring you to a better place. 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

Together, we’ve been studying the book of Exodus, telling us of the great exodus by the Israelites from their 430 years of slavery under the rule of Egypt. After plagues troubled Egypt, the Egyptian ruler Pharaoh demanded the enslaved Israelites leave immediately. They left in a hurry. And wouldn’t you after spending your entire life in slavery? Freedom was finally offered that night, and they ran. What follows is God’s people witnessing his mighty hand in personal and powerful ways. God guides them on the correct path through an unknown wilderness with a pillar of cloud in the day and a pillar of fire at night. God literally parts the water for them, making a path of dry land through the middle of the Red Sea, then swallows up all their enemies in the water after them. For the first time in 430 years, God’s people were truly free. The bodies of their enemies washed up on the shore, proving this was really it for them. What do you do when the battle is finally over? What do you do when you look back and see all God has done? You praise God! Exodus 15:1-2, “Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord: ‘I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; he has hurled both horse and rider into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise him – my Father’s God, and I will exalt him!’” The people stopped everything and they sang. But who were they singing to? THE LORD. This song is for an audience of one. My friends, that’s what our worship is supposed to be. All for God and only for God. It’s not a show. It’s not a performance. It’s not a check box. It’s not a ritual. It’s praise for an audience of one. Let me ask you, is that what your worship is? May I be vulnerable with you here? Sadly, my worship changes depending on who I’m with. I often think more about what others might feel than I think about the one it’s really all about. I will dumb down my worship if I know those around me might be uncomfortable. I’ll hold back my praise if I think I might be considered weird. While I know that’s not right, it’s something I often struggle with. What does praise for an audience of one really look like? What does worship with a wholehearted focus on God look like? Well, it looks a whole lot like Exodus 15. For 18 verses, the Israelites sang their praise for their audience of one. And it’s recorded word for word here for us to understand what worship looks like. I’ve gone through their recorded song of praise and here’s what I’ve found – it’s a FOCUS ON GOD. Not a focus on self. Not a focus on others. A focus on God. That is worship. 7 times the words “he, him and his” are used. 26 times the words “you and yours” are used. What are they saying? Ain’t nobody but God did it! Their worship was all about God. They recognized God didn’t just give them strength, GOD IS THEIR STRENGTH. (Verse 2) There’s a difference. Strength is not a well to tap into, strength is your God to know, to connect with, to lean on, to trust. God IS your strength, continually, never-ending, forever and always. He is your strength for whatever you’re going through. He’s not just giving you the strength, he’s showing up for you personally AS your strength. That should give you an unshakable level of confidence to face whatever it is you are facing. God IS your strength. Their song says, “The Lord is a warrior. You raised your right hand and the earth swallowed our enemies.” They’re remembering what God did. They’re remembering the parting of the sea and the impossible way God saved them. Their song says, “With your unfailing love you lead the people you have redeemed. In your might, you guide them to your sacred home.” They’re remembering more of what God did. They’re remembering how the pillar of cloud guided them during the day, and the pillar of fire perfectly guided them at night. When they were lost, God showed them the way to go. And here’s what they know – they know nobody but God did that. And when you remember it was all God, then you can worship him fully. One of my favorite songs right now is “God Did It” by Toby Mac & Jamie McDonald. It’s like the modern day version of Exodus 15. Could you sing these words today for an audience of one? Ain’t nobody but God did it There’s no way around Some things you can’t explain away It’s too good for me to doubt Said nobody but God did it Showered me in love When it looked like it was over He went and did just what He does God did it What did God do? No for real, what is it in your life that you can’t just explain away. There’s something that’s just too good for you to doubt. Ain’t nobody but God did that! God went and did just what he does, and he did it for you. Now give him the praise only he deserves. Let’s get real – whoever it is that causes you to hold back your praise has become a block between you and God. You have allowed them a space that God has requested – what’s that space – your focus. If your worship has become limited in the presence of others, then your focus is on them more than it is on God. Now, is God asking you to fix that? Is he asking you to put him back in his rightful first place as your audience of one? Some of the most powerful spiritual moments at our retreats are our times of worship. I blast worship music and I encourage everyone to go find their own private space to be with God. Sometimes that’s what we need. A time when family isn’t around. A time when no one else really knows the depths of our story. A time when our focus is all on what God did. And really, when you realize what God has done for you, you just can’t help but praise him. That’s what Moses and the Israelites are doing on the other side of their impossible. They’re recognizing the impossible things that couldn’t be explained away. They’re voicing the things that were too good for them to doubt. They’re remembering when it looked like it was all over, God went and did just what he does. And let’s be real clear – it REALLY looked like it was all over for the Israelites. With an impassable sea on one side and their enemies charging towards them on the other, they stood completely helpless with nothing to fight with. But GOD WAS THEIR STRENGTH. God did things that simply could have never happened without him. God did things they didn’t even know to ask for. God brought them a victory they had never even imagined. They’re standing in the shower of God’s love and voicing nobody but God did it! And they don’t care how it looks to anyone else – they are overcome with praise for the God who did what only he could do, and he did it for them. Now here’s the really cool thing – over 1,300 years after God’s people sang this song of praise and worship, John writes in the book of Revelation telling us about a vision of the end times to come. Guess what this chapter in the very end of your Bible is titled – “The Song of Moses and of the Lamb”. God shows John what is to come in heaven when the final victory is won – guess what will be happening?!!!! “All the people who had been victorious over the beast (that’s satan) were singing the song of Moses!” Guess what, girls – we will be singing this song of victory in the end! We too will stand in heaven knowing ain’t nobody but God did it! When it all looked like it was over for the world, God went and did just what he does – HE SAVED US! But how about we don’t wait until the end to sing our song of praise? How about we start worshiping for our audience of one right now. We already have evidence in our lives of what only God could do, don’t we?!!!! It’s time, my friends. Time to really worship God! 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

I trust God, but sometimes I like to give God suggestions. You know just in case he was 50/50 on what to do, I like to interject by bright ideas and tell him how he could make things work out really good. I occasionally even tell God how he could do “cool things”, as if he was sitting on his throne in heaven stumped over how he could pull off something cool today and he was waiting on me to help him. Do you do that too? I wonder what God thinks of our ideas of taking the path of least resistance. I wonder how God views our tendency to desire what is fastest and easiest. I wonder how God feels about our complete avoidance of hardship, struggle, and suffering. Well, there just so happens to be a story in the bible about this exact thing. Let’s read it together. Matthew 16, Jesus is walking along with his disciples. They’re doing awesome miracles together and making a huge impact every where they go. In fact, they had just finished feeding the crowd of thousands with a small amount of bread and fish. Now they know his power. The disciples know Jesus is the One. They’re all in. Verse 21-23 “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Understand, Peter was just trying to save Jesus from suffering. He was trying to find an easier way. He was trying to fix this. And Jesus said, THIS SUFFERING DOESN’T NEED TO BE FIXED. THIS HARDSHIP DOESN’T NEED TO BE AVOIDED. That’s a hard pill to swallow. I want my suffering and your suffering to be fixed. Like immediately. I don’t want times to be hard for anyone. If there was something I could do to ease my friend’s pain after her loss, gosh I would do it. If I could lift the suffering of my friend whose world has fallen apart, I would do it. If I could make your marriage problems go away, I would in a heartbeat. If I could solve your financial problems, boom, it would be fixed in an instant. If I could lift your burdens… If I could clear the way… If I could bring you healing … If I could restore what has been broken… I would be like Oprah. You get a new car. You get a good marriage. You get health. You get a whole family. You get a bonus. You get a baby. You get your answers. You all get EVERYTHING! No suffering. No struggle. No waiting. All your problems are fixed and there’s nothing but sunshine and glitter ahead, my friend. I really would fix it all for you … If I could. And to that, Jesus would say to me, “Satan, get behind me!” Why? Because just like Peter, I’m focusing on the wrong thing. I’m focusing on human concerns and overlooking the fact that God’s concerns are bigger, greater, and far beyond anything I can imagine. God is in the eternal game where current suffering will be redeemed. I tend to play in the right now game where suffering is always avoided. In your effort to avoid the suffering, go around the hardship, and skip the waiting line, have you become a stumbling block? Remember, that’s what Jesus called Peter. He was a stumbling block. His attempt to fix everything was in the way of God’s good plan. Honey, what if your attempt to fix everything is in the way of God’s good plan? What if God doesn’t need us to fix anything, and instead he needs us to partner with him in the bigger picture of what he is doing. What if this isn’t about what you’re going through right now, this is about what this will create for the future. What if God has magnificent plans that are so far above and beyond your scope of imagination, but the only way to get to them is through this stuff that doesn’t make sense? You know, this stuff you want to avoid. This stuff you want to skip. This stuff you’ve been giving God “suggestions” on fixing. Okay God, so this is going to fall apart? This is going to hurt? This isn’t going to work the way I had hoped? Now isn’t the time? I don’t like it, but I trust you. I will not try to fix your plans. I won’t get in the way of your work with my suggestions of an easier way. God has been trying to clear the way in your life, and you know what he’s been trying to move? YOU. You with your ideas of how it is supposed to be. You with your plans and good suggestions. You with your complete avoidance of current suffering that are for eternal purposes. What? You think you are above current suffering used for eternal purposes? You think you should be exempt from that? Dismissed because you’ve been a good person? Well, Sis, Jesus wasn’t dismissed and I’m pretty sure he was maybe even a little bit of a better person than even you. If Jesus wasn’t above suffering, why would we ever believe we are? I don’t want to be that stumbling block. I don’t want to be in the way of God’s plans. If God says I have to go through this, then I trust it’s for a purpose greater than my comfort. If God says this has to fall apart, I trust he will be doing something new on the other side of this and when I get there I’ll be more like the woman he created me to be. So, here we are Lord, trying our best to get out of the way. Here we are, surrendering to your plan that doesn’t make sense to us. Here we are, trusting you give and you take away, and our hands are to remain open. Here we are, counting on your timing to be better than our own. Here we are, trusting if you don’t fix it and we can’t avoid it, then you’ll carry us through it. 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

I read a great analogy on life that really puts everything into perspective. It’s deep. Grab your pen, I think this is for you today and you will want to write this down. Life is like a helicopter. I don’t know how to operate a helicopter. Gosh, life can be complicated and confusing sometimes. There has to be a button you could press to get out of this tailspin, but you’re not sure which button is the right one. You’re staring at a dashboard of flashing lights and sirens warning you of immanent danger, but you don’t know what to do to get out of this. Maybe right about now you want to hit the eject button. You want to get out of this. You want to jump from the disaster. But here’s the problem, helicopters don’t have eject buttons, and neither does life. You can’t just escape this. You can’t wish it all away. This tailspin in your life is seen by God, and he is equipping you to handle it. Now, Sis, handle it. You don’t have to continue to spin out of control. You don’t have to be stuck in the same ol’ round and round going down. You have been given the power to change things in your life. You have been given authority over every choice you make. You don’t think you know how to fly this helicopter, but God is asking you to learn. He’s asking you to take responsibility for the choices you make, take control of your thoughts, and demand better of yourself. How do you live this life well? You look to the example given to you! 2 Peter 1:3 MSG “Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God.” When you get to know Jesus, you get to see how to start living your life better. He starts showing you how to take control of this helicopter and stop the tailspin. He shows you how to take your wild thoughts captive and make them obedient. He shows you how to forgive and move on. How to fight and conquer. How to love and let be. How to seek and find. How to move forward and overcome. How to rise up and break through. Jesus has miraculously given us absolutely everything needed to live a life God can be pleased with. You are lacking nothing! You think you don’t know how to operate this life, but actually, YOU DO. You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength, including fly this helicopter of a life you have been given to live. This confusing and complicated life is yours to live. As you grow closer to Jesus, he will teach you how to better live and stop the tailspin. Your answer is Jesus. Seriously, he is the one who will show you how to raise those wild banshees you call your kids. Jesus is the one who will show you how to love your husband and yourself enough to no longer enable this behavior. Jesus is the one who will guide you to make the choices you don’t know how to make. Jesus is the one who will strengthen you to make the changes you know need to be made, but you’ve been avoiding. Jesus is the one who will take control of this helicopter and set the course … if you will ask him. When you get to know Jesus, things start changing. How do you get to know Jesus? You simply start seeking him. Start talking to him. Start reading about him. Start listening to others who know him. Start studying his words. Getting to know Jesus not only changes your circumstances, but it changes YOU. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” Your life becomes different because honey, you’re different. You’re not who you used to be. Getting to know Jesus changes how you see things. It changes how you show up. There’s nothing in your life that won’t be positively affected when you get to know Jesus more. A totally new life is possible when you’re growing closer to Jesus. I met a podcast listener recently who told me the life she was once living was busting the gates of hell wide open. She was living all wrong and she was doing it big time. She created sheer disaster in her wake. She was carrying around hurt and shame and living in complete fear of what others thought about her. That girl’s helicopter was out of control. Then, she met Jesus. And she not only met Jesus, but she got to really know Jesus. In the process of getting to know him, her life radically changed. Life stopped spinning out of control and she leveled out. She changed her choices and habits. She fixed some messes. She accepted grace and mercy, and made space for the new life Jesus offered her. Now, she uses her story to shine the light in the darkness which has surrounded others. A familiar darkness she once lived in, but Jesus got her out of. For my sister listening today who is in a tailspin of disaster, please hear me now: JESUS CAN CHANGE THIS! This doesn’t have to be your story for another day. This life doesn’t have to crash and burn. If you will take one step towards Jesus, I promise he will take a thousand steps towards you. He will show you how to regain control and stop the tailspin. As you get to know him, he will show you how to make better choices and change your habits. He will renew your confidence and strength so you no longer settle for less than his best for you. With Jesus, you have absolutely everything it takes to live a life God is fully pleased with. With him, he makes all things new and your life is changed. Yes, life is like a helicopter. I don’t know how to operate a helicopter. But I know how to lean in to Jesus and he can show me. Getting to know him is the ultimate answer! 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 I’m going to share with you the sweetest scripture I’ve ever read. A scripture so powerful in its sweetness that it stopped me in my tracks. Psalm 27:8 “My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’ And my heart responds, ‘Lord, I am coming.'” Woah. Does that touch you the way it does me? God says to your heart “Come and talk with me.” Let your heart simply respond “Lord, I am coming.” On a weekly basis I receive messages asking about prayer. How do you pray more meaningful and powerful prayers? How do you find the proper words to say that bend the ear of the creator of the universe? What exactly do you ask him? Have we turned prayer into a formal communication for which we do not know the language? Have we complicated the connection and in the process disconnected from the Almighty? David, the little shepherd boy who defeated Goliath, then grew to become a great King with the favor of God, is believed to have written this scripture. He knew. He knew the promptings within that bring him to his Maker, and he knew to simply respond. God says “Come and talk with me.” That’s not an agenda. That’s not a script. That’s not a formality. That’s an invitation to a conversation. A two way conversation. Talk WITH me, not just TO me. I have things I want to tell you, and there are things I want you to tell me. Today, don’t you hear your Father saying to your heart “Come and talk with me.” Yes, you do. Now maybe you’ve allowed the busyness to distract you, and maybe you would first have to tread through layers of guilt and shame before you could bow your head, but today all of that can be removed. Today you can respond “Lord, I am coming.” I’m coming to talk with you. I don’t know exactly what to say. I don’t even know how to start. I don’t even know how to listen for you and be sure you’re talking to me. But I am coming. I didn’t always talk with God the way I do now. I felt distant from him, even unimpressed by him. I honestly felt like he was going to do what he was going to do, and my communication with him wasn’t going to change anything. But I was wrong. My communication with him changed everything. After God saved me from a stroke at 19 years old, I found a relationship with him that created a hunger within me for more. I craved reading God’s word. I wanted to understand. I wanted to spend time with him. I had a green study bible at my work desk and I highlighted nearly every page as I studied. I prayed the promises I read and believed them to be true. I grew immensely. But somewhere in the midst of being completely well and life going on, I lost the sweetness of that relationship, and prayer became an obligatory 3 sentences I would repeat before my meals. Then struggle hit in my early 30’s. Business failed, success ceased, doors closed, and my heart grew bitter. I was angry God had allowed these hardships. I had grown distant and distracted as I tried to fix these problems on my own. But nothing worked as it all fell apart. This was a turning point. This was the day I prayed for the first time in a long time. What was my prayer, “God, I’m so angry. I can’t believe you’re letting this happen.” Yip, I literally started talking to him again through my anger. To my surprise, God didn’t turn from me. Instead he responded to my anger with a gentleness and peace I can’t describe. To return to that peace, I began spending more time with God. Instead of just whispering my prayers, I began journaling my prayers. Writing my praises and my requests. Recording the promptings I felt within my spirit. And goodness gracious if our whole world didn’t start changing. We went from parking our car in the garage to hide it from the repo man, to building our dream home with the resort style backyard. We adopted 2 little girls from an orphanage in Mexico. I ran marathons. I met my mentor and he taught me how set goals and live the life I had always wanted. And I did. I kept talking with God … until I didn’t. Life got blessed and busy, and I got distracted. Distracted by all we had and all we were working to get more of. Distracted by all the goodness of the trips and the toys. Sadly, I allowed my blessings to crowd God right out of my life. I no longer had time to journal prayers, that time was filled with more pressing things in a growing family and business. One day I stopped and realized I had totally lost the sweetness of my prior relationship with God. There was no connection. I no longer knew how to talk with him. I didn’t hear him in my life anymore, and I didn’t know how to start again. Struggle had first hardened my heart to God, then success distracted me from my destiny. Then came the game changer. My friend Suzanne taught me the 4 sentence prayer. A simple way to talk with God that came with no strings and no pressure. Just 4 simple sentences and you’re done. The very day she taught me, I went into my closet, I closed the door, and I hit my knees and I talked with God for the first time in a long time. Sentence 1: Tell God what you’re grateful for. Sentence 2: Tell God where you’ve messed up and ask him to forgive you. Sentence 3: Tell God what you’re worried about. Sentence 4: Ask God for help. Sometimes you just need an icebreaker to get a conversation started. Sometimes you just need a clear place to start. That’s what the 4 sentence prayer can be – the beginning of the best conversations you will ever have! If you’re wondering where to start with prayer, this is your answer. It’s not the ONLY answer, but it’s an answer here for you now. 4 simple sentences to begin talking WITH God in a truly effective way. For me, I found going to a quiet place on my knees and actually speaking in a whisper really changed the conversation. My mind didn’t wander off as much. If that’s a problem for you, try it. God is saying, “Come and talk with me.” Oh girl, how I hope you’re saying now, “Lord, I’m coming”, and get yourself to a place where you can start talking with your creator now! Write those 4 sentence prompts on a sticky note and get started. God is calling, answer! Within a few weeks of starting this daily conversation of 4 simple sentences with God, he clearly told me to start hosting devotionals. I hadn’t read my Bible in over 20 years. In fact, I didn’t even have a Bible anymore. I didn’t even know what a devotional was supposed to look like. And I couldn’t possibly be expected to tell people about Jesus … I was an emotional hot mess and couldn’t speak his name without crumbling into a snotfest. But, he wouldn’t release me from this continual nudge, so I agreed to hosting a devotional conference call for 1 week to prove I wasn’t possibly the right girl for the job. 13 years and THOUSANDS of devotional later, it would take nothing short of God’s loud booming voice to make me stop! How did all of this start … I’m just a girl who’s struggles AND successes BOTH had pulled her away from a relationship with her creator, and I simply responded to God’s whisper in my heart when he said “Come and talk with me.” Now, this gets me really excited for you. If God is saying to you “come and talk with me”, what could he have waiting for you? What amazing adventure could he invite you into? What incredible movement could he be ready to show you? What purpose could he reveal? What blessing could he bring? What promise could he fulfill? Maybe you’re in the struggle … see God here. He hasn’t abandoned you. His eye is on you, his hand is here for you, and he has good plans for you. Hear him call to your heart “Come and talk with me.” Let your heart respond “Lord, I’m coming.” And if all you have to come to him with is anger, then bring it. If all you have are questions, bring those. If all you have is a prayer of “help”, then say it over and over again. Help. Maybe you’re in the success … see God here. You’ve been busy and distracted, surrounded by all the things you once prayed for. Don’t let struggle be the only thing that brings you back to your knees. Get yourself there today sister. Respond to his calling and talk with him. You have a whole lot to tell him thank you for. Start there. Thank him for every single blessing you recognize today. Talk with him about the goodness of these details. Did you know you don’t have to close your eyes while you pray? Sometimes when I’m praying over a delicious meal, I look at it intently and smell its wonderful aroma and pray while I take that first bite. Sometimes I open my eyes and look around at all that is good and right and beautiful in that moment and talk with God about my blessings. Today I received the sweetest news that my friend who has been praying for a baby for many years is officially pregnant with a little miracle. I went on a praise walk to thank God for what he has done. I just listened to praise music and worshiped God as I walked. Everywhere I walked today on this little trail were chickens with their brand new, freshly hatched baby chicks. As I praised God, I could see reminders of new miraculous life everywhere. That’s prayer. Closing your eyes is not required for this conversation with God. In fact sometimes I think he wants us to open our eyes, see what he is doing and talk with him about it right there. Philippians 4:6, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” The moment you begin worrying about something, it’s an invitation to just talk to God about it instead. Is it possible to really pray about everything. Yes – it’s an open continued conversation with God where you’re looking for him in the details, praising him for the goodness, and seeking him first. It’s a mindset and a heart posture. Won’t you respond to the whisper in your heart that says “Come and talk with me.” And just keep coming back. Keep coming back to this relationship with him where you are strengthened in the struggle and grounded in the success. 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

We’ve all heard the nightmare stories of child stars who become wildly rich and famous and grow up to live a wreck of a life. We’ve seen the stories unfold. In a world where kid’s primary goal in life is to become famous, we know where that road can lead. This is the result of the Instagram and the TikTok. But wait … actually it’s not. God has been warning his children of the pit of ungrounded success for thousands of years. One of those stories is the life of King Uzziah. If King Uzziah would have been living in the 21st century, he would have been Insta-Famous and a top TikTok influencer. And his story is a lesson for every single one of us today. A lesson that meets us exactly where we are. You’ll find Uzziah’s entire story in 2 Chronicles, chapter 26. It’s summed up in 3 headings in my Bible: Uzziah the King, Uzziah’s Achievements, and Uzziah’s Disease. Uzziah became King of Judah at just 16 years old. Verses 4 & 5 say, “He did what was right in the Lord’s sight just as his father Amaziah had done. He sought God. During the time that he sought the Lord, God gave him success.” Where did Uzziah’s success come from? God! How did he achieve success? He sought God. He put God first. God was his priority. He spent time with God. He asked God for help and guidance. He followed God’s promptings. Now, the next section, Uzziah’s Achievements. Verse 7 says, “God helped him.” He fought battles and he won. He built cities and they flourished. He gathered armies and they became powerful. Everything he did was successful. Verse 15, “His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful.” GREATLY HELPED. Oh, God can do that! God wants to do that! Do you understand that God wants to GREATLY help you? He wants to do wonderful things for you. He wants to offer his supernatural powers to do impossible things for you. And he will, as long as you seek him. What could God achieve through you … well, there are no limits. We serve an unlimited God who’s powers cannot be contained and who’s plans are greater and bigger than our wildest imaginations. And the way he has so graciously chosen to work is THROUGH US! And he will work through you in this way, as long as you are seeking him. But what happens after success? What happens after you get what you’ve been praying for? What happens when it all finally comes together? You’re grateful … right? You’re humbled … right? You’re happy … right? But do you stay grateful? Do you remain humble? How long until you need more to be happy? I’ve lived that story of rags to riches. Now mine was less dramatic on the rags and less extreme on the riches, but still it was a journey from a nobody to a somebody in some small circles. And when I became the somebody with the house and the car and the closet full of clothes, I lost myself. God had helped me so much UNTIL I became successful. Then, in success, I no longer felt the daily need for God’s provision. I had bread for the day, I didn’t have to seek him for it. And that’s the danger of success. When I no longer counted on God for my daily bread because I had plenty, I stopped seeking him like I had during the hard times. I know I’m not alone in this struggle. The ups and downs that create our unsteady walk with God. Our wavering little hearts that seek, then they run off chasing their own things. And just like Uzziah, I had been given success as long as I sought the Lord. But, that success threatened to trip me up and make me busy. Too busy to seek God first. Uzziah was greatly helped UNTIL he became powerful. Why the word “until”? Did something change when he became powerful, successful and famous? Yes. And here’s our warning. The next section in my Bible is titled “Uzziah’s Disease”. Verse 16, “But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God.” In his pride, he acted in unfaithful ways, pushed his way in to the sanctuary of God and began doing things he was not chosen to do. And suddenly, leprosy broke out on his forehead. He became a leper. The life of a leper was one of exclusion, suffering and loneliness. They were forced to live on the outskirts and were denied access to everyone and everything. And sadly, this was the life of King Uzziah, the once wildly successful leader, until he died. Not a happy ending. And I have to wonder how short this ending fell from the good plans God had for the young King who once sought him in everything. I wonder what COULD HAVE BEEN in his life if success wouldn’t have caused him to become prideful and then unfaithful? Oh Lord, please block any future success in our lives that would cause us to become prideful and then unfaithful. Remove anything that would get in the way of us seeking you. I will be honest with you, since my first failure of handling success well, I’ve been afraid of wild success. When I woke up one day and realized my entire world had become wrapped up in what I had and what others thought of me, I knew I needed a drastic change. That’s when we sold everything, gave the rest away, and started over in a life with two suitcases. I would rather have God than that big house. I would rather have God than a single other living soul know my name. I don’t want to fail that test again. But what happens when we become the girls who, no matter what the circumstances, no matter the success, no matter the power, we simply WILL NOT STOP SEEKING GOD? No matter the increase, we still humbly bow to God and seek his will over our own … what could happen then? What happens when we are unshaken by success, unchanged by fame, and undistracted by the noise? Could God continue to greatly help us? Could he be glorified even more?!!!!! Proverbs 3: 5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” You can trust that. You can live your life counting on that. You will NOT be let down by this. Now, understand the warning it gives if you don’t live like this. If you don’t trust the Lord with your whole heart, if you start depending on your own thoughts and your own ways, if you stop seeking his will in everything you do, you will be endlessly confused. You will be completely overwhelmed. You won’t know what to do, when to do it, or how to do it. Your paths will be a tangled web of a mess, and you’ll get lost in it. And there you will be stuck in confusion, overwhelm, disappointment and disaster. You will be like King Uzziah … from being supernaturally guided and blessed by the Almighty, to disappointed with the outcome and stuck in the wilderness. This doesn’t have to be us. This isn’t God’s good plan for us. We don’t have to lose ourselves in success. And as long as we keep seeking God, we don’t have to be afraid of success. Where are you in this? Are you in the middle of a mess, not knowing which way to go? Stop everything and seek God with your whole heart. Open up your hands, let it all go, and trust God to guide you. He will. Are you in the middle of success, but recognizing in the process of waking up to answered prayers, you’ve stopped praying like you used to? Girl, hit your knees today. Return to seeking God first and fully. Are you holding back and playing little because you’re afraid of success? Talk to God about that. Don’t let fear cheat you from your destiny. Seek God in creating daily routines and accountability partners that will keep you aligned with God, no matter where success may take you. Trust God and his unknown ways. Keep seeking him first in everything. He will show you the right way. Faithfully take the next step. 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 answer for the problem you are facing is Jesus. The answer for the hurt you are feeling is Jesus. The answer for the person you can’t fix is Jesus. Whatever you are going through, whatever it is you’re struggling to understand, whatever you’re trying to overcome, whoever or whatever you may be waiting on … the answer is always the same. Jesus. The singular point of everything God has planned, aligned, orchestrated or allowed in your entire life is to show you Jesus. When others have let you down, God wants to show you that Jesus will not. When everything else has disappointed you, God wants you to see that Jesus will not. When nothing else has helped you, God wants to show you that Jesus will. When you just don’t know, Jesus does. Right now, take the most uncertain situation you’re facing … through this, God is pointing you to his son Jesus. The sooner you see Jesus as the solution, the sooner you find the solid foundation for your next step, your peace in the middle of the storm, and your joy on the journey. My friend, why is this happening to you? Some would say you’re under attack. And maybe you are. Some would say these are the consequences you have to face for the choices you’ve made. And maybe so. Some would say you live in a fallen world and sometimes bad things just happen to good people. Sure, sometimes. But one thing is absolutely certain – NOT A SINGLE THING will touch your life without first passing through the hands of God. If he allows it, it’s because he can use it to bring you closer to his Son, Jesus. It’s to see more of him, know more of him, experience more of him, and trust more in him. On our journey of life, all of us are learning about the true grace of God. We’re coming to understand how much we truly do need him. We’re growing to see just how involved Jesus really is in the details of our lives. 2 Peter 3:18, “You must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Let me explain it like this … A child raised in a good home by good parents doesn’t necessarily understand how good their childhood was. They don’t know to appreciate everything their parents have done for them. Until they grow up and real life begins to touch them. Then they realize it. My son never once said thank you for all of the hard work of parenting him well. But that first letter from Basic Training in the Army was literally tear soaked with gratitude because he was finally aware of what we had done for him his whole life. This is what God is allowing in our lives now. He’s allowing us to see what he’s always done for us. He’s allowing us to grow in the knowledge of his grace over us. He’s letting us see our absolute dependence on him and his faithfulness every step of the way. God is showing us our need for the one true answer – JESUS! And we’re learning to really appreciate him! Remember a few weeks ago when we read about God instructing the Israelites to smear the blood of a perfect lamb on the doorframe of their house? In Exodus 12, God was going to pass through the land of Egypt with an act of vengeance, but wherever he saw the blood, harm would not fall. His people were protected by the blood. And this is what Jesus has permanently done for every soul who chooses to believe in him and follow him. His blood covers us. When God looks on those who have accepted his son Jesus, he only sees the blood and they are protected. No harm can cross over the blood against the Father’s will. Nothing can touch your life that God has not permitted because of that threshold. If it touches you, God has allowed it so that he can use it for good. Again, what is his plan of goodness? To show you the forever answer for everything in your life – JESUS. How can you better parent your teenager? Seek Jesus for yourself and point your teenager to Jesus. Again and again. Over and over again. The answer is Jesus for them and for you. How can you find the right spouse or the right career? You look for Jesus. Where do you see Jesus showing up? Where is his light being reflected? Where do you see his fingerprints on the details that simply can’t be denied? How can you heal from this hurt, this loss, this betrayal? Jesus. Only Jesus. He alone is the healer of your heart, every other feel good source is a temporary bandaid. Do you want a temporary feel good solution, or a permanent healing? Turn from every other offering and seek Jesus fully. Does that sound radical? Maybe. But let me tell you something, Jesus is a radical dude! He says in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” That’s radical. If you’re going to find your way through this, you must fully turn away from everything else and radically seek Jesus – he is the way. If you’re going to really do this right without stumbling and screwing this whole thing up, you must look at everything that is not Jesus as NOT FULLY RIGHT and therefore leading you wrong. Jesus is the truth. If it’s not Jesus, then it’s not truth. If you’re going to really live life fully, walk in your purpose, fulfill your calling, follow God’s divine will and experiences the life you were created for, you must come to the realization that anything that is not Jesus is not real life. It might be exciting, it might look good, it might feel good, it might be what everyone else is doing or what everyone else wants – but it’s not real life. If you want real life, then it’s only through Jesus. Jesus is the way. He is the way you get through whatever you’re going through. He is the way you heal. He is the way you forgive. He is the way you find the right people. He is the way you end up in the right place. He is the way you do the right thing. Jesus is the truth. Jesus holds the truth about you. He is the truth about your future. He is the truth about the world you live in. Jesus is the only truth. Jesus is the life. Every other source that might make you feel alive is an imitation. Only Jesus is THE life. He is the life you most desire. He is the life you crave. Because he is the life you’re truly created for. I once heard we’re each created with a God shaped hole inside of us that only God can fill. That’s by design. God designed you to need Jesus. And everything he aligns in your life, orchestrates in your life, or allows in your life is for the sole purpose of pointing you to the eternal need you just can’t get away from. Jesus. At 50 years old, do you know what I wish I could go back and do different in every single area of my life? I wish I would have realized earlier that Jesus was always the answer. If I could raise my 3 kids over again, I would have sought Jesus more and directed them to Jesus more. I didn’t – and therefore a whole lot of totally optional hardships were required to teach our whole family that Jesus was always what every single one of needed. Did I have Jesus? Absolutely. I just didn’t allow him first place. Did my kids have Jesus growing up? You bet. But they didn’t know Jesus was the divine source for everything they needed and everything they would ever go through. If I could go back and start my business again, I would have built it on Jesus instead of tried to use Jesus as a sprinkle to get his blessings. It would have likely saved a whole lot of hardship. My hardened heart had to be chiseled away at for 15 years. My jacked up priorities had to lead to massive failure and a total fall apart so that the foundation could be rebuilt on Jesus. If I could speak to every friend again who sought my advice, I would tell them to forget everything else I said and START WITH JESUS. Jesus is your way. Jesus is your truth. Jesus is your life. For my dear friend who has been betrayed by the one who was supposed to love her the most, my friend, Jesus is your answer. For my friend who is hurting for her struggling child, Jesus is your answer. For my friend who wants a baby more than anything else, Jesus is your answer. For my friend who wants a good husband to share life with, Jesus is your answer. For my friend who is grieving, Jesus is your answer. For my friend who is in literal pain, Jesus is your answer. Why is that so hard for me to say? Why does that feel like such a cheap answer? Why does that feel like an unclear direction and a let down? Because that God shaped hole within us has believed the lie that something or someone else can fill it. It simply can’t. Jesus is the way. Jesus is the truth. Jesus is the life. So, what was that identified uncertain situation you’re facing … can you see that God is pointing you to his son Jesus? The sooner you see Jesus as the solution, the sooner you find the solid foundation for your next step, your peace in the middle of the storm, and your joy on the journey. Maybe that was the whole point. 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

Exodus 14: 20-30 Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long. So the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on each side! Then the Egyptians—all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and charioteers—chased them into the middle of the sea. But just before dawn the Lord looked down on the Egyptian army from the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw their forces into total confusion. He twisted their chariot wheels, making their chariots difficult to drive. “Let’s get out of here—away from these Israelites!” the Egyptians shouted. “The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!” When all the Israelites had reached the other side, the LORD said to Moses, “Raise your hand over the sea again. Then the waters will rush back and cover the Egyptians and their chariots and charioteers.” So as the sun began to rise, Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the water rushed back into its usual place. The Egyptians tried to escape, but the LORD swept them into the sea. Then the waters returned and covered all the chariots and charioteers—the entire army of Pharaoh. Of all the Egyptians who had chased the Israelites into the sea, not a single one survived. But the people of Israel had walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, as the water stood up like a wall on both sides. That is how the LORD rescued Israel from the hand of the Egyptians that day. And the Israelites saw the bodies of the Egyptians washed up on the seashore. 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

Exodus 14: 5-22 When word reached the king of Egypt that the Israelites had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds. “What have we done, letting all those Israelite slaves get away?” they asked. So Pharaoh harnessed his chariot and called up his troops. He took with him 600 of Egypt’s best chariots, along with the rest of the chariots of Egypt, each with its commander. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, so he chased after the people of Israel, who had left with fists raised in defiance. The Egyptians chased after them with all the forces in Pharaoh’s army—all his horses and chariots, his charioteers, and his troops. The Egyptians caught up with the people of Israel as they were camped beside the shore near Pi-hahiroth, across from Baal-zephon. As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’” But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving! Pick up your staff and raise your hand over the sea. Divide the water so the Israelites can walk through the middle of the sea on dry ground. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will charge in after the Israelites. My great glory will be displayed through Pharaoh and his troops, his chariots, and his charioteers. When my glory is displayed through them, all Egypt will see my glory and know that I am the Lord!” Then the angel of God, who had been leading the people of Israel, moved to the rear of the camp. The pillar of cloud also moved from the front and stood behind them. The cloud settled between the Egyptian and Israelite camps. As darkness fell, the cloud turned to fire, lighting up the night. But the Egyptians and Israelites did not approach each other all night. Then Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the Lord opened up a path through the water with a strong east wind. The wind blew all that night, turning the seabed into dry land. So the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on each side! 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

Wouldn’t it be great to have a foolproof, absolutely ‘can’t possibly miss it’ type of sign as guidance for your journey? For real, have you ever prayed for flashing signs and illuminated arrows? God, make it clear. Don’t let me miss it. Show me your path in an unmistakable way. Can God do that? Absolutely. Does he do that? You bet! That’s precisely what he did for the Israelites. On their roundabout way through the wilderness from Egypt to their Promised Land, they depended on God for guidance day and night. They had never traveled through the desert. They didn’t have a map for this route. No one in their group had ever gone this way. It was all a complete mystery to them, but not a single step was a mystery to God. So, God showed up in miraculous ways as their guide. The Israelites’ equivalent of flashing signs and illuminated arrows was a moving pillar of cloud during the day and a glowing pillar of fire at night. For real, this is how God guided their steps for their journey of faith through the wild and unknown wilderness. Exodus 13:21-22, “The Lord went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire. This allowed them to travel by day or by night. And the Lord did not remove the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire from its place in front of the people.” Imagine this for a moment. This massive cloud continually moves to stay right in front of them. It shifts from the left to the right, guiding them with which way to go. And at night, a column of fire appears giving them light so they can even continue walking in the surrounding darkness, knowing precisely the direction to go. They didn’t have to wonder if they were on the right path, God made that clear. They literally SAW God’s guidance in front of them. Wow, wouldn’t that give you divine confidence and strength for the journey. If I know God is guiding me, I can follow with boldness. If I know God is right there with me, I can face the impossible without flinching because with him nothing is impossible. Well I don’t know about you – but I haven’t woken up lately to a pronounced pillar of anything moving right in front of me. There have been no signs in the clouds, no arrows pointing east or west in the flames. As much as I would love that visible sign, I simply haven’t seen one. So, where does that leave us? Are we wandering on this journey alone? Are we responsible for making our own way until God gives us a sign of his way? It’s easy to read the Old Testament with God’s wonders and signs and wish he still showed up for us like that. It’s easy to question if God still moves today like he did back then. But here’s what we miss … God doesn’t have to guide us with a cloud or a flame because he’s given us something so much greater. What we have today is the indwelling of his Spirit. God’s Spirit no longer lives in a fancy box hidden behind curtains in a tent like it did in the Old Testament. God’s Spirit is no longer limited to divinely visiting just one person to speak to on a rare occasion. Because of Jesus, we now have God’s Holy Spirit literally living WITHIN US ALL THE TIME! Why is it different now than it was in the time of the Old Testament? Because of one thing – Jesus has made us righteous. The blood of Jesus has covered us and redeemed us, and now we are deemed worthy of God’s presence. The way God would divinely speak to one chosen person and give direct guidance for a journey is now available to every follower of Jesus. I don’t need Moses to tell me what God has said. I don’t need an interrupter of dreams. I don’t need a pillar of cloud or fire, nor do I need a flashing sign or illuminated arrow. I have BETTER! I have the Spirit of God right inside of me. Here’s what God’s Spirit does for us: 1. The Spirit leads us. Romans 8:14, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” And you can flip that sentence as well. All who are children of God are led by the Spirit of God. As his children, we’re not led by our circumstances or our feelings, we’re guided by the inner leadership of his Spirit. We are SPIRIT-LED, meaning we are divinely guided by Heaven, step by step. My friends, that’s better than any pillar of cloud in the sky! 2. The Spirit teaches us. John 14:26, Jesus said, “When the Father sends the Advocate as my representative – that is, the Holy Spirit – he will teach you everything and remind you of everything I have told you.” We have an internal teacher that brings truth and right knowing to mind exactly when we need it. The Spirit connects God’s word to real life moments for us. Have you ever felt an inner prompting of knowing what is wrong and what is right? Yeah, that’s the Holy Spirit! And That’s far better than any flame of fire showing up in the night. 3. The Spirit guides us into truth for the future. John 16:13, Jesus said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.” Jesus knows the way to God’s good plans for you, so Jesus has the Holy Spirit deliver those steps to you with an inner prompting and knowing of truth for your future. I mean really, how cool is that? That’s so much better than a flashing sign. 4. The Spirit prompts and restrains. Acts 16: 6-7 tells of Paul and Silas traveling through specific areas and being prevented from going to some towns and held back by the spirit from stopping there. God’s Spirit was prompting them to continue moving forward and restraining them from wandering off from the path they were supposed to be on. That’s what God’s Spirit does for us. He opens some doors and closes some others. He makes some things happen for us in fast timing, and other things he delays out of protection or redirects from a heavenly viewpoint of what is best. How absolutely amazing to realize as a follower of Jesus, I never just stumble into things. His Spirit is constantly restraining me from what isn’t right, and prompting me toward what is. That’s better than any glowing arrow. Maybe you’ve taken for granted the unmatched gifting of the Holy Spirit. Maybe you’ve been waiting and wishing for a flashing sign saying “THIS WAY NOW: – when all this time you’ve had something so much better inside of you. Do you want to better hear from his Spirit and know his voice apart from your own voice? There’s one guaranteed way to do that – GET IN HIS WORD! The more you allow God’s word to get in you, the more you hear his voice clearly. Every moment you spend in God’s word is access you’re allowing the Holy Spirit to have within you. The more access you grant, the more guidance you receive. Sure it must have been amazing to be one of the Israelites following this pillar of cloud in the day and pillar of fire at night, watching it move in the direction they should go. But how much more amazing is it that you don’t need an external sign of an internal supernatural guidance you have today! What if we stopped praying so much for signs, and started praying more for an awareness of his voice and obedience to his promptings. Grant access to the Spirit by spending time in God’s word. Practice listening. Practice following. Jesus is continually guiding you to the Father’s best plans through the inner voice of the Holy Spirit. 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

My GPS continually takes me on the roundabout way. It’s laughable at this point. I’m not sure what hidden setting I have that makes my Apple Maps think I always want to go through the ghetto to my ultimate destination. I call it my Adventure Setting. I’ll eventually get to where I’m supposed to be, but the route there is scenic to say the least. And honestly, sometimes I feel God and I are on that Adventure Setting too. Rarely have we ever had a straight path, it’s a roundabout way through the trenches to get to where he’s ultimately taking me. But I have two choices on this adventure with God, and so do you: Choice #1. Hate it, rush it, and be miserable in it. Choice #2. Trust and embrace it. Choosing the second choice doesn’t feel natural, but it’s God desire for us. We don’t get to control this journey. We don’t get to make our own way. You’re not the way maker – HE IS! God says in Isaiah 43:19, “I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” Who will do it? God will. Who does that mean isn’t reponsible for making the way? You. You’re not the way maker. God is. It’s his way. And here’s what we absolutely must learn to lean into – whatever way God is taking you, it’s for a greater purpose than you’re aware of. Trust him. In our study of Exodus, we’re now to the point of the Israelites being set free from captivity in Egypt after 430 years. They didn’t set themselves free – God did that. And now that they’ve marched right out of Egypt, they’re on the journey with God and to their surprise, it’s totally not anything like they expected it to be. You see, the Israelites knew there was a direct route from where they were in Egypt to where they were going in Canaan. They must have been so excited to finally go to the land God had been promising them. They must have wanted to get there absolutely as fast as possible. BUT THAT’S NOT THE WAY GOD TOOK THEM. The second half of Exodus 13 is titled “Israel’s Wilderness Detour” in my Bible. My guess would be the last thing they wanted was a detour, but a detour through the wilderness was God’s plan for them. Sometimes God’s plan doesn’t feel good – that’s just the truth. Sometimes God’s plan doesn’t make sense – that’s another truth. But every single time, without fail, God’s plan is best. If there’s a detour, there’s a purpose behind the detour. What could that purpose be? Verse 17-18, “When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, ‘If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.’ So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.” Yes, this was the longer route. Yes, this was the harder route. And no, this isn’t what the Israelites would have chosen. Instead of the coastal route which was the shortest way with easy roads, food and water, God lead them in a totally roundabout way right through the wilderness, dead-ending into the Red Sea. A route with no food. A route with no water. A route with harsh conditions. And quite honestly, this must have felt like punishment. But this harder route wasn’t punishment, it was God’s protection. God knew that on the easiest route were enemy forces that would quickly discourage his people. Out of protection, God leads his people on the longer route to avoid what they were not yet ready to face. If you’re on the roundabout way, detouring through areas you would have never chosen, can you see that maybe God is protecting you from things you aren’t ready for? And even if you can’t quite see it, can you trust it? Can you dare to believe God sees what you do not see and he has been protecting you? Can you tap into your faith over your fear that this isn’t punishment, no matter how it may feel? There was a battle on the easier, more direct way you would have chosen, and God lovingly protected you from that battle – Now how about you try not to be a brat about it. God’s mercy doesn’t always feel like mercy. Sometimes God’s mercy feels like delay. Sometimes it feels like the most disheartening detour. Sometimes it feels like sheer disappointment. But I’m learning to be grateful for God’s mercy dressed in those delays and detours and disappointments. There are several journeys I’ve been on that I wouldn’t have chosen – but looking back I would have missed some of my sweetest blessings. The same will be true of your journey and if you can’t see it yet, you will one day. I would always choose the coastal route, but sometimes God chooses the wilderness route. Sometimes he takes you right through the ghetto. And some of his most merciful and powerful work is done along the roundabout way. How sad that we tend to act like brats about it. Let’s decide now we’re just going to do better about trusting God’s plan, God’s path, and God’s timing. Lord, I won’t be a brat about this. I’ll see this as an adventure with you and I’ll just stay close to your side. 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

God is working something out in your life. And while it seems to be taking entirely too long for you, you can be assured his plan of deliverance and completion will happen in his pre-appointed divine timing. His plan for you will not fail. It will not be too late. Our God holds all time and power in his mighty hands. He has always seen the end from the very beginning. Nothing is impossible for him. And when he speaks a promise over you, that promise will come to complete fulfillment. Guaranteed. You can rest your weary soul in his guaranteed promises while you wait. The Israelites waited for 430 years for deliverance from their slavery in Egypt. I don’t know how long you’ve been waiting for whatever you’ve been waiting on, but my guess is it’s probably not quite been 430 years for you. So here’s what you need to know, my sister – your wait isn’t too long for God’s timeline. He hasn’t given up on his promise for you. It’s not too late. He still holds the precise MOMENT of completion in his hand. God is making a way to that moment and you will arrive in his perfect timing. 430 years of waiting for freedom, all while God worked every detail together to bring the Israelites moment to reality. Freedom was always on its way to them. Their path out was always in the making. Their long wait was always one day closer to being over, until finally the day came. We read about their day in Exodus 12: 40-42, “The people of Israel had lived in Egypt for 430 years. In fact, it was on the last day of the 430th year that all the Lord’s forces left the land. On this night the Lord kept his promise to bring his people out of the land of Egypt.” Oh my gosh, do you see that? It was on the exact LAST DAY of the 430th year of their captivity that the Lord led every last one of them out of Egypt to freedom. God had himself declared they would not be there for a single day into the 431st year and he made sure of it. Time matters to God. He has set divine boundaries on trials and struggles and without us even knowing, we’re divinely protected from our hardships continuing for a single moment beyond his will. Where God says it will end, it will end. And my friend, he knows exactly when this struggle will end for you. He already knows when this hardship will come to a close for you. He already holds the future day when you wake up for the last time to this problem. He has already aligned the moment when you will walk out of this free, whole, healed, and renewed. That moment is coming! God’s decisive moment of deliverance for you. But for now, you may be waiting. You may be waking up to another day with the problem still looming over you. But do not lose hope that your loving heavenly Father has already set the boundary for you and he’s leading you right to the day when you walk out of this free. Free from this hurt. Free from this hardship. Free from this unfair struggle. You will be free. In a display of God’s attention to detail, he ensured every last one of his people marched out of Egypt on that last day of the 430th year. No one would be left as a captive in Egypt on day 1 of the 431st year. No matter how stubborn Pharaoh was. No matter what the weather did. No matter who had been procrastinating. God would make sure his promise was kept fully and perfectly in his timing. And his promises of fulfillment and perfect timing stand for you too today. He has already held the future day you’re waiting on. He’s already designed it’s details, aligned the sun to rise on that specific day, and all moving parts to be in their assigned place, and you may wake up that day totally unaware that is the last day you’ll be waiting. On that day, the wait will end and it will happen through the power of God’s mighty hand just as he always planned to do. For my friend waiting for the legal battle to end, that day is coming. God has already held that day. He’s already assigned that moment. You can trust his timing. For my friend waiting on the pain to end, that day is coming. God has already held that day. He’s already assigned that moment. You can trust his timing. For my friend waiting on the blessing they’ve been praying for, that day is coming. God has already held that day. He’s already assigned that moment. You can trust his timing. Oh to just know the one who created you with such loving care and designed good plans for your life already holds the day you’re waiting on, and he’s perfectly aligning it’s moment to dawn for you. If you could only see how God has the timing already put together for you and it won’t be a single day late. It’s coming. Notice verse 42 reading in NIV, “Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt …”. The Lord kept vigil, meaning the Lord was watching. While his people were waiting, God was watching. God was wide awake that night watching over the very moment of deliverance to come. All while Israel had been waiting, God had been watching. He was watching over the very night deliverance would come, and he had known it was coming for 430 years. That’s how God is watching you while you wait too. God has his eye fixed on the night freedom will arrive for you. It’s coming. He’s faithfully keeping vigil. And notice this, God’s people went into Egypt as slaves, but they walked out as his army. A transformation happened in their wait. Something incredible is happening within you in this wait. While you wish God would just remove this struggle, he choosing to allow you to walk through it so you can be transformed and come out radically different. God’s not just freeing you, he’s redefining you. Imagine for a moment how Moses must have felt. He had heard God’s plan. He had felt his own immense inadequacy to be part of God’s plan. He had questioned how God would ever fulfill his seemingly impossible promises for his people. And now, the day has come and he’s seeing it all happen. God was right – they would march right out of Egypt. God was right – he would be their leader. God was right – they would never be alone. God was right – the impossible would happen. And it happened right on time. The way Moses must have felt in this moment realizing the Lord kept his promise to perfect fulfillment is happening right here in Exodus 12: 40-42. It really happened. And Moses woke up for the last day in Egypt, never again to be there. Freedom was here. And your moment is coming too, my sister. The Lord will keep his promises over you in perfect fulfillment. You will wake up one day and it will be your last day in this struggle. Freedom will be here for you. God will faithfully do for you what he did for his people on that day. He will fulfill his every promise. He will set you free. His deliverance will come in its appointed time for you, and it will be the perfect time! The sun is already scheduled to rise on that day for you, my sister. It’s promised. It will come for you. One day you will wake up and it will feel like just another day in the struggle you’ve been carrying. But Heaven will know something you do not yet know. It will be the last day you wake up to that pain, that waiting, that battle. Because the same God who watched over the final night of Israels’ captivity is watching over the final moment of yours. He has already set the boundary, already marked the day, already prepared the path out. And when that moment comes, you will look back and see that through every day of waiting, God was working, God was watching, and God was faithful to bring you out – right on 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

All things are under God’s control and he has the divine authority to allocate or reallocate absolutely anything he wishes. Where does he send his blessings? To the hands where he will get the glory. Where does he open heaven’s storehouses? Where his kingdom work is being accomplished. The question is, will he get the glory if his blessings go to your hands? Will his kingdom work be accomplished if the storehouses of heaven are opened to you? It’s easy to assume the opportunity to have MORE would allow you to honor God more, but sadly, humans have proven for generations that we simply do not fare well with easy, comfortable, abundant lives. It’s like giving a brand new sports car to a 16 year old … that typically makes that teenager one thing – DANGEROUS! We are often dangerous when we are given more. We make life about the pursuit of more, showing off more, caring for our more, and then getting newer and better of our more. We forget it’s all under God’s control and divine authority, and anything God has given, he can quickly take away. He can reallocate your blessings to a different set of hands so fast that your head spins. It might be yours today, but can you be trusted with it tomorrow? It might NOT be yours today, but God is always looking for where his blessings can go and bring him glory. In our study of the book of Exodus, we see the Egyptians had become very wealthy. Pharaoh lived in absolutely luxury. Anything he wanted, he could have. But Pharaoh continually refused the Lord. He denied the power of God’s hand over and over again. And God allowed it – for a season. He allowed Egypt to accumulate wealth. He allowed an overflowing abundance in Pharaoh’s palace. And all while God allowed it, never forget God was still in complete control of it all. God had a plan for his resources. He had a plan for his blessings. He had a plan for his power. No matter what the circumstances might look like, God’s plan stood and it would unfold perfectly. Let’s look at the plan. First, God promises Moses in Exodus 3 that he would transfer the wealth of Egypt to the Israelite slaves. Now that makes absolutely no sense at all. The Israelites had nothing of their own. They lived in poverty. They had no army to fight for the possession of anything. Eygypt not only had all the wealth, they had all the man-power to protect it. And yet God makes it very clear that his plan is to reallocate these blessings Egypt temporarily and ungratefully held, to the desperate, god-fearing Israelites. After the plagues hit the Egyptians, God reveals to Moses in Exodus 11 how his previous promise would take place. He says, “Tell the Israelite men and women to ask their Egyptian neighbors for articles of silver and gold. (Now the Lord had caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the people of Israel.)” Then, the time comes for the Israelites to believe God’s plan and actually DO IT. Now that’s important – they had an active role to play. God had the plan, but they had a part. (My sister, God always has a plan, but you always have a part too! Don’t miss that.). Exodus 12, the Israelite slaves ask their Egyptian owners for their treasures of wealth, and everything they asked for was given to them. They completely stripped the Egyptians of their wealth! There was no war. There was no battle. There was a divine reallocation of what always belonged to God. God said it would be given to the Israelites when they asked – so they asked, and it was all given! Amazing. Right about now, you might be thinking to yourself, “Gosh, it’s about time I ask for a raise!” Or, “Hey, I need to ask for even more in this situation.” It’s funny how human minds work. But God is not fooled. God knows who can be trusted and who can’t be. He knows what more blessings would do to you. My mentor once shared a valuable piece of wisdom with me. He said, “Pamela, more money only makes you more of who you already are.” If you’re already stressed, more money will make you more stressed. (I know if you’re currently struggling to pay rent you’re thinking that can’t possibly be true, but it’s human nature and it’s never wrong.) If you’re already greedy, more money will make you more greedy. If you’re already self-conscious, more money will make you more self-conscious. If you’re already wasteful, more money will make you more wasteful. But, if you’re already generous when you have so little, more money will make you more generous. If you’re already at peace with little, you’ll have even more peace when you have more. Money reveals the true hidden nature within us. It doesn’t cure anything, it only magnifies everything. What if we worked harder on becoming a better person within instead of all the effort we put into chasing money, chasing beauty, chasing comforts and chasing applause. God has a plan for all that is his, and remember, it’s ALL HIS! His plan stands and will never fail. If God can reallocate the wealth of Egypt to their Israelite slaves, then you better believe he can pour out a few blessings on you when you get your heart right and your hands open. And I don’t mean open hands as in “gimme-gimme-gimme”, I mean open hands as in, “God, it’s all yours, I hold nothing back – I trust you fully.” Why would God’s plan be to give the 2 million slaves the fortunes of the people who had held them captive for 400 years? Justice? Repayment? Yes, perhaps – but it was bigger than that. Let me show you God’s bigger picture in the promise – flip forward several chapters in Exodus to 25 and you’ll see why God reallocated his fortunes and blessings from the Egyptians to the Israelites. The Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel to bring me their sacred offerings. Accept the contributions from all whose hearts are moved to offer them. Accept gold, silver, bronze, stone and jewels … Then have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them.” Now where exactly would these former slaves now living in the wilderness possibly get all this gold, all this silver, and all these jewels? Oh yes – they had taken it with them when they left Egypt! They had followed God’s instructions and asked for the wealth of Egypt and now with open hands they would offer it back to build a holy sanctuary for the Lord! The entire point of it all was so that God could be in close relationship with his people. He moved the wealth from the people who wouldn’t honor him, to the people who would. He moved his blessings from a greedy ruler to a people who would give God the glory. This was the big picture of God’s plan! He made the promise to Moses in chapter 3, he gave the instructions for action in chapter 11, the people did what God said in chapter 12, and now in chapter 25, we see what God was doing all along. God’s abundant resources, his treasures, his blessings were for the purpose of bringing his people closer to him. Now, the transferred wealth of Egypt was being used to build a sanctuary where the Spirit of God would live and his people could seek him. This is what God is still up to today. He moves his blessings and reallocates his treasures to those who will give him the glory. He opens the storehouses of heaven to where his kingdom work will be prioritized. He opens the doors that will bringing his people into a closer relationship with him. He knows who he can trust – and he knows who will be consumed by the blessings and make it all about them. I once had a successful business with a whole lot of money. Funny thing was, I spent more money than I made. The more I made, the more I spent. I totally lost myself in the process and God was crowded right out of my busy schedule. My entire life became about the show. My well-dressed little family was part of the show. The big house looked great in the show. Then God let it all come crashing down. Someone else now lives in the big house we built. Someone else now has the business I traded an entire season of my life for. THANK GOD HE DIDN’T LET ME STAY IN MY SELF-ABSORBED SUCCESS!!!! Eventually it all came crashing down and we were wildly humbled. That’s when God went to work on me. He realigned my priorities and taught me what was truly important. He allowed me to be broke, allowed my formerly perfected body to go through menopause, allowed me to be talked about, allowed my heart to be broken and disappointed. And it left me with a will that desires his will above everything else and open hands that can be trusted. None of it is mine – it’s all God’s. And he holds the divine power and authority to allocate or reallocate what is his at absolutely any time. He has a plan. His plan is to send what is his to the hands where he will get the glory. His plan is to send his power to the places where his kingdom work will be done. He did it in Exodus – and he’s still doing it today. Check your hands, Sis – because God certainly is. 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

When God sees you, he sees something you don’t see. He doesn’t see your past. He doesn’t see your future. He sees one thing – He sees the blood of his son, Jesus. That is, if you have accepted his sacrificial, redemptive blood over your life. That’s the single most important question of your lifetime – have you accepted what Jesus has done for you? Is your life covered in his blood, redeeming you and making you holy and righteous? It’s a simple surrendered decision of faith that changes every thing about your future for eternity. The decision to accept what Jesus has done personally for you forever changes the way God sees you. With the blood, you are forever good enough. Forever holy. Forever redeemed. Forever destined for paradise. Forever set apart. But I wonder if you really live your ordinary days knowing you’re set apart by God. Do you know what you’ve been saved from? You’ve been promised a special protection from the destruction coming. Oh it’s coming, but it will pass right over you. Why? Because of the blood. The first Passover happens at this point in our study of the book of Exodus. Moses is sent by God to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. However, the Egyptian King, Pharaoh, leads with a stubborn heart and refuses to release God’s people. So, there are 9 plagues sent by the hand of God onto the Egyptians. Each plague worse than the one before as a display of God’s power over every false god Pharaoh and his people worshiped. Each plague a warning and an opportunity to come to faith. With each plague, Pharaoh is miserable and seeks relief from God. The moment relief comes, he returns to his hardened heart and resists any God-prompted change. God-prompted change. Hmmmm … how bad do you resist that? Disaster comes when we have a death grip on the things we think we can’t live without. Disaster comes when we put anything, absolutely anything, before the will of God. Let that sit for a moment. If God has been stirring your heart with a change that terrifies you, resist the urge to ignore it, resist the impulsive rush and coverup, and allow your softened heart to be bare before God. You really can trust him to get this right. If he takes something away from you it’s because he has something better for you. But you’ll have to release what he’s asked you for before you see what better thing he has aligned next. Check your hands right now – are they feeling clingy and clenched in fear? Dare to open them and say, “God, you can have it.” Maybe he really wanted it – or maybe he really wanted to know if he COULD have it, then you can keep it. God really wanted his people free from slavery in Egypt. He knew Pharaoh’s hardened heart would not allow his hands to open and release them – even with all 9 plagues. So finally comes a sweep of God’s power that would break Pharaoh’s hardened heart wide-open. Exodus chapter 11 is titled “Death for Egypt’s Firstborn.” God knew this is what it would take. Verse 1, “The Lord said to Moses, ‘I will strike Pharaoh and the land of Egypt with one more blow. After that, Pharaoh will let you leave this country.’” Verses 4-8, “This is what the Lord says: At midnight tonight I will pass through the heart of Egypt. All the firstborn sons will die in every family in Egypt, from the oldest son of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne, to the oldest son of his lowliest servant girl who grinds the flour. Even the firstborn of all livestock will die. Then a loud wail will rise through the land of Egypt, a wail like no one has ever heard before or will ever hear again. But among the Israelites it will be so peaceful that not even a dog will bark. Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites. All the officials of Egypt will run to me and fall to the ground before me, ‘Please leave!’ They will beg. ‘Hurry! And take all your followers with you.’ Only then will I go!” The final plague was coming at midnight, the plague of death. But the Israelites, God’s people, were set apart. There would be nothing but peace among them in the middle of sheer terror and destruction. The plague of death would pass right over their homes. They would survive, untouched, unbothered, unshaken, and finally be set free! Moses was given special instructions by God to mark his people as set apart and passed over in this plague of death. What was the mark? Blood. Exodus 12:21-23, Moses tells his people, “Go, pick out a lamb or young goat for each of your families, and slaughter the Passover animal. Drain the blood into a basin. Then take a bundle of hyssop branches and dip it into the blood. Brush the hyssop across the top and sides of the doorframes of your houses. And no one may go out through the door until morning. For the Lord will pass through the land to strike down the Egyptains. But when he sees the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe, the Lord will pass over your home. He will not permit his death angel to enter your house and strike you down.” The pure blood of the sacrificed lamb would set God’s people apart. The coming punishment would pass right over them as they were kept in perfect peace. And my friends, this is exactly what Jesus did for us, PERMANENTLY. John the Baptist introduces Jesus in John 1:29 as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Punishment and judgment are coming on this world. The book of Revelation tells us about the destruction, the horror and the terror – much like the plague of death sent to Egypt. But for those marked by the blood of the Lamb of God, we are passed right over and perfectly protected with peace. My friends, Jesus radically sets us apart. He marks us as his own, bought with his blood. Not because we’re worthy, but because we’re his chosen ones. He chose us first, now we get to choose him back. If you’ve accepted what Jesus has done for you, then God sees one thing when he sees you – he sees the blood of his son. And because of that blood, you are seen as holy, righteous, redeemed, worthy, and destined for an eternity by his side in a perpetual everlasting paradise! Oh Lord, may you see the blood of Jesus ALL OVER ME!!!!!!!!!!!! Less of me, more of Jesus. May every bit of my character, all of my choices, all my desires, all my tendencies, and every thing I ever do be fully covered in the blood of Jesus so that when God looks at me and sees how I live, what I do, what I say, where I go, how I lead, and how I follow – may he see only ONE thing – the blood. The blood that sets me apart. The blood that makes me forever good enough. Is that what God see when he sees you? If you’ve accepted the offering of Jesus, then that’s absolutely what he sees! And oh how he loves the soul covered in the blood of Jesus. Oh how he has good plans for that soul. Oh how he desires an eternity with you by his side. And maybe, just maybe, we can start seeing ourselves a little more like this too. Instead of seeing our faults and everything we hate about our reflection, maybe we can see a girl that was so totally and completely loved by her Creator that he gave his only son to save her and cover her forever. That’s a girl who is really forever good enough. A girl set apart. A girl marked by the blood. That girl is 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

Do you realize just how patient God has been with you. During your wandering, he has been steady. Through your silence, he has stood ready to speak. When you have been unfaithful, he has remained faithful. He has always held the power to come through for you, but sometimes you’ve failed to come to him. Time and time again, he has been patient offering grace and mercy even when it was undeserved. While God isn’t giving up on you, what are you giving up in your delayed surrender and obedience? Really – what are you missing out on as you fight for your own way? My great-grandpa was a tiny little man with the brightest blue eyes. Cecil was a brilliant business man, owning the country store in a small farming community every local family came to for supplies in the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s. He was much like Mr. Oleson on the show ‘Little House on the Prairie’. And interestingly enough, his wife Beulah (my great-grandmother) was much like Mrs. Oleson on the show, a sharp tongued, harsh woman. But Cecil was kind. He was hard-working. But, his heart was hard towards God. He refused to surrender to the Lord. He spent his whole life refusing God’s way over his own. He built his wealth and his success and kept God at arms length. Every Sunday he would go to the church to build the fire, but refuse to stay and hear God’s word. He didn’t have time for God or a need for God. At 90 years old, coming to the end of his life, he called the family into his bedroom and wept. He regretted an entire lifetime spent without God. And that night, he finally gave his life to Jesus. God had never given up on him. He was patient for 90 years awaiting the full heart of my great-grandpa, Cecil, and now he finally had it. As a fragile little old man, he was baptized by the local pastor with the help of my Daddy. He spent the final weeks of his life leading our family in prayer. It was beautiful. But it could have been beautiful for decades instead of just weeks. He had forfeited a lifetime of God’s goodness in his stubbornness and resistance. Oh how he wished he could go back and do it all again. He would do it right. He would surrender to God sooner. Life would have been so much better for him and for our entire family. I wonder where you might be holding back on God and one day you’ll wish you would have surrendered sooner. One day you’ll see how much better life could have been if you would have given it all to him. Well you can’t go back and change what has already passed, but starting today, you can do this different. Today can be your day. This is your opportunity to change every future day with your decision to seek and obey God fully. But here’s what we often do – We wait for things to get so bad that we can’t fix them on our own, so we cry out to God. God comes through and saves us, carries us through those hard times, but then as soon as life gets better we forget God. We hit our knees when God is our only option, but on the other side of the problem our knees aren’t on the floor. We pray to God when times are hard, but when it’s easy we withhold our heart. And what are we forfeiting in our stubbornness? What good plans of God are we sacrificing as our temporary surrender is replaced with self-will and forced timing? In our study of Exodus, we see what happens when we are stubborn to the will of God. We see what temporary surrender leads to – it leads to temporary relief followed by destruction. In God’s great mercy he gives us chance after chance to turn to him fully, but when we refuse, he allows things to get worse – wayyyyy worse! Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, has seen the mighty hand of God. He has heard the words of God through Moses. He’s experienced destruction because of his disobedience and hardened heart. And through the process of 9 plagues by the hand of God against Egypt, we see a pattern. The pattern of seeking God’s relief in the hardest of times, but as soon as relief comes, a hardened heart leads right back to disobedience. The plague of frogs is brought to Egypt by God as a sign of his power. The Egyptians are miserable and desperate because of these frogs everywhere. So here’s what Pharaoh does – Exodus 8:8, “Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and begged, ‘Plead with the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your people go, so they can offer sacrifices to the Lord.’” Great. Pharaoh is miserable and desperate so he surrenders to God’s will. And with that, it could all be over. The Israelites could have walked out of Egypt into their freedom and peace could have filled the land. It could be that easy. But it was never easy because the moment Pharaoh felt a bit of relief from the plague of frogs, he went right back to his old ways. Verse 15, “But when Pharaoh saw that relief had come, he became stubborn. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron.” So guess what, things get worse. More plagues. More destruction. More problems. Now the Egyptians are facing a plague of flies. Have you ever been bothered by a fly? A single annoying fly that won’t leave you alone can drive you crazy. If that’s a biting fly it can turn paradise into torment. Now imagine your home being filled by flies. Imagine swarms of flies covering the ground. When Pharaoh once again becomes miserable and desperate, he surrenders to God’s will. Verse 25, “Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron. ‘All right! Go ahead and offer sacrifices to your God.” Moses prays to the Lord for the flies to disappear and the next day, the flies are gone. Not a single fly remained. Then guess what – in the absence of misery and desperation, “Pharaoh again became stubborn and refused to let the people go.” And this continues as a pattern of plagues followed by seeking God’s relief, and the moment relief would come, that hardened heart would take over and disobedience would follow. Every disobedience directed by that hardened heart would bring the next plague of worse conditions and the hand of God would once again be sought. The moment relief would come, that hardened heart would once again take over. It’s easy to read the story of Pharaoh and shake our head in disbelief, but my friends, we do it too. We pray to God when times are hard, but when it’s easy we withhold our heart. And what peace, what blessings, what good plans of the Lord are we forfeiting in the process? When will we stop this? When will we no longer require desperate circumstances to realize we are always desperate for God? You have the biopsy and await the results and you’re on your face begging for God’s touch. The biopsy returns and it’s benign, no cancer. You’re overcome with gratitude because God came through for you. But how quickly does life just return to normal? How quickly do you get busy and no longer have time for your knees to be on the floor in search of God? Without threat, you’re no longer desperate for God. It’s not just a biopsy – it’s the missed paycheck, it’s the threatened relationship, it’s the car problems, it’s the forecasted storm. We seek God desperately when there’s a threat, but the moment the threat passes, we’re no longer desperate for God. What we don’t realize is every moment of our lives is totally dependent on God. Without his breath, we don’t take our next breath. Without his hand of provision, we don’t eat. Without his light, we cease to exist. We’re desperate for God, but we’re living as if we’re not. What would life look like if you lived every moment in awareness of your desperation for God? There’s a great song by Jamie McDonald called ’Desperate’. It says: Oh God, Im desperate Down on my knees Send help from heaven ‘Cause that’s what I need I’m not asking, I’m begging Lord, come through for me I need heaven and I’m desperate How bad would things have to get before you call out to God in desperation? You’re desperate for God whether you realize it or not. And God is his infinite wisdom and divine mercy will allow things to get as bad as they need to get for you to realize your desperation for him. He’s more concerned about your character than your comfort. With each relief offered by God, Pharaoh would quickly return to his hardened heart and disobedience. The plague of hail comes in chapter 9. Everything is destroyed. People, animals and crops are destroyed by the hail. Verses 27-28, “Then Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron. ‘This time I have sinned,’ he confessed. ‘The Lord is the righteous one, and my people and I are wrong. Please beg the Lord to end this terrifying thunder and hail. We’ve had enough. I will let you go; you don’t need to stay any longer.’” Guess what happens next. You’re right – God comes through with relief and Pharaoh goes right back to his old ways. Verses 34-35, “But when Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail and thunder had stopped, he and his officials sinned again, and Pharaoh again became stubborn. Because his heart was hard, Pharaoh refused to let the people leave, just as the Lord had predicted through Moses.” So, things continue to get worse. Don’t let that be you, my sister. Don’t waste more time. Don’t go back to old ways when God brings relief. Stay desperate. Psalm 63:1, “O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you.” This is desperation. God desires our hearts to remain desperate for him even when the problem is resolved, even when the threat is removed, even when the misery is lifted. Don’t go back to your old ways. Don’t return to your busy distracted ways of living. Don’t start living like you don’t desperately need God just because life is easier again – No, girl, you desperately need him for every breath in every day. Let’s stay desperate. Let’s realize our dependence on God and live in full surrender to him, his way, his timing, and his word. Then, we can come to the end of our days without the regret of wasted days and missed opportunities. Desperation leads to surrender. Surrender leads to obedience. Obediences leads to blessings. Now, don’t let your blessings take you out of desperation for God. 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

Every supernatural occurrence is not by the hand of God. When we chase the supernatural, we are subject to confusion. Sometimes we’re dabbling in a dangerous darkness while thinking we’re tapping into godly powers. My friend, you have to know, not every power is godly. There are dark powers in this world. These are not my own ideas – these are God’s warnings directly from his word. God is capable of mysterious miracles that cannot be explained. No doubt we’re surrounded by his power at work every day of our lives and it’s truly remarkable. We are also surrounded by a fallen angel who constantly tries to undermine our mighty God with imitation miracles and wonders. What we need to decide with absolute conviction right now is, IF IT’S NOT FROM THE HAND OF GOD, I DON’T WANT IT. There’s not a single magical, mysterious, seemingly awesome thing I want if it doesn’t come from God. Honey, if it’s not from the light, then it’s from the dark. If a power isn’t from God, it’s from our adversary the devil. And he is capable of absolutely NOTHING good. It might look good for a moment, but it simply is NOT good. It’s dangerous. The powers offered from the pits of hell do one thing – they pull us away from our Creator with a divided and confused heart. And in that space of distance from God, created by confusion and division, the enemy attacks. If your heart has gotten divided with dabbling in powers not offered by God, it’s time to rid your life of those things with supreme urgency. If your heart has gotten confused by mysteries lacking the fingerprints of God, it’s time to recognize the author of those mysteries as the enemy of your soul who’s objective is to kill, steal and destroy. James 4: 7-8 MSG, “Yell a loud no to the devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field.” How easy it is to say, “Well there’s nothing wrong with dabbling in this.” But the better question is, “Is there anything truly good with it?” There’s nothing wrong with the day and month you’re born, but thinking your birth sign determines a single moment of your God-given, miraculous life has absolutely NOTHING good in it. And when there’s nothing good in it, God’s not in it. If God’s not in it, there’s a whole lot of room for alternate forces to reside. You don’t want that. We’re supposed to be yelling, “Devil, get behind me”, not “Hey Devil, this is kinda fun.” Eve made a terrible mistake – She entertained the offerings of Satan. She gave him permission to speak into her life, and when the devil speaks, he lies. He twists truths. He confuses thoughts. He hardens hearts. And he brings chaos to God’s intended paradise. That apple smelled like Hell, but Eve never paused long enough to smell it before she ate it. Eve quite simply shouldn’t have entertained a conversation with that slimy snake in the garden. He had nothing good to say, and never does. “Hey Eve, why can’t you eat this apple? Don’t you want to taste it and see?” Have you been entertaining seemingly innocent conversations with the enemy of your soul? It’s straight up never innocent on his part – He knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s bringing confusion into your life. He’s hardening your heart to God’s true power and tricking you into a perversion of power. Sadly, just like Eve, we fall for it. Yes, the devil has power. To think he doesn’t is foolish on our part. But he never has power to do good. Only God holds the power for good. In Exodus, Moses is sent by God to Pharaoh, the leader of the Egyptians to rescue the Israelites after 400 years of slavery. Pharaoh is stubborn and doesn’t want to let go of his free labor, so he refuses. God directs and empowers Moses in very specific ways to display his miraculous acts as a warning to Pharaoh. Exodus 7: 10-12, “Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent! Then Pharaoh called in his own wise men and sorcerer, and these Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their magic. They threw down their staffs, which also became serpents.” And there it is my friends – we’re not making up alternate powers at work in this world. It’s real and it’s deceptive. The magicians were operating under a different power, and the display of their power confused the already hardened Pharaoh even further. Moses was under God’s power and turned the staff into a snake. Pharaoh’s magicians were under another power not of God and did the same thing to seemingly undermine the word of the Lord. Next, God sends the first plague on Egypt as a warning. He turns the water of the Nile River into blood. But here come the Egyptian magicians and they too turned water into blood. Further convinced the powers he trusted in were just as powerful as the powers of Moses’ God, Pharaoh ignored the warnings and continued to do wrong. The next plague from God brought frogs everywhere. Again, a warning of how bad things could get for the Egyptians if Pharaoh didn’t obey God and let the Israelites go. But again, the magicians were able to do the same thing with their magic. They too caused frogs to come up on the land of Egypt. Why would God allow Satan to have powers? That’s a great question, and not one I can answer. But here’s what we know – we know Satan has power here on Earth. But we also know his power is limited. Here’s the part we so easily miss. Yes, the magicians could tap into a power other than God to do harm, but they could never tap into that power to stop the harm or to do good. God could stop the frogs, the magicians could not. God could bring peace, any power outside of God cannot. God brings healing – Satan cannot. Satan kills, Satan steals, Satan destroys. His power is second rate and only for harm. You don’t want that in your life! Trust me, that smells like Hell! This is how we know every supernatural occurrence is not by the hand of God, it’s in God’s word. Just because it’s mysterious and magical does NOT mean it’s of God. Let us not be fooled. Take a whiff – does it smell like Hell? Satan wants to work through awes and wonders and mysterious works to confuse us. And he will – IF WE ENTERTAIN IT. Girl, if you open that door, he will waltz right into your life and bring a parade of chaos with him. He will steal your peace. He will fill your mind with anxiety. He will disturb your dreams. He will darken your thoughts with fear. But here’s what God will do when you only entertain his truths, his promises, his plans, his ways and his words – He will fill you with unspeakable peace that doesn’t even make sense. He will calm your mind and send those anxious thoughts back to hell where they belong. He will bring you rest and allow you to wake up refreshed with his new mercies each morning. He will give you every reason to believe, to trust and to hope so abundantly that there’s simply no room for fear in your heart or mind. Here comes Satan with a tarot card – are you going to entertain that? Here comes the devil with a crystal, a fortune, a palm reading, a healing ceremony, a saence, a voice from beyond, a mystical connection – are you going to entertain that? There’s nothing good in this and there could be a whole lot of bad in it. Shut it down. Yell a loud NO! Throw it out. Evict it now. Exit yourself from those circles. Slam the doors on the confusion of darkness. Stop dabbling. Would you be so bold as to ask God to reveal to you any door you have opened to the power of darkness in your life? It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person – it simply means you’ve been tricked somewhere and Satan has slipped in through the backdoor of permission and he’s been attacking from within without you even knowing it. Lord, please forgive us and help us. We have unintentionally subjected our hearts and minds to a power that is not from you. Here’s the truth – I had done that in my own life. I had given the enemy access and I wondered why I was feeling a lack of peace and constantly battling chaos. I can admit that to you. But here’s what’s really hard to admit – I didn’t want to shut it down. It had become my normal. I liked my little daily practice. And I struggled with God for over a year as he told me to stop. It looked not only innocent, but it actually looked good to the most of the world. But within, I knew God was saying it wasn’t good for me. Sadly, I tried to reason for entirely too long and continued in disobedience for a season. But the immediate peace that came once I surrendered to God’s promptings and eliminated that gray area from my life was so sweet, I’ll simply NEVER go back. I know God’s power. It’s unmatched. It’s always for my good. And I also know the power of darkness. It’s real. It’s always lurking. It will try to creep in to create a distance between me and God. It will try to confuse me, distract me and sidetrack me. And it will never be good for me. And I’ve decided I want absolutely NOTHING to do with it. No matter how normal the world makes it look. No matter how innocent it may seem. No matter how dressed up it might be, it still smells like Hell to me because that’s where it came from. How about you? Will you take a whiff of what you’ve been dabbling with, allowing, or entertaining and see if it smells like Hell? And if it does, what are you going to do about it? Once again, James 4: 7-8 MSG, “Yell a loud no to the devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field.” If it smells like Hell, yell NO! 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

Luke 8: 22-25, “One day Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.’ So they got into a boat and started out. As they sailed across, Jesus settled down for a nap. But soon a fierce storm came down on the lake. The boat was filling with water, and they were in real danger. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, ‘Master, Master, we’re going to drown!’ When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm. Then he asked them, ‘Where is your faith’. The disciples were terrified and amazed. ‘Who is this man?’ they asked each other. ‘When he gives a command, even the wind and waves obey him!'” Jesus was certain of one thing – they were going to the other side of that lake. He didn’t say, ‘maybe’, he didn’t say ‘if we can’. He said, “let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” With Jesus, it was going to happen. Without him, maybe not. I don’t know what you’re going through, but if Jesus says you’re going through to the other side of this with him, then honey, you’re going to get through this. He is certain. Regardless of how bad the circumstances may get. No matter the struggle. No matter what forces of hell may come up against you – you’re going to get through this with Jesus. He’s never had a doubt because he’s never not been in total control. Jesus said in John 16:33, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” Every problem you will ever face has already been overcome by Jesus. He’s already made a way through it. He’s already seen the end of it. And Sis, you’re going to make it to the other side with Jesus. No matter how big this storm may get, if Jesus is in your boat, the storm will be overcome. But the storm is real and the disciples are in it. This section of the lake was 5 miles wide to cross which means all they can see is water. They can’t see land. The boat the disciples were on with Jesus was likely about 26 feet long, 8 feet wide, with oars and a small sail. This was not a ship, this was not a yacht, this was a fishing boat. In this boat were experienced fishermen who had spent the majority of their lives on this exact lake. They knew this water. They knew this boat. But they did not know this storm. Scripture says these professional fishermen were terrified of this storm, which has to mean it was a radically bad storm. The boat was filling with water. The danger was real. They weren’t having a freak-out moment for nothing. They were going down. And Jesus is asleep on the boat. How in the world can Jesus be sleeping? It’s not like there was a private space for him on this small boat. He was fully aware of the waves. He felt the water rising within. He was getting soaking wet. And yet he was so at peace in the storm, he was sleeping. There was absolutely no freak-out in Jesus. There was no stress, no worry – he already knew no matter how bad it looked, they were making it to the other side. Wow – what would you give for that level of peace in your storms? Let me tell you something, my sister – it’s here for you! Jesus said in John 14:27, “I’m leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” That’s peace that can face the wildest of storms in a boat that’s taking on water and receive rest. Jesus is offering that level of peace, HIS PEACE, to you as a gift. But it will cost you something. Yes, it’s a gift, but it comes at a cost. The cost for this level of peace is you releasing control. You releasing the habit of stress and the addiction to worry. Jesus’ peace can rest well in a wild storm with a sinking boat – Jesus’ peace can wait for the diagnosis without fear. Jesus’ peace can reside in the turmoil of these relationships without sacrificing your happiness. Jesus’ peace can faithfully steward what is far too little while God makes it enough. Jesus’ peace can be surrounded by the drama without allowing the drama to get inside. Jesus’ peace can look the reality square in the eyes and still see the other side of the lake where you’re promised to go. This peace is the peace Jesus gives you. Faith can be in a storm with a sinking boat and not freak out. Your freak out is optional, and Jesus is not impressed when you choose it over his peace. Here’s the truth about this particular storm in scripture – it was likely a work of Satan himself. What other opportunity would Satan have to take out not only the Savior of the world but every person who was going to tell his stories and change the entire world. They were all in one boat. These waves were an assignment from Hell. These winds were under the direction of Satan. And still they were silenced immediately with one word from Jesus. Let’s talk about your storm. Some storms are self-created in our own disobedience. That’s how Jonah ended up in the belly of a whale. God told him to go to one place, but in fear he went in the other direction. On his boat going in the willfully wrong direction, a great storm came and Jonah was thrown overboard. He was given 3 days in the belly of a whale to get things right. That was a storm of disobedience. But this storm the disciples were in this night was not a storm of disobedience. They were with Jesus, literally! They were following his every step. They were listening to his every word. It was Jesus’ idea to get in the boat. This was a storm of obedience. Understand both happen. If life is turned upside down for you right now, ask – have you been disobedient? Is there something God wants you to change and this is getting your attention? Fantastic – when you know better you can do better and storms help us know better FAST. But maybe this storm is happening while you’re living in obedience. Maybe Hell is coming against your obedience to try and detour you. Will you let Hell win here? Maybe it’s just life happening to you right now – or maybe it really is a full on attack with the schemes of Hell behind it – no matter what Jesus is in control here! Jesus can calm this storm – but remember this – no matter what, Jesus has already given you the gift of his peace for this storm. You can rest in this. You can still find joy in this. You can know with absolutely certainty Jesus’ plans will not be cancelled and you will get to the other side where he is leading you. You will get there, and you can have peace while you go! 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

God, if you’re in it, I want it – If you’re not, I don’t. Seek God’s hand. Moses said to God in Exodus 33:15, “Lord, if you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place.” MSG – Lord, if your presence doesn’t take the lead here, call this trip off right now.” GOD I WANT YOUR HAND, AND ONLY YOUR HAND. IF IT’S NOT BY YOUR HAND, I DON’T WANT IT, NO MATTER HOW GOOD IT LOOKS. 4 examples of what “Hand of the Lord” means: 1. Ezekiel 1: 1-3, “The heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. I felt the hand of the Lord take hold of me.” • Commissioning for a task – 2:3, “I am sending you!” • Prophetic revelation – God showed him exactly what would happen, what to do and what to say • Divine empowerment (strength, miracles) – Ezekiel means “Strengthened by God” 2. Ezra 8:31, “And the gracious hand of our God protected us and saved us from enemies and bandits along the way.” • Protection from enemies 3. Nehemiah 2:8, “And the king granted these requests, because the gracious hand of God was on me.” • Favor with leaders or authorities 4. Luke 1:66 – speaking of John the Baptist, “For the hand of the Lord was surely upon him in a special way.” • Commissioning for a task – Sent on a mission PRAY FOR GOD’S HAND – THE PRAYER OF JABEZ 1 Chronicles 4:10, “He was the one who prayed to God, ‘Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, THAT YOU HAND WOULD BE WITH ME, and that you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!’ So God granted him what he requested.” GOD’S ANSWER Isaiah 41:10 TPT, “Do not yield to fear, for I am always near. Never turn your gaze from me, for I am your faithful God. I will infuse you with my strength and help you in every situation. I will hold you firmly with my victorious right hand.” Do not yield to fear – let fear go first while you wait. NO! Never turn your gaze from God – look for God, turn to God, seek him ALWAYS God is faithful – forever, even when I am not. He’s always right here, always near. Infused with God’s strength – His strength is poured in me and I then have what I could never have on my own Help in every situation – that means THIS situation – there is help for me here, and God is that help Held FIRMLY in his victorious right hand – I’m safe and secure here and there’s guaranteed victory for me 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

What is one thing God has done for you specifically? How do you know he is real? Where have you personally seen him work? THAT IS YOUR TESTIMONY. How do you share your testimony without making it about you? MAKE IT ALL ABOUT JESUS. Here’s the truth – nobody really wants to know all the details about how bad things were for you. Nobody needs to hear a 45 minute long story that proves your life was worse than theirs. A testimony is not a competition of the worst beginnings. Testimony is a life so changed by God that your lifestyle becomes the evidence. You tell them what God did for you, then you live in a way that shows it’s true. I first started going to church when I was 15. My parents were trying to make up for lost time, so we went not only on Sunday mornings, but on Sunday nights for double credit. Oh how I dreaded testimony time every Sunday night. Without fail there were the same old women that would stand up and say the same exact things every time. One woman was Irene Davidson. (Her husband was Harley Davidson.) Irene would be the first to stand during testimony time and she would say, “I just had to share how good the Lord has been to me. He’s never left me a single day.” Then she would give a recap of her day. “I had oatmeal for breakfast and it set on my stomach good, praise the Lord. I worked in my garden today and the sun was shining on my back, praise the Lord. Harley is still walking and here with me tonight, praise the Lord.” Then the next little old woman would stand and share her testimony. It all meant nothing to me. What’s the point? But one night, my Daddy stood up and gave a testimony. He said he was a sinner saved by grace and every blessing in his life was because of Jesus. That one hit me. For the next 3 years I went most every Sunday night and testimony time became something different for me. It became a time when I struggled with the Holy Spirit who continually prompted me to share my testimony. But here’s what held me back – I didn’t know what my testimony was. I was a good girl with a good family, living a good life. What had Jesus really done for me? Was it anything worth talking about? Does anyone else feel that way? You feel that either there’s nothing worth talking about, or nothing you would be willing to talk about, so your testimony isn’t shared. Or when you have shared your testimony it was just a story of how horrible things were for you and Jesus was a little sprinkle on top to label your self-story time as a testimony. Today, we will open our Bibles and read precisely what a testimony looks like and the affect it can have. Then, you will receive a challenge to prepare your 2 minute testimony. I wish someone would have told 15 year old Pamela that she had a testimony of how Jesus changed my life and gave me the tools to craft it. 50 year old Pamela can still benefit from that today, so today she’s going to get it! In John 4 we read of Jesus encountering a woman at the well. This woman was drawing water in the heat of the day all alone. Why was that? Because she was an outcast. She was talked about by the other women, looked down on as ‘less than’, and unwelcome to be at the well with the others in the morning when it was cooler. So, she labored in the full sun alone at the well. One day, Jesus met this woman at the well and asked her for some water. This sparked a conversation between the woman and Jesus. Jesus addresses her shame, knowing exactly why she’s at the well alone. He says to her in verse 18, “You have had 5 husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now.” Why would he do that? He wanted this woman to know he knew everything about her, and yet he still chose to be there with her. Then, for the first time, Jesus reveals his true identity. He says in verse 26, “I am the Messiah!” The whole world had been waiting for the coming of the Messiah, the one who would change everything. And this is the woman chosen to hear from Jesus himself that it was really him. And he wanted to make it clear that he knew her life hadn’t been easy. He knew she was shamed by her community. He knew she carried deep hurt. And he chose her to be the very first one to know who he really was. He says, “I know who you really are, now let me tell you who I really am.” That’s what Jesus wants to show us. “Here’s who you really are, and this is who I really am.” That’s what changes your life! Who are you, and who is Jesus. That’s your testimony! After her encounter with Jesus, the woman returns to her village and she shares her testimony. What was it? Verse 40, “He told me everything I ever did!” That’s it. She didn’t have to rehash how horrible life had been. She didn’t have to place blame on her previous 5 husbands who had likely left her over infertility or aging. She didn’t have to recount the shame of now living with a man she wasn’t even married to. Her testimony was as the woman who was hidden in shame, the Messiah knew everything about her and chose her to speak to! JESUS KNOWS ME. A simple testimony. Could that possibly have any value or effect? YES! Here’s what this woman’s simple testimony of “He knew me” did – Verse 39, “Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because of what the woman had said.” MANY lives were changed because she no longer hid in shame and shared that Jesus knew everything about her and spoke to her any way. Jesus knows everything about you too, my sister. And he wants to save you too. He wants to bring you out of that shame. He wants to heal you from that trauma. He wants to turn you away from your past and point you toward your future with him. Jesus knows you and he chooses you. That simple truth shared in a way that doesn’t make it about you and makes it all about Jesus can have the power to bring an entire village to Jesus! We’re so quick to assume we have nothing worthy of saying or sharing and God couldn’t possibly use us for his work. We’re SO WRONG. All this woman said was, “Jesus knew me.” In her pain, in her shame, in her hiding, in her loneliness, in her struggle, in her darkness, JESUS KNEW HER. Could you say that? I bet that’s your story too. Jesus knew about you when you were struggling. He was there with you. He rescued you. He strengthened you. He began to change your life, and he just wouldn’t let you go. That’s a testimony, and that testimony could be used by God to save an entire village. Stand up and say it, Sis! At our retreat this past weekend in the Florida Keys, we gathered under a gazebo on the most picturesque white sand beach on the shores of calm turquoise waters and palm trees. We read this story of the woman at the well, we considered the power of a simple 2 minute testimony that doesn’t make it about us, but makes it all about Jesus, then we practiced choosing ONE way Jesus has proven that he knows us, and we shared it. Oh the power in those short stories of, “Jesus knows everything about me.” There were souls sitting in that circle that needed to know Jesus knows them too, because until that moment they felt forgotten, unseen and unimportant. But women just like them dared to share how Jesus knew them and it showed in their lives. When you know Jesus knows you, you begin to change from the inside out. You speak differently. You treat others differently. You view your entire life differently. And it shows. Now, what is your testimony? Can you craft a 2 minute story that begins with who you are, how Jesus knows you, and what a difference it has made in your life? There’s no need to make it worse or bigger. God is already big enough in your story. He’s perfect in your story. You are not. Don’t make it about you, make it about Jesus! Choose ONE. I know there are likely many ways Jesus has known you and shown up for you, but choose one to simply point to him, then start saying it. Here’s my testimony: I’m just a little country girl with absolutely nothing special about me. But, Jesus knew me and called me to be a vessel for his power to flow through. I would have settled for far less, but he called me to so much more. Now I live a life with him daily that is better than anything I could have ever imagined. He has filled my ordinary with his extraordinary and I get to see him work every single day. Girl, what’s yours? Jesus knows you! There’s unspeakable power in that, but it’s up to you to speak it and release that unspeakable power! 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

Are there parts of you that are hidden away? A secret shame, a private hurt, a lonely fear that resides in the darkness you don’t talk about. Jesus knows about it and he wants to heal it. Hebrews 4:13, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes.” The parts of you that are hidden away in darkness are seen by your loving God. Now, he calls them out of the cave, out of the pit, out of hiding. You’re not a whole person when parts of you are still hiding. Jesus wants ALL of you. He calls all of that secret shame, all of that private hurt, and all of that lonely fear out of the cave of exiles. In his presence, those parts of you are healed and you are made whole. The cave is not the place for you, my sister. It’s not the place for any part of you. God sees it all now. And guess what, he’s not turning away from you! Why is it we hide things as if we can fool God? We can hide that shameful part of us from the one who created us – we can look whole – we can appear healed – while there are pieces of us exiled in the cave we don’t talk about. Jesus stands at the cave and calls every piece of you to come follow him. This past weekend at retreat, a beautiful soul named Michael shared the pages of her journal with me. She is an extremely talented artist and she paints visual images of scriptures within her journal. One painting she titled “The Cave of Exiles”. At the mouth of a dark cave stands a little sheep, staring into the abyss. Next to this sheep is Jesus, the great Shepherd. He too is staring into the abyss. Jesus stands ready with his staff. Ready to go into the cave and rescue what has been hidden. Ready to capture the pieces that may run and hide. Ready to restore the broken pieces of the sheep and make that precious sheep whole again. Michael told me that sheep is her. She had hidden away her shame, her fear, her loneliness, the abandonment, the criticism, the failure, the rejection and the trauma. The dark cave held the pieces of her she didn’t know what to do with. The pieces of her that haunted her. She thought she could be fractured like that and live whole – but she was wrong. A piece of her was always exiled in the cave. So Jesus showed her how he is her Shepherd and he would go into that cave to gather all the exiled parts of her hidden away in darkness. And he would call each one out. “Come, shame. Come, fear. Come, loneliness. Come, abandonment. Come, criticism. Come, failure. You come, rejection. Come, trauma.” Some would come to the call of the Shepherd easily, but one would hide. One would run deeper into the cave, lost with no way out. But Jesus would not leave this exiled broken piece of his sheep in that darkness. He would go into the deepest, darkest parts of the cave and use his staff to find the part that would run the hardest. For her, that was the rejection. Every other hidden part of her had responded to the call of Jesus, but that rejection had hidden and it had hidden her entire life. She may have looked whole to the rest of the world, but a part of her was still in the Cave of Exiles, wandering, hurting and alone. But Jesus wanted his girl WHOLE! Using his shepherd’s staff, he would capture that rejection from it’s hiding, call it out of the cave, and restore his sheep to be whole again. The healed rejection would reveal a greater purpose in her story. The hidden rejection would have forever left her unwhole with a piece of her still exiled in the cave. Colossians 2:10 tells us, “Our own completeness is now found in him. We are completely filled with God as Christ’s fullness overflows within us.” We are not complete when parts of us are still hidden away. Jesus wants his girl whole with nothing left in the cave! Scripture tells us caves are often where people would hide. David hid in caves while King Saul sought to kill him in a jealous rampage. Years of David’s life was spent hiding. Hiding what was under attack. And really, don’t we do the same? We hide what is under attack. The enemy has zeroed in on those weak parts of us, attacking that wound, reminding us of our hurt, stirring up our fears. So, we hide it away. These hidden parts of us leave us fractured and unwhole. We try to continue on with life like it doesn’t matter, but it does matter. As long as a part of us is still in the cave, we are not whole. The shame remains. The fear resides. The abandonment curls up in the darkness. The rejection sits alone in the cave. As far away from that cave as you have tried to go, there’s a part of you still in there. You’ve tried to fill these holes with relationships, with successes, with pretty things, but nothing has worked – at least not for long. And that is why Jesus stands at your Cave of Exiles with you now. That is why he’s prepared to go in and get every part of you. His girl is hurting, no matter how hard you try to hide it, and he wants you healed and whole. So hear the voice of the great Shepherd of your soul as he says, “Come, shame. Come, fear. Come, loneliness. Come, abandonment. Come, criticism. Come, failure. You come, rejection. Come, trauma. It’s time for you to be put back together again in healing and wholeness.” There’s a cave near the Dead Sea called the Cave of Horror. The remains of men, women and children were found there. Exiles hidden away in the darkness. They died while hiding. Pieces of you want to die hiding, but Jesus wants every piece of you healed and living. You see if it just dies, then its wasted and leaves a hole in you. But if it’s called out by Jesus, cared for by the Shepherd, and healed in His presence, then you get to be made whole. His desire is for no part of you to be exiled. No part of you to die hiding in the cave. For every part of you to come to him, be healed by him, and be fully restored in you. And those healed, no longer hiding, pieces of you become your greatest tools in Kingdom work. In Luke 15, Jesus tells the Parable of the Lost Sheep. Jesus says the man with 100 sheep would leave the 99 sheep to go find the one that is lost, and he wouldn’t give up until he finds that one. You know that story. But have you ever thought of these words of Jesus as the pieces of you that get lost? If there’s 100 pieces of you, and 1 of those pieces is hiding away in the Cave of Exiles, hurting and alone, he will go after that piece of you to rescue it and heal it and bring it back with the other 99. Jesus has not given up on a single piece of you, precious girl! Psalm 147:3, “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.” Let him heal you completely. He’s coming into the cave of everything you’ve exiled and he’s calling it all out. Let him bandage those wounds. Let him make you whole again. Jesus is the only one who can. 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

Isaiah 14:27, “The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has spoken – who can change his plans? When his hand is raised, who can stop him?” 1 Corinthians 1:9, “God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” 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

You have a job to do. A job that often gets twisted in a way that either puffs you up with pride making you think you’re better than someone else, or your job gets twisted in a way that makes you carry the burden of changing someone else. Let’s be clear – saving someone is not your job. Girl, you are not Jesus. Nor can you make everyone happy. You’re not a taco. Your job is simply this – SHOW THEM JESUS. In this world, you reflect the light, the love, the power of Jesus. That’s your job. How it is received and what others do with that simply isn’t your business. Gosh, we get that all twisted, don’t we? And when we do, it becomes more about us than about the glory of God. And it becomes our burden to carry, our stress to worry about, and our pressure to make them change. Moses was called by God to speak truth to Pharaoh. The truth was, Pharaoh was holding God’s people as slaves. The truth was if Pharaoh didn’t let God’s people go, terrible things were going to happen to him and his people, the Egyptians. Moses job was to be a representative of God to Pharaoh, but his job was not to change Pharaoh, convince Pharaoh or save Pharaoh. Anytime Moses got his job twisted and took on undue pressure and stress, he wanted to quit in frustration. Yeah, that’s what happens when we make things about us instead of about God. First, Pharaoh had refused to listen to God. Exodus 5:2, Pharaoh declares, “Who is the Lord? Why should I listen to him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.” So, that’s when God uses his servant Moses to reflect his glory, speak his words, and deliver his message for him. Exodus 7:1, Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pay close attention to this. I will make you seem like God to Pharaoh.” When Pharaoh wouldn’t acknowledge God, he continually sent him an example in Moses. A man he could see and hear who represented God. Moses didn’t have to come up with the plan on his own, he simply had to represent God. Moses didn’t have to speak words of his own, he simply had to represent God. Moses didn’t have to change Pharaoh, he simply had to represent God. And God made Pharaoh to see God in Moses. My friends, that’s our job. As followers of Christ, we are to represent him. Your mission today is to show others Jesus. You, my friend, you are God’s love letter for the world to read. It’s YOU God wants to use for the person who will never read his Word otherwise. You get to bring Jesus to that table! You get to bring Jesus to that room. You get to bring Jesus to that gathering. That’s your job. 2 Corinthians 3: 2-3, Paul writes and says, “Your lives are a letter everyone can read and recognize. You are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This ‘letter’ is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. Is is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.” What Christ has done in your life is now his letter to the world. You are his example. You are the letter they will read, and you get to show them Jesus simply through the way you live. What a big job we have! And the moment you put the weight of that job on your shoulders, then it makes it about you more than about Jesus. That’s not the way to do your job. You aren’t writing the letter. Jesus is writing the letter. It’s a letter written in your heart. As you live from the heart, everyone can read and recognize the author of your story. Your entire life then points to Jesus. And THAT is what we’re here to do as his disciples. How someone interrupts the letter Jesus has written in your heart is not your problem. What a single person does with the letter of your life is none of your business. If it were, then it’s about you. This isn’t about you. This is about the work of Jesus and your willingness to let his work show in you. Much later in the book of Exodus, Moses goes up to a mountain and comes face to face with God. He spends time with God. And when Moses comes back down from the mountain, his face was radiant. The glory of God was shining in Moses face. His encounter with God on that mountain changed him. It changed his presence. He literally reflected the light of God. And this isn’t just some Old Testament miracle that doesn’t apply to us today. No, actually, the same thing happens to us now. When we spend time with God, our face then gets to shine his glory! We become the letter perfect strangers read and learn about Jesus! We become the letter our loved ones who have strayed read and experience the life-changing love of Jesus. Not because of who we are, but because of who HE is in us. Later in 2 Corinthians 3, Paul writes in verse 17-18 (MSG), “Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become more like him.” My friend, are you brighter than you were last year? Are you becoming more beautiful? I’m not talking about your botox, I’m talking about your heart. Is your inward life more beautiful today than it was a year ago? If you are growing in relationship with God, spending time with him and seeking him, this is naturally happening. You’re not manufacturing beauty, beauty is growing within you. You’re not manufacturing light, the light of God is reflecting from him onto you for others to see. It’s not about your light – it’s about HIS LIGHT. You are simply a reflection. So, your face changes. Your face becomes radiant like Moses’ face after his time with God on the mountain. Your face shines with the brightness of God’s face. How absolutely amazing is that?!!!!! Paul also wrote in Philippians 2 that God is working IN you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. It’s not coming from you, it’s coming from God! God is changing your heart, then he’s giving you the power and strength to change your life! And as you do, you become his bright light in a world of darkness. Not your own light, but simply a reflection of his light. It’s not about you. It’s about Jesus in you. Don’t assume the responsibility of having to say the right thing to save someone. Remember, that’s Jesus’ job, not yours. You’re not the savior. You’re not even the light. You’re a representative of the savior and a reflection of his light. Assuming the responsibility in your own power will leave you exhausted and disappointed. Paul seems to know something about reflecting the light of Jesus instead of trying to be the light. Remember, Paul was a man who’s life had been radically changed by an encounter with Jesus as he was marching down a road on his way to kill Christians. Jesus did a radical work in his life, now Paul’s entire life was a letter telling the story of Jesus’ saving power. It wasn’t up to him who read the letter or how they received it. It wasn’t about his light, it was about Jesus’ light reflecting in him. His job was to show Jesus. Paul writes in Colossians 1:27 (TPT), “Living within you is Christ who floods you with the expectation of glory! This mystery of Christ, embedded within us, becomes a heavenly treasure chest of hope filled with the riches of glory for his people, and God wants everyone to know it!” If you allow Jesus to work in your life, you become his TREASURE CHEST of hope. Your life is filled with the riches of his glory and God wants everyone to know about it. You’re not given this treasure chest to hide, you’re given this treasure chest of hope to share. Again, God wants everyone to know about his glory that’s inside of you! Moses had God’s glory inside of him. His job was to represent God to Pharaoh. Moses became the Bible Pharaoh had never read. Moses became the light of God that Pharaoh could either receive or reject. Either way, Moses job wasn’t to convince or change anyone. Moses’ job was to be the treasure chest of hope everywhere he went. His face was to shine the light of God, and it did! Did Pharaoh change? No. Did Pharaoh listen? No. But that wasn’t Moses’ job. That’s God’s business. And God used it all for his radically good, miraculous works! Maybe you’re stressed and feeling all the pressure because you’ve forgotten your role in this is to simply reflect the light of Jesus. You don’t have to manufacture the light. You don’t have to say the right things. You don’t have to have all the answers. Your only job is to let others see Jesus in you. I have a sticker on the front cover of my Bible that says, “Lord, let them see YOU in me.” That’s my one mission. It’s not about anyone seeing me. It’s not about my words or my works. It’s about Jesus IN ME. There’s no pressure in that. There’s no exhausting work in that. There’s a freedom of being a treasure chest of hope, and the treasure isn’t even mine – it’s all God’s and I just get to hold it and reflect it. This isn’t about you. Don’t make it about you. This isn’t up to you. Don’t insert yourself. This is about the light and power of God, and that lives IN YOU as a follower of Jesus. You are his letter. Now, just don’t hide it! 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

God has promises for you. His word is full of promises over your life. But have you read his word to know his promises? Is it important to know God’s promises for you? Absolutely. But it can’t stop there. This has to go beyond just knowing. Now, you step into believing his promises. Trusting his promises. Living absolutely dependent on his promises. Where in your life are you completely depending on the promises of God for you? You need to know God isn’t just a promise maker, he is the promise keeper. Do you know God as YOUR promise keeper? Do you know him as the one who will never fail you? If you do, he will lead you into wild, faith-filled spaces you could never reach alone. But if you don’t know God as your promise keeper, you will get stuck in your wilderness questioning his power and questioning his faithfulness. That questioning isn’t failure … but here’s what is … questioning that leads to doubt, doubt that leads to fear, and fear that leads to disobedience. And that’s exactly where it will lead you. Here’s the root of our disobedience – we question if God will really get it right. We question if God will really follow through on his promises for us personally. We doubt we’re that known and that loved by a God this big. And when we don’t know God as our promise keeper, then we don’t believe he can really get it right for us forever. Can God really get it right for you forever? Can you trust him that much? Let me tell you what that level of faith looks like – that looks like staring down the impossible and believing with God it’s still possible. That means refusing to allow your mind to be overwhelmed with discouragement when there’s every good reason to believe there’s nothing more or better for you. That means stepping in faith when you can’t fully see the step and you don’t know how your foot will land. And when that foot lands wrong, faith is willing to step again. When we left off yesterday in our study of the book of Exodus, we see Moses’ obedience was met with a stubborn Pharaoh who doubled down on his harsh treatment of God’s people as his slaves. This left the Israelites without hope and desperate. This move of God had only made things worse for them with not only more work, but harder work. It’s easy to believe and trust God when he’s making things better. Yay, Lord – you can do it! But what about when God’s plan makes things worse? What about when things get harder instead of better? Let’s be clear – that can happen and that does happen. Just because things have gotten harder for you doesn’t mean God has turned his back on you or cancelled his good plans for your future. Everything you’re experiencing right now is temporary. This hardship is temporary. This struggle is temporary. This setback is temporary. God holds an eternal good plan and you can trust he is leading you there no matter how hard this specific step may be. At this point is where God gives 7 promises. 7 statements of “I will”. Do you know if God says he will do something, all the other powers in this world combined can’t stop it even for a second. When God says he will do something, it’s as good as done. You can count on it. You can know it for sure. You can plan your entire life around it. Every one of his promises will be fulfilled. He’s not only the promise maker, he’s the promise keeper. The 7 “I will-s”, listen for them. Exodus 6: 6-8: Therefore say to the people of Israel: “I am the Lord. I WILL free you from your oppression and WILL rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I WILL redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment. I WILL claim you as my own people, and I WILL be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt. I WILL bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I WILL give it to you as your very own possession. I am the Lord!” Now remember the reality of the circumstances and conditions when God is declaring HE WILL do all of this. God’s people are slaves. They’ve always been slaves. For 400 years they have been nothing but slaves in Egypt. They’ve made peace with being slaves. They think as slaves, they walk as slaves, they talk as slaves, they work as slaves. It’s all they’ve ever known for generations. They don’t know how to receive a promise of freedom. They don’t know how to believe a promise of anything different. All they know is they had just gotten their hopes up for the first time ever and believed Moses was actually going to lead them to freedom and just when they were willing to follow him out, the chains got heavier. Pharaoh and their slave masters are now relentlessly brutal, punishing them for even thinking they were going to get a day off work. The Israelites hear God’s 7 “I will” promises, but they can’t receive those promises. They only know God as a promise maker, not a promise keeper – Not for them. Verse 9, “They refused to listen anymore. They had become too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery.” They couldn’t receive a promise as God’s people because they couldn’t see themselves as God’s people. They were only Egypt’s slaves. They were nobody with nothing. How did God respond to their discouragement? With tremendous grace and mercy. He commanded Moses and Aaron to lead the people of Israel OUT OF EGYPT. God had spoken promises and God was going to fulfill those promises. His people couldn’t see themselves as anything other than slaves, so God was going to show them the truth – the truth that he was FOR them, not against them. The truth that he isn’t just a promise maker, he is the promise keeper. The 7 ‘I Will-s”: I will free you. I will rescue you. I will redeem you. I will claim you. I will be your God. I will bring you into the land I promised you. I will give it to you. And that’s precisely what God did! Every promise was fulfilled. Every “I will” was completed. God would prove he wasn’t just a promise making God, he was a promise keeping God. Let me tell you the end of the story, my friend. You need to know the end of the Israelites story, because it’s the promised end of our story too. Joshua 21: 43-45, “So the Lord gave to Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. And the Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had solemnly promised their ancestors. None of the enemies could stand against them, for the Lord helped them conquer all their enemies. Not a single one of all the good promises the Lord had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything he had spoken came true.” Do you know why the story of God’s people being rescued, lead, redeemed and blessed is so important for us to read over 3,400 years later? Because his promises still stand. He’s still working. Through all these generations, he’s been heading straight to YOU. To rescue you. To lead you. To redeem you. To bless you. You’ve always been on his mind. This is a story about you and about your future generations too. A promise over your life by the promise maker AND the promise KEEPER. GOD FULFILLS HIS PROMISES. Read verse 45 again. “Not a single one of all the good promises the Lord gave was left unfulfilled; everything he had spoken came true.” My friend, that’s how your story ends too. Guaranteed. Yes, I can tell you the end of your story. It ends with every promise being fulfilled perfectly. You can count on that. The promise keeper has spoken for you and spoken his promises over you. You’re covered on every side. The journey may be hard at times, but the ending is already written. 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

Walking in God’s will should make life easier, right? Being on the right path should always feel good, right? Surely God’s divine will comes with guarantees, stamps of approval and fast passes, right? Nope. Not in my Bible. It’s easy to say things like, “If it’s God’s will, he will make it happen.” Okay, so what does that look like exactly? Does it mean the money will just be there? Does it mean the blessings will just pour down? Does it mean you’ll supernaturally always feel so good about it all? Let me tell you honestly, if it’s God’s will, you may have to endure massive hardship to walk in it. If it’s God’s will, you may feel stuck and still not see things change. If it’s God’s will, things may first get worse. And that’s where we’re out. If God’s way takes us through things getting worse, then we quickly decide our way is far better. We’re so quick to settle for less if God’s ‘more’ first means hardship. But what are we forfeiting when we do? Plain and simple – you’re forfeiting God’s divine will, which is always BEST. This is a hard sales pitch. But if I paint God’s way as the easiest way through every obstacle, you’ll continually wonder why things are sometimes hard on the journey of following God. You cannot determine God’s direction by feeling or conditions. Just because your boss is a difficult beast doesn’t mean you’re at the wrong job. Just because you’re going through health struggles doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong. Just because your kids are on the wrong path doesn’t mean you were a horrible mother. And just because the journey is hard for you doesn’t mean you should turn around and go back to where you were. We’re so quick to put words in God’s mouth. Did God say turn around and go back? Did God say to quit? Did God say to assume the guilt? Or was that your own voice in your head? Here’s what I’ve come to learn … I simply can’t trust that voice in my head when things get hard. When I’m running, the voice in my head becomes an absolute diabolical liar. That voice starts telling me I don’t have time for this run. When that doesn’t work, that voice will then begin telling me how hard it is to breathe. But it wasn’t hard to breathe until that voice started saying that. That voice in my head will begin telling me about my knees, and then dang if I don’t start noticing every little ache and pain. That little voice can talk me out of every workout every time … if I let it. But, it’s much bigger than just running. Any time things get hard, that little voice can stop me in my tracks. And my voice has learned me so well, because it will even say things like, “It must not be God’s will because this is just so hard.” But I’ve checked that voice with the word of God and it ends up it’s simply NOT TRUE. God’s word tells me his divine will and holy plan will take me right through the threat of the sea, right through the barren wilderness, right through every reason I never wanted to go in the first place … and his plan for me through it all will be good. It may not feel good in the process, but my feelings cannot sit on the throne. God’s will was for Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and into God’s promised land. God had warned that Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he wouldn’t make it easy on the Israelites. God’s promise was to be with them through it all, but they would still have to go through it. Is that enough for you? Is God’s promise to be with you through it all enough for you to walk with him in this? Or are you still waiting on his promise to make it easy for you? That promise will never come, my friend. He will be with you, he will make a way for you, he will strengthen you, he will guide you, but there will be some ridiculously hard days along the way. And never miss those hard days are for a purpose. God is doing something in you through the struggle. Moses obeys the Lord and goes to Pharaoh and delivers the divine message. And if Moses is obedient to God, things should go good – right? Actually, no. Things are about to get worse. Exodus 5: 1, “Moses and Aaron went and spoke to Pharaoh. They told him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: Let my people go so they may hold a festival in my honor in the wilderness.'” Verse 2, “Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh. “And who is the Lord? Why should I listen to him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.” Now, things get worse because of Moses’ obedient ask. Verses 6-9 “That same day Pharaoh sent this order to the Egyptian slave drivers and the Israelite foremen: “Do not supply any more straw for making bricks. Make the people get it themselves! But still require them to make the same number of bricks as before. Don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy. That’s why they’re crying out. Load them down with more work. Make them sweat! That will teach them…” Now God’s people are still slaves with even more work. Listening to God only got them worse conditions. In their minds this wasn’t the way it was supposed to work. And honestly, don’t you kindof think the same way? If God’s in it, it won’t get worse, it will get better – but sometimes before it gets divinely better it gets devastatingly worse. Does devastatingly worse mean God’s not in it? Does devastatingly worse mean you’re doing it wrong? Does devastatingly worse mean it will always be this bad? No, it doesn’t. God was in it. God knew this would happen. And God was working through it. Can you trust God if it gets worse? Well, what’s your alternative? Really – do you just not trust God and do it your own way? Do you not trust God and stop trying to seek freedom? Do you not trust God and just settle into a life he’s trying to lead you out of? Most of the time, yes – that’s exactly what we do. And what do we forfeit? Let this be our prayer today: Lord, don’t let me quit. Imagine how Moses must have felt as he watches his people get punished with more work because of his obedience in asking Pharaoh to let them go. Of course Moses wanted to quit after his seemingly failed first attempt. Moses comes to God and says in verse 22-23, “Why have you brought all this trouble on your own people, Lord? Why did you send me? Ever since I came to Pharaoh as your spokesman, he has been even more brutal to your people. And you have done nothing to rescue them!” Fair feelings. Listen to me – God can handle your fair feelings. He wants you to bring those feelings of disappointment and frustration right to him. He will guide you right through it. Here’s what we learn – sometimes God allows things to get worse to set us free. Because honestly, would we seek his freedom if things didn’t get worse? Really, wouldn’t you just settle right in and make peace with it all if God didn’t allow it to get worse? Things getting worse didn’t mean they were out of God’s will – it actually meant God was working to set them free. He was getting ready to show them his power at work all around them in miraculous ways. He was setting them apart by his hand. And ultimately, he was making a way for them to walk out not only free, but blessed! This time of hardship was necessary. Not desirable, but necessary. God was working here. The truth is, God could have freed his people without this hardship. He could have done it instantly. If he wanted, he could have struck every Egyptian dead in a day and his people could have walked out of their 400 year captivity instantly. But God knew the promises he had for his people required testing and stretching first. Moses had to learn he could really trust God. It’s like ziplining. If you’ve ever been ziplining you know they put you in a harness first. That harness isn’t attached to anything, it just rides up on you in awkward places. Then, they attach that harness to the line and they let you test it. You put your weight on the harness first and you see that it’s got you. Until you test it out, you don’t feel secure. But once you have put weight on it, stretched out that line, then you know you’re safe to jump. God was showing Moses he could be trusted through this. Moses was learning to put his weight on the Lord, stretch out that line, and ultimately jump. Exodus 6:1, The Lord told Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. When he feels the force of my strong hand, he will let the people go. In fact, he will force them to leave his land!” God is saying, you can trust me in this trouble. My sister, you can trust God in your trouble. He’s right here with you. He’s already seen the way through this. And if the way through it means things get worse first, then you can still trust him. Test that harness. Rest in him. Lean on him. He’s got you. You’re safe to jump with him. Lord, don’t let me quit. Continually remind me I can trust you in this trouble. 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

Your heart is up to you. How you perceive things, how you feel about things, and what you do about those things is completely your own choice. God will not force your heart to change. Proverbs 4:23, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” If your heart gets hardened or twisted, everything you do becomes tainted. A hardened heart will have you doing things you said you would never do, showing up as someone you never wanted to be. Protect that heart of yours, my sister. It’s constantly under attack. As we study the book of Exodus, we see God’s plan to set his people free from the captivity of the Egyptians. But there’s something in the way of their freedom – an Egyptian King called Pharaoh with a hardened heart. A Pharaoh considered themselves a god. They were to be worshiped. They were above everyone and everything else. They had been raised and trained to thrive on ego and pride, and destroy anything that threatened their god like status. That heart was hard with no room for care or concern for anything other than their own success, comfort, gain or praise. When it all becomes about YOU, what you can do and what you can have, you get yourself a heart issue. Check your heart now, Sis. Has it become about you? About YOU being right? About you winning? About this being easier for you? About your comfort? About your gain? About your appearance? If it has, then it’s become a heart issue. And the condition of your heart determines the course of your life. God knows your heart. He knows what has become a priority in your heart. He knows if it’s all about what you want. He knows if it’s all about how you look. He knows if your heart has become so full of ‘self’ that there’s no room for him. And get this – HE WILL ALLOW THAT! God will allow a hardened heart and the destruction it brings. He will never force your heart to change, that’s always up to you. God has called Moses to speak to Pharaoh about letting his people go. But God already knew the condition of Pharaoh’s heart, so he warns Moses. Exodus 4:21, And the Lord told Moses, “When you arrive back in Egypt, go to Pharaoh and perform all the miracles I have empowered you to do. But I will harden his heart so he will refuse to let the people go.” Can I be honest – this has always confused me. Why would God harden Pharaoh’s heart? Why would God impose this difficulty? Why would God make someone so difficult and stubborn? Ahhhhh … he didn’t. God didn’t CAUSE Pharaoh’s heart to be hard, but God ALLOWED Pharaoh’s heart to do what HE WANTED. God didn’t force a change of his heart. The Lord knew how hardened and prideful his heart had become, and he simply allowed Pharaoh to determine the course of his life from that heart. Was God ever out of control? Not for even a second. He already knew the course ahead. He knew exactly what it would take to free his people. He knew how he would use Moses. He knew how Pharaoh’s heart would respond, and he determined to display his miraculous power through it all. In 10 chapters, we read of 12 separate times Pharaoh’s heart condition caused him to create problems for everyone around him. Did you know this really is a heart condition? We’re all dealing with a heart condition. A heart that is stubborn. A heart that wants it’s own way. A heart that has gotten hurt so it’s become calloused. A heart that has built walls. A heart that has gotten twisted. A heart that is puffed up and selfish. And did you know that heart condition of yours affects everyone around you? Maybe you’ve been affected by the heart condition of someone around you. When someone you love gets a hardened heart, gosh they can hurt you. When someone you love gets a twisted heart, they can create massive messes and you end up right in the middle of that mess. You can see how their heart condition created problems for you – but recognize your heart can do the same thing to others. Pharaoh’s hard heart created a disaster for his own people. They were attacked by 10 plagues. Each plague worse than the one before. And after each plague, Pharaoh would beg for relief, and relief would come. But the moment relief came, his heart went right back to being hardened again. Gosh, is that us? Our hardened, stubborn heart meets hardship, so we crack a bit. We let God in. We seek his help. We surrender to him. But the moment our circumstances get better, we go right back to our old ways. Yip – that’s us! That’s a heart issue, my friend. One of the plagues was an infestation of frogs. Frogs were absolutely everywhere in Egypt – everywhere but where God’s people were. Pharaoh’s palace was overrun by frogs. Pharaoh begs Moses to plead with the Lord to take away the frogs, and if he does, he will let the Israelites go. So, the next day, God causes all the frogs to die. The Egyptians pile the dead frogs up into great heaps and a terrible stench fills the land. But guess what – as soon as the stink goes away, here’s what happens. Exodus 8:15, “But when Pharaoh saw that relief had come, he became stubborn. He refused to listen.” His heart went right back to hardened again. Again and again, as things continue to get worse for the Egyptians with one plague after another, the moment there is relief, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened and he becomes stubborn, refusing to listen, refusing to change, refusing to release what God has told him to let go. Who are you holding captive, my friend? Like for real – God has told you to let it go, but you can’t – or really, you just won’t. You hold on to the pain they created. You hold on to the anger you have against them. You hold on to your need to be right and prove them wrong. You hold on to some weird sense of comfort it brings. Every time you’re suffering you decide to let them go, but the moment you get a little relief you just pull them back in again. Over and over again, you succumb to your heart condition and create the messiest course for your own life. And let me tell you how that will end for you – That will end in DISASTER. If you allow your heart to remain hardened, if you allow that stubborn streak to always gets it’s way, God will let your heart get what it wants and it will be an absolute disaster for you. And here’s the really sad news – it won’t only be a disaster for you, it will create a disaster for your people too. The hardened heart of Pharaoh caused him to chase the Israelites all the way into the Red Sea, where he and his entire army were completely wiped out. His heart condition did that. God didn’t cause that hardened heart, but he let Pharaoh’s heart do what Pharaoh had wanted to do. May our genuine prayer be this today: “Lord, please don’t let me do what I want to do. Don’t let me be stubborn. Don’t let me harden my heart here. Don’t let me have my way. Save me from myself.” How bad will things have to get before you fully submit your heart to God? They will get absolutely as bad as they have to, that’s always up to you. How about you decide this is truly it – you won’t wait for it to get worse. You won’t wait for it to get harder. You won’t wait for the mess to grow. Right here and right now, ask God to take any bit of hardness that has been growing in your heart and mold it into the the heart he desires for you. Surrender that to him. Lord, don’t let me get what I want. 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

Does God ever get frustrated with us? Is there ever a point where our loving heavenly Father gets angry with his girls? Yes – but it’s likely not over the things you’ve been worried about. We screw things up. We fail to get it right. We struggle. We fall short. These are the things we worry about within ourselves, so we continually dismiss ourselves. And let’s be clear – that’s not what God is upset over. Girl, he knows you struggle – he created you to need him. He knows you fail – he forgave you before the first misstep. You can get over all of that, because God certainly has. So, what is God upset over? When does he look at you with anger? It’s not when you’re unable – it’s when you’re UNWILLING. The unwilling mind that continually makes excuses reveals the unwilling heart that simply DOESN’T WANT TO. You don’t want to be the one God chooses. You don’t want to be the one he sends. You don’t want to be the one called to do that work. And really you don’t want to be available because you don’t want to change. You don’t want to be uncomfortable. This is where God grows angry with Moses. Moses didn’t want to be the one because he didn’t want to leave his comfortable life. He preferred to stay exactly where he had been hiding for 40 years. Why? Because there he was safe. No one hated him. No one was hunting him. His days were predictable and controllable. I wake up and I do the same things every day and I go to bed every night in the same way. Moses had a sense of control over his simple life with his family and the sheep. He was unwilling to give up his comforts, but ultimately he was really unwilling to give up control. Is that you? You don’t want to be uncomfortable. And you certainly don’t want to be UNcertain. You need a sense of control, of knowing what’s going to happen and how it’s all going to work out. So any hint of discomfort, you just dismiss yourself. Any uncertain loose ends you’ve tied into knots that hold you steady (and stuck). You’re driven by a desire to control it all far more than a desire to follow God in it. Ugly truths we don’t talk about. It’s easy to paint it pretty and declare we’re being faithful where we are with humility and perseverance … but sometimes when you chip through that paint you find an unwilling spirit to do anything different. And THAT is what frustrates God. This is what gets him angry with his girls. Maybe you’re not unable, you’re really unwilling. The Lord tells Moses to return to Egypt and lead his people to freedom. He’s promised to be with him. He’s promised his hand of victory over them. He’s even shown him 2 very clear miracles to give him confidence in God’s personal power over this mission. And here’s what happens next – Exodus 4:10, “But Moses pleaded with the Lord, ‘O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I have never been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.'” Moses had an insecurity. Ultimately he didn’t think he had anything good enough to say to the Israelietes to convince them to leave, or to the Egyptians to convince them to let his people go. So he points out his inadequacy to God. God didn’t get mad about it. He understood Moses’ fear. He understood that he felt inadequate for such a huge job. And here’s God’s response to Moses, verses 11-12, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.” How awesome is that? God reassures Moses. Moses, I made you exactly as I wanted you. If you can’t do something it’s because I wanted to do something different through you. Remember what God says in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My power works best in weakness.” God knows how he created Moses, and he knows if there’s a problem with his ability to speak – that’s just room for God to speak! That’s a person who is not self-sufficient so they can be God-sufficient! God isn’t angry with Moses for not being self-sufficient. He’s reminding him he won’t have to do the speaking by himself – God will do it through him. Girl, I don’t know what you’ve been saying you aren’t good enough to do – but maybe you need to be reminded right now that God’s power works best in your weakness. The exact areas where you’ve struggled and where you’ve failed can now be the perfect space to display God’s power. Here’s the thing – I really don’t need to be impressed by all you can do. That doesn’t help me at all. In fact your super power of being self-sufficient simply leaves me feeling lacking and unworthy. What I really need to see is where you fall short, but God comes through. What the people around you need to see is how you can’t do it all, but God can. They need to see where you have struggled, God has provided. We desperately need to see that what you didn’t have the power to do on your own, God did it through you. What – you think I wake up know exactly what you need to hear each day? Girl – NOT AT ALL. I fall so miserably short when I try to do this on my own. This is God’s space. I’m simply a mouthpiece for the Holy Spirit. This has been a journey of me showing up to do the work while staying out of the way. The second this becomes about me, I fail. You have to know, no matter what, this girl speaking to you every morning is just an ordinary girl like you with a Bible I’m willing to study and time I’ve created for the Holy Spirit to work every single day. Is it easy for me? No. I struggle every morning when I sit down to write the first word. You know why? Because I CAN’T DO THIS. Moses couldn’t do what God was asking him to do. But it can’t end there. When God says, “Nope, you can’t – but I can”, that’s when you drop every excuse and make yourself available! Now, we will see what happens when you don’t drop your excuses. Verse 13-14, “But Moses again pleased, ‘Lord, please! Send anyone else.’ Then the Lord became angry with Moses.” God wasn’t angry with Moses’ insecurities and questions. He lovingly reassured Moses that his power would work through him. God became angry when Moses was UNWILLING. “No, Lord, send anyone else. I don’t want to do this. This so uncomfortable for me. I can’t be the one. I really just want to stay here in my predictable life where I’m in control.” God can work with your inabilities. That’s not a problem for him at all. What is a problem for him is your unwillingness to step into the unknown, leave your comforts, and follow him into the hard stuff that’s out of your control. What’s God asking you to do? Where has he asked you to get involved in his work? He’s not burdened by your doubts. He can handle your doubts. He’s not upset over your shortcomings. He sees room for his power all in you. But what he’s angry about is your unwillingness to follow him. If you keep reading in the story, you see that ultimately God allows Moses to take his brother Aaron with him as his mouthpiece. God would tell Moses what to say, and Moses would tell Aaron what to say, then Aaron would be the one to say it. Okay, seems fair. So did God finally agree that Moses wasn’t good enough for the job alone? Did God need more than just Moses? No – actually, Aaron became more of a problem than a help. God didn’t want that problem for Moses, he would have been far better to just trust God to speak through him directly. Aaron was more of a chastisement from God that Moses brought on himself when he was unwilling to go alone. I don’t want to create problems for myself. I don’t want to do anything that makes the journey harder. So what God is showing me is I have to drop every excuse and believe he will do everything he says he will do, and he actually CAN do it through me. I must continually keep my heart open, my mind open, my hands open, and my plans open so I am WILLING to do anything and everything God asks of me. It’s so easy to become busy, then my busy-ness leaves me unwilling. It’s so easy to become comfortable, then my love of comfort leaves me unwilling. It’s so easy to become lazy, then my laziness grows into a complete atrophy of what I was once able to do and everything gets so hard, that always leads to me being unwilling. Busy has got to go! Clear the schedule. Make space. Remain available. Girl, you keep canceling where God is assigning you because you’re just too darn busy. Stop that! Comfort is not your calling. When is the last time you did something hard? Stay ready! Be willing! That laziness is rendering you incapable of simple things and the enemy is playing in your head as you just sit there. As you scroll, he’s eating away at your strength. Get up. Do something. Stay willing! Don’t make this harder than it needs to be. If God says he’s with you, that’s enough. If God says his power will work through you, awesome, trust that. If God is prompting you to do something, be bold enough to tell him you’re in! 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

Fear cripples us and keeps us stuck. Fear has our mind thinking thoughts we have absolutely no business thinking. Fear has us playing little, assuming the worst, and dismissing ourselves from the wild, faith-filled spaces God is calling us to. Do you want to taste the fullness of life God really has available for you? You must overcome the fear that has held you back. Do you want to experience God’s power unleashed in your life, leading and guiding your every step? You must break free of the fear that has sold you on less. There’s more in you. There’s more for you. You’re capable of more. You’re created for more. But fear will always steal your ‘more’ and trade you for far less. You must decide if you’re going to stand by and allow that to continue in your life. Fear shows up everyday as your worry-filled thoughts. Worry is the nasty little off-spring of fear. And here’s what that looks like in real life: The average person on an average day has about 40,000 thoughts. 80% of those thoughts are negative, fear based, worry filled thoughts. And of those 32,000 worries, 85% of them never actually happen! 27,200 absolute wasted thoughts on negative things that never even happen – ON A DAILY BASIS. We are on a perpetual loop of worrying about things that don’t matter and, get this, probably won’t even happen! All while there is so much MORE in us and for us. What a waste of the MORE we are capable of and created for. God’s looking for a few girls who will decide to grab those fears by the tail, stare them down and realize they have NO POWER over you. You see, until you do, you run around afraid of things you could have conquered a long time ago. Until you dare to overcome those fears, those fears overcome you, then what are you missing? What life does God have available for you if you would get out of the negative, worry filled loop, and replace it with big faith in action? Oh girl, he would lead you to some wild, faith-filled spaces you could never reach alone and you would discover how much MORE there always was for you. Moses had spent 40 years living in fear. Back in Egypt he witnessed the Egyptian slave master abusing one of his own people, and in anger Moses killed the Egyptian. When the King found out, he came after Moses. Moses fled hundreds of miles away to the region of Midian. There in Midian, he chose to forget the palace he came from, and opted for a life of hiding as a shepherd in the fields. He lived a quiet, simple life – but all that time there was so much more in Moses. I wonder what MORE is in you, but you’ve been running from it. You’re afraid of what comforts you might have to leave, what sacrifice might be required of you, and what failure you could face, so you’ve stayed right where you are. You don’t dare answer the call for more. You don’t dare pursue a deeper passion within you. No, you just stay right where you are and dismiss everything else. Hmmmmm … seems to me there’s more in you, my sister. And it seems to me God might be calling you out. Here’s the truth: God doesn’t need one more of his girls to play little, go with the flow, fit in and do what everyone else is doing. No. God wants some of his girls to refuse those negative, fear based, worry filled thoughts and take them captive, just as his word tells us to do. 2 Corinthians 10:5, “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Your thoughts aren’t going to just change, you will have to MAKE THEM! No, worry, I will not allow you to flood my mind today. No, negativity, you don’t get a seat at my table. No, fear, you’re not welcome in my home. Now, what will you think about instead? What will flood your mind? What will get a seat at your table? What is welcome in your home? You get to decide that. If 85% of the things we worry about never even happen, then how about we stop worrying about them. How about we start focusing on the good things that can happen? How about we start dwelling on the promises of God we hold? How about we start seeking the good plans of God unfolding here for us and intentionally start stepping smack dab in the middle of them with an open heart, open mind and open hands. Yes, Lord – I’m ready for what you have for me. Fear will not hold me back here! So here’s Moses, hiding in fear for 40 years in Midian. Reliving his mistakes and failures, knowing he can never return to his home in Egypt because of what he’s done. And this is when God shows up! God acknowledges that Moses alone cannot rescue his people from Egypt, that this is a job for God’s own mighty hand. God promises Moses that he will raise his hand and strike the Egyptians. That his hand will cause the Egyptians to even look favorably on him and the Israelites and they will walk right out of Egypt, free. Not only free, but carrying the wealth of the Egyptians with them. Hearing all of this, Moses still has fear. Fear because now he is a nobody. He’s done nothing but shepherd sheep in pastures for the past 40 years. He’s been playing little for a really long time and this all seems way to big to him. God, surely you have the wrong person. It can’t be me! I remember 13 years ago God showed up for me, much like he did Moses, and he told me to start hosting a devotional call. Y’all, I didn’t even know what a devotional was. I was absolutely the least likely and most under-qualified person for that. And I argued with God, much like Moses did. God, it can’t be me. You’ve got the wrong girl. I don’t know your word. I can’t pray out loud without crying. After a wrestling match with God, I decided I would make a ONE WEEK commitment to hosting a live conference call with a short devotional. One week, and only one week. I was convinced during this one week that God would surely see I tried, but I wasn’t his girl, then he would move on and choose someone else. So, I showed up that week. It was cring-worthy as I plagiarized straight from a Joyce Meyer devotional book (I’ve asked forgiveness), and I was quite miserable. I continually dismissed myself in fear. The week came and passed, and God never cancelled my calling, it only grew and demanded I grow with it. No more plagiarizing, I had to write these devotionals on my own. No more playing little, I had to show up with the power of the Holy Spirit and let it flow. 13 years and over 3,000 devotionals later, I understand I actually AM GOD’S GIRL and my fear almost caused me to miss this! Fear may be threatening to cause you to miss the most beautiful blessings and greatest callings on your life. Are you going to let that happen? Moses was facing more than potential failure and embarrassment – he was facing complete annihilation, destruction and death. Of course he had fear. But fear could no longer have him! Yes, you will have fear – that’s natural. But will fear have you? Will fear rule your mind? Will fear run the board meetings in your head? Will fear make your decisions? Will fear be your leader? Only you get to decide. That brings us to Exodus 4. Moses is still arguing with God, still questioning how he could possibly be good enough to return to Egypt after 40 years and help set his people free. Fear had Moses, and God knew it. So that’s when God does something amazing! Verse 2, The Lord asked Moses, “What is that in your hand?” “A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied. “Throw it to the ground,” the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back. Why did Moses jump back? Because it’s a snake. We hard hard-wired to fear snakes. It’s part of our DNA. It is natural to have fear when you see a snake, but God wants to show Moses he has a choice here. A choice to NO LONGER ALLOW FEAR TO HAVE HIM! Verse 4, Then the Lord told him, “Reach out and grab its tail.” So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd’s staff in his hand. Here, Moses is learning it’s okay to have fear, but don’t let fear have you. He learned to do what God told him to do even when it’s uncomfortable. This was the exact lesson Moses needed to follow God into those wild, faith-filled spaces where he was being called. I have to believe you too are being called into some wild, faith-filled spaces. Spaces where fear is natural, but if you’re not careful, that fear will cause you to miss everything God has for you here. God isn’t telling you to not have the natural feelings of fear as you step out in obedience to follow him – he’s saying grab that fear by the tail and watch it become powerless over you! Have you ever laid in bed at night and been terrified by the noises? It’s literally the washing machine – but at night, it’s a potential threat to your very life and the hairs on your neck stand on end. You have the power to get up and turn on the light, or lay there afraid. What will you do? 80% of your thoughts are negative, fear based, worry filled thoughts. And 85% of them never actually happen! Are you going to allow fear over the things that will never even happen keep you from showing up for the things God has already ordained as possible in your life? Girl, grab that thing you fear by the tail. Stand up. Find your voice. Move forward in faith. God is with 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

There are some things you can work your way through. There are some things you can talk your way out of. And then there are some things that no matter what you do, it simply will never be good enough. You do not have the power to change this. You do not have the strategy to fix this. And maybe you’re facing one of those situations right now. There’s nothing you can do to change the trajectory of where this is going. It’s going and you can’t stop it. That can truly leave a person feeling hopeless. Like you’re in the middle of a whirlpool and regardless of what you do, you’re getting sucked in and going down with this. For the hopeless soul listening right now who has watched every hope they were holding on to go down the drain, may I remind you that Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace as you TRUST in him, so that you may overflow with HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit.” The God we love, the God we serve, the God we are here to hear from today, is the God of HOPE. He holds hope. He reigns over all hope. Our God is a hope dealer! Overflowing hope fills us when we trust in him. My friend, this situation may feel hopeless, but the God of HOPE is here to fill you with hope again. Hope that while you can’t change this, GOD CAN. And let me tell you HOW God can change it: With his hand! As God is giving Moses instructions on leading his people out of slavery in Egypt and into their promised land, God knows it’s truly a hopeless situation. Hopeless without God’s hand. There’s no way the Egyptians are going to allow their 2-3 million slaves of free labor to walk right out of captivity. There’s no way the Egyptian Pharaoh is going to just hand over the Israelites that have slaved away for 400 years. There’s absolutely nothing Moses could say to convince Pharaoh to let them go. There’s no war they could wage against their captors that would set them free. It was impossible. Impossible without God’s hand. But with God’s hand, it was already done! God says to Moses in Exodus 3: 19-22, “I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand forces him. So I WILL RAISE MY HAND and strike the Egyptians, performing all kinds of miracles among them. Then at last he will let you go. And I WILL CAUSE the Egyptians to look favorably on you. They will give you gifts when you go so you will not leave empty-handed. Every Israelite woman will ask for articles of silver and gold and fine clothing from her Egyptian neighbors and from the foreign women in their houses. You will dress your sons and daughters with these, stripping the Egyptians of their wealth.” God’s hand would do the impossible here. God’s hand would turn this situation around. Again, a situation that had been absolutely as bad as it could possibly be for 400 years. At this time, the Israelites had never known anything but slavery. Their great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfathers were slaves here. It’s who they were and what they did. It was their lot in life. Nothing had ever been different for them, so why would they even dream of something different now? I bet there’s something that’s been passed down to you that’s always been. You don’t even know to dream of something different because it’s never even crossed your mind that there might be more for someone like you. BUT THERE IS. There is more. It doesn’t matter if the thing you’re facing is the thing that the past 10 generations in your family has faced, it can change here. It doesn’t matter if you’ve always been the one to screw it up, that can change here. How will it change? The hand of God! The hand of God will cause impossible things to become possible. The hand of God will change minds, cancel agreements with evil, and set prisoners free. The hand of God will break chains, terminate assignments of Hell, and cause the demons to flee. The hand of God will open doors, part seas, and make a way through the wilderness. Only the hand of God. Only the hand of God over this will change it, and the hand of God is all you need to change it. How do you get the hand of God on you? Is there a criteria for being good enough? Is there a list of things you have to do, give up and change before God’s hand is over your life? That’s certainly what I used to think. I was so caught up in a performance mindset, always trying to earn God’s approval and applause, just hoping everyone else would like me too. God totally wasn’t impressed with me either. I struggled to live in grace because I was performing to earn what is only given to the undeserving, and I had to be humbled to understand I was undeserving no matter what I did. Ezra 7:9-10 says Ezra “had the gracious hand of God on him.” (Then it tells us WHY.). “This was because Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the word of God and do it.” Girls, this is HUGE!!!!!! As you’re here listening today, seeking God’s word so you can apply it to your life, you are inviting the gracious hand of God to be on you! That gracious hand holds all power and can make the impossible possible. That gracious, powerful, mighty hand can change what you could never change! This is the hand that was over Moses and the Israelites when facing the Egyptians. It would never make sense for the Egyptians to just let their slaves leave after 400 years, but God’s hand was already in motion with the precise series of events and miracles that would not only set them free, but bless them on their way out! 9 chapters later, the impossible happens exactly as God had told Moses. Exodus 12:31, “Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron during the night, ‘Get out!’ he ordered. ‘Leave my people – and take the rest of the Israelites with you! go and worship the Lord as you have requested.'” Verse 36, “The Lord caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the Israelites, and they gave the Israelites whatever they asked for. So they stripped the Egyptians of their wealth!” What in the world?!!! How totally awesome is that?!!!! What happened in the 9 chapters in between to bring them to this moment of walking right out of the place where they had been held captive for 400 years? What happened in those 9 chapters was everything that had to happen BY THE HAND OF GOD. This was a job only the hand of God could do, and he did it! You may be facing a job that’s only for the hand of God – okay, great, then get his hand! How do you do that? Go back to Ezra 7: 9-10 again. “Ezra had the gracious hand of God on him. This was BECAUSE Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the word of God and do it.” Get yourself in God’s word. I mean dive in. Read. Study. Surrender. Abide. Obey. Go. Follow. Repeat. Read. Study. Surrender. Abide. Obey. Go. Follow. Repeat. God already knows what his hand can do in your life. His hand can change the trajectory of where this is going. His hand can stop this. His hand can fix this. And when you know his gracious, powerful, mighty hand is on you as your heart seeks his word and does it, then something incredible and unspeakable happens. Something that won’t even make sense … You will be filled with hope. You will have joy right in the middle of the chaos. You will have peace with the problem still present. You will overflow with hope as God’s hand moves in the unseen, and before you even seen it, you will know HE IS DOING IT. May your heart seek the word of God and do it. Then, may the gracious hand of God be on you and change every single thing that needs to be changed for you, for your family, for your future, and for his kingdom. 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

Within your breath, God has given you a divine gift. A gift that taps into the greatest of powers and deepest wisdom. Yes, right here in your breath. From the moment you were born, you’ve been doing it, without even being aware. Right now, it is happening. And today, God says, “My girl, I want you to now know what you’ve been doing your entire life and start doing it with intention.” At this moment, take a deep breath in. Now, slowly let that breath out through your mouth. Do it again, notice the sound of your inhale and your exhale. This sound is not an accident, it is divine. This sound is the call of God’s name. Do it again and listen. Breathe in. Breath out. This is God’s name. With each breath, you’re calling to your Creator. Your inhale makes the sound of YH. Your exhales makes the sound of WH. Together, inhale and exhale, we speak YHWH, the original Hebrew name God revealed of himself to Moses. Your Bible likely adds a few vowels to make a word we can pronounce, Yahew, but God’s intentions were for us to continually breathe his name. Open your Bibles, let’s check this out! Moses had an encounter with God in Exodus 3. God appears in a burning bush and calls out, “Moses! Moses!” “Here I am!” Moses replied. Then God proceeds to tell Moses he is aware of his people’s sufferings and he has come down to rescue them. God says to Moses, “Now go, for I am sending you.” But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to do this?” God answered, “I will be with you.” But Moses protested again, “The people will ask me who sent me.” So, God replied to Moses, “I Am Who I Am. Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent me to you.” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people: YHWH has sent me to you.” What a bold move for Moses to ask God for his name. He feels so unqualified for this mission. So lacking. The imposter syndrome must have been screaming within him. “Moses, can’t rescue anyone. The last time you tried to help your people, you ended up killing someone. Now you’re running and hiding. There’s no way God is calling you.” But God says two things to Moses that give him the confidence he needs to step into his purpose. 1. Exodus 3: 14, “I Am Who I Am.” (we studied this yesterday) This means God has no equal. If you put God on one side of the equation, there’s absolutely nothing that can be equal to Him on the other side. God equals Only God. It has been said that our God is the “becoming one.” I never understood that until I took God being the “I Am” literally. God becomes whatever is lacking in our time of need. When we say we are too weak, God says I AM your strength. When we say we are stuck, God says I AM your way out. When we say we are hurting, God says I AM your healer. When we say we are in need, God says I AM your provider. God is mysteriously and miraculously always able to become everything you need. He is continually BECOMING your I AM. Moses felt completely unqualified, but God is telling him, “I AM QUALIFIED! I have everything you will need. I have the strength. I have the plan. I have the provisions. I have made the way. Trust me, I Am.” What do you need today? Can you lean in and hear God as he whispers to your soul, “I AM.” It’s who God is. It’s what he does. It’s his name. 2. Exodus 3:15 (NLT), God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, has sent me to you.” This is the name Moses’ ancestors have called him by. This wasn’t new. This was the God he has heard about his entire life. He is YHWH. Moses’ mother’s name was Jochebed which literally meant “YHWH is glory.” And now God is showing Moses, with every breath he takes, he is calling out to God. Inhale, YH. Exhale, WH. Without vowels, only the consonants of YH and WH, it’s a name we breath. We are literally created to breathe the name of our creator. YHWH represents breathing sounds. When pronounced without vowels, it sounds like breathing. A baby’s first breath speaks the name of God. YHWH. God hears, God draws near, God responds. And think about this, what about when tragedy strikes. You know, when life hits you so hard you can do nothing but moan and gasp for air. The harder you try to catch your breath, the louder you speak the name of God. Inhale, YH. Exhale, WH. Within the past few years, I’ve received phone calls from two of my best friends after each of them unexpectedly lost their husbands. They couldn’t speak. I only heard these deep, moans and gasps. They cried out in pain. I didn’t understand it then, but I do now, they were calling on the name of God. And God met them there in the worst moments of their lives and he has carried them through. Remember that when you’re crying out in pain and anxiety. When you’re fighting for every breath and you hear the sounds of your labored inhale and exhale. You’re calling on the very name of God. YHWH. Psalm 92: 15, God says, “When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue and honor them.” With every breath, God is answering you. With every breath, God is rescuing you. Those times when it’s hard to breathe and every inhale and exhale is loud and labored, you’re calling even deeper to your rescuer. YHWH. Hasn’t he always gotten you through? Seriously, he’s never not given you the strength to make it through even you hardest days. Hasn’t he always provided? Hasn’t he always rescued you? You’ve never once been abandoned. Your God has always responded to you as you call his name. Job 12:10, “For the life of every living thing is in his hand, and the breath of every human being.” There’s a song I used to sing in Church that said, “It’s your breath in our lungs, so we pour out our praise, pour out our praise to only you Lord.” We are literally speaking the name of God when we breathe! Now, God wants us to breathe with intention. All your life, you’ve been breathing out of habit, speaking his name without knowing. But now, God has made you aware so you can grow even deeper in your relationship with him. Now, when you breathe and speak his name, you are more aware of his power filling your lungs. Not only is your body filled with his breath, but your mind is renewed with clarity. God has responded by breathing into you so you can live this life with his power! You can respond to his calling and step into your purpose. Just like Moses, when God calls, you can speak with confidence and say, “Here I am, YHWH!” God uses Moses to lead his people out of 400 years of captivity. He worked through Moses in miraculous ways, and no doubt, everything Moses wasn’t, GOD WAS. How? Remember he is the I AM. He is the becoming one. He becomes whatever is lacking in our time of need and fills us to overflowing so we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH CHRIST JESUS! And when we have completed our earthly mission and God promotes us to an eternal paradise, we will take one final breath and call out his name. YHWH. And with that, God will respond with our final rescue. How incredibly divine that God gave himself a name we can’t help but speak every moment we’re alive. All of us, everywhere, all the time, we have the name of God on our lips. And now, we speak his name intentionally with our breath. God is everywhere. In every breath of every living creature. YHWH. We are fully dependent upon him, for without God, we have no breath. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I will breathe the same. 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

Right now, if you’re taking notes, write God, and an equals sign. God (=). What does God equal? What equals God? One cup plus one cup equals two cups. They are the same. One is no greater than the other. So what equals God? Could you put holy on the other side of that equation? God = Holy? God is holy – yes, but holy does not equal God. God is so much more. How about power? God = Power? God is power – yes, but power does not equal God. God so much more. Oh but the greatest is love, right? God = Love? God is love – yes, but love does not equal God. God is so much more. There’s only one thing that can hold it’s weight on the other side of this equation. God = God. There is simply no one and no thing that can equal God, but God. There are no words to properly describe him. No number to measure him. No description fully fitting of him. God is God, the highest, the greatest, the most powerful, the never-ending, always was and always is. And our human minds struggle to comprehend that. We need a beginning. We need a measure. Because we only think in limits. But God is limitless! When God spoke to Moses in the burning bush and called him to lead his people out of captivity in Egypt, he tells Moses to tell the people he was sent by “I AM”. Well what does that mean? Exodus 3: 13-14, “But Moses protested, ‘If I go to the people of Israel and tell the, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name? Then what should I tell them?’ God replied to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.” In these days, anytime someone had personally heard from God, they came back with a name for God. When Rahab was thrown out into the desert and miraculously provided for by God when no one else cared about her, she calls God El Roi, the God Who Sees Me. When Abraham is about to sacrifice his son on the mountain, and God sends a ram for the sacrifice in his place, Abraham calls God Jehovah Jireh, the LORD Will Provide. When Gideon encounters an angel, he calls God Yahweh Shalom – The Lord Is Peace. So understand what Moses is asking God here – He is asking God what he should call him after this encounter. He’s being sent on a mission, but what will your name be on this mission, God? God answers, “I AM WHO I AM. You tell the people, I AM has sent me to you.” What could that possibly mean? Well, quite simply, it means EVERYTHING. You need to understand who your God is in your current situation, your current problem, and your current need. How will he show up for you? What will he do for you? How can you count on him? Answer – In every way, in every thing, for all things. God will show up for you in every way in this. He will do every thing he needs to do for you here. You can count on him for all things, there is absolutely NO FAIL in God because there is no equal to God. Nothing is bigger. Nothing is greater. Nothing is too hard. Nothing is too far gone. I once heard it put like this, “God is the becoming one.” What does that mean? That means God becomes whatever is lacking in our time of need. The name, “I AM” invites us to fill in the blank to meet our need. I need strength right now. God says, “I AM strength.” I really need provisions right now. God says, “I AM provisions.” I just need peace here. God says, “I AM peace.” I just need to know they way through this. God says, “I AM the way through this.” I need answers. God says, “I AM the answer.” I need healing. God says, “I AM healing.” I need help. God says, “I AM your help.” My friend, whatever it is you need today, GOD IS your answer. He becomes whatever is lacking in your time of need. There’s absolutely nothing he can’t do, no need he can’t meet, no emptiness he can’t fill. So, this is God’s invitation to you. What do you need today? Really, what is it? Big or small, just say it. Yes – for real. Speak it right now. Acknowledge that need. Big or small. Nothing is dismissed here. What do you need? Now, here God say to you, “I AM”. I am your answer. I am your strength. I am your peace. I am your way. I am your healing. I am your help. I AM. Moses’ question to God is what name should I give you for this specific impossible situation, Lord? Your people have been stuck in slavery for 400 years. We are beat down and broken. We have no way out. The Egyptians aren’t going to just let us walk away. This won’t just get better. What specific name can I use here for you, God? God, what will you equal here for us? God’s answer? God = God. I will equal everything for you. I will meet your every need. I will guide your every step. I will make the impossible possible. I will become everything that is needed every moment of this journey. I AM. I am your guide. I am your deliverer. I am your healer. I am your redeemer. I am your provider. I am your way maker. I AM. And if you know how the story ends, you know God delivered in every single way. Through mysterious acts and miraculous feats, through huge impossible moves and tiny unseen details, GOD WAS. He delivered his people. He provided for his people. He guided his people. He healed his people. He made a way for his people. God alone did that. God = God. The I AM. He became in every way, in every thing, for all things. But this isn’t just a story for us to read and remember what God did thousands of years ago. This is a reminder for us of who our God still is today. Of who he is today for us personally. FOR YOU, in your situation, with your problem. God says to you today, I STILL AM. In every way, in every thing, for all things, I AM. He has heard your prayers. He has seen your tears. He knows your heart. Now he extends an invitation to you to go with him and experience who he really is for you. He’s not just the God of the Bible, he is YOUR GOD in your real life. He’s not just the creator of your existence, he is the caretaker of your existence. He’s not just the rescuer of your soul, he is the He is the redeemer of your story, the healer of your hidden wounds. He is the one who walks with you through every valley, and he’s right here with you today saying, “MY GIRL, I AM YOUR ANSWER! YOU CAN TRUST ME WITH THIS.” Now, what will you do with that? 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

How many of you know God doesn’t work within our limits. He doesn’t see things the way we see things. God simply does not fit in our box. EVER. You likely have an unspoken box of how and when God can use you. He can use you when you are successful. He can use you when you are liked. He can use you when you look good. Those are boxes. Your boxes, but not God’s. The truth is, God can use you when you are struggling. God can use you when you are the least likely and the least liked. God can use you when you look rough, sister. In fact, sometimes I’ve found when there’s less of what I would desire, there’s a whole lot more space for Jesus. Stop limiting when and how God can work. If you’re down right now, let me remind you, God works in the pits. If you’re stuck right now, you need to know God sees exactly where you are and he knows the way out of this. And the beautiful thing is, God doesn’t need to wait until he gets you all fixed up again to use you for his good purposes – he wants to use you exactly where you are. Moses was the Israelite baby threatened by the King of Egypt to be drown in the river. His mother placed him in a basket and sent him floating down the river, trusting God to save him. Down the river, the king’s daughter found baby Moses and rescued him. Then, as only God could do, he arranged for the baby’s mother to be paid to raise him while he was little, then he would go with the king’s daughter to the palace to be raised in royalty. Moses received the best of both worlds – he learned about faith in God from his Israelite mother, and he learned how to lead in the palace from his royal adopted family. This was God setting him apart for divine purposes. But one day, something terrible happens and in Moses’ eyes, it would be the end of his good life. He sees an Egyptian beating one of the Israelite slaves. Moses knew that while he was dressed like an Egyptian, he was one of the Israelites. So he defends his people and kills the Egyptian, then hides his body in the sand. This began a series of running and hiding for Moses. The King, essentially his adopted grandfather, is trying to kill him. He can never go back home to the palace. So he ends up in the region of Midian where he’s a nobody, working for a farmer. Surely Moses thought he had ruined his life. Surely he thought God could never use him now. And just when Moses thought he couldn’t be used by God, he was perfectly aligned! This low place is precisely where God could best use him. Not in his palace, not with his riches, not with his great successes and power. No, instead with his humility as a mere worker in the fields where he was a nobody – that is where God could best use him. Now that he’s out of the palace, God would empower him to deliver his people. The place that looked like rock bottom where Moses is stuck hiding, is the place of the firm foundation where God would rebuild him into the leader for an entire nation to find freedom. God wasn’t finished with Moses just because he had failed. God wasn’t finished with Moses just because he was in a hard place. God was just getting started. My friend, God isn’t finished with you just because you failed. He’s not finished with you while you’re in this hard place. Nope – he’s just getting started. What’s actually happening here is a divine stripping of self so you can return with holy power! Less of you – more of Jesus! Just when you think you’re out, God say’s you’re in. Just when it feels too late, God says it’s his time. And remember, when God says it’s time, it’s the right time, then it’s quick time! Now, it was quick time for Moses. But understand, Moses is not young at this point. It’s easy to read this story in Exodus chapter 2 and assume that Moses is some young man with a youthful spirit and his whole life ahead of him. No, actually, at this point, Moses is 80 years old! He was 40 years old when he killed the Egyptian and ran from the palace, and now he’s spent 40 more years hiding in Midian as a nobody working in the fields. And this is when God chose to call Moses. At 80. Purpose at 80. Calling at 80. Change at 80. And what – you’ve been using the excuse of it’s too late for you?!!! Exodus 3, God appears to Moses in a burning bush and says, “Moses, Moses!” He replies, “Here I am.” Then the Lord says, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. NOW GO, FOR I AM SENDING YOU to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.” To this 80 year old nobody, God says, GO, I AM SENDING YOU! Now tell me again why God can’t use you. Tell me why it’s too late for you. Tell me why God couldn’t work through your life at this point. GIRL, YOU ARE NOT DISMISSED! Maybe you’ve gone through a season of feeling like an absolute nobody. Great – that’s precisely who God loves to use. If you’re a nobody, then there’s a whole lot of space for Jesus in you. There’s absolutely no reason why God can’t work in your life to fulfill his great purposes. God aligns us to his purpose in ways we cannot understand. He works through the hardships, through the setbacks, and through the disappointments to align us with a destiny greater than ourselves. Girl, you’re not out – you’re aligned! Everything you went through, everything you came out of, everything you have been feeling within can align you now for a life of purpose through Jesus. God can use every bit of that for his good – if you’ll let him. Moses was the perfect deliverer for these enslaved people because he was one of them by birth. But now he had also spent half his life in the palace and half his life in the pastures. Now he knew leadership and he knew hardship. Now he was a nobody just like the people God wanted him to save. That’s alignment. Now that you’re one of the broken flawed people too, God can use you to deliver the broken and the flawed. Now that you’re one of the rescued, he can use you to go back and rescue others. Now that you’re one of the saved by grace girls, you can show his grace to the next girls who feel unworthy of that love. Sister, you’re just aligned now. Better than ever before, you’re in alignment! Who better to help someone who has gone through what you’ve gone through – than you. Why? Because you have gone through it! God has aligned you to go back and rescue others for him. He’s sending you! You’re aligned. Nothing is wasted with God. Time in the palace is not wasted. Time in the pasture is not wasted. Time in hardship is not wasted. Time in the wilderness is not wasted. In all this wandering, God writes a map on your soul. A map that leads back to him and his greater purposes for your lifetime. Now, God wants to use you. Just as you are. Right where you are. Listen for his call. 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 will always try to stop God’s plan. His forces of evil will always try to interrupt God’s goodness. Hell will always come against Heaven’s objective. However, Hell never wins. Evil will be overcome by good. The enemy is forever defeated by God. Hell may look like it wins a few rounds, but the war has already been won by the Lord. God is not cornered. He’s not stuck. He’s not worried, stressed or overwhelmed. He forever holds victory in his right hand. Maybe what you’re experiencing right now looks like a win for the enemy, but his defeat is guaranteed. God will turn this around, and he will turn it around BIG TIME! That’s what you really need to know, my friend. God will turn this around. The things that are against you right now will not always be against you. The things that have overwhelmed you can be under you as you rise up in the power offered to you through Jesus. The tide will turn and what’s been going out will start coming in. Prodigals come home. Walls come down. Chains are broken. Seas are parted. The mouths of lions are sealed. Blind eyes are opened. Dead bones shake. In our study of Exodus, we last left off with the Israelites as slaves in Egypt, and while under affliction, they grew. The harder things became, the more they grew in number and in strength. We see that no amount of affliction can defeat God’s purposes. We also see that fear causes us to make terrible decisions and become someone we were never created to be. The new King of Egypt was so fearful of the growing presence of his enslaved Israelites that he did unspeakable things to control them. His fear became a tool for the enemy to use. Did you know Satan works in your fear? Your fear is a open door that allows the enemy access to your heart and mind. In fear, you make horrible choices. In fear, you say horrible things. In fear, you not only miss God’s plan, but you partner with the enemy’s. In fear, the King of Egypt partnered with Satan’s plan to wipe out the Israelite population. Here’s what Satan knew – he knew the Messiah would come from the children of Israel, so he wanted to destroy them. All he needed was a fear driven soul to give him an open door to work. The fear driven soul of the King gave the enemy an opportunity to kill God’s deliverer before he was ever born. BUT THE PLANS OF THE ENEMY NEVER WIN AGAINST GOD. He may try. He may win a few rounds. But the war has already been won through Jesus. Satan tried to stop that, but he was not successful. The fear-driven demands of the King bring about the order in Exodus 1:22, “Throw every newborn Hebrew boy into the Nile River. But you may let the girls live.” Imagine being a pregnant woman at this time. Imagine having a newborn baby boy. Imagine knowing they’re coming to take your baby and throw him in the river to drown him. When you’re facing evil like that, what do you do? You trust God! You trust God to do what only God can do, as you do everything you can do. Exodus 2 tells us of a couple that got married and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She hid him for 3 months. But, as we know, 3 month olds aren’t exactly quiet, so they could no longer hide him. In complete trust of God, the mother places the baby boy in a basket and floats him down the river. A river filled with crocodiles! And here we see God align the most beautiful unfolding of providential provision for the mom who trusted him. The King’s daughter is downstream bathing in the river and she sees the baby floating in a basket. She rescues the baby. Then, get this – in the way only God can – it all turns around! The Princess comes to the baby’s mother and says, “Take this baby and nurse him for me.” The princess told the baby’s mother, “I will pay you for your help.” So the woman took her baby home and nursed him. She was then PAID to lovingly take care of the baby she had to give up. That’s what God can do in impossible situations. He can turn it all around. This is not too far gone for God to work. This is not hopeless in the hands of the Lord. He can work here. He can turn all things around and use them for good! 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

No amount of problems can stop God’s plan for you. Nothing can cancel God’s purposes. God’s will WILL fight through every adversity, through every affliction, through every trouble and prosper on the other side. Every time. Guaranteed. God is undefeated. Victory is forever in his right hand. But, as God’s people, we will go through our fair share of problems. We will face adversity. We will endure affliction. Trouble will come our way. We live in the real world and there are no faith bubbles to protect us from real life. HOWEVER – we are promised in Romans 8:28, “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose for them.” That means God works in every detail of our lives into something good. It may not be good in the beginning, but it will be worked into something good. Just like baking powder in a cake, you don’t want a teaspoon of that in your mouth, but it’s a detail worked together for good in your cake. Maybe what you’re facing right now is a teaspoon of baking powder. Singled out, this situation is unpleasant and undesirable. But nothing in your life is a stand alone event – ever. All things are working together. One thing always leads to the next thing. Some things just don’t feel good in the unfolding, but you haven’t seen the full picture yet. You know who has seen the full picture? God. God says in Isaiah 46:10, “Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.” God has a plan, we’re promised it’s a good plan, and it absolutely WILL happen. God already knows it, sees it, holds it, and is making a way to it. After finishing our study of the book of Genesis last week, we see the unfolding of tremendous affliction for God’s people in the next book, Exodus. Remember Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery and ends up in Egypt. 22 years later, Joseph has risen to the 2nd in command of Egypt and controls the only food in the country during a famine. Joseph’s brothers come to him from Israel, begging for food. He graciously saves them and their families. This is how the Israelites move to Egypt. They’re starving and Egypt has the only food during the famine. Now, several generations later, the Israelites are still in Egypt and they have greatly flourished. They’ve been prosperous, multiplying, spreading out, and gaining power. And now, generations later, there’s a new king in Egypt, and this King sees a great problem with these successful Israelites in his land. They have done so well, they could take over his land if they wanted to. The King is afraid, so the oppression begins. Fear makes us do stupid things. Fear turns us into people we don’t want to be. This King was afraid, so he began to do horrible things. I promise you this – fear could drive you to do the same. Fear will have you twisting truth, creating sides, and stirring fights. Fear will bring out the ugliest side of you. My sister, where has fear been growing within you, causing you to act in ways you hate? Fear turned the mighty and blessed King Saul into a crazy man on the warpath. Fear can do the same to you. When my daughters were teens, I allowed my own fear to cause me to parent in a way I’m not proud of. My mind became filled with fearful thoughts and I went into overdrive trying to control everything and everyone. Rather than leading from love, I lead from fear. It wasn’t the best me. Can you see how fear has caused you to do some stupid things? Can you see how fear is turning you into someone you don’t want to be? Bring that fear to God now and ask him to lift it from you. It is not God’s will for you to operate out of fear. His word tells us hundreds of times to NOT FEAR – why is that? Because fear changes who we are and what we do, and it’s never good. The new King of Egypt was filled with fear, so he became an evil man with evil orders. Don’t ever assume unchecked fear couldn’t do the same to you. You were never created to be fear driven – you were designed to be faith driven. Anywhere you have fear, there is an invitation for faith. Faith that God is good. Faith that God is for you. Faith that God holds it all. Faith that God is working. The new King says in Exodus 1:9-11, “Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are strong than we are. We must make a plan to keep them from growing even more. So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor.” Was that fair? Absolutely not! But did it cancel God’s good plans? No – In fact, it furthered them! As the people of Israel face horrible conditions and unfair treatment, they continue to grow. The more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Israelites multiplied and spread. There was growth in the face of affliction! The more God’s people are afflicted, the more they grow. That’s God’s plan for you too, my sister. Right here in this affliction – in this problem – in this trouble – YOU GROW! Problems are like a wave that comes against a ship and looks like it will destroy it – but the ship catches the wave and uses it to speed along. Girl, CATCH THE WAVE. There may be a wave of problems coming against you right now. It may feel like these problems will destroy you – but God’s plans are not to harm you, but to prosper you (Jeremiah 29:11). These problems are like that wave. Catch the wave. Ride this out. It will speed your progress into the good life God has for you. This wave against you is not to destroy you, it’s to carry you in the direction God has planned. Catch it. The Israelites were not destroyed by the cruel Egyptian King. That wave carried them into a plan of exodus. A plan of freedom. A plan of growth like never before. There’s a wave here for you. A wave of problems. But you will grow in these problems. You will get better through this. And if you catch that wave rather than sit here and be beat down by it, it will speed you along to God’s purposes. No amount of problems can stop God’s plan for you. Nothing can cancel God’s purposes. God’s will WILL fight through every adversity, through every affliction, through every trouble and prosper on the other side. Every time. Guaranteed. God is undefeated. Victory is forever in his right hand … and guess what – that’s where he forever holds you too. In his right hand of victory! Problems are like a wave that comes against a ship and looks like it will destroy it – but the ship catches the wave and uses it to speed along. Girl, CATCH THE WAVE. 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

Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” This is one of the most memorized and quoted scriptures. Empowering, motivating, reassuring … yes … and it’s a call to action. Notice it doesn’t say, “I can do all things through Christ who does it for me.” Unfortunately, many times we view God as a genie in a lamp. God was never supposed to do your work for you. Think about Noah. God told him to build an ark, a huge boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet tall. If the ark were a house, it would have been over 100,000 square feet. Translation … it was big. Really big. There was a flood coming and his ark would be the only way of survival for man and animals. Now God being God, couldn’t he have just built the ark himself? But that’s not the way God works now is it? God told Noah to build the ark and Noah worked for nearly 100 years to build what God could have done in an instant. That almost doesn’t seem fair now doesn’t it? There are likely areas in your life where you wish God would show up and just do the work for you. But God called you to BUILD A LIFE and that requires work. Will you work for it? Let’s break this scripture down so we will never hear it the same. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. “I.” Who does it say? “I.” This is personal. You should be owning it. Insert your name into this scripture. Pamela can do all things through Christ who gives her strength. Yes, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. “I can.” Not “maybe, sorta, it might happen or it might not”, no! I can. Say that with me. I CAN. Sometimes we just need to remember we are more capable than we ever give ourselves credit for. We have all the potential within us. We are fully equipped by our maker. Listen to me right now … you are not broken. You are not incapable. You are not helpless or hopeless. You were made for more. You are capable of more. You are worthy of more. And you CAN. Now the third word “do.” “I can do.” Does that mean think about, contemplate, sit around and rationalize, talk about and plan for? No. “I can do.” This is a call to action. I can do. Your life requires action and you CAN DO IT. I know you can. You can rise up and make the changes you desire. You can radically change your life. What has the first month of this year of life been for you? I’m not asking what has happened to you, I’m asking what you’ve done with it. Have you done what you can do? Have you taken action? Have you stepped out in faith? Or have you chosen to just remain where you are and think about what could happen? Have you been wishing for change but never doing anything about it? Let me shoot it to you straight … that’s never going to work! You can do it and you must do it. It’s time to go, do, show up, move forward, step ahead, now. Today. Be in action. Why are you sitting on those dreams and desires? God’s Holy Spirit moves and prompts us from within, but it’s up to you do to something about it. You can do ALL THINGS. Did you hear that? How many things can you do? Can you only do SOME things? Are there some things that will just be too hard? Are there some things that will be impossible for you? Nope, that’s a lie the enemy has sold you. YOU CAN DO ALL THINGS, and that includes “this” thing that you need to do today. The thing you’ve been avoiding – the thing you’ve been dreading – the thing you’ve tried before and failed – you can do it. The enemy wants you to believe you can’t. He wants to remind you of your past epic failures. He wants you to dwell on your weakness and shortcomings. DON’T LISTEN TO HIS NONSENSE TODAY. God says you can do all things, believe it! How? THROUGH CHRIST. I can do all things through Christ, and that means this is a partnership. When you live your life as a partnership between you and God, you realize he does his part and you do your part. He goes before you to make a way, he walks beside you to guide you, and he walks behind you to cover your back. Through Christ you can do all things today. With this partnership you are able. With him before you, beside you, and behind you, nothing will be impossible! Nothing can come between you and your destiny. Nothing can stand in your way. When God is for you, who can be against you? And just in case you forgot, yes my sister, GOD IS FOR YOU! And now the grand finale “I can do all things through Christ who GIVES ME STRENGTH.” And this is where it gets real and it gets personal. Why didn’t the scripture just end after “I can do all thing through Christ.” I like the idea of that. But this is the part we sometimes miss. It WON’T BE EASY. It was never supposed to be easy. You’re going to need strength, strength you didn’t even know you had. You don’t even know how strong you are until you have to be strong. That’s the kind of strength God is talking about here. Strength like Noah’s to get up for 100 years and keep building a boat in the middle of a drought when everyone thought he was crazy. If it was easy you wouldn’t need strength. Easy is the counterfeit to the life you were created for. An easy life is the imitation to your BIG Life. You need strength to take on the day you were meant to live, and it’s given to you by Christ so that you can accomplish the things you need to accomplish today. You don’t need life to be easy this year – you need to take action in partnership with God and use the supernatural strength he gives you. Tackle this head on. There’s absolutely no reason for you to avoid this or run from it. No, girl – you have the power of God working with you. Commit this scripture to memory – but then take it another step – actually start believing it. Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” There will be hard steps ahead for you to take, and you can take 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

God will do what he intends to do. Nothing can stand in his way. Nothing can stop him. The question is, will you accept his open invitation to be part of what he’s doing, or will you miss out? The phone is ringing. This is your opportunity to be in partnership with the Almighty. To to be divinely led by the Spirit, and walk in purpose,. To step into the good plans God has always had for you and be part of something greater than you ever imagined. The phone is ringing. With this invitation is your option of choice. Will you say yes … or will you keep believing you’re not good enough? Will you dismiss the potential God has placed within you … or will you dare to believe God wants to use you for more? Will you dwell on your long list of shortcomings and failures … or will you dare to accept what your Creator has spoken over you? Just how much of God’s plan for your life do you need to see in advance before you’re willing to trust it? How certain do you have to be of the future before you leave the shores of today? Understand, your tight grip on certainty and comfort potentially forfeits you ever holding what was truly meant for you. Those hands have to be open, sister. Open to the unknown with the All-Knowing. In Isaiah chapter 6, God is looking for one who will partner with him in a mission. One who is courageous enough to believe maybe they could be used by the Creator of the Universe for something more. The Lord said in verse 8, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” The phone was ringing. And here’s this young man, Isaiah, at about 18 years old who immediately answers, “Here I am. Send me.” Send me where? Oh, well I don’t know exactly. To do what? Yeahhhhh about that, I’m not sure. For what purpose? Uhhhh, well that’s unclear, but I’m all in. I’m here, I’m available, send me. Isaiah was signing a blank check to the Lord, declaring a universal YES to God’s plan for his life. He didn’t know where God wanted him to go, but he agreed to go anyway. He didn’t know how God would use him, but he believed God could do anything he wanted to do and he simply wanted to be part of that. So, he did the only thing that needs to be done, he declared himself AVAILABLE. The phone was ringing. Isaiah simply answered – “Umhhhh, hello? Yes, I’m available!” Although Isaiah sounds confident with his bold response to God of “Here I am. Send me!”, the truth is, he felt extremely inadequate. Just 3 verses earlier Isaiah says “It’s all over! I am doomed!” He felt unworthy. He saw himself as inadequate. But he was called. The phone was ringing. All Isaiah had to do was answer. “Yeah, hello God? Here I am. Sure, I’m available.” Unworthy and inadequate do not seem to go together to create called, but they do. This is God’s math, and in God’s math that’s the perfect combination of purpose. Unworthy + Inadequate = Called. It doesn’t matter how unworthy you believe you are. It doesn’t matter how inadequate you have felt before. All that matters is answering the call. The phone is ringing! I understand that feeling of smallness. I struggle daily with the voices that tell me I can’t possibly do great things. That old Imposter Syndrome kicks in and tells me this is all a facade and soon it will come crashing down. And when you know something will come crashing down, you prepare. How do you prepare? You hold back. You stop the investment. You withdraw. You search for signs that it was all too good to be true and you find the cracks. The cracks in you. The weaknesses and faults you tried to hide, but they’re there. Staring at these cracks, you see the potential for the crumble and you run. You run from what you could be doing because ultimately you feel too inadequate to keep doing it. Trust me, God sees those cracks. He knows every weakness and fault within you. He knows your potential to royally screw this thing up, and he still believes in your potential to get it right. And he calls that potential out. He’s calling. My sister, you are called! Your struggle with feeling unworthy and inadequate do not trump this calling. You’re not dismissed from God’s power. The call is here and it’s here for you. Girl, it’s time to answer the dang call. I’m here. I’m right here. I’m ready. Ready for what? Well, that’s not for you to know right now. Right now, you sign the blank check to God and speak a universal yes to God’s good plans for you. All he needs to know is that you’re available. What can God do with a life like yours fully surrendered in availability? Oh girl, what could he not do?!!!! In response to Isaiah’s availability, God spoke through him and gave him words we still read today, nearly 3,000 years later. As if that’s not enough, know that the words God gave Isaiah were later quoted by Jesus himself 700 years later. Yes, Jesus quoted Isaiah! Think about that! Isaiah felt inadequate and saw himself as unworthy, but this is who God would use to speak words Jesus would later quote. And God did it all because of Isaiah’s willingness to be available. That’s it. He was simply available. His blank check to God bought him a life of purpose he couldn’t have possibly imagined as it was unfolding. What life could your blank check to God bring? Well, I can’t even imagine. I have no idea how God may use you. My mind can’t even dream of all he could do with a life like yours fully surrendered and sold out. But, don’t you want to know?!!!!! Here I am. Right here, this is where I am, and I’m available here and wherever you want to take me next. I want to step into the purposes you have for me, Lord. Wherever those steps may lead, I’m all in. I sign the check. Here is my universal yes for your plans for me. Send me. Isaiah couldn’t have possibly known the words he would speak through the power of God would reach the year 2026. He couldn’t have possibly known the direction his words would give future generations in our fancy cars and crazy smart phones. He couldn’t have known how many people have fought through the hardest struggles of their lives clinging to his words in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 31: “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Or chapter 41, verse 10: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” He couldn’t have known hundreds of years later, the ONE he wrote about would then read his words and fulfill the prophesy, but indeed that’s exactly what happened in Luke 4: 17-21. Jesus takes the scrolls written by Isaiah, unrolls them and reads those words: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” Then after Jesus read Isaiah’s 700 year old words, he said, “The scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” Woah – Isaiah is the one God used to write those words. Not because he was anyone special. Simply because he was available. That’s all. Just available. Could God have spoken these words to any other living soul during Isaiah’s time? Absolutely. But he spoke the words to the one who made himself available and said “Here I am. Send me.” What does God want to do with you? Well I have absolutely no clue. But I just bet it’s bigger than you will even known in your lifetime. Girl, you’re called. Are you available to answer the call? The phone is ringing. 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

You’re facing a situation you think is terrible, but sister, what if it’s not really what you think. You’re stepping into this assuming one thing, but what if God wants to reveal to you another. God is asking you to stop fighting this and trust him here. Trust this isn’t what you’ve built it up to be in your head. Trust it’s more than it appears on the surface. Trust that maybe this is FOR you, not against you. What if life isn’t happening to you, but it’s happening FOR you. What if God really is in the details and the very thing you’re resisting is God’s good plans for you unfolding in mysterious and unexpected ways. 10 years ago I pulled off an epic stunt at a retreat. I still love to talk about the epicness of this hilarious switch-aroo today. In 2015, I hosted a ranch retreat in Texas with over 100 women. There, I partnered up the participants into pairs for retreat “imitations”. The moment I said initiations, each mind began painting their own picture of the challenge that was about to happen. But, what if the picture they were painting in their own mind was wrong -what if this really wasn’t hard at all. What if their negative assumptions were responsible for everything they were about to feel? On a tray I had a clear glass fishbowl full of goldfish. Not crackers, real fish. They could see them swimming and they watched me reach my hand into the water, grab the fish one by one and put each one into a red solo cup. Exactly enough cups for each partnered pair, each with a live fish. Then I announced one person would be the feeder and the other would be the eater. Choose their positions now and blindfold each other. As the blindfold was put on their eyes, they could still see me scooping out the fish into the cups to be distributed. As you can imagine, they are panicking. They are questioning my choices as a leader. They are wanting to escape the situation, but here they are on a stage, preparing to be the person to either feed someone a live goldfish, or worse, be on the receiving end of the transaction. After they are securely blindfolded, I reveal a hidden can of peaches in heavy syrup. Peaches perfectly cut to the size of a goldfish, as well as perfectly slimy in their syrup, just as you would imagine a slimy fish. The cups are switched and the peaches are distributed in place of the real fish. What follows is complete pandemonium. Grown women are squealing and squirming reaching into a cup they cannot see, to grab a live goldfish … or so they thought. All while the other blindfolded part of the duo is shivering with her mouth open, awaiting the fish. I’m screaming over a microphone, “Don’t chew, eat it whole. You’ll be fine. This is completely safe! They’re organic!!!” There’s such chaos and panic during the exchange, no one ever stops to realize, wait … this isn’t what I think it is. The feeder is convinced the fish is squirming in their hands, and the eater is absolutely certain they are indeed swallowing a live goldfish whole. There’s gagging and crying as they hype themselves up to complete the challenge. And they did it! One person peed a little, but the challenge was completed. As they remove their blindfolds they see me holding the cans of peaches, and then they realize they were just freaking out over absolutely nothing. Nothing. All along it was a peach. But sis, when you think it’s a live goldfish, it feels like a live goldfish. It tastes like a live goldfish. Maybe, just maybe, you’re THINKING about things wrong. Maybe you’ve assumed this is going to be way worse than it is. Maybe you’re stuck on what you see before and it’s warping what you’re experiencing now. Maybe things have changed since you first started and those things are no longer the same. Perhaps there’s something in your life right now you’re stressing and fretting over that really isn’t a threat at all. You’ve just assumed it’s a threat because of what you’ve seen before. Stop and consider it may not be so bad after all. Remember, you said you believe God is in the details of your life … then okay, trust the details. Before you freak out, have you asked God to help you see this for what it is? Have you asked him for wisdom? Have you asked him for clarity? Or are you still having flashbacks of what you saw before and blindly assumed that’s what you’re about to experience now? If the participants in my gold fish initiations would have stopped to think, they would have realized the blindfolds were to hide the trick. Eating a goldfish was bad enough. Why blindfold them too? I didn’t want them to see because seeing the switch would reveal the trick. Honey, if you can’t see what’s really happening, stop panicking and ask God to reveal where you’re being tricked into the wrong thoughts. Isaiah 64:4, “For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!” You can’t understand the things God does. You can’t imagine his ways. It’s like a blindfold. But get this sis, the blindfold has been removed! Jesus took off the blindfold so you could see what God is doing in your life and move forward trusting him. This same scripture is now referenced later in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 “This is what the scriptures mean when they say, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.’ BUT it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.” What this is saying is what was previously hidden from us is now revealed through the Spirit of God. Yes, the Spirit which now lives within us shows us what we could not understand before. It reveals what has been hidden from us so we no longer have to be afraid of what could be, we now understand God is working FOR us, not against us. God intervenes on our behalf as we wait. As we wait thinking we’re about to swallow a goldfish, God switches cups. Can he do that? ABSOLUTELY! He can do anything he wishes for his girls … and he does! And when the blindfold is removed, we can see there’s absolutely nothing to freak out about. Chapter 2 ends with verse 15 and says “But now we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.” My sister, we don’t have to think the same things we used to think. We don’t have to freak out over the surface level things we see. We have the mind of Christ. We are Spirit led and we can now understand the things that previously made no sense to us. We don’t have to rely on what we saw being put in the cups before. We can pause, consult with the Spirit, use the mind of Christ, and see the truth. And the truth is, we are often freaking out about something that isn’t that bad after all. We know our God is good, good, good, and we know he can switch the cups when the cups need to be switched! Our minds are powerful. If we think it’s going to be bad, what we experience is truly bad even if it didn’t have to be. If we think we’re going to fail, we set our perfectly equipped and prepared selves up for failure through our thoughts. We sabotage this ourselves. We assume this is against us, so we walk in struggle and dread every step. When you think it’s a goldfish, perfectly good peaches taste fishy. But what if this isn’t really against you? What if this isn’t what it used to be? What if the cups have been switched for you and you’re going to need to trust God in the details to see what he’s been doing on your behalf? What if you’re going to need to listen to the Spirit which lives within you and use the mind of Christ which has been given to you, and stop assuming doom and gloom? Things have changed. God has intervened for you as you wait. He can be trusted. You have been equipped with the tools to proceed without freaking out! What if life isn’t happening to you, but it’s happening FOR you,. What if God really is in the details and the very thing you’re resisting is God’s good plans for you unfolding in mysterious and unexpected ways. This isn’t what you think. You’ve been assuming one thing, but God wants to reveal to you another. Stop fighting this and trust him here. Trust this isn’t what you’ve built it up to be in your head. Trust it’s more than it appears on the surface. Trust this is FOR you, not against you. God can get this just right! 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’s unscripted devotional is from Psalm 23:5 and Matthew 12:24. Jesus, the good shepherd, has healing for your mind today! 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

There’s something divine happening that you simply cannot see. Something bigger than you and beyond your current circumstances. Here’s exactly what is happening, and it’s happening RIGHT NOW: God is taking every intended harm against you, and he’s turning it around with the intention of using it for good. That’s absolutely guaranteed. Certain. No doubt about it. God is taking every intended harm against you, and he’s turning it around with the intention of using it for good! Can you believe that? You have an enemy in this life – a despiser of your soul – a schemer of your demise. The powers of Hell are against you and their intentions for you are to kill you, steal from you and destroy you. That’s Hell’s plan. Satan has actively sent his demons to roam this earth and ruin your days. That’s truth. But never, ever forget this – God sits high upon his throne with his eye on you. Yes, you. God sees you. He has never once taken his gaze away from you. He sees everything that has ever happened to you and he says HE CAN FULFILL HIS INTENTIONS OF GOOD FOR YOU AND THROUGH YOU. Nothing the enemy has done to you has cancelled God’s good plans for you. At the end of Joseph’s life, his brothers come to him in fear of retaliation for their sin against him. For 22 years they had caused him such extreme hardship, and it was no accident. They intended him harm. They meant to destroy him. But their intended harm was not beyond the power of God to turn it around and use it for good. And this is what Joseph knew – He knew the mysteries of God were unfolding on his hardest days and sweetest days alike. He knew God could be trusted. He knew God is faithful. He knew God’s good plans could not be cancelled by the years of struggle. And this is how Joseph stands before the people who hurt him most and says in Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” The harm Joseph’s brothers intended against him was used by God to place him in Egypt where the only food would be stockpiled during a 7 year famine. The selling of Joseph into slavery would lead him to become a leader in the palace of the King. Now, Joseph sits in the palace with complete control of the only food in the land, and he saves the brothers who sold him. Everything was turned around and used for good. That’s what our God does! Our God takes the intended harm against us and turns it around and uses it for the good of not only us, but the lives of many. It’s now bigger than just you. It’s about the other lives you will now impact. And that’s the mystery of God. The mystery of how God works in the unseen to bring his divine plans to our lives, and unfold that mystery to be so much bigger than just us. Lysa Terkurst says, “When things don’t make sense, leave room for the mystery of God.” Leave room for the mystery of God. What does that mean to you? Does that mean you stop trying to control it, fix it or figure it out? Yes! Leave room for the mystery of God. Does that mean you surrender this mess to God and let him have his way in you? Yes! Leave room for the mystery of God. Does that mean you trust God to get it right, even when it doesn’t look or feel right? Yes! Leave room for the mystery of God. Now maybe you’re sitting in a pit of despair right now and you don’t know how you will ever get out of this. The mystery is all you see. Just an unsettling darkness of uncertainty. Remember this – darkness isn’t even a thing, my sister. You don’t turn on darkness, so you can’t turn off darkness. You can only turn on light. Darkness is an absence of light. Darkness is a void. The moment you turn on the light, the void is filled. Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” You have the ability to turn on the light, my friend. You don’t have to sit in this void. God’s word is your light in the darkness. This is how you get through this. This is how you find your next step. You turn to the word of God. Now, notice this, God’s word is like a lamp to guide you feet. His word is a light for your path. You know what it’s not? It’s not like the noon day sun. God could have said his word is like the light of the day. He could have said it’s like the bright glow of a bonfire. But he didn’t. He said it’s a lamp to guide your feed, a light for your path. It’s not like broad daylight. But isn’t that what we want? We want our life to be lit up with everything in broad daylight. Make it bright – make it clear – remove all uncertainty. But, that’s simply not the way God works. Instead, he gives you his word that guides your next step. And while he guides your next step with the light of his word, everything else will remain dark. While you have light for the step in front of you, everything beyond this step remains a mystery. That’s the mystery of God. That’s the unseen miraculous unfolding of God’s good plans in places you haven’t gone to yet. You’re not there yet. You haven’t seen it yet. And you’re not supposed to. Leave room for the mystery of God. You don’t have to see how God is going to use this for good yet – but you can trust that he is. God always knew the day would come when Joseph would be sitting in power in the palace and save his entire family. God always knew the path to that palace. And God allowed the path to go to the pit. He allowed the path to go to the prison. He allowed the path to take 22 long years. And he allowed the path to remain dark in the unfolding, with only the next step revealed. Joseph learned that just because he couldn’t see it didn’t mean God didn’t already have it worked out. Listen to me – You can’t see it, but God already has it worked out. What you need is his word to guide your feet and light your path while his mysteries remain unknown and unseen. You don’t need a flood light. You don’t need a flashing sign. You don’t need a 5 year plan. You need God’s word for today. You need to know the spaces of mystery are the spaces inviting you to surrender it all to God and trust him to lead you somewhere good. Leave room for the mystery of God. He’s working it all out. You can trust him to get it right, really right! He’s already prepared the path for you and all you need is his light for the next step while the darkness remains. You won’t be here forever – but while you’re here, there’s a divine plan unfolding, and it’s good. 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

What if God could help you forget? What if you don’t have to carry this pain with you into your future? What if your wounds could be completely healed and every ounce of hurt redeemed? What if you don’t have to replay the story one more time? What if all that happened to you in the past, all the wrong that was done, all the harm inflicted, what if God could help you just forget it? I know that sounds too good to be true – but this is possible spiritually! But would you want to? Would you be willing to receive that level of healing? There’s a story in the bible of that level of healing from past hurts. And, Sis, it’s recorded in the Bible because God wants us to know of his power then that’s still available now! I believe today God is asking if you’re ready to forget. Are you ready to be completely healed from that hurt? Are you ready for total restoration of what happened in the past? Some aren’t ready. Some simply aren’t ready to let go of the story. Some aren’t ready to turn over the hurt. Some want to hold on to that suitcase of packed up pain and drag it around into every new season of life that comes. There’s no judgement here. That’s what pain makes us do. It makes us carry baggage that weighs us down. It fills our hands so we aren’t available to receive anything new or different. It causes us to get stuck in the past because it’s too heavy to continue into the future. But God wants his girl HEALED! He wants your hands free. You are not meant to carry this burden, my sister. This pain you feel is too heavy. This story that hurts you cannot continue to replay. You will get stuck here. You will lose your joy here. You will become a shell of the vibrant person God created you to be. So, God wants you to know about Manasseh. Yes, that’s your answer here. Manasseh. Even if you don’t yet know what that word means, can’t you feel the effects of it over your burdened spirit? Manasseh. Can’t you feel you ache of what happened and the pain of what they did lighten? Manasseh. Manasseh over your broken heart. Manasseh over all that wasn’t fair to you. Manasseh over your shattered dreams. Manasseh over what was stolen from you. Manasseh over your deepest hurt. Manasseh. What does Manasseh mean? To understand fully, you must first remember the story of Joseph. Well it’s a good thing we’ve been studying the life of Joseph in Genesis! Joseph from the dysfunctional family where his father’s favor caused his jealous brothers to sell him into slavery. He’s in a pit, then he’s in a prison. He was accused of doing things he didn’t do. He was used. He was forgotten. But, through it all, Joseph remained faithful. No matter how unfair his circumstance were, he trusted God. After 22 years, Joseph becomes a powerful man, second in charge of all of Egypt. His trust in God in all the unfair places led him to great success. But … But imagine the hurt he still carried. All the people, his own family, that had betrayed him. People he loved. People he trusted. They had hurt him. It was still there, replaying in his mind. He had to ask why. Why did his brothers do this to him? Why did every friend he make turn on him and use him? Why was he continually punished for things he didn’t do? But, here’s what God did for him … he made him forget. God blessed Joseph with a son. That’s son’s name was Manasseh. Manasseh, in Hebrew means to forget. Genesis 41:51, “Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” God has made me forget all my trouble. All that has happened in the past. All that pain. All that hurt. All that was unfair. God just took it from me. He healed me. He healed my heart and he healed my mind. The memories no longer torment me. The stories no longer play on a perpetual loop. All that was intended for harm has been turned around and used for good. Years later, Joseph stood in a position of power over the ones who had hurt him. With nothing but healing in his heart and mind, he saved them from starving. How could Joseph not have bitterness toward his brothers? How could he not hate his abusers? How could he have even an ounce of compassion on those who brought such harm into his life? MANASSEH. “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” Joseph was no longer telling the same old story of hurt. He had shut that down and God had taken that burden. What happened to him in the past no longer hurt him. There was no limit on his future because of the pain he had been through before. Manasseh, God helping him forget, opened his eyes to God using everything for good now. And when Joseph’s eyes were opened to the good God was doing, he was used for that good! And my sister, this is what God wants to do for you. He wants to help you forget. He wants to put an end to the story on a perpetual loop replaying in your mind. He wants to heal your brokenness and use it for good. He wants to give you your Manasseh. Will you dare to receive it? Will you be so bold as to ask God to help you forget? Forgetting doesn’t erase it and make it okay. Forgetting releases you from the grip of what has been done before and frees you to step into all God wants to do now. Forgetting lifts the burden. CS Lewis describes hell as a place where no one forgets anything, remembering every horrible thing that has ever happened, every slight, every cruel exchange of words, every wrong ever done to them, and reliving it over and over again. Hmmm, we create our own hell on earth sometimes, don’t we? Jesus warns us of the hell we create for ourselves by holding on to the hurt inflicted on us by others. Matthew 18 is the Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor. This is the story of the man who was forgiven by the King of his great debt, but then refused to forgive his own servant of a debt owed to him. When the King found out, he sentenced the unforgiving man to torment. Then Jesus says, “This will be done to you if you refuse to forgive.” Refusing to let go of the wrong that has been done to you brings torment to you. You live in your own self-created Hell. There are spirits that want to hold you in the continual reminder of what has happened, and those spirits are tormentors. If you have tormenting thoughts, mental anguish, emotional misery, or ongoing bitterness, could it be because you have given a tormenting spirit access through your forgiveness? Jesus tells us how to break that spiritual bond and close the door on the enemy – FORGIVE. Forgive on a spiritual level. Forgiveness on a spiritual level means forgetting. The Lord says in Jeremiah 31:34, “I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” How will you ever forgive like that? ONLY THROUGH GOD! This is a forgiveness you can never offer on your own. But if God could give Joseph that level of unforgiveness for those who had hurt him so severely, then God can surely do it for you too, my sister. It’s a journey of intentional release and a continual redirection of your thoughts. Forgiving on a spiritual level brings you what is next – visible change in your life. After naming his first son Manasseh, meaning “God has made me forget all my troubles”, Joseph named his second son Ephraim, meaning “God has made me fruitful in this land of my grief.” Right where the wrong had happened, right where so much had been lost, right where grief was so real, God poured out his blessings and everything changed. My friend, this is available to you. The torment of your mind ends and the blessing begins. How? Literally how do you forget? Paul tells us in Philippians 3:13, “Forget the past and look forward to what lies ahead.” You make a shift from looking back to looking forward. You must intentionally choose to redirect your thoughts. Will that be easy? Probably not. Is it possible? Through God, YES. The Lord says in Isaiah 43: 18-19 MSG, “Forget what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand new.” Could God possibly do something new? YES, my sister, YES. I watched a few literal breakthrough this past weekend. A few beautiful souls here at our retreat have gone through a hell on earth for several years. Because of what’s been done to them, or what they’ve even done to themselves, and the continual thoughts of all that was wrong, painful and unfair, they were tormented in their minds. Tortured with depression. Tortured with horrible self-talk. Tortured with anxiety. Tormented with settling for far less than they were created for. But as the chains have been broken off them, they are releasing all that was wrong to forgiveness, and they have been set free. Released from the torment. Released from the excuses. And now, their change begins and the fruit will grow in their lives. It can be true for you too, my friend. Lord, help her to forget. Help her to heal completely. Everything that was unfair. Everything that was painful. Everything that has hurt her. Everything she did wrong. Help her to release, forgive, forget, heal. Help her to receive the fullness of your good plans without an ounce of past hurt holding her back from her future! Can he do it? Oh yes he can! Manasseh – God has made me forget what happened. Ephraim – God has made me fruitful right here where it happened. I don’t know if you’ve been in the pit, or if you’ve been in the prison, but God has a palace for you when you let him help you release, forgive, forget and heal. I pray the lyrics of the song Manasseh by Anna Golden over you: You redeem The innocence that’s stolen You return The years I thought were taken You’re rebuilding every broken home inside my heart And You made it all better This is my Manasseh You’ve caused me to forget Your goodness washes over all the pain of my past This is my Manasseh You’ve caused me to forgive In all my broken places You’re rewriting what’s been written Thank You for Manasseh It’s a new season There’s a new freedom All I thought was lost You found and made it better Glory to glory Joy for my mourning There is nothing wasted You work it all together I can let it all go I let it all go You can take it from here You can let it all go, my sister. Let God take it from you. Forgive. Forget. Get out of your pit – walk out of your prison – and dwell in your palace of peace and blessings! 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

God has healing for you. I’m not just talking about your physical ailments, but your deepest hurts. The wounds within that no one can see, but you continually feel. There’s a healing for those wounds only God can give. There’s no self-help book, no new relationship, no 5 step program that can bring that healing – ONLY GOD. My friend, for every wrong that’s ever been done to you, for every pain you still carry, there’s the sweetest healing available for you directly from God. Yesterday I experienced one of the most beautiful moments of my life. My youngest daughter is engaged to be married to a young man with a really hard past. He’s only 19, but those 19 years have been filled with continual hurts that have created wounds within him. Unhealed wounds often cause us to wreck our own lives without even realizing it. This young man doesn’t want to wreck his life as he’s seen every other man in his family do. He’s a Daddy now, and he wants better for his little family. He wants something different. He wants Jesus. So yesterday, shortly after I recorded the devotional, he came to me and told me he was ready. Ready to fully surrender his life, receive his healing, and take his first step of obedience in baptism. I sat down with him and read Romans 6, explaining that Jesus wanted to set him free from the power of sin and give him a new life. Romans 6:14, “Sin is no longer your master.” For this young man, it was more than just the sins he had committed, it was also about the sins that had been committed against him. The sins against him had become his master. Hurt ruled his heart. A continual replay of who had chosen drugs or alcohol over him was on a loop in his mind. The only future he knew was the one he had seen repeated in his family, and it wasn’t a future he wanted. As we stood in the water, he prayed aloud. Not a scripted prayer, but a prayer from his broken heart. A prayer to receive healing from sin. He asked Jesus to heal the wounds of everything that had ever been done to him. He asked for the negativity, the emotions, and the hurt to be washed away in the water. He prayed to come up out of that water with no walls and blocks to him being a good husband and a good father for his own family. (That’s generational curses being broken!) Just before he went under the water, he said, “I’m ready!” That’s healing only Jesus can do. Healing of the heart. Healing of the mind. This is the kind of healing Joseph received. Joseph, the man we’ve been studying in Genesis who was nothing but good, but continually had bad happen to him. He had every reason in the world to be hurt, yet he sought healing. And that healing let him to being a life changing blessing to others. After 22 years of hardship, all started by his brothers selling him into slavery at the age of 17, Joseph is now in charge of all of Egypt. There’s a famine in the land and people are starving. The only food was in Egypt, under the care of Joseph. Back at home in Canaan, Joseph’s father Jacob and the 11 brothers are starving. With absolutely nothing left to survive on, Jacob sends his sons to Egypt to beg for food. And there, they stand before the man in charge completely unaware that it’s their brother. They didn’t recognize Joseph, but Joseph recognized them. Right there in front of him, in their most vulnerable and desperate state, stand the brothers who caused him so much pain and hurt. They’re begging for food. What do you do when the ones who have hurt you the most now ask you for help? Well, if you’re unhealed, you likely lash out. Hurt people hurt people. But Joseph stands before his brothers healed. He’s no longer hurt. God has healed him from within. And let me tell you what that looks like – Genesis 45, beginning in verse 3: “I am Joseph!” he said to his brothers. “Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them. “Please, come close,” he said to them. So they came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph, your brother, who you sold into slavery in Egypt. But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh – the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.” That’s a healed man talking right there! A man God has worked on to release all the pain and replace it with purpose. To release the hurt and replace it with healing. Healing doesn’t hold on to the hurt. Healing doesn’t replay the story in darkness. Healing sees how God used it all for good. Joseph was healed, and now he could help. My future son-in-law is being healed, and I truly believe he creates a new trajectory for his family. That healing is available for you, no matter how deep the wound or how wrong the past was. That healing will show you God used intended harm from the enemy, from the broken, from the jealous, from those who were radically wrong, and he turned it around for good. And in this place of healing you no longer hurt from those who hurt you. That cycle stops. With this healed heart something else happens – you also see the blessings in your life with proper perspective. Joseph didn’t claim to have earned his new highly favored position by all his hard work. He didn’t claim to have done this for himself, rising above on his own. No, his healing helped him see every good thing in his life was all by the hand of God. God did that. That’s healing. And this healing is available for you. Hurt people hurt people. But healed people help heal people. Healed people release blame and see God’s providential blessings. Healed people take no credit and walk in humility. Healed people change the trajectories of their entire families. Joseph’s family was saved because of his healed heart. They were rescued from starving and given the best land in all of Egypt to thrive. What could happen for your family if your heart receives God’s healing? What walls could be torn down? What chains could be broken? What intended harm of the enemy could be turned around and used by God for nothing but absolute goodness? Just as my future son-in-law prayed yesterday, ask God to heal the wounds of everything that has ever been done to you. Ask for the negativity, the emotions, and the hurt to be washed away now. Pray for the walls to come down so there are no blocks to you living the life you’re created for. It’s time to declare you’re ready now! 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

God’s timing is not our timing. I’ve been waiting on a few things for 7 very long years. It’s not the way I would have planned it, but it has a purpose. God’s purpose is greater than my plans. God’s timing is greater than my timeline. Here’s what I want you to write down today: When it’s God’s time, it’s the right time, then it’s quick time. You could wait for years for God’s time, but then when that time comes and it’s right, it will happen quick. You may be moments away from quick time, my sister. You simply do not know the timing for what God has aligned for you. But don’t lose hope in the wait, God has aligned the time for you. The right time is already held in God’s hand. He’s already seen the time, held the time, and making a way to that time. You’re already on your way to that right time that becomes quick time once you get there. I like to think of it like the trip you’ve been planning. After packing and preparing, you board the airplane and you’re officially on your way. Oh the anticipation when you know you’re on your way. You’re not there yet, but you’re on the way and that’s exciting. Because, you know the moment you get off that airplane, you’re officially there and boom – vacation just starts happening so quick. You’re on that beach, that sun is hitting, and you’re feeling great. Oh to be on the way to that vacation, because on the way you know it’s already starting. My sister, you’re on your way. You’re on your way to the purposes God has for you. You’re on your way to that breakthrough. You’re on your way to the unfolding of what you’ve been waiting for. Then, the moment will come when boom, all of a sudden you’re there and it’s happening. For anyone who’s ever been pregnant, you know no matter how long and hard that pregnancy was, the moment came when the time to be pregnant was over. And the moment you saw your baby for the first time and held it in your arms, that long pregnancy no longer even mattered. The day came when you brought that baby home. Then that baby started school. And you may have waited a long time for that baby, but when it was the right time it became quick time. My sister, God’s plans for you are good – You’re already on your way to those good plans. Maybe it’s not the right time yet, but when the right time comes, it will happen quick! In our study of Genesis, we follow along with the wild story of Joseph and his dysfunctional family. After Joseph was sold into slavery by his 11 jealous brothers, he ended up as a servant in the house of Potiphar, an Egyptian officer. There, everything he did was a success. Soon he was in charge of Potiphar’s entire household and everything he owned. Life wasn’t bad at all for Joseph. But highs are typically followed by lows, and the high was coming to an abrupt end. Potiphar’s wife found young Joseph very handsome and she tried to seduce him. When that didn’t work, she became angry and accused him of things he didn’t do. And that’s how Joseph ends up in prison. Punished for a crime he didn’t commit. Waiting. While in prison, Joseph continued to be the good man he had always been, and even there he had success. He became a favorite of the prison warden and was put in charge of all the other prisoners. Genesis 39:23, “The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed.” Yes, while in prison, the Lord was with Joseph. While unfair things happened to Joseph, God caused good things to happen for Joseph. Did you know both things can be true at the same time? You can be in an unfair place and God can bless you. You can be stuck waiting, and God can be blessing you with things right now. You can be stripped of everything else, and have everything in God. You can be all alone, and yet never be alone. Can you see the success God has given you even in your undesirable circumstances? Will you behold his blessings even while you’re burdened? Will you welcome his wonder while you’re waiting? In prison, Joseph is liked by everyone and people start coming to him for interpretation of their dreams. One person he helped with his gift was Pharaoh’s cup bearer who was also in prison for offending his master. When Joseph helped the cup-bearer, he says to him in Genesis 40:14, “Please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place.” The cup-bearer is released from prison, but guess what – he completely forgets all about Joseph, and verse 23 says “He never gave Joseph another thought.” Gosh, do you ever feel forgotten? Do you ever feel like the people you help aren’t willing to help you? Do you feel like everyone else gets their time and you’re just stuck waiting? Well let me remind you again – When it’s God’s time, it’s the right time, then it’s quick time! Genesis 41:1, “Two full years later, Pharaoh had a dream.” Pharaoh is disturbed by his dream and he’s seeking help in interpreting it. Verse 9, “Finally, the king’s chief cup-bearer spoke up, ‘Today I have been reminded of my failure’ – then he tells Pharaoh about Joseph who was still sitting in prison. A man who could interpret dreams with the power God had given him. A man he had promised to remember and help get out of prison. A man he had forgotten for 2 full years. Joseph had been sitting, forgotten, for those long 2 years – then finally the person he had helped remembered him, mentions him, and BOOM, Joseph is out of prison finally! Joseph stands before Pharaoh, listens to his dream and humbly says in verse 16, “It is beyond my power to do this, but God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.” Now don’t overlook this because it’s huge – in this time of waiting, something powerful has happened to Joseph. He has been humbled. Before, Joseph was arrogant and quick to brag about his gifting from God. In fact, it’s how this whole mess started. He was bragging about the interpretation of his dream to his brothers, saying they would one day serve him because of his dream, and it pushed them over the edge and they pushed him in the pit. But now, after this immense struggle and time of waiting, Joseph comes out humble and giving all credit to God. Joseph wanted out of that prison 2 years before, but he was forgotten and left waiting. But God never forgot him. God was preparing him. Preparing his character to match his calling. And when the time was right, then it was quick time. In the very next paragraph after Joseph turns to God for the interpretation of Pharoah’s dream, he is put in charge of Pharaoh’s court and he is placed as second in command of Egypt. Joseph didn’t even know this was in his future. He didn’t know this was remotely possible. He never dreamed he would end up in Egypt, let alone ruling over the entire land of Egypt. But God did! It was all timing and preparation. And when the time was God’s time, it was the right time, and it became quick time. You’re already on your way to what God has for you. Now the way may feel like a pit or look like a prison, but God knows the palace he has planned for you beyond this. It’s all unfolding in God’s timing. You may feel forgotten, but you’re not. You’re being prepared. Your character is under development according to your calling. The time will come when God says it’s right, then you’ll be there and it will be quick! 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

What you don’t trust, you will try to control. If you don’t trust someone in your family, you will try to control them. If you don’t trust your dog, you will try to control it. If you have a high tech car that can drive itself, but you don’t trust it – you will control it yourself. And if you don’t trust God, you will try to control your life. When you don’t trust God to get it right, you will assume the position of having to force everything for yourself. When you don’t trust God’s timing, you’ll try to control the timing. When you don’t trust God’s plan, you will follow the plan you can control. A controlling person is a distrusting person. A distrusting person becomes a controlling person. I trust my dog. He is trained, he is obedient and he stays close. Because of that, when possible, he is off leash. I no longer have to control him because I can trust him. I trust God. He has always been faithful to me. His promises have held true every single time. I no longer put God in my little box of limited understanding because I trust him. How about you? Are you in a place in your life where you full on, face to the floor, open hands, absolute surrender, TRUST GOD? If you are – do you notice how your need to control things has just faded away? When faith rules, the need to control fades. Where faith takes the throne, the need for control quietly falls to its knees. Control must bow to my faith instead of faith bowing to my control. As we study the life of Joseph in the book of Genesis, we see the most genuine example of trusting God regardless of circumstances. While Joseph couldn’t see how being sold into slavery would ever be remotely okay, he trusted God. While Joseph couldn’t see how being falsely accused of a crime he didn’t commit and being thrown in prison could be a good thing, he trusted God. He never tried to control the situation or the outcome, instead wherever he was and whatever was going on around him, he did his best. How do we know Joseph did his best? While Joseph is in prison, Genesis 39:23 says, “The prison warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed.” God didn’t just make things work – No, Joseph worked and God brought the success. Joseph did everything in that prison. All the work – more than was required. Joseph brought his best and God brought the blessings. But when we find ourselves in an unfair, difficult or unwanted situation, here’s what we do – “GOD, GET ME OUT OF THIS MESS. I DON’T DESERVE THIS!” We throw our pity party and wait for the rescue. We don’t work hard. We don’t give our best effort. No we typically get pitiful, then we grow miserable, then we become bitter. Pitiful, miserable and bitter because we can’t control it. In all of God’s word, I’ve never seen him bless pitiful. I’ve never seen him bless chosen misery. I’ve never seen him pour out his blessings on the bitter. But for the one who will trust him and do their best in the unfair, in the difficult, and in the unwanted – THEN HE BLESSES. For Joseph, God continually responded to his trust and best effort with success. Success to get out of the pit. Success in his master’s house. Success in the prison cell. And eventually, success in the palace. Joseph didn’t seek control. He sought God’s control. When you know the end of Joseph’s story and you see he ends up wildly successful in a palace, saving his own family that tried to harm him, it becomes easy to read the hard parts and see how God was working. But as the story was unfolding, Joseph had no idea where it was all leading. He didn’t know what God was doing. Yet he trusted. I don’t know the whole story of my life. I have not seen how these hard parts will be used – but I trust they will. I don’t know how God is going to work all this out – but I trust he will. I don’t know how this is going to one day be good – but I trust when he says he has good plans for my life, they will be good. My trust demands my hands to open and relinquish control. Now, how about you? Will you open your hands and trust God to get this right? Will you stop trying to control it and instead be faithful in it? Will you first give your best so then God can bless it? Here’s the problem – we start assuming what a good God should do, then we try to hold God accountable to our plan. Oh what disappointment we set ourselves up for when we create the plan for God and try to hold him to it. My friend, it simply doesn’t work that way. Our eyes have not seen, our ears have not heard, and our minds have not even imagined the things God has prepared for those who love him. Our wildest dreams don’t even come close to God’s good plans for our lives – so how could we ever assume what a good God should do? Would a good God allow a 17 year old boy to be betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery? Actually – yes. Because God always saw how it would be used for good. Would a good God allow that man to be falsely accused and thrown into prison for a crime he didn’t commit? Actually – yes. Because God always saw how it would be used for good. These are not plans we would choose on our own. We want to skip to the palace part. We want to avoid every pit and every problem and go straight to our palace, but our good God knows good plans include the pits. If you’re down in the pits, remember this – you have a GOOD GOD. That good God can’t be controlled by your plans. Instead, we trust his plans are better than our own and we know every part of the story will be used. 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

How crazy was your Christmas? Just how dysfunctional are your family gatherings? Or maybe, there’s so much brokenness in your family, they don’t even gather anymore. Siblings don’t talk. People are uninvited. There are misunderstandings, blow ups and hurt feelings. Or maybe your family dysfunction is hidden to everyone else. You show up in matching outfits, you smile for the photos, you fake the joy. The show is good, but behind closed doors, there’s a real problem. And through all of that, you think you’re alone. Those thoughts of being alone and singled out in a problem make you feel dismissed. But let me tell you something – you are singled out in a promise. You are set apart for a purpose. In the middle of a dysfunctional family can be a single soul who God will use to change the trajectory of every future generation. The crazy doesn’t have to go away for that to become true. The problems don’t have to be solved for that to unfold. One thing has to happen – A single soul must decide to be different with God. That person must trust God so completely that where they came from doesn’t become their destiny. That person must trust God so fully that what they’re going through doesn’t detour them from where they’re going. The level of dysfunction that Joseph comes from is undeniable. His father, Jacob, was the trickster who stole a family blessing and birthright from his older twin brother. His grandmother, Rebekah, aided in the deceitful plan to steal that blessing. His uncle wanted to kill his father for many years, hunting him down to get even. Joseph is born into crazy. I don’t know – maybe you were born into crazy. You come from a long line of quarreling, immorality, and jacked up choices. Maybe you come from a broken home with a painful childhood, and trauma is all you know. Well let me tell you something – trauma is not your tomorrow. Trauma may be part of your testimony, but honey, it is not your trajectory! Joseph’s father had two wives and two concubines. Imagine that. Joseph is the youngest of 12 boys, all a bunch of half-brothers sharing the same father. But there was a clear favorite. Joseph was Daddy’s favorite. And clear favor over one child creates clear family fallout. Parenting 101 begins with showing our children the same level of love and attention. The one who feels like a black sheep will always wander. Joseph’s parents didn’t attend that class. Instead, his Daddy made him a special coat and draped it over his favorite son. Favoritism didn’t only set him apart, it put a massive target of jealousy on his back. Genesis 37: 3-4, “Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph – a beautiful robe. But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.” This special coat we often call the ‘coat of many colors’. To understand this coat is to understand the problem. This was not a working man’s coat. It was a long coat of privilege. Wearing this coat, he would watch his brothers work hard. Just how do you feel when you’re working hard and someone is sitting and watching you as if it’s your job to serve them? Not good. Especially in family. And all of this dysfunction leads to Joseph’s brothers wanting to kill him. Life would be easier if he weren’t sitting in his fancy coat, being better than them in the father’s favor. They throw him in a pit, sell him to a group of traders traveling through, then took the special coat of favor, covered it in animal blood and convinced their father that Joseph had been killed by wild animals. Guys – this is CRAZY. And yet, this crazy didn’t limit God’s ability to work in this family. This dysfunction did not dismiss God’s desired destiny for a single one of them. And your family dysfunction doesn’t dismiss your destiny either, my sister. The crazy you come from, or the crazy you’re going through doesn’t limit God’s ability to work in your life, nor does it limit his promises for your future. The father’s favor created a real problem. Do you know why? Because the father’s favor of one meant a limit for the others. But this points us directly to the contrast of our Heavenly Father. Our Heavenly Father is unlimited in his favor. He can pour out his undeniable favor all over me, and still have an unlimited abundance of favor for you too. What he has done for me, he can do for you. And what he’s done for you, he can do for me. When you see a soul that’s been saved, rescued, healed and redeemed by the mighty work of a loving Heavenly Father, here’s what your first thought needs to be – WOW, I SEE WHAT GOD DID FOR YOU AND I NOW KNOW HE CAN DO THAT FOR ME TOO! If he gave them a coat, he has a coat for me! The enemy wants us to live divided with jealous comparisons, but God’s desire is for us to each to walk in his divine favor. With every evidence of his love, we receive it as proof of what’s possible in our lives with God. What God did for me, he can do for you. Let me tell you what he did for me – he put divine protection around me throughout my life, saving me time and time again from devastation and destruction. He healed my body and saved my life. He gifted me with years I shouldn’t have gotten, and here I am with another new year! He set me apart, changed me, called me, and equipped me. He worked behind the scenes to change every intended harm against my family into a story of glory – and he’s still doing that today! God worked in Joseph’s life, taking betrayal and turning it into blessing. He turned delay into destiny. He took him from a prison and delivered him to a palace. And what God did for me – what God did for Joseph – HE CAN DO FOR YOU! You’re not alone. You are singled out in a promise. You are set apart for a purpose. In the middle of a dysfunctional family can be a single soul who God will use to change the trajectory of every future generation. The crazy doesn’t have to go away for that to become true. The problems don’t have to be solved for that to unfold. One thing has to happen – A single soul must decide to be different with God. That person must trust God so completely that where they came from doesn’t become their destiny. That person must trust God so fully that what they’re going through doesn’t detour them from where they’re going. Will that be you? Oh, let it be you! Then show others what God can do for them too! 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

How perfect do circumstances have to be for you to be happy? How right do things have to be for you to see them as right? Experts say the average American thinks somewhere between 50,000-70,000 thoughts per day and 70% of them are negative. Just how average are you, my sister? It’s also said that the average person says something negative in every minute of a conversation. Yes, every 60 seconds, we speak a negative statement. It’s practically impossible for us to speak without talking about something that’s wrong. And this is NOT God’s will for his girls. This is not his desire for us. He wants to renew our minds and transform our thoughts. He wants us to be “Just Right Girls”. A Spiritual Goldilocks. Goldilocks was the little girl who wanders into the house of three bears while they are away. She tries their porridge, finding one too hot, one too cold, and one just right. She then sits in their chairs, finding one was too hard, one was too soft, and one was just right. Finally, she tries out the mattresses in the house until she finds the one that was just right and takes a nap. There’s a ‘just right’ for you and your Creator is hoping you will receive it, enjoy it and rest in it. Here’s the problem – we are so focused on what we don’t like, what we don’t want, and what we think isn’t right, that we miss what is just right. Where’s God’s JUST RIGHT for you? Our study of the book of Genesis brings us to the story of a ‘Just Right’ man. A man who walked right. A man who sought right. A man who continually experienced what wasn’t right, but trusted in God to make it just right for greater purposes. Genesis 37 – Joseph was one of 12 boys, the sons of Jacob. Joseph was his father’s favorite and this made his 11 brothers sorely jealous. One day at just 17 years old, Joseph’s brothers sold him to a group of traders for 20 pieces of silver and was taken as a slave to Egypt. This is just the beginning of a series of unfortunate events which he didn’t deserve. He’s sold, then falsely accused, then imprisoned, later used, then forgotten. And through the next 22 years, we see Joseph continually faithful. With each up and each down, Joseph trusts God. With every turn, Joseph looks for what was JUST RIGHT. And he finds that even in unfair circumstances, even in the worst of hardships, even in the greatest of struggles, God was forever doing something that was just right. Never once do we read of Joseph complaining. Never do we see him becoming bitter. Never do we see him being pitiful. There was no blame, no resentment, no hardened heart. Like Goldilocks, he went from one thing to the next, always seeking what was JUST RIGHT where he was. He was in a pit, finding what was just right. He was in a prison finding what was just right. And eventually, he was in a palace finding what was just right. And what was just right to Joseph wasn’t comfort, control, certainty or convenience. No, quite the opposite. What was just right to Joseph was the building of his character and the calling of God. What’s JUST RIGHT to you, my sister? How perfect do circumstance have to be for you to be happy? How right do things have to be for you to see them as right? If I were to ask you how you slept last night, what would your answer be? Would you begin to tell me how hard it is for you to go to sleep? Would you tell me about those hot flashes? Would you tell me about your back, your snoring husband, or your insomnia? That’s what the majority of us would do without even thinking about it. It’s just normal. It’s what we do. It’s habit. 70% of our conversations are going to be negative. But God’s girls aren’t called to be normal – we’re called to be JUST RIGHT GIRLS. Girls that receive what God says is just right for them. Girls who choose to enjoy what God says is just right for them. Girls who rest in what God says is just right for them. Girls who talk about what God says is just right for them. This isn’t toxic positivity – this is the ultimate surrender trusting God to use everything for something good. This is trusting God to get it JUST RIGHT. Let me ask you – Do you really believe God cares about the details of your life? Do you really believe you have the ability to pray about everything and invite God’s personal involvement into your personal circumstances in every moment? Yes? And do you believe he really does have the ability to see what you can’t see and the power to work all things together for your good? Yes? Do you really believe God can FOREVER GET IT RIGHT, and I mean JUST RIGHT? The perfect alignment, the perfect fit with the perfect timing? You see, when you really believe that’s who your God is and that’s what your God does, then you really can receive what’s just right for you. Then you really can enjoy what’s just right for you. And you really can rest in what’s just right for you. Here at retreat, Destiny from Texas shared how her husband is a ‘Just Right’ man. His reply to most everything is “just right”. How did you sleep? Just right. How was work today? Just right. How was traffic? Just right. How’s the weather? Just right. Does he live in a perpetual paradise? No. Is he oblivious to reality? No. He’s a Spiritual Goldilocks. He’s forever looking for God’s just right for him. And when he can’t see it and when he doesn’t feel it – he simply chooses to trust that God knows what he’s doing and he’s making it just right. Since learning about this ‘Just Right’ man, I’ve been practicing this. I got just a few hours of sleep last night and let me tell you, it was JUST RIGHT. It feels like 10 degrees outside this morning, and it’s JUST RIGHT. I would choose neither of these things, but I trust God is getting it right. He’s building my character to align with his calling. Who am I to know what’s right above God? If Joseph can be sold into slavery, thrown into prison, betrayed, used and forgotten time and time again and never lose faith that God was getting it right, then can’t we? After 22 years, Joseph now sits in a palace with tremendous power as his brothers come to him begging for food. Without an ounce of bitterness, without a sense of hurt or betrayal, with nothing but a healed heart that God was FOREVER GETTING IT RIGHT, he’s able to say in Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.” God got it right. It was just right. It was always just right. It just didn’t always look like it or feel like it. But it was all working together to be something just right. And this CAN be your truth too, my sister. God cares about you. He knows where you are and what you’re going through. His providence is all over your life. He is making a way, and it’s the right way. You may not see it now, but one day you’ll be able to look back and see it was just right. So why not choose today to receive, enjoy and rest in what is being made just right? A Spiritual Goldilocks – God’s Just Right Girls. Forever looking for what God is making just right. Forever trusting God to get it just right. Forever talking about what is just right. What’s just right for us isn’t comfort. It isn’t control. It’s not certainty or convenience. No, quite the opposite. What is just right for us is building of our character and the calling of God. May we, God’s girls, be forever looking for God’s just right for us. And when we can’t see it and when we don”t feel it – may we simply choose to trust that God knows what he’s doing and he’s making it just right. 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

What are you running from? What are you avoiding, hoping it doesn’t catch up with you? In our study of Genesis, Jacob had been on the run for years. He had tricked his brother Esau out of the birthright and the blessing of their father, so he ran. And finally one night, when he was all alone, in his worst place of fear and vulnerability, God met him. All this time, God had been chasing him. Not chasing him to punish him, but chasing him to change him. Jacob’s identity was that of a trickster. Everyone knew Jacob was willing to twist the truth and do whatever was needed to get what he wanted. But most importantly, Jacob knew that about himself. From before birth while in his mother’s womb with his twin brother, he was fighting. His very name declared he was a deceiver. He had cheated his way to success. But still God didn’t give up on Jacob. Isn’t that wild? God still knew his potential and never cancelled his calling. God continued to pursue Jacob. This is the most reassuring thing for a girl like me who has chased after the wrong things, done good things the wrong way, and gotten a little lost along the way. God never gave up on me. My friend, God’s not giving up on you. I don’t know what path you’ve been wandering around on, what mess you’ve gotten tangled in, or what secret you’re keeping – but you need to know this – God is still chasing after you! He still knows your potential. His calling on your life still stands. Jacob had a rare moment of being all alone, and it was in that moment of stillness that God caught him. He had received word that after all these years of being away from his family in a distant land making a life for his own, his brother was looking for him. Yes, the brother he had tricked. The brother he had done wrong. Esau, the burly hunter was hunting for Jacob, and he had 400 soldiers with him. So, Jacob sends all of his workers and all his family across the river to protect them from this attack, and it left him alone in the camp for the night. And there, God finds him. GOD CAN FIND US IN OUR WORST PLACE. Why was God looking for Jacob? Not to punish him. Not to convict him. Quite simply to change him. To give him a new identity that would carry him into his divine purpose. There, in this place where Jacob can’t run anymore, he wrestles it out with God. Did you know it’s okay to wrestle something out with God? It’s okay to struggle your way through faith and obedience. It’s okay to ask God how, when and why. God is big enough to handle anything you bring to him. All he asks is that you DO bring it to him. Here, in Genesis 32, Jacob wrestles with God. And God asks him in verse 27, “What is your name?” Why would God ask Jacob his name? Doesn’t God know who he’s wrestling with? Oh absolutely, God knows. After all, God’s been chasing him. God’s been waiting for the moment Jacob quit running and got alone with him. God asked Jacob his name for one reason – TO CHANGE HOW HE SAW HIMSELF. He replied, “Jacob.” Jacob, the name he had always lived with that reminded him he was always a trickster – always a deceiver – always the one twisting the truth, fighting to get his own way. And in that moment, God gave him a new identity. Verse 28, “Your name will no longer be Jacob. From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.” Israel is a radically new name with a new identity. Israel means you have struggled it out with God and relied on him fully. Jacob was struggling with God, demanding his blessing. At no time was God too weak for Jacob. At no time was God limited in power. But with a tremendous act of grace, God let’s Jacob win in the struggle and blesses him. And in this, Jacob for the first time realizes he can’t do life without God. He can’t continue to outrun his angry brother. He can’t continue to force his own way. He can’t continue to cheat and lie. Right here, God is changing him. And that’s what God does. God meets us in our worst place and our self-created mess, and he allows us to struggle it out with him. He covers us in grace we don’t deserve, blesses us in ways we could never imagine, and changes our identity to be fully dependent on him. Jacob now has the new name of Israel. And while he would still often be called Jacob, he knew he was no longer the trickster he used to be. He was a man covered in God’s grace. God didn’t have to let him win, but God graciously gave him the blessing. My favorite part of the story comes next in Genesis 33. Jacob has devised this elaborate plan to send gifts ahead of him to meet his angry brother and the 400 soldiers after him, hoping to save his own life and family from the deserved attack and payback from his previous sin. Everything he had been running from in fear was about to come to him head on, and he was so afraid. But, when Esau sees his brother Jacob, this is what happened instead. Verse 4, “Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they both wept.” When Jacob stopped running and completely relied on God’s grace, everything he had been running from proved to be a blessing. His angry brother didn’t want to kill him, he wanted to reunite with him. I don’t know what you’ve been running from – but maybe God is showing you today that if you’ll depend solely on him, he will cover you with the grace to see there was nothing to run from. Everything you’ve been so afraid of is already taken care of and God is making the way to restoration and healing. How much longer are you going to run? How much longer are you going to try and fix this on your own. Sit here and wrestle this out with God. He will cover you in grace, change your identity, and bless you with an outcome you could have never created on your own. 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

People can be so weird. I’ve seen good families fall apart when there’s a slight inheritance to split. My uncles nearly killed each other over a 20 year old mounted dear head after my grandfather died. When you start talking about money, or promotions, or next levels, people start getting greedy and the ugly comes out. What do you do if someone is cheating you out of what is yours? What do you do if what was promised to you is taken from you? Remember, we talked about that earlier this week. What God says is yours will be yours. Period. But still, sometimes life isn’t fair and what you’ve rightfully earned is denied by those who hold power over you. How will you handle it when the promotion unfairly goes to someone else? What will you do when the split of the money isn’t fair? What will you do when the contract isn’t honored, your words are twisted, you get sued, you’re overlooked, or you are denied? YOU TRUST GOD! You can’t always trust other people, but you can always trust God. I can assure you of this – God sees exactly what is happening. He knows every detail of this situation and he’s already working on the behalf of the one seeking what is right of him. Is that you? Are you seeking what is right with God? It’s real easy to get caught up in what you want and what you think you deserve – it’s much harder to truly surrender all that and only desire what God says is right for you. What if God says the promotion you should rightfully get isn’t what’s right for you – would you trust him with that? What if God says the money that is owed you isn’t the money he has for you – would you trust him with that? What if the fair thing isn’t God’s thing – would you trust him with the unfair thing? Genesis 30 & 31 tells the story of Jacob after he receives the blessing of his father. Life wasn’t easy, even though he was blessed. He dealt with unfair people and unfair situations. He fell in love with a beautiful girl named Rachel. But, in order for Jacob to have Rachel as his wife, he had to work for Rachel’s father Laban. Laban was unfair. He continually changed his mind and tricked Jacob into working harder and longer for him than necessary. But as Jacob was facing unfair situations with his greedy father-in-law, God was working. I may not know what unfair situation you are facing right now, but I know if you are trusting God for what he says is right, then God is working! And I don’t know about you, but I absolutely LOVE the way God works. He often works in the most unexpected, quirky, behind the scenes ways you would never expect. But there he is working, taking care of those who trust in him. Jacob had made an agreement with his father-in-law for payment. Jacob would care for all Laban’s flock, and he would only ask for the imperfect sheep to be kept for himself. The imperfect ones were the spotted ones, the striped or speckled ones, or the black sheep. They were the undesirable sheep. Laban agreed to this, knowing it was a great deal for him to get to keep not only the majority, but the best for himself. But, something crazy started happening – whatever designated undesirable sheep had been declared as Jacob’s, suddenly all the new born sheep would be marked in that way. Jacob was suddenly getting ALL the sheep. As soon as Laban would catch on, he would unfairly change his agreement. But as soon as he would change the designated marking of sheep going to Jacob, then that marking would be on all the next newborn sheep, making them all Jacob’s again. Every time Laban would change his mind, God would change the sheep to make them Jacob’s. And here’s what Jacob knew in this continually unfair situation with his family – Genesis 31:6-7, Jacob says to his wife, “You know how hard I have worked for your father, but he has cheated me, changing my wages ten times. But God has not allowed him to do me any harm.” Jacob knew God was in control. When he was being treated wrong, when what was supposed to be his was continually denied, when the deal was continually changed – God would not allow harm to come to him. God simply changed the newborn sheep to match the undesirable specific marking that had been designated as Jacob’s. And every time the deal changed to a different marking, God would change the sheep and they would still be his. My friend, if God can change the marking on the sheep to make it right for Jacob – he can change whatever he needs to change to make it right for you. You don’t have to stress. You don’t have to worry. You don’t have to do anything out of anger, bitterness, or fear. The enemy wants you to freak out and do something stupid here. But don’t you do that. You’re God’s girl. God’s got you! Repeat after me: I won’t do anything stupid here. When every ounce of you wants to lash out and demand what is fair, you remember God is your provider. God is your redeemer. God is your healer. You won’t even have to fight for it. An angel of the Lord visits Jacob in a dream and says, “I have seen how Laban has treated you.” Then the angel shows him how God is making every future sheep born in Laban’s flock to be streaked, speckled and spotted, which means they are marked to be his. And now these undesirable sheep are the strong ones. Even while Jacob was under the authority of an unfair man who continually tried to cheat him, God ensured Jacob was blessed. Genesis 30:43, “The weaker lambs belonged to Laban, and the stronger ones were Jacob’s. As a result, Jacob became very wealthy, with large flocks of sheep and goats …” God sees what is happening. He knows about this unfair thing. You can trust him in this. Romans 8:28 is a life verse. “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Do you know that? Do you know with great confidence that God is deeply concerned about you is causing all things to work together in his plan to become something good. He’s sees what is happening and he can work with it. Maybe you can’t, but he can. Now just trust him. It may be unfair right now, but God hasn’t taken His eyes off you for a second—He’s smiling, working behind the scenes, and turning this very mess into a story of blessing you’ll one day laugh about and thank Him for. You may end up with a whole flock of black sheep, and girl you will be blessed!!!!! 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

Remember the twin brothers, Esau and Jacob, that are born to Isaac and Rebekah? Remember how Esau is born first, but Jacob is born holding onto his foot. Then, one day, in Esau’s hunger, he trades his birthright to Jacob for a single bowl of soup. Now, because of Esau’s failure to value what he was still waiting for, he’s forfeited his future double inheritance and the spiritual leadership of his family. Two chapters later, in Genesis 27, we come to a story titled “Jacob Steals Esau’s Blessing”. Let’s set the stage for this story – Isaac is now an old man and in his final days he’s ready to give his blessing to his oldest son. He says to Esau, “Go hunting then prepare my favorite dish, and bring it here for me to eat. Then I will pronounce the blessing that belongs to you, my firstborn son, before I die.” But there’s a problem. Rebekah, the mother, was listening and she got in the middle. Rebekah favored her younger son Jacob and she wanted him to receive the blessing. Oh the messes meddling mothers create. Mama, listen to this warning in God’s word – STAY OUT OF IT. You don’t need to get in the middle of your adult child’s business. You don’t need to fix this. Rebekah tells Jacob, the younger son, to go out and kill their own goats and bring them to her so she can quickly make the meal herself. Then, she would have Jacob bring the meal to his father, posing as his older brother, and receive the father’s blessing. But, there’s one problem – While Issac is now old and blind and wouldn’t be able to see the difference, he would be able to feel the difference. Esau was a hairy beastly man, while Jacob was a smooth mama’s boy. But, the meddling mother had an answer for that problem too. She skinned the goats and covered Jacob’s arms and neck with their hairy skin. This is next level meddling, y’all! Jacob, covered in the skin of a hairy goat, goes in to his father, serves him the meal his mama had sneakingly made, and Isaac blesses him. Feeling the hair on his arms, convinced this son was the first born Esau, the father says: “From the dew of heave and the richness of the earth, may God always give you abundant harvests of grain and bountiful new wine. May many nations become your servants and may they bow down to you. May you be the master over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. All who curse you will be cursed and all who bless you will be blessed.” Now, Jacob has received the blessing and he leaves his father. Immediately after, here comes Esau in from his hunt with the fresh cooked delicious meal his father had requested. Esau says, “Sit up, my father, and eat my wild game so you can give me your blessing.” But Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” Esau replied, “It’s your son, your firstborn son, Esau.” Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably and said, “Then who just served me wild gave? I have already eaten it, and I blessed him just before you came. And yes, that blessing must stand!” When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry, “Oh my father, what about me? Bless me, too!” he begged. But Isaac said, “Your brother was here, and he tricked me. He has taken away your blessing.” Esau exclaimed, “No wonder his name is Jacob, for now he has cheated me twice. First he took my rights as the firstborn, and now he has stolen my blessing. Oh haven’t you saved even one blessing for me?” Isaac said to Esau, “I have made Jacob your master and have declared that all his brothers will be his servants. I have guaranteed him an abundance of grain and wine – what is left for me to give you, my son?” Esau pleaded, “But do you have only one blessing?” Can’t you just hear the desperation of the son begging for his blessing? And can’t you hear the desperation of the father who has nothing left to give? Oh the pain of being tricked, of being cheated, of being without blessing. Who stole your blessing? Who got what was supposed to be yours? Who took your place? NO ONE. No one can take what God has for you. No one can fool God. If it’s yours, then it will forever be yours. If someone else got something, there’s absolutely zero limitations imposed on what you can still get. God is not limited. God can bless a million other people while still fully blessing you. You don’t have to compete. You don’t have to be jealous. Your fear is unnecessary. 2 Corinthians 9: 8-9 MSG, “God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways. He trows caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon. His right-living, right-giving ways never run out and never wear out. This most generous God is more than extravagant with you.” God wants to be extravagant in his generosity towards you. He’s not running out and he’s not wearing out. He gives in reckless abandon, knowing unlike an earthly father who has a limitation on the blessing he can give, God’s blessing is forever unlimited. God has given me so much – but even still, his ability to give to you has never been negatively impacted even for a second. We’re not in competition, my sister. God’s blessings are for both of us! Stop assuming your position is the back of the line – there’s an extravagant blessing here for you too! This earthly father was limited in his blessing. Our heavenly father is unlimited. This earthly father had mistakenly given his only blessing to the younger son. Our heavenly father knows precisely who you are and knows the abundance of blessing he wants to continually pour out on you! Repeat after me: No one can take the blessing meant for me. But, you could be refusing the blessings. You could be misusing the blessings. You could be so focused on the blessing of someone else that you cause yourself to miss the blessing God has for you. The blessings will not be forced. Heartbroken over the binding blessing that has already been given, Isaac tells his oldest son this powerful truth. This truth is one we all need to hear today. Genesis 27: 39-40, “You will live away from the richness of the earth, and away from the dew of the heaven above. You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. BUT WHEN YOU DECIDE TO BREAK FREE, YOU WILL SHAKE HIS YOKE FROM YOUR NECK.” Esau had the power to break free from the unfair thing that had been done to him. The power would be there when he DECIDED to break free. Isn’t that powerful? When will you decide to break free from what has been done to you? There’s been a yoke on your neck, burdening you and weighing you down, and all this time, you’ve had the power to break free from it. Just decide. Decide to break free. Decide you’re not going to live like this any longer. You’re not going to wallow in what happened. You’re not going to replay the story. You’re not going to be that victim. You’re not going to let hate or regret consume you. You’re not going to be pitiful. You’re going to BREAK FREE and shake that yoke from your neck. The blessing is still yours, my sister. What God has for you, no one can take. But maybe you’ve been forfeiting your power, spending your energy on blaming someone or something else. Break free from that. Decide now you will receive the blessing God has for 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

Genesis 26:12, “When Isaac planted his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the Lord blessed him.” Imagine a blessing of 100 times more than could be expected this year. 100 times more than you deserve. 100 times more than what is reasonable. How do you get that blessing? 1. You plant. 2. Allow God to bless your work. Isaac planted his crops that year. He didn’t expect God to bless something he wasn’t willing to do. Isaac didn’t expect God to multiply something he wasn’t willing to start small with. Isaac tilled the ground that year. Isaac planted the seeds that year. Isaac pulled the weeds that year. God blessed the harvest that year. This year, there is work for you to do. You’re at the very beginning stages of that work this year. You have goals which are the action steps towards the life you are imagining for 2026. But only God can turn that work into an abundant harvest. You could plant all the seeds perfectly – you could pull every single weed – but if God doesn’t bring the sun, your harvest will never come. My sister, you could follow a perfect meal plan, you could go to the gym every day without fail – but God blesses your health. You are 100% dependent on the Lord for your harvest this year. However, the harvest of this year depends on one thing first – Your work of planting the seeds. That’s your job. God can do anything, but he will not do what you’re called to do. Listen to me, my sister. There’s work to be done in your life this year. God isn’t going to do that work for you. He’s not going to declutter that house for you. He’s not going to set your alarm for you. He’s not going to put in the application for you. He’s not going to do your homework or your workout. Those are seeds for you to plant. The truth is, you’re standing here today with seeds in your hand. There are so many things you can do. Small steps are right in front of you. Simple beginnings are aligned for you. But every time you choose not to plant the seeds, you forfeit your harvest. You have no idea what God was willing to do for you last year if you would have just planted the seeds you had. But everything you failed to work for, work in, work on, and work through, God was denied his opportunity to bless. If you would work through this, God could bless it. If you would work on this, God could bless it. But where you delay your work, you deny God’s harvest. What could God bless in your life this year? Absolutely EVERYTHING. Everything you’re willing to get up for. Everything you’re willing to show up for. Everything you’re willing to push through for. The work of your hands is the beginning of the work God can multiply, but he won’t start it for you. Yesterday, I took the retreat girls to the Pathways Project house in the tiny town of Galena, MO. This is a rescue house serving as a safe place for women and children rescued out of sex trafficking. We were there to open hundreds of Amazon boxes with all the furnishings for this sacred space. We put together beds and book shelves, desks and cabinets. We filled the space with welcoming furniture and decorations. The doors will open by the end of this month to begin welcoming those souls in need as a pathway to healing and restoration. The building was given to the Patheways Project. Literally, just given to them without even asking for it. Every single item needed was ordered and delivered to their door. Then an army of BIG Life girls in matching shirts show up to put it all together. But let me tell you how it all started … it started with an ordinary woman who couldn’t turn her head the other way when she learned about sex trafficking in her area. It started with her hard work with no building, no funding and no vision for the future. It started with showing up for one girl who had been in over 30 foster homes and ended up on the streets being controlled by a trafficker, and offering to meet her for coffee. She cared about one girl and just kept caring. Then, more came. More girls came needing help. More people came offering help. A building came. The furnishings came. The army showed up. And God is blessing the simple, faithfilled work with a 100 times kind of harvest. Is it still work – oh you better believe it! Ask a farmer when the work ends – It never ends. When the harvest comes, the work doesn’t end. Harvest season is perhaps the hardest work. Go collect your bounty or it will rot! Maybe you’re all about the harvest, but you’re not willing to plant the small seeds that look like nothing in the beginning. God can’t bless that. Maybe you’re willing to plant, but you’re not willing to stick with the work. You’ll start strong, but you’ll fizzle fast. God can’t bless that. Notice this, it says, “Isaac planted his crops that year and he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the Lord blessed him.” Underline PLANTED AND HARVESTED. Those are both really hard work. That was Isaac’s work, not God’s. Planting is the work of putting the seed in the ground. Harvesting is the work of following through and finishing what you began. And with that, GOD BLESSES. God cannot bless what you will not begin. God cannot bless what you will not continue. If the woman who started Pathways Project stopped working now, the building would sit fully furnished, but the hurting souls stuck in trafficking would never get to walk through those doors. The work has started, but the work continues. God blesses that! The work has started in your life. Will you continue the work? Will you keep showing up? Will you push through your feelings that tell you it’s not worth it or it’s not working, and demand obedience of yourself? You see, no one else can demand your obedience. That’s up to you. You have free will. And that free will can lead you to a year of giving up and forfeiting the blessing … oR your free will can lead you to the continued hard work of obedience that shows up when you don’t feel like it. I can’t even begin to tell you how hard it was for me to wake up this morning. I’ve been pouring out my best energy, my best effort, and my best ideas and sometimes it feels like there’s not a whole lot left. How do you sit down and write when you’ve got nothing? Quite simple – you obediently take the next step in front of you. If you will obediently take the next step in front of you, it will lead you directly to the next step after that. And if you will keep stepping, keep working, keep showing up, you will have a 100 times blessing on your hands. And let me tell you something, a hundred times blessing is a whole lot of work to receive! It’s a lot to manage. It’s a lot to be faithful with. God knows if and when he can trust you with that level of blessing, and when he sees your continued obedience in the work of planting, he will know you can be trusted with his blessing in the increased harvest! God has a 100 times harvest for his girls who will begin the work and continue the work. 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

If you don’t know what you really have, you can never be really grateful for it. If you don’t understand the value of what you have, you will fail to protect it. What you have is of the greatest value, but maybe you have overlooked it. And through your oversight, you have traded your best for something so far less. You have settled for something completely inferior simply because you didn’t understand what was truly yours. Our study of the book of Genesis brings us now to the story of Jacob and Esau. These are the battling twin brothers who teach us 2 valuable lessons. Esau was born first, and Jacob was born holding onto his heel. And this was the beginning of a sibling rivalry that would make Jerry Springer shake his head. In these days, the first born received the birthright and the blessing. The birthright was a double portion of inheritance and the role as spiritual leader of the family. Because Easu was born before his twin brother Jacob, according to custom and tradition, the birthright belonged to Esau. In a moment of weakness, Esau traded all of this for a single bowl of soup. How foolish is that? Genesis 25:29-33, “One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home from the wilderness exhausted and hungry. Esau said to Jacob, ‘I’m starved! Give me some of that red stew!’ ‘All right,’ Jacob replied, ‘but trade me your rights as the firstborn son.’ ‘Look, I’m dying of starvation!’ said Esau. What good is my birthright to me right now?’ But Jacob said, ‘First you must swear that your birthright is mine.’ So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his brother, Jacob.'” Verse 34 in TPT, “Then Jacob gave Esau some lentil stew and bread. When Esau had finished eating and drinking, he just got up and walked away. Esau cared nothing about his own birthright.” Was the birthright of tremendous value? Technically, yes. However, if the one who is in line to receive it does not value it, then the value is forfeited. A double portion of the inheritance, forfeited. Spiritual leadership, forfeited. And Easu didn’t even care because he didn’t value what was rightfully his. He was happy with his bowl of soup. What is our bowl of soup? Where have we settled for far less than God says is our birthright as his girls? What have we failed to value as the daughters of the King and forfeited in our hunger for something now? What we want most is often forfeited for what we want right now. We want that God appointed relationship, but we will settle for the one available for a meet up now. We want to walk in God’s calling, but we will settle for a guaranteed paycheck, 401K and insurance. We want peace, but we will settle for distraction. We want healing, but we will settle for a bandaid. We want a word spoken from Heaven, but we will settle for a word spoken on TikTok. Do we really understand, appreciate and value what is ours as God’s girls? Jeremiah 29:11, God says, “For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.” • Where have we traded God’s best plans that were still in the wait, for the secondary self-construed plans we could have right now? • Where have we dismissed ourselves from God’s desire to prosper us, and settled for something so much smaller out of comfort? • Where have we taken God’s offering of hope for our future, and turned it into worry, stress, and doubt? You see, we know what to do with worry. Stress is so familiar. I know how to wake up to doubt. It’s all becomes so comfortable. What’s not familiar is hope. What’s not comfortable is the idea of truly prospering in God’s plans. How do I feast on what I can’t see? How do I get filled by what I can’t hold in my hands right now while I’m hungry? You’re hungry. You’re hungry for something, anything. This emptiness you feel within is eating you up on the inside. And this is where the enemy of your soul will come in and offer the little you can have right now to keep you from having the fullness of what is rightfully yours. What is rightfully yours as God’s girl is his Holy Spirit to guide you in your every step. And that spirit doesn’t allow you to be weak or fearful. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline.” That’s what is yours. You have power. You have love. You have self-discipline. It’s already yours. Given to you by your Heavenly Father. Are you going to forfeit that power over your every tomorrow for a bowl of soup you can have today? You will if you fail to value it. If your phone keeps you distracted, you will never hear the whisper of God’s spirit that gives you supernatural strength and guidance for your next step. You’re hungry, yes. But are you going to settle for just anything to eat? You’re lonely, yes. But are you going to settle for just anybody? You’re uncertain, yes. But are you going to settle for just any answer? There’s a bowl of soup in the offering for you today, and it will feel so good to take a big spoonful right now – But what will that cost you? GOD HAS MORE FOR YOU! Esau forfeited his birthright to his younger brother for a bowl of soup. And we forfeit God’s best for what is easiest, what is available, what is familiar, what is comfortable. How much longer are you going to keep eating that soup? At what point will you accept the hunger pains as you wait for the plans God has promised over you? The second lesson from these battling twin brothers is one we often miss, but one we so desperately need today. Jacob was given his name from birth because it meant trickster. He was born grabbing the heal of his older brother. But Jacob had always been set apart. When Rebekah was pregnant with the twins, the Lord told her in Genesis 25:23, “Your older son will serve your younger son.” God had predetermined the order of birth and the birthright, and it was the opposite of human standards. The birthright was always Jacob’s according to God’s plan. Jacob didn’t have to trick his brother out of what God had already ordained as his. He didn’t have to twist things. He didn’t have to manipulate anyone or anything for his benefit. God already had it for him. Jacob caused undo trouble with his brother to get what was already his according to God. And how often do we do the same exact thing? We don’t trust God to really get it right, so we twist things to make it work. We don’t trust God to fully open the door for us, so we force it open. We don’t believe God could really give us the absolute best, so we self-create our best. We don’t trust God’s timeline, so we rush the timing. We grow jealous, fear we will be left out, and end up becoming someone we never wanted to be to get what we think we have to have right now. Repeat after me: No one can take what God has for me. Repeat after me: I don’t have to have it right now. Repeat after me: I’m willing to wait for God’s best. God, I trust that your plans for me are better than anything I could ever work for on my own. I believe that you have something personally for me just because I’m your girl. Something no one can take from me. I don’t have to force it, rush it or twist it. I will submit to your will, your way, your timing. I will stay hungry. I will chase after only you. And I will be confident of the birthright you have promised me. 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

If you getting better and living bigger in this new year is all based on you, this is going to be a struggle. If it’s all about who you are, what you have, what you can do, and what you want, you are gearing up for an impossible battle. This isn’t all about you. This isn’t all about what you can do. If it is, you will be limited by the same exact things that have limited you in the past. Nothing will change. Nothing will stick. You weren’t created to live this life without the personal involvement of your Creator, so if you’re focusing on you, honey, this is going to be a hot mess! You are going to be sorely disappointed over your lack of progress and continued struggle with the same ol’ things. But, girl, let me tell you, if you are doing these things through the power of Jesus Christ, NOTHING SHALL BE IMPOSSIBLE! If this is about becoming who God created you to be, and living up to his good plans for your life, there’s not a single wall, sea, chain, or mountain that can hold you back. The question is – what is 2026 about for you? Is it all about what you want to do, where you want to go, what you want to change – or is this about God’s plans for your life and his original design of who he imagined you to be? When your focus is on God, walls crumble. When your thoughts are centered on the Almighty, impassable seas part. When you are worshiping Jesus, chains break and prison doors are opened. When your faith is in God, mountains obey your command and move. So, are you focusing on God, or are you focusing on your problems? Are your thoughts centered on the Almighty, or are you thinking about the overwhelming changes required? Are you worshiping Jesus, or are you worrying your way through another day stuck here? Is your faith in God, or are you counting on your hard work to be enough to change things this year? If this is all about you, then your grit will eventually run out, and you will come to a grinding halt. But honey, if this is about what God is doing in you and through you, then there are zero limits on the possibilities here! 2 Timothy 1:9 “God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time – to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.” When this becomes all about your works, you are plugged into an extremely limited power source. You will get tired. You will grow weary. Your willpower will waiver. You will get frustrated. And maybe on the 9th day of this brand new year of life, you’re already feeling that. Those goals are already wavering. Some have already given up, believing they can never change. Why do we have such a tendency to fail? Because we’re human. You are human. You are not the power source. You are a carrier of the power source. Sis, this isn’t about your works, this is about the One who will work in you! I travel with a portable charger. With this power pack, I can charge my electronic devices anywhere at any time. However, eventually that power pack will run out of power. It will go dead. It is not self-sufficient. It must be plugged into the direct source of power to be recharged. Once recharged, it has power within it to give again. We are the portable charger. We can do things. We can make progress. We can achieve goals. We can make changes. However, never forget, Sis, WE ARE LIMITED. We are not self-sufficient, stand alone creations, meant to give and never receive. We aren’t meant to work and never worship. We aren’t meant to show up with power without first receiving power. Do you want to know my secret to showing up with this amount of energy every day to pour into you? My secret is I get recharged every single morning first! And I’m not talking about caffeine. I’m talking about plugging into my source of power, my source of energy, my source of strength, inspiration, motivation, guidance and peace. If I don’t plug into him, I have nothing to give you. I’m as worthless as a dead portable charger. I’ve got nothing. God is our source. We carry his power, but we continually need to plug into him to receive what we then give. You are filled to be spilled, but you must first, and continually, be filled. If you only focus on what you can produce, you will eventually run out of power and production will stop. Remember when you used to produce? Remember when you were once showing up with so much power? Yeah … was that because you were plugged in then, and you forgot to plug in now? You’re on low battery, Sis. You forgot you weren’t created to do this on your own. Get this straight right now at the beginning of this year and you will save yourself some major disappointment. If this becomes a focus on your works, it’s simply not going to work! God didn’t call you to a great purpose because of the work you can do. He called you to a great purpose because of the work HE can do through you. God didn’t give you those big dreams because of your power to push through. He gave you those big dreams so HIS power could push THROUGH you. God didn’t give you your gifts and talents so you could look great. He gave to you because HE is great. You are covered by his grace to fulfill your purpose. You were never designed to live a life that wouldn’t require grace. Grace is for your human imperfections that fail, and God knew about your failure before your first breath. He knew you couldn’t do this on your own and get it right. He knew you would struggle. He knew 9 days into this new year, you would question if this year could really be different for you. He knew you would find yourself right here today, desperately seeking this change, and he already predetermined the grace you would need here. Let’s read it again. 2 Timothy 1:9 “God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time – to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.” This scripture reminds us that his purposes for us were created before the beginning of time. That means before the book of Genesis. Before the creation of the world. Before Adam and Eve. Before a single thing happened, God had a purpose for YOU. My mind can’t even wrap around that – but I chose to lean in and trust it because it’s God’s word. Can you lean in? But, God didn’t stop there. As much as God had a purpose for you since before the beginning of time, he also had grace for you. Purpose and grace are connected. God destined both purpose and grace specifically for you, before the beginning of time. He filled you with power, then he planned for you to continually come back and plug into him for more. Grace for when you run out. Grace for when you grow tired. Grace for when you have nothing left to give. Grace for when you forgot to protect what you had and let it be wasted. Grace for when you were plugged into the wrong things. Grace for when you sat doing nothing without purpose for so long, you went dead inside. (Woah, could that be why you feel so empty, so lost, so dark – you went dead inside. You’ve been sitting and you ran out of charge. There’s a solution for that. What do you do when your portable charger sat in your backpack for months without use and went dead inside – YOU PLUG THAT BABY BACK IN AND RECHARGE IT!) There’s grace for that! And all you have to do is use that grace, which he always knew you would be needing, to come back and plug in again to the Power Source. Be recharged. What can you do on your own this year? Maybe a little, but eventually, girl, you’re going to run out. What can you do with a continual connection to God? Infinitely more and greater than you could ever ask, think or imagine! You can walk in the flow of grace, and fulfill God’s purposes that will absolutely blow your mind! That’s what your heart most desires, because it’s within your design from before the beginning of time. If you need grace today because 9 days into the new year you’re already struggling, come get your grace. Recharge. Plug back in. Let his power flow through you. Then show back up with a renewed purpose to live in God’s good plans for your life with God’s power! 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

When exactly should you pray about something? How big of a deal does it need to be before you bring it to God? Does God really have time to be concerned about every little detail of your life? Honey, there are 70 billion trillion stars in the sky, and God calls each one of them by name. He counts the sand on every shore, and numbers the very hairs on your head. Yes, he has the capacity to handle your prayers about every detail of your life. But not only does he have the capacity, he has the care. Philippians 4:6-7 gives us a great guide on what to pray about – “Pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. THEN you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” There’s nothing you can’t or shouldn’t pray about, because there’s nothing God doesn’t care about or hold power over. How long do you pray about it? Until you have peace over it. Peace is God’s gift in response to prayer. And something truly amazing happens when you have God’s peace – you no longer have to force your way, manipulate the situation, or stress over the details. God’s peace filling our hearts and minds allows us to flow with God’s design and live in alignment with his good plans for our lives. Again – how do you get that level of peace? Only by praying about it. What should you pray about? Everything! It’s a trick of the enemy to make you feel unimportant to God. It’s a lie from the pits of hell that tell you God doesn’t have time for your specific prayers. He is fully capable of calling all 70 billion trillion stars in the sky by name, counting the sand on every shore, and handling your every concern brought to him in prayer. The question for you today is, HAVE YOU PRAYED ABOUT IT? Not just worried about it. Not just played out every scenario in your head. Not just talked to family and friends about it. Not just complained about it. PRAYED ABOUT IT. Have you asked God for help? Have you asked him for clarity? Have you sought him for discernment? Have you surrendered the outcome to him fully? If you have, then you can take your next step as he directs, or wait has he prompts, all in utter and complete PEACE. This week, my friend Catherine taught me the most powerful prayer and I want to share it with you today. When you come to God with a specific problem, a specific request, a specific choice that needs to be made, start your conversation with God by praying this: Lord, at the beginning of this time, would you get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to this matter. It’s our own heart that gets in the way. Our heart is how we “feel” about it. When we want what we want more than what God wants, we begin twisting things. When our feelings sit on the throne, God isn’t directing our lives, we’re doing it. And listen to me – you aren’t good on that throne! You seriously suck at directing your life on your own. We start forcing doors open when our heart is out of alignment. When our heart is set on one thing, we miss the other thing God has for us. Our feelings lead us down halls we don’t belong and into rooms never meant for us. So, to begin, we ask God to get our heart to a place that it has no will of its own over the specific matter. God, I fully want YOUR will, your way, in your time. Remove my feelings from it. Genesis 24 tells the story of Abraham’s servant setting out on a mission to find a wife for Abraham’s son Isaac. This wife would be very important because she would be the mother of all these promised future generations blessed by God. It couldn’t just be any pretty girl, it had to be the RIGHT girl. How do you know for sure you’re making the right decision, choosing the right person, going in the right direction? There’s only one way – YOU PRAY ABOUT IT. You pray until your feelings are surrendered, your thoughts are hushed, your heart is in alignment, and you are filled with God’s peace. So here’s what Abraham’s servant did before this monumental task of finding a wife for the son Isaac – he prayed. Genesis 24:12, “Please give me success today.” Woah – that’s powerful! Lord, please give me success today. This morning, did you ask God for success? Why wouldn’t you do that every day? Oh yeah – because you don’t really think God cares that much about you. HE DOES! He cares about your decision. He cares about your next steps. He cares about your relationships. He cares about your work. He cares about your health. He cares about your today and your tomorrow. When you seek God first for success, it’s a heart in alignment with the truth that God is the source of your success. Not your brilliant ideas, your big plans, or your grind and grit. Nope – it’s GOD FIRST. On Saturday morning, my husband and I watched one final sunrise from the harbor in the Florida Keys before heading out on our roadtrip. It was one of the most stunning sunrises I’ve ever seen and I have the frame worthy photo to prove it. Standing there in the harbor with us was a man on his yacht who travels around from island to island. I mean he’s basically living the life! He says to me, “You know, it’s all luck and motivation.” Really, is it all luck and motivation? In that moment, I could sense God shaking his head and saying, “Oh, my child – you have no idea! Nothing is luck. And any ounce of motivation you have came from me first as a gift.” I used to count on luck and motivation – now, I count on God first. Lord, if I have success, I know it is because of YOU! Abraham’s servant prays first – “Lord, please give me success today.” He prays for a specific confirmation of the right woman to be chosen as a wife for Isaac. It was an outstanding act that would require a truly outstanding woman to fulfill. Here’s what the servant prayed. “See, I am standing here beside this spring, and the young women of the town are coming out to draw water. This is my request. I will ask one of them, ‘Please give me a drink from your jug.’ If she says, ‘Yes, have a drink, and I will water your camels, too!’ – let her be the one you have selected as Isacc’s wife. This is how I will know …” Is it okay to pray specific prayers? Well, if it wasn’t, why would God want this example included in his holy word? Does God answer specific prayers with clarity and confirmation? Well, let’s keep reading. Verse 15-21, “BEFORE HE HAD FINISHED PRAYING, he saw a young woman named Rebekah coming out with her water jug on her shoulder. Rebekah was very beautiful and old enough to be married. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up again. Running over to her, the servant said, ‘Please give me a little drink of water from your jug.’ ‘Yes’, she answered, ‘have a drink.’ And she quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and gave him a drink. When she had given him a drink, she said, ‘I’ll draw water for your camels, too, until they have had enough to drink.’ So she quickly emptied her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw water for all his camels. The servant watched her in silence, wondering whether or not the Lord had given him success in his mission.” To understand the enormity of this task is to understand the character of this young woman Rebekah. The servant had 10 camels, each camel drinks up to 20 gallons of water. Gathering 200 gallons of water from a well would have taken hours of hard work for a complete stranger who hadn’t offered to pay her in any way. Rebekah had the character of a servant! Her appearance was of no concern, it was her heart!!! The servant had prayed for God’s success and removed his thoughts and feelings from the outcome. He didn’t want to manufacture anything on his own. That’s the place of complete trust and surrender we must come to in our prayers. God, get my heart into such a state that my heart has no will of its own regarding this matter. After seeing Rebekah’s servants heart, fulfilling the sign that had been prayed for, Abraham’s servant goes to her family and shares his prayer and request to take Rebekah back to be Isaac’s wife. And he says in verse 49, “Please tell me yes or no, and then I’ll know what to do next.” He’s not forcing his will or way. He’s prayed for success from God. He’s fully removed his will from the matter. And now he’s willing to accept either a yes or no with no personal influence. Rebekah’s family agrees, Rebekah says yes, and the mission is a success, blessed by God! What do you need to bring to God in full surrender of his will? What feelings do you need to lay on the altar and allow your heart to get in alignment with God’s? Where will you ask for God’s success today? 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

Join Pamela for an unscripted study of how God blesses the life of obedience and surrender. Genesis 22 & 24. 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 ultimate act of obedience is to offer the thing we love most. It would be easy for me to give you something from my closet that I never wear – but to give you my favorite thing would be a real sacrifice. Sure you can have my Amazon earrings, but the jewelry I bought in Italy is a totally different story. That’s a treasure to me. It would be unfair of you to ask me for my treasure. God asked Abraham to be willing to sacrifice his greatest treasure. His son. The son he loved with every fiber of his being. The son he had prayed and waited his whole life for. And honestly, what an unfair ask of God – right? But today, we will take another look at Genesis 22 and reveal the unmatched love of God within the story of an unfair ask. When God asked Abraham for the ultimate demonstration of his love and sacrifice, he asked him for his son. When God the Father wanted to show us the ultimate demonstration of his love and commitment to us, HE GAVE HIS SON. God knew just how unfair it was to ask for Abraham’s son, because he was preparing to do it himself. All these years, I’ve avoided the story of Abraham’s test of faith because it seemed so cruel. Was he really willing to sacrifice his son? Was he really prepared to lay his son on the alter? He most certainly was – and here’s why: He knew God could do anything. His faith was stronger than his feelings. And just as he laid his son on that alter, God provided a sheep for the sacrifice instead. That day, God came through with a substitution in the form of a sheep. A sheep that would be sacrificed for the cleansing of sin. And about 2,000 years later, God came through with the ultimate substitution – his own son. Jesus is called the Lamb of God, the perfect lamb without blemish or spot, sacrificed on a cross to redeem us. God gave the ultimate sacrifice of his greatest treasure. His ultimate demonstration of love and commitment to us is in offering his son, Jesus. He saved Abraham from having to give his son, and God himself gave us his. What greater love could there possibly be? When God tested Abraham with this unfair ask, he specifically said, “Take your son, your only son – yes, Issac, whom you love so much.” Do you see the divine connection here? God did that for us! God took his son, his only son, who he loved so much. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” God did that. He did it for Abraham. He did that for me and for you. The unfair ask, the unthinkable sacrifice, the ultimate demonstration of love, has been done for us! Why? To save us from the life we deserve. We often say things like, “I work hard, I deserve a new car”, or “It’s been a bad day, I deserve to relax”, or “a woman like me deserves to be treated better.” That sounds good – but let me tell you something, we should never ask for what we deserve. We’ve all fallen short of the glory of God. We’ve all failed to measure up. What we deserve is death. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death.” Because we’ve gotten it wrong before, we really don’t “deserve” what is right. So let’s be clear – God says you don’t deserve it, but he says you’re WORTH IT! What is the life you really deserve? Do you deserve to be successful? Do you deserve to be happy and healthy? Do you deserve to get to go on vacation, have nice things, and be treated good? It’s easy to assume we are deserving of a good life because of our efforts and performance – but we have never once lived up to the standard of self-righteousness. No one has and no one can, except for Jesus. We don’t get what we deserve because Jesus accepted what he didn’t deserve. Jesus came to pay a debt he didn’t owe because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay – So, Jesus unfairly did it for us. I could never ask someone to give up a life to save my life, but that’s precisely what has been done for me. That’s what has been done for you. The ultimate sacrifice. My favorite detail in the story of Abraham is in verse 6, “So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders.” The son is carrying the wood for the sacrifice of his own life. Oh, the foreshadowing of what God was preparing to do. God’s only son, Jesus, our savior – he carried the wood for the sacrifice of his own life. John 19:17 tells us Jesus carried the cross by himself and went to the Place of the Skull, Golgotha. There, they nailed him to the cross and Jesus gave up his life willingly. He carried the wood for the offering on his own shoulders. Jesus did that! What God spared Abraham from, he did for us. Abraham walked back down from that mountain with his son. God watched his own son be crucified on that mountain. Why? To save us. I often share the story of the strangers who one day rang my doorbell and asked my name. I said, “I’m Pamela.” Then, they looked me in the eye with tremendous love and unshakable confidence and said, “For God loved Pamela so much that he gave his one and only son, so that she would have eternal life.” If I would have been the only person in the world, God would have given Jesus to save just me. And that has forever changed my life. I’m not just one of many who happens to sneak in by chance. No, I’m chosen, counted, selected, and personally accounted for by God, covered individually by the blood of Jesus. Do you understand that’s true of you too? You don’t just fit in with the crowd and sneak you way in. You’re not saved from a distance by accident. You were personally sought out, loved, and paid for by Jesus. God did that! An unfair ask was fulfilled just for you. God asked his own son to give up his life for yours, and Jesus did it. He did it for you. He got what he didn’t deserve so you could have the fulfillment of what you don’t deserve. And this sacrifice has made you holy and righteous. You are forever forgiven, forever made right, forever covered in a blanket of grace. And when you really understand the sacrifice that was made personally for you, you simply can’t ever see your life the same. You’re living the life that was saved. You’re waking up to a day that has been fully covered. Your tomorrow has been bought and paid for. Your forever has been secured. So totally and completely unfair. We could never be good enough to deserve it, but God asked his son to sacrifice for us anyway – and Jesus said yes. Imagine how Abraham must have felt walking down from that mountain having personally experienced God’s sacrificial provision. He had been saved. His son had been saved. And life could never be the same. We have experienced something even greater. Greater than a sheep showing up on a mountain – we have a savior who hung on the cross for us, and is now risen in power and glory, overseeing our lives! Girls, life can never be the same when we know this! The unfair ask on our behalf was declared a YES in Jesus! I don’t deserve it, but I’m forever grateful for it. 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

Have you ever held back from God because you were afraid of what he would ask of you? I certainly have. I was once convinced a surrendered life would be a boring life – wow, was I wrong! I once believed releasing the desire for my own way would be the end of my desires – again, I was really wrong. It was the beginning of something so much more. What will you do when God calls on you? Will you hide? Will you play little? Will you dismiss yourself? Will you withhold? Or will you believe in the goodness of God enough to say, “Here I am.” I believe that’s exactly what is happening today. God is calling on you. He’s calling on you to trust him. He’s calling on you to take the next step. He’s calling on you to go for him. He’s calling on you to change something, surrender something, do something different this year. Will you answer his call and say, “Here I am.” What would happen if you did? You would get to see and experience the things only God can do. Will it be scary? Maybe. Will you feel inadequate? Probably. Will it be worth it? Absolutely! In our study of the book of Genesis, we’re reading about the life of Abraham. Remember, he and his wife Sarah had waited their whole lives for a promised baby. Finally, at the age 90, Sarah miraculously becomes pregnant, and Abraham becomes a father to Issac at 99 years old. Abraham had believed God’s promise, and now he was walking in the fulfillment of that promise with his long awaited son. And then we come to a chapter titled “Abraham’s Faith Tested”. Whew, have you ever been in one of those chapters of your life? This is where the hard stuff happens. This is where things don’t make sense. And this is where you get to see that through it all, God is forever faithful with his providence and power. Genesis 22 begins with, “Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. ‘Abraham’ God called. ‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘Here I am.'” With over 100 years of life experience, Abraham knows he can trust God. He knows whatever God calls him to, God is going to provide for him to get through. He knows the promises God has spoken over him are undeniable and irrefutable. He lives in the reality that God does impossible things. I wonder if maybe we have forgotten that. Have you forgotten the impossible things God has done for you before? Have you skimmed over the promises your Creator has for you? Can you look back and see that God has always been with you and always made a way? The more you know that, the more you can trust him here. And when you fully trust God, you can reply to his every call with, “Here I am.” What God speaks to Abraham next was unthinkable. Verse 2, “Take your son, your only son – yes, Isaac, whom you love so much – and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” Wait God – WHAT?!!!!!!! This is the son I’ve waited my whole life for, the one every promise hinges on, and now you’re asking me to sacrifice him? To give him up? That doesn’t make sense. Have you ever tried to make sense of the supernatural? Have you ever tried to plan for the impossible? Have you ever tried to calculate the miraculous? Here’s what we do – we flip out, we freak out, and we stress out. When we can’t see it, control it, or fix it, we struggle with it. But God is NOT STRUGGLING. Please hear this loud and clear. Whatever you are struggling with, God is not. Does he care? More than you can imagine! But is he struggling? Not in the slightest. He already has a plan and he perfectly holds the power to fulfill his plan. Whatever you’re struggling with right now, I have a simple and powerful prayer of faith for you today. Right now, think about this area of struggle in your life. That person, that relationship, that uncertainty, that hardship, that hurt – and now repeat this prayer: “God, I know you’re not struggling. Thank you for having a plan through this.” So what does Abraham do when asked to give up his son? Well, we don’t see him flipping out, freaking out, or stressing out. We see him responding in obedience. How? Because he knows by experience that God can be trusted. Here’s what happens next. Verses 3-8: “The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ‘Stay here with the donkey,’ Abraham told the servants. ‘The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.’ So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, Isaac turned to Abraham and said, ‘Father?’ ‘Yes, my son?’ Abraham replied. ‘We have the fire and the wood,’ the boy said, ‘but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?’ Verse 8 – ‘God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son.’ Abraham answered. And they both walked on together.” Remember – what is the title of this chapter? Abraham’s Faith Tested. Abraham isn’t freaking out. He’s not flipping out. He’s not stressed out. He is 100% confident in God’s ability to perfectly fulfill his plan. And here’s the key – When you know God’s promises, you can trust his plan. Abraham knows God’s promises over his son and every future generation that will come from his son. And because he knows God’s promise, he can trust God’s plan. With absolute confidence, he says to his servants – You guys stay here, my son and I are going up there to worship, then WE will come right back. Abraham didn’t know how, but he knew because of God’s promise, he and his son were coming back down off that mountain together. An offering at that time required a sacrificed life and young Isaac is carrying the wood for the fire on his shoulders and says, “Father, where’s the sheep for the burnt offering?” Abraham’s reply – “God will provide!” That is our answer. It’s my answer for the tests I’m facing and it’s your answer for the tests you’re facing. GOD WILL PROVIDE. I don’t know how and I don’t know when – but somehow God is going to provide exactly what is needed in every situation and we’re going to come back down from this mountain. It’s going to take a miracle, but I’m guided by a miracle worker. It’s quite impossible, but my God is the god of impossible. Abraham didn’t know how he was going to sacrifice his son and still walk back down off that mountain with him, but he knew God was going to do something! He didn’t know how his sacrifice would align with the fulfillment of God’s promises over him and his countless descendants through this son, but he trusted him. God, here I am. I’m trusting you. I’m walking up this mountain. I’m taking the wood. I’ll build the fire. I know you will provide. And I know we’ll walk back down off this mountain having experienced your divine and miraculous provision. I wonder if sometimes we get so caught up in the ‘how’ and ‘when’ that we fail the test. We don’t see God’s miraculous provisions because we aren’t willing to cut the wood. We aren’t willing to climb the hard mountain, so we never know what God really had for us up there. We won’t build the fire, so we never see the miraculous. Abraham cut the wood. He climbed the mountain. He built the fire. And let me tell you what happened – At the perfect moment, an angel of the Lord calls to Abraham again. Once again, Abraham replies, “Here I am!” Verse 13, “Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named the place Yaheweh-Yireh (which means ‘the Lord will provide’). Abraham hadn’t always been obedient. Remember, he had created messes in his fear. He had failed to believe God, followed his own plan and learned some hard lessons. But now, he’s learned through experience that God’s way is truly best and can be fully trusted. Even when it’s hard. Even when it doesn’t make sense. The Lord will provide. We’re each on that same journey. The journey of learning to go all-in with God. The journey of learning to fully trust him. The journey of surrender. The journey of obedience. And God is so patient with us on this journey. He gives us chance after chance to get it right. He gives us so many opportunities to fail, then walk in his grace. And with each step, we’re learning to trust him. We’re learning to confidently answer his call, “Here I am!” What will God do here? I don’t know – but I know he will do something. How will he provide in this? I don’t know – but I know he will never fail. Maybe this hardship, this struggle, this problem you’re facing is ultimately an invitation to see God’s miraculous provision in a way that will forever change you. We live in a reality that God does impossible things – be here for it! 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

All good will come under attack. In a garden of beautiful potential, there will be weeds. Everything you plant in your garden will be attacked. To assume otherwise would be naive. You woke up this morning in a garden of beautiful potential. Here, in this year, supernatural things can happen in your life. Things you have been waiting YEARS for have the potential of happening here. Seeds you thought were dead are about to breakthrough the ground. Yes, breakthroughs are here. Growth is here. Proof of all you have been praying for, working for, waiting for, is about to be seen. And my sister, it’s all under attack! Why? Because it’s good! God is doing something sooooo good in you. He’s been moving in your life, working in the details, preparing you for this new year. You’ve felt it. You’ve felt dreams being whispered again, hope being stirred, strength being received. And now … things get noisy! Your adversary, the devil, he is loud. 1 Peter 5:8, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” He roars! He creates noise. What does the noise do? It distracts us. It creates fear. I wonder who woke up to distractions, problems, and discouragements today, on just the 2nd day of this new year. It’s not starting how you wanted it to start. Why is that happening? Because you are on the cusp of breakthrough. You are daring to believe the promises which God has spoken over your life. You are claiming the power, the love, and the self-discipline God’s spirit has offered you. You’re starting to write goals from God’s word, goals God wants to pour his power into! And if the enemy of your soul can’t rob you of that offering, he will certainly try to distract you from it. There is noise! Oh, you will probably hear the noise today. Sometimes it shows up in loud, chaotic roars that send shivers down your spine. But most times it shows up as the little voice in your head that tries to talk you down. The voice that says you can’t. The voice that says you’re not good enough. The voice that says you’re not worthy of the changes you desire. The voice that says it will never happen for you. The voice that says it’s too late. That is NOT the voice of God. That is the voice of darkness. That is goodness under attack. Today, we will look at the perfect little story hidden within the pages of your Bible to give you the exact words to speak and next steps to take when the enemy shows up with his distractions and discouragement. It’s the story is of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was charged by God to rebuild the destroyed wall of Jerusalem. These walls had been in ruin for over 100 years, and it was time to be rebuilt. For 100 years, people had looked at these torn down walls that had left their city vulnerable to attack, and of course everyone had wished for something to change – but no one had been willing to do anything about it. I wonder what desperately needs to change around you, but no one has been willing to do anything about it? What if God is charging YOU to be the one who gets to work now? Oh, I believe he is. No more wishing and complaining. No more waiting. It’s time for the work to be done, and God chooses YOU! The good work starts now! Nehemiah had been doing a good work of rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem. But remember, all good comes under attack. His enemies did not want him to rebuilt the wall and they tried to discourage him. But Nehemiah would not be discouraged. Say that with me, “I WILL NOT BE DISCOURAGED!” Nehemiah 6:1-4, “When word came to our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it, my enemy sent me this message: ‘Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.’ But they were scheming to harm me; so I sent messengers to them with this reply: ‘I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?’ Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer.” You have good work to do in 2026. Rebuilding of what the enemy has destroyed. Rebuilding of what has been broken. Rebuilding of what you thought could never be. And your enemy, plain and simple, DOES NOT WANT you to do this work. No, he doesn’t want you to grow in your faith. No, he doesn’t want you to be healthy. No, he doesn’t want you to be confident. No, he doesn’t want you to have good relationships. No, he doesn’t want you to have energy and joy. No, he doesn’t want you to be happy or successful. Heck no, the devil doesn’t want any of that for you. So you better believe he has been scheming to distract you and discourage you. What should your reply be? Just like Nehemiah. “Enemy, I am carrying on a great project and I don’t have time for you. I will not stop this work because of you!” But the enemy does not give up easily. Nehemiah received the same message 4 times, and scripture says each time he gave them the same answer. That means the voices will try to distract you on Monday, and they will be back again on Tuesday. But that’s not all, they’re coming for you again on Wednesday and Thursday too. But wait, there’s more. The messages from the enemy came the 5th time. Fears and threats, all to distract and discourage Nehemiah from the good work he was doing. And this is what Nehemiah did, chapter 6: 8-9, “I sent him this reply: ‘Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head.’ They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, ‘Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.’ But I prayed, ‘Now strengthen my hands.’” Oh my goodness, isn’t this exactly what the enemy is trying to do to you? With all his noise, he’s trying to make you believe you’re not good enough and you will never finish what you start. He’s discouraging you with circumstances, bad weather, excuses and doubts. But your response must be, “No, devil, that’s not what is going to happen here this year! I don’t believe you.” Now turn to God, focus fully on him, and ask him to strengthen you! My sister, there is so much goodness in you. God has such great plans for your life and the enemy will try to distract you and discourage you. Day after day, time and time again, you will have to continue on with the work God has given you to do this year and not stop! You will have to choose not to believe the lies of the enemy. You will have to overcome the voices that tell you you can’t. You will have to push through the hard days and the setbacks. And you will have to continually ask God to strengthen you. And if you do, you get to experience life like you have never know before! Here’s how the story ends. Chapter 6, verse 16, “When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.” Oh, the enemy and all of his demons will be afraid because you are doing this work this year with the help of God. They will lose their self-confidence in their power to distract and discourage you. The enemy may be coming into 2026 with a lot of confidence because he has been successful in his schemes against you in the past, but not this time, Devil. Not this time! We know your game, and we know how to defeat you! James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Resist him. Fight him. Don’t believe him. Don’t be distracted by him. Oh, he’s going to come in and interrupt your goodness. He’s going to be loud and bring chaos. But don’t you dare stop the good work you’re doing. Resist him and he must leave! When the enemy tries to discourage you, you must respond with determination. When the enemy tries to distract you, you must use discernment. Discernment – it’s the spiritual ability to see circumstances as God sees them, not as they appear. Nehemiah had discernment. He knew the invitations of his enemies were distractions. He knew the talked about rumors were discouragements to stop his good work. Nehemiah was not fooled, even when it sounded good – he had discernment. Discernment comes in two steps. 1. Read God’s words. You will only recognize God’s voice when you learn what his voice sounds like. You will recognize his voice by reading his words. 2. Ask God for discernment. 1 Corinthians 12:10 tells us discernment is a gift of the Spirit of God. If it’s a gift, you can put it on your wishlist and ask for it! Lord, please give me the gift of discernment. I don’t want to be fooled. I don’t want to believe the enemy. I don’t’ want to give up in discouragement again this time. Help me to see these distractions for what they really are. Neihmiah rebuilt this wall in just 52 days! These walls had been in ruins for over 100 years and they were set right in just 52 days. The things that have been wrong your entire life could be set right in just 52 days. 52 days of hard work and refusing to be discouraged or distracted. 52 days of seeking discernment. But remember this, your hard work alone will not get the job done. You need God’s help here. You have to seek God in this. God says in Zechariah 4:6-7, “It is not by force nor by strength, but by my SPIRIT! Nothing, not even a mighty mountain can stand it your way; it will become a level plain before you!” I will not be discouraged. I will not stop my work. I will seek God for strength, and I will continue! 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

Does God care about you having fun? Does he care about you doing things you love to do? Does he want you to enjoy life? Yes – as long as it doesn’t become the entire objective of your life. As long as God still gets first place, fun is one of those things that he gives us as a result. Our Bibles are full of scriptures that tell us of the joy and pleasures in the presence of God. Does that only apply to Heaven after this miserable life? No. Jesus even taught us to pray that God’s kingdom come here on earth as it is in heaven. Joy and pleasures here – how? Well, we can be in God’s presence now, and when we are, we get to enjoy the fullness of life. Look at creation and you’ll understand God’s nature. He loves beautiful things. He loves mysterious things. He loves quirky and bizarre things. Watch a few episodes of Planet Earth and you will see God’s fun nature on full display. He was having fun creating this world, now he invites you and I in on the fun. Misery is always an option, but it’s never a good one. The enemy of your soul loves to make you feel like the best stuff in life must come in rebellion to God. Like you can’t have fun and follow Jesus at the same time. Hmmmmm … hang around with me for a day and I think we can prove the devil wrong. We can follow Jesus into some wild, faith-filled spaces we could never reach alone, and we can be the funnest girls there! Fun is my middle name. It’s actually my job. It’s my calling. I create fun for people and then I invite them to play. And ultimately in the fun, we experience the love of God and the joy of Jesus. I can’t spread the love of God and the joy of Jesus by being miserable and turning everything into a dreaded burden. And my friend, you can’t either. We are here as the representatives of Jesus. Represent him well! When Jesus walked in a room, people gathered. Heck, they even tore the roof off a house to get in a crowded room with Jesus. He had something radically different and that energy was felt in his presence. Now, we carry that same Spirit of energy. Don’t dampen it. Revive it. Unleash it. People are drawn in by that positive energy and fun vibe and you can then easily point them to Jesus. Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Understand that Jesus not only offers a full and abundant life in Heaven, but he offers a full and overflowing life right here and now. The way you live your life is what brings Heaven to Earth. You’re here to represent Jesus – Is he remotely appealing to others when they look at you? In the final hours of my Daddy’s life, the veil between Heaven and Earth had grown very thin and while laying in that hospital room, he could experience Heaven. Fully aware, he told us what he saw and experienced. My Dad let out deep belly laughs and giggles as he said, “Jesus is so funny! Everyone is so happy here!” I believe that with every ounce of me. And I believe we are called to represent Heaven here on Earth. So, let’s look at 4 scriptures for our FUN Goals and confidently write a few goals we don’t have to feel guilty over in our fun. Scripture 1: Psalm 90:12 TPT, “Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should.” When you realize just how fast this life goes by and how limited your days really are, you recognize the value in each day and you are no longer willing to waste your days. Girls, let’s make these days count. Have you ever noticed how it feels like time goes so much faster than it used to? And we all feel that way. Why is that? Well, there’s actually a scientific reasoning behind it. When you were a kid it seemed like an eternity from one birthday to the next, right? And now it feels like your birthdays come around so much faster. Here’s why. When you’re 8 years old, you only have 10 years of life experience to compare 1 year to. 1 year represents 1/10 of your entire life. It’s bigger to you. But, when you’re 40, 1 year is only 1/40th of your life, so it seems smaller in comparison, therefore going by faster. Now, here’s what you need to know – the older you get, the faster time will continue to go. If one year goes this fast at your age already, imagine 20 or 30 more years from now how you’ll blink and there goes another year. And that means your time to do everything you wanted to do with this one life is running out faster than you imagined. We don’t have to live in fear of running out of time when we live in awareness of the value and brevity of our days. My absolute favorite movie to watch at the beginning of a new year is “About Time” with Rachel McAdams. Without spoiling the movie, it’s about a family where the men are time travelers and no one else knows about their secret talent. They can travel back and experience the same day over and over again, perfecting it to live it as the wish. And in the process, there’s a valuable lesson taught. If you live it right the first time, once is enough. If you treasure the full value of the day as you have it, you don’t have to go back. As an older mom now, I would love to go back and experience my kids being little for one more day. I would love to hear their feet running across the floor and experience their little hand in my hand again. If I could get a return ticket to that time, I would just sit in those moments and savor them fully. I didn’t treasure it for what it was when I had it. I was rushing through life, wishing the days would go faster. But now, I’ve learned to live different. I’ve learned the secret of treating moments as if they were my return ticket to the ordinary days and making them extraordinary with my full presence and intention. I don’t rush through them anymore because I’m fully aware the day will come in the future when I would give anything to have this moment back. Yes, this moment – the one I have today. So while I have it and while I’m here, I’m learning to treasure it like a return ticket to what will never be again. GOALS: • Savor the ordinary and make it extraordinary. • Number and appreciate my days like a return ticket. • Take full advantage of the time God gives. • Slow down and savor my moments. Scripture 2: Ecclesiastes 3: 12-13, “There is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.” Here’s the huge key in this – the gift from God cannot become more important than God. The point of life cannot be chasing happiness, eating and drinking. Don’t twist this scripture to fit your desired habits. God has given us this life to live and he’s surrounded us with beauty and blessings to make it better. These are God’s gifts to us, enjoy them in a way that honors him. GOALS: • Honor God with my joy. • Enjoy God’s gifts fully. Scripture 3: Jesus said in Matthew 5: 14-15, “You are the light of the world – like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under as basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.” God has put a light within you, and that light is supposed to shine the love and joy of Jesus. Honey, is your light shining? There’s something different in you, but is that something different showing through you? Could a stranger recognize the Holy Spirit’s light in you with a brief encounter? You were not given this light to be hidden. You were given this light to shine. Shine in the way you live your ordinary days. Shine in the way you get giddy over the smallest things. Shine in the way you stand in awe and wonder over God’s creation. Shine in the way you invite others into the joy and make it more about Jesus than it is about you. GOALS: • Shine bright and don’t dim the light. • Be different than the world. • Unleash my giddy and live in awe. Scripture 4: 2 Corinthians 6: 11-13 MSG, “I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’ve been living them in a small way … Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!” When God created you, he didn’t say, “Gosh, I hope she will settle for a little, okay life.” You were never designed to be a glorified bill payer, repeating the same tasks over and over again, numb to it all. No, when God made you, he said, “She’s a masterpiece – now I want her to live BIG!” The truth is, most of us are not truly overwhelmed with life like we say we are – the truth is, we are actually underwhelmed with life. Life has become so small, so routine, so predictable and so mind-numbingly boring, that even the smallest problems look really big and overwhelming in our little underwhelming world. The solution isn’t to create a simple, little life with no problems. The solution is to live a BIG Life where your problems aren’t allowed to overwhelm you. Stop living little, my friend. You were given this one lifetime in which to do everything you will ever do – Are you doing it? What is it you’ve been dreaming of doing – Well, are you ever going to do it? What beautiful thing have you still not seen – Well, when are you going to get around to seeing it? In my experience, God loves to say YES when our priorities are right and we’re seeking him first. His desire is not for us to live little, shut in lives that just one day finally end so we can go to Heaven. His desire is for us to make the most of this life we’ve been given, make a big deal out of him, and leave a wake of impact all around us! So, the question is – what are you going to do with this one life you have been given? GOALS: • Live BIG! Stop playing little and start showing up! • Say yes to life. • Dare to dream with God again. 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

Home/Money/Career Does God care about where you live, where you work, how much money you make and how you spend it? Absolutely. Jesus tells us to look at the birds and notice how God takes care of them, then know how much more valuable you are than the birds to God. Jesus tells us God is so intimately involved in the details of your life that he numbers the hairs on your head. NUMBERS. Not only counted, but numbered. Meaning when one hair falls out, he knows precisely which hair it was. And if God has the care and capacity to number your hairs, then I assure you he has the capacity to care about your home, your work and your money. Also, be aware of this – Satan loves to meddle in these things as well. He schemes in Hell how he can bring chaos and disorder to your home. How he can make you miserable in your work. How he can make you so consumed with the pursuit of money that your priorities become twisted. How he can make you continually unhappy because of what you don’t have and miss the blessing of what you do have. The spiritual battle is for real over your home, over your money and over your work. God wants to bless you, and Satan wants your blessings to become burdens. And that is why we must seek God for our goals. How do you live in the blessings without them becoming burdens? How do you pursue good things without the pursuit consuming you? How do you get every single thing God has for you without getting what the enemy pushes on you? Today, we will look at 5 scriptures directly from God’s word for guidance in setting our home/money/career goals for 2026. Scripture 1: Matthew 25:29, “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.” Here’s what God knows – If you won’t take care of the little house, you most certainly won’t take care of the new big house. If you won’t show up on time for your hourly pay job, you won’t show up on time for your higher level promotion. If you don’t spend $100 wisely, you certainly wouldn’t spend a million wisely. We are continually revealing what we will do with more. Scripture says God has the ability and resources to generously provide everything you need. There’s nothing he can’t do and nothing he can’t give. It’s all under his power. We also know God is not a greedy God, but he is gracious and generous in abundance. He likes to pour to not just fill your cup, but overflow your cup. But, God is not foolish or reckless. In his divine wisdom, he watches to see how you use what you are given before giving you more. What if our prayer shifted from “Lord, give me more” to “Lord, I want to be faithful with what I already have. Thank you for this, now I want to use it well.” GOALS: • Be faithful with the work I have. • Care for what I have been given with delight. • Waste nothing. Scripture 2: Romans 12:13, “When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.” We aren’t given homes to hide behind our doors and create our safe little spaces. We aren’t given money to keep buying more stuff so we can hoard our treasures. We are entrusted with homes to offer hospitality. We are entrusted with things to give them. Out of greed, cynicism and self-protection, we have closed our doors, closed our hands and closed our hearts. God says, OPEN THEM BACK UP! Have you ever prayed for God to show you the needs around you, then you suddenly started noticing people you’ve never noticed before? Why are these needs around you? Because God put you in the middle of them to help! Stop falling for your own fear-driven excuses of not having time, not know what to do, and not being good enough to help. God wants to make you EAGER to help in 2026! GOALS: • Open my home, open my hands and open my heart to help • Be moved by what moves God, then get in motion • Offer my time, talents and treasures with no strings Scripture 3: Proverbs 2:9-10, “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine.” I don’t have barns with grain, nor do I have vats with wine, but I do have a business – I do have a family – I do have a bank account. And I know without a doubt those things get filled when I honor God by offering my best. God’s economy works very different. His math doesn’t make sense. The more you give him, the more you somehow end up having. God doesn’t want your leftovers, he wants your best. You honor him by offering your best. In a very practical sense, this means making everything you have an available offering. Have you ever given away something you really love? Just how good did that feel? Gosh, nothing compares to the feeling of blessing someone else with what you have. And that good feeling isn’t an accident – it’s by God’s great design. You and I are literally designed to feel a level of joy and contentment unlike any other when we are ridiculously generous. GOALS: • Be ridiculously generous • Tithe faithfully and joyfully • Give away great things Scripture 4: Matthew 6:21, “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” If what you treasure most is building a business, then business will consume you. The rest of your life may very well fall apart because your heart simply never leaves work. If what you treasure most is building your fortune, then money will turn you into a person you never wanted to be. If what you treasure most is fame, praise, comments, affirmations, likes and shares, you will be consumed with what everyone thinks of you and says about you. The world in your phone will become more valuable that the real world where you live and your heart will be stuck in your phone. Your heart will always be where your treasures are. This is a priority issue, and 99% of us have a real priority issue. Oh Lord, please help us realign our priorities. God teaches us to seek him FIRST, then everything else will be given to us. God says to love him with your whole heart, soul and mind AND love your neighbor as yourself. Our priority issues are heart issues. We waste our time, we waste our money, we invest in things that simply don’t matter because our hearts are always set on what we treasure most. GOALS: • Get my priorities right • God first, then everything else • No more wasting time or money • Be in my REAL life Scripture 5: Colossians 3: 23-24, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and the Master you are serving is Christ.” Whatever your work is, you don’t have to be miserable in it. No matter how ungrateful your boss or your family might be, remember this – God sees your work and He will reward you! So, do your work for God. A funny thing happens within us when we do the absolute best work we can – we actually feel our best. Again, not an accident. That’s by God’s divine design. He put within you confirmations of when you’re really doing this thing right! Nothing feels better than doing the work, and doing it right! Cutting the corners and doing just enough to get by is a trick of the enemy that steals your joy and zaps your energy. Start doing your best again at whatever you’re doing, like you’re really doing it for God – because actually you are! GOALS: • Give my best effort • Offer my work as worship ————————————————–   MIND/HAPPINESS What an area of attack this has been for the enemy. Our mental health is a wreck, our happiness is so surface level and fleeting. This is NOT God’s desire, plan or will for a single one of his girls. It’s time we stop settling for a life overwhelmed by depression, anxiety, worry and fear. Take your peace back. Take your joy back. In the name of Jesus, take back everything the enemy stole. We are actively participating in the very things that are wrecking our lives and our addictions have put us under a spell to just keep doing it. Statics show cutting and self harm tripled in teenage girls once social media was introduced. Suicide increased by 151% with social media. We’re more connected than ever, yet so totally disconnected. We are now more fragile, more anxious, more depressed, more fearful, and more unproductive than ever in the history of mankind. We are seduced and manipulated into being zombies – and we’re very unhappy zombies at that. So, what are you going to do about that? What is God telling you to do about that?   Scripture 1: Romans 12:2, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” Let GOD transform you by changing the way you think. The world has made you think in a way that doesn’t align with God. You can’t just keep copying the patterns of the world. You can’t keep doing what everyone else is doing. It’s time to be different! God wants us to be different. God, how do you want to transform me into a new person. What patterns have I gotten into that have warped my thoughts? What has made me negative? What has made me cynical? What has turned me bitter? What has made me harsh? What has me absent, scattered, disconnected, rushed, unproductive? Where has the enemy hijacked my mind and stolen my contentment? Help me to take it back! GOALS: • Drastically limit screen time • Delete social media • Dedicated unplugged time • Ditch my phone and get a Bible • Be different with Jesus • Take back my time • Take back my happiness Scripture 2: Philippians 4: 6-7, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” I mean basically this scripture says it all and write our goals for us! GOALS: • Trade worry for prayer • Journal my prayers • Live in gratitude • Seek God and receive peace Scripture 3: Philippians 4:8, “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Fix your thoughts – wow, maybe it’s your thoughts that are broken and you need to fix them. Hey, I know the healer!!!! Your thoughts are 100% up to you. And what you think about affects the way you feel. The way you feel affects the way you show up for life. Change your thoughts and you will change your life. God has given that divine power uniquely to us, and only us. And, his word has given us a list of things to think about. Now, take captive your thoughts, don’t let your mind run wild, and MAKE your thoughts them be obedient. GOALS: • Think about what’s good, right, working & coming together • Look for, notice & talk about the good • Take my thoughts captive 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

RELATIONSHIPS God cares about our relationships. He loves relationship. Think about this: Even God didn’t do his work alone. He specifically designed the trinity of himself, his son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to work together. That should tell us how important relationships are to God. In fact it’s why he created YOU. You were designed for relationship. You were never intended to do this life alone. God could have created Adam and stopped there. He could have enabled Adam to do everything alone. He could have made him a one man show with all the time in the world to do all the work – but he didn’t. God specifically created Eve for Adam, then blessed them with children. RELATIONSHIPS are God’s design, so YES, he cares about your family, your friends, your circle. And his word has so much to say as a guide to writing goals for those relationships in 2026. From his word, we discover our deepest and most powerful goals. Remember this, relationship goals are always about how YOU SHOW UP in your relationships, not how anyone else shows up. You cannot control them, so let them. When you let them, you ultimately let you. You let you show up as the wife, the mom, the daughter, the sister, the friend, the coworker, the neighbor God wants you to be. Relationship goals are 100% about how you show up, not about others showing up. Can you trust God enough in 2026 to get it right on his end when you are faithful with yours? I have 4 scriptures on relationships to share with you. Each of these becomes a guide for your goals. Scripture 1. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 (it’s the wedding scripture), “Love is patient, love is kind …” and it goes on for 4 verses giving us a list of how to specifically live in love. God knew we would struggle with this, so he literally spells it out for us. He says, “My girl, this is what you do and this is what you don’t do.” God actually knows what he’s talking about with relationships, remember he designed them and desired them for himself and you. Trust what he says and apply it to every relationship you have. Breaking down this familiar scripture point by point, we’re going to look at different translations to apply God’s word to our goals. Verse 4: “Love is patient, love is kind.” That means you don’t give up, it means be intentionally thoughtful. “Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.” That means don’t obsess about what you don’t have or what they don’t do, it means don’t force yourself on them, don’t demand to be first like you’re more important. Verse 5: “Love does not demand it’s own way. It is not irritable and it keeps no record of being wronged.” That means don’t keep score, it means don’t be overly sensitive and easily offended. Verse 6: “Love does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.” That means stop finding delight in what is wrong. Stop talking about them. Verse 7: “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” That means you always look for the best, it means you never take failure for defeat, it means you remain steadfast during difficult times. Do you see the relationship goals you need here? Yes!!!!! Go back, verse by verse, looking at different translations like the MSG translation, TPT translation, NKJV translation, AMP version. You’ll end up with the most powerful goals from God’s word for HOW YOU SHOW UP in your relationships. It has nothing to do with them, and everything to do with YOU! GOALS: • Be intentionally thoughtful. • Let them. (Read the book – The Let Them Theory) • Be un-offendable. • Stop talking about who is wrong and what they’re doing. • Look for the best in others. Scripture 2: Romans 12:18, “Do all you can to live in peace with everyone.” Does God want you to be at odds, nit picking, bickering and pointing fingers? NO – he wants YOU to do everything YOU CAN to live in peace with everyone. With who? EVERYONE! Yes, including your ex. Including your most difficult coworker. Everyone. It doesn’t matter what they do, it matters what you do. And what you do is everything you can to live in peace. God’s words! GOAL: Be at peace, keep peace, speak peace. Don’t be difficult. Scripture 3: Proverbs 18:21, “The tongue can bring death or life.” The words you say are either killing relationships are bringing them to life. What are you saying and how is it affecting others? You’re responsible for that. The words you speak to someone can live with them for the rest of their lives. Your words become a soundtrack in their mind they will play over and over again. You have no idea the power of every word you speak, so speak carefully. GOAL: Speak positive, life giving words of truth and affirmation. (If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say it. Whew, that will change your relationships!) Scripture 4: Ephesians 4: 2-3, “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” This means let go of being right. This means apologize quickly and forgive freely. This means don’t nitpick and nag. GOALS: • Choose my battles (and most of it simply isn’t to fight over). • Forgive them. • Stop nagging. HEALTH GOALS Psalm 139:14 says you are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” The word fearfully in Hebrew is yare which means an awe of something sacred. Like the first time I went to the Redwood Forest and I stood in awe of the towering trees. Like the way I look at a hot pink sunset. Like the way I stand on a cliff on the Amalfi Coast and gaze with sheer amazement at the Mediterranean sea. Not fearfully as in afraid, but fearfully as in total awe of it’s beauty. THAT’S THE WAY GOD MADE YOU. He made you in awe and he sees you as wonderful and sacred. The question is, do you? Do you see yourself in awe? Do you consider your body wonderful and sacred? Do you treat it with love and reverence? What if your health goals for 2026 originate from a place of awe over how perfectly your body is created and the wonderful things it can do, and honoring your creator with the care of what he has so wonderfully made. Not goals of “lose 50 pounds”, “wear a pink bikini and look good”, “have an ab”, or “run a marathon”. No, first come from a place of honoring the beauty of what God has created and caring for it with reverence. God cares about your health. He cares about what your body is able to do. He cares about how you treat yourself. Now, let him help you take this tangled web of quick fixes and get skinny fast crap with it’s and twisted ideas of beauty, and get back to his idea of health and beauty. Scripture 1: 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God. You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” The MSG translation says your body is a SACRED PLACE. There are things you simply wouldn’t bring into a sacred place. You wouldn’t bring cigarettes in a sacred place. You wouldn’t bring cheetos and twinkies in a sacred place. What are you putting in the sacred place of your body? GOALS: • Treat my body as the temple of the Holy Spirit. • Remember, my body is a sacred place. Scripture 2: Luke 16:10, “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.” This means be faithful with the health you have, with the steps you can take, with the things you can change right now – then bigger things will become possible. It’s easy to think you would make healthy choices if you were able to run 20 miles. You would fuel your body as an athlete if you could run like that, but you can’t, so you don’t. You would set aside the time to run for an hour if you could run for an hour, but you can’t so you don’t have the time. But my sister, could you walk for 15 minutes? If you will be faithful with walking now, eventually you might be able to run. And this applies to every area of your health. If you would do the little things now, you could do bigger things next. GOALS: • Start small and keep going • Move my body • Eat for fuel not for pleasure Scripture 3: 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not give us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline.” This means God has already given you power. He’s already given you self-disciple. You do have willpower because God has given it to you, now it’s up to you to use it. You do have self-control, now get yourself back in control instead of just doing whatever you feel like. We cannot be ruled by our feelings. The enemy will trick you into never feeling like what you should do, and always feeling like what you shouldn’t do. Your feelings cannot be trusted, but God didn’t design your body to be ruled by feelings. No, he gives you power greater than that. Power to make yourself do what you know is best. Power to push through and show up even when you don’t feel like showing up. Then, by God’s divine design, you end up feelings SO GOOD when you do! GOALS: • Stop being ruled by feelings. Tap into my God given power to do what I need to do. • Exercise my self-discipline and willpower. • Commit and prove I can. Scripture 4: Proverbs 16:3, “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.” What if taking care of your body is more than just a goal to look good and fit in your jeans – what if it were a committed action to honor God. What if you sought him FIRST in your health, asked him what to eat, worked out as an act of worship – WOW, that would be different! And what if that commitment of your actions to God is what would bring you success? His word says it will! GOALS: • Work out my body as worship to my Creator. • Seek God for my health plan. • Honor God with my body. 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

Welcome to the final countdown of 2025. Together, we will use these final days to fully seek God for guidance in planning the new year of life in the offering. What will you do with 2026? How will you live your days? What will you pursue? Who will you become? Life can just happen to you – or you can answer the call to live up to your potential as God’s masterpiece created in his image. Which will it be for you? It’s a decision only you get to make. You either settle, or you go for it. You either dismiss yourself, or you dare to believe God created you for more. You either belly up to the table God has set for you and dive in, or you refuse your seat and survive on scraps. Have you ever thought about what it actually means to be created in the image of God? It means that you and I set apart to uniquely reflect the power of our creator unlike any other creation. Within us, we have the potential of doing great things. You know, Jesus actually really meant it when he said, “Anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works …” (John 14:12) Within you and I is the potential to do really great things. So … why don’t we just do them?!!!!! For real – let’s live up to our design and dare to be and do everything Jesus says we can. What if that’s what the new year is about? About daring to live up to your God-given potential. About doing the great things Jesus said you could do. About becoming everything God imagined when he created you in his image. You can’t live that life without seeking God first. Oh you can work and grind and strive and you can experience temporary highs and momentary successes, but they always come crashing down. Did you know people who achieve a big financial goal typically feel a depression after reaching that goal? You know why – they have the money, they are finally successful, they built the business, met the goal, but they still don’t like who they are. Every goal you will ever have is a temporary high from which you will come crashing down if you’re not becoming who God created you to be. If the inside doesn’t match the outside, the battle will rage. I’m a HUGE fan of goals. I’ve dedicated the past 16 years of my life to creating a goal setting system that really works. In the process, my life has radically changed. Yes, I’ve met some huge goals along the way. I’ve run the marathons, I’ve built the business, I’ve built the big house – then I sold that house and decided I’m better suited for being homeless and traveling, I’ve seen beautiful things and had awesome adventures. And all along, God has been sweet enough to let me do all those things while patiently waiting for me to discover something so much bigger, deeper and meaningful. It’s not the goal you set – it’s WHO you become to achieve that goal! The rest is just details my friend – it’s WHO you are becoming on this journey. This is the journey of becoming the image of God. Becoming the reflection of his light. Becoming the bearer of his good news. Becoming the vessel that carries his Spirit and shares his love. Does God care about the goals of achievement, the goals of success, the goals of personal dreams and desires – ABSOLUTELY!!!!!! As you surrender your life fully to Him, he becomes the author of your desires and they grow like seeds leading you to the live you were always designed to live, producing the fruit that honors him. God loves goals and here’s how I know. God is a God of vision. He had a vision for his creation, then he spoke it into existence. And when he created you and I, he created us in his own image with the ability to share his vision, speak it, create it and live it! The enemy of our soul also love goals. Goals that busy us, distract us, divide us and discourage us. Satan is happy to let you be successful and gain everything you’ve ever wanted if it means you lose your soul. Satan is always delighted to distract you with busy work so you never achieve your real life work. But most of the time we never reach success – we’re down here struggling with disappointment. We’ve lost our confidence, forfeited our power, twisted our identity, and settled for lesser than versions of who we were created to be – and the enemy of our soul is DELIGHTED! Well it’s about time that nonsense STOPPED! That’s why we’re doing GOALS and we’re doing them with GOD FIRST! Before you begin writing the things you want to achieve and the places you want to go in 2026, we will seek GOD FIRST. I really do believe Jesus when he says in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Everything else comes when you put God first. His kingdom means his way, his timing, his plan – seek that first! Seeking his righteousness means desiring God’s nature of being holy and true becoming your nature. Less of you, MORE OF JESUS. And when you do that, all these other things will be added. God first, then everything else! I’ve spent many years chasing everything else first and adding God in as the sprinkles on top. I never understood the true fullness of life God offers until I put him first. Jesus came to give us life, LIFE TO THE FULL – and he means it! Life overflows when God gets that first position. So, over the next 4 days, I will teach you in very practical terms how to seek God first in your goals. And if you do, everything else shall be added to you. (Jesus’ words, not mine.) We divide goals into 6 areas of life: 1. Spiritual 2. Relationships 3. Health 4. Home/Money/Career 5. Mind/Happiness 6. Fun For each of these areas, we will first seek God’s voice and guidance for who he wants us to be and how he wants us to show up. How do you hear God’s voice? How do you receive God’s guidance? Quite simply – READ HIS WORD! Everything we need is right here, if we simply read it, believe it, and start doing it. Today, we will seek God in the first area, our Spiritual life for 2026. How can we grow in our Spirit and become more like the girl God created us to be? I have 4 scriptures for you today. Write down each one, study it, then create goals to apply these scriptures to your life. I’ll show you how. Scripture 1. Psalm 37: 4-5, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.” Delight in the Lord. How do you do that? The Hebrew word for delight is Anag. It means to enjoy God so much that your heart is pliable and can be shaped to align with his will, leading to truly fulfilling desires. This is the key to your heart’s desires!!!!! What does that look like as a goal? Goal: Grow in relationship with God and let him change my heart. The second part of that scripture says to “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him.” Commit means to literally roll it to God. This verse in TPT translation says, “Give God the right to direct your life, and as you trust him along the way, you’ll find he pulled it off perfectly.” What does that look like as a goal? Goal: Let God direct my life. Release control and trust him. Scripture 2: Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.” Will you trust God enough to let him into the dark corners of your heart you’ve hidden away? That guilt and shame? That hurt and pain? That anger and bitterness? While you don’t always realize it, it’s been eating away at you. What would happen if you really surrendered every corner of your heart to God and let him clean it out? Oh, I can tell you – You would receive radical healing. Your feelings would change. Your perspective would change. Your words would change. Goal: Continual clean out of my heart and renewal of my spirit Scripture 3: Psalm 25: 4-5 TPT, “Direct me through my journey so I can experience your plans for my life. Reveal the life paths that are pleasing to you. Take me by the hand and teach me.” Goal: Seek God first for my plans. Grow in discernment to know his path. Scripture 4: John 15:4, Jesus says, “Remain in me and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.” Some translations use the word ‘abide’. Abide in Greek is meno. It means a permanent and active connection with Jesus. It means MOVE IN, not just visit on Sundays. We all want to produce fruit in our lives – outward proof of good things growing from us. But understand your fruit will always come from connection before it comes from effort. Goal: Seek connection over performance. Stay connected to Jesus. Begin with goals that flow from God’s word! Let him speak to you first! THEN EVERYTHING ELSE. Will you spend time connecting with God, seeking his voice, reading his word, and writing goals for 2026 from his word? Begin today with these 4 scriptures on your spiritual growth. Tomorrow we will focus on relationships and health! (big ones for the New Year.) BUT FIRST – GOD! 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

GOAL SETTING BROADCAST TEXT KEYWORD GOALS TO (205) 709-2582 The day after Christmas… The day you wake up 5 pounds heavier to a big mess… The day after all the excitement… What do you have after the excitement? I assure you, life is a series of ups and downs. There will be things to look forward to, then those things will pass and there will be a lull. Almost an emptiness. A lost feeling. An uncertainty about where to focus your efforts next. Have you ever heard of a “Goal Hole”? It’s the hole you find yourself in after reaching a big goal. It’s that unexpected loss of motivation once you’ve arrived to where you were striving to get. It’s the day after Christmas, when suddenly you’re regretting all the Christmas decorations you put up this year. Can I trick you into believing you “GET TO” take them down now? What about the day after Jesus was born? This miraculous promise Mary had received was now a real life baby laying in a manger. Yeah, now what? If you study the 4 gospel accounts of Jesus, (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John) each give different perspectives and details. Mark and John begin with Jesus being baptized as a man at about 30 years old. But Matthew and Luke go back and tell of the miraculous conception and birth of Jesus. Luke focuses more on the shepherds who came to see baby Jesus, but Matthew focuses more on the wise men that came. Can I be honest – I always got the two confused. I assumed it was just a difference in terminology thinking maybe shepherd meant the same thing as a wise man. And it’s actually, quite opposite. A shepherd was considered a very low class, often even shady fella. Yet, that is who God sent an angel to in Bethlehem and told them to go find the new born savior of the world lying in a manger. I love how God intentionally chose to send shepherds when the world would have never chosen them. But Matthew focuses on the other visitors looking for Jesus. They are the wise men, and they are literally very wise. They are scholars who studied the stars. And for these astrologers, they knew something magnificent had happened the night Jesus was born because a new star had appeared in the sky. Did you know that star is the reason why we put a star on top of our Christmas tree? It’s the reason why pictures of the nativity scene include a star. These wise men, scholars of the stars, knew from prophesy in the book of Numbers that a star would rise from God’s savior. And now, they’ve seen the star! Matthew 2:1-2 MSG “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East. They asked around, “Where can we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed a star in the eastern sky that signaled his birth. We’re on pilgrimage to worship him.” That last sentence just jumps off the page and grabs my heart this morning, on the day after Christmas. We’re on pilgrimage to worship him. This is what we do today. The day after Christmas, we are on pilgrimage. A mission, a journey, a quest to find and worship Jesus. We were thinking of him yesterday as we celebrated his birth, now today, we look for him! If you want your 2026 to be radically different, declare it to be the year of your PILGRIMAGE TO FIND AND WORSHIP JESUS! Where will you find Jesus today? Where will you find evidence of his saving grace in your life? Where will you notice his fingerprints on the unfolding miraculous details that otherwise appear so ordinary? Where will you look and find, this is undoubtedly the work of Jesus in my life! There’s simply no other way to explain this! This “band of scholars” we read about on their pilgrimage to worship Jesus are commonly referred to as the 3 wise men. They’re in the nativity scene, with their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, divinely led to Jesus by a star in the sky. They found Jesus because they were looking for him. Just as we will find Jesus when we look for him. But, if we’re not looking today, we may overlook his presence in our lives. We may focus on the mess and miss the miracle. We may dwell on the burden of work and miss the blessing of worship. Let’s go looking for Jesus today! Let’s go on this pilgrimage to find and worship him! Let’s set out on a journey to seek him in every detail as life unfolds. Let’s be on a mission to recognize his fingerprints on all that appears so incredibly ordinary, and realize how truly extraordinary it is. Girl, you have no idea what Jesus did to make all of this possible for you. You didn’t even see the mountains he had to move to bring you here. You were never even aware of the seas he had to part to make this path for your next step. You were completely clueless of the battles he fought as you slept peacefully just last night. But if you will dedicate your journey to looking for him, your whole life will change. WHAT IS A PILGRIMAGE? A pilgrimage is a sacred journey taken for spiritual reasons. Sis, if you’re looking for a radical life change in 2026, decide this is the year you will go on a pilgrimage to find and worship Jesus! Everyday, make it your mission to look for him. Be on a quest to hunt him down and see what he’s working on in your life! Then, praise him for it. Every sacred journey needs a theme song, and I have one for you. “Turn It To Praise” by Seph Schlueter: You take all that the enemy meant to destroy me And turn it to glory You make beautiful endings to every story You turn it to glory And I’ll turn it to praise What if your pilgrimage is to recognize everything the enemy meant to destroy you, but God turned it to glory. What if your pilgrimage sought to recognize how God makes beautiful endings to every story, and then you TURN IT TO PRAISE! Whew, wouldn’t that intention change your journey? Here’s the thing about a pilgrimage, you come back changed! This is a quest that expands your spirit and broadens your experience. This is a journey that changes how you wake up on a Monday! This is a mission that leads to a discovery of great and unsearchable things. That’s what God promises in Jeremiah 33:3 “Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.” God says, come search with me and I’ll show you unbelievable things and you will never live another day of your life the same. This is your game changer! This is your turn around. This is your moment of recognizing exactly what’s been missing in your life! You’ve needed a mission! You’ve been craving a quest. You’re ready for your pilgrimage! Does this mean you have to go to foreign countries and do big extraordinary things? No. It means you could look around in your own house, at your own family, and seek to find proof of Jesus’ grace and mercy right under your own roof! It means you could look at all that has become so ordinary in your life, and begin seeing it as extraordinary again. Yes, it means you continue to do more things because you GET TO, rather than you HAVE TO. It means you could search for hidden purpose in the problem, a message in the mess, blessings in the burden, and something sacred in the struggle. And when you find it, recognize it is Jesus! Yes, the same Jesus we just celebrated in the manger. We find him working in full power in our lives today. And when we find him, remember this is a pilgrimage to worship him! Look for how God turns intended harm to glory, then you turn it to praise. Recognize all he has made possible in your life. Recognize all he has saved you from, the majority of which you are completely unaware of. Recognize he is radically changing your life as you are on a mission to find and worship him. Romans 12:1 tells us true and proper worship is offering our bodies to God as a living sacrifice. What exactly does that mean? Read the scripture in the MSG translation, “Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.” This is how we worship. We intentionally take everything we do and do it as an offering to God. This requires an attitude of worship. An awareness of his presence. A focus on his providence in our lives. And no doubt, this is the pilgrimage that radically changes our lives in every way. Today, the day after we remembered the birth of Jesus, we, like the 3 wise men, set out on our pilgrimage to find and worship Jesus … and we will never be the same! 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 Bible has over 300 specific prophesies about the coming savior of the world. Hundreds, even thousands of years before, details like: He would come from a virgin birth, he would enter into Jerusalem on a donkey, he would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, he would be pierced and crucified, he would be resurrected back to life. The odds of 1 man fulfilling just EIGHT of the over 300 prophesies is statistically IMPOSSIBLE at 1 in 100 quadrillion. And that’s for only 8 of the prophesies. Jesus perfectly fulfilled each of the over 300 prophesies and details foretold. Jesus is the Messiah. He is the savior of the world. He is the one angels spoke of. It’s our Jesus, and now we celebrate him! Make it about Jesus!!!!! Read the Christmas story – Luke 2: 1-20 Vs 19: Notice what Mary did … “But Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.” Scripture often uses the word heart to represent the center of our thoughts and emotions. As she saw her miraculous new born baby laying wrapped in a manger, kneeling next to Joseph and now these shepherds who have come revealing what the angel had said about her baby, she kept it in her heart. She’s sitting in the moment, noticing everything, recognizing this is a profound spiritual experience. She’s seeing how God had worked through everyone and everything to make this happen. She’s noticing the divine alignment of every detail. She’s seeing how they had to travel at such an inconvenient time so she would be in Bethleham to give birth. She’s seeing how there had to be no room in the inn and the only place to lay her newborn baby would be a feeding trough, just as the angel told the shepherds he would be. She’s seeing how Joseph had every right and every reason to leave her when she mysteriously shows up pregnant, but God didn’t let that happen. God had aligned every detail, and now she’s sitting in the middle of those details, thinking about them and keeping them in her heart. She’s amazed by God. She’s content, fulfilled, humbled, grateful. And this is who we are called to be this Christmas. We’re called to be the one who notices the divine alignment of every detail in God’s work. Notice it. Sit in your moments and recognize the miracles in those moments. This does not require the presence or participation of another living soul … just you. Intentionally noticing. Noticing the beauty. Noticing the moment. Noticing the miraculous. These days hold the potential for precious memories, but you miss those precious memories if you rush through them and focus on trying to make things perfect. Stop. Just be here. Be fully here. Notice. It’s okay if the house gets messy. It’s okay if the kids get wild. It’s okay if everyone is still in their pajamas. It’s okay if dinner is served late. It’s okay if you eat dessert first. It’s okay. You don’t have to control it or fix it, just notice all the good there is to notice. Notice the sounds. Notice the smells. Notice the flavor. Notice the sights. Notice the moments. My sister, you’ve been missing entirely too many of your moments. Moments that held the potential for precious memories. Moments that were nothing short of miraculous. Don’t miss these! Mary kept these things in her heart and thought about them often. It’s time to store up some beautiful things in your heart so you can think about them often. Notice the beauty in the moment, as is. See the life that is unfolding in front of you, this is life that is passing and you’ll never get back. My prayer for you today and the coming days as you celebrate the birth of our Jesus, is that you have intentional and on purpose Mary moments. That you remember this. That you slow down. That you pause. That you listen. That you feel it fully. That you store up that moment in your heart so you can think about it often. Remember this, your time on this earth is a gift to be used wisely. Don’t waste your words or your thoughts. Consider even the simplest action you take, for your life matters beyond measure … and it matters forever. You only get one shot at this thing called life … start noticing it as it happens. Every time you hear or say Merry Christmas, think about a Mary Christmas. Mary, the noticer. Mary, the one who stored up precious and miraculous moments in her heart so she could think about them often. We’re called to be the one who notices the divine alignment of every detail in God’s work. Notice it. Sit in your moments and recognize the miracles in those moments. My friends, my your day be filled with Mary Moments, and may you have a Mary Christmas. 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

Sometimes God’s blessings don’t exactly look or feel like blessings. Sometimes they feel like an inconvenience. Sometimes they look like an unwelcome change. Sometimes blessings come in the form of everything you think you want absolutely falling apart. Mary had her life planned out. This little small town girl was engaged to Joseph, they were going to get married within the next year, they would then have a house of their own and start their little family. She would grow her own little garden, make perfect loaves of sourdough bread, and sew matching clothes for her family. That was the plan. It was a good plan and it was all coming together. All her good plans were interrupted by a visit from the angel Gabriel. Out of nowhere, Gabriel delivers a message from God and basically says, “So, Mary – you are so favored by God that your plans are going to be wrecked. Before you get married, before you get your own little house and before you grow your garden, you’re going to be miraculously pregnant and have God’s son!” In a time when adultery was punishable by death, this did not feel like a blessing. This was a crisis. Joseph would know there was no way this baby could be his, so he would surely leave her, then everyone would assume Mary had been unfaithful. Judgement would come. Punishment. Shame. There was no possible scenario Mary could imagine in her head that would make this socially acceptable. Knowing how this looked and felt to Mary, here was her reply – Luke 1:38, Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” That would be easy to say if an angel has just told you you’re winning the lottery. Okay, LET IT BE! That would be easy to say if an angel had just told you the doors have been divinely opened to your dreams and it’s all going to happen for you. Yes, may it come true! But Mary has just been told her whole world is going to flip upside down. She will have a mysterious pregnancy no one will understand, which will likely mean she will lose her fiance, she will be shamed in public, and maybe even stoned to death. And to this Mary says, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” My friends, this is what really trusting God’s plan looks like. This is a picture of faith when it not only doesn’t make sense, but when it scares you to death. God, I trust you so much, I CHOOSE your way even when it’s the hard way. There’s a song by Ben Fuller and Carrie Underwood called “If It Was Up To Me”. It says: If it was up to me, there’d be no gravel roads No wounds, no blisters on my soul Pain might come, but it wouldn’t come for me If it was up to me, I’d take the easy ride But I’d miss the grace that changed my life Thank God, I’m not the one in charge of things I’d never know how good your plans could be If it was up to me You see, if it was up to me, I would have skipped every hard day I’ve ever had. But I would miss the extra sweetness of the good days. If it was up to me, I would have never gotten sick, I would have never lost a loved one, I would have never experienced pain in my most important relationships. But then these knees would have never hit the floor and I would have never known the power of my prayers. I would have forfeited my testimony, missed my calling, missed my purpose, and missed the lives I’m here to impact. I’m sure Mary wouldn’t have chosen a mysterious pregnancy that would potentially ruin her relationships and her reputation, but she accepted God’s plan with tremendous faith. God, if you’re saying it, then I trust it. God, if you’re telling me this is a blessing, even when it doesn’t look like it or feel like it, I will receive it as a blessing and walk in it with gratitude. God, I am your servant. May everything you have said about me come true. Whew – I’m not so sure I’m there yet on my faith journey, if I’m being honest. I still have my idea of what would be best. I still hold on to what a blessing looks like and when it doesn’t look or feel like a blessing, I tend to fight it. BUT I WANT TO GET THERE! I want to receive every inconvenience, every change of plan, every heartache and disappointment, every hardship and every delay, with grace and faith instead of doubt and complaining. I never want to whine again. I never want to be pitiful again. I sure want to be a whole lot more like Mary. I’m just not there yet. But do you know how we get better? We see examples of who we want to be and how we want to live. Mary is our example. It’s easy to read this story, knowing what we know now, and think Mary was lucky to be chosen. Oh, but first, Mary’s entire world was flipped upside down and every plan she had stood to be sacrificed – YET she said, “God, I am your servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” Aren’t we all on a journey to that level of trust and faith? God, whatever you have for me in this season of life, I want to honor it and bring you glory. If it was up to me, I would miss how good your plans can be. Thank God I’m not the one in charge of things! I’m assuming you’re a lot like me, in that you would prefer to just be perfect. Never fail, never mess up, never get it wrong. But then, you would never know God’s grace that accepts you anyway. Then you would be locked in a life of performance forever, believing every good thing in your life depends on you being perfect. You become a slave to performance. But thank God his plan allowed us to fail so we could taste the grace that meets us right where we are. Thank God we fell so we could meet the One who came and picked us up and taught us how to stand. I would prefer to have absolutely no weaknesses. But then there wouldn’t be space for God’s power to work best in my life. Thank God I’m not the one in charge of things, I would miss the power of God every single day. That song goes on to say: Your ways are higher Your ways are higher You know what you’re doing with me Your ways are higher Your ways are higher Put me where you want me to be God, I am your servant. May everything you have said about me come true. Put me where you want me to be. You know what you’re doing with me. God knew what he was doing with Mary. His ways were higher. She trusted him. God knows what he’s doing with you. His ways are higher. You can trust him. What Mary didn’t know at the time was God was speaking to her fiance Joseph as well. Matthew tells us what was going on behind the scenes to take care of every detail. Matthew 1: 19-21, “Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, and angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. ‘Joseph, son of David,’ the angel said, ‘do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.'” So Joseph stayed with Mary when he had every right to leave. She didn’t get stoned. She was loved and cared for. She was right to trust God completely, because indeed, this was a blessing. It was a blessing before it ever looked like a blessing. It was a blessing before it ever felt like a blessing. It was a blessing when it looked more like a problem and felt more like a crisis. The angel was right – Mary was favored! God’s ways were higher. He knew what he was doing! And God still knows what he is doing. He can still be trusted in our real lives today. Blessings still sometimes look like problems and feel like crisis. But can you, in faith, say, “God, I am your servant. May everything you have said about me come true. Your ways are higher. You know what you’re doing with me. Put me where you want me to be.” If it was up to me, I would miss this – thank God it’s not up to me! 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

Your feelings about a situation do not change God’s power over that situation. God is not limited by feelings. God is not limited by chances or odds. God is not limited by timelines or conditions. If God speaks it, it will happen. Done. Deal. Your circumstances may not be telling you the truth. There could be sooooo much more happening than what you see. There may be an act of God Almighty happening in places you cannot yet see. You may not feel it yet, but your feelings do not limit the power of God. Mary was a young teenage girl living in the tiny, forgotten town of Nazareth. Nazareth was nothing. It was miles away from a road and didn’t have a good source of water. No one important had ever come from Nazareth, and no one there had ever done anything great. This town had never been mentioned before. I come from a small town like that. A small town where everyone knows who you are and what you’re doing. It’s the kind of town where you don’t see examples of anyone ever leaving or doing great things. So, I never dreamed of leaving. The jobs available in my small town were the jobs I imagined having. My mama worked at the only factory in town, so I assumed I would work at that same factory. The thought that God would have something different for me was completely foreign. I was a no one with nothing, and there was absolutely nothing special about me. That’s what happens in small towns. You only know what you know, and you simply don’t know much. Nazareth was a town of only a few hundred people. Mary growing up in Nazareth meant she was a humble, small town girl, who likely never considered herself to be anyone special. But just because you don’t feel special doesn’t mean God doesn’t consider you special. Just because you never expected God to do something special for you doesn’t mean God isn’t already working in the unseen in special ways for you. In Luke chapter 1, we’re unexpectedly introduced to Mary, living in her tiny country village. Verse 26-33, “God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, ‘Greetings favored woman! The Lord is with you!’ Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. ‘Don’t be afraid, Mary,’ the angel told her, ‘for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end.'” Mary was not expecting this. Her life was simple and uneventful. She likely spent her days doing laundry, sweeping dirt floors, helping her mother cook meals, training for her upcoming opportunity to have a house of her own once she married Joseph. She had never been told she was favored before. She had never been singled out and chosen. She had never dared to dream of anything different or bigger for her life. Yet, here was this angel telling her the most unimaginable things. Telling her she was chosen to be a mother to a future King that would reign forever. But this didn’t make sense to Mary. How could this happen? She was a virgin, awaiting marriage to Joseph. And what the angel is telling her is, “That’s why I’m here – to tell you that your limited circumstances are not revealing the truth to you, your conditions are not true, and what you feel doesn’t matter.” You think you’re a nobody from nowhere with a very certain and limited future ahead of you, but God sent me to tell you there’s something happening that you cannot imagine!!!! Yes, that’s what the angel was telling Mary. And that’s what I’m here to tell you today. You may feel like a nobody – you may come from nothing – you may have never done anything great in your entire life – but God has so much more for you. You have been chosen for more! There are things happening in the unseen that you have not dared to imagine yet. Why you? Because of God! God chose you! Ephesians 1:4, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” You see yourself as the girl that never quite seems to get it right – the girl who starts but always stops – the girl who gets in her head and gets stuck – the girl who says she will, but then she won’t – the girl who secretly struggles and feels flawed. BUT GOD SEES SOMETHING DIFFERENT IN YOU! God sees you without fault. Holy. Perfect for his good plans and unlimited power. God sees the girl he has chosen for his blessings and favor. God sees the girl his power can work perfectly in. Why? Because you have areas of weakness. It’s not your perfection God is looking for – it’s your surrendered weakness. God says in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” All this time you felt like everything you couldn’t do and everything you could never be was your limitation – but God says that’s the perfect place for his power to work best! Girl, he chooses YOU! You don’t have to be known by a single other person to be known by God. You don’t have to be considered special in any other way, for God to see there’s something special in you. And you don’t have to see what God is doing for God to be doing something! God’s power is not limited to your sight or your understanding. What the angel says to Mary is impossible. It’s impossible for a virgin to have a baby. Mary knows that. But Mary also knows something else – Mary knows scripture. Mary knows the story of Abraham and Sarah from Genesis. (Yes, the story we’ve been studying together – Mary studied that.) She knows God’s words in Genesis 18:14, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Mary also knows Isaiah 7:14, “The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).” And because she knows God’s word, she knows not only is it possible, but God has chosen her and his word will not fail! If you know God’s word, my sister, you know God can do impossible things. He can show up in your personal circumstances and turn it all around. He can heal, he can restore, he can open doors, he can tear down walls, he can part seas, he can break chains, he can take down giants, he can move mountains, he can bring about victories. And that’s exactly what he does for ordinary people no one else even knows or sees. He chose Mary when no one would have chosen her. He chose her as the mother to bare the savior of the world. He did it in impossible ways, foretold thousands of years before. And he found her in a tiny, forgotten village of a couple hundred people. What you need to know is, God knows exactly where you are! He knows how to get to you. He knows how to show up in your impossible circumstances. He knows exactly how to bless you. Nothing can hide you and nothing can stop him. Your circumstances may not be telling you the truth. There could be sooooo much more happening than what you see. There may be an act of God Almighty happening in places you cannot yet see. You may not feel it yet, but your feelings do not limit the power of God. Mary woke up that morning like every other morning, assuming her life would unfold exactly as planned. But there was something so much more happening than what she knew and what she saw. You woke up this morning feeling like your life is quite predictable, maybe even boring and disappointing. But my sister, you don’t see what God is doing! You don’t feel it yet. Am I saying you’re going to have a miraculous pregnancy? No (unless that’s what you’ve been praying for, and maybe!). What I’m saying is you have no idea of how God wants to use your life. You have no idea of what God wants to do for you. You’re not even aware of the doors God is opening, the impossible situations he is making possible, the future circumstances he is aligning just for you. Why would he do that? Because he sees you. He knows you. And he CHOOSES YOU! You’ve always been chosen. You’ve always been set apart. There are blessings and favor here just for you. You may feel like a nobody – you may come from nothing – you may have never done anything great in your entire life – but God has so much more for you. You have been chosen for more! There are things happening in the unseen that you have not dared to imagine yet. 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 number 1 question I receive is, “How do I know God’s will for my life?” What they’re saying to me is, how do I know God’s voice? How do I know if that thought, or that feeling, or that stirring within is from God or from the devil? Maybe you don’t trust yourself anymore. You’ve made so many wrong choices, acted on impulse chasing after the wrong things, that now you can’t trust yourself. That’s actually good. Coming to the place where you know that you alone can’t get this right is a great place to be. Knowing you’re not self-sufficient is a beautiful first step of a surrendered life. Knowing you can’t lead yourself is how you learn to follow Jesus. But there’s one way to learn to trust your inner voice – let that inner voice be filled with God’s words. If it’s God’s word, then it’s not wrong. However, on a very practical level, how do you get God’s words to become your inner voice? ONE WAY, my friends, ONE SIMPLE WAY. The only way God’s word gets in you is to put it there. Read it, listen to it, study it. The more you read God’s word, the more his word gets in you. The more his word is in you, the more you will hear his voice. Think about it like this – what is someone’s voice? It’s the words they speak, right. So if you want to hear God’s voice, you’re looking for his words. The Bible is filled with God’s words! This is how you get his voice. How do you know God’s will for your life? You read his word. How do you come to know the difference between a thought or a feeling that comes from God verses the ones that come from the devil or your own imagination? You read God’s word and learn what his voice says. That’s how you’ll recognize it. If you’ve been listening to me very long, you know my voice. You know the things I say. You know the words I use. So, if you were to read this devotional instead of listen to it, you would still know it was me. You would even read it in your head with my voice. You’ve heard me say, “Good morning, Beautiful” so many times that now when you see it on a coffee mug, you’re like, “Oh, that’s Pamela!” You recognize me now because you know my words. If you know God’s words you’ll recognize him. Plain and simple, there’s no other way to know God’s voice. When people talk about, “Well, the Lord told me this or that …” there’s a filter to put that through – Does that sound like God? If someone says, “Well, the Lord told me leave my husband and chase after yours”, I know that’s not from God because it doesn’t sound like God. How do I know what God sounds like? I READ HIS WORD! Even on days when I feel like the words I’m reading don’t make sense or don’t apply to my life right now, I’m learning God’s voice. Nothing is wasted when it comes from him. So, let’s be clear – if you’re questioning how to know God’s will for your life and how to hear from God, the answer is you get to know his voice. His voice is the words he speaks, and our Bibles are a written transcript of his words. And while you may not be able to open your Bible to the exact answer to your questions and see in black and white what your next step is, you’re learning to recognize his voice. And once you recognize his voice, then you start noticing those thoughts, those feelings and those little stirrings you sometimes feel are actually God speaking directly to you. You’ll miss them if you don’t know his voice. And you only know his voice by reading his word. Before you can hear it, sense it or decipher it, first you have to read it. Oh I know, you want to HEAR God speak to you, but you don’t want to READ it. Well, my sister, you’re not going to hear it until you read it. Psalm 119:11, “I have hidden your word in my heart.” The person who has hidden God’s word in their heart is the person who can then hear from God and know for sure it’s him. Of course the enemy of your soul would prefer you NEVER tap into knowing God’s voice. That’s why he fights so hard to keep you distracted and busy. That’s why you find it so hard to sit down and read your Bible. There are divine words in there for you, and those words are your weapon against the devil. Here’s the weapon most of us don’t realize we have – When we pray God’s words, we are affirming who God is and what God says as an offering of faith to God, as a reminder of truth to ourselves, and as a block to the enemy. Do you realize you have all the right words to pray IN YOUR BIBLE! You don’t have to conjure up words on your own – just repeat what your Father said. If you’re praying for someone who is sick, what does God’s word say about healing? If you’re praying for how to pay the bills, what does God’s word say about his provision? If you’re praying for your children who are struggling, what does God’s word say about his guidance and protection? PRAY THE WORDS OF GOD! Which words – what about the words of Paul? What about the words of Abraham? What about the words of David or the words of Moses? YES. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us “All scripture is inspired by God and useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” How is that? We’re learning his voice! Pray the words in your Bible. You already have the words. Pray his words. In the book of Ezekiel is the coolest example of this. The Lord takes Ezekiel to a valley filled with dry bones. God asks Ezekiel, “Can these bones become living people again?” Ezekiel replies, “Lord, you alone know the answer to that.” Then, God said to Ezekiel, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, LISTEN TO THE WORD OF THE LORD! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ So, here’s what Ezekiel did – HE SPOKE GOD’S WORD to the valley of dry bones. Not his own words. God’s words. Suddenly as he spoke God’s words, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together. To the cancer, to the sickness, to the pain, to the illness, you speak God’s word. Isaiah 53:5, “By his wounds we are healed.” Jeremiah 30:17, “God will give you back your health and heal your wounds.” Psalm 103: 2-5, “He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things.” To the depression and anxiety, you speak God’s word. Isiah 26:3, “God will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” Deuteronomy 31:8, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Philippians 4: 6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” For protection, Psalm 91:11, “For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go.” For your children, “Isaiah 44: 3-4, “I will pour out my spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children. They will thrive like watered grass, like willows on the river bank.” I’m currently making a written prayer journal with each individual name and prayer request on it’s own page. Then I will write GOD’S WORDS concerning that person and situation. Instead of only praying my own words, I will pray God’s words first. I will declare his promises and his truths. My friends, this is what we’re called to do. We’re called to stand in the gap. There’s a battle going on, and it’s a spiritual battle. We are called to be intercessors and pray in that gap. That’s what Abraham did. In our study of Genesis, we come to chapter 18 and see that an entire city had gone absolutely vile in corruption. The city is Sodom. The Lord heard the outcry about the wickedness there. So God declares he himself is going to do something about it. Abraham intercedes for his nephew Lot who is there in that city. And he says to God, “Suppose you find fifty righteous people living there in the city – will you still sweep it away and not spare it for their sakes. Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” Abraham is boldly reminding God of who he knows him to be. Abraham knows God does what is right. He is a just God. He cares about his people. And God agrees and says, “If I find 50 righteous people in Sodom, I will spare the entire city for their sake.” Keep reading because Abraham keeps praying. It’s such an amazing story and example to see how we are to pray with bold belief in God’s word. Abraham’s prayers of intercession, saved the life of his nephew Lot. Effective prayer doesn’t just act as a passive spectator in what God does, but it participates WITH GOD. Stop just tossing wishes to Heaven. Be specific with God. Speak his promises and his truth. Stand in the gap with his word. This is intercession. How do you know God’s will – you read his word. How do you hear God’s voice – you read his word. How do you pray effective prayers – you pray his word. We don’t have to make up a single word on our own. It’s all here for us. It’s what Jesus did. Did you know when Jesus is hanging on the cross, he’s praying. And his prayers are actually scriptures from the Old Testament. He knew God’s word. He had read it, studied it, hid it away in his heart. And now, on the cross he’s praying it. What would Jesus do? He would be in God’s word! 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

There’s two sides to every coin. Just because the coin lands on heads doesn’t mean tails no longer exists. They’re both there. They co-exist together, heads and tails. God sees your situation much like a coin. There are two sides to it. The two sides co-exist together. Now, he’s asking you to see the two sides and trust him with the flip. Hold on to that, because we’re coming back to it. An ah-ha moment is just a few minutes away! Know there are the two sides and trust him with the flip. We’ve been studying the story of Abram and Sarai, the old couple never able to have children. For 25 years, Abram has waited for God to fulfill his promise of future descendants. In Genesis chapter 17, God gives them each a new name. Abram becomes Abraham, which means the father of many nations. And for Sarai, she becomes Sarah, which means “mother of nations.” Now, with new names given by God at the age of 100 for Abraham, and 90 for Sarah, they are visited by 3 men. And what they didn’t know at the time was, these 3 men weren’t just strangers wandering through their town, it was the Lord and 2 angels. Genesis 18, starting in verse 10: “One of them said, ‘I will return to you about this time next year, and your wife, Sarah, will have a son!’ Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent. Abraham and Sarah were both very old by this time, and Sarah was long past the age of having children. So she laughed silently to herself and said, ‘How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my husband is also so old?’ Then the Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Can an old woman like me have a baby?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.'” Hmmmm, did you catch that? Verse 14, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” The Hebrew word used here for ‘hard’ is hă-yip-pā-lê. Is anything too hă-yip-pā-lê for the Lord? Too hard. Maybe you’re facing a situation right now that seems too hă-yip-pā-lê. Instead of getting better, it’s getting worse. It’s too far gone, too broken, and too late. Too hă-yip-pā-lê. Too hard. But this word, hă-yip-pā-lê, too hard, has another meaning. We find this same Hebrew word in Psalm 139:14, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Your works are hă-yip-pā-lê, I know that full well. hă-yip-pā-lê means too hard on one side of the coin, but on the other side it means wonderful! Same word, same coin, both are true. If it’s too hard, on the other side of it is something wonderful! Abraham and Sarah having a baby at their age with her old womb was too hard … and it was wonderful! God flipped that coin and gave them a wonderful miracle. Let me tell you, God can do that! Whatever hă-yip-pā-lê you’re facing at the moment is too hard for you alone, but on the other side of it is something absolutely wonderful. When you’re on the side of the coin that is too hard, know this – When you’re not okay, God is still good. God is good even if your heart hurts, even if your whole world seems to be breaking. God’s goodness doesn’t depend on your situation. You can continue trusting him despite your circumstance. He is still good even when life is not. Wonderful is on the other side of this, and God can flip it at any moment. hă-yip-pā-lê too hard – hă-yip-pā-lê wonderful. God is the God of both sides of that coin. There’s a saying I love that says: I asked God, “Why are you taking me through troubled water?” He replied, “Because your enemies can’t swim.” Your enemy can’t survive the part of this that’s too hard. Your pride can’t swim in those trouble waters. Pride drowns in this hardship. Your self-sufficiency will be found insufficient, and it will be left in these troubled waters. Your plans can’t swim. They’re dropping to the bottom. Your money doesn’t save you and your good looks won’t help you in these waters. The story you tell and the fake facade you’ve built around you are washed away here. These are all your enemies. The things you’ve battled from within. And God takes you through this troubled water because your enemies can’t swim. It’s too hard hă-yip-pā-lê here in this troubled water by design. What’s the design? So you can walk out of this trouble free of everything that has been holding you back, everything that has been eating at you from the inside, and you can experience God’s hă-yip-pā-lê, his wonderful! You don’t have to hate the hard seasons, on the other side is something wonderful. Abraham and Sarah had experienced the hard side of the coin for years and years and years. And now, here’s God telling them, a year from now, I’m coming back to visit you and Sarah will have a son! This coin is flipping, and on the other side of what has been too hard for all this time, is something wonderful. Let me tell you what happened 3 chapters later. Genesis 21: 1-2, “The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age.” The coin had flipped. Same coin, just a different side. What had been too hard became absolutely wonderful. And it was more wonderful because it had been too hard for so long. I have a few coins in my life that seem a little too hard right now. But I know on the other side of them is something wonderful. So you know what, I won’t hate them, I won’t waste them, I won’t allow them to make me miserable. I will treasure them knowing the time will come for them to flip! I also know this, I hold a few flipped coins already. Things that were once too hard, but now God has flipped them and made them wonderful. I’m the girl who was left unable to walk or talk after a massive brain stem stroke. The odds of fatality for that type of stroke are 70-80%. And if you survive, you’re left forever changed. Against all odds, I survived what was too hard. And I am forever changed! I simply can’t look at a new day of life the same, and I can’t waste it! I’m living on the wonderful side of that coin. God flipped it! Look at your coins today. Aren’t you already on the other side of things that were once too hard, and against all odds, God has made them wonderful? Give him praise! Look what he has done! And for those coins in your life that are still on the “too hard” side of hă-yip-pā-lê, remember there’s another side. There’s a wonderful on the flip side. Just like there’s a heads and a tails on the same coin, there’s a too hard and a wonderful in your life. You can trust God with both. Open your hand, surrender your timeline, and let God take this situation. When God enters the scene, miracles happen. And my sister, he has promised to enter your scene! Too hard and wonderful – know there are two sides and trust God with the flip. 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

When God moves, a shift takes place. Heaven responds. Mountains start moving. Seas start parting. Walls start crumbling. Chains start breaking. When God moves, impossible becomes possible. It happens in an instant when God moves. However you and I do not know when God will move. We don’t know his timing. We don’t see the timeline of his plan. It’s not our job to understand when or how – it’s our job to know WHO. Who will do this? God will. When? No idea. How? No clue. When life feels uncertain, God is in control. When you feel forgotten, God’s eye is on you. When it feels too late, God knows the time. Isaiah 60:22, “At the right time, I, the Lord, will make it happen.” So, it still hasn’t happened for you? Then my sister, it’s not the right time yet. But when the right time comes, God will move and everything you’ve been waiting for will go into motion. What God has for you, is for you. You can trust his timing. You can trust his plan. You can trust his move. And let’s be clear – this is God’s move, not yours. You can’t force this – atleast not the really good stuff. You can force the lesser than, imitation version of this. You can cut corners and jump through loop holes to find something you could settle for faster. But if you want the best stuff from Heaven’s storehouse, then you must wait for God’s move. He will make it happen, and he will make it happen at the RIGHT time. When Abram was 75 years old, God promised to give him so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted. Wooohoooo, a word from the Lord. A promise to hold on to! That’s fantastic. Then, nothing. 10 years later, now at 85 years old, the Lord speaks to Abram in a vision. He takes him outside and says to him, “Look up into the sky and count he stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” Another promise followed by nothing actually happening. In this desperate wait is when sad and sick hearts make bad choices and create messes with a servant girl named Hagar and her baby. Abram and his wife were willing to settle. They were willing to accept a baby any way they could get it. But that was not God’s plan. Right now, maybe you’re willing to settle. You’re so tired of waiting that you’ll take a “good enough” version you can have now and sacrifice God’s best that you still can’t have. I’m so grateful God knows his girls. He knows our tender hearts. He knows our loneliness. He knows our minds that so easily play tricks on us, putting lipstick on pigs and creating fixer upper situations that would be a disaster. And he covers us with his grace. GRACE TO WAIT FOR GOD’S BEST. Father, close the doors I would so easily run through that lead to the second rate version of your plans for me. Block the way that leads me to my plans and guide me to the narrow path that leads me to yours. Help me to wait patiently for your move. Patient waiting isn’t just about what we get at the end of the wait, it’s about who we become in the waiting. This is where God molds us. It’s where we find joy in the simple things as we wait on the big thing. It’s where we find that actually God is enough. After Abram waited for 10 years and God shows him the stars in the sky that number his future descendants, guess what miraculous thing happened next. Go ahead and guess. Guess how God moved. Guess how everything changed in an instant. Guess how 10 years of waiting became worth it. It didn’t. Nothing changed. Abram received a renewed promise of children and still nothing changed. No move from God. In fact, following along in Genesis 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17, Abram didn’t hear from God again for 15 years. It’s now been 25 years since God first told Abram of his promise over his family and his future. All this time, God could have moved, the wait could have ended, and Abram could have received his blessing. Abram had been faithful. He had been patient. He was the recipient of God’s divine covenant, covered in a promise God would never break, yet here Abram was waiting in the silence of God. God says, “I heard your prayers, now trust my timing.” And he’s actually saying that to YOU today. You’re so quick to say, “I just never hear from God.” But, honey, you just did. He’s responding to you right now. I HEARD YOUR PRAYERS, NOW TRUST MY TIMING. I once put God on my timeline. I kept making deals with God to bring an end to my wait. What was I waiting on? I was waiting for my family to be healed, whole and together. I was waiting for the prodigal to come home. I was waiting for everything to be made right again. I would get my hopes up for a specific timeline, and it wouldn’t happen, so I would continually extend the timeline. “God, by next month.” Okay, not next month, God, by Thanksgiving.” This timeline of mine continued for several years with things only seemingly getting worse. Then one day, as I was studying the story of the crippled man who had been laying at the Pool of Bathesda seeking his healing for 38 years, I finally heard from God. And what God said to me was, “Pamela, take me off your timeline.” But you see, my timeline was all I had to look forward to. My timeline was holding me together. The hope that maybe by next Christmas my family would be healed, whole and happy. And God said, “Would you trust me for 30?” The sound of 30 was sweet to me. 30 days – God’s going to move in 30 days! You bet I’ll trust you for 30, Lord. Then, he revealed to me 30 years. “Pamela, will you trust me if it takes 30 years? Will you still choose joy on the journey if it’s 30 years? Will you refuse the invitation of misery and pity and waste absolutely zero of the days I give you if it takes 30 years for your family to be whole, healed and happy?” That day I said yes. I chose to trust God in the wait. I chose joy over misery. I chose faith over fear. I chose my attitude, my perspective, my heart posture, and my praise. I will wait. If it takes 30 years, I will wait. It’s been nearly 7 already – how much longer do I have to go? I don’t know … I released my timeline. Isn’t that what God is asking of you? Release your timeline. Surrender it. God will do it when the time is right. Meanwhile, he’s going to do an amazing work in you! Genesis 17:1, “When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘I am El-Shaddi – God Almighty.'” El-Shaddi means God all-sufficient. Sheddah is where we get our word shed. It actually means to pour out. God is telling Abram, I am the God who pours out blessings. What is in God sheds onto us, pours out over us. His power, his blessings, his provision, his anointing. At 99 years old, after 25 years of waiting, and 15 years since he last heard from God, Abram hears, “I am El-Shaddi.” I am all-sufficient. I will pour out my blessings on you. “I am God Almighty.” In Greek, that is pantokrator, which means ‘one who has his hand on everything.’ Abram, I have my hand on you, I have my hand on your future, I have my hand on the empty womb of your wife. After all these years, God still had a plan, and that plan would unfold perfectly under the hand of the Lord when it was time. It was true for Abram in his wait – it’s true for me in my wait – and it’s true for you in your wait. Here’s the truth about the timelines you try to put God on – God is bigger than that! He’s already way ahead of your timeline. He’s gone before your suggested time and beyond your suggested time, and he knows exactly what he is doing. He will bring the time to pass, and you can either experience that time being miserable, or you can experience that time choosing joy. Joy knowing God is always working. Joy knowing even when you don’t see your circumstances changing, there’s something inside of you changing. When it’s time, it will happen and God will do it. God will move, and there will be a shift. Heaven will respond. Those mountains will start moving. Those seas will rise up and begin to part. Those walls will begin to crumble. Those chains will fall off in pieces. God will move and suddenly the impossible will become possible. The prodigal will come home. Hearts will be forever changed. Healing will happen. Love will be found. Arms will be filled. And those surrendered timelines will be fulfilled in God’s perfect timing. This is Christmas #6 without our family together, and God has given me an overflowing Joy. What will next year look like? Well, that’s not mine to know, to manage or to worry about. It’s been given to God. That’s his timeline. I trust he knows what he’s doing and he will do it when it’s just the right 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

Do you ever feel like you’re not the main character in the story? Like God’s promises aren’t for you? Like the good plans don’t include you? Like you’re left on the outskirts watching everyone else get their turn and their blessings? My sister, I want to tell you the truth about YOU, and if you will receive it, it can change that deep feeling of unworthiness you’ve always battled. This truth can heal that broken place within you that makes you feel like you’re never good enough. Here’s the truth about you – God’s eye is personally on you. You are chosen. You are special. You are seen. You are set apart. There are blessings specifically for you. Your name is known and his plan for you is sure. I encourage you to look up Jeremiah 1:5 and read it in several different translations. MSG – “Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you.” TPT – “I had divine plans for you before I gave you life, and I set you apart and chose you to be mine.” AMP – “Before I formed you I knew you and approved of you as my chosen instrument.” GNT – “I chose you before I gave you life and before you were born I selected you.” You know what this tells me – it tells me it was never up to you to get chosen. It was never about your performance or your success. If God chose you before you were even born and set you apart for his holy plans and approved you as his chosen instrument before you ever took your first breath, that means you were good enough in the mind of God from the very beginning. It means you have always been worthy because God designed you as worthy. Situations and circumstances do not determine your worth, DESIGN determines your worth. God designed you as worthy. You are the main character of God’s plans for your life. Every day of your existence is covered in the personal promises of God. If you’re on the outskirts, honey, it’s because you’re sitting where you don’t belong. You are seen, known, chosen, set apart, approved and loved. Nothing about that tells me you’ve been overlooked or dismissed. You may feel unimportant, but your feelings are not fact. They are fickle. Stop being led by feelings and be led by what God says about you. Let me tell you something, the day you stand up with some fire in your eyes and courage in your gut and declare, “God has good plans for me!”, everything changes. Within the well-known story of Abram and Sarai awaiting their promised baby from God, is an unlikely character. A servant girl named Hagar. She has no home of her own, no family of her own, no big plans for her future. She seemingly just belongs to Sarai as her servant. But Hagar belongs to God! While her positioning seems less important, she is of tremendous importance to the God who created her and chose her. He sees her. He hears her. And he has good plans her. Hagar got caught in the middle of Sarai’s bad idea born from a sick and broken heart. Sarai so desperately wanted her promised baby that she steps in and tries to help God. Anyone else ever try to “help” God? I mean surely God has his hands really full trying to handle the problems of the whole world and he would appreciate my help with my problems. I’ll just help myself and save God the trouble. You’ve heard it said, “God helps those who help themselves.” Hmmmmm, totally NOT in your Bible. For real, that’s not at all scriptural. God helps those who call on him, those who trust in him, those who are hurting and weak. NOT THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES. Those who help themselves instead of seeking God’s help create messes. The self-sufficient eventually become self-destructive. Why? Because self-sufficient is sin. It is not God’s will for you to make anything happen on your own. Sarai decided to make that baby happen with her own plans, so she talks her husband, Abram, into sleeping with her servant, Hagar. Abram agreed, but Hagar had no say in this arrangement. It wasn’t her plan. It wasn’t her desire. It became her assignment by the people she worked for. So, to the delight and scheming of Sarai, Hagar the servant girl becomes pregnant by Abram. But then guess what happens? Jealousy! Envy! Competition! We have a girl quarrel over God’s blessings. Genesis 16, starting in verse 4, “When Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt.” (Hagar became proud and treated Sarai as insignificant because of her infertility. She basically flaunted the fact that she was the pregnant one. Finally, for the first time, Hagar was someone important, and she didn’t handle it well.) “Then Sarai said to Abram, ‘This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The Lord will show who’s wrong – you or me!'” “Abram replied, ‘Look, she is your servant, so deal with her as you see fit.’ Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away.” Hagar seems to be the secondary character in a story that was never about her. She was just used and mistreated. And now she is pregnant with a pride issue, running through a desolate, dry wilderness. She has no food, no shelter, no plan, no rescue. This wasn’t her idea, but she’s caught in the middle of the mess. And this woman, this seemingly unimportant, lesser-than woman who no one was willing to rescue or help, was the very first woman in the Bible to be visited by an angel. The first time we ever read of God sending an angel to help someone is right here!!!! Verse 7, “The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. The angel said to her, ‘Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?'” “‘I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,’ she replied.” “The angel of the Lord said to her, ‘Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.’ Then he added, ‘I will give you more descendants than you can count.'” What an unlikely character to be the first to be visited by an angel. A seemingly unimportant, secondary character in a story which wasn’t her own, receiving God’s personal love. And what this angel reveals to her is her lack of plans does not mean God doesn’t have a plan for her. He says to her, “Where have you come from and where are you going?” Imagine her answer. Her answer is, “I’m coming from an unfair place where I’m mistreated and unimportant. I’m going anywhere but there because I can’t stand that woman I work for. I’m wandering. I’m desperate. I’m likely going to die out here with my unborn baby.” And the angel reveals God still has a plan. A plan that includes specific blessings for her and her future. Go back, you are going to be blessed with more than you can count. Hagar was always important to God. This servant girl was so important that God would see fit to send the first visit by an angel to just her. Her, in the wilderness. Her, while she’s running away. Her, after her pride swelled up and she said things she shouldn’t have. Her, pregnant and desperate. Hagar was always seen by God and now she knows it. Verse 13, “Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, ‘You are the God who sees me.'” A woman who had never felt seen her whole life now knows she is seen by God. A woman who was always the secondary character in a story that wasn’t hers, now knows God has plans for her. And that changes everything. God sees you. Yes, YOU. He knows exactly where you are. He knows the mess you’re in. He knows if you’ve been mistreated, used, discounted, or left out. He knows if maybe you’ve been wrong too, and that doesn’t make him turn away from you. He knows if the story you’re living isn’t the story you have even chosen for yourself. And because he sees you, you can know he has a plan for you. GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOU. A plan that confirms you are set apart. These are holy plans. Divine plans. God has approved of you as his chosen instrument, selected before your very first day. May today be the day you stand up with some fire in your eyes and courage in your gut and declare, “God has good plans for me!” This is where things change! 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

Have you ever wanted something so bad, but you couldn’t get it? Have you ever desperately longed for something to change, but it still wasn’t changing? Your whole body begins to ache. When there’s this one thing you truly want but it’s left unfulfilled, eventually even the good areas of your life have a dark heaviness over them. When what you’re hoping for isn’t happening, you hurt. That’s natural. You’re human. Proverbs 13:12, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” Meaning when what you hope for is continually delayed, your heart becomes sick. And my sister, when your heart becomes sick, you are in danger of doing really stupid things to make you feel better. Have you ever done something you knew wasn’t right, but it was the only way you had a chance of getting what you wanted? You cheated. You twisted things. You ran right through the caution tape and ignored every red flag. You rushed it. You forced it. You got your way. And your way ended up being a mess. You were temporarily happy, then sorely disappointed. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, and a sick heart is very susceptible to bad choices. Desperation is not a place from which to make plans for the future. Desperation is a place for your knees to hit the floor and seek God. Your heart cannot be trusted here, but God’s can. Let’s continue our study of the book of Genesis, picking up in chapter 16. Abram and Sarai are now in their 70’s and 80’s and they’ve never had children. Back then, being barren was a social stigma. You were looked at with curious eyes, wondering why you were being punished. If you weren’t blessed with children for your lineage, then surely you were cursed. Cursed for what, became the question everyone had when they looked at you. Surely you had some sort of hidden sin, some sort of disobedience to bring this deep shame upon you. Everyone knew Abram and Sarai had prayed for a baby, and as the years went on and on and on, it was an added shame to know God wasn’t answering them. Sarai felt cheated. She felt punished for some unknown sin she didn’t know how to fix. All she had hoped for was a baby, and now at 76 years old, her heart had grown sick from all that hope being deferred. Waiting and waiting until now, all hope was gone. It was too late. Hopeless. Heart broken. Sick-hearted. Desperate. And susceptible to any idea that might fix her problem and change the situation. Again, this is a dangerous place to be. So Sarai gets an idea. An idea born from a sick heart. Genesis 16: 1-2, “Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, ‘The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.'” That’s a broken sick heart talking. That’s an idea born from a place of brokenness. And it was a bad idea. Abram sleeps with his wife’s servant, and that woman does become pregnant. What follows is straight out of a Jerry Springer episode. Chaos. Drama. Division. Jealousy. Disaster. Why? Because a sick and hurting heart was bearing ideas and making the decisions. If you’re in a place of dark hopelessness, hurting because what you’ve wanted simply isn’t happening, please know this – God wants to hold your heart. He wants to heal your heart that has become sick from the continual delay of what you’ve been hoping for. And he CAN HEAL THIS. Somehow, someway, he will make this okay. Psalm 147:3, “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.” We are the sheep and he is the good Shepherd. We desperately need him to bandage our wounds and heal our hearts. If your leg were broken, I wouldn’t judge you because you’re walking with a limp. So my sister, if your heart is broken, there’s no judgment for past choices made in your hurt. There’s healing for that. You can trust God with this. You can trust his plan. You can trust his way. You can trust his timing. You can’t trust your own. Not when your heart is sick and hurting. Psalm 55:22 TPT, “Leave all your cares and anxieties at the feet of the Lord, and measureless grace will strengthen you.” Can you believe that could be true for you? Could you receive God’s measureless grace to fill these holes and somehow bless you in this reality? God’s grace is his undeserved favor, love and divine assistance. It’s his involvement in the details of your life. God’s grace makes impossible things possible, it makes dark things to be filled with his light, it turns Hell’s intended harm into Heaven’s good. Grace turns barren wombs into future mothers, long waits into destined timelines, broken relationships into stories of redemption, and sick hearts into a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. My sister, whatever you’re waiting on, whatever you’ve been hoping for for so long, GOD HAS GRACE FOR THAT. If you will surrender it all to God, he will fill your heart with his immeasurable grace. You will be supernaturally strengthened. You will find joy again. And your heart will be healed. But if you don’t surrender it, you will likely have a heart that grows more and more sick and you will make your decisions from that sick, broken heart. And you will create messes. God isn’t going to force you to trust him with this, but he’s hoping you will. There was a promise spoken over Abram and Sarai—a promise that their descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky—and it was fulfilled in God’s divine timing. God wasn’t in a rush. He never is. He holds all eternity, he sees the end from the beginning and he’s not at all stressed about a few more passing years. We are – he’s not. Sarai’s heart was so sick from her deferred hope, that she concocted a really bad idea in impatience and forced the timing on God’s promise. And guess what – our timing is never better than God’s. EVER. Our way is not the best way. Our plans are embarrassingly bad compared to his. God had a miracle planned – Sarai had a sleeping arrangement planned. I don’t know what you have planned – but please know God has a miracle planned for you instead. Don’t get in his way. Don’t let your sad, broken heart make decisions here. Surrender all that hurt, all that disappointment, all that hopelessness over at the feet of the Lord. And it’s probably not a one time surrender. It’s an again and again surrender. Every time you think you’re going to go out and find that man yourself – surrender. Every time you think you’re going to just force the deal and make it happen – surrender. Every time you think you’re going to just say something yourself – surrender. Every time you think you’re going to drop the hints harder – surrender. Every time you think you can make this work with your own power – surrender. Every time you think you need to rush this – surrender. Lord, I want your plan more than I want my plan. I don’t trust my own feelings here because my heart has become sick. I need your touch. I need you to heal this heart that has been broken in the wait. I desire your miracle over my idea. That’s what surrender looks like. 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

God is in covenant with you. He has spoken a promise over your life, one he will not break. He is in agreement with how he will care for you, how he will bless you, and the future he has waiting for you. The crazy thing is, you may not be in agreement with him – you may be fighting him. You may not even believe him. But that does not change God’s covenant with you. We really don’t talk about covenants much today. Now, we sign contracts for our agreements. And we often break our contracts and cancel our agreements. Yeah, I thought I wanted to stay here for a full year, but now I don’t, so I’m breaking this lease. I thought I wanted to be married to you for the rest of my life, but nahhhh, I’m not feeling it now, let’s get divorced. Contracts are now something we scroll through to simply get to the bottom of the page, click agree, and submit a digital signature. They don’t even mean anything to us anymore. But a covenant – a covenant was sealed with blood. A covenant is irreversible and forever. And God has a covenant concerning YOU. He made that covenant with Abram, and it was a promise for all his descendants. 4,000 years later, you and I are his descendants. We are among the counted stars God promised him so long ago. My sister, YOU ARE INCLUDED. You were included then and you are included now. A blood covenant was a seal of a promise, and while the scene of a covenant would look quite gruesome to us today, in the day of Abram, it was quite familiar. Animals would be killed, and their carcasses would be split in half. The two halves would then be laid out on the ground with a narrow path between them. So, essentially, you would have the left side of cow on one side of the path, and the right side of the cow on the other side. The same with a goat. Each animal split in half, divided with a narrow path between them. Then, the parties going into agreement with one another would walk that path together, often holding hands. They would recite the terms of their agreement together as they passed through the slain and divided animals. Each would make a commitment that if they broke the promise to the other, they themselves would be torn apart like these sacrificed animals. Blood would be on them and their families if they broke their promise. A covenant was never made with the thought of breaking it in the future if something changed. A covenant was never a decision made in the moment like a midnight wedding in front of Elvis in Las Vegas. A covenant wasn’t a “let’s give this a whirl and see if we like it” kind of thing. A covenant was an all-in commitment with agreed upon non-negotiable terms. If you and I walked hand and hand through a path of split animal carcasses, making a covenant to go into business together – You and I were in business together forever. No loop holes, no expiration, no addendums. Done deal. Hmmmm, imagine if weddings today looked like true covenants. Animal carcass is a very different color choice than most are going for these days. And that level of commitment is hard to find too, huh? So, remember how God makes a promise to Abram that his descendants will be as many as there are stars in the sky, and while Abram and his wife are now old and can’t have children, he dared to BELIEVE GOD, and because of his faith he was counted as righteous. That was an awesome moment of faith. Wow. Then, God makes another promise to Abram. (And that’s really how God works. If you can believe him for one promise, then he’ll make more promises to you. If you trust God with one thing, he will trust you with more.) So God sees that Abram will trust him with something as impossible as children at this point in his life, so God starts making more promises. Genesis 15:7, “Then the Lord told him, ‘I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur to give you this land as your possession.'” This land was the sought after land of Canaan. Abram had no way of obtaining this land. No way of fighting for it, buying it, or claiming it. So he couldn’t understand HOW God was going to give it to him. And that’s when Abram says, “Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?” Remember, it’s okay to have questions. It’s okay to believe and have unbelief at the same time. God can handle our questions. He can handle our fears. He can handle our tendency to over-think. And he will handle it if we give it to him! Just give him those doubts. That’s what Abram did. He didn’t pretend to understand what he couldn’t understand. He didn’t try to manufacture a feeling that wasn’t there. He didn’t hide behind fake faith. No, he honestly said, “Lord, how can I be sure?!!!!” And now, you have to know what God does next! This is how God responds to the questions of our heart. This is how God responds when we bring him our fears and doubts. He makes a COVENANT. What we’re going to read next has probably never made sense to you before, but now that you understand more about the scene of a blood covenant, you’ll understand, just as Abram did, what God was asking for. Genesis 15: 9-10, the Lord told him, “Bring me a 3 year old heifer, a 3 year old female goat, a 3 year old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side …” This is the scene of a covenant. Abram knew God was calling him into covenant. They were about to make an agreement together. A commitment that could not be broken. And again, remember, a covenant was an agreement between both parties as they walked through the narrow path between the carcasses together signifying whoever broke the covenant would be torn apart like these sacrificed animals. Blood would be on them and their family with a broken covenant. Now, here’s the amazing part … God walked the path alone. The covenant was his to make. The terms were his to assume. Abram didn’t make the covenant with God, God made the covenant alone for Abram and his descendants. Verse 17, “After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day.” This is a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Jesus as the ultimate blood covenant for us. A promise God alone would fulfill to save us, redeem us, and give us a hope and a future far beyond anything we could ever hope, dream or imagine. You see, that covenant is for YOU. The promises are over YOUR life. Here’s how we know – Galatians 3:29, “Now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.” What are those promises and what do they mean to you today? God’s covenant promises to Abraham were to give him descendants as many as the stars, a promised land, and to be a blessing to all nations. Now, through Jesus, we are heirs of this promise. We have a promised land awaiting us. We blessed to be a blessing. We are set apart, chosen, called, anointed and appointed. We are in covenant with God. He assumes all responsibility because he did it for us. He walked the path for us. The blood was his. Our job is to simply live like we know we are forever covered in his promises. 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

Do you have something you’re believing God for, but you’re still battling for it to make sense in your mind? Some days it’s easy to believe what could be, and other days you wake up to current reality so hard that you can barely get out of bed. What do you do on those days? On the days when what you believe God CAN do and what is happening right now seem to be a world apart. On days when the gap between what you’re believing for and what you’re going through is a massive divide. What do you do on those days? You get real with God. Yes, just be honest. God wants to fill that gap, so don’t hide it from him in shame, invite him into it! Lord, I believe you can do anything, but right now nothing seems to be happening, so come fill this gap. I hear you, Lord – but I don’t see you, Lord. I need more help from you here. That’s the kind of relationship God is calling you into. A real one where you’re honest and you hold nothing back from him. There was once a father who’s son suffered from convulsions and seizures. The father brought his son to Jesus for healing and says, “Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.” Can’t you hear the desperation in the father’s plea. Have mercy. Please, if you can help us, I’m begging for your help. And Jesus says this in reply, “What do you mean, ‘If I can?’ Anything is possible if a person believes.” Mark 9:24, “The father instantly cried out, ‘I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!'” There it is. That’s what you do on those days. On the days when you’re believe what could be, but your reality nearly cripples you. On the days when you believe what God CAN do but it’s a world apart from what is happening right now. On the days when there’s a massive divide between what you’re believing for and what you’re going through. On those days, you cry out to Jesus with all your belief and all your doubt, all your knowing and all your questioning, all your surrender and all your desire to still control it – “Jesus, I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” What? You think God would be disappointed if you admitted you struggle with part of you not believing he can get it right? You think God would be hurt by your questioning? Girl, God knows exactly how you really feel. He knows precisely how you’re struggling to fit his promises and your reality in the same box. He knows about that gap between what you’re believing for and what you’re going through, and all he wants is for you to stop hiding it from him and invite him into it. Lord, here’s the gap I’m struggling with – the things I don’t understand – the things I can’t see even being possible at this point – and I’m inviting you into this gap where my unbelief resides. Here’s my unbelief, help me to overcome it. I believe you, God, but I’m still struggling. You don’t have to hide in shame over your unbelief, you have to ask God to help you in it. You don’t have to be ashamed of the desires of your heart that are a far cry from current reality, you just have to invite God into the gap between the two. The father cries out to Jesus in honesty, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” And do you know what happens next? Jesus commands the spirit to come out of the boy, takes the him by the hand and helped him stand. As the father was struggling with holding both his belief and unbelief, Jesus healed his son. Jesus doesn’t need your belief to be perfect and without wavering. What he’s asking of you is to acknowledge the part of you that still struggles to believe and just invite him into it. Help me here, Jesus, where I still don’t get it. I believe you can get it right, but I’m still holding part of this back. Help me to surrender it all to you. In our study of Genesis, we see the 75 year old Abram who was married to his barren wife Sarai, and they couldn’t have children. All Abram wanted was a family. But the reality was, it was impossible. What’s the point in continuing to hope for something that is totally impossible? And that’s when God takes him outside and says, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” WOW! Amazing. In that moment, Abram believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith. Then when God told Abram what was next, Abram went from a place of believing to a place of doubting. He was back in the gap of reality not aligning with God’s promise, so he questioned. And that’s what we’re supposed to do. Questioning is okay – but it must be correctly placed. Questioning doesn’t stay in your head. Questioning doesn’t stay in your heart. Questioning doesn’t fill your conversations or delay your steps. Questioning is to be brought to God. God, I believe you, but help me with my unbelief!!!!! God, I hear your promises … but HOW?!!!!! That’s the space for God to fill, so invite him into it. God, I have questions, I have doubts, I’m struggling to believe, come help me here! I’m not pulling away from you in this gap, I’m asking you to fill this gap. Genesis 15:8, Abram, the man who was counted as righteous because of his faith says to God, “O Sovereign Lord, HOW CAN I BE SURE?” And this is pleasing to the Lord! Why? Because this is how honest feelings are brought to a powerful God in faith. It takes faith to say, God, I know you can, I know you hold all the power, I know you’re in every detail, but I’m still struggling with it. It takes tremendous faith to say, God, I hear you but I don’t see it and I need more of you here. If today is one of those days when you believe what could be, but your reality is nearly crippling, you ask Jesus to help you with your unbelief. If today is one of those days where you believe what God can do, but it’s a world apart from what’s happening right now, you invite Jesus into that space and cry out to him with all your belief and all your doubt, with all your knowing and all your questioning, all your surrender and all your desire to still control it, and you say, “Lord, how can I be sure? Jesus, I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief! This is God’s space. Let him fill it. 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

What do God’s rewards look like? They look like impossible things being made possible. They look like things you could have never even dreamed up in your own mind. God’s rewards are bigger, better and sweeter than what you even asked for. They are exceedingly great. And God rewards the ones who have messed things up. He rewards the ones who have failed along the way. The ones who thought their plans were better than God’s instructions, so they did their own thing their own way. God doesn’t cancel his rewards for the less than perfect, he leads them right to his rewards with grace and mercy. He covers us, forgives us, guides us, teaches us, and redeems us. Again and again, he rewards us in ways we could never be good enough to earn. Yesterday as I was wrapping Christmas gifts for my family, I realized God’s rewards in my life. Is my life perfect – no. There are some messy uncertainties, hurts and unhealed wounds. There are some struggling relationships and painful distances. Each of those gifts will be shipped in boxes today because no one is coming home … and I’m okay with that. We will be alone for Christmas, but fully aware of God’s exceedingly great rewards. I don’t get to share everything with you here because some things are private. But sometimes things need to be shared so God’s glory is made known. In the past year, we’ve walked a path with both of our daughters that seemed hopeless. Just this last Christmas, not only did they not come home but they wouldn’t even call. I didn’t tell you that. Every morning I was charged with the task of showing up here with a new devotional to share in pure delight as our family was broken. God has taught me how to walk through hard times and still be filled with joy. He’s taught me how to walk through the dark valley while talking about beautiful promised mountaintops. And let me tell you, HE’S NEVER FAILED ME ONCE. Last year at this time, one daughter’s marriage had fallen apart and she was walking away from her husband and her 2 year old son. That’s the truth. It didn’t look like it could EVER be okay again. The other daughter was going her own way in darkness, leaving a trail of disaster behind her and blaming us for most of it. She was caught in a world of chaos, bouncing from couch to couch and struggling to buy food. But God did not fail us. He didn’t walk away and leave us to try and fix it. In fact, we had nothing to do with fixing it. We prayed – God worked. We’re still praying – and he’s still working. But let me tell you how radically different our family looks this year. In one year, the daughter who was leaving her husband and 2 year old son is with her little family, they’re in Church and they’re seeking God. She sent me 2 texts this week. 1 text was of the 3 of them in matching Christmas pajamas all piled up on the couch together. That’s a miracle! Their divorce is cancelled! The 2nd text was telling me how they caught their little boy talking to himself and then realized he was praying. He was saying, “Thank you for Poppy and Franny.” (I’m Franny!). She told me they’ve been praying together as a family, and he’s started repeating them. Y’all that’s an exceedingly great reward! I didn’t do that – GOD DID THAT! My other daughter now has a baby girl of her own, and she’s the most perfect thing you’ve ever seen. Their life is not easy, but they have their little family together and they’re trying to give their baby girl the best they can. Yesterday she sent me a video of my smiling grandbaby as she absolutely lights up over her mama’s voice. It’s a miracle. I didn’t even know this was possible 1 year ago! And here I am, wrapping presents to ship to the homes of my children which God is working in. Here I am walking in the middle of undeniable miracles and exceedingly great rewards. Last year I never imagined this could be our family because it all looked so impossible. That’s what God does – you need to know that. You need to know that, because maybe this Christmas is dark and hopeless for you. Maybe you’re walking through the unimaginable and you don’t see how it can possibly get better. My friend, God can work in this, he can work through this, and he can work with this. Invite him in. Believe him. That’s the key – don’t just believe IN God, but truly BELIEVE GOD. Believe he is unlimited in power. Believe he sees every detail of your life and cares. Believe he knows the desires of your heart and is responding. Believe nothing is impossible for him. Read his promises and believe they are for you, they are for your family, they are for your future. BELIEVE GOD. This week, in our study of the book of Genesis, we’ve seen how Abram failed to trust God fully and through his own ideas and ways he made a bit of a mess. But, God was patient as Abram learned the lesson of trust. Now that Abram is trusting God completely, God is trusting Abram with more and he promises to him a reward that will be exceedingly great. Now, you have to know Abram’s honest reply. You have to know what Abram says to God next. This is HONEST PRAYER – and this is what God is asking for. Abram says in Genesis 15:2, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, a servant in my household will inherit all my wealth.” This is Abram’s heart being poured out. All he wanted was a son, but he and his wife Sarai had been unable to have children. Now Abram is 75 years old and it seems hopeless and too late. He’s disappointed. Is it okay to tell God that you’re disappointed? Is it okay to tell God you can’t believe this is how life has worked out for you? Absolutely! That’s real relationship and that’s what God is looking for. YOU CAN BE REAL WITH GOD. You can tell him the truth. The truth of how you’re really feeling. The truth of what you really want. The truth of what really hurts. And now, God reveals the exceedingly great reward he has in mind for Abram. He says to this 75 year old man with a barren wife and no children, (verse 5), “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” Impossible. Unbelievable. And totally God’s plan! What Abram did next is what you and I most need to know today. Verse 6, “Abram believed the Lord.” When it didn’t make sense, Abram believed the Lord. When it seemed too late, Abram believed the Lord. When he couldn’t see it, when he couldn’t fix it, when he couldn’t even imagine it, Abram believed the Lord. Will you believe the Lord? There’s a big difference between believing IN God and actually believing God. Satan and his demons believe in God. They know he is real. That doesn’t save them and that doesn’t change them. This isn’t about believing in God – this is about believing God. Believing his promises. Believing his power. Believing his sovereignty over every situation in your life. Believing in his involvement in the details. Believing in his personal care for you. Believing he has a plan for your life, and that plan is eternally good. Believing he will work in everything and use it for his good. Do you BELIEVE GOD? Do you believe he is for you and not against you? Do you believe he is making a way for you? Do you believe he has forgiven you and made you new? Do you believe God? I will carry big boxes filled with wrapped Christmas presents to the post office today, and I will thank God for the miracles he has done for my family. Impossible things against all odds have happened for us. He gets all the glory. One year ago, it all seemed too far gone. But now, we see what God has done. If he’s done it for me, he can do it for you. He did it for me when I was wrong, when I was self-righteous, when I was angry, when I was hurt. He did it for me when it was too late, too far gone, and beyond repair. He did it for Abram when he had a track record of not always trusting God fully. He did it for Abram when every ounce of hope was gone. He took Abram outside and had him look at the stars. He told him to try and count the stars. As many stars as there were, that’s how many descendants he would have. This meant Abram would become a father. His barren wife would have a baby. And from that baby would come more children than he could ever count. 42 generations later, through God’s miraculous work in Abram’s life, a descendant would come and he would be our Jesus! When God told Abram to count the stars that would come from him, he had no idea one of those stars would be the bright morning star that is Jesus! This is what God can do! He did it for Abram. He’s done it for me. He can do it for you. You don’t have to clean yourself up for it. You don’t have to figure it all out first. You don’t have to have a plan. You simply have to believe God. It’s more than believing IN God. Believing in God is natural when you see his creation. Now he’s calling you to something so much deeper – something that will radically change your life. BELIEVE HIM. Believe he can do it for you. Believe his promises over your life. Believe his power at work for you. Lord, I believe 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

Whatever problem you are facing right now, whatever the threat may be on your future, know this – GOD WILL PROTECT YOU. He will come through for you. God will meet your needs and you will be taken care of. You likely don’t feel worthy of that because maybe you’re not 100% innocent in the problem you’re facing. Oh come on, can we be real for a minute? This might not be all your fault, but you weren’t perfect and you have some level of responsibility here. You put your trust in the wrong people. You allowed your priorities to get out of line. You willfully overlooked the red flags because you just wanted it so bad. You stopped showing up as your best self. Maybe you don’t deserve this problem, but you’re part of it now. BUT GOD WILL STILL PROTECT YOU IN THIS. God will still come through for you. God will still meet your needs here and you will still be taken care of, even when you’ve been a little (or a lot) wrong too. Yesterday we read about Abram creating unnecessary problems on his journey because he didn’t trust God to be enough. But God didn’t cancel his promises over Abram because of it. God was still there. God was still working. God’s good plans for Abram still stood, even through the problems he had part in creating. Now, after Abram’s self-created problem, God speaks to Abram in a vision. Genesis 15:1, “Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.'” Did you know God has a reward for you? A reward you don’t deserve, so you can’t earn it. A reward of sacred gifts and favor, goodness and mercy. A reward of Heaven’s open storehouse. A reward of breakthroughs and blessings in miraculous proportions. And it has nothing to do with what you do, it has to do with what has been done for you. This is about God. God WANTS to reward you, and his reward will not be stopped. God blesses because he is good – not because you are good. How can God do that? Won’t his blessings be wasted if he gives to us even when we aren’t deserving? Oh honey, you’re viewing this from a limited perspective. God is unlimited. Nothing is wasted in his hands. Here’s what he knows – his blessings will always draw you back to him. When God shows up and does a miracle in your life, you can never forget it. When God gives you what you could never be good enough to deserve, you are forever grateful to him. Something happened in Abram when he saw God’s faithfulness even after his self-created mess caused by his lack of trust – he never had to doubt God again. When you know God is faithful, you become more faithful to him. Has God shown himself faithful to you? Doesn’t that make you want to be faithful to him? Has God proven you can trust him with those little things and those big things alike? Doesn’t that make you want to trust him fully with EVERY thing? God had told Abram to go to a land he would show him, and he had specifically told him NOT to take any of his father’s family with him. But, Abram took his nephew Lot. It made sense to him to bring along help. It made sense to him to have strong arms for the long and uncertain journey. Abram had trusted what made sense to him more than he trusted what God had told him. And this created problems. Abram’s nephew Lot (the one God told him to leave at home) was captured in war by enemy armies, so Abram had to go rescue him. Once Lot was rescued, a King wanted to reward Abram with great riches. These were things Abram didn’t need for his journey, but it must have been tempting. I mean for real, girl, if someone is offering you a designer purse and those famous red bottom shoes by Christian Louboutin, you want it, right? You don’t need it, but wow, it would be nice. But what if God had been teaching you the lesson of TAKE NOTHING WITH YOU. TRUST ME ENOUGH TO REFUSE EVERYTHING ELSE. Abram is offered a great reward by the King, but Abram was fresh off some self-created problems to learn a hard lesson, so he refused the reward. He says to the King in Genesis 14:22, “I solely swear to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will not take so much as a single thread or sandal thong from what belongs to you.” That’s a man who has learned the lesson. That’s a man who is no longer tempted to take along what God told him he doesn’t need. And THAT IS A MAN WHO GOD HIMSELF REWARDED. This is when God says, “Your reward will be great.” In fact the KJV says your “exceedingly great reward.” Not just great, but EXCEEDINGLY GREAT. Now that’s exciting! When you start trusting God more than you trust what you can earn, what you can collect, what you can buy, or what you can create, God starts offering HIS EXCEEDINGLY GREAT reward. I’ve always said you can’t outgive God – Now I’m learning you can’t out-trust God. If you trust God, God will trust you with even more! If you trust God with what you’re going through right now, God will trust you to step into breakthroughs and blessings you haven’t even dared to dream of. If you trust God with an open hand here when you have little, God will trust you with an overflow in your hand that simply won’t stop. When you don’t trust God, you create unnecessary problems. But when you do trust God, God trusts you with more. Jesus taught his disciples a lesson of faithfulness and he said in Luke 16: 10-12, “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. (Meaning if God knows he can trust you with a little, then God knows he can trust you with more.) But (here’s the warning), if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.” Abram had shown that he would be dishonest. He had shown that he would trust in his own plans and his own people more than he trusted God. Then he learned the lesson. His problems served a greater purpose of changing his heart and increasing his trust in God. Now, when he is offered a reward by a King, he easily refuses. He has learned how to be faithful. And because he was faithful in refusing the King’s reward, God promises to reward him himself with an exceedingly great reward. I love that God doesn’t give up on us when we get it wrong. He gives us another chance. I’ve been given another chance after getting it really wrong for a really long time. I want to take the lesson and be faithful. I want to trust God fully and keep my hands open to him instead of clinching my fists trying to control it myself. That’s how God can trust me with more. I’m just a girl learning the lessons of faith and trust. Isn’t that the journey you’re on too? You’re just a girl learning the lessons of faith and trust. God has given you another opportunity to get it right. He’s brought you through those self-created problems. He’s faithfully made a way for you. He’s blessed you in ways you don’t deserve. And he’s asking if he can trust you with what is next. If you trust God fully with this, he will trust you with even more! You can’t believe it until you see it for yourself, but that’s how God works. Abram messed up, but he learned the lesson and trusted God. God personally protected him and gave him an “exceedingly great reward.” Not just a good reward. Not just enough to get by on. But a reward that would blow Abram’s mind. A reward of the thing Abram’s heart most desired. A family of his own. And what was coming next would be more than he could have ever dreamed of. More than he could ever count. EXCEEDINGLY GREAT REWARD. (That’s coming tomorrow!) 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

How good do you have to be to live in the promises of God? Where’s the cut off line for that? Do you wonder if you could ever be good enough for God to really love you? Do you fight to get yourself in that good positioning, then struggle to stay there? And when you’re not there, when you know you’re falling short, do you fear God’s promises over your life being withdrawn? Well, listen closely sister, this one is for you – God’s promises depend on GOD, not on you. God alone is good enough. God alone fulfills his promises. Jesus has made you forever good enough and you don’t have the power to undo that. God’s promises for you are true whether you believe them or not. His promises are at work all around you in every detail, even when you fail to remember them. You can’t cancel God’s promises, but you can create unnecessary problems when you forget them. In our study of Genesis, we started with Adam and Eve, then 9 generations later we have Noah. 9 generations after Noah, we have Abraham. Abraham’s birth name was Abram, so don’t be confused when you read scripture and you see both names being used. In Genesis 12, Abram received a mission and a promise from God. First the mission in verse 1, “Leave your native country, your relatives, your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.” Now, the promise in verse 2 & 3, “I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” Imagine knowing with absolute certainty that God is blessing your mission. Imagine knowing you will most definitely succeed. Imagine knowing God himself has promised to take care of you and clear out anyone that might come against you. That was the promise Abram received. But Abram was not perfect. He was chosen, but not perfect. He was blessed but still flawed. He didn’t always get it right. God specifically tells Abram not to take any of his father’s family on this journey, but he takes his nephew Lot. Why would he do that? Maybe he thought he would need help for the journey. You see, sometimes we think we need help and we start grabbing people to take with us, forgetting that God alone is all the help we need. This nephew of Abram’s causes him many troubles on the journey, and that’s what happens when we don’t trust God enough to follow him completely. Does God remove his blessing when we fail him? No. But we create unnecessary problems for ourselves. What unnecessary problems are you living in right now because you didn’t trust God to be enough? What stress here is self-created? What overwhelm was formed with your own choices, not God’s hand? Do you see it? Yeah, you did that. You can’t go back and undo it, but you know what you can do – You can learn the lesson and move forward. God’s blessings are still on you and you can trust him fully. One thing I’m learning about God is how incredibly patient he is with us. Wow, I’ve been so slow to learn the lessons. It’s taken me YEARS of unnecessary problems to see God is all I ever needed. It’s my lack of trust in him that creates my worry. It’s my lack of full obedience to him that builds my overwhelm. And yet, he blesses me. Still he guides me. Still his good plans for me stand. He is patient with me. He was patient with Abram. And oh honey, he is patient with YOU! Abram’s journey of faith with God takes him to Egypt where he faced the power of Pharaoh, the King of Egypt. And this is where fear struck Abram. He knew his wife Sarai was beautiful and she would be noticed by the Egyptians. And he feared the Egyptians would be jealous of him and kill him so they could have his beautiful wife. So, Abram concocts a plan to protect himself from harm. And here’s his plan: “Sarai, tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.” And sure enough, the plan works … for a little while. That’s the thing about our plans. They work … temporarily. God’s plans work … eternally. Our plans eventually fail and then we’re left with a mess. God’s plans are without fail and are guaranteed success. Abram is working in his own plan instead of God’s plan now, and temporarily it worked. Pharaoh loved the beauty of Sarai and took her into his palace and married her. To impress Abram, believing this was his sister, Pharaoh sent him many gifts. But this was NOT God’s plan – this was Abram’s plan. Abram’s plan of self-protection soon turned into a problem. Verse 17-19, “God sent terrible plagues upon Pharaoh and his household because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. So Pharaoh summoned Abram and accused him sharply. ‘What have you done to me?’ he demanded. ‘Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘she is my sister, and allow me to take her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and get out of here!” And now there is conflict with Egypt. This conflict would grow and continue. And it was all unnecessary. Why did it happen? Because Abram followed his own plan in fear instead of remembering God’s promise in faith. God has promised to bless Abram. He had promised to bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him. You see, God had the Egyptians already taken care of. If they tried to harm Abram and Sarai, God would have stepped in. God’s promise was over them all along, but Abram inserted his own plan out of fear. And that’s what we do. We forget the promises of God when we’re facing uncertainty, and we do stupid things. Anything you are trusting more than God is a problem. What is it you are trusting in more than God? Who are you trusting in more than God? Is it your husband, your job, your wealth, your looks, your talents? That will be a problem for you. Abram trusted his lie to protect him and his wife more than he trusted God to protect him and his wife. And this caused a mess. It didn’t cancel God’s promise, but it created an unnecessary problem. Abram trusted the help of an additional hand in his nephew Lot more than he trusted God to be his helping hand without taking family along. And this caused a mess. It didn’t cancel God’s promise, but it created an unnecessary problem. Looking back, I realize just how many unnecessary problems I’ve accumulated. Each problem a result of trusting my plan, my performance and my perseverance more than God’s promise. My story goes a lot like this: Pamela trusted her ability to show up, turn it on, and make it happen through sheer willpower, more than she trusted God – so there were unnecessary problems. Pamela trusted the applause, the success, the money, more than she trusted God – so there were unnecessary problems. Pamela trusted her goals, her appearance, her circle of friends, more than she trusted God – so there were unnecessary problems. God’s not finished with me. He’s lovingly teaching me every time I stumble and showing me how faithful he is to his promises for me. His faithfulness changes me. God wasn’t finished with Abram. He didn’t give up on him just because he lied, just because he made a mess, just because he failed. No, God reminded Abram of his promise and set him free time and time again. God isn’t finished with YOU. He hasn’t given up on you just because you’ve made a bit of a mess here. He’s simply reminding you of his promise over you. His promise of GOOD PLANS for your future. His promise to never leave you and never give up on you. His promise of strength, guidance, peace, forgiveness, and an eternity in paradise with him. God’s promises never depended on you. They depend on him. Luke 1:37 tells us, “God’s word will never fail.” His promises are forever. You can’t wander your way out of them. His promises are still covering you and the more you trust them, the less problems you will self-create. God’s promises depend on GOD, not on you. God alone is good enough. God alone fulfills his promises. Jesus has made you forever good enough and you don’t have the power to undo that. 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

Your identity is a definition of who you are to you. It’s how you see yourself. It’s the value you place on your own life. Identity. The world wants to twist your identity so you never see yourself for the truth of who God says you are. God does not see you as a failure because he never saw you as a performer. (Hmmmm, let that soak in for a second.) God is neither impressed by your performance or distraught over your missteps. He is sovereign. He is mighty. He is great all alone, just by himself, and he simply invites YOU into HIS goodness. Let me tell you who you are, my sister, so you start seeing yourself a little differently. You are a funnel. You are a vessel through which God pours his blessings. A funnel’s purpose is to allow a flow from a larger thing to a smaller thing. If I’m pouring grease from a big skillet into a little bottle, I need a funnel. You are the funnel. God pours out his blessings, but he uses a funnel for his flow. His people are his funnel. And the funnel is constantly being filled, even as it gives, because the source never runs out. When you are the funnel receiving from God, you can fill a million different bottles while never running empty yourself. But the moment you stop the flow through you and try to keep it all for yourself, you create a mess. Yip, you know that. Now think about this. As the funnel, the moment you start trying to give solely from yourself, you run dry. The moment you start trying to create the blessings on your own, you fail. The funnel does nothing but allow the flow through them from the source. The funnel can’t get puffed up with pride, thinking they’re great and every little bottle receiving from them should be grateful. No, what the receiving bottle does with what has flowed through the funnel is of no concern. The funnel is to allow the flow, not measure the response. You’re the funnel. And funnel, it’s really not about you. Just let God’s blessings flow through you. Here’s a statement for your identity. It’s one I’ve clung to for the past 16 years. I’m blessed by the blessor to be a blessing. God is a blessor. All blessings come from him. Ephesians 3:1 reminds us that it is God who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. Every good thing you have came through the hands of God. It’s all his and he poured it out on you – and I bet he used a funnel to get it to you! He used someone to bless you. Someone spoke into your life. Someone gave you a chance. Someone opened the door for you. Someone made space for you. Someone showed you love. They were your funnel! They were blessed by God to be a blessing to you. And once you’ve received a blessing from God, you become the funnel. Now, you let the blessings flow through you onto the next person who needs the goodness of God. The divine giver never stops giving as long as the funnel keeps the flow open. We’ve been studying Genesis and we saw how the whole earth had been infected by Satan and his demons and become evil – all but 1. That one was Noah, and Noah was different. So God started over with just Noah and his family on the ark. Now, 10 generations after Noah comes Abraham. Abraham is know as the “father of faith”. We first learn how to be faithful through the life of Abraham. Abraham was an ordinary man who had the identity of a funnel. He knew everything he was given and everything he could do was for the purposes of God to flow through him to others. Let me tell you, it takes FAITH to receive a blessing from God and not hold on to it. It takes faith to allow the best stuff to just go right through you. God tells Abraham in Genesis 12:2, “I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.” Blessed by the blessor to be a blessing. God is saying – Abraham, your fame will not be for you. This won’t be about you. This will be about my power working through you. Your blessings will not be yours to hold on to. You’ll be asked to surrender your blessings over and over again. Sacrifice them, release them, trust me with them. And as long as you do, my blessings will never run out. But God is not only saying this to Abraham, but my sister, he is saying it to YOU. He will bless you beyond measure, but it can’t become about you. It can’t be about your followers or your numbers. It can’t be about the purse you carry or the car you drive. It can’t be about your comforts and your cares. As a funnel of God’s blessings, you have to have a continual openness that never holds back. A faith that says, “God, if you give it to me, it’s not mine to keep – it’s yours to pass through me onto others.” Abraham was blessed to be a blessing. Your blessings are for one purpose – for you to become a blessing. But have you gotten that a little twisted? Abraham’s birth name was Abram. Abram means exalted father. But there was one problem, Abram was married to Sarai and Sarai was barren. She was unable to get pregnant, so they had no children. But remember, God has promised to bless him so that he himself would become a blessing. An exalted father with no children – it was a painful reminder of a problem they couldn’t fix. But, God would bless them, and that blessing would become something so powerful that our lives would be forever changed, even now over 100 generations later. What blessing would Abraham and his wife be given, and what would that blessing become? In the way only God can, the barren woman unable to have children would miraculously become pregnant in her old age, and Abraham would have his son. And that son would have sons, who would have sons. And eventually, at just the right time, would come Jesus. Jesus, the savior of the world, came through a blessing to a barren couple who couldn’t have children. Abraham’s blessing became the blessing that saved you and I. Abraham was a funnel. God declared he would bless him to be a blessing. And because God could trust him to keep his hands open and allow the blessings to flow through him instead of holding onto them for himself, God chose his family to become the linage of Jesus. Blessed by the blessor to be a blessing. And how many times do we see the blessor use a problem and a struggle to become his biggest blessing? That’s the way he works. You know why? Because if it were easy, you might think you did it. If it were never a struggle, then you might think it just happened. No, it didn’t just happen, God ordained it. And no, you didn’t do it – God did it. Where is your biggest problem and struggle? Will you stay open to God with this? Will you trust him to get this right? If God could get it right for an old couple who had tried to have a baby for 60 years, then I think he can get your problem right in his timing. And that blessing will be a blessing to others. It’s not yours to squeeze tight and never let go. It’s not yours to hide away and protect forever. It’s poured out to you to flow through you. Have you ever heard of the Dead Sea? Nothing grows in the Dead Sea, but it’s not becauase there’s no goodness in it. Actually, it’s because there’s so much goodness in the Dead Sea that it’s become toxic. It has an inlet but no outlet. Everything just collects and settles in the Dead Sea making it so full of minerals that nothing can survive in it. If it had an outlet to allow flow, life would grow. We become like the Dead Sea when we cling to our blessings and try to collect more. Life can’t grow like that, my friend. It’s why we see the mega wealthy become mega miserable. More isn’t the answer – FLOW is the answer. You are blessed by the blessor to be a blessing – now let it flow! 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

There is a divine design over your life. The divine designer behind it is God. He wanted you, so he designed you. He used generations before you to perfectly align to bring the world YOU. Now, here you are in your lifetime. My friend, what are you doing with this one opportunity at life? It’s so wild to think about how incredibly short our lifetime really is in relation to creation. We are truly here but a moment, then our life is over and the world continues on without our existence here. But while we are here, our existence is for a purpose. We’re not here by chance, we’re here by CHOICE, and that choice was God’s. You continue to be here by choice. Every day of your life is a choice for God to continue to sustain you with his breath. His desire is that you not waste what you have been given. Live this one life you have been given in a way that it matters. Think about this – someone’s future flows from you. Someone’s life depends on your life. You’re being used to impact eternity. It’s easy to dismiss ourselves as too ordinary for that kind of impact, but I assure you, God uses ordinary people for extraordinary purposes. Isn’t it true for you? You’re here today because of someone else. God used someone in the past for your today. Someone grew you in their womb. Someone fed you when you couldn’t feed yourself. Someone may have spoken a word that forever changed you. Someone may have shown you Jesus for the first time and changed your eternity. Weren’t they ordinary people? Your mom was quite ordinary, maybe even quite flawed. That teacher was quite ordinary. Maybe it was even an ordinary stranger, but what they did made a difference in your life. Now, you get to do that for someone else. You get to be that mom, or that teacher, or that friend, or that stranger. Do something that matters! Noah and his wife had 3 sons and their wives on the ark. After the flood, they were the only humans alive. And from them, God would repopulate the Earth. Noah’s sons were Shem, Ham and Japheth. And from one of them came … YOU. Without one of them, we don’t have you. Your exact DNA required either Shem, Ham or Japheth – the sons of Noah. And remember this, Noah was just an ordinary man but he lived DIFFERENT. He wasn’t said to be the best looking, the strongest or the smartest, he was just said to be different and God liked what he saw in Noah. And THAT is who you come from! You come from someone who was willing to be different. Someone who was radically obedient to God. Someone God used to change everything. That is your lineage! That’s where you come from. One life led to your life, by design. When Noah and his family left the ark, God did something very specific. Genesis 9:1, “Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth.'” Guess what – that involved YOU. God knew you would come from 1 of Noah’s 3 sons. Your life would depend on them. And their life was blessed by God personally. My sister, you flow from blessings. You were designed by fruitfulness. Countless miraculous things have had to happen over all these generations just to ensure your life is here today. And here you are, not understanding the full impact of your lifetime. You’re failing to understand that someone’s future flows from you. Someone’s life now depends on your life. God wants to use YOU to impact eternity. I remember the very first person I ever heard pray for me. He was an ordinary man named Bill. He was the father of my middle school best friend Sarah. While at Sarah’s house, she and I got into one of those 13 year old girl arguments. Who knows what we were upset about – but looking back I’m sure I was at fault – I was far wilder and brattier than she was. Sarah’s dad sat us both down in the family room and talked to us. I don’t remember what he said, but I remember he said it out of love. He didn’t condemn either of us. He didn’t shame us. He lovingly talked to us. Then, he prayed for us. Right there, in that living room, I heard the very first person pray out loud for me. He spoke my name to God. And quite honestly, it planted a seed in me that never stopped growing. I’ve never told him thank you. He’s probably never thought of me again since then and doesn’t even remember that day. But that man, Bill Henry, made a forever difference in my life. He was different and he did something different for me. One life that impacted my life. Now it’s my turn – who’s life will I impact? This is how God works. He uses one life to create the next life. One life to impact the next life. One life to save the next life. And my friend, if you don’t show up in the fullness of who you were created to be and walk out the life you have been given, there will be more than one life that suffers because of it. Your life will suffer if you don’t live it fully – yes – but others will too. Someone else needs your life. Noah and his 3 sons were blessed by God and told to be fruitful and multiply – YOU ARE THAT FRUIT! Now, that blessing is on you. Be fruitful. To be fruitful means to produce good results. It means to be productive. It means to grow fruit abundantly. That means make a difference, feed someone, love someone, pray for someone, build something good, continue something good, invest in something good. Use this one life you have been given to live in a way that matters. Fruitfulness looks like Bill, a simple man who worked in a factory in the small town of Ava, MO, who prayed for a 13 year old girl who was in an argument with his daughter and it forever impacted her life. That life was me. Fruitfulness looks like YOU – you doing something, anything, for someone else with the love of Jesus. Your one life can lead to another life, all by the design of God. Lean into that. Lord, make me fruitful! I want to do good things. I want to be productive. I want to grow fruit in abundance. I really want to be different for you. Someone’s future flows from you. Someone’s life depends on your life. You’re being used to impact eternity. You’re not too ordinary for that kind of impact. God uses ordinary people for extraordinary purposes. Extraordinary fruit grows on very ordinary looking trees. And one death lead to your salvation, by design. Jesus gave his life so that beyond this life you’re currently living, you could have so much more. You could have an eternity in paradise in the presence of God. You can sit at that table. Do you know the table is set and there’s a seat just for you? I’ll be at that table. Bill will be at that table. Jesus will be at that table. And we all want YOU at that table. Jesus made a seat at that table possible for 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

As good as you are, or as flawed as you are, you are 100% dependent on God’s faithfulness. Without his faithfulness, you don’t wake up today. Without his faithfulness, the sun doesn’t come up. Without his faithfulness, things are never made right. You are surrounded by constant proof of God’s faithfulness and your every breath depends on it. HE WILL NEVER FAIL YOU. God has made promises over you. He is in covenant with you, and God does not break his covenants. You may fail, but he does not. You may doubt, but God is always 100% certain. He’s certain he loves you, he’s certain he chooses you, he’s certain he wants to bless you. Imagine that for a moment – the creator of the entire universe WANTS TO BLESS YOU. He wants to make something happen just for you. With one word from him, it can happen. Doors can open, circumstances can change, the impossible can suddenly be made possible. He never stops wanting to bless you. After Noah comes out of the ark with his family and the animals, they start life over again in a world that has been renewed by the flood. And God creates a sign in the sky of his promise over all life on Earth. What was the sign of God’s promise? What was the signature of his covenant? IT’S THE RAINBOW. Genesis 9: 11-16: God says to Noah, “Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will flood waters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.” Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. (That means me and you because we are part of the generations to come from Noah! We are the recipients of this covenant with God). I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again with the floodwaters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” Did you know, a rainbow is actually not the arch shape we see? It’s actually a full circle – we only see half of the circle. Okay, why hasn’t someone ever told me that before? I was flying over a tropical island one time and looked out of my airplane window to see the full circle of a rainbow over the entire island and I flipped out a little thinking Jesus was surely coming back in that moment. It’s a full circle. Complete. Whole. God’s promise is full circle. It isn’t just a half promise, it’s a complete promise. Remember that when you see a rainbow. Why are we anything less that absolutely impressed by the miracle of a rainbow? Why do we look at those perfect colors circling our sky and dismiss it as the result of something ordinary happening. GOD MADE THAT HAPPEN. It didn’t have to happen just because that’s what light does through the rain, no it happens because God designed it to happen. He sends us signs of his promises. But, notice God says here, “I will remember my covenant with you and all living creatures.” Then he says “When I, God, see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember.” God remembers you and he remembers his promises. He is 100% faithful. He will follow through. Sometimes we’re blessed with this magnificent reminder in the sky. And if it’s anything less than magnificent for you, you’ve allowed life to numb you. Be the one who stops everything to stand in awe of God. Be the one who makes a BIG DEAL out of the wonders of God. Girl, be IMPRESSED BY GOD! Be blown away by his power and majesty. Be amazed by his works. That rainbow in the sky didn’t just happen because of some scientific truth, it happened because God ordained it to happen and he created it. Now you get to behold it for a moment. But ultimately, God created the rainbow as HIS REMINDER. He says I WILL REMEMBER MY COVENANT WITH YOU. God says, “When I SEE the rainbow, I will remember.” God remembers you. He remembers his promises. And not just when it rains and the sun hits it just right – he remembers you and his promises over you eternally, non-stop, all the time. Sitting on his throne in Heaven, he is reminded, and here’s how – his throne is circled by a rainbow. Literally. The apostle John was gifted with a little visit to Heaven to see things we cannot see. This is John, one of Jesus’ 12 disciples. He was a fisherman who Jesus invited to leave his nets and come follow him, so he did, and his whole world changed. He was there by the cross when Jesus was crucified. He was referred to as “the one Jesus loved”. John is the author of the book of Revelation, and he wrote that book because God revealed to him the things of Heaven and what is to come. And there in Heaven, John sees God’s throne. Y’all, I want to assure you, there will come a time in your existence when you see that throne. As sure as the moment came for you to be born, the moment came for you to take your first step, the moment came for you to turn 16, the moment will come for you to stand before that throne. It will happen. That moment is waiting for you. And here’s what you will see – Revelation 4: 2-3, “There before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it… A rainbow encircled the throne.” Remember, a rainbow is a perfect circle, a complete and whole eternal reminder of God’s promise to us, and God chose to sit right in the middle of that promise on his throne. There’s never a moment of a single day that he’s not reminded of you and his promise to you. He put a rainbow around his throne! But, let me tell you, his covenant is more than just a promise to never wipe out this earth with a flood. It’s a promise of BLESSINGS. We read of this promise in Isaiah 54: 9-10. The Lord says, “Just as I swore in the time of Noah that I would never again let a flood cover the earth, so now I swear that I will never again be angry and punish you. For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken.” That’s a rainbow, my friends. God’s covenant of blessings. A perfect circle that will not be broken. The rainbow around his throne. He will have mercy on you even when you don’t deserve it. He will never give you what you deserve, he will give you Jesus, and he will save you. There is an eternal paradise in his presence waiting for you on the other side of this life. His rainbow reminds us of his promises. And he literally SITS IN THOSE PROMISES. Continually encircled by a rainbow as a reminder of his promises of faithfulness concerning you. God signed a covenant over you. It’s a binding promise that offers forgiveness for your sins and eternal life. The blood of Jesus seals that covenant and makes it forever. You are forgiven. You are covered. His blessings will never be broken. God’s faithful love for you will remain forever. May you never, ever see a rainbow again and be unimpressed. May you forever remember the covenant over your life that changes absolutely everything for you. What a gift it is to get to occasionally see the reminder that encircles God’s throne night and day. He wants that reminder. He sits in that promise and he will not be moved from it. A promise of BLESSING is over 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

God is your remedy. He knows how to solve your problem. He knows precisely when your problem will end. He has a plan, his plan is good, and he will perfectly fulfill that good plan. My sister, God has not forgotten about you. He hasn’t overlooked you. He hasn’t dismissed you. He hasn’t turned a deaf ear or a blind eye toward you. You are seen. You are heard. You are loved. You are remembered. Genesis 8:1, “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and livestock with him in the boat.” God remembered Noah. God even remembered the animals. They had been in the ark while it rained nonstop. They had been floating while absolutely everything else was wiped out in the flood. Imagine being on the boat you’ve been building for 120 years and watching every living creature outside of that boat not survive. Wouldn’t you be glad you were crazy enough to build the boat?!!! Imagine watching the trees be covered with water, the hills be covered with water, and eventually every single mountain peek on earth being covered with water. That’s where Noah was. For 150 days, exactly 5 months, Noah had been on that floating boat with his family and all those animals. It must have been a long 150 days. It must have felt like forever. He must have asked if they would ever make it out. Would this flood ever come to an end. And exactly at that point is when we’re told BUT GOD REMEMBERED NOAH. God had not forgotten about him. He hadn’t left him floating in a problem without a rescue plan. There was always a plan. Right now, you may feel like you’re floating in a problem without a rescue plan. Oh, but God has a plan. That plan is good, and that good plan will be perfectly fulfilled. This will not continue forever. An end to your problem is already in the works. After 150 days of floating with no land in sight, the ark came to rest on the mountain of Ararat (ehh-rr-at). The Bible is actually very specific about it’s location, and let me tell you what has recently happened. The ark is believed to have been found – and guess where. On top of the mountain of Ararat (ehh-rr-at)! It is a dormant volcano, sitting at 17,000 feet tall, making it still the highest point in Turkey. There are new findings released just this year that scientists believe to have found petrified wood in the shape of a boat, measuring exactly 450 feet long and 75 feet wide, on the top of Mount Ararat. Nothing grows at this elevation. Those peaks are covered in snow. And yet, here is this wood and the remains of tar. How absolutely amazing is that? For Noah, the rain stopped after 40 days, but the floating didn’t stop for 5 months. Now, after 5 long months, they sat lodged on top of the tallest peak in Turkey, still surrounded by water – and they waited. Waiting isn’t easy, but sometimes God has us wait. Why? Because he’s doing something. There’s a purpose in the wait. Sometimes he’s doing something to prepare the path for you, and sometimes he’s doing something to prepare you for the path. But he’s always doing something in the wait. My friend, you can trust the wait. Psalm 27:14, “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” David wrote that in one of the hardest seasons of his life. He was hiding from King Saul who had turned on him and was hunting him down to kill him. David was on the run, hiding in caves, and living in the wilderness. He was without a home, without shelter, without help. And he is somehow writing, “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” Notice how his writing is repeated. He’s telling himself. Wait patiently, David. You have to be brave here. You have to be courageous. YES, wait patiently for the Lord. He was saying this because every ounce of him wanted to give up. Every emotion within him wanted to freak out. Anxiety wanted to overtake his mind. Panic wanted to set in. Hopelessness was knocking at his door. So he wrote his prayers and he trained his mind in the waiting. And God would provide for David while he ended the threat of his enemy, but it wouldn’t happen quickly. The wait was about 13 years for David. And David came out of that wait as a man primed to be used by God. You’re waiting, but you’re not forgotten by God. You’re being primed, prepared, shaped, molded, strengthened into the fullness of who God knows you can be. Just like David, you need to remind yourself to wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, girl, wait patiently for the Lord. And just like Noah, you need to not break down the doors of your boat and try to run out too soon. Noah is in the boat, surrounded by a pair of every species of animal, now stuck on top of a mountain. It’s been 5 months, and still he waits. He’s waiting for the waters to recede. He’s waiting for the earth to come back to life. He’s waiting for God to tell him it’s go time. After ONE YEAR on the boat, 5 months floating, then 7 more months stuck, God says in Genesis 8:15, “Leave the boat, all of you.” The problem had ended and life had begun again. And all this time, God was in complete control. He had a plan, the plan was good, and that good plan would be fulfilled perfectly. God knew exactly how to bring an end to this big problem. Remember, the flood was not the problem – the problem was Satan and his demons had infected the entire population of humans and the result was a total and complete evil on the earth. Noah was the only one who was different. God brought the flood to start over with just Noah and his family. But, the solution took time. 120 years of building the boat, then 1 full year on the boat. And now, finally, a new life starting over in God’s blessing and provision. God knows exactly what he is doing. He can be trusted. His eye has never left you and his powerful hand is moving on behalf of you. He sees the problem and he has a planned solution for the problem. You may be floating in a problem right now, but there’s a rescue plan in place for you. Wait patiently Heather. Wait patiently Vicki. Wait patiently Krista. Wait patiently Samantha. Wait patiently Maria. Wait patiently Kerry. And YOU, yes you, you’re being called by name here. Wait patiently, daughter of God. Be brave and courageous. Don’t you give up here. Don’t you let the darkness overwhelm you. God remembers you and he has a good plan. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. His rescue plan is in motion and right on time. You won’t float in this problem forever. God remembers 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

God is asking you to follow him in a way that will require your faith. You’re not going to understand it. You’re not going to be in control of it. Can your mind make peace with the unknown? Can your hands remain open in full surrender? And girl, will your feet move forward to destination UNCERTAIN. Faith would not be required if you had a complete plan with confidence in the next 37 steps. Faith would be unnecessary if your future were certain and the steps there were clear. But that is NOT the life you were created for. That is not the future you’re being called to. Faith will be required here, my friend. Why? Because Hebrews 11:6 says, “It is impossible to please God without faith.” So, these uncertainties you face and the struggles with control you feel are your path to pleasing God. This is your path to faith. You are called to a place where you can’t see everything, you don’t understand it all, and it’s beyond your control … all for the purpose of growing your faith. Look around, you are in the faith growing field. The uncertainties and struggles are God’s divine recipe for your faith to grow. You can’t do this on your own. You don’t have all the answers. You can’t see how it’s going to work. But you have a God who is calling your next step. Will you take it in faith? Next steps are quite practical. The next step is always right in front of you. It’s quite literally doing what you can, where you are, with what you have … and (this is big) … not allowing what you can’t do, what you don’t know and what you don’t have, to keep you stuck. Our last devotional together was episode #2006, “Will You Be Different”. Studying the story of Noah, we see how Noah was different and God was pleased. Humans had become evil in thought and action, but Noah was faithful to God. Noah had a close relationship with God and sought to walk closely with him. God tasks Noah with a job so big that it would take him 120 years to complete – build the ark. This ark would house the only living breathing things through the flood which God would use to start over again. And this is what God says to Noah in Genesis 6: 17-19, “Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die. But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat – you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring a pair of every kind of animal – a male and female – into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood.” Imagine receiving this kind of impossible mission. God, how do you expect me to do this? But, Noah lets God continue. He doesn’t interrupt him with his questions. He doesn’t insert his own emotions. He listens. And here’s what God says next – verse 20, “Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive.” God gives Noah a task he can do – he can build a boat. Right where he is, with what he has, he can start building. But, what Noah couldn’t possibly do is gather a male and female of every single air breathing animal. How would he ever do that? They didn’t even have tractors and trailers back then. There were no semi trucks to make a route to gather up these animals. This was beyond anything Noah could do. But God didn’t expect him to do the impossible. What God expected was for Noah to get busy doing what he could do in building, and trust God to do the impossible work. Girls, I can’t stop thinking about that. Who else has been prompted by the Holy Spirit to do something, but you’ve talked yourself out of it because step 5 is so far out of reach that it overwhelms you. So, you never moved beyond step 1. Maybe you started step 1, but you gave up. You got discouraged. You got scared. And instead of finishing that step in faith, you never completed what you could do. You could have built that boat, and if you would have built that boat, God would have brought the animals. IT WOULD HAVE COME TO YOU. You wouldn’t even have to go out and chase it, God would have brought it to you. But you stopped building, honey. And when you stop doing what you can do, using what you have where you are, then God withholds those impossible steps from coming right to you. You don’t have to chase what God has for you. It will come to you. But you do have to do the work to prepare for it. For my single ladies, you never have to chase the man God has for you. God will bring him to you. It will literally happen … but there’s work for you to do right where you are first. And that work is ON YOU. Your faith, your space, your priorities. If you will put in the work where you are, God will align the best things for you next. For my girls who know you have a calling on your life to start or build something … start it, build it! Yes, for real. Start small. Start simple. Start for free. Be bad at it long enough to get good at it. You don’t have to have your business plan perfected with the budget to support level 10 of this – honey, you’re at level 1. What if level 10 requires a divine movement of God and he has it planned, but you won’t see it until you get there. Faith is required to work here on level 1, knowing you could never pull off level 10 on your own. That work is pleasing to God! Noah had no way of gathering a pair of every species of animal. How in the world would he do that? If he would have been worried about chasing lions and tigers and bears, he wouldn’t have been building a boat. His job was to build the boat – God would bring the animals. Your job is to do what you can, where you are with what you have. Your job is to be faithful with little. Your job is to stay in relationship with God as you grow. Your job is to be so absolutely sold out to God that what you’re doing will NEVER work without God doing his part. THAT IS FAITH! And let me tell you something – when you settle for a little safe life where you can easily predict how 5 years from now will work out because you have a plan and you can control that plan – something crazy happens. YOU FEEL RESTLESS. You feel unfulfilled. Life starts closing in on you and suddenly you feel anxious without understanding where the anxiety is coming from. What we’ve missed is the root of anxiety is often a gift to us. It’s a warning sign that something isn’t right in our lives. Anxiety can be a God-given emotion to make us feel so uncomfortable in our settled comfort, that it forces us to do something different. God wants YOU to be different – and he wants you to DO something different. He will allow you to feel the anxiety of a settled, little life so you wake up and seek more. Honey, you were created for more. Settling for less isn’t supposed to feel good. If you don’t feel good, stop and ask God why. Maybe it’s because you’re not doing what you could do, where you are, with what you have, as a step of faith toward something bigger than you. There’s an old saying that says, “Don’t put the cart before the horse.” It means doing things out of order. And maybe you’ve been focusing on and stressing over something that’s supposed to come AFTER something else. Maybe you’ve missed God’s order in this. God said, “Noah, you build this boat. I’ll bring all the animals.” Order. If Noah would have focused on gathering animals, he would have never built the boat. Here’s what that could mean for you today: 1. Stop rushing the outcome before the foundation is ready. We want the result —the success, the relationship, a life change— before laying the foundation that actually makes it possible. Your foundation is a relationship with Jesus. It starts there so you literally MUST start there. Success will build on that foundation. Visible changes will happen after the foundation is set. 2. Stop stressing about the future instead of taking the next right step. If you let your mind run ahead of you, you’ll become too overwhelmed to take today’s simple action that would actually move you forward. The next step is always right in front of you. Future steps are held in the future, God will reveal them when you get there. You’re not there yet. When the horse pulls the cart, everything moves smoothly. When the cart is in front, everything gets stuck. Maybe you’re stuck because you’ve put your cart before the horse. You’re doing things out of order. You’re worried about things that God will do, but he will only do them after your obedient POSSIBLE steps here. What CAN you do today? Do it. Do it in faith that God will either strengthen you for what is next, or he will supernaturally do the impossible for you. Faith is required to please God here. Faith builds the boat while not worrying about all the animals. 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

God has a purpose for you, and it will require you to be different. To be different, you must do something different. Different than what you’ve always done. Different than what everyone else does. Different than what is easy for you. If you’re willing to be different in the new year of life coming to you, then God wants to use you for greater purposes than you can imagine. But if not – if you’re not willing to be different, then you simply miss it. You miss what could be. You miss what you could do. You miss the potential of things you haven’t even dared to imagine yet. Genesis chapter 6 tells us of a world gone wrong and one man who was different. That one man was Noah. The world had gone wrong because Satan and his demons had contaminated the earth, literally. I never understood this until I really stated digging in and studying, but verse 2 says, “The sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.” What exactly does that mean? The sons of God are heavenly beings. They’re angels. But scripture also tells us that angels do not marry, so what angels are marrying the human daughters? Answer: The fallen angels. When Satan rose up in jealous competition against God, he was banished from heaven and thrown down to Earth. The Book of Revelation says 1/3 of the angels fell from glory with him. Those fallen angels are what we refer to as demons. So, what has happened on earth here in Genesis, is Satan’s demons have married the women and they’ve infected the human population. Of course this was Satan’s plan. He wanted absolutely NOTHING good left here. If he had fallen from Heaven, he wanted to ensure no one else could be there either. As the women had the children of demons, the world got worse. Genesis 6:5, “The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart.” God’s heart is broken over the condition of his people. Evil was everywhere. So, God decided he had to destroy everything. BUT, one man was different. God saw that one man and knew because he was different, something different could happen for the future. When we are different, we create different. When we are different, something different can flow from us. God is looking for different. God saw something different in Noah. Verse 8 from the MSG translations, “But Noah was different. God liked what he saw in Noah.” Noah stood out because he wasn’t willing to do what everyone else was doing. Noah wasn’t infected by the wickedness around him. He hadn’t settled for what had become normal. Verse 9 says, “Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.” Was Noah perfect? No. The only perfect one to ever walk the earth was Jesus. Noah wasn’t perfect, but he was righteous and considered blameless. He sought to do what was right. His heart was pure. He sought God first and fully. How did Noah do that when the world had become so wicked all around him? He walked in close fellowship with God. He had a relationship with God. He made space for God. He talked to God. He listened to God. And that is our very clear and simple answer for today. How do we navigate our way through a very fallen world full of things that have gone wrong? Answer: We have a relationship with God. We talk to him and we listen for him. Once again, we’re back to MAKING SPACE FOR GOD. One week ago today we talked about the final 40 days of 2025. We declared we would make space for God in these final 40. How are you doing with that? Is God getting space, or has life naturally crowded him out again? My friend, if you’re going to be different in 2026, then you have to do something different now. What makes you different is your relationship with God. Give him priority in your life. The world doesn’t get to crowd him out, He crowds out the world. You don’t have to find a space for him in your busy schedule, your busy schedule must bow to God. His space comes first. Nothing gets done and nothing happens until God gets his space. Well that’s different, isn’t it? Yes, it is! And different is what God is looking for. Noah was different. God liked what he saw in Noah. God is looking for a girl who will live different in these final days of 2025 and pave the way for a radically different new year. Will you be different? You’re being called to something different, my friend. It’s time to do life different. You don’t have to be perfect. You just need to seek God first and look to him to do what is right. You need to give him time and space so your relationship grows. Because Noah was different, God decided to save creation through him and start again. Humans had been infected by Satan’s demons and there was no turning back. God would wipe them out, eliminate their power, and start over again with just Noah and his family. The different ones. And we know how God did that, right? The flood. The flood that wiped out every air breathing being and creature that wasn’t in the ark. God told Noah to build a large boat. A boat as long as 1.5 football fields and as tall as a 4 to 5 story building. He gave Noah 120 years to get the job done. Did this make any sense to Noah? Absolutely not. Would it be easy? Anything but! Not only would Noah have to build something like he had never ever seen before, but he would be responsible for saving every species of animal on the ground and in the air. That’s about 1400 different kinds of animals! How in the world would Noah ever be good enough for this impossible mission? God would take care of the details as Noah worked in faith. My sister, you need to know that God will take care of the details as you work in faith. As you put him first and follow in obedience, he will do impossible things behind the scenes. He will make it happen. You do your part. God tells Noah in verse 20, “Pairs or every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive.” GOD WOULD BRING THE ANIMALS TO NOAH. Imagine how easy it would have been for Noah to get caught up in the details. How is all this water going to come, it’s never even rained before. How will we survive? How will there be enough food? How God? God, how am I supposed to gather all these animals? I’ve got this huge boat to build. How will this ever work? Noah didn’t have to go hunt them down and wrangle them in. Noah wasn’t out roping wild elephants and wrestling lions. God would bring them to him. Verse 22, “So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.” As Noah faithfully did the work God had told him to do, God did the impossible in the details. This is how humans were saved and we started over with one man who was different. God isn’t looking for perfect, he’s looking for different. And he’s asking you to be different. He’s asking you to do something different than you have been doing. He’s maybe asking you to start by changing one thing. If you’re willing to be different in the new year of life coming to you, then God wants to use you for greater purposes than you can imagine. But if not – if you’re not willing to be different, then you simply miss it. You miss what could be. You miss what you could do. You miss the potential of things you haven’t even dared to imagine yet. 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

Every morning when we wake up, we get to choose our attitude. Any attitude we wish is available for the taking. We can put it on and wear it the entire day, and just like the right pair of shoes can change the outfit, the right attitude can change your experience. Most days we wake up unaware of this choice. We wait and see how others are acting, how our hair looks, and what the weather is. Good day, good attitude. Bad day, bad attitude. Average day, average attitude. We allow our experience to dictate and determine our perspective. But within us is the power to change our entire experience, regardless of circumstances. Within you is your choice of attitude, and your choice changes everything you experience. Today we have the extreme gift of waking up to a day when the preferred attitude is predetermined. It’s Thanksgiving, and what do we do on Thanksgiving besides eat a feast … we give thanks. Yes, we knew to wake up with an attitude of gratitude today. The calendar tells us today is the day to wake up to thanksgiving. What would your life look like if you continually gave thanks? I mean in the presence of real life, less than perfect scenarios, would things begin to look and feel different if they were covered in the gravy of gratitude? Yes, the gravy of gratitude – let it cover everything! Gravy on that turkey, gravy on those potatoes, gravy to soak your bread in. Yum. Where do you get that gravy? If you’re not a true cook, you may not know where gravy comes from. Honey, you don’t buy that gravy, you make that gravy from what you already have. You use the leftover grease or broth to make gravy. The gravy of gratitude is made from what you already have. You can’t buy gratitude. You may think once you have what you really want then you’ll be grateful, but I assure you, that’s not the way it works. You’ll always want more or something else. Gratitude comes from what you already have. Melody Beattie said “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.” I don’t know who you might be missing around the table this year, but I’m truly sorry. I’m deeply sorry for your loss. I’m sorry for the division. I’m sorry for the dysfunction. I’m sorry for the distance. For whatever has caused the empty seats around your table, I’m so sorry. I’m missing important people too. No kids. No family. No friends. It’s just my husband and I. But God has given me so much bacon in my life already that I have all this leftover bacon grease from what he has given me before, that I can make the gravy of gratitude today. I have everything I need to be grateful, and now everything I have will be better because of that gratitude. Today, may you see what is here over what isn’t. Unlock the fullness of life today with your thanksgiving. We truly have so much to be grateful for. Let me throw my favorite absolutely overwhelming statistics at you, like I do every year on Thanksgiving: If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of the world. (Is that you? Do you have food in your refrigerator? Do you have clothes on your back? Do you have a roof over your head and a place to sleep? You are wildly rich, my sister!) If you have any amount of money in the bank, in your purse, or even some spare change hidden in your couch cushions, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealth. (Is that you too? You may not have a lot, but you have a little. You are ridiculously blessed, my friend!) That’s me. I qualify for both of these categories. Isn’t that you too? Girls, do you know what this means …. this means we are wildly rich and ridiculously blessed! Even in our current less than perfect life scenario, we have so much to be grateful for. Recognize it now. This is you. Wildly rich and ridiculously blessed. And you know what, you’re entitled to absolutely none of it. When you’re entitled to nothing, you can be grateful for everything. You are wildly rich and ridiculously blessed. That is your truth. Now, what will you do with it? Who will you thank? Luke 17: 11-19 tells us a story of 10 men sick with leprosy who met Jesus. Jesus healed all 10 of them, but only 1 came back to thank him. Now Jesus was literally shocked by this and says “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine?” And Jesus said to the one who had returned to thank him, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.” All 10 men had received healing, but to the 1 who returned to thank Jesus, he received more than healing of his illness. The Greek word Jesus used was ‘sozo’. Your faith has ‘sozo’ you. This word, ‘sozo’, is more than just a healing of disease, it is a an act of saving and making completely whole. All 10 lepers received healing for their disease, but only the 1 who returned to thank Jesus received wholeness. Not only was his leprosy healed, but his mind was healed, his heart was healed. He was made completely whole. The gravy of gratitude covered his entire body and absotluely nothing was left the same. This word ‘sozo’ is used in John 3:17, “God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to ‘sozo’ the world through him.” To save us, to heal us, to make us whole and complete. Jesus isn’t just interested in fixing your problem and helping you get through this issue – honey, he’s interested in ‘sozo-ing’ this. He wants to heal you completely, fix the issue in your mind and in your heart, make you radically whole and forever complete. And that’s what happens when you come back again and again and thank him. Let gratitude cover your entire life like gravy and receive the ‘sozo’ of Jesus! Keep coming back to say thank you. We gather today as the wildly rich and ridiculously blessed. The ones who have an abundance of proof in their lives of God’s goodness and grace. The ones who have been saved and redeemed. The ones who have been given more than we could ever deserve. Yes, the ones covered in gravy. We are also, unfortunately, the ones who have proven to be ungrateful in the past, caught up in the details, rushed through it and missed the overall truth in our lives that we are SO FORTUNATE. We’ve been one of the nine who hasn’t come back to Jesus to say thank you before. But that has changed. Now we’re the one who runs back to say thank you. We have the gravy of gratitude! We have the remains from all we have been given before, and now what we have left is here to make everything better. So here we are, among the masses who have received, but among the few who have returned to give thanks. Jesus, we’re here today to say thank you. We’ve come back to you in sheer gratitude for all you’ve done for us. Thank you for our lives. Thank you for our blessings that are in such great abundance and continual supply that we overlook them. Thank you for waking us up to a new day of life today! Oh how absolutely amazing! If you can walk, did you fail to show gratitude for legs that work? If you can see, if you can hear, did you fail to say thank you for it just because you’ve always had sight and hearing? Have we failed to show our thanksgiving for the electricity that powered on, the water that flowed, the heat that warmed us, and the car that started. Have we overlooked the blessing of who we do have, thinking about who we don’t. We have missed many things already today, but we won’t miss it all. We won’t go through this entire day oblivious to God’s goodness in our lives. We stop right here and gather as the wildly rich and ridiculously blessed, covered in the gravy of gratitude, to simply say, THANK YOU. We run back to the giver of life, we return to give you our praise. Thank you for making us whole. 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

Adam and Eve were God’s first creation in which he said it was “VERY GOOD”. He made them in his own image and placed them in the middle of paradise to live closely with him. We know they failed, but God covered them in grace with the first sacrifice and clothing made in animal skins. Then he blessed them. You see my friends, our shame is covered by grace and we are wrapped in blessings. God doesn’t keep going over the wrong that has happened, he moves forward in blessings and the good plans he has for our future. Adam and Eve were first blessed with two sons. Cain and Abel. The first babies ever born. The first siblings. And do you know how that turned out? I’m not sure why we feel so disappointed when we experience family struggles for ourselves – the very first family had complete dysfunction. God never promised us perfection in our families, in fact, his word gives us example after example of problems and struggles in families God has chosen and blessed. Mama, you can quit feeling sorry for yourself now – you’re not the only one who is dealing with chaos. Cain was the oldest son and he became a keeper of the land. Abel was the youngest son and he became a keeper of sheep. Yes, they had jobs. Why? Because work is good for us! We are designed to need daily purpose. We are also designed to serve God with our best. Genesis 4:3, “When it was time for harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. (Notice, what did Cain give God? SOME of his crops. Circle ‘some’.) Verse 4, “Abel also brought a gift – the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. (What did Abel give God? The BEST portions. Circle ‘best’.) So, Cain gave some of his harvest, but Abel gave the best of his harvest, and God knew the difference. He knew the heart, he knew the intent. So, here’s what happened – Verse 5-6, “The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected. ‘Why are you so angry?’ the Lord asked Cain. ‘Why do you look so dejected?’ The world sees comparison and jealousy for the first time. And God gives a warning. Verse 7, “You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” Woah – that is a powerful warning and it still stands today. The moment you stop doing what is right, then sin tries to come in and control you. The Passion Translation says it like this, “If you refuse to do what is right, sin, the predator, is crouching in wait outside the door of your heart. It desires to have you, yet you must be its master.” Here’s the lesson – Offering less than your best leaves an open door to the enemy. And where does the enemy attack? Your heart! You know when you’re not giving your best. You know when you’re just checking a box. You know when you’re just punching the clock. You know when you’re going through the motions, and showing up because you have to. AND SO DOES GOD. God didn’t accept Cain’s offering for one reason, and one reason only – it wasn’t his best. God wants our best and he’s not fooled. But why does God want our best? Does he really need anything from us? Everything is his, and if God wants something he can either take it or he can create more in one word. He most certainly doesn’t need our best, so why does he only accept our best? Here’s why – Because God knows our best is what’s best for us. God knows the moment we start holding back and checking out, we are in danger. When we get lazy, we leave the door to our heart cracked open. That’s how sin slips in and attacks. And it attacks the heart. It hardens our heart, turns our heart away from God and to the things of the world. It builds walls around our heart to keep others out. This is why God asks for your best. Not because he needs your performance. Not because he needs your money, or your work, or your time. But because he knows it’s best for you to offer your best. You were designed to give him your best. And when you’re not working within your design, you’re not living your best life. When you’re not living your best life, you’re settling for less and less is what you get. God invites Cain to recognize where he was giving less than his best and fix it. But Cain doesn’t. Here’s what he does instead – he attacks his brother Abel, and he kills him. The very first couple with their very first children, and this is the family chaos. Yip, it’s real and now maybe your family chaos doesn’t look quite as bad. If you want to end the chaos, the answer is to give your absolute best. God has given us the power to overcome sin. We are not helpless victims. It’s our laziness that invites sin to attack our hearts. It’s our desire to get God’s best with our less than best, and it quite simply doesn’t work that way. Today, come back to giving your best. In everything you do today, do it with your best. There’s a scripture that’s always impacted me when I’m doing the daily work of cooking, cleaning and taking care of people. Colossians 3:23, Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for people. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” God knows what your best looks like, because he gave you your best. He knows what you can really do. He knows how good you can really do. And he also knows when you don’t do your best, it’s a danger to your heart. Where do you need to throw away the boxes you’ve been checking and throw your whole heart into it again? Where do you need to show up with the best of you, not what’s left of you? Where do you need to protect your heart by offering nothing but your best? Do that – God sees it and you will feel the difference. 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

Do you carry any shame? Is there shame for what you have done? Shame for your past? Shame for your failures? Shame is a feeling of worthlessness. Shame is a disgrace you assign to yourself. It’s a fear of the worst of you being exposed, and that fear makes you hide. But don’t you realize there’s absolutely NOTHING you can hide from God. He sees it all and knows it all. You don’t sneak behind God and get away with things. He’s fully aware of that secret. One of my best friends has a coffee mug that’s a picture of Jesus peeking over a pair of sunglasses he’s wearing and it says, “I saw that.” My friend, Jesus saw that. More than anything he wants to say about it, he wants to DO something about it. Jesus wants to cover your shame. In Genesis when Adam and Eve are disobedient and ate the fruit they were told not to eat, their very first feeling was of shame. Shame caused them to hide. But do you know what God did in response to their shame? Chapter 3, verse 21 says, “The Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.” I’ve never noticed that before. God himself made the first real clothes to cover their shame. God doesn’t desire his sons and daughters to walk around in shame. Shame separates us from him and all he ever wanted was a close relationship with us. This is exactly why the enemy works so hard to cover you in shame. Shame separates us from God. We naturally hide in our feelings of worthlessness and self-assigned disgrace. The devil wants to poke at those unhealed wounds within to make that shame ooze from you. It’s all an attempt to keep you from God. But know this – Jesus saw it and he did something about it! God made the first clothes to cover the first shame in preparation for the coming covering for ALL shame. Notice what God used for the clothes. He used the skin from animals. Those animals had to die, they were sacrificed. Adam and Eve had originally made coverings from fig leaves in the garden to try and cover their shame, but that wasn’t good enough. God sacrificed animals and used their skins to cover them. That sacrifice was required. Shame is only covered by sacrifice. And there’s nothing we could ever sacrifice enough to make us righteous. We can’t change ourselves to be good enough. You could spend every day for the rest of your life trying to perform and earn your righteousness, but you would still fall short. A sacrifice beyond you is required. A sacrifice made by God. God made a covering for shame of Adam and Eve – and God has made a covering for your shame. That covering is the blood of Jesus. His sacrificed life is what makes you forever good enough. Yes, Jesus saw what you did and in response, he did something about it. He died for you. Now girl, you have absolutely zero right to be walking around in that shame. That’s already been bought. It’s already been covered. The high price was paid for you to feel love instead of worthlessness. A huge sacrifice was made for you to be covered in grace where there was once disgrace. That grace will radically change your life. RECEIVE IT! But then, don’t waste it. Don’t waste the grace offered to you. Don’t keep replaying the story. Don’t allow the enemy to poke at those wounds – no girl, bring those wounds to Jesus and let him completely heal you. Grace isn’t a bandaid to just get you through. Grace heals you perfectly. Grace takes your absolute worst and turns it into a testimony. My friend, you have a testimony of how God can meet you in your pit of shame, save you and change you – now what are you doing with that testimony? Are you telling it? Are you using it to help others? Is God getting any good out of the grace he has offered you? Or are you wasting that grace? I’m a girl who performed for so long that I sought the applause of people more than I appreciated the grace of Jesus. On most days, I honestly didn’t even feel like I needed grace because I was really good at performing. I could make things work. I could grind it out until it happened. And people really liked me. It all looked so good on the outside, but something nasty was happening on the inside. God loved me enough to see that and not turn away from me. I must have been disgusting to him in my self-righteous performance while using his name. But instead of disgust, he gave me grace. Grace I didn’t even know to ask for. Grace I didn’t even appreciate at the time. Grace for all I was doing wrong and time to turn it around and get it right. I’ve gone through a few years of deep humbling. It’s been a process of holy conviction that turned my performance into a heavy load I couldn’t carry. Pressure that made me crack. Stress that left this strong willed girl finally giving up. And that’s when grace came in! Grace that made me hate the stage and no longer crave a spotlight. Grace that broke my heart for what breaks God’s heart. Grace that saw me where I was and covered me to take me where God wanted me next. I’ve changed some things. Am I still embarrassed over the way I had done things for so long. Yes, no doubt. But it won’t become shame. Shame tells me I’m worthless, but God tells me I’m chosen as worthy. Shame tells me I’m a disgrace, but Jesus says his grace is sufficient for me. Shame has no place in a life covered by the blood of Jesus, it’s all been covered. Now, I know to truly be grateful for God’s grace and I won’t waste it. You see if God can be patient with a girl like me, he can be patient with a girl like you. If he can cover me, he can cover you. If I can change, so can you. My friend, whatever you’ve been carrying around deep inside of you, ashamed of what you did and who might find out – please know this – Jesus saw that and he did something about it. You have been covered in grace. Grace that makes you forever good enough. God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and Eve to cover the shame that made them hide from him. Blood was shed and a life was sacrificed to make that covering. But that covering would continually wear out and a new sacrifice would be required, or shame would once again enter and separate them from God. That’s why Jesus gave his life. The forever sacrifice that makes us eternally right with God. A permanent covering of grace for our shame. There’s a song called “Washed” by Elevation Rhythm. It says: I’ve been washed in the water, washed in the blood I’m as good as new, oh hallelujah You took away my shame and you nailed it to the cross Got me running out the grave, oh hallelujah, here I come Where are we running? Back to God! No more hiding in shame. We’ve been washed in the water, washed in the blood and we’re as good as new. All our shame has been taken away and nailed to that cross. When the enemy comes at you to try and strip you of that grace and reassign shame to you, please remember one thing – YOU’RE NOT THAT GIRL ANYMORE. YOU’VE BEEN MADE NEW. You don’t belong in that grave where you once wallowed. You’ve been made forever good enough by Jesus. Oh hallelujah. What are you wearing and who made that? Is that a name brand, girl? Where did that come from? If you’re wearing shame, that comes from the pits of hell, hand designed by the enemy of your soul. Get that off of you! God has a designer piece with the label of grace made just for you. Put it on. It will change you forever. 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

I once thought living in full surrender to God would mean my life would become boring. I thought all my fun would end. So, for years I held back. I offered parts of me, while my hands were clinched tightly on my greatest desires. I just knew if I offered it all to God, he would take the best parts away and leave me with a life I didn’t love. Wow – was I wrong. This life lived in wild abandon and total trust in God is the greatest adventure I’ve ever been on. My hands are wide open and I’ve let go of everything, and somehow my life is absolutely overflowing. Those desires I was so afraid to surrender have been changed into even greater things and made realities. Why didn’t anyone tell me how good this would be? Instead, I lived so many years of my life fearful of what God might take away from me and suspicious of what he was withholding from me. Does God hold back the good stuff when we trust him? Can the best stuff only be found on your own, apart from a life of surrender? Do you have to make things happen for yourself? Do you have to look out for #1? Do you have to question God? Let’s be very clear – living like that will cause you to fall. You will fall for the tricks of the enemy of your soul when you begin to think God is keeping something from you. You will fall right into the traps of Satan when you try to get what you want in your own ways. When what you want takes first place and God is put in second, the door is open for absolute destruction in your life. My friends, that’s precisely what happened to Eve in the garden. She was tricked into believing God was withholding the best stuff from her. She thought there was something better for her that God had been hiding. And that’s exactly how it happens. A seed of doubt is planted, questioning if God is holding out on you, so you’re willing to go around him to get what you think you want. What is sin? It’s what God says you shouldn’t do, right? Actually, no. This isn’t about what you should and shouldn’t do. Sin is so much more about what falls short of God’s best for you. Sin isn’t just the forbidden things you’re not supposed to do, sin is what will harm you. Sin is the very thing God is trying to protect you from. Not because he’s withholding the good stuff from you and labeling it as sin. Actually, quite the opposite. God is protecting us from the things he knows would harm us the most. The things that cause shame, guilt and regret. The things that separate us from him. The things that confuse us, bind us, create addictions and separation. But do you know what Satan says? Satan says it’s only called sin to keep you from experiencing more in life. It’s not that bad. It won’t hurt you. You’ll just get to see what you’ve been missing. We live in a fallen world where Satan and his demons roam around like a roaring lion, trying to kill, steal and destroy everything that is good. You are good. Your life is good. The purpose for which you were created is good. The plans God has for your future are good. And it’s all under absolute attack. Everything good has a bullseye for evil. To fight this battle, it is crucial for you to know how the enemy attacks. How does he trick us? What does he say? Here it is – Satan quite simply TWISTS God’s words in a way that makes you feel like something is missing. He twists what isn’t good for you into looking like something that would make you happy. And he tricks you into doing things that will make you hide in shame. You see, once you know Satan’s game, you can quickly see his nasty moves. In a nutshell, the devil tries to make you think sin is not bad and God is not good. Sin is considered sin because God says it’s not good for you. Sin will hurt you. Don’t you think your creator knows what will hurt his creation? I have a Nutribullet blender in my kitchen. On the cord is a permanent tag that reads, “Never immerse in water.” I trust the manufacturer of that blender knows what isn’t good for their product. I don’t need to throw it in my kitchen sink to see if they really know what they’re talking about. Wouldn’t it be absolutely ridiculous for me to believe, “hmmmm, maybe this blender can do even greater things if I immerse it in water and maybe the maker doesn’t want me to know that. Maybe they’re holding out on me, so I’m going to have to try this on my own.” Splash. Stupid. That would be so stupid. The maker knows what isn’t good for their product. You must trust the warning label. Adam and Eve were given one warning label. Just one. They were put in the middle of paradise in the Garden of Eden and given everything they could ever want. And then the warning label, Genesis 2:16, “God warned him, ‘You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden – except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” It’s the equivalent of “Never immerse the blender in water.” It won’t be good. Then here comes Satan who has shown up as a serpent in the garden. And he asks a question in Genesis 3, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” Now notice how Satan works – he engages Eve in a conversation. He baits her with a question that’s intentionally twisted. Then, he simply convinces her that what she’s been told would be bad isn’t REALLY bad, and that perhaps GOD isn’t good. Maybe God is just holding back the good stuff. Maybe her trust in God is causing her to miss out. Satan says, “You won’t die! God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” Yeah, just go ahead and take a little bite – it’s not bad for you. Take a drag, try the pill, here have a drink. Just a little peek. Try this. Go ahead and do it. Just one time, it will feel good. All those rules that tell you not to are just trying to take away your freedom. Your parents just always wanted to control you. God just doesn’t want you to have any fun. Hear that? COULD THAT BE SATAN? Eve fell for the twisted suggestions of Satan, thinking God just didn’t want her to have the best stuff in the garden and she committed the very first sin by eating the one fruit God told her not to eat. Then here comes Adam, convinced something good was happening without him and he ate the fruit too. And my friends, Satan is still doing it today! We’re blindly throwing blenders in a sink of water because we think the maker might be holding out on us with their restricting warning label. IF GOD SAYS IT’S NOT GOOD FOR YOU, THEN FOR REAL, IT’S NOT GOOD FOR YOU. Satan says sin is not bad and God is not good. Satan says you have to push the limits and try some things to really live, and God says, “Honey if you want adventure, I’ll take you on the adventure of a lifetime if you fully surrender everything to me. What I have for you is best and if I withhold anything from you it’s because it wasn’t the best.” You really can trust that! You don’t have to question God’s intentions. He is for you, not against you. He created you and he knows some things aren’t good for you. He knows some things will hurt you. He knows some things will eat away at you from the inside and cause you to hide in guilt and shame. That’s NOT what he wants for his girl. You can trust him. Here’s a simple guideline to help us on our journey of living our best life with God while the enemy attacks: Resist don’t discuss. When you hear a voice that makes you question anything God has said, you better run. When you see the twisting start to happen, lines being blurred, convictions being compromised, and the warning tags being torn off, you immediately think of Eve in the garden with the serpent. The serpent is the shrewdest of all. He is cunning and convincing. He’s slimy and and sneaky. DON’T MESS WITH HIM. Eve’s first mistake was having a conversation with Satan. ABSOLUTELY NOT! God’s girls have zero business talking to the devil. He has NOTHING we need to hear. You stiff arm him and keep walking. James 4:7, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” That doesn’t say have a conversation with the devil. That doesn’t say discuss things with the devil. No, RESIST HIM. Think of a toddler who is resisting their mother. We’ve all seen it int he grocery store. Somehow that 3 year old is uncontrollable. They’re listening to absolutely nothing. They’re fighting, screaming, running. They’re not giving up. That resistant toddler uses every ounce of energy they have to break free of the desperate mother trying to hold them back. And THAT is what we’re supposed to do with the devil. You fight him HARD. You don’t listen to a word he says. You scream over him. You run. Girl, why are you trying to reason with the devil? Why are you trying to taste what he is offering you and hope you get away with it? The devil says sin is not bad and God is not good. He’s a liar from hell. God is good. There’s nothing bad in him. He withholds no good things from his children. If God withholds something, it’s because it wasn’t good for us. You can trust him fully. You can live in complete surrender to him. If God says it’s not good for you, then it’s really not good for you and it would hurt you. Don’t mess with it. Don’t entertain it. Don’t hang around with it. Don’t talk about it. Don’t fantasize about it. RESIST IT. Get out of there! Life lived in surrender to God, trusting his ways and his plans is anything but boring. Jump on in with me. What he has for you is better than anything the slimy devil could ever conjur up! You don’t have to hold back and fear the good stuff being taken from you by God. If he takes away the good stuff, it’s only to make room for the best stuff. Your maker really does know what’s not good for you. Don’t immerse the blender in water. You can trust that without testing it. 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

Forty. As of tomorrow, November 22nd, we have 40 days left in this year. Just how fast has this year gone by? Wasn’t it just Summer a few weeks ago, and now here we are with only 40 days left in the entire year? 2026 is a brand new year of life on it’s way to us. It’s filled with promise and potential and if you will be consistently available to God, he will fulfill you in ways you never imagined possible. But … we’re not there yet, my friends. It is not time to begin focusing on a new year, it’s time to finish this one right! 40 days separate us from this new year of life, and those 40 days matter significantly. God wants to prepare you, equip you and mold you in the next 40 days. Forty. 40 is a critical number in the Bible. 40 often represented new life, growth and transformation. God worked in the 40 to prepare a way for the future. God changed people in the 40. The preparation for a breakthrough of change happened in the 40. My friends, that’s exciting!!!!! This 40 belongs to God and he’s preparing you for a new year of life in the next 40 days. Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days by the devil. After that temptation, Jesus began his ministry on Earth and changed eternity. It rained for 40 days, flooding the entire earth. All life outside of Noah’s ark was eliminated. Then the waters receded and life began again from only that which had been saved. The giant Goliath taunted God’s people for 40 days. Then, the little shepherd boy David slays the giant with his slingshot and a rock and wins them victory and freedom. How many days were between Jesus’ crucifixion and his return to Heaven? 40! Forty. Then, completion, then renewal, then victory. In the next 40 days before 2026 comes, God wants to do a work in YOU! Will you partner with him in the transformational process that brings victory? Will you let him have his time and space in your life for the next 40 days? What have your past 40 days been like? Do you even really remember them? 40 days ago it was October 12th – what do you have to show for those days? Were they significant? Did you grow and get better, or did those days just pass with little to show for them? Don’t let the next 40 be like your last 40. It’s time to go deeper. It’s time for full heart surrender. It’s time to wake up with intention and live on purpose. On the other side of this 40 is that new life, that growth, that transformation only God has seen. God wants to do a work in you! Will you submit to the process? In the early days of Christianity, before someone could be baptized as a Christian, they were to wait 40 days. For 40 days they would simplify their life down to the basics and focus fully on living for Jesus. After 40 days, if they still wanted to commit their lives to Jesus, then they would be baptized. What if the next 40 days was an intentional simplifying of our lives with a focus on Jesus to prepare us for 2026? What if we took these final 40 days of this year and allowed God the space to work in us so we step into the new year changed. What if this is your renewal and re-commitment to Jesus. 40 days of focusing on Jesus. That sounds special doesn’t it … and basically impossible in your busy life. Especially the next 40 days of holidays, travels, gatherings and functions. It’s the busiest time of the year, certainly not the time you can slow down to focus on Jesus. That would be a huge struggle for the next 40 days, wouldn’t it? And do you know what God says about that – Okay, struggle it out! Philippians 2:12-13, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” That doesn’t mean you have to work to earn salvation, that’s a free gift given to you by Jesus, you simply accept that gift. But you do have to struggle to live like you’re saved. Work that out. Fight for it. Struggle with making time for Jesus in your daily life. Did you know it’s okay to struggle with finding time to pray? Did you know it’s okay to have to work to read your Bible and not really feel like it 97% of the time? That’s okay – work that out. Using the next 40 really busy, over-scheduled, cram packed days to re-commit to Jesus would be a struggle for you – AWESOME – work it out! Do it afraid that you might fail. Do it uncertain of how. Here’s what you’re feeling right now – you’re feeling a battle between your flesh and your spirit. Your flesh wants to pretend like you never even heard this. Your flesh is reasoning with why you don’t have time and how waiting until January would just make more sense. BUT YOUR SPIRIT is saying something else. Your spirit is saying, “Wow, I need this.” Your spirit is craving space for Jesus. Your spirit is willing to work this out! Right now, just lean into your spirit. This doesn’t have to be perfect. This isn’t about checking a box to meet a goal so you feel a sense of accomplishment. This is about giving God space to prepare you for a new year of life. This is about letting him work in your 40. Go ahead and struggle with this. Don’t avoid it. Don’t run from it. Choose to struggle. Choose to fight for a way to focus more on Jesus. There are a two things that have radically changed my life for the better. Perhaps one of these could be your way of making space for Jesus for the final 40 days of 2025. 1. Praying on my knees. At a retreat many years ago, a woman shared that during her time in a rehab she was taught to put her alarm under her bed every night when she went to sleep. This would force her to roll straight out of bed and hit her knees to turn off the alarm. And while she was there, she would pray. This changed my life. In the beginning, it was a short prayer to begin my day while I reached for my phone under the bed. Then it grew. Eventually I no longer had to put my phone under the bed, it was habit. I just roll right out onto my knees. In fact, you know those fancy pillows you put on the bed but you don’t sleep with them? Yeah, put one of those on the floor for your knees to hit. It works perfectly. Now, that is my primary prayer time. It’s my habit and it’s Jesus’ space. I begin my day on my knees and it has empowered me to walk through my days unlike ever before. Could you try that for the next 40 days? What happens if you miss a day? What happens if you forget? Remember, just work it out – struggle through it – it doesn’t have to be perfect – just make space. 2. Reading my printed Bible. If there’s an almost magic in anything, I would say it’s this. There’s something about God’s word. It’s unlike any other book. It’s alive and it gets within you. Suddenly your thoughts begin to change, your desires change, your impulses change. God’s word truly changes you. Make time to read your Bible. Write in it. Highlight it. Truly study it. I can’t explain it, but you will be transformed. This is how God works in you. And scripture says as he works in you, he gives you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Your whole world can change when you start opening your Bible. If you don’t have a print Bible and you can’t afford to buy one right now, MESSAGE ME! I will order one so fast for you that you have it on your doorstep by next week. Sadly, I’ve spent the majority of my life without a Bible. I would google scripture when needed, or read the daily verse from an app. That’s good, but oh my goodness, I was missing the GREATNESS of an actual Bible in my hands. Could you try reading the Bible for the next 40 days? Maybe a chapter a day? Or maybe listening for the scripture in the devotional and reading the paragraphs before and after that scripture? Or maybe just start with the book of John and read it slow. How will you remember to do this every day? How will you make time when it’s so busy? Girl, struggle it out. Just work on that. Let it be messy and imperfect. 40 days in God’s word will transform you! You will step into the new year as a new person with changed thoughts and desires. Remember our scripture, Philippians 2:12-13, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” Embrace the struggle of making space for Jesus and let God work within you. He will begin to change you. Your desires will change. Your priorities will change. You won’t even have to force it. Give him this little space and watch it happen! 40 days. This is it. What will you do? The days will pass whether you commit to Jesus or not. Why not commit and come out better? Why not give Jesus a chance to work in you and make you better before the new year even gets here? Could you listen to Christian music for the next 40 days? Could you journal for the next 40 days on specific ways you see God working? There are countless things you could do, but what would you do? God uses the number 40 throughout scripture to radically change people and situations. He shows up in the 40 to unleash his power. And now he’s giving you this 40. 40 days left in 2025 before a new year. How will you make space for Jesus in your 40? 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

2 Corinthians 6:11-13 MSG – “I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’ve been living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively.” Romans 2:4, “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sins? 1 Corinthians 1:9, “God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Isaiah 50:4 MSG, “God has given me a well-taught tongue, so I know how to encourage tired people. He wakes me up in the morning, opens my ears to listen as one ready to take orders.” Ephesians 2:10, “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.” Isiah 6:8-9, “Then I heard the Lord asking, ‘Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?’ I said, ‘Here I am. Send me.’ And he said, ‘Yes, go …'” BE CONSISTENTLY AVAILABLE. 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

Have you ever wondered why God would create a tree and place it in the middle of paradise, but not allow Adam and Eve to eat from it? Why would God make it possible to mess up? Wouldn’t it have been better if the option to sin were never even there? God, why put the tree there if it would cause so many problems? I’ve often wondered this. Why mess up paradise with the ability to sin? What was the point? Well, it was CHOICE. Free will is only free when there is an opportunity to do as much bad as there is good. Free will must include a choice. God desired for his greatest creation to choose him from their own free will, so he designed an opportunity to listen and obey him, or not. Unfortunately for us, Adam and Eve chose to not listen. But, the truth is, we would have all done the same. If you’ve ever made a wrong choice in your entire life, if you’ve ever messed up, then you would have eaten the apple too, my friend. But do you realize there are actually two trees in the middle of the garden where Adam and Eve were? There wasn’t just the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and evil, but there was another tree, the tree of life. The tree of life offered eternal life to live forever. The fruit of this tree was not off limits, it was fully available. But the other tree which held the knowledge of good and evil was the one and only limitation given to them. One thing, Adam, don’t eat from that tree. And Adam, tell Eve too. Tell her not to eat from that tree, it will change everything. But, they fail. The temptation to do what they were told not to do is too great and they eat that fruit. Suddenly, their eyes are opened and shame comes into the world for the first time. The other tree stood untouched, the tree that offered life forever. Instead they chose to eat from the tree that brought guilt, shame and regret. It was the first sin. Sin is choosing what we think we want in life over what truly gives life. And guess what … we’re still doing it today. We’re still choosing the wrong tree. We’re still choosing the things that aren’t good for us. We’re still making messes. We’re still leaving the offering of true and abundant life just hanging on the branch. The first mistake was not filling up on the good stuff. They could have been so full eating from the tree of life that there was no room for the forbidden fruit from the other tree. The second mistake was eating the fruit they were told not to eat. The third mistake was hiding in shame. Genesis 3:8, “When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.” Shame was never part of God’s plan. Hiding from him was not the design of his masterpiece. But that’s what sin did. And that’s what sin still does. When we do what we know is wrong, we hide. My grandson is 3. When he gets quiet, we know there’s a problem. He’s either eating play-dough, drawing on a wall, or sneaking candy. He hides when he’s doing something wrong. Here we are, grown women, essentially hiding while we eat play-dough. Sneaking around hoping no one finds out. Pulling away from God because of the guilt we feel within. But imagine if Adam and Eve wouldn’t have hidden. Imagine if they would have ran straight to God after that first bite and said, “Oh no, we messed up! Help us!” Imagine if we did that! Wouldn’t everything change? The first mistake was not filling up on the tree of life. The emptiness created space for what wasn’t good for them. The second mistake was choosing to do what they knew was wrong. The third mistake was hiding in shame. Now, their fourth mistake was casting blame. Genesis 3: 9-13, “The the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’ He replied, ‘I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ the Lord God asked. ‘Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit and I ate it.’ (Not only is Adam blaming Eve, but he’s blaming God because God is the one who gave him this woman who messed things up. Hmmmmm, I wonder if we do that too?) Then the Lord God asked the woman, ‘What have you done?’ ‘The serpent deceived me’ she replied. ‘That’s why I ate it.’ The first sin was also the first opportunity to confess and repent. The first sin was the first opportunity for forgiveness. But shame caused them to hide and blame. Girls, now that we know better, we can do better. It’s not IF you mess up, it’s WHEN you mess up, don’t hide in shame. Don’t pull away from God. And don’t cast blame on anything or anyone else. Take responsibility for your choices. God gave you choices knowing you would surely screw them up. But he’s given you a greater power than shame. He’s given you GRACE. My friend, you are covered in the GRACE of Jesus. No, you don’t deserve it – and no, you can’t earn it, but it’s given to you anyway. His grace covers your guilt and shame and draws you back into him. Grace says there’s no one to blame. Grace says stop retelling the story. Grace says you messed up, but you’re still worthy because of Jesus. We’re still choosing the wrong tree, leaving the offering of true life often untouched while we chase after temptations and earthly pursuits. But the offering is still here for us. LIFE. Will we choose it? Adam and Eve were banished from the garden because of their choice. Could they have stayed if they would have sought forgiveness instead of hiding in shame and blaming away the guilt? Think about it. Could sin have been stopped right there? God saw their hearts would not turn to him, so they had to leave the garden and lose their opportunity to eat from the tree of life. God said in verses 22-24, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever! So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” They could have eaten from the tree of life and lived forever, but they chose the wrong tree. Now, here’s what’s really amazing. We read of this tree of life again at the very end of our Bible where we’re told of what awaits us in Heaven. In the last chapter of Revelation, chapter 22, verse 1-2, “The angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. No longer will there be a curse upon anything.” The tree of life is there for us!!!! The offering for eternal life hasn’t been taken away from us. It will heal us. There’s no curse on anything! BUT, IT’S STILL A CHOICE. Just like it was a choice for Adam and Eve, it’s a choice for us. If we will eat from the tree of life, living in God’s right ways, we will be filled to overflowing and there won’t be room for the forbidden things. If we fill up on God, Satan won’t have space to trick us. There’s a tree of life and it’s available to you today. Come eat of it’s fruit. Get filled up on the good stuff so there’s no room for the offering of the enemy. Eternal life is in the offering. And when you mess up, which you will, don’t hide in shame and don’t cast blame. Seek forgiveness. You don’t have to run from God. He kinda knew you would get it wrong sometimes. But he still offers the tree of life to you. Make your choice. Which do you choose today? God offers us good things, and he also gives us the ability to really mess it up. We can ruin today with the wrong choices. We can ruin our opportunities. We can ruin our blessings. There’s a choice. The choice begins with the tree. Will you choose the tree of life and turn away from what is wrong? Grace continually invites us back. 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

As a woman, you are specially designed and created to be a servant. Before you stone me, understand that being a servant is not a lowly position. According to Jesus, the greatest is called to be the servant. By divine order, to be great, you must be a humble helper. If you cannot be a humble helper, you will never be great. You will never live in your fullest potential if you are not willing to be a servant. Jesus said in Matthew 23:11-12, “The greatest among you must be a servant. Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” My friend, there’s absolutely no wiggle room in this. There’s no gray area. If you’re going to get better and live a great life, you MUST humble yourself as a servant. Every time you assume the position of being better than someone else and above helping them, you have missed your calling. Here’s the question – do you trust God? Do you trust his design? Do you trust he knows what you don’t know and has a better plan? YES? Then trust your positioning as a woman. You are the helper by God’s divine design. Not because you’re lesser than, but because you’re chosen as God’s girl. After God created the first man, he saw it wasn’t good for man to be alone. Genesis 2, the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone, I will make a helper who is just right for him.” Then the Lord God made a woman from his rib, and he brought her to the man. GIRLS, WE ARE THE JUST RIGHT HELPERS. Think about that. It’s you. You are specifically designed to be just right. To fit perfectly in partnership with one who needs your help. It’s part of your design. This isn’t something to hate. This isn’t something to fight. This isn’t something to resent. This is something that makes you great. Again, according to Jesus, the greatest among you must be a servant. It is an honor to be the helper. It’s fulfilling to be the helper. The helper is who you were created to be in your greatest and fullest potential. Think about when Jesus wrapped a towel around his waist and knelt down to serve his disciples by washing their feet. Serving didn’t make him beneath them. It didn’t make him weak. It made him great. His humility showed a life-changing love. AND SO DOES OURS. Now again, if you’re pulling away and ready to fight, come back to trusting God. If God designed it, can you trust it? If God aligns it, can you walk in it? God designed the woman to be the JUST RIGHT HELPER for man. I’m blessed to have a wonderful husband. He’s easy to help, quite honestly. And he’s easy to help because he’s good to lead. If he were not a good leader, serving him would be extremely difficult. I must believe this is why the enemy attacks our men with such aggressive intent – if the man isn’t worthy of being followed, then the woman cannot follow and serve. If the woman cannot serve as the just right helper, then she is left unfulfilled by design. If you don’t have a good man to help, what should you do? PRAY FOR HIM. My sister, he’s under attack. He’s hurting. He’s been confused. The way you can be the ‘just right helper’ to a man who is not leading well, is to pray relentlessly for him. You can’t change him, you can’t fix him, but God can! Do you believe that? If you have been given a good man who is worthy of following, then HELP HIM. It is your role. Again, not because you are less than him, but because Jesus has called the greatest to serve and he showed us how. When we fight against this and rise up in with our feisty selves, refusing to be the chosen, called and equipped helper, then we quite simply miss the fullness of our design. We’re actually fighting against the very thing that is missing within us. We’re refusing our blessing. It is a blessing to serve. What an honor it is to be that just right helper. When sin entered the world through that first man and woman, struggles were created. Do you know that one of those very specific struggles is the fight over roles between men and women? It’s the discord and dysfunction in our relationships. To the woman, God says in Genesis 3:16, “You will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.” That was NOT God’s design. That’s what sin did. Are you trying to control your husband? Is your husband trying to rule over you? That’s not within either of your designs. He is called to lead you towards God, and you are called to help him on the journey with God. If he’s not leading and you’re not helping, then it’s dysfunction. Lord, please lead us back to our blessed design in partnership. And start with me. Go to work on me! Let the change begin in me. If you don’t have a husband, you are still designed to be the helper. You’re not dismissed from helping. You don’t have to morph yourself into something you were never created to be. God’s girls are specially blessed to nurture, support, encourage and help. The world is starving for you to fulfill your designed role and help. If you do have a husband, but he’s not a leader worthy of following, then your help is to pray for him. God can use you to reach the heart of your husband unlike anyone else in this world. What a blessing it is to be chosen as God’s helper. We are following in great big footsteps. Jesus himself was a servant. He served and it made him great. He helped. And Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” God’s girls are blessed to be the just right helpers! 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, my retreat girls will go with me to the largest natural gathering place for manatee in the world. The cold of winter is beginning to set in, so the manatee have traveled for hundreds of miles to come to their winter home in the warm springs waters of Blue Springs State Park and Crystal River. We will kayak with these massive, marvelous creatures in the wild. We will swim with them. And every single one of us will be in awe of their beautiful and perfect design. GOD DID THAT! In fact, God did that on day 5 of creation. Genesis 1:20, “Then God said, ‘Let the waters swarm with fish and other life’ … So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water.” God created that manatee, uniquely designed it just as he desired, and you know what he said about it – he said it was GOOD! But really, have you see the shape of a manatee. They’re like a big ol’ baked potato with a round tail. And yet we will all be in awe of them. After God designed the manatee, do you know what he did the next day? Something even better. Something he said was not only good, but it was REALLY GOOD! Imagine this scene – The Father God, the son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit all come together for a brainstorming session. They’re gathered to do their most creative and impressive work. Together, they will create YOU. They imagined you, designed you, then formed you. Just as they wanted for the purposes of your life. That’s precisely what happened. The Holy Trinity designing you! Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, ‘Let US make human beings in our image, to be like us.'” You have always been seen. You have always been wanted. You have always been enough. Genesis 2:7 “The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.” Let’s make this personal. When I pause insert your own name into this scripture. God breathed the breath of life into _________, and she became a living person. The purpose of life is to live it. Not just survive it, or endure it. Not sleep it away or wish it away. But live it. In order to LIVE this life you have been given and fulfill your purpose, you must be ALIVE. This breath of life God has breathed into you comes with a single expectation. That you would open your eyes, experience life fully and be ALIVE with life. Our scripture today says you came ALIVE – a living person. Not a miserable person. Not a tired person. Not a worried person. Not a stressed out person. But a LIVING person. Will you be a LIVING person? There is no time to waste. We can’t afford to wait until next month to wake up and start living. We can’t sleep away today. James 4:14 puts the brevity of life into perspective with “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” BUT YOU’RE HERE TODAY. You have a chance to live today. What a gift you and I have been given. And remember, with all great things comes great responsibility. Not everyone received the gift of life today, but you did, and you have a responsibility to live it. Today, let’s fulfill our purpose. Let’s do with this day exactly what we’re supposed to do. Let’s LIVE it! The dictionary uses 3 words to define ALIVE: Alert, Active and Animated. We will use that as our gauge and intentionally go to work. Today, we will be ALIVE by being ALERT. Wherever we are, we will actually BE THERE. Repeat to yourself, “right here, right now”. Hey, you will never get this back. Every moment today is a once in a lifetime moment, don’t miss it. Taste your food. Hear the sounds of life. Open your eyes and see life unfolding all around you. You are surrounded by unspeakable beauty. There is beauty before you, beauty behind you. Beauty to your left, beauty to your right. Beauty above you, beauty below you. Beauty within you. God’s creation is begging for you to notice. Today you will savor it because you are alert. Continue to bring your mind back to the state of right here, right now. Second, today we will be ALIVE by being ACTIVE. We refuse to sit and wonder and worry. If we are stuck in a rut, we won’t be by the end of the day because today, we’re taking the next step. We will be in action. We will get up and get going. My Daddy used to see the buzzards circling in the sky and he would say, “Sis, you better look alive!” The morale of the story – buzzards are always looking to prey upon the things just sitting still. Maybe you’ve been sitting still, just thinking about making changes, worrying about all that needs to change, making plans for change, that the buzzards are circling you. Girl, you better look alive. Be ACTIVE today. And third, today we will be ALIVE by being ANIMATED. This means be excited, energetic and lively. Put some pep in your step. You say you don’t have anything to be excited about … ah girl, that’s the result of not being fully alive. I guarantee you there are 10 reasons to be over the moon excited about your life surrounding you at this very moment. Even in the darkest of times and hardest of seasons, there is good. You’re not discounting the hardships by being excited over all that is good and right. There’s no guilt in that. Show your creator some energy today. Girl, don’t hide your happy. If you’re excited about something, let it show. The world is so hungry for positive energy. It’s literally contagious. If you’re struggling with energy, let me teach you the law of energy. Energy grows where energy is used. If you use all the energy you have today, tomorrow your energy tank will be refilled, plus a little more. You can literally BUILD your energy, but the only way is to use it all up today. Get up, get dressed up and show up. Even if you don’t have anywhere to go and anyone to see. Do it for you. Do it because you’re alive. Be ANIMATED today. What a recipe for a new day of life. Be fully ALIVE by being aware, active and animated. No one can live this life but you. You’ll never get this day again. The purpose of today is to live it. Will you fulfill your purpose the best you can today? Tell me you’re all-in! Yes, that’s what I wanted to hear. I bet God is smiling down on his girls right now saying …. ahhhh, it’s gonna be a good day! 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

Our God is a God of details. He has literally thought of EVERYTHING. There’s not a single thing he has overlooked. There’s nothing that he hasn’t accounted for. He has a plan and a purpose for all things. To see his attention to detail, look at his creation. This week, we’re studying Genesis 1, the account of creation. We see his glory in the details of this world he imagined, designed, formed and filled. How did God think of making snow falling from the clouds? That didn’t just happen because of an accidental atmospheric condition – no, that happened because God designed it. How did he think of lightening flashing from the sky? What made him create the colors of the Northern Lights or leaves on trees that turn to brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow before letting go? He thought of it all and spoke it into existence. Details – God is not only in them all, he is all up in them. He’s not only over all the details, he’s all over them. Nothing just happens because of coincidence. God knew how brilliant the skies would be. He knew how a stunning sunset would make his creation pause. Someone sent me a video of a sunset savoring dog. This golden retriever would go outside every evening at just the right time, then sit and watch the sunset with intention. This dog’s eyes were fixated on the setting sun as he sat in apparent awe and contentment. Then, after the setting of the sun, the dog would go back inside. And he did it every evening. My sisters – why aren’t we doing that? Why aren’t we enamored by the display of God’s power? My friend Kimberly gets completely giddy when she sees a fall leaving floating through the air. She breaks out in full song and dance, watching that single leave float it’s way down to the ground. She receives that little detail as if it were a special display of God’s love just for her. Now, why don’t we do that? Pick a detail of nature that could be God’s signature sign of love for you. For me, it’s a hot pink sunrise or sunset. I know God is thinking of me with that, because I’m thinking of him. My friend Nicole finds rocks in the shape of hearts, that’s God’s signature for her. I’m pretty convinced that God created mangoes just for me because he knew how much I would love them. What’s your thing? A little detail of creation that will be your and God’s special thing? And when you witness that special thing, will you give God praise for it? One time, as Jesus was riding through a crowd on a donkey, his followers began shouting praises. They declared his glory with their voices, giving him honor. When the Pharisees in the crowd heard the people, they said to Jesus, “Rebuke your followers.” Essentially, tell them to be quiet. Jesus replied in Luke 19:40, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!” Someone or something is going to praise God for the details of his work. Will it be you, or will you let the rocks cry out in your place? God is putting his marvelous works on powerful display all around you, but you’ve been so busy that you’ve failed to even notice. One of my favorite songs right now is called “This Won’t Take My Praise” by Blanca and Taylor Hill. It talks about being down, being attacked, being surrounded as the weapons of Hell form against you, but declaring: This won’t take my praise I won’t let a rock cry out for me And this won’t take my joy Jesus, I’ll lift your name up louder than the noise This won’t take my praise What hardship or struggle has been taking your praise? Instead of joy, you have worry. God wants his praise back. Sometimes it’s not the hardships of life that take our praise, it’s simply the noise of life. We rush right past the details God designed to wow us, and we miss it. And when we miss those details in creation, then it’s easy to miss those details in the unfolding. Our lives are all unfolding one day at a time. Nothing is happening by chance. God is in the details of the unfolding. But when we’ve conditioned ourselves to pass by the details of God’s creation with glazed over eyes and distracted minds, we naturally miss the details of God’s divine workings in the details of the daily unfolding of our lives. We fail to give him praise and we let the rocks take our place. Is there a rock crying out to God because you’ve failed to do so? Is there a rock praising God because you’ve been to busy for that? Something unspeakable happens within us when we start intentionally noticing the details of God’s creation – we start recognizing the details of his work in our families, in our homes, in our lives. When you learn what God’s fingerprints look like on the details of the universe, then you are able to see those same fingerprints on the unfolding of your life. And when you know he is working, then you can surrender your details to him. That’s the whole point. When we read Genesis 1 and we see God created the heavens and the earth by his spoken word and he made all of this where there was once nothing but void and deep darkness – then we can believe God can create absolutely anything needed in our lives today with only a word. It doesn’t matter if for 3 generations it’s always been a problem in your family, one word from God now can change that for you and every future generation after you. It doesn’t matter if you’ve tried to overcome the same struggle for 30 years, one word from God now can give you a total breakthrough. Today could be the last day of that struggle ever again for you. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been stuck in a dark funk for 3 solid years and you have no energy left to even hope for something different. one word from God now can bring light and healing to that darkness and you can find your way out and never go back to that darkness again. We know this because of Genesis 1. We see the power of God’s word to create anything and everything. The problem is, we are only allowing the lesson to impact us on the surface. We’re not getting the lesson into our spirits to change how we respond to real life. That’s what happened to the disciples. They had just worked with Jesus to miraculously feed a crowd of thousands with 5 small fish and 2 pieces of bread. We’re not even talking about a basket full of food to begin with, we’re actually talking about the lunch of a boy who was in the crowd. These were more like 5 little sardines and 2 pita breads. That’s what Jesus had to work with. Essentially a fish sandwich. As Jesus prayed over what little there was, he broke it and gave it to his disciples to feed to the crowd. They kept coming back to Jesus for more food, and from so little, there was so much. In the end, the entire hungry crowd of thousands had eaten until they were all full, and afterwards the disciples gathered 12 baskets full of leftovers. Miraculous. Jesus worked in the details and they saw it. Every detail was taken care of. There was a problem, and Jesus miraculously worked in the problem. But do you know what happened next? Next, Jesus told the disciples to get in a boat and go across the lake. Late that night, in the middle of the lake, they encounter serious trouble. A storm is threatening to sink their boat with wild winds and waves. Then, they see Jesus out walking on the water and they are terrified. But Jesus climbs in their boat and brings calm to the storm. Every detail was once again taken care of in the presence of Jesus. There was never any reason to worry. Jesus miraculously works in the problems. And here’s the point for us today – After Jesus gets in the boat and calms the storm, Luke 6:52 says, “They still didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in.” Jesus had just shown them his miraculous power in the details of a problem. They had literally just came from feeding the crowd of thousands of people with a boy’s lunch. After seeing Jesus working in those details, they should have known he would work in the details of the next problem too. The lesson of the loaves was sitting in their boat in the form of 12 baskets full of leftovers. But when the next problem hit, they forgot. The lesson hadn’t gotten into their heart. God is showing us, his girls, his power in the details all around us. May our hearts be soft and receptive. May we see his power in creation, and therefore trust his power in the unfolding of what is now and what is to come. The lessons are all around us. Let’s see them, receive them, trust them, and move forward in faith with them today. May your eyes be wide open today, may you SEE God working in the details. May your heart fully receive the lesson God is showing you so nothing takes your praise. If God can do that, then he can do this. If he has the power to make that happen, then he can make this happen. Open your eyes and see it! 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

If God says it, it happens. If he speaks it, it’s done. No further preparation is required. Impossible becomes possible. What has never been before will JUST BE. The creation of the entire universe is revealed in 6 days. Genesis chapter 1 says on day 1, there was light. Day 2, space. Day 3, land with trees and plants. Day 4, sun, moon and stars. Day 5, fish and birds. Day 6, animals and human beings. Now my friends, THAT is a work week! You think you get a lot done in a week, you’ve got nothing on God. How did he do it? He spoke it into existence. Every single thing was spoken into existence by the word of God. Some think these are 6 literal days – Some say each day represents an entire age of time – but what does it matter? God did it and you now see the proof of it today. We can be divided over the details of it, or we can stand in awe of the wonder of it. Science says the earth is billions of years old. Some Christians say you must ignore all science and follow the timeline of genealogy back to Adam and Eve, which is about 6,000 years. That’s a box, my friend. God doesn’t fit in our boxes. Don’t get hung up on details of division, instead, get swept away in the wonder of his creation. The creation of the world declares the glory of God. His mighty power is on display in creation. His glory is being declared all around you. Open your eyes and see it. His mighty power is on display in the sun that is shining, the snow that is falling, the trees, the waves, the mountains, your dog and cat, YOU! How absolutely marvelous. Look at what God did with what was formerly empty, deep darkness. As the Spirit of God was hovering over the deep dark waters, he speaks words of tremendous power. Genesis 1:3, Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. The original Hebrew writing of this is even more powerful. It says “Light be: light was.” No further explanation. No delay. No struggle. Just BE, and it BECAME. What was this light? We quickly assume it’s the sun, but we would be wrong. The sun, moon and stars were not formed until day 4. This is day 1 and there is light that separates the day from the night. The former darkness was now lit up. This is the first thing God did in creation, and it’s the first thing he does when working in our lives. He brings light. The light is the presence of God. He’s there. God is the light. Revelation 22:5 tells of the future time when there will be no more sun and the light will go back to it’s original source. It says, “There will be no night there – no need for lamps or sun – for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.” The Spirit of God is hovering over the darkness and he brings the light of himself. Before anything else, he brings light to the situation. Where is there darkness of confusion, chaos, anxiety, depression or dysfunction in your life? Our impulse is to hide it. But my sister, hiding the darkness only perpetuates the problem. The light of God must shine on that. Bring that into the presence of God. Lord, bring your light to this dark situation. Your light is the beginning of change. Your light is the beginning of something new. Your light is where it all starts. What have you been trying to hide? What has created guilt and shame in you and caused you to pull away and self-isolate. Let me tell you what self-isolation really is – it’s self-sabotage. It’s you sitting in dark corners where more of the same darkness festers. Bring it to the light. I remember when one of my children was a young teen and they went through a really hard time. What they went through was unfair. What they went through turned their whole world upside down. And what they went through made them want to hide in shame. So they did. And we as parents, were completely clueless. The smile was still bright and beautiful, but we had no idea what was happening in the dark hidden spaces, until one day that darkness consumed them and made life feel like their life wasn’t worth living anymore. That’s what darkness eventually does. It consumes us. It traps us. It casts a dark shadow on everything and everyone and makes you feel so alone. The answer is the LIGHT. Let there be light, and there was light. Light be: Light was. So, we set out to create a safe space where everything could come out of the shadows and into the light. There would be no judgment or punishment. No questions. Just empty it out. If it stayed hidden in them, it would continue to eat at them like a flesh eating disease. But if it was brought to the light and no longer hidden, it would all lose its power and healing would begin. Looking back, we realize the things that were still never talked about and remained hidden in darkness were the very things that continued to cause harm. Whew, let me tell you something, I could be such a better Mom now! But, that’s the value of getting to be a Grandma, ya’ll. We get a second chance to get it right! This is the power of confession. Confession is shining light on what is hidden in darkness. James 5:16, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” Who knows what you struggle with? Who really knows how to pray for you? Who helps bring the light of God into that situation? Whatever you keep hidden and secret will continue to hurt you. Whatever is brought to the light loses it’s power over you. It’s really why the enemy of your soul works so hard on keeping you hidden in guilt and shame. He knows if you crack that door open and let light shine on that darkness, then he has no where to hide. Light banishes the darkness. Darkness cripples you. Light heals you. Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” The light of day 1 is JESUS. It’s not the S-U-N that provides the ultimate light, it’s the S-O-N, our Jesus! He banishes darkness. He brings truth, hope and life overflowing. He is the answer to every threat of darkness. What happens when you bring a secret struggle or sin to the S-O-N, the light of Jesus? God speaks! And when God speaks, something happens! It happens immediately. It happens without explanation or understanding. This is how prison doors are flung wide open. This is how chains are broken. This is how you are set free. What once bound you is robbed of it’s power when in the light of Jesus. I get to mentor a beautiful young soul who has an unimaginable story. She wasn’t loved well as a girl. She was vulnerable and someone took advantage of her vulnerability for many years throughout her high school and college years. Hiding this secret shame became her number 1 mission in life, so she became the funny girl everyone loved. She was the life of the party. But within, she struggled with a darkness no one knew about. Until one day, she came to a retreat and she sat in a room of about 10 complete strangers, and for the first time, that darkness was revealed. She told her story. And God said, “Light be: Light was!” The light of Jesus started a healing work on her in that moment. Over the past 2 years, I’ve seen her grow and heal in unimaginable ways. Her life looks radically different today. She’s no longer the hurt girl hiding in the darkness behind her jokes. While she’s still one of the funniest people I’ve ever met, she’s also one of the most healed people I’ve ever met. She’s doing the hard stuff and she’s living in the light of Jesus. The day she was baptized at a later retreat, you could feel chains fall off of her. She left all that in the water of that hot tub and she is free now. LIGHT. It was God’s answer to darkness on day 1, and it’s still his answer to darkness today. His light is the S-O-N, Jesus. God’s word is powerful, he wants to speak his light over you today. Won’t you let him? Won’t you let him bring light to your darkness? Won’t you let him bring healing here? It can happen in an instant and you will never ever be the same. Your answer is the light of the S-O-N. And you know what God says about it next? He says, “It is good!” God knows good, and he knows light for your darkness is so good! 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

Genesis means origin. It’s the source, the beginning, where every single thing got its start. I’ve always loved the book of Genesis, for one simple reason … it was the book of the Bible I was able to flip right too. I always felt so proud of myself when a preacher would say, “Turn to the book of Genesis”, and boom, I would be the first one there. Genesis is not only the beginning of our Bible, it’s the beginning of everything. It is our origin. And really, it’s pretty wild that we get to read about God’s amazing and miraculous acts to create everything we see today. No human was alive to see these acts. We only have this account today because God revealed it later to the author to record for us. Moses wrote the book of Genesis, but he likely used much earlier writings to gather his information. Perhaps writings from the first human, Adam. And perhaps Adam received directly from God the account of creation there in the Garden of Eden. The words of God were written so that we could read them today. To understand the Bible, you must first understand one thing – You won’t understand everything. There are some things that won’t make sense. Some things that we have absolutely no proof of. Some things that seem totally impossible. Faith will be required on your journey through the Bible. I’ve found one thing that has greatly helped me in my studies – I believe 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is inspired by God and useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.” As you commit to either begin studying your Bible, or continue your studies, remember ALL SCRIPTURE IS INSPIRED BY GOD. Every word of our Bible is inspired by God and it’s useful to us. Lean into it with faith instead of pulling away in doubt. There will be things you don’t understand, don’t get hung up on them. There will be things you don’t agree with, but keep reading. There will be things that even seem contradictory to science or common sense – In those cases you must make a choice. Either believe that God is beyond our understanding, or struggle to make an infinite God fit in our limited little box. There’s a whole lot of the Bible I don’t understand – heck, there’s a whole lot of the very first chapter of Genesis I don’t understand, and I simply don’t have to. But there’s so much that can help me see the truth and help me realize what may be wrong in my life. Together, we’re going to dive all-in on the book of Genesis. Today is day 1. I’m sure God will take us on several detours along the way and we’ll be all over scripture, so it will never be boring or dull. Remember, it’s me – I don’t do boring! This isn’t your typical devotional. In every day of our study, let’s keep coming back to ask 2 things: 1. What truth am I learning? 2. How does this show me what may be wrong in my life? Now, let’s get started. Genesis 1:1-2 (go ahead and dare to flip there now in your Bible with confidence – you can find it!), “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” God’s holy word literally begins with an opening sentence that challenges our human minds. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” We will never understand a power that could do that. We will never know precisely when or how. It’s beyond our human capacity to even assign that thought a proper place in our inventory of historical events. Do you know how big the heavens and the earth are? This means EVERYTHING. Every distant galaxy, every unknown planet, every black hole beyond exploration or explanation. God created ALL of that in the beginning. When was the beginning and how did God get there in the beginning? I have absolutely no idea – and neither does anyone else. But does it even matter? Now, here’s the question – Can you BELIEVE Genesis 1:1? Can you believe, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Because if you can believe the opening scripture of the Bible, then you can believe every other verse in the Bible. Every other impossible thing, every other miraculous story, every other huge promise, every other thing beyond our human capacity – it’s all within reason if you can believe verse 1. So decide now – do you believe it? Did God create all that is? Is there a divine Creator behind all of this, or did it all just happen by chance? The God big enough for Genesis 1:1 is also big enough for every other verse and chapter of the Bible. He’s big enough to create you, know you, save you, redeem you, and offer you a place in eternity simply because you choose to believe his Word. Now, imagine verse 2 for a moment. Imagine there’s nothing but deep waters covered in darkness. Everything is empty and formless. And the Spirit of God is hovering over those deep, dark waters. Do you know what God is doing? He’s getting ready to unleash his power. He’s getting ready to design and create the entire universe. But he’s not creating it out of nothing – he’s creating it out of himself. All of this didn’t come from nothing – all of this came from God. God is EVERYTHING. He us unlimited. The sun and the moon are part of God. The mountains are part of God. The oceans are part of God. You and I are part of God. We’re not from nothing – we’re from God himself! Some scientist believe all of this came from dust molecules that evolved for eons, getting better and better until here we are with our upright walking and super advanced human brains. And honestly, I find it much easier to believe there’s God, there’s always been God, and he created all of this through himself and from himself. Nothing comes from NOTHING. And nothing creates more of nothing. You are not “nothing”, so you didn’t come from nothing. You came from God. This is your origin. The beginning of everything you know and every thing you don’t know. And here’s the Spirit of God hovering over the deep waters of darkness. And that Spirit is about to do impossible things that forever changed everything. The Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Just hovering. Moving. Looking. Searching. Preparing. Something big was about to happen! And that same Spirit is still moving today. The Spirit that holds the power to create, change and move. The Spirit that is absolutely unmatched and unstoppable. Can you believe that Spirit is hovering over your life right now? He’s moving. He’s looking. He’s searching. He’s preparing. And something BIG can happen in your life! A few years ago at a New Year Retreat, I sat chairs in circle on the beach in Pensacola. As the sun came up, we each sat in that circle and worshiped. I had created a playlist of about 100 worship songs and I would just hit shuffle play, and see what song God played for us. Each time, the same song would play. Over and over again, sitting on the shores of the ocean, “Rest On Us” by Maverick City would play. What are the repeated words of this song? As the Spirit was moving over the water Spirit, come move over us Come rest on us Come rest on us God did something within each of us. The Spirit of God was moving over us, hovering, and he moved, he filled us, we were forever changed. The Spirit of God was hovering over the surfaces of the water when there were only deep waters covered in darkness – then EVERYTHING CHANGED. Your life may feel like deep waters of darkness right now, but I’m telling you my sister, the Spirit of God can come and change that! He’s hovering over you right now. What would God require to create something beautiful in your life? What would be needed to begin a work in you? Well, God doesn’t start with nothing, he starts with himself. He creates from himself. He forms from himself. God is here, so God has everything he needs. Invite him to hover over you and do his work! Spirit, come move over us. Come rest on us. The same powerful Spirit that created us and everything around us is not only here with us right now, but when you are a follower of Jesus, that Spirit lives IN you! Within you is the Spirit that can do impossible things. It’s not only all around you, not only hovering over you, but dwelling IN 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

Romans 15:13, “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” God is the source of our hope. Hope means you have something to look forward to, something to cling to, something you’re counting on. You may not know how and you may not know when, but you know something good is going to happen in the future. That is hope. Hope that it’s all going to work out. Hope that you’re going to make it through. Hope that every promise will be fulfilled. Hope that the plans for your life are good. Your goals and good works are not the source of that hope. Your perfect plan and perfect follow through isn’t the source of that hope. What’s the source? GOD. I pray that GOD, THE SOURCE OF HOPE. Repeat after me, THE SOURCE. We’re currently dealing with termites in the darling little turquoise beach cottage we’re staying in. In literally one week we noticed the baseboard trim in 2 areas begin to crumble. This is a new house. Thinking it was some sort of water damage, my husband touched the affected areas of the wood and it caved in then termites began crawling out. Ummmmm yuck. Did you know that termites can completely chew through a 2×4 in 2 weeks? Did you know active termites can destroy your house from the inside out while your floors are clean and the candles are lit? The professionals came out to the house to look for one thing. THE SOURCE. Where were the termites coming from. If they could find the source, they could save the house. Less than 2 feet from the deck is a tall palm tree. In the top of that tall palm, they found the source. There was the termite nest and there sat the queen. Now, mission on to hide bait in the wall for the worker termites eating the house so they take it all back and poison the source. If the source is wiped out, the destruction ends. God is our SOURCE OF HOPE. All hope flows from him. If our connection with God is poisoned, all hope ends. How do we become connected with this source of hope? YOU TRUST HIM! “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace BECAUSE YOU TRUST IN HIM.” Repeat after me: Because you trust him. Your trust in God opens the flow of hope. Hope feels like joy and peace. Hope feels like happiness and burdens lifted. Hope feels like assurance for the future. Hope feels like a deep knowing you’re going to be okay. All of this flows from your TRUST IN HIM. My friend, if you don’t trust in the source, then you are disconnected from your hope. If you don’t trust God, then the whole world looks really scary. If you don’t trust in God, governments have the power to ruin you. If you don’t trust in God, that sickness could be the end. If you don’t trust in God, everything can come crashing down at any minute. I’m an adrenaline junkie. I love every adventure that takes my breath away. I’ll climb that. I’ll jump off that. I’ll ride that with my hands in the air the entire time. And I can do it because I trust I’m connected to something. There’s a bungee. There’s a parachute. There’s a rope. There’s a seat belt. I’m trusting there’s something securing me. And as I trust whatever I’m secured to, I can have extreme joy and complete peace as I’m flying or falling or hanging upside down. If I didn’t trust it, instead of joy there would be complete panic. Instead of peace there would be anxiety. When we are filled with panic and anxiety, could it be because we’re not trusting the source? Is there a disconnect with our source? When the connection with our source is severed, the flow of joy and peace is halted. My sister, that is NOT God’s desire for you. He does not wish for you to be filled with panic and anxiety. He doesn’t want you overwhelmed with fear. In fact, do you know how many times the Bible says, “DO NOT FEAR” or something similar like “don’t be afraid” or “don’t worry”. 365 times. That’s once for every morning of the entire year. Every day God is telling you, TRUST ME. God says, “When you trust in me, your worry, your fear, and your anxiety is replaced with joy and peace.” Life is not a kiddie ride. It’s not the carousel with the fancy horses. It’s the wildest ride in the park! It’s the wooden roller coaster that shakes you so hard you get a few bruises and walk away spinning. That’s life. And you’re going to need to be securely attached to something or you will never find joy or peace. When you know God’s got you, you can throw your hands up and enjoy the ride. But until you learn to trust him, there will be no joy or peace. Trusting in God doesn’t mean life becomes easy. It doesn’t mean things work out the way you thought they would. It doesn’t mean everyone plays nice. Trusting God means you go through it and come out of it with HOPE. If you still have the source of hope, you can keep coming back. If you have a path to the source, hope will continue to flow. Our little termites have a source. As long as their source remains, they will keep coming back. If the source gets wiped out, they cannot survive. As crazy as it sounds to compare God to a Queen termite, he is our source. And if our source remains, then we can keep coming back again and again and again. No matter how many disappointments we face. No matter how many things fall apart. No matter how hard times get. Our source will sustain us to survive. But if we become disconnected from our source, then all hope is gone. How do we become disconnected from our source of hope, which is God? How does that happen? Well first, you must know the source will never leave you. Romans 8:38-39, Paul writes, “I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow – not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below – indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God will never stop loving you. He will never turn away from you. Ever. Nothing you could do would separate him from you. But my sister, you could separate yourself from him. You could reject the source of hope and stop the flow. How? By no longer trusting him. By trying to control this on your own. By trying to make things happen under your own power. If you don’t trust him, you lose all hope. And without hope, there is no joy or peace. No God, no joy. Know God, know joy. No God, no peace. Know God, know peace. Anything you’ve been trusting in outside of God will disappoint you. God is your source of hope. His promises are for you. His plans are for you. His blessings are for you. You can be confident in this and just keep coming back! One more time, lets read Romans 15:13. This is my heartfelt prayer over you today. “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” Trusting in God looks like you just coming back to God as your source. Over and over again. Don’t let fear block you. Don’t let worry get in your way. Don’t sit stuck in overwhelm. Come back to God and be filled to overflowing with hope as you trust ONLY in him. One final thing that hits me about trusting our source. If you don’t trust the airplane, it doesn’t make the airplane fail. You just don’t get to take the trip. If you don’t trust the parachute, it doesn’t make the parachute bad. You just never get to jump. A failure to trust the source doesn’t cause the source to fail, it simply causes you to miss the opportunity. God has overflowing joy and peace for you on this journey, but you have to trust him as your daily source and your eternal hope. Will 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

Do you ever feel like you get a spiritual spanking? Well, God’s word does say, “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” God doesn’t want his girls to be self-indulged, spoiled brats. So he uses his rod to protect and discipline us. A shepherd carried 2 tools, a rod and a staff. The rod was a wooden club used to ward off any predators seeking to harm his sheep. The rod was also used to correct a sheep that refused to listen. Why? Because the sheep would no doubt get himself in trouble if he didn’t stay close to the shepherd. The shepherd’s staff was a long stick with a curved end, used to guide and gently move the flock. So, when David says in Psalm 23, “Your rod and staff protect and comfort me”, he’s referring to the ways God shepherds us. Not because he hates us, but because he loves us. Because he knows the way to get to where we need to go. Because we are but clueless sheep and he is the great shepherd. The past few devotionals have felt like the rod of discipline, but they’ve been so much more the rod of protection. God is warding off the threats to our hearts. He’s beating down the dangled temptations of the enemy. Oh what beautiful work he has been doing for us as we stay close to him. We’re not being punished, we’re being protected. This morning, I asked God is there was a little more of a “staff” type teaching than a “rod”. Can we balance out the week with something sweet, something encouraging, something to cuddle up to along the journey. Girls, I’m telling you, God hears every prayer and he responds directly. Our God is absolutely so cool. The way he works is no doubt grand and mysterious, and also sometimes quirky and comical. Let me tell you how he answered me today. As you know, we’ve been studying the book of Romans. This morning, I sat down to that most highlighted and filled chapter in my Bible, seeking one last teaching to wrap up our study, but again hoping it would be a comforting staff instead of a rod for another spiritual spanking. And there I saw a scripture highlighted in my favorite color of pink, jumping off the page. As I read the scripture it came alive and I immediately saw the map to each point. See, that’s how it happens for me. God shows me how his word comes alive and flows to other scriptures and practical teachings. I see it. You know how in those crime documentaries police have a bulletin board with photos and clues and they start putting the pieces together. They put a push pins in each piece of the puzzle, then they connect them with red yarn, so it all links together visually. Well, yeah, that’s how devotionals happen for me! I read a scripture and it starts linking with personal stories, songs, movies, other scriptures. I can see the push pins and follow the red yarn. Then, all I have to do is sit down and start writing furiously as God’s Spirit guides me in putting in all together. 1 hour later, I’m recording live to share the findings with you in the day’s devotional. So today after asking God for a sweet, refreshing devotional, I open the book of Romans and see it there in pink highlighter, just waiting, and as I read the scripture, all the pieces start connecting perfectly. There’s red yarn everywhere, tying together the perfect devotional. So, I start writing. Writing what you’re hearing right now. And I get to this point to whip out that scripture God showed me so I can quote it word for word … and it’s gone. Like literally gone. I flip all through the book of Romans searching for those 2 verses highlighted in pink that got me so excited just minutes before, and I can’t find them. I’m on a timeline, God. We go live with our work together in 1 hour, now where did that scripture go? Finally, in desperation, I go to the Google and I do a search for key words I remembered from the scripture God had led me to earlier. Guys, it wasn’t even in the book of Romans. It’s 48 pages after where I had been reading. 3 entire books later. I have no idea how I was somehow in the book of Galatians, I promise you I had opened to my bookmarked spot in Romans where we left off yesterday. It’s so bizarre! I’ve learned when odd things happen, maybe it’s not odd, maybe it’s God. I asked God for a comforting sweet devotional today and he’s giving it to us in the sweetest of ways. Bizarre, but sweet. Not odd, but God! So, here’s the scripture he took me to in the wrong book, 48 pages beyond where I opened my Bible. Galatians 5: 24-25, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” I see push pins and red yarn going EVERYWHERE, y’all! Thinking about our own passions and desires being sacrificed isn’t exactly a warm fuzzy thought, is it? What if I don’t want to give up what I want? Does this mean all the passion in my life has to be sacrificed for some sort of buttoned down, boring life? NO! Because something radically different happens when things are nailed to the cross of Jesus and crucified. Do you know what happens? Those things don’t stay dead. THEY ARE RESURRECTED. Jesus died on that cross, but he was resurrected to life! When we allow all our passions and desires to be nailed to the cross of Jesus, they die and come back to us better than ever before. Our desires are sanctified. Our passions are aligned with the divine. We have a resurrected fire burning within us according to God’s best plans. My friend, you can trust God with the desires of your heart. You can trust him fully with the things you dream about. You can confidently give him everything you’re passionate about. Nail all of that to the cross. When you do, only God’s best will be resurrected within you. All those lesser than plans and worldly desires will die, while God’s greatest plans and eternal desires will come to life fully. When you crucify your passions and desires on the cross of Jesus, you allow God to breath his life and power into only the best of them. God’s approval is stamped on the resurrected desires and passions. God’s power is assigned to the resurrected dreams. Will you allow them to first be crucified with Christ? I mean let them go. Give them up. Release your grip. Trusting God will resurrect his best appointed dreams and desires for your life and do something greater through them than you ever could have. You can trust him with this. Jesus didn’t stay on that cross. He died there, but he was resurrected in his full glory. Our passions don’t stay on that cross when we surrender them. Our desires aren’t hanging there forever in a crucified state. They die, then God brings them back in his full glory. RESURRECTED TO LIFE AGAIN! Do you have some old dreams that have died? God could breath new life into them again. Do you have some old desires that have gone cold? God could resurrect them. Lord, breath your life into every desire and passion that aligns with your best plans for my life. If you’re in it, I want it. If you’re not, I don’t. That’s what crucified desires and passions really look like. We will only cling to what God resurrects. When we live by the Spirit, the Spirit will literally lead us in every part of our lives. Those are not my own made up, feel good words – those are straight from that pink highlighted paragraph in my Bible. The scripture God wanted his girls to hear today. I used to feel guilty if I didn’t pray about where to park and which store to walk in. I felt like I had failed God when I didn’t seek him in every little thing. And even more than that, I feared what horrible thing might happen if I didn’t pray about it first. Now, I’m seeing the push pins and the red yarn connecting. Ohhhhhh, when we LIVE by the Spirit, meaning we’re open to the Spirit of God continually and we’re in close relationship with him, then the Spirit will lead every part of our lives. IT’S ALREADY HAPPENING! That’s how we end up in the right place at the right time. The Spirit of God is involved in the details of our lives. He’s been invited to lead. And when he leads, he aligns the supernatural. When he leads, he puts us in front of the right people. When he leads, he creates opportunities, connections and confirmations in the most ordinary places. A trip to the grocery store becomes a spiritual adventure when the Spirit of God leads us! The Spirit of God lead me directly to Galatians 5:24-25 today, and he asked me to share it with you. “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” May you see the push pins and the red yarn connecting all the details of your life to this truth. God is working in you, through you and for you! His Spirit is guiding you. He’s breathing new life into your surrendered desires and passions. Ahhhh, God, you are so good! Thank you for your sweet staff today! 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

Romans 12:14, “Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them.” The Greek word translated into persecute was dioko which actually means to aggressively chase. Is anyone after you right now? They’re chasing after you for your money, for your position, for your reputation. Heck, maybe you don’t even know why they’re chasing after you. Maybe you’re in a lawsuit right now. Maybe you’re being attacked or talked about. How do you handle that? Well, according to God’s word, you do the opposite of what you want to do. What you want to do is talk about them. You want to tell everyone your side of the story. You want to be vindicated. You want the world to turn against them and stand behind you. But Paul says here, “Don’t curse them.” Paul’s not talking about putting a hex on someone, he’s talking about your ill wishes for them. The way you talk about them. Don’t curse them with your words. Don’t spew negativity about them. Stop trying to rally the troops so everyone else is against them. No, no, no – isn’t that what they have done to you? Paul also says later in Romans 12, verse 17, “Never repay evil with more evil.” It’s wrong of them to talk about you, and it would be wrong of you to talk about them. Don’t do it. Just stop it. It’s crazy how hard it is to control that, though isn’t it? There are certain stories of how incredibly wrong people have been to me that are almost fun to tell. It makes the other person look so totally absurd and it makes me feel good after what they tried to do to me. No, no, no, Pamela – God is not impressed. Stop it! I’m acting no better than them when I’m retelling the story to make them look bad. Instead, here’s what we’re supposed to do: Pray that God will bless them. Woah, now that’s over the top! That’s a radical shift. Could you even do that? For the sake of helping us all relate, let’s give this person a name. The person who is wrong, the person who is aggressively chasing you, trying to take something from you, the person who is talking about you and attacking you, the person making your life hard, let’s say their name is “Fool.” The bible often uses the term ‘Fool’ to refer to someone who is being ridiculous, so that’s the name we will give them today. They are your ‘Fool’. Imagine for a moment instead of retelling the stories of how wrong Fool has been, how mean Fool has been, how Fool makes you feel so angry and so hurt, that instead, you start praying that God would bless and help Fool. If you’re dealing with a real ‘Fool’ in your life, you may have felt your whole body just pull back in resistance. The more you felt that, the more attached you are to that negative feeling of fighting against ‘Fool’, and really the more hold they have over your life. YOU DON’T WANT THAT! God doesn’t want that. You need this! So, right now, let’s just start. Again, I’m going to insert the name ‘Fool’, but you know who your persecutor is. You know who is making your life hard. You know who is talking about you. You know who makes you feel this way. Right now, let’s pray for them. Lord, in obedience to your word, we want to stop the cycle of hurt and evil. We no longer want to be part of the continual talk and attacks. God, we don’t want to fight back. Father, bless my ‘Fool’. Bless the one who has hurt me. Bless the one who talks about me. Bless the one who has been ugly to me. Bless the one who has been unfair. Pull them in to you, cover them with your grace, heal what is hurting in them, restore them to your beautiful design and set their feet on your intended path. Today, unleash your undeniable blessings on them. Shower them with your goodness. Even while it is hard for me to speak these words, I release my feelings and emotions to you. I trust you God. In the name of Jesus, amen.” Do you feel the burden lifted off you? In this moment, you’re no longer carrying the heavy weight of anger, blame and bitterness. When you turn your ill feelings to prayers of blessing, something spiritual happens – you’re released! Jesus actually tells a story in Matthew 18 of what happens when we refuse to bless and withhold our forgiveness for those who have done wrong against us. It’s called the Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor. Starting in verse 21: Peter comes to Jesus and asks, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” I love that Peter is suggesting he forgive seven times, because seven sounds really generous. But there has to be a limit, right? And Jesus says, “No, not seven times, but seventy times seven.” That’s 490. Does Jesus mean literally you forgive 490 times, but on the 491st offense, then you stop forgiving? No. He means you forgive more than you are capable of forgiving. You’re going to need to seek HIM for this level of offered forgiveness. It’s not even in you, you need the power of Jesus. Then, Jesus begins telling a story of a King. This King had a servant who owed him millions of dollars. This man’s debt was so big, he could not pay the King, so he begged for mercy. So, the King forgave his debt and released him. But when this same man left, he found out one of his own servants owed him a few thousand dollars. When his servant begged him for mercy, he gave none. He had the man arrested and thrown into prison until his full debt could be paid. When the King heard about this man, whom he had forgiven for millions, had turned around and punished someone for owing him far less, the King sends him to prison to be tormented until his entire debt of millions could be paid. And Jesus says in verse 35, “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive from your heart.” Torment. You will be tormented when you carry around anger, bitterness and blame. ‘Fool’ isn’t tormented, YOU ARE. You carry around a burden you were never intended to carry. You create your own prison. God has forgiven you for every single wrong you’ve ever committed. All those stupid years of doing epically stupid stuff, forgiven. All those wandering years of wandering down really bad paths, forgiven. And now you want to hold on to the hurt someone else has caused you? Really, you have no right to do that. You have been forgiven of so many offenses – who are you to hold on to this offense of ‘Fool’? My sister, release them from that prison. When you do, you will be released from your own prison of torment. The torment ends when you obediently pray blessings over them where you used to talk bad about them. The torment ends when you stop replaying their wrong and start trusting God to get it right. As Jesus was being nailed to the cross between 2 criminals – Jesus being 100% innocent, blameless and perfect – he prays “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34). WOW. I don’t have anyone nailing me to a cross, but I have people talking about me. I don’t have anyone trying to kill me, but I’ve had people try to make me look really bad. I don’t have anyone hurting me to a level even comparable to that, but I’ve had people do some pretty ugly things. If Jesus, in the middle of the injustice, in the middle of the attack, in the middle of his murder could say, “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing”, can’t I pray for my ‘Fool’. They really don’t know what they are doing. They’re caught up in a whirlwind of confusion. They’re fighting something they don’t even know they’re fighting. They’re hurting. There’s something unhealed and wounded in them. They don’t need you to curse them, they desperately need you to pray for them. Lord, forgive them. Lord, bless them. Lord, I trust you with this. Now, don’t confuse this – this doesn’t mean you have to move Fool back in. This doesn’t mean you go back to work for Fool or hire Fool onto the team. This doesn’t mean you fix Fool. This means you RELEASE Fool in forgiveness, you bless Fool and you trust God to heal every hurt and right every wrong. When you release them, you are released. Your own prison doors are opened and you aren’t tormented with the replaying of the story and the continual preparing for the next battle. No, the battle is over. You’ve forgiven. The cycle of evil ends with you, because you won’t pay back that evil with more evil. Blessings will be spoken here. That takes a really big faith to do that. And you may have to do it every single day. Heck, you may have to do it several times a day. But God doesn’t want you stuck in the prison of torment. He wants to set you free, but my sister, you hold that key. The key is, “Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless 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

Following God is not a list of laws and rules that must be obeyed in order to be deemed worthy of salvation. We would never be worthy if that were the case. God knew that. Jesus came to fulfill all those laws and rules for us. He met the requirements on our behalf. His blood forever covers us, making us forever good enough. Now, we live in freedom because of Jesus. Our burdens are now light. We are not subject to laws so extreme that we can’t fulfill them. We are not under restrictions and rules that prevent us from living lives of joy. Actually, quite the opposite. Our guilt and shame has been lifted. We are invited to enjoy the fullness of all God has created, covered in a undeserved blanket of grace and forgiveness. It all sounds too good to be true. But it is true – if you accept it. Freedom in Jesus is yours. But humans struggle with freedom. We struggle with grace. We make things messy, then we drag others into our mess. Without extreme rules, we begin making our own rules. Rules that overlook the heart and just begin checking boxes. All while God isn’t concerned with the boxes, he only wants your heart. If your heart is right, then he is pleased, regardless of the box. But dang we like our boxes of right and wrong, don’t we? And we create enemies out of those not in our same boxes. We judge and condemn anyone who’s box looks different than ours. But really, the question is – where did the box even come from? Did God give you that box? Is your box now creating harm in the life of someone who’s looking for Jesus, but all they can see are your boxes they don’t fit in? Are we tearing about God’s work over laws and rules Jesus has already fulfilled for us? I have a family member who is so smart that it hinders his faith. He is distraught that most churches meet on Sundays and that’s not the appointed Sabbath day according to God. So, he wants nothing to do with Church because it’s the wrong day of the week. I met a young man who believes all Christians hate him because he’s gay. And if the followers of Jesus are against him, then wouldn’t Jesus be against him too? So, he has never met the saving power of Jesus because he feels he wouldn’t be loved. He doesn’t know God is for him because no one representing God has ever been for him. (He happens to be the young man on the airplane I gave my Bible to last year. It was the most valuable gift I could give him to show him love.) The 28 year old guy with a long pony tail who does the best pedicures on the island struggles to believe there is a God because bad things have happened in his life. He’s hurting and questioning and running, all while making some bad decisions. What would Jesus do in these situations? Wouldn’t Jesus say, “Hey, if you want to hang out with me on Saturday, that’s really cool too! The day of the week doesn’t matter to me, they’re all mine.” Wouldn’t Jesus say, “I know everything about you. I knew you before you were even knit together in your mother’s womb. I loved you then and I love you now. My good plans for you haven’t been cancelled. I can work in your life.” Wouldn’t Jesus say, “I know you’re hurting and I’m hurting with you. Let me sit with you.” Wouldn’t Jesus say, “There’s nothing you could ever do that would separate you from my love?” And whatever Jesus would do, he’s asking us to do it too. Jesus sat at tables others would be ashamed to be see at. He hung out with the unpopular. He pursued the unlovable, the untouchable, the undesirable. He tore down every wall and every excuse and made the path for the broken and the hurting to come to him. The leper who Jesus touched hadn’t been touched by a single living soul for years. He was an unclean, forbidden outcast. But Jesus reached for him. When no one else would, Jesus did. Now he calls us to do the same. We can’t live in our extreme boxes of right and wrong and expect everyone else to fit in them. Our boxes are limiting the free flow of Jesus’ healing power. Here’s how Paul says it in Romans 14: “Don’t argue with others about what they think is right or wrong.” That’s plain and simple. Stop arguing over what you think is right or wrong. You’re helping no one and you’re not representing Jesus well. Jesus would walk smack dab in the middle of what is wrong and he would touch people. Jesus would pull us a seat next to the one who is adamantly wrong and share a meal with them. Jesus wouldn’t argue with them over what is right or wrong. He would spend time with them, love them, and shine the light of God in all their dark places. He would offer grace where there has been guilt and shame. Paul goes on to use 2 examples of right and wrong. Clean food and holy days. In the Old Testament under the old law, breaking of the laws of food or holy days made you unclean and unworthy. Guilty. Punished. Banished. Now, because of Jesus fulfilling the old laws, things have changed and Paul says, “One person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables.” Okay, so we have a difference of opinion in what is right or wrong. We don’t agree on this. My box doesn’t match yours. So what do we do? Paul says, “Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them.” God has accepted the person you’re condemning. The person you’re judging has been deemed worthy of love and forgiveness by God, because of Jesus. WHY ARE YOU STANDING IN THE WAY? If what they’re doing is wrong for you, then it’s wrong for you, but you don’t have to push it on them. Isn’t our God big enough to accept me with my hang ups and you with your screw ups at the same time? Isn’t God big enough to sort all that out? My 3 year old grandson loves the Minions movies. These little yellow cuties unite for a mission and they’re a force to reckon with. But they’re really, really dumb. They do the stupidest things and cause major messes along the way. We’re kind of the same. We don’t know why we’re doing what we’re doing, but we’re doing it. We make a mess of things without looking around to see who’s getting hurt. And if we don’t pause for a moment, we may be hurting someone Jesus died to save. Paul says in Romans 14: 12-13, “Each of us will give a personal account to God. So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.” The first rule in any type of medical treatment is do no harm. Don’t make things worse. We’re surround by sick and hurting people. People who need the love and healing touch of Jesus. The first thing we must commit to is to not hurt them. Repeat after me: I WILL DO NO HARM. Verse 14, “If someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong.” God is big enough to give us personal convictions. Those personal convictions are on a personal level. We don’t have to spew them onto everyone else as the standard for living. God doesn’t need destructive little minions out enforcing his laws. For 7 years, I practiced yoga daily. The majority of those days, I hated it. But it helped me calm my racing mind and brought a slower pace to my rushed soul. And this very non-bendy girl really needed flexibility. Over the years, I benefited greatly. I’d never been more toned or fit. I would miss a day of praying, but I wouldn’t miss a day of yoga. I never opened my Bible, but I always rolled out that yoga mat. Then, one day the Holy Spirit ever so clearly told me to stop doing yoga. That didn’t make any sense to me. It had been so good for me. I wasn’t hurting anyone. So I continued, ignoring the prompting of the Holy Spirit to stop. Months passed and that holy conviction grew stronger and stronger. I had to stop. I asked God why, but there was no explanation, just a conviction to stop doing yoga. Finally, I quit. With no understanding as to why, but faith to believe God knew best. Some time after stopping, God revealed to me why he had asked me to stop. Then it made sense. It wasn’t right for me. It was wrong for me personally. I’ve never done yoga a single time since, and it’s been over 2 years. I’ve grown more spiritually in those 2 years than I have in my other 48 combined. God has never once called me to tell anyone else that yoga is wrong for them. Maybe it’s great for them. It was wrong for me. Could what is wrong for me be right for you? Could what is right for you be wrong for me? And could we be big enough to be okay with that without be threatened or judgy? Here’s what God asks of us, “Don’t let your choices ruin someone for who Christ died.” Don’t become a stumbling block. Don’t trip them up over something God says is not in the way of coming to him. If God has accepted them, GET OUT OF THE WAY! Verse 4 says, “With the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval.” Notice it doesn’t say with your judgment, or your boxes, or your hate, or your posting, or even your example – it says with the LORD’S HELP, they will stand and receive his approval. You and I need to get out of the way. Allow God to work in your personal convictions, and let him be big enough to work in the personal convictions of others too. God is so much more concerned about the HEART than the box. Verse 22-23, “Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. But if you have doubts about whether or not you should do something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe it not right, you are sinning.” Just because it’s not right for you, doesn’t mean it’s wrong for everyone else. Let God handle that. Just because it’s totally right for you, doesn’t mean it’s your mission to push it on anyone else. Let God handle that. When the Holy Spirit has told me not to do something, doing it anyway would be sin for me personally. Pushing my personal convictions off on you would only cause division and confusion. I become a stumbling block when I make my rules and regulations. I block God’s grace when I create my boxes and try to get you to make the same boxes. God doesn’t need minions. He wants disciples – followers of Jesus. See how Jesus would do it, then do the same. Jesus would touch the unclean. Jesus would sit with the wrong. Jesus would have mercy on the accused. Jesus wouldn’t throw a stone and he’s not telling you to either. Jesus would wash feet. And he’s very clearly telling you to wash feet. You can’t throw stones when you’re washing feet. You can’t push your personal convictions on everyone else when you’re loving like Jesus. If it’s not right for you, then don’t do it. It would be sin for you if you did. But don’t let that become a box you try to make everyone else fit in. Give him your heart, and let him work on the heart of everyone else in his way. 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

God demands that we both love and hate. We’re actually not supposed to be all love all the time. There are things to love and things to hate. The problem becomes when we confuse the two. And honestly, it’s really easy to get them confused. It’s easy to start hating what we’re supposed to love and start loving what we’re supposed to hate. Romans 12:9, “Don’t PRETEND to love others. REALLY LOVE them. HATE what is WRONG. Hold TIGHTLY to what is RIGHT.” Jesus says there’s one way we will be known as his disciples, OUR LOVE. When we follow Jesus, we begin to love like him. Who did Jesus love? Everyone. So who are we supposed to love? Everyone. That’s hard, isn’t it? Is there someone in your neighborhood, your office, or your family, that’s really hard to love? Everything about them absolutely rubs you the wrong way. Yeah, God doesn’t want you to keep pretending like you love them, as you so easily do with your shallow hellos and fake caring. God says you are to REALLY LOVE THEM. That difficult person is someone Jesus died for. They’re someone God designed with great intention and put them on Earth for a purpose. They’re someone who has gone through real things, struggling with real feelings, and desperately need real love. And YOU ARE CALLED TO LOVE THEM. But why? Because your love reflects Jesus. Not your judgment. Not your correction. Not your avoidance. Not your gossip. Just your love. Does it mean you could get hurt? Yip. Does it mean you could get rejected? Yes. Does it mean your efforts could be a waste? Yes. Just like Jesus’ love got him hurt, made him hang there in rejection, and with all he gave it was a waste to some – but he did it anyway. And now he calls his girls to do the same. LOVE THEM. Get over how you feel about it and lead with love. Stop building your walls out of self-protection and be vulnerable with your love. The truth is, we give love with strings of expectation. We expect our love to be received, appreciated and reciprocated. And when it’s not, we stop really loving and we start to ‘pretend’ love. We keep the peace, but we replay the battle. We smile to their face, but we talk behind their back. We text all the sweet emojis, but those emojis are the opposite of our true emotions. Fake. Fake. Fake. In fact, scripture tells us we could do all sorts of great and impressive acts, but if we don’t have love behind it, it’s absolutely worthless. God is not impressed by your fake love. Lord, help me to REALLY LOVE. Forgive me for hiding behind fake. Could God help you love that person that you find so hard to love? Absolutely. And here’s how – he could help you see that person through his eyes. God loves them because he knows the potential he placed within them. God loves them because he knit them together with purpose and he knows that purpose is still possible. There’s goodness within that person because God’s fingerprints are all over them. He formed them. If you love the Creator, you can love his creation. But that doesn’t mean you have to love the wrong they do. In fact, Romans 12:9 says, “HATE WHAT IS WRONG.” But here’s what it doesn’t say – It doesn’t say ‘hate the person who is wrong.’ Nowhere are we told to hate the person. We are to LOVE the person because they are God’s creation and Jesus died for them. We want God’s best for them. We want them to heal. We want them to be restored. We want them to live well. We love the person, while we hate what is wrong. Separate the two. I can hate the addiction while I still love the person. God does. I can hate the ugly actions and hurtful words while I still love the person. God does. I can hate the division and confusion while I still love the person. God does. We’re never called to make peace with what is wrong and co-sign the sin. We’re called to HATE IT. Hate what is wrong. The word ‘hate’ is a translation of the Greek word apostugeo. Apostugeo means an intense disgust. An emotion of being repulsed by something totally vile. So, God’s word is telling us to be repulsed by what is wrong. You don’t have to make peace with it! No, quite the opposite – you should be disgusted by it. I hate the addiction. I hate the lies. I hate the pride. I hate the darkness. I hate the ugliness. I hate the sin. I’m absolutely repulsed by it. I won’t pretend to be okay with it. It disgusts me. And I still love the person. That’s the balance. God isn’t asking us to just be robots who finally make the right choices. He’s asking us to allow him to change our emotions. This is more than choice, this is emotion. It’s how you FEEL about it. Have you ever had God get all up in your emotions before? Have you had him touch you and change how you feel about something? You can’t explain it, but suddenly your feelings totally changed. Your cravings changed. Your desires changed. Your thoughts changed. That’s the transformational power of Jesus. A few days ago I sat on an airplane next to a beautiful 80 year old woman and her cat who had messed himself. The smell was intense, but the conversation was delightful. I couldn’t believe this woman was 80. She was so healthy and vibrant. I said, “You have clearly been blessed by God.” She said, “No doubt, because I was a raging alcoholic for 50 years. My body shouldn’t be this healthy.” OH, TELL ME MORE! She said after 50 years of drinking, God touched her and changed her heart and she has never desired a drink again. She’s been sober for 30 years now. Now, she hates what was wrong. God did that. He changed her emotions towards it. She doesn’t have to struggle to make the right choice when God changed how she felt about it. Maybe God wants to change how you feel about something, but you’ve been holding on to it instead of releasing it to him. Maybe it wouldn’t be a daily struggle to change this if you trusted God with it. Maybe your feelings could change. Let me tell you something, the God who brought Lazarus back to life, the God who gave sight to the blind, the God who made the crippled man who had laid on a mat for 38 years get up and walk, the God who turned a desert of dry bones into an Army – that God can touch you and change how you feel about things! He can help you LOVE the person and HATE what is wrong. He can change your emotions to align with his. Will you let him? I have a dear friend who has been through Hell and back in the past 2 years. The most unfair things have happened to her. It’s as if Hell was on a personal assignment to wreck every area of her life. She recently told me, “I’m not mad about it. God has healed my heart. I no longer have any ill feelings in me.” That’s a GOD WORK! That’s miraculous. And let me tell you, God can and will do that for every single one of us. He can change our emotions. We can be a genuinely loving person while hating what is wrong and clinging to what is good. Ezekiel 36:26, God says, “I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.” That’s how you love the unlovable and you hate what is wrong. A new heart with the right emotions. That’s what God can do for you. This is what he is offering you. I often blur the lines. I love the person, and I know the wrong they are doing, so I co-sign the wrong to preserve the relationship. I say things like, “Girl, you gotta do what you gotta do.” NO. I’m not helping her. I can love her and be repulsed by the wrong. And if I’m repulsed by the wrong, then I don’t co-sign it and encourage her to do her thing. What would Jesus do? He would love her right where she is and show her a better way. Not with condemnation. Not with guilt and shame. He wouldn’t point his finger and tell her how wrong she was. He would remind her of her true worth and offer her something better. Now, as followers of Jesus, we are called to love like him. How will we love the person and hate what is wrong? How will we stop making peace with the problem and align our feelings with the righteousness of God? How will we be repulsed by the work of the enemy while being a vessel for the work of God? It’s a daily surrender of our heart. Lord, make my heart new. Change my emotions. Help me to love like you love. Help me to hate what you hate. Help me to hold tightly to what is right. 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

God was on a mission to love and save someone. His chosen people were the Israelites, the Jewish people. But, the Jews turned on Jesus and didn’t accept the love and salvation offered by God. So, here’s what happened – Jesus made room for US! God’s love would not be stopped. His offer of salvation would not go unclaimed. So, God sent Paul to reach the Gentiles. The Gentiles were people who worshiped many gods. They had a god for practically everything. They were not the original chosen ones from the lineage of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. But space was made for them in the family of God and they were grated in. That’s who we are! We are not the originals – we are the grafted in girls, the ones who could have been left out, but saved by grace and given a place in the family! Paul teaches this miraculous process of being grafted in by using the example of an olive tree in Romans 11. Olive trees represented peace with God and fruitfulness returning to the earth. Remember after God flooded the earth and wiped out everyone outside of the ark, the rain finally stopped and Noah sent a dove out to fly over the waters in search for dry land. One day the dove brought back an olive leaf in it’s beak, signifying the waters were receding and the land was coming back to life again. It was time to begin again. There were two kinds of olive trees. The pure, cultivated olive tree – and the wild olive tree. The cultivated olive tree grows slow, but produces great quality olives. The wild olive tree grows fast, but produces poor quality olives. The olive farmer learned to cut off the old branches from the good quality tree and graft in the lively branches of the wild tree. This grafting wouldn’t change the cultivated olive tree itself, but it would change the grafted branches and therefore change their fruit. The life from the original tree would begin flowing through the wild branches and produce fast growing, quality olives. This is a picture of what God does for us and through us. We were not part of the original tree, but we’ve been grafted in. Space has been made for us. His love would not be stopped, so he searched us out, called us to him, and removed us from the life we once lived and now lets his life flow through us. How absolutely miraculous! As a result, our life produces radically different fruit. We are changed because of the life source we are attached to. My sister, we get to share in what we don’t deserve. God makes us part of something so much better. As a wild olive tree, there’s nothing we could have ever done to be good enough. We could have never self-produced anything of good enough quality. We couldn’t have worked our way in. But God so graciously removed us from what we had been growing in, and grafted us into him. We’re now growing in God’s family tree. His life flows through us and we are forever changed. Every promise ever made to the original tree of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, now belongs to us because we have been grafted in! God’s favor and blessings are now ours. But, there’s a warning. When the chosen ones stopped trusting God, they were cut off from the tree. And the same thing can happen to us. Romans 11:22, “But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off.” When we stop trusting in God, we are cut off from peace. Have you noticed how upset, worried and overwhelmed you become when you stop trusting God and start trying to control everything on your own? Yip, that’s what it feels like to be cut off. There’s no peace. When we stop trusting in God, we are cut off from his guidance. God wants to guide you, but he will not force the foot that will not lift in faith. So, you become stuck and confused and feel like you don’t know what to do next. That’s what it feels like to be cut off. There’s no guidance. When we stop trusting in God, we are cut off from his strength. Do you know where strength comes from? It’s your joy. For real! Nehemiah 8:10, “The joy of the Lord is my strength.” But there can be no joy in the Lord if you stop trusting him. And when you lose your joy, you become weak. True trust in God brings an unspeakable peace and a supernatural strength to get through the impossible. God has LIFE to offer us, but when we stop trusting him, we are disconnected from that life. I wonder if you may feel a lack of peace, a general sense of deep confusion, or an overwhelmed weakness that has left you stuck. Could it be because you’ve stopped fully trusting God and started trying to do this on your own? Oh my sister, God has to cut you off from the tree when you stop trusting him. But, here’s the incredibly GREAT NEWS – Romans 11: 23-24 tells us God is EAGER to graft us back in where we belong! He has the power to cut off when necessary, then he has the power to graft us right back in so his life flows through us once again. We are not cut off forever. Oh Lord, graft me back. I want to be attached to you again. You are my source. I don’t deserve it, but please make space for me. Here, attached to God as our source, we change. God does not change, he remains the same. Us, the branches change. Our fruit changes as God’s life flows through us. The quality of our life drastically changes. Ephesians 2:12-13, “You did not know the covenant promises God had made to them (the original chosen people). You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.” This is what Jesus has done for us. He brought us close to God. Connected. Grafted in. Now, our source is God, he flows through us, giving us peace, guidance and strength, changing us forever. If you’ve drifted away and stopped trusting God, he’s inviting you to be grafted back in and receive his life again. You can always come back. Isn’t that beautiful to know for child or loved one who may have lost their way for a bit. God will graft them back in. They’re not lost to him. Jesus is doing his work to bring them back to God. And when he does, their lives will radically change. There’s space for me, there’s space for you, and there’s space for them. Grafted in to God’s tree! I’m not an original branch, I didn’t grow up in the tree of God, but I’ve been grafted in by grace and I’m forever changed! 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

There’s one thing that helps me when going through a problem. One thing that gives me permission to still find joy on the journey when the journey is darn hard. This one thing is knowing down deep within that there’s a purpose. There’s a purpose in my problem. There’s a purpose in my pain. There’s […]

Today I return to my warm and sunny Florida Keys after traveling for the past week, but I’m returning with something extra. Something so special and so extremely valuable. Let me tell you about the gift I was given while traveling. Yesterday, I met a man named Steve. Steve was a successful business man for […]

Do you ever wonder how you could really be used by God? Ordinary you. Could God use you? Could he work through you? Let’s be clear – God does not need you. He really doesn’t. He has the power to do anything he wishes completely on his own. However, God still chooses to use you […]

God has a plan beyond the reality you see today. He has a purpose specifically for you that reaches beyond the circumstances of this season. Beyond this pain, beyond this struggle, beyond this uncertainty, God has goodness for you. The enemy plays in the darkness of your uncertainties. Uncertainties that ask how much longer will […]

A girl who is going to do big things cannot let small things get to her. A girl who is ready to live the BIG life she was created for, ready to step fully into her potential, ready to live in divine partnership with the Almighty, that girl cannot be shaken by little things. She […]

Romans 12:2, “Let God transform you into a new person.” The original Greek word for transform is metamorphoo. This is where we get the word metamorphosis. And this is the image of what God can and will do in your life. A complete metamorphosis – you won’t look anything like you used to look. You […]

Have you ever known anyone who lives securely in a passed down family business? They didn’t create the business, but they’ve been given the business and trusted to continue the work. Maybe they stepped into success only because of a birthright. They didn’t earn it, but it was passed down to them. It’s easy to […]

God made an investment in you. He intentionally invested potential within you and gives you time in this life, and he expects a return on that investment. Is he getting it? What are you doing with what he has given you? How are you using what’s inside of you? The truth is, we often short […]

Yesterday, I stood in church and I sang the words, “Oh God, the battle belongs to you.” As those words passed my lips, I felt the Holy Spirit say, “Do you really believe that?” Sometimes we can sing songs or even quote scripture, and we don’t even realize what we’re saying. Do you really believe […]

Our God is a healer, redeemer and restorer. His desire is to guide you to living the best life he imagined for you from the very beginning. His answer to your request for healing and restoration is YES. Do you believe that? Yes, he will heal you. Yes, he will restore that which is so […]

Are there thoughts you repeatedly think, and you want to change those thoughts because you know they’re not good? Are there things you often do, and quite honestly you don’t want to keep doing them? You really do want to change. You want to get better. But you don’t know how to change those thoughts. […]

Romans 12:1, “I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.” What does it look like to offer yourself as a living sacrifice […]

Romans 11:33, “Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!” I will never understand God, but I can forever be in awe and wonder of him. His thoughts are above my thoughts and his ways are higher than my ways. […]

Today, the sun came up. It met the horizon and it rose above it. That has happened every single day of our lives, so somewhere along the way we stopped being impressed by it. But the fact still remains, every morning the sun races at us from the east at over 1,000 miles per hour […]

Yesterday was a nostalgic kind of day for me. 15 years ago yesterday we hosted our very first gathering and called it a retreat. It was the most unimpressive, duct taped together event you’ve ever seen, in the basement of Joplin, MO city hall. Looking back it’s almost embarrassing … But it was the beginning. […]

There are many names of Jesus, but there is only one name we call him that saves our soul. Do you know that name? He’s not just our friend, he’s not just the lamb, he’s not just our teacher, he’s not just the Prince of Peace or the Bread of Life. He’s our LORD. When […]

How bothered are you right now? How upset, torn up, worried and overwhelmed do life’s circumstances have you? And why is it we feel almost obligated to appear miserable when we’re going through these hard things? Like it’s wrong to be okay when things aren’t okay. We can’t be happy when the reality isn’t all […]

There’s an undeserved grace in the offering for you today. Even though you don’t deserve it, God wants to bless you. That’s what grace is, and there’s an overflowing of grace, but you have to choose to get in it. Imagine you’re on a hike and there’s a waterfall. You can choose to get in […]

Is there something in your life that has fallen apart and appears hopeless today? Something seemingly broken beyond repair only serving as a painful reminder of dreams left unfulfilled? Maybe that broken thing in your life is you. You feel broken. You have fallen apart. You’re nothing like you used to be, having lost who […]

Enjoy today’s unscripted devotional with these scriptures: Philippians 3:14, “Do everything without complaining and arguing.” MSG, “Be a breath of fresh air.” AMP, “Do everything without questioning the providence of God.” Numbers 11: 1, “Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the Lord heard everything they said. Then the Lord’s anger blazed.” […]

On the island of Marathon in the Florida Keys, there’s a young man in his mid 20’s who gives the best pedicures. He’s friendly and always wants to talk … like a lot. I know all about his struggles with alcohol in the past and his boredom with a life of sobriety. I know he […]

How exactly do you talk about a sometimes awkward topic without it being awkward? For real, how do you do that? Answer: Just don’t be weird about it. God’s truth is the truth for every single one of us. God’s not weird, so sharing his truth isn’t weird unless you make it weird. You make […]

Did you know we are told to pray to God and refer to him as our Daddy or Papa? That’s not disrespectful. That’s not irreverent. It’s personal. God actually wants to be more than just your Creator, more than just the director of your life and supreme authority, he wants to be in a close […]

When did life become all about us? Really? How have we made this about ourselves? It’s so easy to insert myself into every situation, and when it’s about me, is it really about Jesus anymore? The Holy Spirit working within us leads us to think little of self and much of Jesus. The less I […]

Within you is flesh. Flesh is drawn to sin. It sees a sign that says “Wet Paint Do Not Touch” and immediately WANTS to touch it. It is defiant and rebellious and continually wants it’s own way – and the way of flesh is never the right way. But did you know Jesus offers an […]

Delayed obedience is disobedience. Our God is a god of details. When he tells us to do something, it’s not just about the action, it’s about the timing. The mark we’re aiming for is constantly moving. It’s not a stationary target. So when God says, “shoot the arrow now”, but you delay your action and […]

This morning at 2 am, our phone rang. It was a call I had been waiting on. A call I had been praying for. A call that revealed the divine plan of a good God who never, ever stops working. Our youngest daughter was facetiming us from the hospital, proud to show her mama her […]

Many years ago a mentor taught me, “Life is like the changing seasons.” Seasons change and so does life. Seasons do not last, nor do the conditions and situations of life. We live in a constant state of change. We’re left with the choice to either hate and endure it, or savor and embrace it. […]

This devotional is unscripted to allow God’s spirit to speak directly to you in a personal way. Scriptures referenced: 1 Samuel 16:7, “Don’t judge by appearance or height … The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Ephesians 2:10, “You are […]

It’s easy to look around and ask what has happened to our world. Why have things gotten so bad? Who’s fault is this? The truth is, it all began with the sin of one. The failure of one introduced sin and our perfect world was forfeited. That doesn’t seem fair, does it? It seems so […]

What would Jesus do for his friend? A friend – one he personally is connected with and cares deeply about. One who is more than just known or seen or heard, but one who is truly considered a friend. For his friend, Jesus woke him up from the dead. He literally gave his friend life […]

Did you know God works good things into our lives through patterns? There’s always a pattern to God’s work. Know the pattern – trust the work. If you don’t know the pattern, you may question what’s happening in your life. Here’s the good news: The pattern is clearly spelled out in God’s word. Now, here’s […]

Some people are just hard to love. We know that – but what if you’re one of them without realizing it. What if you’ve become hard to love? You pull away. You put your walls up. You self-protect. You pretend. You hide. You keep everything surface level and superficial. And even worse – you do […]

The key to you having a good day or a bad day isn’t in the weather, it’s not in your circumstance, it’s not in the actions or mood of others. The one key to your day is all in your head. Your THOUGHTS write the definition of this day. Your thoughts are either lifting you […]

Our faith is what pleases God most. It’s our deep belief in him that he desires. A knowing within that he will do what he said he will do and his promises for me are guaranteed. Abraham is our example of faith. Because of his faith, he was counted as righteous. Was he perfect? No. […]

God has spoken promises over your life. Do you know his promises? Do you walk confidently in what God has promised, knowing that the maker of the Universe will move Heaven and Earth to keep his promises concerning you? Nothing can cancel God’s promises. Nothing can overpower what God has promised. And the greatest news […]

Retreat recap – Main session on the banks of the river. There is an attack on your identity. Who you really are, who you were created to be, and how God sees you is the target of the enemy of your soul. All good comes under attack. Who you are created to be is good. […]

Have harsh conditions caused you to put living on hold? Are you waiting for more favorable circumstances to show back up for your life? Is your plan to really start living this life of yours once the fires are put out and the smoke has cleared? Girl, don’t you know you were made for this […]

This morning, the Lord hit me with a revelation of his word that left me in absolute awe. It just makes so much sense and I can’t believe I never saw this before. This revelation is new and fresh to me, so I may stumble my way through sharing it with you. My prayer is […]

One of my favorite scriptures is Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” That has always brought me tremendous comfort when life goes sideways and things don’t go as I had planned. I see how the enemy […]

I don’t know about you, but I seem to get things right for a while, then I stray. I start strong, then I just stop. I mean well, then I just fizzle. I’m up, then I’m down. I’m all in, then I’m tip toeing my way out. It’s as if I have this inner struggle […]

You may have a secret life that no one knows about. Something you do or someone you become that’s hidden. It’s your little secret. You feel you must keep it hidden because others might judge you or shame you. But, my friend, God knows about that thing. He knows every secret you hide. He knows […]

Seeing God’s creation, I’m in awe. As the galaxies spin in a heavenly dance, I’m so captivated. I’m delighted in the beauty of this world. All of it. It’s so overwhelming. If you’re going to be overwhelmed today – be overwhelmed by the beauty of God’s creation. His fingerprints are everywhere if we only look […]

Romans 1:12, “When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.” You acting like you don’t need anyone to help you or encourage you is NOT being Christlike. You being all self-sufficient, not accepting help, keeping to yourself and trying to do it […]

Whatever you’re going through – whatever impossible you’re facing – whatever struggle you’re in the middle of – whatever it is, you will find your personal and specific answer here this morning. I promise you, it will be exactly what you need. That’s the best news I can share with you – your answer is […]

Your identity is how you define yourself in this world. It’s who you see yourself as and what you believe about you. God has an identity for you, and the enemy wants to replace it with an imitation. God knows if you ever really saw yourself as who he created you to be, then you […]

We began our study of the book of Revelation over 1 month ago. The first devotional was titled “Grab This Blessing” based on chapter 1, verse 3: “God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, […]

I love those full circle moments. You know when what went wrong in the beginning comes around full circle and becomes so right in the end. When the entire journey was so worth it because it all came together for such a great purpose. That’s full circle. We all love that. I believe we love […]

Just how much do your circumstances and life experiences limit your ability to trust God? How much of your struggle with sin and temptations is because of your childhood, because of your traumas? It’s someone else’s fault, right? They caused you to be broken, now that brokenness in you causes you to stray from God […]

What is your focus when you’re going through the toughest times? How do you talk about it? What fills your thoughts? It’s easy to become hyper focused on our problems. It’s easy to follow all the facebook pages that share in your trial and trouble and become consumed by all the quotes and memes that […]

When my kids were still at home, there were certain buttons when pushed just right that would unleash my wrath. I learned it from my Mama. My mama had buttons when I was growing up. When I pushed them, you could almost see the steam come from her ears. I bet you have a trigger […]

My friends are sending me those priceless back to school photos. Just this week I saw Ava’s first day of pre-school and Grayson’s move-in day at college. And while it seems a lifetime will separate those two photos, us older moms know just how fast it all goes. We only have these kids home with […]

Okay, today, we bite the bullet and we talk about the really really really uncomfortable stuff. The stuff that makes my skin itch and my eyes twitch. The stuff you’ve likely never heard me talk about before because even while we study the book of Revelation, I really like to find the hope and the […]

You know the devil is your enemy, right, but do you know how he attacks you? Do you know what his game is? Girl, you have to know the battle tactics of the enemy of your soul, the one who comes to kill, steal and destroy every ounce of God’s goodness in your life. You […]

You were created with the unique capacity for joy. It’s God’s gift to you. You can seek joy, experience joy and give joy. The problems in our life come when our joy gets twisted. When we desire ungodly things for our joy, then we sin. When we seek joy from things of the world over […]

Some things in this life are a mystery. Most of the things yet to come are most certainly a mystery. Agreed? But have you ever thought about what a mystery really is? A mystery is something that absolutely cannot be understood without being revealed. You can’t figure it out. You can’t manage or measure it. […]

God does all things right. There’s never a time he gets it wrong. There’s never a detail he overlooks. There’s never a promise left unfulfilled. He can be fully trusted to get this right. Yes, I’m talking about your personal “this”. This thing that still isn’t fixed in your life. This thing that still hurts […]

What if I could warn you in advance of a choice you have to make, and that choice will either make your life or ruin your life – wouldn’t you want me to reveal to you the information I know? What if I could save you so much trouble and heartache, simply by warning you […]

Today, we have been given the gift of time. Yes, time to live, but also time get it right. God is being patient with us. He’s literally holding back what must happen next to warn us of the dangers of living this life without him. After avoiding the book of Revelation for my 49 years […]

There is a way of living that Jesus finds absolutely repulsive. So repulsive, he says he will spit you out. Did you know that you are in the mouth of Jesus? He speaks your name at the throne of God. He defends you against the endless accusations of the enemy. Scripture even says he himself […]

I used to only pray for open doors. God, open the doors of opportunity for me to walk in. Eventually, I started believing every open door was MY door and I wandered my way right into some unholy messes. Do you realize Satan can open doors too? Do you understand just because you CAN do […]

Is your life busy, yet not fulfilling? Do you look good on the outside, but on the inside you’re hurting? Do you have every reason in the world to be happy, yet deep down there’s a longing for something more and you just can’t seem to find it? I’ve always heard we’re each born with […]

God’s grace and forgiveness is real. He saves us and gives us goodness we don’t deserve. When we are wrong, he gives us time and space to come back and get it right. As his beloved children, we don’t have to live in unsettled fear of what unknown wrong we may be doing and the […]

In the very beginning of our Bible, we read about the first woman, Eve, being deceived by the serpent to eat the fruit God had specifically told her not to eat. That serpent was the devil. Deception was his tool. He made what was forbidden look so good that Eve was fooled. And isn’t that […]

What if life gets worse? What if the unimaginable happens to you? I naively thought following Jesus would insulate my family from the threats of the world … I was wrong. We have a promise, and that promise is eternal life – not easy life, not perfect life, not happy little bubble life. Jesus promises […]

Did you know you have demon repellent available to you? Like bug spray, the enemy and his evil little workers absolutely cannot pester you when you use what God is going to show you today! Let’s continue our study of the book of Revelation, remembering this is not a book of doom and gloom and […]

What is your vision of Jesus? Do you see him as the humble man in a robe and sandals with kind eyes? Do you see him as the beaten, bleeding, innocent one hanging on a cross? Or how about the image of Jesus we see in the show “The Chosen”? He’s relatable, he’s personable, he’s […]

Have you assumed a surrendered life to God promises an easy life? Have you equated a life for Jesus as a comfortable life filled with all joy and no pain? Last night, here at our BIG Life Missouri Lake Retreat, we gathered in the family room in our pajamas and we began sharing our stories. […]

Revelation: In Greek is Apocalypse We have changed the word apocalypse to mean chaos and catastrophe, however, the original meaning of apocalypse was the “revealing”. So, instead of thinking of Revelation as the chaos and catastrophe to come, instead of fear driven doom and gloom, it is a revealing and unveiling. The revealing in this […]

Mark 5: 25-29 “A woman in the crowd had suffered for 12 years with constant bleeding. She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. in fact, she had gotten worse. She had HEARD about Jesus, […]

It’s okay to wrestle with the things you don’t understand. But in your wrestling, don’t pull away from God. Lean into him. Just how quick do you give up on God? How fast are you to say, this isn’t working, God isn’t listening, and there’s no point in praying. Right now, how pointless do you […]

You’ve heard the saying, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them.” It’s not your job to try and fix them, remember you’re not Jesus. Yes, God calls us to love, but love doesn’t mean you give them access to your life. Now let me tell you, it goes much deeper than this. How […]

Why does God do things the way he does? Scripture says his ways are not our ways … well, no doubt. We would always choose the easy way. We would always choose the fastest route. We would certainly choose the straightest path with clear sight of the destination. But God chooses the ghetto route. God […]

Have you ever asked God, “WHY is this happening?” I have. I think we all have. It’s human nature to look at disappointing situations and wonder why the God who loves us and can change anything and everything he wishes, would allow these things to happen in our lives. God, why haven’t you changed this? […]

We’ve been studying the book of Judges and we see the cycle. God’s people did evil in his sight. “You have not listened to me. You have put other things in my place and they have become your priority. You no longer seek me, you’re seeking something else first.” So the Lord hands them over […]

Do you feel like you work hard, but something always happens and you never have success? Like all your work is for nothing? You work and you work and you work, but there never seems to be a harvest after all the work? If that’s you, you have no idea how absolutely perfect the timing […]

What you have is what God will use. What he gives you will be what is required. Why do we become so hyper focused on what we don’t have and then spend our lives trying to get more? Our entire existence gets wrapped up in trying to earn more so we can get more. For […]

What could you do when you’re empowered, driven and directed by the Holy Spirit? Answer: Absolutely anything God desired. No matter the odds, no matter the circumstances, no matter your limitations. WITH GOD, nothing would be impossible. This is the power you seek. This is the direction you seek. The Holy Spirit living, working and […]

Where is there distress in your life? Where are you burdened and suffering? Do you know that God wants to rescue you? He wants to restore you. But first, he wants you to learn the lesson he has for you here so you don’t just come right back to this place of suffering once again. […]

This morning, after asking God to use me as his vessel to speak to you, I randomly opened my Bible and found a word I had written several months ago in bold letters. It said REPAIR. Repair is needed in your life, isn’t it? Something has gotten broken. Something isn’t working. Something is hurting. Your […]

You may have been totally wrong and you may have been doing the wrong thing for a really long time, but God can turn that all around now. He can pull you out of the mess you created and save you from this. There’s only one thing you have to do. You must sincerely humble […]

Proverbs 4:23, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” This is where we start for any desired or necessary change because this is where every single thing in your life originates. Your heart. Any issue you have is from a heart issue. Any battle you fight within is a […]

Have you ever had to clean up a mess you didn’t create? Did someone else’s problem become your problem and by association you were negatively affected? Maybe right now you’re dealing with something that wasn’t your fault, but it is your reality. It’s not fair, but it’s for real yours now and what you do […]

There are things happening in your life right now that you don’t understand. Things you can’t control. However, there are clues all around you to remind you of who IS in control. Reminders of how you’ve always been taken care of. Leftovers of what has happened for you before. What leftovers do you have? Leftovers […]

Why do you say what you do about yourself? Why would you ever dismiss yourself from the best offerings of life because of a limitation you’ve accepted as your truth, but it quite simply doesn’t have to be? What you’re believing and what you’re saying MATTERS. It matters what you believe about God. It matters […]

I know you’re staring down some really big, overwhelming stuff right now. I know you’re already thinking this really isn’t likely for you. I know there’s a part of you that really wants to dream and imagine it being possible, but there’s an even bigger part of you that discounts the possibility and brings you […]

2 Chronicles 25:8, “The Lord has the power to help you or trip you up.” Do you want God to help you? Well, we must ask, what warrants God’s help? If you feel God has been tripping you up instead, we must also ask, what warrants God’s resistance? It’s actually quite simple and there’s no […]

Every single one of us have made mistakes. The problem is, some of us believe making that mistake makes us a mistake. The enemy of your soul loves the shame game because it eats away at your soul. Shame corrodes the very part of you that believes you are capable of change. Shame is a […]

When God created you, he had an image in mind. He had a life’s purpose and destiny envisioned for you, then he equipped you perfectly for it. Part of the equipping we often miss is the DESIRE for the life we were created for. That’s right, he not only makes you the right person to […]

Join Pamela for part 2 of the unscripted Bible study of 2 Chronicles 20 and see how God turns your battlefield into the Valley of Blessings. 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

2 Chronicles 20 After this, the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites[a] declared war on Jehoshaphat.2 Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army from Edom[b] is marching against you from beyond the Dead Sea.[c] They are already at Hazazon-tamar.” (This was another name for En-gedi.) 3 Jehoshaphat was terrified by […]

Where do you turn first when you have a decision to make? Where do you go when there’s a problem? I’m not talking theoretically, I’m talking very practically. How do you make your decisions? What determines your next step? Who do you go to with your problem? Who’s care do you seek? Did you know […]

God has been waiting for this very day. Waiting for you to just come to him with your broken pieces, your disappointment, your fears and your worries, and seek him with your whole heart. Girl, why did it have to get this bad before you finally came to him? Why do we wait? I’m not […]

God has promises for your life. However, promises are a gift that is never forced. It is always up to the recipient to claim the gifts of God’s promises. What unclaimed promises are waiting for you, my sister? Yesterday, in episode #1893: A Heart To Do More, we read all of 1 Chronicles 17. David […]

This morning, before sitting down to study God’s word and write today’s devotional, I inquired of God what he wanted of me specifically. Here’s what he told me: “Be unrushed. I have words for you to receive and then teach. Stay attuned to my Spirit as I guide. I have a very special message for […]

Have you ever done something, and while you were doing it, you knew it wasn’t right, but you did it any way. That little voice within was talking, but you didn’t want to listen. The inner alarms were ringing, but you just kept on. I have a funny little story for you … If you […]

The book of 1 Chronicles begins with chapters of genealogy all the way back to the very first man, Adam. Long lists of strange names that today seem rather unimportant to us. 4 chapters in, after reading over names of fathers and their sons, sprinkled with a few wives and daughters names, there’s a surprising […]

Join Pamela in this unscripted devotional as she shares her testimony of God’s saving grace and healing power from a massive stroke. 1 Peter 4:15, “If someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.” 1 Chronicles 16:8, “Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole […]

Guidance. Isn’t that what you really need? You need God to guide you, direct you, show you, because honestly you don’t know what you’re doing here. Stop everything and grab something to write this word down. It can be a handwritten note, or a typed note in your phone. Whatever you do, just get this […]

God is in the details of your life. His word tells us of our value and his individual care, down to numbering the hairs on our head. Yes, you are only one of billions in a great big world, but you are HIS ONE and his eye is on you. You have no idea what […]

Faith isn’t asking you to believe in something that isn’t real. Faith is asking you to believe in something real, something promised, something guaranteed, yet in the unseen. Can you believe it without seeing it? Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not real. Girl, you have no idea what is surrounding you […]

God truly does work in mysterious ways, doesn’t he? His ways are so mysterious, that they can appear disappointing in our human perspective. The question is, in your disappointment, have you given up and dismissed yourself from seeing the fullness of what God was doing? Many years ago, my husband and I gave up a […]

Our God is unlimited. He cannot fit in our little box of reasoning and understanding. He cannot be contained by earthly constraints and limits. GOD CAN DO IT. He makes the impossible possible, and he does it without sweat. Nothing is too hard for him. Nothing is out of his reach. The only thing you […]

Today, we’re going to study a beautiful story turned tragic, then made miraculous. God has specifically asked me to share this story with you, his girls today. We will look at this story in 3 separate parts. First, the beautiful part. 2 Kings 4: 8-17 One day Elisha went to the town of Shunem. (Remember […]

Have you ever faced an impossible situation and not known what to do? Have you ever had a debt so big you couldn’t pay it, or a problem so big you couldn’t fix it? Have you ever had God come through for you in unexpected ways to provide exactly what you need? I certainly have […]

I love me a good success story. A story of doing it right and beautiful things coming together. I don’t necessarily have one of those. Instead, I have a story of God’s unfailing patience towards me as I I did it wrong, failed, tried again, messed it up, gave up, came back, and stepped into […]

The separation between life and death is a hard one for us to understand. You lose someone so dear to you, then somehow life goes on. On the worst day of your life, the rest of the world is still living. They’re celebrating, gathering, traveling, vacationing, laughing and living, completely oblivious to your life altering […]

There are no limits on what God will do for you. I’m here to remind you this morning that God wants to give you a ridiculous story. A story so against the odds that He is the only explanation. Have you been coming to him with your requests to seize the ridiculous story with extraordinary […]

Whatever Jesus says about you, that is your truth. He never says anything to give you false confidence or just make you feel better in the moment. His words about you are true, you can count on them, and build your life on them. This is what he said about you … he said you […]

You did not wake up today to be mediocre. You weren’t given this life to live little. This is your opportunity to step into your destiny and become exactly who you were created to be … and honey that’s not average. There is something incredibly special about you. Something totally unique to only you. It […]

Today is an invitation. An invitation to get away with God and allow him to renew your spirit. My sister, I don’t know what has your burdened, or weary, worried, or rushed, but God wants to revive you from the inside out with a personal encounter with him. My prayer for you today is that […]

I don’t know what you’re going through right now, but I know this isn’t how it ends. There’s life beyond this. There’s beauty and blessings and immeasurable goodness on the other side of this. But there are days in the middle of it where you wonder. You wonder where God is. You wonder why he’s […]

Jesus is not impressed by your show. Everything you do to impress others is repulsive to the God who’s eye never leaves you. His loving eye is always on you, is he pleased with what he sees? The lyrics of the song Jireh by Elevation Worship speak directly to my heart. It says, “It doesn’t […]

Today, we have a lesson in God’s miraculous provision when we trust him enough to offer what we already have. God’s math doesn’t make sense, but will you open your hands so you can live in the divine provision of an unlimited God? It’s hard to fill a closed hand, my sister. It’s time to […]

There’s a story in the Bible titled “Fed By Ravens” in 1 Kings 17: 1-9. It’s a story of God’s miraculous provision to Elijah during a time of drought. Anyone going through a drought in life right now? A particularly rough time where everything seems to be harder … yeah, God’s going to provide for […]

What do you do when you don’t know what you’re doing? What do you do when you don’t know how to do it or what to say? How quickly do you turn to the Google or ChatGPT for your answers? Your circle of girlfriends don’t know any better than you, so why are they always […]

If God has called you to it, he will make a way to it, right? If it’s God’s will for you, then it will come to you, right? Impossible will be made possible. You’ll just step into it. It will just happen. You’ll see God’s miraculous works unfold right before your eyes when you’re standing […]

I recently read a new book which has become one of my top 10 all time reads. It’s “The Let Them Theory” by Mel Robbins. If you’ve read it, you know the game changer, peace giver, and eye opener, the simple lessons of “let them” and “let me” are. I honestly cannot be the same […]

Within you is the battle of what the old you wants to still do, and what the new you in Christ is being prompted to do. The old you went there, did that, and wore this, and you simply never thought twice about it. Now, with the Spirit of God living within you, you see […]

Romans 12 1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit […]

[no transcript] 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

Just how perfect do things have to be for you to feel happy? What is required for your motivation and inspiration? Are you waiting for a list of things to be bought, a list of things to come together, and a list of confirmations to make life better? What if we’re waiting on things we […]

Imagine actually sitting with Jesus this morning and sharing breakfast. Like literally being at the table with Jesus himself, talking. Think of how his love would flow through his words. How his attention would be fully on you. How everything he said would be absolute truth guiding you to the life you were created to […]

Easter is officially over, now what? What happened after Jesus rose from the grave, and what should we be doing now after the celebration of Easter? I find it interesting that we rarely talk about all Jesus did after coming out of that tomb. Why is that? We can’t leave Jesus on a cross, we […]

Have you been hurt by Church? Me too. Is it a reason to pull away from God? It could be, but it shouldn’t be. You know what Church is? Church is a gathering of totally imperfect people who claim to know they need Jesus. They’re not always going to get it right. They’re not always […]

What do you do after a big disappointment? Your steps after a failure are of great importance. When you most don’t want to get out of bed to face the day, there’s something Jesus wants you to know. We will learn this valuable lesson through the story of Peter. Remember, Peter is the gutsy friend […]

There is a hill outside the city of Jerusalem called Golgotha or also called Calvary, both words meaning skull. The hill was given it’s name because of it’s shape of a skull. Do you think that was an accident? It was here on top of this skull shaped hill that Jesus was crucified on the […]

Good Friday, the day we remember the crucifixion of Jesus. The personal sacrifice of One for all. For me. For you. On this day we remember Jesus carrying that cross for us. We remember him willfully stretching out his arms as they nailed him to that cross, signifying “this much.” This is how important you […]

If you had only 1 year left to live, what would you do? You would take that vacation, right? You would spend all the time with the people you love. You would make the memories and capture the moments. What if you only had 1 month to live? You would leave for that vacation tomorrow, […]

When Jesus walked this Earth, he was God in human form. He was still all-knowing and all-powerful. He had the power of Heaven and an army of angels at his fingertips. He was lacking nothing, yet he chose not to walk his path alone. He gathered friends and shared the journey with them. Have you […]

Have you ever gone through something so unimaginably hard, yet somehow you had ability to walk through it? Did you look back and see what you needed was indeed provided and it came just when you needed it? That was God. That is God doing what only God can do in your life. Don’t miss […]

Think about the way you wake up. Besides feeling sleepy maybe, what are your other thoughts? Are you dreading the day? Are you anxious about the day? Or do you feel grateful for the gift, ready to step into all God has for you today? Why do you feel the way you do? What can […]

The enemy has counted you out. He’s sure you’re giving up this time. You won’t get up again. You won’t push through. The darkness will close in. But girl, get yourself on up today and disappoint the devil! Oh he had crappy plans for this day, but you’re not buying them. He had intended harm […]

Why does God allow you to struggle? Why the continual battle, when he could end every conflict with one word? Boom. It could all be over. It could literally disappear just like that. But it doesn’t because he doesn’t. Why is that? Imagine for one moment the story of Joseph. Imagine it reads like this: […]

Sometimes the goodness in our lives is partnered with guilt. Guilt that I have what you don’t. Guilt that my circumstances are better than yours. Have your blessings made you feel bad? Is there guilt attached to your gift? What do you do when your prayers are answered with a yes, and someone else’s prayers […]

How do you get from where you are to where you want to be, when the journey there is so dang hard? How do you overcome everything that has happened? How do you get through what you’re going through right now? The answer is simple, and the answer is the same for each of us […]

Sometimes it feels like we don’t have enough. There’s not enough time. Not enough money. Not enough help. Sometimes we feel like we’re not enough. We’re not good enough. Not smart enough. Not pretty enough. Not anything enough. So, we walk around looking at our life as if nothing is enough. We’re always lacking. Always […]

If you’re willing to be uncomfortable, you get to see what you’re capable of. If you’re willing to be faithful, you get to see what God is capable of. Everything you think you can’t do, everything you think it’s too late for, everything you’ve assumed is out of your reach, everything you’ve written off as […]

Some people are detail oriented, and some people are like me. I jump out of the plane and then consider if the parachute was buckled tight. I start driving, then think about which direction I should go … It’s often the other way. Just this past weekend while on a snorkel boat here in Hawaii, […]

God created this great big beautiful world, then he plopped you right in the middle of it with the intentions of you enjoying all he has made. The colors of the sky tell you of his love. The majesty of the mountains speak of his power. And here we are, his prized creation, his greatest […]

Before God made you, he imagined all you could become. He had a clear imagine of you at your fullest potential, then he went about forming you individually, equipping you with every strength, gift, talent, attribute, trait, and passion to one day become all he imagined. Genesis 1:27 “So God created human beings in his […]

Today we’re going way back to the best days … the days of the 80’s. The days of big hair, and neon leg warmers. And no doubt, the days of the best music ever. I’ll start the song, and I know you can sing it. The big hair band Poison. Every rose has its thorn.Just […]

What has been taken from you? What have you lost? Where are you hurting? This space in your life is an invitation for God’s presence as you have never known before. Now, you will be restored. Joel 2:25 “The LORD says, “I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping […]

What uncertainties do you face? It is NOT uncertain to God. He knows it all. From beginning to end he knows every detail concerning you and he is taking all things in consideration for your best future. What things about your future are still up in the air? Up here in the unknown where you […]

My mentor’s name was Mr. Winton. He was my mentor for the last 20 years of his life and his wisdom helped change mine. One of his greatest lessons was a lesson on envy. He told me “Pamela, you’re truly successful when you can celebrate the success of others as much as you celebrate your […]

Do you want to live well today? Of course you do. No one woke up this morning and said “ya know, I want to royally jack up this day of living.” No one intentionally woke up, realized it was Tuesday and said “I think I’ll just waste today.” No, none of us. However, many of […]

Wouldn’t you just love to know precisely what to do next? A clear yes or a clear no from a God who’s plans are specific and promised to be good. How exactly do you get that? Can you get that? Do you remember the Magic 8 Ball back in the 80’s? You could ask it […]

Do your prayers actually make a difference? Really, do circumstances actually change because of your requests made to God? God knows everything, right? He has seen the end from the beginning and everything he plans will come to pass without a single thing able to stop him. What he wills to happen will happen. So, […]

God’s desire is to speak to you and guide you. He has beautiful plans for your life, and his desire is in no way for you to miss those plans because you’re stuck in confusion. The example of the Israelites shows us God does speak and God does guide, but when we reject what God […]

Numbers 6: 24-26, “May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.” This is a very specific blessing given by God himself. The Lord told Moses to tell his brother, Aaron, and his […]

Grab your Bible, open up to the tiny book of Haggai, and join Pamela forthis unscripted Bible Study as part 2 of ‘Rebuild This Temple’. Now,GOD WILL HELP! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamelaOr Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crimFind out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

(Hint – This isn’t just about a building, this becomes about your BODY!) This is an unscripted episode with only teaching points below Temple: God’s dwelling place (Moses build God’s tabernacle as the portable temporary dwelling place for God during the Israelites journey. Now they have settled in their Promised Land and it’s time for […]

Sometimes hearing about God’s provision isn’t enough, you need to experience it for yourself. Sometimes reading about God’s movement, his power, and his presence isn’t enough, you need to feel it for yourself. And unfortunately, experiencing and feeling these things for yourself isn’t the sweet blessed moments you imagined. You find God’s movement in the […]

Wouldn’t it be nice to know what God wants you to do today? Like specifically, Lord, if you would be clear and tell me, I would do it. But, would you really? Today, we’re going to study a tiny scripture tucked away in a tiny book of the Old Testament which you may have never […]

Maybe you’re facing this new week and you already feel overwhelmed and unequipped. Maybe you feel like you never have enough of everything you need and you’re always struggling to just keep going. Is that you? Are you wondering how you’re ever going to do all you need to do? Where will you get the […]

Grab your Bible and let’s dive deeper into the story of Jonah to see howGod works through the things we want to avoid to change our heart!Enjoy today’s unscripted Bible study time from Jonah 2. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamelaOr Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crimFind out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

We all likely have heard the story in the Bible about Jonah and the whale. First, let me ask, do you actually believe it? Sometimes it’s hard to be a person of deep intelligence and faith at the same time because some things just don’t make sense. How did this real man end up in […]

Forty. It’s a significant number in the Bible, often representing new life, growth and transformation. That’s exciting and fantastic, but dig deeper. That goodness always came AFTER a time of trial, hardship and sacrifice. The fear-filled and disobedient Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, then God led a new obedient generation into their […]

Recently God has lovingly asked me to adjust my conversations with him. Out of neglect, my prayers have become mostly a list of ways I want God to move and act. God, do that, then do this. I’m continually suggesting his next move. I push my preferred destiny on the one who holds the ultimate […]

Have you ever questioned if God hears your prayers? Oh honey, he hears you. But if he hears you, why isn’t he answering you? That’s a tough question. We often misunderstand the answers. There’s more than just yes, there’s also not yet, and no because I have something better for you. Now, today, we’re going […]

As a little girl, I knew absolutely nothing about God. I wasn’t raised in church. Sadly when I was a toddler, my parents were hurt by church and simply never went back for 15 years. The only thing I knew about God were the pictures in our family Bible. Did anyone else have a massive […]

I recently heard adulthood is a never ending perpetual cycle of waiting for life to calm down, then you die. Is that you? Right now life is busy and hectic, it’s uncertain and stressed, it’s not what you envisioned it being at this stage … but when it calms down, whew doggies look out, you’re […]

Have you ever been humbled by life? You know, knocked down off your high horse and left to sit in your failure feeling incredibly human. It’s a deep seeded fear within most of us, and that fear often holds us hostage. We’re so fearful of failure that we fail to even show up and try. […]

Sometimes God doesn’t prevent the fires in our lives that threaten us. Oh how we wish he would just put them out, and sometimes he does … but sometimes he doesn’t. We’re talking about the times he doesn’t. The times when bad things happen. The times when it’s unfair. The times when God doesn’t deliver […]

What if God doesn’t do what you want him to do here? What if he doesn’t make this all work out the way you think it should work out? Really, what if he doesn’t … where does you faith stand then? Where will your joy be found if your idea of good isn’t how this […]

Join us for an unscripted Bible study time together.God, if you’re in it, I want it … if you’re not, I don’t. Now, the even harder prayer: God if you want me to change in this, I’m willing to change. If you want me to change how I do it, I’ll change it. 2 Corinthians […]

The enemy uses very specific weapons against you. Weapons meant to detour you. Weapons meant to defeat you. Weapons meant to destroy you. Depress you, deceive you, dismiss you, and disease you. Maybe you’ve felt the sting of his weapons. Maybe you’re living in fear of his weapons. And maybe you’re like the majority of […]

Are you faced with something that is simply too far gone? Something that has no hope left for the future. Something so broken there’s no chance of repair. Impossible. May I remind you of Luke 1:37, “Nothing will be impossible with God.” No thing … no, not even your thing. With God, it IS POSSIBLE. […]

Have you ever questioned how exactly you’re supposed to hear from God? If he is your guide, then how do you receive his guidance? Maybe you’ve heard people say things like, “The Lord told me this…” or “God asked me to do that …”, and you’re like, “REALLY … how does he do that?!!!” If […]

You don’t need luck, not when you have God. You don’t have to be in the right place at the right time. Nobody else needs to know your name when God knows your name. Everyone else can totally count you out, but when God has singled you out nothing can keep you hidden from his […]

Do you know why you sometimes get overwhelmed? You’re focusing on things you can’t do a darn thing about right now. You’re allowing those things to come pouring into your mind and sink your spirit. Honey, the boat is taking on water and life is getting turned upside down. But how do you stop the […]

One day you will tell your story of how you overcame the exact thing you’re going through right now. The day will come when you look back on this season of your life and say “With God, I made it through that.” You will survive. You will overcome. You will make it through this. And […]

In scripture we see a pattern for God’s people. They face trouble, they seek God, then with time they go astray and return to their old ways. In their old ways, they seek things other than God. This continues until their replacement for God doesn’t save them, then they’re back on their knees crying out […]

What victories do you have in your life? What battles have already been won? Now of course I know you’re still in some battles, but recognize the victories you currently stand in. Ways that were made. Breakthroughs that happened. Changes you were about to give up on, then it all changed. Impossibilities that were made […]

Deuteronomy 20:4 – “For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.” Whatever it is you are battling, may I remind you God is right there battling with you, fighting for you. You question if you will ever win, all while […]

God has something for you, something divinely designed as your calling, your place, your territory … but you will still have to fight for it. Have you forgotten your fight? Have you decided this is far enough so you’ve stopped moving forward? Have you settled for where you are and therefore sacrificed the fullness of […]

What would it look like to let God’s Holy Spirit truly guide your life? Where would you go? What would you do? And dang, what would he have you give up? That’s scary, isn’t it? Total release of control and full commitment to following a guide you can’t even see? I think that’s why we […]

You have tremendous power in your life. Power is simply defined as the ABILITY to DO SOMETHING. You have the ability to do something. The ability to change, the ability to begin, the ability to keep going. I believe within you is the power to do things that would simply blow your mind. A work […]

Some things are a straight up mystery. It’s a mystery how this is all going to work out for you. It’s a mystery when it will happen. You may think you know, but my sister, it’s all a mystery. You’ve been trying to understand things you were never meant to understand. And really, you’ve been […]

God has a plan for your life, and we are told it is a good plan. Knowing God specifically created me for a plan that is radically good leaves me feeling both incredibly hopeful, and slightly panicked. What if I missed his plan? What if I screwed it up? What if I was supposed to […]

Living with yourself is sometimes frustrating. You kinda screw this thing up a lot, don’t you? It’s as if the “do good” button in you is broken and you can’t get it fixed. You do good, until you aren’t doing good anymore … then you’re back on the struggle bus where you seem to have […]

Your problem is big. God is bigger. Your faults are great. God is greater. It seems impossible. God does the impossible. Have you forgotten the power which resides within you? You are HIS creation. His spirit lives within you. Through him you ARE capable and you will be MORE THAN a CONQUEROR. What problem are […]

If you knew without a doubt everything you needed to live out your wildest dreams was on it’s way, would you wake up a little different this morning? You bet you would! If you knew every detail was taken care of and you were getting ready to step into your destiny, there’s nothing that could […]

There’s one animal you and I are most like. We are like sheep. There’s one thing we most need. We need a shepherd. If you study sheep, you see how helpless they often are. How they wander off and find themselves in danger. Yip, that’s us. We lose our way and we end up in […]

How comfortable is your life? Were you created for a comfortable life? Were you ever intended to seek such comfort? In today’s world we have an opportunity to be entirely too comfortable EVERY WHERE. Movie theaters now have reclining chairs and waiters, because my goodness, it just wasn’t comfortable enough to sit in the regular […]

Can you be trusted with FAVOR? Favor for things to go your way. Favor for the breakthrough you’ve been seeking. Favor for next level living. Favor to be chosen? I think of favor as God taking a personal liking to you. He chooses you, picks you out of the crowd and says “You, I like […]

You’re thinking from a human perspective, but God is working on something bigger than you can see here. Do you hear me? There’s more to this than you can see. You’re putting limitations on this situation, while God in his unlimited power is at work in something bigger than you can fathom. You’re ready to […]

Sometimes life presents struggles and hardships that seem unfair, and certainly unwanted. Perhaps today as you listen, you’re in the middle of one of life’s struggles or you’re witnessing someone you love struggle, and more than anything you just want to find a way out. You want to break free. You want life to return […]

Do you remember being in middle school gym class and waiting to be chosen for a team? The coach would select 2 team captains, then those captains would take turns one by one building their own teams. Now I’m not sure who came up with this system, but I’m here as a fully grown 49 […]

Within you at this very moment is some serious potential. Potential to not only change your life, but change the lives of others. Talents, gifts and strengths given to you by your Creator on purpose, for a purpose. Sadly we can live our entire lives without ever tapping into that potential and miss what it […]

There’s a difference between a wish and a plan. A wish is a thought without action. A plan puts that wish into motion with a path to make it possible. God has more than just good wishes for you. He has good PLANS for you. This means he doesn’t just wish goodness for you, he […]

Join me for a time of Bible study together today.We will be reading:Luke 22: 3-6Luke 22: 31-32Hebrews 7:25John 16:33 Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamelaOr Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crimFind out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

This week in BIG Life Mentoring, I’ve been teaching my girls about the gap. It’s the gap between the life you’re living and the life God designed you to live. Our goal is to lessen the gap. Many years ago, God gave me a vision of my future standing before him when the journey of […]

We are inherently afraid of not knowing what comes next. That fear drives us to a desire to make our lives predictable. We want to know what’s coming and what to expect. We want a sense of control. However, you were NOT created for a predictable life. Your design is not for settling into pattern […]

There are voices that tell you not to show up. Voices that tell you that you can’t do this. Voices that tell you, you will never be good enough. Voices that tell you this is too overwhelming and too hard. But my sister, check the source of those voices. Where is this coming from? If […]

You have a need in your life right now. There’s something you can’t fix, something you can’t overcome, something can’t change. But it hasn’t been changing, has it? You’ve been waiting, but all that waiting has things left the same, and in some ways even worse. What do you do with that? Really, what do […]

In this special unscripted devotional, we learn to imagine each moment as if it were a beautiful invitation to return to this one ordinary day and make it extraordinary. See every person through the perspective of a label that says, “Only here for a little while.” Psalm 90:12 “Teach us to number our days and […]

Where you are is not where you will always be … at least not in God’s plan. God’s design for your life is to be ever changing and evolving, moving toward greater purposes on a trajectory you could never design alone. You were not created to arrive to this place and just stay here. In […]

Thoughts of change without action become your torment. My husband says it like this, “Girl, you don’t have a knowing problem, you have a doing problem.” You typically know better, you simply don’t do better. You know what to do, or atleast you know the first simple step in getting started, but the problem is […]

Special New Year’s Eve podcast with my husband, coach Lonnie on his 51st birthday.(This was Lonnie’s basic outline for the podcast – but he doesn’t really follow a script) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Prov 9:10-12 Wisdom begins here because it comes from a place of healthy respect for God […]

What have you been complaining about this year? Really … what situation, what person, what problem has you complaining? Complaining means you are making it very clear what you’re not happy about. You give energy and words to the things you don’t like. Your complaining spirit ultimately reveals a lack of trust in God. Really, […]

Looong Suffering In Relationships Today’s open Bible Study together will be on LOOOONG SUFFERING IN RELATIONSHIPS.(Who needs this one?!!!)Grab your Bible! We’ll be reading the following scriptures:Luke 17: 1-61 John 2:10Ephesians 4: 2-3Galatians 5: 22-23Lord, we bring our tiny seed of faith and we seek your power in ripping out roots of bitterness and unforgiveness.Show […]

It’s the day after Christmas. What do you talk about on the day after celebrating Jesus’ birthday? I asked God that exact question this morning and his answer was so clear … talk about what happened next. And it was literally a light bulb moment because what happened after Jesus’ birth is most certainly applicable […]

God could have come to this earth guns a blazin’ with his angel armies. He could have magically appeared in his full force and power as a super giant. The truth is, God could have come in absolutely any way he wanted. And what he chose was to come as a baby. A human in […]

Luke 2: 6-20:And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, […]

It’s Christmas Bible Study time, my friends!!!Grab your Bible, as we study these scriptures today:Luke 1: 1-38Isaiah 7: 14Matthew 1: 20-21Ezekiel 36: 26-27 Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamelaOr Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crimFind out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Today is just one day, what could possibly happen in one day? What difference could one day make? This isn’t Christmas Day, this isn’t New Years Day, today seems to be just an ordinary Thursday in a busy week where we’re all preparing for Christmas. One day that seems insignificant and ordinary, but what is […]

It’s exactly one week until Christmas. Whew, how are you doing? Give yourself a point for each one that describes you today: You still have to wrap gifts. You still have to plan a big meal. You still have to buy a crap-ton of groceries. You still have to clean your messy house before company […]

One of my absolute favorite stories in the Bible proves the transformational power of Jesus. It shows there’s absolutely no one too far gone to be saved and redeemed. There’s no wrong Jesus can’t make right. There’s no life he can’t use for his good purposes. AND … you don’t even have to get yourself […]

This past Friday, something incredibly simple and yet wildly dangerous happened to me. For two days, I’ve been licking my wounds and reliving it all in slow motion … but this morning, God gave me the revelation to share with you. The lesson: Be careful, you may fall here. And if you fall here, where […]

In this special Friday Bible study time together, we are hitting 2 topics in 1 devotional! STOP MAKING THIS ABOUT YOU The more you lead a self-focused life, the more you’re prone to discouragement. Every time you forget that it’s not about you, you’re going to get prideful or fearful or bitter. Those feelings will […]

If you’ve already prayed about it, what do you do next? Really, what do you do when you’ve talked to God about this? Jesus is very clear. After he teaches his disciples how to pray, he tells them in Luke 11: 9-10, “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on […]

There’s something you wish you were better at. There’s something you’re trying to do, but you’re struggling. What is it specifically for you? Are you trying to grow a business, but you’re struggling? Are you trying to date, but you’re struggling? Are you trying to fix your marriage, but you’re struggling? Are you trying to […]

Whatever impossible you are facing, God could overcome it all in an instant, but he often doesn’t. Why is that? Why doesn’t he call down the angel armies to fix this? Why doesn’t he display his extraordinary power and intervene in a way that not a single soul could deny him? If I were God, […]

We make a massive mistake when we try to clean up our lives, but fail to fill our lives with Jesus. If all you ever do is remove the bad from your life and never refill it with the good, your empty spaces will eventually be refilled with even worse. Every single space of your […]

The fullness of life God has aligned for you cannot be received when you’re holding on to something else. If you’re clinging to your plans, God’s plans have no open hand to land in. If you’re focused on your idea of happiness, you miss the opportunities for true, deep, lasting happiness God has designed for […]

How does it make you feel to see someone else get what you have been praying for? The very thing you’ve been wanting, even needing, dreaming of for years, and it goes to someone else. But what about you? Has God overlooked you? Why are you left still waiting and wanting? Will it ever be […]

When you’re facing a troubling situation, what do you do? Jesus is asking you to STOP YIELDING TO YOUR FEAR and instead TRUST HIM. Is God aware of what you’re going through? Absolutely. He knows every detail of your life. How do I know? His word tells me! Psalm 139: 1-5, “O Lord, you have […]

Your enemy, the devil, knows two things better than you … he knows God’s power and your potential. He has no doubt about who God is and what God can do. He is also fully aware of what God can do with a life like yours when it is fully surrendered and lived in wild […]

Wherever there is disorder in your life, God wants to bring it back into order. Where there is chaos, God wants to bring his peace. And what God wants, God can do! The question is, are you going to partner with God in the process, or are you going to fight it? The truth is, […]

Sometimes I just want to know why things are happening. I want to know why it feels like I’m under attack. I want to know the purpose of the problem, the source of the struggle, the meaning of the madness. Maybe you’ve been asking why. Maybe you’ve been trying to understand what is happening right […]

Every morning when we wake up, we get to choose our attitude. Any attitude we wish is available for the taking. We can put it on and wear it the entire day, and just like the right pair of shoes can change the outfit, the right attitude can change your experience. Most days we wake […]

There are just some people you know are going to succeed. People you can trust to show up, do it, and do it right, without fail. People who can have all the odds stacked against them, and somehow come out of it ahead. These are the people you would bet on. Now the question is, […]

God is calling you forward. He’s calling you boldly onward to your destiny. A pursuit of partnership with your Creator for your purpose is ahead, will you go forward? They say fortune favors the bold, therefore those who sit and stew, those who get stuck in their own head, those who delay and defer are […]

Job 37: 14: says “Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God’s wonders.” I always find it most powerful to personalize a scripture by inserting your own name. For me it’s “listen to this, Pamela; stop and consider God’s wonders.” Now it’s your turn – “listen to this, (insert your name); stop and consider God’s […]

We’ve been hanging out in Luke 6 this week, listening to the teaching of Jesus to his newly selected disciples and large crowd that had gathered seeking his healing touch. He first tells them how to follow the pattern of his love. Yes, we’ve learned to not be hateful, do good, talk good, pray, forgive, […]

Today, we continue our journey through the teaching of Jesus in Luke 6. Remember, there’s a massive crowd gathered seeking healing, and Jesus uses this opportunity to share important lessons with his newly selected disciples and potential followers. And what he chooses to tell them about is the pattern of his love and how we […]

This week, we will look at the first lessons Jesus taught his disciples after they had chosen to follow him. You and I have chosen to follow Jesus, right? Well, he has a few lessons for us! Now, picture the setting. Jesus had gone up on top of a mountain and prayed all night. At […]

Open your Bible to Luke 5: 1-11 and let’s discover the 4 lessons ofworking with Jesus. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamelaOr Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crimFind out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

You were created on purpose for a purpose. Your life isn’t accidental, nor is it without meaning or destiny. God wanted you right here, right now as part of his divine will to fulfill a specific role. The journey of your life isn’t to perfectly figure out or fully understand your purpose, but rather to […]

One day, Jesus was speaking to a group of people in his hometown of Nazareth. These people knew of his miracles, but they couldn’t believe who he really was. Afterall, they knew him. They knew his parents. They had seen him grow up. And now, he’s come back to his hometown and he’s told them […]

How many of us know by personal experience that having the right partner makes a huge difference. The right business partner makes things work. The wrong business partner makes a massive mess. The right workout partner makes you show up. The wrong workout partner never shows up and makes it even harder for you to […]

What amazing things would you do if you couldn’t fail? Oh, think about that for a second. If failure were off the table, wouldn’t you go for it? Wouldn’t you do it? And wouldn’t you do it now? But, here’s the problem … failure is always on the table. And it’s probably on your table. […]

Today’s episode of the BIG Life Devotional Podcast is an unscripted Bible study time together digging deeper on the true meaning of giving God credit. Psalm 30John 14:1Jeremiah 31:13 Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamelaOr Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crimFind out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Together, we have been learning so much about the twisted suggestions of the devil and the way out of those temptations Jesus has made for us. The past 3 episodes have taken us deeper into Luke 4 telling of Jesus’ time in the wilderness, facing these temptations and battling the enemy of your soul. It’s […]

This week we’re studying the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. The devil has swooped in when Jesus was weakest from not eating for 40 days, and he’s making his twisted offers. While the devil is convinced he is going to defeat Jesus with these temptations, Jesus knows he is here to defeat these temptations […]

This week we’re studying the personal story Jesus retells of his 40 days in the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil. He didn’t accidentally wander his way into the wilderness, he wasn’t running away – no, he was led by the Holy Spirit to the wilderness for this encounter. An encounter that would […]

Within your Bible is the most interesting story personally told by Jesus in a total of 13 verses. Now, unlike other stories told by Jesus, this isn’t a parable. This isn’t a made up story to illustrate a point. No, when Jesus uses a parable, he always clearly states it is a just a story. […]

What is it in the future that has you afraid? You’re afraid of what may happen … or you’re afraid it may never happen. Did you know God’s most often repeated instruction to us is “do not fear”. Wow. He knew we would struggle with this. So again and again, he reminds us, don’t be […]

There’s an 8 year old video that recently went viral with millions of views online. A little boy named Jordan stands with his pastor at the front of the church to get baptized. The pastor is doing his baptism speech, and you can see little Jordan growing with anticipation of his big moment. And just […]

To the one who feels left out, to the one who feels not good enough, to the one who feels their failure must have outweighed God’s grace by now, you have to know Jesus is specifically looking for you! While studying the details of Jesus’ resurrection, I noticed the sweetest reassurance tucked away in a […]

When you are dealing with situations, you have 2 categories in your mind: This is good, or this is bad. Everything you encounter is subconsciously placed in one of those two categories. Either this is good, I like it, this feels good, I’m happy about it … or …. this is bad, I don’t like […]

When my kids were little, they could count on receiving a handmade card and a little money in the mail every holiday. Their Great-Grandma was world class in investing into their lives even with a long distance relationship. It’s now part of her legacy that has outlived her. One particular holiday, instead of the typical […]

Have you been asking God to bless something you’re not willing to even begin? Have you been waiting for him to confirm something you were never told to do? Have you been expecting him to increase the very thing you haven’t been faithful with? God isn’t here to do magic. He’s here to continue the […]

Are you continually needing a sign from God to keep your faith? Do you quickly start to doubt when there doesn’t seem to be anything mystical and magical happening for you? Jesus’ disciples were that way. They would have a front row seat to a divine miracle, then walk into the next problem forgetting what […]

When Jesus says your prayers can move mountains, does he mean anymountain? When he says your lack of faith causes your prayers to beineffective, is that why some of your prayers have gone unanswered? Let’s dig deeper into Mark 11:22-25 and really consider the context ofwhat Jesus is saying so we don’t treat God like […]

How successful have you been at making things happen in your life? You worked hard, you sacrificed, and you built something. Something to be proud of. You started with so little and with all your hard work, it grew to become so much more. That’s a great thing. I’m so happy for your success. You’ve […]

Have you ever wanted to help, but didn’t know how to help. You didn’t know what to say. You didn’t know what to do. Everything you had to offer seemed so totally inadequate. I bet there’s someone you really wish you could help right now. Someone is hurting, but you don’t know how to heal […]

I assure you, God wastes nothing. While he may not have personally designed all of your delays and detours, he can certainly work in them. While the hardships you face don’t always come from Heaven’s plans, they have passed through Heaven and have been deemed of value on your journey. Have you ever had plans, […]

This morning, you and I woke up to an abundance of miracles. All that is good and right and working far outweighs that which is not good, not right and not working. However, it’s quite natural for us to focus on that one achy part of our body that doesn’t feel good while there are […]

Yesterday we began the conversation of being faithful in little things so that we can be trusted with more. God is looking for faithful girls. Faithful girls who will be consistent with their commitment. Faithful girls who will show up every day and do what they said they would do. Have you accepted the challenge […]

You’ve heard of 75 Hard, right? A 75 day commitment to do a series of hard things daily. Traditionally, that list of hard things includes 2 workouts daily (one outside), eating a healthy meal plan, drinking a gallon of water, reading 10 pages, and taking a daily progress photo. Every day for 75 days. No […]

How do you receive a gift? What is your response to a wrapped box before you even know what’s inside? Today is my birthday and I am one proud woman to be 49. I’m not ashamed or embarrassed by that number. I’m ALIVE! Do you have any idea what God had to bring me through […]

God offers his grace as a gift, but what is that gift to you? Let’s open our Bibles today for an unscripted study together to dig deeper into the gift of grace so we know how to use all God has given us. 2 Timothy 2:12 Corinthians 12:9Mark 9:23 Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamelaOr Facebook […]

Mark 2: 1-12, “When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a […]

Fear has whispered a story to you that maybe you have believed. When you believe things never work out for you, when you believe this too will all fall apart, when you believe you will never be good enough, you have no other option but to operate from that belief. You present yourself to the […]

Right now, today, in this exact stage and season of your life, God is preparing you for what is next. He is using all that is to make what currently is not. That which currently is not working, that which currently is not good, that which currently is not okay, is being used by the […]

Let me clue you in to my process of hearing from God each morning to bring you a new devotional. First, I work on a very tight timeline. I have one hour from the time I sit down to write until I go live. I find this restricted amount of time gets my squirrel chasing […]

There are two steadfast, unchanging, forever true statements that apply to every single day of your life. If you get these truths down deep in your soul and operate from them, you will struggle less and find joy more. Ready? God is always good. The devil is always a liar. Always. Without fail. God’s goodness […]

God wants to use you. Oh yes, he does … he has found a way to use you for his good works and, girl, he’s been trying to get you to see what he’s doing here. What he’s doing is taking the very thing you struggled with in your past to be used for good […]

Have you ever wondered why God, in all his power and majesty, made the world the way he did? Why would he create the Earth to be a round ball, then why would he make it spin? Why would he position the sun to create light and darkness, day and night? God designed our world […]

Have you ever rushed into something before you prayed about it? Yeah, me too. Have you ever worked yourself silly trying to do something and never took the time to pray about it? Me too! Have you ever not prayed about it because you’re sure God’s already doing his thing and it’s taken care of […]

We’re all looking for that ticket to happiness. What is it we are missing and how can we get it so we are always happy? Our Creator designed us to find the sweet secret of happiness within only in HIM. Scripture refers to this inner happiness as contentment. The Hebrew word was autarkeia and it […]

I’ve always dreamed of hosting a Poppy and Franny Camp for our future grandkids. (My husband is Poppy and I am Franny and yes, we have arrived to the greatest destination in life … grandparents!!!). Poppy and Franny Camp is a special time at our house where we play and intentionally make all the memories. […]

Have you ever had one of those days where you worried about all there was to worry about? One of those days where you thought about all that was wrong and could go wrong? One of those days where you dwelt on the struggle, wallowed in the hardship, consumed by the negativity? You know, one […]

What has been taken from you? What dream did you have that was taken before it was fulfilled? What opportunity were you living in, then it was gone? What direction were you going, then it was blocked? What good thing did you have going, then everything changed? I was fired from a job once. Actually, […]

Mark 6: 1-13 “Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Festival […]

Mark 5:28-30, “For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition. Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in […]

Did you know that water baptism as Jesus instructed is a very visual representation of what happens when we accept him as our Savior? Who we once were is to be washed away, and we are to rise up with Jesus in living a new life. Have you been rising up from how you used […]

Without the power of God’s Holy Spirit in our lives, we are constantly doing the things we know we shouldn’t do and living in a perpetual cycle of screw up and beat up. The power of our flesh is strong. We want what we want, and the flesh won’t stop nagging at you until you […]

Why is it you assume God could never use you? Why do you dismiss yourself from a greater calling on your life? Is it because you’ve never felt really good at anything? Is it because you are just a nobody? Is it because you’ve failed before, and you really wouldn’t want to fail God? Did […]

I have sooooo much goodness to share with you today for our Friday Bible Study together!Grab your Bible and study along with me to be blown away by God!Ecclesiastes 1:2-8Ecclesiastes 12: 13Romans 1:202 Corinthians 5: 17 Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamelaOr Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crimFind out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Today, we continue our search for meaning and fulfillment in life. So far, we’ve found that trying to understand everything isn’t the answer. We can never understand the things of God. It’s not our place to know everything, it’s our place to trust there’s a bigger picture we cannot yet see. We’ve also found that […]

Where do we find meaning and fulfillment for this life? We’re all searching for it, but where do we find it? King Solomon was granted the gift of wisdom by God. He was made to be the wisest man ever to live, knowing more than anyone else. Yet, he too struggled to find meaning and […]

Have you ever come to the realization that you’ve been wrong? Girl, I had something so wrong. Almost embarrassingly wrong, because I’m pretty sure I taught it to you wrong too. There’s a potential danger in plucking quotable verses out of the Bible and using them out of context. I’ve been guilty of that. I […]

It’s time for our special Friday Bible study together!We will look at the story of Jesus healing the lame man in John 4, the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13, and Elijah praying for rain in 1 Kings 18.What could these 3 things tell us?“You Can’t Stay Here”Grab your Bible, Sis, today’s episode of […]

The moment you choose to believe in Jesus as your savior, you receive the gift of God’s Holy Spirit within you. So many of God’s girls are walking around today, totally unaware of the power inside of them. It’s already been given to us, now we need to use it! Salvation comes with receiving the […]

You’ve been working the numbers in your head and the numbers tell you don’t get your hopes up. You’ve been doing the math and the math has been discouraging. There’s no way this is going to be possible for you. There’s no way there’s enough. There’s no way it will all come together. That’s just […]

This morning you miraculously woke up to a reality filled with the very things you once prayed for. Really, look around … how much of what you have today was once a prayer? And how much of that has now become so normal, so ordinary, and so totally unimpressive that you fail to recognize it […]

In today’s unscripted Bible study, we dive into 2 of the 7 things God’sword says he hates. Oh wait, this applies to every one of us in thethoughts we choose to entertain! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamelaOr Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crimFind out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com