Life Growth

Don't waste your pain. None of us escapes the heartache and disappointments of life. To live is to hurt, and we all have the wounds to prove it. Regardless of how we've been hurt, we all face a common question: What should we do with our pain? Should we stoically ignore it? Should we just "get over it"? Should we optimistically hope that everything will work out in the end? If we fail to respond appropriately to the wounds that life and relationships inflict, our pain will be wasted; it will numb us or destroy us.

What should I do with my life? Whether you're just starting out on your journey or you've found yourself at a crossroads and feel the need to change direction, each of us wants to know what our purpose is on this Earth. We want our work and our lives to have meaning and impact far beyond our immediate context. But how do you know what you were meant to do? And once you know...then what?

Tired of living half a life - or even a waking nightmare? Struggling to find meaning in a job you don't like? Facing graduation or midlife changes in a faltering economy? Wishing you could rekindle a dream you gave up long ago? It's time to get your vision checked! In this practical, energizing guide, pastor and author Craig Groeschel shows how to live life fully by finding, naming, and achieving your unique God-given goal.

In this life-changing Bible study, John Eldredge distills a lifetime of wisdom into five practical and ready-to-implement practices for putting your life back together. These practices include: (1) the one-minute pause, (2) benevolent detachment, (3) practicing kindness, (4) getting outside, and (5) stepping back from technology. These practices, ready for the taking, will enable you to begin recovery, focus on what matters most, disengage from the tragedies of this broken world, and discover the restorative power of beauty.

In our image-conscious culture, life can become a never-ending performance. The perfection we feel pressured to project to those in our social sphere comes at the expense of our emotional, spiritual, and mental well-being. In the end, we are left exhausted and unfulfilled. How do we flip the script and feed ourselves rather than simply adding to our feeds? In Soul Care to Save Your Life, author, speaker, and recovering performer Manda Carpenter offers an invitation to shift your focus from performing to purposeful living from the inside out.

The greatest promise ever given to the human race came from the lips of our Redeemer when Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me...I go to prepare a place for you...I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:1-3). Just after his 95th birthday, Mr. Graham proclaimed with resolve, "When I die, tell others that I've gone to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - that's where I am."

This classic gem on prayer has been a faithful guide to Christians for the last 100 years. McIntyre addresses the role of prayer in the life of the Christian. What does it mean for the believer to be equipped for the Christian life in prayer? How are we to engage our Heavenly Father in prayer? Using the testimony of Spurgeon, Whitefield, Luther, and others, McIntyre encourages the Christian towards a life fully devoted in prayer.

We all encounter problems and challenges on a daily basis, ranging from small things—traffic, losing your keys, or running late—to much bigger issues—job insecurity, health issues, and relationship struggles. What should a believer in Christ do in the face of such adversities? Authors Lewis and Sarah Allen propose that while the world may teach us one way to approach challenges, there is a better way—complete dependence on Christ and pursuit of wise living.

For the Spirit, being somewhat forgotten is an occupational hazard. The Holy Spirit is so actively involved in our lives that we can take his presence for granted. As they say, familiarity breeds contempt. Just as we take breathing for granted, we can take the Holy Spirit for granted simply because we constantly depend on him. Like the cane that soon feels like an extension of the blind man's own body, we too easily begin to think of the Holy Spirit as an extension of ourselves.

This devotional prepares us to embrace the life God intends for us to enjoy. Joel's 90 days of motivational thoughts, inspirational messages, and helpful Scripture verses will strengthen our faith in God, in others, and in ourselves. By applying these truths, we will be able to rise above our obstacles and live in health, abundance, and victory.

Profoundly influenced by his long friendship with Dallas Willard, and his experience guiding people through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius for the last thirty years, Trevor Hudson offers you a practical tool kit for your seeking journey. Designed to help you move beyond insight to encounter the living God in your life, each chapter invites you to experience the crucified and risen Christ.

In Craft a Life You Love, listeners will learn how to focus their creative energy and make things (and make things happen) by implementing small - yet powerful - changes in their everyday lives. Creativity and craft maven Amy Tangerine shows listeners how to find their flow, maintain a positive mindset, and cultivate a rich and fulfilling life by focusing on what truly matters. Chapters explore how to craft the soul, craft the right mindset, craft the right environment, craft good habits, rediscover your creative mojo, and maintain momentum.

Let's be honest: the life you're leading isn't the one you've always dreamt of. And maybe the person you've become isn't who you imagined you'd be. Sure, you can work longer, love harder, and eat better. You can scrub the surface of your life until it gleams. But that won't address the fact that you've somehow lost sight of who you really are. Working from the core message of Ephesians 1:11, Jo Saxton implores women to reject mistaken identities. Relying on personal stories from her own life, she identifies key scenarios where identities develop that are not true to God's vision, demonstrating the importance of knowing one's name, embracing the gifts you've been given, confronting body issues, managing seasons of depression and grief, and letting go of perfectionism.

Throughout the Old Testament and into the New, God not only demands righteousness from his people but also showers on grace that enables them to act. Jesus, of course, provides the ultimate fulfillment of these twin aspects of God’s relationship to humanity. In biblical terms, Jesus is the King who demands righteous obedience from his followers, and Jesus is the Servant who provides the grace that enables this obedience.

Is your heart crying out for more? Do you long to experience the supernatural? Do you want to live a life marked by Kingdom adventure? Then join Joanne Moody for a life-changing faith journey in Everyday Supernatural! Joanne Moody serves up a spiritual feast of captivating testimonies, practical teaching, and powerful activations. You will walk away emboldened with the knowledge that God is intent on using everyday people to perform His miracles and reveal His Son to the world! From your grocery store to your workplace, it's time to begin releasing miracles everywhere you go!

Author Bob Buford called them "code breakers". They are people age 40 and older who have pioneered the art of finishing well in these modern times, and who can teach us to do the same, starting today. Buford sought out 60 of these trailblazers - including Peter Drucker, Roger Staubach, Jim Collins, Ken Blanchard, and Dallas Willard - and has recorded their lively conversations in this audiobook so that they can serve as "mentors" for all of us.

In Swipe Right, Pastor Levi Lusko offers compelling reasons to make wise choices in matters of the heart - relationships, sex, dating, and marriage. He encourages listeners to live each day knowing their present choices will immediately become part of their pasts and that their pasts will inevitably come back to visit them in the future.

T.D. Jakes doesn't just preach to his listeners, he gives them the psychological and practical tools that they need to realize their faith in their lives. Clear-sighted, realistic, and spiritually uplifting, Making Great Decisions is one of those rare books that can change lives. "Remember," writes T.D. Jakes, "your tomorrow is no better than the decisions you make today."

Many Christians rightly deny the prosperity gospel—the idea that God wants you to be healthy and wealthy— but instead embrace its more subtle spin-off, the emotional prosperity gospel, or the belief that happiness and spiritual euphoria will inevitably follow if you believe all the right things and make all the right choices. In this view, frustration is deemed unholy, fear is seen as a failure of faith, and sadness is a sign of God’s disfavor. Amanda Held Opelt grapples with her own experience of disillusionment when life with God didn’t always feel the way she expected it to feel.

No matter what life has been like, at some point or another we all have the same question: Why does God allow bad things to happen? Grief, loss, and trauma affect each of us, and there are times it feels like the pain will never end. Yet hope, healing, and inner peace are not only possible, they are promises that our good God has made—and will keep. In this compassionate book, licensed counselor and domestic violence survivor Kimberly Haar leads you through a transformative journey of healing.