Your Life Still Counts Giveaway with Tracie Miles

NOTE: As stated in my last post, I am on a blogging break. My sister-in-love Thais passed away at 5:50 pm on October 29th. I appreciate your prayers for our family. This guest post with Tracie Miles was prescheduled and will run as planned. I plan to return to blogging sometime the week of November 17th. {To insure you get my posts you may wish to sign up for them to be delivered automatically by clicking on the little envelope in the top of the sidebar.}

********************************************************************************************

Ever feel like your past disquailifies you from serving God in the present or having a fulfilling future? Then you are going to love my guest today!  My Proverbs 31 sister Tracie Miles has a contagious passion for Christ and today she is sharing an excerpt from her new book, Your Life Still Counts.

Be sure to leave a comment on today’s post for a chance to win one of 2 giveaway books and study guide.

Now meet my dear friend Tracie.

tracieTracie lives in Charlotte, NC and is a wife to her husband Michael of 24 years and a mother to three children, ages 20, 18, and 15. Tracie is a member of the Proverbs 31 Speaker and Writer teams and enjoys speaking at women’s events around the country, as well as writing devotions for the Proverbs 31 Encouragement for Today daily devotions, which reach nearly 1 million women a day with Gods Word.  

She is the author of the popular books Stressed-Free Living: Finding God’s Peace In Your Chaotic World and Your Life Still Counts:How God Uses Your Past To Create A Beautiful Future, and a contributing writer to Zondervan’s NIV Women’s Devotional Bible and Encouragement For Today Daily Devotion Book.  

Tracie’s passion is to inspire women to deepen their relationship with Christ and discover their God-given purpose.  You can also connect with Tracie through social media and her blog:  www.traciemiles.com,  https://www.facebook.com/StressedLessLiving?ref=hlhttp://instagram.com/traciemileshttps://twitter.com/traciewmileshttp://www.pinterest.com/traciewmiles/ 

Our sneak peak…

There it was—the enemy’s ugly, despicable lie, written in black and white. The lie that had defined my life for many years was staring up at me like the whites of evil eyes glowing in the dark.  I was at a women’s conference where all attendees had been instructed to write down the one thing that was keeping them from embracing how much God loved them. Fear, doubts and hesitation kicked in, but I pushed past them and took my place in line behind a sea of women, waiting to nail my sin to a wooden cross at the front of the room.

My turn finally came, and I stood in front of the tall wooden cross that was standing royally upright, draped with purple satin cloths, and now covered in white from all the little papers that had been nailed to it. I reached down, grabbed a nail out of a bowl, and picked up the hammer. I held my slip of paper against the hard wood, hoping no one behind me would look over my shoulder and be able to see what I had written.  You see, I was convinced my sin —my past—was surely worse than anyone else’s in the room, and the fear of judgment made me feel as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the air.

I pounded the hammer onto the head of the nail, over and over again until my sin was securely affixed to the old wooden cross. Then I turned around and left the lie there. It was no longer my burden to carry; it now belonged to Jesus. I had literally nailed my sin, my past, my fear, and the enemy’s lie to the cross of my Savior once and for all.  This event softened my heart in a way I had never allowed it to soften before. A few years earlier I had accepted God’s forgiveness, but now I had actually nailed that burden to the cross and let it go. The weight had vanished, and I could breathe once again. My journey of purpose had now officially begun—at the foot of a holy cross.

Isaiah 43:18–19 says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland”.

As I pondered the magnitude of what I had just done – and the magnitude of God’s love, mercy, grace and unconditional forgiveness – I became acutely aware of the meaning of these verses. Aware that I was a brand new creation. I made a personal vow to never take back the lie, the sin, the feelings of unworthiness and regret, and to let it all go for good. To let it all go to God, so that I could be free to do whatever He called me to do.

On that memorable day, I made a commitment to stop living in the shadows of my past and start living in the light of my Savior. To never let my past mistakes define who I am, but to believe I am a treasure in God’s eyes, regardless of how many more times I might mess up. To bask in this freedom in Christ and refuse to give it up when shame or regret try to make their way back into my life. I was finally ready to completely embrace His calling on my life—whatever it turned out to be—with confidence, enthusiasm, faith, and trust.

I was finally free.  It had been a long time coming, but I was ready to trust God had a plan and a purpose for my pain and my life, because God can turn all pain into purpose if only we say yes.  

Now for the giveaway.your life

Two fabulous people will win a copy of Tracie’s book Your Life Still Counts and study guide.

Leave a comment why this resource might help you, a friend, or love one realize you are made new through Christ.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *