We want to dwell in lush valleys, not wander in trackless deserts. And yet, during the first three centuries of the church, many men and women purposefully moved into deserts to seek God. They understood something that we have missed: a desert is not a place of vast nothingness, but a place where we can truly experience God's provision, restoration, and intimacy.Through Scripture and personal stories of her own times of waiting and struggle, Allison Allen offers a fresh perspective for women who dare to believe that God is doing something of eternal value in their dry seasons. She shows how God can use these times in our lives to reveal himself to us, to give us rest, to get our attention, to show us our strength, to experience his blessings, and more. Any woman who has been feeling spiritually sapped will welcome this refreshing message of hope.

    It shows you many ways you can be a blessing to those around you. Blessings are not just about materialism, blessings are more about a lifestyle that changes environments and conditions among families, churches, communities, and even small businesses and large corporations. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing (1 Peter 3:9 NIV). The Power of Blessing: • Presents practical applications about how to bless others and receiving blessings. • Teaches the difference between truth and fact. • Shares humorous and inspirational testimonies. • Reveals the importance of speaking God’s intentions as to how things should be. • Breaks generational curses by learning how to bless. Your heavenly Father is the redemptive God who delights in bringing things back into His divine order. Through learning how to bless, you can participate in this redemptive process. By actively living a lifestyle of blessing, you will see changes in the hearts of those you bless—as well as in yourself!

    But if we are all honest, it feels like trying to catch the wind.God has carved out a space in each of us that only He can fill. God is invisible, and yet He is the only thing we can chase that won’t leave us feeling more empty. Chase, a seven-session, video-based study by Jennie Allen, looks at David’s life as it weaves throughout the pages of Scripture to reveal that he was a man who spent his life chasing after God. Chase explores the events that defined David’s life and the Psalms that flowed out of those experiences. Through David’s example we’ll discover what God really wants from us. Whether you are running from God or working your tail off to please Him, David’s journey will challenge your view of God. This video download can be used for personal reflection or for group discussion with the accompanying participant's guide.

    God used a physical ailment to direct him there, carrying the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The relationship Paul would build with the Galatian converts--and his determination for the truth of the gospel to be preserved among them--led to one of the most passionate letters in the New Testament. Paul would not sit quietly by and let those who'd been liberated by Christ's glorious gospel submit again to a yoke of slavery. He'd send a letter with the volume turned up, calling believers to stand firm in the truth, stay bold in love, and walk by the Spirit. He'd remind them what it looked like to live for God's approval rather than human approval. The eternal words God entrusted to Paul for the churches of Galatia are as needed today as they were when the ink was still wet on the ancient pages.Join Beth and Melissa Moore for a six-week deep dive into Paul's captivating letter to the Galatians. Come to know the letter's original recipients. Study its original context and embrace its timeless relevance. Discover--or perhaps rediscover--what makes the gospel of Jesus Christ revolutionary to those who choose to believe. Find out how everything has changed, now that faith has come.

    In that sense we are all dying daily—dying is how Christians live. We die to ourselves, our wills, our comforts, and our reputations for the glory of Jesus. The wonder of applying this biblical principle to everyday life is that it brings life and joy in the process. This daily devotional celebrates a lifestyle based on the example of Jesus, who showed us how to live dead—not with dread but with great gladness.Written in a deeply personal style that provides a fresh perspective on the disciplines of the Christian life, each one of the 365 devotions is based on a suggested Bible reading. This devotional will put you on the path to a life of deeper faith and stronger dedication to Christ.

    This one shift has the potential to radically alter how you relate to God, not as a doctrine, but as a relational being who responds to you in an elastic, back-and-forth way. In God Has a Name, John Mark Comer takes you line by line through Exodus 34:6-8--Yahweh's self-revelation on Mount Sinai, one of the most quoted passages in the Bible. Along the way, Comer addresses some of the most profound questions he came across as he studied these noted lines in Exodus, including:Why do we feel this gap between us and God?Could it be that a lot of what we think about God is wrong? Not all wrong, but wrong enough to mess up how we relate to him?What if our "God" is really a projection of our own identity, ideas, and desires?What if the real God is different, but far better than we could ever imagine?No matter where you are in your spiritual journey, the act of learning who God is just might surprise you--and change everything.

    That’s exactly what happened to Lisa Brockman, a six-generation Mormon with lineage tracing back to the early church. In college, Lisa found herself challenged to defend her faith, and the beliefs she knew to be true began to unravel.  In Out of Zion, Lisa shares her journey of discovering the biblical Jesus and the key conversations that led her from the faith of her ancestors to conversion to Christianity. If you have reached a place of questioning what you believe, or you long for confidence to share your faith with others, Lisa provides the framework you need to…understand the nuances of the history and evolution of Mormon culturelearn to identify the vital differences between the Mormon and biblical plans of salvationcompassionately engage in conversation with your Mormon friends and neighborsAs you follow the evolution of Lisa’s faith, you will face the same challenge to defend what you believe and, ultimately, learn to share the gospel effectively with others.

    Dr. Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church, one of America's largest congregations and author of the best-selling book, The Purpose Driven Church.

    You can read it in an hour or two, but its goal is the transformation of the rest of your life.--Sinclair B. Ferguson, Chancellor's Professor of Systematic Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary; Teaching Fellow, Ligonier MinistriesAmong all the things that a pastor will do on any given day, he must not lose sight of his one ultimate goal: the sanctification of God's people. This is the heart of God's purpose for Christians.John MacArthur calls pastors to remember what all the countless hours preparing sermons, visiting hospitals, counseling, conducting weddings, and more are all about, even when the finish line seems so far in the distance that they're tempted to give up. He encourages pastors with the power God gives them to place the sanctification of God's people at the center of their ministry.

    A simple but powerful book that helps readers develop the faith to see these trials as blessings, rather than curses, ministered by God.

    Where the world stresses the importance of success, Bird invites readers to embrace nine specific failures in the areas of our personal lives, our relationships, and the church. Why? Because what human wisdom deems indispensable is so often an impediment to our spiritual growth, and what it deems insignificant is so often essential to it.With compelling examples from the Bible and today, Bird paints an enticing picture of the counterintuitive, countercultural life that God wants for us. He helps readers delight in all of the ways that Jesus turned the world upside-down, allowing us to experience true freedom, not from our weaknesses but in the midst of them.

    But no matter how much we try to tell our daughters that they are beautiful and lovable as they are, words are not enough. And if we're honest, we don't always set the best example of being body confident. Until we truly see ourselves as good enough, our girls will struggle.With deep compassion, Maria Furlough delves into the root causes of our insecurity, offers biblical guidance for seeing ourselves as God sees us, and shows how to model our newfound confidence to our impressionable daughters. Speaking as a daughter, a youth leader, and a mother, Furlough shares her own struggles and triumphs, as well as expert advice from a pediatrician, a nutritionist, a Christian counselor, and more.What we say to our daughters might last a moment. What we show our daughters lasts a lifetime. With God's help, we can put aside our obsession with bodily perfection and refocus on becoming and raising godly women.

    Not smart enough. Not fit enough. Not creative enough. Not good enough. Not sexy enough. Not strong enough. Not whole enough. Not womanly enough. And therefore, not beautiful. We are broken and ashamed to be so.In our eyes, brokenness makes us unlovable and unusable. But in his Word, God is clear that he sees us the way we already are in Christ: deeply loved and abundantly influential. Yet we hang back, believing instead the toxic not-enough labels.Hello, Beauty Full explodes the shame-based mythology of our “not-enough-ness.” Instead of believing the hiss of the enemy, women are encouraged to see their beauty the way God does. Chapters include:Voice Lessons: Beauty in Your Unique PersonalityValuable Vessels: Beauty in Your Physical BodyA Womb of Your Own: Beauty in Your Creative PurposeScar Stories: Beauty in Your Painful StoryHave Your Sway: Beauty in Your Influential LegacyChallenged to not settle for emptiness when Jesus came to give life to the full, women will find the freedom they need to accept their identities when they not only hear but embrace God's heavenly message: "Hello, Beauty Full!"

    In Win FromWithin, John Gray helps readers identify how best to handle the most difficult, challenging and yet necessary battle that we all face-our inner struggle to overcome the worst versions of ourselves. He offers biblical lessons to aid in combatting bad habits and limiting patterns so that the best version of ourselves emerges. Win FromWithin gives practical application to the story recorded in Genesis of Jacob wrestling with the man at the River Jabbok, and through it readers will learn how to become the persons they were created to be. The persons God intended each of us to be develops as we face our inner battles. With examples from his own life as well as his ministerial counseling, Gray provides a pathway to awakening. He includes strategies for confronting the past, how we have been labeled, who people have said we are, even who we think we are, so that we can win the battle and be who God intends us to be. Jacob spent much of his life running and hiding from himself. At a certain point we, like Jacob, cannot run from our true selves anymore. We must stop and face ourselves if we are to become great. Win FromWithin helps us conquer our inner darkness and overcome such hindrances as fear, shame and guilt. This powerfully biblical self-help guide will push us toward victory over our inner struggles. Winning will make us the persons we have always wanted to be, the persons we have dreamed about becoming, the persons God created us to be.

    Is everything in your head? Unfortunately, toxic friendships happen to everyone, but we seldom identify the underlying issues while we battle confusion or the friendship breaks up.Maybe you're left bewildered in the friendship's wake, paralyzed to move forward.After wading through several difficult friendships, Mary DeMuth reveals the seven different types of toxic relationships and empowers you to identify the messiest relationships causing you the greatest anguish.Face the reality of your broken relationship, and unearth exactly what went wrong.Discover why you may attract toxic people.Heal from broken relational patterns so you can choose safer friends.Evaluate when it's time to press into a friendship or let it go.You'll gain a new relationship with Jesus as you trust him to be your confidant, healer, and life-giving friend.