Day 255 When Faith Fails

So watch your step, friends. Make sure there's no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and throw you off course, diverting you from the living God. Hebrews 3:12 (The Message)

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, "Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!" Mark 9:24 (The Message)

Believing can sometimes be difficult when the circumstances of our lives are far from what we expected.

We want to have faith for something different but the scene is playing unfamiliar and uncomfortable.

So what does God ask of us in this situation?

• To trust.
• To believe anyway.
• To look beyond our circumstance and see His power.
• To believe He is our Helper and our Savior.
• To trust Him as Lord over every single one of our challenges.

Ask Him like the father did in Mark 9:24.

He hears your cry for help in your unbelief. His power will help you believe more and more.

Absolute trust.

Can you do it? I think you can and I'm praying for you now.

God bless your heart that cries out to God for strength and power. Just ask Him.

Gigi
http://www.gigimurfitt.com/

The idea for this blog post came from the devotional book God Calling by AJ Russell published by Barbour Publishing. I highly recommend it as a daily devotional tool to spur you on in the things of God.

Exciting Fall for Writing and Speaking

God is doing amazing things in my life with regard to my writing and speaking. Over the summer I completed a Writer's Digest course where I submitted 35,000 words from my latest manuscript for critique.

The biggest lesson I learned was that I need to be more authentic in my writing. I heard it from so many people - most importantly GOD - that I'm changing my manuscript a bit. No, I'm changing it a lot!

Rather than skim over some of the challenges I've faced in my life story, I'm sharing from my heart and telling more of the journey to wholeness and healing.

It's scary. I'm afraid. But I'm working it through.

The other cool things happening on the writing and speaking front involve a writing conference I'm attending this month and an intensive speaking class and one day workshop I'll participate in next month.

Here are the details of the one day workshop open to members and nonmembers who want to improve their craft:

October 9, 2010: One Power-packed Day, 2 Incredible Choices!

Both sessions run from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM

BILL BUTTERWORTH - Finding Your Speaking Voice (http://www.billbutterworth.com/)

In this one day event, Bill will cover Putting Together a Successful Presentation, Humor, Storytelling, and How To Be More Persuasive in Your Speaking. The intent is to help you take your speaking to the next level.

Bill Butterworth’s extraordinary ability to blend humor, story-telling, wisdom and practicality has made him one of the most sought after speakers in venues throughout North America. Through his wit, warmth, insight, and realism, he brings help and hope to his audiences everywhere. Because of his remarkable abilities, Bill was awarded The Hal Holbrook Award by the International Platform Association, whose past and present members include Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt, Bob Hope, and Elizabeth Dole. They consider him one of the select few to be named a Top Rated Speaker.

In the writing world, Bill’s latest contribution is a series of business books with the overall title On The Fly. The first two books are called On The Fly Guide to Balancing Work and Life and On The Fly Guide to Building Successful Teams. They are being published by WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House. Besides the On The Fly series, Bill has written over a dozen books including The Promise of the Second Wind and When Life Doesn’t Turn Out Like You Planned.

REBECA SEITZ - The Publicity Process & Powerful Strategies

Part 1: Wanted: First Time Published Writers Who Have No Idea What To Do Next. What does it mean to publicize a book? How does a literary publicist let readers know your book is coming? What can you do to join in the process? Which things should you do and which will your publisher accomplish? For those who are just beginning their trek into the world of literary publicity, come have your questions answered and learn the process that most books follow from acquired manuscript to publicized book.

Part 2: Powerful Publicity: Building Book Sales. Do you have two or more books just sitting on bookstore shelves? Perhaps you’ve wrestled with the disappointment of not hitting the best-seller list right out of the gate and yet you’re certain this is what God created you to do—write. Agents and publishers have warned you if your sales don’t increase, you’ll be hard-pressed to continue finding book contracts. What can you do to help increase sales of your books? Publicity!

Rebeca Seitz, President of Glass Road Public Relations and author of five novels, has assisted a wide variety of authors from debut novelists to New York Times best-sellers. She’ll share strategies that you can employ to raise awareness for your books among consumers and get those sales numbers climbing. Also, if you’ve tried publicity tactics in the past but experienced lackluster results, be sure to bring your stories to this workshop! Rebeca will help you determine what didn’t work and why so that you can begin practicing effective, powerful publicity.

http://www.glassroadpr.com/about/seitz.php

NCWA Member Rate - $115 – Non-Member Rate $135 - includes lunch and snacks

Location: Northshore Baptist Church, Bothell WA

http://nwchristianwriters.org/events.html

I hope you feel God's touch on your life today.
 
God Bless Your Heart
Gigi

Day 252 A Generous Giver

For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. John 6:33

Gifts: Life, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control.

Could you use some of these gifts?

We receive them from the most generous gift-giver of all – Jesus. They are available to us when we stay grafted to the Vine.

He came that we might live life abundantly.

Staying connected is the key.

Are you living an abundant life filled with joy and peace?

Good for you. That makes me smile.

If not, then tap into the source of abundant life by connecting with Jesus through the Bible, prayer and hanging out with other like-minded people. It's the best gift ever.

We can't make ourselves loving and kind. At least not long term. We need to plug into the love of Christ which flows through us.

Plug in my friend. There is an abundant source of life and love waiting to touch your heart. It is real. It is good. It makes life worth living.

God Bless your heart with the generous gift of joy and peace.
Gigi

http://www.gigimurfitt.com/

The idea for this blog post came from the September 11 entry in God Calling by AJ Russell.
I pray for you every day….let me know of your particular need in the comments below.

I Found My Voice!

Happy Tuesday.

I owe a sincere apology to my readers for the sporadic entries in my blog lately.

I still enjoy my mornings as I work through the daily devotional in God Calling but I'm not taking the extra time to type them into my blog.

Instead, I'm spending my typing time on the manuscript for my current book – Hope in Hard Times – Stories to Build a Strong Foundation for Life's Difficult Seasons. (or something like that)

I have been enjoying the work on this manuscript even though I've changed it so many times over the last five years. God has used this re-writing time to really speak to me about some things in my life.

Wow. And in the process I'm finding my authentic voice.

As I re-read my stories, I started noticing that some of my difficult seasons were a result of my failure to speak up for myself and be honest about how I was feeling.

Instead, out of fear of man's opinion, I went with the flow of what someone else thought I should do. I wasn't true to myself. I didn't want to rock the boat so I remained silent. I was miserable.

While re-writing my stories, God has opened my eyes to this pattern.

I shared these pages with editors and other critique partners. They agreed that I need to get real in my writing if I want my reader to relate.

I meet every Friday with my friend Cheryl who is an amazing visionary counselor. She listens to my stories and shows me the times where my voice is not speaking truth.

Now I'm going back over the manuscript with a new voice – more authentic and free – telling it like it really is, rather than what I think you want to hear.

I can't wait for you to read it.

This book has been a mechanism of God's healing and it revealed to me that He has been there all along. I just didn't always acknowledge His presence and follow His voice.

And you know what? I'm changing the dance of the way I communicate to my friends and family every day too. I want to be more authentic in every area of my life. It is revolutionary. Really.

So now you understand the sporadic blog posts. I'm having way too much fun re-writing my manuscript with a new and fresh voice.

Watch for my book to be published this fall. I'll be sure to let you know when it is released so we can celebrate authentic stories together.

Maybe I'll even help you find your voice too.

I appreciate you!

God Bless Your Heart

Gigi

http://www.gigimurfitt.com/

Day 225 Not Punishment

As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12

There are days when I have to admit that I wonder if my present circumstances are a result of my past sin choices. But God shows me otherwise.

Yes, there are definite consequences to some of our choices that change the outcome of our lives. But too often we dwell in the pit of our pitiful choices rather than walk it out and make the best of it in spite of our past.

God doesn't camp there reminding us of our ugly choices. Because of grace, He removes our wrong doing and flings it as far as the east is from the west.

That's far.

Give Him your past.

Trust Him. Listen to His guidance. Follow it.

God's plan is revealed in our daily walk with Him.

Two-by-two – me and Jesus.
Listening.
Learning.
Growing.
Full of peace and joy.



God Bless your heart with grace and peace and joy.

Gigi

http://www.gigimurfitt.com/

The idea for the blog post came from the devotional for August 15 in the God Calling book by AJ Russell.

August 15 is my best friend Jeanne Nystrom's birthday. Happy Birthday girlfriend! This one's for you. You are a treasure to me and I celebrate you today.

Day 210 Gratitude

As the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord. 2 Chronicles 5:13

May the Lord give you the gift of a brave and thankful heart that praises Him all day long.

It is so easy to focus on our troubles. Even in the middle of hard times we must look for causes for thankfulness.

Our thanks become a sweet fragrant offering to the Lord.

In every happening of your life seek diligently for something glad. After awhile it's not difficult to see it.

I give thanks for a fun weekend with my husband and a safe drive home. I give thanks for my family. I give thanks for my job.

I give thanks for you today. God Bless your heart with an attitude of gratitude.

Gigi
http://www.gigimurfitt.com/

The idea for this blog post came from the July 31 devotional in God Calling by AJ Russell.

Day 209 Faith Rewarded

For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." Romans 4:3

Think of the Fathers of the Faith who have taught us to be filled with faith, trust and hope in the one true God.

Abraham had faith when God told him he would have a child even when it seemed impossible in his old age. Then he obeyed when God told him to offer his son Isaac on the altar of sacrifice.

His faith was accounted to him for righteousness and Isaac lived when a ram took his place on the altar. Because of his faith, Abraham became the Father of many nations.

Moses led the Israelites to the Promised Land. He believed God's promise even when he was being chased down by the Egyptian armies.

Then as the people grumbled in the desert Moses still believed. The Israelites made it to their Promised Land because Moses had faith.

These two men obeyed what God told them to do even though they could not see what was ahead of them.

God rewarded their faith.

Oh Lord. I want to believe with hope for things I have not yet seen. Help my unbelief that creeps in as fear and doubt and worry.

I want to keep my eyes on God and believe by faith that my prayers will be heard. I know in my heart they will be answered. So I hang on by faith until they are...even when.

I love you Lord.

God Bless your heart with faith.

Gigi

http://www.gigimurfitt.com/

The idea for this blog post came from the July 30 devotional entry in God Calling by AJ Russell and published by Barbour Publishing.