Elevate Your Day with Andi and Brian Hale

From Applied: Living What You Believe by Angie Murenga on YouVersion What are you convinced of? Your identity was established before you began. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…” — Jeremiah 1:5 Before you performed. Before you proved yourself. Before you figured anything out, God already knew you. Set you apart. Gave you purpose. That means your identity is not something you build. It’s...

From Alignment: Living What You Believe by Angie Murenga on YouVersion Alignment doesn’t just happen. It is built. And one of the biggest ways we build it is through renewing our minds. Why the Internal Battle Exists. Sometimes the tension you feel is because what you read in the Bible has not yet become your reality. And that’s okay, it takes time. But you have to start. The more I began to read...

From Aligned: Living What You Believe by Angie Murenga on YouVersion Reconnect with yourself. I know that might sound strange. But stay with me. The Noise We Live In We are constantly doing, solving, leading, deciding, showing up for everyone around us. And somewhere in all of that… we lose ourselves. We don’t pause. We don’t sit. We don’t check in. I’ve started creating moments where I sit, not t...

From Aligned Living What You Believe byAngie Murenga on YouVersion If I’m being honest, for a long time I thought what I needed was more discipline. More structure. More consistency. More trying harder. But the deeper I walked with God, and the more honest I became, I realized something: What I needed most was not discipline. What I needed was reconnection. The Performance Trap It’s easy to turn y...

When What You Believe and How You Live Don’t Match From Aligned: Living What You Believe by Angie Murenga on YouVersion I think God has such an amazing sense of humor. Honestly, He is hilarious. So one random day, I’m seated doing my daily Bible reading. I’m in Romans, just minding my business… and then I land on this: “…for whatever is not from faith is sin.” — Romans 14:23b That hit me like a to...

“What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.” Acts 22:16 (NLT) Giving my life to Jesus was the best thing I’ve ever done. When I repented of my sin and asked Him to save me, that was only the beginning. Salvation isn’t the final destination; it’s the key that unlocks an exciting, life-long adventure of faith. My baptism became a...

“Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help…” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NLT) In the past, I’ve really struggled with isolation. Ever since my parents divorced and my dad left, I’ve had a hard time trusting anyone. When I was a teenager, I tended to find myself in the wrong crowds. For the longest time, after finding Je...

“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” Psalm 119:105 (NLT) Journaling isn’t the only practice that’s helped me chart a new course for my life after my transformative encounter with the Lord. Honestly, writing out your feelings might be momentarily therapeutic, but the process of journaling alone won’t get you through your darkest night. I never pick up my journal without p...

“And then God answered: ‘Write this. Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run. This vision-message is a witness pointing to what’s coming…’” Habakkuk 2:2-3 (MSG) Lately I’ve been flipping back through some old pages…the ones that held me together when nothing else could. The scribbles, the prayers, the messy words that carried me through so much. Jour...

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36 (NIV) I was baptized when I was 21 years old. I came from a pretty rough past. My parents divorced when I was little. I was in and out of group homes. I struggled with drugs and alcohol. I was a high school dropout. By the time I fully surrendered my life to Jesus, there was a lot to leave behind. I came out of that water, and the f...

I discovered the keys to untangling from doubt as I cried out to God in frustration. As I studied Luke Chapter 1, fresh faith poured into my heart. For no word from God will ever fail. – Luke 1:37 NIV We needed a different strategy! I had been begging God to come and fix my problem when He had already given me everything we needed to overcome. His divine power has given us everything we need for a...

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. – Proverbs 4:23 NIV Have you ever wondered why we are told to guard our hearts above all else? I used to think guarding my heart meant not opening my heart to someone who wasn’t trustworthy. But I have since discovered that it is not about keeping people out, but about what I allow to enter my heart. Our hearts are the very sea...

God’s very nature is to heal, protect, deliver, and provide. James 1:17 in the Amplified Bible says: “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of lights [the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens], in whom there is no variation [no rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [for He is perfect and never changes].” He is a good Father, and He is...

Apart from the act of Creation, can you find where God decided to do something for humanity anywhere in the Bible without some conversation or partnership with humankind? When the world became so dark and evil, to the point where God regretted creating people, there was a man who found favour in His eyes. God partnered with Noah and preserved the human race. Without Noah responding to the Word, th...

For nothing will be impossible with God. – Luke 1:37 ESV Has your heart ever been tangled up in doubt and unbelief? You want to stay in faith, but you just can’t seem to marry up the hours of praying and declaring with the results you are seeing in the flesh? When you find yourself without a job and you just don’t have enough money to make it to the end of the month. When you are sitting in the do...

Grace and conviction aren’t just words. They are powerful actions that offer freedom. Throughout the Bible, grace and conviction changed the lives of King David, the woman at the well, prostitutes, the thief on the cross, and a fisherman named Peter.   Fishermen were considered uneducated men with hot tempers and vulgar language. Seeing beyond the surface, Jesus asked Peter to follow Him. I love h...

Guilt leads to condemnation unless we learn to live in conviction. Conviction is a process where God uses our guilt to guide us towards grace and growth. As we give Him access to our thoughts and motives, He uncovers sin and reveals its true nature. Seeing our sin and hating it, we realize our desperate need for God and grasp onto His forgiveness. His grace covers us, so His conviction can change...

From Trapped By Guilt by Markey Motsinger on YouVersion as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. – Romans 4:17 Grace is a word that can refer to mealtime prayers, ballerinas, and personalities. But God’s grace isn’t just a descriptive word. It’s an...

Guilt is a natural reaction to sin. If we’re not careful, it stops being a reaction and becomes a lifestyle that guides our decisions, influences our truth, and leaves us leading a life of condemnation. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. – Romans 8:1 For a long time, condemnation and I were good friends. I sensed it from peers, authority, and even myself. It...

From Trapped By Guilt by Markey Motsinger on YouVersion I started carrying guilt around at a young age. In the seventh grade, I felt guilty for making the cheerleading squad when my friend didn’t. In high school, I couldn’t stop beating myself up for stealing. Now, as an adult, I encounter guilt for yelling at my kids, not spending enough time with my husband, and not having a handle on money. I h...

From You’re Not Finished Yet with Christine Caine on YouVersion And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. – Galatians 6:9 Kylie is my oldest and dearest friend, and like so many of my friends, she frequently runs in marathon races. I am not sure if I am living vicariously through them, but I seem to have amassed many friends who love to run long...

From You’re Not Finished Yet with Christine Caine on YouVersion But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” – Matthew 19:26 I love to run, though I’m totally not a serious runner. My idea of running is a five-mile slow jog, and when I say slow, I mean mothers pushing their babies in strollers can overtake me. My friend Dawn, the one I hik...

From You’re Not Finished Yet with Christine Caine on YouVersion While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” – Genesis 8:22 Do you have a dream? An idea? A yearning to do something that just won’t go away that you know God has placed in your heart? When God gives us a dream, He is calling forth what He placed inside of us before...

From You’re Not Finished Yet with Christine Caine on YouVersion always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. – Philippians 1:4-6 The Australian coat of arms depicts a very insightful imag...

From You’re Not Finished Yet with Christine Caine on YouVersion He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. – Isaiah 40:29-...