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.}

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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.

 

44 Comments

  1. Karen, I’m so sorry to hear your beloved sister in love passed away. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

  2. I would love to win a copy to give to my sister (a mother of two) who, just one week ago, attempted to take her own life. God didn’t allow it to happen. I know the pain of her past including the horrible choices she made, combined with alcoholism and a bipolar diagnosis years ago, contributed to her wanting to kill herself to make the pain go away. I’m hopeful and I pray that I can help move her heart toward God and Jesus and she learns that she is loved, her life still counts, and it is a life worth living.

  3. Hi Tracie Miles, I believe this book could help me with the my past. It all started since I was like 8 years old. And just thinking about people around finding out about my past I feel so embarressed. Only my husband, parents and pastors know my past. I don’t know if this of my childhood keeps me from receiving Gods love. God bless you more Tracie.

  4. Tracie Miles seems to have a camera into my life! I think this book could help me to lay down my past for good. The devil always dangles it in front of me and that along with my health limitations from 2 years ago keep me stuck! I feel like I’m of no good to anyone, much less God. I also have many friends that could benefit from it. Thank you Tracie for this book along with your stressed out book. I’m praying for you Karen.

  5. The wounds from childhood sometimes seem all dealt with and wrapped up with a neat little bow. Then something will happen to remind me of it all again, and the hurts come rushing back, along with the guilt thinking it was all somehow my fault.
    Every time it all comes rushing back, I lean on God and He carries me through. I would like to see the purpose in the pain and make my mess my message somehow.

  6. We all carry wounds from our past, and sometimes I feel like mine make me less able to serve in some areas. It is my deep desire for my daughters and I to break free from the old paths of previous generations and break new ground in the Lord for our family

  7. My husband and I are going through something that we never thought we would have to go through. Something from his past has came back to haunt him and it is affecting our whole family. He was a pastor and now we are out of church. So anything at this point would help us tremendously. It sounds like your book would really give us the hope we need right now. Thank you!

  8. I would love this book as I continually try to leave the shame & regret of my past at the cross & embrace the future Christ has for me. Thank you for your message….it’s one so many of us need to be reminded of.

  9. To be truly free!Free from the lies of the past that told me I had to be perfect in my outward appearance as well as everything I did.this way no one would see any of my flaws and no one would know the real me. Hence, I didn’t know who I really was for so many years. God is really showing me more and more of myself and I am so grateful. I never want to go back. I want to be truly free.

  10. Why do we hold on to such garbage. God’s Holy Word reaffirms us over and over. I have the hope of things to come, but would love to feel the freedom from past sins. Thanks for sharing. Here’s to lliving free.

  11. This book would be a great help to me and my friends as we work thru our pasts and learn to not let them define us.

  12. This is a message every woman needs to hear at some point in their life. There are times we all long for this. Tracie is such a great author. I look forward to reading this!

  13. I think this book would help me a lot because at age 48, I still feel like I don’t know what my purpose is. I have 2 grown children and 4 grandchildren and a ton of regrets. There are so many things about my past I wish I could change or take back. I was also diagnosed with small fiber neuropathy in August and am in chronic pain. I just feel sometimes like I’m just not good enough anymore- it seems like all I have are problems. I have a hard time giving my problems to the Lord and then taking them back again. I need to completely trust HIm with all my issues – knowing that I am in the best possible hands!

  14. So many things I look back on. It’s hard to let it all go. Looking forward to this book and the gentle words of wisdom.

  15. Wow! My friends and I could both use this. We made decisions that have impacted us and our families. I feel like I trip up so many times. I feel like I don’t count for so many reasons relating to rejection etc. Would love to read this book and then pass it on.

  16. I know that I am loved, but I don’t feel it. Recently my sister has shouted at me that I am not welcome in her home because she has no room and her home is only for HER. This devastates me completely. I live out of state from her but it doesn’t seem to make a difference. I am single, retired, and alone. I need help.

  17. Although I believe with all my mind that I am forgiven, I still fall into the trap of forgetting how my Savior treasures me, loves me, and wants relationship with me. Attempting to earn His favor rather than giving from a heart of thankfulness for what He has already accomplished. Loved this visual nailing of sin to the cross.

  18. Thank you! This would be a blessing to me and my three girls (12, 7, and 5) as we rebuild after an unfortunate divorce and the sense of loss it has brought to us. We do know that God loves us… just nice to be reminded with these messages and resources… when some in the world seem to want to bring so much pain. God bless!

  19. I was (am?) in love with a man who asked me last summer to marry him but he trashed our relationship a couple of months ago without giving me a reason. So, at the moment, I am still reeling and feeling like my life doesn’t count!

  20. The book would be of great help to me as I constantly struggle with giving something to the Lord but end up continuing to dwell on it.

  21. Tracie,
    Thank you so much for this timely devotional. Your words were so encouraging to me today. I have a tendency to nail things to the cross, but take them back time and time again and not embrace God’s forgiveness. I want so much to fully embrace that freedom in Christ.
    Also, Karen, I will pray for your family today as you celebrate the life of your beautiful sister in love.

  22. God has been working on my heart a lot lately showing me my purpose, and letting me know that now is the time to start fulfilling that purpose for which he created me. I believe this book will be a huge help in my understanding His purpose for me, as well as a tool to move me into its fulfillment.

  23. My friend could use the book! Even though she is a Christian, yet her past is still a struggle with her! She feels she has to work hard to clean up her past and work so hard to be so good today. I can see how that is so tiring for her!

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