When we become anchored in who we are in Christ, we will live in total freedom. Paul was so anchored in Christ that he said he didn’t let anything that happened to him move him.

The way you become anchored in Christ is to get to know Him. Through his Word and through your personal relationship with Him. The more you know Him, the more anchored (immovable) you’ll become.

• I’ve become anchored (immovable) in the belief that I’m free from any and all fears that come against me (Psalm 34:4)

• I’ve become anchored (immovable) that God is a good God and wants to do incredible things in and through my life (Hebrews 11:6, Ephesians 3:20, John 10:10)

• I’m anchored (immovable) in the fact that God’s called me and He’s my promotion and reward! (I Cor. 15:58, Galatians 6:9)
  

• I’m becoming anchored (immovable) from letting the opinions and approval of others rule me (John 5:41, Gal. 1:10)
  

Everyday we need to become more and more anchored, more and more immovable in who we are in Christ.

What areas in your life do you need to become anchored in Christ in?

And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together, giving us joint seating with Him in Christ Jesus. -Ephesians 2:6

You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban is one of my favorite songs to listen to when I’m spending time with God. It helps me remember the faithfulness of God in my life. God has raised me up out of some of the darkest times of my life:

• He raised me up from a student addicted drugs, tobacco, and alcohol, to someone who is free from addiction.
• He raised me up from having no purpose in life to living a life of purpose daily!
• He raised me up from graduating high school with a 1.6 GPA to a college graduate with a 3.2 GPA!
• He raised me up from never thinking he could date a descent girl to giving me an unbelievable woman of God!
• He raised me up from a life of worry, insecurity, and anxiety to a life of security & confidence.

I could go on and on. When I was going through these issues in my life, I thought I’d never make it through to the other side, but God raised me up out of each of them, every time.

Now when I go through something, I just remember the faithfulness of God. That He HAS raised me up out of anything I may face.

I encourage you to look back on your life. What has God raised you up out of? Thank Him for what He’s done and grab hold of the truth that no matter what you’re facing today, no matter how difficult or hard it may seem, God will raise you up out of it.

He was faithful in the past, He’ll be faithful in the present, and He’ll be faithful in the future.

Trust Him. He Will Raise You Up!

Below are some things I use in everyday life that have made life so much more productive & so much easier! I’d recommend checking out everything I’ve listed.

If you’re aware of other things that could simplify my life of make it more productive, please leave your recommendations in the comment section!

Google Reader – Ever feel like there is way too much to read? Too many blogs, to many news articles, etc.? Google reader allows you to subscribe to RSS feeds and have all of your favorite news articles, blogs, etc. in one central place for you to read. If you’re not currently using this, you need to check it out!

Evernote – I just recently started using this, it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite things in the world. It’s a place where you can draft, edit, organize, and file text documents, audio files, pictures, and pretty much anything else you can imagine! You’re able to organize everything by Tags and Notebooks. I’d highly recommend looking into this and all the things you’re able to do with it!

Hootsuite – This is where I take care of my social networking updates. It allows you to schedule Tweets/Facebook updates in advance. You can schedule updates as far out in advance as you’d like, so you don’t have to waste time during the day thinking of what to say, etc. There are plenty of other benefits, but I’d recommend using this tool!

IMapMyRide - If you’re a walker, runner, or a biker, you need to get this app or use this website. It will track all of your workouts, map out your runs, keep your heart rate, allow you to listen to your ipod while working out, and even has voice updates that tell you how far you’ve gone, etc. This makes working out so much more fun!

Tap & Track - This is what I use to track all of my calories. It’s only for the iPhone, but it’s so convenient! You can find pretty much any restaurants nutritional info in this app, pretty much any food from the grocery store, and what you can’t find, you can add. If you’re watching what you eat, this is a necessity! I love it!

Mint.com – The best free way to track all of your finances. This will create reports for you based on your spending, allow you to make financial goals, give you options as to where you’re money could be making more money for you, etc.

YouVersion – This is free online Bible software. By far the best out there! Want to read the Bible through in a year? No problem – YouVersion provides a ton of reading plans for you to choose from. They will track your progress, allow you to tag and make notes with the scriptures, share verses, and allow you to read any version you want. There are mobile versions available! Get in the Word!

iPhone – This goes without saying, but the iPhone has made life so much easier. All of the things I’ve listed above are all available on my phone. If you have one, I bet you’d agree that you can’t really remember what life was like when you didn’t have one! I don’t care what anybody says, no other phone comes close to the iPhone. I’d recommend getting one, it’s worth it.

Google Analytics - Want to track traffic for your website? This is the best way! You’ll be able to find out pretty much anything you want to about who comes to your website, how many times, what they look at, etc. This is very helpful to see whether or not your website is effective, what articles interest people, etc. If you have a website and you’re not using this, you need to be.

Google Apps -  I use this to e-mail my ministry teams, share documents with them, share to do lists with them, create online sign-ups and track them, share calendars, have online team meetings, etc. I’d highly recommend getting your organization hooked up with the apps, especially if you’re a non-profit!