Author Archives

Trisha Keehn

Writer

Trisha Keehn is a creative writer fueled by a lifetime of faith. She is part of the Life.Church and YouVersion Bible App creative writing team, and uses her broadcast news background to help companies choose their words wisely. Trisha is a wife, mom, coffee connoisseur, lover of libraries, and a savvy traveler.

Posted on

Honoring Our Fearless Ones

veterans day, fearless, valor

veterans day, fearless, valorOn bended knee, my head hangs with deep gratitude at the wonder of it all. We need these long pauses to live in a little more awe of the beautiful brave hearts who serve valiantly to give us these safe moments to pray, to live, to sing and the space to make our own beautiful things.

My prayers linger into a conversation of thanksgiving over such sacrifice as I pour another cup of coffee, wondering all the courageous stories these veteran souls of valor would tell at my table. In humble adoration, our hearts honor you, o Fearless Ones. Thank you.

Posted on

Are you desperate for a dream?

dead things to life, God raises dead things, dreams, dead dreams, dream on, lean on God, your dreams are not dead

Do you have dreams that seem dead? Is there something you were believing for, but this extended season of silence has you believing they are gone? It might be that you think your dream is too big? Perhaps circumstances have destroyed the possibilities?

We have a God of resurrection power.

His ways are not our ways. Redemption of a dream may not look the way you expected. What you thought was dead may be lying dormant or through another door that you’re denying. With one word, Jesus can bring dead dreams back to life.

If this is something God wants for your life, then there is NO WAY He designed it for you to do on your own.

dead things to life, God raises dead things, dreams, dead dreams, dream on, lean on God, your dreams are not deadGod plants dreams that are beyond your reach of doing on your own.

He whispers audacious, crazy, and unimaginable ideas to your timid heart in hope that the impossibility of the idea would drive your dependence on Him.

The things that have you afraid are designed to buckle your knees. Feelings of fear might have your thoughts caught in a knotted up net of your own limitations. You are not created to carry the burden. God knows you can’t do this on your own.

Your weakness reveals the need for God’s strength.

The purpose of a ‘walking on water’ dream is to draw you out of the boat and into deeper waters with Him. Do you trust Jesus when he says, ‘do not be afraid’?

He hears your desperation.

Bring your unbearable requests to the One who gave them to you. Trust is a beautiful thing when grace is there to catch you when you fall.

Through the hesitancy when you want to grip tighter to the things you can see, God is speaking into your pain and asking you to open your hand, release your heart, and trust Him with all that you can’t. Trust He has possibilities for your problems and backdoors out of your brokenness.

God has something significant He wants to do in you, through you. And in His power, the Almighty will be the one accomplishing it, not you.

Posted on

How to fulfill your purpose

desperation, gods purpose, gods presence
When we want God to do something in our lives, the first step is to get closer to His presence. Bringing our brokenness, we don’t have to beg God for a blessing or for an answer to our prayers. He wants to do good things for his children.

The people of Judah were already in a state of distress when their king had died (Isaiah 6:1). God had warned this nation of severe judgment for their wicked ways. With an enemy threatening an attack on the land, the people of Judah had questions and doubts concerning their future. Everything was so up in the air. With surmounting fear and hesitancy, Isaiah, desperate for answers, got in the presence of the Lord.desperation, gods purpose, gods presence

Here on his knees, Isaiah received a revelation from God. The holiness of the Lord shined a light on the sin and darkness in Isaiah. “Woe is me! For I am lost and a man of unclean lips.” Isaiah 6:5 NIV

This was a work of humility in Isaiah. It was the place of brokenness and surrender that allowed Isaiah to be used by God.

We are not strangers to God.

We don’t have to convince Him for salvation. You and I have full access to his favor and healing. We don’t have to beg for access to His goodness, His grace, His provision, and mercy. God’s children have access to His sufficiency through Jesus. You just need to accept it.

When we operate in our own ability and power, we only glorify ourselves. And when we use our solutions to address a situation, we have the potential to do more damage than good. A believer’s aim is not to be spiritual know-it-all’s. Our goal is for the Holy Spirit to be the reigning voice inside us.

When we walk in His presence, we operate out of His power.

There are times God allows a desperation in our soul, spiritually, to draw us back into His presence.

In desperate places, the temptation is to take matters into our own hands. We might create a list of things we need to change. We might want to fix our own failures. In the end, we learn that trying to make ourselves good enough for God is futile.

There’s no spiritual work happening in our hearts when we take matters into our own hands. When we operate out of our own strength, we try to do what only Jesus can do for the soul. When the Holy Spirit brings conviction to your heart, it’s not because He thinks you can clean up the mess in your strength.

Our Restorer will repurpose sin to draw us into His presence.

Sometimes our circumstances corner Jesus with bitterness. We might hold grudges against God because our situation isn’t good. It hurts. So we spend less time in His presence. We might even rebel against everything God wants from us. That’s what Judah did. The devil will devise every distortion of the truth to draw us away from God’s purpose, which is being in the Healer’s presence.

When a tragedy has us asking ‘why,’ the answer begins with bending our will to His.

Isaiah 6, God's Purpose, God's PresenceIf it’s not a place of pain that’s driving us away from God’s presence, it can be the competition of our own priorities.

The volume of our to-do’s and want-to’s can drown out the whisper of a should-do in the stillness with Jesus.

Often we wait until our plans hit a roadblock, or until things aren’t working out the way we rigged them before we seek favor from the Father.

When we release the weight of control in our grip and reach this position of surrender, God can go to work in His power and His grace.

Your problems are meant to point you to His strength. This is His grace.

It’s our brokenness and submission that opens our spiritual ears to hear from God. Once Isaiah humbled himself (Isaiah 6:5), God delivered a word.

In God’s presence, with God’s word, Isaiah was able to walk out His purpose.

God has a purpose and a plan for you.

Living out the purposes of God begins with being in the presence of God.

Posted on

Silence the Fear

Are you giving fear permission to access the promises God has made?

There’s an enemy of our souls and he’d love nothing more than a permanent place to filter every plan God prepared for you. Fear is crippling. Fear causes us to react irrationally. Fear drives a wedge between our relationships.

Today, we see natural disasters, racial tension and political division panicking our world. Personally, you might be suffering from a broken heart, loneliness or struggling with becoming another statistic; falling victim to addiction, divorce or suicide.

This isn’t Satan’s first rodeo. The author of confusion and doubt will use your insecurities to stir up questions in every corner you put your confidence. The enemy will use this freak tidal wave of uncertainty and hesitation to drown every declaration you were once so sure of.

Even our past carries the power to pause present day promises if we allow pain to produce the kind of panic that alters our perception of truth.

Fear likes to grip the best intentions and suffocate God’s truths with these burdens from a hardened heart. Be careful here because good decisions don’t come out of our reactions to fear. Worry won’t provoke positive changes.

Jesus says, “I am leaving you with a gift–peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:27 NLT)

fear, peace, God's presenceThis peace Jesus gives is not of this world. He’s the only one who can give you lasting peace. In His presence, there is an absence of fear. It’s a peace that surpasses all understanding.

Jesus silences fear.

The pain of our past will pursue our present-day stories until we give the hurt a proper burial and lay these insecurities to rest permanently.

The pain of our past wants to prove nothing has changed. Peace is asking you to step out from the shadow of the past and process life through the lens of Jesus. As you learn to let go, cling to this deep reassurance that His unflinching love, His unfailing hope, and His very best for you is here in His presence. Draw near to this peace.

When it looks like He’s not changing the hard things, know that the Father’s delays are designed to draw out the darkness in our hearts by drawing us into Him.

“The breaking of you will be the making of you. A new you. A stronger you.” (Lysa TerKeurst)

In this world, there will be trouble. The storms will swirl through your emotions with debris from other people’s messes but you still have the final say. You have a choice to settle your mind and steady your stance on this truth: Jesus has overcome the world, fully, completely, finally and for all of time. It’s already done.

Fear only resides within us. And, the perfect love of Christ resides in us also. You may feel fear but you don’t have to live fear. At the feet of Jesus is where you are set free.

I pray for peace to permeate every part of your heart wherever fear has found a grip. Thank you, Jesus, for your perfect peace. You are THE way, THE truth, and THE life. We put our feelings and thoughts into your hands. We are determined to dismantle the doubt and fear as we invite your peace, Jesus, to stand guard at the door of our hearts and minds today. May Your perfect peace invade every thought and emotion that crosses our mind, and may this peace of Yours preside as our stronghold today, Jesus. Prince of Peace. It’s in Your name above all names that we commit these requests, Jesus, Amen.

Posted on

Key Change

A minor change on a major scale

A key change doesn’t require a large shift on the scale or grandiose measures. Did you know that a half step can make all the difference? A small change can create some beautiful music.

To appreciate a key change, you don’t need to know music theory. A listener can hear the transition in tone.

Every now and then life calls for a key change. Without it there is little music produced, for a piece puts out true beauty not from the fixed notes it embraces but rather from the subtle modulation we experience.

Life is packed with opportunities for you to take the stage on some major and minor scales, but you won’t get far in a performance if you’re not willing to embrace a key change.

The key change is your perspective. A slight shift in how you view life’s circumstances will make all the difference. When someone uses words you didn’t expect or reacts contrary to the culture’s perception, that’s a result of changing perspective.

If you want to stand out in the crowd and survive with your dignity among life’s situations, it’s going to require a key change in perspective.

Your circumstance, that cross you’ve been called to carry, looks different than mine.

You could be performing mundane tasks in a job, when you may be suited for much greater work.

Perhaps you’ve been cultivating the same field, nurturing a dream year after year, even though it yields no harvest.

Or, you may be called to walk through this world with a smile while your heart secretly breaks inside.

change, perspective, spiritual growthThere are so many crosses we carry and every one of them is painful.

Outwardly this cross may appear destructive, but inwardly its spiritual work is planting the richness of a blessing deep into the soil of your soul. Many of the blessings you inherit are the fruit of sorrow or pain.

Jesus on the cross, redemption itself, is the world’s greatest blessing and was produced through the greatest pain.

The Apostle Paul made a key change. He learned how to be content whatever the circumstances. (Philippians 4:11)

The attitude we live with is what determines our growth in God. This isn’t about being fake. The key change in our perspective is trusting God when other people are getting what we want.

Growth doesn’t happen when you remain with the same heart in the same place. A harmonious arrangement in life calls for a key change in perspective.

Where is that place that presses up against your threshold of yesterday? Where do you need to die to your own will, pride and sin and surrender at the feet of Jesus the very things that keep you proud and strong?

The charm of a broken spirit leaves us with an imprint of the cross. There’s a fragrant aroma of brokenness and humility that rises after it’s been touched by fire. Make the key change to transform the song of your sorrows into a beautiful melody of redemption.

Do you trust God so much that you absolutely do not want anything that He doesn’t want you to have? That’s perspective. That’s the key change in your mind that will take an ordinary song and dance and create a signature that’s all of you glorifying all of Him.

###

Key Change: A Minor Change on a Major Scale by Trisha Keehn first appeared on LiftUpYourDay on September 23, 2016.

Posted on

Courage in the Quiet

Sometimes A Brave Heart Waits

I waited patiently for the Lord… (Psalm 40:1)

Waiting can be much more difficult than walking. It requires patience. Not a very natural fruit of the spirit we’re born with. As babies, we cried until we were content. As children, we ignored the stop signs. In our adolescence, we found ways around the rules. And as a teen, we flat out rebelled against ‘no’. And now, here we are as adults. Now, we can buy our way through the delay.

Did you know that God has a purpose in ALL His delays? And the ‘stops’ too.

When we don’t rush the race, this steady walk provides a renewal of strength. We are empowered by our self-control in the stops. Edges are chiseled as we wait. The wait is growing endurance and perseverance below the surface. It is refining the steps in front of us. But so often we see standing still as failure and being forced into inaction – required to watch the tides of life as we stand on the shore.

It takes a fierce faith to submit to the will of God and give up opportunities for work and leave honors to others. To be quiet. Confident. And even rejoicing while the busyness rushes past you.

In a cloud of isolated quick thinking, our fleeting feelings are apt to react with coward logic when life isn’t moving. Poor decisions are made. Life-staking choices. We exchange God’s best for an offer of immediate gratification. Almost always, we regret it.

The winner’s circle is a quiet waiting. Stay still. Surrender your schedule. When the pressure in life hits your tender places and the reflex is to react, remember it requires more courage to stand still, wait and still not lose heart or hope.

Instead of running for relief, relax. Rest. Push through the crowded thoughts that are limiting time and self-defeating in light of your submission. Your words carry weight and create reality. Your words in your own mind, about yourself, circulate the truth. What truth are you telling yourself?

In the heat of pressure and resistance, reach into the vault of God’s Truth and align your thinking with the path of faith and perseverance.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

You are His masterpiece. (Ephesians 2:10)

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing, and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.(1 Corinthians 9:25)

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11)

…we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5)

Be still. And know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)

Visualize yourself in the winner’s circle. You have the power of Jesus to create life or death with what you think about. Speak the right words into your situation. Push your thoughts around. Pray the burdens down. Get your faith and focus set on His strength. Nothing is impossible for Him (Matthew 19:26). He holds this world securely in His grip. His supernatural love surrounds us and can break through the heartache of letting go.

“There are seasons when being still is the hardest, most obedient thing we can do. God doesn’t require you to do everything. He does ask for your obedience.” — Christina Patterson, Daughters of Fire

Be still. Watch Him work. Waiting and keeping yourself steady, faithful in His leading is the secret of strength. Anything that does not align with obedience to His will is a waste of time and energy.

Sometimes the most effective thing we can do is to let go of the reins and trust Him. Do you trust God enough to just be still? It’s tempting to fill the stillness to distract us from the discomfort of feeling alone. Yet in the stillness is where we realize God is enough.

###

Courage in the Quiet by Trisha Keehn first appeared on LiftUpYourDay.com on August 26, 2016.

Posted on

Seeking Peace in Politics

When you allow other people to be right, it doesn’t make you wrong. It makes you a peacemaker.

peace, world peace, peace in the politics, trishakeehn.comAs far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (Romans 12:18)

Peace is a place where God wants us to live. We’re not put on this earth to straighten everybody out.

Peace is the assurance that God is fighting your battles for you. He has the ultimate control of this situation.

Resting in peace isn’t saying you have to agree with everything that is said or that you aren’t allowed an opinion. But let me just say this: being right is over-rated. If a conversation steals your peace, if it makes you miserable, frustrated or discouraged… if a conversation gets an upper hand and causes strife in your relationships, then it’s not a blessing for you to live in.

Be sensitive to when a conversation is going too far. Let peace be your guard. Let peace be your guide in every conversation. Let go of pushing back or feeling the need to prove yourself. You don’t have to be right to do what is right. Doing what is right is holding onto your peace. It’s a gift. Don’t give that away.

Peace shouldn’t come and go according to what is going on in our lives. Peace is a powerful force that allows you to maintain stability in a storm. You have control when you have peace. It comes from knowing God, meditating on his promises and standing on the Truth that He is in control.

Posted on

The Offensive Advantage

Have you ever experienced a dramatic deliverance in your circumstances; from sickness, from financial pressure or within a relationship?

Sometimes our struggles aren’t miraculously relieved by God. Sometimes we merely endure. Which isn’t such a bad thing because we are never nearer to God than when we are troubled.

Often, in times of comfort and ease we forget ‘our present help in time of need’. And when the worst of times come, we suddenly remember Him.

Sometimes the answer is the help we pray for. Sometimes the answer is to simply lean into Him to survive. God will use the difficulty to move us toward our destiny. That trial can transport you toward your goals and drive your dreams into existence.

The Almighty won’t allow what won’t work for your advantage. Average people will have average problems. The big obstacles are there to prepare you for a big reality. God is the one who determines your destiny. He knows what He’s doing. What the opposition uses to defeat you, God will use to position you.

One door closes so bigger doors can open. One relationship ends so you can begin a better connection. Challenges and conflict can strengthen your spiritual muscles for opposition on the horizon.

We grow in the tough times. The trials pour in deposits of experience and endurance that good times can’t give. That resistance is the weight you need to exercise your courage, faith and wisdom to persevere into the next level.

When you feel stuck, surrender to the rest. Take this time to set up stakes on solid ground for the battle up ahead. Plant yourself in the Word.

We may know all these things and yet still feel discouraged and defeated in the battle. Sometimes that comes from living isolated from a community of believers. We can’t do life on our own. We need a band of believing brothers and sisters to join forces with.

offensive advantageThere’s another reason believers feel so depleted in the battle though. Too often we live life as defensive Christians. We walk out of the church and enter into a mindset of defeat. We are tempted to engage in the devil’s dialogue either in our head or with others. We find ourselves defending places Jesus has already given us victory in, like our worth and choices.

When you understand what Christ has done, then you are on the offensive side. You have the ball. Hell is on the defensive line, not the Church.

When you walk into this world, you are walking out into a place of victory. When you met Jesus, you met victory. He is building the Church (Matthew 16:18).

Next time the gates of hell come knocking on your door, use the victory of Christ to remind Satan that you owe him no other explanation. The enemy can’t steal what you aren’t willing to engage in. When we are about our Father’s business, whatever we bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven (Matthew 18:18). This is the authority we have to unlock access to the kingdom of Heaven on earth.

Take your position on the offensive line next time opposition presents itself.

###

This post, The Offensive Advantage, by Trisha Keehn, appeared first on LiftUpYourDay.com

Posted on

The Richness of Your Life

richness in your story, difficulties produce character, trishakeehn.comHow often are you thankful for even the hardship in your life? It’s difficult to emulate a spirit of thanksgiving when the storm is raging through your situation but here’s the truth about the wind and the waves wreaking havoc in your life: they all had to pass through the palm of our loving Father before they could touch even a hair on your head. No matter what kind of chaos is swirling about, every ounce of hardship went through God before it was allowed in your life.

A broken relationship. Sickness. Loss of a job. Financial woes. No place to call home. Rebellious children. Loneliness.

Don’t give the devil any credit for even the pain. That pain is tempering a soul, breaking a hardened heart and softening all the edges to lean in to others facing the battle, to lean in to the Almighty for a miracle you cannot fathom, to lean in to even the questions you often run from in your own mind. I’m sorry that it hurts so much at times. If you let it, this pain will produce such rich character and flavoring that seasons your story. This is what makes you set apart and unique in a land of 7 billion people. We need your story and your pain. Praise the Father still. Give thanks always and for everything.

Posted on

15 Ways to Find Peace

When the struggle is still strong

Finding peace is simply making it a priority. It’s a choice in the midst of our circumstances that we have to consciously make. When we set our minds on peace, everything else will organize around it.

Colossians 3:15 reminds us to ‘let the peace of Christ rule our hearts’. Peace is to lead our lives and be the director of the performance.

Rest can come at any hour at even the smallest price. Though, it will always require sacrifice. We must give up one thing to spend time on something else.

If we’re not careful, we will forfeit our own peace of mind in an effort to help someone else unravel their problems. Other times, we get caught up in what practicing what peace needs to look like, that it prevents us from experiencing even a fraction of it at all. Here’s some guidance to cultivate the calm in your soul.finding peace, calm,

  1. Reframe what kind of time solitude requires. Often our own vision of what something should look like, or what we want something to look like prevents us from experiencing anything at all.
  2. Try 15 minutes sitting down to just breathe. Soak in the stillness of a moment. Oxygen clears the head. Much like breathing correctly during exercise is important for proper form and a deep stretch, so it is for your thinking. A shallow inhale doesn’t get deep enough to create an oxygen flow in the blood. Stretch your body.
  3. Grab a journal. Drive to the edge of town. Go anywhere you can sit in the early one morning hours to begin with peace. Focus on what you appreciate about the people in your life instead of wishing they would change. Catch critical, blaming, or self-victimizing thoughts. Instead of ruminating on what someone else did wrong, express yourself and ask yourself what you can do to create the change you’re seeking.
  4. Close your eyes and listen. I find a rock when I’m hiking to sit and take it all in. If you’re not near nature, try the ‘Calm’ app or light music to drown out the noise in your mind. These thoughts will clear the head space and unwind tangled up anxiety. Turn your thoughts onto the freedom that rain has when it calls. As it washes away and strips away the burdens.
  5. Schedule a date with yourself—a time when you don’t need to meet anyone else’s requests—and do something that feeds your mind and spirit. Go to a museum or take yourself to your favorite restaurant and simply enjoy your own company.
  6. Declutter your surroundings, like a corner in your home or table space in your office that you spend most of your time staring at.
  7. Take a prayer walk in the morning to meditate on scripture, God’s promises and positive affirmations that help you feel present and empowered.
  8. Write down everything that is draining you mentally. It’s a form of getting it out and letting it go. Instead of holding in your feelings and developing resentment, write them down.
  9. Tap into your childlike senses and get creative with art. Doodle. Play music. Dance. The creative adult is the child who survived. Have fun with someone you love. Forget about everything that feels like a problem and do something silly.
  10. Muster compassion for someone who hurt you instead of wallowing in bitterness, which will make it easier to forgive them and set yourself free.
  11. Set aside some time to actively enjoy the good things about the present. Recognize the purpose in every place the Lord has called you to; your work, your church, your neighborhood.
  12. Create a list of things you love about yourself instead of dwelling on how you wish you were different.
  13. Start reading that book you bought about dealing with the challenge you’ve been facing.
  14. Tell the truth in your relationships. When we hold in our true feelings, we create stress for ourselves. Be kind but honest and share what you really feel.
  15. Do something kind for someone else. Volunteer your time to help a charity you’re passionate about. Put all your energy into helping someone else and you will inadvertently help yourself.

These are just a few ideas to help you get started. When we have peace leading the way, problems won’t weigh down the decisions we need to make for the day. What do you do to cultivate the peace in your life?

###

This post, 15 Ways to Find Peace, by Trisha Keehn, appeared first on LiftUpYourDay.com