Journal
My brother said he never wanted to be rich when he grew up. He just wanted enough! Enough, however, isn’t attainable, no matter how much we may try. At Christmas, we get constant enticements through commercials and social media blasting our screens with what someone else has and we don’t (but should have), or what we “deserve” to get for Christmas, and our loser status if we don’t get it. The noise can be overwhelming. In our human mind, we get depressed that ‘the good life” – getting enough – will always be out of reach. When we think only as human beings, we stay stuck inside our insatiable appetites of want. We keep ourselves trapped in the relentless gnawing itch of desire, which leaves festering wounds of unhappiness and self-loathing.
Are you seeking happiness or joy?
Happiness is temporary because it can only give you a physical feeling based on false, warped cultural truths. Joy, however, is eternal. It comes from a supernatural, powerful, and perfect God. And the wonder of it is that joy is attainable. It’s a Christmas gift you can receive immediately. It comes wrapped in contentment found in the birth and sacrificial life of Jesus Christ. It’s the gift of a life that is not subject to this world and eternal places where the relentless desire itch is satisfied. The Christmas gift of eternal joy can only be attained by choosing heart knowledge and not head knowledge. When we believe in God’s unwavering truth, our attitude shifts. It’s a mindset change that allows our heart to lead. It means believing in the awe and wonder of God, and its transformative gift. When that happens, personal desires become secondary and aren’t the priority. Our focus shifts to what God desires for us and for His Kingdom purposes: “His will be done on earth.” The Father’s desires lead us to joy found outside what is being advertised on our screens, which is empty, temporary happiness. Instead of having an appetite for the things of this world, we can have an appetite for His Kingdom living and choices.
Will it require the abandonment of cultural lifestyles or desires we once thought important?
It may. Often, where we are today is not the perfect place God has for us, and there may be suffering while untangling our lives from the grip of our failures and selfish desires. Being willing to abandon our plans for God’s better plan leads to a place of the unknown – wonder. It leads to contentment when there is nothing, and a joy that is inexplicable when it looks hopeless. It’s a place of safety that doesn’t make sense. When we are willing to surrender ourselves, He gives us the desires of our hearts, and it comes in profound ways we never saw coming. Worldly desires and choices change, and what we thought we wanted shifts toward desiring what God wants first to accomplish in our life, and to what pleases Him most – the desire to know Him. He becomes the God who gives enough.
Are you living a life of wonder and wanting to know more of God?
The truth is, we aren’t just physical beings – we are spiritual beings! We have a soul that will live forever when our physical body turns to dust. To know God, we must believe Him. And we must believe in the miraculous because God is a miracle God! We must believe that what He told us and is recorded in the Bible is true – all of it – the miracles of healing and restoration, the obstacles, challenges, and battles that were overcome, and all the disruptive, sacrificial choices that were made that changed the narrative so that God’s purposes could be fulfilled. There is no compromising or “living on the fence” with God. In our world today, it’s essential to trust in a living, supernatural God who sent the Son as a baby and who achieved His mission on a cross to save us for all eternity. He is the joy giver. As a child believes in all the wonders of childhood with unabashed enthusiasm, can we remember to embrace the wonder of who God is in our lives?
This Christmas, shift into a full-out childlike wonder of God.
Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, “…unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” This Christmas, shift your mind to your heart. Think and live in the spiritual and supernatural wonder of our Creator, leaving your natural mind and the limiting physical world behind. Remember that God operates in the miraculous. His power is seen in the wonder. He parted seas, helped a small, skinny boy to defeat a giant, and allowed three men thrown in a fiery furnace to walk out unscathed. God brings protection and provision endlessly. II Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we live by faith, not by sight.”
God surprises require us to stop thinking practically and start living in the unknown.
Living by faith means we never stop asking, but we also have to make sure we don’t cover our ears and stop listening. His directives can come through the Bible, or in prayer, or a trusted prophetic revelation. God requires us to trust Him even when the waiting seems long and hopeless. His miracles come in unexpected ways, from unexpected people, and in unusual places. We stop thinking with our intellect and start looking for God’s surprises. Get excited that you can’t attain the desires of your heart in your own strength. God can. His gifts of wonder are always aligned with His perfect purposes. Proverbs 9:10 says, “The awe (wonder – sometimes called ‘fear’ because God’s ways are strange and inexplicable) of God is the beginning of Wisdom.” He is an ever-present, wonder-working God. Be ready for God to amaze you in profound ways above all you have ever thought or dreamed.
This Christmas, may your eyes be filled with wonder – a magnetic fascination that brings you eternal joy and wisdom.
Inner Views
BIO
Author Tamara Hester Battaglia is passionate about sharing God’s love with everyone. A flight attendant for almost twenty years, she has traveled the world sharing Jesus with others. Tamara grew up in Pasadena, Texas. She and her husband, Joe, live in Franklin, Tennessee. She loves traveling and spending time with her husband, kids, and four grandkids.
INNER VIEW
Kathleen Cooke: Congratulations on the release of your devotional “Written In Heaven: His Story, Our Lives.” I was honored to be one of the contributors alongside Karen Kingsbury, Priscilla Shirer, Roma Downey, and Lauren Green, with a foreword by Kathie Lee Gifford. What was the one thing God taught you through the journey of releasing the book?
Tammy Battaglia: That God can use anyone! Becoming a first-time author at 65 has brought me so much joy. And more than a few laughs! If you had told my 7th-grade language teacher this would happen, she might have fallen out of her chair. Language, both written and spoken, has always been a challenge for me. The idea for this book came to me unexpectedly, as I was dusting a bookshelf filled with works by incredible Women of God who have deeply influenced my life. My husband and I were newly married and in the process of merging our lives, our belongings, and our many books. As I looked through his collection, I realized I didn’t recognize some of the authors, many of whom turned out to be remarkable women with powerful stories.
My husband knows many of these women personally. As I met them, I was moved by their life journeys, their faith, and their impact. That’s when the idea struck me: What if these voices were brought together in one book? A place where readers could be introduced to these inspiring women and their testimonies. Standing on a ladder with a can of Endust and a microfiber cloth, dusting that bookshelf, and what seemed like a random thought became the foundation for a book called “Written In Heaven.” I learned that God can use anyone (and I qualify!) despite their lack of training and perceived ability. This brings to mind… I Thess 5:24—”Faithful is He that calls you, and He will bring it to pass.” Thankfully, it’s all about what God can do and not me! It’s important to listen to God’s silent language!
Kathleen: As a first-time author, what advice would you give someone who is contemplating writing a book?
Tammy: Time management, God’s way. Preparation and planning have always been essential parts of my daily routine. However, becoming a flight attendant completely transformed my life and my schedule. Suddenly, I was on call 24 hours a day. I’d arrive home from a flight to London in the early morning, only to find myself jetting off to Canada by evening. At first, it was a real challenge to stay packed and ready for spontaneous trips around the world. But over time, I began to find joy in the unexpected. It became a thrill to watch how God would unfold each day, teaching me to let go, trust, and simply relax. As I walked through busy airports and worked in metal tubes, I started to shift my focus. I began looking for the one person God wants me to reach that day – someone He loves and cares about deeply. Trusting in God’s schedule and not mine. That’s when I learned a better definition of time management!
Kathleen: The media and entertainment business can be exciting. But most people don’t realize it can also be extremely lonely. What has God taught you about dealing with loneliness?
Tammy: My first husband asked for a divorce the day our youngest child started college. That was devastating. I went from being a wife and full-time mother to not knowing what my life would now look like. My empty nest was now truly empty. I was trying to adjust to a home with just me, a dog, and a cat. What once was a beautiful home with laughter and love became a sullen shell of my former life. How would I now cope? A crippling loneliness filled my heart and home. And I didn’t know how to overcome it. Until….I began to dig into the Bible what it had to say about overcoming loneliness. I found that worshipping God, reading His word, and when I sang to the Lord, the loneliness disappeared. I began to sense the Lord’s presence and peace that I had never experienced previously. Col 3:16 “Let the word of God dwell richly in your heart… singing to God with gratitude in your heart.”
Kathleen: We are all influencers, and we often don’t realize the lives we influence. Can you share a story of how you unexpectedly influenced someone’s life?
Tammy: When I was 12 years old, I went to a James Robison revival that encouraged me to the next day at school to share my faith with a good friend. I gave her a New Testament Bible that I got at the revival and told her about my faith in Jesus. She did not receive it well, and I was discouraged by her response. I thought I had ruined our friendship. Or so I thought! Fast forward ten years. At 22, I got a letter in the mail from this friend thanking me for that New Testament Bible I had given her and for sharing my faith. She wanted to let me know that she became a Christian as a result of that effort 10 years earlier. And she had married a believer, as well. You never know how someone may receive something of eternal significance from planting a seed. Just be faithful and trust God for the results.
Order Tammy’s new devotional “Written In Heaven: His Story, Our Lives” here!
Journal
We all know those commercials with catchy jingles or tag lines that are repeated on our screens so often we hear them in our sleep. But cute, comedic videos that trend on social media, or jingles that are designed to stick in our minds can manipulate the truth. It’s a good idea to keep a list of trusted researchers, stat finders, professionals, and resources in your back pocket. One platform I trust is Barna Research and they have discovered some interesting statistics you might want to consider as you become a seed planter for God’s Kingdom while working on your creative projects, on sets and in production offices.
Are people interested in hearing about Jesus? According to Barna Research, 80% of people say they are certain or somewhat certain that Jesus Christ was real and lived on earth. 70% of all people say they want to grow spiritually. 50% of teens believe that the Bible is the Word of God, 75% say they want to know more, but sadly, 42% say that religious hypocrisy keeps them from engaging in any faith.
Will you be a disruptive seed planter?
Knowing the facts shows us that the culture wants to know who Jesus is and how to connect with Him. They want to engage with God but need trusted, real people to show them that faith in God is the game-changer in life. But how do you begin? As an actress in Hollywood for many years, I know that every eye movement, facial expression, and nonverbal communication is essential if you want to be a successful actor. Keen listening, watching the other actor and staying “in the moment” is even more important than the script or words coming out of the other actor’s mouth. In life, it’s no different. Cries for help and the need for love and prayer are often masked in angry words, bitterness, depression or desperate acts. But if you take time to care, listen, and are a keen observer, I believe God will guide you in asking the right questions and sharing who He is with others. Jesus taught us to love, listen, and pray. His communication was disruptive. He knew He was “the way, the truth, and the life.” Are you also confident in that truth?
Try using the culture’s approach.
In today’s culture, humor and sarcasm are being used like never before to capture, compromise, and change our thoughts and choices. If you laugh at it, you agree with it. It’s why talk shows, skit comedy shows, or comedians use humor to push political agendas, advance anti-Biblical views, and cultural mindsets. They know that humor plants seeds of compromise by catching you off guard, and facilitating a “just want to have fun” mindset. So, use it back. As believers, we often want to be serious about God. How frequently have you heard that “Jesus was a man of sorrow?” This is true, but the Jesus I know is also a man of great joy and laughter, full of grace and love. He engaged with unbelievers and those living with worldly, cultural mindsets. He disrupted their worldview with stories and questions that cut into their thoughts, and then walked away, leaving the person to ponder and think.
As creatives and artists, we know stories and questions work.
Communicating through artistic projects seen on our screens is more important than ever. Research is showing that AI (the machine now quickly turning our thinking into a source of human reason) is being accepted as truth and fact in our culture today. Just look at how we use GPS to navigate where we are going; human nature always wants to take the easy or lazy way. Similarly, we think we have bigger and more important things to do than research. Following cultural trends – how everyone else does things – has become too easy. And if everyone chooses the trending way, it must be right… Right? Or can you pose a question or tell a story that will disrupt the trend?
Plant disruptive seeds.
Use your creative talents. Tell your stories, ask those hard questions, and use curiosity and humor whenever possible. “So, screw your courage to a sticking place, and we’ll not fail” (Shakespeare -Macbeth, Act 1, scene 7). You have great influence! Three out of five nonbelievers today say they haven’t made a decision to follow God. Will your creative project be the seed that changes everything? “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation (compromise). The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41
For more on sharing Jesus, watch the recent interview that Influence Lab Co-Founder Phil Cooke had with UK Evangelist J.John on his podcast. Listen and watch how simple it can be to share your faith in today’s curious and searching culture!
Journal
Just say no. I hear this a lot from leadership coaches. Know when to say yes and when to say no. Is your NO— really NO? Will leaving the door cracked lead to compromise and a warped journey? Do you fear that the exit sign will lead to emptiness and abandonment?
Be careful who and what you are listening to and how you’re being manipulated!
When I was growing up, I was taught the song, “Be careful little ears, feet, hands what you hear, for the Father up above is looking down in love, (His grace is unending) so be careful little (ears, tongue, feet) what you hear, say, do.” Maybe we should add “mind” to the song?
Your mind and thoughts affect your heart and passions, and your passions affect your choices (a.k.a. your hands and feet). Subversive messaging seeps into subconscious minds and affects choices. We often listen to the people who are telling us what we “want” to hear and not what we “need” to hear. Our ears hear the message, but are we discerning the right message? I give my family instructions daily that never seem to get carried out correctly because they often hear something different, or, frequently, only what they want to hear. The greatest mistake we make is the assumption that communication has been acted on correctly. Cultural influences send us thousands of media messages daily on multiple platforms, and in our 24/7 overbooked lives, we get beaten down and manipulated by the constant noise affecting our choices. Often it comes in first with a dribble – a slow drip – until we realize we have been overcome with a flood and been “hooked, line, and sinker.”
Exit. Get off the hamster wheel, put down your screen, and get off social media.
In artistic careers, it’s not easy to let go of what we set out to do creatively. Passions blind us to messages and signals we should be paying attention to, and we often push relentlessly harder, not willing to give up our dreams. Slammed doors, scripts unsold, auditions never booked, or projects never made create insecurity and depression, leading to desperation. And no one wants to hire or be around desperate artists. Could we have truly heard God’s voice? Is He listening to our prayers, laments, and wails? Could it be that we need to stop and listen to what we need to hear, rather than what just sounds good? The “NO’s” we face are perhaps a place where we can consider exiting the hamster wheel of striving. Are we listening to God’s voice and fishing on the right side of the boat? In Peter’s moment of insufficiency, Jesus told him to cast his net to the other side of the boat. Peter listened, trusted Jesus, and was rewarded not only with physical fish for that moment, but with a whole new direction for his life. (more…)
Journal
Just a couple of years ago, I was one block from being evacuated from wildfires in the Burbank hills above my home. I watched helicopters swoop down and drop bright pink fire repellent, and the jumbo airplanes drop water on what looked like an apocalyptic and impossible fire to extinguish. Fortunately, our home, through the valiant efforts of the firefighters, was saved that day. As I watched the recent LA fires on the news reports, I understood ultimately what people were experiencing and fell to my knees to pray immediately. Many of my friends and colleagues ran for their lives, and unfortunately, there was not only loss of property, but lives were lost as well. The damage is multi-layered, and it has not only changed the landscape, but it has changed lives forever.
But… God is in the midst of the fire.
Whether you were a victim of the Southern California fires or there is a personal “fire” in your life right now, the destruction of finances, health, relationships, and careers is devastating. But…God hasn’t left His house. His people who call Him by name are stones – living pillars. When you look at the horrific pictures of hundreds of homes burnt to the ground, you also see stone structures and chimneys that are still standing. Even the news reporters showed how the intensity of the LA fire melted the metals on cars into liquid, yet the stone structures remained. Stones and pillars don’t burn. They may become a bit black, but they remain. God sent His Living Stone – Jesus, the fourth man in the fire, our cornerstone and foundation, the Stone of Zion – to bring His light in our darkest nights.
1 Peter 2:4-5 NIV says, “As you come to Him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to Him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Then… verses 9-10 go on to say, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
God loves His blackened, charred, chosen priests who remain standing.
You may be in a fire right now, but you are not consumed when you stand as a stone pillar and on the Word of God. He will take the ashes and turn them into beauty – new life. As you choose the most significant place of refuge – His feet, He will restore you. His grace and mercy endure forever. Remember, He calls us, as believers, to be His hands and feet extended to others. We are to be His priests, offering spiritual sacrifices – our lives – to others. We are to encourage the weary and brokenhearted and bring His marvelous light and love to the injured and suffering.
As we take care of others, God takes care of us.
Trust the fourth man in the fire as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did. His promises can be counted on, and there are over four thousand of them in the Bible. Find one, memorize it, and stand on it. Be that pillar of hope that brings light out of the darkness.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
