When circumstances thin down our security, we need to be reminded that we are hemmed in by God, and our security is found in Him.
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God is ultimately in charge of our futures, even when it doesn’t seem like it. He knows our thoughts and our desires. Instead of worrying, we should pray about our futures and ask God to guide us. We don’t need to figure things out on our own.
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When dating, we have two choices. We can either lose ourselves by compromising who we are and what God has made us be or lose ourselves by allowing God to shape us in his image.
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When God always goes the extra mile with his boundless grace and overflowing love for us, shouldn’t we as his children do the same? Ephesians 5:1-2 tells us to “‘Be imitators of God and live a life of love’ for then our lives are a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God”.
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We can experience true rest when we spend time in God's presence praying or reflecting on his Word. God wants to give us rest; he wants us to have peace in his presence.
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Follow your heart. Be true to yourself. Believe in yourself. Live your truth. All that matters is that you are happy. Manifest that. We have all heard at least one of these mantras. If you have social media especially, you have seen one of these posted. Our society speaks these phrases daily. I have seen them on Instagram, seen them in cute script as a tattoo, heard them in casual conversations, and had them quoted by different trainers I exercise with online. They are lies. While they have a nice ring and look pretty when we write them in an aesthetically pleasing font for a post, they are lies. They are not biblical or words Jesus spoke.
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When we inevitably experience trials and pains in our lives, we may have wounds that others can not see. As time passes on, those experiences can lead to scars. When we let God heal and comfort us, those scars become beautiful reminders of God's protection and love.
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Once upon a time, there was a girl simply following God’s plan. All of a sudden there was a young man in need of God’s love. That girl would be me, and for the first time ever, I can’t even tell you the first time we met. My most solid and best beginning memory of our friendship was the rooftop of a bar in Milwaukee where a young adult’s group was doing street outreach. I watched my quiet friend get chest bumped into a dance battle. All of a sudden he and another dude are in a full on break dance battle in front of me.
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There are many things in life we can exalt. After all, to exalt means to elevate or glorify. We may choose to exalt the opinions of others, our self-worth, consequences, our possessions or wealth, or even our blessings. Yet, only God deserves to be glorified, not because of what he gives us, but because of who he is, the only God whose very name deserves our adoration!
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I started making these scrapbooks when I was a young mum with two small kiddos in India. When we went on our very first overseas trip to the UK, I bought a blank book of colorful pages from our neighborhood stationery store to take with us on our trip. I didn’t quite know what I was going to do with it though.
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God wants us to surrender our all to him. He wants us to put up a white flag and give him everything.
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Hagar (meaning flight or forsaken), handmaid of Sarai, acts as a model of hope in the midst of distressing circumstances. Tasked with bearing a son for her mistress Sarai, Hagar was thereafter banished to the desert in what must have felt like an ultimate act of betrayal and unkindness from her mistress.
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Spring and summer are nearly here, although where I live, the last few days have felt like winter is gone for good. With the change of seasons, it reminds me of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.
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We’ve all heard the story of the innkeeper. He’s the bad guy in the story, right? The one we talk about who forced Jesus to be born in a barn. It’s interesting to me that he gets a bad rap. God started showing me how the innkeeper was a good guy in the story. He’s the one who gave what he had. He didn’t have a palace, but he gave what he had. That makes him a hero in the story and why he was given a place in the story.
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For years, I was happy being single. Naturally, during my years as a single Christian woman, I had crushes and possibilities, but inwardly, I thought that I was probably one of those Christians meant to be single my whole life. Instead of viewing this as a loss, I would instead get excited to think about all the people I could meet and help and all the trips I could take!
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I love that the Bible has so many verses on joy and rejoicing. St Paul who wrote to the Philippians from prison says ‘Rejoice, again I say rejoice.’ When Jesus prays for himself, his disciples, and for us his children, he prays that we will enjoy the joy he enjoyed. Doesn’t that sound beautiful?
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Today, I want to focus on just one which is Solitude. Last year I did a 9-month program where we learned and got to practice some of the disciplines. We had a solitude retreat. We took time to spend time with God rather than be in the word praying and for a prayer walk. The Bible tells us Jesus even took time to go spend time with God.
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A more appealing alternative to finding solstice in nature than my ow futile attempts at solitude when I had young children; in moments when I craved a quiet respite, I would flee to the bathroom or my small closet. I would wonder, in those busy times of child-rearing and child training, if I would ever be able to have a clean and orderly patch of my small world for more than 10 minutes at a time.
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Yet, the relief God promises is real, an oasis of eternity, wisdom, respite, bounty, and growth. He is also with us every labored step of the way, unlike Satan, who will leave us alone in our pain, doubts, and confusion. We may perceive our experiences as a desert, but with and through Christ, we will arrive at a place of comfort, peace, and growth.
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