Are you living the best life ever? Or is there room for improvement? Do you live openly and expansively or do you feel fenced in? Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection….
Oswald Chambers talks about self-consciousness versus Christ-consciousness in his book “My Utmost for His Highest” published in 1935. Nothing could be more relevant for today’s Christian navigating his/her way in today’s world. As we struggle to thrive in the midst of all the demands of our lives the only compass that we can trust to get us through everything is Jesus Christ. When we stress out we are self-centered, self-conscious. When we bring our worries to Jesus our burdens are…
Sometimes we are so stuck in the mud that we can’t even believe any more that life could be any different. Beware! That’s one of the favorite messages of our enemy. The devil wants us to believe that change is not possible, that God would not take us as we are, that everything is lost. But everything is not lost! God welcomes us just as we are! And change is possible! Not on our own. But in Christ Jesus! So…
Accepting help is sometimes very hard. We are supposed to be independent and manage on our own, right? Hence it is terrifying to admit that we do need help, at least, once in awhile. We would like to be perfect and self-sufficient. Maybe that’s pride talking because we were created to live together. That’s why practicing giving and receiving help creates community and it paves a way for Christ to enter our hearts and minds. Asking forgiveness is sometimes very…
We all want to learn to live in grace, to embrace the unforced rhythms of grace and to live freely and lightly in Jesus. (Matt.11: 28-30, MSG) Why then we so often run ourselves out of breath? Why then we so often allow ourselves to go without adequate rest? Why then we so often try to live on our own without consulting the Breath of Life? If God really became a man and died on the cross and rose on…
Self-control has always been the spiritual fruit that has intimated me. Somehow it has felt like a court order, a requirement that I could never meet. Then I read about the nine spiritual fruits in the Message and I had a revelation that has changed my approach to self-control, the ninth spiritual fruit found in Galatians 5:22-24. But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an…
Throughout this season of Lent I’ve been trying to ready myself for Easter joy by praying, fasting, and listening to God. Today I will share the biggest repentance trigger of my Bible readings this Lent. Does this speak to you as loud as it did for me? Then Jesus went with them to a garden called Gethsemane and told his disciples, “Stay here while I go over there and pray.” Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he…
Some people think that living your life through faith would be boring. They could not be further from truth. Faith is not for the faint of heart! This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” (Romans 8:15, MSG) God has called you out of death into resurrection life. When Christ becomes your Savior your own self is crucified and we are resurrected into new…
Lately God has been teaching me about reaching out to others as the Spirit prompts me. I call these happenings random spiritual acts of kindness. They are not about us. They are all about God. These are happening because Jesus whispers something to us and we can’t shrug it off. Believe me, Jesus is very persistent in whispering until I agree to do as prompted. We just have to obey no matter how odd it is. Or how minor it…
Do you feel that you are buried alive? Do you feel that you’re facing a lot of dirt? Do you feel everything is dark around you? It is all right. Don’t be afraid. It might be that you’ve been (re)planted. A seed needs time to grow before it will see the light. The replanted one needs time to grow its roots deep in the new soil. It all happens in quiet invisibility but we might feel terrible growing pains. But…
