Come Home. Be Restored. Choose Life.
Most of us do not struggle with obeying God when it is visible.
When obedience is affirmed.
When it is noticed.
When it comes with encouragement, momentum, or approval.
That kind of obedience feels rewarding. It feels purposeful. It feels like it is “working.”
The harder obedience is the kind that happens in silence.
Obedience without applause. [Read more…] about Obedience Without Applause: Following God When No One Is Watching
Everywhere I turn, I hear the same language.
Choose yourself.
Protect your energy.
This is my year.
I’m focusing on me now.
I’m not giving myself to everyone anymore.
It sounds wise. It sounds healing. It even sounds spiritual. But the more I listen, the more uneasy I become, because none of this sounds like Jesus. [Read more…] about Deny Yourself and Follow Christ: Why Biblical Faith Rejects Self-Focused Living
Control has always been my safety.
That didn’t start as an adult. It started when I was very young. And when I say young, I mean young. I learned early that if something was going to get handled, I was probably the one who had to handle it. If a problem was going to be fixed, I was the one who had to fix it. There wasn’t anyone I could fully trust to step in and take care of things for me. [Read more…] about Letting Go of Control When Control Was How I Survived
Lately, I’ve been thinking about rest. Not rest as a concept, but rest as it actually shows up in everyday life. I’ve noticed that a lot of what we call rest isn’t really rest at all. It’s an escape. It’s a distraction. It’s avoidance. And while those things might give temporary relief, they don’t actually restore the soul. [Read more…] about Biblical Rest: Understanding Rest That Isn’t Escape
I was asked a question recently that made me stop and think.
Why are you writing on the Sabbath?
Shouldn’t you be resting instead of working?
It wasn’t a hostile question. It was sincere. But it assumed something I don’t actually believe. It is assumed that writing, for me, is work in the way Scripture warns against. [Read more…] about Worship Through Writing: Sabbath and the Spirit of the Law
I was thinking today about Judas.
Judas walked with Jesus. He wasn’t on the outside. He wasn’t a distant observer. He was one of the twelve. He was sent out with the others. Scripture tells us that he preached, healed, and exercised authority just like the rest of them. He saw the miracles up close. He watched the sick healed. He saw the dead raised. He heard every teaching firsthand.
And yet, in the end, Judas betrayed Jesus. He failed in knowing Jesus.
[Read more…] about Knowing Jesus Personally: The Lesson of Judas