Month: January 2019

Psalm 145:8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
The verses today made me think of the bracelets and saying popular some years ago: What would Jesus do? (WWJD?) When we contemplate the question of what our Savior would do, we must contemplate it in relationship to both His mission and His character.
Psalm 145:13b The LORD is trustworthy in all His promises and faithful in all He does.
John 3:17 states, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” He didn’t come to wreak mass destruction, but He also didn’t come to play the games of the established religious. He came to disrupt the status quo, to turn the well ordered rules on their heads, to challenge everything that the people thought they knew about love, forgiveness, and religion. He came to save everyone. 
Psalm 145:14 The LORD upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
Lord, Thank You for this day and for Your outrageous love for us. Thank You for loving us so much that You came to save us from ourselves. Help us to ask ourselves in all situations, “What would Jesus do?” and to respond according to Your mission and Your true character. Draw us closer. Amen.
Psalm 145:18 The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.
Have a blessed day.

Luke 12:22 …”Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or your body, what you will wear.”
My sweet Savior is so good and faithful to me. I absolutely don’t deserve it, but I am so incredibly thankful. Yesterday was full of doubts and fears. Change is coming. And I still don’t have any concept of His will for me as I proceed, but yesterday He also sent me affirmations, prayers, and fellowship, and today I can say confidently that He knows my strengths and skills, and He knows how to best utilize them. So now I wait, hope, trust, and seek Him in every step.
Luke 12:23 “For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.”
The thing that I still struggle with, though, is the idea of action or inaction. Should I be doing something specific as I wait or should I be still and let things unfold in His time? And while I don’t have a definitive answer for that one yet, I know that daily He has things for me to do. If I seek Him daily, seek to do His will, seek to honor Him daily, He will reveal each next step as I’m ready for it. 
Luke 12:25 “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?”
Lord, Thank You for this day, for Your steadfast love, for Your mercy and guidance. Help me to be bold and confident as I move forward on this path of change. Guide and direct my steps. Help me to seek and to honor You in all things. Guard me. Guide me. Draw me closer. Amen.
Luke 12:29-39 “And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it….your Father knows that you need them.”
Have a blessed day.

Acts 9:6 …”Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?”…
Lord, There seems to be change on the horizon in so many areas of my life. I want deeply to live a life that honors You. Help me to see and understand the paths You would have me to travel. I want to use the strengths and gifts You’ve given me to shine Your light and point others to You. I want to bring You glory. Show me how. Show me where. Show me when. Show me what You would have me to do.
Jer 29:13 You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.
Lord, I know You can use me anywhere, but I also deeply believe that You have a specific plan for my life, specific areas or places You can use me best. In this season of change, help me to discern Your will, Your path for my life. Help me to approach whatever is next with a servant’s heart and hands. Guide me and guard me, Lord.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight….
Lord, Thank You for this day and for Your unconditional love, mercy, and grace. Thank You for the understanding that this is a season of change, that beauty and growth can come from it. Help me to seek You and Your will with my entire being. Show me what You would have me to do. Draw me closer. Amen.
Isaiah 43:1 …”Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.”
Have a blessed day.

Psalm 139:17 How precious to me are Your thoughts, God! How vast the sum of them!
Various factors, including sinus drainage, sent me to my recliner in the middle of the night. At precisely 4 am, a windup musical figurine in my China cabinet began to play the tune “Close to You,” a 70s song sung by the Carpenters. Needless to say, the tinny tinkling of music out of the silence of 4am was marginally disconcerting, but as with so many things these days, it got me thinking about my Savior.
Psalm 139:18a Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand….
My inability to sleep well is pretty legendary in my house. There was a time, more recent than I’d like to admit, that my sleepless hours would be filled with frustration, thinking about how badly I needed sleep that wouldn’t come. I’m getting much better, though, when sleeplessness claims me, about turning to prayer and conversation with my Savior instead. He longs to be close to me and has desired that relationship since He formed me in my mother’s womb. And I am thankful to be at a place in my life where I desire that relationship, too, more than anything. 
Psalm 139:18b …when I awake, I am still with You.
Lord, Thank You for this day and for a very unconventional reminder in the wee hours of the morning that You long to be close to me. Thank You for my deep desire to be close to You as well, to live a life that honors You. Help me, every day and in everything, to seek to draw closer to You, Lord. Help me to honor You with my life. Amen.
Matt 28:20 …And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Have a blessed day.

Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Lord, Thank You for loving me fiercely and for pursuing a relationship with me. At the same time, thank You for not forcing that relationship but for planting and nurturing a  desire in my heart for communion with You. My relationship with You is more important to me now than ever because I understand how very much I need You as the center of my life. Thank You for bringing me near by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.
Lord, I know You want to be my peace. I know You have given me the tools to make that happen. Please give me wisdom and discernment to understand how to claim Your peace in my life. I want it desperately, but I think there is still so much of my own humanity in my way. Help me, Lord, to put myself aside and allow You to be my center and my peace. Show me how.
Eph 2:22 And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.
Lord, Thank You for this day and for the strong desire to live a life that honors You. Help me to fully understand what that means and how to make it happen. Help me to put aside anything that keeps me from fully claiming You as my center and my peace. Dwell in me. Draw me closer. Amen.
Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Have a blessed day.

1 Cor 2:4-5 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
Does my faith rest solely on God’s power and not human wisdom? Verse 5 gives me great pause. I understand the mechanics of God’s love and the gift of His Son, but this world hammers into us that nobody gives us something for nothing, so there must be something we have done, will do, can do to earn the incomprehensibly generous gift of grace God has given us. But God doesn’t work like that.
2 Cor 4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
God’s word reminds us many times that our faith, our strength, is solely from God’s power and not from human wisdom, strength, or anything else. But what does that mean for me in my quest to live a life that honors Him? I think it has a lot to do with humility—being humble enough to admit that the good I do (or that is done through my actions) is a gift from Him and the mistakes I make are opportunities for me to learn and grow. Lord, Help me to embrace this mindset always, in all areas of my life.
2 Cor 12:9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”…
Lord, Thank You for this day and for the reminder that my faith rests solely on Your power and not human wisdom. Thank You for the desire to focus on living a life that honors You. Help me to understand what that means and to embrace it fully. Help me to hold nothing back from You. Draw me closer. Amen.
John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Have a blessed day. 

1 John 5:14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
Lord, More than anything, I want to live a life that honors You. I want to be aware every moment that I am Yours. I want to see others with eyes of love, compassion, and mercy—Your eyes—instead of eyes of judgement—eyes of the world. I want to live into the expansiveness of Your love and joy instead of feeling trapped by the constraints of the world. Help me, Lord. Guide me. Show me how.
1 John 5:15 And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him.
Lord, These verses in 1 John tell us that if we ask for anything according to Your will, You hear and answer. I truly believe that this request, a life that honors You, is in keeping with Your will, and because of that, I already have what I have requested. But I still feel so locked into the ways of the world, constricted, conflicted, constrained by so many earthly chains. I want to live a free and expansive life—with Your unrestrained joy in my heart, with eyes that understand the needs of others, and with a heart that seeks to serve. I know these things honor You. I know that You have given me the tools I need. Show me how to break the earth’s chains, Lord.
Eph 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and His mighty power.
Lord, Thank You for this day, for Your love, grace, and mercy, for this central desire of my heart—to honor You with my life. Thank You for listening, hearing, granting, guiding. I am Yours, Lord. Lead me. Show me how. Draw me closer. Amen.
Eph 6:11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
Have a blessed day.

Matt 8:24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.
Last night, at the end of a meeting at church, I asked for continued prayers as my guys prepare for their upcoming AT journey. It is an incredibly exciting time, but I realized, as emotion choked my voice during the request, that I still have a lot of fears about all the uncertainties. When my sweet Savior put Matthew 8 in my path this morning, I immediately saw the parallels. I feel like I am sitting in a rickety rowboat in the middle of an enormous sea, watching ominous storm clouds gather in the distance. My fear is not based on fact. It is based solely on what “could” happen. Jesus, help me.
Matt 8:25 The disciples went and woke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
It feels a bit like being trapped in a tv broadcast before a bad storm—snow storm, tropical storm, you name it. Stations all treat them the same. They talk ad nauseam about what could happen, what might happen, what happened in the past, but they are not God. They don’t know what will happen. And Jesus is napping in my boat, totally unconcerned about the storm—not because He doesn’t care but because He knows that His Father, our Father, is in control. He is resting in perfect peace instead of panicking in fear. Jesus, help me.
Matt 8:26a He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”
Lord, Thank You for this day and for the truths that You have laid on my heart. Thank You for helping me gain some much needed perspective when it comes to my fears. Thank You for the amazing opportunity of this hike. Draw my family closer to You and to each other as we continue to prepare. Help me, specifically, to trust and not to fear. Wrap me in Your peace. Amen.
Matt 8:26b Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
Have a blessed day.

James 2:1 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.
Google defines favoritism as “the practice of giving unfair treatment to one person or group at the expense of another.” 1 Samuel 16:7 reminds us that “The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” But if I am really honest with myself, despite all my knowledge that it is the wrong thing to do, I’m still guilty of showing favoritism and bias, of not giving everyone a fair shake. I think the tendency to do so is a very real part of our earthly struggle. Jesus, Help me.
James 2:5 …Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
It is even harder not to continue to judge someone who has hurt me in the past. Christ wiped my slate clean, removed my sins as far as the east is from the west, remembers my sins no more. And yet, I am often guilty of retaining a hardness of heart due to past hurts and transgressions. I am guilty at times of not wiping the slate clean, of not allowing a fresh, unblemished start for others. Jesus, Help me.
James 2:8 If you really want to keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing it right.
Lord, Thank You for this day and our time together this morning. Thank You for showing me an area You want me to work on. Thank You for Your love and mercy, for wiping my slate clean, for giving me a fresh start. Help me, Jesus, to treat others, all others, as You treat me. Draw me closer. Amen.
James 2:13 …judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Have a blessed day.

Even 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
I woke up with a raging headache, and it hasn’t gotten any better. I’m pretty sure it is related to atmospheric pressure and weather systems, but it is definitely hindering my ability to see to beauty in this morning. Interestingly, instead of giving in to the misery, this feeling has sent me to God’s feet to ask how I can live a life that honors Him even when I feel like I currently do. 
Matt 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
When I decided at the end of last year to get 11,000 steps a day, I began looking more closely at each decision I make. I realized early on that in order to make the goal attainable, I had to build in steps during the day—not mindless, pacing steps, but intentional steps that help me accomplish what needed to get done but also helped me to move more. It occurred to me this morning that I need to approach my desire to honor Christ with my life in a similar manner. If I’m going to do it, I have to be able to perceive it as sustainable, which means, I have to become more mindful in each moment about how I can do the many daily things that must be done in a way that honors Him at the same time. The concept is simple, but the results could be revolutionary.
Matt 7:8 “For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Lord, Thank You for this day and this perspective. Thank You that instead of just being grumpy with my headache, I came to You seeking advice. Thank You for the wisdom and insight of my time with You this morning. Help me, moment by moment, to be intentional about honoring You with my attitude, my choices, my life. Draw me closer. Amen.
Ecc 3:22 He has made everything beautiful in its time….
Have a blessed day.