This morning while reading an email from a friend, the Lord distinctly dropped these words into my heart. I believe they’re also for you. “When I say ‘do not be anxious about anything,’ I mean anything. You need to cast aside regret about things you wish you had done differently. To regret something in the past is to be anxious about it. Instead, you need to commit those unnecessary burdens to Me so I can take care of them. As you pray and petition Me with thanksgiving, fully entrusting your burdens and requests to Me, I will establish peace in …
God’s Got You Covered
Reach God covered our sin-problem even before He spoke creation into existence and reached His perfect fingers into those dark layers of dirt to design us. Son Even before God shaped Adam and Eve, He fashioned our future with His own flesh and blood. He devised a plan involving His perfect Lamb who would rescue us from our dirty selves and every muddy place we’d ever tread. [box] The lamb who was slain from the creation of the world. Revelation 13:8[/box] Story The most powerful stories involve death, whether it’s the death of a person, the death of a reputation, …
Raging Seas
Shaken Heart Waves ride high, licking the sides of your boat, toppling inside. Water deepens, clawing tightness in your chest. Jesus had snatched this boat at the end of a long, crowd-saturated day, so he could reach the other side of the sea. With Jesus asleep now, you feel abandoned. Must you and your friends battle this storm by yourselves? In a howling gust, your boat couldn’t be more tossed and you know you’re going to drown. What in the world? Shouldn’t Jesus at least see this mess he threw you into? Winds roar so loud you can hardly hear …
Depositing in Dreamers
“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.” Matthew 5:14
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
Good Words and Flying Balloons
It was a no good, really bad day, and I couldn’t hide my tears. To make matters worse, my son caught sight of me as he scuttled by. But he held his calm. He did a double take, and flashed a smile. “You’re God’s warrior,” he said. I blinked. Did that really come from his twelve year old mouth? His words found their place. They flickered some kind of light in me. You know how love plus truth equals hope, right? Well, I daydreamed as he skipped off to his room. Then he returned. “Remember, you’re God’s warrior!” he repeated …
Raising Your Standard
[box] All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 [/box] When I think of God-breathed, I picture God, up-close and personal, igniting life in Adam’s nostrils, awakening unlimited possibility-seeds in mankind. Just as God worked with dirt and breathed life, He used imperfect men as human pens. Breathing life on their truth-stories, His Spirit-seeds continue to produce every kind of good fruit in keeping with repentance. God describes his Word as a sword, just as our …
Prayer & Angels
“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 1 Peter 3:12 Stuff happens when we pray! If we could draw back the spiritual veil, our jaws would drop to see God commissioning His angels to action for us! “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” Hebrews 1:14 Satan, mad at being kicked off the angelic prayer loop, resorts to age-old schemes. Threatened by our faith-expressions, he tries to distract us from …
The Comfort of Gentleness
Ever noticed how gentleness is related to power? When we see a lion cub nestling against its mother, we don’t say, “what a gentle cub.” We reserve that for the long-toothed, big-pawed lioness cleaning her cub. “What a gentle mother.” We admire her strength because it’s under control. God knows the fruit of gentleness shows His strength in us. He says, “let your gentleness be evident to all.” (Phil 4:5) Does He say that because He wants to be evident in us? Why else does He want us to practice gentleness? Because He’s love. He cares about how we treat …