What if God asked you for permission before He allowed your life to get painful and messy? I imagine like me, you would quickly reply, “I don’t want to!“ “I don’t want to . . . endure, suffer, grieve, lose, forfeit, repent, surrender, forgive, etc. It’s too hard. It’s too painful. I’m not strong enough . . ….
There were more than 60 of us . . . 13-year-olds making a statement of faith and joining the church. Our pastor, following a long tradition, prayerfully chose a Bible verse for every person in the class. My friends received verses like Romans 8:28, John 3:16, Isaiah 41:10, and Jeremiah 29:11. And then he came…
Has your life changed because of Jesus? I wonder if we sometimes resist growing closer to Jesus because we don’t like the idea of change. I bought our dog, Sadie, new dog dishes the other day because I was told that the ones that are elevated off the floor are healthier and better for their…
How do you picture God? Who do you see when you pause to pray? A fireman who will put out the fires in your life?A genie or fairy godmother who will grant your every wish?A judge who will punish you when you fail?A hard to please parent who always expects more?An administrator who makes decisions…
I want to live completely surrendered to God’s will. I pray about it often… But when life gets rocky or the wait for an answered prayer seems looong … surrendering is the last thing I want to do. What I WANT is to do SOMETHING that will SOLVE the PROBLEM NOW! Thankfully, by God’s grace, He’s allowed…
I’m a first-born rule follower. I like rules. I understand rules. Rules make sense. If you do A and B happens and you definitely don’t do X if you want to prevent Y from happening. It’s simple like math. Rules are black and white. And following the rules pleases people . . . especially parents, teachers,…
No more hiding behind the image of pseudo-perfection. I was a mess. Embarrassingly so. I needed answers, but even more than answers I needed help, comfort, peace, and hope. I needed God. Not a deal or a bargain for a life that looks good, but the real living presence of God. That was the beginning of…
