Category Archives: Devotional Thoughts

What one word would describe your usual Christmas season?

Busy?

Hectic?

Fun?

Stressful?

Sad?

Debt-accruing? 😉

I love Christmas.  And, to be fair, we don’t usually have an over-full schedule, so I don’t feel super busy or hectic. I don’t stress a lot about things being perfect, and we don’t overspend. So, on the whole I don’t feel like there’s anything wrong with our holiday season, but I also feel like there’s potential for better.

That is, I think we effectively keep out a lot of stress and distraction, but I don’t feel like we are taking full advantage of the opportunity to point our eyes toward Christ. Plus, I see how my kids gravitate so strongly toward tradition. They LOVE traditions. And tradition provides such a powerful way to shape our children’s hearts and lives. We don’t usually remember what we do once. We remember what we do again and again.

I’ve forgotten almost all the Christmas gifts I ever received, but I remember the traditions. That’s what sticks with me most.

I want the same for my kids. And while we have a few simple traditions (accidentally), it hasn’t been with much intentionality. I’ve always given the gift of Whatever, which is a great start, but I think there’s something even better than Whatever. 

Before Thanksgiving, I was praying about the upcoming Advent season, about how to focus our efforts, align our hearts, what to do and not to do. And the one word that surfaced in my heart and mind, time and time again, the word I wanted to describe this Christmas season, for myself and my family, was this:

WORSHIPFUL.

I want a worshipful Christmas. I want to be like the wise men, who searched out Jesus, bringing their gifts to him, and when they found him, “the fell down and worshiped him.”

That’s how I want to respond to Christ’s birth. 

So, worshipful has become the new filter for sifting through all the scores of possible Christmas-time activities. The question becomes, “Can I do this as an expression of heartfelt praise, thanks, and honor of Jesus Christ? Does it draw our hearts closer to His?” And no, this doesn’t mean we can’t have gingerbread cookies and spiced cider! For “whether we eat or drink or whatever we do we can do it all for the glory of God.”

Pursuing a worshipful Christmas means I put to death my toxic tendency to worry about pleasing people. I will pray specifically about any simple gifts I can give to loved ones, without obsessing. I will ask the Father how He wants me to spend His money to honor His Son. I’ll ask Him for ideas, and spend more time in His Word than on Pinterest.

I’ll remember that God chose a filthy stable as the perfect place for His Son to be born, so pursuing the perfect Christmas-decor need not consume my thoughts. 

I’ll remember that trying to control is never worshipful, so I will not attempt to manufacture magical experiences.

The miracle has already happened. We’ll witness more miracles when we stop controlling and start honoring our miracle-working God who came to earth as a baby in order to save us.

Of course the big question is: HOW? Well, most importantly I’d encourage you to seek the Lord on your own and ask Him for ideas, but I also would love to share with you some simple ways that I recently learned from a dear friend, Anna Hunter. She put together a presentation called Celebrate the Truth: Inspiration for a Christ-Centered Christmas. It’s fabulous! 

She’s generously shared her materials with me so I can share here in abbreviated form. All that to say: More to come! For now, 2 things:

1. Spend today praying God will show you how He wants you to honor Him in intentional ways this Christmas? Ask Him for specifics! Ask Him what needs to go, to stay, to change. 
2. Look around for 5 candles. You can use a traditional Advent-wreath, something more like this (this is like mine) or even five tea-lights from the dollar store. Go as simple or elaborate as you wish.

Okay, my kids need breakfast! More later. Happy Advent! Thanks for reading. 

There is good news:

People are praying. Though Christians’ views differ widely on political issues, the current climate is literally bringing people to their knees. I see it. I hear about it. I now actually have a scheduling conflict because I have two prayer meetings scheduled at the same time.

What a great problem!

Recently I’ve been chewing on Philippians 4. 

Two verses, really, contain all we need to see radical change—in our hearts and in our nation. So often I’m doing all this Bible study, all this reading and trying to learn more, when really, if we’d just DO the most simple things Scripture tells us, things would be dramatically different. Here are three things from Phil. 4:6-7

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

• DO NOT be anxious.

Girls, guys, this is a command. This means when we have a wild bucking bronco of a thought-life, and our fears and anxieties are yanking us around something terrible, we’ve got to rope those thoughts DOWN and make them obedient to Jesus. Fear will lead us to make terrible decisions. Only the fear of the Lord (acknowledging His rightful place as Lord and King) brings wisdom.

This starts by recognizing I am not my own. My life is Christ’s. My mind is His. My family is His. My body is His. My marriage is His. My country is His. My money is His. I have been bought with a price and I am not my own. So I do not have the legal right to let my thoughts run amok. My only hope of joy, peace, stability, and victorious living, is to take those thoughts captive and make them bow down to their rightful Lord and Master, King Jesus.

• With Thanksgiving.

Oh, that we’d give THANKS! What a game-changer this is! If all we resolved to do this year was become habitual thankers, what a difference we’d see in our mindset, our marriage, our families. If we would devote ourselves to a daily thanksgiving habit, things would change.

• Present your requests to God.

Pray. Oh, that we’d PRAY. I am the first to raise my hand, that we have been a nation of so-called Christians who simply do not pray. We are spiritual sloths, content to stay in the same place, eating Sunday’s leftovers day after day, instead of fervently, passionately, patiently, faithfully, pressing in in prayer and seeking God’s heart, His will, letting His kingdom come and His will be done HERE on earth as it is in heaven. We’ve embraced apathy and called it His sovereignty. We’ve ignored injustice and shrugged our shoulders, assuming it’s “His will.” 

Sisters, we must pray.

And it begins with simple stuff, daily stuff. How often have we made requests known to everyone but God?! That is, how often have we wished, lamented, vented, Facebooked, texted a friend, or Googled an issue, instead of simply presenting our requests to God. Note it doesn’t even specify “needs” here. It’s just “requests.” Anything we want, anything, we can go ahead and lay before God. He’s smart enough to sort through it all and let us know what makes the cut.  How much time and metal energy would we save if we went to Him first! Man, this is really hitting home. Just this week I wasted so much time …

Anyway.

Notice the promise: Peace. Isn’t this what we’re all desperate for these days? Isn’t this what we need as a shield about our minds and hearts right now? He promises His peace will guard us, a peace so much greater even than familial peace or national peace. His peace can endure no matter what outward circumstances you face.

No matter how hectic your house or heart may feel today 😉 may we do these 3 simple things and enjoy His unshakable peace, today and always.

Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for reading.

I’ve been a little gun-shy about writing out here in the wide-open spaces. Even as I typed that sentence I felt the need to clarify that “gun-shy” isn’t referring to the second amendment and the right to bear arms! See, where I live the environment feels hostile right now, and I find myself so afraid I’m going to mis-step, accidentally squish someone’s toes, hurt feelings, unintentionally offend. My heart is not to offend or hurt, my heart is to display the grace and goodness of God, through His Word as it relates to my everyday life. 

If there was one thing I could magically give to everyone I know, it would be this: A genuine love and hunger for the Word of God. With everything in me, I believe that so many of the painful situations we are facing politically simply stem from a sharp departure from God’s enduring, life-giving Word.

Every Wednesday night, a group of us women gather to get into God’s Word and let Him guide our lives. We don’t have a workbook or videos (although those are great), we just journey through the New Testament together, book by book. This is our third year doing this, and I’m always floored at how much God allows us to glean collectively, so much more than when I just study alone. We each see things so differently, and yet God’s Word never changes, so while we have differing perspectives and opinions, the Scriptures anchor us to unwavering truth. I wish that every woman had the joy of being part of a group like this. It has been life-changing for me, not because our group or method is special, but the living and active Word of God exposes the thoughts and intentions of the heart, and accomplishes the work of God through its immeasurable power.

The book of Judges describes,

“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

It seems that more than ever we are living in a day like this, even among Christians. We want to pick and choose which parts of the Scriptures are applicable for us, we are masters at making a god in our own image. I’m just as susceptible as anyone else, which is why I have to read the WHOLE Bible, every single year, just to help guard against my tendency to only turn to the parts I like.

We so desperately want to feel great about the way we’re already living. 

And honestly: If it wasn’t for the Bible, I would think I was awesome. 

Right?? But every single day, the Bible confronts me. Every day it holds up a terrifyingly magnified mirror that exposes all those things I’d rather hide. Perhaps most importantly, every day is shines a light into my motives, my intentions, the all-important reason why that no one else can see. 

As I’m finishing my reading for the year, I’ve been journeying through the minor prophets and Revelation, and here’s just a spattering of what I’ve seen:

“For 3 transgressions of Israel, and for 4, I will not revoke punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals — those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted;”

“Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of your devise evil against another in your heart.”

“And this second thing you do. You cover the LORD’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards your offering, but you say, “Why does he not?” Because the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. For the man who hates and divorces, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence. So guard yourselves in your sprit, and do not be faithless.”

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs (cruel devourers of others) and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”

So, we’re all nailed. Right? God is grieved by oppression of the sojourner AND by divorce. By murderers AND sexually immoral. We decry racism but celebrate “sexual freedom” — BOTH grieve the heart of God. We shrug our shoulders over divorce but are up in arms over tax-payer funded abortions. BOTH are never what He intended for His beloved people. Blue and red alike, liberals and conservatives, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. He loves us so much, He desperately wants our best. 

If only we would listen. 

So, the solution isn’t to pull our Bibles out like swords and hack each other to pieces. The solution is to RETURN. Return to a humble acknowledgment that God is GOOD. That His Word is good. That I, yes I, have personally fallen short. And as often as He convicts (which is often!), I will repent, which just means to turn around, and I will seek His best, as revealed through His Word.

And, once we have been forgiven, there is no need for shame. The hero of our faith, humanly speaking, was the Apostle Paul who was once a murderer. There is NO SIN that the blood of Jesus cannot cover, completely, forever. 

His sacrifice is big enough for us all. It is for all who would receive it.

Let us receive. Let us return to God. 

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which is able to save your souls.

James 1:21

{Seeking to do this, right alongside you. Thanks for reading.}

We’ve had the wind knocked out of us a bit, yes? All of us, in different ways. No matter where you stand, we’re feeling the effects of the fight.

Everyone’s been punched. 

That’s just my hunch anyway, I can only speak for myself. I feel like a spiritual battle’s been going on that’s beating the tar out of me. Mine mostly took place Friday night, when the enemy took a good but hard thing and exploited it to create the perfect storm of condemnation, hopelessness, fear, anxiety. I don’t remember the last time I cried that hard or felt that utterly hopeless. Of course, I was scheduled to speak the very next morning on the topic of … wait for it … PEACE. 

Perfect. Share on peace when I have exactly none of it to share. 

Even my sleep was fitful. Sweat, dreams, tossing and turning. Then in the middle of the night, a text woke me up. A friend. Word of truth. Nothing earth-shattering but a voice from outside the storm, calling quietly, “God’s in this.”

Oh yes. That’s right. God is in this.

The next morning my eyes were swollen and misshapen from crying. So I sat & read the Scriptures with icepacks rotating each eye, trying to get the swelling down before I went to speak. I looked like I’d been in a fight. Ha! I had!

We all have in some way or another. 

I don’t share this to whine, “Oh poor Kari she got sad.” I share this because we have ALL felt the effects. Not just of an election: Let’s not miss the real enemy here and he’s against US ALL. 

Of course, by God’s amazing grace, He brought both the words about PEACE and the actual PEACE to rule my heart and mind. He also brought amazing women, of all different types, to come together and bust our tails (it was a fitness camp) and pursue peace together, to love and cheer each other on. We were all so deeply encouraged.

But the battle isn’t over, right? We are still facing a foe that wants nothing more than to steal, kill, and destroy. Us all. He wants to trick us into thinking we are each other’s enemies. He wants us to turn on each other. He wants to lure us into self-protection and fear. He wants us to sink down into hopelessness and despair. 

But we won’t.

I urge you, believer: Take courage. Get back up. 

Believer, we need to contend for revival. And I’m not talking tent-meetings or traveling evangelists. The word revival simply describes being revived.

We need this. The church needs to be revived. Individuals need to be revived. Hope and faith need to be revived–not faith in our country per se, but faith in Jesus Christ. The good news is, even though believers may be divided on what the best political course of action may be, the good news is:

It’s driving us all to PRAY. My hope is that the turmoil takes us to our knees like never before. That it leads us to repentance, to self-examination, to return to the Scriptures, to love the lost, to recognize this world is not our home, that our citizenship is in heaven, and our Eternal King has never lost an election and never will.

He is the hope of the world. 

Wherever you have been knocked down, however you are hopeless or discouraged … get back up.

You know how we get back up? We get back down on our knees in prayer. We get back in the fight, not against what we can see, but against the invisible forces at work in our world, against despair and fear, against pride and greed, against blame and bitterness.

Not sure what to pray? Jesus suggested something like so:

Our Father, who is in Heaven, 

make holy your name above all names,

Let your rule and reign, your plan and purpose, your kingdom be established,

here on earth as perfectly as it is in heaven.

Give us the provision that we need, just as you’ve promised to do,

And forgive us our wrongs,

as we choose to forgive any who have wronged us, in any way,

Please lead us away from all temptation, from any thoughts or actions that would lead us astray,

And deliver us from the Evil One and all his works and schemes.

For Yours, O God, is the Kingdom, and all the power, and all the glory, forever and ever. 

Let it be.

Have a blessed week, friends. Thanks for reading.

I read Daniel all last week, Hosea over the weekend, and Joel this morning. Amos will meet me tomorrow. It just happened that way, of course, reading through the Bible, but it was no accident. The messages of these books is clear.

They are a plea for God’s people to return to Him. 

I’ve prayed many and written some Daniel-9 types prayers. Prayers of repentance, for our nation. This morning I read this post, and wholeheartedly agree that corporate confession, repentance, fasting and prayer is where we need to be right now.

But I think it needs to go a step further. Or rather, closer.

Honestly, it is easy for me to publicly confess the sins of abortion, sexual immorality, racial animosity. For me personally, they are far from home. Not that I’m perfect, but I’ve not engaged in those. It’s easy for me to confess how the church has become a performance, how we’ve neglected speaking the truth, because again, not that we’re perfect, but Renew isn’t that.

Strangely enough, it’s easy to confess things that I haven’t done. 

Oh wait. That isn’t confession. That’s accusation cloaked in religious jargon. 

The things that are hard to confess are the things I’m actually guilty of. Specific things.

Because we sin in specific ways our confession must be as well. It’s easier to confess “the great wickedness of our nation” but what about the fact that I was terribly rude to my husband yesterday?

Honestly, of all the various articles surrounding this season, and how the church must return to God, the most impactful for me was written 200 years ago. It has to do with something so much greater than the election.

It has to do with revival. It has to do with rending our hearts, not our garments (real repentance verses outward shows of repentance) and returning to the LORD, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster (Joel 2:13).

I think America is in for a rude awakening, but may it be a Great Awakening. 

But while there is most certainly a place for confessing on behalf of our nation, for interceding for wrongs that we haven’t committed, if we begin there that can just lead to subtle stone-throwing. First, we must repent for the sins we’ve actually committed. Logs must come out first.

I love Charles Finney because he calls us to the hard work of repenting specifically. He says,

“General confessions of sin will never do. Your sins were committed one by one… they ought to be reviewed and repented of one by one.”

I went through his exercise at length this summer, during our 40-day fast. I highly recommend! But believe it or not, I’ve sinned since then. 😉 And sometimes, when talking about confession, it helps if someone else goes first.

• Ingratitude. Generous God, I have been ungrateful. You have lavished me with life, health, food and clothing and abundant provision, and I have OFTEN ignored your blessings and neglected to thank you for the everyday abundance that you give. More than any other area, I see this as the most-committed sin in my life, and I am so sorry for my frequent lack of thankfulness. 

• Focus. Father, I have read your Word each morning, but I have often pored over the news, Facebook, and blog posts with more intention and fervor than I have pored over your holy Scriptures. At times I have probably watched the polls more than watched for you in prayer. 

• Prayer. God, I have worried more than prayed. I have touted and talked about prayer, and have prayed some, but not nearly as fervently and faithfully as I could. 

• Lack of Concern for the Souls of others: Holy Spirit, I have not loved my neighbor enough to seek then out and share the gospel. I seek plenty of things–I search high and low for sales and deals, I research healthy options and homeschool curriculums, I peruse Pinterest, and yet I give very little effort to seeking out those who I can share the gospel with. 

• Neglect of Family. Good Good Father, I confess that even as a Stay-at-Home-Mom I often put my own needs and wants above my husband and kids. In subtle ways, I can still be super selfish in daily life.

• Worldliness. Jesus, I confess that I OFTEN love the world. I have often longed for new kitchen appliances, a prettier kitchen, skinnier legs, cuter clothes, better skin. I have often let my attention be lured back to all that the world offers, instead of consistently putting my hope in eternal things.

• A Critical Spirit. Holy Spirit, I confess that I am quick to inwardly criticize others. I am quick to make myself the hero of every situation and assume that I am right.

• Preference. I confess that I gravitate toward people like myself, who make me feel comfortable, or seem to approve of me or agree with me, and I naturally avoid those who are different, who make me uncomfortable, who irritate or annoy me. I tend to be most generous to the people I naturally like. 

• Pride. Gracious God, I confess that I have often posted things on social media that are flattering toward me, or make me look good, or promote an image of myself or my family. I have wanted to prove that I am “right” more often than I have sincerely loved those who think differently from me.

• Lack of Empathy. Compassionate God, I confess that I have not been broken-hearted for those who are suffering. And yet, I want empathy and confession when I have a cold! I am a wimpy sufferer, God. I’m sorry.

God, we’re sorry. I’m sorry. We’ve not loved you with all our heart or our neighbor as ourselves. May this rude awakening bring a great awakening. Lead us back to life in You. 

{Thanks for reading.}

*Perhaps, if the Spirit leads, you might share your own confession as well? Not for show, but if it is sincere. On your own FB page, your blog, or just with your church family. Let’s plant seeds of revival.

Sometimes it seems like life is one long course correction. I’d venture to say I’ve probably only been “right on” course for about 13 seconds of my life. And I have no idea when that was! The rest of it is a series of small corrections—a little left, a little more, oops not quite that much, a little right, there perfect—whoops!—not so much, there we go.

Right? We veer, swerve, and narrowly miss catastrophe more times than we probably we even realize.

Recently, I’ve been chewing a lot on what causes us to become so blinded, distorted, or deceived that we tailspin out of control and plummet to our demise.

A month ago my friend had a vivid dream, which I’ll talk more about later, but it was of a plane flying backwards, plummeting toward earth, then crashing in an enormous explosion. There were some aspects that applied to a certain situation, but the overarching gist of it was the danger of the church (Christians) going backwards, being led by the tail instead of the head.

I’ve been praying about this dream for a month, so struck by its vivid imagery, asking God to show us in what ways we’re susceptible to letting the tail lead.

Turns out, there are so many ways, but the gist of it is this: When our gospel follows our cause, we’re headed for a crash. And actually, let me reword that because even “gospel” has become sort of a buzzword these days, and it’s difficult to define.

When our “God” follows our cause, we’re headed for a crash. Our strengths become weakness. Our good cause can become the very CAUSE of our veering off course.

Let me explain. I remember when God was radically ruining our lives, in the best way, by giving us a love for the poor and a desire to ditch the American dream and live differently, I was absolutely obsessed with this newfound love and passion. Which is GOOD. It was God’s leading, and so incredibly fruitful in our lives. But, in the middle of that there was a danger. There was a subtle tendency to filter everything through my “give to the poor” cause. This is a great cause, but IF I shift my focus off of HIM and onto “my cause”, I begin leading with my cause, and the whole thing gets wonky and weird. I cannot tell you how many times He has had to course-correct my life so that I’m not letting my cause lead my life. See, there are so many great causes.

We can be all about serving the poor.

We can be all about “encountering the presence” of God.

We can be all about creating a “safe space” for seekers.

We can be all about signs and wonders.

We can be all about stopping abortion.

We can be all about foreign missions.

We can be all about planting churches.

We can be all about “winning souls.”

We can be all about healing.

We can be all about a certain method of preaching.

We can be all about upholding traditional marriage.

We can be all about racial reconciliation.

We can be all about discipleship.

We can be all about “relational evangelism.”

We can be all about Bible Study.

We can be all about the environment.

We can be all about loving the LGBT community.

We can be all about loving Muslims.

We can be all about America.

We can be all about homeschool.

We can be all about Israel.

We can be all about a certain political candidate.

We can be all about the KJV.

Clearly not all of these are AS noble of a cause, but different people are ALL ABOUT each of these things. It might be easy for us to see how becoming ALL ABOUT this cause can lead us astray, even those that seem the “highest” or most noble. (Arguably, “making disciples of all nations” encompasses pretty much everything, Jesus seemed to place this pretty high up there.)

But, the thing is:

No CAUSE is meant to lead our lives.

Christ is meant to lead our lives.

Please hear my heart: MANY of these things listed are AWESOME. They are passions of mine. Bring up some of these things and I can get fired up in no time flat. We invest thousands of dollars each year to some of these things. And, some of them are clearly more biblical than others. Many of us need MORE of a cause in our lives. This isn’t a post excusing apathy! 🙂 My point is, when our CAUSE (no matter how good it is!) becomes what drives our lives, we begin flying backwards and are prone to crash.

No cause was meant to lead our lives.

Now, again, this most certainly isn’t something we can judge from the outside. The last thing we need is more fodder for Facebook rants and mud-slinging. Let’s look at ourselves for examples of this. Scripture tells us to “examine yourself, as to whether you are in the faith.”  When a cause leads our lives, we become narrow-minded, we love less and judge more, we reinterpret Scripture to fit our cause. We criticize those who don’t champion our cause.

But Christ is the only one who can safely steer my life. Christ is the only one who can lead this plane into safe landing at the end of the age. Christ Himself, who never does MY bidding but demands I do His, for my own good.

Seeking God has got to become our focus, our gaze, our goal, our aim, once again. Ministering to Him, loving Him, seeking Him, worshipping Him (minus strobe lights and fog machines) must become what leads my life.

God, help us let You lead.

{Thanks for reading.} 

Baking bread can wait; we need to talk.

Today’s my beloved baking day, where we make no plans besides our normal homeschool routine, and I heat up the oven and chop the veggies and knead the dough and whip up all sorts of wonderful all afternoon long. I love Tuesdays. I measure and munch and inhale heavenly aromas and revel in domestic deliciousness. There’s just nothing like loaves of fresh-baked bread lining your kitchen counter.

BUT, today baking can wait.

We’ve been busy and I haven’t been able to write much, and quite frankly there’s so much happening around me I can barely keep it all straight, let alone articulate anything with any hope of cohesion. It’s no wonder God led me to quit reading books for a season — He knew that just reading LIFE would require all my attention. No need for the distraction of additional inputs!

Here’s why I’m writing: I hope to share some simple ways help us navigate these crazy-days we’re living in. 

I’m not going to include links and, “Did you hear about???” stuff here. My point is not to draw attention to the insanity out there, but to help us be prepared just in case we need to navigate it well. We probably will at some point.

I will say this. I’m not a dreamer. I’m not a vision-person. I’m a regular ol’ girl who reads her Bible and tries to pray. But in the last 18-months, things have ramped up in the spiritual realm something serious. I’m not trying to be dramatic, I’m just saying that I wholeheartedly believe the “last days” described in Acts 2, quoted from Joel … are here. Specifically, much of what’s been brought to my attention has to do with false teaching, deception, and potential natural disasters. I’m not shouting doomsday here, I’m just saying these are serious times and we need to stay awake and pay attention. Here are some thoughts. These are three things we desperately need in order to navigate crazy-days.

• We desperately need truth.

The Word, prayer, fasting, and the local church community are no longer optional items we can take or leave. 

Gone are the days where we lazily pull out our Bibles because we “should.” Here are the days where we desperately need to see current events, issues, and influences through the lens of God’s truth. ALL of the clear insights, warnings, guiding, and direction of this past year have been through the Word, prayer, fasting, and close, fellow-believers with whom I do life with. None of it has come through some famous person online, or a celebrity, or a politician. None of it is in isolation, but rather considered and prayed over with the community around me. Every dream/vision/impression been filtered, clarified, interpreted through Scripture. Too much is at stake to go without truth. We can’t be lone rangers trusting our feelings or be blind followers who swallow everything a certain leader says. No one is infallible except God. We desperately need His take on things. Jesus is the truth.

• We desperately need love.

We don’t just need open-arms love. We don’t just need truth-bombs love. We’ve got Gracers and Truthers but we need to be Lovers. We need Jesus love. God defines love. Jesus was the one willing to clean up messes he didn’t make. He didn’t ignore wrongs or error, he never swept sin under the rug. He called a spade a spade. He didn’t dance around hard topics. But He always spoke, acted, and responded in love.

For me personally, the Lord has put his finger on the importance of not just pursuing loving actions but on true love coming from my heart. I mean, I cannot act in a loving way toward another until I actually love that person. Recently, I felt a slight schism in a relationship and was agonizing over how to respond in a loving way. As I sat quietly and prayed about how to respond lovingly, I sensed God ask, “Do you love her?” Duh! What’s the point of trying to act in a loving way unless I actually love this person. I recognized that the problem was a lack of love, not a lack of understanding the right response. I stayed in prayer, asking God to change my heart until His genuine love was birthed in my heart. And He did! He’s amazing. Then, when genuine love was birthed in my heart, it was easy to know how to respond. It felt natural to respond lovingly because I loved.

It doesn’t matter a lick if we are on the “right side” of some controversy. If we don’t love, none of our super spiritually matters at all. (1 Cor. 13)

• We desperately need the mind of Christ.

Jesus was perfect truth and perfect love, on display for us. I believe that more and more, “conventional”‘ wisdom will not work. As Paul wrote,

⁶ Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. ⁷ But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. ⁸ None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹ But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—

¹⁰ these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. ¹¹ For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. ¹³ And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.^[d]

¹⁴ The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵ The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ¹⁶ “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

This does not mean we elevate our own fancies and notions, assuming every flitting thought is divine revelation. But this means we humbly immerse ourselves in the Word, in prayer, in fasting, in love, and ask God directly to guide us during these crazy days. It is so exciting to me to hear story after story of people who are hearing from God more than ever! In beautiful ways that totally align with Scriptures, in ways that bring peace and confidence, that cut through confusion and bring clarity and direction. Hallelujah! We need the mind of Christ.

No area is too small or insignificant to invite Christ into. Jeff and I prayed over our ballots, we pray over our budget, we pray over our big and little decisions, all the time. And we need to grow in this as well.

Guide us, Spirit of God, in your truth. Help us humble ourselves and submit to your Word. Make us brave. Make us loving. Make us unflappable and full of faith. We love you. 

{Thanks for reading.} 

Fear. There seems to be a lot of it these days. There seems to be a lot of bad news, a lot of fear-mongering and alarmists and constant worse-case-scenario thinking. I get it. Things do not look real awesome right now in America.

But God. More than ever I’m convinced that it’s critical we pore over the pages of God’s Word more than the latest news story. News is fine and good, but it’s sure to cultivate fear unless we read it through the lens of truth.

It’s this time of year I’m always reading through Jeremiah and I’m always reminded of the only place that’s safe. Check this out, hopefully it will encourage your heart:

The prophet Jeremiah is prophesying to King Jehoiakim about the impending disaster coming upon them if they do not repent and turn from their evil deeds.  His words aren’t popular, as you can imagine, so

“when he finished speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, ‘You shall die!’ (v.8)

“Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, ‘This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city.” (v.11)

Is Jeremiah safe? How does he respond? First he exhorts them to mend their ways and obey the voice of the Lord, and then he says,

“But as for me, behold I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you … for in truth the LORD sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.” (v.14-15)

I am in your hands.

How could Jeremiah say that? How could he entrust himself into the hands of an angry mob of people who most certainly intended to kill him?

He knew whose hands he really was in. 

Jeremiah could entrust himself to their hands because he’d first entrusted himself to God’s hands. 

Perhaps he knew the song of David by heart,

“In God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?”

Jeremiah was safe because his heart was free of fear. He was then spared from death. But you know what the very next story holds? Another prophet, Uriah, who had spoken the same sort of words. His story is told,

There was another man who prophesied … Uriah … He prophesied against this city and against this land in words like those of Jeremiah. And when King Jehoiakim, with all his warriors and all the officials, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death. But when Uriah heard of it, he was afraid and fled and escaped to Egypt. Then … they took Uriah from Egypt and brought him down to King Jehoiakim, who struck him down with the sword and dumped his dead body into a burial place of the common people.” (vv.20-23)

Jeremiah knew whose hands he was in so he entrusted himself to the people and was spared.  Uriah, who spoke the same message, was “afraid and fled and escaped,” and yet was put to death. 

Where are we truly safe?

It’s true: this world is not safe.

The only place we’re truly safe is the place of refusing fear, of wholeheartedly trusting God. With our lives. With our children. With our future. 

Then His peace rules our hearts and gives us the courage to enter dark places with the light of His love, and refuse to cower in fear. Then His Spirit empowers us to speak truth with bold love, no matter how those around us respond. Then He can entrust us with His message, His heart, His mission.

Fear will always lead us to captivity.

Faith will always lead us to freedom. 

May we fully ENTRUST our lives to His good care, and actively intercede for those around us, with the faith and courage that only He can bring.

{In God we trust and we are not afraid.  Thank you for reading.}

Saturday night I googled something I’ve never searched for before: “Churches near me.” It was so interesting, scrolling through the options, getting a “outsider’s perspective” as I perused websites and read About Us pages.

Such a variety.

Since Jeff would be competing in the Ironman 70.3 race, it would just be the kids and I attending, and we needed to be done by 10:30am in order to get to his race, so I made my super-spiritual selection simply based on who was nearby and had the earliest service.

8:30am, Grace Community Church, 3 miles away. Done. It was lovely. We might have been the only ones under 70 :), but it was simple, humble, beautiful. Everything pointed to God. The Scriptures were taught. Christ was exalted.

It was so refreshing to my soul, I wept my way through worship, my parched soul gulping down the amazing grace. Jesus is so glorious!

See, we visited three different churches during our road-trip, everything from extremely charismatic to Southern Baptist to non-denominational community church. God did some measure of work in my heart at all three, even though they were vastly different in doctrine and style. 

Earlier in the trip, at the conference we attended, a woman seated next to me had talked to Jeff, and somehow it came up that I had recently spoken at a retreat located near the woman’s hometown. She was familiar with the venue, and raised her eyebrows as she remarked,

“Wow, I’m surprised they would have hired a conference speaker who would be attending this.”

I smiled. I sort of knew she’d say that. You see, I speak at a wide-variety of churches and conferences. Everything from Assemblies of God to Nazarene to Calvary Chapel to Southern Baptist to Presbyterian. And honestly? I absolutely love it.

I love the wide variety. I love that I have no idea what to expect until I get there. I love seeing the ages range from 18-88, dressed in sweatpants and stilettos, rich and poor. I love that to some being “led by the Spirit” means they sing a song verse a second time through, unplanned (!), while others think this involves spontaneously speaking in tongues. I love that some sit quietly, heads bowed, and some are dancing in the aisles.

I think Jesus can handle that. 

I think God is big enough to move mountains in our midst, no matter our personality or preference or style. I think the Holy Spirit can change the course of someone’s life no matter how ecstatic he feels. 

If there’s anything I’ve learned from partnering with nearly 100 churches in my years of speaking and teaching, it’s that I think we make a way bigger deal about our distinctions than God does. I think we place way too much emphasis on getting our distinct position exactly right and way too little emphasis on getting our hearts right. 

Jesus rebuked people saying, “You tithe mint and cumin! But you neglect the weightier matters! Give as offering the things that are within.”

So many are concerned about creating exactly the right atmosphere for the Spirit of God to move. I’m raising my hand: Guilty as charged. The right lighting, volume, sound, the right graphics and humor and don’t botch the transition… and and and and and…

“The offering of God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite spirit God will not despise. (Ps. 51):17”

Oh! If only we would just focus on the atmosphere of our hearts! NOTHING can keep you from truly worshipping God. Even if everyone around you is yawning, even if the music isn’t perfect, even if the preacher isn’t polished, even if the lighting isn’t just so, or EVEN (*gasp*) if your toddler is squirming in your arms.

YOU might not have as much of an exhilarating experience, but GOD IS BLESSED by our offering when our hearts are truly set on Him.

Isn’t He the One that matters anyway?

Isn’t our worship about Him?

Isn’t HE the reason we go to church? How did we end up thinking this was all about us?

Saturday night, when I told the kids we’d be getting up early to visit a church before going to Daddy’s race, they both complained.

“We don’t like going to new places. I don’t want to get up early. I don’t like having to meet new people. I only like our own church.”

And I responded:

“I know this isn’t your preference. I know it isn’t your favorite thing. But you know what? We go to church not because we feel like it, or it’s our first choice, we go to church because it honors God. It’s for Him, not us. So, I will make it as comfortable as I can for you. You can stay with me and not go to kids’ class. If you don’t want to chitchat with strangers, that’s fine. I’ll talk for you. But we will go with a happy heart because it’s the Lord’s Day and we will honor Him, just as we’ll then go to Daddy’s race to honor him.”

By God’s grace, their hearts changed, and they agreed without complaint.

And we were so blessed.

Friends, I have an urgency in my heart to plead with you: Choose to worship God no matter what your atmosphere, how you feel or don’t feel, no matter how imperfect your situation. I believe there will come a day when it will truly COST us to worship God. Will we choose Him now, no matter how we feel? Will you honor Him, not only on Sunday, but every day, because He is worthy? Let us rend our HEARTS, not our garments, and give as our offering the things that are within. Our hearts. Our lives. Our all. 

{Thanks for reading.}