Christian Living
Walking out the crucified life.
Ripples in the Water
Oh that my ways may be established To keep Your statutes! Then I shall not be ashamed When I look upon all Your commandments. Psalm 119:5-6 As we learned in Sunday’s sermon, these verses are the cry of a man who was kept from observing God’s commandments due to oppression and persecution. David, before and …
Bring Discontent to God
I read an interesting blog that challenged my perception of complaining. In her post, the author delved into the difference between complaining and lamenting. She presented a case, drawing from the example of David who faithfully lamented before God in the Psalms. She contrasted how complaining (woe is me, life isn’t fair) is bad while lamenting …
Grace with Humility
Do you ever wonder if you’ve messed up so bad that God won’t want to use you anymore? If anyone has ever stood firmly in that place of uncertainty, I think it was David and Bathsheba. Yet tucked away into Jesus’s genealogy is a small detail of significant impact the notorious couple left to encourage …
Hiding God’s Word in Our Hearts
Awhile back, I heard someone say that they wrote out a Psalm by hand every day. As Nathan has been walking us through the importance of loving God’s word, of panting after his word, of living according to his word, I was reminded of this practice of writing out Scripture. During our time in Psalm …
Look to Jesus
Last year, we taught our baby to drive, which is crazy because it feels like yesterday that she was in diapers. Every time I explained a road rule, I remembered what it felt like to learn myself—because that feels like yesterday too. Our Focus Problem Some things stand out in my memory, like my mom …
Salt & Grace
I just passed the twenty-fourth anniversary of my new life and one truth becomes more and more obvious to me as the years pass—my pride is a master shapeshifter. As I’ve grown from a baby Christian, God has weeded out blatant arrogance. But in its place softer and deadlier variations sprout—finding fault, desire to be …
Why do you Love Me?
Sometimes the simplest questions are the most difficult to answer. And sometimes the simplest answer is the hardest to arrive at. As I was rocking and snuggling my youngest one day, I kissed his neck and said, “I’m so glad you belong to me.” Answers for Difficult Questions He was only four at the time …
How Can Love & Hate Coexist?
When I was a teenager, my grandmother once told me something that was impossible for me to understand at the time. She said, “Love is staying married to someone even when you hate each other. Good times come and go and sometimes you’ll hate each other so much you’ll wish your spouse would go too, …
Growth through Hardship, our Gift from God
Have you ever faced an unanswered prayer? Challenging relationships? Difficult circumstances? Trick question. Of course the answer is yes if you’ve lived long in this world. How we face those issues, will either help or hinder our spiritual growth. I’ve been thinking a lot about learning lessons in life. Spiritual lessons. Slowly, I’m realizing that …