My mind made an instant assessment of her that would’ve have promptly been discarded as the concert began. But then she came into full view.
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Like Kids Making Up the Rules
We so easily justify ourselves by the standard set by others just like us.
How I Make a Mess of “God Is In Control”
Don’t we think of control as the ability to make things go the way that makes us happy? But God’s not me, and when I think that way, I’m taking the “sovereignty of God” and projecting my attributes onto His character.
Slowly Starving and Oblivious
Our body makes it clear it’s time to refuel. We have those pangs spiritually, too, but we numb them or offer them synthetic solutions. All of it — like feeding mud to the starving.
Men Who Make You Laugh
So many women say they want a man who makes them laugh. A lot of us get them – men are pretty funny after all. But I’ve observed that something happens too often. Year after year of dating or marriage, they stop laughing. They start rolling their eyes. They start retorting in anger. They start…
Fully Awake and Fully Alive: Real Rest Restores Your Soul
True rest is not so much about bodily stillness, restorative sleep or mental checkout. The best rest is an alertness to what is most real, what is most true, and the calming voice of God saying, “All is well.”
Trying to Be Perfect at Not Being Perfect
I turned removing pride and perfectionism from my life into a challenge, and here’s the problem: Anything that is a challenge makes me want to do it perfectly.
Grace and Our Warped Sense of Justice.
Sometimes our sense of justice blinds our touch of grace. We want others to experience the justice of getting what’s coming to them. Have you ever said this? “She’s going to get what’s coming to her.” Maybe with a little bit of smugness in your voice? I have.
But the Rules Don’t Apply to Me…
Speeding that day doesn’t seem like a big deal. But I was doing it intentionally. I had decided being on time was more important than the law. It was the ironic evidence of iniquity I had just asked God to reveal and didn’t really think He’d find.
The Gospel and Bloody Rollerblading
I’ve never witnessed a gruesome death. I’ve never scene a murder or a bloody crime scene in person. But John did.
Are You After God’s Purpose for Your Life or His Plans?
Do you ever feel lost or confused about God’s will for your life? The elusive will of God—that thing we say we desire while we pursue our will for our lives and ask God to approve our plans. God has been teaching me a thing or two lately about why He made me. I daresay…
I’m An Aspirational Morning Person
The treasure of time in His presence is a reward in and of itself, and He goes with us all the day.
Getting to Shockingly Gracious
When she’s been hurt. When she’s disappointed. When she’s angry. When she’s frustrated. When she’s tired. A woman who does not give grace lacks the deepest kind of beauty: The willingness to yield to the Holy Spirit that always prompts us to forgive. Always prompts us to display love the way Christ did. Selflessly. If you’re anything…
You Can’t Make “The Fruit of the Spirit” Happen
You can’t will the fruit of the Spirit to be in your life. I’m not even sure you can simply pray for them to be in your life. But you can surrender to the Spirit.
Dormant Is Not Dead
Don’t forget in winter seasons the hope of spring green leaves, the joy of summer shade and the taste of fall harvest.
10 Things I Learned in 3 Years of Marriage
In honor of Valentine’s Day, I’m sharing ten things I’ve learned in my first three years of marriage.
When You Don’t Need God
If I don’t pray like I need You so I can make it through the day, am I attempting anything beyond my own strength?
4 Things I’ve Learned About Fasting
The truth is fasting reveals a lot about our hearts. Here are four things I’ve learned about fasting and prayer in the last couple of years.
Burn to Memory Psalm 34:18
One of my favorite verses from my favorite Psalm.
Fear and faith in the ICU
Someone close to us was in the hospital. Someone young. Sudden and confounding. No one knew exactly why it was happening.
Giving Up “Me Time”
How exactly was I supposed to work harder? I felt like I was maxed out.
Pride and Beauty
Pride is something we naturally resist and disapprove of in others and yet so often find in some form in ourselves.
Proverbs 3:5-6
I’m not sure any verse has shaped my life more than this one thus far.
I Know Why She Does It
By allowing ourselves to be judges with evil thoughts, we put ourselves under the bondage of judgment.
God the Boss.
After a specified period of time, we expect our paycheck — and a bonus every now and then for all our extra effort. After all, God’s the boss, right? He owes me what He promised me.
Stockholm Syndrome
Just because God hasn’t given you a spirit of fear doesn’t mean you can’t have one. You have to kick it out of your life.
Burn to Memory Psalm 17:15
Getting this up a little late in the day today! I just got back from a cruise to the Eastern Caribbean – I’ll share pics later this week. Anyways, as you can imagine, I’m very relaxed but quite a bit behind. Start memorizing Psalm 17:15 and look for a devotional digging deeper tomorrow…but probably a…
Burn to Memory Psalm 16:11
Burn to Memory is our special section focused on Scripture to memorize. Pin it, print it or make it your smartphone or tablet background. Why is memorizing Scripture so important? What’s in your heart comes out at the moments when it is needed. (And if what’s in there isn’t good, it’ll come out even when you don’t…
9 Thoughts from 4 Weeks on Crutches
You never realize how active you are until someone tells you to stay put. Here’s a largely unedited list of things I’ve been thinking about from my lovely vantage point of the couch in my living room.
When God Doesn’t Answer Prayer Like You Want Him To
I was struck this week as I read the book of Mark just how rarely He did what was expected of Him. Maybe we shouldn’t be so surprised when He answers our prayer differently than we expect Him to.
Poem: That Captivating Shame
Shame deceives us; it says, You have no power to defeat. But God, the Truth-Teller is our rescue in reach.
Do You Ever Feel Like a Failure at Christianity?
God is in the business of making you perfect until the day you die. No hopelessness allowed in this life raft.
Burn to Memory 2 Corinthians 10:3
We live in the world. It wars. We do not war the way it wars.
Sojourn Fearlessly, Beloved
God wants to bring Heaven to Earth through you, through us.
Burn to Memory 1 Corinthians 4:20
To help us continue to meditate on the need for God’s power in our lives in the coming weeks, Trista has designed us a new mobile wallpaper. Download it and memorize it this week!
Do I Need the Power of God?
Here’s a question I’ve been wrestling with lately: Does the power of God reveal itself in my life on a daily basis? We Christians certainly speak a lot of words. We talk about the God, about our churches, about our love for Him, about His kingdom… But all that speaking doesn’t mean we’re living Kingdom life.
Mirror Mirror on the…
We have short term memory when it comes to our identity, and the only solution is found in pursuing God’s truth and seeking to implement it in our lives.
Two questions for every Christian in 2015
By Tiffany Deluccia >>> A couple of questions for you: 1) Have you been discipled? What was that experience like? 2) Have you discipled anyone else? I was recently presented with these questions in a mixed group setting of Christians of various ages and backgrounds. After making it abundantly clear that any answer was acceptable,…
Do You Have a Vision for the New Year?
By Tiffany Deluccia >>> Happy New Year! I always find a new set of 365 exciting. I’m not sure why — Nothing has really changed. The weather will still be cold for months. Life doesn’t give you a do-over from the things you’ve been building for the last 12 months. But still, a new year…
