Jesus is pointing out weariness that comes from carrying burdens we were never meant to carry — Religious burdens, emotional burdens, burdens that bear a heavy weight because we must carrying the weight of trying to control everything while we wait on God to work.
Read MoreGod’s desire is completely different. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit, God is making us whole in Him. Where the enemy destroys, God restores. Where the enemy divides, God unites. Where the enemy condemns, God redeems. Where the enemy hates, God loves. His love was strong enough to defeat death when Jesus was raised to life again, and His love is still at work today defeating the enemy of our souls who is constantly trying to deceive, destroy, and defeat you and me.
Read MoreThe Bible clearly teaches that salvation belongs to the Lord. Before the foundation of the world, God knew His people and set His love upon them. Scripture speaks of believers as chosen, elect, and predestined according to His purpose. Yet the same Bible also calls every person to repent, believe, and receive Christ with their own free will.
Read MoreAs mothers, we cannot effectively pass down a faith we are not actively living ourselves. Our children may learn Bible stories from our words, but they will learn devotion from the way we live our lives. They notice what captures our attention, what calms our fears, what shapes our priorities, and what fills our conversations. A mother deeply in love with the Lord creates an atmosphere where faith is not merely another lesson to learn, but a way of life.
Read More“The valley of the shadow of death” sounds overwhelming, daunting, and downright depressing—and it is. But notice what David doesn’t say. He doesn’t say he’s stuck there. He says he’s walking through.
Read MoreWhen my kids were younger, I stressed about mess way too much! If we were having company over, I usually turned into a drill sergeant a few hours prior. I barked orders, demanded perfection, and attempted to mask the visible mess rather than seek a more meaningful approach to tackle the mess together as a team.
Read MoreToo often, we confuse leisure with rest. We fill our free time with more activity, more noise, and more striving. But true rest is found in the more God has in store when our soul truly finds rests in Him. We find that kind of rest by trusting His work on our behalf—the work of creation and redemption, salvation and identity. It is a work that has already been completed. We are not earning our place by doing more. We are receiving it by resting in Him.
Read MoreThis isn’t casual waiting. This is deep, soul-level endurance, and it call to us to wait well by embracing the wait rather than pushing it away, rushing it, or merely distracting ourselves from it.
Read MoreWhen we continually feed our own desires and focus only on our own interests, loving others, let alone loving them well, can seem burdensome and inconvenient, and the sheer effort it takes to love that way quickly convinces us it’s just too much work and not enough benefit for us.
Read MoreAs we watch the world around us wake up and burst forth, let’s allow the Holy Spirit to continue the new work He started in us.
Let’s awaken to this newness of life and the beauty it holds, while also staying aware of the signs of the times and the reality that our earthly life is so incredibly short in light of eternity.
Those who cried of “Hosanna,” which literally means “save us,” on Palm Sunday, shouted “Crucify Him” days later. It’s a heaviness too hard to explain, and yet it leads to a holiness that will forever remain. He sealed the deal with an empty tomb at the end of a heavy, Holy Week.
Read MoreMany today pick and choose what they want to believe. They only take from the Word what makes them feel good or adds to their worth, but in order to live out what God’s Word in all about, we must believe it all — the whole council of scripture.
Read MoreWe can try to water it down or butter it up, but we can’t have Jesus without the Gospel, and we can’t have the Gospel without Jesus.
Read MoreGod works before He rests, while we must first enter into God’s rest (sit), and then and only then can we can work (expend energy by walking out our faith and standing firmly on it).
Read MoreCommit your work in motherhood to Him today. Call on His power alone to move you to immovability in Him. Trust Him for your strength and steadfastness and you stand firm in your faith. Not sure where to start? Start by simply joining me in this prayer…
Read MoreIf the deception keeps getting deeper and deeper (and it does), then we must go deeper and deeper into the truth of God’s Word. It is the only way we will stay grounded, rooted, and established. When we abide in Him, we cannot hide from Him by giving into sin.
Read MoreIf you, like me, long for more of Him — a “more” that you’ve never known before, might I encourage you to simply seek Him throughout this season of Lent.
Read MoreIf scrolling has you stressed or depressed, I’d love to offer you two simple words, followed by two more that lead to far more...
Just stop. Then start.
Stop scrolling. Start seeking.
Stop aimlessly and mindlessly consuming content that leaves you discontent, and start reading and feeding on the very Word of God. It never runs dry and will always satisfy.
Read MoreWe are to “stand on His promises“ because they provide the surest, safest, steadiest foundation to this life we are living. No amount of education, motivation, determination, or ambition can replace Godly wisdom.
Read MoreI don’t know about you, but I don’t want to miss the things that matter because I’m too focused on the things that don’t.
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