Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it

Sometimes I wonder if we throw around the warnings, "Make sure you read your Bible," and "Stay in the Word," because those are actions we can measure in one another.  You might as well tell someone "Make sure you go to church," so that they appear to be saved in your book.  I'm not here to start a rebellion, nor discount the spiritual discipline, but I feel the impulse to warn sisters of faith in the same way, and the words just seem...so...so, lifeless.  Now I must ask myself, what did Jesus command?  Perhaps the better admonition should be, "Abide in the Vine."  Abiding is ongoing, and life-giving.  It is in this statement that we allow the activity of the Holy Spirit to do all that He wants with us--however scary that might seem to us control freaks!  Let me not limit God's work to something I can control.  This abiding does in fact include Scripture reading, savoring, and soaking, as well as: Repenting Crying Delighting ...

I was praying tonight and in my mind, I was sitting before the throne of the Father.  I asked Him how close I could go, and He responded, "As close as you would like."  It didn't feel right to take another step towards the throne.   I attempted a step forward but something pulled me back, keeping me anchored in place.  With a glanced behind, I saw my right hand was holding an apple.  It might be a child book depiction of the forbidden fruit, but it represented in my mind the relation I felt with Eve and the original sin.  Then I knew I was identifying with the shame and guilt of Eve, and it was blocking me from the full love of the Father.   Next, I saw the One on the throne reach for the apple behind my back.  He brought it up to Himself and bit a huge juicy chunk from the core and then toss it away.   "He has swallowed up death in victory."   I thought.  Have you been identifying with Eve, O woman of God?   We cover...

I felt like I should read Romans 8 recently.  I know, I know, if you're going to read any of the Scriptures...am I right?!  " 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will.  8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God." I used to read this as a stern warning like, "Better not walk in that ol' nature of yours, or have a mind governed by it.  You won't please God."  But I kept reading... " But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)" (NLT) It's risky to take this verse and teach it to others saying, "Stop worrying about your fruit."  People might go on sinning on purpose!  Though, I'm not worried about the people that are calculating ...

This picture is such a random photo that I snapped of my friend Aubrey while we were at Starbucks four days ago.  What you don't see in the far left corner of the cafe, is that Ty and Terri Schenzel were sitting with another person, deep in conversation.  When we walked into the cafe I motioned with my neck and said, "Hey Aubrey, there are the Schenzels."  We didn't say much not thinking they would know us, but we definitely knew who they were. Yesterday a car crash took them home to be with Jesus.  I can't say I knew them beyond the pulpit as the funny preacher and fun-loving couple, but their legacy lives on in tons of lives that were touched for the glory of God. So, I suppose I am writing this less as a memoir of these two and more as a reflection of death and dying as a Christian.  One person just commented on Ty's peace about "new adventures" to come and having felt like his work was completed.  I am shocked.  But yet, I sense the Holy ...

Our new cat, Gilbert Keith Chesterton (named after the writer), who daily  demonstrates to me the rest of God.  I quit my part-time job almost two months ago.   This new season was borne partly out of necessity for we were doing a lot of traveling this summer, as well as Steven's unconventional night shift which makes for less evenings together at home.  I burst with, "I don't work!" when others inquire after my occupation, and then laugh at how ridiculous it sounds. It hasn't been difficult explaining to people what I do with my time, but it has been annoying to fight the droning conscience saying, "you should do something more...you should be something more."   However, I think the Father wanted to slough off the entire idea of work from my identity.  I cannot work to please man anymore, which reveals how much I've also tried to please God.  (We know from the past I've been an employee of the Religious Works Department in the ...

Sometimes we want this relationship with God to come easily.  I self-examine, "Maybe I'm not figuring out things that others have who have gone before me.  Are there revelations God is withholding from me because I won't 'get it together'?"      Alas, the Holy Spirit didn't allow me to think this way much longer.  I found myself reading Ephesians merely by chance and was gently corrected. " Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  who has blessed us in the heavenly realms  with every spiritual blessing in Christ."--Ephesians 1:3 God doesn't have an "elite" group of people that are allowed access to His blessings.   We have been given everything! " His divine power  has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him  who called us  by his own glory and goodness."--2 Peter 1:3

"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."--Galatians 6:14 I was challenged this week to try and explain the story of the good news of Jesus in layman's terms.  Let's just say it was difficult.  So much of how I relate to people about Christ is through Bible verses.  I'm not claiming it's bad to know scriptures.  I am trusting in their power to not return empty, but what is equally important is that I understand them in a personal way.   So I then got to thinking, have I begun to take for granted the revelation of Jesus Christ that was given to me by the Father? (John 6:44)  In some ways, the miracle that I have found relief from suffering because of Jesus is old news--but oh how I wish it wasn't!   As I began to dial back my explanation of how I have peace through Jesus, Galatians 6:14 ran through my mind.  Might I not boast in anything but the deat...