Just Perfect
Matthew 5:48 reads, "be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect." But "perfect" doesn't mean without mistake. It means to be whole, complete, lacking nothing. Though you should try to do everything as well as possible, God loves your courage far more than your skill. In the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30), it …
A Tree of Life
Proverb 13:12 is one of my favorite verses: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” After studying and learning to live it for many years, this is my paraphrase: “Unfulfilled expectations can break your heart if your hope is dependent on circumstances. But if the foundation of your …
Changing Declaration
“Seriously? I can’t believe I screwed up again. I’m so stu–” Stop. Before you finish that judgment—that curse—against yourself, take a breath. You’re not stupid. You’re not a failure. You’re brilliant, and amazing. And standing in your heavenly Father’s love and grace, you get to challenge any self-talk that produces hopelessness, worthlessness, and anxiety. Displace …
Choose Your Battlefields
Most of your life you’ve heard you should pick your battles. But just as important is choosing your battleground. The enemy will do anything to get you to abandon the limitless strength of God’s presence to exhaust yourself on the bloody fields of resentment, hopelessness, and fear. But the fight you’re in is so much …
Equip Your Spirit 