Tag: Faith

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Tell of His Faithfulness

Seemingly out of nowhere this week, I got help with a practical household errand that I hadn’t known how to take care of, after 11 years. That soon turned into more help to repair some damage elsewhere. These acts of service, while maybe not so big of a deal to the helper, meant a great deal to me. They spoke to me loudly, as if an angel of God had come to me to let me know, “I’m taking care of you. You don’t have to do things on your own.” There are many such things that I tried and failed to figure out on my own. After many experiences like this, I can say with certainly that we are each very much seen and known by God; He knows just what we need. Let my story be an example that He hasn’t forgotten what you need, even if you’ve had many years of waiting. Things get done in His timing not our own. I so often am tempted to rush, but being patient and knowing that God will provide what is needed is the Way He invites us to go as we follow Him in trust.

So what does life look like when we’re trusting God fully, desperately, knowing that He is our Source of help? Psalm 30 says, “To you, O Lord, I cry, and to the Lord I plead for mercy: ‘What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me! O Lord, be my helper!'” (Psalm 30:8-10). Here we see that God’s desire for us in life is to praise Him and tell of His faithfulness. So today, I’d like to simply tell of His faithfulness!

God has never given up on me. For me, God’s love and faithfulness can be summed up pretty well in that statement. People may give up on us, or we may give up on ourselves sometimes, but God never, ever does. He isn’t ashamed of us, and He always sees the best in us and has confidence in a hope and a potential for fullness of life in us. We may not feel worthy or capable, but He always believes the best for us. Luke 1:37 says, “…nothing will be impossible with God.” He made us, He is the only One who knows what we are capable of. You can’t change His mind about you; that you are worthy of His love, and you are His.

God has shown His faithfulness to me in countless ways, but perhaps most of all through my sister Abby. God used her voice to encourage me and see good when I saw none at all. God has spoken to me through Abby countless times, but the fact that she never seems to get tired of pointing me back to Jesus has been God’s faithfulness in action in my life. She has done this since she took me to a church service with her in 2015, at a time when I had stopped going to church for years, had lost hope, and was lost.

In my wrestle with faith and then with following Jesus, she never made me feel like things had gotten too messy or too hard for God to redeem. She never stopped believing that I could surrender what I told her outright I couldn’t. She wasn’t afraid, not once, to challenge the lies I believed about God and about myself. God used Abby’s voice to faithfully and consistently speak Truth in my life. God’s faithfulness to me has flesh and bones in my sister. I am forever grateful for the gift that she is to me.

Abby is excellent at what we all need from a trusted brother or sister in our walk with Jesus—pointing us to Him with courage, conviction, and most of all love. Where there was a great deal of mourning in my life to the point of losing hope, God in His faithfulness didn’t give up on me. He used Abby, the church, and others to help open my heart and then He did transformative work and restored my faith and hope. He truly made it possible for me to dance and have gladness (Psalm 30:11) when I didn’t feel like I could again.

God is faithful! If you don’t already have one, may God bring a trusted believer into your life to challenge you and help you transform into the likeness of Jesus (Ephesians 4:15). We need each other to help sharpen and spur us on to follow Christ to the end. Amen.

“Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5b).

“What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?” (Romans 3:3).

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to Life with the King, and like & follow the Facebook page; it truly helps me continue writing this blog. Grace and peace.

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Grace for Sleep

How much does sleep impact your day-to-day life? Do you have to be intentional to get healthy sleep? For the majority of people living in Western culture, sleep is often talked about like a luxury, a commodity, or something to be envied. Sleep is a gift God gives (Psalm 127:2). It’s also been a huge struggle for me, as I wrote in Falling Awake. But today, I want to write a bit more about physical, literal sleep.

Have you ever experienced your eyes becoming heavy? All of a sudden, you can lose track of the conversation or tv show or song or task at hand, and just feel powerless to keep from falling asleep. As someone who has experienced insomnia for much of my life, this level of being tired is usually a welcomed state of being. However, there are times when being asleep is more than a little embarrassing, like with Peter, James, and John in the Garden of Gethsemane.

In both the Gospel of Matthew and Mark, we find the story of Jesus’ disciplines falling asleep in Gethsemane, after Jesus had told them to watch while He prayed: “And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, ‘So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.’ And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, ‘Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners‘” (Matthew 26:40-45). Jesus, even on the night He was being chased down for arrest, showed compassionate, loving grace toward the weakness of the flesh in his best friends.

He knew their spirits were willing to keep watch and pray, and their hearts were in the right place. However, their physical bodies could not keep up with their hearts and they, seemingly beyond their control, in weakness, “took their rest.” Paul wrote, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). When we are weak and we surrender our weakness to Christ Jesus, in His great mystery He somehow becomes our strength.

In our weakness, we can surrender to be led by God, as a sheep to our Good Shepherd. The prophet Ezekiel used this analogy, “I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice” (Ezekiel 34:16). Everything provided for the sheep is from their Shepherd.

It follows that rest and sleep are the gifts of God for us. Rest is built into the very Creation, darkness of night being a daily time for rest, and the slower seasons of plant productivity being a longer time for rest taken by the earth. In a culture of overwork and little sleep, it’s important to remember that the grace of God can be demonstrated to us by rest and sleep. If we aren’t paying attention, we may miss this facet of His grace for us.

I am not saying that trying to stay awake is always disobedience; it also can imply a great God-fearing desire or effort on the part of a person. King David said, “I will not enter my house or get into my bed, I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob” (Psalm 132:3-5). When our work is for the Lord and we’re within His will and purpose for us, He will give us the strength we need to stay awake to accomplish it if necessary. But those periods require discernment. Those periods are often only for a season. Rest is a need, and a gift God wants to give us as our trustworthy Shepherd; resting in Him, we experience His peace.

God the Father doesn’t sleep. He doesn’t need to! It is because of His work that we can rest: “He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.” (Psalm 121:3-5). That God is our keeper is such Good News! God shows us grace in every way, and one of them is to give us the assurance and rest of His strong Presence in our weakness.

I had a minor Peter, James, and John moment just this week. I fell asleep when I really needed to stay awake, and a domino effect of consequences followed. At first, I was upset with myself, but I soon realized God knew my heart, just like He knew that of His disciples’ that night in the Garden. He had already forgiven my weakness. I just needed to thank God for His understanding and let go to take the next step with Him.

While God made us all fearfully and wonderfully (Psalm 139:14), Jesus knew our weakness firsthand. Not only was He fully human, He saw how his best (human) friends couldn’t stay awake with Him. He knew then and knows now, we are jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:17), not steel. “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:13-14). Even in Jesus’ most difficult moment of anguish in His life to that moment in the Garden of Gethsemane, He showed incredible grace for the fragility of our human flesh, and continues to show us His amazing grace for our weaknesses. Can I get an amen?

If you ever feel reluctant to give yourself grace like me, remember in Jesus’ grace, you are already forgiven. He knows you are human, and He knows your heart. Leave unforgiveness at the cross, and find rest in His presence and peace today.

“The Lord bless you and keep you;  the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26).

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to Life with the King, and like & follow the Facebook page; it truly helps me continue writing this blog. Grace and peace.

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Called by Your Name

There is nothing more intimate than either giving your own or taking someone else’s name. It implies complete trust, total devotion, and displays to the world a staggering declaration of merged identity. Names help to identify us. True identity, however, goes deeper than our names. Our fundamental identity can be found at the very Beginning, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). Not only did God create us in His image, but He chooses to call us by His name (Daniel 9:19, Jeremiah 15:16). God, the King of Kings, calls us by His name.

While God’s name itself is somewhat mysterious, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14) to Moses, He clearly wanted to be known to us as a deeply relational God. He also told Moses that He is “. . . ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob . . . thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations” (Exodus 3:15). Whether we know His actual name or not, God identifies Himself to humanity as the God who has meaningful, faithful relationship with us.

Appealing to “the name of the Lord,” or to His character, is first mentioned in Scripture in relation to Abram (Abraham), in Genesis 12:8. This is shortly after the children of man’s Tower of Babel efforts failed in trying to “make a name for [them]selves” (Genesis 11:4). God then promised Abram that He would “make [his] name great, so that [he] will be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). No one can make a name for themselves on their own strength or efforts. Who we are relies entirely on who God is, thus only the names and purposes that He establishes will be able to stand.

Paul wrote to the Galatians, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:28-29). Jesus fulfilled the promises that God made to Abraham, so that we all can be called by God’s name, heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:17), sons and daughters of God the King. This is what I think of when I hear the phrase “identity in Christ.”

When we know the name we carry, we can only respond in humility and love for the Giver of our name. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). We find incredible grace and protection in God’s name, something the Old Testament prophets knew to long for, “…only let us be called by your name, take away our reproach” (Isaiah 4:1). Jesus’ name covers us, all of our identity, before God. Being saved from sin and death is to be called by Jesus’ name. In Jesus we are dead to sin, and alive in Him (Romans 6:11, 1 Corinthians 15:22). If you are a believer in Jesus, “. . . you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). There is True life in Jesus’ name. Halleluiah!

Our identities are secure in who God is, going back to the promise He made to Abram that “. . . in [him] all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3, Galatians 3:7-9). God has been faithful to fulfill that promise; it benefits us today as it’s not only brought Abraham’s blood descendants into covenant relationship with Him, but all people. Jesus’ sacrifice restores what sin distorted for us and our identity; in Christ we are made new, according to the will and loving purpose of the One who gave us our True name in the first place.

No matter what we’ve done, or what we may be going through, God loves us, relates Himself to us, identifies with us, and continues to make a Way for us to take joy in being called by His name. Amen.

“For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved‘” (Romans 10:13).

“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts” (Jeremiah 15:16).

“And whatever you do in, word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17).

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to Life with the King, and like & follow the Facebook page; it truly helps me continue writing this blog. Grace and peace.

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Being Renewed

Have you ever caught yourself starting to get worked up about something that doesn’t Truly matter? Thoughts start racing, blood starts boiling, and before you know it you could work yourself up into a mess of emotions. This is a cycle I felt like I couldn’t get out of. I struggled to catch myself before reaching the mess part, and I would just want to hide away from everything and everyone to avoid the exhaustion. What’s disturbing to me now is seeing this attitude celebrated, even encouraged. I’ve since learned that withdrawing from problems and connection is never the answer. But even I didn’t see much of an issue with it for a long time; it seemed like something I had to go through, just a part of living life.

Jesus gives us a way of living that is deeply rooted in grace, and He is faithful to renew us when and as we place our faith in Him. For Christians, this is a constant process, as we are to take up our cross daily and follow Him (Matthew 16:24, Luke 9:23). We are a new creation in Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17); living with an exhausting emotional and negative thought cycle doesn’t sound like freedom or new life to me. Paul writes about how, in the messiness of living, Jesus allows us to be renewed: “knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:14-16). Renewed, we don’t react the way we did before Jesus.

The grace God gives us through Jesus, when we allow Him to transform us, makes that “horrible” traffic, the “waste of time,” even an unmade decision, seem pretty insignificant. Grace allows us to think differently than we have before. It makes us remember that we are, in fact, made new, and there is another way to approach the things in life that used to feel overwhelming or emotionally charged. But even after we realize that, we still face temptation on a daily basis to go back to the old way.

The enemy will tempt us to think that our emotional reaction is completely reasonable. That it’s completely okay to be consumed by emotions in the moment; after all, it can feel good to have something to complain about. Friends, I can say from personal experience that these are lies meant to pull us away from freedom. In Christ, we have been made new. We are no longer slave to react in a way that disrupts our emotional state and consumes all our thoughts. There is another way, and Jesus invites us to walk with Him through those moments. He doesn’t leave us to face our temptations alone in isolation, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit. Scripture tells us to walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). Paul writes, “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:24-25).

When we get distracted by the perceived injustice, slight, or inconvenience, we are tempted to let our hearts wander. Jesus said, “…’I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6), but when we allow our emotions (which can be helpful but never should be mistaken for Truth) to get the best of us, we’re distracted, and more easily tempted to start questioning the Truth. The every day experience of trying to live out our faith in and follow Jesus is vitally important.

How we think about everything, every moment, maybe even especially the “little” things in life, makes a difference with how much we can keep our eyes on Jesus. If we’re distracted, how can we follow Him?; we’ve taken our eyes off of Him! Yes, there is grace for those times too, but following Jesus takes intention and focus. I’m far from perfect, but when I am able to look to Jesus as my Shepherd when I’m about to lose my patience over the driver that cut me off, or the response I wasn’t looking for, that’s progress. I don’t spend hours trying to calm my heart rate. I don’t feel agitated all day. I don’t struggle to focus on the task at hand because I’m too busy plotting revenge. It’s the opposite of exhausting; it feels a lot like freedom!

Through life’s emotional journey, when I look at the person of Jesus, I have a chance at navigating life with grace. I take comfort that He’s made me new and empowered me with the Holy Spirit to resist temptation. I’m grateful to be learning this in practice more than ever lately, and I’m grateful you’re here with me, as we journey through this life together.

May we surrender our emotions to Jesus every day, every hour, every minute. God bless you. Amen.


“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:5-6).

 “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:2-4).

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to Life with the King, and like & follow the Facebook page; it truly helps me continue writing this blog. Grace and peace.

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Abide in His Love

Have you ever had a hard time letting something you did go that bothered you? It’s been a week like that for me. I have, over and over, let myself down. I’ve come from a poor attitude. I’ve had a lack mindset. I’ve felt an entitled spirit, on edge about everything, like I just can’t take another disappointment.

It’s cut off many connections, closing off opportunity for relationships to grow, all because I didn’t give the fear over to God before it took root in my spirit. The worst part of it was, I struggled to see it was happening in the moment. Once I did see it, I struggled to let it go. As I’ve felt this way many times in my life, I’ll guess that I’m not the only one who’s experienced this.

The whole be-transformed-by-the-renewal-of-your-mind thing (Romans 12:2) is really hitting home for me right now. I need to be renewed, and I know it. But, I can’t do it on my own; I need God to transform me. We cannot change our hearts by ourselves, we have to lay it all down before God and ask Him to change us by His grace.

I need to be reminded that I am completely reliant on God’s help to have a perspective of love and security in the Father’s love, not fear. In 2020, I wrote a blog called Compassion and Resting in Jesus. In times like this when I struggle, I’m reminded and take comfort in the fact that Jesus’ compassion and forgiveness is far bigger than the struggle. He offers us all a place of peace and compassion. Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me” (John 15:4). We are called—even commanded—in this passage to abide in Jesus. Abiding involves letting go of control and trusting Him and His love for us. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love” (1 John 4:18). We read here that love and fear simply don’t cooperate. Jesus is the only way beyond the grip of the spirit of fear.

Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Jesus also refers to Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). Abiding in Him involves staying close to Him, understanding and trusting His heart, will, and character, and relying on Him to lead us in all truth and life.

Despite how much fear or shame may sway us, we have no reason to doubt our identity in Christ, or that we are loved by Him. Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love” (John 15:9). Once we abide in Jesus, His love becomes ours. As we abide in Jesus, we can show and share His love, which is the most healing, restorative, and pure love there is. Abiding in Him is the best thing for us—that’s why He commanded it! It allows us to bear fruit; perhaps the most foundational fruit of life is that of love. “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).

My hope for myself, and for you, my friends, is to abide in Jesus and His love anew today. May we see His incredible love with fresh eyes, and see a little further just how deep and wide it truly goes! His love is far more powerful than even the most deadly spirit that would grind our lives and our love to a halt. His love is the only place of safety, and is the foundation of a fruitful life. May we let the Truth, that we are loved by Jesus and bought by His precious blood, reign in our hearts, minds, and spirits today. Amen.

“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 John 4:15-16).

“Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us” (1 John 3:24).

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to Life with the King, and like & follow the Facebook page; it truly helps me continue writing this blog. Grace and peace.

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He is Risen

Have you ever wondered why Jesus had to rise again? If He lived a perfect life, and died as a sacrificial Lamb so that our sins would be paid for, what is the meaning and significance of Jesus rising from the dead on the first Easter morning (other than the obviously impressive feat)? Didn’t He finish the work that He came to do when He died? None of the Jewish sacrificial lambs that were used for sin offerings were raised back to life, so why did Jesus have to be? 

Would our sins still be covered if He had remained in the grave? 

Jesus rose back to life to cover the penalty of death itself, not just our sinful nature and actions.

Jesus rose again to fulfill God’s covenant (Matthew 5:17-18). Lambs could cover a specific sin or a specific period of time of sin, according to the Law given by God to Moses, but no animal sacrifice could stop death itself. Only Jesus, as the once-and-for-all sacrifice of atonement for our sin was able to stop its penalty, death altogether, crumbling the very foundation of this terrible curse on humankind. He is risen, indeed!

Through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection, we can enter into the new covenant between God and man. By the new covenant in His blood, Jesus made a way for us, but only after He had fulfilled and accomplished the Law, which Scripture also calls the old covenant (1 Corinthians 3:14).

In Luke, we read of Jesus’ words to his disciples at the first communion meal during Passover, “And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood‘” (Luke 22:19-20). Jesus’ death and resurrection gives us the promise of life with God, and not just life, but one of enjoyment and fulfillment in His presence. Jesus’ blood sealed the covenant, or binding agreement, of God for all people to enjoy His presence, not just the Jews. Even the curtain in the temple that separated the area reserved for God’s presence from the people was torn when Jesus died (Matthew 27:50-52).

The covenant in Jesus’ blood makes a way, a path, for a life of experiencing God’s presence. Psalm 16:11 says, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” That “path of life” is provided by the new covenant, or promise, that God made through Jesus. In His death and resurrection, Jesus provides the path to experience God’s presence. 

The Holy Spirit is given to us when we trust that Jesus’ covenant applies to us, and He empowers us to walk that path. “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. …’” (Acts 2:38). In our new lives in Christ, we are graciously given the Holy Spirit. In our new lives in Christ, as Paul wrote, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Holy Spirit comforts, guides, and gives us peace and wisdom on our path. The Holy Spirit who lives in us, closer to our souls than the breath in our lungs, is the same Spirit Who dwells with Jesus.

In His kindness then, God allows us to share not only in Jesus’ death, but also in His resurrection. “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). We may live and experience God’s presence when we put our faith in Jesus; through Him we may enter into this new covenant promise. From Scripture, we can see that was His wonderful plan all along.

Without Jesus’ resurrection, we would not have hope of resurrection either. By faith, He allows us to be covered by the blood of His sacrifice on the cross so that the Father will see the purity and righteousness of Jesus when He sees us. As the Passover lamb’s blood over the Jews’ doorposts at the first Passover allowed death to pass over the house, Jesus’ new covenant blood over us allows us to not only avoid spiritual death but conquer it altogether. How amazing is that? “and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (Hebrews 12:24). 

We are alive with Christ Jesus

Jesus is alive today in many, for whom He poured out His blood of the new covenant. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” (Ephesians 2:4-6). Jesus has made God knowable and present with us, even today. 

As we continue to remember Jesus’ miraculous resurrection from the dead, the One who fulfilled a role we could not, and made the Presence of God available to us, may we rejoice in Him with all we are. I pray we would see Jesus not as a distant figure to be recognized at holiday times, but as our holy, perfect, loving, and ever-present Friend and Lord, who simply wants to be with us, loving and being loved by us. 

He is not as far as we may at times feel or be tempted to think; no, He is here. 

He is risen! Thanks be to God! 

“In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” (Hebrews 8:13). 

“But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14).

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to Life with the King, and like & follow the Facebook page; it truly helps me continue writing this blog. Grace and peace.

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A Holy Week

What a week I’ve had! It seems no coincidence that today during Holy Week, I am writing a blog post about completing my first full recording of a precious life legacy as part of my new business, Your Life with the King! Holy Week, or the week leading up to Easter, is also is known as the week in which God did great things, and I’m astounded at how God continues to do great things.

This week, being able to witness what God was doing in and through my friend’s life was a great thing. Listening to someone speak about their childhood, their family, their dreams, and their hopes for their children is sacred. It is a privilege and joy to be part of this work, something I could not do unless God was behind it. For perhaps the first time in my life, I can honestly say I love what I do. That’s only because God intervened in my own life and changed the way I was heading. Seeing the fruit of that now feels divine–dare I say, holy.

Jesus’ life was the ultimate legacy; He was the perfect example for us of loving God and loving others, and the One we can all place our hope in for salvation. Jesus is the King! He was celebrated as King at the start of the first Holy Week, what we now celebrate on Palm Sunday. Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey colt, an animal rather distinct from a regal horse which would have been associated with royalty. Yet, the King was prophesied to do exactly that in the prophetic Book of Zechariah: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). This event marked the beginning of Holy Week. He embodied the role of King, and then laid it all down on Good Friday, sacrificing His life for us, His subjects. His servant-hearted leadership in both His life and death displayed His holiness in a very unique way.

Talking to my friend about her life thus far with the King, Jesus, was humbling; it spoke to me of the holiness of Jesus and His intimate work in people’s hearts. Her faith in God carried her through many challenges. Her belief and trust in God gave her peace in unpeaceful circumstances. The miracle of God’s work in her life was apparent and so beautiful as she told her story.

The work of drawing out and recording stories lets me go directly to the source. I get to ask directly about what they’ve witnessed and what they’ve experienced. In the past I’d be more inclined to skirt around the subject, careful not to make anyone uncomfortable. But stepping into this work, I felt like God gave me a green light to be bold and walk in the work He gave me to do. In this life legacy work I’ve just begun, I’m not skirting around anything anymore. I get to ask the deep questions, draw out the gems from memories, and linger on the stories of God changing the trajectory of people’s lives, just like He did in mine.

Every person’s life story is holy. We are all set apart, uniquely gifted, and called by God. I am loving this new, holy work of stewarding people’s life stories. They never cease being powerful. Life stories are reminders of Truth. They all point back to the Author of all Life, our Holy King Jesus. This Holy Week, let’s be bold to tell our stories.

May we contemplate the holiness of Jesus, and celebrate all that God has done.

Amen.

“And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ they were indignant, and they said to him, ‘Do you hear what these are saying? And Jesus said to them, ‘Yes; have you never read, “Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise?‘” (Matthew 21:14-16).

“For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm! God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne” (Psalm 47:7-8).

‘…”He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.’ So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples” (Matthew 28:6-8).

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to Life with the King, and like & follow the Facebook page; it truly helps me continue writing this blog. Grace and peace.

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Fervent in Spirit

What does it look like to be fervent in spirit? The word fervency is one of my favorite words and has a special place in my heart. When I hear it, I think of conviction, assurance, and steadfastness. I love the term “fervency” because for me it doesn’t mean passion for passion’s sake, but implies a solid grounding in God’s Truth or calling, on which a passionate conviction is based. Two people in Scripture come to mind when I think about people who were fervent in spirit.

In Acts, a Jew named Apollos knew the truth of Scripture. Based on his actions, I would bet that Apollos wholeheartedly believed God’s character was faithful and loving to provide the Christ to save His people from careful study of God’s Word. When God empowered Apollos with fervency in spirit, Apollos spoke truth and became instrumental in spreading the gospel in the apostle Paul’s time of ministry. “Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John” (Acts 18:25). In reading about Apollos this week, I am struck by the fact that though he knew the truth, he waited until the right time from the Lord to speak about it. It led to his message being clarified by Pricilla and Aquila, and helping the new believers in Ephesus (Acts 18:27). I need to be reminded every day to wait for the Lord’s timing and for His empowerment to accomplish what He has given me to do.

Paul too knew the value and necessity of being fervent in spirit. In fact, he lists it among other marks of Christianity in his letter to the Romans, “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” (Romans 12:11-12). Fervency for the Lord and His Truth is so important, but yet can be so easy to drift away from. I’ve felt a drifting of heart as this season of spring has brought many things to do and opportunities opening up. All good things, but if I’m not intentional every day to be fervent in spirit for the Lord and His will, I can lose sight of Truth. I can depend on myself instead of God. I can drift in my relationship with Him.

I used to become discouraged about this fact, but now I am able to see how it can actually be helpful to deeply understand this human weakness. It highlights our deep, great need for God in every way; our flesh that aches to be replaced with His Spirit. Our need for God is always constant. We never reach a point in life when we need Him more or less; we need Him in every way, all the time. There is nothing we can do and no point in our lives that makes us need God less desperately or completely. It is humbling, but in it there is great freedom! We are perfectly held, carried, and sustained by God, and we never are expected to do anything on our own apart from Him. We have Him to guide us, as our Good Shepherd, through every moment of our lives (Psalm 23).

What freedom can come with accepting our need for God! It is only when I rely on God that I can truly enjoy the journey of life. In Christ Jesus, we can live free of trying to do and make things happen on our own. It seems harder for me as the year starts becoming busier and as the calendar gets full, but yet He makes the Way to rely on Him through each day. In the moments I feel overwhelmed, I can trust that God has all the details, and can ask Him to guide my next step. In the moments I am overbooked, I can stop blaming and shaming myself for the mistake and instead ask God to lead me in what He would have me do; even when that means disappointing someone else—or everyone else. What He would have us do is always best. We can live free when we rely on God.

I’ve noticed that when fervency in my own heart starts to falter, it stems from thinking in ways that aren’t true. When I second guess whether God really is reliable for this one thing and believing I need to rely on myself. Fervency runs dry when I forget that God is true to His character and can be fully trusted, even when doing His will can feel scary. And the amazing, good news of Jesus is that even in the moments I feel far from God and fervency feels like a distant memory, I can rely on the Truth of Scripture, that nothing will be able to separate me from God (Romans 8:38-29), even my own sin. I can trust, whether I second guess it or not, that He will never leave or forsake me (Hebrews 13:5).

Friends, keep fervent for the Lord! Be fervently after his own heart, like the Psalmist David (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22). Be fervently seeking Him in Scripture. Be fervent in bringing everything to Him, instead of holding onto it or hoarding it away to try to deal with on your own. Fervently bring everything before God, and watch how beautiful a free life in and through Him can be. May we have fervency of spirit used for His glory. Amen.

“Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day” (1 Kings 8:61).

“Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways! You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!” (Psalm 119:2-5).

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to Life with the King, and like & follow the Facebook page; it truly helps me continue writing this blog. Grace and peace.

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Introducing: Your Life with the King

I am so excited to officially announce a new branch of the Life with the King family, Your Life with the King. It is finally ready to share with you, after many months of prayer and preparation. I’m starting a business that helps people tell their life story. More on that in a moment.

Now looking back, Your Life with the King seems like the natural progression from what this blog originally started as back in 2019, a way to tell my own story in hopes that it would help others. But it wasn’t so clear to me at first. It started with a request from a longtime friend. Would I help her to video record her story for her kids to watch one day? Something special happened when I considered it; I experienced a sense of knowing and peace and energy. Ideas came flying into my mind as if they’d been placed there, in fact, much like the feeling I got when I knew I needed to start this blog. I knew I had to write it all down. This didn’t seem like a passing fantasy but instead, something God was telling me to follow Him into.

Still, it took months for me to make sure it wasn’t from me. I needed to be sure God wanted me to see the idea through. I prayed and thought about it. I tried to ignore it for a while to see what would happen. The idea came back, over and over. I talked to my sister about it, and she told me to keep seeking the Lord. If He was behind it, she was all in. Wait on the Lord. So I waited. Maybe this was something I was only supposed to consider for my friend.

Meanwhile, I felt more and more strongly over the months that I needed to create something new in the world. I didn’t want to try to align myself with an agenda or a vision statement created by someone else. I knew I needed to do something that aligned with what God gifted me in, something with writing, something that helps people, and something with meaning. Anything else, and it’d just be a fleeting dream that I’d abandon. I got a nagging feeling that I had wide gaps in resources. Then, without much effort on my part at all, I found a helpful class, and a webinar, and then a seminar. Suddenly I went from no support to all the support I needed in every area. I began to be reassured by the Lord. I began to have peace. The ideas aligned with the resources I now had. I soon felt a readiness, a drive forward. God gave me the green light.

So I bought the domain, I registered with the state, set up the accounts, and today I am thrilled to announce Your Life with the King is open for business!

When I couldn’t go on in my 9-5 anymore in 2024, I knew I had a long way to go. It would take a huge change to start living in a way I could thrive. I had no idea what that would look like at that time, as I wrote about in my blog post, Jesus’ Kingdom vs. my kingdom. I didn’t feel like there was a way out. But God. God always provides. He provides us with what we need to live fully and freely; to bring our gifts and talents to the people that need and appreciate them. I just had to be willing to take the leap. So today, I’m leaping.

About the business side of things, Your Life with the King provides a way for me to help you, your family, and friends, to record your legacy on video. In my mind, video is the next iteration of the book; video is the medium that future generations will gravitate to to hear stories. The Lord commands us as followers, “Write down for the coming generation what the Lord has done, so that people not yet born will praise Him” (Psalm 102:18 GNT). Your Life with the King makes that easy for you, and for the next generation as well. Each one of our stories is important and worth telling and knowing; I’m excited to help people do that! If you’re an entrepreneur, I want to help you record the story of the purpose behind your business and what drives you. If you’re a parent, I want to help you record your experiences, background, and faith stories for your family. If you’re a person who hasn’t told your life story yet, I’d love to help you do that.

As an academic at heart, I thoroughly research people, events, and experiences in people’s lives as a interviewer. I’ll then thoughtfully choose questions to help your stories shine. As a client of mine, you won’t have to perfectly choose every word as if you were writing the stories all on your own. I’ll expertly guide you through the process, using oral history research guidelines, previous podcast production experience, and the care of a compassionate listener. My interviews and the way I prepare and set you up will allow you to feel safe and supported as you speak about your life and experiences.

Now I can confidently say that I have been through many experiences in my life, and trust that I can draw out the best of my clients during conversations with empathy and safety. There is no story too scandalous, no person too broken. I welcome all to tell their stories. We need them. The next generations need them. We need to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Your Life with the King is an avenue that the Lord has given me to help see that vision through. It’s also the way that I now feel led by God to obey the command to “write down for the coming generation what the Lord has done” (Psalm 102:18).

I’ve written what God has done in my own life on the Life with the King blog for nearly 7 years. Now it’s your turn. Come over the Your Life with the King and share your story.

Grace and Peace.

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to Life with the King, and like & follow the Facebook page; it truly helps me continue writing this blog.

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Best Valentine’s Ever

Ten years ago this weekend, I had no idea that my journey with Jesus was about to take a meaningful turn. In 2016, on Friday the 13th right before Valentine’s Day, I was on a 4-hour drive to a concert with my sister and our friend.

That weekend, I drove through snow, even though I didn’t want to. I shared a room with other people, even though I didn’t want to. I prayed out loud, even though I didn’t want to. But I’m getting ahead of the story. It felt like I was starting a new life. Turns out, I really was.

We arrived safely through the snow to our hotel, and met with three of my sister’s friends, who I’d never met before. We all had tickets to see the Christian band, Kings Kaleidoscope, play later that evening. We did our nails together, got dressed in our concert best, and headed to the venue. After an amazing show and really a time of corporate worship where we got to stand right up front near the stage, we got back to the hotel and someone started prayer.

For the next hour or more, I was part of a prayer circle like nothing I had ever experienced before. There were heavy things being felt and carried by individuals in the group, many of those things were unknown to everyone, but each girl was prayed for uniquely in the Spirit with so much love. It was a night I don’t think I could ever forget. There was so much encouragement and a feeling of God’s Presence and Him carrying our burdens that it felt like I could be free in a way I hadn’t experienced before. Being supported in a community of women like that who were devoted to Jesus made a big impression on me, right at the time when I was starting to trust Jesus for myself again.

I experienced God’s love that Valentine’s weekend in community. That prayer circle was the church for me at a time when I wasn’t sure about attending to a church again. Those women set me on a trajectory of prayer that I’ll always be grateful for. Every single one was younger than me and had so much passion and wisdom in the Spirit as they sought Jesus. It put me in a state of awe and I was humbled to be a part of it. They gave me courage to pray aloud, to encourage them in return, and to love people in a way that I had been afraid to. It opened me up to a new realm of possibility in my faith and role in community.

Here at the ten year anniversary of that beautiful weekend, I am so grateful that God gave me that experience with other believers at that time in my faith journey, and allowed me to know beyond a doubt that He was present among us. I experienced in the most potent way, maybe to this day, the truth of the verse: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20).

So friends, let’s seek the Lord for our friends in the faith. For me, the love shown to me in that community of women was and is more precious than anything of this world. Let’s pray with our friends, not just for them. Being the church outside its walls stands the test of time. Ten years and counting.

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to Life with the King, and like & follow the Facebook page; it truly helps me continue writing this blog. Grace and peace.

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