Tag: Grace

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Dad with a Capital D

Scripture tells us that Judas was in charge of the money for Jesus and His disciples (John 12:6, John 13:29). Money, thirty pieces of silver to be exact, ended up being his downfall when he traded Jesus for it (Matthew 26:14-16). Jesus taught by example, and I have to believe Judas was put in charge of the money for good reason, even though he was a thief (John 12:6), to teach him, and to help him overcome his greed and the way it tempted him. By His life and work, Jesus showed Judas that life was more than money, and that God provides for every need. Jesus taught this to Judas regardless of the choices he would end up making. 

Similarly, Jesus gave his three closest disciples the task to watch and pray (Mark 14:34) while He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, awaiting capture. His command to watch and pray includes the reason, “so that you will not fall into temptation” (Mark 14:38), which struck me as odd the first few times I read it recently. What temptation could they be facing as they were trying to be a comforting presence to Jesus? On one level, the temptation to sleep was very present, the gospel accounts make the point that the disciples there with Jesus did not stay awake. But Jesus seems to be pointing to a greater temptation than sleep, rather, the temptation to fall away and desert Him. This temptation is still very present today, and we are constantly being faced with life lessons about this, feeling the life tension this particular temptation affords.  

God may task us with the things that tempt us the most for our good.

These two very universal examples of greed and disloyalty to God can be great lessons to us from our ever-present and patient yet good, Dad. What tempts you the most? Perhaps you’re already in a position where you are facing temptation with a capital “T” every day. This is what the disciples faced too. They were threatened with death for following Jesus, so the temptation to fall away was very strong. But Jesus knew that in order to love Him and love their neighbors, they would have to be free of their temptations to sin. He knew that surrendering their temptations to God was the way to avoid giving in to them. 

If we are struggling with temptation, we have the opportunity to face it with Christ and accept the freedom He provides from it. Trials such as these actually demonstrate God’s love for us and His work for the best for us, just as Jesus wanted the best for His disciples. He gave them all every opportunity to believe in Him and repent, even Judas, to the very end of his life.

Temptation that has not been faced still threatens to keep us captive, and Jesus told the disciples to face it head-on with God in prayer. God doesn’t want captivity for us, He wants the freedom which we were made for.

God’s lessons aren’t easy, but they teach us to be free. 

When we have need that only God can fill, but go to something else to be satisfied, we are choosing to be a slave to that something else. We give in to the temptation of idolatry when we run to anything but God to fulfill us. God does not desire us to be free of needs or desires, He gave them to us! Instead, He wants us to come to Him to fulfill them, not to anything else. Only He can fulfill all our needs and provide us with lasting satisfaction. Once we come to trust that this is true, we stop explaining it away, and we stop making excuses for our need for safety, security, power, control, love, and affection. This allows us to step into the fullness of Christ, but also into the fullness of ourselves, who we truly are. Letting go of all our very real and present needs and giving them to God instead of trying to meet them ourselves is key. This is where true freedom is for us as human beings.

Many people live their whole lives holding back who they truly are in order to get their needs met by temporal people or things. This is not how God intended us to live. Temptation is the refining fire, the lesson to learn, the test to prove how free we truly are–how fully and deeply we depend on God alone.

Not denying the truth anymore opens us up to being fully ourselves and fully alive.

James, the younger brother of Jesus, wrote, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4). These tests and trials he refers to are the temptations Jesus dealt with in his friends, things like greed and disloyalty to God out of fear. 

For many of us, coming to maturity in our freedom in Christ is a lifelong journey. But what if we could start living this way today? What if we lived as if just today, the veil was torn right before our eyes and we enjoyed deep intimacy with God in His presence for the first time? How much more free might we be today with our love for others? How much less would we concern ourselves with money when we are fully aware of how wealthy we are in His abundant presence? Would we give to and serve our neighbors differently? Love our friends and family differently? Be devoted to God on a new level? Let’s take the first step toward this life today, in faith that God will provide all we need to satisfy our desires.

God wants nothing to hold us back from abundant life with Him.

Friends, the Kingdom of Heaven is here on earth right now in us; we can start living as our fullest selves here and now. God desires to help us do that through the Holy Spirit. Are there needs we don’t we trust He can meet? Fears we don’t think He can’t soothe? Problems we don’t think He can solve? I encourage you to join me as I too wrestle with these questions in the presence of God. Today we can see what the disciples’ lessons were, but can we see and learn from our own? Let’s allow God to speak truth and life to all the things that we believe hinder our path to enjoying freedom in His present Kingdom. 

God created us to shape culture, to rule the earth with justice and mercy. When Jesus reigns in our hearts, we bring His Kingdom culture here and now. May we lay the hardest parts of our hearts, our ugliest sins, before the foot of the cross, and allow Jesus to redeem them all. Jesus already paid the price for them. He is the ever-patient Dad to us, never forcing even His love and presence, upon us. He loves you and never gives up on His design for your freedom. Today may we let Him love us despite it all. All truly is forgiven.  

Further Reading:

Garden City by John Mark Comer

The Welcoming Prayer by Thomas Keating

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The Character of Jesus

God is ageless; God always has been, is, and always will be. Yet, entering our human timeline as Jesus, He was fully human and fully God. As fully human, Jesus had chronological age while here on earth–thirty-three years. 

The chronological time we think of in our day-to-day schedules or even in the timeline of our lifetimes, in the Greek is the word chronos, or sequential, chronological time.  

Paul wrote in Romans 5:6: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” In Paul’s original Greek, the word for “right time” is kairos. Kairos means “the supreme moment of grace,” and it also means a call to action, or an opportune time. At kairos, the supreme moment of grace, after Jesus of Nazareth had lived as a human being for thirty-three years on this earth, God brought about a supreme moment of grace, THE moment of grace, that would also mark all of “chronos” time for every living being on this blue planet. 

There are some moments that are, in fact, meant to be, divinely ordained, especially set apart. And they work, not in opposition to sequential time, but still, somehow, outside of it. 

Just by being born in the place and manner that He was, the prophecies about Jesus were undeniable. King Herod committed heinous violence in the name of preserving his position of power when Jesus was around 2 years old (Matthew 2:13-16). God kept Jesus and His family safe from Herod and they successfully fled to Egypt. Before He could even talk, simply by entering the human timeline, Jesus defined the ages into what we now call Before Christ (B.C.) and After Death (A.D.). 

Humanity’s timeline was defined by Jesus coming into the world.

Jesus grew up living a fairly typical Jewish life after His early years in Egypt. Back in His hometown of Nazareth He learned carpentry, the trade of His earthly father, Joseph. In the gospel of Luke, there is a story about how Jesus stayed in the temple during His visit to the Passover festival in Jerusalem. He spoke with understanding and wisdom to the teachers there at just twelve years old. Jesus’ devotion to God was demonstrated even then, listening and learning in His Father’s house (Luke 2:42-50).  

Jesus is a loyal and faithful Son to His Father.

At about the age of thirty (Luke 3:23), Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan for 40 days, and passed this test, remaining steadfast in faithfulness to God. After being rejected by the people (nearly being thrown off a cliff) in Nazareth (Luke 4:28-29), He left and started developing close personal relationships with twelve particular men, His apostles, but also women, several of whom he cured of disease, including Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna (Luke 8:2-3). He taught them all by His living example, caring for their souls’ well-being, and speaking of the Kingdom of God. He also occasionally taught in parables that compelled them, even when they didn’t understand them.  

Jesus fiercely loves His friends and followers.

Thirty-three is the age many believe Jesus was when He suffered and died on the cross for the sins of the world. After just three years of ministry, healing people, gathering grain on the Sabbath, and criticizing the Jewish authorities’ contrary hearts, God brought about the kairos, the ordained moment, for Jesus to give up His life for you and for me. Jesus chose to seize the moment, not avoid it. He leaned into His role in the kairos of God out of His faithfulness and love. He was put to death as a threat to power, both according to the Jewish leadership and political (Roman) leadership. 

Growing up learning about Jesus I used to think thirty-three was pretty old, but it is not long at all to have fulfilled one’s entire life purpose, let alone God’s ultimate purpose for fulfilling His covenant with humanity. In thirty-three years, God turned flesh was able to make sure that everyone, Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles, had a Way through Himself to live in hope and peace with the Father. This Way remains open to us to this day!

Jesus is our self-sacrificially courageous Savior.

Though He was crucified at thirty-three years old, Jesus rose again. He is alive today, seated at the right hand of God. He is ruling and working on our behalf, interceding for us even now (Romans 8:34). 

Because of Jesus, life never ends for us, even when our bodies die. “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” (Romans 5:17). Jesus has demonstrated His characteristic loyalty, faithfulness, love, selflessness, and courage flawlessly, even being fully human. We can know Jesus is interceding for us with the Father because of who He is! He knows that we are dust, meaning we are weak and prone to sin, and yet, He has deep and active compassion for us all.  

Jesus is the present-day Ruler and King of all kings.

I’ll be turning thirty-three myself tomorrow. To be this age for me means sharing something, even in some small way, with Jesus. I feel it is a beautiful kairos, a moment to be celebrated and observed in light of God’s goodness. But it is not the only one, nor the last one. It is not the last chance. It is instead yet another invitation to enter into His unending grace. We have these invitations now, and at every moment, from Him, no matter what age we are or whether it is our birthday or not. 

And that, friends, is something to celebrate. 

“He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life” (Revelation 21:6). 

“He is not God of the dead, but of the living. …” (Mark 12:27). 

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

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What is God’s Grace?

Talking about the grace of God, especially during a verbal conversation, can sound very abstract, churchy, or vague. Even a very clear definition of God’s grace didn’t fully make sense to me until I came to faith in it for myself. For me, grace actually ended up being a lot more simple than I once thought it was.

God’s grace is the gift of life; it is also defined as the unmerited, unearnable gift of salvation that frees us from the consequences of inherited and committed sin.

It’s rather simple to describe, compared to the difficulty it can be to accept. After all, we aren’t used to accepting anything we didn’t earn. It’s easy for me to slip into feeling guilt and doubt that I ever had God’s grace in the first place, because I did no work to earn it! But that certainly doesn’t mean that these feelings align with the Truth. For Truth, we must look to God’s Word in Scripture: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

God’s grace is “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20), it’s part of God’s character to want the best for us and to love us, even more than we can comprehend. God doesn’t stop showing us grace when we begin our faith journey, but continually shows us grace upon grace as he works in our lives daily and teaches us more about Himself.  

Are there people excluded from God’s grace? 

No, and yes. Everyone who has ever existed is given the gift of life by God, even if just for a little while. That chance at life is a form of God’s grace. Everyone has something to be thankful for. So in that sense, no one is excluded from God’s grace. However, using the definition above that describes God’s grace as the gift of life and salvation, we have the ability to choose not to accept this gift that God offers us. One could decide to reject God’s grace. God will never force anyone to accept Him; that is a choice He leaves to each individual to decide for themselves. 

Can you lose God’s grace, or fall away from grace? 

When it comes to the consequences of sin, Jesus stated that, “…No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Those who rely on Jesus’ saving work on the cross have been promised salvation. It is still debated by Biblical scholars who have devoted their lives to these questions as to whether or not someone can then lose their salvation after they reach a point of repentance to Jesus. As I am certainly not an expert I will not be taking any guesses, but will encourage you to talk to God and to ask Him directly about this issue if it is weighing heavily on your heart. 

I will say that God loves everyone the same, He shows no favoritism, and He gives everyone unlimited grace in their lives, even until the very end. As 2 Peter 3:9 says of God, “…he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” That is God’s kind and generous heart toward us; again, it is ultimately our choice whether to accept His grace or not. 

How do you know you have God’s grace or that God’s grace is present in your life? 

It is normal to feel doubtful of God’s grace, at times it seems too good to be true, doesn’t it?! However, again, we look to the Truth in Scripture, “...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Having God’s grace does not depend on feelings (praise God!) but instead on believing in your heart that Jesus is who He said He is. If you believe this, the fullness of God’s amazing grace is present with you! No more striving or searching, you are covered by His grace. It is finished.

If you haven’t accepted God’s grace before, or want to renew your confession of faith, pray this simple prayer with me: God, thank you for Your amazing grace made flesh in Your Son, Jesus Christ. I confess that I have sinned and need salvation which I could never earn on my own strength. I believe that Jesus died to pay the penalty for my sins, and was raised to life again to defeat death which held me captive. I accept your gift of life and freedom to have life everlasting with You. Amen. 

Thanks be to God for His rich and abundant grace to restore us back to life in Him. 

Have a faith question and wish you could get a response? Send an email or drop me a comment to let me know your question. I just might respond in a blog post like this one!

Further reading:
Acts 15:11, Romans 4:4-5, 11:6

Thank you so much for spending some of your time journeying with me, it is truly an honor. Please be sure to subscribe to the blog, and like & follow the Facebook page for updates; it helps me continue writing about Life with the King. Grace and peace. 

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Characteristics of God: Merciful Master

How many times this year have you come to the end of a day when the darkness, pain, and suffering in the world has been starkly apparent to you, and just been glad that the day was ending? One of my favorite verses says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). How relieving to know that no matter what the day has been like, the mercies of God never end, and His mercy is refreshed and restored with the new day, every day. This verse has come to my mind many times, especially in this last year. It is a reminder that no matter what has happened, no matter how discouraged we may feel, we have good reason to end any day with gratefulness for God’s renewed mercy. 

This post continues the Characteristics of God series, where we will unpack the questions, Who is God and What is He like?

When I stop to think about it, the mercy God has shown to me is astounding. He has stayed present with me through everything, and has given me many, many chances to repent even when I resisted His presence. Even through all the horrors that have happened recently, God has shown mercy in countless lives, and has never left any one of us alone. Even when we reject Him and turn away from Him, He still gives us every chance to repent because the very essence of His character is merciful. “The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him;” (Daniel 9:9).  

Scripture declares that God shows mercy, and gives many examples of His merciful character. 

God Himself gave a beautiful, clear, and direct declaration about His own character in Exodus 34:6: “…’the LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty…’” This declaration to Moses is referred to multiple times in the Bible thereafter, in Psalms, Joel, Jonah, and Nehemiah. 

I want to focus here on the word merciful, the very first adjective that God uses to describe Himself in this passage. When the people He called by His own name made a golden calf to worship instead of Him, He was merciful. When people spit in the face of Jesus, He was merciful. When I rebelled and went my own way, He was merciful. How wonderfully we are blessed that God’s heart is ever-willing through every age to show mercy towards us! “Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God” (Nehemiah 9:31). 

We are completely at God’s mercy, but we can be abundantly thankful that He is indeed a merciful God. 

Justice is also a part of God’s character. Based on sin alone, we deserve death, we deserve to be forsaken by our holy and righteous God. But, because God’s very character is also merciful, He has made a way for us all through Jesus Christ to be freed from the debt of sin, a debt far too great for us to ever be able to pay. We were caught in sin with no way out, and it is by His mercy God renews, restores, and sustains the life we can now share with Him because of Jesus, who took our place on the cross. 

He is the giver of life now and forever and wants more than anything, even more than His own life, to give that life to us. “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit” (Psalm 51:12). The mercy of God is the source of our salvation and joy! I invite you to celebrate in that truth with me today, friends. Rejoicing is something that God invites us to do no matter the circumstances: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4). Rejoicing acknowledges (Proverbs 3:6) that God is merciful, and that His mercy runs deeper than all the brokenness in the world. 

God’s mercy gives us reason to rejoice no matter the circumstances.  

Where is your greatest need for God’s mercy today? Please be encouraged to talk to Him about it and let it all go into His capable hands. He wants you to rely on Him and trust Him with everything in your heart; there is nothing you can ever say that will keep Him from loving you (Romans 8:39).

The Role of Master

We often hear God described as our Father, comforter, and close friend, and while that is absolutely true, His characteristic of mercy implies that God also has powerful authority over us. He has ultimate control over our lives and should also be acknowledged as our Master. By paying our debt, He literally owns us. He could treat us in any way He wished, and be justified. Yet, He chooses to treat us with unending love, compassion, and, yes, mercy. He never takes advantage of us or manipulates us for His own end. 

The book of Psalms uses the analogy of the master’s relationship to his dependent servant for that of God with His people. Our dependence on God’s mercy is evident: “Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us” (Psalm 123:2). 

We are fully dependent on God’s mercy to provide for us. 

Because mercy is a characteristic of God, we can rest and rely on Him to be true to who He is, showing us mercy until the very end. All He asks is repentance, to turn from our sin and have faith that He is who He has always said He is. “Return, O faithless children, declares the Lord; for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion” (Jeremiah 3:14). By His mercy, He provides a home for us with Him.

Jesus also used a master and servant analogy in parables to describe our relationship with God, as in this verse: “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master’” (Matthew 25:21). This verse is not describing a works-based salvation, but one requiring faith and implying the mercy of the Master. There is far greater joy awaiting us with our Master in eternity than all the sorrow and pain of this world. Now that is something we can take confidence in rejoicing about!

Growing in Mercy

In receiving God’s rich and deep mercy, we have been given a priceless gift. Jesus taught that we have the responsibility to then go and show mercy to others: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).

We often hope for and perhaps even expect mercy from other people, but actually showing mercy toward others is often quite difficult when we are wronged or harmed. Showing mercy to others has no guarantee of instant gratification, or gratification at all. Jesus said, “Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours” (John 15:20). 

Showing mercy may result in some persecution. But, being generous with the mercy we ourselves have received from God provides opportunity to practice patience and forgiveness. When we show unselfish, compassionate mercy, we are actually bringing God’s Kingdom to earth here and now. I can think of no better way to provide evidence that God is real! Showing mercy is a beautiful way of demonstrating His love (John 13:35).  

People were certainly not always merciful toward Jesus, so we cannot expect people to always show mercy to us. While mercy from people is not guaranteed, we can take heart that God is always merciful; He Himself has declared and demonstrated it throughout Scripture, and in countless ways today. 

May we rejoice today in the unending mercy of God! 

“…Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13). 

“‘…Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You go, and do likewise’” (Luke 10:36-37). 

“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).

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

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The Fear of Death

Death is the last topic I thought I’d be writing about to kick off my blog’s second year. Yet, here we are; the highest highs always seem to bring to my mind the lowest lows right along with them. And perhaps that’s just as it should be. 

I’ve been taking morning walks lately, and one morning this week I walked to a park I haven’t been to for years, just outside of a well-manicured neighborhood. The park is all woodland, with a creek running through it. Once inside under the completely shaded canopy, I saw that the park itself seemed a completely different world from the sunny neighborhood just beyond. Instead of neatly trimmed grass, there was a mess of moss and fungi blanketing rotting logs. Instead of bushes full of blooms, there were downed trees with their roots exposed, brutally ripped up from the earth beneath. Instead of small blue jays or cardinals hopping about, there were two large, hulking black vultures, still and silent, perched in a pile of fallen leaves above the creek. 

These starkly different scenes just yards from each other perfectly illustrate how death and reminders of it are consciously kept out of sight and ignored as much as possible. 

Death is uncomfortable to think about.

Given how prevalent and obvious death is in this world, I’m interested in why this remains so. I certainly don’t have all the answers, but I do know that we all have an innate sense of the fragility of our lives and our loved ones’ lives. 

Even so, we have to keep surviving, right? No time to think about death when we’re trying to survive. However, there comes a point at which facing death becomes absolutely key to fully embracing our humanity.    

According to the Bible, humans gave up the option to ignore the knowledge of good and evil long ago (Genesis 3:6); we simply don’t have the luxury anymore of being unconscious of it. In a podcast interview, psychologist Jordan Peterson posed the idea that perhaps the remedy now is to be fully or “all the way” conscious of good and evil, since we can’t go back to being “unconscious.” I like this idea, but whether it’s correct or not I think it holds true with the Good News of Christ.

Along with the knowledge of good and evil comes a responsibility to face the good and evil in us.

To face the evil in us could also be described as becoming conscious of our own sin. This is exactly what we must understand before we can sincerely repent; C.S. Lewis talks about this in Mere Christianity. We realize the extent of our sin (evil) and the extent to which we need God’s grace (good) to free us from death’s grip. 

For repentance to come, we need to do something God didn’t design us to do–to stare death in the face. It is when we really see that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)–and that death forces us into something we were not created for–that we can understand all that we’ve been saved from by Jesus and how truly amazing His grace really is. 

Turning from our willful ignorance of death to follow Jesus, the Master of death, means we will stop avoiding it and trust that He’s bigger than death itself, as well as every one of our fears.

If we knew the Master of death better, we wouldn’t be so afraid of our own death. 

Jesus came to master death and set us free. To use the woodland analogy, Jesus came to lay His life down, like a fallen tree in the forest, that we might live like a newly sprouted seed from the soil He provided by His act of love. 

Yet, death is still worthy of being sad about, something to deeply mourn and to grieve. Separation from loved ones, though temporary for believers in Jesus, is still deeply painful and still very much a loss. I want to be very clear that it is okay to grieve, mourn, and be sad when it comes to death, no matter who it is, whether or not they were believers. Grief is not something to be brushed aside or ignored.  

When my Jewish grandfather passed away years ago, I was able to experience a community that faced death together in a beautiful way. The love and support of my grandmother’s friends and family was hugely beneficial, even for me in my own grieving process, as they came to simply be present and literally “sit” with her. Shiva following a Jewish burial typically lasts for seven days, providing not only community support but food for the grieving first-degree relatives. 

There is great value in appreciating the seriousness and weight of death and taking time to acknowledge what our hearts are feeling. 

While our culture has lost the skill of being open about death and understanding of grief, we don’t have to when we stay close to Jesus and understand the truth He brings–that death is not the end. Jesus Himself spoke openly about death. He was not afraid to do so, predicting his own death several times. People who had experienced death also came to him in a state of grief. He didn’t turn them away but even grieved with them (John 11:35). He even chose to raise the sick girl (Matthew 9:25), and His friend Lazarus (John 11:44) back to life. 

While I don’t think it is healthy for death to be excessively avoided as a topic of conversation, I also want to make a point to say that an excessive focus on death is not the answer to any problems either. It is only by understanding how God intended life that we can understand death and see it for what it is, no more, and no less. Romanticization of death glorifies the wrong god. 

Life is a gift from God. 

Examining our feelings about death along with the truth of the Bible can give us a deeper appreciation of life and its meaning. Reading Genesis, we find that death as we know it was never meant to be. We were not built for it! We were created to walk with God and eat from the Tree of Life. Death was not in the original plan. 

It is no wonder that it can be so devastating to us psychologically, physically, and spiritually! Knowing this, it is completely natural to avoid death, and it makes perfect sense that we would brush traces of death aside because innately we know what we were intended for.  

Facing death is so hard because God never intended for us to experience it in the first place. 

Death may never stop being hard to face, but it need not take us by surprise, as it so often does. With Jesus’ wisdom and grace, we can explore our knowledge of good and evil. 

We can let Him help us through to the other side of fear as we examine what He says about life and death. We can begin to safely open ourselves up to facing the realities of death when we trust Jesus and His love for us, for there is no fear in love (1 John 4:18). 

Christ and His love sets us free.

The bigger the debt of sin we have been forgiven from, the more we will love Jesus for canceling it. The story in Luke 7 gets me every time, when Jesus forgave the sinful woman with the alabaster jar of perfume. 

Her display of gratitude for forgiveness led Jesus to tell those in His company, “...Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little” (Luke 7:47). When we are conscious and aware of our sins, fully acknowledging our need like this woman, gratitude for our canceled debt leads us to a life full of love and peace. 

As I was headed back from that morning walk in the decaying woodland park, walking once again past neatly spaced out trees and colorful blossoms, these words came to my heart, “All that was lost will be restored to you.” 

That is what God does; He restores what is lost, damaged, sick, even dead, in and for us. 

The very first book of the Bible that was written was Job, which speaks to and confirms this simply, “If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored . . .” (Job 22:23).

The last book of the Bible speaks of the restored life that God will bring to His people: “[His servants] will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads” (Revelation 22:4). How amazing that the story (which is not ours but God’s) that is unfolding will end in God calling us, servants created to glorify and enjoy Him, by His own name. 

Think of the intimacy of giving someone else your name, or of taking someone else’s. That is the intimacy God intends for us to have with Him. What vulnerability and trust to be called by His name! Death is not the end, but rather this beautiful picture of restored, everlasting life in the family of God.

“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:5). 

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to the blog, it helps me continue writing about Life with the King. Grace and peace.  

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Life with the King Turns One!

Sharing words with the world has been one of the scariest and most rewarding decisions I’ve ever made. I’ve always loved writing, but only since last year did I get up the courage to share it for the world to read.

The idea to share a behind-the-scenes peek into Life with the King (LWTK) came from a question from one of YOU fantastic readers: Where did you start and how are you finding contentment and creativity in artistic style?

I always love hearing your ideas; thank you for reflecting with me on the first year of the Life with the King blog!

Why start writing in the first place?

Just like many of the stories I tell in this blog, it all started with an internal struggle. 

I have wanted to be a writer almost as long as I’ve been able to read. The problem was, I didn’t know what I would write about. The more I learned, the more I learned how much I didn’t know, and the more I doubted that what I had to say would be either new or helpful. 

I also knew that if my writing wasn’t vulnerable, it wouldn’t be great. And I wanted to write something great. I didn’t, however, want to be vulnerable. So, I put writing off. 

I journaled off and on; I wrote occasional poems and plays and essays. But I never called myself a writer.

I thought about starting a blog many times in my 20s. In 2012 I experimented with a travel blog and gleefully documented one of my trips nearly every day. But when it came to writing about life and meaning, the things that interested and fascinated me the most, the task seemed just beyond my reach. 

I can’t properly explain how, but I knew intuitively that I didn’t have the life experience yet to produce the depth of content that I wanted to be able to share. I was aware enough to know a well of wisdom about this topic existed, and also that I needed more years in flesh and blood reality to anchor whatever it is I’d write about in that wisdom. So I waited, telling myself I’d write something great someday, trying to make myself feel better about not really doing what I loved. I told myself for years that I just had to be patient. To trust that someday writing would find me again.

How did LWTK start? 

During my 20s, reality developed. I moved twice, had 3 jobs, 3 relationships, a family crisis or two, and a personal crisis of faith. Last year, I finally had a story that I was ready to tell. 

It was then that writing became something I could no longer not do. Speaking to the question of contentment, I was at a point where I just wasn’t content until I started taking steps toward sharing my story through writing. I took this as a clear signal that writing this story was at least part of what I was meant to do here on this earth. 

Yes, part of me felt it was a little self-indulgent to be writing about myself and my experience directly. But again the contentment wasn’t there until I sort of held my nose and did so. After all, writers must write what they know. Artists must express what they feel and observe. That’s the only way I know of to be honest, and honest writing is all I’d ever want to read. Or offer.  

Despite being completely terrified, I published my first blog post one year ago today. I told my friends, “If only one person is helped and doesn’t feel alone in their faith experience, it’ll all be worth it.”

Needless to say now, it’s been more than worth it. 

It’s been a life-giving creative outlet to write my story with the Lord, sharing what He has taught me in the process of rebuilding shattered faith. 

And there is so much more to share that goes beyond the scope of this blog. My hopes to write that book someday are now more alive than ever, all starting with saying “YES!” to obey that tug on my heart. 

Behind the Scenes 

To get a little more vulnerable still, the writing journey while mostly positive hasn’t been all rosey. There was so much passion and momentum when this began a year ago. Not only that, but I was also helped and inspired by my sister Abby, who had launched her own blog just a month before. In those first couple of weeks, we packed our laptops on our family beach trip to keep consistent with our blogging. Without an internet connection where we were staying, we simply got up early nearly every day and drove off to find air conditioned WiFi, leaving the family asleep to work on our writing together. The first few weeks were relatively easy because of the excitement around it and the forethought I had put into a handful of topics.

However writing on my own was harder. Topics eventually run out. Blogging took time, discipline, and energy that I had underestimated in the initial rush of novelty. I soon struggled to post blogs weekly, working a full time job as well as a part time job. Discouragement set in and I stopped posting for several weeks at a time, not because I wanted to stop, but because I had to. I couldn’t continue if I was associating the blog with a feeling I dreaded.  

Because I love this blog. It took a great deal of time, attention, and planning to get it up and running. I have pages and pages of notes just from working out what to call it. I talked to friends about their own blogs and what they learned along the way. The online hosting process alone took me weeks to set up. I set up a post structure to keep me focused before I ever started writing content. 

Just because it was tough and discouraging at times didn’t mean I was going to give up on the blog. 

And that’s exactly how God feels about us. 

God didn’t give up on me, even when I quit on Him. He will never give up on you either.

This time, I wasn’t going to let go of the opportunity I’d been given that easily; I had already done that whole letting-discouragement-stop-me thing in my 20s. Not anymore.

How do you feel about the blog now?

I remember telling my family this January, “I finally feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to do.” 

Writing is my act of obedience to God. There is meaning in the sharing of Life with the King, and that makes the pain I endured apart from Him have a purpose now. Writing is indeed my way of artistic expression. Bringing truth and light to the darkness is what God does. My aim for LWTK is to bring attention to what I see God doing. We all need a reminder to look for it, myself included.

Today, I can call myself a writer. Today, I can say that God is Good.

I hope Life with the King will continue to encourage you as it begins its second year; no matter how desperate or painful your faith journey might seem, God hasn’t and won’t ever give up on you. Even when you don’t see Him or experience His presence. Even when you don’t believe Him. There is still hope, and joy is still possible. 

Don’t give up. You are not alone, and there is grace even here. 

“I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever” (Psalm 145:1-2).

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to the blog, it helps me continue writing about Life with the King. Grace and peace.  

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A Closer Look at God’s Forgiveness

Do we really need to forgive ourselves?  

I’ve been seriously wrestling with this question for five years. I’ve fervently tried, but I was never able to feel settled with the statement that I had “forgiven myself.” 

The thing is, I knew I hadn’t fully. I wasn’t even sure I could. But I couldn’t ignore the fact that I am dust and just couldn’t shake the truth that without God’s grace through Jesus I am unforgivable, flawed, and hopelessly sinful. That is what makes God’s grace and Jesus’ sacrifice for us so incredibly difficult to comprehend. Offering grace to ourselves is not always an easy task, even on our best days. 

Lately I’ve been working very hard on accepting the truth, even if it’s not pretty or what I or others would want to hear. Jesus had to come and forgive me; I can’t forgive myself on my own. Without His grace (upon grace…) I am not gracious enough toward myself to forgive fully. I can’t pardon myself from the sins I’ve committed or fix my fallen nature. I can’t absolve myself of guilt. Only Jesus can do that.  

Forgiving ourselves is not done on our own strength, it’s about leaning on the forgiveness Jesus already offers to us.

I can’t shake the truth that I desperately need Jesus’ forgiveness. It is His forgiveness that allows me to forgive others, and myself. We are not meant to live under the weight of heavy guilt; instead, we are meant to live freely and lightly (Matthew 11:30). As He calls us to follow Him, He invites us to come to Him and accept the forgiveness He has for us. 

In accepting His forgiveness, we believe the unbelievable, that what God says really is true, and that Jesus’ work on the cross really was enough. We are made in His image, so we all have the capacity to forgive, but Jesus teaches us how to do this. Jesus enables us to forgive, wholly and truly, through and through.   

Through His amazing grace, we may extend complete grace to ourselves and others.

We can start to see ourselves through His eyes when we accept His forgiveness. And we might need to choose to accept it several times every day! Just as we have to choose to take up our cross daily, we must also choose to accept His forgiveness as we continue to make mistakes, doubt our own faith, or struggle to show grace to ourselves and others. 

Forgiveness is a choice God made in relation to us. We do not have to do anything to earn it, a strange feeling in our world where so much must be earned. Accepting God’s choice to forgive us despite what we may feel about ourselves at any given moment isn’t always so easy. (I mean, did He see what I did? If I’m disgusted in me, then surely He is, right?) Wrong. He loves and forgives us unconditionally. And He knew that you were going to do whatever it is you did, but that doesn’t change a thing. 

Jesus already paid the full price for our forgiveness. As we believe this, the Holy Spirit lives in us and loves us as part of His own family. This is the fact; feelings that keep us from believing we can be forgiven are not fact.  

It’s okay to give your feelings time to catch up with facts. 

It is not okay, however, to let feelings blind you to facts. The facts are that God loves you, Jesus paid the price for you, and that you are forgiven and free in Him. How amazing that we do not have to do anything more than believe to receive His forgiveness! And even more than this, His forgiveness empowers us to forgive to greater depths than we ever could on our own strength.                  

Yet, we are ever-tempted to give in to the false feelings that are not of God, of guilt and shame. For some of us, these feelings might be a comfortable place to be. But these feelings were never meant to linger and we were never meant to dwell among them. Jesus said, “...it is necessary that temptations come…” (Matthew 18:7). Temptations and disobedience will happen, but it doesn’t erase what God has done or who we are in Him at all. Guilt and shame must be dealt with yet moved through, for we are meant to dwell in Jesus’ freedom. 

When God leads us through temptations to the other side, He shows us who He is, for He walks with us the whole way.

Not only am I aware that I am dust, but God is aware too (Psalm 103:14), and He has mercy for that. He knows we will be tempted to choose not to believe the facts and go with our feelings. 

In fact, God uses even these temptations for His glory, “For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all” (Romans 11:32). He gives us no reason to fear. He knows we need Him, and He forgives us for being human.   

It’s okay to accept God’s forgiveness.  

In reference to Romans 8:33, the ESV Study Bible notes, “Satan, their enemies, or even their own consciences may bring charges against God’s elect, but those who have come to faith in Christ will never be found guilty, for God declares them to be right before all the world at the divine tribunal.”

This means we will face charges in our own thoughts and consciences, and it’s not a question of if but when–this will happen. It does not change the fact that Jesus Christ cleared us of our charges and forgave us. 

Asking God to forgive us, and believing He does, is enough.  

Paul wrote, “For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law (Romans 3:28). We do not have to work and do extra to earn forgiveness. Forgiveness is not earned, it is given. He asks us to have faith in Him; His forgiveness for us doesn’t depend on our striving or achieving. 

We don’t have to strive to earn freedom from guilt, instead, we are invited to have faith that we are forgiven. 

In Matthew, it says, “with God all things are possible” (19:26). As we struggle with forgiving ourselves, let us take heart in knowing that we can rest because of who Jesus is, what He has done, and what He, even now, is doing on our behalf; “Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Romans 8:34). 

Not only has he paid the price for our forgiveness, but He continually works on our behalf; we have no need to strive because of Him.

May we let it all rest in Jesus. 

“God is for us, so who can be against us” (Romans 8:31)?

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to the blog, it helps me continue writing about Life with the King. Grace and peace.  

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The Profound Sufficiency of Christ

The ugliness of this world has been exposed, maybe more than anyone alive today has ever seen, in these draining days of COVID-19, political unrest, and violence. Quarreling in and among friends over how to think about these issues seems to be the new norm. 

My soul, along with that of many others, is heavy for this world. The impact of the many stresses on society takes a toll on us individually, with deep uncertainty about the future. There is still no clear end in sight. This is nothing new under the sun, yet aspects are new to us and the globe. 

Can our souls find real rest in this kind of world? We will not find answers in delusion, nor will we will find them in the world itself. This world has never been sufficient to fulfill us, and that truth is now starkly apparent to all who are willing to see. 

I’ve been struck this week with the profound truth of Christ’s sufficiency, and wanted to share thoughts about His infinite goodness, even in the face of 2020. He knew of all the suffering and pain that would happen this year; He endured the painful weight of it on the cross long ago.   

What does Christ’s declaration, “My grace is sufficient” (2 Corinthians 12:9) mean for us?

There is hope in the midst of pain, even now! Especially now. Let us pause for a moment and let it sink in that even now, God has already provided for us, our every need, by His infinite grace. How immeasurable His grace is to completely cover the pain of this world! 

We can’t earn or make fulfillment for ourselves in this world no matter how much we try. There is no perfect human system that will “fix” everything or “solve the problems.” Should we still try? Absolutely. We certainly must seek justice and defend the oppressed (Isaiah 1:17) in every way we can. However, the world’s problems all stem from sin, which only Christ has the authority to address. Putting all of our hope (and attention) in human solutions will do nothing but let us down again.  

Hope that lasts can only be found in Christ. 

Christ Jesus declared through the Apostle Paul that His grace is sufficient. He has provided for the lasting fulfillment of each and every soul by addressing the sin that plagues it head on. His grace is sufficient to cover our sin–and the vast chasm that formed between us and God the Father when sin entered humanity. 

To clarify, I do not believe that God is at fault for our sin in any way. This world the way it is is not the result of God’s mess-up. I believe that after humans chose to sin, God then had a choice to make, and chose for sin to operate the way it does now for the ultimate good of all; as it is written, “For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all” (Romans 11:32).

It is God’s character not to set us up for failure, but to show us all His great mercy. 

His grace is sufficient to give us hope for a future in the presence of our merciful, good, loving Father. What Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12 of the sufficiency of Jesus speaks of hope in the midst of frustrating human limitation:        

“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 

But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ 

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:7b-10).

I can’t help but think of COVID-19 and long-standing physical violence as similar both to Paul’s “thorn” and to the “weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties” he endured. Disease and violence have plagued humanity for millennia, and they have clearly not gone away. Yet, by Jesus’ sufficient grace, we like Paul can delight even when these things are upon us. Jesus gives us the ability to delight in our lives in 2020!

Christ is not just sufficient to ease our minds about an afterlife, He is sufficient to give us life in the present. 

Romans 8:35 says that even tribulation, distress, persecution, danger, and sword are unable to separate us from the love of Jesus. His love and grace are what truly provide for our souls, which die without hope. Hopelessness and depression in this life are some of the worst things imaginable. Jesus continually meets us in this soul level struggle, meeting our deepest needs and insufficiencies today. 

As we walk through life today, let us take hope in the amazing truth that Christ Jesus is sufficient for us. Even and perhaps particularly amidst weakness and difficulty, He is sufficient. Jesus may not take away this world’s troubles (John 16:33) immediately, but He provides unending grace that is sufficient to satisfy our souls’ longing for fulfillment and hope.   

Jesus is enough to cover every need.

His goodness is vast enough to cover all that our own human goodness cannot. He is sufficient to cover every longing. He is sufficient to give us hope.

Christ is sufficient. 

By His sufficient grace, may Jesus change our hearts, strengthening us to step into life, freedom, and hope right where we are today.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

“…If God is for us who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn?” (Romans 8:31b-34a).

“…in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, not angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39). 

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to the blog, as it really helps me continue writing about Life with the King. Grace and peace to you.

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Compassion and Resting in Jesus

I wasn’t planning to address the current global pandemic, but it’s so heavily on my heart that I have to acknowledge it in some way. I take great care that everything I post here comes from an honest place. If what I write doesn’t feel honest, I don’t post. Period. So please pardon my extra honesty about compassion, which can be brought to any situation or any time. The COVID-19 situation just underlines its importance all the more.  

I want to admit that especially in the face of the world’s current state of uncertainty, I get easily worn out emotionally. I’ve been more moody than usual, as the emotional enneagram type 4 that I am. I’m not scared for myself so much, but my heart breaks for the world, the country, the state, and the people who are most vulnerable right now–including several family members. 

History with MRSA

About fourteen years ago, my family began dealing with a highly contagious bacteria called MRSA, a deadly staph infection. My dad brought it home from the nursing home where he worked. I watched the extreme anxiety of washing, wiping, and disinfecting everything—our sheets, our clothes, our skin—wear heavily on us all, Mom in particular. The infection would seem to be healed for a few weeks, we would start to breathe easier again, but then suddenly, the infection would recur. This happened several times over a series of long, agonizing months. 

With time Dad recovered, and slowly, the black mood lifted as household life returned to normal–but not without scars. I’ve been forced to revisit my scars as the trauma and familiar anxiety of those terrible MRSA months have flooded back to me in the last week or two due to COVID-19, and the emotions simply overwhelm me at times. As then, I pray. I sleep when I can. I wait. Focus on my work becomes harder and more important to my mental health. Staying hopeful becomes an even higher priority.

This is not new for me, but it is for most of the world–the US in particular. As someone who relies heavily on intuition and empathizes deeply with others, it’s been a difficult week, and from what it sounds like, we all have a while to go.  

So how do we cope? What do we do when we have no experience with something this widespread and dangerous but have to face it anyway? For better or worse, I actually have some real-life experience to draw from having gone through a long, terrible fight with a deadly strain of MRSA in my household. 

The only way I’ve found to get through uncertainty of any kind is by resting in the certain love and compassion of Jesus. 

Jesus does not want us to live in a state of heightened anxiety and stress; it’s no way to live, from a physical, spiritual, emotional, or mental health standpoint. In the New Testament, Peter wrote, “[cast] all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). Jesus cares about what we’re going through. He offers to do something about our anxieties. He offers to take them upon Himself.

The Compassion of Jesus

Jesus’ compassionate presence is reliable even when nothing else is. Matthew 9:36-38 says, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’” 

What a beautiful picture of compassion! Here Jesus’ heart is clearly with the most vulnerable. Throughout the Bible, God shows His compassionate nature, for example by not abandoning his people in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt. By rescuing and delivering his people from oppressive enemies. By strengthening and restoring them. Answering them. Sparing them. Forgiving them. Comforting them. Providing for them. Jesus showed compassion in His life on this earth by healing, feeding, giving sight, and teaching the people. 

Jesus then brought the compassionate work of God to a head by making the Way to reconciliation and forgiveness of sins. 

In the midst of MRSA and now in the midst of COVID-19, He assures that through Him, our souls are safe from harm. He brought eternal healing to our mortal souls by His grace, love, and compassion. With that assurance, fear has no place to take hold of us. Jesus was and is the source of my hope, even in “the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23:4). Jesus is worth trusting in. Jesus himself said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Friends, let’s take heart together. 

We are not designed to handle such heavy burdens on our own. While we certainly must do what we can to protect ourselves and others, we are not in control, no matter how many times we wash our hands or how carefully we hoard supplies. Only God can handle a burden as heavy as an incurable illness or a global pandemic. He is our true, everlasting place of peace, comfort, and rest. 

Jesus is the only place our weary souls can take a real rest. 

We all have emotions, and they are all valid. However, the way we feel changes constantly and, if you’re anything like me, it’s typically not in line with what is True. We mustn’t allow our emotions to go so far as to replace Truth with hysteria and a general sense of doom. What the world easily forgets, what we must hold onto, is the truth that God’s presence and help is always available to us. 

We always can choose a different point of view in the face of fear when we follow the God of love. 

God gave us the precious ability to choose for ourselves how we live, what we focus our minds on, and how we treat others. We can also show love to ourselves by choosing to think healthy, life-affirming thoughts in line with the Word of God. We can also choose to love our neighbors in creative ways, because God “first loved us” (1 John 4:19). He gives us His love so that we can show love. 

We get to choose where our hope is found, no matter what is going on around us. Friends, I can tell you from experience that putting all hope in disinfecting practices and medical expert advice is shaky ground. By setting our hope first on the saving work of Jesus, we have a firm foundation for and ability to rest. 

Jesus longs for us to draw close to Him. He loves and cares for us more deeply than we can even know. He is always waiting for us with open arms. In the midst of whatever we are going though, He is there and able to handle whatever burdens and pain we bring to His feet.    

Jesus is in the business of restoration and healing. 

He is merciful and just; “our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). Jesus is working, even when we don’t see it, to heal and restore. That’s just who He is and what He does. 

We don’t have to live in fear because no matter what happens, He will bring restoration and healing in the end thanks to his unending compassion for us. When we practice compassion ourselves, we take part in bringing the Kingdom of God to this earth, the Kingdom that first broke in when Jesus came. 

We can continue His Kingdom work right now, as we abide in His Spirit of compassion. It is through His Spirit that we have the capacity to love and serve. Compassion is the opportunity we have every day and particularly right now. While the world is fearful and hurting, “like sheep without a shepherd,” Jesus invites us to come to Him. Let us find rest in Jesus, the one True Shepherd of souls, and show His love and compassion in whatever ways we can. It will not only help bring healing to others, but it will also aid in our own healing.  

Self Compassion

While compassion is often thought of as being directed toward others, it is equally important to have compassion for ourselves. Particularly as anxieties and fears shudder through us, and as experiences and situations contradict our hope, we must be patient with ourselves. We need to make sure not to skip over giving ourselves the same grace that Jesus has already given us. He knows “we are dust” (Psalm 103:14); we are human beings, and we have weaknesses. That’s okay. For some of us this can be hard to accept, but it’s essential to understand it. 

We won’t be able to accept Jesus’ grace if we cannot grant ourselves enough grace to receive it. 

We must show ourselves the same compassion, kindness, gentleness and patience that we would show to our closest, dearest friend. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12). This isn’t easy; I am saying this as a reminder to myself too, and am working on this along with you!

I recently read a quote that said, “the ‘little things’ aren’t as little as you think.” How you treat yourself moment by moment, how you talk to yourself, might seem like a small thing in the grand scheme of everything else, but it makes a big difference to show compassion in those in-between moments. Friends, don’t forget to be gentle with yourself. 

While we can’t control what happens, we can control how we respond. Let’s respond with the love and compassion of Jesus, especially towards ourselves, in this difficult time. 

God sees us as worth loving, so we should too! 

God is a God of compassion. He cares for us as a good father cares for the best interests of his own child.  Just as love is a choice, it is also a choice to show compassion toward yourself and others. We are His children through our faith and reliance on the saving work of Jesus. He shows us radical, profound love, grace, and mercy which we can experience fully when we trust Him. 

Jesus had great compassion for people, and by looking at His life on earth we are given an amazing example of what it looks like to practice the art of compassion, for ourselves and others. 

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:31-32).

Compassion will run out if our source is not Jesus Himself. 

Our humanity limits the extent to which we, in our own strength, are capable of showing compassion. It is only when we lean on Jesus’ strength and forgiving work that our compassion for others won’t run dry. 

The way of rest and restoration is found only in Jesus, friends. May all the compassion you show inspire others to hope in the promise of healing that Jesus fulfills.

Sometimes disasters help us run into God’s arms all the faster and more fervently. In this season as the world is experiencing disasters of all kinds and we are urged toward social distancing, may we ever draw closer to our compassionate, loving Father. 

“But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love” (Nehemiah 9:17).   

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail” (Lamentations 3:22).  


“a bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; and in his name the Gentiles will hope” (Matthew 12:20-21). 

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Royal Identity

Happy 2020! I’m so excited to finally dive into the topic of identity. Understanding my identity and identity as God defines it changed everything for me in 2015. Identity was the key to regaining faith in God after I had lost every last drop of it. I used to define myself in all kinds of ways–by how good I was at my job, how I saw myself, how others saw me, what I knew and the kinds of questions I asked, the places I’d been . . . you get the idea. I’d also “try on” new identities when I found them to see if they’d fit. Nothing ever satisfied for long. It wasn’t until I realized I didn’t actually understand God or who He really is or the truth about why He made humans to begin with. Once I discovered that for myself in my own time, my identity became much more clear. Did you know that royalty is in our blood? (Genesis 1:26, 1:28). I certainly didn’t. But it’s True!

God made humans to rule the Earth. 

We all have a deep-seated desire to rule, to bring order, to make something out of the world and our place in it. That’s not by accident. In John Mark Comer’s book Garden City, he unpacks this idea that we were always meant to reign, to work, make culture, build cities, and help people and animals thrive. We are actually designed as rulers of the Earth–we are kings and queens by birth. 

We were never meant to die or leave this Earth but instead to rule it, reign over it, and enjoy it. Comer writes that it’s in our blood to desire greatness, because that’s who we really are. We descend from kings and queens, and we are designed to be kings and queens. How often do we live like we believe that?

You don’t have to strive to become somebody because you already ARE somebody. 

Awareness of my sin blinded me to this identity for myself, and sometimes still does. I used to believe that if God was real, He had made me a sinner. From a very young age I recognized the pain I caused to myself and others and resented it and myself for it. In other words, I believed it was God’s fault that I was born “bad,” so why would I want to try to be anything better than I was? Shouldn’t I just embrace who I am, push others to do the same, and leave it at that? After all, that’s what Western culture fights for and tells us we should fight for too. Why would I want or need forgiveness from God like Christianity teaches if I couldn’t help but to be “bad” in the first place? Seemed pretty unfair to me. How could a good God send anyone to hell if He set us up to fail by making us sinful? But that’s a lie I believed. The truth is that God made us to rule. 

Discovering and knowing that God didn’t set us up to fail was everything for me. 

I knew there was a disconnect in holding this belief but no answers made sense to me for years. Eventually I asked the question, “Do I really know who God is?” The answer was a resounding no. Instead of a God of mixed and confusing messages, I slowly came to know God as the Creator of a beautiful Earth and the Creator of humans to rule over it, take care of it, and thrive. I came to know God as a loving, holy Father who always intended the best for us, and who created us good, in His Good image, to represent Him on Earth. I came to know God as the good, loving, merciful, faithful, sacrificial, kind, and patient God He is. Understanding Him not as the condemner to hell but as the Savior of souls that have wandered away from God’s design, longing for rest and peace. Instead of focusing on what confusion my pain caused, my thinking started to transform when focusing on the loving heart of God and His original intentions for us. 

Knowing God’s love, all the pain, sin, and shame of my past just doesn’t matter anymore.

I mean, it still really sucks that we can’t rule as God originally designed. While royalty is in our DNA, sin crept into our hearts at the Fall and has been around ever since. In other words, we messed up our chance to rule the world as our natures predispose us to do. Instead, we were given a second chance by God in the form of a choice. That’s where the best news comes in.  God allows us to choose whether or not to submit to His authority to get back to His design. Jesus, God in the flesh, took on our sin by His amazing grace and He now rules the Earth in our place, because we could not. Now, we must let God take care of the world. We can no longer rule the Earth on our own because sin entered into the world and our egos twisted the desire to rule for common good into the desire to rule for personal glory. But we may reign with Jesus over the Earth for all eternity as God’s design intended. All He asks is to trust in Him. 

The end of the story is hopeful! Nothing could ever stop God’s design, it will come about regardless of human decisions. But God gives us the chance to reenter His design through believing in Jesus’ sacrifice covering the debt of sin we are responsible for. God in the flesh, Jesus, came to save our souls from separation from God. He fulfilled the human’s purpose to rule the world where Adam and Eve could not rule. 

We are kings and queens because the King of all made it so. Not because of anything we’ve done, not because we deserved it, but because of the grace of the one True King. 

Sometimes it takes hitting a low point like I did to realize there’s more to life than being born, working, maybe marrying or procreating, and definitely dying. There’s not only pain. Love is here. No amount of sin could wipe it out. Love is the reason you are here, and God doesn’t leave you alone in the mess of pain and suffering. He loved us so much He was willing to do anything to get us out of the mess and cycle of destruction we inherited from our ancestors, the human kings and queens of old. He doesn’t just show us kindness once in a while, when things in life seem to be going well, He doesn’t only think about us when we think about Him or pray to Him. He is kind and good to us all the time. He thinks about us always, wanting the best for us. Jesus provided the Way for us to get out of the mess of sin that distracts, destroys, and deceives us and allows us to live in the peace and joy of knowing Him and following His Way, his plan for your identity. 

We were not made to suffer and die. We were made to rule. 

You have purpose. You have value. You ARE somebody. You are precious, valued, and loved beyond what you or I or any human being can comprehend. 

The King of kings has given us an identity, a name, a purpose that no doubt or sin can ever erase. 

May we live as the kings and queens God made us to be, now and for eternity. 

Further suggested reading: Garden City by John Mark Comer

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