Tag: Jesus

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Fear of a Relational God

I’ve been thinking about Abraham lately, known as “the friend of God.” There are a few human beings that scholars would consider to be God’s friends, including Moses, who I wrote about in a previous post, Faithful Friend. Abraham is a fascinating character in the Bible, willing to give up his long-awaited, only son Isaac out of obedience, respect, and righteous fear of God.

As God’s friend, Abraham knew many facets of God’s character (check out my Characteristics of God series for a non-comprehensive list!). He knew God is not just a great friend, but that God was One to be feared. Abraham obeyed out of a healthy fear of God. In fact, fear was what God’s test for Abraham was all about. Just before Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac, “He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me” (Genesis 21:17). God was looking for a reverent fear of Him in Abraham’s heart and is looking for it in our hearts today.

I’ve also been thinking about the many roles of relationship God fills for those of us who seek and follow Him–He’s like a father who protects and disciplines, He’s like a mother who comforts and nurtures, He’s like a friend who we confide in and consult with. God is all and more for us. God’s essence is pure relationship, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; He miraculously, staggeringly, incredibly invites us into that amazing, harmonious, loving relationship between the Three Persons, not because He is lonely in the least, but because it’s the greatest relationship ever and He wants us to be in on it!

Deep relationship with God and the fear of God, then, seem to be very much intertwined. Knowing God’s character requires us to know and trust Him and His character enough to obey Him, even when it seems illogical or senseless–especially then. That means putting aside fears of looking silly or embarrassed in front of people, and fearing the consequences of disobeying our trusted Friend and all-powerful God more.

Have you ever sinned and immediately felt the separation from relationship with God? Felt it suddenly become a little more difficult to talk to Him or listen to Him? When that happened to me, I understood what fearing God looked like in real life better. Knowing how good having close relationship with God is made me start to fear losing it. When we lose it, it can be so much harder to discern His will for us. Close relationship with God is health and life and thriving, no matter the circumstances of our lives. Yes, He’s THAT good!

Just today I was reading about king Asa, the great great grandson of king David, one of the few kings who “did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God” (2 Chronicles 14:2). There was peace for years under Asa’s reign, but when an army of a million came against Asa’s army of 580,000, he didn’t panic. Asa cried out to God, and God not only defeated the army, but it “fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the Lord and his army” (2 Chronicles 14:13b). That’s what reliance on the Lord looks like. When we rely on Jesus, He defeats anything that tries to kill, steal, and destroy our spirit.

After Scripture explains how the enemy army fell before Asa’s army, it says, “they [Asa’s army] attacked all the cities…for the fear of the Lord was upon them…” (2 Chronicles 14:14). God’s power and strength was demonstrated through the army, even though they weren’t even 6 to the enemy’s 10. When the odds were not in their favor, just as with David against Goliath, Daniel in the den of lions, and many other examples, God was in their favor and that is all that matters in the end.

And that’s all that matters in the end for us today. God has already conquered the sin that keeps us apart from Him through Jesus’ sacrifice for our sin. But to fully share in His victory, He invites us into relationship with Him. God wants us to seek Him and know His character. To know Him IS to fear Him, and He is worth fearing. A healthy fear of God involves reverence, devotion, obedience, and at the times when it keeps us within His will and not our own, a fear also of the consequences of God’s displeasure.

We see God’s displeasure with people lead to their demise often in the Old Testament. But even in the New Testament, fear of God’s displeasure with the contrivances and deceit of the heart is found in the story of Ananias and Sapphira, who lied to the community of believers they were a part of and to the Holy Spirit about money given to their ministry (Acts 5: 1-11). A fear of God came over everyone in the community when they saw that Ananias and Sapphira had received God’s divine judgment for their sin of lying. Their actions went directly against God’s work in building trust and unity. Peter told Ananias that Satan, who is also called the father of lies (John 8:44), had filled their hearts, instead of God’s Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3). God is infinitely more powerful than Satan, and is to be feared above anything that Satan could ever do.

God is patiently waiting for our hearts to be turned toward Him, and He invites us to trust Him and obey Him and seek relationship with Him. He is always speaking to us, always desiring deeper relationship with us. He is always present, and He never leaves us. May we have the fear of God, and may we stand with Jesus in His eternal victory! Amen.

“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).

“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:3-5).

“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

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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Endure Until the End

It is a heroic characteristic to endure. If we are able to have the blessing of sticking it out in this life, we endure its hardships and suffering. But movies send the misleading message that right after hardship, things immediately get better and stay that way. Reality, however, doesn’t pan out that way. Yet, because Jesus gives us hope beyond this world, we can endure, and if we have the faith, we can also trust that Jesus will make it all worth it in His Kingdom.

Jesus said of the end times, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:12-12). We aren’t promised better times; in fact, we are assured that the wickedness we must endure will get progressively worse.

Love must not grow cold in us, but must be kept warm in our hearts in order to endure, and we are warned that most people will fail at this. It is love that indicates our ability to stand firm to the very end.

Love is first on the list of fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22. In my own experience, love is not possible without the help of the Holy Spirit. I am keenly aware how much my flesh opposes love, a tension I’ve wrestled hard with; the world tells us we “love” each other just fine thank you very much, but the world’s love is not God’s unselfish, uninhibited, deeply caring, unconditional, eternity-enduring LOVE. The flesh, or the desire for self-preservation and avoidance of pain, gets annoyingly in the way of that kind of love.

To die to self is the only way to let the God-given, miraculous kind of love flow through us, and to choose to live by the Spirit instead of the flesh. As far as I’ve been able to learn in my journey, to deny the flesh and live by the Spirit is what we must do to be able to endure in love until the end of this age.

On days like today, my flesh wants to enter into the world’s system and way, and fight on my own strength from a place of fear disguised as anger and a sense of rightful injustice. Today I need to work extra hard to remember the Truth–that “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:14). And that we are not of this world, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,” (Philippians 3:20). We are to seek first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33), (because isn’t that hard enough for us?), and trust that God will provide, no matter how bad things look.

A necessary disclaimer I must add here is that of course I know that there are those whom God has given the strength to work for justice in this world, even among the increase of wickedness, and they are doing good and necessary work that I admire and applaud. But anyone who works against the tide of wickedness and endure in love must be given a God-given purpose in their work, not of fear. It’s the fear-driven anger I feel that tells me that work is not mine to do. And that is the perspective I’m coming from it all with today.

Things are getting harder. But God has not let us be blindsided by this fact; He warned us long ago. And He calls us to endure. Endure in faith. Endure in love. Endure in hope. “Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted” (Hebrews 12:3). To endure, we must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Amen.

Remember that out of great tribulation comes a promise, “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:16-17).

“Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord‘” (Romans 12:17-19).

“Therefore as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Colossians 3: 12-14).

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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Connection to Jesus

Life is full of distractions, and our 2025 technology seems to have accelerated them to the point of using our own brains against us, to keep us feeding on the unending stream of things being sold, joked about, discussed with reverence or respect, whatever package you prefer them to be in. The algorithms can pinpoint your preferences with all the research behind gambling psychology. We all have so much to contend with to get a quiet moment away from technology. But what happens when we finally find that quiet moment to connect with God?

What about when reading the Bible doesn’t feel dynamic and alive, but instead feels like a chore to check off the list? This is the point I recently reached, and realized my connection with Jesus had dropped out of the interaction entirely when I tried to read the Bible. I knew something was wrong, and needed to get honest about it. I discovered that when reading the Bible became stale to my overstimulated brain, so did my relational connection to Jesus. I needed to repent over the condition of my heart, which had become too cluttered to connect in the ways I’d come to expect or take for granted.

I’m reminded of the parable of the seed found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, specifically when the seed falls among thorns, but the thorns choke the plants. In Luke, Jesus explains the meaning of the parable to His curious apostles, “The seed [the word of God] that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature” (Luke 8:14). I believe we have, are, or will all be in the position of experiencing the thorns in our soil in some season of life. We all have to contend with how we live in the world around us that constantly distracts for gains, fear, and has no problem using lies to spread that fear. It can be easy to fall into worry or numbing with the pleasures available to us in this world just to avoid the feeling or responsibility for a moment.

But here in this same parable, Jesus tells us there is another way. Being good soil is possible for us through Him. Connecting with Him is available to us. To not be distracted from Jesus by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this world actually IS possible. Jesus tells us we will know we are in Him by the crop [of the Fruits of the Spirit] we produce (Luke 8:15). Are we walking in the love, peace, and joy that this world may see as foolish and naive but that comes from Jesus, who sees and acknowledges every tear shed on this earth and has promised to wipe every tear from our eyes? (Revelation 7:17). Are we acting in self control towards our vices by surrendering our weaknesses to Jesus or are we trying to control the vices on our own and giving in to them every time?

Many, many people are distracted in many different ways from connecting with Jesus, and they may even act happy about the way it’s going in their lives. I’ve witnessed many people that have convinced themselves they are content with the way things are. They like the game the world plays and get a thrill in playing along. But I’m not convinced, not for a moment. Deep down in their souls, they know it’s not fulfilling, lasting, or life-giving. It’s merely surviving, not thriving. We were all created to thrive, abiding deeply in connection to Jesus our Savior and King. Nothing else will satisfy. There is no other way.

So today, if you’ve been choked by life’s worries, riches, and pleasures to the point of aiming to please the world or men and not God, I invite you to surrender it all to Jesus. Surrender your life and you will gain it (Matthew 16:25). Friends, there is no other way.

The only way I’ve found to be okay with losing my life, is to take the time in the Bible, His Living Word, to know and trust Jesus. I couldn’t trust Him without knowing Him, and don’t know of anybody who could. To do that takes curiosity, sometimes desperation, to find that there has to be more to life available to us than what the algorithms deliver to our dopamine receptors. Connecting not only with our minds but in our hearts to who Jesus really is, is sacred. Not relying on who pastors or podcasters or friends say Jesus is to them, or who He should be to us, but who He is to us and us alone when we seek Him with all of our hearts–that is special and unique and where real relationship with Him is found. There, in His immeasurable grace and kindness, may we find life and find it abundantly. Amen.

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25).

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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Jesus’ Kingdom vs. my kingdom

Tomorrow I am about to do something that one year ago I wasn’t sure I would again…drive on a highway.

I quit my corporate job almost one year ago. I was miserable, burned out, and wasn’t able to drive a car because it would trigger a horrible panic attack. My body was tired from constant anxiety and a high heart rate. I thought that by staying at a “good” job I was being responsible, taking care of my own life. But oh, how much I was missing! I can only see now in hindsight that my soul was dying. No matter what I did I couldn’t shake that feeling. I was living in the cage I’d unknowingly built for myself, filled with fear and devoid of true surrender. (Creed’s “My Own Prison,” anyone?)

I got to a point last year when the only thing I hadn’t tried was letting go of the idea of controlling my own life. Control was something that I had believed I had to have so fiercely that I couldn’t discern that there was any other way to think. I’d nod at sermons saying to let God be in control, but I had no idea what that really meant for me in my own life. Well, this is the year I found out!

At my wit’s end in a constant state of anxiety, I was forced to take the chance, and tried my very best (pretty badly) to force myself to trust that God would make a way for me as I actively let go of my job. I took a step not knowing what I was going to do next, but at least trusting that I couldn’t stay where I was while also living the life of thriving and wholeness in Christ that I have believed in and have been inching toward since 2015 when I gave my life to Jesus. I just knew He didn’t want me to feel like I was dying every day. He doesn’t want anyone to feel that way.

If you do feel that way today, know that you aren’t alone. Know that that isn’t how life is supposed to feel. Know that God has better for you and always, ALWAYS gives us a way out of our ways of death and into His abundant life. But it will be painful at first to first realize what has been allowed in your life and then to let go of what feels normal. It sure has been for me.

This last year, my life has been testimony story after testimony story of how God restored me inside and out. He provided a real rest, which I so desperately needed after forcing myself to work on something that was not good for my spirit for so long. He used my family to help me enjoy living again, walking again, cooking again, doing things that I actually enjoy again. He healed me from the constant state of panic that I had been suffering with for months. He inspired me to be creative and use my creativity again–but for His Kingdom, not my own. He restored my soul (Psalm 23:3) by teaching me how to wait for and hear His voice. He gave me opportunity to serve others. He is faithful to complete the good work He started in us (Philippians 1:6). Please don’t forget, because it’s so easy to, but remember that He will never leave you, and He will make a way for life in your soul with Him.

So what about tomorrow? I’m driving a long distance, because God healed me of the fear that kept me stuck not driving for months, to go to a place where God called me to go, and be in a place where He called me to be. I can be free, and it’s only because of Him and His work in me. He freed me not only of the mental cage of having to be in control, but the physical restriction of being unable to get myself anywhere in a car. He is truly the Healer. In whatever way you may need healing in your life today, friends, go to Jesus. His Kingdom is the only one that will last, and the only one that brings life.

“as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

“‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!'” (Revelation 5: 13b)

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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Breaking Two Years’ Silence with Self Love

I’m just realizing my last post was 23 months ago.

I no longer have the desire to blog in the way I used to, spending hours pouring over every word, a little nervous every time I would click “publish.” While I am so grateful for what I was able to share, I couldn’t continue in the old process; I needed time away. Sustaining the writing process is a huge part of blogging, and I needed time to find a better way. So, if you you’re here for the first time, welcome. If you’re still here, thank you. I’ve loved having this space to share my life with the King of all, and I am so grateful to be able to get back to it.

I am in the middle of a season of working on self love, recently kicked into high gear. I don’t know about you, but loving myself never came as naturally to me as loving others. I’ve learned that they truly go hand in hand. The cliche is entirely true, that you have to love yourself before you are capable of fully and truly loving others well. We are all so connected, much more than we tend to realize. The way we love ourselves, or don’t, affects others whether we realize it or not.

So, how do we love ourselves?

For those of us who struggle with this, I’ve found it helps to first rest in Jesus. We can’t white-knuckle our way to loving ourselves, we have to let ourselves go. For me I think it’s the control that I try to keep, often without even realizing it, that blocks love from flowing. When we rest in Jesus, our defenses aren’t up, we are present, and we are showing up in trust of Him that He will keep us safe as we rest. Self love requires trust, and faith in Jesus’ strength, not our own. We can rest sweetly because of Him.

Another way is through the renewing of our mind. Taking every thought captive that is negative about ourselves, recognizing it as something that doesn’t belong and isn’t from Jesus, and resisting, praying that Jesus would release us from the grip of the enemy and keep him far, far away. And, injecting some praise and worship music into that process, rejoicing in the Lord and repeating some declaration lyrics doesn’t hurt either!

And while there are many other ways to love ourselves, the last one I’ll share is to take time to care for the body. Body and mind work together and both need intention to keep aligned with love. Vagal toning exercises to calm the vagus nerve, core strengthening exercises, and strength training have made the biggest impact for me. Strong bodies are needed to support a strong mind, and vice versa. Every time we invest in our bodies, we are also investing in a solid defense mentally against negativity, and lies or doubts about ourselves.

Thanks for reading my first little post in two years (!), and let me know in the comments what has helped you in your own self love journey, let’s support each other as we love ourselves to love others as Jesus loves us.

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3 Ways to Walk in Humility

This past weekend, I took a silent retreat on a beautiful little property where life was thriving. The bugs, beetles, flowers, and animals were all singing their songs happily in the summer sun. I had never been there before, and going in, I thought I would use the time in silence to reflect and grieve and process life with the Lord. However, my environment had such an effect on me, that I couldn’t help but pay attention to it. I got caught up in the dance between butterflies, the ripples in the pond, the scent of an old pine tree, the coo of a dove. I couldn’t help but find joy in the moment and in being where I was among so much beauty, designed by our Creator. I felt free to wonder and be in awe in the present moment.

But a few days later, that feeling has worn off. I woke up feeling the same dread that I’ve woken up with on many days; dread of the sadness I’ve endured and sadness I’ve yet to endure. Dread of the pain and process of living. And while that’s a legitimate emotion that should be fully acknowledged and felt and processed, I want to challenge myself and anyone who can relate, with the truth that that feeling is based on an assumption of going through life without God’s presence. Of doing life on our own. But the truth is that God is with me just as much today as He was during my retreat, thus, the feeling is simply unfounded. Not worthless, not shameful, but normal and human. And also, the feeling is robbing me of the full joy of being, here and now. I challenge you and myself to choose to believe the truth that God’s presence is here and provides every reason for joyfulness, even on days when we wake up and don’t feel it’s true. What is true is that He has provided all we could ever need.  

Humility is depending on the Lord to provide. 

We all encounter this dilemma of choosing between humility and pride, both in the big and small decisions in life. I have discussed an aspect of this before in my post, Dealing with Pride. We all want our way, sometimes overtly and sometimes subconsciously, but beneath it all is the same sinister thing that keeps us from humbly submitting to the Lord and trusting His goodness and provision. This makes us feel distant, can turn into that feeling of dread or worse. This is something that we all deal with and learning to deal with it in healthy and life-giving ways can make all the difference in the very trajectory of our lives. We all are born with pride, it’s the human condition, so we all must learn to handle it when it does wash over or take hold of our perspective. So how do we handle pride in a healthy way that won’t distance our hearts from God further?   

1. Remember how God dealt with you kindly even in your worst moments.

An amazing story in the Bible of not only God’s kindness, but the kindness of people for each other is found in the book of Ruth. Kindness is the thread that runs throughout the short four chapters and it goes around the characters like a chain reaction. Kindness and humility go hand in hand. Boaz’s character reflects that of the Lord, who sees our humble loyalty to Him and rewards it with blessing. 

Later in the story, Ruth proposes marriage to Boaz, an extremely bold and humble thing to do, as it vulnerably demonstrates her dependence on him. Boaz dealt with her boldness kindly. It is out of a keen awareness and gratitude for God’s kindness that true humility can rise up in our hearts and help us to act in the love that Jesus calls us to. Even when we don’t act in great love as Ruth did here for her mother-in-law Naomi, we can all think of ways the Lord has dealt kindly with us. As Romans 2:4 says, it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance. Fully owning our worst moments and repenting of our pride is the first step in humility.  

2. Decide, once and for all, to pursue genuine change of heart with Jesus.

At some point in our lives, we have to make the choice in faith that God’s way truly is best for us. We all have that decision to make for ourselves, whether His will for the long term is better than getting our way in the short term. There comes a point when we must stop excusing our pride away. At some point we need to acknowledge that anytime and every time that temptation arises, it is never justified to act upon it and follow it if we have committed our lives to following Jesus. We need to recognize it for what it really is, idolatry of the self. By letting our own will rule our perspective, we are placing ourselves in a place only God is righteous, just, and loving enough to fill.

When we are able to own up to our sinful nature, not just a single event or instance, but our heart condition of sin, only then can we fully allow Jesus through the door of our hearts to begin to heal what pride has twisted up in us. When we rely on Jesus with our entire self, we are no longer powerless against pride. We are instead empowered by the Spirit of the Living God to walk in love and humility, even becoming able to truly love our enemies because of God’s love for us while we were still His enemies. This ability is the beautiful and mysterious truth about authentic followers of Jesus. But it doesn’t come easily, and it doesn’t happen immediately. It takes a very close, intimate relationship with Jesus, spending time learning from Him and knowing His love ourselves, not through anyone else’s opinion or experience. It may be helpful to remember that even the demons “knew” Jesus, but they did not believe with a personal trust in Him, which is the kind of knowledge we’re talking about. Knowing Him and His character takes time, just as any relationship does, but it starts with faith that this long journey of learning and seeking to understand the love of Jesus is worth it. 

3. Remember Jesus is King and you are not. 

The more we learn about Jesus, the more beautiful, healing, and powerful we understand Jesus to be, it’s important to remain aware that we will come to identify ourselves with Him, because He identifies so closely and intimately with us. However, we must understand that there is potential in that process for pride to sneak in. Yes, we can identify with Jesus, we model our love and humility after Him. But we must remember who we are, under the authority and ownership of the King, Jesus Christ. Though He can and does work through us, we are not the judge, ever. At best, we may hope to be called His servants, a title of the highest honor for any mortal. As His, we are abundantly provided for, perfectly protected, and infinitely loved. In His care, there is no more need to look for satisfaction in the things that tempt us, because we know where true satisfaction is found, and we have found Him. 

Where is our heart’s condition and motives? This is what Jesus looks at; He fully knows the true condition of our hearts. Come into His presence today. Allowing ourselves to be driven by pride is damaging to us in the long term, but He knows what it’s done to our hearts, and He seeks to fully heal and restore each and every one to wholeness as His beloved ones.

It is only in His presence that our heart is fully at home.  

While only Jesus heals, there is responsibility on our part for our own heart’s condition. It is always God’s will to heal us of our pride and gently, patiently teach us the humility of Jesus, but He always takes our choices into account. Friends, I invite you to choose to know His presence with you in a fresh and deeply healing way. I invite you to the perspective that there is always reason to rejoice because of His presence and salvation. I invite you to stand in awe and wonder in the present Presence of the Lord, because there we are home.

Further Reading: The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller

“…I rejoice in your salvation.” (1 Samuel 2:1, ESV). 

“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.’” (1 Samuel 16:7, ESV).  

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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The Intimate Love of God

Half of 2021 has been harder for me personally than the whole of 2020 was. While I love writing and sharing with you on this blog, sharing has seemed next to impossible at times, even to those closest to me. I’m grateful you are here after all this time away. In the past 14 months, I’ve found amazing solace outdoors, taking in the beauty to be experienced on nature walks. Nature somehow has a way of putting me back in the present moment, and it (usually) helps to drown out the noise in my mind.

I remember one day on one of my walks this spring, a particular daffodil caught my eye. It was not yellow; no yellow at all, just all-white petals. I stopped to look closer. The daffodils all around it were either all yellow, or had white petals surrounding an egg yolk-yellow center. Even the inner trumpet was a pure white. Now, maybe this is completely ordinary to you and you’ve seen many a white daffodil, but it struck me as particularly beautiful. I just stood and stared for a while, in awe of what I’d found. It felt special to behold, like seeing a four-leaf clover, or a black squirrel. It felt meaningful somehow, and I was grateful to be there (and present) for it.  

I don’t often mind walking alone, but a couple moments later, I felt a pang of loneliness, wishing I could share the beauty I had found. Feebly, honestly feeling a bit silly, I asked Jesus as I walked toward home, “Did you see that?” Immediately, He was there. This unexplainable knowing of His presence came over me, one I’ve had rarely. Somehow, I knew all at once that Jesus had been and was present with me, I knew He’d heard me, and I just knew the answer was yes, He’s seen it too. “More than that, I see you seeing it,” He seemed to say in my heart. And just like that, I had shared in the wonder I’d found, my longing fulfilled. 

When we draw near in faith, Jesus is quick to fulfill our longings with His love.

Being loved by God and loving Him is so foundational to faith because it allows us to stop trying to fulfill our longings with anything but Him. Faithfully trusting His love, we grow in our own ability to show true love, even when we don’t want to (there are plenty of times when this is the case!). Within God’s love, we are set apart as Holy with Christ, aware of and operating from a place that draws from the well of His deep, complete love, completely different from the partial elements of love we may seek after in the world. I’d like to share a few beautiful passages that illustrate God’s incredible love for us. 

A question God asked was about, arguably, the most damaging decision of all time. Not an obvious choice to show God’s love, but perhaps that is why I find it so remarkable. In Genesis 3:13, God asks Eve, “What is this you have done?,” when He knew she ate the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. But, did you know that this question isn’t only asked of Eve? 

Many years later, after establishing the nation of Israel through Moses and Joshua, God also asks the same question of the wayward Israelites (Judges 2:2). God used the faithfulness of Moses and Joshua to set the stage for the next best version of Eden possible. Eden, after all, represents God’s set of ideal circumstances for humans to thrive in. However, the Israelites could not keep God’s commands or stay faithful to the Lord.  

When God asks “What is this you have done,” again, hundreds of years later after He had freed His people from slavery in Egypt, built up their character through trial, and established everlasting covenants with them, I read this question with a tone of heartache, not just anger. With bitten-back tears, not only wrath. God wants the best for them, but He does not make decisions for people, or have faith for people–He opens Himself to the vulnerability of true relationship with humanity, and asks what we’ve done, perhaps not for His benefit but for ours. His love is apparent for Israel; even in their whoring against Him (Judges 2:17), this heart-wrenching question may be read from the heart of a Teacher, guiding the people to search their own hearts and ask it of themselves.

God heartbreakingly models what it looks like to love even when we don’t want to.

Hosea chapter 11 is quickly shooting to the top of my list of favorite Scriptures. In it is, to me, one of the most beautiful love letters in the Bible, straight from YHWH Himself to His beloved people Israel, here referred to as Ephraim, who was one of Joseph’s sons. I love to read this chapter as a love letter from our Father directly to us.

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love…” (Hosea 11:1-4a). 

God’s love for Israel is given imagery, and reading on we see that His love never stopped, no matter what the people did. In Hosea, God continues, “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? … My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.” (Hosea 11:8-9). God’s compassion for us is so clear in this passage. Despite His “burning anger,” which unchecked would destroy them, God’s compassion makes destroying His “child,” meaning His people, an impossible option due to His loving character.   

The force of God’s love is stronger than anything, and will never fail because He is God.

Other passages that directly express God’s deep, intimate, and devoted love for us include this one from the prophet Isaiah who writes, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold I have engraved you on the palms of my hands . . .” (Isaiah 49:15-16a).

Again we read the comparison of parent and child when it comes to the compassion of God. But I love this passage because it may refer to the nails driven through Jesus’ hands when He was crucified on the cross. Regardless, we are remembered by God on the very body of Jesus, by the scars from the nails that after His resurrection still engrave His hands (John 20:27), even as He is seated at God’s right hand. That is how intimately God loves us.  

Remembering relationship with God is a recurring theme throughout in the Bible. Jesus can never forget us as this passage from Isaiah states, for we are engraved, if not on his body then on His heart. In turn, God implores His people not to forget what He has done for them, who He is, and who they are because of Him. He asks the same of us, to remember the ways in which He has been and continues to be faithful to each one of us. 

Remembering Whose we are is a vital part of living in relationship with God.

“Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 31:20). Because we read that God’s heart actually yearns for His people, even when they constantly are unfaithful, committing idolatry against Him generation after generation, I invite you to ponder for a moment the weight of the fact that David was referred to as “a man after my own heart” (Acts 13:22). Of calling Jesus, David’s descendant, His Son, “with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11), God shows us that personal devotion to our relationship means everything to Him. Yet, we must remember because we are so prone to fall in line with the Israelites’ way, living in a state of pride and attempting autonomy on our own strength apart from our fiercely loving Father.

In Christ, we no longer have to be afraid of the closeness of God’s love. I admit, Jesus’ presence can be difficult. For me it sometimes seems too good, and too close. But intimacy with God is something that we were made for before sin entered in. What does the enemy know of intimacy? It is innately human to feel the the pull of intimacy we were all born with. May we allow it to drive us to, like David, seek after God’s own heart for ourselves.   

Intimacy with God is more innate to us than our sinful nature.

After I found the white daffodil, that same night I was talking to Jesus about the beauty of the experience, and I felt His almost-too-good presence near again. He spoke to my heart, “Yes, it was beautiful. I saw you seeing it. That’s the way I see you, you know. The way you stopped to see the beauty of that white daffodil is the way I look at you. You’re so beautiful, I stop and point at you and say to my Father and the Holy Spirit, ‘Look! Isn’t she beautiful?’”  

Well, I just about lost it. Maybe you can imagine what hearing that meant to me in a season of isolation, and the intense intimacy of that. It was deeply personal and unique, and yet this is Jesus’ heart towards everyone, even with a “silly” faith the size of a mustard seed that feebly reaches out to Him, He is there for us. Please hear my heart and know that I am not sharing this to brag by any means, but to express the intimacy with which He loves and knows you just as well, and certainly immeasurably more. We are seen, known, appreciated, and loved deeply by Jesus whether we have a relationship with Him or not, and when we reach out to connect with Him, there is truly nothing better. He fulfills our need for love both in the ways we can understand, and far, far beyond them as well. For me that day, it was through a flower. For you, I hope you remember today that He loves you with an unending love, and experiencing that is only ever a reach of your heart in faith away. 

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of Life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. …” (Romans 8:1-3a).

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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God’s Will and Passover

Times are bad; that’s the word on the street (internet), anyway. There are hundreds of things that are cruel and difficult about our world today that I could list here, but I won’t do that to you today. Instead, I want to share some things that truly fascinate me about the power and also the relational nature of God’s will. For an early example, on several occasions, Moses was able to talk with God and dissuade Him from acting against His character towards the Israelites (eg: Exodus 32:9-14), even after they had done deeply offensive things that dishonored Him. 

God is willing to show great mercy and love in relationship with us. God’s will is that we would glorify Him in our character, work, and worship. God’s will is that we would have no more sorrow or struggle. He wants the best for us, to rest in the enjoyment of life with Him. So, what’s the deal? If God is who He says He is, why does our world seem to be in such bad shape? 

Both God’s will and humans’ decisions determine the state of our world–and life itself.

It isn’t one or the other, God’s will or ours, that makes things the way they are. It’s both, and the only reason we know of is because God wants it that way. For better or for worse, God wants to partner with us in our lives. This particular law of the universe is as influential as gravity; it’s what makes prayer matter. It’s why faith matters. It’s why our decisions matter. God desired so much to be in relationship with us that He set up the entire universe to ensure that we would be able to work alongside Him, partnering with Him in His will. 

Even though God’s original plan and will for humanity was detoured because of the Fall, the original, relational nature of the Universe still stands. Yet, God’s will has final say, and this is important to remember. 

God does not partner with us in the things that are outside of His will. 

God does not go against His will to fulfill ours. In selfish acts that disregard love and the well-being of others, He will not partner with us. But even, and perhaps especially, in those times He will never leave us. We are His beloved children and that does not change. Instead He patiently and diligently teaches us, through our sin, mistakes, and wrong decisions, what His will is. And it all goes back to His original design for us. 

Why be concerned about God’s original design if the whole relational partnership thing didn’t work out between us? Again, God has the final say, and thankfully His will is being brought about even now. Even with all the detours our own selfish wills have led us down. Nothing can stop God’s will, not even all the sin humankind has committed against each other, throughout all of time (can you imagine; just the sins against each other demonstrated in 2020 alone make me want to look away). God’s will is still coming about, and He never stops working but He always leaves the invitation open to us to join with Him by faith in the work He is doing to align with His will. He made the Way for us to do that fully through Jesus, because we cannot conform our wills to His without faith in Jesus’ sacrifice for us.  

Death is against God’s will for us; He has taken control over it through Jesus.  

Jesus overcame death after putting the sin of all humankind, including mine and yours, to death with Him as the ultimate atonement sacrifice, the once-for-all Passover lamb. Sin’s penalty is death, because apart from God we wither. Death wasn’t in His original design for us, we were always meant to be in close relationship with Him. Thankfully, God’s will to be in an unhindered relationship with us could not and cannot be stopped! His will is for us all to experience the everlasting life with Him that we were always intended to enjoy. 

Jesus’s atonement for our transgression comes alive (pun intended) in the context of Passover, the holiday celebrated first by the Israelites right before they were set free from slavery in Egypt.

God’s final plague on Egypt was death of the firstborn sons in every family, but any house that had the blood of a sacrificial lamb on their doorposts would be passed over by God. “‘…The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. ‘This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance’” (Exodus 12:13-14).

Passover is the perfect time to remember Jesus, the new covenant of His blood shed for us, and hope of ultimate freedom from death and sin. 

We are now in spring, and Passover is here. Jesus ate His last Passover meal on this earth with His disciples in Jerusalem. He fully understood the significance of that night, the night of his arrest, and what His death would mean for the world. 

The first Passover night in Egypt marked the establishment of the nation of Israel with the escape from slavery to the Pharaoh that very night (Exodus 12:31-34). Israel as a people was established and given freedom, all in one night! Similarly, we all are established into God’s family and given freedom from death in Jesus. 

Passover is the time of establishing identity.

During the Last Supper, Jesus’ last Passover meal on earth, He consecrates the new Israel to the Lord. God’s original covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12:12) was to make Israel a great nation, and to bless “all peoples of the earth,” and establishing Israel as a nation was a pivotal step in bringing about God’s will. But God didn’t stop with Israel. 

Jesus knew He was the ultimate Passover Lamb when He ate the Last Supper. In that moment, Jesus establishes God’s people–yes that’s us!–under a new covenant of His blood, “And he said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many” (Mark 14:24). 

Jesus’ Passover is for all people on earth, not just Israel. 

With His new covenant, He welcomes us all into the family of God. But this wasn’t easy, even for Him. After His last Passover meal and just before His arrest, Jesus got alone in the garden of Gethsemane and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). This prayer Jesus prayed in anguish and distress tells us something of God’s will. 

Jesus had a human will just like you and me. He didn’t want to have to die. He didn’t want to suffer and bear the biggest burden ever asked of any human before or since. And He was honest with God about that. 

But, Jesus yielded to God’s will, even though it was against His own. 

That’s part of what made Him so uniquely different and able to fulfill a role that none of us could fill. All the rest of us “have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), because we have chosen our will over His in our lives.

The point is this, that by relationship, by using the fundamental law of partnership that God laid down in the foundations of the earth, we can partner with Jesus in our own atonement and eternal life by faith in Him and His sacrifice. Because of Jesus and our relationship with Him, we are restored to relationship with the Father God as He originally designed. God does not will for people to die for any reason, period. Jesus came and suffered in death so that people wouldn’t have to die anymore. He made a way for His will, to partner with Him restoring us to everlasting life. Gives a whole new meaning to the old, “where there’s a will there’s a way” phrase, doesn’t it?

It is our own choice whether we lay our own will down to His.

Whether or not we surrender to God’s will is completely our own choice. He will never force His will upon us, because He is a loving, patient God. To surrender our will to God as Jesus did so beautifully at Gethsemane, we must fully trust Him. To trust Him, we must know Him. To know Him, we must seek his character; for more on this check out the Life with the King blog series Characteristics of God). 

Building our relationship with Jesus takes curiosity, intention, and sometimes desperation if and when our own wills lead us into pain and sorrow. God’s will always has more for us than we could ask for or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). God’s will provides true hope that connects back to who we really are and why we’re really here through Jesus. God’s will is what our true identity longs for if we are faithful to dig deeply enough to see it. 

Jesus rules (yeah, I said it)

God always intended for a human to be king, to rule the earth (see Genesis 1-3). Jesus’ coming not only fulfilled God’s will to provide atonement for His beloved people, the sheep to His shepherd, but Jesus also fulfilled the role that Adam, and all men and women after him, could not. Jesus, fully God, fully human, came to rule the earth as King. Only Jesus could do that work. He fulfills this role of King even today, at the right hand of the Father. There, He is interceding for us, even in this very moment (Romans 8:34). Jesus is the ultimate King, reigning with both justice and mercy, both grace and truth. Jesus our rightful ruler and King has not left us to follow His own will as we have but invites us to partner in His reign with Him. Can I hear a Hallelujah!?  

As we walk through the remembrance that Passover brings, and approach Good Friday to remember Jesus’ sacrificial death for you and for me, I encourage you to broaden the picture of Holy Week to consider its rootedness in the story of Passover, God’s covenant relationship with humankind, deepening our understanding of the Gospel stories with a new layer of profundity and a glorious vision of hope.   

May God bless you as we remember the story of our King together. Praise and thanks be to Him, the King of Kings, forever and ever! 

“Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21). 

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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We Can Know What is True

The level of fear I’ve been witnessing in the start of 2021 has left me stunned. We are living in a time of extreme spiritual confusion. Being confused easily breeds fear; we naturally fear what is unknown. It is the world’s way to keep fear alive and well, because what we fear has power over us.

We forget that we can choose not to be swept up in the tides of fear. We can get so used to it that we don’t even know we’re afraid. Even when fear feels so real to us, no matter how chaotic things seem, it is helpful to remember that God is not a God of fear or confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33a). He is a God of love and peace, and He wants to give these gifts to us.

How do we know we’re experiencing spiritual confusion (AKA fear)?

There are many warning signs that can serve as signposts that we are swerving toward fear and confusion.

Just a few may include: 

  • If we try to control people and/or things around us to a very strict degree. 
  • If loving God and loving people become an afterthought. 
  • If we are consuming greater quantities of news than of the Word of God. 
  • If we are buying things we usually wouldn’t, doing things we usually wouldn’t, considering things we usually wouldn’t, or saying things we usually wouldn’t. 

When we are centered and clear on God’s Word and His love, it is important to pray and consider reaching out in grace and truth to help someone else in the grip of fear and confusion. God commands us to love one another and does not want us to be afraid of the things of this world, “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Friends, my prayer for us all is for the discernment to realize when enough is enough when it comes to fear. Fear destroys the spirit and does not protect us, only God can do that. The truth is, no matter how bad things seem or feel to us in the moment, God’s plan will come about. God’s promises remain true and undisturbed. Jesus loves us beyond comprehension and is still on the throne interceding for us. “There is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear…” (1 John 4:18a). God is calling us to be people who love one another and stay away from the trap of fear, brought on by lies, in our minds.

Jesus is the Truth

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him’” (John 14:6-7). 

When we follow Jesus we become a person of truth. Further on in the gospel of John, Jesus speaks about his relationship with truth further:

“Then Pilate said to him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.’ Pilate said to him, ‘What is truth?’ After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, ‘I find no guilt in him’ (John 18:37-38). 

To be in Christ is to be in truth. Knowing Christ is knowing the truth. Truth is something we can stand on, something that needs to be taken very seriously since we human beings are susceptible to confusing truth with almost-truth. But God has given us His Word and His Son Jesus Christ, who came as the very embodiment of the truth. In Christ, we can resist fear and what is false.

“Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7b). We may know this verse, but how do we resist the father of lies, the devil? How do we stop aligning ourselves with the things that are not true about where God is taking humanity, who God is, and who we are as His beloved people? 

By aligning ourselves with Jesus in actively loving one another as He loves us (John 13:34-35).  

When we live in loving ways, we act contrary to fear in the same way that Jesus did. We act in trust of a reality not of fear but of love and peace. We actually bring God’s Kingdom to earth. While it takes time and effort, we are able to watch our thoughts and catch ourselves in the lies we believe so that we can realign our thoughts with the truth. Living in fear and believing lies about ourselves, God, and other people is like putting blinders on ourselves. It is not loving to ourselves to entertain lies. We have the choice to take the blinders of fear off, but when confusion takes hold of our lives and spirits, we can easily forget that this is true. It can be difficult to remember that there is abundant life outside of the limited view we see in our blinders. 

Leaning on Jesus is where we find peace. In Him there is no fear, and from His peace we can start to see beyond the blinders and let Him heal the spiritual wounds of fear. 

In the new Pixar movie Soul, there is an apt illustration of this idea. The only thing in the film that can dissolve the dark cloud of fear and lies that cause souls to become “lost” souls is the truth. Once the lost soul can see one part of the truth, it brings them back to reality and life and they can uncover more of the truth. In this way, Soul is onto the truth of how God designed our souls to be–to respond to truth, and to struggle when we allow ourselves to believe lies. 

I want to be clear and say that Jesus is with us even and especially in our fear. He is present with you and working even and especially while you are afraid. He will never, ever leave you alone in your fear. 

Use the Discernment of the Spirit

There is a pervasive perception that there is so much information that is false or fake that it is impossible to know what is true. But this perception misses the fact that the Holy Spirit dwells within each one of us who believe in Jesus.

It misses that the Holy Spirit knows the truth even if it is not reported or false testimony is given. It misses that the Holy Spirit speaks to us in our spirits and we can practice listening to His voice (Hebrews 5:14). It misses that the Holy Spirit gives us discernment between truth and almost-truth.

When in fear, we must repent and ask the Holy Spirit to help us discern between truth and almost-truth. 

It is when we believe almost-truth that some of the most sinister fear enters into our lives. “Almost-truth” is Satan’s specialty, and lately there are almost-truths being spread even more than those viral videos in the early 2000s. Instead of reacting to them, and giving them our precious energy, we can act in accordance with the truth, and go to God and His unshakable promises and love.

We can know the truth by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Many of us struggle to distinguish between our own voice and God’s. Indeed, it takes practice. Discernment takes an understanding of the fruit of the Spirit, a knowledge of the character and Word of God.

Whenever we find ourselves afraid, we can ask the Holy Spirit questions, such as, Does what I’m fearing leave room for grace? Does what I’m fearing question who God is? Questions like these can help us test and know if we are in alignment with the truth. 

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). We can test every spirit, every swaying force or idea, and indeed we are commanded to do so. This is part of loving and taking care of the temples that we are. 

May we be people of the truth, valuing what Jesus values, obeying and listening to the voice of Jesus instead of the loud voices of fear or confusion. Let us pray for wisdom and discernment, so that our lives are lived not in fear but Christ-like love.

“and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’” (John 8:32). 

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Guard Your Heart

I recently found the piece of paper that I was given at the last campus ministry large group service I attended before college graduation. On it is a single verse, a verse that I was told at the time was particularly for me:

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)).

At the time, at 22, I was a bit thrown off by this verse. What did that mean? What was I doing to make it seem like my heart was too exposed? Ten years later I can say,

I didn’t know what I was supposed to be guarding. 

But, I wasn’t aware of how to read the Bible for that information at the time. The Bible seemed very removed from my everyday experience. Though I found parts of it interesting, I simply could not see how the Bible could speak much to my present day life.

Over the next six years, my life gradually falling apart, I tried everything else I could think of to guide me instead. The Bible eventually came back into my purview as almost a last resort, when I was exhausted from running into dead ends. Gradually, I had unwittingly done the opposite of “my verse” and let my heart be influenced by almost anything and everything else besides the Truth of the Bible. 

The heart can be manipulated when you don’t know its worth.

The worth of anything can seem different depending on who you ask. But God, the Creator of all things that have worth, determines the true value of our hearts. To uncover why it is so important to guard our hearts, I first needed to understand, from God our Creator’s perspective, what the heart really is and what it is worth.

In looking at the heart closer by how God hardened Pharaoh’s heart in Exodus and how Jesus quoted Isaiah 29 in Matthew 15, we can discover that in the Bible, the heart of a person is referring to the sum of their intellect, will, and emotions. It is like our steering wheel; wherever our heart goes, we will follow. The human will and emotions will surely wander into dangerous territory if they are not rooted. Jesus quoted Isaiah 29:13 which says, “their hearts are far from me. …” in describing the Pharisees, who had staked their lives on being the opposite! We must guard our hearts from getting far away from God, because where the heart goes, we will go with it. 

The heart is so significant that it is what the Lord judges us by. 

Every individual’s heart is precious and valuable. God made us this way. As our Creator, He knows where to look to see our true selves. 

“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart’” (1 Samuel 16:7). 

When our hearts are aligned with the Lord’s character–His love, peace, and grace, we are no longer so prone to having our hearts manipulated. Knowing God’s character is knowing the Truth, which sets us free (John 8:32). 

If your heart is not planted in Truth, you will believe lies. 

We see this in Matthew 25:24-30 in the parable of the talents (sum of money). While this is a familiar and oft-taught passage, I had never caught the fatal error of the heart that the servant made before:

“He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground …’ . ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? … . …cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness….’” 

Did you catch it too? The error of the servant was not so much what he did with the talent as it was his misperception of his Master’s true character! In this parable, the Master represents the Lord. It was the servant’s false assumption about who his Master was that determined both his fear and his resulting behavior. His heart had come up with a lie about the character of his Master, and he had believed it without testing whether it was true. 

Your heart is not the source of truth, but it can feel good in the moment to believe it is.

That our hearts will always lead us correctly in life is perhaps the most dangerous lie that pervades today. 

We all need a guiding principle to live by, but if it does not align with the Truth of who God is and what He is really like, we will be misguided. Believing our hearts are our guiding principle, or that simply “following your truth” will lead us correctly is simply false. We are not guarding our hearts wisely when we place it in a station in our lives higher than it was intended for. 

It is not popular to say that God’s Truth is the only truth. But, following a different principle only keeps us slaves to whatever lie we fancy most. 

Our false beliefs keep us in bondage, but only the Truth sets us free.

The thing is that deep down in a really honest place, our hearts know that they are not to be trusted to the level of a guiding principle. Over time, hearts fail us. They misguide us. They lie to us when we ask too much of them by treating them as the source of truth. But, when we surrender our hearts to the will of God, putting them in their rightful place under God’s authority, there they are properly guarded. There they will thrive. There our hearts can align with life itself and be the wellsprings that God intended. 

Friends, if you struggle with guarding your heart, I encourage you to ask for God’s help to test your own heart and see where you’re believing things that aren’t true, and where your will is coming against His. Trust that God knows what He is doing and that He knows what is best for your heart because He made it in the first place. No one knows your heart better than the Lord. Surrender your heart to Him today; you will never regret it. 

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

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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