Tag: Scripture

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More Abundantly

For me, this is the verse that’s summed up this week: “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,” (Ephesians 3:20). At this time last year, I was just starting to feel like myself again after many months. At this time last year, I wasn’t writing at all. Around this time last year, God planted the seed of an idea which is now a business, Your Life with the King. God has done far more abundantly than all that I could ever ask or think!

Soul Crushing

In my journey prior to this, I would describe my soul as having been crushed, as much as I had tried to avoid it. I was living in a way that I felt trapped; my energy was never replenished, and I spent my time working on things I didn’t care about. I didn’t see a way out of it, and my inspiration to write or make art was gone. I had taken big hits spiritually and emotionally and became physically sick. Something had to change. It took time to become clear how, but God gave me a way to walk toward the life He had for me. He never leaves us trapped.

Transformation doesn’t often come without being crushed. We may call it different things, like being broken, being poured out, or being at rock bottom. But God is able to use it for our ultimate good because in our crushed state we are open enough to let Him into our hearts. Jesus Himself was “crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5); yet it was for all of our ultimate good. “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). In our brokenness, we are open to receive the love that Jesus poured out for us and our healing.

Yes, being crushed is painful. But God’s healing comes in the transformation and we are offered freedom in Jesus. Being crushed isn’t easy but it is worth it, I can now say from the other side. We can trust that no matter how painful this life gets, God has it all, sees us fully, and cares for each one of us more than we could imagine. God is a Good Father who is excited to do more in our lives by way of freedom, abundant blessing, and grace. The crushing is often a necessary part of the journey there.

Expect Good Things

When we are discouraged from being crushed in life, it can be hard to expect God’s goodness to follow. Knowing God’s character and pressing into relationship with Him and what He promises in Scripture is a lifeline in these times of brokenness. “It is he who remembered us in our low estate, for his steadfast love endures forever; (Psalm 136:23). God’s love endures, even and especially into the “low estate” times in our lives.

I can struggle with expecting the worst outcome, even though God has shown me the opposite is True, over and over. God wants us to expect His goodness to show up in our lives, to “believe that [we] shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13)! I am encouraging myself as I encourage you to expect good things, and to expect that God will fulfill His promises to you. Even when I get in my own way of accepting God’s amazing abundance in life, He is bigger than that too; “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). God is Truly for us, more than we are for ourselves.

Paul wrote from prison, “. . . it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death” (Philippians 1:20). Even when our present circumstances seem anything but good, we can expect God to reveal His goodness and fulfill His promises. We can expect God is trustworthy and True.

He is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, and we can expect that He will. To God be all the glory! Amen.


“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

“And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2).

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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Hope in Waiting

Christmas is almost here. I was reminded this week that while Christmas is traditionally a time to look back on Jesus’ birth, it can also be an opportune time to remember that He promised to come again. In the words of Jesus, “And . . . I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3). What a beautiful promise! Unlike the first time, Jesus won’t come again as a helpless newborn in a stable. He said that He will come in glory; “Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30).

We’ve been waiting a long time for Jesus’ return already. We are all called to wait with expectancy for Jesus, living in a way that honors His sacrifice. Peter said, “. . . what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:11-13). As we are waiting for Jesus’ return, and a new heaven and earth, it can be easy to forget His incredibly loving promises to us. What if you were to join with me in taking the opportunity to reflect, not only on His birth, but on your hope in His return?

At Christmas, we remember God with us, Jesus; also known, especially in this season, as Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14), and Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). We remember that Jesus’ presence brought hope to the world. Is your heart hopeful this Christmas season? Has your hope been diminished by the waiting?

If so, the ancient Jewish people can relate; they waited centuries for the Messiah to come, and many became discouraged. Simeon and Anna (Luke 2) were two individuals mentioned in Scripture who had solid faith in the coming of God’s redemption for His people, even in the long period of waiting. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). Here we see that there is hope to be had, perhaps especially in the waiting. We aren’t meant to go for the soaring part without waiting first.

If you’re feeling restless, or tempted to go ahead on your own strength, remember in this season the wisdom in waiting for the Lord. Hold on to hope. Jesus is worth the wait. David knew what it was like to wait years for relief. He wrote, “[Bless the Lord] who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103:5). David was on the run from king Saul during the prime years of his youth. He waited while eluding Saul’s pursuit for years, trusting God to restore of his life what seemed to have been lost.

Waiting on the Lord is never in vain. Jesus is coming again, and is coming to conquer all that would keep us from Him. May we be found faithful in the waiting. “They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful” (Revelation 17:14). The commemoration of the “good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10) for all people, Jesus’ birth, is imminent, but Scripture reminds us that Jesus’ second coming is, too. Let’s remember the hope yet to come, this year and every year. Merry Christmas, friends.

“And they have conquered him [the accuser] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (Revelation 12:11).

“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:12-13).

“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).

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 Plan

There are a lot of unknowns right now, not just in the world but in my own life. I have been unlearning my old ways of thinking, operating, and planning for the future, and slowly, slowly learning God’s way. It’s very freeing, but a very, very big adjustment. I used to measure a decision based mostly on how it would benefit me. God’s plan, however, is all about what is best for everyone.

My plans failed a lot, but the amazing thing we see when reading Scripture is that God’s plans never fail. In Acts 5, one lone Pharisee named Gamaliel stood up for Peter and John who were being persecuted for their witness about Jesus, and said to the Jewish council, “…if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. . . .” (Acts 5:38b-39a). The wisdom of knowing that God’s plan never fails is a comfort in these moments of uncertainty we face. Our plans then must be looked at in light of God’s plan. When they align, we can find a great satisfaction our work, because it matters in eternity.

The plans we make to gain or get ahead may work for a while, but eventually if they’re not aligned with God’s plan, they fail. So, what is God’s plan for us? “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). These were God’s words to His people the Israelites before Jesus came to earth; today God offers us the Way of hope and peace through faith in Jesus. For me lately, God’s plans have looked a lot less like striving to set myself up for the future and a lot more like seeking Him, talking to Him, and trusting Him with the next step.

Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise when our plans don’t work out, as it has been for me many times in my own life, because they weren’t God’s plans to begin with. It’s often been much clearer to me what was or wasn’t God’s plan in hindsight, but knowing His plan for us is very connected to the closeness of relationship we have with Him. King David, known as a man after God’s own heart, said to his son, “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever” (1 Chronicles 28:9). When our hearts, plans, and thoughts are seeking after God and we live in a way that builds relationship with Him, His plans for our next step aren’t as mysterious. They will most likely be aligned with who He uniquely made us to be and for the eternal benefit of everyone involved. “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand” (Proverbs 19:21).

God’s plan for us is far greater than I can comprehend, but I know it involves close relationship with Him through Jesus, who bore the life sentence penalty for our sin. The world teaches that making decisions that only benefit ourselves and striving for security in the future is the smart thing to do, a way to get ahead of most other people. But I’ve learned that this is an empty and meaningless way to think about life, because it’s not God’s plan for us to be selfish in this world. His plans are eternal, not finite or reactionary or fear-based at all. The people who are rich in the Lord, who have their sins paid in full by the blood of Jesus, are the ones who have true security. “God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.'” (1 Corinthians 1:28-31).

May we see life in light of eternity, looking to the future hope that Jesus brings us, and may we seek God’s plans for us today in Christ Jesus. Amen.

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth in him” (Ephesians 1:7-10).

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps” (Proverbs 16:9).

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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In Flesh and Spirit

Applying the Bible to day-to-day life is an ongoing, daily decision. For a long time, I didn’t really understand how it applied to my job or sleep or inner monologue. I got very used to doing whatever felt right and seemed right to me at the time, which I’d describe as my default way of being. I later learned the Bible calls it the way of the flesh. 1 Corinthians 3:3 calls being in the flesh “behaving only in a human way.” Well, human is what I am, isn’t it? Why should I expect more?

But we all do, don’t we? We know what we want to do, but sometimes—or as was in my case, often—we just don’t. No great explanation, we just fail to show up, fail to follow through, or run out of time or energy. I think Paul captures this frustration best, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me” (Romans 7:18-20). This isn’t to be read as an excuse for doing things we ought not do. Instead, it highlights how much we need Jesus. Only through Him can we be given the ability to do God’s will, or using the language in the ESV Bible, the ability to walk by the Spirit. “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).

The way out of the frustrating cycle of doing what we don’t want to do depends entirely on how dependent we are on Jesus. To be in the spirit involves our minds, our thoughts: “those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5b). It also involves leaving behind the selfishness that our flesh defaults to, “if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13b). Easier said than done, eh? Our minds churn out thousands of thoughts every day, and our bodies creep toward seeking comfort at every turn. To go against all that seemingly makes us human to obey God is no small feat, and one that we simply cannot do alone.

No matter how difficult it can be to resist old patterns of thought and behavior, God does not set us up to fail. To depend on Jesus is to be set up by Jesus with the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to be able to transcend our human weaknesses to obey the will of God. In surrender to God, we can love Jesus and keep His commandments (John 14). This is something our flesh simply cannot do. When we trust in Jesus and obey Him, we are able to walk by the Spirit and do things that aren’t possible on our own strength.

When we don’t depend on Jesus daily, or take care to walk in relationship with Him, we can quickly default to a self-pleasing or people-pleasing way of being, or the way of flesh. Jesus warns of this happening even when our intentions are good, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).

By trying to be like God we fell into the state of being in the flesh. But in His grace, God has made a way for us to walk in the spirit despite our human shortcomings. In fact, He turns our weakness into the very avenue that leads us to Him. It is when we admit to and surrender our weakness to God in trust that He empowers us to walk in the Spirit.

The flesh, while something we must all live with and are warned about in Scripture, can be used for good when we choose to surrender it to Jesus. It makes your relationship with Jesus so much closer! It is in admitting the weakness of the flesh that I found out how completely I had to surrender to Jesus, and it is so worth it. Paul acknowledges this too, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

In Jesus, we have the power to overcome the power that the flesh has over us, and the power to walk in a way of goodness and obedience far beyond our human capability. He is faithfully restoring all things that were lost through Jesus. May we choose to walk in the Spirit daily, just as God created us to do from the Beginning. Amen.

“So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! . . .” (Romans 7:21-25).

“…if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. . . .” (Acts 5:38b-39a).

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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I Lack Nothing

There is nothing better than a fresh revelation of God’s love. It makes me feel like I’m invincible, like I’m free from the limitations of being a human in time, and like the things life throws at me that usually bring me down or make me spiral now just make me laugh at how much I was once affected by them. That’s what happened for me last weekend during a silent retreat.

I wrote about the practice of silence in my recent post, TSD: Silence. While I spent some of the time on the retreat in silence with others, the most impactful time for me was actually a time of revelation of God’s love through Scripture. I’ve studied Psalm 23 many times over the years and it amazes me how it continues to reveal new things. While it is such a short passage with only six verses, like all Scripture, it still lives, breathes, and speaks profoundly in the present moment. Verse one reads, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” (NIV)

“I lack nothing” is such a foreign phrase in society. We’re constantly reminded with ads and inflation just how much we (allegedly) lack on every level: health, experiences, and possessions. To say “I lack nothing” is a bold statement, and even something that could be taken as delusional or offensive by the world’s standards. David likely wrote this statement while in the wilderness fleeing from the danger of being killed. It begs the question, what standard is being used to confidently say something so outrageous?

Upon further reflection, I noticed I’d let this bold phrase overshadow what came before it, “The Lord is my shepherd.” What stood out to me was the possessive word, “my,” and that the sheep (narrator) claims the shepherd as his, rather than the shepherd claiming the sheep. If God is our shepherd, then we truly lack nothing of eternal value. Jesus says in Matthew 13:44, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Living by God’s direction and influence is better than having all the things the world measures our value by; it is worth everything. True wealth is belonging to God and being led by Him as our Good Shepherd.

But it goes further and deeper, still. Not only can we claim God as ours as David did in Psalm 23, but God also calls us His. Psalm 23 implies that we belong with and to God, assuring a place in His own house for us (verse 6). Other Scriptures speak of this profound, protectively possessive love: “But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1). We are never too far gone for God; He formed our bodies and souls, and there is nothing that can keep His love from us (Romans 8:38-39). During my retreat time, the identity and inheritance God gave not just David or Israel, but to me (and to you) as well became so glaringly clear where things had felt muddled and a bit hazy before.

Perhaps the most beautiful and thought-provoking passage of God’s love for me and you is, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine; . . .” (Song of Songs 6:3). In line with the possessive love expressed in other Scriptures, not only is God’s love protective and fatherly, it also speaks of partnership. After all, Jesus is coming for His bride. That is where all of our stories are headed. Jesus has already sacrificed His life out of love for her, the church, of which you and me can choose to be a part.

We are not merely slaves or servants of God, but He graciously invites us to also be partners with Him in the Kingdom. He desires to work with us. He subjects Himself to us, telling us in Scripture that He is ours, even though we are the ones who don’t even deserve to be His lowest servants. Where can love like this be found on earth other than Jesus? There is real Life with the King.

Psalm 23 verse 6 says, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” We can have confidence of living in the shepherd’s own house, not as a slave or servant, but as the beloved of God, the church, belonging to God’s own family. What a privilege is offered to us to be adopted as His family, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,” (John 1:12). God has a place for His children in His house forever! He invites us to this, because whether we recognize it or not, He is ours and we are His. What better news could there be? What else could we need in light of eternity? In the care of our shepherd, we truly lack nothing. Amen.

“And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

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

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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Characteristics of God: The Goodness of God

Like the worship song implies, God can and should be praised all day long for His goodness. But do we? I fall short time after time to give God the praise and worship I know He is worthy to receive. I ignore Him, go my own way, and simply disobey far more often than I’d like to admit. My own lack of surrender is heavy on my heart today. I have touched on the topic of goodness in previous posts such as Human Goodness, and The Profound Sufficiency of Christ, but today, God’s goodness is front and center.

Life with God does not mean we will feel happy all the time. It involves feeling the pain of life when God feels far away, when prayers feel blocked, or when the weight of conviction feels suffocating. It’s all part of it. Life with God is not easy. Because of God’s goodness, however, we can still take heart! “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (Psalm 27:13-14).

In Psalm 23, David pours out a song to God that ends with the promise of God’s goodness: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6). Goodness is what comes of walking with God like a sheep with their shepherd. If we’re the sheep, we just don’t do so well when separated from our shepherd. We need God, and when we walk with Him through our lives, we experience His goodness.

Goodness is a characteristic of God. God is the embodiment of goodness; Scripture reveals that throughout history, He seeks and works things out for the best for everyone. He is kind to us when we have been unkind, merciful to us when we haven’t shown mercy, and faithful to us when we haven’t been faithful in our devotion to Him, all because He is so incredibly, miraculously, unfathomably good! He gives us His abundant goodness because that is who He is–loving and generous and faithful to give us many chances to turn to Him and come into agreement with the way He made us and the purpose for His creation. His best for us is realized when we choose Him as our Shepherd. In His great goodness, He wants the best for us. He wants us to be His because being under His care is where we thrive best.

On the days we feel heavy with the weight of our human limitations, it’s often because we’re paying too much attention to ourselves, instead of God. What would happen if we focused on Jesus instead? What good would it do our hearts to imagine Jesus sitting next to us, no words needed, just His eyes looking into ours with His loving goodness, without any condemnation (Romans 8:1)?

He does not want us to sit long in the heaviness of our own shortcomings. He invites us to simply and humbly accept that He paid for it on the cross. What profound goodness is found in this! His blood is sufficient, and our debt is paid. In these days when I glimpse the depths I’ve been saved from, I appreciate His goodness all the more fully and deeply. He is the only place we find refuge from our sin. “But my eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord; in you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless!” (Psalm 141:8) What a good Father God is, that He is a place of refuge from all the heaviness, shame, and sin that would seek to destroy us.

May we fix our eyes on His goodness, and may we be open to receive the great goodness of God in our lives and hearts today. Amen.


“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13).

“For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all“(Romans 11:32).

“What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me?” (Psalm 116:12).

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

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Getting What You Pray For

We expect to get what we pay for. But what about what we pray for? I’ve questioned if something I am praying for is really God’s will, but many times I actively tried not to think about it that way and just prayed for what I wanted or needed. Knowing what God wanted seemed far too mysterious, and was something I would ignore out of frustration. I had no idea how to tell or how to walk in step with God’s will when it came to my everyday life, and it seemed like an impossible ask, and task.

Lately, I’ve come to understand this differently, in a way that removed so much more of the mystery than I ever thought possible.

Praying for My Will

The needs and wants that come up hourly in my own life and in the lives of those close to me seem infinite in number. There are needs to be met at every turn for every person, and it doesn’t take long to realize that we ourselves aren’t equipped to fill them all. We need God every day, hour, and minute. It is natural to have a need or want and pray for it to happen. It’s what I was taught to do, and there’s a good place for it. As an example, for many years I prayed that I would be able to go to bed and actually fall asleep earlier.

But as much as I wouldn’t have believed it or wanted to hear it, I didn’t know what I actually needed or wanted. I didn’t understand how God designed us first for relationship with Him and how much in our lives is a result of this Truth. I knew the sleep trouble indicated a misalignment somewhere in my life, but I didn’t realize that staying up too late was actually a symptom of not prioritizing my relationship with Jesus, or how He was calling me to live. I had prayed for the symptom, but completely missed the root cause.

God’s Restoration

Once I saw the connection of everything to my relationship with Jesus, things didn’t feel so complicated. I simply had to run to Him. I’ve had to learn many things “the hard way,” by not getting what I pray for. Those prayers weren’t focused on what was best in the long run, but what I thought would be good in the present. But God has worked in my heart to restore what I thought at one time was broken trust. God began a needed work of restoration in me that I couldn’t accomplish on my own. I prayed for it, and this time, He answered. He showed me that His will truly is what is best in the long run. Scripture clearly shows time and time again that it is God’s will to restore connection with the hearts that humbly bring themselves to Him. It’s who He is, part of His loving and faithful character. He will restore connection with us whenever we earnestly ask for it, because that is His will.

In this restoration of connection, God transformed my heart. He helped me see how things I believe, say, or do, especially when related to myself, affect my relationship with Him. He showed me through His Word and Spirit that relationship with Him is the most precious and important thing, both to me and to Him. His will is always barrier-free relationship with each one of us. Instead of simply praying for temporal improvements, I began to ask, does this affect my relationship with God? That question has changed everything.

He doesn’t want anything to come between Himself and me or you; He is faithful to help us keep our connection strong when we ask. Through His transformative work in my heart, I came to know that prayers aligned with restoring and keeping and growing trusting, relational connection with us will be answered. It has led to even deeper prayer, with a profound sense of knowing that God has already supplied every real need (Philippians 4:19), before we even ask!

Praying for God’s Will

I mentioned earlier about praying for perceived needs according to what we want or will. But things can get more complicated than that. What if it’s God’s will that a need remains unmet right now? What if His greater plan involves that need going unmet?

Jesus gave us an amazing example of praying for God’s will in the garden of Gethsemane, “And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done‘” (Luke 22:41-42). He knew the Father’s will, but in this prayer He lets the Father know His own will, which is quite opposite. But then, Jesus says something really extraordinary. Jesus displays ultimate humility, knowing and acknowledging that God’s will is sovereign. No matter how much Jesus’ own will tried to resist against it, He had decided long before praying that prayer that God’s will would always be His choice because of His trusting relationship with Him. He had no doubt about the Father’s character of ultimate love and goodness toward Him.

I believe God is inviting us today to decide, like Jesus had done, that He is sovereign in our lives, to humble ourselves in trust, and to choose relationship with Him over our own will. God’s will is restored relationship with Him, and in that place of safety there is freedom and life to be found, sweeter than any life we could attempt to build from our own will.

When we pray for God’s will, we get what we pray for. It may not be immediate, or the way we expect, but restored and strengthened relationship with God is where all this, His plan, is heading. God is faithful and trustworthy to fulfill His will. May His will be done!

“For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:35).

“If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority” (John 7:17).

“And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:27).

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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Sanctification and Fruitfulness

This year, I’ve visited more farms than I can remember visiting in any previous summer. I’ve picked strawberries, peaches, and flowers. I’ve smelled the Maryland tomatoes and cantaloupes piled high in farmer’s market bins. I’ve felt the sun more than I have since I was in middle school. It’s been healing.

Stale, work computer-charged air a distant memory, I’ve been appreciating the delight of abundance this harvest season. The earth’s harvest is very symbolic in Scripture; it has so much to teach us, especially if, like me, you’ve had to adapt to measuring time by email deadlines rather than by the seasons of Creation.

The harvest season comes with a lot of opportunity to connect with God and each other. As summer yields the crop for the year, seeing the abundance of God’s provision has given me a childlike wonder and delight. A single fruit tree bearing incredible quantities of fruit in just one season has been quite a sight to behold on the farm.

I’ve been longing for the ability to make my own life fruitful to live in the beautiful ways Scripture says is possible (eg: John 15:5, Galatians 5:16-25). But I often feel sorely lacking, and in a season not of abundance but of drought. I’ve been reading about and longing for sanctification and frustrated by its slow, and at times painful, progress that takes a long time to yield fruit and a lifetime to be completed. Sanctification is hard to define, but it involves seeing the Truth to the point of no longer being deceived by selfish desires or goals to find fulfillment, and dedication to serving God and doing His will, instead of my own. This is foolishness to the world of email deadlines, profit margins, and fiscal year spreadsheets that I was entangled with for years, and the process of detangling has been a wild one.

Like the wheat and weeds grow up together, people who love Jesus grow here in the world along with everyone else and everything else (Matthew 13:24-30). Followers of Jesus are not to be removed, but to remain in the world and be an influence for good. Jesus prayed for His followers in His high priestly prayer before His arrest, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it” (John 17:15-16) (NIV). The answer to sanctification is not shutting out all of the entanglements, temptations, and evil and hope that that makes us good enough people. We can’t escape the world, nor does God want us to. What makes us able to be fruitful among it all is utter devotion to and dependence on Jesus and His sanctifying work in our hearts.

Jesus continues His prayer, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified” (John 17:17-19) (NIV). Jesus prayed for our sanctification. Sanctification involves abiding in Jesus. Abiding, like sanctification, is ongoing, not bound by time at all. We all live in the tension of waiting for the fullness of God’s provision and work in us. It isn’t something I can achieve or be rewarded with. It’s something I simply need to allow. Simple, yet, at least for me, incredibly difficult.

It’s worth it though, because sanctification leads to our lives bearing good fruit. As we allow God by the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:16, 1 Corinthians 6:11) to work in and sanctify us, we grow and mature. We are transformed by Him in holiness, or moral purity in our attitudes, thoughts, and actions. I’ve witnessed this change in people, and it’s simply miraculous.

The fruit that comes as a result of sanctification is loving people as God loves us, living with joy, walking in peace, caring with patience, bearing with others in kindness, and so on (Galatians 5:22-23). Sanctification involves our hearts, minds, and spirits coming to a place that no longer gives in to anything that blocks us from abiding in Him. And again, we’re on a lifelong journey to be sanctified. God is faithful to sanctify His people, even though it may feel slow and painful and impossible at times. This season of abundant, fruitful harvest reminds me of this hope for my own life.

There’s nothing we can do to earn sanctification or speed it up or work toward it. The work is allowing and completely depending on God to do the work that is needed in us, and having faith that He is, has been, and will be working. May God help us on the days we resist His work, and may our lives bear fruit as we allow Him to work through us. Amen.

“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).

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Take Heart

I hadn’t watched the news in a long time until yesterday. I don’t have regular TV and haven’t missed it. Horrors in the region, the state, the country, and the world all neatly packed into 2-minute segments, just long enough to instill a sense of fear or dread or can’t-miss-the-update-we’ll-oh-so-conveniently-bring-you-at-5. The world is full of stories, and now we know them whether we want to or not. Having peace in our hearts and minds is what we need to thrive, create, and learn new things. In such an environment, how do we have peace?

Thankfully, Jesus shows us how to break bad news to people we care about, without compromising their peace. In John 16, before His arrest, Jesus tells His disciples He’s going away, and that some scary things will happen, things they never imagined were possible. Then, in one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible, Jesus says, “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). The world and peace don’t ever seem to coincide, even 2000 years ago. Jesus isn’t telling his friends horrible things to scare them, He’s saying that no matter what comes, peace is found in Him.

Circumstances we face may be terrible, but Jesus isn’t ignorant to them. He knows about them, He is not scared by them, and He is a steady place to go when things in the world try to knock us off balance. Jesus is where we can find peace.

About 60 years after Jesus’ time, the apostle Paul wrote to the early Christian church from prison, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11). Speaking of his imprisonment, Paul wrote to his friends with not only hopefulness but profound encouragement, “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ” (Philippians 1:12-13). Paul knew that God was bigger than his predicament of being imprisoned, and that God hadn’t left him, evidenced clearly by the fruitfulness that came of it. You can almost hear the joy and peace in Paul’s tone when he writes, “…most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear” (Philippians 1:14).

Paul’s chains do not keep God from working through him, and in fact, his imprisonment may have helped the Gospel spread all the faster and more powerfully. So friends, there is no circumstance too dark or scary for God to walk with you in and work through you in. There is nothing that can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39).

The circumstances in the world will be difficult, yes. Oppressive, yes. Inducing of suffering, yes. But we are not left defenseless. Jesus gave us reason not to let the fear that the world can incite take over our hearts. Jesus gave us the Truth, that He has overcome the world (John 16:33). The Truth is compared in Scripture to the belt (Ephesians 6:14) in the description of the armor of God we are commanded to take up. Peace is compared to the shoes (Ephesians 6:15), needed for our sense of readiness. It is from a place of peace in Jesus that we can be ready to endure, solid as a pillar in the Truth, fully surrendered in trust that the Lord will provide all we need out of His deep and abiding love for us.

Though we will be challenged by the world daily to retreat in fear, Jesus tells us to “take heart” in the face of it all. He has overcome the world that scares, threatens, questions our identity, and challenges our faith. May we therefore take heart!

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,” (Ephesians 6:10-18).

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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