Category: Transformation Prayer

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Pruning for Fruitfulness

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First published April 14, 2025 in the On Being Sanctified series

“In all this you greatly rejoice though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:6

You may have learned at some point that wildfires actually can be positive for burning out old, dead wood and allowing for new growth.  God’s trials are our great refinery.  Every one of us experiences it.  But only Christians have the promises and therefore the hope for truly brighter days.  Only we have the guiding, comforting light of the Holy Spirit to remind us He is always with us.

As the faithful we are led to forgive those who persecute us.  Not only forgive but to love.  The fruit of our faith is joy, peace, patience, love, gentleness, kindness, self-control and faithfulness (Galatians 5:22).

If during a trial you don’t have this fruit you have to ask yourself if you have truly surrendered to Christ.  Or are you, as Pastor Tim Keller once said, “Sitting in God’s seat”?  Meaning, are you the arbiter of “the ways things should and must be?”  Are you so angry, sad or distraught when, after you’ve determined what is best in your life, that it all goes so differently?  You’re sitting in God’s seat. 

The secular world says, “There is no future so I must have all my happiness in the ‘now.’” When that inevitable trial or suffering comes, the worldly are thrown into despair.  They think life should always be good.  As followers of Christ we should and must put our ultimate happiness in the eternal.  When suffering comes to us it is to be expected because we live in a fallen world.  On the flip side, when life is good, we should be thanking God for what is actually the “unusual.”

This garden we are all in has a lot of gopher holes that have been dug out by the world who live by fleshly desires.  Greed, selfishness, hatred, unforgiveness, unkindness, sexual immorality and more are the result of Satan’s pull on mankind.  And it all slams against us at one time or another.  Trying to pluck us from His hands.

He gives us this beautiful promise: “And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20

Jesus said this to the apostles as He sent them out to spread the seeds of the Gospel because He knew what they would face. Death and persecution would follow them everywhere.

Is this all to just “get through” safely to eternity?  In one way, yes.  But remember those fruits?  We don’t have the fruit of fear and drudgery and timidity.  We have the fruits of what so many seek through self-help books and psychology.  Our trials help us learn to persevere and grow closer to God in trust.  They show us that He is truly worthy of all our praise.  He provides and protects until He calls us home.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4

So again, I ask, have you come out stronger in your trials?  Has your faith beautifully blossomed?   If not, it’s time to reflect.  To ask yourself if you missed God in the suffering and in the calm.  If you missed an opportunity for peace in the pain.  If you still seek to control outcomes and sit in God’s seat? Are your roots at the surface or are they grounded deep in the love and knowledge of God?

You will face something difficult again.  He is trustworthy and has a plan for you.  Through your tears, ask Him to reveal Himself at work.  In your anxiety ask Him to make your path straight.  In your heavy burden take up His offer to turn it all over to Him.

I promise you, because I have seen Him at work through many people, including myself, you will see your faith grow by leaps and bounds.  And the world will have a difficult time pulling your deep roots from God’s rich soil.

This week’s question: What promise of God have you relied on during difficult times?

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Enjoying the Surrender

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First published March 11, 2024 as part of the Enjoy Life: Ecclesiastes from meaningless to meaningful series.

A friend of mine recently surrendered a bitter, past hurt over to the Lord.  She started with obedience, albeit reluctantly, she admits.  The pain caused by her last church has been difficult to overcome. She told me she’s been praying one of the best prayers you could ever pray: “Help me imitate Jesus .”  As part of a study about revival we’ve been doing she’s also spent a lot more time just listening for God’s Word.  Not asking, pleading, telling, or even praising.  Just listening.  And He has spoken.

You see my friend used to love teaching children the Word of God. At her old church she was deeply involved in children’s ministry. After a tumultuous pastor change and the subsequent wrangling for top dog positions within the church, a few staff members were laid off without warning. She was one of them. She had given her whole heart over to the ministry and felt betrayed. It led her to declare she would never serve in children’s ministry again, ever.

And then in January we opened Pastor Robby Gallaty’s study on revival titled, “Revive Us.” He encouraged us to spend time with God starting with just five minutes of quiet time. We soon worked our way up to 15, then 20 and finally 30 minutes. Over the course of the next two months, we shared what God showed us. A word here and there, a vision of being loved, a message of strength, a picture of His majesty.

For my friend?  After praying yet again on how to imitate Jesus, she found herself in her quiet time with a vision of a beach scene.  A man teaching little children at the edge of the sea.  Love abounded from child to teacher and teacher to child.  The teacher turned and looked at her and smiled.  It was Jesus.  She was overcome with tears; real tears streaming down her face in realization that to imitate Jesus would be to do the one thing she had refused.  To do the one thing she knew God had gifted her.  To teach the children.

Although she had already agreed to “dip a toe” into Sunday School by observing the following week, she did so with trepidation.  That vision, given to her the day before she was to serve, filled her with love and joy.  When she walked into the children’s ministry department the administrator was so happy to see her – they were short leaders in Kindergarten.  “Would she take on the class?” she was asked.  Without any hesitation my friend agreed.  You should have heard the joy in her voice when she told us how she was immediately loved by the children, how she danced and sang, how she was filled with the Holy Spirit.  How she was healed!  

The moment my friend stopped protecting her wound and surrendered it to God, she found what Solomon spent a lifetime searching for.

“I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 2:10-11

My friend’s experience stands in stark contrast to King Solomon’s reflections in Ecclesiastes 2.

Solomon was the richest man in the world at the time. He had everything at his fingertips. He built palace after palace. He made large parks and orchards. He had plenty of female slaves to do his every (and I mean every) bidding. He had singers, dancers, gold, silver, food, drink – all the delights of a man’s heart (Ecc 2:8). And he was miserable. He was seeking meaning and purpose. He tried buying it and building it and owning it.

“The abundant life is to be found in ‘treasuring up for God’ rather than for self.” Kenneth Bailey, Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes

What did my friend have?  A humble servant heart, slightly broken and needing mending.  She didn’t seek to enrich her life.  She asked to serve the One True God, Jesus Christ.  So, He gave her 10 little, beautiful faces that Sunday.  Little children who were eager to be her new friend and to mend her heart.

I once read that we should see ourselves as channels of joy rather than reservoirs.  Meaning we don’t store up all the blessing for ourselves but rather send them on to others.  Pastor Gallaty reminded us of this truth.  Through intercessory prayer and acts of service we become those channels.

“If revival coming to your family or community depended on your prayers, would it come?”Pastor Robby Gallaty

When our prayer life and subsequent actions serve only to enrich ourselves, we find our situation mirroring Solomon’s.  Striving and chasing wealth, status, knowledge and even wisdom – with God as a supplemental figure or not thought of at all, really.  When our pursuit of pleasure, comfort, or even “peace” becomes our highest priority, we miss the beautiful work God wants to do in our lives.

“A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God.” Ecclesiastes 2:24-26

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Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow

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First published 7/28/2020 in the 30 Days of Praise series

About 22 years ago, I began attending church regularly.  As my husband’s family was Presbyterian, we decided to also join our local Presbyterian church.  This Doxology, as it is called, was sung after every offering.  How many of us sing songs like this by rote, forgetting the meaning behind the lyrics? How many of us, while repeating Bible verses, reciting proclamations of faith (like the Apostle’s Creed) or responding to the pastor, go through the motions without remembering or even realizing their purpose?  That’s how I started viewing the Doxology.  You give your money, then you stand up, the music starts, and you sing these four little lines.  Amen.  

When I paid attention to the words I realized what a great, quick way to send up praise throughout the day.  All my blessings flow from God.  All of us here on Earth should praise Him at every moment possible for those blessings.  He is above all.  And lastly, I praise the work God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit performs in, with and for me all day.  I’ve been singing this song quietly for the last few days in my head.  I haven’t sung it in church or heard it sung for probably about 7 months.  But when I started thinking about different ways to Praise God, this old hymn popped up in my head.  That prompted me to explore the history behind these well-known lyrics.

This excerpt is from Carl Price’s One Hundred and One Hymn Stories about when these lyrics, also known as the Doxology, were sung at an infamous Civil War prison:

The doxology of praise to the Holy Trinity was written by the Rev. Thomas Ken (1637-1710), whom King Charles II once made a chaplain to his sister, Mary, Princess of Orange. Ken was so courageous in his preaching at court that the king often said on the way to chapel: “I must go and hear Ken tell me all my faults.”

Bishop McCabe said that while the prisoners of the Union Army during the Civil War were incarcerated in Libby Prison*, day after day they saw comrades passing away and their numbers increased by living recruits. One night, about ten o’clock, through the darkness they heard the tramp of feet that soon stopped before the prison door, until arrangements could be made inside. In the company was a young Baptist minister, whose heart almost fainted when he looked on those cold walls and thought of the suffering inside. Tired and weary, he sat down, put his face in his hands, and wept.

Just then a lone voice sang out from an upper window, “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow”; a dozen joined in the second line, more than a score in the third line, and the words, “Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,” were sung by nearly all the prisoners. As the song died away on the still night, the young man arose and sang:

“Prisons would palaces prove, If Jesus dwell with me there”

*Libby Prison was a Confederate prison at Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. It gained an infamous reputation for the overcrowded and harsh conditions under which officer prisoners from the Union Army were kept

Hymn Story taken from One Hundred and One Hymn Stories by Carl F. Price; Hymn 78, page 86.

City in mountain valley at sunset with river and sun rays
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Resting In God’s Sovereignty

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“He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;” Daniel 2:21

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” Romans 13:1

As I write this my 2026 primary election voting information guide sits nearby.  It lists 61 candidates for governor of California.  Yes, 61.  By the time you read this, the top two candidates will have been decided.  

There was a time that I would fret over and engross myself in the politics of elections.  I don’t find myself doing that anymore.  Partially because our voting process in my state has become corrupted.  But mostly because I realize the limited power I have in the outcome.  I vote and encourage others to vote.  In the end, I rest on the truth of one of God’s most important characteristics – His sovereignty.

El Elyon

“And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.”   Genesis 14:20

That “God Most High” translates to “El Elyon.”  It means the God over all rulers and authorities.  There is no one higher up.  No other supervisor to move your request or complaint to.  He is it.  

It wasn’t until I completed Kay Arthur’s, “Lord, I Want To Know You” study on the names of God that I fully grasped what it means for God to be sovereign.  Soon after, I was engrossed in a Precept study of Isaiah.  In that book you come upon scripture that says things like, “Go tell this people: ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’  Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.” (Isaiah 6:9-10)

Which left me wondering why God would close the eyes and ears of certain people.  He did the same with Pharaoh and I suspect with a few of Jesus’ friends, the Pharisees.  He does the same still today.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.” Isaiah 55:8

And there was my answer.  If I bow down to the Sovereign Lord, I must accept that He sees the greater, better plan.  He is moving pieces on the board I can’t even see.  For reasons which may only be revealed after I am long gone from this life.

He Chooses Leaders

The other aspect of this was found in another Isaiah passage: “who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.”’Isaiah 44:28

Why was this important?  Because Isaiah wrote God’s words about Cyrus around 160 years before Cyrus was even known to the Israelites.  About 130 years before he was even born!  

We read the same prophecies of future kings, military leaders and other rulers throughout the book of Daniel and the prophets.  God firmly establishes His role as the Most High God who is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes. (Daniel 4:25)

So back to the election.  Of course, I want to see a person in my state capitol who loves the Lord.  Who obeys the will of the people.  Who wants to make life for its citizens better, not repressive.  I also know that God will place whomever He chooses in the governor’s seat.  

His Will Be Done

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”   Proverbs 19:21

He will use every means to bring about His purposes.  Unfortunately, my state is ruled with an iron fist by unbelievers.  So, I have come to the acceptance that the voters may get exactly who they want– someone who institutes God’s punishment, whether he or she realizes it or not.

As believers, our place in this increasingly foreign world is not to be paralyzed by our pagan governments.  We are to pray for God’s mercy.  We pray for repentance of our people.  We continue to do God’s will by sharing the Gospel, in some cases under the threat of death or imprisonment.

Just last year after completing that Isaiah study, I started praying for my federal, state, and local leaders.  I pray they will bend their will to God.  That they would know the One True God.  And I pray they would repent and ask for mercy.  

We can be bold in our faith in a faithless community because we understand and fully accept that God’s Will, will in fact be done. 

Yes, we acknowledge that even weak, ineffective, greedy, ruthless, leaders hold their place because God has allowed them to.  It’s not hard to look around and answer the “why?”  One need only read of the Israelites constant acceptance of sinful leaders during their own times of disobedience to God.  The world’s countries are now filled to the brim with unbelievers seeking their own will.

The Final Word

But Friends, there is a caveat to Romans 13.  Let’s not forget Acts 5:29 when the apostles declared: “We must obey God rather than human beings!”  How is that the standard?  By remembering who is the final authority over all rulers; where the buck actually stops.  God.

So for those of you in the United States, as we enter yet another election season do not fear. If the outcome isn’t what you hoped, we can know who really is in charge.  And those of you under repressive governments I pray for God to open the eyes and hearts of the people.  For a groundswell of the faithful to spread God’s truth.  

His rule and reign will one day become evident to all.  And every single knee will bow to the Sovereign King.

“For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.”  Romans 11:36

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Jesus holding a child's hand walking on a meadow path surrounded by flowers and trees
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Perfect Patience for Imperfect People

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“The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression;”  Numbers 14:18

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

When my youngest daughter, now 28, was a toddler I found myself praying the same prayer every day throughout the day.  “Lord, give me patience!”  At times I prayed in exasperation but often I prayed through tears.  She is a lovely young woman, now with toddlers of her own; a woman full of love for the Lord.  

As a child, however, she was relentlessly busy—emptying cupboards, climbing counters to reach what I had forbidden, and leaving toys in my path. Rarely idle and endlessly creative, she moved with a confidence that suggested my “no” simply meant I hadn’t yet understood her reasoning.

A friend who was never going to have children once told me to not break her spirit.  Teachers loved her wit and creativity even in Kindergarten.  I responded to them, “You don’t have to live with her.”  She always wanted more – more things, more activities, more of me, more, more, more.  I loved and love her dearly but I was at my own wit’s end most days when she was little.  

More Than Just Patience

One Sunday our pastor at the time spoke the words I so desperately needed.  “If you keep asking for the same thing from God over and over and you aren’t seeing any fruit, then maybe it’s time to ask for something different.”  In that moment I realized I wasn’t praying wrong – I was praying too narrowly.  I had been fixated on patience as if it were something God handed out in isolation, rather than part of a much richer work He was doing in me.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

You find “patience” nestled right in the middle of the fruits of the Spirit.  But surrounding it are so many other good gifts He provides.  I started asking for God to help me release those other aspects of the Holy Spirit.  I needed to slow down, be kind, have joy in what He had blessed me.  Instead of demanding, I started co-working with my daughter.  I sat calmly with her talking about trust and my desire for her safety.  Patience came to me through other gifts.

His Patience Is His Mercy

This struggle with patience didn’t just shape my parenting—it reshaped how I see justice, mercy, and grace.  We should all seek to be patient and merciful to others as God has so graciously done for us throughout our years.  It’s why Christians must push back against the concept of “karma.”  You notice most people who invoke the idea do so in glee of someone else’s suffering?  And yet we all deserve some sort of punishment, probably every day.  For things we said, thought or did or for those things we didn’t.

“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” Isaiah 30:18

The LORD has been patient with this world for millennium.  He promised never to flood the earth again with His wrath against sin and evil.  Instead, He sent prophets armed with His Word to warn people and to plead with people to trust in Him and Him only.  He even sent His son to take our punishment we so rightly deserve.  

“But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.“ 1 Timothy 1:16

Friend, His patience is a perfect gift for us imperfect people.  We should never say we can’t come to Him because of our failures.  He is waiting for us to seek Him so He can lavish us with forgiveness.  He doesn’t grow weary in His waiting.  However, we are promised that one day the waiting period will be over.  We will all face His eternal justice.  

When non-believers question, “Where is your God?”  We can faithfully answer that He is in the midst of us, patiently waiting for them to repent.  For now, we thank Him for the patience He shows us and the unbelievers we love.  We can thank Him too for the patience He has gifted us through the Holy Spirit. 

As for me and my daughter I can be so thankful for how patient He has been to both of us. Thankful for how much He has loved us. He has blessed us with a beautiful relationship filled with joy. 

“But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” Psalm 86:15

Sleeping lamb cuddled gently in human hands
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The Shepherd’s Pursuing Love

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“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.” Psalm 23:1-2

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:11

In the last week of my BSG’s study on the Book of Ruth, Pastor Alistair Begg asked, “When have you, like Ruth, wondered, ‘Why?’ about God’s providence and generosity?” It was interesting that most of our group answered with the negative in mind—“Why did this terrible thing happen?” But Pastor Begg was actually pointing to Ruth’s honest confusion in response to unexpected kindness. In Ruth 2,

“I (Boaz the farmer) have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”

At this, she (Ruth) bowed down with her face to the ground.  She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”

She wasn’t questioning punishment; she was marveling at kindness in light of her position.

Chosen With Love

My own “why” answer to the study question was along the same lines—a question I often thank God for in my life: “Why did You choose me when I didn’t even know You? Why have You blessed me so richly and changed me for the better?”

In past posts, we’ve talked about the importance of remembering. For me, it has been essential to my sanctification. When I look back on my life “before Christ,” I remember the ways I sought comfort apart from God, especially in sexual immorality. To that I added anger, unforgiveness, pride, and selfishness. And I still at times, now that I am “in Christ,” ask: why?

“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. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:10-11

And this is His answer: He loved me while I was still a sinner (Romans 5:8). Just as He loved you, dear friend—not after you cleaned up your act, but before. Before you were even born. It’s hard to grasp that kind of love, isn’t it? Maybe that’s why so much of the world rejects it. It can’t possibly be true—and yet it is.

Our Loving Shepherd

As I considered today’s post, I thought about simply including all of Psalm 23—the familiar “The Lord is my Shepherd” psalm. I’ve always found it interesting that it’s so often associated with death, when it speaks so richly about life and love; the good life held in the arms of our loving Shepherd.

“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

What a comfort to know this love. A God who loved us before we were born and who follows us all the days of our lives!  A Shepherd who protects and provides for His sheep—and His sheep know His voice. This God is Jehovah-Raah: the Lord is my Shepherd.

No matter how long we’ve walked with Christ, we can look back and see moments we’re grateful He loved us—even then. Some are blessed to have known that love early; others, like me, recognized it later. Either way, His timing is perfect. As I’ve slowly grasped what His love means, chains have broken, wounds have healed, and my love for Him has grown year by year.

In a post from a while back, we talked about God the Creator. On the sixth day, He crowned His creation by making humanity in His image and declared it not only good, but very good. And with that began a love story—a love that never leaves us or forsakes us. When we turn our backs, He still calls, “Come back to Me, your Shepherd.”

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:26-33

How beautiful is this picture of God’s love for us—to be held secure for all eternity. Today, let us rest in the love of God: the One who defines love, who is Love; the God who loved you then, loves you now, and will love you forevermore.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I come before You with a humble heart, recognizing that Your love is the foundation of all existence. Your love is beyond measure, beyond comprehension, and it surpasses all human understanding. I am in awe of Your boundless love that extends to every corner of creation.

Lord, I pray that Your love may envelop me completely. Fill every fiber of my being with Your unconditional and transformative love. Let it penetrate every thought, every word, and every action. Help me to experience the depth of Your love in every aspect of my life.

I surrender myself to Your love, knowing that it is the greatest force in the universe. Thank You, dear Lord, for the immeasurable gift of Your love. May it be my constant source of strength, joy, and peace. I offer this prayer in the name of Jesus, who embodied Your love fully. Amen.

Author Unknown, Bibleversesnow.com

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The Generosity of God

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“You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.” – Psalm 145:16

“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” – 2 Corinthians 9:8

In the “Finding Nemo” movie, the seagulls were given an easy line to recall: “Mine! Mine! Mine!”  If you’ve ever sat with your lunch at the beach, you’ll see this scene come to life.  A seagull will beat out even small children for that half-eaten sandwich you left uncovered.  

I’m reminded of that scene when I hear someone fixate on what others have instead of trusting God’s provision.  A desire for what someone else has earned is scarcity thinking, folks.  A thinking that sets us far apart from God’s world.

From the very beginning God gave humans everything we could ever need.  He created us and therefore knew what would bring us nourishment, joy and rest.  Even as the Israelites wandered in the desert He was generous with food to sustain them.  When they needed water, He made rocks overflow with fresh clean water.

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:19

Our generous God sees it before we need it.  Now when I say that, your mind might jump to that new dress, fancy car, dashing young man (or woman).  While He may provide those to you, His generosity has more depth than fleshly desires.  

The Bible reminds us to ask with His will in mind, not ours. I didn’t always understand this kind of generosity until God confronted me with my own misplaced hopes.  I once believed that moving to a lake house would solve my anxiety and health struggles. When financial hardship struck instead, God revealed that my dream had become an idol. In letting go, I began to see His generosity more clearly: a stronger marriage, deeper prayer life, richer friendships, and unexpected peace.

That financial situation drew my husband and I closer together.  My husband began leading us in prayer nightly.  My Bible study time deepened.  Friendships grew fonder.  And peace came from a whole different place than I’d imagined.  God generously provided what I truly needed.

God’s Gifts vs The World’s

When we define God’s blessing based on worldly wants, He comes across as stingy.  The God of the Bible is much bigger and more generous than we can imagine.  We are chastised for not having because we don’t even think to ask.  Peace in our relationships, joyfulness, forgiveness towards others, a sense of purpose – those are some of the higher gifts He pours over our hearts and minds.  Gifts He then wants us to turn over to others in generosity.

Yes, He has also blessed me with a wonderful home, food to eat, finances that allow me to travel and more.  But those things are blessing far beyond what we all really need.  The ultimate gift He has so generously gifted is His Son, Jesus Christ.  His blood was shed in forgiveness of our sins so we may have an eternal relationship with the God of the universe.  A gift we could never earn through our performance.  A gift He hands to us with great sacrifice and without us lifting a finger.

He gives each day our daily bread which nourishes our souls.  When I’m feeling disconnected from the Holy Spirit, I remind myself to list the generous ways He has showered me and my family.

Friend, God is not stingy.  He is generous.  Generous with His love and forgiveness.  Generous with His blessings and provision.  Come to Him and ask.  And when you ask, ask with the right motives as James guides us.  Ask for the small and the impossible.  

Dear God,

Thank you for your amazing power and work in our lives, thank you for your goodness and for your blessings over us. Thank you that you are able to bring hope through even the toughest of times, strengthening us for your purposes. Thank you for your great love and care. Thank you for your mercy and grace. Thank you that you are always with us and will never leave us. Thank you for your incredible sacrifice so that we might have freedom and life. Forgive us for when we don’t thank you enough, for who you are, for all that you do, for all that you’ve given. Help us to set our eyes and our hearts on you afresh. Renew our spirits, fill us with your peace and joy. We love you and we need you, this day and every day. We give you praise and thanks, for You alone are worthy! In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen

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High Fives

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With one more day left in this year of 2025 I noticed this past post had a few looks today. I went back and read it myself. It made me realize that my only resolution for the coming year is to live a life where an unbeliever would have cause to ask me how or why…and my answer would be Jesus.

We should all live our lives as believers in every situation; sharing the Gospel to all we encounter. Let’s help bring a few more home this coming year.

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 15:5-6

The other night, just before we were about to go to bed, I looked over our Christmas shopping list to see who my husband still needed to check off. It caused me to ask him where a gift certificate was that had come in the mail the day before. It is an “old school” paper certificate for $100 to a local attraction. Thus began an all out search for this thin piece of paper.

At the same time, I know it sounds odd, I was also searching for a brand new bra that disappeared about a week ago. Since I don’t go around tossing my bra off outside my house I just knew it had to be inside somewhere! So, here we were at 9:00pm going through trash cans, drawers, paperwork, sheets, towels, etc searching for a piece of paper and a bra. 

At one point my husband was ready to give up. He was going to call the shop the next day and ask for a duplicate gift certificate. He told me to just buy a new bra. But I’m not a quitter so we kept searching. At last, I looked in one last place for the gift certificate — the office recycling bin. And there it was stuck to an empty Christmas card envelope! Moments later my husband was digging around in the clothes hamper and he pulled out my bra displaying it like the Lion King Mufasa holding up the baby lion Simba. How I didn’t see it the other 10 times I looked in there I have no idea.

As we fell into bed laughing about our search I said, “We are practically like a Bible story — you know, the ones about the lost coins and the lost sheep! We didn’t give up and we finally found our precious things.”

As so often happens when I’m in the midst of writing, my everyday experiences lead me to ponder on the glory of God. In this instance, how He also never gives up. He goes into our trash heap of sins and pulls us from the depths. He seeks us out under the dust and brushes us off. He cleans us up and makes us righteous before Him through our faith in Jesus.

"And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:9-10

Christ not only welcomes us home but He runs to meet us like the father to the prodigal son. Through His bountiful mercy (not dishing out the punishment we deserve) and grace (giving us the love and justification we don’t deserve) He celebrates our entrance to His Holy Kingdom. 

Think on the last time you lost something and finally found it. You may have performed a little, silly dance or shouted out in glee. Now imagine when you accepted Christ as your Savior how God must have danced in joy because He is a God of great celebration. While we can’t change someone’s mind about God, He can. He asks us to join with Him in the search effort. Imagine each time you share the message of your salvation with an unbeliever how God must be saying, “YES! LET’S DO THIS! Let’s bring another home!” 

Give all honor, praise, and glory to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen

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Pruning for Fruitfulness

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In all this you greatly rejoice though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:6

You may have learned at some point that wildfires actually can be positive for burning out old, dead wood and allowing for new growth.  God’s trials are our great refinery.  Every one of us experiences it.  But only Christians have the promises and therefore the hope for truly brighter days.  Only we have the guiding, comforting light of the Holy Spirit to remind us He is always with us.  

As the faithful we are led to forgive those who persecute us.  Not only forgive but to love.  Our fruit of our faith is joy, peace, patience, love, gentleness, kindness, self-control and faithfulness (Galatians 5:22).

If during a trial you don’t have this fruit you have to ask yourself if you have truly surrendered to Christ.  Or are you, as Pastor Tim Keller once said, “Sitting in God’s seat”?  Meaning, are you the arbiter of “the ways things should and must be?”  Are you so angry, sad or distraught when, after you’ve determined what is best in your life, that it all goes so differently? You’re sitting in God’s seat. 

The secular world says, “There is no future so I must have all my happiness in the ‘now.’” When that inevitable trial or suffering comes, the worldly are thrown into despair.  They think life should always be good.  But as the faithful we should and must put our ultimate happiness in the eternal.  When suffering comes to us it is to be expected because we live in a fallen world.  On the flip side, when life is good, we should be thanking God for what is actually the “unusual.”

Gopher Holes

This garden we are all in has a lot of gopher holes that have been dug out by the world who live by fleshly desires.  Greed, selfishness, hatred, unforgiveness, unkindness, sexual immorality and more are the result of Satan’s pull on mankind.  And it all slams against us at one time or another.  Trying to pluck us from His hands.

But God.  

He gives us this beautiful promise: “And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.” (Matt 28:20).  Jesus said this to the apostles as He sent them out to spread the seeds of the Gospel because He knew what they would face.  Death and persecution would follow them everywhere.

Is this all to just “get through” safely to eternity?  In one way, yes.  But remember those fruits?  We don’t have the fruit of fear and drudgery and timidity.  We have the fruits of what so many seek through self-help books and psychology.  Our trials help us learn to persevere and grow closer to God in trust.  They show us that He is truly worthy of all our praise.  He provides and protects until He calls us home.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

Beautiful Blossoms

So again, I ask, have you come out stronger in your trials?  Has your faith beautifully blossomed?  If not, it’s time to reflect.  To ask yourself if you missed God in the suffering and in the calm.  If you missed an opportunity for peace in the pain.  If you still seek to control outcomes and sit in God’s seat.  Are your roots at the surface or are they grounded deep in the love and knowledge of God?

You will face something difficult again.  He is trustworthy and has a plan for you.  Through your tears, ask Him to reveal Himself at work.  In your anxiousness ask Him to make your path straight.  In your heavy burden take up His offer to turn it all over to Him.

I promise you, because I have seen Him at work through many people, including myself, you will see your faith grow by leaps and bounds.  And the world will have a difficult time pulling your deep roots from God’s rich soil.

This week’s question: What promise of God have you relied on during difficult times?

Next week join me as we delve into the truth and the beauty of obedience and submission.

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Deeply Rooted

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“The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.” Matthew 13:20-21

Before we move on to another topic in our sanctification journey, I felt the need to look back at our first steps on the path.  These last few weeks we’ve discussed the importance of seeking knowledge in two ways – through group learning and individual study.  But let me clarify, all the knowledge in the world won’t lead you to Christ.  Just ask Richard Dawkins and Stephen Hawking.  The list of brilliant, atheist scientists and well-educated humanists show us that knowledge of the world, and maybe even some version of God, is not the enlightenment that brings us to our knees in thanksgiving to Jesus.

Throughout this series I’m writing to believers who have said they accept Christ as their Savior.  However, as a believer myself I also know the difference between drinking mother’s milk and eating meat.  And, how each step along my journey is designed for one purpose: to make me righteous and holy before God.  In other words, to simply bring me into a beautiful relationship with our Creator.

The scripture I started with today is our transitional on-ramp from knowledge of God to what the Bible calls “trials and tribulations.”  You see, in the parable of the Sower (Matt 13:1-13) the second (and really the first as well) person described is the one who says they accept Christ yet does not hunger and thirst for Him.  

Foundational Root System

He or she lacks the foundational roots to withstand being pulled out by the obvious and also subtle evils of the world.  They don’t know or understand God’s covenantal promises.  They don’t grasp the true nature of why Jesus came to die and rise again.  And many disdain learning of the beautiful character of God from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22.

Without this firm foundation we become, as it’s said in Matthew 8:26-27, “a foolish man who built their house on sand.”  They listen to the world tell them the Bible has numerous errors and can’t be trusted.  They hear strange interpretations or misuse of God’s Word and are sucked into mistrust.  And friend, that mistrust grows along with worries, fears and lack of peace.

I heard a Christian teacher once say, “It’s one thing to be an unhappy unbeliever but it’s a whole other shame to see a miserable Christian.”

You can see in the Sower verse the end result of lack of hungering for the Word of God.  When trouble or persecution comes, they quickly fall away  And let me tell you a truth we must accept about life – trouble comes for us all.

It Comes For Us All

"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed." 1 Peter 4

Believe me, I don’t think it was a coincidence that my mother passed away when she did.  It was all in God’s timing.  And He had prepared me for that moment.  I’d been a Christian for about 20 years but I was still drinking mother’s milk until about 5 years ago.  My roots were at the surface, ready to be plucked at any time.

I’d been angry with God (and my parents) a number of times during those 20 years.  In other areas of my life, I watched as my daughters experienced various social and medical pains, we experienced financial loss, and had our share marital struggles.  Through it all I seemed to have had just enough faith to keep me on Jesus’ path.  

I’m thankful that a dear friend asked me at the end of 2018 to start leading another Bible study group.  I had backed away from leading a year prior and was struggling to get my footing in a secure relationship with God.  So, at the beginning of 2019 our small, sweet Bible Study Girls began.  Within a few short months during a study, we were asked to evaluate our faith growth.  Each of us were amazed to see how far we had progressed!

You all know what happened next, since it happened to every single person on the planet.  Covid19.  So much fear and disruption descended on us for the next couple years.  A great trial that preceded the greatest trial humankind will eventually face.  

The scripture in 1 Corinthians 10:13 was prophetic when Paul tells us, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.”  Because we know the sinful temptations, we all faced during that time were beyond counting.  For many, that trial overshadow other, everyday trials of cancer, marriage problems, addictions, lost adult children, and more.  It created new problems such as divided friendships, political outrage, boiling over anger from fear, and despair over church failures.  

My relationship with my parents deteriorated even farther as they sunk deeper into their fears.  They pulled away from society and life in general.  And my mother’s mental concerns grew.  Through this all I was learning to hold fast in trusting the Lord.  The Holy Spirit led me to a new prayer tactic.  I stopped praying for my relationship with my parents and instead I began praying for their salvation.  I prayed to love others better, as Jesus commanded.  

Stronger Roots

Let me ask you this, my friends: Did you come out the other side of COVID stronger in faith?  I hope you did.  If you didn’t, you may need to go back to step one in our journey – knowing God and His ways

Through seeking God’s word and direction, I learned in my trials to show love and forgiveness to my parents by continuing to offer help while being rejected over and over.  I learned how to love and be compassionate towards those who had fears which I didn’t understand.

My beautiful friends in Christ, you may be going through a terrible trial right now—I would love to pray for you if you want to share.  Lean into the Great Gardener.  Dig deep and plant your roots firmly in Him.  He will tend to your needs as you grow stronger and stronger.  

Next week we will take one more look at our sanctification through trials.

This week’s question: What’s something you learned about God during one of your trials?