Tag: praise

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30 Days of Reverence

krisshetter

I’m going to be completely honest.  For the last 6 months or so I’ve struggle with my faith.  I haven’t lost faith.  No, it’s more that I have struggled to feel my faith, to be emotionally involved in it.  Knowledge is gained each day with my studies.  I trust that God will provide.  And I have continued to pray throughout my days.  Only on rare occasions, which usually involve being outdoors, have I felt my faith.

I know I’m not the only one who has had periods like this.  Some say they aren’t hearing from God, or they can’t feel His love or His presence.  I have a friend who went through something similar for 10 years during a very difficult time in her life.

A week or so ago my husband and I visited Santa Fe, New Mexico.  There’s a beautiful Catholic cathedral in the center of town.  Upon entering we discovered they were celebrating 50 years of service by their priest, Jerome Joseph Martinez y Alire.  I was handed a small card with his photo featuring him at his ordination in 1976.  But what caught my attention was the prayer he allowed them to print on the card.  A prayer he prays every Sunday evening.

Dearest Lord,

I sometimes feel I’m only going through the motions of a relationship with you.  Intellectually I know you are with me always, but doing your work as a priest distracts me from falling more in love with you.

But I know you are infinitely patient with me.  Although at times I know you must feel sorrow at the times I neglect your many invitations to enter more deeply into your heart.

Help me then realize that you alone are Savior and that the work I do for you depends on its success upon your grace, not my efforts.  Teach me how to rest in your infinite tenderness for me.  Amen 

The truth is, God has never moved. He is always near. But prolonged grief, stress, and exhaustion can dull our awareness of His presence. After years marked by loss, caregiving, and constant pressure, I realized my soul had grown weary. My emotions had shut down, and my spirit needed rest and remembrance.

For most of 2025 I spent my time at my father’s doctor’s offices, infusion clinics, and rehabilitation centers.  I made endless phone calls handling both my mom’s death paperwork and then my dad’s medical appointments.  My visits to my grandchildren were few and far between.  And as my father declined, he came to live with us.  My trips outside the house became less frequent.  And the need to be his constant caretaker set my own life aside. 

I’m not complaining.  In fact, the LORD’s presence and peace carried me through vast amounts of that time.  I saw Him at work in me and those around me.  

When my father died in September of 2025 I hit a wall.  I’ve read studies on the troubling effects of long-term elevated stress.  The results of which I believe hit me like a rock.

According to an article by Ann Pietrangelo in Healthline, chronically high cortisol and symptoms of chronic stress go hand in hand. These include:

  • Fatigue
  • Sleep issues
  • Irritability
  • Anxiety
  • Weight gain, especially around the abdomen
  • High blood pressure
  • Brain fog
  • Forgetfulness
  • Frequent headaches

Chronic stress has real consequences. I see these same effects in friends caring for aging parents and in others still recovering from recent years of upheaval.

But God.

Despite my (and maybe your) recent feeling of disconnectedness, God has given me so many past experiences where He and I were closely tethered.  I’ve drawn on those to remind me that He is a God who loves me.  A God who sees me.  A God who wants my burdens.  

About a month ago I embarked on a study of the book of Romans.  My plan was to do a series on it.  But at the halfway point I felt overwhelmed with the prospect and underwhelmed with desire.  It’s sitting, waiting for me to finish.  

Recently, I asked God to help me start a project, any project, that I could sink my teeth into.  He has nudged me through various podcasts, devotionals, and sermons.  

In difficult times, in times of loss, in times of detachment, in times of disappointment, we need most of all to remember.  To remember who God is and where we stand with Him.  To remember what has been done for us.  To remember the character and attributes of the God Most High.

In such times we are called to praise and worship.  So that’s what I’m going to do.  In the back of Jen Wilkins’ amazing Bible study on Revelation, you’ll find a long list of the attributes of God.  I’m taking that as my guide for 30 days.  

If you find yourself weary, disconnected, or longing to feel close to God again, I invite you to join me. Together, let us remember. Let us worship. Let us stand in reverent awe of the One who has never left us.

30 Days of Reverence begins April 1 with a twice a week blog post. I hope you’ll walk this journey with me.

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30 Days of Reverence

krisshetter

I’m going to be completely honest.  For the last 6 months or so I’ve struggle with my faith.  I haven’t lost faith.  No, it’s more that I have struggled to feel my faith, to be emotionally involved in it.  Knowledge is gained each day with my studies.  I trust that God will provide.  And I have continued to pray throughout my days.  Only on rare occasions, which usually involve being outdoors, have I felt my faith.

I know I’m not the only one who has had periods like this.  Some say they aren’t hearing from God, or they can’t feel His love or His presence.  I have a friend who went through something similar for 10 years during a very difficult time in her life.

A week or so ago my husband and I visited Santa Fe, New Mexico.  There’s a beautiful Catholic cathedral in the center of town.  Upon entering we discovered they were celebrating 50 years of service by their priest, Jerome Joseph Martinez y Alire.  I was handed a small card with his photo featuring him at his ordination in 1976.  But what caught my attention was the prayer he allowed them to print on the card.  A prayer he prays every Sunday evening.

Dearest Lord,

I sometimes feel I’m only going through the motions of a relationship with you.  Intellectually I know you are with me always, but doing your work as a priest distracts me from falling more in love with you.

But I know you are infinitely patient with me.  Although at times I know you must feel sorrow at the times I neglect your many invitations to enter more deeply into your heart.

Help me then realize that you alone are Savior and that the work I do for you depends on its success upon your grace, not my efforts.  Teach me how to rest in your infinite tenderness for me.  Amen 

The truth is, God has never moved. He is always near. But prolonged grief, stress, and exhaustion can dull our awareness of His presence. After years marked by loss, caregiving, and constant pressure, I realized my soul had grown weary. My emotions had shut down, and my spirit needed rest and remembrance.

For most of 2025 I spent my time at my father’s doctor’s offices, infusion clinics, and rehabilitation centers.  I made endless phone calls handling both my mom’s death paperwork and then my dad’s medical appointments.  My visits to my grandchildren were few and far between.  And as my father declined, he came to live with us.  My trips outside the house became less frequent.  And the need to be his constant caretaker set my own life aside. 

I’m not complaining.  In fact, the LORD’s presence and peace carried me through vast amounts of that time.  I saw Him at work in me and those around me.  

When my father died in September of 2025 I hit a wall.  I’ve read studies on the troubling effects of long-term elevated stress.  The results of which I believe hit me like a rock.

According to an article by Ann Pietrangelo in Healthline, chronically high cortisol and symptoms of chronic stress go hand in hand. These include:

  • Fatigue
  • Sleep issues
  • Irritability
  • Anxiety
  • Weight gain, especially around the abdomen
  • High blood pressure
  • Brain fog
  • Forgetfulness
  • Frequent headaches

Chronic stress has real consequences. I see these same effects in friends caring for aging parents and in others still recovering from recent years of upheaval.

But God.

Despite my (and maybe your) recent feeling of disconnectedness, God has given me so many past experiences where He and I were closely tethered.  I’ve drawn on those to remind me that He is a God who loves me.  A God who sees me.  A God who wants my burdens.  

About a month ago I embarked on a study of the book of Romans.  My plan was to do a series on it.  But at the halfway point I felt overwhelmed with the prospect and underwhelmed with desire.  It’s sitting, waiting for me to finish.  

Recently, I asked God to help me start a project, any project, that I could sink my teeth into.  He has nudged me through various podcasts, devotionals, and sermons.  

In difficult times, in times of loss, in times of detachment, in times of disappointment, we need most of all to remember.  To remember who God is and where we stand with Him.  To remember what has been done for us.  To remember the character and attributes of the God Most High.

In such times we are called to praise and worship.  So that’s what I’m going to do.  In the back of Jen Wilkins’ amazing Bible study on Revelation, you’ll find a long list of the attributes of God.  I’m taking that as my guide for 30 days.  

If you find yourself weary, disconnected, or longing to feel close to God again, I invite you to join me. Together, let us remember. Let us worship. Let us stand in reverent awe of the One who has never left us.

30 Days of Reverence begins April 1 with a twice a week blog post. I hope you’ll walk this journey with me.

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Day 30 In Christ Alone

krisshetter

“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

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. Psalm 62:1

Earlier this year I trained to be a discipleship coach for an online ministry.  Anyone who searches the internet using certain, key words may encounter the link which offers a free course called Knowing Jesus.  People from all over the world work through the free  course seeking to grow closer to God through the truth of Christ, the Holy Spirit and the Bible.

I recently had a student who said Jesus was a very obedient servant of God.  While that is true, I told her that limited view of Jesus doesn’t ensure we understand the full holiness and deity of Christ.  I explained to her Jesus was fully man and fully God, a sometimes confusing concept.  I asked if that information was new to her, a self-professed, occasionally attending church Christian.  She replied,  “Yes.”  

That one word actually made me sad.  Sad over how the “church,” meaning we, the body of believers have sometimes failed to make clear the place that Jesus sits in heaven.  How we have failed to loudly celebrate that only Christ can be the one to cleanse us of our sins so we can, with His cloak of purity laden over our shoulders, come before the Father.  And the way churches, fellow believers allow our friends and neighbors to remain in the dark about the love the Trinity has shown all humanity  —  when God humbled Himself to walk among us and give us the message of eternal life.

You see, without seeing Jesus in His rightful Holy position we also can’t look to Him for all hope and strength and peace.  Because no average man can give us that.  No, it takes a King of Kings, a Lord of Lords, a solid cornerstone.  Christ alone.

Jesus, the man, was tender, strong, felt pain, and was ever obedient to His Father.  At the same time, Jesus, the Word in flesh, was sinless, wise, merciful, a healer, a life-giver, prescient, could calm storms, and fill nets and endless food baskets.  But most of all Jesus the Holy One was the required sacrifice for our forgiveness of sins.  

He gave His all for us  He suffered much for us.  He loved tremendously for us.

When this same student mentioned she’s too tired on Sundays to regularly attend church, I told her I too used to think church was just another thing on my to-do list.  But when I realized the amazing gift that He gave us in Christ I was compelled to worship Him in gratitude and submission.  Instead of obligation, church became a soul-filler.  When I lift my hands up to Him in love, He reaches back to me through the Holy Spirit and grabs hold of me.  I know that nothing else in this world can ever pluck me from His hands.  He will never let me go.  He brings us home in victory.

If you don’t have this relationship with Christ, call on Him today.  Give Him your all.  And the Lord of All will give all eternity to you.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the past 30 days of Worship as much as I have!  If you missed any posts, I’ve compiled the entire series here.  Please share with your friends today to support this ministry and help be a light out into the darkness.

To listen to today’s song, click here: In Christ Alone

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Day 26 How He Loves Us

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For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:38-39
Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. 4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. Psalm 63:3-4

Do you love God?  Sounds like a simple question and one that could be answered flippantly.  But do you really love God?  Do you love Him so much that you seek to worship and submit to Him each and every minute of your day?

A friend shared a comment her adult son made to her once.  He’s seems to be very angry with God.  His biting comment was, “If God is so all-powerful then why does he need your worship?”

How would you answer that?

For me, I realized not too long ago that I hadn’t completely grasped the idea of loving and worshipping God.  I prayed thankfulness, petition and repentance.  But lacked an expression of love.   It led me to ask if I loved God. 

Let’s clear up one thing.  God doesn’t need our worship.  He doesn’t need our love.  He doesn’t need anything from us.  However, I ask you if you had good and loving parents, do you still love them as you’ve become an adult?  If so, then why?  Your answer is probably because they did so much for you.  They tended to your every need as a child.  Fed you, put a roof over your head, taught you, and yes, loved you. 

If you didn’t have that sort of up bringing you probably don’t love your parents.  You may feel a burden of obligation but love isn’t present.  In fact, you may feel the hole where love should be.

Now think about what Jesus has done for you.  For a reason which only God knows He chose you.  Yes you. You backsliding sinner.  He loved you even before you accepted Him as your savior.  While you were still in the mud and muck of your sin.  

He lowered Himself to being a human and didn’t count His divinity as something to lord over us while He was here.  He came to save us from a terrible, painful eternity.  Which all of us deserve.  Every single one of us.  

He went to the cross and died a bloody, humiliating death.  To wash you clean before the Father.  A brother, a friend, the only God who gave His life for you.  That should bring you to tears of love and a desire to worship Him.

His blood and His love cover us and give us a new, beautiful life.  How can we not worship a god whose very essence is love?   How can we not drop prostrate and sing to all the ways that He loves us?

Click here to listen: How He Loves Us

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Day 25 For All My Life

krisshetter 
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.  Mark 8:34-35
in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight  Proverbs 3:6

I’ll admit that for almost half of my life I relied on one person to resolve all my problems, to quell my fears, and to help me succeed in life.  Myself.  While I did a decent job of pulling myself up and around by my own boot straps, I also did a bang up job of living a life of stress, anxiety and worry.  When I met my husband, he called me the queen of “woulda, coulda, shoulda.”

In other words, I would regret and worry about every single decision I made.  If I “fixed it” and it didn’t turn out very good then I was also the one to take much of the blame.  I leaned heavily on my own understanding.  The burden became unbearable.  I put the same pressure on friends, family and acquaintances to take on the same responsibility.  When they didn’t, I would look on with annoyance that they weren’t doing life “right.” 

That type of living doesn’t keep quality relationships.  It definitely doesn’t bring joy and love and goodness.  

The study I did this summer on being a slave to Christ (Slave by John MacArthur) has further revealed to me how being owned by Jesus is so much easier than being a slave to a sinful life outside His will.  When we let Him take the lead and shine the light on our paths, we can take a deep breath of fresh air.  We view troubles, challenges or even failures in a different light.

We may not always see our life with Christ as a straight and beautiful path of goodness.  But that’s just the world trying to speak back into us.  As long as we have our eyes always on Jesus it doesn’t matter what seems uncertain.  The North Star is always where it should be even if the road is a bit squiggly.  He will guide you right to Him.

Click here to listen: For All My Life

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Day 24 Tremble

krisshetter 
In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome .  John 1:4-5
For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.  Psalm 36:9

When I was little my brother used to hide under my bed at night and make scary noises.  He would reach out and grab any of my body parts that hung over the side.  Needless to say, as an adult I am still terrified of the dark.  And I never, ever allow my legs or arms to hang off the side of the bed.  You would think that after 50 or so years I would have managed to overcome those fears.

But here I am.  I never walk my dog after dusk or before dawn by myself.  I check the locks on my doors a few times before I go to bed when my husband is out of town.  I pray for the peace of God to descend on me so I can sleep.  If I get up at night, I still have twinges that something might grab me from under the bed.  Of course, some of my fears (not the one where a gremlin grabs my leg) are justified. 

Let me just take a moment for a public service announcement – women should never walk alone in the dark, ever.  We can’t change that fact no matter how much we’d like to, no matter how unfair it might seem. It’s the result of a fallen, sinful world.

But I digress — thankfully, many of our fears, which so often are about our worries for tomorrow, can be turned over to the Holy One who brings His light to our life.  When Jesus shines His light over us, He pushes back against the dark thoughts that can overwhelm us.  He overcomes all.  Evil trembles at His name.  He lavishes us with peace.

The beauty of His light?  He wants us to share it for all the world to see.  He reminds believers we are the light of the world.  It’s our testimonies to our friends, family, neighbors and strangers that passes the light of peace to those in darkness.  

Friend, we all have fears.  Some silly like ankle grabbing gremlins.  Some that may actually keep us safe.  But some are because we try and control others or the future.  Those can destroy our peace.  Lift them up to the God of Light and ask the Holy Spirit to help you not take them back.  And then shine the light of overcoming your fear out to others.

Click here to listen to today’s song: Tremble

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Day 12 Rattle!

krisshetter 
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 2 Corinthians 5:17-18
This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’  Ezekiel 37:5-6

Sometime last year I began a new morning routine.  I had heard a great podcast from White Horse Inn about how each morning we are faced with the return of our old self like a mummy at the foot of our bed rising up. Each day we need to call on the Holy Spirit to help us kill off that old self and instead dress our minds, hearts and bodies with the new self which Christ has bestowed upon us.  

So, each morning before my feet hit the floor, before I pick up my phone, I lay in bed picturing that old me that seems to so easily want to rear its ugly head.  I pray to my Father to do the seemingly impossible – bring the new me to life.  To guide me in the fruits of the Spirit in order to serve Him to the fullest.  It’s His resurrection power that brings that new me to life.

I have to laugh when unbelievers (and some believers) say the truths in the Bible are lies because the miracles and events defy logic and “laws of nature.”  Folks, He created the cosmos.  He brought us and every living thing seen and unseen into existence.  That sounds like a being that can do absolutely anything.  Heal blind men with spit and dirt, darken the sun, make a woman from a rib, and yes, resurrect the dead.

The LORD God can bring the worst sinner back to life, back into sync with His plan.  I know, I’ve got quite a few sins in my own past.  And that’s exactly where I want to keep them.  I want to live refreshed, renewed, reborn. 

Click here to listen: Rattle!

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Day 10 Jireh

krisshetter 
I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.  I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:9-11
For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us. Isaiah 33:22

Have you ever wondered why we need a constant intercessor in our lives if Jesus came and did the work of forgiveness for sins on the cross?  Why, if I’ve been forgiven, do I need someone to keep taking my repentance to God?  I’ve been reading Dane Ortlund’s book, Gentle and Lowly: The heart of Christ for sinners and sufferers.  In the margin on one page about intercession I wrote, “Good question!”  The answer, written out in subsequent pages was beautiful and revealing.  But it’s these short examples which solidified the answer:

Think of an older brother cheering on his younger brother in a track meet. Even if, in that final stretch, the younger brother is well out ahead and will certainly win the race, does the older brother sit back, quiet, complacently satisfied? Not at all — he’s yelling at the top of his lungs exclamations of encouragement, of affirmations, of celebration, of victory, of solidarity. He cannot be quieted. “

Picture a glider, pulled up into the sky by an airplane, soon to be released to float down to earth.  We are that glider; Christ is the plane.  But He never disengages.  He never lets go, wishing us well, hoping we can glide the rest of the way into heaven.  He carries us all the way.”

When Jesus calls himself our shepherd He means it for life.  Once He gathers us up into His flock he doesn’t stop caring for us, feeding us, protecting us, and cheering us on.  We go astray from God’s Law looking for better grass and He calls us back.  He provides everything we need until the sun goes down on our life and we are united in heaven.  He is continuously bringing us before the Father with joy.

This is a love more than most of us can imagine.  He loved us while we were still sinners – because that’s what we still are every single day.  And He keeps rinsing us off and standing beside us before a Holy God.  He is enough for us.   Because He is all we need to stand before God, we can believe we are enough too. 

Click here to listen: Jireh

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Day 9 Another In The Fire

krisshetter 
for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”  Hebrews 13:5-6
It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you.  Do not fear or be dismayed.  Deuteronomy 31:8

According to studies, about 40 percent of Americans reported regularly feeling lonely in 2010.  But loneliness isn’t just about how many friends you have or if you are around family.  It’s also not about solitude, which many people enjoy and seek at times.  More recent research tells us that loneliness is more about the quality of those relationships.  

My friend Andrea and I recently embarked on a volunteer discipleship program where we connect with people who see posts about Jesus on-line through PeaceWithGod.net.  People from all over the world can connect with Christians and ask all manner of questions about our faith.  If they so desire, they can take a free discipleship course that goes deeper into our relationship with God.  After just two days of volunteering, I realized a sad truth – people are desperate to be seen and feel connection.

God seems to have blessed us with this innate desire to be in communion, not only with other humans, but with the Creator, Himself.  We feel alone when those connections are broken or maybe have never come to fruition.  And for some reason we tend to pull away from the one source of never-ending, lavish love Jesus gave us a glimpse of while here in the flesh.  

We turn to fleshly desires to quench this need.  Food, sexual pleasures, escapism, alcohol, drugs, shopping, hobbies – all distractions from the fountain of life.  They all stand between us and God.  

Friend, if you are feeling lonely or abandoned by those who should love you come to Jesus.  He is the other one in the fire of life protecting you.  He wants to shower you with love and bring you into His glorious light.  You need only believe that this God sent His son to die for us and re-unite us with Him.  He’s waiting in the battle you face right now to give you His peace, give you His joy.

Click here to listen: Another In The Fire

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Day 8 Honey In The Rock

krisshetter 
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6:26-27
By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas; Psalm 65:5

There’s been a few times in my 36 years of marriage when we experienced serious financial loss.  The first time it was devastating.  I felt lost and unsure of our future.  It was hard not blaming and feeling angry.  I wasn’t a woman of faith at the time so I turned inward to chastise myself over and over and then outward condemning anyone associated with the loss.  I dwelt over it, turning the situation around in my head during endless, sleepless nights.  Each time I drove past the business project in which we had invested the scab was re-opened and for days I would feel those same feelings all over again.

Fast forward many years when my husband’s business and another investment came under dramatic assault due to Covid restrictions and fear.  We saw all that we had built potentially crumbling beneath us.  This loss was potentially greater, effecting our retirement and even our home.  This time, however was different.  

I frequently found myself at peace.  Sure, I’d get scared.  I’d worry about the stress my husband was under.  This time I had someone to tell me there was a purpose to the plan.  To tell me He would give us the manna and the honey because He is the Lord who provides.

We have two choices to make when difficulties attack our lives.  We can turn to our emotions and fears or we can turn to Jesus.  When we allow our fears to take over, we get angry, we blame, we get depressed.  For people like me I wear myself out alternately beating myself up (you shouldn’t have taken that vacation last year!  That money could help us now!) or obsessing over how to fix an unfixable problem.  For some they withdraw from the world all together feeling hopeless.

When I finally learned, and most of all believed, that God is who we turn to satisfy and squash our fears I experienced freedom.  He is a miracle worker.  He can bring water from a stone.  Turn water into wine.  No matter what we face in the coming years we need to remember to seek God for all we need.  Pray, praise and trust then repeat.

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