Living Life for Christ Alone

"Where do wars and fights come from among you?" (James 4:1) Have you ever paused to wonder why fights happen?  When I say fighting, yes, I could be talking about actual wars happening. I could also be referring to the battles we fight within our own country- political, social, and so on.  I could be talking about the rifts that happen interdenominationally, or even within a single church.  But I'm sure we all know that fighting happens a lot closer to home than that.  How about the "disagreements" (er, arguments) that happen within families: among siblings, spouses, parents and teens, etc.? There is something almost thrilling about joining in a good argument, would you agree? I've gotten caught up in some of them myself. It's almost addicting to fight for that last word.  But usually, whoever had the last word was the one who inflicted the most pain.  And whenever that last word is followed by silence, you can be sure that it will take a lot of work to ...

"My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense; I shall not be moved." (Psalm 62:5-6) It is in stillness and quiet that we really see God. It is when our eyes are set only on seeing Him that other sights are able to dim before His glorious presence.  Silence. I feel like it's a lost art.  Most of the time, my own soul is full of noise. Worries and cares. Distraction. People I care about. Circumstances I often seek to control. Goals I aim for. Things I'm doing that I'm deeply engrossed in. I start the day all too often with what seems like thousands of thoughts swirling in my mind.  Our moments of "quiet" often amplify the noise in our soul. Ever noticed that?  Maybe it's because we are actually settling down to listen, and that's the first thing we hear.  How do we wait  in silence  for God?  Perhaps it has more to do with expectation than we realize. Maybe there is a l...

It's way too easy to fall into a pit of condemnation and shame, isn't it?  I don't know about you, but there are many moments in my life where even the smallest of missteps in my life are like big arrows pointing deep into my soul, accusing me of being the worst person on the planet.  Too much time is spent in this pit, pondering the "what if I hadn't done that?" questions, as well as the "is there any hope for me now?" question. Or there are other times where I've jumped straight to the "there is no hope for me now" conclusion. Do you relate?  As one who can easily overthink things, I have often found myself digging deeper into this pit, simply because I am good at finding more reasons to do so.  But as one who has been bought by the blood of Jesus, is this really where I should be living? I am His, am I not?  Didn't His sacrifice and glorious resurrection make it possible for us to get back up when we fall and not even look back w...

Life. It's full of ups and downs, don't you agree? One moment you're on a mountain top, and you feel you can see the whole world and everything in it. And then the next moment, you find yourself in a valley covered with clouds and darkness and you can barely see your hand in front of your face. But are we supposed to feel  right all the time? That's a question that gets me. I want to feel right all the time! I want to feel as if everything is fun and enjoyable. But to be honest, it's not. There are dreary, dull things that each of us are called to do each day... and if you're anything like me, you might struggle with finding it pointless or boring...

I walked all alone down the leaf-strewn sidewalk, my hands in my pockets. A dark figure came out of the shadows and walked towards me. I could not make out who it was, but I sensed an evil about him -an evil that threatened my beautiful surroundings. And then he spoke in a forceful tone. "You had better face it. You are alone, and it will always be that way. Nobody really loves you. You just think they do. Really, though, you are alone." I tried to fight back the tears as the reality of his words sank in. Was it really true? People seemed to like me, but really, did they? It seemed true enough. I was all alone in this world. Nobody really wanted to know what I had to say or think. It was just me, and that was it. Deep in thought, I failed to notice that the dark figure had left me to think about his lies alone.