Living Life for Christ Alone

  "Do not stay so far from me, for trouble is near, and no one else can help me." (Psalm 22:11) "...No one else can help me." No hope anywhere but in Him. No help unless He helps. No joy unless He supplies it. No endurance, no patience, no peace, no goodness... unless it comes from His hand. No joy, no faith, no purpose in challenges unless He Himself gives it to us. The process to get to this place is arduous. It's one we don't ask for, but as Christians we need.  You see, when trouble is near, and we find that our resources are running out, we have whatever veiled our vision of Him removed so we can really see Him. He IS all -we just don't tend to see Him that way. He is our soul's answer -but we usually just have Him in our minds as a plan B. It's usually something else and  Him we depend on -not just Him. The Christian life is a process of growing in exclusive dependence on the One who is all we need. (Read John 15 for more on this.) And some...

 "Come and talk with Me." The whisper of the Father echoes in the mundane. It rustles through the soul in the chaotic.       As I wash dishes...       As I clean up messes...       As I wipe tears over and over...       As I start yet another load of laundry...       As I ponder the things about my children that perplex me...       As I long to go away and be alone...       As I force myself to get up off the couch (after having just sat down) to meet yet another need or to clean up another mess....       As I wonder how to point my children in the right direction...       As I take my daughter to the potty again after just doing it 15 minutes before.       As things I try to get done constantly get interrupted. "Come," He says, "tell me all." But I don't hear. "This doesn't matter very much to Him," I say, "I'm just a mom doing mom t...

"No, Lord, not them..."  There has been a truth that God has been bringing me back to over and over in the course of this past year, and it's simple:  Yes, them.  Let me explain. Sometimes I wonder why it is that we who are in Christ struggle to feel God's love for us...  Could it be in part because we are not willing to be His hands and feet of love to the unlovable? In motherhood, I have tasted God's love in laying down my sleep, my own nourishment, my own emotional stability, and almost every other basic need, for the needs of a baby. Could it be that in laying down our lives for the people we don't want to love, we will discover more depths to God's love than we ever dreamed possible? It is our human tendency to love to a limit, but no farther. Believe me, motherhood helps me discover my own limits fast. But what if God's desire were to give us a taste of the limitlessness of His love by calling us beyond our comfort zones and set boundaries?   Wha...

Ever drag your feet into Mondays?  I do -some weeks more than others.  For me, it often depends on how the weekend went, what is going on during the week, if I feel like I can conquer it or not, or if I have enough things planned in the week that I look forward to.  But this week, since we are almost done with week 4 of potty training with little progress, among other challenges in life I face, I found myself really dragging. "Oh, no... Not another week of this. Here we go." I have to admit, this morning I was complaining to God about it.  There is safety in going to God with your complaints. It can even be healthy for you, as long as you take it one step farther.  If you do it like the Israelites, where you only say what you're upset about and you tear down the character of God by choosing the lie that your circumstances are proof He is not good to you, you dishonor Him. But if you do it like David, who always had God's character in mind while doing it, it can ...

"...I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God's mysterious plan, which is...." (Colossians 2:2) How would you finish that sentence?  I think some might launch into a long theological answer. Others might simply say, "to get glory for Himself."  Some might recite some creed they memorized a long time ago. Still more might be stumped and say nothing. Another might talk about the big dreams they believe God has for them. I'm not saying none of these are good or needed.... But what if God's mysterious plan was something incredibly simple?  What if He wants us to get our focus off of doctrine and theology alone and onto something far deeper, that touches the heart?  What if He wants us to stop pursuing some incredibly high calling, or spiritual greatness and turn our attention elsewhere?  What if He means for us to be completely awestruck with His mysterious plan because it's incredibly simple, yet profound?  Alright, alright... wha...

I sat on the bathroom floor, the sound of the girls crying from the different rooms they were in making its way to my ears and breaking into the silence. It had been an emotional week for the girls. Between potty training, teething, leaps and who knows what else, there had been many, many tears. My own emotions were frayed, and I knew I couldn't handle their tears and the intensity of emotion much more.  I took a deep breath and said a prayer. "God, I can't even hold myself together..."  His whisper quieted my soul: "I can hold you -and them- together."  I stood back up and walked out of that bathroom with renewed confidence. ... "He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it." (1 Thess 5:24) How readily I take things into my own hands. How easily I grasp for control. And then, how quickly it all gets out of control because of my choice to take control.  But I am here -as  a wife, a mother, a writer and whatever else I am, because He  called me...