Many mornings, I awake still weary, as though I’d hardly slept. I go through my day wincing at the pain in my back. My kids sniffle, cough, and sneeze. And my husband worries he may need surgery again.

Each day I battle the sins in my heart. I fight against the lies of the evil one. I also face the sins of others each day–my children’s, friends, family, and strangers. And I battle feelings of despair, fear, worry and sorrow.

I, for one, long for Christ’s return and for a perfect, healthy body. I long for a heart that is completely free of all sin. I long for my redemption to be full and complete.

Don’t you?

“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” Romans 8:22-23

We have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, yet we still await our final redemption. There exists an already/not yet tension as we await the Lord’s final return. We are already perfect in the sight of God, yet we still battle sin. We are already raised with Christ (Col. 3:1), yet we still live in the this world that is not our own. We are already children of God, yet we still await our full inheritance. The final battle has already been won, yet evil is still active in this world.

The apostle Paul speaks of this tension when he describes his struggle with sin “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” (Romans 7:15) We have been redeemed from our sins. We are being redeemed from the sin that lingers in our flesh. And we will one day be completely redeemed when we receive our resurrection bodies.

Not only do we battle with sin, illness, and the weakness of our flesh, but the earth groans too. It also awaits its own redemption and restoration. Not only will we receive resurrected bodies on that final day, but the earth will also receive its own redemption.

“In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all.” Isaiah 11:6

Until that final day, we cling to His promises and rest in His grace. He is faithful to finish the work He began in us. While our bodies may groan and we get weary, may we never forget that He who bought us–will never let us go. May we keep our eyes fixed on Christ and to the future that awaits us as His children.

Do you also long for that day?

Download TODAY! ==> Faith - A Four Week Mini Bible Study
Subscribe to CSAHM via Kindle!

Grace isn’t fair. Humility is knowing what you deserve but receiving His grace. Pride is always wanting justice. But do we really want to receive justice? No matter what the other person did, my actions were not clean and neither was my heart. I had to ask myself if I really wanted to get what *I* deserved…

Click here to continue reading…

Download TODAY! ==> Faith - A Four Week Mini Bible Study
Subscribe to CSAHM via Kindle!

Have you ever had a day where everything just went wrong? And you along with it?

Some mornings we all seem to wake up on the wrong side of the bed. My four-year-old tantrums about every little thing. My oldest tries to daydream the day away, instead of focusing on his school work. And me? Well, I react to all of it.

At the end of the day, I am appalled at my responses throughout the day and by my own tantrums. Guilt weighs down on me, a heavy load. Overwhelmed, I open the Word to give me hope. I pray and ask for grace. Then I hear the Spirit’s quiet whisper in my heart.

“Have you forgotten you were set free?”

Christ’s redemption has set me free from my prison of sin. I’m free from guilt, from judgement, and from despair. God now sees Jesus’ perfect life in the place of mine. When I am unloving to my family, He sees the love Christ gave for the world. When I respond in anger to my kids, He only sees Christ’s righteous anger. When I am overwhelmed and burdened by life, God sees Christ carrying my burdens on the cross.

These hard days will continue to come until the final day when we are completely free from the lingering effects of sin. Until then, I don’t have to live in despair. By remembering the gospel and the freedom that Christ’s redemption accomplished, I can live in confidence. I can approach each new day knowing that my Savior is there to strengthen me, no matter what lies ahead.

It’s because of Jesus that I can come freely to the throne of grace. I can lay my burdens at my Father’s feet and find forgiveness. When I take hold of this freedom, I am living like a true child of God and not an abandoned orphan. And this gives me a thankful heart, full of praises to the One who opened my prison doors.

Tomorrow is a new day, full of mercy and grace. We may wake up on the right side of the bed, or we might not. Either way, I know His grace is greater than all our sins and He is strong enough to carry me through each and every struggle and challenge.

Do you know this freedom?

“You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” Romans 6:18

Download TODAY! ==> Faith - A Four Week Mini Bible Study
Subscribe to CSAHM via Kindle!

“I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Malachi 3:6

God never changes, but we do.

God doesn’t allow the circumstances around Him make Him conform to this world, but we do.

God doesn’t let what others think about Him change Him, but we do.

We change. We allow our circumstances, money, success, failure, rejection, fear, acceptance, our highs, and lows to change us. But God doesn’t. He is always there, always the same.

I’m learning more and more that the things I thought would change my life only change my life, and they only change me, because I allow it. But I don’t want them to change my life like that. I want God to change my life. I want God to reach deep down into my heart and change me from the inside out, not the other way around.

Sometimes we allow the world to change us because we think things in this world are a little more important than they really are! They are our idols and when we worship these idols the presence or the lack of this idol determines our emotions and actions. It determines how we feel, what we say, how we act, what we do and don’t do, how we treat the ones around us, and how we treat our self.

But it doesn’t change God. He is always the same.

But when we Delight in Him we stay the same always. Our eyes see the truth of what these worldy possessions represent. Our idols no more determine our worth or how we act. We are finally His, and we know what really matters in this world.

Letting go of these idols is never easy. We need to go through the pain before we experience the joy. But it’s worth it. God is so much more than the idols in our life and in Him we will find peace and JOY.

Download TODAY! ==> Faith - A Four Week Mini Bible Study
Subscribe to CSAHM via Kindle!

O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. Psalm 130:7

We hope for many things. On game days, we hope it won’t rain. When we are making plans with friends, we hope they can join us. Even at Christmas time, we hope for certain gifts. Often, these hopes fail. We’re left soaked, friendless, and empty-handed.

But the Bible tells us about another hope–hope in the Lord. Hope is a key element of the believer’s faith, along with faith and love. We have hope in what we long for, what we wait for, and what we believe in. But the hope that the Bible speaks of, is one that does not fail.

The Israelites of the Old Testament put their hope in the one who redeemed them from slavery in Egypt and looked forward to their full redemption in the Messiah. Our hope is found in the Messiah, in Christ and His redemption. Just as the Israelites were redeemed from their slavery and bondage in Egypt, we have been redeemed from our slavery to sin and death. Just as the Israelites were saved by the lamb’s blood over their door frames, we have been saved the blood of the Lamb.

We who have been saved by the blood of the Lamb, have everything we’ve ever needed or hoped for. In fact, there is no hope without the redemption found in Christ. “Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.”

To have salvation from our sins and a restored relationship with God is everything our hearts need or desire. We were made for fellowship with God and without it, we wander aimlessly, like the Israelites in the desert, searching for something to fill that void. Jesus alone fills that aching hole in our hearts. Through faith in blood shed on the cross for our sins, we become complete, whole, and full of hope.

Sometimes, as Christians, we can get distracted by the cares of this world. We might place our hope in things like the economy, jobs, status, material possessions, and accomplishments. When these things fail, we despair and feel lost and alone. We’ve forgotten where our true hope really lies.

By placing our hope and trust in Christ, we will not be disappointed. His redemption has accomplished for us what we could not do on our own–a restored relationship with the Father. We now have complete access to our Creator. We can come to Him with all our fears, doubts, and tears and know that He hears us. He is the only one who can fill those empty places that were made for Him alone. His love is deeper than our greatest sins and He is the only hope that doesn’t disappoint.

Do you have this hope? Have you been made alive in Christ?

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13, 14

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.” Hebrews 6:19, 20a

Download TODAY! ==> Faith - A Four Week Mini Bible Study
Subscribe to CSAHM via Kindle!

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-39

There comes a moment in our faith walk where the only thing we can be confident in is our faith in God and His will for our life.

My personal struggle has always been the fear of rejection, and being a Christian writer isn’t the ideal place for someone who fears rejection to go out and share Jesus with the world. It’s not an easy road to be on, and there have been many times where I have been knocked down and I have wondered if I will ever get back up.

Yesterday I was thinking about what I would do if I only had one day to live…in my heart I know the only thing that would matter to me is getting the truth about Jesus out to those around me. I would want my children to know, friends, and family. Everyone, because if I only had ONE day to live that’s really the only valuable thing I have to offer. But the truth is even if we have 500 days to live it is still the most valuable thing we can offer anyone, but so often I find myself worrying more about what others will think of me and I retreat instead of walking boldly in my faith.

It’s not easy living in this world. Criticism and judgement is everywhere. Everyone wants to be right. We demand justice and fairness. But before we fall victim to our pitty party about how difficult this world is to live in, let’s not forget the plank in our own eye, we too judge and demand justice, and fairness.

However I have learned…

• Through the criticism I have learned compassion.
• Through the unfairness of life I have learned grace.
• Through the injustices I have learned mercy.

The lessons I have learned I would never want to give back, but often I wish I could avoid them. I will also say that through compassion, grace, and mercy I have learned confidence. I have learned to walk boldly in my Faith to answer the call that God has placed on my heart.

When we walk in faith we are likely to get hurt along the way, there will always be some form of resistance. However through those trials we find our confidence because we need to ask the tough questions and we need to figure out what God’s call is for our life and where we need to go next.

That’s where I’m at right now. Learning to have confidence in God rather than listening to everything else around me. Focused is where my eyes are right now because the big picture overwhelms me…when I’m focused I can finally walk in faith towards the finish line.

Download TODAY! ==> Faith - A Four Week Mini Bible Study
Subscribe to CSAHM via Kindle!

Something is always breaking at my house: dvd players, remote control cars, flashlights, washing machines, etc. My son, before the age of two, had quickly learned that batteries make things work. Whenever anything broke, whether it took batteries or not, he brought it to me and asked for batteries.

But what do we do when a person is broken?

In our society, brokenness is a cause for replacement. We throw out what’s broken and replace it with something new. We do that, not only with our possessions, but with people as well.

God is different. God does His best work with what we would consider a mess. In fact, He seems to prefer working with the messy and broken. Jesus ate many meals with the broken. He spoke with those whom everyone else had rejected. He loved the unloveable and touched the unclean.

God is different, He loves us in spite of our brokenness. He looks at us and sees what we can become. Unlike replacing a battery, He doesn’t just put us back together the way we were. Rather, He transforms us into something better. As an artist takes pieces of broken china and creates a beautiful mosaic, so God takes the broken pieces of our lives and transforms them into something magnificent.

Have you been broken in some way? Do you think you are too broken for God to fix? In Matthew 9, a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years touched the cloak of Jesus and was healed. Her disease had kept her from being a part of the community. She was not able to marry or go to the temple because she was unclean. This woman would have been someone we would consider broken, too broken for God to help. She had just enough faith to reach out and touch Jesus’ cloak. And she was healed. Not only was she healed, but her life was completely changed. For when Jesus stopped and spoke to her, he was announcing to the community that she had been healed. This compassionate statement meant that she was then able to rejoin the temple community and be accepted by society again.

“Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment.” Matthew 9:20-22

Our God is a compassionate God. If all we have is a little bit of faith, it is enough to move mountains. If you are broken today, know that He accepts you just as you are. Come to Him, saying “I believe, help my unbelief.” He will look past your weakness and brokenness and see what Jesus has already done for you at the cross. Come to Him and you will find healing for all your brokenness.

Disclosure: Some affiliate links have been used within this post.

Download TODAY! ==> Faith - A Four Week Mini Bible Study
Subscribe to CSAHM via Kindle!

I read a lot. Blogs and books. I’m not too much of a fan of magazines.

While I am reading it’s easy to begin questioning. Questioning what I believe, my faith, what’s truth.

But as I sit here quietly taking it all in, I need to look inside and ask God what is the truth in MY life.

Sometimes we take the Bible and it’s words and apply it to someone else’s life.

But right now for me, I need to take God’s Word and make it the truth written on MY heart.

It’s the only way I can share His truth, if I first apply it to MY heart, and MY life.

Generalizing the Word only makes it small, but the Word is so much bigger than what we can ever imagine.

SO as I apply the Word to MY heart I will be sure to apply it all to MY heart, not just parts of it.

I will meditate on it. I will cherish it. I will honor it.

I will allow it to change ME.

The truth is the same, but the filter of our heart is different. How we all receive His truth will happen in different ways, through different experiences, and through different words spoken to us through the Holy Spirit.

That’s why the Word is so powerful. It’s alive, and it moves through the puzzle of our heart…

How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. Luke 6:42

Download TODAY! ==> Faith - A Four Week Mini Bible Study
Subscribe to CSAHM via Kindle!

“My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:5-7 (MSG)

In 2004, we had two hurricanes come through our coastal town. After the wind died down and the storm had passed, we returned home to see what kind of damage had been done. Thankfully, our house was intact. We did lose quite a few trees though. Many had snapped in half. We spent weeks cleaning up all the brush and chopping down the now dead trees. Trees, unlike flowers and other small plants, have roots that run deep. To completely get the tree out of the ground, the stump has to be ground up by a stump grinding machine. Even after the stump is ground out, many of the roots still remain deep in the ground.

Do you have roots that run deep?

Once we’ve received the gospel through faith we begin to grow as a Christian. At first we’re like a young plant who needs constant nurture and attention. As we grow deeper in our faith, our roots begin to take hold. Just as a plant needs sun and water to grow, we need to drink continually from the gospel for our faith to grow deeper. The more we are saturated with the truths of what Christ has done for us, the more our relationship with him will grow. The more we understand how much we are loved by God, the more we realize how great a sacrifice was made for us, and the more we grasp the grace that has been given to us, we will be overwhelmed by thanksgiving.

Our Christian life is motivated by gratitude rather than guilt. We love and obey God because we are so overcome and overwhelmed by His amazing and gracious love. We don’t obey out of guilt or fear but out of love in response to all He’s done for us. Our deep roots give us the strength and foundation to live out our faith day-to-day, with thanksgiving for all we have in Christ.

Storms will come, as they do. The enemy will attack us with lies. People will hurt us. Trials and hardships will come. When they do, we turn again to the gospel and remind ourselves of who we are in Christ. We are deeply loved more than we can imagine. God looks on us and sees not our sin, but the righteousness of Christ. We are holy and perfect in his sight. We are children of God and heirs of an eternal kingdom. No matter the storms that try to knock us down, our roots run deep and nothing can take us out of his hands.

Today, may we stretch our branches high into the Light of the Word. May our roots dig deeper into the gospel of grace. And may we be continually nourished and strengthened by the gospel, remaining firmly planted in the Lord.

“So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture…I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.” Romans 8:31-39 (MSG)

Download TODAY! ==> Faith - A Four Week Mini Bible Study
Subscribe to CSAHM via Kindle!

This season leading up to Easter is a season of sacrifice. Many give up something they enjoy in order that they might focus more intently on Jesus’ sacrifice at the cross. It is a time of preparation, contemplation, and repentance. As I walk further into these forty days, I am overwhelmed by the love and grace of God that would sacrifice everything for me. “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:6-8)

Sacrifice: “the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.”

Jesus sacrificed more than our finite minds can fathom. He left a palace and a royal throne to be born in a manger and sleep in a cattle trough. He grew up in poverty and experienced the pain, temptations, and sorrow that we all face in this world. He experienced not only the rejection of his family, friends, and those he came to save, but also the rejection of his Father above. He was kicked out of the dance of self-giving love between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that he had been a part of from all eternity. He took a punishment that he did not deserve to free us from the prison of sin.

I’ve read many times that the Christian life is one of suffering and sacrifice. Jesus told us we would have to follow his example and take up our own crosses. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” (Mark 8:34,35) This season of Lent points us to the greater denial and sacrifice we must do to follow Christ.

Too often, we find our identity and sense of self in what we own, what we do, what we have done, who we know and who loves us. Jesus tells us that no matter how much we gain in this world, it’s never enough to fill the God shaped hole in our hearts. He wants us to sacrifice and give up our old identity and build it instead on him and the gospel.

For he gave up himself, becoming nothing, so that we could have a new identity as children of God.

The gospel began with sacrifice at his birth and continued to the cross where he died. Our identity and relationship with him must also start with sacrifice.

“Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, the death of your ambitions and favorite wishes every day and the death of your whole body in the end: Submit with every fiber of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.” C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity

This Easter, may our focus go deeper into all that Jesus gave up to save us from sin. And in grateful response to this sacrificial love, may we in return sacrifice our very selves. For it’s in him that we find out who we are really meant to be.

Download TODAY! ==> Faith - A Four Week Mini Bible Study
Subscribe to CSAHM via Kindle!