Author: Rebecca Darga

Love Changes Us

Trying to change people by nagging pestering and yelling never works. We may get them to do what we want in the moment but it doesn’t change their heart.  It doesn’t bring about real change.

Prayer is how we fight.  Prayer changes things. Prayer changes our perspective of others and prayer is what can change their hearts. See prayer is simply a conversation with God letting him show us how he sees things.

So often we think we can change someone. Or we’ll love them more if we just get them to be who we think they should be. But if we look to change ourselves instead, to love them no matter what, God’s love through us will change them.

Think back to when you gave your heart to Jesus. Did you do it because he was nagging you or because you came to know his love and forgiveness? When we give our heart to God we repent of our past mistakes and we choose to let God change us. We have to do the same with others. Allow God to bring about the change.

Gods love changed us and the expression of that love will change others.

Escape vs Surrender

This world often teaches us to escape our problems. Have a drink, try this medication, I just need to veg or blow off steam. But none of these solve the issue. They mask or distract.

But God can. When we surrender our problems over to him he takes care of them for us. Some solutions may be as simple as a perspective change other solutions may be something we never considered. God created us. He knows how to care and provide and love us. But he can’t fix what we won’t give him.

So surrender whatever your dealing with over to God and let him be the solution. Let his peace that surpasses understanding wash over you and let his love be enough because it always more than we need.

Let God Lead

For I, the Lord your God,
    hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, “Fear not,
    I am the one who helps you.”

Isaiah 41:13

I’ve had a few seasons of struggling with finding intimacy with Jesus. As life changes so has my devotional time.

In one of these seasons I realized that the connection I was lacking at that time was because I wasn’t writing like I used to. Writing is part of who God has called me to be and it’s how He teaches me. It’s in that teaching that I grow closer to Him and learn more about Him.

God designed each of us and He has his own special way of connecting with each of us and revealing our identity in Him is the key to that.

We don’t need to fear Him and worry about our past neglect or inadequacies. We simply need to come to Him, hold His hand and let Him lead us.

Surrender vs Self Sufficiency

 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?  And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,  yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. –Matthew 6:25-34

Have you ever thought I can’t worship God right now I need an answer to this thing I’m worried about. I have. I’ve let my worries and concerns deter me from spending time with God. Because I’m trying to fix it on my own.

But what I really need is to spend time with God. It’s in our worship that we fully focus on him. And when we do, he can provide the solution we have been trying to achieve on our own. 

Worship is an act of surrender when we lay down all we are worried about and give it all to God. It’s in that surrender that he can provide. It’s when we trust him despite our concerns that he can move. How do we expect him to fix it if we won’t give it to him.

Listen to this song and lay it all down and let him provide the solution.

Words Matter

What we say about ourselves matters. Be it out loud or in our head. What we let others tell us about ourselves matters. Be it good or bad. Words influence us. But what matters most is what God says about us. And what he says is we are loved, forgiven and made into a new creation 

He sees us as who he made us to be. Not our past or what others tell us about ourselves but who we really are. When we give our lives to Jesus our old self dies and he lives through us. We are not the person we used to be. God doesn’t see us and all our mistakes he sees Jesus and his sacrifice for us. When he makes us a new creation we are forgiven and made new.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! -2 Corinthians 5:17

Not Beyond Redemption

No one is past redemption if even Darth Vader can repents in the end so can anyone else. Yes it’s just a story but many stories resonate in truth. 

Repentance is about our deeds or our life. It’s about Jesus life and his sacrifice in our stead. We simply have to accept his forgiveness and invite him into our heart.

So it doesn’t matter if we are on our death bed or have finally decided to give our life to God. He is always there waiting for you to choose him.

Love conquers fear

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control

2 Timothy 1:7

Fear can control us, if we let it. But God does not desire for us to be ruled by fear.

Fear limits us and confines us to the familiar, fear keeps us locked in our comfort zone and keeps us from experiencing all that God has for us.

He made us to live in his love and his power, but how do we achieve that?

Self-control.

God loves us so much that he gave us choice, the freedom to choose his love or not. In choosing his love he gives us the power to conquer fear, to say that we will not be ruled it, but will choose to let his love define us.

It’s his love that says my God is bigger then my circumstances and I trust God to take care of all I need and more because I know who he is.

Photo by Skye Studios on Unsplash

Find new life in death

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,  he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. –Colossians 1:21-23

Life and death reverberate throughout all creation. In creation the dead bring life to the living. Plants draw nutrients from the compost of the creation that has died and gone back into the earth.

If you look and listen God is always teaching us, echoing his message throughout all creation.

Death brings life.

Jesus died to bring us new life. His sacrifice paid for our mistakes and makes us a new creation before God. So that we might have freedom from guilt and shame. So we can have have a pure, loving, deep, intimate connection with him.

Jesus’s death brings life and so does our own. When we die to our selfishness and let him live through us it’s like a light being turned on in dark room, we can finally see and find freedom from the darkness that once surrounded us.

Find freedom in him and let his love and sacrifice lead you to the light of forgiveness.

Photo by Jeremy Perkins on Unsplash

Trust God’s Timing

Just because you don’t have what you asked God for right now, doesn’t mean he’s not going to bless you with it later.

His timing is perfect. He know what we need, when we need it.

My husband and I didn’t meet until later in our adult lives. We were both looking for our spouse for years but the right person never came along. When we did meet we realized there were many times in our lives when our lives could have intertwined but they didn’t. During the waiting time we each focused on healing us from past hurts and growing closer to Jesus. If we had met sooner we would of caused each other pain because neither of us was really ready to be in healthy marriage. But because we took the time to heal and come to know that complete dependence on God is what we need. We don’t look to each other to fulfill us. We know that Jesus must be the center of our marriage and only he can fulfill us.

Trusting his timing can be hard if we focus on what we don’t have. But if we focus on what he is doing in our life right now, what we are waiting for won’t take as long as we think it will and will be better then if we’d had it when we thought we should.

My will or HIS

Everything in life can fail and falter, but the one thing we can always count on and depend on is God, because he doesn’t change. He’s the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He is always loving, always there and always dependable.

He’s always on time and always work things out for good.

He is the one thing in life that we can count on 100%.

It’s us that falter or wavier, that grow impatient or try to do things in our own time or our own way. But when we depend on God and follow his lead we will have no regret.

Why do we push people away who try to help us?

In the movie I Can Only Imagine Bart Millard pushes away his high school girlfriend Shannon when she tries to help him. His knee jerk reaction is to push her away.

Our natural reaction when someone tries to help us when we’re hurting is to push back, because it hurts when someone pokes a wound. But we have to find the root cause of the pain if we want to heal and sometimes that means a painful conversation to find that root.

When the human body is severely burned you have to remove the dead tissue to get to the healthy tissue so that it can grow and heal, which is an extremely painful experience but the end result is healed healthy tissue. 

The same is true with our emotional wounds we have to remove the things in our life that are dead in order to allow new growth.

That may mean removing ourselves from certain people or circumstances that continue to hurt us.

But it also means we have to let those that are trying to help us heal, to help. Trust the people that have been there for you in a healthy way and lean on their experience to guide you through the healing process. And yes sometimes the the severest wounds scar but they don’t hurt anymore. Those scars can then be a testament to how God healed us.

Willing vessel

“We may feel small, weak, incapable, ill-equipped, lacking in articulation. None of this matters. Frequently, all the obedience God requires of us is simply showing up. He does the rest. When we see a need, we go to it, reach out a hand and wait. Father comes into that situation. He expresses Himself through us. All we needed to do was be there, because He has no physical hands or feet on the earth except yours and mine.” ~Heidi Baker

A lot of fear about telling people about Jesus is that we don’t know what to say or what to do. The beauty of a relationship with the Holy Spirit is that He tells us what to say, He tells us what to do.

The Holy Spirit knows each of us intimately, He knows what we need when we need it.

We simple need to be willing to be used by God to convey His words and His actions to them. To be a willing vessel.

Cherish those who faithfully serve

But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.  For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill.  Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety.  So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.

Philippians 2:25-30

Ministry is so much more then the person with the microphone.

There are always others, working to make events, outreaches and ministries happen.

When was the last time you thanked the person who faithfully makes the coffee each Sunday or the person who cleans your church, how about the person who opens their home up for your small group. Ministry is a group activity, we can reach other on a one on one basis but to reach a multitude is hard without a team that supports each other.

Paul acknowledged that in this passage. He appreciated the work and support of Epaphroditus.

If you are a leader remember to thank those that make it possible for you to do what you do, if you serve encourage and lift up those who serve with you.

A simple thank you can go a long way.


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You can’t surprise God

It’s easy to feel alone and like no one understands, because no one really knows what every moment of your life is like.

But God does…

…He knows because he is there with us whether we realize it or not. God is the only one who can and does understand. But we often feel afraid to go to Him because we’re worried about what He would think. But He already knows it all so there is really nothing we can hide from Him.

Even in knowing everything He loves us still.

We don’t have to be afraid of Him, because He is love. Nothing about God is something that we should ever fear.

Because God is love, He is joy, He is peace, He is patience, He is kind and He is good. So what about that is scary?

He is the one that we can always turn to no matter what.

So no matter what is running through your head or your heart you can’t surprise God. But you can let Him in.

Our stories

Every year I post my story (my testimony) of how God changed my life because I know it reaches people, it shows them they are not alone and that God can change their story too. I want to hear your stories too of how God changed your life.

Because we each have a story and everyone’s is important and can make a difference in the the life of others. Please share your story in the comments or post it on social media and share what God has done in your life.

Jesus Plan for Us is Worth the Wait

It’s easy to be seduced by getting what you want instantly, instead of waiting for it.

In The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Edmond is drawn in by the witch when she says that she will give him what he wants if he just brings her what she wants.

But if Edmond had waited just a little longer Aslan would have given him everything he had asked for and more.

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in what we want and when we want it that we make compromises and sacrifices we never needed to if we would just wait.

Jesus has so much for us, to bless us, lift us up and love us. But it’s his love for us that makes us wait for the things we want sometimes, because he knows when each blessing is best for us.

If we get everything we want right when we want it, we will over indulge or use it all and still want more, like Edmond with the Turkish Delight the witch gave him. He ate it all quickly and wanted more, but later felt sick because he didn’t appreciate the gift.

Jesus knows what we need and when we need it. We just have to wait for his timing.


Photo by Max on Unsplash

We need light

Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. -Ecclesiastes 11:7

Our eyes are naturally drawn to find light. We are meant to find light. If you close your eyes and then open them, your eyes will immediately go to the brightest thing. We seek out light, we add lamps to our homes and extra lights. Any good craftsmen will tell you they need good lighting to make their best product. We live our lives in light. Light helps us see where we are walking, where we are headed and where we’ve been. Light in some aspect is needed to do almost all things in life.

Your word is a lamp to my feet
    and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105

Why is there so much focus on the dark. We are meant to be creatures of light, not of darkness.

Things can be hidden in the dark, or misunderstood, but in the light they shine their true nature. Our eyes can be deceived easily in the dark, to see things that are not really there, or misinterpret things to be something other then what they are.

Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. -Ecclesiastes 2:13

Seek God’s light in your life and trust that he will shine the path forward.

Serve like Jesus

Servants, obey in all things those who are your masters according to the flesh, not just when they are looking, as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men,  knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. –Colossians 3:22-24

Some may think these verses seem archaic, but this passage is really just about work ethic.

We as believers in Jesus are to work as he did; to serve others and give the best of ourselves and let God provide for our needs.

When we work to serve others geniuenly and not out of obligation or what we can get from it, God blesses us.

It’s when we try to work for our needs, our wants, and only for what we can get out of it; that we receive only what we worked for. But when we do our best work for others; God blesses us.

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When your worn out

God is the one we can always count on. We don’t have to do or be anything to come to him.

We can be in our worst state and he is there for us. No matter how tired or exhausted we are, he is not looking for deeds to earn his love and attention, just our hearts surrendered to Him.

Don’t worry about accomplishments. Just go to Him, He’s happy just to spend time with you.

Jesus Friend of Sinners

Jesus friend of sinner by Casting Crowns perfectly describes how we sometimes act towards non-believers and contrasts how we should actually act.

Jesus befriended sinners.

Think about it this way. Has someone pointing fingers at you, teasing you, being told you are wrong, or protesting ever convinced you that you are loved by God. Then why would we think that it would convey that to anyone else.

Did Jesus do any of those things? No.

When people met Jesus, they changed their ways by their own decision. The tax collector gave back the money he stole with interest and Jesus never asked him to. Jesus didn’t throw rocks at the woman who was going to be stoned for adultery, he defended her. He didn’t call them out on what they were doing. They knew what the were doing. He called up to who he made them to be.

Jesus causes people to change their ways just by being love. It’s the love of God that causes people to choose to change, not condemnation. Isn’t that what brought you to God? His love and forgiveness.

We are not meant to be judge and jury. We are meant to show God’s love.

Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash

Listening is Intimacy

Watching the movie Brave the other night reminded me of how important listening is in relationships. If we just talk at each other and never listen, we miss what the other person needs and who they are.

It’s the same with our relationship with God. We can talk at God all day but if we don’t listen for his response we will never know or understand him. Its in the listening that we really learn his character, his love and even his sense of humor. Often we are taught do this or say that and God will be pleased. But what if we just asked him what he wants. It may be simpler then we realize. It may to to smile at someone or had them some water. Or it may even be a simple as him asking us to just stop for a moment and enjoy his presence.

The more I seek God and ask him to share his interpretation of his word with me the simpler it is. Love God, love others. But we can’t skip the first part. Loving God is spending time with him. Even if it’s as simple as sitting in his presence and neither of you saying anything. Listening is the key to intimacy with God. So ask him what he wants and trust that no matter how small it seems it’s what is best for you and that all he wants. For his kids to feel loved and cared for.

Be known

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.

Psalm 139:23-24

God knows us. He knows every single thing about us down to the number of hairs on our head.

And he loves us even knowing all our faults.

But that’s not how he sees us, he sees all that we could be, he sees what he intended us to be. He sees our full potential.

There is no reason to fear God knowing you because that is what makes him love you. He sees each of us a unique and special to him and we are all valuable.

So if you want to feel loved, valued, desired, cared for and known then seek God and let him show you all that he made you to be.

You are valued

Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him),  and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.  Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.  For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis.  Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas.  Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.

Colossians 4:10-15

Each believer in Jesus has a part to play, each of us have something to share and to give, everyone of us is valuable. God uses the body as analogy for the body of believers because each part has a unique and different part in a fully functioning body.

We each are a part of Jesus and we each reveal him in different ways, and when we don’t show Jesus through us then we miss a part of him. He is so complex that it takes all of humanity to reveal him.

Whenever I encounter someone who I may not agree with or don’t get along with. I ask God to show me how he sees them, who he made them to be, and he changes my heart for them. He shows me his love for them and how he sees them.

When God started me on this journey of writing, I starting by writing my story and what he had done for me, but then he asked me to write his story. To do this I needed a heart for people which I did not have then. But over time he has developed that in me. To see each person as valuable and having great potential in his body. Because that’s how he sees each of us, valuable.

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When we feel lost

When we’re at a loss and we don’t know what to do. We can always turn to God. He is the creator of the universe he created us and he knows us. He knows the little things that bring a smile to our faces and what can change our whole mood.

But we have to turn to him in those moments when we get in a funk and don’t know what to do, where to turn or just don’t want to keep doing what we’re doing.

It’s that knowledge of us that he uses to comfort us, bring us joy and hope and remind us that we matter and that we are loved.

Never Alone in the Valley

It’s easy to feel alone in our struggles, but we never are when we have Jesus. He’s always there with us being all that we need even in our lowest lows God is with us. All we need is to turn to him.

He teaches us so much in our struggles. He shows us what is really important and the value or lack of value in the things of this world.

Jesus said we will have struggles but he has overcome them. Since he is always with us, we can always overcome them, because he has overcome them.

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

Trust God’s Timing

When we fell like we’re stuck in a tough situation it’s easy to look to solutions we never would have before. We can be tempted with a quick fix. Like Caspian and Peter in “Prince Caspian” they listen to the counsel of those they shouldn’t and even consider working with the white witch because they don’t think Aslan will provide. But Edmund helps them see it’s not the solution they really want.

We need to seek God daily and remind ourselves that he is good and he provides. It may not always be in the way we think it should happen or in our preferred timing but if we put our faith in him he will provide. Just like Aslan did through Lucy because she never lost her faith.

So stop trying to do it yourself, seek God and let him provide.

One wrong turn

It’s amazing how one turn can change your whole path. One choice, one decision can change your direction and ultimately your destination. When driving one wrong turn can send us in a completely different direction. We may pass by things we would have never seen or known before just because of one turn.

Our life is the same, one wrong decision can lead us into things we never thought we would say or do. We may feel trapped like there is no where else to go, all because of one decision.

But there is always a choice to turn around.

It may be hard, an up hill battle, we may face opposition, but the end destination changes from bad to good.

My life changed when I turned my back on Jesus and tried to live my life without him. I made bad choice, after bad choice, that led me to do things I once said I never would. I made compromises to try to attain my goals, eventually hitting my rock bottom.

It wasn’t until I hit my rock bottom, that I realized I needed Jesus. So I turned my life back to him and he pulled me out of the pit I had dug; almost instantaneously. It took time for me to fully surrender different areas of my life before he could heal the damage I had inflicted on myself, but he was there and is still there continuing to heal me as I surrender more and more to him.

We have a choice.

If we made one wrong choice or dozens God is always there waiting to show us his love, grace and compassion. He is always ready to help us turn around.

How are you getting, where you’re going?

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

Philippians 3:12-16

It’s so easy to get caught up in who we were in our past, last week or even an hour ago. But you can’t change the past. But we can learn from it.

Our focus should be on the present and the future; looking towards who Jesus made us to be and what he has called us to.

Dwelling on the past only makes you look backwards; it’s really hard to go forwards when you are always looking backwards.

Surrender your past year, day, hour and even the last minute to Jesus and move forward. Allow his grace and sacrifice to cleanse you of your past and focus on who he is turning you into.

He’s not concerned with what you’ve done, he already paid the price for it. His focus is on who he has made you to be and what he has planned for you.

Reaching even One Matters

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.–1 Peter 5:6-7

In our current time of social media and constant self promotion it can be hard to be humble.

We can be so worried about how many likes, shares, hits, retweets we get that we can lose sight of who and what we represent. As believers in Jesus we are meant to shine him to others. And we can be discouraged when even our posts about him get little traffic. 

But we must remember that what we write/post/share for him isn’t about us. It’s about him. And even if it reaches just one person, it might be what that one person needed more than we could ever know.

Jesus is all you need

The best part about Jesus is that he is what we are not. So when we say we don’t feel like it, that’s ok, we don’t have to, because he is what we are not. He is our strength, our peace and our joy. We have to stop trying to be what we think God wants us to be and let him be in us what he is.

When we surrender our lives over to him we need to fill that up with something but we often make the mistake of filling up on the things that got us to where we were in the first place before Jesus.

We need to fill up on him, to fix our eyes on what draws us closer to him not further from him. We have this problem of trying to imitate God instead of letting him be God in us. We need to get out of the way.

If his intentions was to have us fix ourselves, then why did he sacrifice his life for us. Don’t say we’ll that just the way I am. Because when you gave your life over to God you gave up that person, you died to self. So God can live through you so that you can be the person he created you to be. That person is loving, peaceful, fearless and joyful.

So stop saying less of me and more of him and say none of me and all of him.

Stop running

I love watching movies and having God teach me something through them. The Lion King has so many moments that are teachable. Simbas overall life lesson is what caught my attention this time.

He tried to run from his problems, only to find out later that he didn’t even do what caused him to run. Many of us do this especially when we are kids. We run and hide thinking the consequences will be worse then they actually are or that our parents couldn’t possible forgive us. But things always go so much better when we own up to our actions and deal with the consequences.

We often do this with God. We run and hide from Him. Thinking that He could never forgive us or that He doesn’t love us or want us, because we messed up.

But nothing could be further from the truth. He loves us no matter what, He knows that we will make mistakes and He has already forgiven us.

Once we realize this, we can find freedom and become who He made us to be and come in our inheritance like Simba because we are God’s kids and He has so much He wants to bless us with.

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Talking to God

Learning and knowing God’s voice and realizing that he wants a deep and loving relationship with us is essential. We can’t have the deep intimate relationship with him if we don’t know his voice.

God speaks to us in so many ways. Often it sound like us in our head but what is being said is something we know we wouldn’t say. He speaks to us to in many other ways. But this is the way I find the most intimate and essential. Because he is always with us and always there for us if we just turn our attention to him and ask him for what we are seeking. Everything can be taken away from us but the presence of God can’t. He is with us always as long a we seek him and listen for his voice.

Take a moment and ask God to speak to you.

God’s word is a feast for the soul

And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.

Colossians 4:16

Sharing what God teaches us with others is how we grow. We are meant to share with each other. When we read the word of God we should be getting something out of it, it is a feast for our souls. Even if we read the same verse for an entire year God will still teach us through that verse or if we feast on a whole book or chapter He can teach us just as much through a verse as He does the whole Bible if we let him.

That’s the miracle that He is. He can sustain us on little or a lot, but we must always be looking to learn and to grow. It’s not about quantity but about quality.

What are we learning from? What we are trying to absorb? If we read just to read and don’t understand is it really helping us?

Seek God, ask Him for a verse or a chapter or a book and read it till He tells you to move on. Fall in love with the word of God and let it feed your soul.

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you can be vulnerable

We all need a place where we can go to refresh, a safe place to let go of all our worries and concerns and just feel restored.

The presence of the Holy Spirit is that place.

In God’s presence we can let go of everything (because he already knows everything) just let his presence refresh and restore us, energize us and renew our passion.

No matter what’s going on, how, stressed or busy we are, we need to make time for his presence.

Because the presence of the Holy Spirit is that place of vulnerability where we can be real and raw. We don’t have to hide anything because he knows everything and we can pour out our souls and be made whole in him.

We are never beyond God’s love

God’s love can change our worst moment, a bad mood or the direst of circumstances. Just by allowing him to shift our perspective. If the apostle Paul can worship in prison and Steven can forgive those that are stoning him. Shifting our focus to God can change the atmosphere, our perspective and our attitude. Fixing our eyes on Jesus isn’t always about changing where we are at rather its changing our focus onto him.

So when we feel lost or stuck, unwanted or unworthy we can always turn to Jesus. No matter how long its been, how bad we feel, regardless of what is around us, his perspective can change it all.

So ask Jesus: What do you want to be for me now? How do you see this?

These are some of my favorite questions to ask God. Because I know I can always turn to him; trust him.

It’s easy for us to get into moments where we think we aren’t worthy to talk to him or to go to him. But he always wants to talk to us. Always wants be there for us and love us. He sees us at our worst moments and stills says:

I love you, come to me.

We can’t earn his love, favor or grace, but he gives it to us freely. We just have to allow him in, allow his love to wash over us, to change our view, our attitude and our perspective.

Don’t lift yourself up

I am always asking God to reveal new things to me; especially when I read or watch something for the umpteenth time. This time it was Prince Caspian the second book in The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.

I never realized it before but Prince Caspian is symbolic of what happens to us when Jesus lives in us. Caspian is the son of the king and the rightful heir to the throne but he goes about obtaining the throne by seeking to restore peace between all and by not trying to do it all on his own. Instead he looks to Aslan, who represents Jesus for help and the counsel of others who have served Aslan.

We are the same. We are heirs to the throne of heaven with Jesus, because of his sacrifice. But the only way we can take our place with him is to believe in him and serve him.

When we serve God and others he lifts us up, higher then we could ever be if we tried to lift ourselves up.

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31


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No worrying or anxiety allowed

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?

“And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.–Matthew 6:25-34

It’s easy to become worried and anxious but does worrying or anxiety accomplish anything besides causing us stress. No.

We need to remember is there is a big difference between want and need but God always provides. As adults we all wish we could go back to a day before bills and responsibilities when all we needed was provided. 

We can in a way. If we look to God to provide all our needs. He will. He is our heavenly father and he loves to care for his kids.

Don’t be discouraged about wants either. He loves to bless his kids. You’ll be amazed at the blessings he provides when we seek him and put him first instead of worrying.

Our focus should always be on him first before anything, he sets our mood and attitude if we let him. When we start our day with him and let him permeate our whole day, he provides all we need. Trust him and let him relieve all your stress. Don’t worry God’s got this.

More than Hello

Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.–Philippians 4:21-23

Have you ever thought about how we greet other believers.

We are really good at saying a quick ‘hi’ or ‘welcome’ on Sunday morning. But do we ever ask how people are? Or do we just plaster on the fake smile hiding what’s going on in our life or let others pass by with the same fake smile hiding their own struggles.

We are the body of Jesus. We are meant to help each other.


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Asking each other how we are doing and actually paying attention to the answer can help so many people and even ourselves.

We can encourage those we see are having a rough day or might even get some encouragement from others ourselves.

Jesus’s grace is in all of us. Let’s share it with each other.

Change the atmosphere

The beauty of the kingdom of God is that’s its infinite and we don’t have to strive to bring his kingdom to this world.

When we accepted Jesus into our hearts, when we accepted his loving sacrifice, he came to live in us. When we allow the Holy Spirit to flow thru us and stop trying to do it on our own. Peace and joy can abound through us.

God’s presence is amazing and beautiful, peaceful and joyful all at once.

When we bring God into a situation he changes the atmosphere.

When we allow him to build his kingdom in and through us, nothing can hinder us, when we give him full freedom in our lives he gives us freedom.

When Jesus said he would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, he did. He destroyed the temple and tore the veil so we can all experience his presence. When he rose from the grave he built his kingdom in our hearts, so that he can be everywhere and in all of us.

No matter where you are, if you have Jesus in your heart his kingdom is always with you. Share his love and peace, his grace and beauty, his peace and joy with everyone around you, because he is always with you.

with everything

Sometimes we can be worried about what we should do and what we shouldn’t do. So here’s my question. Whatever your doing or saying, can you do it with Jesus? Can you say it to Jesus?

I am not perfect and I can honestly say there are moments when I couldn’t say I would be proud to have Jesus with me when I’ve said somethings, or put my self first before others.

But the reality is that if we believe, then he is with us every moment. He’s with us when we brush our teeth, when we yell at the driver in front of us, and when we hold the door open for the next person.

He is always with us so why don’t we act like it.

Honestly I think we forget sometimes, but what if we lived are lives like we were never alone, like he was always with us, not as this overwhelming presence, but as our constant companion, someone who is always here to help us, to uplift and encourage us, so that we are never alone. To protect when we’re scared or intimidated, to love us at our worst and celebrate with us at our best.

See your life different, as never before, as never alone. But with Jesus always.

Claim Your Identity

The enemy will taunt us with our worst fears to discourage us from becoming who God has intended us to be. The Return of the King movie depicts this when Aragon uses the seeing stone to fight Sauron by claiming his identity as the heir to the throne. Sauron replies by trying to scare him with the death of Arwen. The enemy’s biggest weapon is fear. Fear of what if, of what might happen. But you can’t put your trust or your faith in what if.

You can put your faith in Jesus and draw your strength from your identity in him. The enemy can’t have a hold on you, if you don’t let him. We fight fear with truth. The enemy says you are ugly, God says you are beautiful. The enemy says you are weak, God says he will be your strength. The truth of who God has made us to be is our strongest weapon, but we have to know it to use it.

Jesus modeled this in his forty days in the wilderness. The devil tried to temp him to take the shortcut, to compromise God’s plan to achieve his goals quicker. But Jesus used the word of God the truth to fight and reassert his identity.

When we die to our selfish desires and let Jesus live through us we become like him. Read the scriptures about Jesus, know who he is and what he said and did. Isaiah 61 is one of my favorite passage describing what Jesus came to do and be. Read it and let the Holy Spirit teach you who he made you to be in Jesus.

hangry for God

When we get hangry (angry, because we’re hungry) we get irritable and edgy, we snap at people for the littlest thing and react in ways we would not normally act.

But we are the same when we are starved for God, if we don’t get enough of God we get irritable, edgy and snap at people for the littlest thing.

We all have different degrees of hanger for God and we all display it a little different, but we all have the same issue we need more Holy Spirit in our life.

When you notice you’re not yourself, realize that you just need more of God and make a point of making him priority in your life. Take a moment and ask for his help and surrender your self over to him.

In the same respect, when you encounter people that rub you the wrong way, look at them with a different perspective. Ask God to show you how he sees them, because they just need Jesus in their life too.

When we know God, who he’s made us to be and feel completely loved, accepted and valued by him, we don’t need others to show us our value because we know our value comes from him and its priceless.

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We don’t have to have all the answers

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.  Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

-Colossians 4:5-6

We are not meant to know everything or the answer to all of life’s questions, but we should know how to respond. Even Jesus didn’t always respond with words. Sometimes all people need is someone to listen, a shoulder to cry on or someone to cheer them on and encourage them.

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We have the Holy Spirit with us all the time and he is the one with all the answers. But even his response is not always what to say but sometimes what to do or what not to do.

How to react to a situation can often make a bigger impact then words. That’s why building a deep intimate relationship with God is so important. So that in the hardest and most influential situations we can hear him and follow his leading.

Next time your in a situation and you don’t know what to do, ask the Holy Spirit and trust that he knows how best to react.

Blessing in Suffering

Even in the trials of life God has blessings for us. Jesus said:

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

To find peace in the trials of life we have to keep fixed on Jesus, not our circumstances.

God always wants to bless us and provide all we need and more but if we get lost in our suffering we block him out.

It’s only when we fix our eyes on Jesus despite our suffering that he can be the peace beyond understanding for us and help us find joy.

God first

Putting God first can seem overwhelming, but if we put him first we will find that he’s essential to our lives, like that first cup of coffee. Putting God first sets our day off right. Just shifting our focus to him can change our whole, mood, demeanor and mindset about the day. Even if it’s just a moment, that shift can change our whole day if we let it.

He provides-

peace that surpasses understanding

love that trumps all love

joy that overflows our hopes

Who doesn’t need more love, joy and peace in their day.

So put Gd first and see how your day exceeds your expectations.

Hope in darkness

We can find hope in some of the worst circumstances, if we look for it.

Jesus is that hope. He can do anything, no matter how impossible we think a situation is.

Bart Millard of Mercy Me shares his story in the the movie I Can Only Imagine. His inspiration for the song that inspired the movie was his dad. Bart never believed his dad could change. But to his surprise, when he was at a low point, when his band looked like they had lost their chance at success, Bart went home to repair his relationship with his dad and found a changed man when he arrived. The one person he thought could never change, had come to believe in Jesus and become the father he had always hoped for.

God is always full of surprises and when we place our hope in him he does more then we can ever hope or imagine, even in the bleakest circumstances. What impossible thing are you asking God for?

God’s perspective

I write a lot about God changing our perspective. But it’s truly life changing and I don’t want you to miss it. Years ago I received some new that really shook me. And a few weeks after. I heard the teaching posted below. It changed my perspective on everything. Brought me into a deeper relationship with God and gave me what I needed. Please check it out.

Seeing life from God’s perspective can change your whole view of life.

Rejoice Always

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.–Phil 4:4

This verse doesn’t say rejoice when you feel like it or when you want to. But rejoice always, in the good times and the bad, rejoice. Because no matter what God is with us. Since he is always with us, we always have a reason to rejoice.

You may say but ‘you don’t know what I’m going through.’ You’re right. I don’t but God does. I’ve uttered those same words before a few worship service. But God has always changed my perspective by the end. Not always by providing that instant solution we have gotten so used to in our modern convenience world. But always by giving me his peace and promise that he will provide.

So whatever it is surrender it over to him and trust that he will provide and rejoice even in the storm.

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God’s love never changes

“I could sing of your love forever” is a classic worship song from my youth. It’s one that I sing often, it’s kind of my happy song, whenever I’m having a moment of spontaneous worship this song often comes to mind.

It reminds me that no matter what. I could sing of His love forever.

He has never abandoned me, never left me and never stopped loving me, even in my darkest moments. He was there and He was there is my happiest moments. Whether I’m in a valley or on the mountain top I can always sing of His love, because His love never changes.

If this is challenging to you. Pray and ask him where he was during one of your hardest moment and one of your best. Listen and I know he will show his love in both moments. He’s always there. It’s us who sometimes choose to ignore him.

God Loves YOU

Yesterday I talked about having the faith in God to make the big sacrifices and that, that starts with conversation, with talking to God.

But there is so much more, it’s more then talking to him its about knowing him. I have trusted God when he has asked me to take big leaps of faith because I know him.

I know that he loves me and that he will not let harm come to me. I know that he has brought me through some crazy impossible situations and that he will continue to do so. Because I know him

I know that he is loving, kind and gentle, that he provides all my needs when I trust him and that he never leaves me.

Jesus made his sacrifice because he loves us and wants us to know him.

Take a chance and give him a chance to show you just how much he loves you.