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Leaning In

May 7, 2013

As women, most of us need an example like Mary’s [the mother of Jesus] to help us believe God can use us in any significant way. We have no trouble believing God can use others, but when we look at ourselves, all we can see is our inadequacies and inabilities. So, clinging white-knuckled to our comfort zones, we tend to stick with what comes naturally. We shrink back from God’s upward call and find ourselves reluctant to say, “Yes, Lord! I’m Your servant. Use me as You please!”

I’ll be the first to admit that’s often been true of me. I find it easy to believe God can use my husband. When we started Gateway Church, for instance, I had no doubt God would bless it. My excitement soared, and my faith roared into action as I stood on the [ … ]

Praying for our children

May 6, 2013

As Christians, we’re called to take the lead when hard times hit. To stand and be counted among those who place their confidence in a God who is completely good, even when life feels bad. Yes, life is rough. At times, brutal. But it’s also amazingly, achingly beautiful. Full of hope and potential and possibility. And if we want to raise children whose faith can thrive in difficult circumstances—children who live in a loving, wholly trusting relationship with their God, who are able to see the beauty even in the midst of the fire and smoke, who remain alert for signs of hope amid the rubble—we have to model that kind of relationship with our God. Come what may. As parents, we want to equip our children to be strong and courageous disciples. But we can only teach them what [ … ]

Mary’s Faith

May 3, 2013

Most of us have heard Mary’s story so many times we take it for granted. We sang about it at Christmastime standing on risers, dressed as white-robed preschool choir cherubs. We acted it out in nativity plays at church. We heard over and over again about the angel who came to tell Mary of God’s plan and how she responded with a statement so simple and full of faith that it’s echoed through the ages ever since: “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”

As children, we didn’t grasp the gravity of the statement. To us it was just a line from a Christmas pageant. Even as adults, we sometimes think of it that way. But Mary never did. For her it was a momentous declaration of faith that forever changed [ … ]

Be Fruitful

May 2, 2013

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10

What an incredible thought! You and I have been created for the purpose of doing good works. God designed you, He gifted you, and He placed you in the world so that the fruit of your life would have an everlasting impact. He even prepared those activities for you before you were born.

Out of all the centuries in time, this is the generation into which God chose to place you. Of course, you had nothing to do with the country in which you were born or the family you were born into. But clearly God placed you in His world at this particular time so that you could do something special. [ … ]

Children Leading

May 1, 2013

The day had been a stressful one, and my patience had ebbed away, when my son Brett looked at me and said, “Dad. Chill.”

In one word he told me to slow down, not take life—or myself—too seriously. Not bad advice.

I’m not sure I know how to chill. I see kids milling around, not doing anything, and they say they are chilling. Chilling is apparently the absence of activity, and that is something I find difficult. Yet if I am willing to follow my son’s example, I just might learn this fine art. I have a feeling it will prove beneficial.

It’s been said that children laugh three hundred times a day, and adults average five times a day. When it comes to enjoying life and living each moment to the fullest, we need to let our children [ … ]

Grace

April 30, 2013

The best prescription for the Slump Syndrome is grace. We give ourselves grace when we refuse to expect more from ourselves than we can possibly deliver. We give ourselves grace when we grant ourselves permission to rest, sleep, play, take a break, and get alone with God. A few minutes of quiet interaction with God can get us out of a rut much faster than striving, trying harder, and forcing ourselves into overdrive…

Next time you’re in a rut, be gentle with yourself. Rest. Take a break. Quiet your mind. Clarity will more likely come when you are peaceful than when you are pushing so hard. Close the door on the clutter and open your heart in the throne room. Ask God to speak to you. Listen carefully.

Excerpted from Espresso for Your Spirit by Pam Vredevelt

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Ministry Happens

April 19, 2013

When we don’t pace ourselves, we tend to miss divine appointments right and left. In fact, they seem like human interruptions. We get so consumed with trying to get where we think God wants us to go that we put on spiritual blinders and miss the Goose trails He wants to take us down. The key is slowing down your pace, taking off your sandals, and experiencing God right here, right now.

…Spiritual maturity has less to do with long-range visions than it does with moment-by-moment sensitivity to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. And it is our moment-by-moment sensitivity to the Holy Spirit that turns life into an everyday adventure.

Excerpted from Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson

Daily Reflection: How can you slow down and listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit today?

A Divine Calling

April 18, 2013

If we ever wonder if we have what it takes to live in victory, we have only to look at the life of our Savior. Jesus walked by the Spirit, the same Holy Spirit who lives in us…We have the same Spirit, the same authority, and the same power.

Our problem is that we don’t know it, or we know it and don’t appropriate it, or we don’t believe it’s for today. Our faith is small. It moves sandcastles, not mountains.

Just before Jesus ascended, He said:

All authority has been given to Me in heaven and
on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe
all that I commanded you; and lo, I am [ … ]

Keep Wonder in Your Worship

April 17, 2013

Worship is a way of gladly reflecting back to God the radiance of His worth…Don’t let your worship decline to the performance of mere duty…Don’t let the scenery and poetry and music of your relationship with God shrivel up and die. You have capacities for joy that you can scarcely imagine. They were made for the enjoyment of God. He can awaken them no matter how long they have lain asleep. Pray for His quickening power. Open your eyes to his glory. It is all around you: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1 ESV).

Excerpted from Desiring God by John Piper

Daily Reflection: How does the Lord “quicken” your desire to worship Him?

Waiting and Hope

April 16, 2013

“Gardens are about waiting and about hope as much as they are about anything.

You wait for spring to come and for roses to bud out and for the earth to green up again. You wait for seeds to germinate and irises to spread. You wait for the dogwoods to turn white and pink and for the maple to go golden in the fall. And all the while you hold a vision of some new thing in your head, of what the garden will be someday.

You cannot hurry it along, not any of it. Spring comes when it comes; roses bloom when they will; the garden grows at its own sweet pace. What it teaches you is to wait, to be patient, and to pay attention.

Some morning the sun will rise, and something you have always dreamed of [ … ]