“It is no good giving me a play like Hamlet or King Lear, and telling me to write a play like that. Shakespeare could do it — I can’t. And it is no good showing me a life like the life of Jesus and telling me to live a life like that. Jesus could do it — I can’t. But if the genius of Shakespeare could come and live in me, then I could write plays like this. And if the Spirit of Jesus could come into me, then I could live a life like that. This is the secret of Christian sanctity. It is not that we should strive to live like Jesus, but that he by his Spirit should come and live in us. To have him as our example is not enough; we need him as our Saviour” (John R. W. Stott).

I think for years, a lot of American Christianity has come across as “try harder” and “do better.”

The fact is that the message should be “I can’t . . . but Jesus can.”

It’s not a matter of trying harder as if I could somehow by my own willpower sweat and strain and groan and push myself toward holiness.

True, the path to Christlikeness isn’t an easy one. In fact, humanly speaking it’s impossible.

The only way to achieving holiness and Christlikeness is the power of Christ. It’s the very presence of Christ within us.

Maturity in the faith doesn’t come by brute strength but in surrender, not in obstinance but obedience, not in extra effort but by the indwelling of God’s Spirit.

Tonight, I needed to remind myself that the gospel is all Jesus from start to finish. I can’t boast at any point about any part of it. If it seems out of reach or hopeless, all I need is to remember that Jesus promised to finish what He began in every one of His children. The end.

“How can we forgive those who do not want to be forgiven? Our deepest desire is that the forgiveness we offer will be received. This mutuality between giving and receiving is what creates peace and harmony. But if our condition for giving forgiveness is that it will be received, we seldom will forgive! Forgiving the other is first and foremost an inner movement. It is an act that removes anger, bitterness, and the desire for revenge from our hearts and helps us to reclaim our human dignity. We cannot force those we want to forgive into accepting our forgiveness. They might not be able or willing do so. They may not even know or feel that they have wounded us.

The only people we can really change are ourselves. Forgiving others is first and foremost healing our own hearts” (Henri Nouwen).

Forgiveness is letting go of the expectation that the other person can fix what he or she did to you.

Forgiveness is the key to opening the locked door to the prison cell only to find that the prisoner inside was you.

Forgiveness breaks the cycle of continually drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

The one who forgives little has been forgiven little, but the one who forgives much has been forgiven of much.

The one who understands how great the forgiveness of God really is will be the first to forgive others as often as possible.

Who do you need to forgive? Even the ones you know haven’t shown remorse or sorrow for their actions?

Is the one most in need of forgiveness from you the one staring at you in the mirror? Is it you?

I’m still trying to process what happened today. In the blink of an eye, the world lost Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest NBA players of all time, at the young age of 41. The news got even worse when we found out that Kobe’s 13 year old daughter was in that same helicopter crash and also perished.

I read the following words and immediately felt a knife stuck in my gut. Even though I’m not a parent, these words resonated with me deeply.

“Can you even imagine how difficult it was for him in that moment? The moment he knew that not only his own life was about to end, but that of his daughter…a life he helped create. 

Can you imagine how he felt as a father knowing he couldn’t protect her? 

Can you imagine him holding her, consoling her, telling her he loved her as that helicopter went down?

As a parent, I can tell you, Kobe Bryant’s greatest fear was realized today. And it wasn’t the fear for his own life, but for that of his beautiful daughter.

Because as a parent, your life means nothing in comparison to the lives of your children.

We live for our children. We breathe for our children. They are our reason for being.

We would also die for them, without hesitation. 

Without question, without a moments notice, we would lay down our own lives to ensure theirs. 

Just thinking of his internal struggle in those last moments tears my heart into pieces.

He knew his daughter’s young life was ending. He knew he was leaving 3 other precious children behind. Oh, how his heart must have ached!

Can you even imagine the agony that played out in his mind? Every parents worst nightmare happening to him in real time.

He was there when his sweet girl took her first breath, and he was there with her when she took her last. 

And that’s the only solace I can find in this…that he was there. In her final moments, her daddy was there to remind her of his undying love. 

And with everything in me, I hope that baby felt every ounce of love her daddy had for her. I hope it overwhelmed her, and carried her straight into paradise.

Because I know that’s all her daddy wanted too.

Rest in peace Kobe and Gigi. Our hearts mourn you ❤

Hug your children extra tight tonight, mamas and daddies. Tomorrow is never promised.

Four Norths in the South“

For the record, I found this posted more than once on Facebook, so I put a link to the original posting to give credit.

“Blessed are the single-hearted, for they shall enjoy much peace. If you refuse to be hurried and pressed, if you stay your soul on God, nothing can keep you from that clearness of spirit which is life and peace. In that stillness you will know what His will is” (Amy Carmichael).

Blessed are those who have learned to say no.

Blessed are those who have refused to engage in the rat race and do not believe in being busy for the sake of being busy.

Blessed are those who teach their children that life is more than the sum of their activities (and that sometimes it is good to be bored in order to foster creative thinking).

Blessed are those who know the meaning of contentment and no longer keep up with the proverbial Joneses.

Blessed are those who intentionally carve out margins in their schedules for quiet and stillness and to seek to hear the still small voice of God.

Blessed are those who understand that you will not have time for what’s important unless you make time.

Blessed are those who get that you will always find a way to make time for what and who really matters to you.

Blessed are those who are weary and burdened who hear Jesus saying that they can come to Him and find rest for their souls.

What he said.

I recently learned of a new/old hymn that really spoke to me as few songs have. Apparently, the original hymn was penned by Ada Habershon in 1906 with music by Robert Harkness. In 2013, Matt Merker wrote new music for the hymn and modernized it a bit. Still, the lyrics speak powerfully to anyone walking through a valley or a dark night:

“When I fear my faith will fail
Christ will hold me fast
When the tempter would prevail
He will hold me fast
I could never keep my hold
Through life’s fearful path
For my love is often cold
He must hold me fast

He will hold me fast
He will hold me fast
For my Savior loves me so
He will hold me fast

Those He saves are His delight
Christ will hold me fast
Precious in His holy sight
He will hold me fast
He’ll not let my soul be lost
His promises shall last
Bought by Him at such a cost
He will hold me fast

For my life He bled and died
Christ will hold me fast
Justice has been satisfied
He will hold me fast
Raised with Him to endless life
He will hold me fast
Till our faith is turned to sight
When he comes at last

He will hold me fast
He will hold me fast
For my Savior loves me so
He will hold me fastHe will hold me fast
He will hold me fast
For my Savior loves me so
He will hold me fast” (Ada Habershon/Matt Merker)

“Hey Soul? okay, really — it’s *really* gonna be okay today. Because in Him, whatever goes bad, He’ll work it for good. It’s what God does. 
He turned water into wine; He will turn the broken into beautiful. 
God’s *line of work* is *transformations* — so hold on to Him as your *lifeline.*
*You can’t be undone.* 
No matter what went down yesterday, today’s your very own fresh canvas and there really is hope: *The future is as bright as the faithfulness of God.* 
He says to you Himself: “…don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand new… There it is! I’m making a road through the desert.” (Isa. 43:18 MSG) Right now through your most unlikely desert places, God is making unbelieveable roads… you better believe it! 
Yeah, you can go face the day with brave joy — God’s. got. your. back.

#PreachingGospeltoMyself (Ann Voskamp)”

How timely is that. After all, so many of us are under-rested and overstressed, under pressure and overwhelmed. So many of us are doing good to make it through one day at a time.

Yet even in the middle of the worst of bad days, God is turning even that into good. He’s still working ALL things together for good– even the moments and hours and day that you’d rather forget.

God is faithful. He is with you. He hasn’t left you. And He never will.

“Even though I walk through the [sunless] valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort and console me” (Psalm 23:4, Amplified Bible).

I read something interesting about Psalm 23. In the first 3 verses, David refers to God in the send person, i.e. “He lets me lie down . . .”, “He leads me . . .” “He makes me lie down . . .”

But starting in verse 4, the pronoun changes to You. What gives?

Verse 4 is where the Valley of the Shadow of Death lies.

In other words, Yahweh God became personal to David in the midst of walking through the valley. That’s where David’s faith deepened in the middle of his depression and discouragement.

If it were up to me, I’d rather skip all the valleys and go from mountaintop to mountaintop. But the valley is where I grow and learn. The valley is where my faith goes from theoretical to experiential. The valley is where God truly becomes personal to me.

Everyone goes through a valley at some point. It’s part of the journey. But God is with us there. He has already gone before us through the valley and also goes with us.

The good news is that every valley comes to an end. Every night turns into day at some point. Every bad day still only lasts 24 hours. But better still, God is with us though every valley, night, and bad day. Every single one of them.

When anxiety and despair seem overwhelming, it can be hard to feel God’s presence, but that’s when you trust what you know to be true about God over what you may or may not feel. After all, feelings lie, but God never does.

“Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I shall dwell forever [throughout all my days] in the house and in the presence of the Lord” (Psalm 23:6, Amplified Bible).

Patience and wisdom. Two of the least popular attributes in this fast-paced culture we live in. For sure patience has little regard in a society where everyone seems to be in a hurry all the time. No one has time for anything.

But the Bible speaks to both patience and wisdom as valued qualities. I can speak from personal experience that the times I exercised patience have often brought a greater reward than when I acted rashly or impatiently.

I also have noticed that wisdom comes through patience. You learn wisdom through enduring and longsuffering. True God said that if you ask Him, He’d give it unsparingly, but often the methods through which God grants the patience do not happen overnight.

True wisdom takes time– and patience– to unfold. Sometimes, it takes hardship and suffering. Sometimes you learn from not quite getting what you thought you wanted at the time.

So patience and wisdom are good things. If you seek and pray after both, you will never be sorry.

I’m a fan of the Friends of the Library book sale. I even go so far as to put it as a reminder on my phone so that I won’t forget to stop by the library on the Fridays of the sales.

It’s a bit like thrift shopping. You never quite know what you’ll find. You might not get much, but every so often– on that rare blue moon– you will come up with a treasure for a bargain price.

I found an old Doctor Who book that covered the classic years up to 1984. It seemed most appropriate as I’m revisiting the old series currently.

I believe the same goes with people. When you open yourself up to seeing the world with God’s eyes, you end up befriending people that you normally would never talk to in a million years. Some people, once you get past the rough exterior, have diamond at their core. Sometimes, the ones who are most unloveable are the ones who need our (and God’s) love the most.

Some of the friends that I have that I’ve cherished the most are ones that I honestly didn’t like all that much on first impression. But once I got past the initial dislike, I kept an open mind and found that these people were nothing like my assumptions. It was me that needed to change my perspective.

I also love the fact that these Friends of the Library book sales support my local library. That’s a good enough reason for me.