No More Condemnation (My Prayer for You Tonight)

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My prayer for you tonight is that you find freedom from condemnation of any kind, whether it be from another voice or from your own voice. Whether there is any merit to the condemnation, it has no power over you if you have been forgiven by Jesus. Condemnation dare not speak against one that Jesus died for and bought with His own blood!

My prayer for you tonight is that you walk in liberty from shame or past guilt. That you walk in the freedom of one Jesus calls Beloved. You just as you are matter very much to God. He is not angry or disappointed or through with you. He sees you and He sees Jesus and He is very pleased with what He sees.

My prayer for you tonight is that your heart and your mind are so filled with the overwhelming love of Jesus that there is no room for harmful or hateful or hurtful thoughts or feelings. I want you to be so filled with the life of Jesus that it permeates every single cell in your body and shines out of you in such a way that the world around you can’t help but take notice. That they can’t help but be drawn to and desire what you have.

My prayer for you is that you let peace rule in your heart and the Word of God dwell richly within you. That for every single accusation the enemy speaks at you, Jesus speaks an even greater word for you. That word is “IT IS FINISHED!” There is nothing left undone, no loop hole left open, no remote chance that your salvation will fizzle and you will fail. You are fully and forever secure in the arms of your Abba as long as His promises hold true. And they are as eternal as the Promise Giver Himself.

My prayer is that you believe it, receive it, and live it now and every day to come.

Amen and amen.

How much do I love Jesus?

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The topic at tonight’s Kairos Roots was fasting and how we are commanded to fast from food, media, etc. Basically anything that creeps in and starts taking priority over God in our lives. We fast for God’s direction and guidance, when we are mourning, when we are embarking on a new venture, and when we want to hear from God more clearly.

I remember something I read from John Piper that says in essence that fasting says, “This much, O God, I desire You.” More than the food I’m not eating. More than the facebook that I am not logging into. More than the TV or radio I am leaving turned off.

But how much do I really love Jesus if all these things take priority over him? I will confess that I have days that I have very good intentions to read my Bible. . . . . after this episode of Friends. After I’m done checking everything out on Facebook. After I post this blog. The funny thing is that I never actually get around to reading my Bible. Sadly, some days I forget I even intended to read it.

That says that Jesus is not my first love. All these other things rank ahead of Him in my life.

Maybe fasting is a way of saying: I love you Jesus more than these things I am giving up. I am making an effort to love You, because love is ultimately not a feeling, but an act of the will. Through Your grace, I am demonstrating love put into practice and praying that this will increase my love for You.

I do know this. Jesus is worthy of my fasting and so much more. He is worthy of everything I have to give and a million times more. When I see things right, I am so very grateful that what really counts is not how much I love Jesus, but how much He loves me and how that Love is changing me to be like Jesus.

Amen and amen.

So Blessed

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I am so very blessed that I am no longer under any sort of condemnation. If my heart tries to condemn me, I can take that to Jesus, who bore all my shame and sin and mess and forever removed the right for condemnation to speak into my life ever again. I am forever right with God and free and clear.

I am so very blessed that God has given me eyes to be able to look at my own life and see how intricately God’s grace and power have been running through all my days. I am amazed at how I haven’t fallen apart or given over to anxiety when I surely would have at this point last year. In fact, I am completely amazed at what God has been doing in me. It astounds me.

I am so very blessed that I have family and friends who love and support me and see the best in me, even when I can’t. I love the encouraging posts and texts that always seem to come at just the right time with just the right message that I needed to hear.

I am so very blessed that I get to serve at Kairos and Kairos Roots alongside people who inspire and challenge and bless me. I am showing up to serve and end up receiving so much more than I give. I am blown away by the godliness I see in the people around me. Hopefully, it’s rubbing off on me.

I am so very blessed to know that my Jesus loves me, that my Jesus is forever for me, and that my Jesus won’t ever ever ever ever give up on me. His love is changing me from someone unloveable into someone who can love unconditionally and uncompromisingly. What fear could never do, what hate could never do, love has done.

Why am I blessed so much when I don’t deserve any of it? I will never know, but I know that I am beyond thankful.

Amen and amen.

Say Anything

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“A spoken reprimand is better than approval that’s never expressed” (Proverbs 27:5, The Message)

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the power of words to harm and to heal, to cut and to cure, to wound and to make whole. But more potentially harmful is the silence of words not spoken.

Always let the people in your life know that you love them. Always express that love in words and don’t assume they automatically know they are loved and how much they are loved. Tell them.

Always be thinking of ways to encourage and bless and lift up your friends. But don’t just stop there. Let those words of encouragement and blessing find an outlet, whether through a text or a post or through spoken words. Never assume that encouragement is not needed. You never know but that word that seems to you to not have much meaning can turn a person’s day around or change their outlook on their circumstances.

When a gentle reprimand is needed, don’t be afraid to speak the truth in love (with the key part being “in love”). I don’t want to have to guess if I have offended or bothered you. Tell me, so I can learn and not repeat the same offence the next time.

But definitely if you err, err on the side of the positive. Be as creative and free with words of affirmation and blessing as you can. I think for every negative word of correction you speak, you need to speak four positives into someone’s life.

Be sure to always look for the best in people, for the promise in their mess, the hope in their bleak outlook. Let them know that just as Jesus won’t ever give up on them, neither will you. Remind them often of their priceless worth in God’s eyes. Help them see themselves they way God sees them. I know, because those words have blessed and encouraged me beyond my ability to express with words. I want that same feeling for you.

Amen and amen.

What’s so Amazing About God

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There are lots of attributes and charateristics of God that are mind-boggling. He is not one of us, only better, stronger, faster, bigger, etc. He is totally other. His infinite, eternal nature guarantees that we will never begin to understand all there is to know about Him. But the one thing about God that constantly amazes me more than anything is this:

Whoever you are and whatever your need, God is the answer to that need. Notice I did not say God HAS the answer or God CAN GET the answer. He IS the answer.

For those who long for security, God is A Mighty Fortress.

For those who desire safety, God is a Sacred Refuge.

For those who are alone, God is the Still Small Voice that whispers your name in the darkness.

For those who mourn, God is the Comforter.

For those who have broken hearts and lives, God is Healer.

For those whose lives are in shambles and whose past is a momentous ruin, God is the Ultimate Restorer.

For those who have lost all hope, God is your True Hope.

For those who have lost their way, God is The Way Home.

I could go on for days. God has so many names. But if you’re asking why so many names, I think I have the answer.

Each need of mine and each need of yours reveals another facet of God’s abundance and ability to be the answer to that need. Every time He meets a need, the only response is praise. Each time, He reveals another part of Hinself, the best way to remember is to call Him by a name that memorializes what He’s done.

So praise God by all the Names that represent all He’s been to you and done for you. Remember that He loves to be called Abba best, because that love He has for you is the groundwork for all the other parts of His character. A holy, perfect love that pursues and captivates the beloved. Think on that for a while.

Amen and amen!

Do You Want to Be Healed?

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“One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” (John 5:5-6)

What an interesting question to ask! Do you want to be healed? I think it is a perfectly valid question to ask for this reason:

For the longest time, I did not want to be healed. I was broken, but I felt comfortable and safe inside my brokenness. It was my crutch. A good excuse for me not going out, meeting people, and taking risks. It was like being in a prison with the door unlocked and swung wide open, but choosing to stay inside where I was familiar with the iron bars than to venture out into the terrifying unknowns of freedom.

Being healed is dangerous. Freedom and wholeness often mean vulnerability and transparency. You are healed so that you can in turn go and be a healer to someone else. So you can share your story with someone who suffers like you did. You will have to walk out of your comfort zone and into a lifestyle of radical obedience.

Being healed means you no longer can hide behind your infirmities and your brokenness. You have to stand out in the wide open spaces of who God made you to be. That means being comfortable with who you are and how you fit into God’ scheme.

The man gave an excuse for why he could not be healed. Apparently, he did not recognize Who Jesus was. But Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” (John 5:8). Jesus saw past the excuses to the deep-down desire for healing. As He does with you and me. He says, “Rise and walk.”

Jesus says to us today, “Rise up and walk in freedom. Rise up and walk in liberty. Rise up and walk in wholeness. Rise up and walk in fearlessness. I will enlarge your heart to feel what I feel for those still trapped and imprisoned in their brokenness. I will enlarge your vision to show you those around you who have needs that you can be My hands and feet to meet. I will enlarge your influence for Me, so that people see what I have done for you and they will want to know more of Me.”

So do you want to be healed? Do you want the safety of a prison of your pain and shame and brokenness or do you want the dangerous liberty that comes from walking in wholeness in Jesus’ will for your life. The answer could change everything.

Amen and amen.

Faith that Never Fails

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Lord, here I am at 12:23 on a Sunday morning, and I am beyond tired. I am aware that my emotions play tricks on me at this hour and my heart is at its most deceitful. My mind will run down anxious paths to conclusions that seem sane late at night, but are shown up for the craziness they are in the morning. Help me to trust not in what I think or feel or even what I think I know, but help me trust You.

You never waver or change or fall apart like I do. You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. “I know that You are for me” is a line from a Kari Jobe song that keeps resounding in my head. It’s true. You are for me. You deal with my daily mess and my messed-up mind and my deceitful heart and You always lead me to the truth.

Lord, everything in my life– the good, the bad, and the ugly– has led me to this moment. I have no idea why I am not a basket-case most of the time other than You holding me together. Your relentless tenderness has carried me to where I am finally growing up and seeing healing in my heart and in my mind. You said that nothing is impossible for you, and I believe that now.

Take my heart and make it beat with Your heartbeat. Take my mouth and fill it with Your eternal song. Take my eyes and give me Your vision for the world. Take my desires and  give me Your desires, not only for me, but for the broken, needy, destitute, and lonely.

Give me a faith that never fails, a hope that never wavers, a trust that never doubts. I want to want more than anything to be like Jesus and I don’t. I can name off a list of at least fifty things I want more than Christlikeness. But You said that all You need is a place to start in me and then You can transform me. So here’s my starting place.

Bless my family and friends and keep them under the shadow of Your wings. Show them the same grace You’ve shown to me. Sing over them in the silent watches of the night like You have sung over me countless times. Make them glorious trophies of Your grace that will amaze the people around them.

Thank You for being You and for loving me for me.

Amen and amen.

Thanks, Mrs. Johnson (A Tribute to Teachers Everywhere)

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I can remember my second grade teacher, and not just because we share a common last name. She made me feel safe. She made me feel like I belonged. She made me feel smart, like I could learn and grow up and be somebody special.

I even remember my kintergarden teacher. She protected me once from some students and I still remember that. Other teachers along the way have inspired in me a love of reading and books, literature and poetry. Partly because I tried and wanted to learn, but mostly because they cared enough to invest in me.

Times have changed since I was a student back in the Renaissance. But one thing remains– if you are a teacher, you have more influence than you know. Some students are really listening and watching you. What you love will be what they grow to love. So teach with all the enthusiasm you can, even if it feels like nobody cares.

If you are a believer, your witness will not go unrewarded. The Bible teaches that God’s Word never returns void. That means you can’t live and model a lifestyle of godly character and speech and it not have an effect. It will. I truly believe there will be people in heaven who will thank their teachers for their faith.

Keep teaching. Keep praying for your students by name. Keep believing in them even when they can’t believe in themselves. Keep expecting the best from them. For as long as God calls you to teach, let it be your holy mission, your sacred calling, your mission field.

One day, a President may list you as an early influence. A scientist who discovers the cure for cancer might look back at you and say you started his or her love of science. A musician or writer may dedicate an album or a book to you. You never know but that one student you taught may be the one to radically change the world.

If you are faithful for the time you teach and put your heart into it, one day your students will rise up and call you blessed.

Amen and amen.

What Worship Looks Like

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Sometimes worship is standing tall with hands raised in a multitude where the music is amazing and the lyrics are biblical and the joy in your heart is overflowing. You can’t help but sing because of the gratitude and delight welling up inside you has to come out and the most natural venue is through your voice.

Sometimes worship is when you’re alone. When all you can do is crawl up into your Abba’s lap holding onto the pieces of your broken heart. All you can do is sit and be still while His healing washes over you, and the only form of praise you can give are the frozen tears thawing and falling at His feet.

Sometimes worship is folding laundry or paying bills or cleaning the house. The mundane and ordinary stuff. But instead of viewing it as another chore, you view it as a way to serve God. You offer your laundry, your bills, your housecleaning as a living sacrifice and it becomes worship.

Sometimes worship means learning to open up and be transparent with others and share your heartaches and fears. Sometimes worship means learning to be comfortable alone with the silence of a dark room and learning to distinguish that still, small Voice that is only audible when you have ceased striving and are still before Jesus.

Worship is not an event or an activity that you schedule. It is a lifestyle that you cultivate, a discipline that you form, and a habit that you develop. Worship is far more than singing a song. Worship at its best encompasses everything you are and everything you do declaring the great worth of Jesus for the world to see.

So if Jesus is the highest value and the greatest worth, then why do I place my hopes and expectations and worth in something (or someone) else? It doesn’t make sense, but I still do. A friend described idolatry is taking a good desire and making it the ultimate desire. Worship is a reminder to ourselves that the ultimate absolute fulfillment of any and every desire of our hearts can only be found in Jesus.

So make it a priority to be the best worshipper you can be, at whatever cost. All that practice will make you a better worshipper when you get Home and see Jesus face to face.

Amen and amen.

My Blog About Nothing in Particular

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This is just gonna be one of those nights where nothing spectacular comes to mind. All my usual brilliance (he said, sarcastically) has flown away for the night and all that’s left is a mild, very annoying headache. I’m not always going to be 100% on the mark all the time.

Some days, you won’t be your best. Some days, the best you can say is that you survived. You didn’t exhibit any of the fruit of the Spirit or have any of the characteristics of 1 Corithinthians 13 love. You were short with everybody, lost your temper over stupid stuff, and had an all-around majorly crappy attitude. But you survived.

And maybe, just maybe, you picked up a little more patience without realizing it. Maybe that one time you held out on your anger just a second or two longer than you normally would have. That’s a big deal, but you won’t see it at the time.

I think the key is to recognize a bad day as a bad day and keep trusting Jesus. Most importantly, remember that tomorrow will be a clean slate and a d0-over. Because Jesus is all about second chances.

So give yourself permission to fail big and stick around. Keep smiling. Know that God is using days like this to make you more like Jesus. That’s reason enough to smile, isn’t it?

Amen and amen.