The Redeemed Rose

     I had an "AHA!" moment while reading Job chapter 32 today. Have you ever had something that you have been feeling for a long time and just couldn't quite put your finger on it to explain it? Today, Job 32 nailed it down for me.    In the previous 31 chapters, Job is afflicted, his three friends come to comfort him (and do a good job of it until they open their mouths), then Job and his friends proceed to argue back and forth like a bunch of whiny high school kids. His friends insist that he must be unrighteous or else God wouldn't have afflicted him, and Job insists that he hasn't done anything wrong and has every right to complain. They go round and round and round, until finally a refreshing new voice appears and smacks some sense into them. Enter Elihu, a younger contemporary, who begins to speak: "Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he. And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three m...

 Here I am at CROSS Conference in Indianapolis, taking a youth group to hear about God's plan for missions, and I am struck with thoughts of my friend Danielle.  Why do I miss her so much more when I'm at a missions conference? Maybe it's because she spent a year of her life as a teacher-missionary in South Sudan. Maybe it's because I can picture her being here with me, and the thought makes me cry right in the middle of the crowd of conference-goers. But most of all, it is because she loved missions so much. She would be so excited to see all the different opportunities and ways that God has been working around the globe;  exuberant about taking the name of Christ to the nations. She would be beaming from ear to ear, green eyes glittering with excitement, literally bouncing up and down as she pulled me from booth to booth, talking a million miles a minute.    Her passion to make Christ known to unreached people groups puts me to shame. My husband tells me...

  Quick! Name the first person you would go to when you need to talk about your day. What about when you've got the flu? Or when your car breaks down? Typical answers are: best friend, doctor, mechanic. These are not necessarily wrong answers, but what about God? Do we seek His counsel first, or is He the runner-up? For this topic, I want to compare two kings in the Old Testament; King Asa (2 Chronicles 16) and King Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20).  "At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.”" (2 Chronicles 16:7, 9) In 2 Chronicles 16, King Asa has a conflict with the king of Israel, and so he pays the king ...

  A new year. A fresh start. Turning over a new leaf. So many of us look forward to better things to come as we turn that last calendar page over to reveal a clean slate. We long for better health, mended relationships, spiritual victories, and success in a myriad of other areas. So we make New Year's resolutions and vow that this year will be different...better somehow. But should we even make New Year's resolutions, and if so, how do we know they will stick? I typically do not make New Year's resolutions because I believe that if there is something I want to change in my life, I can do it any of the 364 other days of the year. There is nothing sacred or holy about January 1. If I want change that badly, why wait? I have made New Year's resolutions in the past (when I was younger), such as losing X amount of lbs. or exercising more. Most of those goals only lasted till the end of January, IF THAT!!  There is nothing wrong with wanting change for the better...

For next year, 2015, my goal is to memorize the book of Ephesians. It is one of my favorites that I go back to over and over again, and it is only 6 chapters. I do not share this goal to make you feel bad or make myself look like a super-Christian, because I'm not and there aren't any. I share it because I am 31 years old and tired of not having more Scripture committed to memory. I share it because my goal this year is to go deeper in what I have learned thus far, and not just heap up knowledge upon more knowledge that only puffs up the brain and doesn't change me on the inside, "always learning but never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth" (2 Tim. 3:7). Part of that is memorizing scripture. Don't get me wrong, I love to learn and I will continue to do so. I believe we should keep learning until we die. But I want to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 3:18) and be a tree firmly planted by streams of water (Ps. 1:3) with ...

  Have you ever wished for a “Redo” button? Have you ever had a day that started off so completely on the wrong foot that you wish you could just push a button and start over? You woke up tired because you didn't get enough sleep the night before, or the night before that, or the one before that! The stresses of the upcoming day are already pressing down on you. You are grumpy. The kids are running around wild. Not listening. Again. And then your sin rears its ugly head and you blow up. At the kids. At your husband. At anyone within sounding distance. That was my Monday morning. And there I was, trying to pick out my clothes so I could take my shower, and all I could do was cry in my closet. I already hated how things were going and it wasn't even 9AM. I hated my tiredness. I hated my grumpiness. I hated how I had sinned again by lashing out in anger (a sin I am constantly fighting). And I wished I could just back up the clock and start all over again. All of this is e...

  (Hebrews 12:1-4 ESV) [12:1] “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [2] looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. [3] Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. [4] In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” It seems that everyday I struggle with the same sins over and over. Sometimes it is frustrating, sometimes it is discouraging, and other times I am in such despair that I break down crying and pleading for God to help me. I always ask, “Why do I keep on sinning?” And sometimes, “Why do I keep doing this same sin over and over? Shouldn’t I...