by JoAnna Fannin One of the biggest blocks in many Christian’s lives – that keeps them from walking in freedom – is shame. Shame is defined as a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or impropriety. Our human nature has typically been conditioned to avoid the pain of embarrassment or humiliation, so when we find ourselves guilty, falling …
by Dawn King There are many things in life that you can be sure of, and one of those things is the fact that you are going to mess up. Call me a realist, or pragmatist, or however you want to label it, but the truth is as long as you are a human you are going to mess up. …
I got beat up listening to Coach and Joe today, but not in a way that pushed me down. It was in a way that tore apathy from my eyes and roughed me up so that I could rise up, stand in all that I’ve been given, and to stop being so dang petty.
Jesus, show us the way because we can’t see. We look through a glass dimly. Jesus, You are the way. Help us walk so close to You that we smell like You, that we look like You, that we become like You. Teach us Your ways so that our own ways die. Teach us Your Truth, so that it overpowers the tricky schemes of spite and bitterness. Your ways are above our ways, so we lay ours down. We say, “We don’t know what we’re doing. Help us.”
Heidi Baker says a lot “Love has to look like something”. Biblical love involves discipline. Not punishment. Jesus took the punishment we deserve, but the Father continues in the new covenant to discipline us, to form us into His Son’s likeness. Love does not look like cozy hugs and surface level conversations; it looks like blindspots being revealed so that you can live out of bondage and step into the fullness of life that Christ calls us to.
We’ve always had a special place in our hearts for our Muslim sons and daughters, but this year has driven that love to deeper places. God hasn’t challenged us to work harder or do more. He’s asked us to slow down, listen and love in a simpler, clearer way.
“I never set out to rebel, I am not a rebellious person, I just followed culture and was living in ignorance. Not only does this line of thinking lead down a path to anxiety, stress, and more rebellion, but I got hit in the face with this question, “Who is the point, what is the point here?” In the entire response that I just wrote out the point was me. I was fixing, and deciding, and controlling, and doing…every part of it was self- focused for the sake of outer appearances.”
The lawyer scrambles to catch the falling microphone and one-up Jesus by means of cross-examination. “And who is my neighbor?” Gotcha, Jesus. Winks to the crowd as he kisses his Star of David necklace and points to heaven. Slowly walks into the Galilean sunset.
Not so fast, buckaroo. Jesus responds with another parable, and this one is a doozy…”
“It was the kindness of the Father that allowed this valley. He starved me from community voices so I could discover His.”
By Ashley Orrell-Jones “Is authority really even that important? Why do we have authority anyway? Especially in America–after all, this is a country founded on freedom. I should be able to do whatever I want, whenever I want. #freewill, right? I mean, no one knows me like I know me. I know what I need, and what is best for …
