Chasing after money

Chasing after things

Chasing after so-called success

Chasing after fame

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Chasing after people’s love

To fill the holes of sin and shame

Chasing after entertainment

A distraction from the pain

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Chasing after one more like

One more chance that we’ll be seen

Chasing after the world’s applause

But it’s not quite what it seems

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Because all the time I’m chasing

Things that always seem out of reach

And all the time I’m running

I forget the One that I should seek

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Because chasing after Jesus

Takes effort, yes, it’s true

But in chasing after Jesus

You’ll find He’s chasing after you

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The race He asks you to run

Might not always go your way

But if you run with Jesus

I promise you, He’ll stay

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He’ll stay with you in every heart break

Every moment of despair

And the One who’s running with you,

He’ll never leave you there

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Set your heart on Jesus

Make Him the One you choose to seek

Set your heart on Jesus

You’ll find He’s all you need

I’ve noticed a trend of people doing their best to be “that” girl. The girl other girls want to be. The girl with her life together. The girl that gets noticed.

It’s natural for our hearts to feel that way – the way we crave attention, wanting others to see us and like us. It fills that need to be appreciated, impressive, important, but it’s only temporary. There will always be someone new to catch people’s eye. Some who dresses better, has a better skincare routine, nicer home, is more well-spoken, has more likes, more friends, more followers.

So is that it? Is life about being her or is it about Him?

As much as attention and applause can temporarily fill the holes in our hearts, only in glorifying Christ do we fill those places with joy and contentment only He can give.

I want the Lord to tear down my pride and make my life reflect Him. Instead of searching for a way for people to know my name, I want them to know His name. After all, my name won’t do much, but His name will change their lives and eternity.

I want the Lord to take my life and make it about Him. I I don’t want to be so focused on being “that” girl that I fail to remember what’s important I want to make His name known, not mine. And mostly, I never want be the one standing in the way of someone else’s view of Jesus.

Religion. It’s almost become a vulgar word in our culture. So many are throwing aside “religion” for relationship. They claim that Christ’s love and freedom are too great to be stuffed inside a narrow set of rules and regulations. They use the words religion and legalism interchangeably and with emotional statements and pleas, they seem to know what they are talking about.

I believe, however, that it might be a dangerous mission to toss religion out the window.

I’m not talking about legalism. I’m not talking about adding rules to God’s word. I understand the dangers of this. I mean Eve was the first one to add rules to God’s word and to say that He said things that He did not, and we all know how that turned out. But sometimes I wonder if Eve was trying to do the right thing, but in the wrong way. Instead of saying, “God said we cannot touch the tree”, what if she had said, “God said not to eat the fruit on the tree, and I don’t even want to touch that fruit because I don’t want to put myself in a place that it would be easy to disobey and take that first bite?”

Perhaps her story would have ended differently if she had created boundaries in her life with an attitude that said I want to please God, instead of an attitude that was focused on what she could or couldn’t do.

Legalism – adding rules to God’s word – is dangerous. It can cause bitterness towards God and others, but religion is not the equivalent of legalism.

According to James, the evidence of true religion is the way we speak, the way we treat people, and the way strive to remain holy in an unholy world. It’s evidenced by holiness in our words, holiness in our service and love to others, and holiness in our hearts.

That’s going to look like different boundaries in different people’s lives. Something may not be wrong according to God’s word, but if it’s a boundary that keeps them from crossing lines that are clearly stated in God’s word, then it’s real religion. If they’re choosing to separate themselves from things they know would cause temptation, it’s real religion. If their personal convictions are based on what God spoke to them, and not about people pleasing, it’s real religion. If their words and actions demonstrate love and holiness, then it’s real religion and it glorifies God.

If we’re not careful, we’ll allow those who make holiness and separation from the world about pride to scare us away from the reality that holiness is a byproduct of true religion, and that it glorifies God. And at the end of the day, I want my heart to be less concerned on what I might be missing out on, and more concerned about who I can be helping and speaking truth with love to, because that is just as important of a byproduct of true religion as what I’m wearing or where I’m going.

We know David for the mighty victories he had, the giant he defeated that no one else would face, the battles he won as he led armies into battle, the kingdom he ruled with wisdom and humility.

But before David ever killed Goliath, he first was a simple shepherd boy delivering a meal to his brothers as his father had asked him. I don’t believe David intended to fight Goliath that day. I think he was simply obeying his father’s instructions to deliver food and through his obedience God placed him in the right place at the right time to bring deliverance to Israel.

What if David had said no to such a mundane task? What if pride over being asked to do something so seemingly insignificant or anger that he wasn’t allowed to fight with his brothers had kept him from the simple task before him? What if he would have done it, but slowly and on his own time frame with a bad attitude? Would he have heard Goliath’s challenge? Would he have been given the boldness and power to fight him?

I doubt it. I believe that God was working through the seemingly insignificant task to put David exactly where he needed to be.

Today, don’t be discouraged in the mundane tasks ahead of you. While we all want to be the one who defeated the giant, it’s easy to feel forgotten or useless when we are the ones delivering a meal. But each task is putting you exactly where God wants you to be.

Because the truth is that whether the “meals” we deliver bring us face to face with a giant or just bring encouragement to the ones we deliver them to, they are still acts of service and obedience that put us where God wants us to be.

So whatever mundane, normal task lies ahead of you today, know that it matters. The Lord put it on your list for today and it may just be that it is this seemingly insignificant step you take that leads you to a place that you can defeat your own giant.

When Jesus encountered the leprous man, He did what no one else could. He brought healing because he was willing to touch the untouchable. He approached the unapproachable. He came to the one that every one else avoided. He solved with the problem everyone else was scared to be around.

Is there an area of your life that feels untouchable? Something that you cannot solve, and no one else wants to deal with. Something that pushes others away and keep you isolated. Maybe it’s your fault. Maybe it’s not. But it feels like it defines you and that there is no way out.

But the things that we define as untouchable and hopeless, Christ is able to set us free from.

The reality is this man should not have been able to come to Christ and be healed. His disease dictated that he stay alone and ill, and yet Christ made him whole with a simple touch and four words, “I will; be clean.”

Maybe your reality should not be able to be changed. Maybe your reality seems fixed and immovable. My God specializes in the things we cannot change ourselves.

Reality may say that you are unable to overcome the addiction that holds you captive, but if you come to Jesus, He can speak deliverance into your life.

Reality may say that the depression or anxiety you face will always define you, but if you come to Jesus, He can breathe life and joy into your heart and mind.

Reality says that illness, that trauma, that sin is what shapes and defines who you are, but if you come to Jesus, you will find that He alone can define you, that He alone can give freedom from the things everyone else runs from.

He can. He will. Don’t hesitate. Just come.

I can speak with confidence. I can say I know, because I’ve come to Him before, broken and hopeless, feeling defined by things I could not control. I held my brokenness up to Him and I said, “I know you can. I’m here. Will you?”

And Jesus turned to me and said, “I will.”

Let Him see the parts of you that you’re hiding. Let Him touch the untouchable. Let Him change the unchangeable, break the unbreakable. It’s not just that He can. He will.

“I believe. Help my unbelief.” The vulnerability in this statement has always caught my attention. He is desperate for help, desperate for a miracle. He knows that the One who stands in front of him is the only chance his son has, but some small part of him is having trouble grasping that the miracle he has prayed, dreamed, and searched for is actually about to be reality.

It’s the part of him that has watched his son face this same torment over and over. It’s the part that has always been on edge waiting for catastrophe to strike. It’s the part of him that has faced the reality of his need again and again and again with no answer. It’s the part of him that likely accepted that this was his reality long ago.

That part of him stares at the Master, knowing who He is and what He can do, and struggles to believe that there can be another way, that his very own miracle is right in front of him.

But Jesus does not turn away at his weakness. He does not mock him, or walk away. In fact in the next breath, Jesus is speaking life and deliverance into this man’s son. In the next breath, his miracle stands whole and healed in front of him.

Most of us probably have parts of our life where we need to cry out, “I believe. Help my unbelief.”

We have days where the burden seems too heavy, and we question if His mercies really are new. We have parts of our life where our prayers feel empty and His silence feels so loud. We have days where we feel alone in our struggle, waiting and waiting.

But the answer is not to hide inside the fear, to live within the doubt. You can bring both your needs and your doubts to the One who has the power to help you with both. You are not the first to come to Him with questions and you can be certain He will not turn you away. He may not give you every answer you seek, but you will find that who He is is enough.

Please don’t let the enemy keep you trapped without your doubt. Bring your needs and your heart to the Master and see what He will do.

“Your hands are full,” they say,

At the grocery store, when my buggy is full of groceries stacked around my girls

At the restaurant, when my ears are filled with their little voices crying and my plate still filled with food

In the parking lot, with each hand filled with one of my daughters as we hurry to the car

At church, with a diaper bag full of toys and snacks to fill their hands and bellies

At home, when my floor is filled with toys and my laundry basket full of clothes

And they’re right. My hands are full, overflowing really.

At the grocery store, where my ears are filled with their giggles as they play inside the buggy.

At the restaurant, where mind fills with the memories of watching our little family fill the booth.

In the parking lot, where hands fill with their little fingers that squeeze mine as we hurry to the car

At the church, where my eyes fill with the sight of their hands raised in worship and their faces scrunched in focus as they play in front of the chair.

At our home, where my heart fills with their love and my shelves fill with photos marking the way they grow and change as they fill the rooms.

My hands are full these days, sometimes with tears and tantrums, but mostly just with my very own little blessings, the very ones I prayed for, resting in my lap.

My hands are full these days, and I wouldn’t change a thing.

As humans, we tend to write “The End” on the stories that God is simply turning a new chapter on.

Lazarus is dead? Wrap him in grave clothes and seal the tomb.

That man is full of the devil and destructive to others? Let Legion rot in his misery by himself in the caves.

That woman has had five husbands and is with a man she isn’t married to? Leave her in her shame. The lonely life she now lives is only her fault after all.

Jesus died on the cross? Hide in fear and return to your old way of life.

In each of these stories, people decided that God was done, that the sin, shame, and death surrounding these people were the finale of their stories.

It makes sense. Humanity can’t overcome death. We can’t set a man free or give restoration in place of a woman’s shame. But when we close the book, we forget that God does things we cannot.

It’s a simple thought, but true. When we reach the end, God is just beginning. When we see hopelessness, He sees opportunity. When we see death, He sees life.

Today, I pray for eyes that see what could be rather than what is. When I see the addict, I pray I also see hope for freedom. When I see someone wrapped up in sin and shame, I pray I also see the chance for redemption. When I see the broken, the hurting, the lost, may I also see what Jesus sees, someone who He can give new life.

I don’t want to write off the people God wants to redeem. I want to be the one He uses to write their next chapter.

As a follower of Christ your life is a bold declaration that He alone is Lord. Don’t let the enemy try to steal that from you.

Were you a drug addict? Were you bound by sin? Did you dwell in anxiety, depression, bitterness, or shame? Were you broken and alone?

As believers, our lives declare that through His power, grace, and love He has chosen to redeem us from the very things we clung to as they destroyed us. We do not glorify the sin, the chains, or the past, but we can glorify the mighty power of the One who chose to set us free from them.

Don’t hide in shame of the things that He has brought you out of. Paul was a murderer, a man bent on destroying the church, and yet He boldly proclaimed the transformation in His life so that others could know the same redemption. Mary was a woman full of the devil, and yet became the first one to see Jesus risen. Moses was fearful. David an adulterer. Ruth a prostitute. Peter a denier. Yet, we do not define them by these failures. We know Moses as the one who God used to lead Israel to freedom. David was the king God chose for Israel, a man after God’s own heart. Ruth was one of a few women named in the lineage of Christ, and Peter was the one who preached and thousands were saved.

Does it seem like the world knows your failures? Then tell them about the freedom you have been given from those failures. Let your life speak so boldly of His grace that those who knew you before now want to know the One that set you free.

God redeems our stories, and that includes our past. Do not be discouraged by who you were. Be encouraged at who you now are through Christ – redeemed, empowered, victorious, whole, free. Stand firm in this knowledge and tell the world so they may know the same joy as you.

My God is the Maker of the Universe

The One whose voice commands the sea

Places stars into the heavens

With one word can stop the breeze

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My God is mighty, strong in battle

Judge and King of Kings

All knowing, all powerful

Worthy of every song we sing

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But still my God is an ever present help

When trouble comes my way

The One that I can run to

No matter the time of day

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He is my risen savior

The One who died for me

The maker of the heavens, yes,

But near enough to reach

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He is strong and He is faithful

He is power and He is Grace

The One who walks on water

And the One who took my place