Crazy About Jesus

When Markel & I went on a walk last night, he described a recent convo with someone who asked why he’s so crazy about Jesus...that it’s one thing to say you believe in God, but a whole other thing to talk about Jesus so much. At one point, the questioner said, “I do believe in the Ten Commandments.”

The thing about the Ten Commandments is that they were given as law to consistently point to our inability to meet the law.

Time & again, people would have to bring sacrificial lambs to the fallible Levitical priests to pay the price for their sin. The people continued to sin & the priest offering the sacrifice would eventually die.

The cycle seems hopeless until you realize that the process simply pointed to our need of a Savior. There is no good that’s good enough to get into heaven.

God is perfect & holy & cannot even look upon sin, so He sent His Son to live a sinless life on earth only to be crucified SO THAT He could conquer sin by rising again!

Jesus became a priest not by meeting the physical requirements of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of resurrection life that CANNOT be destroyed!

Markel shared that the resurrection-like changes in his life & our marriage are proof enough for him to follow Jesus as Savior & Lord. He knows the tumultuous life we had before Jesus entered our story, & the secure love & joy that now marks our lives with Him at the center!

His resurrection power is enough to save us for eternity, & without Him, just one lie is enough to keep us from eternity in heaven.

We cannot achieve the perfection God intended apart from the blood of our sinless, sacrificial Lamb. All we need “do” is confess that we’re sinners in need of a Savior, receive His salvation & then allow our lives to become a living epistle of His Lordship!

Honestly, when it comes to following Jesus, what’ve we got to lose, but pride that we know it all?

Jesus, thank you for what you’ve done for us! If there’s anyone on the fence about following You, 

help them discover the exorbitant evidence that points to the undeniable Truth of Who You are & what You’ve done! May our lives become living epistles so others will ask why were so crazy about Jesus!

#OneYearBible

November 5th One Year Bible Readings

💡EZEKIEL 12:1-14:11

💡HEBREWS 7:1-17

💡PSALM 105:37-45

💡PROVERBS 27:3

Test | To Refine By Fire

Testing can be hard. My son called last week to lament how he didn’t fare too well on a math test. He studied & studied, but felt like the pages before him were written in another language.

Life’s tests can feel like that too-frustrating, unfair & indecipherable at times. My current journal has a list of the tenuous tests of this current season. It’s pretty arduous & includes things like breaking my arm, a snakebite, & waiting several months for God to open a new career door for both Markel & me.

Joseph, a Hebrew boy, had a dream when he was young that took a LONG time to come to fruition. He walked through slavery, fetters & chains until he finally arrived to the place of fulfillment.

Psalm 105:19 describes the “why“ behind that prolonged season of waiting as this:

“Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character.”

The word “tested” comes from a root word that means, “to smelt or refine”. A silversmith heats up the blazing fire so the impurities in the metal rise to be skimmed off the top, leaving a pure & unmixed product.

I don’t know about you, but when the fires of life rise, all I want to do is run for water! Fires are not fun; the purity & new life that surfaces on the other side, however, is priceless!

Just yesterday, Markel & I received separate offer letters from a company that couldn’t have been a better fit if we had tailor-written them ourselves!

The Lord took us out of work & gave us a 3-month Sabbath of testing, where we have grown close to Him & each other. I wouldn’t wish the wait or hard things upon anyone, but I’m glad we didn’t run for water because we would’ve missed out on the incredible intimacy with our faithful Father! 😉

Father, we praise you for dark valleys of testing because they remind us of our need of You! Help us endure the heat & not circumvent or prolong the refining time by running for water! In fact, turn it up & burn off the unnecessary dross that keeps us from all that You have in store for our future!

Thank you for leading us SAFELY even when it feels like we are traversing a testing season lacking safety. You are our faithful Father who truly knows what’s best & we trust You!

#OneYearBible

November 4th One Year Bible Readings

💡EZEKIEL 10:1-11:25

💡HEBREWS 6:1-20

💡PSALM 105:16-36

💡PROVERBS 27:1-2

A Weak Christian | One Who Settles for a Sippy Cup of Milk

When I was little, my dad cleaned our dog while I stood by & watched. My mom came out a little later, asking what I had in my mouth.

I said, “A button.”

She asked me to open my mouth, & to her horror, she saw a big, fat, green wood-tick my dad had pulled off the dog 🤮

I don’t remember the event, I just know it as family folklore. I can’t imagine that I knew it was a bug because I was so little & yet it paints such a perfect picture of the discernment lacking in little children. Unlike adults, they’ll put just about anything in their mouths because they cannot distinguish if it’s nutritious or harmful.

Paul writes about this in Hebrews 5 where he declares that anyone who lives only on milk is like an inexperienced infant. Solid food, however, is for the mature, who through constant use, have developed discernment to know the difference between good & evil.

Just yesterday I heard a mama tell how her baby wasn’t sleeping through the night. When she introduced solid foods, however, it was like an instant remedy because the little babe slept the entire following night!

The baby didn’t know she needed solid food, but it was what she needed to help gain proper rest & grow!

Like a baby, there are times when we don’t know what we don’t know when it comes to following Jesus. We can profess that we are Christians, but unless we make His will & Way a priority, we will remain just like that little baby still nursing on milk alone. We’ll lack rest & growth in discernment that come when we ingest the meat of the Word of God & grow in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

We can also make the mistake like I did when I was little & lacked knowledge. When we are unskilled in experiencing the power of God’s Word, we might accidentally ingest harmful things because we lack the ability to distinguish between helpful & harmful!

Father, we need the meat of your Word that leads us to follow Your Way! We don’t want to remain as infants in the faith, but grow mighty muscles that help us become valiant warriors, fully equipped to create cultural impact around us. Show us areas where we are still sipping milk & give us the gumption to grow by ingesting Your Word & growing in Your Way!

#oneyearbible

November 3rd One Year Bible Readings

💡EZEKIEL 7:1-9:11

💡HEBREWS 5:1-14

💡PSALM 105:1-15

💡PROVERBS 26:28