We are light, because Jesus is light. We are made in His image and that of our Father. “You are the light of the world.” -Matthew 5:14 Christ literally says so. We are light and love because Jesus paid every price necessary to bring us back into the Holy Presence of our Father. His sacrifice […]
Making excuses
“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” -Matthew 26:41 So often as I’ve claimed the grace and forgiveness offered by my Father, I feel like it’s too easy. Even as scripture tells me I am no longer associated with my sin, no […]
The Truth: Why You Are Loved
Understanding who we are is critical in knowing we are loved. It can feel difficult to believe, and I think what we’re really asking is WHY we are loved. If it’s true that we’re loved unconditionally, there’s a reason, right? I’ve spent the last several years asking God to help me identify as His daughter, […]
Dispute
I couldn’t tell you how it started really. I can tell you that I didn’t say much, this person said a whole lot with intensity, and it was my faith on trial. I can also tell you the peace I felt in the moments during and after is the stuff of “passing understanding”. Just wow. With […]
Earthly Fathers
“I didn’t raise you to be so judgmental!” Soul crushing words as my dad and I argued theology. I was in my teens. My parents had recently divorced, and I’d been pursuing a far too conservative angle in my efforts to connect with God; to make sense of my young life…in his opinion. But he […]
A swing and a miss!
In continuing to build on my recent realizations that when I beat up on me, I’m also condemning the Christ in me, I thought I’d share an example. It’s simple, but demonstrates the pervasive nature of “negative self talk”, also lovingly described as “self condemnation”. ;). I attempted a nap yesterday. I wear a Fitbit […]
I took a swing
I took a swing at Jesus this morning. As I do my best in not condemning me, nor the Him that is inside of me, IS me, I catch myself asking Jesus, “So how is this going to work?” The ways I’m already beating myself up today I’m noticing, but I’m unsure as to how […]
Condemning Christ
In prayer this morning I caught myself asking God to help me be nicer to myself; to limit all the ways I beat myself up over even the tiniest thing I may have done or said. Keep in mind it doesn’t have to be sin, it can be anything, breaking something for example. It was […]
Apologies
When someone hurts me/us, I’m initially met with confusion, aka, “I’ve got to be missing something, this person I put trust in wouldn’t hurt me like this on purpose, it must have been a mistake.” Assuming the best of people is an important perspective to take, but discerning where harm has been caused by mistake […]
Going to Hell
My sin, our sin, is going to Hell. Hell is something we don’t typically discuss, and if it comes up, its significance is typically lost on the observer, referenced in anger or flippancy. Folks, it’s real and something I don’t feel comfortable kidding about. Many claiming faith have even come to the conclusion Hell isn’t […]