Kelly Minter's Blog, page 3
June 21, 2023
Finding Freedom in Forgiveness
While there are many reasons why forgiving others is challenging, I think there are three reasons worth thinking about. The first is that harboring unforgiveness makes us feel like we’re in control. When someone hursts us, betrays us, takes something from us, or abandons us, clutching unforgiveness is the one thing we still have to hang on to. If we give that up, what do we have left?
This leads us to a second problem. We don’t trust God to make things right. Put another way, we wonder if He’ll truly mete out justice the way we would. Can we really trust the Him with our pain, or to deal with our offender. And, thirdly, it’s really hard to forgive others when we don’t recognize our own need for forgiveness. It’s truly remarkable how blind I can be to the ways I hurt other people, and yet I have eagle eyes when spotting another person’s sin against me.
So, what are we to do? Well, we start with what Jesus tells us, and that is to forgive those who have sinned against us (Matt. 6:12). From the most egregious sins to the petty ones, Jesus doesn’t tell us it’s extra good of us if we decide to forgive, rather He commands it. The good news is that whatever Jesus commands us to do, He enables us to do. So, let’s begin here—we must forgive, and He will help us do it.
While holding on to unforgiveness might make us feel like we’re in control, in reality we become a slave to it. And where unforgiveness is in charge, its closest friends are always close by—they go by the names of Bitterness, Anger, Revenge, Martyr, Cynic. But when we forgive, we release the person who hurt us to the Lord. We trust Him to handle it. We transfer the load from ourselves to His capable hands (1 Pet. 4:19). He is a good Father, perfectly just, all capable, righteous Judge. We can trust Him with our offenders.
Finally, the more in touch we are with the forgiveness Jesus has given us, the more freely we’ll offer forgiveness to others. In Matthew 18:21-35, Jesus tells a story of a servant who owed His master 6,000 denarii. The servant didn’t have the money to pay and pleaded with his master not to sell him and his family to pay the debt. Surprisingly, the master had compassion on his servant, released him, and forgave his debt. In a shocking turn of events, the servant who had been forgiven turned around and choked a man who owed him only one hundred denarii. The story is clear: Jesus had tremendous mercy on us, and we are to have mercy on others. In fact, Jesus tells us to forgive “from our hearts” (Matt. 18:35).
Oh, yes, we will need Him to help us do this. We will need Him to change our hearts. We will need Him every step of the way. Let us start by remembering the mercy He has shown us. And surely forgiveness will begin to flow.
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May 12, 2023
Finding Your Place
I’ve been thinking about what it means to find our place. We can think about this in several ways. Whether we’re looking for where we fit in our immediate community, or where we feel valued at work, or the kind of ministry we feel called to. It seems we’re always looking for our place, where we belong and where we’re known.
I’ve been thinking about this mostly in terms of my calling as a believer in Christ. Where is my place? Where is your place? What has God gifted each of us to do and who has He called us to be? The New Testament writers talk a lot about this, and Paul famously speaks specifically about our unique gifts and callings in
1 Corinthians 12—a great passage for further reflection.
But I was in a very different passage recently that made me think of both place and space. In Genesis 26, we find God blessing the patriarch Isaac with an abundance of wealth and resources. As a result, the Philistines got jealous, as we humans do. Instead of saying snarky things on social media or gossiping, they stopped up Isaac’s wells. And when Isaac’s servants dug new ones, the Philistines claimed that those were also theirs. There was quarreling and fighting, and just like in our own day, conflict happened because too many people were fighting over what seemed like finite resources. Everyone was chasing their water, their well, their place.
Isaac and his people decided not to fight and kept on moving. Isaac’s servants dug a fresh well and hit an abundance of water. And guess what they named it? Rehoboth, which means, open spaces. They exclaimed, “For now the Lord has made space for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.” (Gen. 26:22.) They had found their place. And when they told Isaac about the well God had given them, they said, “We have found water!” (Gen. 26:32). And the whole city was called Beersheba, which means “well of the oath.”
There’s a great deal to this passage that can’t be fully explored in this short devotional. But what I hope you will ask the Lord is to show you your place. Because here’s the thing. We spend an awful lot of time fighting over wells with the Philistines of our culture—the ones who tell us to dig for the water of status, more money, a more comfortable lifestyle, a social media brand, a person who’s going to make everything better. The space is crowed and the water limited. But when we surrender our wants for the wants of Christ, our will for the Lord’s, our battles for His provision, He leads us to the place of our belonging. And it is there He gives us success. How do we know? Because where the Lord makes space, He grows fruit (look back at Genesis 26:22). As we ease into the summer, one of the things I’m going to be doing is praying about the place God has called me to serve in the way He’s called me. I hope you will do the same. My encouragement to you is to stop fighting over the wells this world has already packed with sand—it’s a constant conflict that never ends with living water. Let the world have what it has. Seek the living water of Christ (Jn. 4:14). And as you seek Him and His righteousness above all else, you will find your place. And it will be right where He is.
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April 11, 2023
Spring Cleaning: How the Cross Cleanses Us
I don’t know how far spring has descended into your life, but for Nashvillians, we’re in the blissful middle of low-seventies and green buds. I have a single tulip that, with admirable resistance, has pushed forth her blush petals against the frost and chill of winter. The blooms of my azaleas look like cotton balls exploding out of previously barren bushes. The doors are open. Everything is waking up, and the birds are singing about it.
So, what does all this make me want to do, you ask? Spring clean, of course. Spring is an innate wake-up call for us to mimic the newness we witness in creation. Dust off those window sills, pack up the wool sweaters, and get rid of a few piles. Not only am I ready for my hardwood floors and kitchen countertops to glow like the lengthening days of spring, I want my soul to reflect the purity and newness of this hopeful season.
It is no accident we celebrate Jesus’s resurrection in the middle of spring, the season of old giving way to new, death trampled by life. In an effort to deepen our understanding of what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross, I want to look at three aspects of Jesus’s death that I pray will be like taking a lemon-scented cloth to the dust that may have collected on our hearts. The more we understand about what the cross accomplished, the more we can appreciate Jesus’s sacrifice.
Three Aspects of the CrossYou may have wondered, why did Christ have to die? Couldn’t there have been another way? What did Jesus actually accomplish for me? Part of the answer to that question is found all the way back in Leviticus. In chapter 16, we see that animals were sacrificed as a way of atoning for Israel’s sin. In other words, since God is holy and righteous, Israel’s sin had to be dealt with. Instead of God’s wrath falling upon His people, it would fall upon the animal sacrificed for the sins of the community. This is what we call substitutionary atonement, because the animal stood in the place of the people (substitution) as the necessary sacrifice for sin (atonement).
Substitutionary atonement has two unique features, the first is propitiation. It means the appeasement of wrath. I think most of us shirk back from the idea of God’s wrath. How can a loving God be angry toward people? I think of some of the terrible evils inflicted upon children, or the betrayal and abuse of perpetrators. Aren’t we glad that God is not passive, but hates sin and the effects of sin (Matt. 18:5-6)? But back to our main point. In ancient days, the animal was the propitiation in that it appeased God’s wrath.
One of my favorite aspects of the atonement, is the second feature: expiation. It means, the removal of sin. Lev. 16:20-22 says,
When he has finished making atonement for the most holy place, the tent of meeting, and the altar, he is to present the live male goat. 21 Aaron will lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the Israelites’ iniquities and rebellious acts—all their sins. He is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness by the man appointed for the task. 22 The goat will carry all their iniquities into a desolate land, and the man will release it there.
The Old Testament gives us such a visual. A literal “scape goat” representatively takes our sin upon itself and carries it into the wilderness, never to be seen again. For those of us who deal with regrets or shame from the past, what a picture of freedom this is.
The problem is that substitutionary atonement in the Old Testament was a temporal answer for the problem of sin. It was a provisional means pointing toward an ultimate solution. In keeping with our spring-cleaning metaphor, the sparkling house got dirty again. Another round of dusting and polishing was needed. This is where the sacrifice of Jesus comes in. Instead of the blood of bulls and goats being slaughtered over and over, year after year, Jesus laid down His life for us once and for all. He was our substitute. He provided the payment necessary to deal with our sin. Not only did He forgive our sin, but as John writes in 1 John 1:9, He cleansed us from all unrighteousness.
Living in Spring’s NewnessAs you welcome the longer days and linger outdoors, watching Blue Jays alight on your porch, enjoying the scent of flowers throwing off the covers of winter dormancy, remember these are all signs of the resurrection. Reckon that you can live in spring’s newness because of what Christ accomplished for you on the cross. He stood in your place, becoming sin for you, so that you can become the very righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21.) Get up! The sun is shining. Browns are giving way to every hue in the rainbow. Jesus paid an incalculable price so that you might live. It turns out, spring cleaning isn’t just for houses, it’s also for hearts. Let Him cleanse you anew.
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March 14, 2023
The Hope of Lent
I didn’t grow up in a Christian tradition that observed Lent. It wasn’t until my late twenties, when I was going through a terrible time in my life, that I began to observe it. It was one of those seasons where I was stuck. Stuck in my sin. Tangled in counterproductive thinking. Sinking. I didn’t know how to get free. I needed someone to deal a severing blow to the invisible cords binding me.
That’s when a counselor I was seeing at the time said, “How about Lent?” I’d always thought of Lent as a legalistic, religious type thing where people gave up chocolate or chips or soda to have a better shot at getting into heaven. At the very least, his suggestion seemed woefully short of what I needed. He encouraged me to set something meaningful aside during the 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter, not to earn God’s favor, but to make more room for Jesus. I don’t remember all the details of how that season went, only that what I gave up was a true sacrifice for me and by the time Easter arrived, something had changed. In a good way. I had more freedom in areas I previously hadn’t. And I’d drawn closer to Christ, partly because I’d made more room for Him by giving up what had previously taken up space.
To be sure, Lent isn’t a magical formula that strong-arms God into doing what we want. No. It’s a practice. It’s a drawing closer to the Lord. It’s letting Him know that He matters to us, not by our mere words but through our intentional actions. As we focus on Jesus, and less on ourselves, we find healing. But, more importantly, we find Him.
I don’t know what you’re going through at the moment, but I wonder what you might lay aside so something new can grow in its place. No matter how many days are left until we celebrate Easter, it’s not too late to focus on the cross of Jesus and make room for Him.
This particular Lent I’ve been focusing in Luke’s Gospel on Jesus’s march toward Jerusalem, the place where He would ultimately lay down His life. On the road toward the cross, He met a woman who said, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the one who nursed you” (Lk. 11:27)! In other words, this woman from the crowd recognized the importance of Jesus—to what degree we don’t know—and naturally understood His mother Mary to be exceedingly blessed as the one who bore and nursed Him. This is a logical conclusion. But Jesus’s response is both surprising and encouraging. He said, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (Lk. 11:28).
As I read those words, my soul was lifted. I was reminded that to be blessed in this world isn’t to have a nicer house, a more lucrative job, a husband, or for the people around me to better meet my needs (all good things and blessings in their proper place). To be blessed doesn’t solely belong to Mary, the mother of Jesus. To be blessed, truly thriving in this world, is to listen intently to the Word of God and obey accordingly.
Are you holding back obedience to the Lord? Is there any area of your life you’re clinging to? Is there a place for you to make more room for the Living God?
As we move toward Easter, we can intentionally do both of these things (listening and doing). Perhaps we lay something aside so we have more time to listen, or simply more quiet to listen. And hopefully, our listening to God speak through Scripture will lead to greater obedience. And as we especially focus on the sacrifice of Christ, the triumph of His resurrection will shine even brighter against such a scandalous backdrop. I love Paul’s words in Romans 5:10, “For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.”
I suppose Lent is a time to focus on the death of Jesus, His inestimable sacrifice for each of us. And Easter is the opportunity to focus on His resurrection, His life that saves us even now!
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February 1, 2023
What It Means To Be Blessed
This is Day 5 from Kelly’s 90-day devotional book, The Blessed Life.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” Matthew 5:3
Sometimes when I’m really out of sorts my friends will remind me of how truly blessed I am, how much I have to be thankful for. But this always feels like an evasion to me, like they’re not giving my “pain and suffering” its due. They’re looking for what is going well in my life, doing the math, and then deciding I’ve got more going for me in the blessed column than in the poor in spirit one, so blessed it is.
I don’t know how the word blessed hit Jesus’s disciples on the hillside that day, or how it landed on the crowds, but I can’t imagine it was the first word the sick, lame, shunned, or hungry expected to hear Him speak to them that day. And Jesus wasn’t using the word to convince them that the good things in their life outweighed the bad, that they were more blessed than not. Instead, He was declaring those in His kingdom as wholesale flourishing.
Blessed.
Think of that word hanging out there over a Jewish people hobbling under Roman oppression. The ones who for centuries had been pining for a powerful Messiah in the image of King David to knock their enemies out of the land. Surely some had followed Jesus out of curiosity but most out of pure desperation. Some were longing for a new leader who could help them figure out how to get back on the God of Israel’s good side, someone with a solid campaign slogan. Some may have showed up hoping to hear a strategic and gutsy military plan: Who’s ready to defeat Rome once and for all? Strap on your swords! Others may have been looking for something more personal and close to home, like a much needed healing or handout.
Blessed.
The word itself is not an unusual opener. It’s only shocking when you think about who He addressed it to: the poor in spirit, mourners, stomped on, hungry, innocent, persecuted. Well, now, this just feels like madness. How can the poor in spirit be the blessed ones? In what kind of a world, in what kind of a kingdom, in what kind of a religion, has this ever been so?
Before we consider an answer, it is worth asking, why are you here? Why have you come to listen to the words of Jesus?
Are you looking for Him to overpower someone who has wounded you? Is a family member ailing and you need a healing? Are finances tight? Is work unfulfilling? Is your marriage suffering? Are you simply tired of the grind, like the average Jewish peasant in first-century Galilee looking for a sustaining word of encouragement, a change in the political landscape? Perhaps you’re not looking for anything from Him as much as you simply want to be with Him and listen to what He has to say.
Note the “them” who Jesus begins to teach in verse 2 appear to be His disciples. But at the end of His message, it was the crowds who were astonished at His teaching (Matt. 7:28). We should establish at the outset that both disciples and undecideds are invited to listen. Whichever you are, I’m glad you’re here.
But back to our question. How can people like the poor in spirit be blessed? In the original language, the word for blessed is makarios, and it means “prospering, fortunate, flourishing, and in some cases, downright happy.” (This is different from the word used when someone pronounces a blessing on another, translated eulogeo). Makarios is a description of the state of a person who is thriving in the kingdom of God. So Jesus isn’t saying that the poor in spirit will eventually gain a blessing. He is saying that their current state of being is a prosperous one because God’s very kingdom is theirs. In fact, in every case of the nine Beatitudes, a difficult state of being is paired with a promise of blessing.
So if you’re struggling or hurting today, may Jesus redefine your circumstances as only He can. If you find yourself poor in spirit, malnourished by the “blessings” of our culture, you’re in prime position to experience the blessed life of the kingdom.
Ask Him to teach you and show you what it means to flourish in whatever your circumstances. Look for Him to answer you as you go about Your day. He is eager to meet you in it.
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What It Means To Be Blessed by Kelly Minter | Feb 1, 2023 | Christian Growth, Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
This is Day 5 from Kelly's 90-day devotional book, The Blessed Life. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” Matthew 5:3 Sometimes when I’m really out of sorts my friends will remind me of how truly blessed I am, how much I have to be...
What Will You Receive This Year? by Kelly Minter | Jan 1, 2023 | Christian Growth, Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
Happy New Year, friends. If you’re anything like me, every last Christmas tree needle has been swept from the house, the gnarls of Christmas lights are tucked away in boxes, and you just found a stray ornament, one that will possibly sit on your dresser until next...
Savior and Friend by Kelly Minter | Dec 5, 2022 | Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement, Holidays
The Christmas season is fully upon us. I have no idea how this happened, since it feels like only a few days ago I had 31 people at my house for Thanksgiving. I love hosting, but this was the longest day of my life. I am not at all opposed to going back to my growing...
Seeing God in Every Season by Kelly Minter | Nov 1, 2022 | Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
It’s November, one of my favorite months of the year. I don’t know if you love all-things homelike I do, but I have my autumn décor and colors out, and I’m about to slash open somepumpkins for pumpkin pie. The leaves have mostly fallen, and with the crunch of them...
A Case for Grace by Kelly Minter | Oct 1, 2022 | Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
I baked bread yesterday. I milled my grain, used a digital scale my brother bought me for my birthday, and converted everything from ounces to grams. It was a disaster. I’m not sure where I erred but one loaf looks like it’s trying to throw up and the other like a...
A Reminder From Jesus That God Is Good by Kelly Minter | Sep 1, 2022 | Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
Happy First Day of September! I love this month because it’s the back-to-routine month where we settle into the swing of rhythms. Some of my favorite times of the year lay close ahead: turning leaves, football, deep bowls of chili, turkeys on our tables, and...
Consider the Birds by Kelly Minter | Apr 28, 2020 | Bible Study, Christian Growth, Encouragement, Morning Meditation, New Testament, News
I was awake at 3:30 in the morning. My mind racing as it’s been doing non-stop the past few weeks or so. Certain realities of life that have mostly felt concrete, prior to very recently, are suddenly gone or simply up in the air. Where will it all land? We don’t know,...
The Nearness of God in Uncertain Times by Kelly Minter | Apr 7, 2020 | Bible Study, Christian Growth, Encouragement, New Testament
If you’re anything like me over the past few weeks you’ve been vacillating between a confident trust in God and waves of panic and fear. For those of us who are Christ followers we want to trust the Lord but we get tripped up on wondering what exactly we can trust Him...
The Blessed Life: 14 Day Devotional Series by Kelly Minter | Mar 21, 2020 | Christian Growth, Encouragement
Needing encouragement? Join me for 14 days of devotions based on the hope-filled words of Jesus. It’s free and comes straight to your inbox.
Studying Scripture During Lent by Kelly Minter | Mar 4, 2020 | Bible Study, Christian Growth, Discipleship
I love when I learn something new, but what I appreciate even more is learning something that helps expand my capacity to learn more new things. My friend gave me a cookbook for Christmas called The Food Lab. While it has recipes in it, what the author really wants...
« Older EntriesThe post What It Means To Be Blessed appeared first on Kelly Minter.
January 1, 2023
What Will You Receive This Year?
Happy New Year, friends. If you’re anything like me, every last Christmas tree needle has been swept from the house, the gnarls of Christmas lights are tucked away in boxes, and you just found a stray ornament, one that will possibly sit on your dresser until next year because you’re just not walking that thing down into your unfinished basement when it’s six degrees outside. Or maybe no one is like me. At any rate, here we sit at the beginning of a new year. A fresh slate, prime for dreams and ambitions to be etched into its stone. Another chance to strive for what might not have been accomplished last year. A new beginning.
As I sit atop the New Year, I will tell you something. I am less about dreams and ambitions this year and more about listening and receiving from Jesus. My personality hasn’t gone through a sudden transformation, nor have I finally figured out a newfound secret to this journey we call the Christian life. It’s more that the Lord has stopped me in a sense. Oh, yes, I am still doing all the things I feel very much called to–teaching, writing, studying, investing in family and friends and my local church, but how I go about these things is somewhat in question for me for a few reasons.
For starters, and maybe you can identify, a few of the doors I’ve tried to jar open aren’t budging, while some other ones I’d never considered before, appear wide open but I’m not sure how to walk through them. I don’t mean to be vague, except I’m trying to make sense of it all myself, and maybe you’re in a similar position. Maybe I can best frame it the way the Gospel writer Luke did.
Do you remember the story in Luke 10:38-42 where Jesus comes to Mary and Martha’s house for a meal? I talk about it in my latest podcast episode. Martha is frustrated because she’s “serving alone.” The person closest to her isn’t doing for her what she is sure needs to be done, and she’s distracted by many necessary tasks (anyone?). Jesus goes further when He describes Martha as worried and upset about many things. Meanwhile, Mary is taking the position of a disciple. She’s sitting at Jesus’s feet and listening to what He says—a once in a lifetime moment for her. She’s not so concerned about what she can serve Jesus in this moment but rather what He can serve her. The good portion, or the right part, as some translations read, is what Mary has chosen, and Jesus says, “It can never be taken from her.”
I believe Jesus was inviting Martha to come sit alongside Mary, not because what Martha was doing didn’t matter, but because He was offering her something better. To listen. To receive. Oh, yes, we all have much serving and many things we need to do this year. And that is not wrong. As Christ-followers we are called to reach out, invite in, love others in tangible ways. But we’re also called to sit. To commune with Christ. To partake of the Bread of Life. To let Him fill us up. And that is what I want to do more of this year. And this is what I hope you will choose this year.
One of the primary ways we sit at Jesus’s feet and listen to Him is through Bible study*, prayer, and our fellowship with others. If you haven’t decided on a Bible study at the top of this year, I hope you will choose one today. Or maybe you’ll start a read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan. There are many free ones to choose from. One wonderful place to start is seeing what your local church has to offer in the way of studies. Just know I’m cheering you on in 2023 as you look to not only see what you can do for Jesus, but as you first invest in quality time with Him. That which can never be taken away!
*If I can be of any help to your Bible study journey, you can find all the studies I’ve written here. I’m also thrilled that on February 7th, I’ll be releasing my first devotional called: The Blessed Life: A 90-Day Journey Through the Teachings and Miracles Of Jesus. Every day for 90 days, we’ll walk through Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount as well as 10 of His most notable miracles and healings.
*Download the graphics below to share on your socials. Don’t forget to tag @kelly_minter on Instagram and @KellyMinterAuthor on Facebook! Click the button below to open in a new tab, then right-click on the image to download.
Download Share Square 
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What Will You Receive This Year? by Kelly Minter | Jan 1, 2023 | Christian Growth, Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
Happy New Year, friends. If you’re anything like me, every last Christmas tree needle has been swept from the house, the gnarls of Christmas lights are tucked away in boxes, and you just found a stray ornament, one that will possibly sit on your dresser until next...
Savior and Friend by Kelly Minter | Dec 5, 2022 | Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement, Holidays
The Christmas season is fully upon us. I have no idea how this happened, since it feels like only a few days ago I had 31 people at my house for Thanksgiving. I love hosting, but this was the longest day of my life. I am not at all opposed to going back to my growing...
Seeing God in Every Season by Kelly Minter | Nov 1, 2022 | Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
It’s November, one of my favorite months of the year. I don’t know if you love all-things homelike I do, but I have my autumn décor and colors out, and I’m about to slash open somepumpkins for pumpkin pie. The leaves have mostly fallen, and with the crunch of them...
A Case for Grace by Kelly Minter | Oct 1, 2022 | Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
I baked bread yesterday. I milled my grain, used a digital scale my brother bought me for my birthday, and converted everything from ounces to grams. It was a disaster. I’m not sure where I erred but one loaf looks like it’s trying to throw up and the other like a...
A Reminder From Jesus That God Is Good by Kelly Minter | Sep 1, 2022 | Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
Happy First Day of September! I love this month because it’s the back-to-routine month where we settle into the swing of rhythms. Some of my favorite times of the year lay close ahead: turning leaves, football, deep bowls of chili, turkeys on our tables, and...
Consider the Birds by Kelly Minter | Apr 28, 2020 | Bible Study, Christian Growth, Encouragement, Morning Meditation, New Testament, News
I was awake at 3:30 in the morning. My mind racing as it’s been doing non-stop the past few weeks or so. Certain realities of life that have mostly felt concrete, prior to very recently, are suddenly gone or simply up in the air. Where will it all land? We don’t know,...
The Nearness of God in Uncertain Times by Kelly Minter | Apr 7, 2020 | Bible Study, Christian Growth, Encouragement, New Testament
If you’re anything like me over the past few weeks you’ve been vacillating between a confident trust in God and waves of panic and fear. For those of us who are Christ followers we want to trust the Lord but we get tripped up on wondering what exactly we can trust Him...
The Blessed Life: 14 Day Devotional Series by Kelly Minter | Mar 21, 2020 | Christian Growth, Encouragement
Needing encouragement? Join me for 14 days of devotions based on the hope-filled words of Jesus. It’s free and comes straight to your inbox.
Studying Scripture During Lent by Kelly Minter | Mar 4, 2020 | Bible Study, Christian Growth, Discipleship
I love when I learn something new, but what I appreciate even more is learning something that helps expand my capacity to learn more new things. My friend gave me a cookbook for Christmas called The Food Lab. While it has recipes in it, what the author really wants...
A Call to Simplicity by Kelly Minter | Feb 2, 2020 | Bible Study, Christian Growth, Encouragement, Thoughts
For the first time in 19 years, I stayed in Nashville over the Christmas break. I needed to air out. To clean stuff out. At first, it started with drawers and closets, under beds and inside wicker baskets holding all manner of sewing kits, lint brushes, and emery...
« Older EntriesThe post What Will You Receive This Year? appeared first on Kelly Minter.
December 5, 2022
Savior and Friend
The Christmas season is fully upon us. I have no idea how this happened, since it feels like only a few days ago I had 31 people at my house for Thanksgiving. I love hosting, but this was the longest day of my life. I am not at all opposed to going back to my growing up years, where I did absolutely nothing on Thanksgiving except show up with all my relatives at my grandparents’ house and proceed to plow through turkey and mashed potatoes until I was tipsy on tryptophan. Those were some good days.
Christmas is here whether we’re ready or not, and I pray it’s your best yet–not because your circumstances are the best they’ve ever been, but because you’re leaning into our Savior more than ever before (For some encouragement, check out this month’s special Christmas Cultivate Podcast). We have a choice this Christmas: to set our expectations on the inability of people and presents to meet our deepest longings, or to cast ourselves on Christ who is the fulfillment of our souls. I’m choosing Christ, and I hope you will, too.
As we prepare our hearts, I’m reminded of Gabriel’s words to Joseph in Matthew 1:21-23. “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel,’ which means ‘God with us’” (emphases mine).
Notice these two bookends regarding the name of Jesus.
The first is that He will save us from our sins (v. 21), and the second is that He will be with us (v. 23). I’ve read this account many times, but never noticed the marriage of God’s power to save and His intimate nearness. If He was only mighty to save but not mercifully with us, we would have a Deliverer but not a Friend. And if Jesus had merely drawn near to us apart from any power to save, we would have a Friend but not a Savior.
This time of year accentuates whatever place in which we find ourselves. If all is right in our world, the season is extra celebratory. How can eggnog, Christmas lights, and a month-long dose of sentimental music not make us feel extra hopeful? But if we’re walking through grief, loss or pain, these very same things only amplify our sorrow. So we take great comfort in our Savior, who is both strong enough to save and loving enough to have made His home with us. He is both Savior and Friend. I pray you are experiencing Him as both this year.
As we end this year together, I want to say thank you for all your encouragement and support. That you would go through my Bible studies, listen to my podcasts, and come visit me on the road is truly a gift to me.
Merry Christmas,
Kelly
The post Savior and Friend appeared first on Kelly Minter.
November 1, 2022
Seeing God in Every Season
It’s November, one of my favorite months of the year. I don’t know if you love all-things home
like I do, but I have my autumn décor and colors out, and I’m about to slash open some
pumpkins for pumpkin pie. The leaves have mostly fallen, and with the crunch of them under
foot, I’m reminded of the fresh change the rhythm of seasons brings about. And this is to say
nothing about the uses of butternut squash, apples, and things like cinnamon, cloves, and
ginger in all manner of recipes.
I wonder if you’re in a happy season or a sorrowful one, if you’re looking forward to the holiday
season or approaching it with dread, if spring and summer are your months to shine, while fall
and winter feel like one long crawl under the covers? No matter how the current season finds
you, it feels like a good time to talk about three benefits to seasons that I hope will be
encouraging.
1. Seasons bring newness, even when they’re hard. Can we all agree we’re happy that it’s
not 95 degrees with 100,000% humidity every day of the year? (unless you live in the
Amazon jungle, one of my favorite places…whoops!) Reflected in God’s creation are the
rhythms of life that bring forth both blossoms and dying leaves, fallow ground and
freshly plowed soil, dormant seeds and prolific crops, freshly fallen snow and
shimmering summer’s dew.
The changing of seasons reminds us that God is always doing a new thing, even when
we find ourselves in a long season of what feels like interminable death to self, pruning,
and cutting back of comforts. No season lasts forever. Let the good Master Gardener
(John 15:1-5) have His way with you. He will never waste a painful season.
2. Seasons make us grateful. Last year was a challenging year for me on many fronts. I had
work challenges I couldn’t resolve, despite throwing every cell of energy and thought
into fixing them. My house was being renovated, and though this does not qualify in the
least as “suffering,” I was displaced for much longer than I anticipated, and being
without my home was hard on my daily rhythms and sense of well-being. (If you’re
about to do a house project, add eight months and a zillion dollars to your current
expectations.) And I was dealing with the pain of a loved one.
God used that time to sanctify me (purify me and make me more like His Son, Jesus),
even though it was a difficult season. In fact, I would say it was precisely the difficulty
that God used to lovingly prune away my reliance on my own resources and abilities.
But it wasn’t just a taking away, it was an adding. I learned more gentleness, patience,
prayer, and more of resting in His presence with me. Now that I’m in a new season,
where many of the things I was facing have been resolved, I’m more grateful for a
peaceful and joyful season than I would have been.
3. God works in every season, but He doesn’t change with them. One of the things I’ve
been studying in seminary is God’s immutability, meaning His unchanging nature.
Though the literal seasons change, and the seasons we walk through continually give
way to the next, our God remains the same (Heb. 13:8). We can count on His
faithfulness, goodness, and presence to remain unshakable and steady.
I was recently on a panel at a Fresh Grounded Faith event with my friend Jennifer
Rothschild. Someone asked her what we’re to do when we don’t feel like God is near.
Jennifer pointed out the word “feel” and how important it is that we don’t base our
perception of His nearness on our feelings. She wasn’t dismissing our feelings or
diminishing their importance, rather she was turning our attention to God’s attributes
and nature—His love for us doesn’t change even when our seasons do.
So, just a word of encouragement however this November finds you. If you’re in a challenging
season, surrender to God’s work in your life. The pruning will only mean a greater harvest when
the spring showers come and the sun’s summer rays shine down. And if you’re in a season of
joy and tangible blessings, rejoice in your heavenly Father who gives good gifts to His children
(Matt. 7:11).
**Kelly would also like to include this fun, fall ginger snap recipe for the holidays with the
devo: https://women.lifeway.com/2016/10/13/...
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What Will You Receive This Year? by Kelly Minter | Jan 1, 2023 | Christian Growth, Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
Happy New Year, friends. If you’re anything like me, every last Christmas tree needle has been swept from the house, the gnarls of Christmas lights are tucked away in boxes, and you just found a stray ornament, one that will possibly sit on your dresser until next...
Savior and Friend by Kelly Minter | Dec 5, 2022 | Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement, Holidays
The Christmas season is fully upon us. I have no idea how this happened, since it feels like only a few days ago I had 31 people at my house for Thanksgiving. I love hosting, but this was the longest day of my life. I am not at all opposed to going back to my growing...
Seeing God in Every Season by Kelly Minter | Nov 1, 2022 | Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
It’s November, one of my favorite months of the year. I don’t know if you love all-things homelike I do, but I have my autumn décor and colors out, and I’m about to slash open somepumpkins for pumpkin pie. The leaves have mostly fallen, and with the crunch of them...
A Case for Grace by Kelly Minter | Oct 1, 2022 | Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
I baked bread yesterday. I milled my grain, used a digital scale my brother bought me for my birthday, and converted everything from ounces to grams. It was a disaster. I’m not sure where I erred but one loaf looks like it’s trying to throw up and the other like a...
A Reminder From Jesus That God Is Good by Kelly Minter | Sep 1, 2022 | Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
Happy First Day of September! I love this month because it’s the back-to-routine month where we settle into the swing of rhythms. Some of my favorite times of the year lay close ahead: turning leaves, football, deep bowls of chili, turkeys on our tables, and...
Consider the Birds by Kelly Minter | Apr 28, 2020 | Bible Study, Christian Growth, Encouragement, Morning Meditation, New Testament, News
I was awake at 3:30 in the morning. My mind racing as it’s been doing non-stop the past few weeks or so. Certain realities of life that have mostly felt concrete, prior to very recently, are suddenly gone or simply up in the air. Where will it all land? We don’t know,...
The Nearness of God in Uncertain Times by Kelly Minter | Apr 7, 2020 | Bible Study, Christian Growth, Encouragement, New Testament
If you’re anything like me over the past few weeks you’ve been vacillating between a confident trust in God and waves of panic and fear. For those of us who are Christ followers we want to trust the Lord but we get tripped up on wondering what exactly we can trust Him...
The Blessed Life: 14 Day Devotional Series by Kelly Minter | Mar 21, 2020 | Christian Growth, Encouragement
Needing encouragement? Join me for 14 days of devotions based on the hope-filled words of Jesus. It’s free and comes straight to your inbox.
Studying Scripture During Lent by Kelly Minter | Mar 4, 2020 | Bible Study, Christian Growth, Discipleship
I love when I learn something new, but what I appreciate even more is learning something that helps expand my capacity to learn more new things. My friend gave me a cookbook for Christmas called The Food Lab. While it has recipes in it, what the author really wants...
A Call to Simplicity by Kelly Minter | Feb 2, 2020 | Bible Study, Christian Growth, Encouragement, Thoughts
For the first time in 19 years, I stayed in Nashville over the Christmas break. I needed to air out. To clean stuff out. At first, it started with drawers and closets, under beds and inside wicker baskets holding all manner of sewing kits, lint brushes, and emery...
« Older EntriesThe post Seeing God in Every Season appeared first on Kelly Minter.
October 1, 2022
A Case for Grace
I baked bread yesterday. I milled my grain, used a digital scale my brother bought me for my birthday, and converted everything from ounces to grams. It was a disaster. I’m not sure where I erred but one loaf looks like it’s trying to throw up and the other like a sagging hotdog. On the upside, both still taste delicious and are unbeatably fresh. Even in the worst scenarios you can’t outshine bread out of the oven.
This freshness is what I’m hoping for in these monthly Cultivate devotionals. Some monthly offerings might be better than others, but at least each one will be newly milled grains of thoughts I’m pondering, questions I’m chewing on, truths I’m thinking about. This month, I’ve been considering grace. I’m a dyed-in-the wool do-gooder whose core fear is being morally corrupt (according to Enneagram #1 wisdom). This doesn’t mean I am good, or even that I do good when I’m supposed to, it just means that checking religious boxes tends to feel good to me. I rather like earning things.
This has risen to the forefront of my awareness in recent weeks. I’m in a peaceful season without major business upheavals due to pandemics. My home is calm in the absence of a 14-month renovation that was supposed to be 6, but who’s keeping track. I’ve had a lot more time to be still with the Lord. And I’ve been feeling a tinge of guilt. Or maybe a sense of not pushing myself hard enough. It seems the more time I have in God’s presence, unharried and unhurried, the more I realize how easy it is to substitute busyness for godliness. Being busy for God makes me feel like a better Christian. In this quieter season, this distorted thinking has become more obvious to me.
This is where grace comes in.
I don’t know how you grew up but I was raised in a Christian environment where the term grace was deeply associated with salvation. To paraphrase the Apostle Paul, a person is saved by grace through faith, not from any works we add to the mix, it’s a free gift from God that none of us can take any credit for (Eph. 2:8-9). My whole life is founded upon this truth. The problem for me—and maybe for you—is that we tend to confine grace to that single aspect of our future lives. Grace is for salvation when you die but it’s kind of up to us to figure it out until then, or so the thinking goes. But when we follow the concept of grace throughout the New Testament we also see that another major function of grace is to compel us toward good works now, it’s to change our hearts now, it’s to fuel us to Christlikeness now. Being busy doesn’t accomplish this for us, being dependent on God’s grace does.
Take in these words from Dallas Willard: “We consume the most grace by leading a holy life, in which we must be constantly upheld by grace, not by continuing to sin and being repeatedly forgiven. The interpretation of grace as having only to do with guilt is utterly false to biblical teaching and renders spiritual life in Christ unintelligible.” In other words, we tend to think that the people who need the most grace are the ones who keep messing up, who keep draining God’s forgiveness. But in some ways it’s the polar opposite of this. As Dallas points out, those who look the most like Jesus on the inside and outside are actually the ones consuming the most grace because holiness runs on grace. Earlier I referenced Ephesians 2:8-9. Now consider verse 10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” Notice the good works God has for us to do are based on the grace Paul begins talking about in verses 5-9.
If I can sum up my thoughts for you it’s this: Busyness doesn’t equal godliness. Yes, we as Christ-followers should be passionate about good, concrete actions of love for others—Paul says we were created for this. But as you work steadily for the Lord (at work, in your home, running carpool and errands) be sure you’re being fueled by grace simply because we can’t fuel our own holiness. And if you find yourself in a quieter season like myself, don’t believe the lie that being busy will make you a better Christian. It will only make you a busier Christian. So let His grace fill you and fuel you in times of quiet. Because we know how this goes. The crazy seasons are usually just around the corner. And we’ll need all the grace we can get.
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What Will You Receive This Year? by Kelly Minter | Jan 1, 2023 | Christian Growth, Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
Happy New Year, friends. If you’re anything like me, every last Christmas tree needle has been swept from the house, the gnarls of Christmas lights are tucked away in boxes, and you just found a stray ornament, one that will possibly sit on your dresser until next...
Savior and Friend by Kelly Minter | Dec 5, 2022 | Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement, Holidays
The Christmas season is fully upon us. I have no idea how this happened, since it feels like only a few days ago I had 31 people at my house for Thanksgiving. I love hosting, but this was the longest day of my life. I am not at all opposed to going back to my growing...
Seeing God in Every Season by Kelly Minter | Nov 1, 2022 | Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
It’s November, one of my favorite months of the year. I don’t know if you love all-things homelike I do, but I have my autumn décor and colors out, and I’m about to slash open somepumpkins for pumpkin pie. The leaves have mostly fallen, and with the crunch of them...
A Case for Grace by Kelly Minter | Oct 1, 2022 | Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
I baked bread yesterday. I milled my grain, used a digital scale my brother bought me for my birthday, and converted everything from ounces to grams. It was a disaster. I’m not sure where I erred but one loaf looks like it’s trying to throw up and the other like a...
A Reminder From Jesus That God Is Good by Kelly Minter | Sep 1, 2022 | Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
Happy First Day of September! I love this month because it’s the back-to-routine month where we settle into the swing of rhythms. Some of my favorite times of the year lay close ahead: turning leaves, football, deep bowls of chili, turkeys on our tables, and...
Consider the Birds by Kelly Minter | Apr 28, 2020 | Bible Study, Christian Growth, Encouragement, Morning Meditation, New Testament, News
I was awake at 3:30 in the morning. My mind racing as it’s been doing non-stop the past few weeks or so. Certain realities of life that have mostly felt concrete, prior to very recently, are suddenly gone or simply up in the air. Where will it all land? We don’t know,...
The Nearness of God in Uncertain Times by Kelly Minter | Apr 7, 2020 | Bible Study, Christian Growth, Encouragement, New Testament
If you’re anything like me over the past few weeks you’ve been vacillating between a confident trust in God and waves of panic and fear. For those of us who are Christ followers we want to trust the Lord but we get tripped up on wondering what exactly we can trust Him...
The Blessed Life: 14 Day Devotional Series by Kelly Minter | Mar 21, 2020 | Christian Growth, Encouragement
Needing encouragement? Join me for 14 days of devotions based on the hope-filled words of Jesus. It’s free and comes straight to your inbox.
Studying Scripture During Lent by Kelly Minter | Mar 4, 2020 | Bible Study, Christian Growth, Discipleship
I love when I learn something new, but what I appreciate even more is learning something that helps expand my capacity to learn more new things. My friend gave me a cookbook for Christmas called The Food Lab. While it has recipes in it, what the author really wants...
A Call to Simplicity by Kelly Minter | Feb 2, 2020 | Bible Study, Christian Growth, Encouragement, Thoughts
For the first time in 19 years, I stayed in Nashville over the Christmas break. I needed to air out. To clean stuff out. At first, it started with drawers and closets, under beds and inside wicker baskets holding all manner of sewing kits, lint brushes, and emery...
« Older EntriesThe post A Case for Grace appeared first on Kelly Minter.
September 1, 2022
A Reminder From Jesus That God Is Good
Happy First Day of September! I love this month because it’s the back-to-routine month where we settle into the swing of rhythms. Some of my favorite times of the year lay close ahead: turning leaves, football, deep bowls of chili, turkeys on our tables, and eventually the Christmas season… but we won’t get ahead of ourselves. We’ll enjoy the present moment (but did you see how I slipped in the word present?).
As I promised, this monthly devotional will be a fresh slice of whatever is on my heart. So here goes…
Have you ever wondered if God is really good? Our belief about God’s nature has a dramatic effect on our prayer lives. I’ve been reflecting on this and hope you’ll reflect with me. Consider what Jesus says about prayer in Matthew 7:7-8: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” In some ways this is the “how” of prayer, but I’ve recently realized how closely it’s tied to the “who” of prayer. In other words, when Jesus tells us to approach our heavenly Father by asking, seeking, and knocking, He grounds this instruction in the good nature of God. He does this through a short parable:
Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matt. 7:9-11). What is Jesus revealing about our heavenly Father here? That He can be trusted. That He delights to give to His children. Most importantly, that He is good!
Why is Jesus going out of His way to reveal to us that His Father is good? I think for at least two reasons. Perhaps the first is that given our broken world, the hardship, injustices, and trials we face, Jesus knew we would be prone to think that God is precisely not good. The people listening to Him tell this story were under Roman oppression themselves, many struggling to have their basic needs met. Sometimes when we go through pain and darkness God’s goodness isn’t always obvious to us. I wonder what might be causing you to question God’s goodness right now? No matter what you’re going through Jesus says, I promise you, God’s good. Don’t stop trusting Him.
I think the second reason Jesus tells us about God’s good nature is because He knows how much this affects our prayer life. Why would we ask, seek, or knock in pursuit of someone who is not good? I think about the relationship I have with my young nieces and nephews. They ask me for ice cream and movies, seek me out when I’m in the other room, knock on my front door. They pursue me in these ways because they believe I will give to them, be found by them, and open the door for their little personalities. They wouldn’t do this if they didn’t trust me, were afraid of me, or didn’t believe me to be good. And when I have to tell them “no,” or when I correct them, they trust my heart (even if they also complain because we’re pretty human at my house).
Whether you have a pretty fabulous aunt or a mom or dad who gives you good gifts, Jesus says, “how much more” does your heavenly Father delight to give you good things? Something I recently discovered about Matthew is that he refers to God as Father 44 times in his gospel! The personal nature of God is a huge theme for him. Interestingly, it was uncommon in ancient Jewish culture for God to be referred to as our Father (Abba or Daddy). While the idea became more common during Second Temple Judaism, Jesus sheds new light on this truth and reality. He clearly wants us to understand what a good, trustworthy, and personally-involved Father we have (see Matt. 6:5-8 and 7:7-11).
So here’s my encouragement to you: When you can’t make sense of what you or a loved one is going through, when you’ve asked and nothing seems to be happening, when your heart is broken, keep pursuing your Father in prayer because His nature is good. Ask, seek, and knock, not because you’re trying to wrangle something from His hands but because this is your privilege as His child. And when you doubt God’s goodness, tell Him. A good Father will understand.
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What Will You Receive This Year? by Kelly Minter | Jan 1, 2023 | Christian Growth, Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
Happy New Year, friends. If you’re anything like me, every last Christmas tree needle has been swept from the house, the gnarls of Christmas lights are tucked away in boxes, and you just found a stray ornament, one that will possibly sit on your dresser until next...
Savior and Friend by Kelly Minter | Dec 5, 2022 | Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement, Holidays
The Christmas season is fully upon us. I have no idea how this happened, since it feels like only a few days ago I had 31 people at my house for Thanksgiving. I love hosting, but this was the longest day of my life. I am not at all opposed to going back to my growing...
Seeing God in Every Season by Kelly Minter | Nov 1, 2022 | Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
It’s November, one of my favorite months of the year. I don’t know if you love all-things homelike I do, but I have my autumn décor and colors out, and I’m about to slash open somepumpkins for pumpkin pie. The leaves have mostly fallen, and with the crunch of them...
A Case for Grace by Kelly Minter | Oct 1, 2022 | Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
I baked bread yesterday. I milled my grain, used a digital scale my brother bought me for my birthday, and converted everything from ounces to grams. It was a disaster. I’m not sure where I erred but one loaf looks like it’s trying to throw up and the other like a...
A Reminder From Jesus That God Is Good by Kelly Minter | Sep 1, 2022 | Cultivate Devotional, Encouragement
Happy First Day of September! I love this month because it’s the back-to-routine month where we settle into the swing of rhythms. Some of my favorite times of the year lay close ahead: turning leaves, football, deep bowls of chili, turkeys on our tables, and...
Consider the Birds by Kelly Minter | Apr 28, 2020 | Bible Study, Christian Growth, Encouragement, Morning Meditation, New Testament, News
I was awake at 3:30 in the morning. My mind racing as it’s been doing non-stop the past few weeks or so. Certain realities of life that have mostly felt concrete, prior to very recently, are suddenly gone or simply up in the air. Where will it all land? We don’t know,...
The Nearness of God in Uncertain Times by Kelly Minter | Apr 7, 2020 | Bible Study, Christian Growth, Encouragement, New Testament
If you’re anything like me over the past few weeks you’ve been vacillating between a confident trust in God and waves of panic and fear. For those of us who are Christ followers we want to trust the Lord but we get tripped up on wondering what exactly we can trust Him...
The Blessed Life: 14 Day Devotional Series by Kelly Minter | Mar 21, 2020 | Christian Growth, Encouragement
Needing encouragement? Join me for 14 days of devotions based on the hope-filled words of Jesus. It’s free and comes straight to your inbox.
Studying Scripture During Lent by Kelly Minter | Mar 4, 2020 | Bible Study, Christian Growth, Discipleship
I love when I learn something new, but what I appreciate even more is learning something that helps expand my capacity to learn more new things. My friend gave me a cookbook for Christmas called The Food Lab. While it has recipes in it, what the author really wants...
A Call to Simplicity by Kelly Minter | Feb 2, 2020 | Bible Study, Christian Growth, Encouragement, Thoughts
For the first time in 19 years, I stayed in Nashville over the Christmas break. I needed to air out. To clean stuff out. At first, it started with drawers and closets, under beds and inside wicker baskets holding all manner of sewing kits, lint brushes, and emery...
« Older EntriesThe post A Reminder From Jesus That God Is Good appeared first on Kelly Minter.
