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“If we could read the secret history of our enem...
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Wadsworth Longfellow, “we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.”18 Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing ...
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The other option is to put our ego on the altar and find our full identity in Jesus Christ. That’s how we silence the loudmouth ego. Putting our ego on the altar means accepting God’s assessment of who we are, the apple of His eye. And seeing ourselves as anything less
than who He says we are is false humility.
“Each personality’s deadly sin is like an addictive, involuntary repeated behavior that we can only be free of when we recognize how often we give it the keys to drive our personality.”21
There is a healthy and holy manifestation of our personalities, but there is an unhealthy and unholy manifestation too. And there is often a fine line between those two. We need people who are full of grace and full of truth to help us navigate that line and hold us accountable when we cross it.
The more people grow spiritually, the more prophetic they become. Moses himself said, “I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets.”28
God knows you better than you know you. Not only did He knit you together in your mother’s womb, but He has prepared good works in advance with your name on them.30 If you want to discover who you really are, seek God.
Jesus knew exactly who she was, but He also saw who she could become. And He treated her accordingly.
“If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain how he is,” said Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. “But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.”33
But, again, a prophetic word strengthens, encourages, and comforts.34 It’s edifying, not insulting. It endows hopefulness, not helplessness. It boldly believes that the best is yet to come.
We write off people like Mary, but Jesus writes them in. In fact, Mary became the leading lady in the most important episode in all of Scripture. She was the very first person to witness the resurrection of Jesus Christ and will be forever known as “the apostle to the apostles.”38
God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time, but we don’t always recognize it as such. He is always right on time, even if it’s just in time.
Bad timing can be as calamitous as good timing is fortuitous.
If you make the most of an opportunity, it can turn into a defining moment.
Chronos time may be measured in minutes, but life is measured in kairos moments.
The only thing He forgets is the sin He forgives.
Our heavenly Father is far too wise to always give us what we want when we want it. He loves us too much to do that. Don’t settle for
what’s expedient. Don’t settle for second best. Hold out for the best that God can give. Then hold on.
When I wake up at a strange hour for a strange reason, I take it as a prompting to pray. Sure, it’s sometimes caused by poor dietary choices the night before, but not always. Why not pray until you fall back asleep? It beats counting sheep.
Discerning the difference between coincidence and providence cannot be reduced to a mathematical formula, but God loves pulling off the impossible against all odds. He also loves using the least qualified candidate to accomplish His plans and purposes.
When you get out of your comfort zone, you hear God’s voice more clearly.
It’s not three strikes and you’re out in God’s kingdom. It’s more like “seventy times seven” second chances!26
At the end of our lives, we’ll all have our fair share of regrets because of the mistakes we’ve made. But I bet we’ll regret even more the opportunities we missed. That’s how and why and when we fall short of God’s glory. So
pain can be a gift from God that He uses for His glory and our good. He uses it to get us out of addictive behaviors. He uses it to get us out of adverse situations. He uses it to get us out of abusive relationships. Take note and get out.
Pain will find us soon enough. But when pain comes, we shouldn’t try to go around it. Instead, we need to go through it and learn to discern what God is saying through pain, through grief, and through suffering.
You can get through just about anything if there is a light at the end of the tunnel. And for a follower of Christ, there always is.
don’t be so focused on getting out of difficult circumstances that you don’t get anything out of them.
Sometimes the circumstances we’...
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change are the very circumstances God is using to change us. So before you take a painkiller, listen carefully to what Go...
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When it seems as if God is letting us down, He is setting us up for something that may be beyond our ability to comprehend at the present moment.
Faith isn’t flying above the storm; it’s weathering the storm. It’s trusting God’s heart even when we can’t see His hand. It’s understanding that sometimes the obstacle is the way!
If you want to know where God will use you, you need look no further than your pain. We help others in the places where we’ve been hurt. Our trials become our platforms. And our weakness is actually our strength because that’s where God’s power is made perfect.13
The most excruciating pain wasn’t produced by a cat-o’-nine-tails20 or seven-inch spikes;21 it was the full weight of sin on His sinless shoulders. He who knew no sin became sin for us,22 and one thing sustained him: you. Yes, our sin put Him there. But His love for us kept Him there. Simply put, you are
worth the Cross to Christ. And if He was willing to hang on His cross, we can certainly carry ours! The Word of God chose to die the most excruciatingly painful death to whisper His love to us loud and clear.
You can give up by giving in to guilt or fear or anger, or you can contend by praying as
though it depends completely on God and working as if it depends completely on you.
Quit living as if Jesus is still nailed on the cross. The only thing nailed to the cross is our sin.
Did you know that God never takes His eyes off you? Do you know why? Because you’re the apple of His eye!
Sighing is what we do when we don’t know what to say. But according to the psalmist, it’s more than a low-frequency distress signal; it’s a wordless prayer.
Even in our most profound pain, God hears us. He is so intimately tuned to us that He hears our wordless sighs. Not only that, He intercedes for us with wordless groans.33 And that’s precisely what we would hear if we could hear a little better. We’d also hear those surround-sound songs of deliverance. Just as His mercies are new every morning,34 His loving intercessions never cease.
don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshipping what’s right with God. Don’t let the voice of condemnation keep you from worshipping God; sing over it.
You aren’t the mistakes you’ve made. You aren’t the labels that have been put on you. And you aren’t the lies the Enemy has tried to sell you. You are who God says you are. You are a child of God. You are the apple of God’s eye. You are sought after. You are more than a conqueror.
You are a new creation in Christ. You are the righteousness of Christ. One more thing. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.
All our identity issues are fundamental misunderstandings of who God is. Guilt issues are a misunderstanding of God’s grace. Control issues are a misunderstanding of God’s sovereignty. Anger issues are a misunderstanding of God’s mercy. Pride issues are a misunderstanding of God’s greatness.
Trust issues are a misunderstanding of God’s goodness. If you struggle with any of those issues, it’s time to let God be the loudest voice in your life!
For example, the greatest predictor of happiness later in life is “warm relationships” as a child.1 Those who enjoyed warm childhood relationships also earned, on average, $141,000 per year more than those who lacked affection as children.2 But let me cut to the chase.
“Happiness is love. Full stop.”
“Happiness is only the cart; love is the horse.”
I have a difficult time comprehending that God’s love isn’t determined by my performance. Of course, if it were determined by my performance, that would make it about me, wouldn’t it?
