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Hi Friends, We don’t often like to be “all in” for something. In fact, we are often cautioned against it. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Hedge your bets. Have a plan B. Except, when it comes to life in God, the only way forward is to give… everything. There’s no pseudo-form of Christianity where we write in our clauses and exemptions. No partial committing. No standing at the shore and dipping in our toes. It’s a head-first dive into the ocean of God. An all-in taking up of our cross. We sink all our life into Him. He is not in a rush, and He is in it for the long haul. He will take all the time it takes to help us out of layer upon layer of our self-centered living and thinking. Every moment of confession and realignment with His beautiful ways: He sees it as an offering of love. In fact, He surrounds us with His lovingkindness all the while. But as for us seeing some of our own sin and making peace with it? Not for a second. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. We give all we are to buy that field. We spend everything. And all the return routes — the paths that lead back to living for ourselves — we burn the bridges. We have seen Him, the true treasure. Where else could we go? We press on. The stunning thing is that love cost Him everything first. He’s the King who left the splendor of Heaven to become the servant of all. He’s the immortal God who has nail scars imbedded in His hands as He reaches for us. His mercy knows no end. In the end, we get the treasure in the field. We have emptied all our pockets just to find that we are fantastically rich. We get the Kingdom of Heaven, eternal life, peace in the inner man, full assurance of faith. We give all, and we get Him. — Anna |
I am a singer, songwriter, wife, mother, Jesus follower. I send out a 2-minute read every Tuesday about Jesus and life in God.
Hi Friends, Last night I stepped out onto the back deck. To be honest, I was escaping the thunderous noise (oh the noise!) of three boys who felt bedtime looming and were attempting to squeeze just a few more minutes of play out the day. I stepped out into what has been one of the first warm evenings of the year, heard the birds singing in the forest beyond our yard, and I had what felt like an involuntary reaction. It felt like when the doctor hits your knee just right and you get surprised...
Hi Friends, I’ll never forget it. I showed up for class in college, slid into my seat, and noticed the girl on my left had a large smudge on her forehead. She was an acquaintance, and in my earnestness to be a “real friend”, I pointed it out. “You have something on your forehead”, I said, gesturing to her as if wiping at my face. “It’s Ash Wednesday,” she said, turning in her seat. Whoops! Neither my husband nor I grew up in churches that followed the church calendar or included liturgy. So...
Hi Friends, Last week we talked about finding every last bit of our ordinary lives in the grand storyline of God. This week, let’s look at how we help one another do just that. When Eugene Peterson counseled pastors on how to help their parishioners find themselves in God’s story, he said, “Listening is the first step. It is the precondition for… making the transition from what a person perceives as alienation and experiences as a jumble of unrelated irrelevancies to a sense of coherence and...