I am a singer, songwriter, wife, mother, Jesus follower. I send out a 2-minute read every Tuesday about Jesus and life in God.
Buy that Field
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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 |
Anna Blanc
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, It’s been a healing Advent season for me, looking into the birth of Christ with the unique lens of Him lifting off spiritual anxiety. I have loved hearing about some of your stories and the unique ways the Lord is meeting you and bringing you healing as well. This is the last letter in this Advent series, and the message is this: You don’t have to move on from the manger just yet. God lived among us — a newborn baby, a child, a young man simply working with his hands, studying,...
Hi Friends, Merry Christmas! Amidst the cookies and carols and family hang-outs, pause with me as we look into a beautiful part of the Advent story… We left off at the angels appearing to the shepherds. They are given a message: “‘And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger’”. A sign. What is the sign in the swaddling cloths? There are several answers to this that theologians have long pointed to. One stands out to me now. The...
Hi Friends, At this point in our unusual Advent series, it’s clear that God has chosen to do things much differently than we would have. And the announcement of Jesus’ birth is no different. You and I, we probably would have shouted the announcement of His arrival in the palace of the king. All eyes and ears, give attention! Or maybe we would have sent the message to the halls of the temple. Yes, it would be fitting to send word to the priests who spend their days in spiritual service to God....