Hi Friends, My heart has been stirred today with a simple meditation rooted in John 17:12. Jesus prays to the Father, saying: “I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost…” Kept. What are you facing today? Take heart. You’re in the hands of Jesus. He keeps and loses not one. A few hours after this prayer, when He is in the garden of Gethsemane with His disciples, Jesus demonstrates this keeping: The soldiers and Pharisees come with weapons and torches. Shadows are cast everywhere in the dead of night. Confusion abounds. In the mayhem and menace, Jesus asks that his friends be allowed to go. He asks the soldiers for their release “that it might be fulfilled which He spoke, ‘Of those whom You gave Me I have lost none’” (John 18:9). Yes, in His hour of deepest distress, Jesus is keeping. Nothing distracts Him from it. Nothing can snatch us from His hand. No Roman guard, no enemy, no unknown. No confusion or evil plot or dark night. Jesus keeps and loses not one. Maybe you feel a bit crazy. Like the winds are whipping across your face, hair in your eyes, trying to keep your two feet beneath you. The days you could tell up from down are a luxury past. For now, uncertainty is the water you’re swimming in. Perhaps the words of Psalm 121 are for you today: “The Lord is your keeper”. Your keeper. For He keeps and loses not one. Hallelujah. —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, 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....
Hi Friends, One thing I’ve loved in sending these weekly devotional emails is the way we get real with one another. I’ve felt so honored by the way you have let me in on your struggles and your redemption moments. Something we’ve talked about over the years is anxiety. Let’s go there again today: No matter who you are or how strong you feel, there are seasons in life where the strain of anxiety can feel like too much to bear. The sleepless nights with a heightened heart-rate that no deep...
Hi Friends, I went on a tour of a church building this weekend. It was the 100 year anniversary of the building, and the congregation was celebrating by hosting an “Architectural Tour”. The guide was the architect who headed up the building’s restoration. We Evangelicals don’t typically put a lot of thought into our church spaces. Efficiency is the name of the game. A great coffee bar is often of greater importance than the beams in the ceiling (and when I’m late to church with my bunch of...