I am a singer, songwriter, wife, mother, Jesus follower. I send out a 2-minute read every Tuesday about Jesus and life in God.
You On Every Side
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Hi Friends, It’s a cold, snowy January here in Kansas City. And while this winter has brought some wonderful things for us — hot soup on the back burner and kiddos reading on the couch while huddled under blankets — we are also rounding the bend of our second foray into the stomach bug. Noooooo! I know. It’s awful. It has me thinking today about dependency. In bold below are some lyrics I sing about this, and below that are a few thoughts. You touch my heart and cause me to thirst Jesus is the source of both our need and our satisfaction. It’s Him on every side. Cognitively, we know this. We teach it to our children in infancy, right? “Little ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong…” And yet somewhere in the growing up and the walking out of our faith, we can take on an anxiety–– a pressure. We walk around with a weight on our shoulders that says we should know better, do better, measure up. We shouldn’t be so needy. The truth remains that in the midst of all our maturing and obeying and following we are, in our core, utterly dependent upon Him. We never grow out of this truth. We are a beautiful need for the beautiful Source. He is behind and before, and He lays His hand upon us. He makes us lie down in green pastures. He leads us by the still waters. He restores our souls. He prepares a feast in the presence of our enemies, and He is the very bread and wine on the table, ready for us to take Him in. He is the all-knowing Shepherd. He is the slain, bloody Lamb. He is the Maker who formed our souls around a “thirst” — a desire for Him. He is the Shepherd who leaves the 99 to throw us over His shoulders and carry us in His mercy to the water banks. And right there, after leading us to the water’s edge, He opens our eyes to see that He Himself is also the living water pooled before us, ready to satisfy. It’s Him on every side. Let’s lean into Him today, the source of both our need and our satisfaction, and let some of the weight come off our shoulders. There He is again- the lifter of the burden and the giver of a new, easy yoke. — 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, I love turning a familiar verse over in my hands and seeing the light catch in a new-to-me way. This time it is Genesis 1:14: Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years. Signs. We love signs. The star above the birthplace of Jesus leading kings to His doorstep in worship. The sun standing still in the heavens while Joshua and the people of Israel fight their battle....
Hi Friends, We had a huge blizzard this past weekend that dumped over a foot of snow in 24 hours. We woke up to a blanket of white. My kids are thrilled to have more snow shoveling gigs than they can handle. They shovel, stop by the house for snacks, throw their soggy gloves back on and head out to sled. After sledding? Shoveling… and repeat. Heavy snows seem to come at the beginning of January each year in the Midwest, and it always feels like they give the perfect visual for a new year. A...
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