No Substitutes

We all know that substitutes are not nearly as good as the real thing. So why do we find substitutes for God? When he calls us to commitment, do we call him instead at our convenience? When he calls us to a relationship with him, do we answer back with reluctance? After all, when we needed him to die for us, he did not desert us. And when we needed him to rescue us, he did not reject us. When we needed him to comfort us, he did not consider us a burden.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to settle for substitutes.

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
-Luke 10:27

Beautiful

I felt like looking pretty to soothe my weary nerves after yesterday kept claiming to know me. But there is so much about me today that yesterday has not been told. So I pulled my heart out of hiding, only to discover how wrinkled it had become. Then I opened it up and smoothed in out before pinning it on my sleeve. And once I did, you called me beautiful.

"Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end."
-Ecclesiastes 3:11

My Passion

Fear tells me to be careful not to fuel a fire I cannot contain, but fear itself cannot be trusted. So I cautiously light a match, holding it up against all the passion I can gather, until my passion suddenly erupts! So I pour my heart out by the light of the fire, while holding my pencil steady across the page. And I feel so thankful to know that fear is no longer a friend of mine.

My passion is to write. What's yours? Is fear holding you back from pursuing your passion?

"For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."
-2 Timothy 1:6,7

A Quiet Mind

Some days my mind gets soaked in desiring to feel pleasantly productive, with thoughts like go, go, go and do, do, do. But I would rather have it soak in the sound of silence, with thoughts like, "The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams." So I wonder, how do I get from point A to point B in a single day?

Taste and See

You sprinkle our lives with your presence, then call us the salt of the earth. So we dish our day onto a silver platter and ask you to bless it before we start digging in. But I wonder how many times we don't actually sink our teeth into the good things you offer?

Could there be something good the Lord wants you to experience, but you are somehow missing out?

"Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!"
-Psalm 34:8

Guarded

I wrap my heart in truth then cover it with grace, knowing the world will glamorize anything that sparkles and shines. And in order to keep myself from getting lured away from the cross, I leave no open doors in the space my heart calls home.

How do you keep your heart guarded from the things in this world that might tempt you away from growing in your walk with Christ?

"Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life."
-Proverbs 4:23

Bearing Burdens

She stands at the intersection of yesterday and tomorrow, waiting to hitch a ride with anyone who will take her far away from today. But for now, she nearly faints from the heaviness in the air and the heaviness in her heart.

Will you stop and take time to help her move on from here?

"Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ."
-Galatians 6:2