“Hold onto what you have so that no one will take away your crown,” (Rev 3:11) If you have been taught to live in sin-consciousness, I just stirred up guilt and fear of loss. How does that agree with a God whose perfect love casts out fear? Instead of life and peace that Jesus came to infuse in us, you may have been taught to believe in a God who is just waiting for you to mess up…again, so that he can take from you, punish you, distance himself from you. That sounds… Read More

Our identity as the Chosen of God is what allows us to partake of the abundant life Jesus paid for us to have.  Because it is critical that we grasp the fullness of our identity in Christ as God’s Chosen, it is the constant place of enemy warfare against us. To know how securely you are swaddled in the Love of God is no small thing.  It is what the whole structure of our armor in Ephesians 6 is designed to protect.   Every time we waver from this security, we fall… Read More

As a child, I went to the county fair with my uncle. The rides spun around with screaming teenagers, while children held tightly to their parent’s hand with one and a cone filled with sticky cotton candy with the other. Whiffs of roasted peanuts, funnel cakes, and saw dust filled the air. Fun houses perplexed me. I think I’ve only been through one once, because it terrified me.   The fun house effect, illusions, smoke screens, mazes, glass tunnel that spun around, floor that was at an angle, and mirrors that make your… Read More

The little brown donkey in the above photo is my family’s donkey, Henry.  It makes me smile just looking at him.  Henry is a sweet boy.  We had lived in the country for a few years before we found Henry at an auction house and brought him home.  By then we had become familiar with Horses, Cows and Goats, but not Donkeys. Donkeys are different. Donkeys are said to be stubborn, but I think they’re really just very smart, have a good memory, are very discerning and VERY opinionated. Some time before Henry became… Read More

“Angry voices harden hearts.  Gracious voices disarm them.  May we be known for our kindness to people, but fierce in the battle with evil.”   -Beth Grant How do I stand up for what I feel is right with grace?  How can we listen to others who disagree with us, love them well, and not push them away? I love people being at peace with one another.  I hate confrontation.  I love unity.  I love being around people that carry “grace” and “mercy” well.  But sometimes when you really love someone, you… Read More