Holiday Fill Up

I heard the shallow gurgling as soon as I opened the window, letting in warm November air. One fountain motor was already burned up by letting the water get too low. I raced outside, grabbed the hose, and headed for the fountain. The almost empty bowl, the barely there trickle of water, and the dried white mineral residue screamed that time was short. In hotter months when my plants beg for water, I never neglect to fill the fountain. In cooler months, when the summer flowers have faded, and the busyness of life moves me in other directions, I often forget my happy little fountain.

As I bent to pick out dried leaves and fill the bowl, I realized I was feeling like my fountain: dried, thirsty, wanting. It is our Savior’s living water that fills us, but I was so busy with holiday shopping and baking and festivities that I hadn’t taken time to let Him refresh me.

Standing there at my fountain, water hose in hand, the words of my memory verse echoed in my mind: “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters . . . Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? . . . Give ear and come to Me”(Isaiah 55:1-3).

OH! Spending labor on things I had to do, felt obligated to do, this was emptying me. I don’t know about you, but as a wife and mother, I don’t always take time for myself, and never enough time for my Lord.

God clearly defines rhythms of work and rest for us with the Sabbath expectations. Work is good, however work without the proper rest becomes toil, drudgery. We were created to rest and worship our Lord. When we don’t take this time, we run on empty. Empty for me leads to frustration, anger, bad attitudes, a short temper, depression. Empty leaves me feeling dry, crusty, and struggling – just like my fountain.

So I look at my schedule and reallocate my time. I make Bible study and prayer time a priority in the morning, filling my well with His living water. I make my Sunday rest a priority by worshiping with my church family, and doing as little “work” as possible, filling my well with His living water. And do you know what happens? The more I give to Him, the more I get. Gone is the frustration, anger, attitude, and depression. In its place is the fruit of His Spirit: peace, patience, joy, kindness.

Maybe you feel the trickle of your own shallow well. Maybe you hear the invitation in your own life: “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters . . .” Don’t hesitate! Find time to be still with the Lord in His word, in prayer, in worship, and let Him refresh and fill you with His living water. It is just what you need.

5 Tips for Memorizing Scripture

Do you want to love God more and love His people? Do you want the strength and wisdom to overcome the obstacles in front of you? Then fill your mind with the Bible!

Memorizing scripture is one way to fill your mind with the Bible . . . but it isn’t always easy. Memorizing anything can prove difficult. I do not claim to have a great memory. In fact, compared to others I know, my memory is rather short on gigabytes. I still find great pleasure in memorizing God’s word though. So, if you’re like me and find yourself wanting to memorize the Truth of God and carry His word with you, then here are a few tips.

#1 – Chunk it! Take one little bit at a time to work with. When you have this part, add the next little part, repeating the two parts together. Add little chunks until you have the whole thing.

#2 – Color code! If you’re a visual learner, like me, this will help you. Put a red heart on the word “heart.” Or, color a green circle over the word “live.” Do something to bring a visual reminder of the key words in your verse. You’ll often remember the color or shape you’ve marked over the words before you remember the word, and it will remind you.

#3 – Hand motions! This sounds silly and may even feel sillier, but making hand motions to go with the words in your verse is a great technique. This is how you get little children to learn long verses. If they can do it, you can too!

#4 – Use your movie mind! Consider who the verse applies to and with your movie mind, visualize the speaker talking to them. For example, when I memorized Deuteronomy 4:39, I pictured Moses standing with arms stretched out addressing the whole Israelite camp. I knew this was his going away speech and in my movie mind I could hear his voice full of wisdom and hope. I would practice my verse with this scene in mind. And sometimes I would even try to say it in a Moses-like voice, but shhhhhhhh….. don’t tell anyone. That’ll be our secret.

#5 – Repeat! Repeat! Repeat! It is repetition that actually moves something to your long term memory. Practice every day. This includes going back over verses you’ve already mastered. The more you repeat them, the deeper they are planted in your mind . . . and in your heart, which is right where we want them to be.

So there you have it – 5 tips for memorizing scripture. Use one. Use all. May we always be planting His word in our minds and in our hearts.

The Anxious Thoughts Test

Being new is stressful. I had waited for this opportunity to make connections and build friendships. But there I sat feeling alone in a sea of people. And while everything was beautiful and the words were friendly and I was included, watching all those happy friends enjoy one another made me want to curl up and hide on the inside. Or better yet . . . run away.

My brain knew that it takes time to develop relationships. It takes working, playing, and doing life together for a while to grow into friendships that encourage and nurture. My brain knew this, however my heart was not being patient. My heart was breaking. My heart wanted it now.

Seeing his chance, Satan began his attack. You don’t fit in. They don’t need your help. You have no friends. People don’t like you. They are better than you. You should run. His whispers filled my thoughts building a wall. The more I listened, the less I tried to connect. I didn’t run away, but I didn’t make the most of my opportunity to build friendships in this new place. I knew I needed help to overcome.

When I returned home, I tried to work through my feelings. I prayed, “Lord, why am I feeling this way? I want to serve in this church, but these anxious thoughts are dividing me.” Through reading His Word and prayer, I was encouraged. Psalm 139:23-24 revealed the truth I really needed:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me, and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

What did my anxious thoughts reveal? Maybe they revealed that I don’t think I’m worthy enough for the Lord to use, or that I don’t think God has given me good enough gifts to be used in His kingdom. Maybe they reveal I think He can’t fix my brokenness, that there will never be a place for me among His people. If this is what my anxious thoughts reveal hidden in my heart, then I am sure it is offensive to Him. Lord, forgive me, for I know in my mind this is not who You are.

You are the God who cleanses me and makes me an instrument for noble purposes, holy and useful to do any good work (2 Timothy 2:21).

You are the Father in heaven who knows how to give better gifts than my earthly father. You give the Holy Spirit to help in all things (Luke 11:11-13).

You are the One who sent Jesus to bind up the brokenhearted, to free the captives, to release prisoners from darkness, to show Your favor, to comfort, to give provision, to bestow beauty and gladness and praise in our hearts for You. You are the One who makes Your children oaks of righteousness, a planting for the display of Your splendor (Isaiah 61:1-3).

The way everlasting is not found in my mixed up emotions and self-destructing thoughts. The way everlasting is found in the truth of His word. Here is what Psalm 139 revealed to my aching heart: I cannot entertain Satan’s lies and claim the Lord’s truth, for one cancels out the other in my heart and mind. If I believe I am useless, empty, and broken, then I cannot believe at the same time that I am useful, filled with the Holy Spirit, and mended together in Christ. I am either one or the other. By believing the lies, I am like a spoiled child who screams, “You don’t do anything for me!” This is not true! My Father has gone to unimaginable lengths for me. His love and gracious gifts are infinite and not defined by my circumstances.

If we are going to walk this life as a children of God, we will need to be purposeful about what we believe. Anxious thoughts reveal the hidden heart. Taking the time to wrestle through those whispering thoughts with the Lord in prayer and in studying His word is essential. We won’t overcome without Him. Our Lord is good, and He will reveal the lies we are gripping tightly. If we loosen the grip on the lies allowing them to slip from our grasp, we will be free to hold tightly to Jesus.

God does not allow us to be uncomfortable without reason. He allowed my anxious thoughts to reveal to me that I cannot keep entertaining the lies and claiming the truth. With all my heart, I want to claim His truth. So, I have resolved to work through all of my anxious thoughts with the Lord in order to reveal what hidden lies I am believing. I have resolved to start each day choosing joy. I have resolved to be a thankful child of God. Maybe you are like me. If so, I invite you to do the same. In His truth, we will be oaks of righteousness unmoved by the whispering winds of the enemy.

Dear Lord, Thank You for sending Your son. May I never forget what unimaginable lengths You have gone for me. Forgive me for holding tightly to the lies. Let me see them as lies, and help me to let go of their self-destructing power. Help me to soak in Your truth, and grow me so that I may shine Your glory to those around me. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

Woe to Obstinate Me

I was always a daddy’s girl. Disappointing him was something I never wanted to do. So that was not my intention on the spring day when the azaleas were in full bloom and I decided I needed a big bouquet of them in my playhouse. I visited each bush and broke off big branches for my display. I remember the delicate petals on their fairy-pink blossoms. I also remember the look on Daddy’s face, the tone in his voice when he saw what I had done. I must have mutilated his bushes. It was the only time I ever remember being punished by him. I worked hard to be extra perfect to get back in his good graces after the azalea incident. I needed to do lots of good things to undo the bad thing I had done. If I worked hard enough, my mistake would be overlooked and forgotten, and my punishment would be curtailed.

This is a logical way to view my earthly daddy, but would not hold up in a just court of law. In our American justice system, if you commit murder, then you will be tried and punished according to the law. If you have been found guilty, you won’t be able to cry and promise never to do it again. You won’t be able to donate lots of money to the poor or adopt a whole bunch of orphans or build a new hospital. No. Your good works will not make amends or pay your debt to society. You will most likely go to jail, or even be sentenced to death, because that is the penalty for murder in our country. Justice is fair.

This holds even truer for our heavenly Father. His justice is firm, for He cannot be manipulated or coerced like our human courts. Surely, the penalty set forth will be assigned. He set down the laws and that punishment at the beginning of creation. Romans 6:24 tells us that “the wages of sin is death.” So many people think that if God is loving, He would not have a punishment that is so harsh. Yes. He is loving, but God is also immutable and just. God would be unjust if He did not follow through the same with each person.

God did not leave us to suffer in His justice, He also offers mercy – if we will just take it. The rest of Romans 6:24 tells us, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The cross where Jesus died is where justice and mercy collide. The cross is where God can be both just and loving. Why? Because Jesus offered himself in your place; he offered to take your punishment that must be served because God is a God of justice. You could not have taken that punishment and live. But Jesus could. In His love, God devised a way for His justice to be served, and you to be forgiven. Beautiful redemption!

The problem arises with us. The problem arises in me. I tend to treat my heavenly Father like my earthly father. I run around in circles crying and promising never to do it again. I work extra hard to be extra perfect to prove I’m good. I try to follow all the rules to show how good I am. I want to prove myself worthy, prove myself perfect. That’s a problem, mainly because I’m not.

Sometimes when I’ve goofed up and sinned, I try to clean up the mess. I put things back in order. I cover up my tracks. I tidy it all up, work to be extra good, and hope no one notices. Good works, I think, will make me forgiven and holy. Other times I talk to my friends and self-justify. You know – the blame game, or passing the buck. It’s not my fault. It’s someone else. Look what they did! Good works and never claiming the misdeed as my own: these are the ways I self-justify. I bet you’ve done this too. It’s exhausting, isn’t it?

We aren’t alone. The Bible is full of examples of how the Israelites did this very thing. The book of Isaiah is one such place. The title for chapter 30 in my Bible is “Woe to the Obstinate Nation.” The LORD describes through the prophet how Israel keeps turning away from Him, going back to idols, “carrying out plans that are not mine,” He says (v. 1). He calls them rebellious, deceitful children who refuse to listen to instruction, which is why they have suffering, misfortune, affliction, grief, and ruinous trouble. Refusing His instruction and offers is their woe.

He has a plan and He has given them instruction, but they aren’t listening. They are doing things their own way. God highlights how they have run to Egypt for protection, and have depended on something other than Him for their survival. This is why He says “Woe to the obstinate children,” in verse 1. Clearly, we can all see, God is the one they should trust. He is the one that will protect and provide for them, but they didn’t see it.

In verse 15, God reminds them of His plan and His instruction: “In repentance and rest is your salvation; in quietness and trust is your strength . . .” He tells the Israelites they don’t need to go to Egypt to cover their mistakes. They just need to confess their mistakes and turn from them. They just need to be quiet and trust in Him but they don’t. The next part of the verse says, “but you would have none of it.” Oh! It breaks my heart. God is offering the Israelites freedom and rest and salvation and strength, but they don’t take it. They turn up their noses and run back to their sin and their own ways. “No thanks, God. I’m going to do it this way,” they say to Him.

This is all so easy to see . . . when we’re looking at the Israelites. But why don’t we see it in ourselves when we too try to self-justify our own sin instead of repenting and resting in His salvation? If we would stop passing the buck, and playing the blame game . . . If we would just repent by confessing our part and turning from it, then we would be saved, forgiven, free. Then we could find rest. Then our own chapter title would not be “Woe to Obstinate Me.”

I am not sure if it is arrogance, ignorance, or our default of “do good works to make amends” that keeps us from reaching out to the LORD. Maybe it is a little of all three. The Word of God tells us over and over that it is our confession of sins, our repentance, and our faith in Christ’s propitiation on the cross that rights our relationship with the LORD, not our good works. Will we do good works? Yes, out of thankfulness and honor to our LORD, but not seeking forgiveness and not attempting to win His favor.

As the story of the Israelite’s goes on, Isaiah 30:18 is a beautiful picture of God’s compassion and mercy in our self-inflicted times of woe. Listen to His sweet voice: “Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!” Can you hear the longing and love in His voice? I can. And it is this sweet voice that captures my heart and beckons me to change. In my movie mind, I see our Lord Jesus Christ sitting on His throne. I see him watching as we struggle, floundering in our inability to do what needs to be done. He has compassion in his eyes, for we are His. He stands up from his throne anxious to help us, and at just the right moment, he steps into history – a baby born in a manger, a baby who will grow to be a man and do the thing we could never do – die for our own sins. Because the LORD is a God of justice. Punishment must be extoled. Those who wait for him, who hope in him, they are blessed.

We are blessed with forgiveness, with redemption. We are blessed with His holy presence. We are blessed with His love and compassion, His protection and provision. The cross of Christ is both justice and love for those who would claim it. The Israelite’s problem was that they did not listen to the LORD. They attempted to do things on their own. That was their woe, and it is an example to us. Let it not be said of us, “woe to the obstinate nation.” Instead, let it be said of us, “They are blessed, for their hope is in the Lord. They found salvation in repentance and rest. They found strength in quietness and trust. They wanted all of it!” Let that be us!

Dear LORD, I know that I sometimes don’t see where I am “going back to Egypt.” Forgive me. Open my eyes. Help me to be aware of my tendencies. Help me to turn from them and put my trust in You. Help me to rely on Your great plans and not my own shameful one. Thank You for Your great mercy. You are wonderful! I want to honor You all the days of my life. Give me the perseverance to do this. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

Do you obey or just sacrifice?

The prophet Samuel spoke God’s truth in 1 Samuel 15:22 when he told King Saul, “To obey is better than sacrifice.” I’ve often wondered about these two: obedience and sacrifice. Why is one better than the other? Aren’t they both good? What makes obedience superior?

This is the same dilemma that C.S. Lewis presents at the beginning of his sermon, “The Weight of Glory.” When contemplating the highest virtue held by Christians of old and his contemporaries, he decides that “Love” had been replaced by “Unselfishness.” “You see what has happened?” he quips. “A negative term has been substituted for a positive.” Unselfishness suggests going without, “as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point.”

This is also true of obedience and sacrifice. Sacrifice suggests giving something up. The focus is on the giver. The focus of obedience is on the receiver. When we are obedient to God, our actions spotlight His will. When we sacrifice, our actions spotlight our own actions.

But didn’t Jesus sacrifice himself on the cross? Wasn’t that his greatest act for our greatest good? Yes, but I would argue that it was done out of obedience. Paul tells us that Jesus, despite being “in very nature God . . . humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6,8). Even Jesus, as he prayed in the garden, highlighted his obedience to his Father when he said, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). The focus was on his obedience to the Father. Jesus laid down his life in obedience.

Obedience is done out of a heart that wants to honor. This is exactly where Saul went wrong in 1 Samuel. The LORD had instructed Saul and the Israelites to totally destroy the Amalekites. Nothing was to be spared, not even their animals. But Saul did not do as the LORD instructed. He spared their king and the best of their cattle. When Samuel questioned Saul about not following directions, Saul told Samuel, “The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal” (1 Samuel 15:21). Samuel responded with a question, an answer, and an analogy: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry” (v.22).

Listen. God wants our hearts, not some outward sacrifice. Saul did some extravagant sacrifice that looked good from the outside, but in reality, it was total disobedience. His Freudian slip of the tongue when he said, “to sacrifice them to the LORD your God,” was a clear indication of what was wrong: Saul did not see the LORD as his God. The LORD was Samuel’s God. His heart was not for the LORD.

I’m sitting here wondering where I make the same mistake. Do I obey because I know the LORD is my God? Where do I give some half-hearted obedience? Where do I sacrifice instead of obey? I imagine that it is more often than I choose to admit. A little sacrifice of time because I feel obligated. A little sacrifice of money so I’ll look good. The sacrifice trap is easy to trip, and the worst part is that it makes you think that you’ve really done something good and important. It may look as if you’ve done it for God though you haven’t. But God knows the difference, and if Samuel were looking us in the face, he would call our hands on it, just the way he did to Saul. “To obey is better than sacrifice,” he would say. God wants our whole hearts. He wants our Love, not our Unselfishness, for with our hearts, with our love, we will give the sacrifice and be unselfish for the right reasons. We will do it for Him. Then all the praise and honor and glory will be His, just the way it should be.

Dear Lord, Help me to “rend my heart not my garments” to You. Help me to want You and not to just do things that look good. Help me to obey because I love You and want to honor You. Let this be from the inside out, for only then I will get it right. You are so worthy to be honored and glorified. Praise You! Thank You! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Are You Still Enough?

Our emotional well-being depends on our ability and willingness to do this: “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Let me explain. I have been teaching for 26 years now. Students have changed over the years, as you can imagine. What has not changed is that schools still reflect the larger community around them. If there is homelessness in a community, the school will no doubt have students that are homeless. If there is drug abuse or crime rampant in a community, it will show up in the schools. Single parent households, parents working multiple jobs, porn addiction, teen pregnancy, “my child never does anything wrong” syndrome – all of these make up the dynamics of a school.

Recently I’ve noticed a new problem. Anxiety, depression, and suicidal tendencies are on the rise everywhere, and this means in schools as well. I’ve done a lot of reading to try and understand what has changed in our young people today, and how I can help them. I’ve found that researchers in psychology have noted the steep increases in these issues as well, and many of them have theories about the cause. They are attributing the increase largely to the ubiquitous use of technology. We now have a generation of young people who have screens available at all times. Got a down moment? Pick up your phone. Walking somewhere? Pick up your phone. Want some music while you work? Pick up your phone. The brain is never allowed to be bored. We have a phone for that. All of this phone use leads to solitude deprivation - the lack of down time necessary for you to function properly both mentally and emotionally. The activities available on your mobile devices are different than filling your time with a book to read or TV to watch because a person doesn’t bring a book or TV with them everywhere they go. Standing in the Walmart line, your brain has some down time – unless you pick up your phone.

Solitude deprivation is a problem. Like a computer that runs faster and more efficiently after performing a defrag program, our brains run better after down time. Today, however, people don’t let their brains defrag. They fill every bored moment with technology. And like canaries in the coal mine, this generation is warning us that too much screen time is lethal to our psyche. It is causing massive amounts of anxiety and depression, especially in our young people. We think the screen is keeping them quiet in the Walmart buggy while we shop or in the car while we drive, but really, it is setting them up for an addictive, anxious future. Trust me! I understand the lure of a quiet kid. But is it worth trading that momentary frustration for the habit of reaching for a screen – a habit that will later lead to the downfall of your child’s social and mental well-being? Or is it better to let your child be present in the moment, experience the world around them, and let them build healthy strategies for dealing with boredom? These are the times I used to sing with my children or play I Spy. Do we not want to interact with our own children anymore? They will be missing out on all kinds of learning opportunities if we do not. What will they be learning, if we hand them a screen? To disengage with the world around them instead of seeing the opportunities it offers, or learning how to interact with the world in real-time.

I was processing all of these ideas in my solitude as I picked up sticks in my front yard after a spring wind storm. Psalm 46:10 kept popping into my mind: “Be still and know that I am God.” The idea of being still before the Lord kept my thoughts running, especially after all of this new information I held about down time and solitude deprivation. I love that the Lord knows us so well. Our emotional well-being depends on our ability and willingness to be still. Science tells us this, but God tells more: “Think about Me,” He says. “Be still and know that I am God.”

Ironically, the Hebrew word for “still” in this verse is “rapha,” which means “let go, be weak, be healed, release." It is the same word used in Isaiah 53:5: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed (rapha – healed, stitched together, mended).” We are both spiritually and emotionally stitched and mended together by our savior, Jesus Christ.

The canaries in the cage of ubiquitous technology are warning us. Too much technology is not good. We have reached the point of diminishing returns. We are a people in crisis. It is time to take action. Put away the screens. Take a walk. Write things down. Go bike riding with our kids. Clean house or do yard work without music or earbuds. We must teach our kids to do this too. We must help them navigate the dangers of too much screen time. We must help them make time to think about the LORD. Scripture repeatedly tells us to look to Him, consider Him. God wants to heal our hearts and our minds, but if we are so busy inputting other information, we will never reap the benefits of being still and knowing He is God. We are in danger if we do not. But if we do, our stillness and reflection on the Lord will set us apart. And I imagine that in our stillness we will be able to look back over our lives and know that He is indeed God . . . and we will worship Him.

Dear Lord, forgive me for often times being too busy to stop for You. Forgive me for not teaching my children to do the same. Help me to be still and focus on You. Help me to be intentional about how I use my time and my technology. I want to worship You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Things you can read:
Lexicon on rapha: https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Meditations/Be_Still/be_still.html
Them by Ben Sasse
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
The Tech-Wise Family by Andy Crouch
12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You by Tony Reinke

Who's the Fairest of Them All?

Mirror! Mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?

We live in a Mirror! Mirror! world – a world of selfies, Instagram and Facebook; a world of images fixed, filtered, and fake. And yet we believe the lie that everyone is perfect – everyone except ourselves. We do what Queen Narcissa did. We compare. We look to the left and to the right, and hold up the measuring stick. How do we compare? Am I like that girl? Am I better or worse? Do I have what she has? Do I have more or less? And as the reaches of social media grow, our measuring sticks grow – more demanding.

The stress is real. Let’s face it. You cannot constantly look at other people’s filtered and fake lives and continue to think that your own imperfect life is good. Even when we know that what we are seeing is not the whole truth, we still believe the lie. We still pull out the measuring stick and begin to compare. But comparing is despairing, and we end up feeling like we are not the fairest of them all. We end up feeling anxious, depressed, rejected, lonely, hostile, covetous, and even slanderous. Obviously, there is a huge problem with all this measuring, and the problem is that we have forgotten God’s word.

Do you know the account of how David was chosen to be king? God sent Samuel to the house of Jesse to anoint the next king, but He didn’t tell Samuel which son it would be. When Jesse’s first son walked up, Samuel knew he was the one. Tall. Good looking. Strong. Surely he is the one, thought Samuel. God quickly corrected him: “Do not consider his appearance . . . Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). What is important to the LORD is not how we compare to others. He wants a heart for Him, not perfect looks. The fact that we would look to those around us and compare ourselves is an indication that we are not looking fervently to the LORD.

I recently visited with an old friend, and I found myself doing the comparison. She is a world traveling business executive. I am a middle school teacher. There were a lot of ways for me to not measure up. She is also very articulate, and I often found myself sounding silly and unable to defend my points on certain topics. “I can’t even talk with style. How do I think I can write? Why do I think anyone will even want to read what I have to say?” I began to think. And then my thoughts went this way: “Maybe I am just wasting my time writing. I think I will just stop. No one cares anyway.” There it was – the shame of not measuring up. That is where all of this comparing leaves us – in shame.

The shame of not as beautiful, not as thin, not as young, not as fashionable, not as loved, not good enough. The shame of remember what you did, remember what you are not. Shame is the reason we feel overwhelmed and underachieved. When we look to everyone else with covetous eyes, we fall victim to shame. But God’s word tells us: “Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame” (Psalm 34:5). The world wants to shame us. The LORD wants to lift us up, make us radiant. We need to stop listening to the lies, and start listening to God’s truth.

Every lie you believe can be countered by God’s truth. Feeling not so pretty? Did you know we are beautiful in our gentle spirits and when we bring the Gospel? (1 Peter 3:4 and Romans 10:15). Feeling unimportant as you grow older? God’s word tells us we have wisdom and faithful instruction to share (Proverbs 31:26). Feeling like you don’t have what others have? The truth is that giving from the heart is more important than having (Luke 21:2-4). We are infinitely loved by God (Psalm 100:5). We are made perfect in Christ (Ephesians 5:27). We are forgiven (Psalm 103:12). We reflect God’s glory, compassion, humility, strength, and dignity when we clothe ourselves in Christ (Romans 13:14, Colossians 3:12, 1 Peter 5:5, Proverbs 31:25). The truth is that when we seek to reflect the world around us, we will always fall short. When we seek to reflect our LORD, we will be radiant and full of joy.

What I realized after comparing myself to my friend is that those lies I felt were the enemy’s tactics to stop me. The enemy does not want me to share the glory of the LORD with anyone. He doesn’t want me to reach out to others. If he can keep me pushed down and feeling shamed, then I will not be shouting God’s praises. If he can silence me, then someone may not hear the encouraging word that will bring them to Christ. Oh! This is exactly the place the enemy would like me dwell. Maybe you are feeling the same way, believing the same kind of lies. Don’t. Look to the LORD!

I love the encouraging words of Isaiah. He says, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you, but the LORD rises upon you and His glory appears over you . . . Lift up your eyes and look about you . . . Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy . . .” (Isaiah 60:1,2,4-5). Time and again, God’s word tells us to look unto Him and we will be radiant and full of joy. That’s what I want for me. That’s what I want for you. Let’s do this together.


Dear LORD, You are beautiful. You are radiant. You are full of truth. Forgive us for attempting to find our worth in ourselves and in the world around us. Help us to look to You, for it is then that we will reflect Your glory and shine Your light for others to see. In Jesus’ name, Amen!