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God’s presence

Quiet Waters

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.” – Psalm 23:1-2 To those who feel alone, abandoned, or unseen, I want to remind you that God is with you. Even in stormy seas, when the waves of change and currents of difficulty make it hard to navigate, Jesus is in the boat. No mountain is too high, no valley is too deep, and no pit is too dark for His loving presence to reach. You see, as His children, regardless of where we find ourselves, our Savior promises to lead us beside quiet waters. In the middle of a mess, He lovingly shepherds us to a place of safe pasture, even if our circumstances remain unsettled. Psalm 23 reminds us that

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March 23, 2021 No Comments

Embrace Joy!

“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” – Psalm 16:11 Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a joyful person, and I get told that…a lot. I tend to go around whistling; in fact, someone said that I come with an announcement because I always seem to be chirping a tune. I don’t hear myself doing it, but when I enter a building or a room, people know I’m there. I’m also a smiling and silly person — I enjoy living, and it’s not uncommon to hear comments (sometimes sideways) about my happiness. While some may feel that it’s superficial or “over-the-top,” I can say for certain that it’s not, because I have a reason to be glad! Every day, I wake up overwhelmed by the goodness of God and by what

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March 12, 2021 No Comments

The Power of Peace

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” – John 14:27 It’s interesting that the dictionary defines peace as “freedom from disturbance.” And while I love to imagine life without all forms of distraction, noise, and chaos, I realize that such a state of existence isn’t possible on a planet that’s marred by the effects of sin and brokenness. The reality is that the weight of the world is heavy, and it’s easy to become bogged down by the pain and trouble that surround us. Each of us has gone through a lot in the past twelve months, and we’ve seen things unfold that we never imagined we would. The global pandemic, loss of life and income, civil unrest, and a prolonged change to our daily

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March 8, 2021 1 Comment

Growing Closer to God Through Grief

“There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.” – Luke 2:36,37 For the last couple of days, we’ve been talking about Simeon and how, as an old man, he was finally able to see his Messiah in the flesh. Interestingly, he had a female counterpart in the story of Jesus’ birth, and her name was Anna. The Bible calls her a prophet, and we learn in Luke 2 that she lost her husband after just seven years of marriage. Assuming she was married at the age of 15 or 16 (as most girls at that time would have been), she was probably only 22 or 23

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March 2, 2021 No Comments

Rest For Your Soul

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30 Today, I want to assure you that there is rest for your soul, especially since you may be feeling pressed down by the weight of this time. Before COVID-19 hit, most of us were already leading busy lives and finding it challenging to maintain our emotional and spiritual balance. However, now — with all the crazy news cycles, the intense fear that’s fighting for our minds, the constant barrage of new and conflicting information, and the routines that have been thrown off — we’ve assumed a mental load the likes of which we’ve never known. That

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February 22, 2021 No Comments

The Blessing in Favor

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.” – Psalm 84:11 Today, we’re going to wrap up our discussion about the three components of a blessed life (that so far include righteousness and wisdom) and “dive” into the final part of the divine triad, which is favor. Though you might have guessed that love was the third side of the “triangle of blessing” we’ve been unpacking, I believe favor is a more comprehensive way of addressing it. While God’s love is constantly in our midst — much like the air we breathe — favor positions us to recognize and receive it. And since it’s an outgrowth of the Lord’s lovingkindness, it finds us in greater measure when we expect to see it revealed. This is why I’m grateful that I had

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February 13, 2021 3 Comments

Image vs. Truth

“Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being…” – Romans 1:22,23 I’m increasingly troubled by the impact of social media on our world and on our mental health. Whether it’s political information, sensationalized headlines, or pictures of our friends and family living the “high life” and looking like they have it all together, the truth is that most of it isn’t true. Image — not reality — has become an idol, and many are addicted to the praise, attention, and reactions of others (even if they’re negative). A story broke last year here in L.A. that certain Instagram influencers who had posted pictures of themselves on a private jet had actually paid to take those photos on a set. When they removed the plane interior backdrop, all that was really there

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January 25, 2021 1 Comment

Remain in Him

“You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” – Isaiah 55:12 There are many benefits of abiding with the Lord. When we choose to stay with Him and continually acknowledge that He is with us, the world takes on a new vibrancy. Perhaps this is why Jesus told us to remain in Him and offered a corresponding promise that doing so will cause us to bear fruit. In fact, the Bible gives us specifics about the type of harvest we can enjoy when we practice His presence, and Galatians 5 tells us that the crops we will cultivate are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. Thankfully, choosing to abide with God doesn’t demand that we be super-Christians or that we spend three

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January 22, 2021 1 Comment

Plans to Prosper

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11 Jeremiah 29:11 is the most tattooed verse in the Bible. In fact, I’m confident that many of us who’ve spent time in church can recite this amazing promise by heart, and a lot of us would even call it our favorite verse. That said, it’s incredible how many Christians don’t truly believe what it says. It’s written in black and white that the Lord wants to prosper us, which means that He wants us to flourish, thrive, and be successful, yet we often doubt His goodness. Interestingly, God gave this promise to His covenant people, the Israelites, after they were exiled to Babylon. Though they were captured and carried away to a foreign land so things looked bleak,

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January 17, 2021 No Comments

Enjoying Eden

“Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.” – Genesis 2:8 Today, I want to share some interesting information about the Garden of Eden. At the beginning of time, Adam and Eve were put in this very specific place where they could have unhindered fellowship with God. Eden itself was a location — possibly a water spring or a building — somewhere near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and the garden was the space that surrounded it. While we don’t know this for sure, in reading Scripture, it seems that not all of Creation at the time was part of Eden. It’s quite possible that outside the entrance to this lush and Spirit-inhabited space there was a world that was barren and not nearly as abundant and beautiful. That said, what made Eden so special is

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January 10, 2021 No Comments

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