Since childhood, I’ve treasured what Jesus said in John 8:32. “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Yet somehow, till now, I have not seen the diamond in its setting, so to speak. I have not seen the import for us all.
Thank you, Mary Magdalene, for coming to Jesus. Your story shows: REST is humbly serving the One who always treats me with high respect, entrusts me with significant responsibility and involves me in things of first importance.
In the church, those obsessed with manipulating, intimidating and dominating can pose as those serving God. And we can be very fooled for a very long time.
Any group that shuns is withholding your deepest needs in order to control you. That’s the opposite of loving you. It’s people you trusted, trying to erase you.
Sitting in my car at that gas station on that winter afternoon, staring at Isaiah 58:1, I began to cry ... Oh. Lord. Not. This. Assignment.
A person can be a Christian, yet not live by the Spirit. Ah, but that's not what our Lord intends.
When it comes to dealing with anything spirit, the church has a long history of ignoring, twisting, adding to and taking away from the truth that gives us rest.
I saw it for the first time in a meeting I called and led. No. Actually: I realized then what I had been seeing for years. It broke my heart. I’ve tried to tell the story twice before. Both times, I described what happened in that meeting, but did not include any backstory. Now it’s time to write the whole story. Bring honor to your name, holy Lord.
In the beginning, a divided heart may look very much like an undivided one. It’s as if you’ve reached a subtle fork in the road, where the two paths before you appear to run side-by-side. It seems you can take both paths at the same time. It seems you don’t have to choose. Lord, help us to learn from a king who did not.
May I tell you a story? It’s a true story. And it shows what can happen when God sees courage in you that you do not see.