It took 17 episodes for CT to recount the losses at Mars Hill. Yet Chad’s story is different. His story recounted losses and blessings.
Chad’s story caused me to stop and consider a list of blessings, silver linings, from my chronic illness. The silver lining of chronic illness is learning there is a purpose we cannot see in the pain we cannot escape.
Read MoreWhen we invest our hope in God, we get his unfailing love in return. Of course, the only way we ever come to the place where we can put our hope in him is through his grace. We cannot do it in our own strength. So, God gives us the grace to love him, then he gives us his unfailing love in return. Sounds like he’s doing all the work, right? Exactly.
It is embarrassing to be loved like that. Brennan Manning calls this, “irrational love.” It makes no sense. He gives his love and we don’t have to do anything for it. Nothing. God loves us because he loves us. That’s it.
Why would a perfect God love us despite our many imperfections? It’s a mystery.
Read MoreWe all need to be loved and cheered on by personal cheerleaders, especially when we are suffering and feeling alone. We need to be reminded that we are unique and worthy of friendship. The best cheerleaders in life are the ones who celebrate our victories and help us find joy when we can’t find it on our own.
Read More“It’s ok if your heart needs more time to accept what your head already knows.” - anonymous
What a great way to describe what we all feel when we’re suffering.
We can’t make our hearts accept what our heads already knows. It’s not something we can do. It is the shaping and molding work of the living God. He will do it.
Read MoreWe need the kind of rest that renews and restores. Rest when our feet ache at the end of a long day, and rest when our heart breaks for a dear friend. Rest when we need grace for ourselves, and rest when someone needs grace from us. We need rest that heals. This is the rest Jesus offers when He said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Read MoreI am now the keeper of a set of 100-year-old wedding rings. They are the oldest possessions in my care, and I feel the weight of their history.
The Holy Spirit reminds me that I possess a truth much older and much more valuable. I do not know the monetary value of my great-grandmother’s rings but I know the truth of the gospel is priceless. Matthew 13:46 tells me the Kingdom of Heaven is like a priceless pearl: “When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it” (NIV).
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