Where God's Word Meets Our Mess
I used to hate reading this passage from John 15 because I always felt guilty after I read it. (Okay, I still feel guilty after I read it, ahem.) To be honest, I don't see fruit in my life right now. But what if I'm focusing on the wrong aspect of sanctification—the when.
I listened to a slightly-too-convicting podcast last night (ahem). It was the By Faith podcast with host Christine Hoover and guest Callie Nixon. Callie shared about her struggles with lust, masturbation, and porn, which was a struggle that lasted for years. The most interesting, beautiful part of the podcast was Callie's observation that it was Jesus’ kindness—not His anger or His punishment or His "holding out" on her—that allowed her not to have a boyfriend while she was in the midst of her struggles with personal sexual sin.
We’re entering the month of July, and people are still talking about the coronavirus. We’re still reading the one-sided news and the biased viewpoints. We’re still swallowing the confusion, chaos, and despair. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel anything but free on this Independence Day.
I have two definitions for love. The first one states, “Love is zealously, selflessly, and unconditionally desiring and pursuing someone’s best.” This is my stated belief. The definition that I actually believe about love is this: a happy feeling that's always wrong and never appropriate. The best that can come from it is to pray that God will eventually deliver you from all desires and circumstances associated with it. This results in the best possible outcome in the situation: relief from the "not right."
I usually don’t introduce my posts with Bible verses. However, I read this passage from John 5 recently, and it really got my attention. Even though I think Jesus was directing these words at nonbelievers, verse 45 in particular hit my heart with a heavy thud and convicted me of several serious sins in my life.
Summer is not my favorite season—and that's not just because summer is hot and humid or because summer is often a lethargic, unproductive season. It's mostly because summer is the season when I have to wear a swimsuit. Which I hate. Perhaps you can relate to one (or all) of these three fears that I've had during swimsuit season.
I know what it feels like to be the outsider looking in. So that's what this poem is about—watching your friends start dating, get married, and have families. This poem is about feeling stuck on the sidelines and wondering how long you'll be waiting. But the waiting isn't meaningless. You'll see why.
When I woke up this morning, I realized that I'd had a devastating, awful nightmare. No, I wasn’t kidnapped. My family wasn’t eaten by monsters. My home didn’t burn down. Rather, the groom didn’t show up at my wedding.
Yes, it’s possible that Song is Solomon is simply an allegory (with fictional characters) that demonstrates God’s love for believers. However, it's normally interpreted as an historically accurate event between Solomon and an actual Shulammite woman. Here are just a few reasons you should read it for yourself.
Tizzie's Tidbits of Truth 