rebelling against low expectations
“O Lord, I want my life to speak on When I am gone: May something I have done my days outlive, Some sacred act of faith its memory weave, And unto men a lasting blessing give, When life is done. Oh, may some word I’ve said, some deed of love, A comfort prove: Let something stand a lasting monument – Approved by God, a[n] holy complement, That I upon His work was full intent, Sent from above.”...
Mining can be hard work. It can also be immensely rewarding. And unlike physical mining, where a vein can be depleted or not have much in it, Scripture will always have more gems to unearth. We never have to wonder whether we dig in vain, especially if we know where and how to look. Over the past three posts, I’ve provided tools specific to the three steps of mining. But before we conclude this...
Knowledge is a great place to start in uncovering the gems of Scripture, but knowledge alone isn’t particularly helpful. Alone, it tends to cause us to feel smart, which can lead to arrogance or pride. Rather, we need to sift through the dirt to find the gems of understanding. So here we move from knowing the facts of the passage to comprehending what those facts actually mean. You may know that...
The Bible can be a little daunting to study. First, there’s all those pages, well into the hundreds in many versions. Then you have those unpronounceable names that seem to come from the latest fantasy novel. And have you read some of the stuff this book contains? Wheels covered in eyes (Ezekiel 10:12). Belly fat oozing over sword hilts (Judges 3:22). Prophets walking around naked (Isaiah 20:2-4)...
Most of you probably know the hymn, “Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus.” Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face And the things of this world will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace. Often, we sing hymns and read verses, but don’t grasp their magnitude and significance. The words of this hymn recently hit me. If you are fixing your gaze on Jesus, all the things of...
I’m Alycia, and I’m a recovering perfectionist. For years, I struggled to connect with people because perfectionism controlled my life. I was constantly working, stressed about the size of my to-do list and the fleeting hours of my day. Desperate for respite, I tried therapy, journaling, reading my Bible, taking long walks, anything I could think of. But they only provided temporary relief. I...
“I am so glad you will be able to have the ‘college experience’,” a couple of people have told me recently, when hearing of my plans to move out of state to attend college. After spending almost two years taking online college classes and living with my parents after high school, many are thrilled that I will finally have the “college experience” and get out on my own. But the concept of the...
What is the most daunting thing that Christians are called to do? Love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them? Turn the other cheek? Speak for those who can’t speak for themselves? I would say that, for me and many fellow Christians, the scariest thing we are called to do is evangelize. We are called to share our faith. It’s frightening to stick your neck out there and share the...
What do you want to accomplish in your lifetime? Pause for a moment and think it through. Maybe you thought, “Not that much,” or “I want to do a lot, but I don’t think I’ll actually be able to.” Very few will confidently think, “I’m going to do great things.” While we need to cultivate humility, and while we should seek to be openhanded with...
What is your identity? Are you a soccer player, a student, a sibling? Maybe you’re a writer, a daughter, or a friend? Somewhere in the process of defining our identity, most of us would answer that we are a child of God. This is the most important part of our identity, yet we often don’t grasp the full power of that label. All our other labels will fade away—one day, we will no longer play sports...
rebelling against low expectations
