🎼Fully known and loved by you.🎼

I love that song. I love what it means. Think it about it, guys. God knows every single thing about us, and He still loves us unconditionally.

The flaws, the secrets, the sin. He still loves us. He doesn’t dismiss us. And He is still here for us.

To be able to love like that – unabashedly, unwavering, unshakeable. My life goal: I want to love like Jesus.

Love regardless.

Love in spite.

Love instead.

Just love.

🎼It’s so like You to keep pursuing

It’s so like me to go astray, ooh

But You guard my heart with Your truth

The kind of love that’s bullet proof

And I surrender to Your kindness, oh🎼

That apple must have looked good. It must have been shiny. Mouth-watering. Eye-catching.

It had to have been. To give it all up.

I mean they literally had everything – except what they didn’t.

Was it really an apple that they were missing, or was it something more? Something deeper.

Was it an apple, or was it self-control? Was it really an apple, or was it peace? Was it a true, all-in, unshakable, love for God that their souls were really craving? Think about it.

Right now, what’s trying to catch your eye? What do you perceive to be missing?

Whatever it is, please don’t forget that God is shinier. Don’t let this world dim your desire for him. Don’t allow detrimental damage to be wreaked upon the journey that God has laid out for you.

Don’t justify.

Don’t compromise.

That apple isn’t worth it.

“Can a man walk on hot coals

without his feet being scorched?”

– Proverbs 6:28

Raise your hand if when you look at your December calendar you want to curl up in a ball and just take a nap.

Same.

There’s so much to do. So many places to go. It can get exhausting real quick like.

This holiday season I’ve made a promise not to get caught up. Not to get caught up in lists and schedules and to-dos and ta-dahs.

Y’all – Don’t let a busy schedule steal your joy. Don’t let a daunting to-do list make you miss out on what’s happening all around you. Don’t allow it to make you miss a Jesus moment.

Let’s choose to be in the moment. Let’s choose to be in THIS moment.

You’re not Santa Claus. Don’t let a list dictate your December.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13

We all have our hang-ups.

And sometimes we just need to – hang – them – up. I know that was cheesy, but it’s the truth.

Seriously. What are you so fixated on today that you can’t move past it? What’s holding you up? What’s stopping you in your tracks?

I can get hung up on a schedule. I can get hung up on a lingering mess. Hurt feelings. Past mistakes. Regrets. All sorts of things can catch my attention and just squeeze the life out of me.

We can get so set in our ways – so set in our way of thinking – that a minute detail can stop us in our tracks faster than a momma getting caught moving the elf in December.

Amen.

Whether your hang-up is something big or something small, it’s time to let it go. You’ve got to stop hanging on. It’s time to walk up to the cross and hang it there instead.

“Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22).

The love verse.

It’s not just for our significant other. We love them for a reason. They were easy for us to love.

This verse is for everyone we come into contact with. It’s a guide on how to treat people. Treat people like Jesus did.

And Jesus loved.

“4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Y’all, I have absolutely fallen in love Psalm 27.

“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” Psalm 27:14

Waiting is hard, and let’s be honest – it’s not fun. We want what we want, and we want it now.

When my kids get impatient, when they start badgering me about when, where, and why – I can quickly go straight up mommy mode. Y’all know what I mean. Hands on hips and lips pursed, the following words fly out of my mouth – because I said so.

When I was a kid I didn’t quite understand that answer, but now I realize that it is in fact a pretty good answer.

The reason I said so is because I know so.

Sometimes I picture God doing the same thing. Hands on hips, shaking His head, and uttering those same words – because I said so.

That answer – straight from a loving, all-knowing God – should be enough, y’all.

God knows best. There’s a reason He wants us to wait. There’s a specific reason for each specific situation, too.

We’ve got to trust. We’ve got to be patient. We’ve got to listen.

Y’all ever feel like a phony? A failure?

It happens, and it stinks.

I mean honestly – I can post scripture after scripture about the fruit of the spirit and being patient and kind etc. I memorize it. I pray that this fruit will be evident within me.

Fast forward two hours and I’m about to lose my mind at the local grocery store because once again they’ve moved the frozen gluten free burritos.

The struggle is real, but that doesn’t mean you’re a fake or a failure – it just means you’re human. It just means that every single day you need God to pour His grace down upon you.

Some days I feel like He should dunk me in that pool of grace and hold me under for a few seconds longer – really let it soak in.

Y’all, we are gonna fall short. So short. We’re gonna mess up. Big time. But that doesn’t mean you’re a phony. It doesn’t mean you’re fake, and it doesn’t mean you’re a failure. It just means that you need God’s grace. Gods beautiful, unending, unfailing grace.

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV)

Grace.

Let’s choose to extend it to one another this Monday morning – especially the Monday after a holiday.

We don’t know how the past week went for people. Was it good? Was it sad? Was it lonely?

People are going through some tough stuff. Stuff we may never understand because it’s not ours to understand.

But.

We can be nice humans. We can offer a smile. A laugh. Maybe just a silent nod. We can do that.

The good thing about grace is that there’s plenty to go around. We all need it, and we can all extend it.

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Colossians 3:12-14 (ESV)

Without my conversations with Jesus everyday I would be helpless. Without the promises that He left me on that old rugged cross I would be hopeless.

I hope you have that this morning. I hope Jesus is your best friend – your daily companion and confidant. I hope

He is the one you turn to all day everyday.

We are all looking for that one person who loves us no matter what – who brings out the best in us. He’s right here, y’all.

He’s right here.

18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, 19 to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. 20 We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. 21 In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. 22 May your unfailing love be with us, LORD, even as we put our hope in you.

Psalm 33:18-22 (NIV)

Not everyone is going to get you.

That’s a hard pill to swallow. Maybe more like swallowing gravel, but it’s true – and it’s ok.

There’s nothing wrong with you. We are all just human, and humans are flawed. There’s something deep within us that makes us think it’s ok to judge others – to determine how others measure up.

Others judge us. We judge others. It’s a viscous cycle.

First of all, we need to stop doing that mess to others. Secondly, we have to stop beating ourself up when others do it to us. We are what God thinks of us – not what other people think.

I’m not saying to have a “do you boo” attitude.

All I’m saying is that if you are truly embracing Jesus then you’re doing all that you can do. You’re on the right path, and that’s all that matters.

Not everyone is going to get you. Not everyone is going to like you. Don’t let that determine your happiness. Don’t let it consume you.

Be nice anyway.

Be kind anyway.

Smile anyway.

Follow Jesus anyway.

Not everyone is going to get you, but Jesus always will. And that’s all that matters.

“3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.