My family members are convinced that I loved my dog Ellie more than I loved them. My sweet girl passed away almost two years ago, but she was definitely one of the greatest loves of my life.  Just a mut from the pound, she loved us deeply and seemed to know in her little doggy heart that she was rescued, cherished, and safe with us. I spoke words of affirmation to that dog daily, often wondering if my words could somehow make her live a longer life here on this earth.  (I know I sound crazy! Ha!)  I told my sweet furry baby that she was “the most beautiful dog in the history of all the dogs that ever were or ever would be,” and I praised her for being “the most precious, kind, and smart dog that ever lived!”  Okay.  I guess I can see how my husband and children could possibly think that the dog was more highly favored than them! 

But, I also live for speaking love and affirmation over people! When I see my daughter, I can’t help but say, “you’re so beautiful” or “you have such wisdom beyond your years.” I’m compelled to constantly tell my son, “I’m so proud of who you are as a person” or “you’re just so handsome!” I often send encouraging words to my husband via texts like, “thank you for taking such good care of our family” or “you’re such a good man.” I even throw out compliments to complete strangers, such as “I love your hair” or “that outfit is absolutely fab!” More so in people than in my sweet Ellie girl, I see how words speak life into hearts and cause heads to be held higher or hints of smiles to flash across faces, even for a second, and that brings me joy.

So why is it so hard to speak life to myself?  My internal narrative is, more often than not, filled with words like, “you are not enough,” “you will probably fail,” or even as harsh as “you are wretched and ugly.”  Yep.  I am sometimes that mean to myself.  Now, I’m being pretty vulnerable here and letting you into my thoughts that noone else can hear, but I have an inkling of a feeling that I’m not alone in the arena of self-detriment.  And, even if you are not quite as vile with your self-directed words as I am, you may still need to hear the following.  Satan hates you.  Satan hates me.  Satan hates us so much because he knows the truth that God loves us so much. God’s Word points out in John, Chapter 8 that Satan “is the father of lies” and in 2nd Corinthians, Chapter 11 that Satan would “cause our thoughts [to be] led astray….” Satan wants us to believe the lies he tells us in our own head.  How incredibly rude of him.

So how do we fight against the lies we tell ourselves? God tells us in Proverbs 18:21 that “the tongue has the power of life and death….”  This is not only about the words we say out loud, but also appliciable to the words we speak to ourselves every day, even if it’s in our own head!  There is a relatively new song out on the radio called “The Truth” by Megan Woods that honestly describes this reality better than I ever could, so please consider the lyrics here:

“How many times can you hear the same lie

Before you start to believe it?

The enemy keeps whisperin’ to me

I swear these days, it’s all that I’m hearin’

I used to know who I was

Now I look in the mirror and I’m not so sure

Lord, I don’t wanna listen to the lies anymore

The truth is I am my Father’s child

I make Him proud and I make Him smile

I was made in the image of a perfect King

He looks at me and wouldn’t change a thing

The truth is I am truly loved

By a God who’s good when I’m not good enough

I don’t belong to the lies, I belong to You

And that’s the truth”

Oh, how I pray that we can lean into the Father of truth that made us “in the image of a perfect King” and loves us so much that He “wouldn’t change a thing.”  Let’s spend more time in His Word (the Bible) and hide His truths in our hearts.  Only then will we be armed against the enemy’s lies and rest in the love, peace, and TRUTH of the life God breathes into our lives. Internalize this truth that even my sweet Ellie understood–we are rescued, cherished, and safe with Him.

A few weeks ago I was in the heart of Rocky Mountain National Park. The majestic peaks, lakes, and wildlife are a true testament to God’s handiwork. As we made our way through the park, I soaked it all up and enjoyed every moment.

We spent hours there, and the same thought kept echoing through my mind:
“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” Psalm 8:3–4 (NIV)

God created and formed the mountains with just a thought.
Who am I compared to the massive, unrelenting snow-peaked mountains?
Who am I compared to the blue skies that go on forever?
Who am I that the Lord would know my name?

Then I was reminded of the sparrows, and I instantly had goosebumps. The same God who created the mountains sees the tiny sparrow. So of course He sees us and knows us by name.

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
Matthew 10:29–31 (NIV)

While He placed the moon and the stars in the sky, He also created each one of us. The very hairs on our head are numbered. If God knows that detail about you, He knows all the important things too.

Whatever you are facing, whatever you are going through, He knows your name. Nothing is too big for our God, and nothing is too small for Him either. Your greatest joy, your deepest pain, the quiet fear no one else can see…God is aware of it all. He even knows the thoughts you don’t say aloud, the ones you barely admit to yourself.

And still, He calls you by name.

If God sees the sparrow that falls to the ground, He undoubtedly sees and cares for you.

I’m going to keep this one simple –

We need Jesus. Yesterday, today, and forevermore. You, myself, our neighbors, the person you pass on the rode, the person at the gas pump beside us, we all need Him. In a major way. 

There is immense growth when we realize the desperate need of His direction and guidance. Direction in the way to walk, and guidance in decisions we make. 

What made me think of this topic? A conversation I had with a friend over the idea of and question of.. are we making church look like we are people that have it all together? Or are we being honest with the desperate fact we are all in need of the Gospel? I wish we talked about this more. We don’t talk about the desperate need. We do talk about the highlight reel of how great life has been since coming to know Christ because it is! But remember the road before we made it to him? We don’t talk about how we have to continue asking for forgiveness. We would rather not discuss that reading your Bible everyday is actually a disciplinary action that is really hard to do. We need him in a major way. To continue forgiving us. To continue showing us the way. 

Absolutely – my life changed in the greatest way because of Jesus. But that’s when it got more challenging too. Let’s admit that. It’s hard to stay on the Godly path. I pray you get up everyday and choose it. May I always continue remembering I need Him… in a major way.

Tomorrow we celebrate our independence as a nation!! I always think of how blessed we are to have the freedoms we have and feel so thankful to the ones that fought for them! 

There are countless individuals that continue to protect our freedoms today. It is a never ending battle. In comparison, as Christians, we have been blessed with our freedom in Christ. We also have a daily battle and responsibility to protect our freedoms that Christ died to give us.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1

We are called to stand firm in our faith. Faith is what protects our freedoms in Christ. God has grace on us to live our lives free from sin and guilt, the law, fear of death, and He allows us to go straight to His throne room with our prayers. God has set us free from these things so that we can live our lives with joy and peace that can only come from Him. A life filled with purpose to fulfill His plan and bring glory to our Father!

“You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.For, “In just a little while He who is coming will come and will not delay.” And “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” “But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.” Hebrews 10: 36-39

To stand firm in our faith we have to be steadfast and persevere through any spiritual battle that may come our way. The testing of our faith is what develops these characteristics. 

The devil will do everything he can to attack our spiritual life. He knows our weaknesses. He knows if we tend to live in unforgiveness or bitterness, if we are overwhelmed with anxiety or fear, if we live in bondage of past sins, if we have an addiction or anything that distracts us from God. You can bet he will use whatever tactic it takes to cause us to fall into sin and waver in our faith. In these moments we have to remember Christ died not to make our lives easier but to give us freedom from these attacks.

God knows that we are not going to live perfect lives, but he does equip us with the ability to protect the freedom Christ died to give us. We don’t have to earn it. We are not capable of earning it anyway. We do, however, have to fight by staying in the word, praying and seeking God’s will for each day, serving and loving others, and spreading the gospel! When we stay connected to God our lives will be full of the things that are pleasing to Him. We will naturally want to do good works because we are so grateful for what God has done. We can rely on guidance from the Holy Spirit in anything we do. Just remember our true freedom is found in Christ and He died so that our souls can truly have freedom for eternity!

“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God,the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.” Romans 6:22

This week I had an ah-ha, get it together moment. It wasn’t something that I didn’t already know, but something we need to sometimes be reminded of in this busy life. 

This week, my youngest daughter messaged me from her boyfriend’s phone to let me know that her fairly new iPhone 17 was not turning on. I went through the proper questions of did you try a different charger? Try a different outlet plug? The answer from her was of course – yes. So , I told her to say a prayer over it. 

Within 5 minutes she had messaged me back letting me know that she did, and it was back on. I said see, He just wanted to hear from you today. He whispered so gently, “I want to hear from you too!” 

He wants to hear from all of his children. Not just to ask for help with the newest iPhone, or healing for our neighbors, or help with our financial woes, or to please lead us to our lost keys. He wants all of those things too, but even more He wants us to talk to him like a friend, our very best friend. The one we come to with our joyful times, our most memorable moments, our gratitude, our praise. 

When is the last time I talked to Him as soon as I woke up instead of reaching for my phone? When did I have the last meaningful time talking to Him and listening for His answers instead of just going down my prayer list? I apply this to myself because it spoke to me so heavily, but I know in the busy day to day we live in that I cannot be the only one that needed this gentle reminder. 

Wake up and choose Jesus. Talk to Him like your best friend, and come to Him with more than just life’s troubles. He’s such a good father, and I thank Him for the gentle reminder He brought this week.