2 Timothy 4:16-18 ESV

At my first defense, no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.

Rescue by Lauren Daigle

You are not hidden

There’s never been a moment

You were forgotten

You are not hopeless

Though you have been broken

Your innocence stolen

I hear you whisper underneath your breath

I hear your SOS, your SOS

I will send out an army to find you

In the middle of the darkest night

It’s true, I will rescue you

There is no distance

That cannot be covered

Over and over

You’re not defenseless

I’ll be your shelter

I’ll be your armor

As I was working on school stuff this song came on, and at the same time Daisy messaged to remind me about my time to share. And to be honest I didn’t type out what I had on my heart until after she reminded me because well, life is hectic right now. The feeling of struggling is very heavy. At times, abandonment comes in strong and I’m not always sure where it stems from. I’ve lost people that I love dearly whether to death or just life moving on. At times old hurts and memories that reflect this feeling come up, and it leaves me wondering why. Why does it happen? Why wasn’t I good enough to choose to stick around with? Why did they walk out?

Since moving to Arkansas and working with families who have trauma that is out of this world, some days it breaks my heart to know that they feel these things as well. I have worked hard to be the light for them in their darkest nights and while I know that I cannot rescue them, I know I’m showing God’s light to be the rescue for themselves. This is what God does – He leans down to rescue us. We cannot hide from Him. There is no low or high that we have in life where He isn’t with us. Now, if you’re anything like me some days during the highs and lows you forget He’s right next to you, and that’s okay because He is still covering us. He is our shelter and armor when life is beating us up. But my favorite thing is that He sends people to be there with us when we need more support to rescue ourselves. God is placing you where you need to be with the people you need for this season. Though people may come and go, it does not mean you are unworthy of rescuing or that you are not worth fighting for. God is always fighting for you and towards you.

Lean into God on the days you don’t see yourself where you want to be or where the love for yourself is lower. God is still covering you in love that is as mighty as an ocean where it drowns out all of the fear, shame, abandonment, rejection, and all of the other ugly feelings. Remember God will hear your softest whisper, He will strengthen you, He will bring you safely back to Him, and He will rescue you!

Happy 2024! Another year has come and gone. Were you proud of yourself this last year? Did you do some really hard things? Did you have challenges you faced? Was God with you through it all? Absolutely! He was there with you for all of the good and the not so good. He is proud of you for doing the hard things. He is proud of you for staying faithful through the challenges.

Joshua 1:9 tells us, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go”.

While we look forward to the new year, we will have plans for what we think this year will look like. Perhaps our new year resolutions look a bit like eating better, exercising more, or spending more time with family. However, our plans for this year are ultimately not up to us. God already has this entire new year planned out for us. He knows the challenges you will face, and he knows the joyous moments you will experience. He wants to walk beside you through it all. Trust in Him, and the rest will fall into place… ALWAYS! The scripture reminds us to be strong and courageous no matter what we are facing and to trust that the Lord is with you wherever you go.

It is easy to make plans for the upcoming year, but the true new year plans we should be making for ourself is to allow our life to revolve more around Jesus and the great plans He already has for us. We have to plan for Him to be the guidance and spirit we need for taking on the new year. Can I encourage you to make your new year resolution to walk closer with Jesus this year? I promise you won’t regret it. As you walk with Jesus and trust in Him, this will be your best year yet!

“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31

Have hope in the Lord this new year to renew your strength to face whatever this year holds for you. By doing so, in trusting in Him, you will run with the Lord’s plans and not grow weary. Have a very blessed 2024! What a blessing it is to see a new year! Make it a good one.

And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.“

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭22‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ 

And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭22‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ 

Recently, I’ve been looking at the life of Abraham, and I’ve come to stories I’ve read and heard many times in my life. Abraham has always been one of my favorite characters, and while I know this story is prophetic of Jesus, as I read it this time, God spoke to me about provision.

As Isaac and Abraham headed toward the sacrificial offering, Isaac asked where the lamb was. Abraham responded that God would provide for Himself the lamb. Then, as Abraham lifted the knife to slay his son, God called out to Abraham to stop. When Abraham looked, there was the ram that would be the sacrifice. Abraham was fully obedient in following God’s directions, and, at what we would see as at the last minute, God fully provided.

There are situations right now that I’m facing in which I just don’t see the how of it being worked out. Yet, God reminded me that it’s not my place to worry. It’s my place to trust and obey. In trusting and obeying, God will provide, sometimes at the last minute. 

As you go into this new year, are you wondering how you’re going to pay that bill? Trusting and obeying means “the Lord will provide”. Are you wondering how that work situation is going to be resolved? Trusting and obeying means “the Lord will provide”. Are you wondering how the needs of your family are going to be met? Trusting and obeying means “the Lord will provide”. Are you wondering how that relationship with a loved one will be restored? Trusting and obeying means “the Lord will provide”. We may struggle with the timeline, but no matter what the situation, trusting and obeying means “the Lord will provide” in His perfect time. 

Trust and obey no matter what. His timing is perfect. His provision is perfect.

“The Lord will provide.”

There are a few times a year I feel absolutely burnt out. I realize at these times my cup is near empty and I am spiritually dehydrated. When life gets busy, it’s so easy to rush my quiet time or skip it altogether. That daily time with Jesus is so worth it, you don’t want to miss it. 

Make it a priority to read your Bible on a daily basis. The nourishment of God’s word does not compare to any worldly thing out there. If you are a believer, inspect your walk with the Lord. Choose someone in your life to share the gospel with and pray fervently for them. 

If I can be filled up with the love and strength of Jesus, then I don’t want it any other way. Let’s start the new year with cups that are overflowing thanks to the Lord’s goodness!

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”

Psalm 23:5-6

To anyone who made getting up early and getting in the Word your New Year’s resolution:

Yes.

Yes, you can.

My whole life I was a “sleeper-inner”. Like a professional. You can ask my dad. However, in 2017 I set a goal to get up before everyone else and spend time with my bestie – God.

And I did.

Was it easy?

No.

Did I do it?

Yes.

And all these years later I’m still setting that alarm and getting up.

With God, lots of prayer, and lots of determination – the resolution became a reality.

God split the Red Sea, y’all. He can make you a morning person. Psssshhhhh.

Let me tell you something, I’m going on year 7 of this and I’m a literal Ray of Sunshine in the mornings now. I mean, after a cup of coffee of course.

I love it. I love the quiet. I love the sweet whispers between God and myself. I love the stillness. I love that it’s “ours”.

The only day I don’t set my alarm is on Saturday – if the kiddos don’t have some type of something that is.

Summer break, Christmas break, winter break, it doesn’t matter – the alarm is being set. And I’m getting up, and I’m getting set.

Set up for excellence. Because that’s what being in God’s word does.

Y’all, just trust me. It’s the sweetest, best time of the day.

If I can, you can.

Because God can.

7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7

When I share my testimony with people, I usually begin by stating that I accepted Christ when I was 12 years old, but I didn’t start acting like it until I was 27. To say that I was hot mess as a teenager would be the understatement of the century. I was grounded more than I was free. I snuck out, stole money from my dad while he was sleeping, started drinking and smoking before I even graced the doors of my high school campus. I bounced more checks in my late teens and early twenties than I should admit on a public platform. My poor parents didn’t know what to do with me. I know they prayed for me. I know they tried to talk sense into me. I know they reached out to counselors, youth pastors, and friends for advice and support. I know, now, that they must have lost a lot of sleep worrying about me and spent a lot of money cleaning up the trail of heartbreak and disaster that l left in my self-centered adolescent wake.

My sweet daddy spent his first Christmas with Jesus this year. He passed away this October. I’m still devastated by his absence because he was my biggest fan. I look back on my childhood and my life as an adult and can’t recall a single moment in my entire life that I doubted his love for me. After his death, hundreds of people poured out their love for my dad in letters, posts, text messages, and conversations reminiscing about the love they felt from Dad and about how he made them feel special and accepted just for who they were. I’ve come to realize since losing Daddy that God gave me this earthly father as an amazing example of what unconditional love looks like. Apparently, no matter how wretched I was as a teenager, there was nothing I could do to make my daddy not love me and forgive me or want me to be reconciled unto himself. Were there consequences of my actions and choices? Absolutely. There are many struggles that I face even today as a 46-year-old that are direct results of my sinful past–burdens that I might bare until the day I meet Jesus myself; however, knowing that I was loved and forgiven by my earthly father is not one of them. For that I am forever grateful.

In Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth, he assured them of their Heavenly Father’s love for them and His desire to reconcile them unto Himself. Paul tells them in chapter 5, “15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”

So, what is this “message of reconciliation” about which Paul speaks? As you begin this new year, know in the deepest depths of your heart that there is nothing old in your past that God will not leave behind in His endless ocean of forgiveness. There is nothing you could have ever done that will make Him not love you today. As the old passes away in the new year, seek and rest in the One who is the source of that kind of love and who only desires to love and be loved by you no matter what–our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Bare feet on wooden stairs. Red nylon nightgowns that matched. Two sisters clattered down the stairs on a cool Christmas morning, running into a room that had seemed bare when they went to bed, but now resembled Santa’s workshop in all its glory. There were stockings, my favorite, and babydolls from Santa. Presents were wrapped under the tree, their endless possibilities almost dancing in the air before us. We felt like very lucky girls, indeed.

Against each wall stood a handcrafted desk with an attached shelf. We had run past them to get to the Christmas tree. They were beautifully made, polished to a high shine, gleaming in the reflection of the Christmas lights.

Neither girl mentioned the desks. Instead, they ran straight to the stockings. Inside were staples, erasers, paper clips, and all the things one would need to stock a desk. Still, no one mentioned the desks in the room.

One sister had asked for a desk of her own and had wanted it so much. She didn’t see the desk before her because of the lights and sounds of the season that competed with the presence of the desk.

The other sister saw the desks, but thought they were much too grand and special for the likes of her. Surely, they were for her parents. It didn’t seem like she was worthy of such a gift. It must be there for someone else.

Eventually, their mom told them of the gifts that were right in front of them. Of how their dad had made them for his two girls. How they were thought of especially as he made them.

The gift of the father seemed enormous. Shyly the girls eyed the desks then ran to them. They began stocking the drawers with paper clips and staplers and felt very grown up, and excited, and loved.

This Christmas, you might be like these two sisters. Like the second sister you may see a baby in a manger and think he is far too grand a gift for the likes of you. You might think you don’t deserve a gift so special, but your father in Heaven thought about you when he sent Jesus to be born as a baby.

Or, you may be like the first sister and simply not see the manger in light of all the hustle and bustle, and excitement of the season.

Don’t miss the splendor of the season by not noticing the gift in front of you. Jesus was born humbly in a stable, he lived a perfect life, and he died a violent death on a cross so that all who ask him to be Lord of their lives might be saved. Don’t think the gift is too grand or too special for you to accept. Just see the gift of Jesus and take it.

The other day the baby sister said to me, “Well, if you weren’t walking in cursive.” Cause if you know me then you know when I walk I’m all over the place. 🤣

It got me thinking about this journey we call life. One would assume it would be a straight shot – like normal people walking down a sidewalk. Side eye at myself and my cursive walking.

But it’s not.

It’s not a straight shot, and it doesn’t make any kind of sense. It’s not going to.

Let’s take it back to the Israelites in Exodus. God took them on a journey that was all twisty and turny and every which way. They didn’t understand it. How could they? They couldn’t see the big picture like He could.

What looked like a scribbled up Dora the Explorer map to some was actually a very well planned out excursion.

The pretty, perfect path would have had them ol’ Israelites end up right smack dab in the middle of a war – war they were not prepared to fight.

So God had them walk in cursive. They went this way and then they went that way – and unbeknownst to them they were strategically protected from the waging war that they would have happened upon if they would have taken the so-called pretty, perfect path.

Y’all, God may have you on a journey right now that you just don’t quite understand. And I can almost bet that you would like to play MapQuest for Him.

Don’t do it.

You can’t see the big picture.

You can’t see what’s in front of you.

You can’t see what’s surrounding you.

But God can.

Trust the journey He has placed before you.

And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. Exodus 13:21