If you have been on your journey for any time, you know you can find hurt, frustration, disappointment, and failure. Regardless, you cannot give in to the destructive practice of bitterness. It is famously said that bitterness is the poison we drink, hoping it kills other people. Bitterness is the result of losing what we need for the journey. We stop walking in hope, faith, and trust and resign ourselves to accepting the worst of all possibilities. Walk His disciples... Read more
Expediency is not a hallmark of the spiritual journey in the wilderness. How much time it takes is not as important as much as the character of the heart. If you want to do it right, you must take the time to hear and follow God. Attempts to artificially speed up the journey’s timeline often create heartache and pain. Trying to force God’s hand or dragging Him into your proposed solutions are missteps along the journey. God continues to look... Read more
The water that quenches a dry and thirsty soul as they journey through the wilderness is hope. Hope is an oasis in what can be an arid and dusty land. This likely seems counterintuitive to those who are wandering. After all, the wilderness is often rock bottom and the place where you can feel the most abandoned. These are the places where hope normally goes to be lost. But when you follow God in your journey, you quickly learn that... Read more
Honesty is the expectation of the journey in the wilderness. David was a wilderness wanderer. Read the Psalms and hear the raw honesty God places in the book most closely aligned to worship. Today, much Christian music (worship or otherwise) takes on much happier subjects. One song recently released feels straight from the wilderness. Cory Asbury writes with raw honesty in his song Kind. The words are a balm to those searching for the right words to say to God.... Read more
You don’t have to read very far in the Bible to find wandering people. The book of Genesis is full of people moving to locate God. Adam and Eve leave the manicured pathways of the garden for a rocky and unpredictable wild world. God’s people found the promised land as Abraham, left it to survive famine, and journeyed back following Moses and Joshua. And while we may not walk through actual wild lands, every faith journey involves wild walking. What... Read more
When the Israelites left Egypt, God led them by a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire during the night. Then they arrived at the Red Sea, and God provided a miraculous escape from Pharoah. But when the realities of the wilderness settled in, they lost their faith. Despite all the signs performed by God, they complained to and about Moses. They wondered if they would have been better off in Egypt. The wilderness will do that, make... Read more
When Jesus saw the large crowd in Matthew 14, He had compassion on them. He took time to care for them and heal them. When it was time to eat, He turned to His disciples and gave them a simple directive. You feed them, and the disciples found the resources to do just that with a bit of supernatural help. Jesus still calls us to serve the lost, lonely, hopeless, and hurting. He is inviting you to bring your limited... Read more
In 2015, Denzel Washington was the commencement speaker at a Dilliard University graduation ceremony. The first point in his speech is to put God first, and the last point is to pray a prayer of thanksgiving to God every day. The address has found its way into Instagram Reels and Tik Toks and many people have asked if Denzel Washington is a Christian. Son of a Preacher Man Denzel was born on December 28, 1954, the son of an ordained... Read more
Image by Pawel Kozera from Pixabay Whenever Christians talk about the love part of Jesus’ teaching, someone will accuse that the truth is being watered down. Jesus was and remains a complex person. He was full of love and truth, and Christians should remember that His harshest criticism was spoken to the religious elite of His day. You Shouldn’t Fix What Isn’t Broken Imagine being so confident in understanding God’s word that you miss God in the flesh. But before... Read more
When Jesus becomes the Lord of our life, we become new creations. Like His disciples, we, too, have heard and believed the words of life. Out of the overflow of our hearts, our mouths speak. What do the words you say reveal about your heart? Clearing Out the Old Self No one is perfect. There will be times as a parent, a spouse, a child, a friend, or a co-worker when you speak according to the old self. Words... Read more
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