A Peaceful Sip

29/10/2025

Life doesn’t always make sense, but Romans 8:28 reminds us that nothing in our story is wasted. God is working in ways we can’t always see—even in the hard, confusing, or painful moments. He’s not just watching from a distance; He’s actively weaving everything together for our good and His purpose.

Sometimes the “good” He’s doing isn’t about comfort or success—it’s about growth, strength, and a deeper faith that can’t be shaken. It’s learning to trust Him when the pieces don’t fit, to believe His plan is still perfect even when it doesn’t feel like it.

You might not understand what He’s doing right now, but one day you’ll look back and see how every tear, every delay, and every closed door had meaning. God’s purpose for you isn’t random—it’s intentional, eternal, and full of grace. Keep loving Him. Keep trusting Him. He’s turning it all for good. 🤍🙏🏻

Salt & Light

28/10/2025

C.S. Lewis said, “I want God, not my idea of God.”
Let’s take that a step further.

I want God,
not my idea of God.
I want truth,
not my idea of truth.
I want faith,
not my idea of faith.
I want freedom,
not my idea of freedom.
I want peace,
not my idea of peace.
I want love,
not my idea of love.
I want holiness,
not my idea of holiness.

Because if we’re honest—so often what we cling to isn’t God Himself, but our illusion of Him. We love a God who agrees with us. We love a truth that’s convenient. We love a peace that doesn’t require surrender. But our ideas, as well-meaning as they may be, are too small for the vastness of who God actually is.

Taking this a step further helps us open our hearts wider. It helps us realize that the discomfort, the waiting, the stretching, the challenge—it’s often where the real God is. Not the one we imagined, but the One who is. The One who saves.

So let this be our prayer:
To want God more than the shadow we’ve made of Him.
To trust that what He offers—even when it undoes us—is always better.

30/03/2025

Jesus is the Light of the World.

Jesus in every way fulfills and surpasses every image and symbol of light that came before Him. Jesus said that once we have the light we will not walk in darkness. But, He did not say that He would take the darkness away. You and I both know we live in a dark world that needs all the light it can get. That’s why we must follow where the Light leads.

It seems like more and more people are turning away from God and following after their own way. It can be easy to get so focused on the darkness around us that we never address the darkness in us. Any place we are afraid of being exposed is evidence of possible darkness in us.

Well-known preacher Charles Spurgeon said, “Dear friend, if you are afraid of light, be suspicious of yourself, for it is deceit that dreads detection.”1 If you don’t stop and recognize potential areas of darkness in your life you may just keep living there—unaware. Even more dangerous is hiding from the light and growing accustomed to the darkness, only to be deceived by its momentary pleasure.

Ultimately, it’s always more comfortable to sin in darkness due to the false sense that what we do is private and unknown; it’s hidden. The good news is that there is hope for us. Jesus is our hope. He is the light that illuminates the darkness for our good and His glory.

The great news is that Christ is in the business of bringing the light of Himself into dark places, and for that I am thankful.

And He’s standing in the midst of my darkness and yours as well. We all have places in our life where we’ve refused Jesus and shut out His light. Remember, Jesus isn’t trying to expose you to put shame on you. He’s trying to expose the sin that has its chains around you. His light not only helps us get free but see where to walk from here.

In your darkness and in mine—whatever and wherever it might be—let Jesus shine His bright light because He is the Light. The world has no other light than Him. It is Jesus or darkness; there is no third alternative. If you see or notice light in the world, it is Jesus.

Where can you notice the light today and invite Him into any darkness that may be in or around you?

He wants to come and fill it.

1. Spurgeon, C. H. “The Light of the World.” In The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, 62:501. (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1916.)

30/03/2025

We do not often speak of duty today, but Christians traditionally understood the means of grace as duties, responsibilities of every believer toward God. And while these duties are the means through which God provides us with his grace, they are also the means through which God guards us against temptation.

Christians who wish to overcome the inevitable temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil must remain dutiful, alert, and disciplined.

As we fall away from these habits, we should not be surprised when we face increased temptation and when we more easily succumb to these temptations.

Charles Spurgeon once wrote, “Idle people tempt the devil to tempt them.”

Indeed, the devil is most active when we are most idle—especially in the spiritual disciplines.

Matthew Henry says, “When we are out of the way of duty, we are in the way of temptation.” If that is true, so is the inverse: When we are in the way of duty, we are out of the way of temptation.

This is not to say that when we take full advantage of the habits of grace we will face no temptation, but that when we do face temptation, we will readily avail ourselves of the means through which we can face it and triumph over it.

30/03/2025

30/03/2025

In the midst of our busy lives, we can sometimes wonder whether we really have the time to pray. Won’t prayer hinder our productivity? Won’t prayer keep us from getting done all the things we need to do?

When facing such questions, we would do well to consider that if we are too busy to pray, we are simply too busy!

Martin Luther once lamented the busyness of his life but then exclaimed, “I have so much to do that I shall have to spend the first three hours in prayer!” Though he may have been speaking tongue-in-cheek, he meant to communicate something of the essential nature of prayer. He was too busy not to pray.

Paul Miller speaks words of wisdom: “Learning to pray doesn’t offer us a less busy life; it offers us a less busy heart.”

While praying will not check items off our too-long lists of things to do, it will quiet our hearts as we do them. It will enable us to submit ourselves, our responsibilities, and our to-dos to the one for whom we do them.

06/02/2025

We strive and strain against God's intent for our lives and burn ourselves out. This 10-day reading plan will introduce you to spiritual pathways that will help position you to receive from the Lord and experience communion and intimacy with him—and true soul rest.

06/02/2025

A new 10 day Plan ❤️

06/02/2025

🙏

06/02/2025

*Practicing the Rhythms*

The word “rhythm” is usually a musical term, but it can also be defined as a regularly recurring sequence of events, actions, or processes. It’s in these events, actions, and processes that we are hoping and preparing to commune with God. I’ve also seen the word defined as a “movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions.” It is here that I find a bit more of a connection to my situation. In the weakness of my flesh and selfish desires, I need to submit to the strength and beauty of the presence of God in my life.

There are various types of spiritual temperaments, and it is important that we attempt to determine the ways that we best connect with God. Richard Foster once wrote, “By themselves, the Spiritual Disciplines can do nothing; they can only get us to the place where something can be done.” [1] It is our hope that as we lean into the rhythms that are pathways to a connection with Christ, we will experience communion and intimacy with Him. In doing so, it fuels and sustains our ability to live from the rest that we have discovered. It says in Galatians 5:17 that “the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”

As followers of Jesus who have discovered soul rest, we still are tempted to allow our flesh to determine our decisions and processes in life. Because of this, we have to establish practices, or rhythms, that will point us to the source of power to move forward in a way that honors God. It goes on to say in Galatians 5:18 that if we are “led by the Spirit,” we will walk in step with what the Lord desires of us.

Rhythms help to position us to be prepared to receive from the Lord. Practicing these disciplines helps us combat too much self-appreciation and elevates our awareness of our need for a savior.

24/10/2024

There is a close connection between prayer and humility. This being the case, there is also a close connection between prayerlessness and pride.

Those who believe they are self-sufficient feel no need to petition God for his help, for his strength, for his wisdom. It is only those who admit their lack who will cry out to God.

H.B. Charles lays out a sobering challenge: “The things you pray about are the things you trust God to handle.” Conversely, “the things you neglect to pray about are the things you trust you can handle on your own.”

In this way both prayer and prayerlessness are deeply significant and even deeply symbolic.

To pray is to admit we need help; to fail to pray is to indicate we feel no need for help.

Is there any area of life in which we need no divine help whatsoever? Of course not! Then there is no area of life we should not pray about; there is no petition too small.

We can, we must, make our requests known to God.