As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding, in it with thanksgiving. Colossians 2:6-7 Planting For Growth When I was about four years old I remember planting flower seeds on the side of my house. There was an innate awareness to nurture a living thing inside of me, even as a young child. I distinctly remember checking on my plants several times a day, expecting growth to happen instantaneously. I was disappointed when they did not bloom overnight. I remember the first moment I saw small, green stems began to rise from the earth—I ran in the house to tell my family with a shrill of excitement in my voice. The plants I had been checking on and watering religiously have finally made their appearance. A few weeks later when they were showing signs of blooming, our landlord mowed right over them while cutting the grass. As tears ran down my rosy cheeks, my mom held me in her arms, trying her best to comfort my broken heart. That year nothing grew in my tiny plot of dirt.…

After yesterday’s post about Gomer, I really felt to repost a devotion I wrote a few years ago about shame. Shame is such a debilitating feeling, and it makes you want to hide from the people you love and from the love of God. The First Account Of Shame After Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they hid from the presence of God. They also tried to hide their shame by covering their nakedness with leaves. God knew where they were in the garden, but He is a gentleman and desires for us to come to Him when we are burdened down, feel shame, and have sinned.  God is calling out to Adam, “Where are you?”  Adam and his wife were hiding, not because they didn’t want to be with the Lord, but because they felt the shame of their mistake. Adam cried out, “I hid myself because I was naked.” Genesis 3:11 says, “Who told you that you were naked?”  Shame has a voice Shame is the voice of the enemy that says, “you are not good enough.” Shame is the voice that says, “run from God, you have too many problems.” Shame says, “You’ve sinned too…

Have you ever been in a situation where you asked for someone’s help, let’s say your car broke down and you need someone to pick you up on the side of the road, and when your ‘friend’ responds, it’s with a drawn out sigh, “ugh, yeah, I guess I can get you. I was in the middle of something, but if you need me, I will basically drag myself there.” *Emphasis and dramatization is mine. Well, you’ve received help, but it only makes you feel more hopeless because they clearly don’t want to come to your rescue, but you’re desperate. So, what do you do? Similarly, God knows us from the inside out, and He knows if our ‘yes’ is a ‘no’ in our hearts. He wants us to delight in His requests, not despise His voice. He doesn’t need our assistance, but He chooses to work with His creation to accomplish great things (Acts 17:24-28). Ecclesiastes 5:5 says, “It is better not to make a vow, than to make one and not fulfill it,” NIV. We need to be careful what we agree to because every word and action will one day be judged. The Power of A Willing…

“Mama, play with me?” This is a daily request from my 3-year-old daughter. She is incredibly imaginative and can play independently for a very long time. I love to stand in the doorway and listen to the scenes she expresses out loud; it’s so sweet and special. Sometimes, she sees me walk by the room, or sometimes she comes to find me in the house, but she always grabs my attention throughout the day with, “Mama, play with me.” I make a point to have focused play with her every day; sometimes it’s 10 min, and other days it’s much longer. But, I know it means so much to her to have my undivided attention, without my phone, computer, and daily chores splintering my attention. As soon as I hear, “Mama,” my ears are keen to hear to what she has to say. Listen! The LORD’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call, Isaiah 59:1, NIV. One of the Lord’s most beautiful characteristics is that even though He knows what we are about to say, He listens anyway. The quality time I spend with my children can be paralleled with…