“As long as we have our stories there is hope.”
-Henri Nouwen

“Will you read me a story?” is a common request in our household. It doesn’t matter if you are family, friend, or acquaintance. If you sit near one of the stacks of picture books, it’s likely a pair of tiny hands will bring you at least one, if not four, of them, accompanied by a pleading smile and excited eyes. Regardless of how silly or unusual the premise of each story seems to be, there is a bit of hope to be found in them more often than not. From Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire, I am reminded  I belong somewhere, but it might not be where I think. From The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat, I am mindful that even when I’m doing the seeking, I could still need to be found myself.

As our year of DWITW 365 draws to an end, I can’t help but reflect on all the stories we have read. I’ve watched the genealogy of Jesus unfold across the pages, from Abraham to David to Joseph. I’ve been able to savor the grand chronicle that spans from creation to fall to redemption to restoration; from the Tree of Life in Genesis to the Tree of Life in Revelation. When I look back on it all, a few verses from the middle of Revelation sit in my mind:

“And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!’ ” (Revelation 12:10-12)

By the blood of Jesus, we are made conquerors. By the testifying of Christ and the work He had done, we conquer.

Our accuser has been conquered, our adversary overcome! Not only through Jesus’ death is the kingdom of God victorious, but also through the testimony of His people. A people who treasure their Savior and God more dearly than their very lives. By the blood of Jesus, we are made conquerors (Rom. 8:37.) By the testifying of Christ and the work He had done, we conquer. While God’s victory needn’t rest on the deeds of people, He chose to include us.

As so many before us, we get to participate. We get to be a part of this great story that is still unfurling all around us, even though the end has been decided. We get to speak of what Jesus has done, of His death and resurrection, of the new life He has given us.

And this testimony, this story we are to proclaim, to whom do I tell it? Anyone. Everyone. But especially my children. I tell them of a big God who became a tiny baby, of impossible hopes that took on skin, of beginnings and endings and beginning again. And in the light of that hope, I tell them of hurts and healing that go beyond kisses and band aids. Of death that brings life. Of Jesus.

And so I wage war against the darkness with my words. I fight to remember. I fight to remind. I fight to give my voice to the Spirit, that the truth of what I see and know of God and His kingdom, His Son, and His Spirit may be imparted to others. Through the vibrancy of Christ’s blood and the unfading tenacity of His love, we are transformed. Our stories merge with His in a tapestry of memory, time, and divine intervention. An intervention undertaken by a Man, whose face we’ve yet to see, who loved us enough to give up His life so we could dance in His presence forever. So that we could become part of the community He knew before the first flower bloomed or the first wind blew.

in the light of that hope, I tell them of hurts and healing that go beyond kisses and band aids. Of death that brings life. Of Jesus.

I can’t help but think of John when he was writing his gospel as I’m imagining the expanse of Jesus stories there were back then. Too many to count, too many to read them all. Too many for the world to hold (John 21:25.) It’s from that abundance of stories, that the testimony of Jesus’ work in my heart and life has bloomed into victorious life. A life of a conqueror in Christ. 

Sisters, as you reflect on the past year, what are the testimonies of Jesus that have grown from your heart? What evidences of His love have given you life? How has He been faithful to refine your mind? What is the story of Jesus you need to tell?

In 2019, the DWITW blog will be focusing on the gospels, one each quarter of the year. We would love nothing more than for you to share your own testimonies of what you are learning as you read and study the life of our Savior. If you feel prompted to share, you can do so via our submissions page. We are so thankful for the work the Lord has done this year. We look on to the days ahead with great expectation of the stories we will hear.

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Robin Zastrow wants to live in a world where coffee never gets cold and kindness abounds. When she's not discovering the wonders of construction paper and cardboard tubes with her two little ones, you can find her sneaking in another few pages of a book or jotting down bits of writing on scraps of paper.

One of her favorite Scriptures is:“Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.” Psalm 33:20-22 ESV

What do you think of when you hear the word “confidence?” For me, I imagine a beautiful lady nailing a public speech with perfectly quaffed hair and a killer outfit being met with a standing ovation. Or, I imagine a ballerina bending and jumping in a tiny thigh-gap-exposing-tutu in front of a large live audience. Confidence to me has always been tied to looking good, performing well, and being adored by others.

As I read through 1 John, I see John writing about confidence, and WITH confidence, as He addresses his letter to God’s children. This confidence that John describes and exudes has nothing to do with the confidence that I’ve summed up in my own brain. It is not simply something we can muster up out of our own willpower, but it is gifted to us by our good Father. And it is not for our own glorification, but that of His. If I could sum up 1 John, it would be: God loved us and made Himself known to us through His Son Jesus, who saved us from our sins. Now, that breeds true confidence, and oodles of it.

God loved us and made Himself known to us through His Son Jesus, who saved us from our sins. Now, that breeds true confidence, and oodles of it.

John insists that we are God’s children. And in that station, we are born into an identity of confidence. Why? Because when you are secure in your position with God as your Father, not much scares you, whether in life or death.

He specifically writes about confidence four times in his first letter, starting in 2:28 where he writes, “And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears we may have confidence and not shrink in shame at His coming.” This refers to when Jesus comes again, but the statement also encourages us to approach Him now. No longer do we have the stain of sin to separate us from our Father, as Jesus took that upon Himself. In order to have confidence in Christ, we can not be strangers with Him, so John encourages us to embrace our position as His child, with every intimacy that this relationship affords.

This intimacy will remove your past and present shame stemming from sin. The next time John specifically mentions confidence is in 3:21 when he writes, “Beloved if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.” When you are a child of God, you will hate your sin. The Holy Spirit will expose your sin to you and begin to change you. No longer will you live in condemnation (Romans 8:1), but you will have confidence to ask God to keep doing the good work of sanctification in you. You will see you are not as you should be, but praise God for this! You have hope that the Holy Spirit is making you like Jesus, and you are confident He will finish that good work in you. As Paul writes in Philippians 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

We can also have confidence to approach Him boldly in prayer and know that He will hear us when we do. John writes in 1 John 5:14 “And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him.”

Not only can you be confident for the past, that you are forgiven, and for the present, that He is making you like Christ, but for the future as well. In 1 John 4:17, John writes “By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as He is so also are we in this world.” We are confident that when Jesus comes again, our Judge will find us blameless because when God sees us He sees Jesus. We can have confidence that Jesus and His salvation for us remains the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

John doesn’t just tell, he shows. He explicitly mentions confidence these four times, but in total, the book of 1 John says “know” 33 times. John is giving an account of what he knows for sure, and all because of WHO he knows for sure. John knows Jesus. And we know Jesus. Because of this knowledge, we can be confident….

In the love of the Father (1 John 3:1)
In His promises of eternal life (1 John 2:25)
In His truth (1 John 3:18-19)
In His testimony (1 John 5:6-12)
In the Holy Spirit’s teaching and in His anointing (1 John 2:27)
To practice righteousness (1 John 3:10)
To love the family of God, even if it requires sacrifice from us (1 John 3:16-18)
When we experience hatred from the world (1 John 3:13-15)
When we encounter antichrists (1 John 2:18-24)
That His victory is our victory (1 John 5:4)

There are probably several more confidences I have yet to discover from this rich book, but this I know: I am walking taller today than I am before I studied this book. Why? Because I am God’s child, and because I know Jesus.

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Jillian Vincent loves Jesus. She's a wife, mother of two boys and a Dayton enthusiast. Jillian currently is a stay at home mama and spends nap times writing and discipling other women. She would (almost) die for an avocado, a cup of coffee made by her husband, a novel that makes her cry, and a bouquet of sunflowers.

I remember attending several Christian events as a teen. There was always vibrant worship, excellent speakers, calls to action and the sharing of personal testimonies. I remember sitting and listening with rapt attention to the personal testimonies that were shared.  Stories of people who went from party-goer to all out Christ-follower. Stories of people who went from drug addicts to totally sober and clean. Stories of people who were wretchedly sick and God miraculously healed them. Even the story of the Apostle Paul, whose radical testimony declares him transformed from the biggest persecutor of Christians to one of the leaders of the very Church he once persecuted. It seemed like everywhere I looked, I heard radical stories of change and transformation that left me breathless and in awe of the powerful saving grace of Jesus Christ. And, if I’m being honest...these stories also always left me a little deflated. That’s amazing! That’s wonderful! That awe-inspiring! And then...there is me, and my story.

I was saved at the age of 4. I don’t even remember my “conversion experience,” but my Mom told me that I prayed with her. I grew up in a Christian home (as a missionary kid, no less). I had a rough patch in junior high where I was mean to other girls and too interested in other boys (you know, from a distance). Then, throughout high school, I always received awards like “Christian character” or “leader in service.” I then attended a Christian college, where I was involved in Bible Study leadership and any service opportunity I could get my hands on. At this Christian college, I met my Christian husband and we got married at the young age of 21. Obviously, we were virgins at our wedding. Our vows were Christian and our wedding was, too. Basically, I have always been the “perfect” Christian. With a really, really boring testimony. 

Or, so I thought. Until I come across a passage in Ephesians 2. At first glance, I find my thoughts surge with selfishness and a lack of understanding. Surely, this passage doesn’t apply to Christians like me. Dead in my transgressions? What transgressions? An object of wrath? For what? God’s enemy? Yeah, maybe when I was 3 and I wasn’t officially a Christian yet. 

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…
ePHESIANS 2:4-5

And then it all comes to my mind - my testimony has nothing to do with me, namely what I have or haven’t done. It has nothing to do with my list of good deeds, or even bad deeds. It has nothing to do with how drastic the lifestyle change in my life may have been or not been. Instead, it has everything to do with Christ… - Him changing me at my deepest core.

Before the grace and sanctification of God was realized in my life (whether at 4 or 104!), I was dead (Eph 2:1). I was without hope. I was, by my very nature, an object of God’s wrath (Eph 2:3). I deserved NOTHING. My very existence meant that I was separated from God. Apart from God, I followed and would continue to follow the ways of the world (Eph 2:3), and my own evil thoughts and desires (Eph 2:3). Not only was I, by my very existence, an enemy of God, I was also a follower of Satan. It seems hard to picture this in someone who was saved as a young child, but even now, apart from Christ, I am all of those things.

BUT PRAISE GOD...Ephesians 2 goes on to explain to us that through Christ (2:5), I am made alive! Through Christ, I am shown God’s great mercy and given salvation. Through Christ, I can and will stand for the ways of truth. Through Christ I am no longer a slave to Satan, but am a child of God, free to love, serve, and sit with Him.

Now that is a testimony that does not sit in the past, with a one-time conversion experience. That is a testimony that does not just apply to those who had a life-changing, radical transformation. That is a powerful and life-changing testimony that every believer can shout about from the rooftops. That is a testimony that unites every believer, whether their previous lifestyle looks more like the apostle Paul or the missionary kid Suzanne. That is a testimony that instead of pointing to a personal transformation, points to the power of being “in Christ.”

So, sisters, let us be unafraid of sharing our personal testimonies - no matter how radical or “un-radical” they may appear to us to be. Let us share what Christ has saved us from, and what He continues to lead us to - being God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Eph 2:10).

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 Suzanne Hines wants to live in a world where sunflowers bloom in eternal summer, where her children play instead of argue and where her family has an endless budget for travel. When she's not loving her husband, training and teaching her three children, and spreading education on the foster care system, you can find her writing, reading or running outside!

Her favorite Scripture is Romans 12:12 "...be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer..." (NIV)

Fistfuls of silverware clatter to the floor with a clamor of youthful surprise. Eager to help, but underestimating the capacity of their little hands, my children have joined in the ritual of emptying the dishwasher. Some days it goes without incident. More often, the task is marked by a childish zeal that lands the forks and spoons near our feet before they end up returning to the silverware drawer.

It’s in considering the unfolding of such mundane acts, like children putting away dishes, that Paul came to mind. Paul served as a spiritual father to so many: guiding, correcting, and encouraging. He was a vibrant conduit for the message of God’s kingdom, God’s unrelenting grace, and the ultimate Lordship of Jesus. How many moments of youthful zeal did he witness yield unintended outcomes? How many opportunities did he have to offer guidance and reassurance to those young in their faith as they grew in maturity? What was it like to see that generation of God’s children grow up?

Often after children have grown, there comes a time when they are ready for greater independence. In Acts 20, there is such a time in Paul’s missionary journey. He summons the church elders from Ephesus to come and see him in Miletus. He reminds them of his mission to testify about the good news of God’s grace; to declare to Jews and Greeks alike, their need to turn to God and have faith in Christ alone. At this time, the Holy Spirit is compelling Paul on toward Jerusalem. Regardless of the cost, he refuses to resist the direction of the Spirit and the calling to testify of Christ.

He calls them to seek God and His Spirit to work in them and through them. He calls them to remember what Jesus has done…

Though he loves them dearly, Paul knows he will not see the Ephesian elders again and shares this reality with them. In the last face-to-face exhortation Paul extends to these church leaders, he calls them to cling to the truth of the gospel of God’s grace and to be carefully attentive to themselves and the church in which the Holy Spirit has made them overseers. Paul calls the church elders of Ephesus to a task they cannot complete in their own power. He calls them to seek God and His Spirit to work in them and through them. He calls them to remember what Jesus has done, what His death has accomplished, what His blood has redeemed.

So often I try to pick up as much as I think I can carry only to find that I am unable to do what I thought I could. Writing, mothering, homemaking, teaching; the list goes on and on of things I grab by the fistful to tuck into the rows of hours, days, and weeks that line my calendar. Like my children, I underestimate my own capacity. Though my body feels grown, I have much growing yet to do. My good intentions clatter to the floor, like silverware, as I have picked up too much with the excitement that accompanies possibility. In the face of that possibility, I am inclined to forget my greatest need: guidance from the Holy Spirit.

It is in the space of falling short, that I better understand the good news of grace and the redemption of Christ. I am not called to perfection or performance, but to reliance on the Spirit of grace. What I have been given to oversee and care for are not tasks, but people and hearts and souls. The reach of my words and attitudes carries farther than I realize. My mission is not one of accomplishing or cleaning or cooking, but of caring for, listening to, and mothering the people that intersect my days. My calling is love. In the midst of the day-to-day, my prayer has become:

“God, help me to dwell on the reality of Your grace. Jesus, keep me mindful of what Your incarnation and death has meant for the world. Spirit, teach me how to love and speak and act out of Your abundance.”

Lord, may we be women who love well, who seek to fill our hands with Your good news of grace, that we may share it readily. May we be women who listen, who incline our hearts to your Holy Spirit and His promptings, that we may walk in obedience to You and the hope of Your truth. Amen.

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Robin Zastrow wants to live in a world where coffee never gets cold and kindness abounds. When she's not discovering the wonders of construction paper and cardboard tubes with her two little ones, you can find her sneaking in another few pages of a book or jotting down bits of writing on scraps of paper.

One of her favorite Scriptures is:“Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.” Psalm 33:20-22 ESV

In 2 Corinthians 6:11-13, Paul speaks to the idea that our hearts can grow cold and calloused to the community of Christ: “We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return ( I speak as to children) widen your hearts also.”

In 2 Corinthians 7:2-3, we see the heart addressed again: “Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.”

We are called both to live and die together… We are called to love

Our relationships with one another are eternal! Get ahold of that! Not only will our relationship with Jesus be eternal but our relationship with His people is eternal as well. We are called both to live and die together. I think part of that dying process is forgiving those who have either intentionally or unintentionally hurt us. 

We are called to love. As 1 John 4:19- 21 says: “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

We find an exhortation in 2 Corinthians 6 and 7 to widen our hearts, make room in your hearts (2 Cor.7:2), and admonition from the apostles to the church that “you are in our hearts” (2 Cor. 7:3). 

As the body of Christ, we are called to function as a body and 2 Corinthians 1 is filled with the very intentions and purposes of what our lives together were ordained by God for……

EACH OTHER, not self!

• Comforting each other (v.4)

• Sharing abundantly in Christ's sufferings (v.5)

• Share in comfort (v.5)

• Share in affliction for the sake of comfort and salvation (v.5)

• To see a purpose to our affliction (v. 6)

• Hope for each other (v.7)

• Tell each other our burdens and afflictions (v.8)

• Encourage each other (v.8)

• Rely on God, not ourselves (v. 9)

• Remind each other  (v.10)

• Help each other by prayer (v.11)

• Visit each other (v.15)

• Work together for joy (v.24)

2 Corinthians 21-22 encapsulates God’s intentions for US! 

“And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”

Who are we to hold on to unforgiveness and distance ourselves from God’s gracious provision for our lives? The body of Christ is a supernatural community that is ordained by God for our good and His glory! We cannot treat the grace of God like a smorgasboard where we pick and choose what we like, disregarding the very things that will nourish us and build the body of believers up into the head which is Christ. 

Our experiences are to be shared with one another for one another.

So, let us submit to God’s Word. Let us respond in maturity today by praying that He would widen our hearts for His people because we are in this thing together for the long haul! 

Our experiences are to be shared with one another for one another. We must lay aside any weight that would hinder us from running the race with endurance. Unforgiveness is a heavy burden that will ensure a root of bitterness. Bitterness and unforgiveness will not be allowed in our future heavenly relationships, so why would we allow them in our earthly kingdom minded relationships if we are serious about our love for God? 

Above all else let’s LOVE! 1st Peter 4:8 attests to the importance of our relationships with one another this side of heaven: “Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.”

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Karen Savage wants to live in a world where Christ is Glorified. When she's not serving her family, you can find her serving others. Her favorite Scripture is John 15:7-8 ESV. 

I am a small group facilitator at my church. While it sounds like it just means I lead the group through the lessons, it really takes on a much deeper meaning. My co-facilitators are a couple from my church, and we spend a great deal of time in discussion & prayer for our group. We want to ensure that we are speaking God’s truth over their lives, that we are listening to His guidance and inspiring proper behaviors.

The small group consists of a wide variety of backgrounds, personalities, and faith levels. Some have church backgrounds that did not lead to a relationship with Christ, some came to church and went away, and some have been walking with God for years and are quite solid. As Paul states in 2 Thessalonians 1:3 this group exhibits the sentiment that “the love [they] all have for one another is increasing” - this group has referred to themselves as a family since day one.

To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his poweR
-2 tHESSALONIANS 1:11

We often find ourselves discussing the various aspects of the lives of the people among our group. As facilitators, we attempt to guide the group into Christ-centered behaviors. We encourage seeking God amid the storms they face. This reminds me of Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians. He encourages them to stay the course in 1 Thess. ch. 1 by reminding them of their previous examples in the faith (Paul, Silas & Timothy). Paul states that he and his ministry colleagues continually thank God for them, for their faithfulness. In 1 Thessalonians ch. 3, Timothy brought the good report back to Paul regarding the church at Thessalonica’s faithful love. Each of these is a precious example of the church loving on one another. Why? So that they may be brought to a place of security and trust in each other and in Christ.

We, too, have opportunities to encourage or breakdown one another through a newer avenue - social media. Following Paul’s example, rather than hiding behind the anonymity of the screens, we should find the beauty within others. We should be available to others in their times of need and be guiding them back to the Word of God for hope and instruction. As in 2 Thessalonians 1:11, we need to pray constantly for those within our influence, whether that be children, siblings, friends, or small groups we are leading.  The Word of God does not return void, seeking the truth from God changes us. We begin to lose the sense of despair that hovers over us like a storm cloud. Instead we see the light of God, bringing hope to what may otherwise be a dark situation. We must remember that God uses all our experiences for His good, allows us to see these moments as just that, a moment in time. We can encourage our believing family to trust that God’s plans always prevail. As people see this time and time again throughout their lives, their mindset can begin to shift from reacting with desperation to responding with “God’s got this, He and only He will carry me through this and every day.” This begins to radiate out from us. Our authenticity to God’s faithfulness to us begins to make others around us question how we can possibly maintain such a spirit of courage during trials and tribulations. When we are able to proclaim “God is good” in any given scenario, those words place a seed of hope amongst anyone in earshot or readership.

I find my role as a facilitator both rewarding and challenging. As someone who has walked my share of fires, without always seeking the Word of God before I bury my face under the covers for a few weeks, I try to encourage the group to spend time in God’s Word, worship, praise and pray as their knee-jerk responses. I know first hand how these habits are truly the best path that God has given us to walk through any fire. However, as the precious people in my life continue through their lives, both beautiful and difficult, many are overwhelmed and easily resort to the comfortable habitual ways of coping. I find myself battling their logic and reasons for not seeking Christ, for not having time, energy, or motivation. While I was once that girl, I now want to jump up on top of my chair and shout “YOU JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND!! THIS WORKS!! GOD IS THE ANSWER!!” As their teacher, I want to see revelation and change in their lives. I don’t want to see the enemy continue to defeat what God is trying so hard to reveal to them.

The Word of God does not return void, seeking the truth from God changes us

But I’ve learned that beating people over the head with my Bible is not the answer to changing their habits. This only causes them to feel judgment and conditional acceptance. Instead, we issue challenges to worship, to spend time in prayer, to spend time in the Word. We check in on them throughout the week, we post encouraging Scriptures and love to them in the private Facebook group. We hold them in prayer every day, praying for God’s mighty love to break the shackles of their past. We pray for their hearts to develop a desire to seek Him that is so strong, they run for their prayer closets every free minute of their days. And I listen. I listen intently to the words God gives me to share with them each week. I thank God for trusting me with their precious lives and their journeys to find a deeper relationship with Him when not so long ago, I was the girl hiding under the covers with excuses oozing out of me for why God didn’t love me or had abandoned me. I find it such an honor to be given the blessing of pouring into their lives.

I was so greatly encouraged by my reading of Paul’s letters. I was reminded that the love of God showing through us, as His heart on earth, is so powerful. I was reminded that human nature has been the same as far back as Adam and Eve. We are profoundly in need of encouragement and grace to move beyond the mistakes and the broken places within us that we believe keep God far from us. Yet in reality, those mistakes and broken places are what should drive our hearts to seek Him with a fervor - so much so that we  jump up on top of those chairs shouting for all to hear: “GOD IS THE ANSWER!!”

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Sonya Gentry wants to live in a world where being kind and loving means that when we encounter a need or brokenness, we say yes first and think about it second. This would be a world where walking with Jesus means trying to act like Jesus through loving, relevant acts of service; where Christians put their hands and feet in the dirty situations of the world in order to show people God’s love and grace; where we understand that comfort zones are meant to be broken because people need us to show up and be be the best portrayal of God’s love we can be. When she's not working, you can find her being silly with friends and family, playing games with her nephews, volunteering for various organizations and events with her church, or relaxing with a movie.

Whenever I read Acts 8 and 9, I wonder if Saul felt the Lord’s eyes on Him. In my Bible, the ESV translation, the title of chapter 8 of Acts is “Saul Ravages the Church,” and I can’t help but think about the Lord waiting patiently to ravage the heart of this man determined to dismantle the church. And as I consider all of this, I replace my own story with Saul’s. I am not out ravaging churches and persecuting Christians, but are all my words and actions always in line with the Lord’s will?

The easy answer: no.

Yet, I feel confident that the Lord’s eyes never waver from me – or from you. He looks at the long history of my story and, while He may feel sadness over decisions I’ve made or lies I’ve believed, I trust that He smirks and thinks, “Yep, she’s still my girl.”

Saul is literally uttering threats of murder against God’s disciples (Acts 9:1) when Jesus approaches him. I don’t know about you, but I struggle to wrap my head around this most days: even as we are fighting against the Lord’s will, He is always in pursuit of our hearts. And He’s not just taking our hearts for His own – even though He certainly could (He’s the King of Creation). He stops to ask questions before He goes about the work of dazzling us into a love story.

He comes for His kids and transforms their stories, breaks new ground in the Kingdom through them, and reminds each of us what a best friend really is.

“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4) In Jesus’ question to Saul, I hear tenderness, an acute desire to understand His children, even as they are breaking His heart, and the ability to both ask the hard questions and love without restraint. While Saul’s eventual conversion is both miraculous and awe-inspiring, I also think it is in this space of the story where we can see ourselves and our own conversion stories.

The Jesus who pursued Saul on that road and began to write a love story Saul couldn’t have seen coming is the same Jesus who waits patiently when we hit the snooze button and opt for sleep over time with Him. He is the same Jesus who has more clarity than anyone about the proverbial stains on our manuscripts, yet He still offers His arms when we call to Him. He is the same today as He was then.

He is the only constant in a world filled with people who are constantly changing. He knows the changes coming down the road, He anticipates when we might consider turning away, He knows when we prioritize Him below other things and when the ugliness of humanity will try to get the best of us.

But He does not stop.

He asks the tough questions, He cradles the weak, He comes for His kids. He comes for His kids and transforms their stories, breaks new ground in the Kingdom through them, and reminds each of us what a best friend really is.

So, in this season of life where I’m thinking a lot about pursuit and what it all means for healthy relationships, I’m grateful to Saul, for allowing the Lord to use him as a tangible example of just how feverishly the Lord comes after me. And after you. Hallelujah.

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Steph Duff wants to live in a world where every human, whether small or regular-sized, learns to use their voice and is seen and known. When she's not traveling and story telling with Back2Back Ministries, you'll likely find her drinking excessive cups of coffee, with her nose in a book, or daydreaming about India. Her favorite scripture is Habakkuk 1:5, and she prays for a world in which Jesus is the name on every lip. Learn a little more about her love for semi-colons, what stirs her blood, and the yearnings of her heart over at www.stephaniduff.wordpress.com.

I do not know where to begin.
I do not know what it is to hear a last breath.
I do not know what it is to witness death’s arrival firsthand.
I do not know what it is to lose an only child or a dear friend.

I do know an adult takes 12 to 20 breaths in a minute.
I do know there are 9 to 12 pints of blood in the human body.
I do know grief cannot be contained by words.

I’ve read of Jesus’ death through the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These are stories I have heard for far longer than I have understood their gravity. They tell of Jesus being whipped, a cruelty shaped by leather lashes studded with bone and metal (Mt. 27:26, Mk. 15:15). They speak of a twisted, thorny crown forced upon His head (Mt. 27:29, Mk. 15:17, Jn. 19:2). They recall a wooden crossbar and Jesus’ beaten body hung from it. They recount the darkness, His forsaken cry, a last breath. Death.

And in the wake of a torn curtain, I am undone.

I know what it is to exalt myself at the cost of another. I know what it is to accuse innocence. I know guilt intimately. My hands have dripped with it. Like Lady Macbeth, all the perfumes of Arabia could not sweeten these hands. The stains run too deep; I am marred with an inheritance of fault and a livelihood of selfishness.

I’m loved because God is worthy of it. I am loved because of who He is. As deeply as this shatters me, it was never about me. It’s about Him.

Yet despite my guilt before others - but more importantly before a God who is wholly other - someone else has come to take the punishment that I deserve. How could I be loved like this? Why would someone innocent take on my guilt? Why did Jesus choose to endure the pain I deserved, the death that was meant for me?

And I realize my focus is misplaced. I’m loved because God is worthy of it. I am loved because of who He is. As deeply as this shatters me, it was never about me. It’s about Him. It always has been. And it always will be. God alone is deserving of our affections and attention. And to make a way for me to love Him rightly, to glorify Him as He is worthy, He sent Jesus to do the very thing that I cannot do for myself.

I cannot restore what has broken, I cannot mend my own heart, I cannot correct the course of sin and send hope ahead to forge a new way. But a way of hope has been made, born of the blood Jesus; the only thing that could fully absolve my guilt. Because He bled, I can know life; I can know love.

What do I do with a love like that? A love that offers forgiveness in the dark. A love that gives peace knowing it will cost an innocent life. The life of a Son. Jesus. Only Jesus.

I now know where to begin.

While grief cannot be contained by words, Love cannot be contained by death. And as there is hope woven into the future, it is also anchored in the past. In the silent three days of death that then erupted in life. Life renewed in the broken body of a Savior, the Christ, God with us. Life restored to my guilty heart through pain I cannot understand.

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 Robin Zastrow wants to live in a world where coffee never gets cold and kindness abounds. When she's not discovering the wonders of construction paper and cardboard tubes with her two little ones, you can find her sneaking in another few pages of a book or jotting down bits of writing on scraps of paper.

One of her favorite Scriptures is:“Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.” Psalm 33:20-22 ESV

As we have added children, we have also added baby gates. We now have one baby gate per child in our home. If you lost count, that’s four. We don’t even notice their presence anymore, as we have become so used to them. Yet they keep our children safe, from falling down the stairs, from going into areas that are not “baby proof.” Not to mention, they keep my kids from the stash of birthday and Christmas presents I have hiding in those sections of the house! 

Recently, my nine-month-old snuck through a gate that was left open at the bottom of our stairs and crawled all the way to the top without us noticing. I know it was quick, but at that time he could have been seriously hurt if he fell. My husband found him and quickly returned him to the safety of the lower level and shut the gate behind him. The thought occurred to me that gates are only helpful if you actually use them. They do no one any good if they aren’t put into action.

Upon reading Matthew 22:41-46 and Mark 12:38-34, I came across a gate of our Christian faith. In both of these chapters, Jesus quotes the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 to the Pharisees who were questioning him:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Faithful Jews would have known this passage well, as they quoted it twice each day. It was a landmark passage for their faith. What strikes me as so radical is that the people that knew this phrase intimately would not know, indeed, not even recognize, when the God they were supposed to love with everything in them was standing right in front of them! Much like my open baby gates, the Law that was meant to point them to Christ was leading them to danger.

As I observe modern Christianity, I see this passage as a landmark passage for our faith as well. We do not necessarily ritually repeat this verse as the Jews did, but we do summarize Jesus’ teaching on the greatest and second greatest commandment. We put it simply into four words: “Love God. Love others.” I’ve encountered this phrase in multiple church mission statements and painted on church walls, labeled on Christian mugs and t-shirts, and tattooed on the arms of brothers and sisters in Christ. Yet, I’m afraid that we are opening a gate to the life of a Pharisee. It may be so commonplace to us that it has become useless. Claiming to be mature with our catchphrase, we actually become more prone to folly. We are the babies. We climb the stairs only to fall.

Sisters, it is worth your time to pause and meditate upon Jesus’ words here. These words from Jesus should be familiar to you, but never useless, never ho-hum, never tired to your convictions or to your prayers. May the challenge to love God and love others never become so cliche that it is just our cultural background noise.

God is calling us to an all-encompassing love, and this love is a response to His all-encompassing love for us.

To truly love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind means to love him with your everything. When God says “all” in Scripture He means ALL, no part left out or forgotten. That means our total and complete love is to go to Him.

To love Him with your heart, kardia in Greek, means to love him with all your passions, desires, intelligence, will, character, and from the innermost secret places of who you are. To love Him with all your soul, psyche, means to love Him with all your breath and life, your very essence. To love Him with all your mind, dianoia, means to love Him with all your thoughts, understanding, imagination, and feelings.

Simply put, God is calling us to an all-encompassing love, and this love is a response to His all-encompassing love for us. We must realize it. We must receive it! He would not call us to this kind of love without first giving us bucketloads of it Himself. And He would not call us to this kind of love if we were not created to live it out! Yet, how in the world do we do that? We look to Christ! God gives us the most beautiful example of this love in Jesus Himself, who loved the Father and enacted this command from His own human words and deeds. And that love extended to others as well, as Jesus not only told but showed us how to ‘love thy neighbor.’

We must remember that the greatest commandment - to love - comes from a great God! He does not just challenge our lackluster love for Him but He also gave us Love Himself to redeem and restore our ability to love once again. One day, I will love the Lord my God with ALL my life and breath. Today, I see that I love Him more than the hour I first believed, but oh for grace may I love Him more! I’m praying God would help me repent of the “some” that should be “all” - that He’d help me receive His love in full and respond to it by how I love others. Help me not to fall through the gate, Lord. Teach me how to love you, great God!

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Jillian Vincent loves Jesus. She's a wife, mother of two boys and a Dayton enthusiast. Jillian currently is a stay at home mama and spends nap time writing and discipling other women. She would (almost) die for an avocado, a cup of coffee made by her husband, a novel that makes her cry, and a bouquet of sunflowers.

A man, blind from birth.
A woman, lame for years.
A child, sick with a fever that the parents knew would take his life.

The towns in Jesus time were filled with people like this. The lame, the blind, the sick. It’s safe to say that there was a lot of hopelessness, wondering if there will ever be relief from this oppression. Wondering if there is a cure, a way to find healing and hope.

The gospels are filled with stories of people facing brokenness in their lives. There are many instances of brokenness due to sin or lifestyle choices, but the brokenness that stands out in these stories is the physical brokenness that many were facing. Some of them had lived their entire lives stricken with physical illness, while some had contracted diseases that had no cure. Many were hopeless...beggars sitting at the edges of pools, marketplaces and wealthy homes, hoping that today would be the day that brings a reprieve from their symptoms and pains.

And then along comes Jesus. Walking from town to town, bringing with him a strange group of people, filled with parables and preaching. Most likely, his reputation preceded him and as the townspeople heard he was coming, they waited for him to walk into their towns. Were the rumors really true? Did he really say such strange things? Did he really talk back to Pharisees and Sadducees and religious leaders? Did he really do all those things he said he did? What is this Jesus guy really all about? And, really, when it all comes down to it- is there anything in his message for me? What can he provide me with?

it’s not just about us and the solutions we crave. Instead, it’s about gOD and using our testimony to bring glory to Him.

So, from town to town Jesus and his strange band of men stroll. Jesus brings messages that the people haven’t heard before, he stands up to the religious leaders and often makes spectacles of them. He reprimands the rich young man and tax collectors. I imagine most of the “commoners” standing in the crowd, enjoying the scene. At the same time, the words coming from Jesus’ mouth probably made many uncomfortable. How could it be possible to choose to stay married when divorce was an option? How could one worker be paid the same amount as another worker who did half the work? And really, Jesus, those words are so nice and entertaining, but- what is in it for me?

Throughout the gospels, there is a division of people after Jesus has finished preaching and teaching. There are those who scoff and walk away, there are those who listen and believe, and there are those who listen, believe and obey. Each group seems to answer “What is in it for me?” in a different way. The first group decides that there is nothing in it for them- and walks away. The second group decides that it could be rather beneficial for them to follow this man with the strange words of wisdom. And the third group? They also decide that there is nothing in it for them- that instead of it being about them, it is all about HIM.

Let’s take a closer look at Luke 17:11-19. As Jesus entered a village, ten men with leprosy approached him (vs. 12). They raised their voices, asking Jesus to bring healing to them (vs. 13). They knew who Jesus was and they knew that his reputation- he brought healing to those who were stricken with sickness and disease. They knew that there was a chance that just asking could bring relief from years of pain and living like social outcasts. Jesus’ response to them was simple- “Go and show yourselves to the priests” (vs. 14). All ten men heard what Jesus said and decided that it would be beneficial for them to go and do what Jesus said. All ten men were healed on their way to see the priests! But only one man fully understood the weight of what had happened. Only one of the ten understood that it wasn’t all about him or what was in it for him. He understood that it was about Jesus and giving glory to God (vs. 15-16). He fell face down before Jesus and thanked him, giving glory to God.

Let us also remember this lesson: that when we ask God, we can expect him to bring healing and answers to our problems. But it’s not just about us and the solutions we crave. Instead, it’s about HIM and using our testimony to bring glory to Him. How can we do that today?

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Suzanne Hines wants to live in a world where sunflowers bloom in eternal summer, where her children play instead of argue and where her family has an endless budget for travel. When she's not loving her husband, training and teaching her three children, and spreading education on the foster care system, you can find her writing, reading or running outside!

Her favorite Scripture is Romans 12:12 "...be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer..." (NIV)