The Most Important Decision You’ll Ever Make

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The Most Important Decision You’ll Ever Make

I know I share a lot of thoughts in this space, and most of them are echoes reiterating the same message, because it’s a message that is the very reason I write the words I share.

My words are fueled by my faith. They start and end there, and Lord willing, they will always echo my heart’s prayer…

Father, thank you for loving me, and thank you for saving me. Draw me closer to you that I may see you more clearly, love you more dearly, and walk with you more nearly as I seek to know you more and share your love with others. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

And God keeps answering that prayer through the ups, downs, twists, and turns of the life lessons I continue to learn. It’s actually through those lessons that the complexities of Christianity become a simpler reality for me because the Holy Spirit helps me see them through the lens of my personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

In this world, there are a lot of decisions vying for our immediate attention, but there is one decision, I believe, that’s the most important decision we’ll ever make.

So, I’m inviting you to simply push pause in your day, stop scrolling, and give me just a few minutes to tell you about this life changing decision that requires your undivided attention.

First of all, God loves you (us).

The creator of the universe created it all with you (humanity) in mind. He loves us, and He desires a relationship with us, but when He created us, He gave us the free will to choose to love Him or not. And it’s because of that free will that we sometimes choose to go our own way which is called “sin” because we miss the mark of the standard set by Holy God.

Secondly, sin separates us from God.

You see, we “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We literally, because of our sin, are separated from Him...spiritually dead. And as long as we go our own way, do our own thing, live by our own standards, we stay separated from God.

But...

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” ~ 2 Peter 3:9

A price had to be paid because a way had to be made.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ~ Romans 6:23

God loved us so much that He sent his son Jesus to pay the penalty for our sin and reconcile us back to Him.

“but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God...” ~ Isaiah 59:2

“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” ~ Romans 5:8

Jesus’s death was the price that had to be paid, and His resurrection was the way that was made.

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” ~ John 14:6

His great love was manifested in His amazing grace.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” ~ 1 John 1:9

If you’ve never accepted God’s free gift of salvation through confession and repentance of your sins and trusting God’s forgiveness and righteousness to cleanse you from them and reconcile you back to Him, would you do that today?

It is the most important decision you’ll ever make.

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” ~ Romans 10:13

If you have called on the name of the Lord for your salvation, join me in the same prayer with which I started this post. May it be our prayer from now until eternity…

Father, thank you for loving me, and thank you for saving me. Draw me closer to you that I may see you more clearly, love you more dearly, and walk with you more nearly as I seek to know you more and share your love with others. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,” ~ 2 Timothy 1:6-10

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Advent Through the Lens of Motherhood

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Advent Through the Lens of Motherhood

This past Sunday, on the first day of Advent, my pastor said, “Advent is as simple as ABC. It means Arrival, Beginning and Coming.” That little acronym got me thinking about Advent through the lens of motherhood and how arrivals, firsts and future, are all a part of God’s plan for us.

Now I am not comparing my children or yours to Jesus, nor am I comparing myself or you to Mary, but as I ponder the meaning of Advent mixed with the emotions of motherhood, some similarities definitely jump out at me.

We wait for the arrival of the children we carry in our womb, and then we wait for their arrival into adulthood.

We anticipate their firsts — first smile, first steps, first word, and the firsts become lasts and we anticipate those, too — last day of school, last game, last dance, and there’s no going back for a second chance.

The anticipation of what is to come is often met with mixed emotions, and the mixed emotions are met with the decision to trust God with the plan and purpose He has for our children or doubt His faithfulness and fear the worse.

Like Mary, we have a choice. Will we trust the Father’s plan? Will we partner with Him by praying for them? Or will follow fear which leads us to worry and doubt?

“But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19, ESV)

Like Mary, let’s treasure the arrivals, beginning and coming, and the uncertainty they carry, by pondering them in our heart, and surrendering them to God.

Instead of allowing the uncertainty to cause anxiety, let’s rest is the safe and sacred space of God’s grace. He loves our children far more than we can fathom, and His plan will prevail in the beauty of His sovereignty.

Praise God for that first Christmas when He brought hope to the world in the gift of a baby boy.

Praise God that thirty-three years later that child, who became an adult, took His final breath so we could be born again.

Jesus, through His arrival, beginning and coming, infuses purpose into the first, future, and final moments of motherhood as we guide our kids from childhood to adulthood.

It may be as simple as ABC, but it’s as profound as anything could ever be!

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The Come and Go of the Gospel

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The Come and Go of the Gospel

The come and go of the Gospel.

Christmas & Easter.

Two holidays we celebrate to commemorate two holy days of the Christian faith.

The bookends of the Gospel holding together the come and go of the Gospel.

We’re four weeks away from the start of Advent and seven away from Christmas Day.

Seven weeks and two days later, we’ll start Lent on Ash Wednesday, conclude forty days later on Maundy Thursday, and remember the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus on the three days that follow.

The come and go of the Gospel.

He came to bring life, light, love, and to leave a legacy. He came here to draw us NEAR. The heartbeat of NEAR, a 28-day ADVENTure through the Gospel of Matthew (the first of the the four Gospels).

He went away so we could STAY. When we Seek Him, Turn to Him, Abide in Him and, Yearn for His Return, we learn to STAY NEAR! The heartbeat of STAY, a 40-day excelLENT journey through the Gospel of John (the last of the four Gospels).

The come and go of the Gospel.

Jesus came and He went, so we could come to Him and go tell others about Him and make disciples for Him.

Observing these holy days is NEAR and dear to my heart because I long to STAY faithful until He comes and goes again.

The come and go of the Gospel.

He is coming again. He is going to take us to the place He’s prepared for us.

This world is not our home. Eternity awaits. And the way there was made as Jesus made His way to, through, and out of this world, and will make His way back again.

The come and go of the Gospel.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John‬ ‭10‬:‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬)

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” (John‬ ‭14‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭ESV‬‬)

Advent 2023 starts December 3.

Lent 2024 starts February 14.

NEAR is available now. STAY will be available soon, so stay tuned…

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The Word is more than enough when the world is just too much.

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The Word is more than enough when the world is just too much.

And “too much” is truly an understatement for the amount of absurdity, hypocrisy, and insanity we’re seeing on the daily. Not too much makes a lick of sense. Lies are blatant. Evil is rampant. And as Popeye would say, “I just can’t stands it!”


The enemy is working overtime to bully believers in Jesus Christ— taunting us by telling us our Biblical worldview is outdated, needs upgraded, so let’s just conflate it with things that degrade it!


Like I said, it’s just too much and quite frankly, I’ve had enough!


So, no thank you, enemy. Get thee behind me, because God’s Word will always be my Ultimate Authority.


The lens through which we view things has been defined and refined by the very Word of God. It is a perspective that continually points us to His promise, His provision, and His protection for His people.


Try as we might to hold fast to the Word of God, still “false gospels,” built upon half truths, can attempt to shift our focus from the Ultimate Authority and Absolute Truth of the Bible to a watered down, weak, worldly substitute, subjective in its solution, falling short in its execution, and furthering this great delusion.


There is only one way, one truth, one life — Jesus Christ, the son of God. The Gospel Truth from the Word of God.


Nothing more. Nothing less.


We cannot add to It to make It more powerful. We cannot subtract from It to make It more palatable.


It is what It is, It says what It says, It does what It does, and It is enough. In fact, It is more than enough when the world is just too much.

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