A Personal Journal of Grace and Discipleship

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,who loved me and gave himself for me.” - Galatians 2:20

From the blog


 

The Exchanged Life: Finding Freedom and Wholeness Through Spirituotherapy

In a world filled with competing counseling models, it’s not uncommon to find contrasting views on what “biblical” or “Christian” counseling truly means. Searching for answers can feel overwhelming, and the terms alone—“biblical counseling” versus “Christian counseling”—can spark endless debates on how, or whether, secular counseling methodologies fit within a Christian framework.

Read More
☀️ The Day Already Prepared Within
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

☀️ The Day Already Prepared Within

Today’s reflection from AB Simpson centers on this quiet but powerful truth: Jesus doesn’t just give us what we need for the day—He iswhat we need. A day lived with Him is not one where we scramble for guidance, strength, or peace; it’s one where we draw upon His indwelling life as our moment-by-moment source.

Read More
🔐 Living What Cannot Be Lost
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

🔐 Living What Cannot Be Lost

Eternal life isn’t just a promise for some distant tomorrow—it is a present-tense reality in everyone who belongs to Christ. The richness of this gift stretches beyond the concept of living forever. Eternal life is both durational and relational—it never ends, and it is found only in the Son of God.

Read More
👣 Realizing Christ in Every Step
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

👣 Realizing Christ in Every Step

Oswald Chambers invites us to see life not as divided between sacred and secular, but as one continuous opportunity to know Christ intimately. The spiritual saint, he says, doesn't live for self-fulfillment but for the deepening knowledge of Jesus in every corner of life—yes, even the unremarkable ones.

Read More
🕊️ Grace for the Moment You’re In
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

🕊️ Grace for the Moment You’re In

God is never late, nor is His grace theoretical or generic. Today’s devotional from Miles Stanford reminds us that grace is not a reserve we store in advance—it flows fresh and perfectly timed for the moment of need. Philippians 4:19 assures us that God supplies all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. That supply is not limited to material provision, but encompasses emotional strength, spiritual courage, and sustaining mercy.

Read More
💧Clothed and Quenched
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

💧Clothed and Quenched

Today’s reading from Witness Lee invites us to behold a vital distinction in our relationship with the Holy Spirit—between the essential Spirit and the economical Spirit. When Jesus spoke of living water flowing from within, He was speaking of the Spirit as life—essential and inward. But later, as He instructed His disciples to wait until they were clothed with power from on high, He was referring to the Spirit’s outward equipping for service.

Read More
🔓 The Sweet Bondage of Freedom
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

🔓 The Sweet Bondage of Freedom

Real freedom in Christ isn’t a license to drift into apathy—it’s the deep desire to be bound more fully to the One we love. E. Stanley Jones recalls conversations with Muslims and Hindus who marveled at the all-consuming nature of Christian devotion. Unlike prescribed rituals that end with a final prayer or set act, Christ’s freedom invites us into a continuous life of loving surrender—a freedom that binds us joyfully, fully, and perpetually to Him.

Read More
🌿 Nothing Held Back
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

🌿 Nothing Held Back

Ruth Paxson’s reflection presses gently but firmly into the deeper meaning of surrender. Yielding isn’t confined to one moment in the past—it extends across the entire landscape of our lives: spirit, soul, and body; past, present, and future. Many find it easier to entrust the past to the Lord—what’s done is done, and perhaps regret softens the hand to release it. But yielding the present—our ongoing patterns, attachments, and small hidden reservations—can be much harder. And the future? That often feels like too big of a risk to place entirely in someone else’s hands, even God’s.

Read More
🧭 Leaving the Self-life Behind
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

🧭 Leaving the Self-life Behind

Growth into the fullness of Christ doesn’t stall because we lack information or opportunity—it stalls when remnants of the old self quietly take center stage again. T. Austin-Sparks draws our attention to a subtle but powerful truth: many faithful believers who began their walk in surrender have found themselves arrested in spiritual growth, not due to ignorance, but due to unyielded areas of the soul. Perhaps an old mindset resurfaced, or an uncrucified desire asserted itself. However it happens, the result is the same—they’ve reached a standstill.

Read More
🔍 The Beauty of a Searching Heart
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

🔍 The Beauty of a Searching Heart

Luke commends the Jews in Berea as “more noble-minded” than those in Thessalonica—not because they blindly accepted Paul’s teaching, but because they eagerly received it and searched the Scriptures to confirm its truth. Their nobility wasn’t in blind faith, but in discerning faith—one that received eagerly but tested wisely.

Read More
🎁 The Gift That Is Already Ours
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

🎁 The Gift That Is Already Ours

Of all the promises God has made, there is one that crowns them all—the promise of eternal life. This is not merely a reward for the future but a reality already imparted to those who believe in Jesus. Eternal life is more than unending existence; it is the very life of God shared with us, now and forever.

Read More
The Door Is Open—Come In
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

The Door Is Open—Come In

Some of us may look back on our spiritual journey and assume that our experience, our emotions, or our longevity in the faith secures our standing. But today’s devotional from AB Simpson reminds us that everything we’ve received in Christ—from the very first drop to the deepest current—is by grace and grace alone. The gifts of God never shift from being freely given to being earned by spiritual maturity or tenure.

Read More
When I’d Rather Hide Than Abide
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

When I’d Rather Hide Than Abide

Oswald Chambers gives us a sobering glimpse into a quiet danger: spiritual sluggishness. We often think of laziness as inactivity, but Chambers challenges that idea—spiritual sloth shows up not when we do nothing, but when we withdraw from others in the name of peace. We may hide behind our devotions, preferring solitude and stillness over engagement and self-giving love. But the kind of retirement Christ offers isn’t from people—it’s from self-effort. He doesn't remove us from the world; He lives through us in it.

Read More
The Living Object of My Heart
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

The Living Object of My Heart

Miles Stanford begins with a rare insight—one that pierces the heart of our restless striving: that most Christians remain unhappy not because they don’t know truth, but because they aren’t abiding in the Person of Christ. It’s possible to intellectually grasp our spiritual position—raised and seated with Christ in the heavenlies—yet remain emotionally and spiritually disconnected from the One who put us there.

Read More
Breathed In to Be Poured Out
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

Breathed In to Be Poured Out

There is a beauty in recognizing the two distinct aspects of the Holy Spirit's work in us: one for being, and one for doing. In John 20:22, after the resurrection, Jesus breathes the Spirit into His disciples—quietly, gently, personally. Witness Lee believes this is the essential Spirit—imparted for their inner life, their spiritual identity, and their ongoing union with Christ. It's intimate and foundational, not for display or performance, but for life itself.

Read More
Stay in Your Lane—Grace Runs Deepest There
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

Stay in Your Lane—Grace Runs Deepest There

Some of the deepest unrest in our souls comes from comparing our path with someone else's. We wonder why our influence isn’t as visible, or why our gifts aren’t celebrated like others’. But Jesus gently turned Peter’s gaze away from John with a loving rebuke: “What is that to you? You follow Me.” This short but powerful word still speaks today. Christ doesn’t ask us to measure our journey against another's, but to stay yoked to Him in faith and obedience.

Read More
Freed from the Add-Ons: Christ Alone Is Enough
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

Freed from the Add-Ons: Christ Alone Is Enough

E. Stanley Jones opens our eyes today to the quiet tyranny of religious add-ons—those subtle “ands” that seem so spiritual but actually rob us of the simple, freeing truth: Christ alone is sufficient. Galatians 2:4 resounds like a bell in the fog, announcing our liberty in Christ Jesus. The danger wasn’t just legalism—it was the attempt to dress grace in human clothing. “Christ and circumcision,” they said. Today, the phrasing may have changed, but the bondage remains: Christ and your denomination. Christ and your tradition. Christ and your spiritual gifts. Christ and your perfect record. But Paul, inspired by the Spirit, tore through all that clutter with one cry: Christ alone.

Read More
When I See, I Speak
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

When I See, I Speak

T. Austin-Sparks gently reminds us that spiritual maturity is not the result of accumulation but illumination. It’s not simply what we’ve studied or learned—it’s what we’ve seen. Christ is not known by degrees earned but by eyes opened. We are never meant to remain satisfied with what we’ve grasped so far. In fact, God ordains moments that press us beyond what we’ve previously known, that we might see Him in deeper ways—crisis by crisis, encounter by encounter.

Read More
Heaven’s Applause at Midnight
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

Heaven’s Applause at Midnight

It wasn’t the earthquake that stole the spotlight in Acts 16—it was the midnight melody of two men whose backs were split open, feet chained, and future uncertain. Paul and Silas had no idea their suffering was about to become the stage for one of the most powerful prison breaks in biblical history. But that’s not what made their story glorious. What truly shook the heavens was their choice to sing.

Read More
Beyond All I Could Ever Ask or Imagine
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

Beyond All I Could Ever Ask or Imagine

Today’s verse, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think…” (Ephesians 3:20), reminds me how often I come to the Lord with small containers of expectation when He is offering an ocean of grace. God’s promises throughout Scripture are already staggering—global blessing through Abraham, miraculous deliverance from Egypt, eternal kingship through David, a gentle and righteous Messiah, and a covenant that forgives, transforms, and brings us into intimacy with Him. How could I ever think or ask beyond that?

Read More
He Wears No Strain: The Effortless Shoulders of Grace
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

He Wears No Strain: The Effortless Shoulders of Grace

The Lord never buckles under our burdens. What feels impossibly heavy to us is light to Him—not because He dismisses our pain, but because His strength is not like ours. We groan under the weight; He doesn’t. He never asks for help carrying what we place in His hands. Instead, He reminds us: “Cast it on Me, and I will sustain you.” He will carry you and your burden—and He will not tremble.

Read More
 

About This Journal