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.
Quiet Overflow From the Source
Jesus promised that those who come to Him would have living water within that does not run dry. Oswald Chambers points our eyes to the Source, not to our output. He reminds me that God is responsible for the outflow, while my part is to trust Jesus and stay turned toward Him.
One Source, Steady Joy
Philippians 3:10 names a desire that keeps growing in me. To know Jesus, to share in what concerns His heart, to find joy in Him that is not fragile. In today’s Abide Above reading, Miles Stanford points us to a hard but freeing truth. Nothing outside the Lord will finally satisfy. Circumstances can be sweet or harsh, people can cheer or oppose, yet the Father means for our gladness to rest in His Son.
Kept From the Snare
Matthew 6:13 brings us to a tender part of the Lord’s Prayer. Do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Witness Lee points out that Jesus invites kingdom people to be honest about human weakness, and to look to the Father’s care in the face of testing. That honesty is not self-condemnation. It is a simple posture of trust.
Trusting the Giver More Than the Gift
Philippians 2:24 records a simple sentence. I trust in the Lord. E. Stanley Jones invites me to notice those three words, in the Lord. That tiny phrase changes everything. Trust is not a bargain I strike, or a willpower exercise I audit all day. Trust rests in a Person who is wise and good.
Eyes On Jesus, Not On My Faith
Hebrews 12:2 calls me to fix my eyes on Jesus who endured the cross and now sits at the right hand of God. Today’s reading in His Victorious Indwelling urges me to look away from my own faith and to look to the Living One Himself. When I stare at my faith, I grow anxious and start measuring. When I look to Jesus, the heart quiets and trust becomes simple again. Thank you, Nick Harrison, for curating a gentle reminder that faith is most healthy when it is least self-aware and most Christ-aware.
When Heaven Stands, We Stand
Acts 7 shows Stephen seeing the heavens opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. T. Austin-Sparks reminds us that clear sight of the Lord often brings resistance on earth. When the kingdom breaks in through a believer, it unsettles the patterns that ignore God. That is why faithful witness can draw fire. It is not because we are difficult people. It is because the life of Jesus challenges the current.
When Grace Disarms the Judge Within
Romans 2:1 holds up a mirror. It shows how easy it is to see what is wrong in someone else while missing the same patterns in ourselves. Ray Stedman points out how we dodge this mirror. We miss our own blind spots. We forget what we have done. We rename our faults so they look smaller. The point is not to shame us. The point is to bring us back to Jesus where mercy and truth meet.
Under His Wings, Steady Today
David treasures the lovingkindness of God and pictures it like a safe shadow where weary people can rest. Bob Hoekstra points us to Psalm 36:7, where men and women draw near to the Lord and find shelter under His wings. This is not a small comfort. It is the kindness of God in action, mercy holding back what we deserve, goodness pouring out what we need.
Fresh From His Presence
John 20:22 shows Jesus imparting the Holy Spirit to His disciples, not as a prize to earn, but as a gracious gift. A. B. Simpson highlights the simplicity of receiving. He encourages us to live open to the Spirit’s present ministry, not clinging to yesterday’s experience, but welcoming His life now.
Standing Where Jesus Stands
Galatians 5:1 calls me to stand fast in the freedom that Jesus gives. Miles Stanford reminds me that the Father relates to me on grace ground, not performance ground. I do not stand before God because I finally became fit. I stand because I am placed in the Son. My footing is not my record. My footing is Jesus.
Today’s Bread, Today’s Mercy
Matthew 6 invites me to live this day with God, not tomorrow and not yesterday. In the Lord’s pattern of prayer, daily bread comes in today’s portion, and mercy flows in relationships as forgiven people forgive. I appreciate how Witness Lee points us here with clarity and care. Thank you, Brother Lee, for calling my heart back to simple dependence and generous grace.
Keep Watch With Jesus
There is a tenderness in Matthew 26. Jesus invites His friends to stay awake with Him in Gethsemane. Oswald Chambers presses that invitation into our present moment. We are not watching for a distant Savior to check in on our plans. We are learning to watch with Jesus, to see what He sees, and to share His heart as the Word shapes our outlook.
A Hope That Works On Monday Morning
Hope is not wishful thinking dressed in church words. In Jesus, hope has substance. E. Stanley Jones points out that the Christian story redeemed the very idea of hope. Because the cross and resurrection are real, hope is no mirage. The God of hope fills us with joy and peace in believing, so that by the Holy Spirit we abound in hope. That is a present-tense gift with Monday morning traction.
Outside the Camp, Inside His Living House
Stephen declared that the Most High does not live in buildings made by human hands. He was not tearing down reverent spaces. He was pointing us to something greater that Jesus has brought near. The New Testament keeps opening this window. God is building a living house, not with stone blocks, but with people who belong to His Son.
When Cravings Point Us Home
Romans 1:24 speaks of God giving people over to what they insist on pursuing. It is not God throwing people away. It is God letting a rebellious crowd walk the road they chose so the road itself can teach them it does not satisfy. Ray Stedman helps us see how this plays out in real life. When a culture trades worship of the Creator for worship of created things, the first cracks often show up in how we treat our bodies and each other. The deeper issue is not just behavior. The deeper issue is misplaced worship and empty hearts.
Entirely His, Gladly Sent
John 17:6 says that the Father gave a people to Jesus. Oswald Chambers presses this tender reality into everyday life. A disciple is not a spiritual showpiece. A disciple belongs to Jesus, learns His heart by the Holy Spirit, and is sent in His life and love. This is not about climbing a ladder to God. It is about trusting union with the One who calls us His own.
Come Away For A Little While
Mark 6 shows Jesus inviting tired friends to step aside with Him to a quiet place for a short rest. That scene is tender. It feels like a hand on the shoulder and a kind voice saying, pause with Me. Today’s reading from A. B. Simpson points me back to that simple invitation. Growth is not a race of frantic activity. It is the fruit of staying close to Jesus, letting the Holy Spirit be the source across an ordinary day.
Morning Mercy, Steadfast Love
David keeps pointing us to a word that carries the weight of grace in the Old Testament, lovingkindness. It is God’s loyal mercy and daily goodness poured out on those who belong to Him. Bob Hoekstra highlights how David does not lean on resolve or mood. He leans on the Lord’s lovingkindness, asking God to continue it, counting it better than life, and seeking to hear it in the morning.
Under the Father’s Hand, I Stand
Ephesians 6:11 calls me to put on the whole armor of God so I can stand against the schemes that tug at my mind and pace. Today’s reading in Abide Above reminds me that my Father reigns, and even what the enemy intends for harm cannot outrun the Father’s boundary or purpose. This is not a call to argue about why hard things come. It is an invitation to rest in who holds me, and to stand in what Jesus has already won.
His Name Set Apart In Our Midst
“Our Father in the heavens” begins with a family word, not a formula. Today’s reading from Witness Lee reminds me that the first three petitions of the Lord’s Prayer turn my attention to the Father’s name set apart, the Son’s kingdom, and the Spirit’s will shaping life on earth as it is in heaven. I am grateful for how Lee points us to this upward posture, then brings it right down into daily steps.