by Lysa TerKeurst | Nov 8, 2022 | Homepage, Life Advice
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand that he may lift you up in due time.” 1 Peter 5:6 (NIV)
Ever feel like relationships are hard to navigate sometimes? Maybe today you find yourself trying to figure out a situation that’s complicated, messy and unpredictable?
I want to find the right words to help get on the other side of the conflict but that isn’t always possible. While talking is good, sometimes the conversations start running in a circle, and there aren’t any productive words left to say. When this happens, it can make a girl feel like giving up. But before I give up, I’ve learned spending time getting quiet before the Lord can really be the best remedy for tangled situations.
Taking a step back from all the emotion, frustration and exhaustion to sit quietly with Jesus will do more to untangle a mess than anything else I’ve ever found.
If you find yourself in a tough relationship situation today, here are five beautiful things I’ve found when I pause trying to fix it all and instead get quiet:
1. We can feel safe enough to humble ourselves.
In the heat of a mess, the last thing I want to do is get humble. I want to overexplain and prove my point. But I’m learning I have to step out of the battle and humbly ask God to speak truth to my heart for things to start to make sense. Never have I had a relationship issue where I didn’t contribute at least something to the problem. Usually, I can only see this something in the quiet.
1 Peter 5:6a, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand …” (NIV).
2. God will lift us up to a more rational place.
When we are in the heat of a tangled relationship, crazy emotions can drag us down into a pit of hopelessness. The only way out of the pit is to make the choice to stop digging deeper and turn to God for a solution.
1 Peter 5:6b, “… that he may lift you up in due time” (NIV).
3. Anxiety gives way to progress.
We can pour our anxious hearts out to Jesus who loves us right where we are, how we are. And because His love comes without judgment, we can feel safe enough to humbly admit we need Jesus to work on us. Trying to fix another person will only add to my anxiety. Letting Jesus work on me is where real progress can happen.
1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (NIV).
4. We see our real enemy isn’t the person with whom we’re in conflict.
The truth is, we have an enemy, and it’s not each other. Satan’s influence on me and the person offending me is the real culprit. I can’t realize this in the heat of the moment. But in the quiet, I become alert and can gain a strategy for acting and reacting in a more self-controlled manner.
1 Peter 5:8-9a, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith …” (NIV).
5. I can rest assured God will use this conflict for good — no matter how it turns out.
If I make the effort to handle this conflict well, I can be freed from the pressure to make everything turn out rosy. Sometimes relationships grow stronger through conflict. But other times, relationships end because of conflict. Because I can’t control the other person, I must keep focusing on the good God is working out in me through this and leave the outcome with Him.
1 Peter 5:10-11, “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
(NIV)
In the end, this struggle can be used by God to make me stronger and more capable in my relationships. If I am humble enough to receive from Him in the quiet what He wants to teach me through this, I can rest assured with whatever the outcome is.
Dear Lord, help me stop trying to figure this situation out and just sit in the quiet with You for a while. God, humble me. Show me Your steps toward restoration. Or show me Your steps toward a healthy parting. Take my anxiety and replace it with Your peace, wisdom and security. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Lysa TerKeurst is president of Proverbs 31 Ministries and the author of more than twenty-five books, including It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way and the #1 New York Times bestsellers Forgiving What You Can’t Forget and Uninvited. As one of the leading female Christian voices today, Lysa is a trusted source of wisdom who empowers women to really change their lives. To date, her books have sold more than ten million copies.
by Georgia Brown | Nov 4, 2022 | Life Advice, Relationships
When holding onto a relationship longer than you feel Gods hand upon it, whether we realize it or not, we’re saying, “I know whats best for me”.
Sure, the signs are still there, from the more consistent arguments and the continuing of compromises, but the more you place band-aid excuses over their bad behavior—you start to believe the lies the enemy is allowing yourself to speak. We hold out from letting them go insisting…
“they will change”
“they just need a little grace and space”.
“You don’t know him like I do”
“Well, when things are good though, they’re really good”.
And I can’t speak for you, friend, but as I’ve said these very things from my own lips, and from my experience,
I was loosing…me. For a season, I thought I had lost, ME.
Where I once was being treated like a princess held with the upmost respect, somewhere along the way I became the one to reinforce our physical boundaries. And what was once shinny, and I would dare to say—STILL IS, in his eyes became familiar. And that respect turned into complacency.
& this was the beginning of my hardened heart.
The walls began to be built as the trust, purity, and respect were slowly being torn down…in turn, tearing ME down.
For you it may have been overnight, but for most of us, I believe it’s a slow fade. Step by step. Moment by moment. Compromise by compromise. Where once good intentions were spoken, the actions lived out contradict what was said. And the very things that were said, have now been questioned, and once again, we’re back in the garden with the enemy making us doubt, “did God REALLLYYY say?” Thus birthing sin. And that sin…bringing forth DEATH.
No, not the death of lighting striking us dead on a bright summers day, but the death of our joy. Our light. Our purity in the way we see the world.
And one day, with eyes wide open, you find yourself crying out, “how did I get here?!” As you desperately try to remember the stranger starring back at you in the mirror.
I’m not upset at you, sister. I’m not in the slightest pointing a finger at you, shocked or full of judgement that wow, you’ve gone too far. Because girl. If ANYTHING, that finger should be pointed at me. Because I have gone too far.
And for YEARS. I mean Y E A R S I have kept this TRUTH to myself. Sure, my mom found out and that horrified me (to say the least). & my dad, too, was brought into the conversation by my mom, and although it felt like I could take my next breath as it was now in the light, I still felt…used. Dirty. Broken? Too Far gone?
It breaks my heart that for our sisters that do feel stuck in that relationship, or less than because of what they’ve done or what has been done to them, they feel they have to stay quiet. absolutely quiet. That no-one can find out. & more girls that we probably will ever know are silently suffering.
Like me, you may have known better…but it was head knowledge. NOT the heart knowledge, of fully understanding how overwhelmingly LOVED you ALREADY are by the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE, where you don’t have to “prove” your love.
Girl—I pray you find freedom from your Father in this—
Going too far is not the unforgivable sin.
Beloved, you are NOT what you’ve done or what has happened to you.
Today, RIGHT NOW, in this very moment you can come and lay it all before His feet and cry as many tears as you have stored up in that heart of yours, telling Him you’re sorry, and you want to come home. You can be done with where you’ve been, and be fully loved and known by Him alone.
Maybe you just need someone to see you. So I say to you, sister—you’re NOT broken, too far gone, or damaged goods. And If there is any hope I can share with you, it’s that God did it for me… and He will do the same for you, too.
I was asked to continue my post, “to the girl who’s no longer with the one she thought she would marry…” but as I began to type—this is what came out of my heart.
I’ve actually not shared… anywhere…. that I’ve gone too far, physically.
But today, here with you, resting in the presence of my Father who has redeemed me, not just from somethings—but ALL things because He is not a halfway healer, it’s freeing.
So to the girl who is no longer with the guy she thought she would marry—
Take this time to heal. Allow God to show you who you are in HIM, and remember that little girl He created, and loves so much.
To the girl who is still with the guy she knows she shouldn’t marry—
In your weakness, God is your strength. Lean on Him, and lean into the nudges the Holy Spirit is showing you. You will never regret being obedient. And I will leave you with this—if he never changed, would you be fine?
& to the girl who feels unseen, unloved, and views herself as damaged goods— well, to put it plain sister… these are all lies from hell, that couldn’t be farther from the truth of the GOSPEL OF JESUS.
You are seen.
You are loved.
In Him you are forgiven
And through Christ, you are REDEEMED.
It’s time to take these broken pieces from the chapters in your story you’ve tried to white out or rip out entirely, and lay them before your Father. And as He takes all things, and turns them for your good, and His glory—I dare you to be so brave to believe Him at His word and watch Him do a miracle in your story. And YOU are loved with an everlasting love.
When letting go of a relationship you no longer feel Gods hand upon, whether we realize it or not, we’re saying, “God knows whats best for me”.
by Jean Stoffer | Nov 1, 2022 | Life Advice, Wisdom
I am involved in a lot of remodeling projects in my work. These are usually large-scale projects that take many months and sometimes years to complete. As I’m working on the designs for these projects and then watching them unfold, remodeling analogies will sometimes occur to me—analogies relating to what the Lord does for us, how he remodels us.
I think the Lord treats each of his children like a very special remodeling project. Although there are similar processes and elements, each “project” is unique, and each will turn out a little differently.
Remodeling usually is motivated because something isn’t right. I’m not referring to a need for redecorating, like painting a room, or even a face-lift like changing countertops and light fixtures. I’m referring to when things deeper than the surface need attention, times when the right paint color will not solve the problem. It may be that major mechanicals like plumbing or electrical systems need to be replaced, or it might be a floor plan problem, where walls have to be put in different places or removed altogether.
My particular design specialty is kitchens. I just love a broken, non-functional, ugly kitchen. Especially if it’s tucked into the darkest corner of the house (which it usually is!). I actually get excited when I realize how dramatic the change could be, how wonderful, beautiful, and highly functioning the kitchen could be after a properly designed and expertly executed remodel.
I know the Lord considers us this way. In front of him we can stand broken, ugly, and non- functioning, but what he sees excites him, because he knows what he created us to be, and he’s been waiting to be able to do his beautiful thing. As Ephesians 2:10 says, “We are God’s handiwork” (niv).
The first step of the remodeling process is to agree that it’s necessary to do something. The second is to start uncovering one layer at a time, which means removing things that are obvious problems, like a damaged plaster wall, or finding and removing deeper problems, like corroded pipes, crossed wires, or rotten floor joists. A skilled craftsman will take care during demolition, as often there are things that have value, are important to the home, and need to be saved.
I have experienced the Lord’s careful work on me as he exposes, then identifies areas that need to be removed for the sake of making me more like him. He is patient with me, and even though it is painful sometimes, I can be confident that he is the Master at this type of work, has a plan, and will be faithful to complete it. He is the author of beauty and knows exactly what needs to stay and what needs to go. I can trust him in this.
The acceptance of this is usually a process. On my latest major remodeling project, one I call the “Slow Flip,” one of the things that appealed to me most about the house when I first saw it was that the original plaster walls and ceilings were in excellent condition, almost crack-free. This is very unusual for a house almost 100 years old. One of my main objectives going into the remodel was to keep as much of as the original plaster as possible. Another one of my objectives was to design a beautiful, functional kitchen.
This is where my two objectives collided. To be able to install the kitchen I designed, the almost pristine plaster ceiling would have to be torn down. The ductwork for the range hood needed to travel across the ceiling, and I needed to access the ceiling to install adequate lighting and modernized heating and cooling ductwork. I first asked the contractor if we could just remove a little portion and save the majority of the plaster. He tried. Every day was a call. Every day, he needed to take down more plaster. It was painful for me. I was losing my beloved plaster! Finally, I came around to the truth of it; the whole ceiling needed to come down if the job was going to be done correctly. I’d been holding on to something that had to go in order to make something beautiful and functioning.
A similar story took place at the project I call the Madison. The 1902 home had a beautiful staircase in a gracious stair hall in the center of the home. One of the biggest problems of the home was an antiquated floor plan which relegated the kitchen to a dark corner away from all the other rooms. I tried to think of a way to open up the house to integrate the kitchen into the other living spaces, but I kept running into a huge obstacle: the stairway. It was simply in the wrong place. I tried everything to leave it where it was. Moving a staircase is a huge undertaking, not to mention a costly one.
But relocating it was the only way to make the house right. It’s hard to surrender something that appears to be so important. Yet this is often what is required. And again, the Lord spoke to me. He said, “There are things that you feel are very integral to yourself, that may even appear to have great importance. I have a better plan and it involves removal of some ‘sacred’ things, at least in your eyes. Do you trust me?”
My response has to be “Of course I trust you, you are worthy of all my trust!” The master craftsman who knows me best, loves me most. My most secure place is in his hands. He wants me beautiful and functional. It can require painful removal of some pretty important stuff, at least in my eyes. But the result is so completely worth it.
He is good, and he loves me. He has good plans for me, a future for me, and a hope for me. He tells me, “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11, esv).
I derive great joy from turning these old, forsaken homes into beautiful dwelling places for families. If that is true, imagine the joy the Lord has when one of his prized possessions—you!—is open to a remodeling of the heart. Of course, it may be painful; certainly there will be things that seem dear and important but must be removed.
But they are removed for the sake of replacing them with something so wonderful and marvelous. You and me, more like Christ. To be more like him—we allow him to remove the things in us that must go. And by God’s grace, we can do this. God achieves his desired results. A beautiful, remarkably functional piece of his workmanship. And that is you.
Jean Stoffer is an award-winning Grand Rapids–based independent interior designer specializing in kitchen and bath designs. Each of her designs is custom suited for her clients’ lives and how they hope to use their home. Jean is also the founder of Stoffer Home, a retail store featuring beautiful and functional items for the home, and Stoffer Home Cabinetry, the source for Jean’s own line of quality, British-inspired flush-inset cabinets. In December 2021, Magnolia Network began airing The Established Home, a TV series featuring Jean and her design work.
by Darcy Clark | Oct 27, 2022 | Featured, Life Advice
Note from Team LO: We are SO excited to bring you this month’s post from our LO sister member + ambassador, Darcy Clark! If you want to be a part of this incredible community, you can join today! Find out more about this online sisterhood HERE. And for more info about what LO sister is all about, visit our Instagram Page!
Now, enjoy today’s post from Darcy 🙂
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Jesus is after our heart’s affection, not our religious acts.
This past week it weighed heavy on me how so many of us fall into this mindset that if the bible is not the first thing our eyes see in the morning or what our mind spends time with it’s a bad day, or even the extremities of how our minds wonder to placing us on this scale that doesn’t even exist deeming us a “bad christian” because we missed one day or a week in His word.
There is no score keeping, leadership board for the religious acts you do or the culture of christianity you play apart in. What matters is your heart.
The enemy wants to convince you are a “bad christian”, isolate you, and keep you in this nest of swarming thoughts about not being good enough.
..Okay now that we know what the enemy tries to do can you accept the grace from Jesus you have full access to and remind yourself you are apart of the winning team, the team that already won, and release whatever lie about yourself you are hanging on to.
The reality is you are going to get tired, you are going to hit an off week, your heart and soul are going to get tired — faith is not easy!
Spiritual disciplines like bible reading, quiet times, praying are a few of the best ways I know to grow in my relationship with my Heavenly Father —— but seriously what good is it to beat myself up every time I fall short of putting these things into practice.
There is a difference between guilt and conviction. guilt and shame for falling short are not from God, His arms are wide open ready to embrace you and wanting you to keep on. Conviction is that check engine light feeling, keeping us in lockstep with Jesus and away from things that destroy us by the Holy Spirit within us.
“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.” Romans 8:11
The SAME Spirit of God, lives in YOU. Lean on God always, in your strongest seasons and your weakest seasons.
Keep on. Shake up the routine when you grow numb to it. Read a verse a day — start somewhere.
When we feel that our religious acts have outweighed our affections for Jesus — reevaluate. Let that be your check engine light!
You are loved by God. You have access to a relationship with Him that isn’t rigid.
Please don’t wear the weight of having to be perfect inside of your relationship with your Maker, it will exhaust you.
Darcy Clark is a member of Team LO! She is a Jesus follower and friend to many. She enjoys coffee sipping, exploring, and writing. She is an aspiring author, current dreamer. Darcy attended Texas A&M University and has since moved to Louisiana to be a part of Team LO.
by Anne Wilson | Oct 25, 2022 | Featured, Homepage, Life Advice, Wisdom
When Uncle Steve was finished reading, it was my turn. I stood from my seat on the front pew and began to walk to the piano onstage. I took one slow step after another up the red-carpeted stairs, a shaky nervousness filling my body. It was the same sensation I’d felt for days, only magnified. I reached the piano and turned to look out across the sea of faces in the crowd. Friends and family members look back at me with tears in their eyes. Had I not been feeling such a dark sense of loss, I would have been thrilled to see so many loved ones gathered in such a majestic place. It was beautiful, but I couldn’t appreciate the beauty of it. I was overwhelmed by both the ache of goodbye and seeing hundreds of people staring at me. A few friends gave me encouraging nods as I took a seat. It was time to worship my Jesus.
I took a deep breath and smoothed my dress to calm my shaking hands. I was about to sing fir the first time in front of twelve hundred people. Would I even be able to make it through? Would my hands stop shaking enough to let me play?
As I gently placed my fingers on the keys, I looked up to God for a brief second, imploring Him for help. At that very moment, God removed every nervous feeling from my body. The fear and worry were gone. Thank You, God! With a heart suddenly at peace, I took in a deep breath and prepared to sing.
As Carson, Hayes and I began to play the intro to the song, I heard God’s voice again. His words, interjected at such a pivotal moment, would change my life completely: Anne. This is what I’m calling you to do. I’m calling you to praise and worship My name.
I had no doubt the voice was the Lord’s. I will never forget those words.
With a confidence that could only come from God’s spirit, I began to play and sing “What a Beautiful Name,” a song that magnifies the powerful, wonderful name of Jesus. The song speaks of His longing for us to join Him in heaven and tells of His victory over death and the grave. The song was a cool drink of water to my parched soul, and I prayed it was the same for everyone who heard it that day.
That day, I sang for Jacob, and I sang to worship my Jesus. Without tears, without stopping, and without breaking down, I offered my song for them both. The ability to sing such powerful words at such a sorrowful time without breaking down was only possible through God’s strength and His Spirit. Now, more than ever, my family and I wanted to praise the name of Jesus. We all realized in a terrible and wonderful way how short life really is and how it can change in an instant. We longed to to tell the world of the hope found in Jesus’ beautiful name. I knew that was what Jacob would want too.
I lifted my fingers from the keys as the final notes of my song rang through the sanctuary. I exhaled a deep sigh of relief. The faces I had just feared were smiling at me through tears. Many held tissues to their eyes.
As I returned to my seat, Good impressed another thing on my heart: I would never be an astronaut. I have called you to a life of worship through music, He said. I could never have imagined that God would speak to me about my future at such a moment, and even less that He would call me to a life of music. But somehow, I just believed Him. In that moment, I had no doubt the Lord would fulfill this calling on my life. I knew that meant I wasn’t going to be an astronaut, and I was okay with that knowledge. In the aftermath of losing Jacob, the dream of being an astronaut didn’t seem important anymore. With Jacob in heaven and a huge hole in my heart, I barely had a will to live, much less to pursue the dream of going to space. I did not feel an ounce of grief at the thought of leaving that childhood dream behind. I actually felt peace. The desire to go to space was simply gone.
Losing Jacob changed everything, including my dreams for my life. I now knew I would have a future in music, worshipping and praising the name of Jesus. God must have given me a gift of faith to accept such a sudden change in direction and believe that He would fulfill that calling. I had no idea how or when His new plan for me would happen or what that calling would entail. I just knew it would be. Someday. Because God said so, and I believed Him.
Anne Wilson grew up in Kentucky with her parents and two siblings, Elizabeth and Jacob. Her family’s Christian faith sustained them through the tragic loss of Jacob when he was only twenty-three years old. She is passionate about writing and singing songs that draw others to Jesus. Anne’s debut single, “My Jesus,” became the #1 Christian song of 2021 and won the Breakout Single of the Year at the 2022 K-LOVE Fan Awards, where Anne also won Female Artist of the Year.
by Alisa Childers | Oct 20, 2022 | Life Advice, Wisdom
My finger was literally on the button. Everything in me wanted to click Like and Share. Why am I not doing it? I thought. The author of the meme was a Christian, the quote sounded positive and life-affirming, and it would surely encourage and uplift my social media friends. I still can’t do it. But why? With my index finger lightly tapping the top of the computer mouse, I sat pondering my hesitation. Then, in a sudden burst of clarity, the Holy Spirit was all like, “Snap out of it!” Oh yeah. I was hesitating because although this quote sounded nice, it was not biblical. It was actually a lie . . . a happy little lie.
Have you ever found yourself in a similar spot? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve checked social media only to see a message like “Follow your heart.” And I’m thinking, Awww. That’s nice. I hit Like before I have a chance to remember, Oh, wait. The last time I followed my heart it got smashed to bits and took me years of counseling to recover. “Trust your instincts. They never lie.” That one landed me in traffic court.
Are you tired of feeling like you have to check social media to find out what you’re supposed to think? Are you weary of the latest self-help book that promises to set you free but only imprisons you with a laundry list of studies to consider, positive affirmations to recite, Facebook groups to join, causes to advocate for, and other books to read? (It seems as if it were really “self-help,” I shouldn’t need all this outside support!)
In that moment of hesitation over a meme, I realized that there are endless ways truth can be spun, manipulated, covered up, and even used to promote deception. Often, the lie is christened with religious language, so the temptation to share it without thinking is real. As A. W. Tozer said, “Too much of contemporary Christianity is borrowed from the philosophies of the world and even other religions—phrases and mottos that on the surface look great but are not rooted in Scripture or that mostly bolster one’s self-image.”1
These happy little lies are pithy assertions that sound good, safe, optimistic, and constructive. They look great stitched on a pillow, digitized into a meme, or turned into a slogan. They are
usually stated in a positive form, like “Believe in yourself” and “You are perfect just as you are.” You see, the best lies are the ones that sound the most beautiful. They are made up of at least 50 percent truth. Sometimes they are almost totally true. But that small bit that spins the entire outcome? That is the important part.
Our culture is brimming with slogans that promise peace, fulfillment, freedom, empowerment, and hope. These messages have become such an integral component of our American consciousness that many people don’t even think to question them. They sound nice and carry an illusion of truth. Often these messages are popularized by social media celebrities who claim to be Christians, promote their materials as being in agreement with Christian principles, and publish on Christian formats and venues.
The problem? They are lies.
More than ever before, people are looking to their own hearts, opinions, preferences, biases, and predispositions to guide them through life. In other words, we have learned to trust our feelings. But how is that working out for us? It is leading to all sorts of problems. And in so many cases . . . didn’t we get ourselves into this mess in the first place?
Today we have authors, influencers, and life-coach gurus peddling their personal transformation stories as models for others to follow. Their advice is frequently based on very recent life-altering decisions that seem to make them happy in the moment but have not stood the test of time. In some cases, their books come out within a few months of their divorce or after that affair, which they think helped them discover their true selves. And we are supposed to follow these people? Reader. Listen. Please do not take life advice from someone who is in the middle of a major crisis. Unless they are gleaning from time-tested, biblical wisdom and pointing you to Christ, it would be wise to hit the pause button on that hot mess and just wait and see how it all pans out over the next ten years or so.
Taking advice from someone because they’re funny, self-confident, or Instagram savvy makes me think of a hypothetical scenario in the air. I don’t tend to get nervous about flying, because I know that the training pilots go through is rigorous . . . especially when it comes to commercial flying, where the lives of so many citizens are at stake. At the end of the day, I trust the airline industry to keep me safe.
But imagine I step on a plane and just after takeoff the pilot announces, “Good morning, everyone. I’d like to thank you for joining me on my very first flight ever. Not to worry, I’ve
spent quite a few hours in classroom education and flight simulators. Oh, and our copilot couldn’t make it this morning, but I feel confident I’ll do a great job and get you all to your destination safely and on time.” Can you imagine the level of anxiety that would strike the heart of every passenger in that moment? That’s because trust is a huge part of feeling safe and secure.
But what and who can we trust when it comes to knowledge about life, death, goodness, and purpose? I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that our culture has never been more divided, polarized, or suspicious. No one knows where they can find reliable information about anything from brownie recipes to personal health to morality to politics.
I think that ditching the jargon and clinging to the timeless truths of the Bible is the most freeing and stabilizing thing we can do. It will ease anxiety, quell depression, and calm a restless heart. Recognizing who we are in Christ is the ultimate self-care because the Word of God doesn’t reinvent itself along with a constantly changing culture. Scripture has stood the test of thousands of years, been endorsed by millions who have been transformed by its truth, and given countless believers a solid foundation for knowing God and living out their faith. We have good evidence from history, archaeology, and biblical scholarship to trust that we have an accurate copy and that what it records is true. Jesus told us in Matthew 24:35 that his words will never pass away. We know from Hebrews 13:8 that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He doesn’t change, and his words will remain forever.
In Matthew 7:24, he says, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
As a wise friend once said to me, “I’d rather have a shack on solid ground than a mansion on the sand.”
Will you choose to stand on the unchanging truth of the God-breathed Scriptures, or will you choose whatever trendy catchphrase people are currently obsessed with?
The choice is yours.
Adapted from Live Your Truth and Other Lies: Exposing Popular Deceptions That Make Us Anxious, Exhausted, and Self-Obsessed by Alisa Childers. Copyright © 2022. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved.
Alisa Childers is a wife, mom, author, podcaster, blogger, speaker, and worship leader. She was a member of the award-winning CCM recording group ZOEgirl. She is currently a respected speaker at apologetics and Christian worldview conferences, as well as the host of her popular YouTube channel. Alisa’s story was featured in the documentary American Gospel: Christ Crucified. She has been published at The Gospel Coalition, Crosswalk, The Stream, For Every Mom, Decision magazine, and The Christian Post, and her blog post “Girl, Wash Your Face? What Rachel Hollis Gets Right . . . and Wrong” received more than one million views.
