At the Last Supper, Jesus said something that still unsettled me: “It is the one to whom I am going to give this piece [of bread] after I have dipped it.” So when He had dipped the piece of bread [into the dish], He gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot.” (John 13:26). Think about that. Jesus — the Bread of Life Himself — dipped bread with the very man who would betray Him within hours. Proximity to Jesus did not change Judas’s heart. Access to the anointing is not the same as agreement with the assignment. That’s the Read More
Category: Transformation
The Prepositions of Grace: In Him, By Him, Through Him
There is a language the Spirit of God loves to speak, the language of “In Him.” Scripture declares, “For in Him we live and move and exist [that is, in Him we actually have our being]” (Acts 17:28). This is not poetic exaggeration. It is the foundation of your existence. Before you were a believer, before you knew His name, your very breath was sustained in Him. But salvation moves that truth from the natural to the supernatural. Now you don’t just exist in Him, you live in Him. John’s Gospel opens with a declaration that changes everything: “In Him Read More
Count it all Joy!: Enduring the Pressure
“Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials. Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace]..” (James 1:2-3). Notice what James does not say. He does not say count it some joy. He does not say rejoice when the trial is manageable, or when the loss is small, or when the diagnosis is treatable. He says count it all joy — the totality, the whole weight of it. Not a fraction carved off and handed to God while we keep the rest for Read More
Who Are You?: Knowing and Understanding Your Identity
Have you ever stopped to ask why you love what you love? Why certain people draw near to your spirit while others never quite fit? Why your mind moves toward the things it moves toward? These are not random details of your personality. They are threads God wove into you before you ever drew breath. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you [and approved of you as My chosen instrument], And before you were born I consecrated you [to Myself as My own]; I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5) God did Read More
The Calendar Test: Appointments With God
We keep careful track of our appointments. The doctor, the dentist, the lawyer, the professor’s office hours, we write them on the calendar, set a reminder, and show up, often ten minutes early with our paperwork in hand. We wouldn’t dream of not showing up for the dentist. We’d never casually skip a meeting with our attorney. These appointments matter to us, so we honor them. But what about our appointments with God? Do we even make them? Is there a set time when we say, “This hour belongs to my Father”? And if we do make that appointment, are Read More
From Tolerance to Territory: Reclaiming Your Dominion
There is a dangerous comfort in tolerance. Somewhere along the way, many believers traded dominion for coexistence. We learned to live beside the very things God commanded us to rule over including sickness, fear, poverty, addiction, confusion, generational strongholds and we called our endurance “patience” or “long-suffering.” But tolerance and dominion are not the same spirit. One waits the enemy out. The other casts him out. In the beginning, God’s first command to man was not “endure the earth” but “have dominion” (Genesis 1:26). Dominion was the original assignment. It was never God’s design for His children to simply survive Read More