Notes of Faith March 22, 2024

Notes of Faith March 22, 2024

Restore My Soul

In Pursuit of Personal Revival

Article by Scott Hubbard

Editor, desiringGod.org

It all happened so slowly, so silently. Each step seemed so small, and even so reasonable in the moment. You didn’t pack up and run like the prodigal son. But somehow, when you look back, you find yourself farther from God than you thought you were.

Maybe you overheard someone praying with simple, childlike love for Jesus, and you can’t even remember the last time you prayed like that. Maybe months have passed since you have woken up and wanted, really wanted, to read your Bible. Maybe corporate worship has become a mere habit, a hollow sound, a form of words without wonder. Maybe you just committed some sin, or entertained some thought, you couldn’t have imagined a year ago.

Maybe you know exactly how you got here: a subtle worldly compromise, a Christless relationship, a slow but deep neglect, a secret sin unconfessed. Or maybe you struggle to trace the path you walked from there to here. You just know that you are not where you once were.

And now, perhaps, like that son in the far country, you think of your Father. You remember home. You wonder if you could find your way back.

‘He Restores My Soul’

At one time or another, all of us in Christ find ourselves in need of returning to Christ. Maybe we’ve wandered from him only for a few days or a week, or maybe we’ve allowed months or more to pass. Either way, our feet have strayed; our love has waned; our zeal has cooled; our eyes have dimmed. We love Jesus less today than we did yesterday. We need renewal.

Yes, but how? What road will lead us back to our Father’s house, back to the land of our first love? We might begin by remembering a line from David’s most famous psalm:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul. (Psalm 23:1–3)

Our Lord Jesus specializes not only in saving the lost, but in restoring the saved. He calls himself shepherd, the good shepherd, and as such he does not rest easy while one of his dear sheep wanders from his fold. And therefore, however far we feel from Jesus, and however unable to see the paths back to him, he knows how to restore our souls. He can bear us on his shoulders and bring us home.

And when he does, he often carries us along four restoring paths.

1. Remember

Remember . . . from where you have fallen. (Revelation 2:5)

Personal revival often begins when we remember how far we have fallen, just how far we have wandered. And by remember, I mean really remember. Ponder the past. Relive former, more spiritually alive times in your life. Feel the sorrow of first love lost.

Do you remember the way you once treasured God’s word in your heart like so much gold and silver? Do you remember how prayer felt sweet as honey on your tongue? Do you remember how you hurried to arrive at corporate worship lest you should miss some song, some part of the sermon? Do you remember telling others about Jesus not from guilt but from the natural overflow of your joy? Do you remember how you once fasted with freedom; gave your time and money with a happy, open hand; killed your sin with radical resolve; and heard the name of Jesus as the most wonderful sound in all the world?

“Our Lord Jesus specializes not only in saving the lost, but in restoring the saved.”

We may feel tempted to run from such remembrance, to pretend all is well for fear of facing how much we’ve lost. But don’t run, and don’t pretend. If there is sorrow here, Jesus has promised to sweeten it. Painful remembrance is often our first step toward home. And if we humble ourselves under the comparison of us then and us now, God pledges to make us the special objects of his reviving love:

Thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” (Isaiah 57:15)

The only spirits God revives are lowly spirits; the only hearts he restores are contrite hearts. And so often, the fruits of lowliness and contrition grow from the soil of honest, unflinching memory.

2. Return

Return, faithless Israel, declares the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful. (Jeremiah 3:12)

There is, no doubt, a sick kind of remembrance, a kind that leaves us more lost than we were before. Some, forgetting God’s mercy, remember themselves right into a pit of despair. They recall home from the far country, but they don’t dare to hope that their Father is waiting for them, ready for them, scanning the horizon with ring and robe in hand. And indeed, we would have no reason to hope unless God himself told us not only to remember, but to return — unless he said, again and again to his lost children, “Come home.” But he does.

Note how God speaks to his wandering people in Jeremiah 3:12. They have not yet done anything to reform themselves. They are, in his eyes, “faithless Israel,” their faithlessness having driven them far from him. But he will not allow their faithlessness to become a reason for staying far from him. “I will not look on you in anger,” he says, wooing, “for I am merciful.” However far we’ve wandered, we find in God a mercy far deeper than our faithlessness.

He gives only one condition for his welcome: “Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the Lord your God” (Jeremiah 3:13). Only confess. Only repent. Only own your sins without excuse and receive the blood of Jesus. And then believe that whatever faithlessness has led you far from God, he still says gladly through Jesus, “Return, O faithless children, declares the Lord; for I am your master; I will take you” (Jeremiah 3:14).

3. Remove

Remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes. (Isaiah 1:16)

True remembrance plus faithful return does something deep in a soul. As with the godly grief the apostle Paul describes, we feel a renewed “indignation . . . fear . . . longing . . . zeal” (2 Corinthians 7:11). Freshly forgiven in Christ, and now no longer wandering, we rise like men and women newly alive, ready to remove whatever we have allowed to take us from God.

Revival brings a kind of holy violence to those it touches. In the Old Testament, we read of revived kings like Josiah taking hammer and torch to the idols throughout Israel (2 Kings 23:4–20). In the New Testament, we read of a more spiritual, but no less real, violence. The saints of Christ still know how to handle hammer and torch, toppling and burning idols of heart and life that have stood all too long.

We should beware at this point of a common danger that threatens the Spirit’s restoring work. Even as we labor to remove idols — habits and hobbies, entertainments and relationships, websites and apps — we can nevertheless fall short of removing all. Like the Israelites who left some enemies in the land, or like the kings who allowed the high places to stand, we can rest satisfied with half-reformations, quasi-revivals, near-renewals.

In all likelihood, such partial measures will only leave us in need of revival again, and probably sooner than we think. Don’t hesitate, then, to smash and burn your once-loved foes. Every swing of the hammer clears more space for Christ. Every piece of scorched ground becomes a garden where the Spirit’s fruit can grow.

4. Restore

Do the works you did at first. (Revelation 2:5)

Ultimately, the work of soul restoration belongs to God. “He restores my soul,” not I. But as he restores us, he also grants us to play a part in the restoration process. Just as King Josiah not only cleared the land of idols but also reinstated the Passover, so we not only remove sins but also restore those holy habits we have long neglected. We “do the works [we] did at first” (Revelation 2:5).

Such restoration has been God’s purpose from the beginnings of his dealings with us. Every painful removal was meant to make way for something better. When God brings personal revival, he inevitably brings with it a closer, holier walk with him, a fellowship with him on his “paths of righteousness” (Psalm 23:3). And oh, how great is our joy!

Then the Bible becomes hallowed ground again. Then the door of our prayer closet becomes a doorway to heaven again. Then sermons become feasts again, and evangelism becomes a privilege again, and offenses become overlookable again, and God’s people become again “the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight” (Psalm 16:3). Then we see that our God is not only the God who saves, but the God who restores — who delights to restore, who restores beyond all that we could ask or imagine.

Scott Hubbard is an editor for Desiring God.

Life has troubles for everyone. Knowing God, trusting God, drawing close to God is not always the place people turn for answers to life’s troubles. But God chooses to draw those that He loves and continues to seek, even pursue us, to bring us to Himself. There is no greater love than the love of God for the Bible says that God is love! We all could use restoration. We wander like sheep away from the path of truth and grace, seeking a greener pasture. God comes, finds us, and takes us back into His fold and continues to care for His beloved children. Remember, Return, Remove, Restore!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 21, 2024

Notes of Faith March 21, 2024

God’s Steadfast Love for the Single Parent and Their Child

Behold you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You Shall call his name Ishmael [meaning “God hears”], because the Lord has listened to your afflication.”…

You are a God of seeing… Truly here I have seen Him who looks after me. — Genesis 16:11, 13 ESV

Maggie squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them slowly, hoping to read a different result. Committed to celibacy until marriage, she gave in to temptation one time with a guy she didn’t even want to date. Now, at age twenty-four, she found herself staring at two pink lines on a pregnancy test.

To complicate matters further, Maggie was in seminary, having just started her first full-time job as a youth minister discipling teens at a church in California. Maggie not only had to tell her boss (her pastor!) she was pregnant, she also had to tell her impressionable students and their parents that she had slept with a man and the consequences included a child.

But Maggie already loved that child. Because she knew Jesus loved her so deeply that he secured her pardon for sin on the cross, she felt confident in bringing this child into the world and raising him, even as a single mother. What she did not know was how her church would respond.

God Sees Hagar

If we ever wondered how God feels about the lonely single parent, the story of Hagar is our answer. This single mother figures prominently in the life of the great patriarch Abraham. Brought from Egypt as a slave for Abraham’s wife Sarah, Hagar lives at the very heart of the establishment of God’s covenant with His own people.

When Sarah endures about ten years without holding the promised child in her arms, she conceives instead a plan to make God’s promise come true: let Abraham impregnate the young slave girl. According to custom, the child of the slave will belong to Sarah.

Consider Hagar’s predicament. She is forced to sleep with her boss, who is not only married but also old. Her mistress sees her as an incubator for God’s promised child, a child she plans to take from Hagar and raise as her own. To Abraham and Sarah, Hagar is not a person but an instrument to carry out their personal agenda. It’s no wonder Hagar treats Sarah with contempt when she does conceive. She finally has some clout in this lopsided triangle.

Sarah responds to Hagar’s insolence by complaining to Abraham, who abdicates responsibility for his unborn child, giving Sarah free rein to do whatever she likes with Hagar. Sarah “deals harshly” with her, to the point that Hagar flees to the wilderness.

The angel reveals to Hagar a God who knows, sees, and hears her and her unborn baby.

In this moment, Hagar is as vulnerable as a person could possibly be. She is a woman in a culture that does not value women. She is a slave, and a foreign one at that. She is penniless and pregnant, with no resources and no support. The people who were supposed to take care of her have made her life unbearable. She is not even part of the chosen race that God will establish through Abraham. No one is coming to help her; no one cares.

Were it not for Abraham’s God, Hagar and her unborn child would have died alone in the desert. No one would ever have known her name.

The angel of the Lord met Hagar at a spring in the desert on the road to Shur and said, ‘Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?’ — Genesis 16:7-8 GNT

Hagar does not know Abraham’s God. She likely worshiped Egypt’s pagan idols if she had any faith at all. Incredibly, the angel of the Lord comes looking for her. Her insignificance in the eyes of the world does not render her insignificant in God’s sight. She is an outsider in every possible way, and yet he calls her by name and declares her situation, “Hagar, servant of Sarah…”

The angel invites her to talk with him. The question he asks her echoes God’s question to Adam in the garden: “Where are you?” He cares about her history (“Where have you come from?”) and her future (“Where are you going?”). When Hagar admits she is running away from Sarah, the angel instructs her to return to her mistress.

That must have been a hard word for Hagar to hear. Her situation with Abraham and Sarah won’t be easy. But the angel’s encounter with her meets a need much deeper than a desire for ease or comfort. The angel reveals to Hagar a God who knows, sees, and hears her and her unborn baby. This God is willing to be personally involved and provide for both of them, even naming her son Ishmael, meaning “God hears.” The angel tells her that the boy will be a “wild donkey of a man,” at odds with everyone around him, but Hagar’s boy will live (16:12).

Let’s not miss how astounding this encounter must have been for Hagar. Despised and alone, she is filled with despair so great that she has run away to near-certain death in the desert. There she is met with a heavenly being who knows the intimate details of her life yet treats her with dignity and compassion. This changes everything. She can go back to Sarah, harsh treatment and all, confident that Almighty God has His eye on her.

God’s provision will not mean an easy life, but as part of Abraham’s household, she will have protection for her boy. Every time she calls her son in to wash up for dinner, she will be reminded that “God hears!”

Excerpted from God’s Grace for Every Family by Anna Meade Harris, copyright Anna Meade Harris.

We do not hear and do the things that God commands as our perfect Father. That is called sin. Sin brings consequences. For the believer and follower of Jesus that means discipline will come from a loving Father. God’s love is shed abroad on all people for each one is created in His image. Though the lineage of Ishmael would fight to destroy the people of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God loves them and wants them to come to faith in Him and receive salvation, eternal life, and freedom from judgment. We must look on all people as those God created and loves, pray for them and seek God’s desire for their eternal life…easy to say…hard to do.

Love God. Love others.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 20, 2024

Notes of Faith March 20, 2024

God Turns Gloom into Good

Last year during a speaking engagement in Tupelo, Mississippi, I checked out of my hotel and started my truck. It roared like a motorcycle with no muffler. During the night somebody had stolen my catalytic converter. I had to leave my truck behind, rent a car, deal with insurance, and send somebody back to fetch my truck. After all that, the vehicle still wasn’t working right, so I left it at the dealership while on another trip.

When I returned, I used a ride-sharing app to take me to the dealership for my truck. As I sat in the back seat, I noticed a Bible in the seat pocket. I asked the young driver about it. He said it had belonged to his dear, departed aunt, and he liked to keep it close to remind him of her. I told him he should read it. I shared some verses I’d read that morning in my own Bible.

He listened with unusual interest, so I explained from Scripture how to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. By the time we got to the dealership, he wanted to pray, asking God for salvation — which he did.

That’s when I understood why the Lord had allowed someone to steal my catalytic converter — it had set off a chain reaction that led to the young man’s salvation.

Bad things happen all the time, but what if you knew that every gloomy thing would lead to glorious results under the guiding providence of God?

That’s what Paul told the Philippians. They were distressed at all that had happened to him — the loss of his fourth missionary journey, his imprisonment in Caesarea, his shipwreck on Malta, and his looming trial in Rome. But Paul wasn’t gloomy in the least. He said:

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.

— Philippians 1:12–14

This is the Philippian version of Romans 8:28, which says,

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. — NKJV

Problems can last a long time, but they can’t last forever as God’s promises do. We live in a world of catastrophes and calamities, and none of us knows what will happen next. Without God’s oversight, our futures are like scraps of paper scattering in the wind. But under His oversight, they’re like pages of hope indelibly written by grace. The Scriptures teach we have a God who turns problems inside out — all our perils and perplexities...

What if you knew that every gloomy thing would lead to glorious results under the guiding providence of God?

In Christ, we have an ironclad, unfailing, all-encompassing, God-given guarantee that every single circumstance in life will sooner or later turn out well for those committed to Him.

Perhaps something has happened to you that has taken the wind out of your sails, the bounce out of your step, the twinkle out of your eye, and the joy out of your heart. Our circumstances must bow before Jesus. We may not be able to control them, and chaos may seem to reign. But the Savior who turned water into wine and death into life can bring about a mutation, a transfiguration, a reversal, an evolution of our circumstances. The Savior can turn our circumstances into His servants for the advancement of His kingdom.

This is part of redemption.

How did Paul’s adversity serve to advance the gospel? In two ways. First, he was chained to soldiers twenty-four hours a day. He always seemed to be on good terms with the soldiers protecting him, and he shared his message with them. They were a captive audience — not only did he speak to them directly, but they heard his conversations with others and they listened as he prayed.

The imperial guard was made up of about ten thousand of Rome’s best soldiers. They served under the direct command of Nero to protect him, to provide a police presence in Rome, and to do his bidding throughout the empire. Paul’s converts among these soldiers took the gospel to far-flung regions he could never have gone himself.

What appeared to be Paul’s tragedy was really God’s strategy.

Second, Paul’s circumstances had a bracing effect on the church. We can see how this works, can’t we? When you read of the courage of a Christian facing persecution in an oppressive land — when they stand bravely for Christ despite threats and intimidations — doesn’t it encourage you to be bolder and more outspoken in your faith?

Gloomy thoughts come from the way we interpret the happenings of our lives. Paul knew that every single circumstance was under the providence, the sovereignty, and the control of Jesus Christ, who had turned an occupied tomb into an empty grave. He knew that everything worked together for the good of those who love God and are living according to His purposes. He could even see some of the benefits God was bringing about.

The things that happen to us have a divine way of actually turning out for our good and for the furtherance of the gospel. In His own way and time, the Lord reverses adversity, overrides misfortune, and dismantles the devil’s schemes.

He will do this for you.

1. Orison Swett Marden, Everybody Ahead: Or, Getting the Most Out of Life (New York: Frank E. Morrison Publisher, 1916), 310–312.

2. Andrew Brunson, God’s Hostage (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2019), 208.

3. The last word of the verse is my own paraphrase. The niv uses the word “wasteland.”

4. Frank Laubach, Prayer: The Mightiest Force in the World (Burtyrki Books, 2020), 12 and passim.

5. Words by Joel Hemphill

Written for Devotionals Daily by Robert J. Morgan, author of Whatever Happens: How to Stand Firm in Your Faith When the World Is Falling Apart.

Rom 8:28

28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

We may not know why the bad things happen or how things will glorify God but He has promised that all things will lead to His glory. Let us trust and be available to be good stewards of God’s grace toward us being ready at all times to share the reason for the hope that is within us!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 19, 2024

Notes of Faith March 19, 2024

Butterflies: A Story of Rebirth

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. — 2 Corinthians 5:17

Rebirth can be a difficult concept to understand, but the lovely little butterfly offers a picture of what takes place when Christ comes into a human heart. The caterpillar’s metamorphosis provides a wonderful illustration of a believer’s spiritual transformation:

The caterpillar or larva is in the feeding phase. It eats the leaves in its world just as we feed on the ideas of the world around us.

At the chrysalis or pupa stage, the caterpillar appears lifeless. Jesus’ lifeless body was taken down off the cross and placed in a tomb. A believer’s chrysalis stage is when we die to sin.

The caterpillar emerges from its cocoon, transformed into a completely new creature. Similarly, we who recognize our sin, confess it, receive God’s forgiveness, and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord are transformed into new life in Him.

The butterfly does not return to the caterpillar state; nor can it return to the pupa phase. When a butterfly emerges from its cocoon, it flies — something it couldn’t do before! The butterfly also drinks sweet nectar instead of gorging on leaves.

God has transformed you into a new creation.

Are you a new creation in Christ still trying to gorge on leaves? If so, do you find them choking you? Are you a new creation in Christ still trying to crawl back inside the cocoon to live as you once lived? Even if you could go back in time, leaves would no longer nourish you, and the torn cocoon would no longer protect you. Why? Because God has transformed you into a new creation. Now you have the blessed privilege and opportunity to soar in His power and do His work on this planet. So spread your wings into their full, beautiful glory. It’s time to fly.

Lord Jesus, at times I want to return to the cocoon, and at other times I want to gorge on the world’s ideas and values. Thank You for the beautiful reminder of the butterfly that never turns back to an earlier stage of life. Thank You, too, for this lovely symbol of both Your resurrection and my transformation.

Excerpted from Devotions from the Garden by Miriam Drennan, copyright Thomas Nelson.

Every believer in Jesus has been transformed, given new life in Him! Our battle is trying to live the old life with our new spiritual nature. Paul says that we will fight this battle while in the world, until the Lord Jesus takes us out of this world. Pray that you might “fly” in this world with the power God has given you to live for Him. You have the living God within you (the Holy Spirit), and know His desire for your everyday decisions and choices, what you think about, the words you choose to say, how you treat others, etc. Let your new life reflect the glory of God as you make those decisions and choices.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 18, 2024

Notes of Faith March 18, 2024

Living in His Light

When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” — John 8:12

You will have dark days. Days when a friend breaks your trust and your feelings are hurt, and you have no idea what to say. Days when depression feels heavy, like it’s weighing you down. Days when everything seems to be going wrong.

But there is good news.

Jesus is light.

He’s brighter and lovelier than anything you can imagine and more powerful than any dark thing you’re facing. Jesus promises that if you follow Him, you’ll have the light of life. That might mean Jesus will give you the right words to speak to your friend or a safe place to go when things feel overwhelming. Or maybe He’ll provide a surprise that cuts through your darkness like a fluffy kitten jumping on your lap or your mom making your favorite meal or a snow day. Sometimes Jesus lights up a way out of an unhealthy situation and toward a healthy one. Jesus offers you better and brighter and wants you to live in His wonderful light.

Walk into a dark room and turn on the light. Notice the difference it makes. Ask Jesus to light up your life, to add brightness to anywhere that’s dark.

The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. — Romans 13:12

“Every morning when you wake up, new baby nerve cells have been born while you were sleeping that are there at your disposal to be used in tearing down toxic thoughts and rebuilding healthy thoughts,” says neuroscientist Dr. Caroline Leaf.1

Isn’t that so cool? Every day is a new opportunity to put aside dark thoughts, negative thoughts, hurtful thoughts, and to replace them with healthy, positive thoughts.

How do you do it? You can start by reading a list of five wonderful, true things about you and your life each morning. Maybe that could be “I’m stronger than I give myself credit for.” Maybe it’s a skill you’re good at or a certain way you know you’ve been blessed. “Math comes easily to me.” Or “God has given me a safe home.” Do this before you turn on social media. Before you talk to someone who brings you down. Before you let negative self-talk tell you something bad about yourself. This shuts down dark thoughts and arms your thought life with light.

Caroline Leaf, Switch on Your Brain: The Key to Peak Happiness, Thinking, and Health (Baker Books, 2013), 24.

Excerpted from 5-Minute Devotions for Teens by Laura L. Smith, copyright Laura L. Smith.

You have been transformed by the living God within you. You are a new creation in Christ! Darkness flees from light. Let the light of the world flow from you to all of those around you that they also might see by the light of God and come to know the truth…Jesus came to save that which was lost in darkness!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 17, 2024

Notes of Faith March 17, 2024

Woman, believe Me. — from John 4:4–26

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.”1

Believe. The Gospel of John uses the word eighty-four times. This use is the first. “That all might believe through him.”

John continued, “He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”2

Looking back to the garden, at what was lost, this is one of the most astounding statements in Scripture: “To all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” Think through the ramifications. The undoing of what was done in the garden? Can you see the progression? From orphan. To child. To heir.

Okay, but how do we do that? Sounds a bit too good to be true. According to Scripture, we receive and believe in. But what does that mean?

It’s one thing to believe that His words are true and that Jesus is the Son of God, and it’s quite another to believe in Jesus as the Son of God and place our whole trust in Him.

In short, “believing that” is not “believing in.” Many “believe that,” but far fewer “believe in.” And Jesus wants disciples who “believe in.” Let’s look first for examples of what it means to “believe in.” Get ready, Jesus is about to use the word believe twenty-two times in just the first five chapters of John. He did so to make a point. Jesus is invited to a wedding in Cana where He performs an undeniable sign, witnessed by several, in which He turns water to wine. Of this John recorded, “This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him.”3

Following the miracle at Cana, Jesus goes up to Jerusalem for Passover; and first thing, He walks into the temple, makes a whip of cords, and cleans house, driving everyone out. “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”4 Jesus is not angry that they are selling animals. He is angry they are selling blemished animals and profiting off fellow Jews who had traveled long distances intent on obeying the Law and offering a sacrifice, only to be charged an exorbitant price.

The Jews, who can’t stand the fact that Jesus has just called God His Father, want a sign to support His authority to do what He’s done. Jesus then says something they can’t understand: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”5 They think He’s talking about the actual temple, which took forty-six years to build, but He’s talking about His body. “When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”6 The very next verse goes on to say,

“When He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs that He was doing.”7

While in Jerusalem, Jesus bumps into Nicodemus, who asks how a man can be born again. This is the first real conversation about what it means to become a child of God.

Jesus answers, “You must be born again.”

Nicodemus scratches his head, “How can this be?” Jesus puts it in language Nicodemus can understand. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.”8

Which brings us to the most famous verses in all of Scripture.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because He has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”9

Jesus then walks into the Judean countryside with His disciples and begins baptizing people. (His disciples did the baptizing.) Coincidentally, John the Baptizer is also baptizing people. A local Jew notices the two camps and the possible competition for followers and begins a conversation with John the Baptist. John responds, “I am not the Christ” and then goes on to point out, “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”10

Without “belief in,” there is no life.

When Jesus realizes that the Pharisees have heard that He and John are baptizing and that Jesus is baptizing more disciples than John, Jesus departs Judea for Galilee. To do so, He passes through Samaria and a town called Sychar. Being thirsty, He stops at Jacob’s well about noon when a woman from Samaria stops to draw water, and Jesus says to her, “Give Me a drink.”11 This is unusual in that Jews and Samaritans have been enemies a long time. Regardless, Jesus engages her in conversation about the water, her husbands, and how He is the Messiah. In the middle of the conversation, Jesus says this: “Woman, believe Me.” He then goes on to talk about worship. Seconds later, the woman says, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ). When He comes, He will tell us all things.” To this, Jesus responds: “I who speak to you am He.”12

These are mind-blowing words.

“Believe Me — I am the Messiah.”

Jesus leaves Samaria, where “many believed” based on the testimony of the woman — which might make her the first evangelist — and He walks by a pool at the Sheep Gate called Bethesda. The sick, blind, lame, and withered are waiting for an angel to stir the waters because the first one in after the stirring will be made well. Jesus speaks to a man who has been lying there thirty-eight years and asks him, “Do you wish to get well?”13 The sick man responds, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool.”14 So Jesus, who is the fount of living waters, says “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”15

Which the man does.

The Pharisees are watching Jesus through skeptical eyes. Trying to trap Him. “Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.”16

There it is. The reason they killed Him. Because He called God His Father and claimed to be the Son of God.

Which He is.

Jesus responds with this: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”17

Five chapters into John’s gospel and he’s now used the word believe twenty-two times. Over the course of his gospel, John used it eighty-four times! As a writer, if I mention something twenty-two times in the first five chapters of any book I write, trust me, I’m beating you over the head. It’s akin to ringing a church bell three feet from your ear. I’m wanting you to hear me. I’m telegraphing that this is probably the most important thing.

Why does Jesus do this?

After Jesus walks on water, a crowd gathers and asks Him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”18 Jesus answers it simply: “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”19 Then, moments later, He says this: “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”20

Because without “belief in,” there is no life.

The word believe comes from the Greek word pisteuo, and while it means to intellectually comprehend and agree with someone or some concept, pisteuo is more than that. It not only means to comprehend; it means to “put your trust in.” Completely.

Suppose you and I are standing on the side of a vast bridge that crosses a chasm several thousand feet deep. And as we sit there watching, people walk to the middle of the bridge, wrap a strap around their ankles, climb up on the railing, and take a swan dive out over the edge, falling thousands of feet, before the bungee snaps them back to the bridge. It’s one thing for us to stand on the side and remark, “I believe that bungee will hold me if I were to do the same.” It’s another thing entirely to walk out on the bridge, strap in, and take a Peter Pan off the railing. One is believing that it will hold us. The other is believing in its ability to hold us and then trusting in it — entirely — to do just that.

Big difference.

We pisteuo in a chair or swing when we sit on it. We pisteuo in a bridge when we drive across it. We pisteuo in an elevator when the doors close and it either ascends or descends. And we pisteuo in the bungee when we lock it around our ankles and dive.

Belief that is little more than an intellectual exercise that never strays far from the safe recesses of our minds. Belief that is faithlessness in action. It requires nothing. No commitment. No buy-in. Just cavalier indifference on display. While belief in flows from our guts. The same place we feel butterflies. Fear. Courage. And gumption. Down where our love lives.

1. John 1:6–7, 2. John 1:8–13, 3. John 2:1, 4. John 2:16, 5. John 2:19, 6. John 2:22, 7. John 2:23, 8. John 3:14–15, 9. John 3:16–18, 10. John 3:28, 35–36, 11. John 4:7, 12. John 4:21–26, 13. John 5:6 NASB, 14. John 5:7, 15. John 5:8 NIV, 16. John 5:18 NKJV, 17. John 5:24, 18. John 6:28, 19. John 6:29, 20. John 6:40.

Excerpted from It Is Finished by Charles Martin, copyright Charles Martin.

Most non-Christians do not believe that… They don’t believe anything about God or the truth spoken in the Scriptures. But there are also many who believe that Jesus is who He says that He is and yet do not place their trust in Him…they do not believe in Jesus. They know about Jesus but do not have an intimate relationship with Jesus. Head knowledge verses heart living. Faith, the free gift of God, allows us to believe in Jesus. True believers trust, follow and obey Jesus. It is not easy to be a Christian. You can say that you are one, but it may not be true. Examine your own heart to determine if you believe in Jesus!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 16, 2024

Notes of Faith March 16, 2024

Freedom from the Bondage of Sin

“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” — Joel 2:12

“But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

— Matthew 6:17–18

No one wants to remain an infant sustained on milk when they can grow and mature and feast on the solid food of the Spirit. It’s important to know where you are spiritually so you can have a starting point. If you’ve been on a diet of spiritual milk for some time, you’re likely ready to take your faith to the next level and experience greater intimacy with God. To do this, you need to move past the trap of perpetual sin.

Otherwise, your faith will merely revolve around your mistakes and your need for forgiveness. Throughout life in this fallen world, you will still have moments when you sin and need to ask for forgiveness, but you don’t have to stay stuck in a daily rinse-and-repeat cycle. God has so much more for you than that.

Knowing where you are spiritually is the starting point regardless of your struggles. And if you’re not struggling, then praise God! You’re likely more than ready to take your faith to the next level and experience more intimacy with Him. Because once you enter into relationship with Christ, you can have freedom from the bondage of sin...

While we have been set free — free indeed — by the Son, we remain spiritual beings in a body of flesh. Even though our salvation is secured and the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we are still works in progress capable of making sinful choices — even when we know better and don’t want to do so. Paul expressed this frustration in a way we can all relate to at some level:

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do... For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

— Romans 7:15, 18 NIV

Paul went on to conclude,

Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. — Romans 7:20 NIV

I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a better spiritual description of addiction than in the paradox Paul described. Basically, addiction reflects the pattern of doing something you really don’t want to do and/or not doing something you really do want to do.

What causes this ongoing tension? The Bible tells us that we are tripart beings comprised of body, soul, and spirit. Because our bodies are the tangible, visible part we see and feel, we tend to let our bodies, including our emotions, rule our hearts — which is why fasting is so essential for refocusing on God and strengthening our spirit. Fasting weakens the body and its appetites so that we can keep our eyes on Jesus. Simply put, fasting is about less of us and more of God.

In stark contrast to the constant messages in today’s society, fasting denies the things that our flesh craves — food, alcohol, and anything we use for pleasure and distraction. When we suppress those cravings and appetites and force our bodies to yield to our spirits, we create space for drawing closer to God and aligning our hearts with His. And when we’re aligned with Him, we have full access to His unlimited power through the Holy Spirit, including the power to overcome those stubborn, sinful areas that continue to hold us back in our faith...

Fasting is essential to our spiritual lives.

Fasting is mentioned in the Bible not a couple times, not a dozen times, but more than seventy times! In fact, Jesus said that His people would need to fast to remain connected to Him in His absence, once He had left earth and returned to Heaven:

Then John’s disciples came and asked him, ‘How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?’ Jesus answered, ‘How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast’.

— Matthew 9:14–15 NIV, emphasis added

Fasting was a vital part of life in the New Testament church, in both big decisions and daily moments.

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

— Acts 13:2–3 NIV, emphasis added

We also find that the apostle Paul fasted as a regular discipline:

...in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often. — 2 Corinthians 11:27 NKJV

I sincerely believe fasting is not an optional habit or an only-if-you-feel-like-it spiritual discipline. It is essential to our spiritual lives.

Keep in mind that fasting encompasses much more than food. I realize that some people are unable to fast from food due to physical conditions or medications they take. In fact, I urge you never to fast without checking with your doctor first and other health professionals you trust. You want to use wisdom when denying yourself fleshly desires, not jeopardize your physical, mental, and emotional health...

Fasting isn’t something that should intimidate you or make you nervous and that it also isn’t something you should ignore or neglect. Fasting is an essential spiritual practice that will strengthen your spirit in a powerful way as you dull your appetites for the things of this world. As you lean into fasting, you will supercharge your prayer life with a stronger, more focused connection with God and a looser attachment to the world.

Excerpted from Pray First by Chris Hodges, copyright Chris Hodges.

Check with your physician before fasting to know how it could affect your health. The Great Physician knows your physical body, since it is He that made it, and also knows your spiritual condition and desire to draw close to Him through fasting. Pray fervently before you begin, know when to start and if you need to end your fast due to physical concerns. Depriving yourself through “fasting” is a means to draw closer to God. It is not to be twisted and abused for other purposes. Draw near to the Lord your God and He will draw near to you.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 15, 2024

Notes of Faith March 15, 2024

Jesus, the Eternal God

When the apostle John wrote his gospel about the life of Jesus, he began his biography by making the boldest of claims.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. — John 1:1–2

There have been a lot of claims about who Jesus is. Some say He was only a prophet, while others say that He was just a good teacher. Still others claim that either He was a lunatic or a liar. And there are some who claim that He never really existed, that he was a mythological character, like Zeus or Poseidon.

People are going to have to decide for themselves who Jesus really is, but the Jesus I want to talk about is the Jesus of the Bible. He’s the only one I care about.

When I first read the above passage in John 1, I thought to myself, Who is this Word person? As I continued to read, I found out who the Word is.

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. — John 1:14

John identifies Jesus as the Word, the ultimate authority on everything. The way I see it, if His claims are true, that He was murdered and raised from the dead, He is the authority.

If His resurrection is an historical fact, no one could seriously argue that He isn’t worthy of my praise.

Resurrection defies every law of nature we know. Once something is dead, it’s dead like Rover, dead all over. There is no coming back from that, that is unless a supreme, almighty, infinite God intervenes and reverses the laws of science. In Jesus’ case, Satan killed the earthly body of Jesus, but by God’s power, He was raised from the dead.

Not only does John claim that Jesus is eternal, with no beginning or end, he also claims that Jesus was the one responsible for creation.

Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. — John 1:3–4

When most of us think of creation, we imagine some distant God speaking it all into existence.

However, since Jesus’ appearance in the flesh, we now have a visual image of our Creator. He is God, but He is also a man of skin and bones. When God came to live here, He came eating and drinking. He is like us in this way, but He’s also different in that He is God, and as God, He is the one who made us and put air in our lungs.

What a preposterous idea that the Creator would become one of us, walk around on this planet for thirty-three years, die a brutal death, and be raised from the dead. But that is the story John tells about Him.

The God who created every atom and molecule in the entire universe walked on earth as a man.

But if it’s true? It is the greatest story ever told.

Jesus, the Word of God, Is the Creator

According to the Bible, all God had to do was say, “Let it be!” (with apologies to the Beatles) and every bit of creation began to be. That’s it. He spoke and it began to exist. An accomplishment like that seems like a lot of work to us, but it wasn’t for God. He just said the word, and it was done. Just like that. Jesus is that Word of God, the Creator who brought all things into existence.

And what an amazing universe He created for His glory and our enjoyment. From the trillions upon trillions of celestial bodies that occupy space across the vast universe to the unseen world of atoms and the cells of living things, our environment is incredible. In fact, it is so vast and so precisely designed that the only thing we can say about it is that it is unfathomable.

I’m no scientist, but I’ve been an observer of the cosmos for over seven decades. I’ve seen a thing or two, even back when I was a rank and filthy sinner, that caused me to take pause for a moment and wonder to myself, How did it all get here?

I’ve discussed these things before, but I was awestruck at a young age by the annual migration of waterfowl. Even as a young boy traipsing through the woods and swamps in Northwest Louisiana, my observations led me to ask simple questions about the origin of the universe. How do ducks know when it’s time to leave the far north and head south for the winter? How do they know the way? How do they find the same ancestral water holes year after year? The same flight patterns? The same migration routes? The same stops along the way?

And then there is the pesky beaver. In my persistent fight with the Castor canadensis, the North American beaver, I also marveled at their uncanny ability to construct intricate dams and huts out of sticks and mud. They will not, they cannot be deterred. Embedded deeply within their DNA is something that commands them to stop the flow of water, and they will not relent until they have accomplished the one task they’ve been designed to complete. To say they are driven to do what they do is an understatement. They are equipped to do this, either by the impersonal forces of evolution or by an all-powerful, all-knowing Creator who implanted this unquenchable desire in every cell. You decide which one you’re going with. All I know is that their entire lives are spent working like crazy to impede the flow of water.

As I said, it’s not just that beavers build dams and huts, but that the knowledge of how to accomplish that task seems to be implanted in their brain. The beaver comes out of his mother’s womb with that particular skill set intact. I concluded early on that they are so hard-wired to do what they do that nothing mankind does will stop them. Trust me! I’ve tried. I hate to admit failure, but even though I may have won a battle or two, the beaver has so far won the war.

As much as I despise the destruction they cause, however, I am amazed at how well they do their job. No training! No schooling! Simply by instinct. Nothing more! In fact, I don’t think it’s knowledge at all. It’s more like an uncontrollable impulse, like breathing or the blinking of eyelids, like they were designed by a superior being specifically to accomplish that one task.

Observing things in the woods is where I began to question why things exist. Even the most committed skeptic would be forced to admit that waterfowl migration and dam-building beavers are at least worthy of note. At the very least, almost everyone who observes the same things I see will say, “Hmm, that’s interesting.” Right?

As I said, I am obviously no scientist. In my early days, I coached high school sports and taught a few English classes. In my late twenties, I designed the duck call that has supported our family for almost fifty years. Sixty days or so out of every year, I rise early in the morning, take a short jaunt to one of my blinds, and there I unceremoniously harvest ducks. The rest of the year, I’m either plowing the earth and planting the crops that will feed the wildlife I will harvest or repairing and brushing duck blinds.

I’m really just a simple man living a simple life. There’s not much to me, to tell the truth. So, if you were to ask me to explain the universe in scientific terms, I would have to refer you to someone more qualified. This, however, is the beauty of creation. It so overwhelmingly declares the reality of God that we don’t have to be astrophysicists or molecular biologists to marvel at creation. Even a phys-ed teacher and duck call maker can be dazzled by it.

Yes, even the simplest and most unsophisticated people can see what both the scientists and I see and be dumbfounded by its majesty. Something about creation seems to be screaming in our ears that there is more out there than we can imagine. That inaudible voice tells you and me that something or Someone is behind it all, and that this creative force is amazing beyond our comprehension.

Excerpted from I Could Be Wrong, But I Doubt It by Phil Robertson, copyright Phil & Kay Enterprises, LLC.

I love the Robertsons. They are no backwoods, ignorant fool. Phil, and others in his family, college educated, he, a teacher, except during duck season, haha, successful business men, seekers and proclaimers of the one true God. Their television shows are hilarious, staged for sure, but a lot of fun to watch, and at the end of every show they are praying to God, giving thanks for His provision and care for their family and the food they are about to eat. There is a saying, “living the dream.” This is a family that I could say, even with all of the problems that life brings…they are living the eternal life dream. God is! Jesus is God! The Holy Spirit reveals all truth to us! Know God and everything else will be icing on the cake, or a savory sauce on the duck.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 14, 2024

Notes of Faith March 14, 2024

Devotionals Daily - Make every day a better day… when you start with the Lord!

God Is Listening

Today's inspiration comes from:

Grace for the Moment for Moms

by Max Lucado

When you wonder if anyone is listening, know this: God is. Your voice matters in Heaven. He takes you very seriously. When you enter His presence, He turns to you to hear your voice. No need to fear that you will be ignored. Even if you stammer or stumble, even if what you have to say impresses no one, it impresses God, and He listens.

He listens to the painful plea of the elderly in the rest home.

He listens to the confession of the prodigal.

When the guilty beg for mercy, when the spouse seeks guidance, when the mom steps out of the chaos and into the chapel, God listens.

Intently. Carefully.

God is standing on the front porch of Heaven, expectantly hoping, searching the horizon for a glimpse of His child... And the name He calls is yours.

Because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live. — Psalm 116:2 NIV

When a believing person prays, great things happen. — James 5:16

You will call My name. You will come to Me and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will search for Me. And when you search for Me with all your heart, you will find Me! — Jeremiah 29:12-13

Whenever you want to talk, God will listen.

The maker of the stars would rather die for you than live without you.

God Is for You

God is for you. Turn to the sidelines; that’s God cheering your run. Look past the finish line; that’s God applauding your steps. Listen for Him in the bleachers shouting your name. Too tired to continue? He’ll carry you. Too discouraged to fight? He’s picking you up. God is for you.

God is for you.

Had He a calendar, your birthday would be circled. If He drove a car, your name would be on His bumper. If there’s a tree in Heaven, He’s carved your name in the bark.

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? God asks in Isaiah 49:15 NIV. What a bizarre question. Can you imagine feeding your infant and then later asking, “What was that baby’s name?” No. I’ve seen you care for your young. You stroke the hair, you touch the face, you sing the name over and over. Can a mother forget? No way. But even if she could forget,... I will not forget you, God pledges (Isaiah 49:15 NCV).

You will rest in His love; He will sing and be joyful about you. — Zephaniah 3:17

God is the One who saves me; I will trust Him and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord gives me strength and makes me sing. He has saved me. — Isaiah 12:2

I, the Lord, made you, and I will not forget you. — Isaiah 44:21 NLT

The maker of the stars would rather die for you than live without you.

Excerpted from Grace for the Moment for Moms by Max Lucado, copyright Max Lucado.

We forget God. We forget that He is always with us, beside us, and for the believer in Jesus, in us. God will never forsake us. He made us, reveals Himself to us, draws us into relationship with Him, saves us, works in and through us, and promises to make us like Jesus, perfect, holy, fit for heaven. Our experience in life is often so distracting and earthly troubling that we forget God is there…not there somewhere but with us, going through everything with us, knowing what was going to happen before we were even born! God uses all things for our benefit and His ultimate glory. Nothing surprises Him. He is in sovereign control. His will is going to be done! Praise Him for He loves you and wants you to love Him too.

Pastor Dalel

Notes of Faith March 13, 2024

Notes of Faith March 13, 2024

How the Root of Insecurity Is Tied to Your Identity

I leaped out of bed when the alarm signaled it was time to wake up and hit the pavement. Ten minutes later, I was outside pressing “start running” on my fitness app and putting in my earbuds to listen to a worship music playlist. I was excited to run because the cool, crisp mornings between winter and spring are my favorite time of year.

I made it home just in time to give my seven-and ten-year-old sons sweaty hugs and my husband a sweaty kiss before they left for the day. Then I started my post-run routine of showering, stretching, making a pot of tea, and having some quiet time with the Lord. I was looking forward to my Bible study time because the cancelation of many of my speaking engagements allowed me to study for the fun of it without the pressure of preparing to give a message.

The Holy Spirit had led me to take an interest in the life of Jonathan, King Saul’s son. A lot was written about his father, and even more was written about his best friend, David, but I had never looked closely at Jonathan.

I started reading in 1 Samuel 14, which tells the story of how Jonathan waged an attack on a Philistine outpost with only his young armor-bearer by his side. As Jonathan made his way to Mikmash to fight two dozen Philistines by himself, his father, the king, rested comfortably under a pomegranate tree in Gibeah with six hundred soldiers. The juxtaposition of the two scenes was striking.

When Jonathan and his young armor-bearer reached the outpost, they saw that the Philistines were positioned on a cliff. This put Jonathan and his armor-bearer at a strategic disadvantage because it robbed them of the element of surprise. The climb to the Philistines’ position would also use precious energy they needed for the battle.

Nevertheless, Jonathan turned to his armor-bearer and said,

Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few. — 1 Samuel 14:6

I repeated that last line to myself: “Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.” Something about it resonated. When the Lord is for us, we can be outnumbered but are never unprotected.

Insecurity Exposed

I read a couple more chapters and then decided it was time to start my day. I quickly checked my Facebook page to respond to comments and messages and then did the same on Instagram. Although I normally go straight to my Instagram notifications, that day I caught a glimpse of my newsfeed first. And that’s when the downward emotional spiral started.

After scrolling for what felt like an eternity, I counted no fewer than eight friends posting the exciting news that they were joining an amazing roster of speakers for a major women’s conference that was going virtual because of the pandemic. Since I don’t follow many people on social media, it seemed like the only thing in my newsfeed was an avalanche of exciting announcements about speaking at the Full Blossom Conference.

“Why wasn’t I invited to speak?” I asked aloud. “It’s like Susie asked everyone we mutually know except me.”

With each new post, I felt what can only be described as the stab of an emotional ice pick to the heart. My mind was clouded with hurt, so I stopped scrolling, closed Instagram, and looked out my living room window into a beautiful day. The skies were blue and filled with fluffy white clouds. Birds bounded from limb to limb on the tree just outside my window. But the beauty outside couldn’t overcome the ugliness churning inside me.

An old, familiar hurt resurfaced inside — the hurt of being unwanted.

I’ve had a full speaking schedule for years, despite never once advertising myself as a speaker or asking to speak at events. And I receive more speaking invitations for business and church conferences than I can accept. I’ve been invited to speak on multiple continents and keynoted major conferences across the United States and abroad. Yet, somehow, not being invited to speak at this conference bothered me.

Comparison makes what never mattered before the thing that matters most.

I’d heard of Full Blossom before and had never desired to speak at it, but after I saw many of the people in my ministry circle invited to speak there, my exclusion catalyzed a self-worth inquisition.

Comparison makes what never mattered before the thing that matters most.

As I sat down at my desk and opened my laptop, I felt a magnetic pull back to Instagram. I had back-to-back video conferences every thirty minutes for the next seven hours, so I set my phone down and logged on for the first meeting. Within ten minutes, I had discreetly unlocked my phone, opened Instagram, and continued the scroll. An irresistible and poisonous thread tugged on my heart and distracted me from work.

I went to Susie’s profile and saw post after post of her gushing about each speaker: how incredible they were and how perfect the conference would be because of them. My chest tightened, and a lump grew in my throat as I watched a video of her enthusiastically naming several of my friends as speakers. Although she spoke about them, my heart heard her speaking to me: Nona, I know who you are. I’ve seen what you do. And you’re not good enough. You’re not what I’m looking for. You’re just average.

I had not only constructed the full-blown, play-by-play narrative for why Susie hadn’t invited me but also decided I needed to unfollow everyone she had invited to speak. My heart felt like it would shatter if I saw one more friend’s post about the awesome conference I wasn’t invited to speak at. I didn’t want to wade through endless reminders that they were speaking at the conference and I wasn’t.

“Why did she pick everyone around me but not me?” I asked aloud again. The more I thought about it, the more my hurt turned to anger. But in my anger, I heard the Holy Spirit ask a different question: “Why does it matter?”

“Why does it matter?” I responded incredulously. “Because everyone who’s anyone will be speaking there. And I’m not. This will be the largest online women’s ministry gathering of the year, and I will be absent.”

“So you think you matter only because of the speaking invitations you receive?” the Holy Spirit asked.

“No,” I said. “I know I matter to You. I just... I just...” I stammered as the weight of the truth settled on me.

“Go ahead,” the Holy Spirit prompted, “say it.”

“I just want to matter to them too,” I whispered, tears forming in the corners of my eyes.

“I know, Nona. You want to matter to them because you’re insecure,” the Holy Spirit said matter-of-factly.

“Insecure?” I responded with disbelief. “I’m not insecure! Far from it. I know who I am in You. I preach about it regularly. Besides, I have everything I could ever want and more than I could ever have imagined. I’m definitely not insecure!”

The Root of Insecurity

With love and conviction, the Holy Spirit said, “Nona, you think people are insecure if they don’t like how they look or don’t like what they have or don’t like what they do. Those are expressions of insecurity, but they’re not the root of insecurity. The root of insecurity is when your identity is built on an insecure foundation.”

As I considered what the Holy Spirit said, I felt defensive. “My identity is secured to You, Lord. I know what the Word says about who I am, and I believe it. How can You say I’m insecure?”

“Yes, you know what my Word says, and you also believe it,” affirmed the Holy Spirit. “But knowledge and belief are not the same as faith. As long as you know my Word in your head and believe it in your heart but don’t practice it daily, your identity will continue to be secured to the affirmation of others. You have built your identity on people’s approval. People show their approval with likes on social media, but I demonstrated my approval through love on the cross. I approved of you before you were formed in your mother’s womb. And my approval is unchanging.”

The truth in these words hit me like a Mack truck. So much of my life had been spent trying to win people’s approval, and maybe yours has too.

The approval of others is never permanent, and it often depends on variables that are beyond our control. People use things such as height, weight, wealth, popularity, theology, position, or political affiliation as “approval filters” to determine whether we’re good enough for them. Yet God approved of us before there was anything to approve of. God created us on purpose, with purpose.

The Holy Spirit said, “Nona, the reason you’re hurt by not being invited to speak at that conference is because you measure your worth based on how much people approve of you compared to others. When you aren’t secured to the stable foundation of who I say you are, you drift with the shifting currents of others’ opinions about you. When you drift from Me, you have to secure your identity to people’s opinions to stay afloat. Your insecurity didn’t start this morning. You’ve been insecure most of your life.”

I sat in silence with my eyes closed, reflecting on what the Holy Spirit had said. Before I knew it, my eyes were brimming with tears. The Holy Spirit was right — as always.

Somewhere along the line, I had surrendered my purpose for performative applause. God had valued me before I even had the ability to perform my way into his love. Though God determined I was worth dying for at my worst (Romans 5:8), I made the mistake of conflating my eternal, intrinsic value with likes, follows, shares, and speaking invitations. And the craziest part of it all is that no one knew. Not even me. It happened subtly, over time.

With every larger platform I stepped onto, my heart had slowly detached from the secure foundation of God’s approval and attached itself to the insecure foundation of other people’s approval, creating insecurity.

“Lord, You’re right,” I said. “You say in your Word that people honor You with their lips but their hearts are far from You. I now understand what You mean. I have honored You with my lips, but I’m not honoring You with my life. Lord, I need Your help. Please deliver me from insecurity.”

“Nona, what you’re asking will require more than you expect, but if you trust Me and obey Me, I will help you get to freedom. You must no longer look to others for approval; you must look only to Me.”

“Lord, I’m ready,” I said.

“No, you’re not. But that’s what My grace is for.”

Just as Jonathan was outnumbered against the Philistines, we can feel overwhelmed by seeming to never measure up. But the same divine grace that enabled His victory is the same grace that enables our victory over insecurity too.

Adapted from Killing Comparison by Nona Jones, copyright Nona Jones. Shared with permission from biblegateway.com.

I pray that you spend much time in God’s Word. I love the real people God has told us about. Jonathan is one of them. You may not have remembered anything about this person because He is not the king or other powerful influencer. But he loved David who would become king and protected him from his father Saul who sought to kill David.

We can learn much from what people of the Word lived. We can learn of our lack of faith and trust in God, our insecurity through comparing ourselves to others (my own heart did this yesterday) but it is God who provides us with grace for usefulness and glory before Him, not mankind. This is most likely a struggle for you…to be liked, respected, honored, among others. Not a very eternal perspective. Let us seek to bring honor and glory to God by passing all praise, honor and glory to the One to which it belongs…God and God alone!

Pastor Dale