character

Self-Seeking and Christ-Seeking: Two Paths, Two Outcomes

Scripture whispers and warns that two paths run through every life: one curved inward toward self, and one turned outward and upward toward Christ. The difference between them is not always loud or obvious—but it is always decisive. Throughout Scripture, self-seeking and Christ-seeking are presented not merely as attitudes, but as opposing principles of life.…
This One Thing I Do

“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13–14) If you read that slowly, it doesn’t…
When Gratitude Runs Out of Words

Scripture Focus: 2 Corinthians 9:15 “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” Paul ends a long, practical discussion about generosity with a sentence that almost feels like a holy interruption. After talking about offerings, willingness, cheerful giving, and provision, he suddenly stops and exclaims, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” It’s as…
Caleb: Faith That Followed Fully

Caleb’s story does not begin with a throne, a miracle, or a dramatic rescue. It begins quietly, standing among a group of men chosen to spy out a land God had already promised. And yet, from that moment forward, Caleb’s life becomes one of Scripture’s clearest portraits of what it means to trust God completely—not…
The Company You Keep

Some voices teach your heart to flinch.They point to the height of the walls,measure the shadows,count the reasons you should turn back.Their words sound practical,but fear is always practicalwhen it wants to be obeyed. Other voices speak more softly.They do not deny the giants—they simply refuse to enthrone them.They lift your eyes past what roarsto…
Joy on the Other Side of Obedience

Sometimes it isn’t a choice,just a slight leaning—a thought that loosens,a grip that forgets to hold. No thunder,no vision,only the soultilting a fractiontoward yes. Yet in that almost-invisible turning,something shifts its weight—like light changing seatsin a silent room. You walk on,unsure what you surrendered,only awarethat somewhere inside, resistance fell quietand joy,without introduction,took one small stepcloser.…
When Borrowed Footsteps Change You

There’s something humbling about discovering you were wrong about someone—not because they corrected you, but because life quietly handed you a glimpse of their reality. It’s easy to observe people from the outside and think we’ve got them figured out. We see the surface: the expression, the reaction, the habit that frustrates us, the tone…
When the Mind Learns to Breathe

There is a hushthat sometimes risesfrom the corners of the soul—a soft rearranging,like furniture shiftingin a room no one remembers entering. Thoughts flutter there,thin as wings against a window,searching for a skythey do not yet recognize.Some carry old dust,some carry broken echoes,all of them tremblingas if decidingwhether to stayor finally lift. In that stillness,a strange…
Ten Steps Earlier

There’s nothing gentle about Proverbs 4:14–15. “Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.” It almost sounds like the Spirit is stacking verbs for those of us who are tempted to think, I’ll be…
Kept in the Middle of It

There are days when I catch myself wishing Jesus had prayed a different prayer for His followers. Something like, “Father, pull them out as soon as it gets hard,” or, “Build a safe little bubble around them where nothing ugly can touch them.” Instead, on the night before the cross, He said this: “I pray…