Discipleship is a team sport. Family—both through our natural families, and our supernatural family through baptism—and communion with others is an essential ingredient to the Christian life. Not that it will be easy…it won’t be. It is simple, but not easy. An encounter with family lived well is redeeming not because it’s perfect, but because there’s love and sacrifice in the midst of the mess. That’s where healing is, especially if your experience of family has been painful in some way.
And truly, if the mention of “family” is painful for you, know this: God wants to break through and redeem that. The bond through baptism is real and deep—this family is not second best; not a consolation prize. Blood is thicker than water, but grace is thicker than blood.
“Lord, help me to see today how you’re going to reveal yourself in my family.”
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Sons of the Church
Obedience is rooted in God, it is lived trust and lived surrender in His pastoring and fatherhood – that’s where we want to be. It can be really difficult but as sons and daughters of the church we are invited to stay in obedience, not only to our religious…
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Jesus, Look At My Heart
Do you know anybody who wants to work out all of the time? Unlikely. But nobody who gets in that workout says afterwards, “That was a waste of time. Why’d I bother?” Even more with prayer. When you take the time, it’s always, “I’m so glad I did that.” Eternal perspective changes how you use your time. What are we made for? To live forever.
It’s key to commit to prayer; to schedule it and keep honor it through intention and discipline. But, then, how do we maintain prayer as an intimate relationship and not let it become a routine? The answer to one question: where’s your heart in it? Going through the motions to get it done is not the point.
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A Holy Hiding
Affirmation feels different when it’s public, out loud and in front of everyone — as at the Baptism of Christ and the Transfiguration, where God audibly affirmed Jesus as his beloved Son. That affirmation becomes the foundation that allows Jesus to be free; to weep and be compassionate and angry, to be a revelation…
For 30 years, Jesus lived quietly in Nazareth with Mary and Joseph; his “hidden” years. Through his normal day-to-day living of going to school and having friends and putting in a hard day’s work, Jesus made sacred the hidden space. That hidden space is where most of us live most of our lives — out of the public eye…
