Lord, You are my Shepherd. You are my Keeper, my Defender, my Guardian—my Protector. When I am living under the umbrella of Your care, when I am following You, there is nothing that I lack. There is nothing that I lack. When the world pulls me in so many directions, I look to You. I … Continue reading Walking with the Shepherd: A Journey through Psalm 23
One thing I know about the human condition...every one of us wants to be seen. Heard. Fully known. And sometimes, maybe we don't feel those things. We feel unseen. We feel like no one understands us or wants to hear what's really going on in our heart of hearts. It's a longing that we have, and sometimes we go to great lengths to try to be seen, heard & known by others.
“Lord, You have searched (examined) me and You know me.” Psalm 139:1 Like a skillful doctor who studies an X-ray, MRI or CT scan to see what’s going on beyond what the naked eye can see, so the Lord searches our hearts and our minds. He looks beyond what people can see or know about … Continue reading Meditations from Psalm 139: Psalm 139:1-Fully Known
"BUT, I have trusted in Your faithful love; my heart will rejoice in Your deliverance. I will sing to the Lord because He has treated me generously." Psalm 13:5-6 Why do these verses of praise start with a "but"? Before the Psalmist gets to the praise, some wrestling was going on. I get that. I … Continue reading The Wrestling Before the Praise
Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.Genesis 15:6 I love this nugget from my reading this morning!! I think that a lot of times...when we hear the word "righteous" or "righteousness"...we tend to think of people that come across as "holier than thou"...people that think and act like they're pretty … Continue reading Relief for Imperfect People…
The verse "Be still and know that I am God" encourages us to release our worries, anxieties, and control, and to embrace stillness in God's presence. By experiencing and recognizing Him, leaning into His plan, and trusting His character, we find peace, healing, joy, protection, and rest. This trust allows our minds to rest freely in Him.
When I say that I'm a Christ-follower... Don't shy away Because you think that I think I'm Good Better Holier. Don't clam up, because you think you can't share your brokenness. I'm broken. Don't be silent about your messiness. I'm messy. Don't pretend to be perfect, together. I'm not. I'm imperfect. I'm never together. If I look like I've got it all together... Just talk to me for a few minutes. I might say that I'm doing ok today... I also might melt down and turn into a puddle.... Continue Reading...
On the hard hills, it's a struggle to look up...in life and in running. I find myself not wanting to actually look at the hill...all I can manage to do is look down and see is one foot moving in front of the other. The hills are hard. Exhausting. Sometimes you want to sit...or quit...or turn around and go the other direction because it's easier. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. **Breathe.**
Sometimes...we're on this life-path...it's all safe and paved and predictable. Comfortable. All of a sudden, life halts our perfectly paved and planned-out journey and takes us for an unexpected turn down a rocky, rough, difficult, unpredictable path. We look at the path that we've been on...we look at the destination that we were headed for...and … Continue reading Unknown Paths
We all love a Christmas tree, all lit up, decorated...it smells wonderful and brings life to the Christmas season. That's what it represents...Life. Christ, and the new life that He brings to us. We all love posting and sharing pictures of our trees looking all pretty. Today I was taking my tree down...it was ugly … Continue reading What I learned from my dead Christmas tree…
Nicole Dotson 