Some good news of the good news

I recently went through an unnecessary dry season in my walk with Christ. The reason I say unnecessary is because I could have come to Him in brokenness and need way sooner, begging Him for the power of His Spirit to overcome my sin and defeated life. He would have met me in an instant. But instead, I wallowed in my defeat and discouragement, buying into the lies of the enemy that I was unworthy and unfit to even come to God, and that I was doomed to a life of mediocrity in my faith. I am glad to say that God provided me with the right reminders at the right time on the baptism (immersion, filling) of the Holy Spirit and the prerequisites to receive Him. He also opened my eyes to so many verses of the New Testament that I have known on a head level, but now feel like I am coming to know in a deep way in my heart.

A new look at suffering and the hope we can have in the midst of it

I was reading in Philippians 3 the other day, and a phrase in verse 10 caught my eye in a really fresh, new way. Verse 10-11 reads: "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."

The whole verse was really powerful to me, but particularly what I highlighted jumped out to me and made me ponder it. Anytime I see the word suffering in the New Testament I usually immediately think of physical pain or losing my loved ones. The New Testament writers really embraced suffering in a way that I really desire to be able to, but usually feel so far from, and even a little bit afraid of. For the relatively small amount of suffering I have experienced, I have seen God's goodness, faithfulness, presence, and sovereignty so clearly! I know His grace is sufficient for everything we go through, and this helps me in thinking about suffering.

A Short Thought on Self Control and Discipline

We live in a culture that screams to us at every corner, “you are justified in having all of your desires met, and if you don’t have them met, something is wrong.” Thus, our desires can easily come to master us, keeping us in bondage and often escalating out of control. On this topic, Dallas Willard states, “desire itself is not bad, but desire is not meant to master our lives. It isn’t that desires or feelings are overwhelming, but they are overwhelming if you concede to them time and time again.” In contrast,