Today the Spirit of Truth showed me something so simple, yet so profound. I’ve read Isaiah 61 many times. I’ve prayed it. I’ve quoted it. I’ve tried to put on the garment of praise. Yet there were seasons when joy seemed just out of reach. Today, the Holy Spirit put one word on it. Mourning. Jesus said the Spirit of Truth would guide us into all truth. Today, He did exactly that. In my season of heaviness, I wasn’t lacking praise. I was carrying mourning. Isaiah 61 suddenly c

Recently someone shared Deuteronomy 9:3 with me, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it. “But be assured today that the LORD your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; He will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the LORD has promised you.” I love the order of that verse. God goes first. He goes before His people like a devouring fire. He destroys what they cannot destroy. He su

NUMBERS 12 We can walk away from a conversation thinking nothing of it. God doesn’t. I was reading about Miriam and Aaron speaking against Moses because of the woman he had married. Honestly, it didn’t seem that unusual at first. People talk about people all the time. We talk about the decisions they make. We call it concern. We call it processing. Sometimes we don’t think much about it at all. But God did. God wasn’t looking at the conversation the way they were. Miriam and

NUMBERS 5 I have read Numbers 5 before. More than once. But this time I got stuck on a phrase I had somehow overlooked. A spirit of jealousy. Not jealousy. A spirit of jealousy. When I read the word spirit, my mind immediately went where it has been trained to go. Cast it out. Take authority over it. Deal with it spiritually. But that isn’t what happened in this passage. I kept reading. I found: A spirit of jealousy. An offering of jealousy. The law of jealousy. Bitter water.

There is something about the story of Leah and Rachel that becomes more powerful the older I get. When most people read it, they immediately feel compassion for Leah. The overlooked one. The unloved one. The woman Jacob did not choose. And honestly, I understand that. There are many people who know what it feels like to live unwanted, unseen, or compared to someone else. But the more I sit with the story, the more my heart also breaks for Rachel. Because humanity is complicat

Beautitudes This morning the Beatitudes hit me differently. I have read them before. I have heard teachings on them before. But this morning I noticed something I do not think I fully understood before. Jesus places blessing beside things the world would never call blessed. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are the persecuted. And something in me shifted. I think for a long time

EXODUS 18 There is something powerful about Exodus 18. Before Jethro ever gave Moses counsel, they first sat together and talked about the goodness of the Lord. They rejoiced together, worshiped together, offered sacrifices, and broke bread together. There was relationship before correction. Then Jethro watched Moses lead. From morning until evening, Moses carried the weight of the people alone. Every problem. Every dispute. Every decision came to him. And Jethro said: “This

NUMBERS 10 As I studied Numbers 10, I found myself fascinated by the silver trumpets. Each sound had a purpose. One gathered the people. One called the leaders. One sounded the alarm to move. One prepared the people for battle. Another accompanied worship and rejoicing. The more I studied, the more I kept asking myself, What does this look like for us today? We don’t have silver trumpets directing our every move. We have the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice.”

There was something about the story of Obed Edom that settled deep in my spirit. After Uzzah reached out and touched the Ark, fear filled the moment. David was afraid to bring the Ark into the City of David, so it was taken to the house of Obed Edom. For three months, the presence of God rested there. Scripture simply says the Lord blessed Obed Edom, his household, and everything he had because of the Ark of God. When I kept reading, I noticed something else. Years later, his

There are some stories in Scripture that are difficult to fully comprehend with a natural mind. The story of Judah is one of them. Because if we are honest, most of us would not have chosen Judah. When we read the story of Joseph, it almost feels obvious who should carry the greater honor. Joseph was betrayed, rejected, sold, falsely accused, imprisoned, and yet remained faithful through suffering. But the royal lineage leading to Jesus did not come through Joseph. It came th

God doesn’t think like us. Have you ever felt rejected? Unseen? Looked over? Chosen second? Accepted, but never truly wanted? Most people know the story of Jacob loving Rachel. Far fewer stop and consider Leah. Leah was the woman nobody fought for. The woman tolerated, but not treasured. Scripture says Jacob loved Rachel, but Leah was hated. Not necessarily meaning violent hatred, but unwanted. Unfavored. Less loved. You can feel the ache of that all throughout her story. Im

EXODUS 21 I was reading through Exodus 21 and realized something that stopped me. What God called offenses looked very different than what we often call offenses today. In Exodus, offenses were things like violence, theft, injury, neglect, damage, dishonor, and harm done to another person. They were visible. Measurable. Actions that affected families, people, and communities. God addressed them seriously because sin always leaves damage behind it. But today, when many people