Discipleship and Spiritual Growth

The invitation is not to begin with external markers of success. It is to first receive. To first wait on God’s life and healing before we heal others.

To redeem our memories, we must begin where we are least likely to go, the place that we feel is least relevant in the here and now.

Grandmom and Grandad’s Louisiana table will always be my favorite table, carved walnut and long enough for their four kids to bring their kids who also brought theirs. It was the living table of a great-grandmother, and she set it with southern precision, in decadent layers of greenery and understated class.

“The heavens” also carried another important meaning in the ancient world. It referred to the dwelling place of God. The heavens are the invisible, intangible realm occupied by the Lord and his hosts.

The antidote to pride is still humility, but a kind of humility that’s different from what we’re used to. We typically think of humility as thinking lowly of oneself, and we don’t struggle to think lowly of ourselves.

Every person we translate Jesus to has two options: to follow Him or stay where they are. We do our part in prayer and partnership with Jesus.

No matter what method you use for memorization—notecards, apps, the first letter method, writing or listening to the Word, or reciting it in the shower—repetition will be a necessary ingredient.

We don’t live by faith by reading a rule book, or following a map, or working through a career development program. We do not begin with things, or pieces of paper, or ideas, or feelings, or deeds, or successes.