I Choose Today...

I Choose Today to Remember the Crown of Thorns

Holy Week invites us to slow down and remember. This year, I found myself reflecting on one powerful symbol — the crown of thorns. During this Holy Week, I have been reflecting on what Christ went through leading up to and including the cross. He was tortured. “Then Pilate took Jesus and had Him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head. They clothed Him in a purple robe and went up to Him again and again, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ And they slapped Him in the face.” John 19:1–3 But even in their cruelty, God was revealing something deeper, something that had been set in motion from the very beginning. In Genesis 3:17–18, after Adam and Eve sinned, God said: “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you…” Did you catch that? Thorns were part of the curse. They were part of the consequences of sin, the brokenness that entered the world when humanity chose to be right in its own eyes. And it was these same thorns

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I Choose Today to Live From Who I Already Am

Over the past year, we’ve been walking a journey together. Fifty episodes. Fifty conversations. Fifty opportunities to pause, reflect, and choose differently. And as I sat with this moment, Episode 51, the end of this first season, I felt led to do something simple. Pause. Because sometimes the most meaningful thing we can do is stop and look at where God has brought us. Over the last several episodes, we’ve been talking about identity. Who we are in Christ. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, both in my own life and in walking alongside others, it’s this: Everything changes when we understand who we are. Because when we don’t know who we are, we strive. We compare. We perform. We try to earn what has already been given. But when identity settles into our hearts, something shifts. We stop striving… and we begin living. This series began with receiving identity. Not carving it. Not earning it. Not proving it. But receiving it. Because so many of us have spent years trying to become someone, trying to measure up, trying to prove our worth, trying to feel like we belong. But Scripture reminds us that in Christ, identity is not

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I Choose Today to Reflect Christ

The other day I was driving down the road listening to a worship song when a lyric caught my attention. The song said that we were made to glorify God. It sounded beautiful, but it also made me pause and wonder what that actually looks like in real life. Not on Sunday morning when the music is playing. But on a Tuesday. When you’re tired, running errands, and life feels ordinary. What does it really look like to glorify God in everyday life? The Bible tells us we were made for this. Paul writes: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” —1 Corinthians 10:31 Did you notice the examples he chose? Eating. Drinking. The most ordinary activities imaginable. Paul wasn’t talking about church services or worship songs. He was talking about daily life. So how do ordinary people glorify an extraordinary God? What does it actually mean to glorify God? In Scripture, God is glorified when His character becomes visible. When His love is seen. When His mercy is experienced. When His patience shows up in real human lives. Jesus even said that when people see the way we

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I Choose Today to Trust the Great I AM

There is a verse in the Bible that used to confuse me a little. It’s found in Exodus 3:14. God had just met Moses in the desert through a burning bush that was not consumed. He was sending Moses to Egypt to rescue the Israelites from oppression and slavery. But Moses wasn’t convinced he was the right person. So he asked God in verse 13, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God’s answer is powerful: “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” What does I AM mean? It means God is the One who always was, always is, and always will be. He is self-existing. Unchanging. Not dependent on anyone. Not limited. Not bound by time or circumstance. He simply IS. And because He is the eternal, self-sufficient God, it means something beautiful for us… He is everything His people need. He is healer. He is rescuer. He is provider. He is strength. He is sustainer. He

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I Choose Today to Open the Door to Receive

When I was 15, I worked as a hostess at a restaurant. One day, a customer complimented me, I think it was about my dimples or my smile. Something small, something kind. Without even thinking, I made a negative remark. I brushed it off. I deflected. I minimized it. A waitress pulled me aside afterward and gently, but firmly, taught me how to take a compliment. “When someone says something kind,” she said, “you can just say thank you.” At the time, I felt embarrassed. But looking back now, I see something much deeper. That moment wasn’t just about manners, it was about my ability to receive anything good. I didn’t know how to let kindness land. I didn’t know how to rest in a gift that was freely given. My instinct was to return it, deflect it, or make myself smaller so I didn’t feel exposed. For years, sometimes even now, I’ve had to consciously practice receiving compliments instead of dodging them. That small moment revealed something much bigger about my heart. I didn’t just struggle to receive God’s love, I didn’t even know how to receive a simple compliment. The truth is, many of us say we believe

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