I Choose Today...

I Choose Today to Find God in the Unexpected

One of the things we can ascertain from reading the Bible and living as a child of God, is He rarely, if ever, does things the way we expect or anticipate. As a result, we see over and over again stories of missing God’s goodness and miracles God is doing in and among us. Even worse, we risk missing the fullness of His presence. John 1:10-11 (NLT) “He came into the very world He created, but the world didn’t recognize Him. He came to His own people, and even they rejected Him.” It broke Jesus’ heart that the city which was the center of His chosen people, didn’t recognize Him. We might think they were foolish not to recognize and accept Him when He was walking among us, right? But we do the same thing, don’t we? We think we are right in our expectations of God because it makes sense to us. But that is where we miss recognizing that He is walking among us. Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so

Read More »

I Choose Today: To Be Seen and Loved

“God can’t use me—I’ve done so many bad things! How could a holy God ever love and accept me?” Does that sound familiar? I know it does for me. I’ve had those same thoughts and conversations with others over the years. It’s easy to believe the lie that our past disqualifies us from God’s love and purpose. But the truth is, God sees us differently. There’s a man in the Bible whose story reminds me of this. His name was Zacchaeus. By common standards, Zacchaeus was a sinner—a man who had made choices that earned him wealth at the expense of others. Though he was rich, he was despised, isolated, and deeply empty. Then one day, Jesus came to town. And everything changed. While Zacchaeus climbed a tree to catch a glimpse of Him, Jesus stopped, looked up, and called him by name. Instead of seeing Zacchaeus for what he had done, Jesus saw him for who he was. With compassion and love, Jesus invited Himself into Zacchaeus’s life. That encounter turned everything around. Zacchaeus went from being a man weighed down by sin to someone transformed by grace. This story reminds us of an incredible truth: Jesus didn’t come

Read More »

I Choose Today to Lean on Jesus in My Pain

As a mom, I never want to see my daughter hurting. Over the years, whenever she would be hurting, I would cry out to God. Most of the time I would offer to take her place in her pain. I wanted to take her pain so she didn’t have to experience it. I love her that much. You know, there is someone else who loves her even more than I do. In fact, not only does He love her, but He loves all of us enough to want to stop our hurting. His name is Jesus. Jesus did just what I described above. He took on our hurt, our pain, even our mistakes and rebellion, and He died for us. Isaiah tells us, “But [in fact] [Jesus] has borne our griefs, And He has carried our sorrows and pains… and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.” (Isaiah 53:4a & 5b) Maybe you have cried out to Jesus to take away your hurt, your pain, and yet, you still feel it. Maybe you are experiencing the same problems and circumstances that cause you pain. But even if He doesn’t change your circumstances (yet), He can

Read More »

I Choose Today to be Unburdened

Last weekend I hosted an event at my home. When greeting my guest at the door, I ask to take their bags, coats, and anything else that weighs them down. This allows them to relax and be unburdened. When we are unburdened, we have the freedom to be more present and enjoy ourselves with the people we are with. Jesus wants to do that for us too. When we come into His presence, He wants us to give Him our burdens, our baggage, and the things that are weighing on us. He wants to unburden us, teach us, and to give us rest for our souls. That is exactly what He is saying to us in Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭29‬, when He vows, “Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” What kind of physical reaction do you have when you imagine having “rest for your soul?” I know I have a visceral response to having rest for my soul. It feels like a deep inward sense of relief, freedom, and lightness, allowing me to feel more settled. For example, when I am up in

Read More »

I Choose Today to Embrace the Magnitude of God’s Love

Not too long ago, my Aunt pointed out a small, easily overlooked word that completely shifted my understanding of one of the most well-known verses in the Bible. It was as though I was just beginning to grasp the true magnitude of God’s love. So… “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬ ‭ How many times have we read and quoted that verse and overlooked the word “so” and its significance? The word “so” in this verse is meant to convey the extent or magnitude of God’s love. It shows us the vastness of God’s love — a love so great that He gave His only Son. “So” conveys a powerful image of God’s love in action — it’s not just that He loved, but that He loved to such an extraordinary measure. When we grasp that God so loved the world, it shifts how we live. This love reaches into our deepest struggles and lifts us into grace and salvation. Guilt and shame are byproducts of a broken world — the same world that tells us our mistakes define us,

Read More »