I Choose Today...

I Choose Today to Stop Striving for What Christ Already Finished

There was a season in my walk with God when, if you asked me, I would have said, “I trust God. I believe in grace.” And I meant it. But underneath that belief, I was still quietly working. Working to be enough. Working to prove I was serious. Working to earn the feeling of being close to God. It didn’t look like rebellion. It looked like devotion. I was serving. I was learning. I was showing up. But if I’m honest, underneath all of it was fear. Fear that if I slowed down, I would disappoint God. Fear that if I didn’t keep proving myself, I would drift. Fear that closeness with God depended on my consistency. Beneath all of that was one unspoken question: Have I done enough? One day, in a quiet moment, the Holy Spirit gently brought a question to my heart: “Why are you trying to earn what My Son already paid for?” That question stopped me. Because I realized I wasn’t serving from rest. I was serving to try to reach rest. This week on the podcast, I talked about this very thing — the hidden striving many of us carry in our spiritual lives

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I Choose Today to Bring My Hidden Hurts into the Light

When I clean, I’ve been known to be a shover. I shove things in drawers. Closets. Cabinets. Anywhere I can hide the mess so my space looks tidy. On the surface, everything appears in order… but inside those drawers, there’s still chaos waiting to be dealt with. If I’m honest, I’ve done the same thing in my heart. Shoving our mess down in life isn’t the way to go either. Because sooner or later, what we’ve buried demands attention. Unaddressed hurts, unresolved mistakes, and buried disappointments don’t just disappear. They seep into our attitudes, our reactions, and our relationships — often in ways we don’t even realize. I’ve seen this play out in my own life. One time my husband gave me simple feedback, and my response was completely over the top. My reaction didn’t match the moment at all. Later, I had to ask myself, Why did I respond like that? What did I shove into the closet of my heart that just came spilling out sideways? That moment showed me something important — I couldn’t clean this mess on my own. I needed God to reveal what was hiding beneath the surface. Like David in Psalm 139, I

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I Choose Today to Wait with Purpose

How does one wait well? Waiting with purpose is a healthy way to approach our waiting, but that’s often easier said than done. Scripture is full of people who had to wait: Abraham waited until he was 100 to see God’s promise fulfilled. Joseph waited over a decade as a slave and prisoner before stepping into his God-given destiny. The Israelites wandered for 40 years before entering the Promised Land. And God’s people waited for generations for the greatest promise of all, the coming of Jesus, the Messiah. Waiting is not unique to us in our time; it has always been part of God’s story with His people. What matters is not just that we wait, but how we wait. As Charles Spurgeon reminds us, “If the Lord Jehovah makes us wait, let us do so with our whole hearts; for blessed are all they that wait for Him. He is worth waiting for. The waiting itself is beneficial to us: it tries faith, exercises patience, trains submission, and endears the blessing when it comes. The Lord’s people have always been a waiting people.” So we wait with confidence, assurance, and boldness, trusting that the Lord is guiding us through

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I Choose Today to Renew My Perspective

I’ve been starting my quiet time a little differently lately. Before I bring God my needs or questions or concerns, I’ve been writing down what I’m grateful for. Just a few simple lines. Nothing fancy. But it’s been surprising how deeply it resets my heart. I want to come to Him with a thankful heart before I ask Him for anything else. Scripture is full of invitations to give thanks, not because God needs to hear it, but because we need to remember what’s still true, even when life feels uncertain. Paul wrote, “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances…” (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18). Not for all circumstances, but in them. There’s a difference. James reminds us that “whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down from God our Father…” (James 1:17). Every good moment, every breath of relief, every small piece of joy, it all has a source. And it all traces back to Him. David understood this better than most. His life was full of turmoil and pressure, yet he continually chose gratitude. He wrote, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever” (Psalm 107:1). Gratitude anchored

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I Choose Today to Let God’s Blessings Flow Through Me

A couple of years ago, we visited friends out of town and went to church with them. As we walked in, the ushers handed each person a small three-inch piece of PVC pipe with 2 Corinthians 9:11 printed on it: “Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.” The pastor explained that this verse reminds us of a simple truth: we are blessed to be a blessing. The pipe was a visual, what God pours into our lives is meant to flow through us to others. Our gifts. Our encouragement. Our joy. Our resources. Our compassion. None of it is meant to stop with us. I’ve thought about that little pipe often since that day. It still sits on my bookshelf as a quiet reminder to keep my life open… to let God’s blessings move through me, not just to me. God never intended for us to be containers. He intended us to be conduits, living expressions of His generosity, His kindness, and His heart. What has God entrusted to you that someone else might desperately need today?

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