Christian Living Blog

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. Psalm 37:7

Perhaps you are in a wintry season right now. Perhaps you feel as though everything you’ve cared about has been taken away, and you’ve not found anything to take its place. Perhaps God has called you to lay aside a lifetime of striving so you can experience abiding. But to be honest, the stillness is getting on your nerves.

Winter always seems to take longer than we think it should.

Getting through such times, I’ve learned, is not for the faint of heart. It’s not easy to endure the loss of what we once thought was vital. To shiver in the dark, feeling bereft and confused. To wonder when—or if—this season of dying will ever end in true resurrection.

I understand how you feel. And so does Jesus—more than either of us knows. The One who hung forgotten and forsaken, cut down in the prime of His life and buried deep in the tomb, is so intimately acquainted with our suffering that He alone can remind us what is at stake.

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus told His disciples as they walked toward Jerusalem and His death, “unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24).

As strange as it sounds, it is in the dark nights of our souls—in those deathlike, midnight places where nothing seems to be happening—that God often does His best work. Preparing our lives—so barren at the moment—for an even greater outpouring of life.

For winter always precedes spring. And in the law of harvest, death always precedes life. But if we’ll trust the Gardener, a harvest of fruit awaits—“much fruit,” as John 15:5 calls it. Fruit formed out of the life of Christ released in us by our dying.
—Lazarus Awakening

Read: Psalm 27:13–14

Reflect: What should characterize our attitude and behavior during difficult times?

Excerpted from At the Feet of Jesus by Joanna Weaver. Copyright © 2012 by Joanna Weaver. Excerpted by permission of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

O Lord, you took up my case; you redeemed my life. Lamentations 3:58

Of all the titles of Jesus, I’ve come to appreciate most that He is my Redeemer. After walking so many years with the Lord, through both good times and bad, I can declare along with Job, “I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25).

When God interrupted humanity’s downward spiral by sending His own Son, Jesus came into a culture that expected the Messiah to set up a kingdom free from problems, sorrow, and pain. Even His own disciples expected He would topple Rome and set up a new regime complete with corner offices and special perks reserved just for them.

Those looking forward to the Promised One had always believed He would reinvent the world.

Instead, God chose to redeem it.

Which means sin is still present and Satan is still active. Murder and violent wars cover the earth. Sickness ravages bodies and minds and hearts. Too often, the innocent die young. Surely, we think, there has to be a better way.

After all, God could have pushed the reset button long ago, at the beginning of time. He could have taken one look at the mess we humans had made—our rebellion, our hatred, our immorality and idolatry—and decided to delete it all. With one push of a button, God could have rebooted and started over.

Instead, He became a man. On the cross He took the weight of our mistakes. All my failures, all your hurts, all our devastation. And with a final breath He redeemed it all.
—Lazarus Awakening

Read: Luke 1:68–75

Reflect: Describe the redemption Jesus came to bring.

Excerpted from At the Feet of Jesus by Joanna Weaver. Copyright © 2012 by Joanna Weaver. Excerpted by permission of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Luke 24:38

Negative self-talk often slips into my mind before I even have time to think. Satan disguises lies as personal assessment, and he plays and replays the demeaning statements inside my head like a never-ending song:

• “There’s no use starting this project—I’ll never finish it.”
• “I can’t believe I forgot to do that! I’m such a flake.”
• “I’m a domestic nightmare—even the dog won’t eat my cooking.”

Your self-talk tapes may be different from mine, of course. They are shaped by your own experiences and misconceptions about life (with a little help from the enemy of your soul). As a result, they’re beautifully adapted to your specific core issues. That’s why they’re so hard to see—and so hard to change.

But change is possible. That’s the whole point of renewing the mind. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can learn to recognize the lies. We can learn to push stop on the constant playback of these mind tapes, to eject the “if only” videos that replay our failures, and erase the “what if” software that exploits our fears.

Next time you and I are tempted to verbally assault ourselves, let’s choose “the law of kindness” instead (Proverbs 31:26, nkjv). Encouraging ourselves with edifying words that build up rather than negative words that tear down. Choosing to offer ourselves the same grace we’d give to a stranger.
—Having a Mary Spirit

Read: 2 Corinthians 10:5

Reflect: What are you to do with thoughts and self-talk that exalt themselves in your mind?

Excerpted from At the Feet of Jesus by Joanna Weaver. Copyright © 2012 by Joanna Weaver. Excerpted by permission of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

Death was not a part of God’s original plan. You and I were made for life—life eternal. An eternity lived in the company of our Maker and each other.

Unfortunately, our great-great-not-so-great-grandparents Adam and Eve decided they wanted more than what God offered. So they bit at the serpent’s bait and attempted to seize control.

Consequently, the Father had to limit their freedom. He banished them from the garden and blocked access to the tree of life (Genesis 3:22–23). As a result, death was given access to beings who had been created to live forever.

Does that sound harsh? Though God’s actions might seem extreme, we must understand the punishment was birthed out of great mercy.

Just think. Without death, the evicted Adam and Eve—not to mention you and I—would be assigned to an eternity of lonely wandering. A 24/7 life of hopeless toil and meaningless monotony. An empty existence bereft of the constant sense of God’s presence Adam and Eve had once enjoyed.

God’s mercy and grace marked our lives here on earth with a finish line. And with sweet irony, our loving Father took the very thing we’d feared the most—the threat of death—and turned it on its head. Transforming tombs into doorways and our endings into new beginnings. Turning hearses into glistening carriages to carry us to a glorious mansion being prepared as we speak—the eternal home for which we were made (2 Corinthians 5:1).

“Where, O death, is your victory?” Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:55 as he considers our final destination and the vehicle that will get us there. “Where, O death, is your sting?”

Through Jesus Christ, “death has been swallowed up in victory” (verse 54).
—Lazarus Awakening

Read: 1 Corinthians 15:51–55

Reflect: How does God’s promise of heaven renew your hope?

Excerpted from At the Feet of Jesus by Joanna Weaver. Copyright © 2012 by Joanna Weaver. Excerpted by permission of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Do what is right and do not give way to fear. 1 Peter 3:6

Fear makes us do slightly crazy, often inappropriate things. Fear blurts out thoughtless, sometimes hurtful words. Fear babbles. It freaks out. It searches frantically for explanations and solutions. Fear sews together fig leaves to cover our inadequacies and paints bright smiles to hide our tears. It builds makeshift shelters and puts on far too much makeup. It forces us to hide behind facades simply because we don’t know what else to do.

Perhaps that’s why Peter instructs us to spend less time on outward adornment—the building of ornate shelters to house our fragile egos—and to spend more time making our inner lives lovely (1 Peter 3:3–4). To become so secure in who we are in Christ that we have no trouble calling Him “Master” or trusting Him as Lord.

When Bill Gothard mentioned 1 Peter 3:3–6 in a seminar years ago, my ears perked up. What would he say? I had prayed for a quiet and gentle spirit for years.

“A quiet and gentle spirit,” Gothard said, connecting verses 4 and 6, “is a heart free from fear.”

Well, I couldn’t help it! I had to shout “Hallelujah!” right there in the middle of the silent crowd. Everyone looked at me strangely, but I didn’t care. God had done exactly that over the previous year—He had delivered me from fear. It had never occurred to me that the quiet and gentle spirit I had been praying for was really a heart at rest. A mind free from anxiety. But when it finally came together and I saw what God had done—well, when the Holy Spirit changes you in such a deep, elemental way, you’ve just got to shout about it!
—Having a Mary Spirit

Read: Psalm 131

Reflect: Which of these verses, if applied, could help you overcome anxiety in your life?

Excerpted from At the Feet of Jesus by Joanna Weaver. Copyright © 2012 by Joanna Weaver. Excerpted by permission of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. Philippians 4:11

Not all running is fleeing away when it comes to fear. Sometimes we’re the pursuers. For fear makes us doubt God’s love and His ability to provide for us. So we decide to take care of ourselves, running for all we’re worth to chase down our wants and our desires.

If I could only be there, if I could only have that, we think, then I would be happy. Satan dangles our “if onlys” in front of our faces like a carrot in front of an old, worn-out nag. And we respond, galloping after our dreams day and night, only to find, when we get there, that “there” has moved—and happiness and fulfillment remain out of reach.

God’s kingdom is not like that. He doesn’t tempt and tease or ruthlessly hunt us down. Instead, He simply asks us to trust Him, and He provides. “The Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion,” Isaiah 30:18 promises. “Blessed are all who wait for him!”

What a difference. Running from our fears and chasing our dreams bring us nothing but anxiety and frustrated hopes. But waiting on the Lord not only renews our strength (Isaiah 40:31, NKJV); it also brings us everything we need.

It may not happen according to our timetable, but God will come through. In fact, Deuteronomy 28:2 says, “All these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God” (NKJV).

Did you catch that? Instead of your pursuing blessings—blessings will pursue you! Now, that’s an amazing promise. For as you choose faith over fear, you’ll experience a holy makeover that not only removes your worry lines but refreshes your heart and meets your needs.

An inner beauty treatment that goes far beyond skin-deep.
—Having a Mary Spirit

Read: Psalm 34:4–10

Reflect: List the blessings that result from looking to God for what you need.

Excerpted from At the Feet of Jesus by Joanna Weaver. Copyright © 2012 by Joanna Weaver. Excerpted by permission of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you. Psalm 33:22

Nothing is more detrimental than allowing the stone of unbelief to wedge itself between us and the heart of God. I appreciate the honesty with which Ann Spangler writes of her struggle to truly believe in the love of God.

I have never found it easy to believe in God’s love for me, except perhaps in the first days and weeks of my conversion…Nearly every prayer in those days was answered, sometimes wondrously. I remember thinking that the problem with many people was that they expected so little from a God who was prepared to give so much.

But years passed and something happened. It wasn’t one thing but many….It was tests of faith [and…] sins accruing. It was disappointments and difficulties beyond comprehending. All these heaped together like a great black mound, casting a shadow over my sense that God still loved me, still cared for me as tenderly as when he had first…won my heart.

In an attempt to recapture that sense of God’s love, Ann went back to the promises of the Bible. Unfortunately, “like many people who tend to be selfcritical,” she writes, “I find it easier to absorb the harsher sounding passages in the Bible…Somehow, the tender words seem to roll right off me, much like water that beads up and rolls off a well-waxed automobile.”

But Ann persisted. Over the next year, she immersed herself in the Word of God, allowing truth to wash over her until God’s love stopped being a concept and started to feel like a reality.

“Act as though God loves you,” a friend advised her. And that’s what Ann did. She put the full force of her mind behind believing the truth, exercising her faith rather than depending on her feelings. And the stone of unbelief began to roll away.
—Lazarus Awakening

Read & Reflect: Using a concordance or Bible website, look up several verses on the love of God. Write them out, then choose one to memorize.

Excerpted from At the Feet of Jesus by Joanna Weaver. Copyright © 2012 by Joanna Weaver. Excerpted by permission of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer. Psalm 4:1

When discouragement breaks down our perspective and dismantles our defenses, it causes us to say and do things we would never consider saying or doing otherwise. Though we may have just completed great things for God, weary discouragement tells us we’re useless, hopeless, and abandoned.

Elijah felt that kind of discouragement. Having just won a mighty victory over the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18), Elijah had been flying high. But when Jezebel took out a contract on Elijah’s life, the wicked queen’s haughty words brought the mighty prophet back to earth with a thud. Less than a day after holy fire fell from heaven—proving once and for all that God was God—Elijah was running for his life.

“Don’t you care?” Elijah asked God as he sat trembling under the broom tree in the desert. “I have had enough, Lord,” he whimpered in 1 Kings 19:4. “Take my life.” Just let me die.

Have you spent much time under the broom tree of self-pity? I have. It’s easy to find a shady spot and feel sorry for ourselves when we’re distracted and discouraged. Especially when we run up against unexpected opposition. Especially when it feels like we’re running for our lives.

In the dictionary you’ll find self-pity stuck between self-perpetuating and selfpollinating. I had to laugh when I saw it, because it’s so true. I happen to be an expert on the subject. Being quite the hostess myself, I throw pity parties fairly regularly. Trouble is, no one wants to come. Self-pity is a lonely occupation.
—Having a Mary Heart

Read: 1 Samuel 30:1–6

Reflect: Like Elijah, David faced a terrible, not-so-good day. Rather than giving into self-pity, what did David do?

Excerpted from At the Feet of Jesus by Joanna Weaver. Copyright © 2012 by Joanna Weaver. Excerpted by permission of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Do not be afraid or discouraged…for there is a greater power with us than with him. 2 Chronicles 32:7

We all get sidetracked by distraction, dipping down now and then into discouragement and doubt. The secret is not to stay there. Here are several ways you can beat the downward spiral of the Deadly Ds in your life.

• Allow for rest stops. Discouragement is often our body’s way of saying, “Stop! I need rest.” Try taking a nap or getting to bed a little earlier. It’s amazing how different things will look in the light of morning (Exodus 34:21).

• Get a new point of view. Take a few steps back and ask God to help you see His perspective on your situation. Often what seems to be an impassable mountain in our eyes is only a steppingstone in His (Isaiah 33:17).

• Have patience. It’s easy to get discouraged when things don’t go the way you planned. But if you’ve committed your concerns to the Lord, you can be sure He is at work, even when you don’t see His hand (Romans 8:28).

• Mingle. Discouragement feeds off isolation. Get out of the house! Go visit some friends. It’s amazing how good old-fashioned fellowship can lift our spirits and chase away the blues (Psalm 133:1).

• Set the timer. Okay. So things aren’t so good. I’ve found it helpful to set the oven timer and allow ten minutes for a good cry. But when the buzzer sounds, I blow my nose, wipe my eyes, and surrender my situation to the Lord so I can move on (Ecclesiastes 3:4).
—Having a Mary Heart

Read & Reflect: Read each of the verses mentioned above. Which one do you need most today?

Excerpted from At the Feet of Jesus by Joanna Weaver. Copyright © 2012 by Joanna Weaver. Excerpted by permission of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Joanna Weaver, the best-selling author of Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, Having a Mary Spirit, and Lazarus Awakening, has written a new devotional featuring excerpts from her bestselling books. At the Feet of Jesus: Daily Devotions to Nurture a Mary Heart, features 365 daily readings that will draw you closer to the heart of Jesus.

For the next two weeks, Monday – Friday, we’ll be sharing excerpts from At the Feet of Jesus. I hope they whet your appetite for taking a further look at this devotional resource from Joanna Weaver.

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He chose us…to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:4, 6, NKJV

The good news is woven through the New Testament in a grace-filled strand that shines especially bright in the gospel stories of Mary and Martha. The message is this: salvation isn’t about what I do; it’s about what Jesus did.

The cross did more than pay for my sins; it set me free from the bondage of the “shoulds” and “if onlys” and “what might have beens.” And Jesus’s words to Martha are the words He wants to speak to your heart and mine: “You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed” (Luke 10:41–42).

The “one thing” is not found in doing more.

It’s found by sitting at His feet.

Catch that: Mary sat at His feet. She didn’t move a muscle. She listened. She didn’t come up with clever responses or a doctrinal thesis. Her gift was availability. (In the end, I believe that was Martha’s gift as well.)

The only requirement for a deeper friendship with God is showing up with a heart open and ready to receive. Jesus invites us to come and rest, to spend time with Him in Living Room Intimacy. Intimacy that allows us to be honest in our complaints, bold in our approach, and lavish in our love. Intimacy that allows us to hear our Father’s voice and discern our Father’s will. Intimacy that so fills us with His love and His nature that it spills out to our dry, thirsty world in Kitchen Service.

In the Living Room. That’s where it all begins. Down at His feet.
—Having a Mary Heart

Read: Jeremiah 29:12–13

Reflect: What does God promise will happen when we seek Him?

Excerpted from At the Feet of Jesus by Joanna Weaver. Copyright © 2012 by Joanna Weaver. Excerpted by permission of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.