Honest Reflections

Two-minute read.

Nothing sums up our old life before Jesus and the new life we find in Him better than these two verses. Paul lists the attributes that the Ephesians, and we, need to release: bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, and every form of malice. All these emotions ruin relationships. Bitterness hardens the heart. Wrath and anger explode, causing irreparable damage. Brawling and slander cause quarreling and speaking badly about other people. And malice desires to see someone harmed or fall.

Paul doesn’t just tell us to manage these attributes; he tells us to put them away. In other words, we must remove these emotions from our hearts. We can’t rid ourselves of these things without the help of Christ. In the old way of life, we did things on our own power. But when we find new life in Jesus, we do things with His help.

Following the Savior will replace the destructive attitudes with three beautiful qualities. Kindness chooses to lead with grace in all circumstances, assuming the best of people rather than the worst. Tenderheartedness keeps our hearts soft and not easily offended. Forgiveness releases the debt someone owes us and frees us from a hurt heart. We forgive because Christ first forgave us. By receiving Jesus’s grace, we allow it to flow through us to others, not because people deserve it but because the Savior forgave us when we de didn’t deserve it.

Imagine holding a hot coal, hoping someone else gets burned. Bitterness harms our heart, not the other person. The longer we hold on to it, the more we will get burned. But forgiveness drops the coal and paves the way for healing. With open hands, we can receive from the Lord the grace needed to release the offender and let them go.

When we carry bitterness, rage, anger, and all the others, they become heavy, like a backpack filled with rocks. To lighten our load, we must let them go. As you release the emotions, your shoulders feel lighter, your steps feel freer, and your heart softens. For many years, I carried the rocks of bitterness and unforgiveness in my backpack. I missed out on so many opportunities because of the self-imposed load. Only until I released my hurt to the Lord and accepted His healing did I begin to live life more abundantly.

Let go of the negative and embrace the positive. Tap into the Savior’s strength and allow Him to heal your wounds and fill your heart with love.

Journal Questions:

What bitterness do you need to remove?

How can you put these negative attributes behind you?

Who do you need to forgive?

Application:

Replace one resentful thought with compassion.

Two-minute read.

Jesus pauses after teaching the disciples the Lord’s prayer to emphasize forgiveness. God requires us to show mercy to others if we want to receive it ourselves. We can’t become more like the Savior if we don’t learn to extend grace freely. Unforgiveness creates a barrier, hardening our hearts and blocking communication with the Lord. We can’t accept mercy when we cling to resentment. Only when we forgive will we find freedom, aligning our hearts with the Mighty One and gaining a deeper understanding of grace

Some days require more grace than others. Preparing for a women’s event, I had errands to run. My first act of grace came when a poor driver cut me off in traffic. Then I picked up a box of merchandise from one of my locations that had never made it to the sales floor during the busy season, forcing me to forgive the associate who had promised to take care of the items. Then I found out about a transfer to another store that never took place, which harmed my business and required another act of forgiveness.

Thankfully, the Lord helped me forgive quickly and keep the incidents in perspective. But I had to intentionally extend grace to people who didn’t even realize they hurt me with their actions. Only by keeping my focus on the Savior could I find the grace necessary to release the offenses, pray for the offenders, and not let it harden my heart.

Big or small, we must choose to forgive. When we let go of our offenses, offering grace, it pleases the Lord. God wants to forgive us, but if we don’t extend the same mercy to others, we can’t receive it from the Creator. Imagine gripping a stone in a tight fist. We must open our hands and release the rock before we can receive anything else. In the same way, if we clutch unforgiveness in our hearts, we have no room for the forgiveness God wants to give us. We must release the offense before we can receive the gift of mercy.

Forgiveness doesn’t approve of the offender’s actions; it simply says the pain will no longer control your heart. Accept Jesus’s invitation into freedom. Forgiveness releases us from the offender and ourselves. Bitterness chains us to the past; forgiveness opens the door to the future. And sometimes, we must forgive repeatedly, choosing daily to surrender to God’s will and give Him our hurts as we accept His grace.

Journal Questions:

Is there resistance in my heart?

What unforgiveness am I holding onto today?

What area of my life do I need help submitting to God?

Application:

Reflect on how fully Christ has forgiven you.

Two-minute read.

Forgiveness and prayer go hand in hand. Without connection to the Savior, we can’t forgive. Only when we let Jesus lead, viewing the offense from His perspective, will we gain the ability to release the offense. Prayer changes our hearts, freeing them from bitterness and resentment towards others. The Lord helps us to see past the offense to the hurt behind it. Hurting people hurt people.

In my younger days, when I wouldn’t release my pain to the Lord, angry at Him and everyone else for my lot in life, I hurt a lot of people. The pain within me would come out in hurtful words that struck to the core. Like a snake, coiled up, ready to strike, my words would bite. Not until I started following Jesus, releasing my pain to Him, did transformation begin. Instead of hurting people, I’ve learned to lay my pain down at the foot of the cross and allow the Lord to heal my heart.

In the same way, when someone strikes out at us, we must look past the offense to the motivation behind it. Often, we’ll find a hurting heart that needs love. By praying and asking God for help, we can release the offense and bring them before the Father, asking for His divine intervention in the situation.

In Jewish culture, people often stood while praying. We start with forgiveness when we approach God, both for ourselves and for others. Asking the Lord to forgive our indiscretions helps us to offer grace to others. The Savior doesn’t limit forgiveness to small offenses, but to all grievances. By doing so, we keep our connection to the Father open and unhindered. A heart that refuses to forgive others becomes hardened and struggles to receive God’s grace. The Lord will give you the strength to forgive, and by doing so, it will free you.

Holding onto unforgiveness hurts you, not the other person. Imagine holding a burning coal while waiting to throw it at someone else. You get burned, not the other person. Only when we release the stone can we free ourselves from the burn. The Lord will work things out; He knows the entire situation, and justice will come. But God didn’t call us to become judge and jury; He called us to become lovers of people, extending grace to them as He does to us.

Seek the Lord in prayer when offended. Ask Him for help to release the offense and rid yourself of the burden. Live in the freedom of Christ, letting go of hurts, and allowing the Savior to mend the wounds.

Journal Questions:

Who do I need to forgive?

How has God helped you forgive in the past?

What freedom do you feel when you release an offense?

Application:

Write the name of the person you need to forgive. Pray a blessing over them.

Two-minute read.

God doesn’t think as we do, and we shouldn’t expect Him to. Can you imagine if the world ran the way we thought it should? So many things in this world make no sense to me, but in hindsight, I see the Lord’s hand. History tells the tale of the Creator’s work throughout time. Like the Bible, written over 1500 years, by 40 different authors, it all works together to create the most powerful book ever written. Only intelligent design could make that happen; our sovereign God planned it all.

We only see a small piece of the story; God sees the whole picture. Several situations in my life make no sense. People suffering, heartache abounding, none of it makes sense to me. The age-old question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” rears its ugly head in so many life circumstances. Often, we don’t get answers to our “whys?” We must trust the Creator’s plan and wait for it to unfold.

“Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said, “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.”

Job 38:1-4

When Job loses his children, his flocks, and his health, he waits for 38 chapters before God speaks. And when the Lord answers, He doesn’t say why. Instead, the Lord asks Job, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?” Job couldn’t answer that question, and neither can we. The Lord’s thoughts and ways differ from ours, and when we don’t understand why, we must trust.

Remembering we only see a small part of the long story of eternity helps us trust the Lord’s plan. We know what happened when Jesus died on the cross, and how He walked out of the tomb three days later. Even if we don’t understand all the details, we know the Savior’s actions gave us undeserved grace that gives us new life in Him. Transformation happens when we follow Christ.

Only God has all the answers; no one else does. We can’t understand His thoughts and don’t always understand His ways, but we can trust that everything will unfold as the Creator desires, with purpose. Trust in the Savior. Follow Him. And when life doesn’t make sense, trust that it does to the Lord.

Journal Questions:

What doesn’t make sense to you today?

How can trusting God help you deal with the situation?

In what ways does surrendering to the Lord help you let go of the “why” questions?

Application:

Surrender your timeline.

Two-minute read.

In Billy Graham’s book, Angels: God’s Secret Agents, he shares a story about missionaries threatened by bandits.[1] Planning to attack the mission compound at night, they suddenly fled. Later, one of the bandits gave his life to Christ. After his conversion, the bandit confessed that they left because they had seen 26 armed soldiers guarding the building. However, the missionaries had no soldiers with them. Even more astounding, when the missionaries shared their story back home, they counted 26 people praying for them.

Angels do exist. Prayer does matter. God protects His people.

In the story of Elisha, when they find themselves surrounded by the enemy, God’s army far outnumbers them. Speaking to the prophet, Elisha asks the Lord to open his eyes to see the spiritual army surrounding them, and He does. We can’t always see the angels that protect us, but it doesn’t mean they don’t exist. One of my favorite Christian fiction books, “In This Present Darkness” by Frank E. Peretti, details spiritual warfare in a realistic, easy-to-understand way.

In Peretti’s book, a small town becomes the center of the devil’s attack. As the people pray and God’s army comes to their defense, the story unfolds. Angels protect the Lord’s people, and demons meet their fate as the battle unfolds, culminating in an unforgettable showdown. Written in 1986, the book remains relevant because spiritual battles rage around us.

“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

Hebrews 13:2

In Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, he tells them to remember that they never know when they entertain angels. Scripture mentions angels close to 300 times, 108 times in the Old Testament and 186 times in the New Testament. Testimony after testimony testifies to their presence on earth. When we ask the Lord to open our eyes, sometimes He gives us a peek into the spiritual world around us.

Whatever challenges we face, we don’t face them alone. The Holy Spirit strengthens us from within, and the Lord’s angels do His will. We can live boldly, knowing God protects His people and has His heavenly army at the ready. Ask the Lord to open your eyes to the unseen, as Elisha did.

The spiritual battle rages on around us. When we pray, we tap into divine help, often unseen, but still present. Let the Lord lead the fight and trust Him for the victory, however He chooses to do it.

Journal Questions:

What do you know about angels?

Have you ever had an angelic encounter?

In what ways does knowing God’s army fights for you give you courage?

Application:

Ask God to show you unseen support or progress.

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[1] Graham, Billy. Angels: God’s Secret Agents. Word Publishing, 1975

Two-minute read.

Victory comes from the Lord. Often, we think we did something, but in truth, God grants us success. Nothing Joshua and the Israelites could do in their power could bring down the walls of Jericho; they needed divine help. Can you imagine how ridiculous it must have felt to march around the city walls playing trumpets? What did the people inside the walls think? They never imagined their marches would lead to the townsfolk’s destruction. People probably made fun of the men as they marched around blowing their horns.

But then God.

When the army shouted on the seventh day, without lifting a weapon, the walls collapsed, the Israelites charged the city, and captured it. Obedience and perseverance paid off exactly as God said it would. Hope lived out. Trust exemplified. Faith rewarded. When the Lord leads the way, we will have victory.

In January, my pastor gave a message that set the tone for the year. Studying the book of Acts, we’re learning about the Holy Spirit and its power in our lives. During that message, I had a vision of the walls around my heart falling, like the walls of Jericho.

For the past few years, the Lord has led me on a transformation from the scared little girl, afraid of everything, to a woman walking by faith, trusting God. Ingrained behaviors had taught me how to keep people at arm’s length with words and actions. What my mother called a “mean streak.” Letting go of those protective mechanisms requires an act of the Lord. What I saw, and where I feel God leading me through worship and praise, will cause the remaining walls to fall.

And I want them to fall.

When we try to control the world and the events around us, we wear ourselves out. The Lord never meant for us to do the heavy lifting; He wants to do it for us. Complete surrender trusts God that whatever happens, He will get you through it. And you know what, He does. I’ve witnessed the Creator’s work time and again in my life. God doesn’t do things the way I would, and we should all praise Him for it. The Lord’s way works so much better than anything I could ever dream.

Identify the walls that need to come down in your life. Spend time in prayer, seeking God’s help. March around the walls with prayer and praise and watch them fall.

Journal Questions:

What “walls” need marching around in obedience?

When have you witnessed walls fall?

How has God done things differently than you would have done them?

Application:

Stay faithful in repetition — do the obedient thing again.

Two-minute read.

Hope saves, faith rooted in God’s promises. Our salvation doesn’t come from something fixed already, or because suffering has disappeared, but because of the hope Jesus gave us when He walked out of the tomb. If you can see the results, you don’t need hope for it. Hope lives in the in-between. In my book, Love Remains, I explored 1 Cor. 13:13, which says, “these three remain, faith, hope, and love.” When we get to heaven, we’ll no longer need faith and hope because we will live in the Lord’s glory with Him in unfathomable love. But while we live on earth, faith and hope sustain us as we wait for our eternal rewards.

Hope only exists when we wait. If you already have a healed body, you don’t hope for healing. Or if you have a restored relationship, you no longer hope for reconciliation. In the same way, if we already stood in heaven, we wouldn’t hope for it. Paul doesn’t shame the waiting in today’s verse; he normalizes it, as we should. We all wait for something, and will until the Lord calls us home.

How we wait matters. God wants us to wait patiently and persevere steadily under pressure. Not passive or defeated, the Lord wants us to anchor ourselves to Him and trust. When we adopt this posture, we become people who believe in God’s faithfulness, even before we receive the answer. I don’t always know the Savior’s will for my life, but I live in hope because I know He will answer my prayers and reveal it to me in His time.

Seasons where prayers don’t feel answered, healing hasn’t come, promises feel delayed, and you long for restoration don’t mean your faith failed. You live in hope during times like these, trusting God that what hasn’t yet happened will happen, either here on earth or in heaven. One day, when the Lord calls us home, all will become right. We will have complete healing, answers to the unknown, promises fulfilled, and relationships restored. Living in the hope of the Savior means trusting that God will keep His word… the word on which we place our faith.

Live in hope today. Focus your eyes on Jesus, and trust Him completely. Intertwine your life with His, depend on Him completely, and enjoy the abundant life God has for you.

Journal Questions:

How does hope sustain waiting?

Describe a waiting period that drew you closer to God?

How can you wait patiently today?

Application:

Replace one anxious thought with a spoken promise.

Two-minute read.

Recently, I listened to an interview with Taya Kyle, the widow of US Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, known as the American Sniper, a military hero shot and killed at a shooting range in Texas after returning from duty. Talking about faith, she described how God told her to take the step, and He would provide the parachute. Repeatedly, she felt situations arise where she had to take the step into the unknown and trust the Lord to provide the parachute.

After several times of taking the step and God giving her the parachute, she felt she had learned the lesson and didn’t know why God kept bringing situations into her life that required her to do it again. So she asked the Lord, and heard His still small voice say, “Until it’s fun.” To me, her experience exemplifies taking steps of faith.

Every time we walk by faith, and not by sight, the Lord provides the parachute. He wants us to live dependent on Him, not independent from Him. We will never reach a point in our lives where we will know everything. But God wants us to keep moving forward, trusting Him to light the path and show us the way. And the Lord wants us to enjoy it.

Working with the owner of one of my shops, she requested “Blind Dates with God.” Wrapping books and decorating them with a tag that gives brief clues about the book, people buy them, not knowing what they will find. Since I had never done anything like this before, I hesitated but knew I must. Taking the step of faith, I learned how to wrap, decorate, and tag books, now available in my shops. The first full day in her store, I sold six copies, almost the entire stock I had put out. And I had fun doing it, once I got over my initial anxiety and took the step.

Obviously, some faith steps take much more effort than learning how to wrap a book. But wherever the Lord takes us, He will provide the parachute we need to take the necessary steps. The more we depend on Him, the more we will want to follow the Savior wherever He takes us, and we can have fun doing it. We walk by faith, not sight, following the sovereign Lord who won’t let us fall.

Take the step, let the Lord provide the parachute, and enjoy the ride!

Journal Questions:

What would walking by faith look like today?

When has God provided a parachute for you in the past?

What step of faith have you hesitated to take?

Application:

Take one small action that reflects trust.

Two-minute read.

Today’s verse opens the doorway to the “Hall of Faith,” a list of people throughout scripture who demonstrated how faith functions by putting it into action. Pistis, the original Greek word for faith, means trust, conviction, and faithful reliance.[1] Only God knows the true author of Hebrews; some say Paul, others Barnabas, Luke, or Apollos. Whoever wrote the letter describes something solid and active, not vague optimism. Faith causes action:

• Abel worshiped in faith
• Noah built the ark.
• Abraham moved without a destination and lived as a foreigner
• Sarah gave birth in her old age.
• Jacob blessed his sons.
• Moses defied Pharaoh.
• The Israelites walked through the Red Sea, and caused the walls of Jericho to fall.

These people, and many others mentioned in chapter eleven, had confidence rooted in their relationship with God. Their faith had substance and foundation, trusting the Lord’s promises for the future. Hope, grounded in God’s faithfulness, fosters a confident expectation, making future realities feel anchored in the present. The Hall of Faith heroes didn’t require visible evidence: Abel worshiped by faith, Noah built before rain existed, and Abraham left without a map.

Hebrews teaches us that faith rests so deeply in God’s trustworthiness that it moves before proof appears. The author doesn’t say faith creates reality, or that strong belief guarantees personal outcomes. Faith doesn’t mean mental positivity; it means an abiding trust in the Savior and His promises.

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.”

Hebrews 10:23

We ground our faith in God’s character, not our circumstances. Faith trusts in a future promise, having an inner certainty about unseen realities. And because of our faith, we take obedient action rooted in the Lord’s character. As we take steps of faith and experience the Creator’s provision, it will grow. We will become more confident in the Lord’s promises and live more boldly as our trust in the Savior grows.

If you think of faith as spiritual eyesight, we see with trust before seeing with our eyes. Salvation through Christ begins the journey as we trust Him for eternal life. Each day, as we apply the Lord’s teachings to our lives, our faith will grow. We will learn to live dependently on the Creator, allowing Him to guide our steps and help us fulfill our destiny, just as the faith heroes did.

Journal Questions:

What unseen hope am I clinging to?

How has your trust in God’s character grown?

When did you take your last faith step?

Application:

Journal what life looks like if this prayer is answered.

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[1] James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville: Abingdon, 1890), G4102.

Two-minute read.

Matthew also records the withering of the fig tree we talked about in the first week. Our heart posture matters, and if we don’t believe, the Greek word pisteuo, meaning to trust, to rely upon, to have confidence in[1]; we won’t receive. Again, Jesus doesn’t teach a “name it and claim it” message, but a heart rooted in God, with confidence in Him. When I pray for the lost, asking the Lord for their salvation, I do so with conviction because I know the Lord wants that too. He makes it clear that the Creator wants no one to perish. So, I’m praying in agreement with His desires, and can do so confidently.

When we allow scripture to interpret scripture, it helps us understand this verse more deeply.

“If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us…”

1 John 5:14–15

“You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives…”

James 4:3

John and James help us understand the heart posture Jesus wants us to have. When we ask according to God’s will, we do receive it, but if we ask with the wrong motives, we don’t. And the Lord does know our motives better than we do.

So what prayer are you afraid to pray?

We should talk to the Savior about our hearts’ desires. The Lord wants us to live dependent on Him for our wants and needs. And He also wants us to trust Him to guide our paths. So when we pray for things, not sure of God’s will in the situation, we can do what Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane, submit our will to the Lord’s:

“My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Matt. 26:39

In His humanity, Jesus wanted the cup he had to bear taken from Him. And He asked His Father to take it. But then He showed His heart posture with nine words: “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Those words give us the key to praying boldly. By submitting our requests to God and then surrendering our will to His decision, we will receive an answer, not always the one we hope for, but the one that God wills.

Don’t let fear stop you from praying. Instead, approach God’s throne with boldness, sharing your requests, then submitting them to His will. The Lord will answer according to His will.

Journal Questions:

What specific prayer am I bringing before God?

How can I check my heart’s motives?

When have you not received because of wrong motives?

Application:

Write down the bold prayer you’ve hesitated to pray.

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[1] James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville: Abingdon, 1890), G4100.