One Needful Thing

"And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living." (Mark 12:41-44) If you want to talk about sacrificial giving, talk about this widow woman! She barely had two cents to rub together, yet she gave all she had to God. In the beginning of this sacrificial story, Jesus is watching the people come and go as they give offerings to God. Just as He watched those people then, He is watching us now. He looks on our hearts, sees our motivations, and knows when we are holding back and when we are giving our all. As the people...

Has your life ever gone from bad to worse to "Is life ever going to be good again?" I can think of someone who was the victim of some pretty awful people, and yet even though his life was the exact opposite of pleasant, he didn't shut down or give up on God. A young man living in the desert was hated by his brothers and sold into slavery. Joseph fell prey to the dark whim of his step brothers and his life was forever changed in one moment. He was no longer under the protection of his earthly father, but came to a place where he was completely dependent on the protection of his Heavenly Father. (You can find this story in Genesis 39-41) This is where we need to be as well. We need to be completely dependent on our Father no matter what our circumstances are. Why? Because this world is not our home and there is no guarantee of tomorrow. Our daily lives are a gift of God and our time is in His hands. (Psalm 31:15) When we are faced with hardships we can either run t...

"This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16) "Walking in the Spirit is the only way to live the Christian life." That phrase is ingrained permanently in my memory. When I was a teenager at a Christian camp, my counselor had my cabin of girls practically chanting this phrase all week as we learned about the Holy Spirit in our daily devotions. (Okay, maybe not chanting like monks or anything, but we did say it quite a bit!) I remember thinking to myself, "Yeah, that's a good thought, but what does walking in the Spirit look like in my normal daily life?" I was stumped. And I was waiting for a magical formula that would mysteriously show me what I should do in order to live this way. If I could do XYZ then, shazam! I would be walking in the Spirit! Little did I know that it's no magical formula I need to complete, but rather it's making daily choices that bring me close to God as...