Know-Love-Obey God

Gabriel told Zechariah
the child in his wife’s womb will be
“great in the eyes of the Lord.”
This child is John, the same who insisted,
who said of Jesus, “He must increase
but I must decrease!”
and that stepping down fulfilled
the angel’s prophecy
for God indeed exalts the humble
and in his decrease, John was,
to God,
great.
(Reflections from Luke 1:15 and John 3:30)

There are two kinds of personalities in this world, and you are one of the two. People can tell which, as soon as you walk into a room: your attitude says either “Here I am,” or “There you are.”
- Anne Ortlund, Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman, p. 95
There you are, lovely or unlovely.
There you [...]

Garlic, brown rice, green onions, chocolate chips, heavy cream, oats, prunes, asiago, sesame oil, . . . These are some of my staples—items I like to always have on hand in my kitchen. They are regulars on the grocery list, things I know I will need or want. I have “staple prayers,” [...]

In Rosemary Wells’s Through the Hidden Door, Snowy Cobb leads Barney Penniman to a cave, day after day. But this is Snowy’s secret cave, so he always leads Barney there blindfolded. Much later, when Barney has to find the cave without Snowy to lead him, he has no blindfold. Now, with his [...]

The week before a big exam I crammed in whatever facts, equations, names, and dates I needed. Come test time, I pulled from those bursting memory banks and performed, pencil flying ahead of the clock. Test score: aced it.
The following week I cut the twine temporarily tying down my mental cardboard box of [...]

I often pray that I would grow in Christlikeness. Well . . .
Judas left the room. He left the room to betray the Lord to His death.
As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, “The time has come for me, the Son of Man, to enter into my glory, and God will [...]

High Calling Blogs Book Club:
The Wisdom of Wilderness, by Gerald G. May
Chapter Four: “Cicada Song”
This chapter touched my spirit in so many places, both widely and deeply. May’s thoughts on “contemplation” particularly resonated, especially this on page 64: “To put it simply, in concentrating on one thing at a time, we miss everything else.” [...]

(A High Calling Blogs Random Act of Poetry for L.L. Barkat’s poetry prompt to write a poem on “The Real…”)
A Type-A personality was he
and never of the Gospel was ashamed.
He boldly preached and boldly did proclaim
according to the vision he received.
He taught of Christ and many did believe,
and when he touched, the Holy Spirit came.
The [...]

We spread out two nights’ worth of backpacking, covering the entire lower level of our home with sleeping bags, Therma-Rest pads, two tents, freeze-dried dinners, rain gear, S’mores ingredients, fishing lures, flashlights…did we forget anything? We roll, fold, stuff, tie, pack and squeeze the air out. Somehow, we confine our shelter, food, clothing [...]