“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.” –Mark 11:22-23

Jesus tells His disciples here that if they have faith in God, they can speak to a mountain and see it moved. It’s a powerful picture of what God can do through faith.

But I think sometimes we can misunderstand what Jesus is teaching us about faith. We can begin to think that the key to seeing God do great things is just having enough faith—as though the power is somehow found in how much faith we can produce.

But our faith isn’t what moves the mountain—God is. The key to our faith isn’t the size of our faith—it’s the greatness of the One in whom we put our faith. The strength of a bridge isn’t determined by our faith to believe the bridge will hold us. The strength is found in the bridge itself. Our faith simply determines whether we’re willing to step out onto the bridge.

In the same way, we don’t move mountains because we have extraordinary faith. We trust an extraordinary God who is able to move mountains. Sometimes we spend so much time looking at the mountain that we forget to look at the One who made it.

We look at the problem. We look at the circumstances. We look at what seems impossible. And we wonder if we have enough faith to see those things change. But the real question we have to ask ourselves, is whether or not we trust God. 

Faith-filled prayer isn’t about trying to convince God to do what we want. It’s about seeking Him, trusting Him, and aligning our hearts with His will. Sometimes God moves the mountain. Sometimes He gives us the strength to climb it. And sometimes He leads us around it.

But in every circumstance, our confidence is not found in our ability to have perfect faith. Our confidence is found in a perfect God. And true faith comes from the Giver of faith.

So, whatever mountain you may be facing today, don’t spend all your energy wondering if you have enough faith to move it. Instead, look to the One who made the mountain. He is still faithful. He is still able. And He is still God.

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.” -1 Corinthians 12:4–6

I love these verses because they remind us that God has uniquely gifted each of us. We don’t all have the same gifts. We don’t all have the same abilities. We don’t all have the same calling. But God has a purpose for each of us, and He wants to use us to make a difference in the lives of the people around us.

But sometimes God gives us a nudge toward something, and our first response is, “I can’t do that.” Maybe we don’t feel qualified. Maybe we’ve never done anything like it before. Maybe we look at our own abilities and think, “I’m sure God could find someone better suited for this.” But I learned a simple truth many years ago that has always stuck with me: God doesn’t call the qualified—He qualifies the called.

Think about Gideon. God called him a “mighty warrior,” yet Gideon didn’t see himself that way at all. He saw his weaknesses and limitations. God was well aware of Gideon’s weaknesses. But God wasn’t asking Gideon to accomplish something in his own strength. God was going to work through him.

And that’s the encouragement we find in these verses. Paul says there are different gifts, different kinds of service, and different kinds of working, “but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.” The same God who calls us is the God who equips us. He knows what He’s asking us to do, and He knows what we will need to do it.

Just as we’ve been talking about on Sundays, God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. So, if God has been nudging us toward something, maybe we don’t need to ask, “Am I qualified?” Maybe we just need to ask, “Do I trust God to equip me?”

Because if He’s calling us to it, He will give us what we need to do it!

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me… and you will find rest for your souls.” –Matthew 11:28–29

I read something from Eugene Peterson this week that really made me stop and think. He was talking about some of the reasons we keep our lives so busy, and he said, “I am busy because I am vain.” He explained that we live in a society where crowded schedules and harassed conditions can become evidence of importance. We fill our calendars, overcommit ourselves, and run from one thing to the next—and when people notice how busy we are, it can make us feel more significant. Ouch.

The question is: why do we care so much about how other people see us? Sometimes we say yes to something because we don’t want someone to be upset with us. Sometimes we take on one more responsibility because we don’t want to people to think of us as lazy. And sometimes we keep moving because we’ve convinced ourselves that being busy means we’re important. And before we know it, we’re exhausted and worn out.

Our world moves at an incredible pace. We are constantly connected, constantly available, constantly moving from one thing to the next, sometimes even hurrying through our time with God. And we wonder why we’re struggling spiritually.

Maybe part of the problem is that we’re trying to live at a pace God never intended for us to live. I love what Jesus says in Matthew 11. He doesn’t just tell us to take a break. He says, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me.” A yoke connects two animals so they can work together. Jesus is inviting us to walk with Him—to move with Him—to learn His way of living.

He’s not just offering us a moment of rest. He’s offering us a different rhythm for our lives. Maybe that’s what some of us need today. Maybe we need to stop, take a deep breath, and ask God, “Am I moving at Your pace?” Because sometimes we get frustrated that God isn’t moving fast enough, when the truth is that we’re the ones that have gotten out ahead of Him. 

We want answers now. We want God to change things now. We want to know what’s next right now. But God is moving at a different pace than most of us. And I don’t think His slower pace is a sign that He’s forgotten us. I believe it’s an invitation to walk alongside Him instead of running out ahead of Him.

So maybe today, take a moment to slow down: lay down our phones; step away from the noise; take a deep breath and spend some quiet moments with God. Let’s ask Him to teach us His rhythms. Let’s ask Him to show us where we’re running ahead of Him. And let’s ask Him to teach us how to walk with Him.

Because it’s not just about slowing down. It’s actually learning to walk at His pace and in communion with Him. And when we find ourselves in step with Him, that’s when we truly find rest for our souls.

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” — Romans 5:8

There are few words in Scripture more powerful than these. We were sinners. We had rebelled against Him. We had gone our own way. We did not deserve His love, and we certainly could not earn it. But God loved us anyway.

And Romans 5:8 tells us the extent of His love: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” When we were at our worst, God gave us His best. He didn’t wait until we cleaned ourselves up before He loved us. He didn’t wait until we got our act together before He sent Jesus. No, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

I think that’s something we need to remind ourselves of when we’re walking through difficult seasons—or when we fall into temptation and sin. Because I know sometimes our struggles can cause us to question God’s love. We fail, we make a mess, and the enemy begins whispering, “You’ve failed too many times. You’ve disappointed Him again and again.”

But Romans 5:8 reminds us of something important: God already knew everything about us when He chose to love us. He knew our failures. He knew our weaknesses. He knew every sin we would ever commit. And He still sent Jesus.

Now, that doesn’t mean God is okay with our sin. It just means that our sin doesn’t catch Him by surprise, and our failures don’t cause Him to suddenly change His mind about us. Think about it this way: If God loved us when we were still His enemy, do we really think He is going to give up on us now that we are His children?

Paul writes in Philippians 1:6, “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.” In other words, God isn’t finished with us. We may look at our life and see all the places where we still need to grow. We may be frustrated with how often we stumble. We may wonder why the struggle hasn’t gone away yet.

But remember: we are still a work in progress; and God is still working. The same God who loved us enough to save us is the God who continues to love us enough to change us. The cross is proof of that.

As I said, when we were at our worst, God gave us His best. And if He loved us enough to give His Son for us then, we can trust Him to continue working in us now. So when we face temptation, we shouldn’t run from God in shame—we should run to Him for help. When we fail, we can’t believe the lies that the enemy whispers. Instead we need to confess our sin, receive His grace, and keep walking with Him. Because the God who began His work in us is not going to abandon us.

He loved us at our worst. He saved us by giving His best. And He’s not finished with us. 

“Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits…” — Psalm 103:2

In last week’s blog, I talked about the danger of allowing our circumstances to make us forget what God has done. This week, I’ve been thinking about how we can keep ourselves from forgetting in the first place. And I think one of the answers is gratitude.

Humans are incredibly good at pointing out what’s wrong. There is always something to criticize; something to complain about; something we wish was different. And, if we’re not careful, that critical spirit can begin to shape the way we see everything around us.

We start to focus on what we don’t have instead of what we do have. We see the things that went wrong instead of the things that went right. We remember the disappointments but forget the blessings. And maybe that’s exactly what happened to the Israelites. They became so focused on what they lacked in the wilderness that they forgot all that God had already done for them. 

That’s what makes Psalm 103:2 so important. David tells his own soul, “Forget not all his benefits.” In other words, remembering what God has done in the past can help us better navigate our current problems. Gratitude doesn’t necessarily change our circumstances—but it can change the way we see them.

It’s not pretending that life is easy. It’s not ignoring our struggles or denying that something is wrong. It’s simply realizing that gratitude helps us to remember that, even though everything isn’t going the way we hoped, God is faithful. There are still blessings to recognize. There are still reasons to praise.

Maybe that’s why gratitude is something we need to practice. Because remembering our problems comes naturally. But remembering God’s goodness is something we have to do intentionally. We have to stop and remember the prayers He’s answered. The doors He’s opened. All the times He’s provided.

What are we forgetting? What has God done for us that we haven’t thought about in a while? What blessings have become so familiar that we’ve stopped seeing them as blessings? What goodness is right in front of us that our hearts have overlooked?

Last week, I reminded us what can happen when we allow our circumstances to cause us to forget God’s faithfulness. This week, let’s be intentional about remembering. Remember what He has done. Give thanks for what He is doing. And trust Him with what comes next.

This week, I read Psalm 95, and these verses stood out to me: “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did.” -Psalm 95:8–9

These words are a warning—and a reminder. God is looking back at the Israelites and reminding them of what happened after He brought them out of Egypt. For years, they had been in bondage. They had cried out to God to rescue them. And then He did.

He set His people free, leading them out of Egypt. And when they found themselves trapped between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea, God made a way where there was no way. He parted the waters, and His people walked through on dry ground.

They had seen God do the impossible, but then life in the wilderness didn’t look the way they thought it should. There wasn’t enough water. There wasn’t enough food. The journey was difficult. Things were uncertain. And instead of remembering what God had already done, they began to complain and murmur. They began to question things. And slowly, their hearts began to harden.

And this is what makes verse 9 so powerful: “They tried me, though they had seen what I did.” In other words, they had seen what God could do—and yet they still struggled to trust Him with what was next.

If we’re honest, don’t we sometimes do the same thing? We pray for God to work in a situation and, when He answers, we’re thankful. We can clearly see His hand at work and we celebrate His faithfulness. But then something new happens. Things don’t go the way we expect. The path gets difficult. The answer doesn’t come as quickly as we hoped. And before long, we can begin to question the very God who has proven Himself faithful over and over again.

When things don’t look the way we want them to look, how do we respond? Do we continue to trust God? Or do we complain? Do we remember His faithfulness? Or do we allow our circumstances to cause us to forget? Do we keep our hearts soft? Or do we slowly allow them to harden?

The truth is, a hard heart often begins when we focus more on what God hasn’t done than on what He has done. That’s why remembering is so important: We must remember the prayers God has answered; Remember the doors He has opened; Remember the times He has provided for us; Remember the moments when we didn’t know how things were going to work out and—somehow—God made a way.

We can’t forget that the same God who was faithful then is still faithful today. Our current circumstances may not look the way we want them to look. The road ahead may seem uncertain. But we can’t let what we don’t understand today cause us to forget what we know about God. And we can’t allow today’s uncertainty to erase yesterday’s faithfulness. 

The Israelites had seen what God did. May we never forget what He has done for us. As we remember His faithfulness in our past, may it give us the faith to trust Him with our future.

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” -Colossians 3:17

One of the easiest things for us to do as Christians is to divide our lives into different compartments. There is our church life—Sunday mornings, worship, prayer, Bible studies, serving, and fellowship. And then there is our regular life— our homes, our jobs, our hobbies, our relationships, and our conversations with friends. 

Somewhere along the way, we can start living as if those two lives are separate. We act one way at church and another way everywhere else. We speak differently, think differently, respond differently, and even make different choices depending on which “life” we happen to be living. But God never called us to live two lives. We have one life—and that one life belongs to Him.

Paul says, “Whatever you do… do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Whatever you do: not just when you’re at church; not just when you’re singing worship; not just when you’re reading your Bible. Whatever you do. When you’re at work—live for Jesus. When you’re talking with your family—live for Jesus. When you’re working in the garden—live for Jesus. When you’re driving in traffic—live for Jesus. When nobody is watching—live for Jesus.

In Romans 12:1, Paul says, “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” I love that phrase—living sacrifice. Our worship isn’t simply what happens when we sing. Worship is what happens when we surrender our lives to God. That means our work can be worship. Our relationships can be worship. Serving our family can be worship. Doing our job with integrity can be worship. Being patient when we’re frustrated can be worship. Choosing forgiveness can be worship. Even the ordinary, everyday things become meaningful when we do them for Jesus.

And maybe that’s what makes this idea so powerful. Sometimes we think living life to the fullest means going more places, experiencing more things, or accomplishing more. But Jesus gives us a different picture. In John 10:10, He says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Jesus came to give us life—real life, abundant life, eternal life. 

And living that life to the fullest is about inviting God into every part of our lives: not just the spiritual parts; not just the parts we’re comfortable giving Him. All of it. Our victories and our disappointments. Our work and our rest. Our Sundays and our Mondays. Our public lives and our private lives. This is important: there is no part of our lives where Jesus doesn’t belong.

In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” He doesn’t just give us life. He is our life.

So maybe today is a good day to ask ourselves a few questions: Am I living one life or two? Does the person others see at church look like the same person at home or work? Does the faith we talk about on Sunday shape the way we live on Tuesday? Does Jesus have access to every area of our lives?There is One Lord. And He’s called us to One life.

“The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.” -Proverbs 12:15

We live in a world where there is no shortage of advice. Turn on the television, scroll through social media, listen to a podcast, or spend five minutes on the internet and you can find someone willing to tell you how you should live, what you should believe, how you should spend your money, how you should raise your kids, what you should be angry about, and who you should blame for everything that is wrong in the world.

Everyone has an opinion. But having an opinion doesn’t make someone wise. Proverbs 12:15 says, “The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.”

One of the marks of foolishness is believing we already have all the answers. A fool doesn’t ask, “Could I be wrong?” Instead, they assume their way is always the right way. Wisdom, however, begins with humility. Wise people are willing to listen, learn, and be corrected.

Here’s another important question: Who are we taking advice from? Not all advice is good advice. Just because something is popular doesn’t make it true. Just because a post has thousands of likes doesn’t mean it’s filled with wisdom. And just because something is repeated over and over again doesn’t mean it lines up with the heart of God. 

James reminds us in James 1:5: “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all….” God’s wisdom isn’t based on trends or public opinion. His truth doesn’t change with the culture because His character never changes. In Matthew 24:35 Jesus said: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”

Every day we have a choice. We can allow the endless voices around us to shape our thinking, or we can allow God’s voice to shape our hearts. One leads to confusion. The other leads to life.

Before we accept someone’s advice, we should ask ourselves: Does it line up with God’s Word? Does it lead me closer to Jesus or further away from Him? The wisest people aren’t those who know the most—they’re the ones who consistently listen to the One who knows all things.

May we seek to spend less time scrolling through everyone else’s opinions and more time sitting at the feet of Jesus. His Word has never failed, His wisdom never changes, and His guidance will never lead us astray.

“Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” – Psalm 103:1-2

One of the things I’ve noticed about life is how easy it is to remember our problems while forgetting God’s promises. We replay conversations that didn’t go well, we dwell on unexpected expenses, worry about an uncertain future, or focus on the burdens we’re currently carrying. Yet, at the same time, we tend to overlook the countless ways God has been faithful to us.

I think David understood this tendency. That’s why he speaks to himself here in Psalm 103. He tells his own soul, “Praise the Lord… and forget not all His benefits.” I don’t think David was suggesting that life’s problems aren’t real. They were certainly real for David. But our perspective changes when we intentionally remember the goodness of God. 

As he continues through the Psalm, David begins listing those benefits—God forgives our sins, heals, redeems, covers us with love and compassion, and satisfies our lives with good things. In other words, David fights forgetfulness with remembrance.

Perhaps that’s a good reminder for all of us today. Instead of allowing our minds to simply dwell on what’s going wrong, what if we intentionally remember what God has already done? Think back to the ways He has provided, protected, comforted, forgiven, and carried us through difficult seasons. The same God who was faithful then is faithful today, and He will be faithful tomorrow.

We can’t let our problems become louder than God’s promises. Maybe we should take a few moments today to remember His goodness, thank Him for His faithfulness, and let our hearts once again respond with praise.

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”—Matthew 6:34

How much of today’s energy are we spending replaying yesterday’s mistakes or worrying about tomorrow’s problems? If we’re honest, probably more than we’d like to admit.

Worry has a way of stealing today. It pulls our mind backward with regret or pushes it forward with fear, which distracts us from the very moment God has given us today. And simply telling ourselves, “Don’t worry,” rarely makes the worry disappear.

So, what do we do? I believe we need to redirect our focus. All throughout Scripture, whenever God’s people faced uncertainty, they were continually reminded to lift their eyes to the Lord. David wrote in Psalm 46:1: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

In Philippians 4:6-7, Paul encouraged believers saying: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God…will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

God’s answer to worry isn’t always the immediate removal of our problems. Often it’s His presence. Imagine carrying a heavy backpack on a long hike. Every mile feels harder as the weight presses down on your shoulders. Then someone stronger comes alongside you and says, “Give it to me.” The path is the same, but the burden becomes lighter because you’re no longer carrying it alone.

That’s what God invites us to do every day. He doesn’t ask us to pretend that our burdens aren’t real. He simply asks us to give them to Him. Maybe today, instead of spending our energy on yesterday’s failures or tomorrow’s uncertainties, we can place our attention on the One who has redeemed yesterday, who is already in tomorrow, and has promised to walk with us today. As our focus shifts from our problems to our Savior, I believe we’ll discover that His peace is greater than our worry.