Welcome to my little corner of the digital realm!  I have been blogging for years, mainly writing devotional-style meditations on Scripture. In the past, I have not necessarily written for an audience but simply as a way of processing what God is teaching me on virtual paper, so to speak.

It has been on my mind for some time to start a new blog site–sort of a revamping of my whole digital situation, if you will.  I did turn 40 earlier in the year, so perhaps this is my version of a mid-life crisis! At any rate, God has also placed it on my heart to change up the format a little. I will continue to write about what He teaches, but I am hoping to do it now for a more specific purpose. The title of both this blog and my old one is based on Hebrews 12:1-2, which has become somewhat of a life verse for me. My hope is that through my writing , by sharing my own process of growing in faith and in love, I can in some small way encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ to run this race of faith diligently and with perseverance.

I have a passion for the Word of God and for the Creator Himself. I honestly love spending time reading my Bible and talking with God, and I have come to understand more and more the truth that His Word is  a living Word.  It is alive and it is active, and because it is “sharper than any two-edged sword,” it is imperative that we learn to handle it correctly. Let us learn together to apply God’s Word to our hearts, to our words, to our actions, and to the way we live our lives. After all, it is not what we say that reflects what we truly believe, but how we live and what we do.

We also need to hold everything in our fickle, restless culture (even our church culture!) up to scrutiny, carefully measuring it against the changeless truth of the Bible.  Not all things about our culture are bad, but neither are all popularly accepted ideas, trends, modes of thought, methods, or lifestyles in keeping with God’s will and holiness. We must be careful not to come to the Word with preconceived ideas of right and wrong based on how we were raised or on our own opinion, but to come with humble hearts willing to reject our views in favor of our Creator’s views. We do not have to agree with God; we do have to accept that He, as an eternal being and our Creator, is far more advanced in wisdom, knowledge, and the understanding of right and wrong than we can ever hope to be in our brief lives.   As Nancy Leigh DeMoss puts it, “God’s will is what we would choose if we knew what God knows.” Since we do not, we must trust that He knows best and simply abide by His will.

And so, as we go on this journey together, I would love to hear from you. Specifically, I would love to hear how God has spoken to you through the passages I write on or elsewhere in His word or some way that He has been at work in a particular area of your life.  Feel free to comment on what He is teaching you as well as to read what He is teaching me. I know I am far from perfect in understanding, so feel free to comment on my thoughts even if you do not agree.  Together we can explore whether the error is mine or if it is, in fact, rooted in the truth of God’s Word and we can hold each other accountable to maintain the standard of the higher Truth that is found in the person Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own.  Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.  But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.   — Philippians 3:12-14