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]]>2 Chronicles 7:14 — If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
I witnessed something last year that still makes me tear up.
Up in West Carroll Parish, around the Epps and Monticello area, there’s a farmer named Josh Ward.
He was working on a disc when a piece of metal flew into his eye and caused a severe injury.
And the timing couldn’t have been worse.
It was harvest season, and Josh couldn’t drive a combine.
So they prayed.
And then something unforgettable happened.
About a dozen other farmers showed up to help him.
Some brought combines and grain bins. Others brought their trucks.
These men had their own farms to worry about. Their own crops. Their own harvest.
But they saddled up and went to work getting Josh’s rice out of the field.
When I think about that story, I’m reminded of an old biblical picture.
In 2 Chronicles, God tells His people to humble themselves, pray, seek Him, and turn back toward Him.
And there’s something beautiful about what happens when people do that.
They stop looking only at themselves.
They turn toward God.
They pray.
They trust Him.
And sometimes, the answer to a prayer looks a whole lot like people showing up.
I truly believe Josh’s prayers put boots on the ground.
Maybe you’ve been praying for someone, too.
Maybe you’ve been asking God to intervene in a situation you can’t fix.
So, friend, keep praying.
But then look around.
Because sometimes we pray for God to move, and we’re watching the sky for an answer…
while God is already putting people in motion.
Maybe the answer is a phone call.
Maybe it’s a friend who shows up.
Maybe it’s a stranger who offers exactly what you need.
Maybe it’s a dozen farmers bringing their equipment to help you harvest a field you couldn’t harvest by yourself.
You never really know how God might answer a prayer.
So keep praying.
Keep seeking Him.
And keep your eyes open.
Because the answer may already be on its way down the road…
with boots on the ground.
Who might God be asking me to show up for today—and am I willing to be the answer to someone else’s prayer?
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]]>Matthew 9:37-38 — He said to His disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields.”
One of my favorite things to do when sweater weather rolls into town is stop by a local coffee shop.
You know the feeling. It’s the first cool morning of the year. You walk in, and cinnamon and espresso are in the air.
I know I’m not the only one.
Coffee shops are booming. Look around and you’ll see just about everybody—college students returning to Northeast Louisiana, professionals hunching over laptops… and with the new AI center coming to our area, you might even meet people from all over the world.
But if you sit there long enough, you’ll start noticing something else.
In every coffee shop across America, you’ll find double-shot disciple makers.
I promise you. They’re there.
They’re gospel-sharing, heart-on-fire Christians who turn a latte run into an opportunity to love someone who needs Jesus.
I see older men sitting with young guys. An older woman talking with a college student. Bibles lying open between sips of coffee as they share the gospel and the everyday “how-tos” of a life well lived.
It’s incredible.
And it’s personal for me.
Someone once saw a struggling young David and simply said, “Hey, do you want to go to coffee?”
That invitation changed my life.
So yes, I see disciple makers all over America—and I also see the people they’re sitting beside. People coming and going who still don’t know their Savior.
Jesus said the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. And then He told His followers what to do: pray for the Lord of the harvest to send workers into His fields.
So today, pray for those Christians.
Pray that God would send more of them.
And if you’re praying for someone you love to know Jesus, but nothing you’re doing seems to be working, pray again.
Because while you’re waiting for an answer, God is still at work. He may already be preparing someone to meet that person right where they are—with an invitation to coffee, a conversation, a listening ear, or simply a reminder that they are loved.
The harvest is still out there.
So ask God for more workers.
And maybe somewhere near you, over a cup of coffee, He’s already preparing the next conversation that could change a life.
Who is God placing in my path that I could slow down, sit with, and love like Jesus?
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]]>Psalms 37:23-24 — The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.
We stared at the drab green wall with our arms crossed, barely enough room on the couch for our own elbows. We weren’t mad… just concerned.
Living in a camper had sounded like a spontaneous, youthful dream—saving money, simplifying life, and growing closer together.
But as my wife and I tripped over each other’s feet, we started wondering if we’d made the right decision.
Choices are hard. Big risks can bring big rewards or big consequences, and we had taken the risk.
I think as Christians, we can fall into one of two ditches. Some of us worry so much about making the right decision that we forget God is still in control. Others become so convinced that God is leading them that they stop using wisdom and thinking carefully about the decisions in front of them.
Scripture gives us a better way.
God cares about our choices. He gives us wisdom and discernment. We’re still responsible to pray, think, listen, seek wise counsel, and take the next step. But God’s sovereignty means our lives don’t hang by the thread of one perfect decision.
So when you hit a wall and feel that dread of, Did I make the wrong choice? remember this: God is with you in the decision-making. He sees what you can’t see, and He can guide you even when the path doesn’t unfold the way you expected.
Because that is true, I can take the next faithful step in front of me.
Some choices will work out beautifully. Others won’t. Some doors will open, and some will close. But if you’re walking with Christ, you can be confident that He sees farther down the road than any of us do.
Your hope ultimately doesn’t rest in your ability to choose perfectly.
So, yeah… my family bought an old camper, and we can be confident in downsizing.
And in the same way, if you’re staring at a big decision today, don’t let fear convince you that everything depends on getting it exactly right.
Pray. Seek wisdom. Take the next faithful step.
And then trust that even if you stumble, God is still faithful to steady you.
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]]>Isaiah 6:8 — Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.”
A few years ago, if you had told me girls’ flag football would become one of the fastest-growing sports in America, I probably would have laughed.
I always wanted to play sports with my boy cousins. But no… girls didn’t play football.
Well, things have changed.
Nearly 70,000 girls are playing now. States like New Jersey are making it an official championship-level high school sport, and it’s even headed to the Olympics.
I love that.
Because somewhere right now, there’s a girl who could have stayed in the stands. Instead, she decided to step onto the field, run the route, call the play, and take the risk.
But I wonder how often we do the opposite with our faith.
We watch other people live boldly and think, They’re the ones who know what they’re doing. They’re the ones who make a difference. They’re the ones God chooses.
Meanwhile, we stay on the sidelines.
But Scripture tells a different story.
David was out tending sheep when God called him. Esther was afraid, yet she stepped into the king’s presence when everything was at stake. Peter was impulsive and imperfect, and Jesus still called him to follow.
God has never required His people to have everything figured out before stepping onto the field.
In Isaiah 6, Isaiah encounters God and realizes that God is calling him, too. And his response isn’t, “Send someone else.”
Nope.
“Here I am. Send me.”
It’s almost like Isaiah is saying, Put me in, Coach.
Friend, faith isn’t about knowing exactly what to do. Maybe today you feel unqualified. Maybe you’ve been watching someone else live the kind of faith you wish you had and wondering if God could really use you.
You don’t have to sit in the stands.
God has a purpose for ordinary people, and He still invites you and me to participate in what He is doing.
So let’s step onto the field.
“Here I am, Lord. Send me.”
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]]>2 Corinthians 12:9 — Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
My youngest daughter walked into my room one morning and sweetly asked, “Mama, can you turn the TV on for me?”
It felt like such a simple request… until I glanced at the clock.
7:26. On a Monday.
The panic hit instantly. I jumped out of bed, realizing I had completely forgotten to set my alarm. No quiet time. No workout. Just straight into survival mode.
Within minutes, the house was filled with tears. My youngest didn’t want to go to school, and my oldest was heartbroken because we missed our donut date. And just like that, the morning was off the rails.
As I rushed my oldest to school, I felt overwhelmed and said a few things I immediately regretted. When I finally got home, I decided I could still rescue the morning. I made protein muffins, but even that didn’t go as planned. They came out flat and gooey.
At that point, I just stopped, looked up, and said, “Lord, help me.”
Somehow, that became the best part of my morning.
God didn’t go back and fix the missed alarm or undo the words I had spoken. Instead, He met me right in the mess and reminded me that my weakness didn’t disqualify me from His grace. It was an invitation to depend on Him.
That’s what Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 12:9. God’s grace isn’t something we earn when we finally get it all together. His grace meets us in our weakness—and His power can work through us right there.
Later that day, when I picked up my daughter, she looked at me and said, “I’m still mad at you.”
And instead of brushing it aside, I leaned in.
“I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?”
I couldn’t give her a perfect mother or a perfect morning. But I could show her what it looks like to apologize when I’m wrong, to receive God’s grace, and to trust Him to meet me in my weaknesses.
So, the next time your day starts falling apart before it even begins, remember this: God isn’t asking for perfection. He’s simply inviting you to depend on Him.
And sometimes the most powerful prayer you can pray is also the simplest:
“Lord, help me.”
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]]>James 5:16 — Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
I had to put my phone down. Not out of discipline or digital detox—I just couldn’t stomach what I was seeing anymore.
I was sitting backstage between shows on the Hits Deep tour with TobyMac when I read about the horrific school shooting in Nashville at The Covenant School. Three children. Three adults. It was a place that should’ve been safe. My chest felt heavy under the kind of weighty news.
The headlines alone were gutting, but it was the comment section that knocked the wind out of me.
“Thoughts and prayers,” someone had written, emojis dripping with sarcasm.
“Oh great, prayer. That’ll fix everything,” said another.
My chest tightened. Did people really think prayer was useless?
I thought of my mama, bent at the edge of her bed, whispering prayers. I had caught her more times than I could count, head bowed, hands trembling. I knew those prayers had carried me through more heartache and sleepless nights than I could ever explain. And without those prayers, I might never have known Jesus.
Grief and gratitude tangled together inside me.
The tragedy I was reading about was real. The loss was unimaginable. But sitting there backstage, I kept thinking about my mama and all those quiet prayers. Prayers I may not have understood at the time. Prayers I probably took for granted. Prayers that changed me.
And I thought about how many people have quietly prayed their way through my life.
Maybe somebody prayed for me when I didn’t know I needed it. Maybe somebody asked God to protect me, guide me, or draw me closer to Him before I ever knew enough to ask for those things myself.
That thought stayed with me.
So before the next show, I closed my eyes and prayed—hard. I prayed for the grieving families. I prayed for the children who would never come home. I prayed for the people who were hurting and angry and didn’t know where to turn.
And I prayed for a world that seemed to be losing its hope.
When I opened my eyes, I couldn’t shake the thought that prayer matters.
I carried that thought with me the rest of the day. I found myself humming something under my breath, almost without realizing it. That night, I picked up my guitar, and the words and melody began to come together.
The song was “Somebody Prayed.”
Friend, if you know Jesus, it’s because somebody prayed for you. Maybe it was your grandma on a creaky porch swing or a friend on their knees. Don’t underestimate what those prayers can do.
Let us be the ones who hold up the hurting in a world that’s lost its way. Let’s believe together that prayer isn’t a cliché or a last resort. Because the most powerful thing in the hands of God is the desperate, hope-filled plea of prayer.
— David Crowder
Somebody Prayed
Every night there by your bed
You fold your hands and bow your head
Throwing out another prayer in faith
When you wonder if He’s hearing you
Look at me I’m living proof
I’m only right where I am today
Because somebody prayed
So I hit my knees
Cause I’ve seen all heaven move
(Don’t matter if you hit rock bottom,
My God pick you up when you call Him)
I pray, Father please
Cause I’ve seen what He can do
(Don’t matter if the storm cloud coming,
My God come through when you call Him)
These hands have no power
But there ain’t an hour He don’t come through
That’s why when mountains move I say
Looks like somebody prayed
For the child of God that’s far from home
The one who thinks they’re too far gone
I’m throwing out another prayer in faith
Worn out altars, tear stained pews
Still I won’t give up on you
I believe that anything can change
When somebody prays
I’ve seen miracles come from feeble words
I’ve seen hospital rooms turned into cathedrals
And I’ve seen freedom come to the prisoner
You can’t tell me that prayer don’t work
Every night there by your bed
When you fold your hands and bow your head
Not a single word you’ve ever said in vain
Cause He hears everything
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]]>Mark 9:23 — “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”
Have you ever looked at the odds and thought, “Well… there’s no way this ends well?”
Maybe somebody has already told you what you can’t do. Or maybe life backed you into a corner so tight you can’t see a way out.
Wilma Rudolph knew a little something about impossible too. When she was a little girl, she battled scarlet fever, pneumonia, and polio. Doctors told her she might never walk normally again, but her mother refused to let that diagnosis become her daughter’s destiny.
She told Wilma, “You will walk,” and do you know what? She did. Not only did Wilma walk, she ran. In 1960, she stepped onto the Olympic track in Rome and won three gold medals in track and field. She became the first American woman to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games.
Just think about that.
The little girl doctors said might never walk grew up to run faster than almost anybody in the world. Sometimes the people who can see your limitations most clearly still cannot see the future God has in His hands, and maybe you needed to hear that today.
Because your obstacles might be real. Your circumstances may be difficult. You may have a problem in front of you with no obvious way around it, but faith doesn’t mean pretending the mountain isn’t there. It means remembering who is bigger than the mountain.
In Mark 9, a desperate father came to Jesus carrying a problem he could not fix himself. His faith was trembling. His circumstances looked hopeless. When the father said, “If you can do anything,” Jesus challenged the “if.” And the father gave one of the most honest responses in the Bible: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.”
Faith doesn’t require you to pretend you’re not afraid. You can believe and still need help believing.
Maybe that’s where you are today. You believe God can make a way, but you’re still scared. You trust Him, but you still have questions. You’re praying, but part of you is wondering how this could possibly work out.
That doesn’t mean you have no faith. It means you’re human—and you can bring even that uncertainty to Jesus.
We don’t know how every story will turn out, but impossible has never been a word that scares Him. So, if you’re staring at something today that feels too big, too broken, or too far gone, take heart.
You may be looking at the end of what you can do, but Jesus may be looking at the beginning of what only He can do. And goodness knows, sometimes that’s where the best stories begin.
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]]>Philippians 4:6–7 — Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
There’s something different happening in the way people talk about what’s going on inside them.
They are actually talking about mental health. I don’t remember this happening in my entire life, and I’m going to be 55 this year. People are talking about anxiety, burnout, and feeling overwhelmed by everything happening in the world. They’re admitting when they’re not okay.
And honestly, I think that’s a really good thing.
Because pretending everything is fine when it isn’t doesn’t make the weight disappear. It just makes you carry it quietly.
And that’s one of the things I love about faith. The Bible has never pretended people are okay when they aren’t. David wrote when he was overwhelmed. Elijah told God he was exhausted and ready to quit.
And God didn’t shame them for feeling that way. He met them there.
Maybe that’s where you are today.
Maybe nobody looking at you would know it. You’re getting through the day. You’re answering the messages. You’re doing your job and taking care of everybody else, but inside, your mind is racing because you’re carrying more than you were ever meant to carry.
In many ways, that’s what Paul in the Bible was speaking about when he tells us not to be consumed by anxiety, but to bring everything to God. Then he describes something beautiful: when we do, God’s peace stands guard over our hearts and minds.
It’s not because every circumstance suddenly changes. It’s because we’re no longer facing those circumstances alone.
So, if today feels heavy, don’t pretend it doesn’t. Bring it to God… all the worry, the exhaustion, and the things you don’t know how to say out loud. Remember friend, you may still be walking through something, but you don’t have to carry it by yourself.
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]]>Hebrews 13:5 — Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”
I once heard someone say, “We are not rich by what we possess, but rather by what we can do without.”
Isn’t that good?
There was a time when a new phone came out, and I felt like I had to have it.
Every time.
Not eventually. Not when my phone stopped working.
I needed the new one now.
I was the same way with cars. I used to trade mine in as soon as it hit 70,000 miles.
These days, I can’t afford to do either.
And here’s the truth I never expected:
I’m okay.
My phone is older. My car has more miles on it.
And apparently, neither one of those things ruined my life.
God has been teaching me that contentment isn’t settling for less.
It’s discovering that what I have is enough because the One who is with me has never changed.
That’s what makes Hebrews 13:5 so meaningful to me.
The verse connects contentment with a promise: God will never leave us or abandon us.
My circumstances can change.
What I own can change.
What I can afford can change.
But God doesn’t pack up and leave when the extras disappear.
I still like new phones.
I still like nice cars.
There’s nothing wrong with enjoying good things.
But I don’t need those things to make me feel secure anymore.
And maybe that’s one of the surprising gifts of having less.
You discover that the things you thought were holding your life together weren’t holding it together at all.
God was.
Maybe true wealth isn’t having so much that you need nothing else.
Maybe true wealth is knowing Who you have when you have nothing left to prove.
So today, look around at what you have.
Be grateful for it.
And then look beyond what you can hold in your hands.
Because the greatest thing you have isn’t something you can buy, upgrade, or trade in.
It’s the God who has promised:
“I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”
And that is more than enough.
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]]>Matthew 7:7 — Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.
High school has rules.
No, not the ones printed in the handbook. Those are easy. You can read them and follow them.
I mean the other rules.
The ones everybody seems to know without anybody ever explaining them.
You sit with your people at lunch. You wear clothes that fit your crowd. Athletes hang out with athletes. Band kids hang out with band kids. Theater kids stick together.
Eventually, you learn where you belong, and you get pretty good at staying there.
They’re not written down anywhere, but you know the rules.
Until one morning when something strange happens.
The football player stands beside the quiet kid from chemistry.
The popular girl prays with the freshman nobody knows.
Students from different churches—and students with no church at all—end up standing around the same flagpole.
Every year, See You at the Pole has a way of bringing people together.
Some students come because they love Jesus. Some come because a friend asked them. Others are just curious.
And if you didn’t know, God has a thing for curious people.
Think about it.
Zacchaeus climbed a tree because he wanted to see Jesus. People followed Jesus because they wanted to know who He was. Again and again, people took a step closer because something about Jesus made them curious.
And that’s what I love about Jesus’ words in Matthew 7: “Keep on asking. Keep on seeking. Keep on knocking.”
He doesn’t tell us to pretend we already have everything figured out.
He invites us to come closer.
Ask questions.
Seek Him.
Knock on the door.
You see, curiosity can be a beautiful thing.
Sometimes it’s simply the courage to step outside what feels familiar and move toward something you don’t fully understand.
And you really can’t imagine what God might do with one small moment of curiosity.
So, if you’re planning to be at See You at the Pole, don’t just pray for your school.
Pray for the person standing on the edge of the crowd, wondering if they should walk over.
Pray for the student who is curious but nervous.
Pray for the one who doesn’t know exactly what they believe yet.
Because sometimes the first step toward Jesus is simply being willing to ask a question.
So maybe today, break a few of those unwritten rules.
Step outside your usual circle.
Walk toward someone who feels alone.
And if you’re the one standing on the edge, wondering whether you belong there, take a step closer.
Ask.
Seek.
Knock.
You never know what God might do with your curiosity.
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]]>Ephesians 2:9-10 — Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
There’s a building in Spokane, Washington, that used to glow with neon lights for all the wrong reasons.
People drove past it for years, knowing exactly what was happening inside.
Brokenness. Addiction. Exploitation. Stories most people never heard because the women living inside those walls often felt invisible.
Then God started rewriting the story.
A friend of mine named Taylor, who also works in Christian radio, sent me the story. I had tears rolling down my face, and honestly, I just haven’t stopped thinking about it.
There’s a ministry called Helping Captives. They bought that former strip club, paid it off completely, and now they’re turning it into a Freedom Center for women escaping human trafficking.
Same building.
Different purpose.
One woman who was rescued from trafficking said she had worked in that very club before.
Can you imagine standing in a place that once represented your pain and watching God turn it into a place of healing?
Maybe that’s what feels so much like Jesus to me.
God has always loved taking what looks ruined and giving it a purpose the world never saw coming.
He turns messes into masterpieces.
And that’s where Ephesians 2 speaks so deeply to me.
Grace is not something we manufacture. It’s not something we earn by being good enough.
Salvation is a gift.
And when God makes us new in Christ, He doesn’t just rescue us from our past. He gives our lives a new purpose. He prepares good things for us to do for His glory.
So maybe you needed this reminder today:
Your past may explain part of your story, but it does not get to write the ending.
The world may look at something and see what it used to be.
But God sees what He can make it become.
So pause today and ask Him to show you one place in your life that feels too broken to matter anymore.
Bring that place into His hands.
Because you are not defined by what you were.
In Christ, you are being made new.
And Jesus is still in the business of turning broken places into stories of redemption.
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]]>Matthew 6:34 — Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
There’s something about the words “what if?”
What if this happens?
What if that falls apart?
What if I can’t handle what comes next?
What if… what if… what if?
Those two little words can steal so much peace.
So if that’s you right now, take a deep breath with me.
Because worry has a way of living in the future.
Anxiety can feel like this little monster that runs ahead of us, walks into tomorrow, and comes back carrying a report about everything that might go wrong.
But God’s peace lives here.
In this moment.
In this breath.
Today.
God is the only One who knows what tomorrow will actually hold. And because He is already there, we don’t have to pretend we are.
Jesus doesn’t tell us that tomorrow won’t have trouble. He knows it will.
He simply reminds us not to carry tomorrow’s trouble today.
Tomorrow has enough of its own.
And today belongs to God.
So come on.
Take another breath.
You don’t have to solve your whole future before lunch.
Faith doesn’t require you to know what happens next. It invites you to trust Who is with you now.
One step.
One breath.
One prayer at a time.
That’s enough for today.
And when those two little words come knocking again—“What if?”—maybe answer them with something stronger:
What if God is already there?
What if He really is holding the future I’m afraid of?
Take one more deep breath.
Let tomorrow stay where it belongs.
And trust God with today.
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]]>John 12:26 – Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.
There’s a line in CAIN’s song Rise Up that gets me every time:
“Are you too scared to move and walk out of this tomb?”
That’s a striking question because sometimes what holds us back isn’t that we don’t know we’re stuck.
It’s that the stuck place starts to feel like the new normal.
Familiar, even.
Isn’t that relatable?
But let me tell you, you’re in good company.
In the Bible, Lazarus knew something about being stuck, too.
He had been dead for four days when Jesus arrived. There was a stone over the tomb, his sisters were devastated, and there was absolutely no reasonable expectation that Lazarus was coming back.
But then Jesus called his name.
I love that detail.
Jesus didn’t shout some generic instructions into the cemetery.
He called Lazarus.
And Lazarus came out.
But here’s what I don’t want us to miss: Lazarus didn’t come out of the tomb just to wander around and eventually find another tomb to hide in.
His new life meant a new relationship with Jesus.
In fact, John 12 tells us that Lazarus was sitting at a table with Jesus shortly afterward.
And then, in that same chapter, Jesus says, “Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am.”
Now, I can’t say with any certainty that Lazarus was still in the room when Jesus said those words. I’ll leave that part to your imagination.
But don’t miss the bigger picture.
Jesus doesn’t just call us out of something.
He calls us after Him.
Maybe you’ve spent a long time believing the lies, carrying the shame, or living inside a pattern that feels impossible to escape.
Maybe the place that once felt like a prison has simply become familiar.
Hear Jesus’ voice today.
The grave isn’t your home.
And when Jesus calls you out of the grave, He isn’t just calling you away from your old life.
He’s reaching out His hand and saying, “Follow Me.”
So, rise up.
Take off your grave clothes.
And follow Jesus.
He’s calling.
Rise Up (Lazarus)
Come Forth
Dead man open your eyes
The Lord ain’t finished with you
Wake up You sleeper
Watch what he can do
Dead man open your eyes
Jesus is calling for you
In the dark and all alone
Growin comfortable
Are you too
Scared to move
And walk out of this tomb
Buried underneath
The lies that you believed
Safe and sound
Stuck in the ground
Too lost to be found
You’re just asleep
And it’s time to leave
Come on and rise up
Take a breath, you’re alive now
Can’t you hear the voice of Jesus calling us
Out from the grave like Lazarus
You’re brand new
The power of death couldn’t hold you
Can’t you hear the voice of Jesus calling us
Out from the grave like Lazarus
When He said your name
The thing that filled your veins
Was more than blood
It’s the kind of love
That washes sin away
Now the door is open wide
The stones been rolled aside
The old is gone
The Light has come
So…
He’s calling us to walk out of the dark
He’s giving us new resurrected hearts
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]]>The post The Treasure You Can’t See appeared first on 88.7 The Cross.
]]>Colossians 3:1-3 – Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
Helen Keller once said, “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.”
And isn’t that true?
You can’t hold peace in your hands. You can’t put love in a jar. You can’t wrap up hope with a bow or measure kindness.
Some of the most valuable things in life are the very things you can’t see or touch.
But we live in a world that constantly tells us to chase bigger houses, newer cars, better things, and more stuff. It’s easy to spend our lives searching for things we can touch, see, and point to.
But the things we can hold aren’t always the things that hold us together.
Think about the joy of a child’s laughter. The comfort of a friend’s prayer. The reassurance of knowing Jesus is with you, even when life doesn’t make sense.
Those are the things we remember.
That’s part of what Paul is getting at in Colossians 3. He tells believers to set their minds on the things above—to keep looking toward Christ and the realities of the new life we have in Him.
Because our real life is now hidden with Christ in God.
In other words, what is visible may or may not be impressive, but what is eternal is what truly lasts.
That doesn’t mean the things we see are bad. A home can be a blessing. A car can be useful. Beautiful things can bring genuine joy.
But they were never meant to carry the weight of our identity or become the measure of a meaningful life.
So today, pause long enough to notice what you might normally overlook.
The love you’ve been given.
The peace God has provided.
The people who have prayed for you along the way.
The hope you have because of Jesus.
Set your sights there.
Because the things that matter most may not be the things you can see or hold.
They’re the things that hold you together—and they are found in Christ.
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]]>Isaiah 61:1 — The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.
One weekend recently, I got to help my friend Laura at her daughter Hosanna’s wedding. Hosanna is a girl I adore, and she had me doing all those little wedding details I absolutely love.
There were tables to set up, decorations to arrange, and a hundred other little things. Even a dessert table. And I love doing dessert tables!
But as I stood there working, I realized just how good God really is.
Just a few months earlier, when my son got married, I was supposed to help set up that day too. But at the last minute, I wasn’t allowed to.
And if I’m honest, it hurt so much.
I left that wedding reception in a panic, feeling invisible and unneeded. It was heartbreaking to feel like I was just a name on a birth certificate.
But now, months later, I was standing at another wedding, doing every single thing I had dreamed of doing for someone I love.
And Hosanna had no idea what had happened before. I hadn’t told her my story. She simply asked me to help.
And somewhere between the decorations and that dessert table, I remembered something about God:
He comes near to the brokenhearted.
Isaiah 61 is a beautiful picture of the ministry of Jesus. He came to bring good news, to heal what is broken, to bring freedom where people have been bound by pain, sin, shame, and sorrow.
And sometimes, healing doesn’t happen all at once.
Sometimes God meets us months later, in an ordinary moment, and lets us realize, “Look what I’ve done. Look how I’ve cared for you. Look how I’m restoring something you thought was lost.”
I’m telling you this with tears in my eyes, but they aren’t tears of sadness anymore.
They’ve become tears of joy.
Friend, God sees the hurt you never had the words for.
He knows it. He sees it. And He is not distant from it.
God understands deep, deep agony. He knows what suffering feels like because His own Son, Jesus, willingly went to the cross for you and for me.
And maybe today, there’s a place in your heart you’ve never really talked about with anyone.
Maybe you don’t even know how to put it into words.
But you can bring it to Jesus.
Bring Him the hurt. Bring Him the disappointment. Bring Him the people you love. Bring Him the things you don’t understand.
You may not be able to find all the right words to pray.
But let me tell you something:
He already sees it.
And even more than that…
He cares.
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]]>2 Corinthians 5:7 — For we walk by faith, not by sight.
That’s not just a nice suggestion. That’s how Scripture describes the life of faith. But if I’m being honest, I think a lot of us treat it like one.
Let me prove it to you.
Think about your laundry detergent. Seriously. Go look at the cap. How much are you supposed to put in there? There are little lines inside the cap that tell you how much to use. Somebody who, presumably, knows what they’re talking about measured it out for you.
And yet…
How much do you actually put in?
Because what you should use is way less than you think it should be. Many times, it’s not even half a cap, and I look at that little line and think, “That can’t possibly be enough.”
So, I pour a little more… and then a little more. And eventually, I just pour until my heart says, “Okay, that looks about right.”
Which is funny, because they already told me!
But somehow, standing there with a pile of dirty clothes, I became the detergent expert.
And that’s where this gets a little uncomfortable, because I think we do the same thing with God.
He tells us something, and we immediately start looking at our circumstances and focusing on our feelings.
We look at the size of the problem. We look at the size of the mess. We look at everything that could go wrong, and then we look back at what God has said and think, “Okay, but… surely You meant a little more than that. I need a little more certainty and a lot more explanation.”
But faith means trusting God and learning to move forward with Him even when we cannot see the whole picture yet.
That doesn’t mean our problems are small. It means God is trustworthy even when what He has given us feels small compared to what we are facing.
So today, when you find yourself asking God for just a little bit more information, more certainty, or more explanation… pause.
Ask yourself whether you really need more information from Him, or whether you simply need to trust what He has already said.
Faith may not always let us see where the road is going, but it teaches us to keep walking with the One who does.
Maybe what He has given you really is enough.
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]]>James 1:2-3 — Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.
You’ve probably heard the saying that a woman is like a teabag—you never know her strength until you drop her in hot water.
Yeah, I feel like I have been dropped inside of a pot of boiling water lately, and honestly, I don’t really like the hot water. None of us do.
None of us ask for it. We don’t wake up hoping for illness or heartbreak or disappointment. We don’t put financial struggles on our calendars or pray for uncertainty.
But sometimes the hot water comes anyway.
When it does, it can feel like everything is being tested all at once. The things we thought we could handle suddenly feel heavier. The questions get louder. The answers seem farther away. And sometimes we find ourselves wondering how much more we can take.
But maybe there is something happening in those moments that we can’t see yet.
James tells us to consider it joy when we face trials because the testing of our faith produces perseverance.
That can be a hard thing to hear when you are actually in the middle of the trial. It’s one thing to read about perseverance when life is going well. It’s another thing entirely when you are the one sitting in the hot water.
But James isn’t saying the trial itself is good. He’s showing us that God can use what is hard to produce something good in us.
The pressure can reveal things in us that God is using to grow our faith, and maybe that’s why the hot water matters. The strength we thought we didn’t have can show up. The faith we thought was small can hold on. The trust we thought was fragile can somehow make it through another day.
And maybe you are in that hot water right now. Maybe you didn’t ask for it, and you certainly wouldn’t have chosen it.
But you are not there alone.
God is still working in you, even when you can’t see what He is producing, and the faith He is building in you may be stronger than you realize.
Sometimes you don’t discover your strength until you are tested.
And sometimes you don’t discover how faithful God has been to strengthen you until you find yourself in the heat.
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]]>2 Corinthians 10:5 — We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.
There I was, minding my own business, and suddenly I got assaulted by my past.
All I wanted was a nice, quiet morning… but instead, I was left reliving the time I face-planted down the stairs in middle school.
It doesn’t stop there.
I get up and head to work, hoping music will drown it out, but nope. I’m replaying that conversation I completely fumbled three years ago.
By the time I arrive at the office, I sit at my desk and try to push through the project in front of me, but I’m distracted again. This time by the joke I made to my boss that made me look like an idiot.
Why do I do that?
Can you relate?
We often think of anxiety as fear of the future, but sometimes, it’s the past that grips us just as tightly. If we’re not careful, those memories can begin to shape how we live moving forward.
Anxiety can cripple us. It can affect our daily interactions and hold us back from being who Christ created us to be.
Scripture tells us to take every thought captive and bring it to Christ. That doesn’t mean we’ll never have painful thoughts or memories again. It means learning to recognize the thoughts that keep pulling us backward, bring them to Christ, and refuse to let them run the show.
When Christ died for us, He didn’t just offer forgiveness for our sin. He also gives us freedom from the condemnation and shame that can keep us trapped in our past.
The memories may still exist. The regret may still surface. The painful moments may still come to mind. But in Christ, they don’t have to control us.
They can be shadows, not chains.
That’s why the old hymn tells us to turn our eyes toward Jesus and look fully into His wonderful face. In the light of His glorious grace, the things that once seemed so big begin to grow strangely dim.
So, what if today, when that old memory comes back, you don’t rehearse it all over again?
What if, instead, you bring it to Jesus and look at Him?
His grace is bigger than the version of your past that keeps trying to resurrect itself.
Because in Christ, there isn’t just forgiveness for our past.
There is freedom from it.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth
Will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace
Words and Music by Helen Lemmel
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]]>The post Look Up, It’s Not Over appeared first on 88.7 The Cross.
]]>Psalm 3:3 – But you, O Lord, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high.
“He lifts us up. He’s my glory and the lifter of our head.”
I love that picture.
And if you watch sports, maybe you’ve seen something like this. Years ago, there was a championship game where a young player missed a really important shot for his team.
He hung his head, and before maybe even two seconds had passed, his teammate lifted his chin, patted him on the back, and said, “It’s not over. We’ve got this.”
I’ve always remembered that because I thought, I want to surround myself with people like that, too.
But actually, I want to be that person.
Because there have been plenty of times when I’ve noticed somebody hanging their head a little low. Maybe they’re discouraged. Maybe they’re disappointed in themselves. Maybe they’re carrying something they haven’t told anybody about.
I’ll say a silent prayer for them. But sometimes I think, Lord, I don’t just want to pray for them. Maybe You want to encourage them through me. I need to walk over there.
God is the One who lifts our heads, and I love that picture because often, we don’t need somebody to fix everything. We just need somebody to remind us to look up.
So, if you know somebody who’s been walking around with their head down lately—your sister, your brother, your coworker, your neighbor—say the prayer, and then maybe go say something to them, too.
Because I’m thankful that God lifts our heads. And sometimes, in His kindness, He lets us be the hands that help.
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]]>The post Come As You Are appeared first on 88.7 The Cross.
]]>Isaiah 1:18 — “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.”
You know, we are surprisingly good at hiding. Aren’t we?
I think we learn it early.
If we’re sad, we say, “Oh, I’m just tired.” If we’re embarrassed, we change the subject. If we make a mess of something, we clean up the visible parts and hope nobody notices what happened.
And sometimes we do the same thing with God.
It’s easy to imagine we need to get ourselves together before we come to Him. I know I do. I tell myself, “Pray more. Do better. Stop this. Fix that.”
I tell myself I’ll do better. I’ll get my act together, and then I’ll come back to God.
The problem is… “then” can take a really long time.
But Jesus doesn’t tell us to get ourselves together before we come to Him. He invites us to come.
That’s why Crowder’s “Come As You Are” lands so deeply. It isn’t a song about pretending we’re okay. It’s an invitation to stop pretending. To lay down our burdens. To lay down our shame.
Isaiah 1:18 gives us this stunning picture: our sins may be scarlet, but God can make them white as snow.
You see, grace doesn’t require us to hide the stain. Grace is what God does with it.
So maybe faith isn’t about bringing God your best version. Maybe it’s about bringing Him the real one—the tired, ashamed, and broken version too.
Because Jesus isn’t waiting for you to become worthy enough to come.
He’s inviting you to come now and let Him begin making you whole.
So today, please hear this:
Come as you are.
Come out of sadness
From wherever you’ve been
Come broken hearted
Let rescue begin
Come find your mercy
Oh sinner come kneel
Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t heal
Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t heal
So lay down your burdens
Lay down your shame
All who are broken
Lift up your face
Oh wanderer come home
You’re not too far
So lay down your hurt
Lay down your heart
Come as you are
There’s hope for the hopeless
And all those who’ve strayed
Come sit at the table
Come taste the grace
There’s rest for the weary
Rest that endures
Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t cure
So lay down your burdens
Lay down your shame
All who are broken
Lift up your face
Oh wanderer come home
You’re not too far
So lay down your hurt
Lay down your heart
Come as you are
Come as you are
Fall in his arms
Come as you are
There’s joy for the morning
Oh sinner be still
Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t heal
Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t heal
So lay down your burdens
Lay down your shame
All who are broken
Lift up your face
Oh wanderer come home
You’re not too far
So lay down your hurt
Lay down your heart
Come as you are
Come as you are
Come as you are
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