PASSION

Good morning, sisters! Humming, rocking, and singing lullabies are just a few of the ways that mothers bring comfort to their babies. Nearly everyone loves rocking babies or teasing toddlers, but once they start to cry, they’re quickly returned to their mothers’ arms for no one seems to understand a baby’s tears or needs like his or her mother.

To help us picture God’s tender love for His children, God’s Word points us to a mother and her child. Isaiah 66:13 says, As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you. God’s compassion goes beyond the best of the best mothers! God says through Isaiah in chapter 49, verses 15 and 16, Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.

And like a mother singing a lullaby over her baby, God sings over us with deep love and pure delight. Zephaniah chapter 3 verse 17 reads, The Lord your God . . . will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.

Whether you spent yesterday remembering your mother who is now with Jesus, or you continue to experience her love and care today, consider how she is an earthly picture of the Heavenly Father’s everlasting, unconditional, and perfect love for you and me.

Have a great week!



PASSION

Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

1 Timothy 4:16


Within the concise, but commanding book, Stand – A Call for the Endurance of the Saints, Randy Alcorn writes about when he and his wife Nanci attended a thirty-year reunion of their church college group. He recorded that forty came and five of their original group had died. He hinted at the losses that many had experienced in their lives, yet there was beauty in that night as person after person talked about God’s faithfulness.

Some were unable to attend the reunion due to practical challenges like scheduling conflicts, distance, and poor health. Others intentionally stayed away because their love for Jesus had grown cold. Why didn’t these saints endure Randy asked. His answer? “Their hour-to-hour and day-to-day choices set them up for spiritual distraction and failure.”

The choice to sleep in or to set the alarm clock earlier than yesterday so we can talk to God will determine if we’re going to be women of apathy or of action. The choice to go with the flow of the culture or to move in what Eugene Peterson calls “a long obedience in the same direction” will guide us into casual Christianity or Christ-like living. The choice to just live life as it comes or to establish and persevere in spiritual disciplines will lead to warming the pews or feeding the fire.

To be women of PASSION that love God and serve Him by serving others there are six spiritual disciplines that we must add to our heart’s fire. (We’ll dig deeper in the weeks to come.)

P ray constantly. Make the day-to-day choice to talk and listen to God (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

A is for And,

S tudy God’s Word. Make the day-to-day choice to read your Bible to learn how God wants you to live (Psalm 119:9).

S erve others. Make the day-to-day choice to serve others no matter what the task (John 13:14-15).

I nteract with God’s people. Make the day-to-day choice to encourage one another in the Lord (Hebrews 10:25).

O pen up and talk about God. Make the day-to-day choice to tell people about Jesus’ love (Matthew 28:19-20).

N otice God in the ordinary. Make the day-to-day choice to seek God and to take note of all the tender ways He cares for you (Jeremiah 29:13).

PASSION Step: What PASSION discipline will you choose to establish this week?


We never grow closer to God when we just live life; it takes deliberate pursuit and attentiveness.

Francis Chan



Grace and peace,
Lenae