Technicolor Woman

Scriptures: Genesis 1:27, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Colossians 3:10

Technicolor Woman

Sometimes, when I’m driving, I take the opportunity to ask God questions because I’ve found that He loves to unveil discoveries and show us treasures—as we seek, find, and behold His truths. How do I know this? It’s simple, really. Jeremiah 33:3 says, “‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’” It’s one of my favorite verses—and I’ve received its promise over and over again. He is so fun. 

On this drive, I asked God what His intent and meaning was when He first made Woman—the moment He formed her and when she was written about. In short, I wanted to know what the essence of a woman is from His perspective—and He answered me. 

In a time in history when a woman’s identity is in high-crisis mode, we need God’s clarity more than ever. We need to know who we are. The identity pendulum can swing towards feminism, which, in its essence, is fighting for value. It’s extreme and typically vilifies men out of a person’s own trauma and wounds. It twists truth, and time and time again, I have seen women become more like men because of this—which defeats the whole purpose of knowing one’s innate value as a woman. A lot of chaos wraps around this root of identity, and expressions of disordered love and value are evident and overtaking. A lot of these expressions look like manipulation, control, and false power to get what they want or “deserve.” 

I have also seen it swinging to and embracing a human-made “religious” definition for identity, which can often diminish one person in favor of another—and is based on power, hierarchy, and perceived superiority. Religion loves to triple-muzzle women. Religion creates power structures and values one person over another, whether that’s a man over a woman, a pastor over a volunteer, rich over the poor, or famous over a common person. 

God doesn’t operate in castles; He operates in Kingdom. Kingdom structures aren’t like man-made structures. He operates an upside-down Kingdom. It isn’t a business; it is a family, and the fuel is honoring one another. He uplifts the humble and brings down pride. He comes for the sick who need a doctor. He places the lonely in families. He cleans up the greatest sinners and chooses to send them to bring in His harvest. He finds the one who feels so unseen and keeps His eye close on them. He doesn’t do things how we do things. He doesn’t value what we value. The kingdom honors all parts but never devalues or diminishes. 

Operating from Kingdom identity is as fortified as it gets. 

Identity can try to attach to relationships, work, life stage, performance, gifting, success, anointing, sickness, failure, hobbies, interests, and pain. This is why it says “abide in me” in John 15:4, (ESV) because He is the Vine, the Source, and we are the branches. 

The only way to produce colorful juicy fruit in our lives is to remain in Him. When we attach ourselves to anything else, there is no life, and it becomes rotten, desolate, and toxic. 

For women, each of these false identity attachments can lead to a variety of expressions—keeping us hustling for worth, trying to manipulate, living in fear and insecurity, and heaviness. One of my favorite books on identity is Living Fearless: Exchanging the Lies of the World for the Liberating Truth of God by Jamie Winship, who runs a ministry called Identity Exchange. I love his teachings on getting to root issues with identity. 

“The number one strategy of the enemy is to take away your identity.” 

In Winship’s book, he quotes David Benner, who states: “We do not find our true self by seeking it. Rather, we find it by seeking God.” 

Identity issues are hard to miss since they are displayed in how people communicate, what they talk about, why they do things, and how they go about doing things. This is why the subject of identity is so important. When we know who we are, we can exhale and rest in our identity. When we know who we are and abide in Jesus, the overflow is then what we do, and it unlocks creativity, joy, and real fruit in our lives that can’t be accessed in any other way. 

When we know who we are, we can call out the God-colors in others because we can see. When we don’t know who we are, we can’t see others, so we end up living in insecurity or competition with others. When we don’t know who we are, we do things to try to produce our identity, but it never works that way. 

When we abide in Him, only then can we bloom. 

“I understood that every flower created by Him is beautiful, that the brilliance of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not lessen the perfume of the violet or the sweet simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all the lowly flowers wished to be roses, nature would no longer be enameled with lovely hues. And so it is in the world of souls, Our Lord’s living garden.” St. Thérèse de Lisieux 

Everyone blooms differently; everyone is a different color, scent, and hue. It is so beautiful. Nothing can rob or tamper with this God-given identity. It demolishes competition and comparison while setting others free to do the same. We aren’t meant to look, act, or sound the same; we are all free to be the glorious flower that God seeded in us to become. 

“Your identity is your gift to the world. No one else can give the gift you can in the truth of who you are.” Jamie Winship 

When we go from drab black-and-white living to full color, it looks like living in and out of our God-given identity. Identity cannot be discovered through anyone or anything other than the Creator. You were made in the image of God. 

“So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them,” (Genesis 1:27, NLT). 

You were created in His image to carry a unique reflection into the world. The Creator made you so intentionally, to laugh the way you laugh, sound the way you sound, and even look how you look. He put specific desires in your heart ON PURPOSE. He even formed you to like and dislike certain things on purpose, too, all for His glory and all for His kingdom. 

“So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image,” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NLT). 

“Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him,”
(Colossians 3:10, NLT). 

We are to become like Him, to be changed more and more into His glorious image. 

God who has rainbows around the throne (Revelation 4:2-4). A rainbow as a covenant between God and earth and the generations (Genesis 9:12-13). There’s a rainbow over the head of an angel in Revelation 10:1. The bow and brightness of glory seen by Ezekiel made him fall on his face (Ezekiel 1:28). 

The bright colors and glory belong to God and His children, who are made in His image. I want to see the color inside of you. I want to see what God placed in you. The black-and-white world needs you to live in full-color freedom. 

You were made to live life in Technicolor. 

This reality is for every woman, every age, every color, and every stage. It doesn’t matter if you think you are too young, too old, or you count yourself out for whatever reason—not smart enough, pretty enough, single, married, a busy mama, a retiree, or a high schooler. 

This is FOR YOU; this is the identity you carry. 

In Genesis 2:22, we read, “Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man.” That sounds straightforward enough, but there’s more to the story: the Hebrew word for “the rib” that God takes out of Adam is Tsela. (That’s Tsela, not Tesla!) 

First, this word speaks of the intentionality and forethought God used when designing Woman. In fact, Tsela primarily relates to architectural descriptions such as the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, an altar, and side chambers of the Temple. 

Here’s the breakdown of Tsela’s use and context for use: 

According to The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament, Tsela occurs 28 times—twice in Genesis (Genesis 2:21-22); once in Job (Job 18:12), referring to Job’s side; three times referring to the side of the Ark of the Covenant; 11 times relating to the side of the Tabernacle; and 11 times referring to the side chamber of the Temple. 

Do you see how Woman is gloriously made? God, the great Architect, intentionally formed and fashioned Woman in a magnificent manner—even to the point of mirroring the likeness of a dwelling place of His presence, glory, and worship. 

Digging a little deeper . . . the Hebrew word for “Woman” in Genesis 2:22 is Isha, which is comprised of the Hebrew symbols Heh, Shin, and Aleph—each of which has distinct meaning. 

In the ancient Paleo Hebrew pictograph, Heh is represented by a little stick figure, hands held up in the air, meaning “to look,” “to behold,” or “to reveal.” 

Heh makes me think of Mary in the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38. As the story unfolds, we quickly realize that Martha is a “do-er,” while Mary is a “be-er”—or at least that’s how I describe them when Mary decides to sit and look at Jesus and receive from Him, placing more value on her presence in that moment than in her performance. 

Martha, by contrast, is nearly exhausted, rushing around trying to make all the external details fit in place perfectly but missing the true importance of soaking up the moment with Jesus and probably super annoyed with Mary seemingly wasting her time. 

I love it when Jesus says, “Martha, Martha . . . you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her” (Luke 10:41). 

You and I know that same tug on our time and energy. 

There’s. Always. So. Much. To. Do. 

I believe Jesus understands our struggle of feeling overwhelmed, distracted, or obligated to “do” or perform rather than just “be.” 

The struggle is real, too! My goodness . . . when the kids get “cray cray,” or work is piling up (and laundry is, too, simultaneously), or even “doing” those good works or things for God, it can start to rob you of “being” with Him. But during those times when you’re “doing,” you’re not “being” or beholding Him, which is typically the time when He can reveal himself, His heart, and His mysteries. 

This passage opened my eyes to how women (if we take the time) love to look, behold, and carry deep revelations from Jesus since those are the treasures that can never be taken from us. In fact, I think that’s why Heh is part of the very name of Woman. 

Now, on to the next letter, Shin. 

Shin is literally shaped like three branches of flames and means “fire and transformation,” “destroy,” “something sharp,” “teeth,” or “consume.” It refers to the process of transformation, breaking down, grinding into particles, building anew, or the firing of a clay pot, refined by the fires to reach its intended form. In short, it’s the entire refining, transformational process: breaking, healing, refining, and restoring. 

To me, this runs parallel to the fierce mama bear inside of Woman. Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a good example of this. She was brave in her obedience who resolutely declared, “‘I am the Lord’s servant . . . May your word to me be fulfilled’” (Luke 1:38). 

Her unwavering obedience to carry the Savior of the world in her womb—no matter how it appeared to others around her or who believed her heavenly encounter—was literally the lifeblood in which Jesus would destroy the works of the enemy. 

Like Mary and as His daughters, we get to agree with God’s promises seeded within us—giving Him our firm yes—so that we, too, can bring His kingdom into our world and destroy the works of darkness. In fact, I believe that yielding in obedience to the Spirit of God is all it requires to ignite that transformational, refining fire within us and to heap destruction on the head of the enemy. 

When we yield to this fire and transformation then we can carry fire and transformation. Mama bears break and destroy anything in their paths if anything tries to harm their babies. This is inside women for the kingdom of God. 

We don’t want anything touching and harming God’s babies; we destroy the works of the enemies coming towards the innocent. 

Just like Mary carried Jesus in her womb to restore and heal all people back into alignment with God, I believe women carry this innate desire to be yielded vessels to see God heal, restore, refine, and transform people back into love alignment with God. 

Next up is Aleph, which is a picture of an ox head, representing strength and power to plow. It symbolizes the beginning of creation and the start of God’s revelation to humanity. 

When I consider Aleph, I think of Matthew 9:20 and the account of the woman healed of 12 years of bleeding. She courageously and confidently plowed her way through the crowd in a time when she was culturally considered and classified as “unclean.” Yet, she threw off the identity that her culture imposed upon her and, with tenacity and unrelenting faith, made her way directly to Jesus for her healing—believing (and knowing) that Jesus is our true Healer and has authority over all ailments. She plowed her way through, and it revealed Jesus as Healer. 

Women have a way of plowing forward. A woman makes a way for others, whether it’s her husband, children, friends, co-workers, or people in need. It is IN us. 

When women see a need, they will plow forward to meet it. Why do so many women start non-profits that are for the less fortunate, whether in need physically or emotionally? Why do so many women enter the field of emotional and spiritual healing? Why are so many women drawn to justice causes? 

I have good friends who, as young mothers, started something so innovative for women stuck in sex trafficking. They plowed through, and every time, it reveals the glory of God, His freedom, healing, and redemption. 

My question that I posed to God in a whisper while on that drive was answered in far greater detail, depth, and magnitude than I could have ever imagined: 

This revelation of Woman—Heh, Shin, and Aleph—soaked deep into my spirit. 

Woman was created to plow the way forward, destroy the works of darkness in her path with untamed yielding to God, and to reveal and behold the beauty of Jesus. 

Mouth drop . . . and mic drop. 

So, woman (and I write that in the fullness of your essence now), take time today to push pause on your busy schedule and the hustle, and sit and receive your God-given identity. 

Let Him remove the false identities and fear you have lived from so that you can bloom in your full color. 

He is the Great Architect who fashioned you just as He did the Temple, as a carrier of the Holy Spirit living inside you. 

Continue to plow and upend the kingdom of darkness with insane trust in and obedience to Jesus. 

Know that all of Heaven is peering at you—cheering you on as you bring the Kingdom to earth in mighty ways in your everyday life. 

You were made to reflect His image in full color. 

You are a Technicolor Woman.

Scriptures: Genesis 3:14-15, Galatians 4:4-5, Philippians 2:9-11

Snake Stompers 

Oh, Eve . . . 

Have you ever asked, “Why Eve? Why did the serpent single out Eve?” 

Sometimes, I think the serpent pinpoints our strengths and tries to convince us that they’re weaknesses. We all know his snake-like character is to twist and distort, but I see it as a clue. 

After unpacking what Helper means (warrior) and what Woman’s essence is (strength, fire, and revelation), I can understand why the ancient serpent hates her. 

Eve, being created in the image of God carries His unique likeness and His glory. Furthermore, Eve multiplies the image of God—her name meaning “to breathe, to give life,” and she was the mother of all living things. 

One way the enemy spoke to her was to have her question what God really said. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’” (Genesis 3:1). 

With the serpent’s prompting, Eve began to believe that God was somehow withholding something from her, so she quite literally took the situation into her own hands. 

Have you ever been there? It sounds familiar. At certain times in our lives, we question the full Word of God and His direction. 

I know this passage has been weaponized against women since the beginning of time, but get ready for the Jesus glory showdown. “So the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel’” (Genesis 3:14-15). 

At the very moment of the fall of humanity and the disobedience of Eve—right here, right at the fall—is the first Messianic prophecy of Jesus. They call it Protoevangelium (“first gospel”) when it says, “he will crush your head and you will strike his heel” (v. 15b). Through Mary, the seed of a woman, Jesus our Savior is born to crush the head of the serpent for all time and break the power of the curse and death—redeeming all things. 

When I saw this in Scripture it made me cry, seeing how God’s triumphant redemption plan was always there from the moment of the fall. Yes, one woman disobeyed but then obeyed after that so that, one day, a girl named Mary could—in complete and utter surrender—say yes to carrying the Savior of the world. Now, if that isn’t a divine full circle, then I don’t know what is. 

“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship” (Galatians 4:4-5). 

Oh, the longing of God’s heart to be so close with His kids again—finally being fulfilled. 

The word enmity has always popped out to me, too, in this passage. Simply put, it means deep-rooted hatred between Eve’s seed and the serpent. Now, I have gotten mad and run over snakes with my car and sometimes with a lawn mower a time or two, but this goes much deeper. 

The serpent still hates women and still hates her seed—from time past until present day. In fact, the enemy of our souls hates the image of God that women carry, including how we carry things in the Spirit like a womb and how we birth promises of God. He wants to do anything and everything to destroy and distort Woman’s image and muddy her reflection of God. 

The story of Eve has even been misinterpreted in some religious circles to the tune of: Eve was deceived, so all women are deceived. Let me tell you that isn’t the heart and voice of God condemning women. It is a brood of vipers. I love when Jesus called the Pharisee religious leaders a brood of vipers. The religious spirit has always spoken with a tongue of condemnation, shame, and a hiss of pride. 

Here’s a way to test what’s behind this and other similar ways of thinking: Anything that is not magnifying the finished work on the Cross is a faulty foundation to build any case on. Jesus reversed and redeemed everything by sacrificially dying on the Cross—every curse and every sin. 

“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:19-20). 

When you know your authority in Christ, you walk differently. 

You know every other name and power has to bow to the ONE NAME. 

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11). 

Ladies, Jesus crushed the head of the serpent so that we could raise our boots and do the same. 

So, start stomping! 

You are a snake stomper. 

I pray anything that is not magnifying the finished work of Jesus and any faulty foundation of belief is broken over your life. 

I pray you walk in your snake-stomping authority. 

I pray you embrace every beautiful and powerful aspect of your femininity.

Scriptures: Luke 5:37-39, Matthew 16:25, Psalms 16:11,John 15:5

Presence

“The most holy and necessary practice in our spiritual life is the presence of God. That means finding constant pleasure in His divine company, speaking humbly and lovingly with Him in all seasons, at every moment, without limiting the conversation in any way.” Brother Lawrence 

Oh, in a world full of 3-second TikTok brain attention spans, the glam-up truly is presence. 

So many demands for our attention, time, and presence wrestle to take the first place in our lives, but it matters what we choose and how we steward our choices. 

What we behold, we truly become. 

Take Brother Lawrence, for example. Born as Nicolas Herman in eastern France in 1614, he was taught the Christian faith at an early age, but it became fully grown in him when, at the age of 26, he joined the Carmelite Order of Monks in Paris. That’s when he became known as “Brother Lawrence.” His main service was cooking and cleaning in the priory kitchens until his health began to fail him. When that happened, his main job became repairing the monks’ sandals. 

That may seem like an insignificant role, but he was valued and esteemed for the spiritual wisdom and peace he displayed. He wrote: “We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed. And it is not necessary to have great things to do. I turn my little omelet in the pan for the love of God.” 

Other writings and sayings from such a seemingly obscure monk survived these last hundreds of years and were compiled for all to read. He mastered the principle of being in God’s presence at all times—not just during prayer or worship. 

Brother Lawrence’s book The Practice of the Presence of God utterly wrecked my life in the best of ways. Up to that point in my life, my perception of God ranged from knowing God is “out there,” and I must make an appointment with Him to meet with Him or, alternatively, that the setting has to be “just right” in some hyped-up spiritual environment (dim lighting included) for the presence of God to fall. 

It sounds silly, I know, but sometimes, whether we realize it or not, we limit God’s presence—like where He can and can’t be, what He can and cannot do—and that He loves to break down the barriers to show us what is possible. 

That fact is, He is limitless. He truly became and is Emmanuel: God with us. 

When God put on flesh as a baby, when Jesus came down to be with us, when Jesus died and sent the Holy Spirit to be with us . . . all of those illustrate His longing to just be present with us. 

When you go from the head merely acknowledging to the heart fully understanding that He is with you, everything changes—and I experienced it for myself. 

I’ll never forget it. I was doing laundry, of all things. 

At this time in my life with three boys ages five and under, you can imagine the types of daily-occurring messes there were to clean. I remember that I was alone in the laundry room. My husband was gone on a tour with his band in a busier season of traveling. Sometimes, we all would go together, or I would go, but on this day, it was just a normal routine of doing life at home. 

To paint a picture of what this season looked like in our life, and in the silence of the washer going and the dryer tumbling, I felt the presence of God come into the room so powerfully and sweetly like a fragrance that it actually made me gasp. I started to cry because I couldn’t believe He was there—in the mess and the normal part of this daily chore—but He was tangibly there. 

He was with me, so we just talked. It changed my life forever and moved my heart in a fresh way to the point that I went about my days differently. I began expecting His presence where, in the past, I least expected Him to be. The laundry room felt like a sanctuary in that season of life. 

I felt like Hagar when she said, “‘You are the God that sees me’” (Genesis 16:13). 

What does it look like to practice the presence of God in all seasons and every moment—not limiting the conversation to our set time frames? Are our spiritual eyes open for these holy interruptions—His holy presence in our normal, everyday routines? 

I come from a generation of the “quiet time.” (Did some of you have an “eye twitch” moment when I said that?) Honestly, I think there are some quiet time shame suction cups that came on my generation—that maybe we didn’t have a certain type of quiet time, not long enough, not deep or spiritual enough . . . or quiet enough. 

What if God would like to interrupt your perfectly planned plans? What if He wants more of you that ends up being all of you? What if He truly wants to know you? And, hey, what if God isn’t always quiet? What if He isn’t after just your mind but wants to capture your heart and all of its affections? 

I realize that seasons change and look different, as they should. If something isn’t changing, then that means something isn’t growing, and we are made to be constantly transformed and going glory-to-glory until the day we are done here on earth. 

During my teenage years, my time with the Lord looked different than it did as a newlywed or when I started having babies, busier traveling seasons, sick seasons, projects, and everything in between. 

Seasons change. Demands change. But God stays the same. His intense love and affection for us will never waver. 

One time I had this conversation with a new mom who, since having her baby, was concerned that now her “quiet time” with God was messed up. I tried not to laugh because I understood her completely—fully knowing the glorious undoing of my schedule when all my four sweet newborn babes each came into our world. 

During one of my infamous “quiet times” (which makes me laugh as I recall it and write about it), my second son Phoenix, who was then a one-year-old, somehow landed a ping-pong ball perfectly into my mug of coffee while I was reading my Bible and praying. It splashed and startled me because my eyes were closed—and I started laughing. (I also stopped closing my eyes from there on out. Ha!) 

I looked admiringly at this lovely new mom as she was sharing this with me. Her heart was so beautiful, pure, and earnest—with so much compassion. My heart was moved and all that I could burst out to say was, “But God is with you!” 

Heck, God was in that ping-pong ball coming into my coffee—making me laugh until I cried! My kids giggled, too, and it was a shared moment of a joy explosion. 

Think about it. God might just be the one interrupting you. 

He is with you, rocking babies, making meals, working, cleaning, disciplining your toddler, on a date with your spouse, napping, working out, or talking to a friend. You get the point. Enter your own activity in the blank: He is with you ______________. He’s with you in all the doings of life and in all seasons. No one is left out from the presence of God. 

While He’s with us, though, we do have a choice of where to set our affections. 

“The most holy and necessary practice in our spiritual life is the presence of God. That means finding constant pleasure in His divine company, speaking humbly and lovingly with Him in all seasons, at every moment, without limiting the conversation in any way.” Brother Lawrence

If my heart is set and meditating on God, then nothing can break that. Sure, distractions or things pop up, but our gazes, our heart’s affections quickly get set right back. 

Why would I look away from the face of the One I love? That’s where true joy, peace, and wisdom all flow. This quote opened a whole new perspective for me years ago: 

“Whatever the business is that I am doing, I need to be on my knees. The time of business does not differ with me from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were on my knees.” Brother Lawrence 

“There is no sweeter manner of living in the world than continuous communion with God.” Brother Lawrence 

God with us: Emmanuel. 

We are to go about our days, even in the clatter and demand, on our knees. This continuous communion is real. It’s a practice—and one that produces such joy. 

To be in His presence at all times is a gift the people who lived in the times of the Old Testament never got to have. Only the high priest could enter in the holiest of holies once a year on the day of Atonement. But for us, Jesus paid the high sacrifice so we could be close once again with Him, then sending the Counselor, the Helper, the Holy Spirit to dwell inside of us and not leave, always present, always helping. 

This is a miracle. 

When thinking about presence, I also think about this African proverb written by the author Paul Borthwick: 

European missionaries serving in Africa a century ago hired local villagers as porters to help carry supplies to a distant station (imagine Mombasa to Lake Victoria). The porters went at a slower pace than the missionaries desired, so after the first two days, they pushed them to go faster. On day three of the trek, the group went twice as far as day two. Around the campfire that evening, the missionaries congratulated themselves for their leadership abilities. But on day four, the workers would not budge. 

“What’s wrong?” asked the missionary. 

“We cannot go any further today,” replied the villagers’ spokesman. 

“Why not? Everyone appears well.” 

Yes,” said the African, “but we went so quickly yesterday that we must wait here for our souls to catch up with us.” 

Some of us need to have our souls catch up so we can return to presence. Busy seasons, grief, burnout, and deeper inner healing can result in needing to have our souls catch up. Not allowing them to catch up can be detrimental to our souls and to our lives. 

Many of us are so busy trying to do and create than to be and receive. If we can’t receive and drink deeply, then we can’t do or create effectively. 

I come from generations of pastors before me. You can imagine the ministry, the pouring out, and the cost of that. Likewise, with our family being in music and impacting people, I have noticed so many people in any service on a platform—whether pastors, musicians, speakers, or any type of leadership—want to be filled with creativity
or inspiration. 

But they often “fill up” just to regurgitate it up for the masses or whoever they are leading—as if the Lord called them to be spiritually bulimic—that what they eat is there simply to just come back up and out again. 

By contrast, the Lord’s heart is one of nourishment, intending for His strengthening nutrition to go deeply into us—for us and for serving Him. When He does things, He does them deeply and completely. That’s why the presence of God is for you, because He loves you, not what you can do for Him. He loves you and has the best of intentions for you. 

Unlike people, He never prostitutes our giftings or callings. His intention isn’t to use us up. He loves us back to life and joy, which overflows into untapped places you can only dream of creatively. Why? Because there is no fear in love, and perfect love casts out everything else. 

Practicing the presence of God in our lives makes it clear when we need to sit and absorb, and when we need to stand up and go, when we need to lay things down, and when we need to pick things up. Oh, please sit down and receive if that is where God has you, and don’t rush out of it. 

Don’t move until you fully receive the new wineskin for the new wine He wants to pour out. Otherwise, what happens when you pour new wine into old wineskins? They burst. (Luke 5:37-39) 

God is always preserving us as we walk in His presence, whether we can see why or the whole picture yet or not. 

I don’t want to outpace the presence, whether it’s the presence of God or the presence of my soul. It costs too much to do it that way. “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” (Matthew 16:26). 

Let’s not forfeit the most holy things. Let’s welcome the holy interruptions, and may it be said of us that Jesus possessed all of our affections. 

“My God, since thou art with me, and I must now, in obedience to thy commands, apply my mind to these outward things, I beseech thee to grant me the grace to continue in thy presence; and to this end do thou prosper me with thy assistance, receive all my works, and possess all my affections.” Brother Lawrence 

“Because of you, I know the path of life, as I taste the fullness of joy in your presence. At your right side I experience divine pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11, TPT). 

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). 

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast” (Psalm 139:7-10). 

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). 

I pray that you encounter the presence of God in unexpected ways. 

I pray the affections of your heart become focused on Him. 

I pray you receive and drink deeply of the love of God for you. 

I pray you live your life and pace your soul in step with the presence of God. 

Scriptures: James 1:2-4, James 1:12, Colossians 3:3-4, Matthew 13:44-46

Pearls of Pressure

There is not a human on the planet who doesn’t feel pressure, stress, or even agitation.

Take account of your life, and there is something agitating you—and each one of us.

There is some kind of pressure, whether it’s relational demand or dysfunction, financial lack or stewardship, emotional loneliness or heartache, physical pain or sickness.

Pressure is a part of life. There can be good stressors, including pressure, such as success, leading people, creative processes, and the like.

Most of us want to run from the tension and, honestly, just have things be easier.

One day, while we were in the car, my oldest son was going on and on about math. This isn’t a new conversation; it’s one of many on how he doesn’t like it and how it feels harder for him than anyone else.

I kept listening to him state how hard it is, how he doesn’t like fractions, and wishes he didn’t have to do it at all.

He said, “I will feel better when I don’t have to do math anymore; my life will be better.”

In that moment, while driving, I started laughing because the realization of “math“ struck me in a new way. I told him, “Jude, there will always be an aggravating ‘math’ in your life you don’t want to do. Instead of trying to escape, just know it is normal for it to be hard.”

He looked at me with wide eyes and said, “Really? There are things that feel like math for your whole life?”

I had just done an intense workout class that day. I was disheveled and still sweaty when I looked at him and asked him, “Do you think I always want to work out?”

He looked at me, not knowing the answer.

I said, “Some days I do; some days I don’t. But I want to be strong, so I do it anyway—whether I feel like it or not. The tension builds strength.”

We went on to talk about the many different jobs I didn’t want to do earlier in life or things that were hard and aggravating but then produced beautiful things.

I told him he will have jobs and chores and so many things that feel like math, and that it was normal.

Laundry feels like my math; it never ends in this season of life.

He really got it! He understood that something being hard, aggravating, agitating, and pressure-filled was . . . well . . . normal.

It is like a pearl.

Inside a very normal-looking oyster or mollusk that doesn’t look like much is happening on the inside, a tiny organism or sand comes in and causes a disruption. The oyster or mollusk starts to secrete the same thing that its shell is made of to protect itself from the disruptor, and the irritation starts the formation of a valuable pearl.

“At root, a pearl is a ‘disturbance’ a beauty caused by something that isn’t supposed to be there, about which something needs to be done. It is the interruption of equilibrium that creates beauty. Beauty is a response to provocation, to intrusion. . . . The pearl’s beauty is made as a result of insult.” Julia Cameron

I believe every irritation and pressure can be used to bring out the fullness and beauty that Jesus wants to develop in us.

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way” (James 1:2-4, MSG).

I applaud how it says, “Don’t get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”

If you want pearls, embrace the pressure. Ask the Lord to use the pressure to remove impurities and watch as beauty comes forth, fashioned inside of you.

The disturbance and the thing that “isn’t supposed to be there” in your life could be the perfect irritant for a pearl to grow.

There are things I have wrestled with for years. I found them to be so irritating and aggravating in my life, but after years, I started to see the beauty and fullness they were developing in me. They were the perfect irritants to create something new inside of me. God truly blesses your patient endurance of these hard irritants of testing.

“God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12, NLT).

One time, I was out when my husband was doing a show overseas, and I was getting to know a woman who was on that particular tour. She was asking about my husband’s illness at the time. He was at the height of sickness with a chronic illness. He was in a lot of agony.

I shared with her where we were at and even shared how I was healed of a disease. I explained that we were in that “in-between time” of walking it all out.

She looked at me and point-blank said, “Wow. I guess God just really loves me because I haven’t ever had to deal with anything like that or in my family.”

I’m sure my face showed my shock! I literally laughed because it was so ridiculous to believe that, let alone say it.

This is someone who obviously hasn’t experienced suffering. You could tell due to the lack of compassion, but what shocked me more was that she didn’t know the heart of Jesus or the pearls of pressure.

I haven’t thought of that story since that time—until I started writing this.

I want to make it clear that God doesn’t cause or like sickness or suffering, but He allows it.

I think of the life of Job. Every horrible thing Job had to walk through had to pass the desk of God and be approved. The enemy can’t just have his way; he is under the authority of God.

But let me tell you a mystery: when God allows suffering to come, it is always for your good. It is always for more fruit of the Spirit to abound. It is to conquer your fears. It is for the pearls.

When God tests us, it is for us to pass the test and be upgraded.

Every pressure produces.

After Job’s testing, he was given everything back TIMES SEVEN.

I used to get jealous of other people who seemingly didn’t have suffering like I had experienced. I know . . . what a weird thing to be jealous of, right?

Suffering has a way of making you very sober. The only way to describe it is that I had felt like I was the only sober person at a party with a bunch of drunk people. Not fun.

As time and life has unfolded, however, I now weep with gratitude for every pressure, every trial, and every difficult thing. I have treasures, and they are real, true, and lasting. After the trials comes JOY, and so now I’m drunk on the wine of the Spirit that doesn’t run out.

God has a way of allowing the precise pressure to come our way so that a precise pearl can be developed. It is glorious.

I would never trade a pearl for temporary satisfaction. I now don’t seek to sidestep hardships because I could miss another pearl.

Everyone has pressure and pain, but it is a choice to enter into refinement.

“Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner” (1 Peter 4:12-13, MSG).

The difficulties are used as a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.

Think of diamonds deep in the earth. They start out as carbon, but they enter extreme conditions that lead to their transformation—including high heat, intense pressures, and fast cooling. As a result, a valuable gem is formed: diamonds. They’re beautiful, pure, sparkling, and treasured.

If you skip the refining process, then you miss out on the shine.

Like diamonds, pearls are valuable, but not everyone or every environment will see or honor them.

Pearls come at a great price and from intense pressure, resulting in making them treasures.

I think back to that conversation on suffering that I had with the woman. I am sure she has gone through refinement and is a different person now, Lord willing. However, she was someone who didn’t understand pearls—someone who, at that point in her life, didn’t understand the refinement process.

“‘Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you’” (Matthew 7:6, NLT).

We are hidden in Him like the developing pearl within an oyster. The irritants and disruptions come, but, oh, what is being formed in us is far greater than anything else. It is the pearl of great price.

“For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory” (Colossians 3:3-4, NLT).

“‘The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field. Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!’” (Matthew 13:44-46, NLT),

This is the treasure. It is Him. This is costly.

My heart and prayer for you today is that you take a deep breath and realize pressure isn’t abnormal.

I pray like in Job’s life everything robbed, harmed, and that has died in your life would come back seven times than before.

I pray you sell it all for the pearl of great price.

I pray for your endurance in whatever your trial and test is—that you will be victorious and steadfast.

I pray you see the disturbance and the irritation as a specific opportunity for refinement and for a valuable pearl to be made.

Let us grow beautiful pearls from pressure.

Scriptures: Genesis 2:3, 1 Kings 19:5, Jeremiah 31:25, John 1:14

Weapon of Rest

“Rest is a weapon given to us by God; The enemy hates it because he wants you stressed and occupied.” Elisabeth Elliot

“If the devil cannot make us bad, he will make us busy.” Corrie Ten Boom

We live in a society where exhaustion is like a status symbol—that being busy and stressed out is something to wave around like a prize.

If you find it hard to rest . . .

If you can’t nap without feeling guilty . . .

If your schedule, mind, body, and heart are overloaded . . .

. . . then this one is for you.

Rest is a weapon.

Rest is also a gift to receive. It’s not something you earn after you get x, y, and z done. Let’s be honest. Is the work ever done?

I think it is a tricky, slippery slope that the enemy loves to just spin us around and keep us stressed and occupied so we can’t enter into rest and, therefore, into deep receiving and deep outpouring.

Rest isn’t for a specific personality type, either. I’ve heard it said in very defensive tones, “Well, that’s great for you, but not everyone has the capacity to just relax.”

I have been this person. I used to run around and around, burning myself out.

We live in a consumeristic more, more, more mentality, but the more can make us explode.

So many things block us from entering rest. Pride can keep us working harder than anyone and loving to shove it in people’s faces (as you take antacids).

Fear can keep us burning the candle on both ends because our worth is wrapped up in doing—to hopefully somehow feel enough.

Guilt can even block rest (all the mamas just waved their hands). So many things get left undone if we rest, but isn’t that better than . . . well . . . personally becoming undone if we don’t rest?

There is a root system that continually says push, push, push when we need to stop.

God didn’t make us robots; He made us humans. God is sovereign and in control, and whether we are aware or not, we are not. Rest allows us to fall into this understanding in a tangible way.

There are so many different types of rest needed. Rest in a lot of therapeutic contexts talks about time away, not overextending yourself to be helping everyone else, being unproductive, connecting to art and nature, solitude, a break from responsibility, stillness, safe spaces, and alone time at home.

These are very beneficial, but not if your soul is unrested or unrestful.

This is why me-time facials can still leave you spinning. They don’t give you the same rest as deep soul rest.

Rest isn’t checking out; it is checking in.

The foundation for biblical rest is first established in the Creation account.

The first mention of rest is in Genesis 2. We find two different Hebrew words for rest:

“So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested [sabbat] from all his work that he had done in creation” (Genesis 2:3, ESV).

The first word for rest, sabbat, literally means “to stop,” and the first depiction is God himself stopping in His task of creation. A little further into the story, we see another Hebrew word for rest, nuakh, which can be understood as “to abide or rest in.”

The Lord God took the man and ‘rested him’ [nuakh] into the garden of Eden to work it and keep it (Genesis 2:15).

In Genesis 2, where we come to understand the purposes of creation, we already have a picture of what it means biblically to rest: to stop and to abide.

In the Garden of Eden, there was rest as God intended. Adam and Eve were at rest with each other and the world, in their work and in the presence of God. But as we all know, this Sabbath rest did not last. Adam and Eve rejected the rest God had offered and chose instead to make their own way, leading to disastrous results. The remainder of the Bible is the story of God’s faithfulness to return us to the rest of Eden.

This changes what rest really is. Rest isn’t just meager relaxation.

This means the Sabbath—the stopping—we rest (nuakh), which means something nearer to ‘settling in’ to a place than it does to sleeping or chain-smoking Netflix.

This rest is also different than a slumbering spirit that wants to check out and overindulge in sleep, becoming lethargic.

We settle into stopping by enjoying the order our hands have created the other six days of the week. It all becomes enough, finished, and settled.

We think that rest is passive, but, really, rest is received.

Sabbath means so much when you see that the God of the universe who made it all . . . stopped.

God himself entered into rest.

“For anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:10-11).

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul” (Psalm 23:1-3a).

Did you know that cows and sheep can eat themselves to death? They can graze in the abundance of green pastures until they literally kill themselves.

On the flip side, there is nothing better than seeing cows or sheep graze to the point of contentment—when they lay themselves down in the pasture in utter bliss and satisfaction.

If the devil cannot make us bad, he will make us busy. Corrie Ten Boom

Jesus, our Good Shepherd. He MAKES US LIE DOWN, to digest, to rest in contentment. Rest gets us digesting the abundance so that we don’t explode.

One of my favorite stories in the Bible on rest, which is super relatable, is about Elijah.

Elijah, after displaying insane courage, challenged all the prophets of Baal at the time. The prophets of Baal were really trying to show off and call down fire. They were cutting themselves, screaming, and making a scene—to no avail.

Elijah, knowing and proving a point that their “god” was powerless, made a sacrifice of a bull. Not only that, but he also soaked it and flooded it in water—not just once, but three times. He told the prophets of Baal that the one true God would send down fire to burn it up—which He did.

After this, all of the prophets of Baal were shocked and amazed. They were killed. What an insane sight!

Now, Elijah was wanted by Ahab and evil Jezebel. Elijah, the one who just called down fire and killed every prophet of Baal, was terrified and on the run. He ran away and found himself under a bush, praying for the Lord to kill him—that he had had enough. It was all too much.

After this, Elijah lay down and fell asleep.

An angel came and touched him and said, “Get up and eat” (1 Kings 19:5).

This should feel really comforting. The Lord knows we are flesh. Even after insane “calling down of fire” and a Kingdom victory, has anyone else felt depressed, needing a nap and a snack?

“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8).

“Rest is a weapon, a sword in your hand that puts anxiety, worry, and fear to death.” Graham Cooke

Rest, this settling in, gives us strength and moves in the opposite spirit of fear, anxiety, and control.

“Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge” (Psalm 62:5-8).

Jesus was so kind to reiterate this in Matthew 6:26 in His “do not worry” passages. “‘Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life?’” (Matthew 6:26-27).

Jesus, who slept in the middle of the storm in the account in Matthew 8:23-27, really modeled for us what is possible. He was showing that He is above the winds and the waves, and we can rest in unrestful circumstances with Him—knowing He is our rock, the fortress, and our refuge we run into.

Jesus also understood demands and exhaustion when He put on flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14).

“The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.’ For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat” (Mark 6:30-31, CSB).

After all their doing and pouring out, they were to go to a remote place and rest and to finally eat.

This feels so relatable.

Depletion is real. After “doing” and so much output, it is vital to rest.

You even see it modeled in nature. Soil, if used over and over again for planting, is depleted from nutrients that are vital for vegetables to grow. This is why farmers let the ground rest. It helps restore the soil’s nutrient balance. Otherwise, it will become infertile and be unable to grow anything.

We are much like this soil. We, too, have to rest.

“I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint” (Jeremiah 31:25).

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. . . . Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:28,30-31).

He never grows tired or weary. He offers us His strength when our hope is in Him and not our strength—or even what we can do.

I pray today you enter into His rest and abide in Him.

I pray anything hindering and getting in the way of your rest would be healed, removed, and realigned.

I pray you settle into His completeness and His finished work.

I pray you are satisfied and refreshed by the Spirit of God.

I pray you pick up this weapon of rest and walk in strength and courage in your life.