Turn Your Eyes to the Calvary Road When everything inside you longs for greatness, think of the Calvary road. Walk next to your savior as he sets out under the weight of the cross, bruised and beaten, heading to a hill on which he will die. Listen to the mocking crowds exclaim, “Crucify him,” (John 19:15) as he stumbles along the dusty road. Read the sign that states, “King of the Jews” (John 19:19). Yet notice there is no sign of royalty in this place. With tears in your eyes, you stare upon the bloodstained face of your Savior, and you drop to your knees in awe of him. Broken and worn, he keeps walking toward the hill, eyes fixed on his final, greatest act. Read More
Tag: God
5 Powerful Lessons I Learned from Oswald Chambers
A Man Completely Surrendered to God When the classic devotional by Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, was published in 1927, who could have imagined that nearly 100 years later it would still be captivating the hearts and minds of readers? Not once in this time span has it been taken out of publication. Instead it has grown in popularity among Christian believers. Indeed, generation after generation has been empowered through the God-exalting words of a humble man named Oswald Chambers, whose life goal was to give absolutely everything for God’s highest acclaim. More than anything else, the young Scottish-born pastor longed to see God high and lifted up in his generation and those to come. With a fiery, yet compassionate spirit, he urged Read More
The Simplistic Beauty of God’s Great Love
How Do I Love Jesus? One night, my young daughter looked up at me with tears in her eyes and told me with great anguish, “I don’t know how to love Jesus. Even though I try and try, I just don’t think it is enough!” As I looked at her sweet little face, cheeks flushed red and eyes filled with sadness, my heart ached for her. I was taken back in time to my own childhood, as I recalled my own feelings of not understanding God’s great love for me. In that moment, I was back in my blue flowered bedroom in the upstairs of my home, tucked under my fluffy white comforter, quietly thinking about Jesus. As moonlight poured in through the windows, the Read More
What to Lose: My Plans and Expectations
A Series by Jill Holler – Part 3 Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21 If you read my last post, “What to Lose: My List of Failures,” you know that one way Satan tries to gain victory over me is by tempting me to focus on all of the mistakes I have made–instead of focusing on God. Similarly, the issue I address this week relates to my self-focused view. It has been one of the biggest challenges of my Christian life. I pray that Christ will free me from its grip, so that I can gain abundant life in him. And I am praying the same for you. Plans and Perceptions My mind Read More
What to Lose: My List of Failures
A Series by Jill Holler – Part 2 Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. Micah 7:8 The Dreaded Feeling of Failure Although I know God can redeem my life from any sin or mistake I have made, there is something about failure that makes me want to crawl into a hole and hide. I have a hard time getting past the self-inflicted shame I feel when I’ve messed up in a pretty big way. Perhaps it’s the uncomfortable feeling of humiliation or the countless eyes of scrutiny that I perceive to be upon me. Maybe it’s the quiet, underlying feeling that somehow in relation to others, Read More