What Redeemer Believes About Salvation and Christians’ Responsibility in Evangelism.

It’s been awhile. I know. September to be exact. SEPTEMBER! Right around the time my then 9 month old decided he needed to start walking. He started walking, and I stopped blogging. If you are a mom, you know why.

I would love to write a string of blogs talking all about the last 5 months, but that will have to wait for a less busy time in my life, a different season. (I will, however, HAVE to post a current picture of my almost 13 month old TODDLER!) Today’s post is to share with you a recent sermon my husband preached at our church Redeemer.

The name of the sermon is “Evangelism: God’s Sovereignty and Man’s Responsibility” from January 27, 2013. The sermon is taken from a sermon series that is line by line and verse by verse through the book of Acts, and this specific sermon is from Acts 18:1-17.

Obviously I don’t post all of my husband’s sermons on my blog, but I really wanted to make sure that anyone who wanted to have access to this specific one could. Recently I’ve had quite an influx of people asking me what Redeemer believes about this topic. I’m really grateful when people ask what we believe about certain things, because rumors have that amazing ability to get things really wrong. Here it is for anyone interested in this topic from “the horse’s mouth”, I guess you could say!

“Evangelism: God’s Sovereignty and Man’s Responsibility” by Pastor David Ritchie preached January 27, 2013

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! Hope all of you are well!

Solomon at 13 months!

One Thought For Mommas Who Are Down.

Our sick trip to Walmart last night. Cookies make life better.

I’m no longer taking questions for my upcoming Q&A Vlog. I’ve selected 3 questions with topics ranging from how to help a family member who is a stripper, to how to know your calling, and a question on long distance dating! I’ll post it when I find my voice….which is currently lost in my sickness! Can’t wait to post my answers!

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Well, we are sick again. It’s been 5 weeks straight yuck. This time it’s the chest, throat, nose, and head.

I’m pretty tired of the (excuse my language) pooping, puking, and snot. I’m an upbeat person. But a person can only take so much of that nasty and being indoors.

I’d be lying and pretending if I told you there hasn’t been some dark moments. But I am learning lots through all of this about being a mom. One thing specifically that I want to share.

Motherhood is all about focusing on one thing at a time. You might be about to slap me with a “yeah right.” Just hear me out.

There’s some pretty bad moments in motherhood and life. Like when my husband is trying to finish his sermon on a Saturday night, and I feel the urge to get sick. He takes the screaming baby while I run to the bathroom, cleans him up and changes his diaper (Husband is amazing, by the way). Only for me to come out of the bathroom, take the crying baby, and be puked on by that baby. (TMI? True story.) Its almost comical all that can happen in 3 minutes.

Sure I was upset. Yeah, I kinda wanted to just wanted to sit in the floor and cry with Solomon. And OK, there was definitely a little feeling of self-pity. But there’s been A LOT (too many to count) of moments like these in the last 5 weeks. It only takes ONE of these to ruin a whole day.

Here’s my advice. If you want to make it, focus on the moment, and move on in the next moment and focus on it. We women too often let moments and feelings carry on and bleed into others. So feel all the feelings a person can feel while getting puked on, recognize them, and move on to the next thing. Here’s why. The next moment might be good, or great, or hilarious, or ironic, or just plain happy. You really don’t want to miss it, I promise. They are all part of this adventure, so don’t let any of those bad things ruin the good things!

If you don’t tackle life this way, I think you’ll find yourself feeling pretty down and sad most of the time. But give my advice a try. I think you’ll see at the end of the day that even though there were some bad moments, the good really does outweigh the bad.

How is this possible? I know you probably know this, but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded. God is in control, and He really does care about you. And if you are a mom who cares, then you are probably a good mom. Just thought I’d remind you.

Chin up!
KR 🙂

Philippians 4:3-9
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

Your Questions Answered By Me.

I promise I won’t laugh at your questions…unless they are funny. Because I like you! 😉

Recently my inbox has been full of questions. Most of these questions are sparked by things I’ve written about here. I feel very humbled that folks would want to know my opinions further than what I write. So I’m about to do something I’m very uncomfortable with, but that I feel would be the most efficient way to address these questions. In the near future I’m going to be posting a vlog (video blog).

Why am I telling you this? I want to give you a fair warning. If you have a question about something I’ve written about OR if you simply have a question that you would like to ask my opinion, please email me! (davidandkateritchie@yahoo.com) Be it a question on womanhood, dating, marriage, motherhood, ministry, God, the Bible, my life, my views, etc… ask away, and I’ll do my best and give you my opinion!

DISCLAIMER!
I’m not a techie. I’ll probably shoot this on my Iphone, and I know nothing about editing. I’ll be perfectly honest, I like being able to hide behind my blog, so whole public speaking thing will be a challenge for me! (In a good way.)

Ok, I have my first few questions, and I’m officially opening up my inbox for more!
davidandkateritchie@yahoo.com

Ask away!
KR 🙂

The Generation of the Barren.

You are absolutely not going to want to miss this post by my sweet friend! Check it out and be sure to subscribe to her blog.

Have a great day!! 🙂
KR

The Generation of the Barren..

Why I Feel So Guilty.

Poor sick baby drinking pedialyte.

August 2012 will always be remembered as the month I wish to forget.

We have spent the entire month thus far being ransacked by the terrible Mexico stomach bug that hitchhiked its way back to Texas with my husband’s mission trip team. David came home from Juarez feeling awful. About five days later, husband still sick, Solomon came down with it. Five days later, I followed.

I’m a pretty energetic person, so slowing down and taking care of myself is always difficult. Inevitably God has something more up his sleeve in those times when I can’t get out of bed. Usually He has some talking to do while He has me as a captive audience. One of the things being something I will call “misplaced guilt”.

Now maybe I’m the only one who ever struggles with a sense of guilt when other people are in pain. But I think I’m a normal enough person, and with that said I’m going to go ahead and assume other people struggle with this too. Are you a person that feels a sense of guilt when other people are suffering? Do you feel like you need to fix other people’s hurt, pain, or trials?

For me this is an issue of a good thing gone bad. Because, of course, it’s a good thing to be empathetic, to be able to feel for others, to have the drive of justice for people, and to nurture and help hurting people, but it’s a bad thing when you feel a sense of guilt or responsibility for others pain. Often times, I literally bare the burdens of others and feel devastated and like a failure when others hurt.

Sure this seems noble enough… but is it? Is it really a noble thing to feel the need to personally save another person? Or is that just a gracious cover up for pride and self-sufficiency?

This stomach bug was the first time my little boy has been sick. It totally freaked me out! I was home alone when his fever spiked to 104. As the numbers on the thermometer were rising, my heart started beating faster and faster. My mind started racing. It went from, “What am I going to do?!” to “How to I make this better?” to “What did I do to make him get sick?” to “I must be a terrible mother!”…and commence downward woman spiral. A spiral that continued to run me down and keep me up until I was sick and in a position to ultimately listen to what God had to say about all of this.

What I realized was this, misplaced guilt thing isn’t noble. It’s sin. And it isn’t just something I do when my sweet baby boy is sick. It’s something I do a lot. The fact is this guilt doesn’t come from a place of love. It comes from a place of fear, a desire to control, and a deep sense of pride. I’m trying to be a savior, and I’m a really bad savior. And for that, I feel guilty.

My goal in this life isn’t to save the world and all the people I love from any hurt. The goal of my life is to simply point to the One who already did save them. It isn’t about feeling wonderful because of all the good things I can do. It’s all about what Jesus can and did do, and about Him getting the glory He deserves. I will fail people. But there is One that will never fail them.

When I take on guilt, I’m preaching a false Gospel, a gospel that doesn’t save. I’m telling everyone a message that isn’t true and changes nothing. The true gospel is about One who out of love humbled Himself and became a servant to the point of death. Not to erase guilt, or merely feel guilty, but to destroy the guilt. He placed my guilt on his shoulders. He is the One who could actually do something with the true weight of sin and pain. He bore my pain on his shoulders and defeated death once and for all. And he offered me his record of righteousness. He cloaked my broken shoulders with all that he has to offer.

Practically, it’s my job to trust in the finished work that Jesus did on the cross and to speak to others about how they can trust Him too. Living a life like that actually does something about what people are dealing with and going through. It gives them hope! Living a life like that teaches my little boy something real when he’s sick. Feelings of guilt are natural feelings that normal humans experience. There’s a longing in all of us to see guilt be reconciled. It’s our call to believe and declare in this life that, “It is finished” in Jesus, the true Savior of the world.

Being A Boy’s Mom: The Grossest Story You’ve Read Today.

The Ruckus caught in the act of ornery. This is from last night after I gave up and put a diaper back on this kid.

Call me sick and twisted, but I love jr. high kids. Always have, and probably always will. I even took my bend and went to college to be jr. high teacher. You might call it immaturity, but I’m going to go ahead and just call it the way God made me. Maybe God was just preparing me to raise Solomon.

If you get grossed out easy (say with farts, poop, and the like), you may just want to pass this story on and check out the link at the bottom of this post. Proceed only if you are brave or crazy like me, but I just had to share this story.

Solomon is a man’s man or a boy’s boy or however you want to get around to it. He challenges my seemingly endless energy, and on most days trumps it. Last night as my head was landing full force into my pillow (as it has every night since this little booger went mobile at 5 MONTHS!), I barely remember saying to David, “If Solomon was a WWF wrestler his name would for sure be ‘The Ruckus’.” I sort of remember David saying something about a tornado, but he didn’t quite beat my eyelids.

David spent last week leading a team from Redeemer down to Juarez, Mexico to build a house with Casas Por Cristo. Solomon (who with the addition of about 6 cans of baby food a day has shown no slow down towards weaning) and I stayed back in Amarillo to deal with the sprout of his first FOUR teeth at once. It was especially hot last week (the hottest day was 107), and the heat flared up The Ruckus’ eczema. This is where the story begins.

David and the team made it home, but not without bringing home the annual Mexico stomach bug. By Monday morning I was worried about both my boys. I made a call to the pediatrician to see if there was anything more I could do for Solomon’s rash. Solomon must have known what she said because as we were on the phone he decided to take off the diaper he was pooping in. This pretty much set the bar for the day.

So on doctor’s orders I removed Solomon’s diaper so he could get some air. I carefully placed a mattress pad in the pack-and-play and hoped for the best. He had only been in there a few minutes when I hear a noise from our corgi, Calvin. I turned around to see Solomon standing in the pack-and-play, back arched, pointing a stream down the hall that ended on Calvin’s head.

This is Calvin by the way.

Calvin was obviously horrified. He was looking at me like, “Are you kidding me!”. I sprung into action – towels, wipes, antibacterial wipes. My hysterical laughter came to an abrupt halt as I rounded the corner, arms full, back at the pack-and-play. What I saw next can only be described as little round nuggets covering the mattress pad. The Ruckus, who looked very proud I might add, was taking the time to meticulously squish each nugget between his toes. Obviously he was trying to do the most helpful thing here.

It was quite a stinky mess, and the smell of course only furthered my poor husband’s condition. I was pretty sure he got every last nugget that is until this morning when I found a very tricky hidden one. I haven’t had laughed that hard in a long time, although I’m not sure David and Calvin found it quite as funny in the moment.

When I finally got things cleaned up and got a chance to rest, I treated myself to some blog reading and came across this. It was exactly what I needed to read. And after you now read this gross jr. high humored story, you may need something a little more Godly to read too! HA! Moms of all little ones, enjoy this precious blog, “Dear Stay At Home Mom…” by Trevin Wax, and every second of today with your precious little ones.

It’s an awesome ride!
KR 🙂

Finished Version: What Being Pregnant Taught Me About The “F” Word.

If the scandalous title of this post is just catching your attention, you are joining in the middle of a discussion about the way women think about the word “fat”. I’d recommend hitting up my previous post if you haven’t read it yet.

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9 months pregnant with Solomon Isaac.

It’s amazing how many people describe pregnancy with words like “fat”, “big”, “huge”. Towards the end of pregnancy I couldn’t believe how many people would say, “Wow, Kate, I can’t believe how HUGE you are getting.” It’s amazing to me how growing a human being inside of my 5’3″ body could even have a fat connotation. And I’m not just blaming other people here, seeing the scales increase and clothes stop fitting while I was pregnant wasn’t easy. It was very tempting every day to “go there” in my head.

Let me be honest about something. The scariest thing about seeing that little “+” mark on my pregnancy test last March was how having a baby was absolutely going to change my body. I’ve had some wins and losses with the Lord in my mind with the “fat” mindset and comparison, but becoming pregnant was the first time I had to make the decision to give up complete control, to lay down the rights to my own body.

Nineteen years in the world of competitive sports formed my perception of my body, not to mention the media and just being a woman! I’ve spent the majority of my life in a gym. I’ve been a competitive athlete in gymnastics and track. I’ve done dance and kickboxing. I’ve coached competitive gymnastics, track, and cross country. All of these things are fun and good, but it taught me that my body was for me. I’ve always had control. There have been times in my life where I’ve been healthy and balanced with that control. There have been times in my life where I’ve been extreme, and I’ve used that control to get a feeling of security, to feel good about myself, and to numb fear. Ultimately, whether I was being healthy or unhealthy one thing remained true, my body has always been something I used for my own glory. And that’s where what I believed about my body (with healthy or unhealthy actions) was wrong.

Every growing day of being pregnant felt like a day I lost more control as my body was molded into something completely abnormal than what was normal for me. I’m sure most girls feel this way. The pinnacle was the process of laboring- seeing my pregnant tummy, feeling the intense squeezing of each contraction, and knowing that my body was forcing the exit of the little boy I had carried for nine months.

People say that giving birth is a miracle. The moment Solomon was born was one of the most amazing spiritual experiences of my life. I didn’t tell Solomon’s lungs or brain to form, but my Creator God had used my humble body to create and call a living person into existence. And I had absolutely no control over any of it. I could take no credit. I could only be humbled and overwhelmed at the beautiful thing God had done through my body.

As Solomon took his first few breathes of life, I was reminded of our gospel. How it tells of one who literally gave up his body so that we can have new life.

He had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not (Isaiah 53:2b-3).

He actually knows how it feels to have your body be out of your control. He knows it better than I ever could. My body was never designed for my own glory. It was designed only to tell the story of His glory.

Solomon Isaac in his daddy’s arms just a few hours old.

The “F” Word.

There’s about 20 different blogs swirling in my head about this topic. I finally realized I have to just start writing. Luckily I plan on writing about the “F” word until the day I die. This is what you have to look forward to.

FAT.

There I said it. Probably the worst word a woman can say out loud. Funny thing, because we hear it in our heads quite a bit. This word has moved right out of the medical world and camped out in our brains. It spends its days distorting our thoughts and our self-perceptions and nights scaring the crap out of us with every commercial we see and every comparison we make.

Now I’m all about being healthy, but let’s be honest here, when it comes to the “F” word, no matter what our body shape, most of us aren’t thinking (or therefore acting) in healthy ways. We think too much about the “F” word. We criticize ourselves and others. We make constant comparisons. We are excessive or extreme to silence it. We do whatever it takes to numb what advertisers and media and culture and moms and all of society has drilled into us since we were little girls.

What is your thought life like in this area?

If your internal dialogue was written out, would you read it out loud?

How much time do you spend thinking about it?

Would you do whatever it takes to not feel fat?

How do you treat your body because of how culture has taught you to think about this word? Are you excessive or extreme?

Do you compare your body to other women’s bodies often?

Whoever isolates [her]self seeks [her] own desire; [s]he breaks out against all sound judgment. (Proverbs 18:1 ESV)

First things first, I think it’s time that we talk about this as women. We spend our lives pretending this isn’t something that consumes our minds! We would hate it if people knew how much we think about our beauty, because then we would have to honestly say we don’t have it all together. Don’t you see, if the enemy can keep us believing that no one understands, that our thoughts are justified, and that we are the only one thinking like this, then we are isolated. We break out against all sound judgement. And let’s face it, that exactly what has happened to all of us! There’s so much more to life! Our bodies were made for so much more! Our worth comes from so much more! It’s possible to be free!

I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. (Psalm 34:4-5 ESV)

My next blog will further this conversation, but for today let’s begin with being honest. This is an area that I am not perfect in. I don’t have it figured out. I struggle. But this is an area that I’ve dedicated to the Lord. I’m making the daily decision to allow Him access to this area of my mind and heart, even if that means that all my worst fears about the “F” word come true. He’s worth it to me.

Does God have access into this area of your life? Or is this something you keep to yourself?

Today, I’m asking you just to make the first step. Ask yourself who is getting the glory in your mind and heart. Ask yourself who is getting the glory of your body. Now pray and tell the Lord that He has access to this area. Turn over control.

More on this coming next time. Please share in the comments your thoughts.
Love you!
KR

Wig or Beard? 🙂

Daily Rhythms That Keep Me in Awe of Jesus.

One of the hardest things about being a Christian is staying focused and centered on Jesus every day. Tell me I’m not the only one! In my life, it feels like just about everything stands in the way… Schedule, busyness, baby, stress, daily chores, baby, being tired, even my own sense of expectation. Without conscious effort, I have found that my life drifts towards being segmented into work, rest, play, family, personal, with some left over time for Jesus if He stays in his designated time slot.

Before I had Solomon, it was easy to sit down and read my Bible and pray whenever I made time. Now things aren’t quite that simple. Now I have to choose to give the One I love the best of me, often times when it isn’t convenient. This has as simultaneously showed me how much I had separated him from the other areas of my life and how impossible that was going to be with the constant interruptions of a little one.

I’ve been faced with a choice. Worship Jesus when and if it was ever convenient to do so, or integrate him into everything in my life more. Because I love him, the choice was a no-brainer! I’ve done this by developing “rhythms” of life. These are things, habits, that stir my heart to worship and remind me where my life should be centered.

What are the rhythms and habits in your life every day?

What do those promote your heart to worship?

Kate’s Daily Worship Rhythms:

1. Family Worship

Every day David, Solomon, and I have family worship. For us the best time for us to do that is in the morning before David leaves for work while I’m feeding Solomon breakfast. This practically looks like me caring for Solomon while David leads us by reading out loud a prayer from “The Book of Common Prayer” , reading a Proverb, reading a Psalm, and reading a passage from the Old and New Testaments. This begins our day in unity and focus in the same direction, worship to our Savior.

Family Worship can look however you want it too. I highly recommend this one! It’s a good rhythm for worship, marriage, and family relationship strengthener!

2. Prayer Out Loud in the Car

This is something I started doing because it’s something I observed my husband doing this. Car rides were times when I typically wasted a lot of time just listening to the radio or worrying about things. It’s the perfect opportunity to pray, and praying out loud keeps me focused and Solomon has to listen too!

3. Worship Music, Bible on Audio, and Podcasts

I spend a lot of time at home caring for our house and Solomon. What I found was that if I left my mind to itself, I was prone to worry and mediate on fears. My solution has been fill my house and mind with worship, scripture, and sermons. This doesn’t mean that I listen 24/7, but I do try to listen to glorifying “voices” more than not. I’ve found myself to be way more peaceful and centered on Christ.

4. Turn My Fears to Prayers

This was another simple solution for me. Any time I chose to reflect, dwell on, worship with my thoughts fears, cares, and worries I was choosing to unite myself with something other than Christ, his reality, his goodness, and his power. One important rhythm of my life is to turn those anxieties into prayers of trust to Jesus. I’m not talking about name-it-claim-it-all-up-to-my-faith theology. I’m talking about simple trust in Christ instead of trust in self.

Example-
My thought: “I wonder what this rash is on Solomon’s leg? It’s probably something bad. I’m probably a bad mom. He’s probably sick…initiate downward woman spiral…”
Prayer intervention: “KATE STOP! Jesus, please give me wisdom in parenting and heal my little son’s leg.”

My thought: “I don’t like this shirt. I hate the way I look today. I can’t believe I can’t pull myself together today…initiate downward woman spiral…”
Prayer intervention: “KATE STOP! Jesus, thank you for your provision in my life. Thank you that you’ve created me just the way I am. Help me to be thankful and honored to be your daughter. Please help me to see the value in why you’ve given me a body in the first place, to honor you and to be a giver of life.”

5. Take in Moments with Thankfulness

When we lose sight of our worship, we miss moments. The beautiful thing about our Creator is that He has left his signature all over our lives, relationships, and this world. Soak in moments and recognize that they are from them. When you’ve recognized a moment from him, thank him for it and tell someone the testimony that moment is to you of God’s care for you. It’s good to speak of Him. It’s good for others to hear it. And the more you see His signature, the more frequently and the less hard it will be to see it again.

Hope this helps you think about your rhythms! Have a great day!
-KR

5 Ways I’m Finding True Contentment.

Solomon’s content face…or nap face, whatever.

I’ve been praying a lot about contentment lately. I…WE…spend most of our lives trying to become something. Trying to prove that our existence on this earth has meaning. Companies and advertisers have figured this out, and they make millions off of our seemingly bipolar swings between self-assured pride and overwhelming insecurity and inadequacy. We find ourselves chasing a greatness, I think most of the time to keep us from feeling the emptiness that comes from being small and insignificant.

Unfortunately we can even fall into a “Christianity” that’s fundamentally based on the same quest. We actually use God to be great (have a special “calling”, be healthy, become wealthy, and important). This self-serving mentality has caused us to become restless and discontent individuals. Why? Because we weren’t made to worship ourselves. And let’s be honest, that’s what all of this really is.

The real Gospel is something so much different. It’s a promised life of pain. It’s a daily dying of wants. It’s a posture of humility. It gives all the greatness and glory to Another, the only One who is worthy.

Being a mom as only further displayed to me how much I think about me. How much I want things my way. How freaked out I get when I lose control of my life, when I give up my own desires for another. This has made me inescapably aware of my own selfishness. Face and palm meet. Humble pie, you’re not as sweet as you sound.

God really does offers us something greater than what we think we can give ourselves. True contentment. Authentic contentment is found when we choose to dethrone ourselves, lay down our own desires, and place our affections on someone else. The only One who is worthy of that is Jesus. Not only is He the only One worthy of that kind of worship, He is the only One that can handle that kind of pressure. He will never disappoint. There’s a lot of things that promise you that you need it to be happy, so you probably need to hear this again…He will never disappoint. His love for you is greater than any love you’ve ever known. We can stop crushing ourselves and others with our own expectations and start living a life of true freedom.

True contentment comes when you stop living for you.

How am I fostering contentment in my life right now?

1. By not justifying the sins of fear, insecurity, and anxiety.

These things are sins. These sins come from a fundamental belief that God is neither good or great. If I don’t believe that God is good or great, then I believe that I am. OUCH! The problem is we know we can’t really follow through on being perfect and great, so we fall into these sins. They don’t lead to eventual peace and contentment, they steal our joy and God’s glory.

2. By ending my comparison mindset.

Comparison is a contentment stealer. Comparison is one of our many tools to achieve that self-fulfilling validation, and it’s done by stirring up hate and envy in our hearts for others. Usually it creeps in by justifying yourself against other people in an area you feel pride in or an area you are ashamed of. Yep, I’m just going to call it what it is…It’s sick, twisted, and self worship. It will only let you down, steal your contentment, make you feel worse, and leave you with hate in your heart.

3. By letting go of control.

An obsession with control comes from simply feeling out of control. I personally love to control the way I’m perceived by others. I love to control my life. I like to do things my way. The problem with this is control leads to unhealth. Whatever area is being controlled in your life becomes too great to you. It becomes an area that no one else can touch, not even God. What we are saying is, “This is mine.” It becomes an area of self-worship, and it is the most important area to give Jesus because it is the area that will eventually turn your heart away from Him.

4. Redirect worship

Sometimes its good to simply remember why you needed a Savior. When I’m discontent and striving my way through life, I never make the conscious decision to worship myself. I just lose my joy and peace. I stop becoming thankful. Pretty soon I feel depressed with all my efforts and the empty feeling of either having or not having everything I want. This is a problem of misplaced worship. Our rebellious hearts naturally move towards self-worship. Do the hard effort of keeping your eyes and heart fixed on Jesus.

5. Preach the Gospel.

Every day, preach the Gospel to yourself. Meditate on the Gospel. Center your life around the Gospel. Don’t trust your desires and thoughts, remember that they are prone to wander. Our hearts are so sinful that even the good things we do for the wrong reasons. But God offers us grace and unconditional love and placed the punishment of our self-worship on His Son. He did it to make us whole. He is the reason for our lives. In Him there is no need to prove anything, no need to strive, no need to control, not even a need to fear, He is our contentment.

Solomon’s ornery face. (6 months 3 weeks)