All In One

Good Morning!! Remember back in school how there was always one kid who asked the question that everyone was thinking, but everyone was too scared to ask because it sounded dumb? And remember how grateful you were for that person? Well, the disciples were no different, and Philip was that kid. Jesus had just told the disciples something truly amazing in John 14:6: " I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." It was a stunning truth, a paradigm shift in all of their brains. But Philip pipes up and says, " Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us" (v. 8). You can almost hear the frustration in Jesus’ voice in His response:

Jesus answered: "Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.—John 14:9-10 (NIV)

We similarly miss the message once in a while. We see Christ do amazing things in lives all around us, and yet, we still tend to “miss the point” or fail to see the implications of this mystery. Jesus is the revelation of the Father to us. When we see the Son, we see the Father too,...a supernatural unity with Jesus in the Father and the Father in Jesus.
The point is that we have becomes sons and daughters of the Father too.

We have been adopted into the family,...where we share in the intimacy and fellowship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

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Father God, stun us with the reality of Your truth. Touch our souls with the spiritual reality that the Son is in the Father, the Father is in Son, and that through Jesus only, we can come to the Father in the same way. We praise You and thank You for what You have done. We bow in awe and worship. Amen.

" Just know this;  God's loving care is all around us,...even when we don't sense His presence."

Dependence

Good Morning!! When my kids were little, they were totally dependent on me for everything; Food, clothes, shelter, love,...all of it. They couldn't do anything without my provisions.  When we think of dependent people, Jesus probably doesn’t even make the list, that comes to mine. But He was,...and Big time! The granddaddy of all the passages that teach that Jesus was dependent on the Father during His time on earth is John 14. It’s a beautiful picture of the dependence of a son on his father,...of the Son on the Father, showing the intimacy Jesus and the Father share,...that same intimacy He invites us into. In verse seven, we get a glimpse of something deeper:

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him."—John 14:6, 7 (NIV)

Jesus was teaching His disciples that they shouldn't just look to Him to get stuff,...because there is no other way, no other path, to the presence of God. How easy it is, to lose track of why we worship. Many of us tend to worship Jesus because of the stuff we think He'll give us, in return. It doesn’t work that way. He offers us not only heaven later, but the Father now. It's that simple, and it's enough.

Jesus is our only access to the Father,...and by knowing Him, we get to know the Father.

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Father God, we praise You that You offer so much more than simple provision. You offer us access to You, through humble dependence, and Your Son,...and that's enough Father. You are enough for us. Amen.

" Just know this;  God's loving care is all around us,...even when we don't sense His presence."

Miracles

Good Morning!! Miracles are without question, the thing we notice first, and want to see most. But the fact that Jesus performed miracles was not reason enough to believe that He was God. Elijah and Moses performed many miracles, but they never once laid claim to be a deity. Christ Himself was adamant that His miracles were not just evidence of His deity,...but of His dependence on the Father. He never downplayed the miracles He performed, He just wanted to make sure the people understood how and why He was doing them.

But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father."—John 10:38 (NIV)

Miracles do point to the fact that the Father was in Him, He was in the Father, and He was dependent on the Father. Jesus didn’t need to come to earth as a man just to do things in His own divine power. God had already been dealing with man in that matter. (Things like giant pillars of fire and floods covering the earth come to mind!) Jesus is fully God, but on earth He wanted to demonstrate physically to the people what it was like to so totally depend on the Father for everything that all else would fade.

"As Christians we are perpetual miracles."—Charles Spurgeon

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Lord Jesus, the miracles You performed were amazing. We believe. We don't think of them as just cheap magic tricks, to dupe people into believing in You,...but instead we know them to be tangible manifestations of Your power,...when we depend on You completely. Strip away our false independence, Lord.  Thank You for showing us Your might, and what life can look like in dependence on the Father. Amen.

" Just know this;  God's loving care is all around us,...even when we don't sense His presence."

Hidden, In Plain Sight

Good Morning!! I'm fascinated by the way animals camouflage themselves in the wild. There are puzzles, and games, that have you scan a picture, to find the animal or object, that's hidden within it. You can be staring at this picture of a coral and thinking to yourself, " that's unique and beautiful," but you would have no idea you were looking at a fish,...unless you knew there is a fish in it the photograph. You're better able to spot it once you know what to look for,...it's still tricky, but eventually, you'll see it,...because you’ve been tipped off that the fish is there.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.—1 Corinthians 2:10-12 (NIV)

In this verse, the apostle Paul is saying that the same is true with God. No one knows what’s really going on inside God’s mind,...unless He tips us off, and reveals it through His Word and/or His Spirit. How does He go about doing that? What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God,...so that we may understand what God has freely given us. What we need has already been given to us,...the Spirit. Everything you need to live your abundant life you already have. It may be " hidden in plain sight," but we know it's there. The Holy Spirit is the Teacher who wants to show it to us.

There's an old phrase that my father loved to use: "It’s hidden in plain sight."

This refers, of course, to something that is apparently obvious, but that people still miss.

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Father, teach us to find You. You are in plain sight,...and yet we seem to always miss You. Give us the wisdom and discernment by Your Spirit that we need to understand and apply Your purpose for us. We can’t do this on our own. We trust You to reveal the mystery in Your time.

" Just know this;  God's loving care is all around us,...even when we don't sense His presence."

Only By His Spirit

Good Morning!! My favorite word in the Bible is but. (Well, maybe it’s actually Jesus, but I’m trying to make a point here, okay?) The reason I love but is because it’s a sad news/good news word. Before the word occurs in a verse, there’s almost always sad news... BUT, after the sad news comes the word but, and then we get the good news we need. Normally, it is contradictory to have bad news and good news in the same sentence. BUT what we see here is God allowing a glimpse behind the veil of the mystery of who He is and who you are in Him.

None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: "What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived"— the God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.—1 Corinthians 2:8-10 (NIV)

The verse says that we can’t even fathom the wonders God has in store for us. If it ended there, it'd be a little frustrating because our first reaction would be, " Man!...that’s sounds terrific, but why tell me WHAT I have in store without showing me HOW to get it?" Thankfully, we have the but !...but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit. It's not that we are simply given power to understand,...because we will never fully understand. It's not something we were not meant to wrap our minds around. It’s not supposed to be easy,...if it was, they’d have an app for it by now.

To be sure, there’s no way to ever fully figure out God, or the amazing things He has prepared for us.

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Father God, bless Your holy name for shrouding Yourself in mystery. You are unapproachable by our own strength,...and yet, we thank You for giving us the hope that we can approach You in Your Son's name, and the power of Your Spirit. Now we can spend our lives pursuing You, understanding more and more of what You have in store for us. Amen.

" Just know this;  God's loving care is all around us,...even when we don't sense His presence."

Giving It All To God

Good Morning! The whole of us is created to worship God in that same way. When we feel intense exhilaration for something temporary, we’re seeing a reflection of that idea. In the best case scenario as we cry out to God in worship with our minds, bodies, souls. Every nook and cranny of us is eager to praise the Name from every rooftop. Euphoria is too light a word.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.—Romans 7:15 (NIV)

That feels a lot like my life,...we all want to please God so much. We try so hard, in so many areas, and can reach incredible heights,...but it seems like we’re always just splashing to earth, and finding ourselves in need of rescue. Well, Jesus lives in us today! He knows how to worship,...He knows how to serve,...He knows how to live His life through us to bring us joy, and to bring God great glory. Christ does not expect our whole life to be lived blamelessly. There is amazing grace available for us.

Only one man was ever perfect, and He was God in human form. Amazingly, Scripture says that that man,...Jesus, now lives in you.

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  Father God, we give You all we have. By the power of Your spirit within us, we choose to love You with our whole being: our body, soul, spirit, and heart we embrace Your mercy and grace, Father. We need it more than we know. We thank You,...thank You for giving us what we need, when we need it. Amen.

" Gods' divine love has only one target group,...the entire human race!"

Soul

Good Morning!  No other word really communicates the depth of humanity, as much as the word "soul." The Greek word for "soul " is psuche, from which we get the words "psyche " and  "psychology." The study of psychology, is the study of our soul, and "psyche " is used a lot of different ways in Scripture,...but it can be summarized this way: it is the combination of our mind, our emotions, and our will. It's our total personality. So when we make a decision, it is our mind and emotions informing our will. Our mind is the processor of information. Our emotions are the feelers. The will is the decision maker.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.—Matthew 11:29 (NIV)

Our soul is going to be constantly tired because of the regular trials of life. Everything tugs at us,...some days it will be our mind harassing us, on others our emotions will rage out of control. Our will is tossed and turned, like a ship in a storm. Jesus calls to us out of that storm, offering a different way to live:

Only God understands and tenderly loves your soul,...so give it to Him today. He will take care of it!

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Our Father in Heaven, we want rest for our soul. We want to take up Your yoke, and toss off the ones we now carry. You promise that Yours is light and easy to carry,...and it seems like our souls are always exhausted. Thank You for Your promises. Amen.

" Gods' divine love has only one target group,...the entire human race!"

Wake Up! Come To Yourself

Good Morning! The story of the Prodigal Son describes us all, as children of God. We are all unfaithful children of our benevolent heavenly Father. We all have squandered the abundant inheritance He so graciously has bequeathed to us. And we all, at one time or another, have known what it is to finally "come to ourselves ". Sin is insanity,...it's an unreasoning, illogical, and self-destructive way of life. It ignores the plain hand of our heavenly Father, full of every provision we need, and follows after the hallucination of worldly pleasures and fulfillment.

" When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!—Luke 15:17 (NIV)

But when we finally come to ourselves, we realize that starving out in the pigpen is not what our Father planned for us. We are the King's children! No one in His house is hungry or wanting, and yet here we are in the mud pit of sin because we forsook the house of our Father. When we finally come to ourselves, we finally come back to Him.  We forsake the miserable quest for self-gratification and begin to seek the abundant life that is found in God alone.

Just know that there is always a warm welcome for those who come to God,...by way of His Son Jesus Christ.

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Father God we Thank You, for not turning Your back on us,...even after we've turned our backs on You. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

" Gods' divine love has only one target group,...the entire human race!"

Not Who We Use To Be

Good Morning! Contrary to popular belief, You are not a sinner saved by grace. Oops, sorry there. Didn’t mean to ruffle your feathers. Let me explain. At one time you were a sinner, but now that you are saved, your sin-driven past is behind you. You are currently a saint who sometimes sins. There is a big difference between the two!...And the difference is in how God looks at you. Look at how Paul describes you who are in Christ:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters, in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.—Colossians 1:1-2 (NIV)

The term "holy " is the same word used for "saint." If you continue to say that you are "just a sinner saved by grace," you are saying that your identity is still that of a sinner. Not true!...At the very moment you trusted Christ, you stopped being a sinner, and started being a saint. You were indeed saved by grace from your sin, but your identity as a sinner,...which we all inherited at birth, is gone. Because Christ saved us, we are now God's sons and daughters. (see John 1:12-13).

If we walk around constantly identifying ourselves as sinners saved by grace, we are communicating to ourselves and to others, that we are still defined by our past.

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Lord Jesus, You have given us a new identity,...and we are not defined as being sinners any more. We are saints,...who sometimes sins. We still mess up, but we are new creations in You. Give us the strength and courage to recognize this and to begin to live in the victory that it proclaims! Amen.

" Gods' divine love has only one target group,...the entire human race!"

A Reason To Suffer

Good Morning! "Bad guys" come in many forms today, and bad guys bring suffering of many kinds. It might be physical, emotional, or even spiritual. And no, God does not scare them all away, or make them all stop. Suffering was Jesus' reality;...and suffering will be our reality, as well.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.—Hebrews 4:15, 16 (NIV)

I think God may even allow suffering to gently move us toward Jesus, so that we might better identify with Him.That's definitely worth thinking about, as we closer to our next big holiday, Easter. Our suffering is a shared experience with Jesus,...something that can bring deeper intimacy in our relationship with Him. He may not rescue us the way that we wish, but in His goodness, I believe He offers some things far more valuable. He invites us to "approach the throne of grace" and "receive mercy." He's really offering Himself to us,...welcoming us into intimacy.

"We cannot close our eyes to the reality of suffering, for it is the reality chosen by the one we name Lord and Christ. And the path he walks here is the one he bids us to follow." —Theodore W. Jennings, Jr.

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Lord, we ask You to open our hearts and my minds this week. Allow our suffering to help us more closely identify with Your suffering,...so that we can share these experiences in unity. We need Your mercy and grace, in our time of need. I thank You for becoming a human, so that You can sympathize with our struggles. Thank You that we can enter into Your presence with confidence, because of what You've done for us on the cross. Amen.

" Gods' divine love has only one target group,...the entire human race!"

What Is Your Faith Rooted In?

Good Morning! It’s fashionable to have "faith", and pretty much noncontroversial. We have faith that our chair will hold us when I sit down, without looking back at it. People have faith that things are going to get better. They have faith in higher powers, themselves, the economy,...and depending on the results of the last election, faith in government. The concept of faith is warm and cozy, and daytime talk shows ooze happiness when discussing it. “Having a hard time? Just have faith!” Yeah, faith is back in style. You are cool if you have it. The sticky part of faith is this: What is your faith rooted in?

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.—Colossians 2:6-7 (NIV)

Faith has to be rooted or grounded, in something. It’s just goofy when we have this vague concept of faith, and fuzzy feelings, that have no basis in reality. Scripture teaches us that we are built up in Christ Jesus,...the firm foundation. We are not to have faith in humanity, because that almost always goes badly. We are to have faith in Jesus,...because He is worthy of it.

Our faith in God is what allows us to live in Him,...and be empowered for missions from Him.

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Jesus, You are the only one worthy of faith. We don’t want to put our faith in false promises of men, or temporary highs. We choose You, and the refuge You offer. Amen.

" Grace and Acceptance, to be known fully, and loved just the same,...that's God."

Acting On Faith

Good Morning!! It may help us understand what faith is, by occasionally "breaking down" who we are. This will help us avoid being taken captive through deception, as Paul warns. Our spiritual anatomy, you may recall, consists of a body, a soul, and a spirit. In the soul, we have our minds, our emotions, and our will. In our spirit, which is our true inner being, we have our life in Christ. So we receive life in the spirit, we experience life in the soul, and we express life in the body. Unfortunately, we also have flesh,...the desire to do things in our own strength, ingenuity, and skill. Indwelling sin, dwells in us too, and encourages us to make poor choices.

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.—2 Corinthians 4:16 (NIV)

So, what, then, is faith? It is a decision of the will to act on what the mind believes is true.The mind reads something in Scripture, and in our spirit the Holy Spirit says, "Yes, that's true," and we say, "Yes, that's true," and then in our will we make a choice to step out in that truth. That step is faith. There is no power in faith itself,...the power is found in the object of faith: Jesus Christ.

" Faith is not trying to believe something, regardless of the evidence; faith is daring something, regardless of the consequences."—Sherwood Eddy

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Father God, thank You for forming us and forging us into special creations of Your mighty hand. You have given us the capacity to have faith, and we want to have faith in the proper way,...in Your son, Jesus Christ. Teach our will to act on what is true, as revealed by the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures. Amen.

" Grace and Acceptance, to be known fully, and loved just the same,...that's God."

Staying Strong Even As Our Bodies Weaken

Good Morning!! Imagine you're sitting in the office of your family physician,...but this isn't just any doctor, it's the office of the Great Physician. You thought it was just a routine visit to make sure everything was okay with your body, but with gentle and serious eyes, God asks you to sit down. "I've got good news, and bad news," He starts,...and deep inside you know He isn’t making a joke. Might as well start with the bad news? "Your body is deteriorating. You can't keep doing what you were doing."

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.—2 Corinthians 4:16 (NIV)

So what's the good news? "You're not alone,...I've got you." The time, money, and energy that you've invested in your relationship with god, has not been wasted. You will not have to worry about what you will eat, or where you will stay,...just as He takes care of the birds of the air, and flowers of the fields,...He will surly take care of you. There is more to come, that surpasses all that has passed before,...a greater life than any we have known.

" He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose."—Jim Elliot

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Great Physician, thank You for our life-sustaining bodies. Use the reality of our deteriorating body to teach us about life. We don’t want to lose heart. We also don’t want to live in denial of the inevitable outward wasting away of our mortal body. Renew our souls daily, Lord, as we look toward our future on earth, and beyond,...without fear. Amen.

" Grace and Acceptance, to be known fully, and loved just the same,...that's God."

In It, To Win It

Good Morning!! I have a few friends that run,...for no god reason. Some of the them even run marathons around the country, to get a prize others don't really value. I suppose one might even be able to compare Christian life to a marathon,...it's a good long race that lasts a long time (God willing). But you don't decide on Saturday to run a marathon on Sunday. Marathons take preparation, vision, and training,...if you hope to finish. The apostle Paul says that we're supposed to do the same thing in life. We are supposed to discipline and train our bodies, as the race ahead of us is long.

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.—1 Corinthians 9: 25-27 (NIV)

Our bodies is trainable,...but they will resist us. That's actually very exciting news because training and disciplining the body is worthwhile, also the scriptures say that offering our bodies is worship.(See Romans 12:1 and 6:13) What a great perspective to have about your body: It is a living sacrifice, an instrument of righteousness in the hands of God! THAT is a good reason to be joyful if I’ve ever seen one!

Practice is repetition, planning is preparation,...if we're truly "in it, to win it", then we need to be getting ready.

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O God, we are so glad that we can prepare ourselves to resist the world, and better ourselves for Your work! Continue to give us strength as we settle in for the long haul. We worship You as we change and offer our whole selves to Your will. Amen.

" Grace and Acceptance, to be known fully, and loved just the same,...that's God."

Our Body

Good Morning!! The human body; this is often a topic of immense concern in our culture,...especially this time of year. Look at the number of gym and diet ads on television right after New Year’s day, the plastic surgeons’ advertisements in the yellow pages, the latest infomercial touting some machine or program, that can give you a beach body, in less than ten minutes a day. Consider women's “body language.” Women's conversations almost invariably end up focusing on their bodies: clothes, makeup, hair,...and the dreaded "F” word—fat. Women are always talking about their bodies. But it's not just a female thing,...men like to talk about women's bodies too! (Who says we don't have anything in common?!)

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.—1 Thessalonians 5: 23 (NIV)

Yeah, our culture has taught us to be obsessed with our bodies, but in all the wrong ways,...and for all the wrong reasons. Should we really be concerned about which thin Hollywood star has gained 3.5 ounces over the holidays? Maybe not; but we are, just notice which magazines stand out most at check-out. But enough about what we, the books, and tabloids say about this,...today's' scripture tells us what God says about the body. Sure, our bodies might be "wonderful," but not always in the "good" sense of the word. Is it possible that we have been made in a way that is "full of wonder" in the sense that we might have more questions than answers? In His Word, God tells us the truth about our bodies,...all the good, and all the bad. I believe He wants us to see our bodies as He sees them,...and to use them as He intended. We need to praise Him, just for the way He has made us.

"Our relationship with our bodies, are apt to be a part of our autobiographies."

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Father God, we thank You for Your many blessings, and for shaping us to reflect Your perfect image. Help us to see our bodies as You see them. Please expose the lies that we've all believed about how we are made. Open our eyes and minds, so that we can see the full wonder of the bodies You have given us. Amen. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

" Grace and Acceptance, to be known fully, and loved just the same,...that's God."

Our Earth Suits

Good Morning!! These days in Christian culture, we are often taught to look away from our earthly selves and focus on God. This appears most often in response to problems like physical temptations, obsession with personal image, or substance addiction. While it is certainly important that we do not become our own idols and serve our own fleeting wants, let’s not forget our bodies are " fairly important " for the act of living on earth (intentional sarcasm). Just as a spacesuit keeps an astronaut alive, the body is essential for our earthly existence,...the human body can be "earth suit."

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.—1 Thessalonians 5: 23 (NIV)

The Bible says that human beings are made up of a spirit, soul, and body. In God’s creation, we are confined to a limited existence,...so we can reach others and tend to the creation He entrusted to us. While it is really important to pay attention to the growth of your spirit and soul, the body is what sustains those things on this earth. We must treat it in a healthy respect. Each part of us sustains the other, so being negligent to one part of us, is just as bad as paying too much attention to it. Paul told us to take care of " our whole selves ",...and that includes our body.

"Take care of your body,...It's the only place you have to live."

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Father God, we need You to balance our lives, the way You meant them to be. We can’t do that on our own. We want to care for these “earth suits,” but we don’t want to do that by our own wisdom or strength. We surrender them all to You. We submit to Your Spirit, in us, in every area. Show us how to care for them all, keeping our attentions in check when they become pointed or selfish. In Jesus' name, Amen.

" Our Biblical belief is more than something we confess with our mouths,...it's something we confess with our lives."

We Are His Masterpiece

Good Morning!! There are 74 trillion cells in the human body. The white blood cells in the lymph tissue can form 10,000-100,000 different antibodies. They fight against foreign tissue and can make these anti-bodies at a rate of 2000 per second. A single white blood cell can kill as many as a hundred bacteria. Over the course of a lifetime, the heart will pump an average of 52,560,000 gallons of blood. That's enough to fill a New York skyscraper!  I could go on, but you get the point,...Our bodies are incredible.

Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."—Genesis 1: 26 (NIV)

When God sculpted humanity in His image, an amazing amount of detail went into the works, resulting in an amazing, intricate masterpiece. He created life the way He did, to glorify Himself,...but He took another step further with humanity in His love. He designed us to represent Himself! Isn’t it awesome that God has blessed us to be His masterpiece? I can’t think of much else that’s better… key word being "much." God also designed us to be inhabited by His Spirit,...a personal relationship shared by no other living thing in existence. All of these things work together to create a complex, beautiful creature that cannot be replicated.

"The human body is a machine which winds its own springs." –Julien Offroy de la Mettrie

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Father God, we're in awe of the intricacies You have built into our bodies. We rejoice that You shaped us and You designed us to be in a relationship with You. Help us to remember how special we are,...that because You made us, we're special, unique, and beautiful in Your eyes. Amen.

" Our Biblical belief is more than something we confess with our mouths,...it's something we confess with our lives."