Bloom Before God
Do I matter if people do not recognize me? If I do not do something remarkable?
I wrestle mightily with this—with the need to earn my place.
But, have you ever held a child?
I’ve never met one I would have discarded, no matter how dirty or disfigured.
They’ve all been someone to love and protect.
I remember holding my own.
Though they hadn’t done anything remarkable besides existing, I was so proud of them.
I love that before Jesus’s ministry even begins, the Father declares from on high, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”¹
This is how the Father rejoices over all His children—not for what they’ve done, but because of Whose they are.²
The trouble is, I often reject His acceptance because I prefer the acceptance of people.³
I repent.
We do not exist for the acceptance of people.⁴
We exist for the good pleasure of our Heavenly Father⁵, whose arms are wide open for an embrace we did not earn⁶.
We are accepted in the Beloved.⁷
Recline in it.
So, do I matter?
As one purposely brought into being by God for His own delight, very much so.⁸
I consider flowers that no eyes have ever seen, yet they bloom anyway, to the pleasure and glory of God.
¹ Mark 1:11
² Ephesians 1:4-5
³ John 12:43
⁴ Galatians 1:10
⁵ Philippians 2:13
⁶ John 3:16
⁷ Ephesians 1:6
⁸ Luke 12:6-7
How To Stand When Everything Is Shaken
“If God were real, this wouldn’t be happening…”
A few moments earlier, I was feeling ready to conquer the day.
I had been to the gym, showered, and now I’m headed to work. I open the refrigerator to grab my lunch, only to discover the lights are off in the fridge and everything is warm.
My heart sinks.
We’ve been preparing to replace the refrigerator, but it has met its demise ahead of schedule.
And—we’ve just bought groceries.
It’s a little past 7. My wife has been up since 5, trying to get in her doctoral work before going to her job. When she hears that the fridge is dead, she stops what she’s doing to surmise what can be salvaged.
Then the voices start.
“See, look at you. You know your wife has a lot on her plate right now. She’s been up since before 5 o’clock in the morning trying to get her schoolwork done. And now she has to stop that to deal with this.”
“See, you’re hurting her. Again.”
“If you were a real man, you would have had the refrigerator replaced by now.”
“What are you going to do now? What can you do?! Can you even afford to replace it? You don’t have enough cash on hand. Your cards are maxed out.”
“Look at you.”
“You ain’t s#!%.”
Then the enemy continues…
“Look at this other guy. Is he obsessed with the Lord? He’s doing just fine. He’s taking his wife on regular trips. He’s had way more success than you—and his head is not constantly in a Bible.”
“If God was real, wouldn’t you be better off for all your labor and devotion?”
He had me on the ropes until that last line.
Up to that point, I was personally surprised that this was hitting me so hard. “A refrigerator?!” I thought. “That’s what’s going to take me out?”
But it wasn’t the refrigerator. That was just the most recent in a volley of blows. It was like being in a boxing match, where a fighter is repeatedly taking shots. In the course of the fight, each blow lands—but he’s still standing. Yet one by one, he’s being worn down—he’s getting fatigued.
The refrigerator was the latest blow in a flurry of blows that came in rapid succession: we had just dropped more than a grand to replace a broken dryer just weeks before; we have a kid in college, challenges at work, challenges at home, this isn’t done, that isn’t done… I’m failing. And the refrigerator was the hit that made me wobble.
But when the enemy disparaged my Beloved—when he tried to separate me from the love of God—it snapped me to my senses.
“Oh, I see.”
“So, that’s what we’re doing?” I thought. “You’re trying to get me to abandon God.”
When he had me thinking about me—or me in comparison to another—he was having some success. But it was limited, because I’ve seen this attack before, and I’ve learned somewhat how to fight against it.
But when he tried to tell me to “curse God and die,” he revealed his hand too soon and brought my attention to the true objective of this fight faster than I would have realized on my own.
Being torn down is something I’m accustomed to. So I often allow and participate in this destructive behavior, because I take a strange comfort in its familiarity.
But that’s the old man—the sin that dwells in me—that I repent of and turn away from.
“I am His” is now the totality of my identity.
Whatever good is in me—He made me (1 Corinthians 15:10).
Whatever good I lack—He will make me (Philippians 1:6).
This foundation has been tested and firmly established.
But when the flurry of blows comes, it can feel like the ground is taken from under you. When you’re getting lambasted, it’s hard to tell up from down.
So I prayed:
“How do I orient myself when the world is swirling?”
Something the enemy said—”If God was real, wouldn’t you be better off?”—begged a question:
What is the basis of reality?
Nothing in this world can be the basis for reality, because my perception can be manipulated. Poles can shift.
This is why “we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)
I think about Jesus being in the wilderness of temptation, where He’s met by the great deceiver—Satan—and the wilderness becomes the pinnacle of the temple, then the top of a mountain—a place overlooking all the kingdoms of the world.
The evil one can distort reality (1 John 5:19).
If the basis of reality for Jesus were something physical, like a place, or even metaphysical, like a purpose such as saving mankind, He would have had occasion to stumble. Because—why not fall down and worship Satan if it accomplished the purpose of saving mankind? It achieves the purpose without the pain of the cross.
But Jesus was clearly oriented by something else.
Jesus had other means to determine whether He was on the right path, doing the right things, and headed in the right direction—and it wasn’t anything here.
Jesus did not look at the size of the crowds and see it as the proof.
Not to the praise of men (John 2:24–25).
Not to the recognition of the elite (Luke 11:37; 14:1).
Not even to the love of His closest friends (Matthew 16:22–23).
Jesus was oriented by something else—not by a point in space, nor by proof of a moment, but by the Person of the Godhead, which He was a part of.
“And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”
— John 8:29
This is the basis of reality.
So, what happens when everything falls apart?
I find myself in Christ.
“For in Him we live and move and have our being.”
— Acts 17:28
In asking, “If God was real, wouldn’t you be better off?”, my enemy attempted to make prosperity the basis of reality. Prosperity—the logic goes—is then proof of the right way (“God”), which is easily falsifiable, as we know prosperity can be ill-gotten.
But no—the basis of reality is not prosperity but a person.
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.‘”
— John 14:6
So when my world is upside down, I have three pillars with which to triangulate my position:
How I know the truth
• The revelation and promises of God’s Word
• The exposition and example of God the Son, Jesus Christ, as the Living Word
• The prompting and leading of God the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of the Word (Romans 3:4)
Why I do anything
• To be with God (Philippians 3:8–10)
Where I am
• God is always with me, and I experience His presence when I’m in obedience—loving His beloved (Romans 8:38)
The answer is God.
There’s one more—not a proof, but a helpful effect:
What the result is
Testimony—my chronicled experience of God’s work, including the fruit of obedience, both mine and others’.
When I move on this basis, I will not fall.
I will live and not die.
I will have victory.
“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.”
— 2 Corinthians 2:14
Trying to function apart from Christ is building on shifting sands. But He is sure ground where I can plant my foot. And when I throw my punch—it lands.
“Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.”
— 1 Corinthians 9:26
When my world is upside down, orienting myself in Christ is the first step in heaven that gives sure footing for my next step on earth.
#HowToStandInTheOnslaught #SpiritualWarfare #perfectourlove
In Week 5 of 52 Weeks of Gratefulness, I give thanks to God for…
Originally posted on Facebook on Thursday, January 29, 2026.
In Week 5 of 52 Weeks of Gratefulness, I give thanks to God for Mary's daughters.
What you see in this picture is who I'm married to—a woman who is fearless, independent, and able to do anything.
When we were in college, even before we were dating, I remember Melissa asking me if I would help her with a blown taillight. I had never been so excited to do manual labor in all my life!
Because I knew that she didn't *need* me to do it, but she wanted me to. It was a privilege.
She could have definitely done it on her own. She can do anything.
And, she's largely that way because of her mother, Mary Harris, who wouldn't let anything get between her and getting it done. I see that in all of the Harris women—a quiet fierceness, a strength and beauty that evokes awe and respect.
I count myself privileged to be married to one of Mary's daughters.
I'm grateful.
In loving memory of Mrs. Harris whose birthday is this Sunday, February 1st.
#52WoG #ThankfulThursday
To those who call themselves Christians and consent to the deaths…
Originally posted on Facebook on Sunday, January 25, 2026.
To those who call themselves Christians and consent to the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, and argue that the agents acted within the law, to decide the taking of a life on the basis of what is permissible by law is a woefully low bar.
That is not the standard of the Kingdom.
Jesus is the standard.
He was sent in love and came that we may have life, not to destroy it (John 3:16, 10:10, Luke 9:56).
It is important to note that America is not the Kingdom and it is important not to conflate the two. Notwithstanding, the Kingdom operates within every place that disciples of Christ are, and those places should be healthier as a result.
That is not what happened in the killing of Renée Good and Alex Pretti.
I will resist you doing what is counter to Christ in Christ's name. Fruit is how we discern (Luke 6:44).
In Week 2 of 52 Weeks Of Gratefulness, I give thanks to God for a…
Originally posted on Facebook on Friday, January 16, 2026.
In Week 2 of 52 Weeks Of Gratefulness, I give thanks to God for a pause.
We're on a four lane highway and traffic comes to a stand still on both sides as far as the eye can see. But this wasn't because of an accident or construction. It was voluntary—a statement of solemn solidarity as our funeral procession made its way to the cemetery.
I've always appreciated this courtesy, but even moreso today.
When someone loses a loved one, especially someone that was a key fixture in their life, their world stops.
I liken it to a bustling city with thousands of people busy going in different directions carried about by the varying business of the day. In the middle of that mass, someone's suffering a crisis—someone's dying, but no one takes notice, no one stops, and everyone keeps moving on.
I was talking about this with my Dad at the funeral. We were discussing the sort of paralysis, a state of denial, and another kind of death that loss of a loved one can bring to those left behind. But, as my Dad said, "The reality is the birds keep singing, time keeps passing, and the world moves on. It doesn't stop."
And that is cruel.
But we can change that.
We can transform an otherwise bleak reality by bringing kindness and compassion into it.
We can help someone shoulder the soul-crushing weight of the world by embodying four simple words:
"You are not alone."
And this can be conveyed by a gesture as simple as acknowledging that someone's world has stopped and taking a pause to stop with them.
In doing so, we become a kind of bridge—the way back from the dead to the land of the living.
That's what these people on the highway did for our family. It inspires me to be that for others.
I'm grateful.
#52WoG #TheMinistryOfAPause #perfectourlove
The worst thing you can do when you find yourself in the court…
Originally posted on Facebook on Monday, January 12, 2026.
The worst thing you can do when you find yourself in the court room being cross-examined by Satan is to start competing in the my-good-outweighs-my-bad game, spelling out all the "good" I've done that proves I'm not as bad a person as the current circumstances suggest.
The Accuser will eat you alive because he's cool, calm, collected and has receipts, while you have your memory that you're struggling to recall as you're being emotionally hijacked by the attack, a memory that's being picked apart, challenged and whose credibility is being called into question. It's a losing proposition.
The only move is to run out of the courtroom and come before the King. To appeal that I am not here as a defendant but as a dependent. I am not here as a random citizen but as His child who needs compassionate correction.
Oh, what amazing grace!
God, already achieving justice through His Son (2 Corinthians 5:21), has made it so my failures are not fatal (Romans 8:1). I can come boldly (Hebrews 4:16), being completely honest, confronting everything that I ever did (John 4:29, 1 John 1:9) because the Father is committed to my well-being as His child (John 10:10, Philippians 1:6).
That is what Jesus achieved for everyone who will accept it.
Remember that next time you find yourself in the courtroom.
"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
— Hebrews 4:16
"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! …"
— 1 John 3:1
#Gospel #AGraceCase #PerfectOurLove
Earlier this week, we put my dear Aunt Lesley to rest. During the…
Originally posted on Facebook on Sunday, January 11, 2026.
Earlier this week, we put my dear Aunt Lesley to rest. During the proceedings, there were a lot of overly religious platitudes that rang especially hollow.
I guess that's partly because Aunt Lesley wasn't overly religious, but it was mostly because I know I hadn't loved my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin like I should.
It's been more than 10 years since I've seen them and they're just on the coast (fewer than 300 miles away). As my cousin and I were catching up, I was saddened to hear how they had been struggling alone.
I can talk about the Light all day, but I need to do a better job of carrying it. What good is talking about the Light, if the hearers are left sitting in the dark?
Light exposes. It allows us to see things for what they are. However, that alone can leave us jaded and cynical. This is so common that we have a euphemism for it: "the ugly truth".
But there's something more to the light that Christ claimed to be and that we as Christians are called to carry. It is a key distinction between other variants of "light" or "truth".
The Light of the Son not only exposes, it gives life.
"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men."
— John 1:4
So, we not only see things for what they are, we carry capacity to bring life to it—a whole other dimension of dynamism, potential and hope. That's the "beautiful Truth" and is exactly what I received when the Light was carried to me.
Light is received when photons move. We are the photons of Christ, and His love propels us.
"For the love of Christ compels us…"
— 2 Corinthians 5:14
Funerals are always sobering. This one exposed how I could do a better job being present for people I say I love.
I repent.
By God's grace I will do a better job of carrying the light to my sphere—what has been given into my care—to nurture life and health in it. It starts where I am, my household, and works its way outward.
Then the words are not hollow, they're given flesh, made substantive, and have real meaning.
Today I was reading the passage in Acts where Peter encounters the…
Originally posted on Facebook on Tuesday, January 6, 2026.
Today I was reading the passage in Acts where Peter encounters the beggar outside the temple. What struck me was that Peter looks at the man, sees his need, and begins with, “Silver and gold I do not have…” Then he said, “but what I have I give you…”
Acts 3:6
Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
Peter doesn’t stop with religious words or posture. He lifts him. Peter engages the man in a tangible, experiential way.
Acts 3:7
And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.
It formed a picture for me of how we are meant to engage: not merely through religious gestures or declarations (thoughts and prayers), but by meeting need with what we have, in the name of Jesus, and then lifting—putting material effort behind what we say we believe. The question this leaves me with is simple: when we pray, or do any other religious thing, do we lift?
Peter then responds to the people who witness this miracle by directing their focus to Christ.
Acts 3:12
So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?”
He names Jesus as the Prince of Life and is careful not to embezzle any of the glory. It made me wonder whether this is why God honored the gesture, why power was given in the moment, not to elevate Peter, but to affirm Christ.
Acts 3:15–16
and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know; yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
That phrase, “perfect soundness”, followed by the title of the Prince of Life, connected something for me. Ministering life is about making whole. This is certainly what Christ does for me, and to have faith in Him is to have faith that lifts.
#FaithThatLifts #PerfectOurLove
The way we sometimes pray can be like setting the GPS and then…
Originally posted on Facebook on Sunday, January 4, 2026.
The way we sometimes pray can be like setting the GPS and then laying down, hoping to wake up where we're supposed to be.
But GPS works when I receive the directions it gives and I move based on the information it provides.
The GPS of prayer has only one destination: Christ, reflected in us individually and collectively—the coming of God's Kingdom. (Luke 11:2-4)
When His Kingdom comes and His will is done on earth as it is in heaven, we have arrived.
I'll have a much more productive prayer life when I approach it for what it is, move as it guides me and accept the destination: Christ. (Romans 8:29-30)
"Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. […] I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
— Philippians 3:12,14
#PrayerDestinationChrist #Prayer #PerfectOurLove
A dear friend of mine, who is an unbeliever, shared an observation…
Originally posted on Facebook on Friday, January 2, 2026.
A dear friend of mine, who is an unbeliever, shared an observation of how Christians seem to respond to the problems facing our world.
She said,
"The problem is all people want to do is pray…"
She's not wrong.
Now, before we start attempting to rationalize and absolve ourselves of guilt, it was obvious to me that this was a generalization and not an absolute. Clearly there are many Christians that do much more than "just pray" and dutifully serve our community.
The fact remains however, that there are so many instances of this being true that it gives reason for the generalization to even exist. Christians collectively bear a responsibility, we should hold each other accountable, and I'm exclusively dealing with instances when the claim is true.
Too often it IS true that all people want to do is "pray" which reveals two key failures:
– a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of prayer
– and an abdication of Christ's endowment and the purposes for which it was given.
We are called to rule well. We were put in the garden of the nations of the world to care for it. As the Father sent Jesus because He loves the world, Jesus sends us (John 20:21). We were given power for the world to encounter the Kingdom, not to sit in a pew.
Prayer is not a shopping list to get what I want. It is a strategic alignment session so His Kingdom will come, that His will may be done—not ours. Prayer is a meeting where I should be seeking God, what He is doing, and how He wants to use me. If nothing changes after a meeting, it was a wasted meeting.
The problems the world faces are because the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but Christ came that they may have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10), and we are His vessels.
Prayer puts us on the same page and prepares us to perform His good pleasure.
Prayer is participation.
#PrayerIsParticipation #Prayer #PerfectOurLove