Christ is Lord

Dear Young Sister’s-In-Christ

Jesus Is Lord, Sanctification, Trusting God

This last week was a beautiful one. I have been Bonus-Mom for nearly five years. I met my bonus daughter on her 13th birthday and last week she graduated from high school. This milestone is one that many keep-sake in their memories for life. It is the right of passage into adulthood. It solidifies the value of the many years of schedules, bells, and homework. Hard work, dedication, and perseverance will always be worth it.

But as the graduation festivities carried on, my soul was burdened with many realizations.

Did I do enough with the time the Lord gave me to help train, guide, and point her to Christ as her Savior? Was the Gospel lived out before her eyes in our home? Does she know Christ deeply and personally? Does she love God’s Word?

These are the things that my mind kept going back to. If you read my last blog about the forever things—these are the forever things.

Graduating kindergarten, high school, and college are noteworthy accomplishments. Setting academic and sports goals has a purpose and promotes character and discipline. Receiving recognition and honor for your hard work is gratifying. But these are not the forever things.

My mind has wrestled that this sweet season is coming to an end. I’m asking the Lord for much grace as we enter a new season with her spreading her wings from this nest. As she soars, I think I’ll want these years back.

If you’re a mom in a similar season, I pray you know you’re not alone.

My prayer is for her and all of my young sister’s-in-Christ to remember the forever things… the things that matter to our eternal life with Christ.

If I could write my young sister’s-in-Christ a letter—it would go something like this…

Dear Young Sister’s-in-Christ,

You may not realize it right at this moment, but your young life will soon experience many uncharted territories. The pressure of peers doesn’t end in the halls of high school. Temptations will be lurking close by as you venture into this next chapter. The world will tell you lies that compromising your conduct, your dress code, and your purity are not a big deal. Do not fall for these lies. The world will attempt to redefine what it means to love and be loved. Do not entertain this redefinition of love. In a world that declares purity, prudence, and holiness as old and outdated, I pray you stand strong in these godly virtues. In a world where “truth” lives in the grey and people carry multiple “truths” I encourage you to know and love THE Truth—God’s Holy Word.

If you are blessed to have parents who shared the Gospel with you and lived it out daily, I pray that their example has shown you the power of Christ and the beauty of being sanctified through this life, daily.

I pray you set yourself apart from the ways of the world quickly and joyfully as you enter your adult years. This task is easy to say, but much more difficult to do. I pray the Holy Spirit equips you to do this as your circles of influence grow. I pray if mockery stems from this setting apart, that you joyfully turn the other cheek and walk as the Lord has instructed us to in His Word.

I pray the Lord keeps you close and repentance quickly follows any sin. I pray you hallow the Lord’s Name, His Word, and His perfect ways. I pray the Lord continues to reveal His sovereignty in your life and in the gift of your salvation.

We live in a culture that recommends self-care living over biblical self-sacrifice and serving. As Daughters of Christ, we must not fall into this me-centered trap that endorses so much worth on our exterior but neglects the soul and mind. I encourage you to reject the boss-babe culture and be a woman of the Word.

God’s Word is life-giving and life-sustaining, I pray you never forget this. I pray you love His law and His Word. I pray you crave His Word as if it were a feast that you look forward to daily and gain the most nutrients from.

I pray you seek God with your whole heart as His Word commands.

“Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,” (Psalm 119:2 ESV)

“But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul,” (Deuteronomy 4:29 ESV)

“Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near,” (Isaiah 55:6 ESV).

I pray you regard knowing God as the most significant blessing of your life.

“Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law,” (Psalm 119:18 ESV)

“And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent,” (John 17:3 ESV)

“I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart,” (Jeremiah 24:7 ESV)

I pray you are transformed by the ardent, never-ceasing, boundless love of God through Christ Jesus.

“…In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the Beloved,” (Ephesians 1:4-6 ESV)

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord,” (Romans 8:38-39 ESV)

“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins,” (1 John 4:10 ESV)

I pray you aim to grow in your trust relationship with the Lord all the days of your life.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths,” (Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV)

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD God is an everlasting rock,” (Isaiah 26:3-4 ESV)

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God,” (Psalm 20:7 ESV)

I pray you have a passion for studying scripture, obeying scripture, praying, worshiping with your whole life, serving others, and sharing the Gospel—all motivated by a desire to know God, love God, share God, enjoy God, and glorify God. Spiritual disciplines are essential for the Believer and should be rooted in a deep love for Christ. When we consistently feed ourselves the Truth of scriptures, we are guarding our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Because of this, when our lives experience adverse circumstances, we know God’s overwhelming grace will sustain us. Because we know His Word, we know He is sovereign and He is good. Always.

When the Lord awakened us to the truth about our sinful state and our desperate need for a Savior—Jesus Christ—and drew us to faith and repentance— it transformed us forever. With this most epic, glorious, death-to-life-transformation, our perspective of life and time should be radically altered to reflect eternity. In a world that accolades boss babes and selfish living, we should be humbled at the reality of what is at stake for all…life or death…for eternity. With this knowledge it should grow our joy in the Lord and increase our passion to share the Gospel with zeal and compassion.

I pray your heart’s cry will forever be that of the Psalmist:

“I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word,” (Psalm 119:15-16 ESV).

Ardently His,

Jess Dennis

Perfect Peace

Jesus Is Lord, Sanctification

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Romans 5:1 ESV)

How often do you find yourself uttering or thinking the words, I just need a minute?

Recently, a dear woman and sister-in-Christ from my local church blessed a group of us moms with a devotional surrounding the topic of God’s peace. Peace had already been on my mind, as usual, as I seem to struggle with grasping the peace of the Lord through hectic days and the chaotic schedule that comes with rearing children. This time of the year seems to enhance the chaos that appears unrelenting in my mind.

I just need a minute, are words that I find myself echoing multiple times a day. What am I really yearning for? Peace.

Peace from what? Peace from noise, chaos, overstimulation in my mind, ever-changing schedules that appear disorderly and out of control, the mundane of the day—laundry, cooking, dishes, sweeping, schedule planning, homeschooling, taxi-driving—repeat.

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

I am blessed beyond what I could have ever fathomed for my life.

But.

I have an unrelenting craving for peace and order.

This craving will never be fully satiated in this life of flesh.

I know this. Yet, I still strive and yearn for something eternal that always seems just beyond reach. So, then I find myself pacifying my persistent longing for peace for a counterfeit tranquility that may involve retail therapy, reading a non-edifying book, filling my schedule with non-essentials that prove to be avoiding the hard things on my to do lists.

This calms my cravings for “peace” for a moment or two, but then inevitably the fake calm and the pretend peace prove vaporous as it disappears and the internal cries of “needing a minute,” return with vengeance.

If I’m deeply honest, it’s not a minute that I need.

It’s not a long moment of silence that I need.

It’s not a day absent from household chores or parental and adult responsibilities that I need.

It’s not merely peace that my soul truly longs for.

It’s Jesus.

I need Him, Who gives Peace and gives it in abundance.

I need the One Who is Peace.

I don’t want a mockup version of the worlds peace. I want the peace of the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth.

I want the perfect peace that can never be found in my spouse, children, career, accomplishments, accolades, awards, fashion, worldly knowledge, financial security, a nice home, a comfortable life… these things are not inherently wrong, but it is not where or what the Believer’s peace, or lack-there-of, should be found or rooted in. It’s through Christ alone, through our gift of faith and repentance in Him, and the security of our sealed salvation through Christ’s atoning work at the Cross. This is where our ultimate peace should be knitted to, from now into eternity. The perfect peace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

I refuse to settle for imitations.

The Apostle Paul writes to the Roman Church, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Romans 5:1, ESV).

Being justified means we now have a right standing with God. We’ve done nothing to earn or guarantee this. It’s not from our own doing, but a gift of revelation from the Lord. My faith is from Him. And because He’s chosen to gift me with faith in His Son, Jesus, I am now at peace with God the Father. And because I am now at peace with God the Father, I now have an eternal peace about all things.

This eternal peace about all things is an objective peace, because I belong to the Lord. My emotions on any given day may not align with this objective and true peace from the Lord, but that doesn’t make it any less true. He gives us this peace that is faultless, pure, and perfect, because He chose to and it glorifies His name, not mine.

Jesus tells us in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

As a true Believer in Jesus Christ, peace is not something we have to strive for. Peace is not something we have to obtain by perfect work and a model sanctification journey. Peace is not something that is re-produced in our life when circumstances are savory and happy. Peace is not something we earn by any effort of our own doing. Jesus gave it to us. He left us this perfect peace through His Holy Spirit that indwells the heart of every Believer.

As I’m writing this, I have a deep conviction stirring in my heart. I get this wrong so much. I confuse God’s gift of Peace—His promise to never leave us or forsake us, essentially the gift of Himself is the only peace we will ever need—with the world’s version of peace that is a life free from trouble.

Our peace is not derived from a trouble-free life. Does that type of life even exist in this sin-filled world? Our peace is from Jesus, and in Jesus.

Jesus tells us in John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

“In me you may have peace…”

My current conviction surrounds defining this season as chaotic, rather than marinating my thoughts on the gift of this season—Divine prophecy being fulfilled as my magnificent Savior was born.

Isaiah prophesied of this, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace,” (Isaiah 9:6 ESV).

My Savior is the Prince of Peace. He is Perfect Peace.

Lord, I pray for each one reading this—Keep our hearts close to You. Remind us of the truth of Your Perfect Peace daily, as we celebrate the birth of Your Son whom You sent as Savior for all whom You called before the foundations of the earth were set.

I Trust my God, I Trust my God, I Trust my God

Ardently His,

Jess Dennis