You are already loved, you are already seen, and you are already known by God. All He has is available to you, child. You are a child of the King: and heir of God and a co-heir with Christ which means you get to enjoy the fullness of Christ’s inheritance. As His child, you get the privilege to cry out to your Abba, Father. Your achievements will never earn His love. You are loved because He is your Father.

What he offers is more sustaining than a simple meal of bread and fish. He offers us life: yes, it’s eternal life in heaven, but we also have the ability to experience life here on earth. Life of freedom from the bondage of sin. Our flesh is in entrenched in sin (Jn 6:63), but the Spirit of God gives life. The all-powerful presence of the Spirit makes His home in you. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead LIVES. IN. YOU. And we so desperately need Him.

To the girl who is struggling. The girl hurting. The girl hoping for breakthrough and broken chains. The girl stuck in patterns of unbelief. The girl desperate to feel alive. The girl muscling through her days in her own strength.

I do encourage you to make your application personal and practical….otherwise it becomes another broken New Year’s Resolution. The more specific you can be, the more likely you will see change or growth over time.

“What does it mean?” Not “What does it mean to us?” but “What did God mean for the original audience?”

The question we ask here in the Observation stage is, “What does the text say?” During observation, we want to read the text thoughtfully, sit with it, inspect it, and look deeply.

Friend, every piece of Scripture is God breathed and inspired. I don’t want to miss one thing He has to say, but we have to learn how to read it all to gain a better and growing understanding of it.

When we face a battle for our memory, which directly affects our ability to rightly see God’s faithfulness, we too can raise an Ebenezer, and the only response that we can give is genuine thanksgiving, because by His help alone we have come.

God’s desire to dwell with humanity is a constant theme thread through Scripture. He created us to share in His abundant love and desires to be with us. Today, let’s follow that thread through from beginning to end, shall we?

There is something about mankind: when we are given a restriction, our human will is tempted to push the boundaries. In the story of our genesis, it does’t take long after God creates all things for the story of Adam and Eve to take a turn for the worst.

I only know of one guide that will never lead you to fall or fail. One guide that has perfect direction and instruction every time. If God created this whole place that we call “the world,” I’d say we can trust his navigation on the inter-workings of it. That guide is called his Word.

But Why Theology? Can’t we just read the Bible and that be enough? Of course you can! But our theology affects the way we approach Scripture.

My real goal here is to understand God more through what he has revealed in His word, and to allow those foundational (or essential) truths to transform the way I think, feel, and act. Who He is should affect how I live!

Abundance sees more opportunities and more possibilities. It leads to abounding creativity in order to make an impact for Christ.