A weekly reflection on living for Jesus, from our team to your inbox
Where are you laying tracks?
‘Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.’ — Philippians 2:3–5
‘Man exalted himself and fell; God humbled Himself and raised him up.’ — Augustine of Hippo, ‘A Sermon to Catechumens on the Creed’
Have you ever played the board game Ticket to Ride?
If you’re not familiar with it, the concept is simple: build train routes between cities to complete the journeys you’ve been given.
But there’s a twist. One of the most dastardly moves you can make in a game of Ticket to Ride is to build tracks on other player’s routes—effectively blocking them off from reaching their destination.
It’s an act of sabotage that could help win you the game (and cost you a friendship).
All this board games talk has a purpose, I promise.
Because I’m convinced that so many of life’s problems are caused when we lay tracks in other people’s way.
Of course, I’m not talking about Ticket to Ride.
I’m talking about our heart’s sinful disposition to self-centredness.
Are you laying tracks in other people’s way?
We live in a win-at-all-costs world where people are prepared to fight and trample on one another to achieve their own ambitions.
The promotion. The recognition. The status. The guy or the girl.
A world where ‘laying tracks’ in the way of other people isn’t just accepted, but even applauded.
Of course, this kind of prideful ambition and self-centredness often operates in subtle, everyday ways.
We talk over and talk down at our loved ones to get our way, prove our point and win our side of the argument.
We ‘keep the score’ with other people, expecting them to serve us in return for our love and attention—and we get irritated when they fail to reciprocate.
In our churches and workplaces, we can even feel threatened by other people’s giftings and callings. Rather than helping others grow and flourish, we instead discourage and put them down to preserve our own position.
In a million tiny ways—seen or unseen, conscious or unconscious—we so often live, speak and act as if we are the centre of our worlds.
And if people get in our way—well, we’ll just lay tracks in their’s.
This kind of selfish ambition and self-centredness isn’t just mean, it’s anti-gospel.
Jesus calls us to a radically different way.
Have the attitude of Christ
Reflect again on these glorious words from Paul’s letter to the Philippians:
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.When he appeared in human form,
he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. — Philippians 2:5–11
This is the attitude of those who have been united with Christ.
To lay ourselves down to raise others up, rather than clinging to our position and privilege.
To look out for the interests of others and seek their best, rather than just looking out for our interests and seeking our best.
To choose humility when the world chooses pride and selfish-ambition.
To love people even when it’s costly.
To make a path for others to step into all that God has called them to, rather than laying tracks in their way.
The freedom of self-forgetfulness
One of the best descriptions of leadership I’ve heard is: ‘stepping back so others can step forwards.’
This is the kind of leader, friend, husband, employee and neighbour I want to be.
Does this kind of humility mean allowing ourselves to be walked over or exploited?
No—Jesus Himself stood for what was right and challenged evil.
Nor does it mean putting ourselves down or beating ourselves up. C.S. Lewis famously described humility like this: ‘Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.’
Those who know how loved they are by God—who are rooted in His grace and confident in their identity in Him—no longer have anything to prove to the world.
When we know who we are in Him, we no longer need to strive for status, approval and recognition—as Paul says in Colossians, ‘you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God’ (Colossians 3:3).
This, says Timothy Keller, is the freedom of self-forgetfulness. It’s not that we think less of ourselves—it’s that we think of ourselves less, because we are transfixed with the glory, goodness and love of Jesus.
Filled with this love, we are compelled to love those around us—sacrificially and selflessly, expecting nothing in return, just as Christ freely laid His life down for us.
This way, this attitude, is ultimately more liberating. No longer do we anxiously strive to protect and preserve our status and reputation—always fearing that someone might eclipse and outshine us—because we already enjoy full acceptance in Christ.
Instead, we now live as a mirror of His glory in this world—a glory that makes itself known through selfless, sacrificial, self-giving love.
Today, may we ‘have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had’ (Philippians 2:5)—an attitude of self-giving, generous, sacrificial love.
Stop laying tracks in other people’s way. Make paths for them to flourish in Christ.
Love,
Mike
Mind the gap between your belief and your experience of God
‘And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.’ — Romans 5:5
‘Many of us struggle with a gap between what we believe about God and what we experience from God.’ — Steve Cuss
Have you ever found yourself stuck in the gap between what you believe and what you experience?
I have. Often, I still do.
When it comes to faith, I can believe the right things, say the right words, and appear in the right way—but inside, I know that I’m not experiencing it for myself.
I believe that God loves us (John 15:9). I believe that He wants His joy to be complete in us (John 15:11). I believe that He delights in speaking to us through His Word and by His Spirit (John 16:13).
But often, I find that I'm not actually experiencing His love, joy and voice speaking to me.
The gap between belief and experience is a hard place to be.
It’s hard when other people excitedly tell you about their latest encounters with God, when you feel like you haven’t for months.
It’s hard when you feel like Jesus seems to have a closer and more dynamic relationship with your friends than with you.
It’s hard when you find yourself wondering if you'll ever manage to get ‘being a Christian’ right.
And it’s scary to admit that we're in that gap, right?
It can feel like we’re hypocritical by being there: truly believing what the Bible reveals to us about God and how He feels about us and what He has blessed us with, but not actually enjoying the reality of it.
It can also feel like there’s no way out. No matter how much we try harder to close the gap by doing all the right things—immersing ourselves in the Scriptures, praying earnestly, caring for others, seeking opportunities to share the gospel—we still have trouble personally experiencing God’s presence.
If any of this resonates with you, know that you’re not alone in feeling these things. And take heart, because there is hope.
Bridging the gap
We’re unique and complex beings—and there are a whole host of psychological, sociological and theological reasons which people have highlighted that might contribute to this gap between belief and experience.
It’s all good stuff, but a lot of it is way over my head and way too detailed to unpack here (I can already hear your sigh of relief).
Instead, I want to encourage you with some ways I’ve found that help me bridge the gap between my belief in and experience of God.
Firstly, be honest with Him.
When you feel stuck in the gap, it doesn’t take long to feel stuck in shame. Shame makes us want to hide from God—so the way to counter it is to run to Him and be fully open with Him.
God is the One who knows you best and loves you most, no matter whether you can feel it or not. He’s never disappointed in you or distant from you. He lives inside you (Romans 8:10), and He’s always ready to listen as you pour out your heart to Him (Psalm 62:8).
So, be honest with Him. You don't need to pretend with God through polite, polished prayers. Tell Him how you actually feel, what you’re finding really hard, why it hurts.
I've found that whenever I’m honest with God, a weight lifts from me, and I actually feel closer to Him because of it.
Secondly, tell someone about it.
Feeling stuck in the gap can be a very lonely experience. In the past, I’ve felt as if I was the only one who was struggling with it, and that no one would really understand if I opened up to them about it.
But one day, someone in my family opened up to me about experiencing this gap, and it was a freeing moment for both of us, as we realised that we weren’t the only ones navigating it. We’re now able to pray for and encourage one another as we seek after God in our lives.
There’s always a temptation to hide the things we're struggling with or confused by away from others—even, tragically, within our churches. We don’t want to bother or burden others, so we pretend all is well.
But that’s just another way to cover ourselves with fig leaves in shame. It only leads us further away from God and those He has lovingly placed in our lives.
And finally, worship God in the way He made you to.
I’m currently reading a great book called Sacred Pathways by Gary Thomas. In it, he argues that just as a doctor would never prescribe the same medicine to all the patients they see, God hasn’t given us a set programme to know Him by.
Of course, spending time in His Word, in prayer and in worship are really important practices that every follower of Jesus should implement in their lives. But the way in which we practice them can vary.
In the book, Thomas names nine different spiritual temperaments through which Christians naturally connect with God:
Naturalists: loving God outdoors.
Sensates: loving God with the senses.
Traditionalists: loving God through ritual and symbol.
Ascetics: loving God in solitude and simplicity.
Activists: loving God through confrontation.
Caregivers: loving God by loving others.
Enthusiasts: loving God with mystery and celebration.
Contemplatives: loving God through adoration.
Intellectuals: loving God with the mind.
These aren’t rigid boxes to limit ourselves to, nor do we have only one of them. They are simply a framework to help us identify how we naturally draw near to God.
Over the past few years, I’ve come to realise that I find it easiest to worship God when I'm outdoors (Naturalist), in solitude and simplicity (Ascetic) and through adoration (Contemplative).
You might be completely different, and that's completely okay.
God has made you, me and everyone uniquely, and that means we will naturally relate to Him in unique ways.
So, spend time discovering what that looks like for you.
Don't just settle for doing the same devotional rhythms every day for the rest of your life—try engaging with the Bible, prayer, worship and serving others in different ways, and notice what naturally and easily draws you into God’s presence.
And above all, hold on to the truth you believe in.
Whether you can feel it or not right now:
God's love for you will never change (Romans 8:38–39).
He is always with you (Matthew 28:20).
He is always listening to you (Psalm 66:17–20).
He is making you more like Himself (2 Corinthians 3:16–18).
He is praying on your behalf through His Spirit (Romans 8:26).
He has great things for you to do (Ephesians 2:10).
He will bring you home to enjoy being with Him forever (John 14:3).
Lord Jesus, help us to love you with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength—and help us to experience your love for us in all these places, too.
Love,
Theo
P.S. Here are some great resources if you want to explore this topic in a bit more depth:
Gary Thomas, Sacred Pathways: Discover Your Soul’s Path To God
Steve Cuss, The Expectation Gap: The Tiny, Vast Space Between Our Beliefs And Experience Of God
Kyle Strobel and John Coe, When God Seems Distant: Surprising Ways God Deepens Our Faith and Draws Us Near
Steve Cuss, Being Human Podcast
How to actually enjoy your quiet time
‘How sweet your words taste to me;
they are sweeter than honey.’ — Psalm 119:103
‘Praying and reading your Bible won’t make you more Christian. And not doing these things won’t make you less of a Christian... But how much we enjoy that communion depends on what we do.’ — Tim Chester
I love my morning coffee.
It’s something I genuinely treasure each day. And even though it takes a while to make, the joy is worth it.
When we love something, like I love a coffee, we long for it. It doesn't feel like a chore; it's easy to do because you want to do it.
I know that I should love meeting God in His Word much more than I love a hot drink. But if I ever have to pick between making my coffee or spending time with God in the morning, so often the coffee wins. Why is that?
Why don’t we love spending time with God like we know we should?
Guilt doesn’t lead to love
In Jesus, we have been fully forgiven. We truly are set free from sin. But until He returns to make all things new, we still struggle against sin.
That’s why we find it so hard to do what we know we should love, and why so many things feel easier or more fun than setting aside time each day to meet with God. It’s hard to resist the temptation to choose our comfort, ease, and enjoyment over spending time with Him.
When we inevitably succumb to that temptation, we end up feeling guilty about not reading God’s Word—and then we find it even harder to open our Bibles.
Alternatively, our guilt becomes our motivation to spend time with God. We know we should read the Bible, and we feel like God will be disappointed in us if we don’t. So, we do it out of duty, not delight.
God doesn’t want either of these things.
A treasure to enjoy, not a chore to endure
There’s nothing we can do to make God love us any more or any less. We are not a ‘better’ or ‘worse’ Christian based on whether we’ve read our Bible today or not.
If we trust in Jesus, we have been completely forgiven of all our sins—past, present and future. We can come to our Father freely without guilt or shame, because all our sin has been taken away.
In love, He has given everything of Himself to us—and He longs for us to respond by giving everything of ourselves to Him.
When we start by remembering God’s love for us, meeting with Him will become a treasure, not a chore.
And it truly is a treasure! The God who made the universe has given us a physical book, inspired by His Spirit, to make Himself known to us. He speaks through His Word to tell us how He has always been working to make a way for us to have a relationship with Him.
An invitation, not an obligation
God has given us the gift of His Word as an invitation to know Him more.
Whenever we open our Bibles, He speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. He longs to show us the best way to live in the world He has made. He wants to help us grasp the height and depth of His love. He loves to hear our response in worship and prayer.
And as we read, He delights in transforming us to become more like His Son.
As we delight in hearing God speak to us, and as our hearts are warmed by His love and acceptance, our love for Him will grow. Like the writer of Psalm 119, we will develop a taste for God’s Word—it will become the sweetest thing to us!
So, when you start your next quiet time, lay down any guilt or distractions. Ask the Spirit to quiet your heart and show you the joy of the gospel as if it were the first time hearing it.
Approach God as your loving Father who longs to be with you.
Pastors love illustrating this point with this picture of the President, John F. Kennedy, sitting at his desk in the Oval Office with his son, JFK Junior, sitting at his feet.
Despite the bodyguards and the layers of security, one little boy had full and complete access to the most important man in the world. He was free to sit at the feet of his loving father.
How much more does your Heavenly Father long for you to sit at His feet each day? To show you His love and shape you to become more like Him?
He is inviting you to meet Him in His Word. Today, will you meet Him there?
With love,
Ruth
On ‘doing life together’, and other clichés
“Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.” — Matthew 10:16
‘The church…is not meant to call men and women out of the world into a safe religious enclave but to call them out in order to send them back as agents of God’s kingship.’ — Lesslie Newbigin
Have you ever been in the middle of a conversation with another Christian, and all of a sudden one of the following phrases (or something like them) just slips out without thinking:
‘Doing life together…’
‘Season of life…’
‘I just feel led to…’
‘Not religion, it’s a relationship…’
‘Step out in faith…’
‘Being intentional…’
They’re all examples of what you might call ‘Christianese’—or Christian clichés—and I’m as guilty as anyone for using this kind of language (sometimes ironically—sometimes not).
It’s a kind of shorthand way of talking that, if you’ve been around church long enough, you come to know and understand—and sometimes cringe at.
Not that there’s anything necessarily wrong in saying these things. More often than not, these phrases roughly correspond to Biblical ideas—‘Doing community’, for example, is just our way of talking about the Biblical concept of ‘fellowship’.
What interests me, however, is what our language says about the kind of culture—or, more accurately, the kind of sub-culture—we can live in as Christians.
What do I mean by that?
Regaining our evangelistic edge
If you’re reading this email, you’re likely a Christian living in the UK who has had at least some exposure to evangelical and/or charismatic church life.
The music. The events. The books. The clothing. The TV shows. The podcasts. The clichés.
We speak and behave a certain way. Our churches have certain codes and patterns of behaviour that, to an outsider, can feel weird and sometimes intimidating.
But for Christians, the Christian sub-culture is comfortable. It’s familiar. It’s safe.
(And no, the irony of saying this isn’t lost on me—as someone who writes for a Christian company that produces Christian books, clothing, podcasts and events.)
Of course, the Christian sub-culture has produced a lot of good things—God-honouring art, music and literature that glorifies Jesus and draws people to Him.
And we should be seeking to fill our minds and hearts with things that reflect and honour Jesus: ‘…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things...’, says Paul in Philippians 4:8.
The problem is that we can get so comfortable in the Christian sub-culture that we forget the thing Jesus has called us to— proclaiming Him to the world around us.
We say the Christian things, listen to the Christian music, read the Christian books, follow the Christian influencers, attend the Christian events.
But, over time, we can find it more difficult to relate to our non-believing friends, family and neighbours—because we simply don’t understand (or haven’t taken time to understand) the world they’re living in.
Or, even worse, we stop sharing the gospel altogether.
We need to regain our evangelistic edge.
Shrewd as snakes
Jesus said to His disciples: “Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16).
“I am sending you out.” It sounds obvious, but we often need reminding that our purpose isn’t just to remain in our safe, cosy Christian enclave—it’s to be sent out into a wolf-like world that is often hostile to His ways.
How are we to do that?
We can understand why Jesus would tell His disciples to be “harmless as doves”—a dove is a symbol of purity, innocence and peace.
But what about snakes?
In Scripture, the snake is associated with craftiness—the serpent in Genesis 3:1 is described as ‘crafty’ (NIV, ESV), ‘shrewd’ (NLT) or ‘cunning’ (NKJV).
Of course, Jesus didn’t mean that we should be deceitful or deceptive like the serpent of Genesis 3. But He does call us to be discerning, alert, wise.
Does that mean we should stop listening to Christian music and instead fill our playlists with expletive-laden tracks?
Or that we should start watching 18-rated films so that we can better understand the mission field Jesus is sending us into?
Not necessarily. But Jesus didn’t expect His disciples to be naive or ignorant of the world He was sending them into, either.
They were to live lives of radical purity—like a dove—but they were also to engage wisely and shrewdly with the culture around them.
Get out your (metaphorical) boat
Consider Paul’s sermon to the Athenians in Acts 17:16–34. During his sermon, he quotes secular literature and philosophy as he seeks to engage his audience (Acts 17:28).
Paul was perhaps the greatest evangelist of all time—and he was deeply familiar with the culture around him, because it gave him an evangelistic edge and plausibility to those God had sent him to reach.
Paul never diluted the gospel. He spoke the truth with boldness and without fear—sometimes in a way that offended people.
But he was also shrewd—he spoke the truth in a way that resonated with the Gentile audiences God had called him to serve.
He doesn’t change the content of the gospel—but he contextualises it to help them understand it.
So, let’s return to the question that opened this email. Is it wrong to use Christian clichés?
Not at all. But ask yourself—if that question struck a nerve, does it mean you are more comfortable in the Christian sub-culture than you are out in the world that God has called you to reach?
Can you relate to your non-Christian friends in a way that feels natural and authentic?
Do you know what they watch, what they listen to, how they speak?
Do you understand what they hope for, what they fear, what gets them up in the morning?
If not, perhaps it’s time—to coin a cliché (or three)—to get out of your boat. Be in the world, not of the world. Burst the comfortable Christian bubble, and preach Christ.
Because Jesus hasn’t called you simply to consume Christian content and build the Christian sub-culture.
He has called you, like the early disciples, to “fish for people” (Matthew 4:19).
And most of those people don’t know who Forrest Frank, John Mark Comer or Hillsong are.
Neither do they need to—but they do need Jesus.
So how are you going to reach them with the gospel today?
Love,
Mike
How to become happy like God
“I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” — John 15:11
‘Celebration is at the heart of the way of Christ.’ — Richard Foster
Do you know that God is happy?
So many people imagine God to be a resentful old man who scowls disapprovingly at the world from afar.
Even as Christians, we can secretly view God as generally being pretty unhappy.
After all, surely there’s a lot for Him to be unhappy about: the fallen state of His world, the devastating effects of our sin, the hatred or indifference that so many people feel towards Him.
These things matter to God. He’s not indifferent towards evil, uncaring about injustice or untouched by suffering. You only have to turn a few pages in your Bible to see that this is true.
But none of these things can ever change God’s nature—and His nature is to be happy.
He is happy beyond our ability to understand. He is infinitely, eternally, perfectly joyful. The exceeding delight between His three persons had no start and has no end.
In fact, God is so happy, so satisfied, so full of joy, that He chose to create the world and a people that might share in His happiness. Even though we sinned and severed our relationship with Him, it gave Him great pleasure to bring us back to Himself through His Son Jesus (Ephesians 1:5).
God has always intended for His children—those who have united themselves to Jesus by believing in Him—to share in the infinite depths of His joy.
Learning to experience the joy of Jesus
In John 15, Jesus tells His disciples:
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” (John 15:9–11).
Earlier, Jesus has shared with His disciples that by obeying Him out of love for Him, God Himself would come and live within them. They would become one with God, just as Jesus is.
Now, Jesus tells His disciples that He’s shared this with them so that they would experience the completeness of His joy.
Why was Jesus so joyful? Because He had the fullness of God’s joy within Him.
And when you read the Gospels, you can see how this joy overflowed wherever He went.
He celebrated all the Jewish feasts and festivals. He went to weddings and enjoyed going round people's houses for dinner, to the point where the religious leaders accused Him of being "a glutton and a drunkard". Little children always wanted to be around Him, which tells us something of how fun Jesus must have been.
If we follow Jesus, the goal of our lives is to become like Him. And if we want to be like Him, we have to become joyful like He is.
But how do we actually do this? How do we come to experience the complete joy of Jesus?
By practising celebration.
This is how I would define the practice of celebration: doing things that help us experience the fullness of Jesus' life and joy.
Richard Foster writes that "Celebration is at the heart of the way of Christ". It is absolutely central to who Jesus is, and so it should be central to those who follow Him.
The really fun thing about practising celebration is that you can get so creative with it! But to help get us get started, here are three ways we can start training ourselves to become joyful people just like Jesus:
1. Sing and dance
The Bible constantly tells us to sing praise to God. In fact, Hebrews 13:15 instructs us to ‘continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God’. This is basically commanding us to be joyful in God!
When we’re at our most joyful, singing and dancing bursts out of us. But you don’t have to wait for the next wedding or party or gig or night out to do these things. Do them every day! Have a little praise party every morning. Find some songs that help you feel so happy to know Jesus that you can sing throughout the day.
2. Play
Life can so easily get lost in work, admin, tasks, to-do lists, and often feeling like you’re behind. But while we’re no longer children, we have to remember to stay child-like. Jesus says that those who are like little children will inherit His Kingdom. And what do little children do? They play, all the time. They engage their imagination. They have fun by themselves and with friends.
So, have fun. Carve out time—even just half an hour—each day to enjoy yourself and the gifts God has given you. Paint. Dance. Listen to your favourite album. Bake a cake. Read a brilliant book. Learn a new skill. Call up an old friend. Play sport or watch a game with some mates. And whatever you do, enjoy doing it with God, who loves to give good gifts to His children (Matthew 7:11).
3. Say thank you all the time
This is probably the easiest and the most important one: gratitude. Say thank you to God all the time. See a tree that you love? Thank Him for it. Take a bite of some amazing food? Thank Him for it. Enjoy hanging out with a friend? Thank Him for them.
Make it a habit to say thank you to God as much as possible for everything, big and small. Being grateful is one of the most formative practices we can do to become like Jesus, because it’s His will for us: ‘Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you’ (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
As we’re gradually transformed into joyful people through practising celebration, the world around us will start to change as well.
Our joy in Jesus and our consistent cultivation of celebration in our lives can only shine all the brighter in the joylessness of our world today.
Celebration is a subversive act. It laughs and dances in the face of a defeated enemy. It eagerly welcomes in the hurting, the broken, the hopeless to take a seat at the table. It releases us and others from our heavy yokes. It shouts with a smile into the surrounding darkness that God is good, that He has destroyed sin and death, and that He is coming back to make all things new.
Celebration is the very nature of God Himself. May it become our own nature, too.
Love,
Theo
A diamond with a thousand glittering faces
‘How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!’ — Isaiah 52:7
‘Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy, cast off that I might be brought in, trodden down as an enemy that I might be welcomed as a friend, surrendered to hell’s worst that I might attain heaven’s best… Help me to adore thee by lips and life.’ —The Valley of Vision, ‘Love Lustres at Calvary’
Today could have been called ‘Bloody Friday’.
Or ‘Ugly Friday’.
Or ‘Horrible Friday’.
The Son of God hung naked, scarred and bloodied on a criminal’s cross—one of the cruellest instruments of torture ever devised by mankind.
There He was mocked, ridiculed and spat at by the very people He came to save—the victim of Rome’s brutality and the Pharisees’ deception.
Exhausted, abandoned, in agony—there, as darkness descended across the land, Jesus cried out for the final time.
It could have been called ‘Bloody Friday’.
Instead we call it ‘Good Friday’.
But perhaps we could also have called it ‘Beautiful Friday’.
Beautiful, not because there is anything good or glorious about the barbaric execution of an innocent man—but beautiful because of what Christ achieved for us on the cross.
A diamond with a thousand glittering faces
The message of the cross—the message of the gospel—is unparalleled in beauty.
It’s so beautiful, in fact, that Scripture even calls the feet of the messenger who proclaims it ‘beautiful’:
‘How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!’ — Isaiah 52:7
The message of the cross—the ‘good news of peace and salvation’ prophesied by Isaiah—is like a diamond with a thousand glittering faces.
Every time we examine it, we see something new of God’s glory and grace—we behold the radiant light of His perfect love and goodness.
Today, meditate with me on seven glorious aspects of Christ’s saving work on the cross—seven faces of the beautiful diamond of the gospel.
1. The glory of His justice
‘But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.’ — Isaiah 53:5
‘For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.’ — Romans 3:25–26
2. The glory of His victory
‘You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.’ — Colossians 2:13–15
‘“Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ – 1 Corinthians 15:55a–57
3. The glory of His grace
‘But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.’ — Ephesians 2:4–7
‘When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.’ — Titus 3:4–7
4. The glory of His love
‘But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.’ – Romans 5:8
‘We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us.’ — 1 John 3:16a
5. The glory of our justification
‘Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.’ — Romans 5:1
‘For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.’ — 2 Corinthians 5:21
6. The glory of our assurance
‘So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.’ — Romans 8:1
‘My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.’ — 1 John 2:1–2
7. The glory of His completed work
‘When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.’ — John 19:30
‘For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.’ — Hebrews 10:10
This list is not exhaustive. These wonderful realities are just seven aspects of the thousand—and more—glittering faces of the gospel.
They are a taste of the glorious feast that Scripture invites us to enjoy and satisfy ourselves on—not just during Easter, but each and every day of our lives.
Behold Him—and share Him
Today, as you behold again the man on the cross—Jesus Christ, who died so that you could live, who took the form of a servant so that you could be raised up as a son, who rose triumphantly in the power of the Spirit on the third day to vanquish sin and death forever—fall again at His feet in wonder.
See His justice, His victory, His grace, His love, His justification, His assurance, His completed work—and praise Him.
Lay your sin before Him. Lay hold of His grace and mercy once again. Know the assurance of His forgiveness. Delight in His presence.
And there, from that place of heart-filled gratitude, go and tell the world that life, forgiveness and freedom is found in Him alone.
Today, and every day, let your life be a mirror for the beauty of the gospel—‘How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!’ (Isaiah 52:7).
With love,
Mike
The secret to being joyful every day
‘This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.’ — Psalm 118:24
‘The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus means that one day everything sad will come untrue.’ — J.R.R. Tolkien
It’s easy to say, ‘This is the day the LORD has made’ when the sun is shining, the sky is blue, and life is going well.
But when it’s dark and cold, and we face problems or pain, we can easily find ourselves asking:
Lord, is this really the day you have made? Do you really expect me to rejoice in it?
Psalm 118 challenges us not to wait until things get better or for our circumstances to change before we rejoice. Instead, we are to rejoice and be glad in each and every day—because God makes and wakes us up into each and every day.
A day that’s worth rejoicing in
This joy isn’t just naive optimism, positive self-talk or toxic positivity. It’s a joy that’s found in something tangible. It is a certain hope.
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing,
and it is wonderful to see.
This is the day the Lord has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.’ — Psalm 118:22–24
The Psalmist is able to rejoice because he looks forward to an even better day. He celebrates the present day of a victory in battle, but also prophetically rejoices about a greater battle to come.
Jesus uses verse 22 to describe Himself (Mark 12:1–12). He was rejected by those who should have known Him. He was crushed, taking our place and receiving the punishment for our sins so that we might be forgiven, so that He might be the cornerstone of our salvation
As He rose again, Jesus won the victory over sin and death to give life to all who trust in Him. As the Psalmist sings, ‘This is the LORD’s doing, and it is wonderful to see’.
Through faith in Jesus, we are living in the ultimate victory that He has won for us, and we can be completely confident that our future is forever secure in Him.
With Jesus as our cornerstone—the foundation of our lives—we can rejoice in any circumstance. We can be confident that God’s love and goodness won’t change, even when everything around us is changing.
A change in perspective
Each morning, before you reach for your phone or put the kettle on or head out into your day, thank God for another day in His presence.
As you meet God in His Word, you will see more and more of His unfailing love. And by asking the Holy Spirit to help you look back at the cross and forward to Jesus’ return, He will transform your perspective, and you’ll find that rejoicing in Him becomes second-nature.
With the Spirit’s help, you really can rejoice in all circumstances.
The victory has been won.
Death is defeated.
Your future is sure.
This is the day the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad in it.
With love,
Ruth
You really can change
‘Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.’ — Romans 12:2
‘People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures.’ ― F. M. Alexander
One of the best selling books in history is Atomic Habits by James Clear. It’s sold over 25 million copies, and sat at the top of the New York Times’ best-selling list for 5 years (James Clear).
One of the largest industries in the world is the wellness sector—including personal care, fitness and wellness tourism—which is projected to reach $8.5 billion this year (WifiTalents).
Another sector that’s rapidly growing is the digital detox industry, which is forecast to be valued at nearly $20 billion in 6 years’ time (Zion Market Research).
Behind these big numbers lies our latest obsession: habits.
The power of habits
A new study recently published in the Psychology and Health journal suggests that a lot of our daily behaviours are driven by habit rather than conscious decision-making.
Habits aren’t just things we do. They form the lives we live and the people we become.
If we have a vision of the kind of people we want to be, we have to put in place the practices, disciplines and routines that will help shape us into those kinds of people.
The trouble is, it’s so much easier to live passively.
Without realising it, we fall into and get stuck by habits that deform us—everyday practices that make us less like Jesus and draw us further away from the full life He made us for.
We scroll on our phones during every spare moment—and so we become distracted people.
We binge on food and drink—and so we become greedy people.
We fail to forgive others—and so we become angry people.
What we do consistently forms who we become eternally.
God’s grace and our effort
From the outset, it's really important to remember this: God alone starts and finishes our formation to become like Jesus.
He starts it: ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast’ (Eph. 2:9).
He finishes it: ‘And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns’ (Phil. 1:16).
But unlike his work of salvation for us, He has enabled us to participate actively in His work of transformation in us.
As the pastor Dallas Willard writes, the opposite of grace isn't effort—it's earning. We can never earn God's grace, but we can choose to rely on it as we seek to become holy not only in name, but in nature.
I love this graph adapted from Ben Sternke's article—it really helps clarify the relationship between grace and effort in the Christian life:
Grace + no effort = passivism: We fail to respond to God's work within us, and so our formation never gets started (see Philippians 2:12–13).
Effort + earning = legalism and behaviourism: We try to earn God's favour and become like Him through our external actions, but our formation is only inauthentic and surface-level behaviour modification (see Luke 8:10–12).
No effort + earning = cynicism and shame: We believe that we must earn our way into God's favour but feel powerless to do so, leading to anxious and ashamed inaction (see Matthew 25:24–26).
But grace + effort = fruitful life in the Holy Spirit.
God's grace empowers us to respond with the effort to become like Him. He gives us the desire, the strength and the humility to do His will, so that we can step fully into experiencing life in His Kingdom.
Instead of being a dull and difficult duty to perform, becoming like God happens in active, living and loving relationship with all three of His Persons:
The Father chooses us to become like the Son (Romans 8:29).
The Son enables us to have life in the Spirit like Him, and shows us what this life looks like (Romans 8:10).
The Holy Spirit empowers us to apply our effort so that we can participate in this life (Galatians 5:22–25).
But how do we actually do this in our everyday lives?
Training in holiness
Rather than trying to become like Jesus through our own efforts, we must train ourselves in the grace and power of the Holy Spirit (1 Timothy 4:7–9).
And the way we do this is through 'spiritual practices' or 'holy habits'.
These include practising silence, solitude, fasting, simplicity, meditating on God's Word, singing worship, community with others, and confession.
These practices—first exemplified by Jesus and then adopted by the early church—allow us to bring ourselves before God every day to receive His grace and so be transformed into Jesus’ likeness by His Spirit.
Now, we have to remember that 'holy habits' are only ever a means to an end.
An athlete doesn't train for the sake of training, but so they can win; a musician doesn't practise for the sake of practising, but so they can master their instrument. Likewise, we don't adopt 'holy habits' for the sake of doing them, but so that we can meet with Jesus, become like Him and live as He did.
And just like any other habit, these 'holy habits' help us change through the grace and power of the Holy Spirit:
Practising silence and solitude makes us become more present people.
Practising fasting makes us become more content people.
Practising serving others makes us become more loving people.
By committing to these practices, we start to live our lives ‘as Jesus did’ (1 John 2:6).
You really can change
If you are in Jesus, you aren't powerless. You aren't meant to struggle with same sins until you die. You aren't meant to stay the same as you are today.
He has made and saved you for so much more than that.
Through His death, He has reconciled you to God.
Through His resurrection, He has destroyed the power of death over you.
Through His Spirit, He has given you the same power to win the fight against sin, and experience the fullness of His life.
The old has gone—you are a new person, with a new life, preparing to rule over a new world with Him when He returns. And when He does, you'll be just like Him, as you finally see Him face to face (1 John 3:2).
But until that day comes, live your life as He has shown you how to: through ordinary habits, practised in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Then see how He slowly changes you from the inside out to become like Him.
Love,
Theo
The sacrifice God desires
‘The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.’ — Psalm 51:17
‘My soul is like a house, small for you to enter, but I pray you to enlarge it. It is in ruins, but I ask you to remake it. It contains much that you will not be pleased to see: this I know and do not hide. But who is to rid it of these things? There is no one but you.’ — Augustine of Hippo, Confessions
The further I travel through the Christian life, the more I realise just how broken I am.
Even though I love Jesus, my words and actions so often fail to reflect His goodness and beauty.
Even though my mind is being renewed by the Spirit, my thoughts and desires still continue to stray from His truth.
Even though I am in Christ, sin and selfishness still have their way in my life and my relationships.
In fact, the more that God opens my eyes to see more of His holiness, the more I realise just how far I fall short without Him.
And yet, even though I know the glorious gospel truth that Jesus has taken my guilt and given me His righteousness so that I can come freely to the Father—I can still feel frustrated, defeated and disillusioned in my relationship with Him.
But rather than taking these things to God in prayer and repentance, I can allow shame to fester and grow in my life until it feels like an insurmountable barrier to His presence.
In this place of despondency, I continue going through the motions of prayer, worship, reading the Word and meeting with other believers—all without really being present to God.
I say all the right words, do all the right things—all while my heart feels far from Him.
I’m not alone. These are feelings that countless believers—from the apostle Paul, to Augustine, to thousands of us today—have experienced.
In times like these, there’s one verse in one of my favourite Psalms that I’ve come back to time and time again: “The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God” (Psalm 51:17).
The sacrifice that God desires
Where do we turn when we feel broken, ashamed, and defeated in our continued battle with sin?
We aren’t meant to run away from God in shame—but towards Him in repentance, trust and renewed obedience.
We run to Jesus.
David, the author of Psalm 51, was a man well acquainted with the reality of sin—and the shame that follows closely after it.
He had forced Bathsheba, a married woman, to sleep with him—and then, after finding out that she was pregnant with his son, had arranged for her husband Uriah to be killed in battle to cover it up (2 Samuel 11–12).
It’s a horrific story. David’s actions are inexcusable. But it gets worse.
David thinks he has got away with it—until he is confronted by Nathan the prophet, who tells David a parable of a rich man who steals and slaughters a treasured lamb from a poor man.
David is enraged at the story—the rich man deserves death! But then comes Nathan’s famous rebuke: “You are that man!” (2 Samuel 12:7).
Until this point, David is a terrible example of godly living and leadership. He has committed some of the most evil offences possible.
But it’s what he does next that gives broken sinners like you and me hope.
He will not reject a broken heart
After Nathan confronts his sin, David finally takes his guilt to God: “I have sinned against the LORD” (2 Samuel 12:13).
Psalm 51 records David’s famous prayer of repentance, in which he appeals to God’s “unfailing love” and “great compassion” for forgiveness.
Where does David go with his brokenness?
He doesn’t hide it from God. Faced with the reality of his sin, he delays no longer in taking it straight to his Father in heaven—the only one who can forgive, cleanse and ultimately restore him.
Astonishingly, scandalously, God forgives David: “Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin” (2 Samuel 12:13).
God opens up a way back to relationship with Himself—not because David deserves it, but because of His own lavish grace and mercy.
Of course, there are still consequences to be paid for David’s catastrophic failure. His newborn son dies. His kingdom would be divided and eventually fall in the generations to come.
Forgiveness doesn’t mean that there aren’t repercussions for our sin. God has ordered His world such that we often need to live with—and work to repair—the personal and relational effects of our wrongdoing.
But what forgiveness does mean is that, for those who come to return to Him in repentance, there is always a way back to the Father in the aftermath of sin.
We, like David, can experience the joy of our salvation once more, no matter how far we have run or low we have fallen (see Psalm 51:12). He will never “reject a broken and repentant heart” (Psalm 51:17)—what a wonderful promise for us to cling to!
If David was able to run to God in his most vile, most evil moment, how much more are we able to run to Him now that we are in Jesus—the One in whom God has revealed to us the fullness of His love, grace and mercy?
If, today, you feel far from God and unable to come to Him because of your guilt and shame, look to Him. Remember all that He did for you at the cross—not just for some of your sins, but “once for all time” (Hebrews 10:10).
Don’t let your guilt and shame keep you from God’s presence—instead, let it be an invitation for you to run to Him.
If you are in Christ, you have been clothed in His righteousness—and you can “come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most” (Hebrews 4:16).
Run to Him in repentance. Rest in His unconditional, unreserved grace and love for you.
If you find yourself struggling for words, why not use Psalm 51 to guide you—or the beautiful prayer of Augustine that opened this email:
“My soul is like a house, small for you to enter, but I pray you to enlarge it. It is in ruins, but I ask you to remake it. It contains much that you will not be pleased to see: this I know and do not hide. But who is to rid it of these things? There is no one but you.”
Friend, as you run to Him, I pray that you “may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is” (Ephesians 3:18).
With love,
Mike
Give until it gets funny
‘And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.’ — 2 Corinthians 9:8
‘The most mature Christians I’ve known haven’t been pearl-clutching, grouchy misers. The holiest people I know have a twinkle in their eye—like they know a secret (Guess what? It’s grace).’ — Carissa Early
At the start of this year, my wife and I took a sabbatical and went as far away from the cold, dark, endless grey-ness of the UK as we could go, which inevitably meant heading to Australia.
On the third day of our trip, we went to a donut shop in Perth. After we made our order (one single-glazed to avoid outright indulgence), the girl behind the till packaged it up, and then told us it was on the house.
It was a lovely surprise.
But after we left and headed down the street, we checked the bag—and there were two donuts in there.
She’d somehow snuck in another free donut.
We couldn’t really believe it.
After we got over our initial shock and then suspicion of whether these donuts were really legit, we laughed and realised we had been on the receiving end of a totally unexpected act of generosity.
Sure, it was just donuts. It’s not like she gave us her dog or her life savings.
But that’s beside the point. That girl’s small act of generosity gave us a massive dose of joy (and sugar). She blessed us when she didn’t have to—and we’ll always remember her and thank God for giving us that moment.
Give until it gets funny
God is generous. He gives and gives and gives with infinite abundance and out of endless kindness. And He wants us, His children, to do the same.
Paul says that God loves a ‘cheerful’ giver—but the Greek word is ‘hilaros’, which is the root for the English word, ‘hilarious’.
It’s almost like Paul has in mind someone who gives away what they have to others so freely, so eagerly, so unconditionally, that it starts to become funny.
It’s a type of joyful generosity that causes a chain-reaction of joy in others.
It’s a kind of giving that just doesn’t make worldly sense, because it’s a kind of giving that comes from another world—from Heaven.
Now, this doesn’t mean stewarding what we have foolishly. There’s no point of emptying your savings if your heart is full of resentment, misery or desperation for people to applaud you for your good deed.
This kind of generosity is all about the posture of our hearts.
Everything we have is from God and for Him. By being generous, we simply pass on what He’s already given us, fully confident that He is always full of grace, and that He will always give us what we need.
And that’s one of the hard lessons of trust that every child of God needs to learn: that He will provide for us.
It’s far easier for us to hang on to a mindset of scarcity—thinking that God will somehow fail us or leave us to fend for ourselves in this world—than to have an attitude of generosity, which only comes when we fully trust God to give us what we need.
We worry that by giving generously—or ‘hilariously’—we might be taken advantage of, or get left with nothing.
But the beautiful thing about generosity—when practised wisely with the guidance of the Holy Spirit—is that it is freeing.
It frees us from fear about our purses and possessions.
It frees us from attempting to control our lives.
It frees us to respond kindly to those around us.
It frees us to bless the world just like our Heavenly Father does every day.
It’s meant to be fun
Living generously for God is fun because you can be so creative with it. There are no rules!
If you sense Him inviting you to give something away, or do something kind, or treat someone lavishly, or donate something, then follow His lead, and see where it takes you.
Generosity is not meant to be a burden, but a joyful practice that we get to share with God Himself.
So, enjoy it.
Enjoy buying that person in the queue in front of you their coffee.
Enjoy covering a friend’s flights for a much-needed holiday.
Enjoy baby-sitting for a couple so they can finally enjoy a date night.
Enjoy helping that stranger hit their GoFundMe target.
Give away hilariously, knowing that God loves you and will joyfully give you ‘everything you need and plenty left over to share with others’ (2 Corinthians 9:8).
Who knows, that might even include a couple of donuts.
Love,
Theo
Get busy living
“I don’t want you to die, says the Sovereign Lord. Turn back and live!” — Ezekiel 18:32
“I guess it comes down to a simple choice really. Get busy living, or get busy dying” — Andy Dufresne, The Shawshank Redemption
There’s a line in The Shawshank Redemption that’s stuck with me ever since I first watched it.
It comes during a key conversation between the film’s protagonists and fellow inmates—Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) and Red (Morgan Freeman).
They’re talking in the prison yard about what years on the inside can do to a person—how, over time, a place like Shawshank can become familiar, even comfortable, until the promise of freedom feels frightening.
Most men can’t make it on the outside, says Red—they can’t cope with freedom after years on the inside.
But Andy refuses to surrender to Red’s bleak verdict. He shares his dream of life beyond prison—of Mexico, down by the Pacific, “a warm place with no memory” where life can begin again.
Their conversation ends with Andy’s famous words: “I guess it comes down to a simple choice really. Get busy living, or get busy dying.”
What are you choosing today?
Are you busy living, or busy dying?
Freedom—too good to be true?
As followers of Jesus, we can so often find ourselves trapped in our own ‘Shawshanks’.
Of course, I don’t mean incarceration in a physical building. I’m talking about spiritual imprisonment in our self-made cells of sin, guilt and shame.
The reality of God’s lavish, unconditional, extravagent grace can feel bewildering—frightening, even—to hearts that have spent years both sinning and being sinned against.
We find it easy to wrap our heads around notions of justice, law and punishment: do wrong, and you’ll face the consequences.
Feelings of shame, guilt and embarrassment come naturally to us. In our fallen world, these are emotions we learn and absorb from a young age. They might be unpleasant—but we get comfortable living with them.
But grace? That’s something supernatural, extraordinary, fantastic—something we can barely dream of. It sounds too good to be true.
Of course, as Christians, we know that freedom from sin isn’t just possible—it’s a reality that we now enjoy in Jesus by His Spirit (see John 8:36, 2 Corinthians 3:17, Galatians 5:1).
Even so, we can find ourselves yearning for the familiarity of our old lives imprisoned under sin.
We hold on to the guilt that God has already forgiven us by the blood of His Son, through the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7).
We dredge up the shame of our past that God has already plunged to the depths of His ocean of mercy (Micah 7:18–19).
We beat ourselves up with failures that God has chosen to blot out from His remembrance (Isaiah 43:25).
We submit ourselves again to cycles of sin and rebellion that, now that we are in Christ, no longer master us (Romans 6:14).
In other words, we settle for the squalor of Shawshank when God has offered us the shores of Mexico—“a warm place with no memory” of our sin or shame.
Get busy living
If, today, you find yourself trapped in a prison of sin, guilt and shame—there’s good news.
The way to freedom isn’t by working harder, doing better, or (spoiler alert) attempting a heroic attempt at self-rescue involving a tiny sewage pipe.
It is found by returning to Jesus, who is “…the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
Only the light of His glorious, dazzling, illuminating grace can dispel the darkness of our prison cells of guilt and shame.
Freedom is found as we lift our eyes from ourselves and gaze again on Him—trusting Him, resting in His grace, and surrendering everything to Him.
It comes by bringing ourselves again to the foot of the cross—laying our sin there, and plunging ourselves beneath the cleansing, purifying, life-giving blood of Christ that He has freely poured out for our salvation.
It is in Him, and Him alone, that we find the fullness of life, forgiveness, joy and peace that our hearts long for.
He has brought you into a spacious place—He has rescued you from the prison of your sin because he delights in you (see Psalm 18:19, NIV). His presence truly is “a warm place with no memory” of sin, guilt and shame.
Do you want to get busy living?
Abide in Jesus. Root yourself in His Word, rest in His grace, and be filled with His Spirit.
Today, I pray that you would know again the wonder of the gospel—not just as a comforting idea, but as a glorious reality that shapes and defines your whole life.
I pray that you would get busy living the life God made you for—the life of radical freedom, joy and peace enjoyed by those who know they have been forgiven and redeemed by God.
Run to Jesus—“Turn back and live!” (Ezekiel 18:32).
With love,
Mike
Relying on God’s love
‘If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.’ — 1 John 4:15–16 (NIV)
“Nothing binds me to my Lord like a strong belief in His changeless love.” — Charles Spurgeon
Recently, there’s a little phrase that has been jumping out at me as I’ve been reading my Bible:
‘But the Lord watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his unfailing love.’ — Psalm 33:18
‘And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.’ — 1 John 4:16 (NIV)
What does it mean to ‘rely on’ God’s love?
I think we find the answer in John 15, as Jesus teaches His disciples in the upper room just before His death.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing... I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.” — John 15:5, 9
Earlier in the story, Jesus has promised that He has come to bring us life in all its fullness (John 10:10)—and here, He tells us how we get to live this full life by using the metaphor of a vine and its branches.
A branch can’t generate its own life. It can’t produce its own fruit. It can’t be independent at all, otherwise it’ll die. A branch relies completely on the vine to fill, grow and sustain it with life.
So it is with us and Jesus.
He made us to be one with Him. He made us for Himself—to depend on Him, and to find in Him everything we need and desire. In perfect love, He made us; and in perfect love, He fills those united to Him by faith so that they come fully alive: knowing Him personally, experiencing Him deeply, living like Him powerfully in this world.
His love is our souls’ life. But we must choose to remain in it.
When we choose to go it alone in life—relying on ourselves instead of Jesus’ love—we wilt and waste away, like a branch severed from the vine it belongs to. We deprive ourselves of the very purpose we were made for: to be one with Jesus.
I know the feeling of trying to live independently of Jesus and His love. It’s that soul-level dryness that displays itself in the un-Christlike ways I live: prioritising my comfort over others’ needs, losing my patience at trivial things, fraying with anxiety, lacking love for God and for people.
In other words, it feels like death on the inside. It really is a miserable place to be.
But when we choose to surrender to Him every day—relying on His love instead of ourselves—we flourish with all the fruits of His Spirit living within us.
Jesus’ love is the only thing we can truly rely on in this world, because unlike everything else, His love is unfailing because He is unfailing. He Himself is the love He shows us—and because He never changes, His love for us will never change.
That’s why Paul exclaims that despite every kind of tragic and terrible thing that could happen to us, ‘overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us’ (Romans 8:37), because we can never be separated from Him and His love living in us.
How awesome is that!
So, whatever you’re going through right now, rely on nothing less than Jesus Himself.
He loves you, forever.
He is with you, forever.
He is yours, forever.
Today, may we know ‘… how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love’ (Romans 5:5).
Love,
Theo
Is this revival?
“Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” — Matthew 4:17
‘Revival, above anything else, is a glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is the restoration of him to the centre of the life of the Church.’ — Martyn Lloyd-Jones
If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably been excited by recent headlines about a revived curiosity in God, the Bible and Christianity.
There’s lots of talk of a ‘quiet revival’.
Reports of Gen Z flocking back to church.
Evidence of Bible sales reaching record highs.
Stories of people walking into churches off the street, compelled by a desire to find meaning, purpose and community.
It’s good news—amazing news. We should rejoice in these reports. We should give thanks that people are waking up to the reality that there is something more—that life is found only in Jesus.
But (there’s always a but, isn’t there?)…
As God’s people, we cannot let these encouraging headlines (and they are encouraging!) lead us to complacency.
What do I mean?
Repentance precedes revival
Times of revival—both in individual lives and nations—are always accompanied by personal and corporate repentance, as people turn away from sin and towards God.
We see this pattern in God’s words to Solomon following the dedication of the Temple:
“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.” — 2 Chronicles 7:14
For the people of Israel, revival and restoration would come only in the context of true, humble repentance and seeking after God.
It’s a pattern we also see in the verse that opened this email. At the beginning of His ministry on earth, Jesus says: “…repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”
Not, “Debate Christian ideas, for the Kingdom of heaven is near.”
Not, “Be a ‘spiritual person’, for the Kingdom of heaven is near.”
Not even, “Find a Christian community, for the Kingdom of heaven is near.”
He says: “Repent of your sins, and turn to God.”
In the midst of renewed interest and curiosity about Christianity, this is not a time for the Church to sit back, congratulating ourselves that people are starting to take us seriously again.
This is a moment to root ourselves again in the truth of the gospel, to repent where we have failed to share it boldly, to turn back to God, and to commit ourselves to wholehearted obedience and surrender.
Jesus, the only way
We cannot be complacent. We cannot confuse sympathy for Christianity with saving faith in Christ.
The way of Jesus isn’t just a lifestyle choice. He isn’t just an add-on that enriches our lives with a bit more meaning and purpose.
He doesn’t just provide us with a set of moral values or ethical principles to make us ‘better people’ or build a better society.
His Word isn’t just a self-help manual from which we can pick and choose ideas we like, and dismiss the ones we disagree with.
His Church isn’t just a community of nice people in which we find friendship and belonging.
Only repentance and belief in Jesus Christ, as the Holy Spirit works in hearts to expose sin and lead us to faith in Him, can save people.
Of course, the way to life with Jesus is a journey. That journey often begins with interest in the Bible (the book of Jesus), Christianity (the way of Jesus), and the Church (the people of Jesus).
We should give thanks for the many, many people who have taken their first steps on that journey in recent weeks and months.
But if that journey doesn’t lead to Jesus Himself—to repentance, trust and surrender—it cannot rightly be called ‘revival’.
We can and should give thanks for indicators like ‘spiritual interest’, church attendance and Bible sales.
These things might be early signs of revival—but only if they lead to real faith in the real Jesus.
Ideas alone can’t save people. Christian values—or so-called ‘Cultural Christianity’—can’t save people. ‘Spirituality’ can’t save people.
Jesus isn’t just some other way among many other ways—He is the only way. He is reality itself. His Word is truth. His way demands everything.
A call to boldness
What is our response in all this, as God’s people?
Repentance.
Prayer.
And boldness.
We must do what God’s people have always done in times of revival—we must examine ourselves, repent of our own sin and failures, and turn back to God in wholehearted devotion and surrender.
We must get on our knees in faith-filled, Spirit-empowered prayer.
And we must preach the gospel boldly—not a diluted, watered-down, people-pleasing gospel—but the real, true, eternal-life-changing gospel.
We must proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ—that the only way to salvation and life is in Him, and Him alone, as we lay hold of God’s grace by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).
This is the message the Church is called to herald in this cultural moment. This is the only message that changes lives and eternal destinies. This message alone is good news.
Today, join me in praying that the ‘quiet revival’ would become real, heart-changing, culture-shaking revival.
Lord, do it in our time.
With love,
Mike
The treasure of trials
“But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold.” — Job 23:10
‘Dear brothers and sisters, I pray God may open your eyes and let you see what hidden treasures he bestows on us in the trials from which the world thinks only to flee.’ — St John of Avila
Around this time last year, I found myself facing one of the hardest experiences of my life.
It all started with a phone call on an ordinary Monday evening at 5:45pm.
From the tone of the doctor’s voice, I instantly knew that something was wrong.
“Your recent test results unfortunately came back positive, and we’ll need to refer you to the fast-track diagnostic team to check whether you have cancer or not.”
As soon as I hung up the phone, everything felt like it had changed. It was as if the lights had suddenly gone out, and I was left flailing in the dark.
Moments before, I had been happily getting on with my life. Now, I had no real certainty of how long I would have that life.
As much as I didn’t want to even accept that this was the situation I was now in, I knew I had to walk through it, and that I had no hope of making it to the other side without Jesus.
There are times in life when you realise that there really is nowhere else to turn other than to Him. When the things that form the blocks we build our lives with—relationships, health, jobs, plans and dreams—are suddenly gone, and you are brought face to face with your fragility.
“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.” — Matthew 7:24–25
Jesus says that the storms of life are inevitable. No matter who we are, all of us will face difficulty, disappointment and disaster of some kind. When these storms suddenly rise up against us, they expose the foundation that we have chosen to build our lives on.
If it is anything other than Jesus, we will collapse into ruin. But if it is Jesus, we are safe, forever.
Suffering brings us to the end of ourselves—and it is there that we find Jesus. When we have no other choice but to cling to Him, we are closer to Him than ever. Our distracted minds regain a single focus on Him, and our disordered hearts rediscover their true desire for Him.
It is so much better to go through a trial that draws us so inextricably close to Jesus rather than enjoy a thousand comforts that only distract us from Him.
The unwanted gift
In a mysterious way, trials are a gift. We never want them, but we need them. Without them, we will never become the people that God has made, saved and called us to be.
God isn’t committed to our convenience, but to conforming us into the image of Jesus. He will always prioritise our long-term holiness over our short-term happiness. He knows which parts in us need to die so that our whole beings can flourish, and He is relentless in cutting out of our lives anything that threatens this.
It’s only when we become holy like Him that we can live in the way He made us to. When we become truly holy—when we become more and more like Jesus—we become truly happy: content, joyful and peaceful people who glimmer ever more brightly with His glory.
If gold is left in the ground, it never reaches its full, magnificent potential. In the same way, if we bury ourselves in the comforts, pleasures and ease of the world, we will never become the glorious people that God desires us to be.
Only when we surrender to God and allow ourselves to be placed in the refining fire of His love will we come out gleaming in His holiness.
Nearly all of the most memorable encounters and experiences I’ve had with God have come not on the peaks when things are going well, but in the valleys where things are really hard.
I love the mountaintops; but I’m more thankful for the valleys.
It’s only when the black shadows of fear and uncertainty have loomed over me that I become more aware of Jesus’ light shining in the darkness, His presence comforting me in my anxiety, His voice guiding me in my confusion.
God does some of His deepest and most transformative work in us through the suffering He allows us and helps us to go through. He leads and accompanies us into the wilderness so that all our pretend, self-sourced strength withers away under the beating sun of our trials, and we are brought to a place of complete surrender to Him.
And in that place of utter weakness, we find that we can trust in nothing else other than God. We finally see that He alone is our strength, our source, everything that we need and desire.
He does this because He loves us. We only have to look at Jesus to see that this is true.
The suffering Saviour
God is love. The Father, the Son and the Spirit love one another perfectly in never-ending joy and delight. In their perfect love for one another, the Father enabled the Son in the power of the Spirit to endure the suffering of the cross, so that we might be reconciled to Him—saved from sin and death, and freed into fullness of life.
We trust in a God who doesn’t look at a distance at our suffering, but who has willingly stepped into it Himself.
Apart from sin, Jesus experienced the whole spectrum of human life in a fallen world. He lived the perfect life—but it wasn’t a privileged, luxurious and out-of-touch kind of life. His joy was complete and His peace secure, but He was also the ‘man of sorrows’ and a ‘suffering servant’.
He experienced exhaustion, frustration, hunger, thirst, anger and loss. He wept. He was deeply moved by the suffering people He encountered at every turn. His love was never self-preserving; He loved others selflessly at the expense of His comfort, His reputation—even His very life.
Jesus went through it all for us to rescue us from the destruction of sin and death. He suffered so that we might be saved.
Now, we must do the same for Him and for others.
Every challenge, every pain, every loss, every circumstance is an opportunity to follow Jesus’ example in learning how to fully trust, obey and depend on the Father.
As we do this, we catch the attention of those around us. People notice that even in the face of our trials, we stand firm in the peace, power and presence of God. They feel able to trust us by sharing their own pain with us.
The way we approach suffering—seeing it as a hard but necessary part of our obedience to Jesus and becoming like Him—is one of the most compelling ways to show Him to others.
The certain future
We don’t suffer in detached stoicism or determined heroism—we can choose to go through suffering with joy, because we are completely confident in Jesus to sustain us, lead us and bring us safely into an unimaginably glorious future.
‘Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.’ — Romans 8:18
No more tears.
No more pain.
No more sickness.
No more disasters.
No more death.
Endless peace.
Endless joy.
Endless delight.
Endless life.
Endless glory.
This is the firm, fast-approaching future for those who are in Jesus. He will return to put all wrongs right, to make all things new, and to reign with us over a fully-restored universe.
No matter how dark our circumstances might feel right now, the light of Jesus is always shining around us, and the glory of Heaven is always glimmering on the horizon ahead.
Trust in Jesus
Mercifully, after months of tests, I found out that I didn’t have cancer.
But I know that there will be more trials ahead of me: more unexpected storms, more dark valleys, more barren wildernesses, and ultimately an inevitable death that I will have to go through.
It’s the same for all of us. It is simply the way that life in this fallen world works.
But if we are in Jesus—if we believe in Him, love Him and live for Him—we can go through all our days with Him in peace, confidence and joy.
He is with us (Matthew 28:20).
He is for us (Romans 8:31).
He has made us forever right with Him (Romans 5:1–2).
He carries our burdens (1 Peter 5:7).
He shows us the way (Psalm 32:8).
He is our strength (Psalm 46:1).
He bottles up our tears (Psalm 56:8).
He listens to us (Psalm 34:17–18).
He weeps with us (John 11:35).
He prays for us (Hebrews 7:25).
He will bring us safely home (John 14:3).
And through it all, He is transforming us to become like Him, so that we’re ready to be with Him forever.
Whatever you face—either today or one day—take heart, trust in Jesus, and treasure the trials that bring you closer to Him.
Love,
Theo
Lessons from the nihilist penguin
What does a viral penguin teach us about life, faith and our longing for more?
‘This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it.”’ — Isaiah 30:15
‘Even if he caught him and brought him back to the colony, he would immediately head right back for the mountains—but why?’ — Werner Herzog, ‘Encounters at the End of the World’
Over the past couple of weeks, a penguin has taken the internet by storm—and not for the reasons you might think.
If you missed it, this particular penguin—an Adélie penguin, apparently—is the unexpected hero of a viral clip from Werner Herzog’s 2007 documentary, ‘Encounters at the End of the World’, shot in Antarctica (take a look here).
In the video, we watch on as the penguin breaks away from the colony, turns its back on its mates, and begins marching inland towards the distant mountains—away from its source of food, away from the protection of the group, and towards certain death.
In his narration of the scene, Werner Herzog voices the obvious question: ‘But why?’
What a penguin teaches us about our longing for more
Of course, it’s just a penguin. It’s not really that deep. I’m sure there are good scientific reasons for why it acted the way it did.
But what interested me is how this viral moment put a finger on something deeper—our longing for purpose and meaning.
The penguin’s lonely march to the mountains resonated with a desire so many of us feel—to escape the grind of modern life that often leaves us feeling burnt out, anxious and restless.
Even if they can’t quite articulate it, so many people sense that modern life and its idols—success, status, money, pleasure—haven’t delivered on their promises.
Instead of providing the satisfaction and freedom we’re looking for, the pursuit of these things only leaves us empty, exhausted and lost.
Disappointed and disillusioned, escape begins to feel like the answer.
Is escaping courageous, or is it cowardice? Either way, it can seem like the only way to satisfy our longing for more.
Hand in your notice. Book your ticket. Pack your bags. Start again somewhere new—the way to peace and freedom is found on the other side of escape, isn’t it?
Less dramatically, maybe you could just reinvent yourself by taking up new interests, new hobbies and new relationships—surely that will fill the emptiness?
Where are we to run?
Not escaping, but returning
God’s Word points us towards a much better, more glorious answer.
The purpose and peace we’re looking for doesn’t ultimately come from escaping our circumstances and creating a new life for ourselves—it comes from returning to and resting in Jesus.
Reflect, for a moment, on the verse that opened this email:
‘This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it.”’ — Isaiah 30:15
Surrounded by enemies and facing the Lord’s punishment, the people of Israel were facing an existential crisis—the future of their nation and their lives were under threat from the Assyrian empire.
The Lord, speaking through Isaiah, says something surprising—something that probably sounded absurd to a people facing imminent destruction.
The way to salvation was neither through escaping nor through fighting in their own power. It was only through returning and resting in Him that they would be delivered. Strength was to be found not in themselves, but in quiet confidence in the Lord.
And here’s where the penguin comes back in.
Like the people Isaiah was addressing, so many of us today feel surrounded and without a way out. We feel overwhelmed, anxious, and boxed in—not by physical enemies, but by the pressures, burdens and expectations of modern life.
Sometimes, like the penguin, escape feels like the way to salvation:
‘I’ll finally feel free when I get out of that workplace, that situation, that relationship.’
‘I’ll finally be at peace when I stop living for other people’s approval.’
‘Life will make sense when I just live “my truth” and forge my own path.’
God’s Word points us in an entirely different direction. The salvation we’re looking for isn’t from escaping our circumstances, but in returning to the One who made us.
We were made for Him—to know and be known by Him, to love and be loved by Him, and to live for His glory.
He alone saves us from our greatest need—not just the pressures and anxieties of the world around us, but the ultimate problem of the sin within us—by sending His Son to bear our guilt, carry our shame and share with us His righteousness.
He died a criminal’s death outside the city walls—alone, rejected and abandoned—so that we could be brought into relationship with His Father and experience the joy, love and peace He has enjoyed for all eternity.
He walked the loneliest road any human being has ever travelled so that we wouldn’t have to. He endured the oblivion of Calvary so that we could experience the bliss of restored relationship with His Father.
This is what we were made for.
This is what we were saved for.
This is the truth that our world is crying out for.
Not the vague hope of freedom symbolised by some viral penguin’s march to the mountains, but the real, substantial, satisfying hope that comes when we surrender everything to Jesus and receive the life that is in Him.
True life—the life we’re looking for—doesn’t come from escaping, but from returning: to the One who made us, loves us and provides for our every need.
Freedom comes neither from struggling on in our own strength nor running away from our circumstances—it comes from falling once again into His arms, embracing His purpose for our lives, and trusting that His ways are the best ways.
So, today, don’t follow the nihilist penguin towards the mountains.
Instead, run back to Jesus. Anchor yourself in Him and His promises. And be the one who tells others where true life is to be found—not by escaping, but by returning to and resting in Him.
He alone is ‘the way, the truth, and the life’ (John 14:6).
With love,
Mike
Re-learning how to pray
…‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ — Luke 18:13
‘Prayer is not a place to be good, it is a place to be honest. Prayer is not a place to perform, it is a place to be present. Prayer is not a place to be right, it is a place to be known.’ — Kyle Strobel
What’s the prayer you find yourself praying most?
Recently, I’ve found myself praying just three words over and over again throughout the day:
God, help me.
When I feel overwhelmed by things that I can’t control—God, help me.
When I’m faced with decisions and I don’t know what to do—God, help me.
When I’m confronted with temptation or shame—God, help me.
There’s nothing special about these three words other than the fact that they’re honest. I really mean it when I ask God for help, because I know I desperately need Him.
I’ve also found that short prayers like this also help me avoid performance or pretence in my relationship with God.
Often without realising it, we so often end up treating prayer as something we need to get right in front of God and other people.
That’s why we can end up praying with a lot of words and trying to say them in the correct way—convincing ourselves that the longer and more eloquent we are, the more God will take notice and listen to us, and the more people will approve of us.
We can often feel this pressure to perform when we’re praying, because deep down, we’re worried about praying in a way that’s acceptable to God and others.
But praying as a performance—either to get God’s attention or gain people’s approval—is missing the whole point of it.
Jesus knows this. That’s why He spoke directly to this problem:
“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them” (Matthew 6:5).
“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again” (Matthew 6:7).
Elsewhere, He tells the story of how a Pharisee and a tax collector chose to pray in the Temple: the Pharisee publicly thanked God that He was not like other sinners, while the tax collector sorrowfully cried out to God to have mercy on him (Luke 18:9–14).
Both were there to confess their sin before God. But while the Pharisee performed self-righteously, the tax collector simply prayed honestly.
And it was the tax collector, not the Pharisee, was the one who was made right in God’s sight.
God doesn’t want me to perform or pretend when I pray. He’s not interested in me putting on a show or hiding behind a facade.
He wants me. He wants me as I am. Whatever I’m doing, however I’m feeling, wherever I’m going, He wants me to be with Him and to talk with Him honestly.
That’s what all good fathers want for their children—and our God is the perfect Father, who knows what we need before we even ask Him (Matthew 6:8), and who loves to give Himself to us (Luke 11:13).
So, with His help, I’m trying to re-learn how to pray.
To speak honestly with my Father.
To tell Him simply that I need Him and that I love Him.
To know Him better and enjoy Him more every day.
If you want to join me on this journey, let me know—I’d love to hear from you and pray for you, too!
Love,
Theo
The longest way round is the shortest way home
The long way round may not be the easy way. But it is better, because it is along this narrow, hard way that God is making you into the person He has created you to be.
‘We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.’ — Romans 5:3–5
‘Longest way round is the shortest way home’ — James Joyce, Ulysses
The things that matter most in life are often the things that take most time.
Or—as Joyce memorably puts it in Ulysses—the longest way round is the shortest way home.
The same, I believe, is true of the Christian life. There are no quick-fixes, cheat-codes or shortcuts in our journey of discipleship.
Sanctification is the slow work of the Spirit across years and decades—not just hours and days. The race of faith really is a marathon, not a sprint.
The ‘longest way round’, you could say, is the way God has chosen for us to experience the fullness of life He made us for—a life of ever-increasing holiness, obedience and communion with Him.
Of course, having made us right with Himself through Christ, God could have chosen to also complete His work of making us like Christ in an instant.
We might think that the ‘shortest way home’—the most convenient way—would have been for God to pick us up and pluck us from our trials, temptations and setbacks. Having saved us, He could have immediately taken us up to be with Him in eternity, where sin, suffering and death trouble us no longer.
But that wasn’t His purpose for us. Instead, mysteriously, gloriously, He chose that we would remain in this fallen world—full of disappointment, struggle and pain—for a short time until we dwell with Him in eternal perfection, peace and delight.
This reality contains both a profound challenge and an incredible encouragement for us as we step into 2026—let me explain why.
The challenge—rejoice in suffering
Consider how Paul describes the Christian life in the passage that opened this email.
Problems and trials, says Paul, shouldn’t surprise us—in fact, they are a certainty. But our response to difficult circumstances isn’t to despair as though God has abandoned us—it is to rejoice because God is working in us (Romans 5:3).
Why should we do that?
It’s not because these trials are pleasant or enjoyable. Paul himself had experienced first-hand the pain of persecution, ill-health, relational breakdown, imprisonment, poverty and disappointment.
He isn’t dismissing or brushing away the reality of our suffering. He isn’t pretending that it doesn’t hurt. Instead, he challenges us to see our suffering as the mysterious means through which God sanctifies those whom He has justified.
In a world that does everything it can to run at the first signs of inconvenience and difficulty, this exhortation to ‘rejoice’ in the midst of our problems and trials seems entirely counter-intuitive.
But Paul lifts our eyes to see the sovereign purposes of God in the midst of our troubles: ‘…for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment’ (Romans 5:3b–5a).
Can you see Paul’s argument? Through our troubles, God’s Spirit works in us to produce endurance, which produces character, which strengthens our confident hope in God. We rejoice, because through it all God is making us into people fit to dwell with Him in endless perfection and peace.
That’s Paul’s challenge—to rejoice in our suffering. But here’s the wonderful encouragement—the promise of sanctification.
The promise—sanctification
This year will likely bring its share of heartbreak and hurt—this is the reality of living in this broken world. But these things do not mean that God has abandoned you, rejected you or stopped working in you.
In fact, the opposite is true. These things are the very means through which He delights to work in you—teaching you to trust in Him, to rely on Him, to surrender every part of your life to Him in love and dependence.
If you are experiencing the storms of life right now, it doesn’t mean that God has forsaken or forgotten you. These may be the very waves and winds He is using to plunge you into the sure and steadfast rock of His merciful power.
Through suffering, He is sanctifying you—loosening your grip on the things of this world that can’t give you life, and drawing you more closely to Himself, the One who is Life Himself.
The long way round may not be the easy way. But it is better, because it is along this narrow, hard way that God is making you into the person He has created you to be—conforming you to the image of His beloved Son and producing a glory that outweighs our temporary troubles (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Through it all, we can be confident of ‘…how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love’ (Romans 5:5).
He loves you, He is with you in your suffering, and by His Spirit He is completing the work He began in you.
Rejoice, because this long road is preparing you for your eternal home.
With love,
Mike
You can become all flame
“Remember, the fire must be kept burning on the altar at all times. It must never go out.” — Leviticus 6:13
‘If you will, you can become all flame.’ — Abba Joseph, Sayings of the Desert Fathers
At the moment, I’m studying theology part time—and recently, I wrote an essay on the desert fathers and mothers.
If you haven’t heard of them before, well, you’re in for a treat.
As a bit of context, they were ordinary Christians who—after seeing the Church become increasingly distracted from the gospel as it became more institutionalised under the Roman Empire—fled to the deserts in the Near East, so that they might become like Jesus and enter fully into His Kingdom.
Some of their stories are pretty wild—but there’s one that has stuck with me ever since I first came across it.
Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, 'Abba, as far as I can I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?' Then the old man stood up and stretched his hands towards heaven. His fingers became like ten lamps of fire and he said to him, 'If you will, you can become all flame.'
Wow.
If you will, you can become all flame.
That’s what I want more than anything: to become all flame for God.
Around a thousand years before the desert fathers and mothers were around, the Israelites were travelling through the same desert on their way to the Promised Land.
God gave them instructions so that they could live safely in His presence while He personally led them through the wilderness—and one of them was to keep the fire on the altar burning in the Tabernacle at all times.
Leviticus 9 tells us how this fire started, when it blazed forth from God’s presence and consumed the first burnt offering on the altar. After that, the Israelite priests would have kept this fire burning day and night for 40 years.
If you believe in Jesus, He has lit a fire in you by His Spirit. Only He can start the fire.
But, empowered by His grace, it’s our responsibility to keep it burning.
To fuel it through spending time with God in His Word, prayer and worship.
To grow it by surrendering ourselves to Him every day.
To build it by committing ourselves to a loving community of believers.
To let others see its light by showing them Jesus in everything we say and do.
I know that when I don’t do these things—when I settle by doing the bare minimum in following Jesus—I feel the flame within me diminishing.
Whenever that happens, I always go back to Romans 12, where Paul urges us to ‘…offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to the Lord…’ (Romans 12:1), and to ’never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord’ (Romans 12:11).
I don’t want to settle for a distracted, disinterested faith. I don’t want to let the fire of my faith flicker into embers.
I want to become all flame for Jesus.
I want to keep the fire burning on the altar of my life at all times.
I want to carry the light and heat of His holy presence wherever I go and to whoever I meet.
Keep us ablaze for you, Lord.
Love,
Theo
Moving forwards by looking backwards
'For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.' — Ephesians 2:8–10
'The gospel is not just the ABCs but the A to Z of the Christian life. The gospel is not the minimum required doctrine necessary to enter the kingdom but the way we make all progress in the kingdom.' — Tim Keller
Resolutions.
Maybe you’re smashing yours (just 363 more days to go).
Maybe you think they’re pointless.
Maybe you’ve already given up—it’s okay.
Whether you love them or hate them, I believe the very act of setting resolutions is an expression of a deeper desire shared by every human being:
The desire to change.
All of us want things to be better than they currently are—whether that's in our lives, in our relationships, in the world around us.
We pour vast amounts of time, money and energy into improving our health, our lifestyle, our circumstances, our work and our relationships. We read the latest self-help books, listen to the trending podcasts and adopt new habits—all in an effort to transcend our present reality and transform our lives for the better.
As followers of Jesus, the desire for change runs even deeper—we long to be free from sin, to grow in holiness, and to experience more of the life of joy, purpose and peace that God made us for.
While our pursuit of change can be positive and constructive, when we rely on our own power and effort it can leave us feeling frustrated, exhausted and demoralised.
Despite our best efforts, things sometimes seem to get worse before they get better. The storms of life come, derailing our best-laid plans. The pressures and worries of life crowd out our well-meaning intentions.
Our problem isn’t that we desire change. It’s that our desire for change is often directed to the wrong end, and pursued by the wrong means.
Let me explain why—and how the gospel gives us a better, more beautiful and ultimately more glorious vision for change.
The way in is the way on
God’s purpose for our lives isn’t just that we’d become ‘better versions of ourselves’. It isn’t that we’d be a bit happier, a bit nicer, a bit more fulfilled.
God’s purpose for our lives, in the words of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, is to ‘glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever’.
It is that we would know Him more deeply, love Him more wholeheartedly, and delight in Him more fully each and every day of our lives.
It is that we would be ‘conformed to the image of His Son’ (Romans 8:29)—putting to death our sin and living in ever-increasing love and obedience, in union with Christ and empowered by His Spirit.
It is that we would bring glory and honour to Him as we bear fruit and ‘do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do’ (Ephesians 2:10).
This is what true change looks like—and the good news is that the power to bring it about isn’t something we find in ourselves.
It is all by grace.
‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.’ — Ephesians 2:8–9
If the goal of the Christian life is ever-increasing knowledge, love, obedience and worship of God, the means by which we grow is grace alone, through faith alone.
Grace was your way in to life with God, and grace is your way on. The way forwards in the Christian life comes by looking backwards—by resting in all that Christ has already done for you. Real change happens ‘in view of God’s mercy’ (Romans 12:1—rooted in His grace and enabled by His Spirit.
If you are looking for change in your life in 2026, don’t just rely on setting resolutions or making some new habits. These might be helpful things, but they can never deliver the lasting transformation you're looking for.
Instead, move forwards by looking backwards. Rejoice in all that Jesus has done on your behalf—dying in your place on the cross, bearing the punishment for your sin, clothing you with His righteousness, and sharing with you His eternal life—all so that you can know and enjoy His Father forever.
Grace was your way in.
Grace is your way on.
Rest in this amazing grace today, and every day of the year to come.
With love,
Mike
The best gift God has ever given
‘But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.’ — Ecclesiastes 2:11
‘Man’s maker was made man, that He, Ruler of the stars, might nurse at His mother’s breast; that the Bread might hunger, the Fountain thirst, the Light sleep, the Way be tired on its journey; that the Truth might be accused of false witness, the Teacher be beaten with whips, the Foundation be suspended on wood; that Strength might grow weak; that the Healer might be wounded; that Life might die.’ — Augustine
I hope you had a joyful time on Christmas Day yesterday!
Family and friends, food and drink, gifts and games, time to rest, reflect and celebrate—Christmas is full of good things for us to enjoy.
All good things come from God, and He generously gives them so that we would worship Him in gratitude. At Christmas, these good things are meant to enhance our celebration of Christ’s arrival here on earth.
But, as always, sin spoils it. So many people have ended up pushing Christ out of Christmas and, ultimately, out of their lives. They try to enjoy His blessings without enjoying Him.
In one way or another, we’ve all done this. We’ve all fallen into the temptation of elevating the gifts above the Giver—of wanting the benefits of living in the Kingdom without having to serve the King. We push the glorious Creator away and instead grab at His created glories.
The Teacher in Ecclesiastes tries everything in the world that people look to for ultimate satisfaction, fulfilment, and meaning. Pleasure, success, power, wealth, fame—he tries it all, he gains it all, but he discovers that having it all doesn’t mean anything.
God’s gifts can’t ever fulfil us like God Himself can, because they were never meant to. Every good thing we have is from Him and is meant to be enjoyed for His glory, and every attempt to bypass this reality eventually leaves us empty, disappointed and in despair.
Jesus came into this world to save us from these sinful, silly attempts to find life outside of Him. He came to take the punishment we deserved for our rebellion against God, so that we could be made right with Him forever. He came to show us that the full life we want is the Spirit-empowered life that’s lived wholly for God and not for ourselves.
In Jesus, we can find everything we’ve been looking for, and we can enjoy the good things He gives us rightly: for our good and His glory.
Christ alone gives us the only life worth living. Christ alone makes Christmas worth celebrating.
Whatever our experience has been this Christmas, may we always look to Him to find our full satisfaction.
Love,
Theo
P.S. This week’s Journal is an adaptation from our One Year Devotional: 365 Days of Looking to Jesus. I’m unashamedly a bit biased, but the team and I agree that this really is the best thing we’ve ever made. You can find out more about it and grab a late Christmas gift for yourself or someone else here!