Joshua was the leader of Israel during a good and hard transition. He stepped into leadership right at the moment when they were crossing into the promised land. First of all, can we take a minute to notice that Joshua was 78 years old when he first stepped into leadership? Seventy eight. I am way ahead of the game!

Fear is one of, if not the most common and pervasive struggle in the western church today. It distracts us, paralyzes us, and anesthetizes us from the abundant work of God. The enemy loves playing with fear because He knows that it is in opposition to faith, and it is faith that pleases God (Hebrews 11:6). Remember, he's only your enemy because he is God's enemy. He also loves fear because it's so versatile. He doesn't care what you're afraid of, as long as you stay stuck in fear.

The apostle has written this beautiful letter detailing the inheritance that is available to us in Christ, and then encouraging the Ephesians to move from darkness to light, to let go of their past and partner with the God who makes all things new. And then before he signs off, he looks at the soldier holding him captive, the one who came to steal his freedom, and says this. This is what we need. This is what is available to us, what God has provided that stops the enemy from stealing, killing and destroying.

Once you've agreed with disappointment, it's really hard to pull yourself out of that pit. Like most traps that are set for us, it opens the door to a host of things you want nothing to do with - for some that's anger & isolation, for others it's depression & anxiety. It's a slippery slope that leads nowhere good.

The good news is, no matter which way shame arrives, there's one solution. One cure, one way to move on and move past the ugliness that's unloaded when shame opens the door. God came looking for us in our shame. Adam! Where are you? He will never leave you or forsake you. Don't think for a minute that He didn't know what happened when He was out of sight.

Your identity as God's Beloved doesn't changed based on your mood, your illness, or your circumstances. Depression doesn't make you less of a Christian, less loved by God, or less valuable to those around you. Lock that one in, because shame is a close friend of depression and it's got to go. Some of the bravest people I know are the ones who are in a long battle with depression.

What you think about yourself is some of the most important thoughts you will ever have. Your identity, your calling, your destiny are lived inside out. Don't wait for circumstances or other people to tell you who you are. You need to crawl into your Daddy's lap - the One who created you and knows you more fully than anyone on earth every will. He gets to define you, to identify you, to call you. All of these things flow out of intimacy with the Father.

We want Him to break through the dust of every day life, through the ordinary moments and relentless negativity that seeps through our screens and invades our thoughts. We want Him to show up with power and might, with grace and mercy, to prove His love. We want Him to not be silent.

You need to hear this, if you are waiting for a better day. You need to hear this if you are in a dead end job, or in between jobs, or are in a place where your passions and talents are not being recognized. You need to hear this if you are a parent who has carefully placed your dreams on a shelf while you teach a child how to dream their own. This letter is for you.

The problem with this need to be set free, is that it's a lie. It's a tricky one because it feels so true. The truth is Beloved, you don't need any of those things to be free. You were free the moment you accepted the work of Christ on the cross. You were free the moment you said yes to life and no to death.

The more my circumstances seem to spin into chaos, the more I want to bring order and control. But what if there was a different way? If God says that He delivers us from all fear, then even in the spinning and chaos I get to claim that promise.

What is the narrative of your life? What act are you in? How would you describe the part of the story you're in? And what if you could zoom out for a minute, and take a look at the bigger picture? You might see that this chapter really isn't as long as it feels. You might find that the pieces God is stringing together speaks a more beautiful truth than you could imagine from the page you're stuck on now.

When we start to believe that God withdraws from us for a season, or that He is less affectionate or less kind in some seasons than others, we're believing a lie. The truth is, He never changes. Nothing about Him changes - not His character, not His countenance towards you, not the way His eyes shine when He looks at you.

When President Lincoln sat down at his desk on New Years Day 150 years ago, he dipped his pen in ink and signed the Emancipation Proclamation. In that moment, countless slaves were free. With the stroke of a pen, it was done. The problem was, the slaves didn't know it yet. They got up before dawn, and started another day of gruelling work and punishment.

This might not be your particular struggle in life, but I'd bet that it is for someone close to you, even if they'd never let you see it. It's the most common mental illness in our society with some estimates that 40% of the population experiences it at some point in their life.

So, how does redemption work? The word redeem literally means to buy back. It's about paying a debt, trading good for bad. That's what the world would say. But we are not people of this world, Amen? We're kingdom folk. So what is heaven's definition of redemption? What does the kingdom of God say?

Maybe someone has said it to you, or maybe a lot of people have. Maybe it screams at you from the mirror, or maybe you work hard to keep it hidden. It might be something about your personality, your body, or your character. Chances are you've even asked God to change it.

Abiding is one of those tricky concepts that sounds a lot easier than it is. It sounds restful but it's not (always). It sounds like something you do, but it's more about who you are. Abiding sounds like an action you can check off your to do list, but it's really, really not. Abiding is not about carrying God with you everywhere, it's about letting Him carry you.

Men don't exactly have it easy in this society, there's a lot of pulls in different directions, to be who someone else says they should be. To be who someone else needs them to be. Each of those paths leads to a false freedom, an empty promise for fulfillment and identity. Men, you will only be free to the degree you comprehend you are loved.

Our society places a high value on trust. We teach it to our kids, we strive to be trustworthy people, and some of the most popular pins on Pinterest are quotes about protecting yourself from people who break your trust. It's a fragile thing, that's why we talk about it as something that is earned and broken so quickly. Trust is easily shattered, sending shards of brokenness in places we won't find for years to come.