Daily Readings by Wild at Heart

The battle of desire is not something that just takes place within us or even between us. It is also taking place against us, all the time. Our desire is under nearly constant attack. “We come into the world longing,” says Gil Bailie, “for we know not what. We are desire. And desire is good, for it’s what takes us to God. But our desire is not hard-wired to God.” So we look to others to teach us what to desire. We are intensely imitative creatures, as Aristotle pointed out. It is how we learn language; it is how we master just about anything in life. It is also how we come to seize upon the objects of our desire. We all know this, though we don’t like to admit it.One example should suffice. I was at a garage sale, looking for some tools. There was a table saw at a wonderful price. Another fellow was sort of browsing around, standing in front of the saw but not seeming particularly interested. I opened my mouth and made the fatal error: “Wow, that’s a great price on that saw.” You know what happened next. Immediately, his nonchalance became intense interest, and since he was there before me, he drove off with a table saw that five minutes earlier he couldn’t have given two hoots about.The constant effort to arouse our desire and capture it can be described only as an assault. From the time we get up to the time we go to bed, we are inundated with one underlying message: it can be done. The life you are longing for can be achieved. Only buy this product, see this movie, drive this car, take this vacation, join this gym, what have you. The only disagreement is over the means, but everyone agrees on the end: we can find life now. Want more? Order your copy of The Journey of Desire today

Now — to find God, I have to look where God is. This might help folks who report that God “seems distant,” or as a friend recently commented (with a touch of cynicism), “He doesn’t seem to come around much.” If I want to find a hawk I look up in the sky, near the mountains where the thermals create an updraft. If I want to find our dog I simply have to find Stasi — he is usually curled up at her feet. Those who would find God must look where he lives — must live in the same manner, for the same things, for the same reasons. “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16).Every time we choose to love, we take a step closer to God; it’s like he’s right there. Every time we choose something else, we take a step away.I want God, so I choose love. Want more? Order your copy of Love & War today

The way to render a man happy, is to engage him with an object that will make him forget his private troubles. — PascalDon't be fooled by the apparent innocence of the object you've chosen as an idol; what is the function of it? Most of our idols also have a perfectly legitimate place in our lives. That's their cover, that's how we get away with our infidelity. The prophet Isaiah gives an example of this when he marvels at a man who cuts down a tree in the forest, and then puts it to two very different uses:Half of the wood he burns in the fire; Over it he prepares his meal, He roasts his meat and eats his fill.Nothing wrong here. That's the perfectly appropriate use of wood. But it doesn't end there (it rarely does):From the rest he makes a god, his idol;He bows down to it and worships He prays to it and says, "Save me; you are my god."The prophet is incredulous. "Doesn't he see what he's doing?," he wonders:No one stops to think, No one has the knowledge or understanding to say, "Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood? He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him; He cannot save himself or say, "Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?" (44:16-17,19-20)So there you have it: No one stops to think. No one wants to take a good, hard look at what they are really doing, for then we might see the lie. We would see the water hole for the muddy puddle it is. Our idols become the means by which we forget who we truly are and where we truly come from. They numb us. Want more? Order your copy of The Journey of Desire today

I was reading the prophet Jeremiah a few weeks ago when I ran across a passage that referred to God as "the Lord Almighty." To be honest, it didn't resonate. There's something too religious about the phrase; it sounds churchy, sanctimonious. The Lawd Almiiiighty. It sounds like something your grandmother would say when you came into her kitchen covered in mud. I found myself curious about what the actual phrase means in Hebrew. Might we have lost something in the translation? So I turned to the front of the version I was using for an explanation. Here is what the editors said:Because for most readers today the phrases "the Lord of hosts" and "God of hosts" have little meaning, this version renders them "the Lord Almighty" and "God Almighty." These renderings convey the sense of the Hebrew, namely, "he who is sovereign over all the 'hosts' (powers) in heaven and on earth, especially over the 'hosts' (armies) of Israel."No, they don't. They don't even come close. The Hebrew means "the God of angel armies," "the God of the armies who fight for his people." The God who is at war. Does "Lord Almighty" convey "the God who is at war"? Not to me, it doesn't. Not to anyone I've asked. It sounds like "the God who is up there but still in charge." Powerful, in control. The God of angel armies sounds like the one who would roll up his sleeves, take up sword and shield to break down gates of bronze, and cut through bars of iron to rescue me. Want more? Order your copy of Waking the Dead today

I think everyone prays at some point in their life, even if they’re not sure someone is listening. And I’ll bet that one of the most common prayers goes something like, Lord help me; give me strength.I really like that prayer. It has a genuine humility to it. We find ourselves facing something that overwhelms our personal resources, and we cry out for help, for strength. The man who casually answers his phone on a Tuesday afternoon only to hear that his family has been killed in an automobile accident. The woman who, at a routine exam, learns she has Stage IV breast cancer. The caregiver who day after day labors under the crushing load of providing for every need of their incapacitated loved one.Give me strength, Lord.Jesus liked that prayer.He instructed us to pray it, and he prayed it himself. (Hebrews 5:7) Toward the end of his days on earth, he began to give his disciples clear instructions for living through extremely hard times, knowing they would record those instructions for future generations — including you, dear ones. He assured us in no uncertain terms that this story would sweep toward a climax, and that those days would be especially hard on the human soul. He urged us to ask for the strength that prevails:Notice the fig tree, or any other tree. When the leaves come out, you know without being told that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things taking place, you can know that the Kingdom of God is near. I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear. Watch out! Don’t let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness, and by the worries of this life. Don’t let that day catch you unaware, like a trap. For that day will come upon everyone living on the earth. Keep alert at all times. And pray that you might be strong enough to escape these coming horrors and stand before the Son of Man. (Luke 21:29–36 NLT)Strong enough to escape — that’s who and what we want to be. Strong enough to be the survivors, the triumphant ones. To make it through the storm.This is no ordinary strength Jesus is offering. This isn’t optimism, this isn’t simply feeling refreshed for a new day. Hard times require something more than willpower. Jesus warns us, urges us, practically commands us to ask for strength. The Greek word used here is katischuó and it meansto be strong to another’s detriment; to prevail against; to be superior in strength; to overcome; to prevail.This is a valiant strength. It implies a fight, an enemy we can and will prevail over. Want more? Order your copy of Resilient today

Years ago some kind soul sent me a book on the devil. It was rather dated, from the 1960s I believe, complete with little caricature drawings of Satan as our adversary. I’m ashamed to admit my first thought was, I know plenty about spiritual warfare; this looks juvenile. I was put off by the outdated style and comic drawings of the devil as a horned figure, something from Halloween. I’m very grateful to say that just as I was getting ready to toss it out, Jesus said to me, There’s something in here for you. So I opened the book and began to read.The author was making a claim that our enemy has a secret hold in each one of us, an access point from within. That got my attention; we’d been dealing with a great deal of spiritual attack, and I was eager for new tools that would gain us a more lasting victory. The author went on to say that this trap door, this inside access the devil has in every person is the Self. Part of me knew it was true, so I read on.Satan’s fall was brought about because he chose to exalt himself over God:How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. For you said to yourself, “I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. ... I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.” (Isaiah 14:12–14 NLT)Later, he found in mankind something of the same weakness, stubbornness, and self-centeredness, that he successfully leveraged to have us follow his lead: we chose to disobey God and reach for what we want, and so we exalted ourselves over our Creator Father. We replaced God with Self on the throne of our life. The author of the little book I was sent went on to explain that the devil doesn’t particularly care what your personal sins are, how he gets you to stumble; what he delights in is this internal access he has, the precious Self. For while we entertain the Self, pamper it, let it have its way, we crowd out the life of God. Want more? Order your copy of Get Your Life Back today

Spiritual warfare often tries to work like a computer virus — it loves to transfer around to as many people as it can, infecting whole households or even churches. You can witness this with great clarity when you are standing outside of it. You will step into certain fellowships and immediately feel an arrogant attitude, or perhaps something that feels very “religious” and stifling; perhaps there is a sense of guilt overwhelming the group. You’ve seen the same thing in family systems — how a particular sin or brokenness will play out down through a family line, such as divorce, infidelity, pornography and sexual sin, alcoholism, violence, poverty, shame, fear. Somebody’s sin opened the door, and because the spiritual realm works on authority, the enemy will seize the opportunity of the sin (often repeated and habitual sins) and will try to oppress all those within the “system.” Want more? Order your copy of Moving Mountains today

You can tell a lot about a person by his effect on others. What is Jesus like to be around? What is the aftertaste he leaves in your mouth? Is this someone you’d want to take a long car ride with? We saw Zacchaeus’ reaction. Here are two more, from people quite different from each other and from Zacchaeus:One of the Pharisees asked him over for a meal. He went to the Pharisee’s house and sat down at the dinner table. Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume. (Luke 7:36–38 TM)No comment of mine could add to the beauty of this moment. Nor to this one:Two others, both criminals, were taken along with him for execution. [...] One of the criminals hanging alongside cursed him: “Some Messiah you are! Save yourself! Save us!” But the other one made him shut up: “Have you no fear of God? You’re getting the same as him. We deserve this, but not him — he did nothing to deserve this.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you enter your kingdom.” He said, “Don’t worry, I will. Today you will join me in paradise.” (Luke 23:32–43 TM)What is stunning to see in these brief accounts is that people who knew themselves to be anything but holy found the holiness of Jesus winsome, open-armed, and utterly compelling.Is this how you have understood holiness?It changes everything when you do. Want more? Order your copy of Free to Live today

To be a human being is to be stained glass—beautiful in our brokenness, but a collection of many parts nonetheless. Someone once wrote, “You are every age you have ever been.” They were speaking poetically but also naming something literal. You are six, eight, twelve, seventeen, and also your current age.The human heart and soul were designed for Eden. We live far from it, far off in a war-torn world that assaults the soul from the moment we take our first breath. (Even beforehand; in the womb a child can experience rejection, fear, even abandonment as their mother feels and projects those things into the pregnancy.) Sometimes the harm we experience in this world fragments the heart. Parts of us break off and remain stuck at that particular age until Jesus comes to heal them.We can call these areas of brokenness “young places” precisely because of the childish ways we respond when those areas are retraumatized. For example, someone gets mad at you, perhaps even yells at you. Part of you wants to run and hide in the closet— not the mature response of a forty-seven-year-old woman but that of a six-year-old girl. Or, the compulsion you have for ice cream whenever you are feeling anxious—not the mature reaction of a thirty-two-year-old man but rather the cry of a little boy who only ever felt loved when he was given ice cream. Most of us have had the experience, usually triggered by an upsetting event, where our internal world suddenly feels much younger than our current age. This is indication of the fragmentation caused by trauma, and let me add that when we are young it doesn’t take massive trauma to fragment our heart.Becoming aware of young places within you is a widely accepted practice in the therapeutic community. But our Creator foretold this centuries ago when the coming of his Messiah was announced in Isaiah 61:He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,to proclaim freedom for the captivesand release from darkness for the prisoners. (verse 1)The Hebrew for “brokenhearted” as used here is not a metaphor. It is blunt and vividly descriptive. Leb is Hebrew for “heart,” and shabar the word for “broken.” It is referring to a reality, not a poetic image. Elsewhere Isaiah uses shabar to describe a statue that has fallen to the ground and shattered into pieces. Actual fragmentation, not metaphor.Jesus chooses Isaiah 61 to announce his purpose in coming when he steps into the synagogue for his first public moment in Luke 4, placing the healing of our fragmentation at the epicenter of his mission to the human race. This is good news beyond our wildest hopes.Remember now—Jesus is your Creator. He planned on you, fashioned you in your mother’s womb, knows everything about you and everything about your story.Jesus is also able to access hidden things within us, for he knows the depths and mysteries of our being. With his help, and the help of the Holy Spirit, we can locate our fragmented parts and give Jesus access to them for their restoration.Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

Written centuries ago by St. Patrick, this is a profound and simple prayer for protection. We find ourselves returning to again and again:I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity. Through belief in the threeness, Through confession of the oneness, Of the Creator of Creation.I arise today Through the strength of Christ's birth with His baptism, Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial, Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension, Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.I arise today Through the strength of the love of cherubim, In the obedience of angels, In the service of archangels, In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward, In the prayers of patriarchs, In the predictions of prophets, In the preaching of apostles, In the faith of confessors, In the innocence of holy virgins, In the deeds of righteous men.I arise today, through The strength of heaven, The light of the sun, The radiance of the moon, The splendor of fire, The speed of lightning, The swiftness of wind, The depth of the sea, The stability of the earth, The firmness of rock.I arise today, through God's strength to pilot me, God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me, God's shield to protect me, God's host to save me From snares of devils, From temptation of vices, From everyone who shall wish me ill, afar and near.I summon today All these powers between me and those evils, Against every cruel and merciless power that may oppose my body and soul, Against incantations of false prophets, Against black laws of pagandom, Against false laws of heretics, Against craft of idolatry, Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards, Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul; Christ to shield me today Against poison, against burning, Against drowning, against wounding, So that there may come to me an abundance of reward.Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. Want more? Visit our prayer page for more guided prayers that we pray

Jesus sustains all creation by the mighty power of his command. Obviously, or Satan would have torn all creation to pieces long ago. Jesus—through whom all things were made—is currently, at this moment, holding all things together; he sustains all creation. The love, forbearance, and patience of this is breathtaking—the tenderness and care, not to mention the mighty power of it!The Gospel is good news because the healing of our fragmented souls is available in Christ anywhere, anytime, to anyone in the world. “Through him all things were made and without him nothing was made that has been made.”Including you. Jesus Christ was intimately involved in your creation. He knows everything about you. That is why he can be so essential in our healing. He is the Integrating Center of all things, including your very being. As the fourth-century mystic Athanasius wrote in his beautiful essay On the Incarnation,The renewal of creation has been wrought by the self-same Word Who made it in the beginning.The Word of God came in His own Person, because it was he alone, the Image of the Father, Who could recreate man after the Image.Salvation is re-creation. Such hope is contained in this simple idea. As the twentieth-century mystic Leanne Payne repeated over and over again, “The soul is healed through union with Christ.”The mystic says, This is the answer to everything! O Jesus—re-create all things in me.Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

We are seeking refuge as ordinary mystics growing into mature mystics who recognize that the refuge of God is dynamic and requires our participation—as when we consecrate our lives to God daily, when we stay in the truth, or when we crush the scorpions trying to harm us.The refuge is always available; the refuge is something to be seized.I’ve made intentional references to trauma throughout the preceding chapters because I do believe that humanity’s deepest need is to find how union with God can address even our trauma.Faith has always been a fragile thing in the human heart. Precious, lifesaving, but fragile in the way a coral reef is fragile, or a newborn fawn in the woods. It is something to be protected.I would say the same of your humanity—your humanity is a fragile thing also, and when that coral reef is bombarded with chemicals, or when that fawn must constantly run from forest fires, the effects are traumatizing. As a metaphor, this is our daily experience on the planet. If we are truly to find the full refuge of God and his Kingdom, we must find healing for the vulnerable and traumatized places within us.Now don’t get anxious; Jesus has you. The Gospel is truly gospel, for the soul is healed through union with Christ, and that is available to every person, anytime, anywhere.Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

In Deuteronomy and in Hebrews we are reminded that our God is a jealous God, a consuming fire:Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. (Deuteronomy 4:23–24)Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28–29)God’s love is so passionate, so pure, so explosive, it is not merely like a consuming fire—it is a consuming fire. It consumes everything unholy. A mystic I know told me that sometimes when she visits the heart of God in prayerful communion she sees fire all around!And we should remember that many times in the Old Testament, when God promises to rescue his people, it is said he will come down as fire:The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice.Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before himand consumes his foes on every side. (Psalm 97:1–3)Fire goes before our Jesus and consumes his enemies on every side. In a violent war like this, where foul hatred is coming against you every day of your life, you need to call upon his fire! When it comes to foul spirits, demonic hatred, and things like every cruel, merciless power that may oppose my body and soul, incantations of false prophets, black laws of pagandom, false laws of heretics, craft of idolatry, and spells of witches and smiths and wizards, by all means call down holy fire-love against it! Call down the consuming fire! Consume it!Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

Love is something we are going to have to firmly protect.Now here is the problem—as soon as I say the word “love,” many different things come to your heart and mind.Oh great, now I have to take care of everyone.I guess I have to let my toxic mom back in.I don’t get to have my own feelings about this; I just have to let everyone have theirs.We all have a story of love, how we learned love in the world. Most of those lessons confused our hearts and souls about the nature of love. We need to allow Jesus to heal our story of love as we take refuge in his love. So when I say we need to protect love, I am only talking about love as we see modeled in Jesus Christ. He has the ability to move toward people, move against people, and move away from people as true love guides him.“And this I pray, that your love may overflow still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment” (Philippians 1:9 NASB). By all means, we need to be discerning in love. Sometimes that means distancing yourself from toxic people, setting healthy boundaries. But never out of cynicism, never in offense, and never in hatred. If love seems to be growing cold in your life, that should get your attention. Rush to protect it. I often pray,Fill me with your love for this person, Jesus. Fill love in me with your love.Jesus, I need you to restore love in me.Protecting love in your heart includes your love for God. Satan hates your love for Jesus and your Father; he will try to poison it. His favorite tools are suffering, chronic disappointment, or something that feels like God has betrayed or abandoned you. You must not let the enemy do this. So I have had to add this to my prayers as well:I cleanse my love of God with the Blood of Jesus and the River of Life.Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

For you bless the godly, O LORD; you surround them with your shield of love. –King DavidYou are safe and secure in the refuge of God. That is the major theme.The minor theme is the war raging outside, which we do need to take seriously. The enemy is arrogant, and he loves to intimidate us by making the war seem like the major theme. It is not. So let’s return to love.All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. (1 John 4:15–17)This is breathtakingly beautiful. God our refuge is unassailable love; as we intentionally choose to live in love, we secure ourselves within God and his refuge.So I often find myself praying,I take refuge in Your love, Jesus. I take refuge in Your love. Surround me with Your love. Shield me with Your mighty love.Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

Remember now—we are maturing in our understanding of how we actively participate as ordinary mystics in God as our refuge and stronghold; these passages are critical to God’s provision for us. “Trampling and crushing” are active and definitive movements—there is nothing passive here at all.But of course.You’re standing in the kitchen of your home one evening, doing dishes. Your toddler is playing on the floor nearby, when out of the corner of your eye you spot a scuttling movement on the tiles. You quickly turn to see a scorpion crawling toward your child, claws out in crablike fashion, poisonous tail raised to strike. How would you handle the moment?You would stomp on it.You would crush it without a moment’s hesitation.This is the promise, the assurance and the directive of our Lord Jesus on how we are to deal with foul spirits. It sounds a whole lot like Patrick’s Breastplate!I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,Against incantations of false prophets,Against black laws of pagandom,Against false laws of heretics,Against craft of idolatry,Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards, Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul.We probably ought to admit that this is very different from the usual attitude taken by most followers of Jesus toward demonic assault (and “every cruel merciless power”). Most folks want to ignore spiritual warfare. The simple proof: How often do you pray directly against foul spirits? If it’s rarely, you’re ignoring it.But we are looking for the refuge of God, and he makes it clear that crushing the serpent is essential to finding shelter and staying in it. If a scorpion was scuttling across the floor to your toddler, you would not think twice; there would be no hesitation. You would stomp on it, making your home a safe place again.This is probably a good point in our journey to talk about authority and commanding “in the name of Jesus.” Christ has made it very clear that he has given his authority to us, and it is we who will “trample on snakes and scorpions and ... overcome all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19). Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

Let’s return to that gripping scene in the Judean wasteland. Imagine Jesus walking around his desert camp, fasting, praying, quoting Scripture, and no doubt declaring aloud Psalm 91, “El Shaddai is my refuge and fortress ...”It’s interesting to know that El Shaddai can be translated God of the wilderness:While the traditional English translation of Shaddai is based on the Greek ..., the Hebrew epithet Shaddai (שדי) has been understood by most scholars as deriving either from “mountain” (Akkadian šadû) or “field/wilderness” (Hebrew שדה). Hence, El Shaddai should more correctly be understood as the “God of the Mountains” or the “God of the Wilderness.” “You are with me in the wilderness, God of the wilderness; you are my stronghold, God of the mountain crags.”Now picture the evil one circling Jesus’ camp like a leopard or panther, just outside the firelight, watching intently, listening to the man he does not yet fully understand as the incarnate God declaring Psalm 91 aloud. I believe this is why Satan throws it back in his face:For he will command his angels concerning youto guard you in all your ways;they will lift you up in their hands,so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.Folks, the very next verse foretells his downfall:You will tread on the lion and the cobra;you will trample the great lion and the serpent.Clearly, clearly the reader is meant to understand the lions and cobras of Psalm 91 to refer to foul spirits. Satan knew that he was the very serpent Psalm 91 promises victory over, for he was the serpent in the garden that Almighty God promises would be crushed by a coming messiah! Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

The spiritual warfare of the hour we are living in is no different than what Patrick and his disciples faced. It might be worse because of the lateness of the hour, and it can be withering when you are under it. In those desolate moments, when my heart feels abandoned by God and I want to cry out, Where are you, God? Why aren’t you doing something? I catch myself and protect my heart like a breastplate by declaring that he has intervened for us in the mightiest and most powerful of all ways.God has intervened for us with such thorough and everlasting victory in the work of Jesus Christ—his Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension.I don’t think most postmoderns understand this, or they feel far from it, but the mystic heart runs to take refuge here, in the fact that we have already been included in the Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension.I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)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. (Ephesians 2:4–6)What greater fortress could we ask for than this? What greater deliverance? A new life, a new identity, situated with Christ right now in the heavens, in his authority? Father, thank you! Thank you, God! We take refuge in it! Show us how to actively participate in it!Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

Let me suggest for you one practice that is sustainable and very fruitful: the daily declaration, or proclamation, of essential truths. Returning to Psalm 91, notice the importance of the second verse:Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.This I declare about the LORD:He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;he is my God, and I trust him. (NLT, emphasis added)“This I declare.” God is making a proclamation, and a very important one.Declarations are both reminders to the soul and acts of defiance against the enemy’s constant lies. Of this verse Spurgeon wrote, “To take up a general truth and make it our own by personal faith is the highest wisdom ... to say he is my refuge, is the essence of consolation.”What I’m strongly suggesting is this: Before you head out the door into your day, after your morning prayers, take a few more moments to declare out loud,God is my Father.I am his son (or daughter). I am loved.I am chosen.God is my refuge.And so on.This counters the narrative assaults of The World, the cunning lies of our enemy, and it is also how we get out of the madness of allowing our feelings to dictate what is true and false for us. The saints and mystics through the ages held this to be an essential part of our fight for refuge.Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

More corrosive than all of these are the personal assaults of the enemy’s lies whispered to our hearts. They are far more brilliant than AI and utterly precise in their tailored messages to us. The evil one knows your story, your hurts and fears, your every vulnerability.Against our loving God, who gave his own life for us, Satan always says something to the effect of “No, he’s not.”God isn’t good, or he wouldn’t have let that happen. God isn’t with you; you are on your own.God isn’t listening to your prayers.God isn’t near to you; he’s somewhere else.Against your own heart Satan always undermines your identity, just as he tried to do with Jesus during his wilderness trial. “No, you’re not” is his essential message.You’re not seen.You’re not safe.You’re not forgiven.You’re not a loving person. You’re not going to be okay.On and on it goes. You know very well the personal version of this, the voices you wake to in the night or first thing in the morning.Dear sons and daughters of the Living God, you cannot talk yourself out of this poison. You must shut this assault down just as Christ showed you when he countered Satan’s lie upon lie with truth upon truth.The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ... “If you worship me, it will all be yours.”Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:“‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully;they will lift you up in their hands,so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Luke 4:3–5, 7–12)And with that, Satan left.You don’t reason with demons; you silence them with the truth.Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship” (Romans 12:1). Our bodies are a very practical expression of something “under our rule,” something that belongs to us in immediate proximity. We have a say over our bodies in terms of what we eat, what we drink, who we have sex with, etc. And we are urged by God to present our bodies to him in an act of consecration.“Consecration” is choosing to dedicate something to Jesus to be his and his alone. The Hebrew word is qadash, directly related to the word qodesh, which means “holy.” Biblically speaking, the first act of consecration takes place on the seventh day of creation in Genesis 2:3, when God blesses and sanctifies the Sabbath day. From that point on, consecration becomes the precondition for God’s filling something. You can consecrate your body (and please, your sexuality), your money, your time, your dreams and aspirations. The refuge life is a consecrated life, which is to say we choose to bring our lives and all that is under our care into God’s Kingdom and under the rule of Jesus.Now, of course, consecration is both an act and a lifestyle. We choose to dedicate our bodies to God, and then we live that decision out as we operate in holiness in our sexuality, our appetites, and how we treat our bodies (we are not allowed to abuse them). The same holds true for anything “in our kingdom,” anything under our direct supervision.So, for example, my morning prayers begin this way:My dear Lord Jesus—I come to you now to be restored in you, renewed in you, and to receive your Glory, Love, and Kingdom. I love you, Jesus. I love you, Lord. I take refuge in you. And I give myself to you completely—heart and soul, mind and strength, body temple, spirit. I cleanse myself with your Blood—heart and soul, mind and strength, body temple, spirit. I ask your Holy Spirit to restore me in you, restore our union, and fill this time of prayer. Restore our union, Lord. Restore our union.Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

The mighty refuge psalm, Psalm 91, has a progression to it. First comes the promise:Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.Then, a recitation of the many ways that El Shaddai will protect us. Rescue from every trap and protection from deadly disease, the terrors of night, the arrow that flies by day. Oh to experience it! How humanity needs this in such a wicked hour.Nine verses in, there comes a critical turning point:If you make the Lord your refuge,if you make the Most High your shelter,no evil will conquer you. (verses 9–10)That “if” is revelatory.The refuge of God and his Kingdom is only for those who choose to take part in it. This fact is so irritating to human nature. We just want to get on with our life and have God cover us. That’s not quite how things work.“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” (John 15:1–4)Hmmm ... Jesus is laying out conditions for a flourishing life. Were you aware there were conditions?He goes on,“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:5–7)There is that irritating “if” again. If we remain in him, the refuge and resources of God are ours.Here is the simple fact: You can choose to leave the protection of God. People do it all the time. You can choose to live within God and his Kingdom refuge, or you can choose to live outside of it.“Remain in me,” Jesus urges. You can almost hear the plea in his voice: Stay in Me; don’t operate in anything outside of me. But we are stubborn creatures, we humans.Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

“Turn to God with all your heart,” wrote Thomas à Kempis, “and Christ will come to you.” First thing every morning, I pray something like this before I do anything else:I run to you this morning, Father. I run to you this morning, Jesus. I hide myself in you. I run into your refuge, Lord.And it happens; it takes place in the hidden realm.As you learn to be an ordinary mystic, ask the Holy Spirit for his help:Holy Spirit, help me turn to Jesus.Help me run to the Lord for refuge.Help me to hear his voice.I ask you to open my spiritual vision and hearing; tune my heart to your presence.Take me into the shelter of the Most High.As you grow in this practice, it will become the doorway into the intimacy, communion, and refuge your soul longs for. I want you to turn to Christ with your heart, right now. Turn away from all that holds your attention and turn toward Jesus with your heart.You can turn to Jesus by your side or you can turn to Jesus who dwells within you. He’s always right there. Give your heart’s attention to him. Give your heart’s affection to him.Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

One of my favorite Gospel stories takes place on Easter morning; it centers around Mary Magdalene. Heartbroken, devastated, Mary has gone to the tomb of Jesus to grieve, but his body is no longer there. Most of you have experienced grief; it is concussive, debilitating. Mary can hardly breathe, and her eyes are so drenched with tears she mistakes the risen Christ for the gardener:Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”Jesus said to her, “Mary.”She turned toward him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (John 20:11–16)She turned toward him. It is one of the best lines in all of Scripture. In her trauma and grief, she turns to face Jesus.I adore this story for so many reasons. Jesus chose Mary Magdalene—a single woman he invited into his inner circle, something no rabbi at that time would have even considered. He chose this very special friend of his to appear to on Easter morning before anyone else. Even before Peter and John. This is so beautiful I cry every time I read it.It is a very mystical story, by the way. Mary speaks to angels; she sees the resurrected Christ and speaks with him as well. It is all reported as quite normal. So we will have to include Mary Magdalene among the first of the famous Christian mystics. She is experiencing the Kingdom and its King.Jesus simply says her name, “Mary!” And she turns.That is all we need to do as well. This is the basic practice of learning to take refuge in God, this turning of the heart. The practice is closer, simpler, and more accessible to you than you might think.Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

David was a hunted man. He often had to hide in severe wilderness conditions from his pursuers, who would kill him in an instant if they found him, just like many persecuted people groups today.Harriet Tubman had to hide from her enemies as she guided slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad during the American Civil War. Her stories sound a lot like David’s; she, too, was a mystic because she heard the voice of God, trusted it completely, and followed him through many dangers: “’Twasn’t me, ’twas the Lord! I always told Him, ‘I trust you. I don’t know where to go or what to do, but I expect you to lead me,’ an’ He always did.”In times of desolation, David turned to God with all his heart and found him to be his true refuge before anything in his circumstances changed:O God, you are my God;I earnestly search for you.My soul thirsts for you;my whole body longs for youin this parched and weary land where there is no water.I have seen you in your sanctuaryand gazed upon your power and glory.Your unfailing love is better than life itself. (Psalm 63:1–3, emphasis added)The mystic can access God anywhere; this is very good news. This was the secret of the beautiful life of Brother Lawrence, known for his book The Practice of the Presence of God:I cannot imagine how religious persons can live satisfied without the practice of the presence of God. For my part I keep myself retired with Him in the depth of the centre of my soul as much as I can; and while I am so with Him I fear nothing; but the least turning from Him is insupportable.The maturing mystic is not satisfied with anything short of union with Christ. This is what our humanity was made for and this is what Christ invites us into: “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me” (John 17:22). “Then they’ll be mature in this oneness” (John 17:23 The Message).Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

When the author of Psalm 91 invites us to take refuge in the shelter of the Most High, where does he have in mind? What actual place in the actual universe are we invited to?The word for “shelter” in the opening verse (“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High”) can be translated as a “hidden place” or “secret place”—the very experience children are searching for when building forts: “This is my secret, special place.” A great deal has been written about the secret place of God by mystics through the ages, some of it exquisite and some of it so vague as to be unhelpful. If we are invited to take refuge in the secret place, it can’t be so mysterious as to be beyond finding.What is the inmost place of God? What is the absolute center?His heart. Just as your heart is the very center of your being, so our Father’s heart is the center of his.As the twentieth-century mystic A. W. Tozer reminds us, “God is a Person, and in the deep of His mighty nature He thinks, wills, enjoys, feels, loves, desires and suffers as any other person may.” (The Pursuit of God)The secret place of God is his heart, and we are invited to take refuge there! What privilege, what intimacy, what joy!Trailing clouds of glory you came from the heart of God, and you can return to his heart. This is the truest and greatest homecoming of all. The presence of God—Father, Son, Holy Spirit—and the vast resources of his Kingdom are always nearby. But we do need to make conscious choices to take our refuge in God and his Kingdom. Otherwise we are taking refuge somewhere else.Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

We don’t know much about stages of development in our instant culture. We have someone else make our coffee for us. We no longer have to wait to have our photos developed — not even an hour — for now we have digital cameras that deliver back to us the image, instantly. We don’t have to wait to get in touch with someone — we can e-mail them, page them, call them on a cell phone, instant-message them this moment. We don’t need to wait for our leather jackets or our jeans or caps to age to get that rugged look — they come that way now, prefaded, tattered. Character that can be bought and worn immediately.But God is a God of process. If you want an oak tree, he has you start with an acorn. If you want a Bible, well, he delivers that over the course of more than a thousand years. If you want a man, you must begin with the boy. God ordained the stages of masculine development. They are woven into the fabric of our being, just as the laws of nature are woven into the fabric of the earth. In fact, those who lived closer to the earth respected and embraced the stages for centuries upon centuries. We might think of them as the ancient paths. Only recently have we lost touch with them. In exchange for triple-venti nonfat sugar-free vanilla lattes. The result of having abandoned masculine initiation is a world of unfinished, uninitiated men.But it doesn’t have to be this way. We needn’t wander in a fog. We don’t have to live alone, striving, sulking, uncertain, angry. We don’t have to figure life out for ourselves. Want more? Order your copy of Fathered by God today

Twice, the refuge of God is described in terms of rescue, or deliverance:“I will rescue those who love me.I will protect those who trust in my name.When they call on me, I will answer;I will be with them in trouble.I will rescue and honor them.” (Psalm 91:14–15 NLT)When we think about God as our strong tower, I think we assume something fixed and immovable, like a castle or those round towers in the British Isles. But war is savage and traumatizing, and this passage takes place in the midst of war. Demonic assault, I believe, is even more terrible; it is dark and overpowering in sinister ways. Rescue and deliverance are very different experiences than the static safety of a great fortress.Perhaps our understanding of God as refuge needs to mature to accommodate something very active and dynamic. What I want you to grasp for this moment is that the refuge of God is not a static thing. Not one and done. You live in a story, friends, not a painting. It is played out in the harsh realities of a dangerous world. And all of the Kingdom of God is involved in our rescue.Maybe, if we learn to find refuge in the midst of this wild and dangerous world, we can discover for ourselves what the mystics have known to be utterly and reliably true.Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

Of all the prayers that rise from human lips on this troubled planet, the vast majority must be some version of, “Help!” That’s why we began with the Cry of the Heart. But second place of “most often prayed” has to be in the genre of, “God — what am I supposed to do?” Guidance, clarity, direction — doesn’t that seem to be one of the main reasons we pray at all? What do we do about our son? Should I take this job? Where should I go to school? What am I supposed to do with my life?When seeking clarity we will almost always ask for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. Both are needed. Sometimes, wisdom holds the answer. Other times, we need a revelation from God (as did Ananias, when the situation seemed to shout, “Don’t go near Saul!”).The key to receiving answers to prayers for guidance is to let go our constant attempt to “figure things out.” Really, it is almost incessant; I will be in the midst of seeking the God of four hundred billion billion suns on some issue of guidance, and in the midst of asking him I am thinking through the options, trying to figure it out as I pray. I’ve been in hundreds of meetings where Christians gathered to seek God’s counsel on some matter, but they spent the entire time trying to “figure it out.” I must be forthright here: God has some rather strong feelings about those who choose to walk in the light of their own counsel: “Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the lord and rely on his God. But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment” (Isa. 50:10–11).Lord, help us; Father, forgive us. Forgive us for trying to figure it out even while we are in the motions of seeking your help. We surrender figuring it out; we would rather have your light and your counsel.Want more? Order your copy of Moving Mountains today

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. –Psalm 91:1–2I will tip my hand—the refuge described here is not merely a state of mind, an assurance for the heart. It is an ontological experience—palpable, enjoyable, an encounter with God. Our being can actually take refuge within the being of God. We can experience being surrounded with the presence of God and his mighty Kingdom in the same way we can jump into the ocean. Situated there, we can go on to experience many other realities of our God and his heavens.Psalm 91 may have been written by Moses; some Jewish traditions believe so. The previous psalm (90) is attributed directly to Moses. Think of the conditions that Moses, his family, and his community were living under when they experienced in the fullest sense God as their refuge. They were slaves—the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of slaves—wandering in a barren wilderness something like the surface of the moon for forty years. Forty years. They were hunted, constantly vigilant against nomadic raiders, having no clear vision yet of the Promised Land.I would suggest it was somewhat traumatizing (living in constant uncertainty is traumatizing).And yet Moses, a mystic who spoke with God face-to-face, “as a man speaks to his friend” could say of God, “you have always been our home” (Psalm 90:1 GNT).God is the home of every human soul. We are from him in every sense of the word. He thought of us before he created the world; he knit us together in our mother’s womb; he breathed the Breath of Life into each one of us. All the days of our life were written in his book for us before one came to be. The mystery of this is exquisite, moving the poet William Blake to say,But trailing clouds of glory do we come From God, who is our home.This is key to embracing the reality ourselves, for if we come from God, then returning to him would be natural; we would be welcome there. We might even remember the way, in our heart of hearts. Can we forget the prodigal son, who though lost and dissolute could still turn for home? He knew in his heart it was still there.The Most High, our Father, is the ultimate dwelling place. Here we discover true comfort, security, and rest. But even more, he is the source of all healing of human trauma. He truly restores the soul as we take refuge in him.Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1–5)When you live in a system of rules and regulations, it’s easy to think you are righteous because you are keeping all the rules. It’s pretty tempting to feel better about yourself by comparing your ability to get your act together with somebody else who’s not doing so well. “I’m on time to work every day. Jones over there is a royal slacker; he’s always late.” What you don’t know is that Jones has an autistic daughter he has to take across town to child care, and you, my arrogant little poser, live five minutes from work. When it comes to true holiness, Jesus had been saying, “It’s the condition of your heart.” Now he spoke to the issue of looking at someone else’s life. Notice that he didn’t say, “Never acknowledge there is a speck in your brother’s eye.” He said, “Deal with your own life first, and then you will be in a position to help others deal with theirs.”Most Christians know the passage, but they think it means, “Don’t ever let yourself get in the mind-set where you think you’re right and someone else is wrong.” But, how will we know when we are right? And how will we help someone who is wrong?Jesus also said, “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment” (John 7:24). Wait a second. Now Jesus is telling his followers to judge, and carefully. The context of this passage is Jesus’ healing of a blind man on the Sabbath and the Jewish leaders being so upset about it that they wanted to kill him. Talk about missing the point. They had come to worship the law, not the God of the law. As with the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus shows them that they missed the spirit of the law entirely. “You circumcise a child on the Sabbath. Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment” (7:22–24).Jesus says, “You guys just don’t get it. I established the Sabbath for your restoration. A day of rest so that you may be restored. Now you’re angry with me for restoring a man on the Sabbath?! I want you to start making the right distinctions and not the wrong ones.” He does not say, “Don’t make any distinctions.” He says, “Start making a right judgment.” Want more? Order your copy of Walking With God today

For every beautiful being God created, he has provided a habitat in which to flourish. Brook trout thrive happily in cold mountain streams. If you were to put them in the warm waters of the Caribbean, they would die. Stingrays, however, love that warm salt water; transfer them to a mountain stream and they will not survive a day.Cloud forests cannot abide desert conditions. Coral reefs cannot tolerate freezing temperatures. The examples are nearly infinite—each beautiful creation has its perfect habitat.We do too.Human beings are meant to live within the safety of God, drawing our nourishment from our union with him. Not only believing in God but living within him.We are also made to flourish in the fullness of God’s Kingdom, part of which is this world we see—coffee with friends, bike rides, a good book. Part we cannot see but is equally necessary—the refuge of the Almighty and the vast wonders of God’s Kingdom.Not only is the world we live in constantly pulling you out of the habitat for which you are made, it is conditioning your soul against finding your way home.The life of the ordinary mystic will help you get back.That’s what we are after.Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

No discussion of holiness is true or helpful without a healthy appreciation for how earnestly Satan wants to destroy us. Steal, kill, and destroy is how Jesus described it (John 10:10). Satan lured Adam and Eve to compromise one single act, one slip of holiness, and from there he has brought unspeakable carnage to the human race and to the earth. Friends, he hasn’t stopped his war against us.After years of ignoring this reality and paying for my ignorance (which is often in us a chosen naïveté), followed by decades taking up sword and shield and fighting the good fight for myself, I have come to adore something Jesus says shortly before Gethsemane and the cross. He urges us not to let our hearts be afraid. Then he says to his close companions, “I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.” (John 14:30–31)He has no hold on me?!! Do you have any idea what a relief this would be? Just imagine for a moment if you were fortressed to all the ploys, accusations, temptations, snares, assaults, and deceptions of the enemy. What would it be like if they had no effect on you? Your life would be a joy to live. Want more? Order your copy of Free to Live today

When our boys were young, they would gather blankets, pillows, and cushions in the basement and build elaborate forts. This was their most-played game, a weekly if not daily affair. Once constructed and made secure, blankets tucked into sofas, cushions piled up as barriers, they would take refuge inside. Sometimes to read by flashight or share candy treasures, other times for imaginary games. But mostly just to tuck in and “be,” to enjoy the experience itself.You probably built forts as a child. A refrigerator box was an absolute gold mine of a discovery, for with a few windows cut out and some duct tape on the doors it was an instant fortress.The building of forts is a universal childhood practice that researchers have become intrigued by. Carol Stock Kranowitz, author of The Out-of-Sync-Child, explains, “Forts help children reset their stressed bodies and brains. The darkness inside a fort eliminates the stimulus they do not need and intensifies what they do need ... physical comfort and solitude ... safety and control. We seek out comfort. We need to restore order.”Simply put, it’s a way of making their world smaller for a while.And children are mystics by nature. They don’t need to understand global weather patterns to find the evening snowfall utterly enchanting. They don’t need to know the brain science behind their parents’ love for them; they simply feel safe being loved. And yes— those forts aren’t actually fortresses; they collapse rather easily. But the little mystic within experiences a level of comfort and assurance that I think most adults are famished for.Everyone needs a place to feel safe.Everyone needs somewhere to go to tuck in, where the world can feel small again or at least shut out for the time being. It might be good to pause and reflect: What is your current safe place in the world? Where do you go for refuge—not only physically but emotionally, psychologically, spiritually? We can be situated securely in Jesus Christ and in God our Father, not merely as a symbol or metaphor but in actuality. As the French mystic Jeanne Guyon assures us, I have found it easy to obtain the presence of God. He desires to be more present to us than we desire to seek Him. He desires to give Himself to us far more readily than we desire to receive Him. ... This is easier and more natural than breathing. Easier than breathing—wouldn’t that be lovely? This experience of God’s presence and refuge is entirely available to you. Friends, we live in times just as dangerous as those of our ancient forebears. Let us not be lulled into a false security by the material comforts around us. We must, we must learn the practice of Jesus as our refuge. And here is where it will prove helpful to allow yourself to become a mystic. If you can suspend your disappointment, skepticism, and fear for even a moment and allow your heart to turn toward Jesus, run toward him, you can experience refuge in him. Jesus—I need refuge. Bring me into your refuge, Lord. Be my shield and strong tower. Be my safe place. I turn to you; I run to you. Be my refuge, Lord. Surround me with your presence and keep me.Holy Spirit, awaken my capacity to know and experience God. Awaken my ability to see and hear in the Kingdom of God. Make me an ordinary mystic. Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

God has a beauty to unveil. There's a reason that a man is captivated by a woman. Eve is the crown of creation. If you follow the Genesis narrative carefully, you'll see that each new stage of creation is better than the one before. First, all is formless, empty and dark. God begins to fashion the raw materials, like an artist working with a rough sketch or a lump of clay. Light and dark, land and sea, earth and sky — it's beginning to take shape. With a word, the whole floral kingdom adorns the earth. Sun, moon, and stars fill the sky. Surely and certainly, his work expresses greater detail and definition. Next come fish and fowl, porpoises and red-tailed hawks. The wild animals are next, all those amazing creatures. A trout is a wonderful creature, but a horse is truly magnificent. Can you hear the crescendo starting to swell, like a great symphony building and surging higher and higher?Then comes Adam, the triumph of God's handiwork. It is not to any member of the animal kingdom that God says, "You are my very image, the icon of my likeness." Adam bears the likeness of God in his fierce, wild, and passionate heart. And yet, there is one more finishing touch. There is Eve. Creation comes to its high point, its climax with her. She is God's finishing touch. And all Adam can say is, "Wow." Eve embodies the beauty and the mystery and the tender vulnerability of God. As the poet William Blake said, "The naked woman's body is a portion of eternity too great for the eye of man."Want more? Order your copy of Wild at Heart today

In the dawn of our childhood, we lived with God in a garden paradise. We walked with our Abba Father in the cool of the day, in conversational intimacy. We were ordinary mystics, drinking in the rich company of God and the fullness of his Kingdom. Eden was our home; we flourished in the shelter of a paradise where heaven and earth met.But we lost that home, and we have been seeking refuge ever since.There are many riches, wonders, and adventures to be had as an ordinary mystic, a friend of Jesus, living in partnership with him in this hour. But I think we need to begin by getting into a safe place. We are meant to live within the refuge of God. Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

I have counseled thousands of men and women, and I can tell you with utter confidence — both from their experiences and my own — that whatever else the enemy brings against you, he will always bring with it a feeling of I don’t want to fight this. This feeling is called ennui, a weariness of spirit, a malaise, that sense of I just don’t want to fight anymore. This is Kierkegaard’s sickness unto death, by which he meant “intensified doubt, super-doubt, mega-doubt.”(Charles Bellinger, Summary of Kierkegaard's The Sickness Unto Death)And this feeling is not your true heart.Friends, this is so helpful to understand: that weariness you’re feeling, that Not now; maybe later, that sense of being overwhelmed, that Why bother? Who cares? — this is the enemy, not you. When you know that, you’re much better prepared against it. You can more clearly choose to resist. I reject this feeling of Why bother? Who cares? and I reject this feeling that I don’t even want to fight. I do! I choose the strength that prevails! I don’t want to be one of those folks who get taken out at the end.Some people seem born with a greater measure of resilience. John Muir certainly was. He would leave camp before dawn with nothing more than a hunk of bread in his pocket and hike for thirty miles. The Comfort Culture doesn’t exactly foster that kind of physical and mental toughness!But resilience is also something that is bestowed, something imparted by God into our frail humanity. That’s truly good news.“My strength is gone,” [Daniel said,] “and I can hardly breathe.” Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength. “Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed,” he said. “Peace! Be strong now; be strong.” When he spoke to me, I was strengthened. (Daniel 10:17–19)The first fruit of katischuó (the strength that prevails) is the ability to not give up. It imbues us with that Churchillian grit: Never surrender; never give up! The strength that prevails — this mighty, combative warrior-strength — first comes to us simply as the strength not to quit. Because when you’re tired, when you’re beat up, you just want relief — a bag of chips, a bottle of wine, to lie on the couch and binge on Netflix. Jesus urges us to be on our guard, “so that your hearts will not be weighed down. … praying that you will have strength to escape all these things” (Luke 21:34, 36 NASB). Want more? Order your copy of Resilient today

Chesterton conducted something of a personal experiment to see what the overall impression would be if a person simply read the Gospels without any previous information regarding Jesus. What he found surprised him:It is full of sudden gestures evidently significant except that we hardly know what they signify; of enigmatic silences; of ironical replies. The outbreaks of wrath, like storms above our atmosphere, do not seem to break out exactly where we should expect them, but to follow some higher weather-chart of their own.Oh, but they do make sense, when you understand that this is a man on a mission. That the same man who could be so playful is also a man on fire. If you would know Jesus, you must know that this — his fierce intentionality — is essential to his personality.Nature bears witness. Picture an African lion, stalking through tall grass, closing in on its prey — the ruthless focus, the vigilant keenness. Or the gaze of a silverback gorilla when he turns to confront an intruder crossing the hidden boundary of his band. How about a mother brown bear when her cubs are threatened? Six hundred pounds of unrelenting fury. Now imagine you are watching one of these scenes not on the nature channel but from thirty feet away. Oh, yes, we find a very fierce intentionality in nature — reflecting the personality of the Artist. Want more? Order your copy of Beautiful Outlaw today

Repeated processes shape the soul; this has been core to discipleship for millennia.It was inevitable that years of Internet life would shape our souls whether we wanted it to or not. As a friend said, “It’s not that we’ve done something wrong; something wrong has been done to us.”Discipleship to the Internet has shaped your soul to expect immediate answers to your questions; given you a deep suspicion to all forms of mystery; fueled your addiction that the “practical” is the real stuff of life; while eroding your confidence that you can know anything for certain because yesterday’s facts are savagely overturned. We are all worn out from this way of operating in the world because there is no life in it.There is no life in it.No wonder people have a hard time experiencing Jesus.If you tell a child, “We’re going to the beach tomorrow!” their immediate response is not, “Yeah ... maybe. We’ll see. Did you even check the weather?” That’s the adult response. “Maybe we shouldn’t—did you see online that there is a sewage issue on the coast this year?” A child simply receives the promise of adventure, and they will have the joy of both a day full of anticipation of going to the beach as well as going to the beach itself! Double the joy! Because children don’t operate from a posture of weary skepticism, cynicism, and “I’ll believe it when you show me the science.”Maybe remembering this will help us grasp what Jesus was trying to address when he said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).Never enter are pretty strong words. Never?Jesus often acts like a firefighter rescuing victims trapped in a burning building. He says extremely serious things because the situation is extremely serious.Here he is trying to rescue us from the barrier to experiencing God and his Kingdom that has been formed within us by the time we reach adulthood—the weary, skeptical cynicism ... the guardedness. Jesus says, “I have so much to show you, so much to offer you. But you’re going to have to let go the cynicism, skepticism, and pragmatism. Open yourself up to belief again. Simply trust, like a child does.”You can do this, friends; you really can.Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

If then you are wise, you will show yourself rather as a reservoir than as a canal. A canal spreads abroad water as it receives it, but a reservoir waits until it is filled before overflowing, and thus without loss to itself [it shares] its superabundant water. (Bernard of Clairvaux)A beautiful picture. The canal runs dry so quickly, shortly after the rains subside. Like a dry streambed in the desert. But a reservoir is a vast and deep reserve of life. We are called to live in a way that we store up reserves in our heart, and then offer from a place of abundance. As Jesus said, "Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old" (Matt 13:52). I'm thinking, Storeroom? What storeroom? "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart…for out of the overflow of his heart, his mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45 emphasis added).I'm afraid I live spiritually like I live financially — I get a little, and go spend it. I live like a canal. I look like a reservoir when the rains come, but shortly after, I'm dried up again. (My financially responsible readers have just congratulated themselves on living a more disciplined life. But may I ask, are you using those reserves to do things that nourish your heart? Many a Scrooge has filled his coffers while starving his soul). "There are very many canals in the church today," laments Julia Gatta, "but few reservoirs." One woman deeply involved in ministry wrote to me recently that she is "burned out to a crackling crunch." She has been a canal. She hasn't cared for her heart. She is not alone. Want more? Order your copy of Waking The Dead today

Waiting can be an experience of emptiness. Our hands are empty. Our desires unfulfilled. Our hearts feel empty as well. George MacDonald described it this way: ’Tis hard for man to rouse his spirit up— It is the human creative agony, Though but to hold the heart an empty cup, Or tighten on the team the rigid rein. Many will rather lie among the slain Than creep through narrow ways the light to gain— Than wake the will, and be born bitterly. But he who would be born again indeed, Must wake his soul unnumbered times a day, And urge himself to life with holy greed; Now ope his bosom to the Wind’s free play; And now, with patience forceful, hard, lie still, Submiss and ready to the making will, Athirst and empty, for God’s breath to fill. (A Book of Strife in the form of the Diary of an Old Soul)The only way we can wait is if we are holding fast to the hope that we will not be waiting forever. Waiting requires trusting. We will be able to wait with expectancy only if we believe that a great good is coming.It’s an exercise of faith. It’s an opportunity for our desires not to be quelled but to rise, for our hope to become heavier, more substantial, anchored more solidly in the belief that a goodness beyond our wildest dreams will come to us when our Jesus arrives in glory. And He is coming. We are promised His ultimate return, when He will put every enemy under His feet. And even now Jesus is coming. He is present in the waiting. We do not wait alone. We do not wait in vain. Want more? Order your copy of Defiant Joy today

The Internet has taught its disciples that there shall be no mystery to anything. We can get to the bottom of any question, lay open the bare facts to any secret. In fact, if there is mystery, we’ve been thoroughly discipled to question it. Mystery equals some probable deception or scandal. Facts are safe; nothing else is.The eradication of mystery would also be shocking to our spiritual forebears. We feel that in order to experience Jesus and access his help, we need to understand the spiritual like we do nutrition, exercise, or retirement plans. A friend asked me this week, “Yes, but how do I love God? How do I take refuge in him? I mean, practically speaking?”It is the question of the person discipled by the Internet.As soon as you hear the demand for the practical, in simple, clear immediate steps, you know you are talking to a Disciple of the Internet. It is a very different question, a different posture than someone approaching a saint of ages past and asking, “Teach me to commune with God.”If I told you, “The Bible says that prayer is powerful,” you would say, “Sure.” If I told you, “I saw this study on how prayer rewired the brains of older nuns into a more peaceful frame of mind,” you would say, “Wow. That is so cool. I think I want to pray more.”It’s madness, this addiction. My friend was asking how in the same way he would ask, “How do I change the water filter in my refrigerator?” His question (I know him well) was filled with demand for the mechanics, as in, Make God like my refrigerator—not mysterious, but concrete. Give me the practical. Make it practical. Give me the latest science or I won’t believe you; in fact, I hardly believe you now.Do you understand that to make Jesus and his Kingdom practical is to strip it of all wonder, mystery, and power?It’s like asking for the mechanics of falling in love, enjoying sunlight on the ocean, comforting a frightened child. It’s like refusing to trust laughter until someone explains the neuroscience. Honestly, asking, “How do I love God?” is like asking, “How do I love my son, my daughter?” The heart knows how to love without being told the latest research, for heaven’s sake.This is the bind we’ve been discipled into—our weary, skeptical pragmatism keeps us from experiencing the God we are dying without.And there is a way out.Thank God, there is a way out of the madness and into the joys of daily, rich experiences of Jesus. God and his beautiful Kingdom are much more accessible than your cultural moment has conditioned you to believe and experience.This is very, very good news.Want More? Order your copy of Experience Jesus. Really. today

The book “Killing Lions” is a conversation between John and Sam Eldredge about the trials young men face. [Sam] Should you have killed a lion before you commit? Many traditional cultures like the Maasai require a young man to prove himself before he can marry or own land. He needs to "kill a lion", so to speak. It seems wise. What do you think? [John] I am a big believer in having a vision for where your life is headed before you get engaged. You don’t have to land the Big Job or own a house first, but when you ask a girl to marry you, what are you inviting her into? A proposal is not just, “Hey — we like hanging out together. Let’s do it 24-7!” (Or more often than not, for committed Christians, “We want to have sex — let’s get married!”) A proposal is an invitation into a shared life—so fellas, what exactly is that life going to be about? That girl has a right to know where you are headed, cowboy, before she just up and rides off with you. Mom and I shared in the adventure of the theater company we were starting; we knew this was the city we wanted to be living in; we loved the church we were committed to; and we had a healthy community around us. I don’t think a young man should marry hoping that once he does everything else will just sort of fall into place. When she broke up with you, Susie insisted that you address your aimlessness. Back to what we were saying earlier — one firm foundation you do want to have going into a committed relationship is a good sense of your identity. Your fiancée or wife cannot resolve that for you — nor can you for her. This is something you want for both of you — you want your fiancée to have the opportunity to settle some of the deeper issues of her heart and her identity before you marry, and you want some sense of who you are as a man. Now there is grace here; you don’t have to have everything figured out. God loves beginnings. Adam and Eve needed each other to live the life he had for them; so much of the joy of young lovers is discovering together all that God has for you. Don’t picture yourselves as architects coming in with a complete blueprint, but rather as adventurers, trying to decipher a treasure map together.Want more? Order your copy of Killing Lions today

It was in the depths of his personal tragedies that Job uttered the ruling sentence of his heart: “What I feared has come upon me” (3:25). In other words, “I knew it! I knew I couldn’t really trust God—not with the things that matter most.” Job’s idol was control through religion and God was determined to save him from it. When the nits and dragons come, we ask God to remove them and when he doesn’t, we take charge of our own well-being since it appears no one else will. The dragons and nits reveal to us (and to our community) where our attachments and addictions lie. In other words, they reveal where our heart is, other than captured by the love of God.But there is more. Life on the road takes us into our heart, for only when we are present in the deep sentences can God speak to them. That’s why the story is a journey; it has to be lived, it cannot simply be talked about. When we face trials, our most common reaction is to ask God, “Why won’t you relieve us?” And when he doesn’t, we resignedly ask, “What do you want me to do?” Now we have a new question: “Where is the Romance headed?”There is another great “revealing” in our life on the road. We run our race, we travel our journey, in the words of Hebrews, before “a great cloud of witnesses” (12:1). When we face a decision to fall back or press on, the whole universe holds its breath—angels, demons, our friends and foes, and the Trinity itself—watching with bated breath to see what we will do. We are still in the drama of Act III and the heart of God is still on trial. The question that lingers from the fall of Satan and the fall of man remains: Will anyone trust the great heart of the Father, or will we shrink back in faithless fear?As we grow into the love of God and the freedom of our own hearts, we grow in our ability to cast our vote on behalf of God. Our acts of love and sacrifice, the little decisions to leave our false loves behind and the great struggles of our heart reveal to the world our true identity: We really are the sons and daughters of God.Want More? Order your copy of The Sacred Romance today

Life on the road requires recollection of our Love’s past deeds on our behalf and his promise of continued faithfulness to us. We will need courage and patience and those are strengthened by remembering. We will need memory, which is to say, we will need faith.Faith looks back and draws courage; hope looks ahead and keeps desire alive. And meantime? In the meantime we need one more item for our journey. To appreciate what it may be, we have to step back and ask what all this is for. The resurrection of our heart, the discovery of our role in the Larger Story, entering into the Sacred Romance—why do we pursue these things? If we say we seek all of this for our own sake, we’re right back where we started: lost in our own story. Jesus said that when a person lives merely to preserve his life, he eventually loses it altogether. Rather, he said, give your life away and discover life as it was always meant to be. “Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self” (Matt. 16:25, The Message). Self-preservation, the theme of every small story, is so deeply wrong because it violates the Trinity, whose members live to bring glory to the others. The road we travel will take us into the battle to restore beauty in all things, chief among them the hearts of those we know. We grow in glory so that we might assist others in doing so; we give our glory to increase theirs. In order to fulfill the purpose of our journey, we will need a passion to increase glory; we will need love.Memory, imagination, and a passion for glory—these we must keep close at hand if we are to see the journey to its end. Dragons and nits and the noonday demons lie in wait. But the road is not entirely rough. There are oases along the way. It would be a dreadful mistake to assume that our Beloved is only waiting for us at the end of the road. Our daily communion and intimacy with him, together with the gifts he gives us along the way—these are more than enough to sustain us along our path.Want More? Order your copy of The Sacred Romance today

It seems to me we can never give up longing and wishing while we are alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and we must hunger for them. (George Eliot)And I still haven't found what I'm looking for. (U2)There is a secret set within each of our hearts. It often goes unnoticed, we rarely can put words to it, and yet it guides us throughout the days of our lives. This secret remains hidden for the most part in our deepest selves. It is simply the desire for life as it was meant to be. Isn't there a life you have been searching for all your days? You may not always be aware of your search, and there are times when you seem to have abandoned looking altogether. But again and again it returns to us, this yearning that cries out for the life we prize. It is elusive, to be sure. It seems to come and go at will. Seasons may pass until it surfaces again. And though it seems to taunt us, and may at times cause us great pain, we know when it returns that it is priceless. For if we could recover this desire, unearth it from beneath all other distractions, and embrace it as our deepest treasure, we would discover the secret of our existence. Want more? Order your copy of The Journey of Desire today

Jesus is more impressed with the cunning of “the people of this world” than he is the naïveté so common to “the people of the light.” And then — back to the doves and snakes analogy — he urges us to be cunning: “I want you to be smart in the same way ... not complacently just get by on good behavior” (v. 9, The Message). There’s a certain charm to a Forrest Gump naïveté, the kind your grandmother had as she wore her white gloves to church—but is that the kind of person you could trust with your life?God’s response to the Tower of Babel uprising was cunning — confusing the languages of the earth. It was certainly better than taking away the faculty of speech. Men could make some headway, but they would have a heck of a time uniting the world again in a rebellion against God.Setting eternity in our hearts was cunning, so that every last one of us would be haunted all our days with unmet longings that would cause us to seek the only Fountain that can quench our thirst. I think the movement of the Spirit in the church is cunning — first here, then there, keeping men from systemizing it, keeping the enemy from squelching it. It’s like a game of rugby.Jesus is holy and cunning. Want more? Order your copy of Beautiful Outlaw today

Look again at the story — when God gave us the earth, he gave us a mission. God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of the earth.” Genesis 1:27, The Message Notice the mission is a blessing, as anyone longing for a sense of purpose knows — give me something to do. Something important. The meaning of the passage goes way beyond farming and fisheries management (though they are noble callings). The spirit of the mission is this — we are God’s regents here on earth, sent here to bring his Kingdom in all the many ways his Kingdom needs to be brought. Oh, the thrill that comes when we begin to realize we have a role in this great Story; that there is something we must accomplish with our lives. Want more? Order your copy of Love & War today

I shudder at how easily my heart can be divided. I do love God, I really do. I know you do too. The double-mindedness is revealed when we only sort of want God. Our longing for life to be good again becomes the test we hold up against God — if he seems to be helping, wonderful. We believe. If he doesn’t, well ... we’re going to chase whatever we think will fill our longing and get back to God sometime down the road. Powerful, ancient forces are pulling us in that direction.We are in such a vulnerable moment.We must, we must, we must choose single-heartedness, where we desire Jesus above everything else — above all our other “lovers,” our false Edens, our passing comforts.If you want to become a wholehearted person, you must reach the point where happily, lovingly, you give absolutely everything over to God. You make Jesus your everything, your all-in-all. Not only is this the fulfillment of your heart’s created destiny, it is the source of all recovery and resilience. Nothing can be taken from you because you’ve already surrendered everything.Those flowers on the porch that I’ve been nursing? I noticed this morning that dry rot is creeping over my favorite hanging basket. And in another pot some pest is munching holes through every bloom. You can’t hold on to things, friends; there’s no looking back. It doesn’t do any good, but it can do an enormous amount of harm. Remember Lot’s wife.You can’t go back, especially at a time when God is moving things forward. He wants us to come along with him.I give everything for your everything.This is now my prayer.I give everything for your everything. Want more? Order your copy of Resilient today

Abiding in the love of God is our only hope, the only true home for our hearts. It's not that we mentally acknowledge that God loves us. It's that we let our hearts come home to him, and stay in his love. MacDonald says it this way: When our hearts turn to him, that is opening the door to him ... then he comes in, not by our thought only, not in our idea only, but he comes himself, and of his own will. Thus the Lord, the Spirit, becomes the soul of our souls ... Then indeed we are; then indeed we have life; the life of Jesus has ... become life in us ... we are one with God forever and ever. (The Heart of George MacDonald)Or as St. John of the Cross echoes:O how gently and how lovingly dost thou lie awake in the depth and centre of my soul, where thou in secret and in silence alone, as its sole Lord, abidest, not only as in Thine own house or in Thine own chamber, but also as within my own bosom, in close and intimate union. (Living Flame of Love)This deep intimate union with Jesus and with his Father is the source of all our healing and all our strength. It is, as Leanne Payne says, "the central and unique truth of Christianity."Want more? Order your copy of Wild at Heart today