The Daily Dose

“When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.”

Jesus truly has a sense of humor. Over the past week, I’ve had three separate encounters that resulted in, what I’m calling, “unfortunate conversations.” I’m reminded that there are sometimes consequences when you speak the truth, and I’ve gotten a lot of practice turning the other cheek.

Now, I’m not saying that I didn’t have a part in these “unfortunate conversations.” I could have been more thoughtful…

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“All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God.”

Today, we celebrate St. Barnabus - an incredible evangelist who dedicated his life to spreading the gospel and raising up leaders in the church. Today’s Saint, born Joseph, was given the name Barnabus, which means, “son of encouragement” because of his incredible capacity to love others.

Barnabus played a pivotal role in the early years of the church and served as a peacemaker, especially for dear old Paul.

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“O God, You are my hope.”

Hope is a tricky thing. It’s easy to lose and, before you know it, you’ve put it in the wrong place. It can be like a pair of keys - you need them to get where you’re going, but they tend to disappear when you need them most. But we’re called to a better way.

Our hope isn’t meant to be like a set of keys that we pick up and set down - only using it when we need it. Our hope is meant to be like a pair of contacts or glasses - a necessary gift that focuses our vision.

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“You are the salt of the earth.”

Today’s Gospel reminds us that we have a role to play. Our lives aren’t meaningless, and they’re not only for our own enjoyment. As Christians, we have an obligation to be the salt of the earth.

Butttt - if you’re anything like me, you get salty about being salt. I get annoyed that I can’t just live for myself. I get fussy when the Lord doesn’t give me the things that I want. I get salty with Jesus when He asks me to be the salt because, most of the time, it’s not very comfortable.

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“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son”

This weekend, I had the privilege of witnessing the baptism of a beautiful baby girl. Watching little ones come into the church is always a surreal moment for me, and my friendship with this particular family made it all the more special.

As I sat holding babies and playing funny games with the kids during the small after party, the Father’s love grew more and more apparent. In my best moments, I am in awe of God’s sacrifice to me.

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“O Lord, great peace have they who love Your law”

Even when we encounter unrest and disagreement, we have access to peace and freedom when we focus on Christ’s laws. When we live by Christ’s teaching, we can strip off the woes of our world and take on the freedom of Christ.

As children of God, we’re wrapped in His cloak of love and acceptance. We’re not chosen because of our actions, but because our God has chosen us - and when we remain close to Him, to the One who chooses us, we’ll encounter the freedom we crave.

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“The Lord our God is Lord alone!”

Sisters, I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve hit a wall. First, it was COVID, and now this. It’s a lot. Emotionally, it’s a lot. Spiritually, it’s a lot. Relationally, it’s a lot. I’m a little afraid to write anything because our climate is so charged with negativity, anger, and outrage.

There are many moments that I feel vulnerable when writing JOANIE posts, but today is a different story. Today, I feel wide open. As if there are internet trolls just waiting.

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“To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.”

I’ll be honest, sisters. I am struggling not to get political in these posts. The current climate is affecting me deeply, so in an effort to keep this about Jesus, I’m lifting up my eyes and lifting up my praise. Today’s post is mostly just a big old prayer.

God, You are the Creator, the Inventor, the Author, the Provider, the Redeemer, the Renewer, the resurrection, the way, the truth, and the life. You are our Creator, our Inventor, our Author, our Provider…

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“O Lord, You have been our refuge.”

Sisters, if we can learn anything from the current climate in America, I think one thing is for sure: the Lord is our only refuge.

The best place for us to place our hope is in Jesus. If we put it anywhere else, it’s misplaced. As much as we strive to follow our conscience and engage in politics to do our civic duty, we can’t place our hope in anything except for God. Nothing else and no-one else is perfect.

Our God is our refuge.

Our God is the only one who won’t let us down.

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“All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brothers.”

Today is the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and it couldn’t be better timing. With all that our country is going through, we could really use an intercessor. Between the coronavirus and George Floyd, our country feels like it’s coming apart at the seams.

If you’ve tuned into the news recently, I’m sure you’re as heartbroken as I.

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“He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’”

Follow me. Jesus’ call never changes. It never gets old or runs dry. It never shifts or strays. His call from the first day to the last is always the same: follow me.

When Jesus called Peter the first time He said, “Follow me.” It is the same for us. From the very first day, Jesus says, “Follow me.” And in today’s Gospel, after Peter’s reconciliation, Jesus shows us that His call remains the same - even if we mess up.

[Jesus] said to [Peter], “Follow Me.”

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“I wish that where I am they also may be with Me.”

Seriously - is John 17 not the best chapter?? Right before Jesus died, these are the words He chose and the prayers He prayed. I’m in awe. When I read these verses, I can feel heaven enfolding me, wrapping me up in the Spirit and the divine love of Jesus. Every time I read these lines, I’m moved - by Jesus’ sacrifice, by His desires, and by His love.

Sisters, when I’m forgetting who I am, when I stray from who God made me to be - I run to this passage.

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“I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.”

John 17 is my very favorite chapter in the bible. I love that in the moments right before the Passion, Jesus chose to pray for us. While He’s in the garden and His disciples are nodding off, He burns the midnight oil praying for us. He’s faithful to us until the very end.

John 17 is basically a love letter to humanity - it demonstrates Jesus’ big love for us. Jesus asks that we could be united to the Father as He is.

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“I glorified You on earth by accomplishing the work that You gave me to do.”

During this quarantine, I’ve gotten pretty fed up with the mundane. I’m definitely over the same-old, same-old. But when we encounter moments when it’s annoying to do the “stuff of life,” we’re invited to press into God’s work instead of our own.

Let’s be honest, it’s pretty arrogant of us to decide what’s important and what’s unimportant to God. Deep cleaning the bathroom might seem to be an unimportant task, but…

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“Your grief will become joy.”

Sisters, this Gospel is a Gospel for single ladies. I know this scripture is about yearning for Christ, but when I read this scripture, I feel like Jesus is speaking directly to the heartache present within my heart.

I recently had a conversation with a good friend about my heartbreak, disappointment, and pain at being single late into my 20’s. At the end of our chat, we both concluded that the gift will be so much sweeter when it’s received after suffering for it.

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“I am with you always.”

Always means always. It doesn’t mean when we’re paying attention. It doesn’t mean when we’re well-behaved. It means always.

I regularly forget that Jesus is with me all the time, and truthfully, my immediate response is often discomfort. I don’t like that He sees every mistake, that He knows every good choice and every bad one. My ego flinches at every misstep that He sees, but God’s love is greater than our failure. Let’s be honest, there’s something out of whack when I am alarmed at Jesus being close to me all the time.

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“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.”

All too often, I view my faith-walk as a linear - as a checklist of items to work through with the Lord: finances, identity, trust, self-image, etc… Check. Check. Check. Done. Done. Done. But, usually, that’s not how it works.

I hate to admit it, but I get really annoyed when Jesus circles back something I feel like we’ve “already covered.” I’m tempted into frustration and despair when an “old” item pops back up.

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“There was suddenly such a severe earthquake that the foundations of the jail shook;”

I love the story of Paul and Silas in prison because it is evidence that our praise carries the power to change our reality. When we proclaim the greatness of God, especially when we have plenty of reasons to be ungrateful, our praise changes things.

Paul and Silas were beaten. With rods. I can imagine they were bloody and exhausted and aching with pain - and yet, they chose to sing of God’s goodness.

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“The Lord takes delight in His people.”

Delight: cause or source of great pleasure. It’s really hard to fathom - that our God takes delight in us. Of all the things to bring Him pleasure and joy, He finds His delight in us.

We’re not just daughters that He loves out of obligation, with an unconditional but tired love. His love for us never tires because it isn’t a general kind of love. God’s love for us is personal; it’s based on who we are, who He made us to be.

He likes you so much He loves you.

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“Love one another as I love you.”

We’ve all heard it a million times - love one another as Jesus loves. It rolls off of the tongue, and it gets cross-stitched on pillows. It might be easy to say, but it’s hard to live.

My knee-jerk reaction isn’t to love others as Jesus does - with a selfless love. My first instinct is to look out for myself - to make myself the number one priority and to cater my schedule and energy and finances to fit my needs. And when I do that, I’m not loving like Jesus loved.

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