The Daily Dose

“Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.”

How often do I run to other people to fill the gaps? How often, when I’m upset or stressed, do I run to my mom or my girlfriends to bring me life - instead of the Word. SO. OFTEN. When I’m troubled, my knee-jerk reaction is to pick up the phone. Now, I’m not saying that leaning on community is bad - at. all. But my community can’t take the place of my relationship with Jesus. When I’m struggling, I’m given an opportunity to lean on the Word. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

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“Cry out full-throated and unsparingly, lift up your voice like a trumpet blast;”

Y’all. Have you ever truly cried out “like a trumpet blast?” “Full-throated” “Unsparingly” I’ll be real - I’m a very loud person by nature, and I cannot remember crying out to the Lord like that … ever. I don’t think that I’ve used my voice like a trumpet blast since about 1st grade when my inhibitions had yet to develop. Now, I’m not saying that I don’t cry out to the Lord - that happens pretty frequently.

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“Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God, heeding His voice, and holding fast to Him.”

Sisters, I can easily own that I’m holding onto the Lord, but am I holding fast? Do I cling to Him? I’ll admit it - not all the time. So today, I’m making space for clinging. I’m making space to be needy. The Lord promises life and freedom and love to those who heed His voice and hold fast to Him, so I’m putting all my eggs in His basket.

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“And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”

Every year, I find the Ash Wednesday Gospel super ironic. The one day when we’re marked with ashes, we are instructed to keep our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving hidden. As if to say, “Attention everyone: I am about to start fasting every Friday! And maybe even during the week! But, now that you know I’m doing it, I’ll keep it hidden. But I just wanted to make sure you knew before I started.” Should I wipe my ashes off?

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“So submit yourselves to God.”

The word submit doesn’t usually sit well with me. As much as I hate to admit it, submission evokes some “ugly” feelings. In general, it’s hard for me to submit to others - I like being in charge, and my pride is something fierce. But when I really think about it, submission gets a bad rap. Broken down, submission = sub + mission. Submitting to the Father means coming under His mission. And our God isn’t cruel; He doesn’t ask us to submit to squelch our gifts and desires.

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“I do believe, help my unbelief!”

As lent quickly approaches, I find myself reflecting more and more on the foundational stories of our faith. But since I’ve heard these stories so many times, their drama has waned, and the explosiveness of their impact has dulled. I find myself thinking: “Yes, Jesus died and then He rose from the dead. Sure, He died to save me and to nullify all my sins. And?” As if I need a new revelation. *insert eye-roll*

Sisters, I don’t need a new revelation.

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“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

With Lent right around the corner, I’ve been thinking a lot about denial. What am I giving up? What am I adding in? What needs to be cut out? What habits do I need to break? Where is Jesus calling me to follow Him? Sisters, that last question is the one we should really be asking. Our lenten devotions and denials are meant to draw us into deeper relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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“You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

I love Peter. He’s such a great brother to us. He gets it SO right (You are the Christ) and then SO wrong (Get behind me, Satan). I feel like Peter all the time - one moment I’m right on track and the next I’m going in the wrong direction. Like Peter, I’m almost always zealous, but sometimes I’m not zealous for the right things.

All too often, I’m not thinking as God does, but like human beings do. I’m caught up in my life or my plan.

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“Be doers of the word”

Last Thursday was a big day for the #EndItMovement. If you’re not familiar, the #enditmovement exists to raise awareness about human trafficking. Over the past few years, I’ve heard whisperings about the evils of human trafficking, but I never really understood what that meant until I started doing some research. Sisters, human trafficking is slavery, plain and simple - over 40 million people are people are being bought and sold, and at least 8 million of them are children.

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“Blessed is (s)he who perseveres in temptation,”

Temptation sucks. It just sucks in every area, but I find it SO difficult to resist temptation in the area of speech. I love to talk, and unfortunately, not everything that comes out of my mouth is good, true, or beautiful. When I get frustrated or annoyed, I’m tempted to let my words fly out of control. Pretty much every day, I’m tempted, oh so tempted, to tell people what I really think. Most of the time, I’m dying to tell someone about what I think.

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“He looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, ‘Ephphatha!’ (that is, ‘Be opened!’)”

Today is my birthday! To be honest, this day comes with a variety of emotions for me. On one hand - it’s my birthday, which is amazing and fun! On the other - it comes with some lingering apprehension. What’s coming next for me? Will I achieve all the I want to? Am I “far enough along” in life?

Even though my birthday is a fun day, I’m reflecting back on my year and looking forward to the next with a lot of questions.

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“The man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.”

Happy Valentine’s Day, Sisters! For some, this is a day that hurts. For others, it’s joyful and fun. I’ve been on both ends of the spectrum. For the most part, Valentine’s Day is fun for me - I’m all about the hearts and chocolate and homemade valentines. And while I love V-day (and all the cutesy home decor deals I’ll find at Target in about a week), Valentine’s Day still stings a little bit.

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“He could not escape notice.”

An excerpt from the Catholic Education Resource Center: In 1995, Father Michael White was invited to organize the Pope's visit to Baltimore on behalf of the archdiocese. Prior to the Holy Father's arrival, the chief organizer for papal pilgrimages, Father Roberto Tucci, SJ, came to Maryland to scout out the venues and make the necessary arrangements for John Paul's trip. When he arrived at the archbishop's residence, he noticed that one of the doors opened into a chapel.

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“Never again did anyone bring such an abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.”

When I was a little girl, my dad and I had a bathtime routine. He would wrap a towel over my head, pull it around my shoulders like a cape, and call me the queen of Sheba. I’d giggle and run wildly towards my bedroom to put my jammies on. As for the queen of Sheba, I never knew much about her. Years later when I starting walking with Jesus, I was a little afraid to learn about her…

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“You keep Your covenant of mercy with Your servants who are faithful to You with their whole heart.”

God will keep His covenant of mercy with those who are faithful with their whole heart. It’s hard to be truly faithful with any less. You can’t be faithful with your whole heart and shout obscenities at the driver who cut you off. You can’t be faithful with your whole heart and be envious of your best friends. You can’t be faithful with your whole heart and worship your finances.

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“The priests could no longer minister because of the cloud, since the LORD’s glory had filled the temple of the LORD”

This Monday, I need God’s glory to fill the temple of my heart.  I want my heart to be so filled with the Lord’s glory that nothing else can minister to my heart but Him.  I want the presence of God to fill my heart like a thick fog settling within me, blurring the lines of where my heart ends and His heart begins.

I don’t want to see anyone else or anything else.

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“I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”

Today’s Gospel is a tough one - it’s a little discouraging for the average Christian.  Let’s be real - who fantasizes about getting their head chopped off and brought out on a platter to their jailer?  No one. No one mentally stable really wants their head chopped off.

And yet, John the Baptist is a beacon of faith for us.  He prepares the way for the Lord, he baptizes Jesus, and he chooses to love Herod despite the hardness of Herod’s heart.

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“Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there.”

Stay until you leave.  There are seasons of life when I’m in the desert, but there are also seasons when I’m in Eden.  I’ve worked through stuff in Eden, and I’ve worked through stuff in the desert. When I’m in an Eden season, I never complain.  But when I’m in the desert. Oh boy. The Lord gets an earful.

When I’m in a desert season, today’s verse comes alive, “stay until you leave.”  Stay until the work is done.

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“Is He not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon?”

Most people don’t like change.  It’s uncomfortable and scary and unknown.  And because people don’t like change, they don’t like to see you change.  Too many times, we get sucked into keeping people happy instead of growing.  Too many times, we get stuck in the “role” we play in our family or our friendships or our relationships.  Too many times, we choose to stay comfortable instead of living for Jesus.

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“She fell down before Jesus and told Him the whole truth.”

The hemorrhaging woman is a great favorite of mine from the scriptures because I often feel like her.  If I could just get to Jesus, if I could just touch the hem of His clothes, then maybe I would be healed.  Surely, if I could just get close enough to Him, His goodness and grace and mercy would be able to penetrate all the broken places.

The hemorrhaging woman “fell down before Jesus and told Him the whole truth.”

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