Where Are You Most Vulnerable?
 What’s Your Propensity?
“If you really know God, prove it—show me what you can do.”
“If God loves you, test it—see if He will take care of you.”
“If God is pleased with you, show me the authority He’s given you.” (Luke 4)
These were the temptations the devil brought to Jesus in the desert, right before He began His public ministry. And in many ways, they’re the same temptations we still face today.
Even at the end of Jesus’ life, the same voices showed up:
“If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” (Matthew 27:42)
“Let’s see if Elijah comes to save Him.” (Matthew 27:49)
People wanted proof. They wanted to see if God would come through—if Jesus was really loved, really protected, really carrying authority. And throughout His ministry, the religious leaders questioned Him in the same way: “By what authority are You doing these things?” (Matthew 21:23)
Those pressures didn’t go away. And they don’t for us either.
At our core, many of us feel the pull to prove ourselves… to ...
Vulnerable Love
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Let’s start with a simple question: When do we not feel loved?
Some answers come quickly:
- When we’re ridiculed or belittled
- When we’re taken advantage of or used
- When we’re dismissed, overlooked, or not taken into account
- When we’re neglected—noticed, maybe, but not truly cared for
But there are other, less obvious ways we can miss love:
- When someone cares for us, but never really connects with us
- When we’re served, but not allowed to give anything in return
- When we’re known, but not invited to know the other person
At its core, real love is vulnerable.
It doesn’t hold back. It doesn’t hide behind self-protection. It moves toward connection—and in that connection, something new and shared begins to grow.
This is the kind of love we see in Jesus.
He became fully human and fully engaged with people. He allowed Himself to be misunderstood, rejected, and hurt—and yet He kept loving. How? Because He lived rooted in the love of His Father. His wounds were met with hea...
Be Owned and Blessed, Not Burned Out
Owned—in the Best Way Possible
You’ve probably heard some good old-fashioned trash talk in sports: “I own you!” It’s meant to intimidate, to send the message that the other person has no chance unless you allow it. Being “owned” in that context is humiliating—it implies domination and defeat.
But being “owned” by God? That’s something entirely different—and deeply freeing.
The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:19–20, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price.” That price was the life of God’s Son, given as a ransom to free us from the bondage of sin. Through Jesus, we’ve been rescued from darkness and brought into a Kingdom of light, life, and righteousness.
But here’s the key: living in that freedom means embracing this new identity. You are no longer your own—you belong to Him.
God’s Treasured Possession
Three times in the book of Deuteronomy, God refers to His people as His “treasured possession.” In today’s world, being called a possession might sound negative—li...
Choose Contentment Over False Contenders
We live in a society that is more resourced and privileged than any in history. Yet, that privilege can easily lead to a complaining posture. Wealth can paradoxically lead to an attitude of complaint and discontent.
When we focus on things, we can subtly start to believe that they will bring us happiness, identity or security. Once we have taken that bait, we can be drawn to attach our sense of self to those things and/or the “need” to get or maintain them. When we don’t have them – or when they don’t provide for
us as we thought they would - we become insecure and discontent.
The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1 Timothy 6:6) This statement is like a math equation: Godliness + Contentment = Great Gain. What, however, does it mean?
Walking in God’s ways, in a state of soul-contentment, is Great Gain. The great gain is walking with God in His ways. It is not tied to circumstance or resource. It is tied to God’s Kingdom – His person and His...
