created to love Him...

Where are the priests today? Not the pious men holding a position of power in a religious establishment. Where are the priests that are talked about in Numbers 1:49-53? The people, set apart by God, who are "appointed over the tabernacle of testimony (verse 50)." The PEOPLE...not the hierachical PERSON. God set apart an entire tribe of Israel to have one mission - to care for the tabernacle or the tent of meeting.  The tent of meeting was the place where a person could meet God. The Levites were entrusted with the care of this tabernacle, this tent, this housing place for the presence of God.  They were instructed to carry this tent of meeting on their shoulders wherever God led them. When the cloud moved, the tent of meeting moved with it and all of Israel followed. When the cloud stopped, the tent of meeting stopped and all of Israel camped around it. The tabernacle was the intersection between humanity and God and the priests were the guarders of this intersection.  When J

 I am in a constant state of being challenged by thankfulness. I'm challenged by my lack of it and I'm challenged by the raw power of it. I'm challenged by how quickly thankfulness humbles me and slaughters my pride and stubborn heart. I'm challenged by how God's love language is a thankful heart. It must be. Thankfulness is the only thing I find in Scripture that is the doorway to His presence, His nearness. Thankfulness makes RIGHT NOW a sanctuary for God. It's an invitation to the Almighty One to enter this present moment...wait for it...and now this present moment. It's a glorious intrigue that pulls Him to invade my very thoughts, circumstances, failures, blue skies and dreams. Thankfulness is powerful enough to stop despair in its tracks and replace it with peace and joy and newness. Too often I spend my thought-life thinking and chasing after the future. I'm driven to experience the next best thing or even at times to wish this season away for the

 I find purpose in many of the roles my life holds but sometimes those roles also make me a feel a loss of identity. This week has felt like that. There are so many demands on my life as a wife, a mother, a friend, someone working in church ministry. I love all of these roles. I'm passionate about them. And yet I also at times find myself wondering if all of those roles were removed, would I still hold value if I wasn't producing or accomplishing? I know when my head goes down this rabbit trail of lies that I need more time in the face of the Father to be reminded of my truest identity. I need a reminder of the importance of worship.  It's too easy to think of ourselves as tools either for other people, or also in God's Kingdom. I've even prayed this at times: Lord, use me as a tool to ________________.  But today I was reading a book (posted below) that really challenged my heart and my mindset. The author asked these questions:  "Do you want to be used by you