The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“I will give thanks to you, because I am awesomely and wonderfully made; wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it very well.”

—Psalm 139:14

We often look at ourselves and see only the things we don’t like about our bodies, our abilities (or inabilities), our insecurities, our personalities, and our struggles.

We all have things that aren’t considered ideal according to this world’s judgment—things that, by our standards, hold us back in success or relationships.

But God made each of us unique reflections of himself, capable of serving and reflecting his image out into the world in different ways.

Some of us struggle with anxiety or mental illness, some from physical illness or disability, and some of us can’t seem to manage in social situations no matter how hard we try.

We’re each still fearfully and wonderfully made. God knows our best and highest purpose in life. Just like the blindness in John 9:1–3 was not a punishment, there is always something in our difficulty that God can and will use to show his love and glory to others.

Our service is to offer that struggle up to the Lord. Sometimes our prayers may be, “God, I don’t have anything good or strong or perfect to offer you. I only have this sadness, this anxious heart, this grief, this struggle, this weakness.”

We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Just like that man born blind, it may take years of struggle to see what the Lord is going to do with that difficulty, but even while we’re weak in body, we can grow strong in the Spirit (2 Corinthians 4:16).

God made each of us, and wonderful are his works. Do our souls know it well?

The post MAY 23-He Sees Beauty appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“For your sake we are killed all day long; we were regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”

—Romans 8:36–37

We all love the idea of overwhelmingly conquering, but we often forget the context in which that phrase is placed. According to the Word, we “overwhelmingly conquer” even when we’re being “killed all day long” in persecution.

Many times, this verse is taken to mean we will succeed at our worldly pursuits, that we cannot lose, and that we will triumph over our enemies.

We think of it like a conquering king coming in to rule a nation; he’s taking charge and having things done his own way.

But that’s not what this verse is talking about. It’s telling us that even when we lose the battle on this earth according to worldly standards, we’re still conquerors—and not just conquerors, but overwhelmingly so. Nothing can take our triumph because no enemy can snatch us from God’s hand. Even when believers are murdered for our faith, the victory we have in our heavenly reward puts us on the winning side.

That victory is not dependent upon earthly wins and losses; it’s only dependent upon our faith in Christ and our enduring through trials for the joy set before us just as Jesus did (Hebrews 12:2).

When we don’t seem to be winning in our circumstances, we are still overwhelming conquerors as we trust him just as Christ was a conqueror when he hung, dying, on the cross. It did not look like victory, but it was. He endured for the joy set before him, and so can we.

The post MAY 22-Joy Set Before Us appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

—Romans 13:14

The word “lust” is also translated “desires.” It can mean anything from anger, bitterness, and sexual sin to greed, alcohol, or man’s approval—any worldly desire we give a place in our lives.

This “putting on” of Christ literally means to “clothe yourself with,” “to sink into,” or to “invest in clothing.”

“Putting on” is ongoing. We do not clothe ourselves once; we clothe ourselves every day with fresh clothing. Counting on our Sunday service or on a spiritual experience we had years ago to guard us from the desires of the flesh isn’t enough. Our spirits need to put Christ on anew every day.

And we only “sink into” something substantial. You can’t sink into a linen shirt, but you can sink into a down jacket. Putting on Jesus each day protects us from the elements—our fleshly desires and the darts of the enemy. Without Christ, we are exposed.

And investment means this garment isn’t cheap. We may have to sacrifice to acquire it. Jesus is that pearl of great price so valuable that paying absolutely everything we have would be worth it to have him . . . even unto death. In daily life, this looks like “investing” our finances, time, service, and our whole lives as the Lord leads—all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30).

Caring for our flesh in healthy ways is responsible, but when it comes to its lusts, we’re to “make no provision.” We do not plan out how we can satisfy our unhealthy desires.

We clothe ourselves with Jesus so those fleshly desires get no say in our decisions, our time, or our activities.

The post MAY 21-“Wearing Jesus Daily” appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“Now in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.”

—Romans 8:26–28

We often hear the first and the last of these three verses independently but rarely in context with one another.

It’s quite comforting that the Spirit intercedes when my groanings are unintelligible and I don’t know what or how to pray.

But this passage also calms the fear that we’re praying things outside of God’s will. For when “we do not know what to pray for as we should,” the Holy Spirit intercedes for us “according to the will of God.”

Many of our prayers are about removing suffering, and that’s okay. Even Jesus prayed this way in the garden: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39).

But just as Jesus’s prayer was not granted, what we hope and pray for may not be what would lead to the greatest eternal good. 

But when our hearts join Jesus in adding his, “yet not as I will, but as you will,” we can be sure the Holy Spirit makes all our prayers right, and that God will work all things—our misguided prayers, all of our suffering, the good in our lives, and the things we don’t understand—to good for those who follow him (Romans 8:28).

The post MAY 20-When I Don’t Know What to Pray appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“Then the Lord said, ‘Behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand there on the rock.’”

—Exodus 33:21

Only when we’re standing beside the Lord are we secure; every other place we could stand will lead to shifting sand and a faulty foundation.

There are days when we don’t place ourselves beside the Lord—when we choose to walk in ways contrary to what he tells us in his Word or what we know he’s called us to. Instead of standing beside him, we stand by our sin—whether from fear or selfishness—and that puts us on shaky ground.

It’s easy to think, “I’ll just trust this today and go back to trusting God tomorrow,” but that “today” often turns into several days or weeks or months. It’s always that much harder to go back to standing beside him when we’ve gotten into the habit of standing by our flesh.

When we’re tempted to choose something we know is opposed to the Lord’s will, a good question to ask ourselves is, “Do I really believe his Word is true? Do I believe following him will result in better things than giving in to my desires or feelings in this moment?”

As believers, if the answer to that question is no, we need to dig into our beliefs about the Lord! 

But if we answer those questions with a yes, then choose ourselves anyway, we know we’re not only walking away from the Lord’s will and in danger of giving the devil a foothold, we’re also acting in opposition to our core beliefs, which always leads to inner turmoil and dissatisfaction.

Let’s remember that it’s always worth following him, even when it means denying ourselves or walking into difficult situations.

Beside him is always best.

The post MAY 19-Shaky Ground or Solid Rock appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“Now the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God really said, “You shall not eat from any tree of the garden”?’”

—Genesis 3:1

Eve had the entire world at her disposal . . . all except one tree. Satan wanted to keep her focused on that one thing God had kept from her; he also confused and exaggerated the difficulty of God’s restriction so it seemed excessive and unreasonable.

The devil still uses these same tactics; he continually draws our attention away from all the wonderful things the Lord gives us so we will focus anywhere God has said no. We start thinking more and more about the things we can’t or don’t have and how God must not love us because he’s keeping those things from us.

Satan wants us to believe we’re not walking in freedom and that the Lord’s rules are unfair.

But only God’s freedom is truly free. It’s like a fence . . . yes, it keeps us from going beyond it, but everything good is within. It exists because everything outside of it will hurt us in the end.

Satan’s “freedom” would have us climbing the fence and running out into traffic. His main goal is to “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10). He wants us injured, wounded, angry, defeated, trapped, bitter, and divided from God.

When Satan tempts us to look at what God has not allowed us, our defense is to turn our eyes back to all the good God does give and remember that anything our loving Father restricts or withholds is because he knows dangers we cannot see; he would protect us from the pain of discovering them the hard way.

The post MAY 18-Has God Really Said? appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“He who said to them, ‘This is the place of quiet, give rest to the weary,’ and, ‘This is the resting place,’ but they would not listen. So the word of the Lord to them will be, ‘Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line, a little here, a little there,’ that they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive.”

—Isaiah 28:12–13

The Lord wants to teach us the truth that leads to a place of quiet and gives rest in Jesus. 

But in our stubbornness, we often only see his rules—“order on order, line on line.” Like toddlers, we haven’t proceeded beyond the “milk” of understanding (Isaiah 28:9), so we see these rules as arbitrary, not believing there are greater purposes behind them. 

And we remain spiritual toddlers for far too long, feeling like God is restricting us unfairly or trying to prove our “goodness’ by following them.

But there is only one work that will not perish: “that you believe in him whom he has sent” (John 6:29). This means we can believe all he says and follow it even when we don’t understand the objective reasons behind his rules. 

Viewing God’s commandments as “orders upon orders” (instead of simply believing Jesus and all he taught) will only ever lead to pride if we’re really good at keeping them (like the Pharisees) or despair if we aren’t.

Only the obedience that comes from love (John 14:15) leads us to quiet, freedom, and rest, because it comes from trust that all he says is good and truly best for us. It doesn’t require the straining and striving we normally put into obedience when we truly believe it will also bring about the best good for our lives.

The post MAY 17-The Quiet Place appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“We are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to him.”

—2 Corinthians 5:8–9

Sometimes this life is hard, and as faithful followers who have a sure eternal inheritance, we might wish to skip the current difficulty and go ahead and start that existence that has no tears, pain, or sorrow (Revelation 21:4).

There’s nothing wrong with that wish. To be with the Lord fully should be our greatest desire as believers.

But we don’t get to choose when we get there. It’s the Lord’s will and wisdom that ushers us into heaven at the right time, but it’s by living his will and pleasing him now that we make our lives here most like what they will be in the eternal kingdom.

Our whole ambition is to be set on pleasing our Lord.

Matthew 6:10 says, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Though the world around us may not help build the kingdom, we can. With every simple act of obedience, we grow nearer to our Lord, and our lives become more and more like they will be once we reach the kingdom of God, revealing more of the nature of God and his kingdom to others. Through this, our joy is made full even now (John 15:11).

Let us press on, longing for our Lord and eager to please him now just as we will in eternity, even while we still live in the troubles of this world.

The post MAY 16-Longing for Home appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’”

—Luke 18:13

This tax collector was so aware of his sins he would not even lift his eyes to the heavens while praying.

The Pharisee, in the meantime, prayed to thank God they were not like these other sinful men, but that they were good and righteous, boasting in the middle of their prayers by listing all the good things they did.

Jesus tells us that the tax collector went away justified in the sight of the Lord while the Pharisee did not (Luke 18:14).

This story strikes home when we consider the times we’ve seen someone else’s sin and thought something like, “Well, at least I don’t struggle with THAT.”

We may not be putting those words in our prayers, but if the attitude exists in us at all, we’re missing a trait that’s essential for followers of Jesus—humility.

There will never be a time in our Christian walk when superiority and disdain for other peoples’ struggles will be acceptable. There will never be a time we don’t need to pray, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” just as much as we ever did.

We are always to come to the Lord and walk through life in humility.

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14).

The post MAY 15-Have Mercy on Me appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance.” 

—Ecclesiastes 3:4

Our world would have us believe we should never have to weep and never have to mourn—that our supreme goal is happiness and fun, and that we should be exempt from sadness and pain.

But this is a recipe for disillusionment and denial. We will all face pain and sorrow in this life. 

Our efforts to ignore, bury, or run from it will not change that. 

When it’s time to weep, don’t be afraid to weep. When it’s time to mourn, don’t be afraid to mourn. We don’t have to hide or ignore it. We don’t have to act like we enjoy our suffering. The Lord never says to pretend everything is fine. 

He says, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). 

We can have courage even while we weep and mourn, because we know the overcoming is already accomplished. 

But we should also not be afraid to laugh and dance. Christianity is not meant to keep us from enjoying the good things the Lord has given us in this life. Joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit, and solemnity is not a mark of righteousness.

If we’re in a time of weeping and mourning, we don’t have to lose hope. And if we’re in a time of laughing and dancing, it shouldn’t become the source of our hope.

The seasons of this life will always shift unsteadily, but we have a God who never changes, cannot lie, and who has promised the life to come is free from weeping, pain, and sorrow. All of heaven will be a time for joy.

The post MAY 14-A Time for Both appeared first on C. E. White.