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

“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

—Matthew 16:25

We often look at the first part of this verse and think how hard it is. Rarely do we look at the second part of the verse and rejoice. We’re so focused on the difficulty of dying to self, we forget about the joy of what we’re guaranteed in its place.

When we’re still encumbered with trying to “save our lives” on this earth, we’re beset with all sorts of concerns, desires, and anxieties.

Can I do it?

Will it work out?

This isn’t fair!

Needing this life to fit our expectations straps us to the circumstances around us. We’re dependent upon them meeting our desires and fulfilling our expectations. And if they’re not what we want or think they should be, we drift into anger, anxiety, bitterness, or disappointment. We’re at the whims of this uncertain world.

But when we’re willing to lose our lives for Christ’s sake, our ability to be full of love, joy, hope, and all the other fruits of the Spirit is no longer dependent on the ever–changing conditions and situations we find ourselves in.

When we can’t succeed, when things aren’t fair, and when things don’t work out, we can still go on with hope. We are free from our wants and expectations. 

When we give up our lives intentionally for Christ’s sake, we cannot be shaken. We become fixed on the only unchanging, sure foundation, so when the world around us crumbles, we don’t fall apart with it.

The post MAY 11-The Joy of Letting Go 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 now God has arranged the parts, each one of them in the body, just as he desired.”

—1 Corinthians 12:18

This verse calms one of our greatest fears—the fear that we have no purpose and God cannot use us.

It reminds us that he created each of us just the way he meant to, and he is not going to abandon the work of his hands (Psalm 138:8). 

Sometimes we don’t seem to be accomplishing much at all, and it feels like maybe he has forgotten his work. But when we remember what the Word says—that he is never–changing and cannot lie—we are assured that he is faithful to complete his good work in us (Philippians 1:6).

The Lord knows the path each life needs to take. He knows all our weaknesses and failures. He doesn’t need us to be talented enough, skilled enough, or knowledgeable enough.

Moses wasn’t a good speaker (Exodus 4:10). Gideon wasn’t a natural leader (Judges 6:15). David committed adultery and murder (2 Samuel 11). Peter denied him (Luke 22:54–62). 

The Lord is going to fulfill a good purpose in and through us despite our lack of innate ability and even despite our sin as we repent and turn back to him in obedience.

The most purposeful thing we can do when don’t feel capable or when we fail is to run straight to God with our weaknesses. The creator knows what he made each of us for, and as we submit, he will accomplish it.

The post MAY 10-Even Me, Even Now 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

“‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord of armies.”

—Zechariah 4:6

We go through much of our time thinking, “How will I ever get the stuff done, achieve success, figure out what I should do, pay the bill, or navigate this relationship?” 

This is the answer to all of it—not by might, nor by power, but by his Spirit. We learn and work hard, we practice and grow, we live responsibly and act in wisdom, but, ultimately, all our human effort can only go so far. We’re blind to so much behind the veil of time, knowledge, and experience. None of us have enough strength or know–how to navigate all the uncertain waters of this world.

As long as we lean on and trust in our own intelligence, understanding, talents, skills, abilities, or our own financial and time resources without taking things to the Lord, we will continue asking, “How will I ever . . . ?”

We don’t know enough or have enough. But the Lord does.

So next time we think, “There’s not enough time or money; I’m too tired, confused, and hopeless,” let’s remind ourselves, “It’s not by how much time or money I have or by my own strength; it’s only by his Spirit.”

Then we can take it to the Lord in prayer before we’ve worn ourselves out with human effort. We don’t have to come to God with things as a last–ditch effort after we’ve proven that our might and power are not enough. We can do it from the start, asking him for wisdom, and moving forward with the confidence he’s guiding us all along the way and growing us in grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18).

The post MAY 9-More Than Effort 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

“If the dead are not raised, let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

—1 Corinthians 15:32

We sometimes wonder at the fact that the world doesn’t live righteously according to God’s Word, but from their perspective, doing whatever feels good in this life makes sense. They might as well enjoy all the earthly things they can because they believe the good this world offers is the only good they will ever get.

If there’s nothing to come after death, why wouldn’t they pour all their efforts into attaining riches, pleasure, and happiness right now? Their chances to achieve these things and enjoy life decrease the longer they live. There’s no reason to do otherwise.

But as Christians, we know we will have eternal delight in the presence of the Lord with no more pain, tears, or sorrow (Revelation 21:4). We know that following the Lord, even where it means denying our earthly desires, brings us closer and closer to eternal happiness.

Instead of judging people for the lack of understanding that leads them to walk in the flesh, we should have compassion for their eternal souls and strive to show them truth so they can learn to seek the true, lasting pleasure of being in Christ.

One way we can do this is by living our lives in a way that shows our hope is not dependent on this world’s successes or pleasures. We can enjoy those things if we have them, but because of our eternal hope, we can live in contentment even if we don’t.

The post MAY 8-More Than This Life 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

“So Jesus answered them and said, ‘My teaching is not my own, but his who sent me. If anyone is willing to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is of God, or I am speaking from myself.’”

—John 7:16–17

Obedience breeds understanding. There are times in our Christian walk when we don’t understand something in the Word or something the Lord prompts us to do. Either it feels too hard, too scary, or it just plain doesn’t make sense to our worldly minds. 

This verse and my own personal experience both show me that when we are “willing to do his will” simply because we trust him, we begin knowing about the teaching. What looked like a foggy barricade before us begins to clear, revealing the path God has put us on.

So many of his teachings seem difficult and inscrutable. They feel like things no one would ever want to do. 

It’s in the obedience that those hard things begin to feel life–giving rather than soul–crushing and freeing rather than confining. 

Suddenly, we’re no longer slaves to our hate, our selfishness, and our desires; we’re slaves to Christ’s goodness, love, and peace (Romans 6:16–18). It’s here, after we release all the things we thought we wanted, that we begin finding the easy yoke and light burden he promises.

Our knowledge and understanding follow the obedience. We should never wait till following the Lord’s commands makes sense to us because when we follow, the revelation comes. It’s when we lose our life for Christ that we find it (Matthew 10:39).

The post MAY 7-Revealed in the Doing 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

“I in them and you in me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that you sent me, and you loved them, just as you loved me.”

—John 17:23

Jesus prayed for unity for his followers. Why? “So that the world may know that you sent me, and you loved them, just as you loved me.”

When we are living together in unity as the body of Christ, it’s evidence to the world that Jesus is the Savior and proof of God’s love for the world.

And when we’re not living and working together in unity, people aren’t seeing the love of Christ; it doesn’t look like we’re working for the Lord.

I met a woman who said she believes in God, but she doesn’t like church people. She’d known a family who’d been active in a church their whole lives. Their little boy got cancer, and the church did almost nothing, but a local bar raised enough to cover his entire treatment. The bottom line: she didn’t see Christians loving each other.

Learning how to live and work together as one body matters more than we can know. As it says in 1 Corinthians 12:26, “If one part of the body suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if a part is honored, all the parts rejoice with it.”

We need each other, and the world notices if their Christian friends are surrounded by love from other believers or if they’re left to fend for themselves, isolated and lonely.

Living as one body doesn’t happen by accident. It’s something we have to work at. We have to look for needs and ways to fill them. Who in our local church body is hurting today? How can we help?

The post MAY 6-So the World May Know 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

“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day.”

—2 Corinthians 4:16

Our bodies on this earth are drawing nearer death every minute we’re alive; the “decaying”—or “wasting away” as some versions say—only becomes noticeable as we age or get ill, but it’s happening all the time.

But the minute we become a Christian, our inner person begins to be renewed spiritually.

We must choose to accept that the outer, bodily man is wasting away and change our focus from flesh to spirit. Otherwise, the fear of that change and the fear of death may take away the peace that Christ gave to believers when he conquered death; it will take our focus away from the things above and put them back on things below (Colossians 3:2).

As believers, our goals should constantly become less about this temporary outer tent of a body and more about the eternal inner self.

The worldly man is always growing further away from the possibility of attaining new earthly goals, becoming more infirm with the passing years. His time grows shorter every minute he’s alive.

But the faithful Christian is growing nearer his highest goal of perfect union with Christ every minute until the very moment of his death.

We are never without purpose despite the growing limitations that come with age.

If our outer person is wasting away in failing health or unmet desires and goals, we can take heart, knowing that the inner person is being renewed day by day. We are forever growing closer and closer to our ultimate aim of Christ and his kingdom.

The post MAY 5-Strength in the Fading 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

“‘I also swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became mine,’ declares the Lord God.”

—Ezekiel 16:8

The Lord loves us far more than the most faithful spouse loves his wife or her husband. We are his, and he loves us perfectly.

Have you ever seen the sorrow brought about when the love of one spouse grows cold and they’ve begun seeking satisfaction elsewhere? Whether it’s to infidelity, hobbies, work, friends, or children, the committed spouse feels the sharp knife of sadness and betrayal at the wedge now between them.

They may even become angry and jealous toward the thing that’s taken their place. The Lord is the same. When our love strays and we begin seeking satisfaction elsewhere, he is jealous for us, angry at the thing that has stolen our affection, and he mourns the distance between us.

Later in this chapter, it says, “But you trusted in your beauty” (Ezekiel 16:15). Instead of trusting the Lord with our lives and remaining faithful to him, we too often begin trusting in our own innate abilities—the very things he gave us—to gain short–term fulfillment. We stray from the real love, intimate relationship, and foundation we have in him to the false love of this world and the sinking sand of our own abilities.

This grieves him, as it would grieve a person whose spouse prefers the fake, selfish satisfaction of pornography to the act of real, mutually selfless love with them.

Where are we trading the true love of God for the false love of this world? Let us put the temporary pleasure aside and build the lasting satisfaction that comes in a relationship built on the continual commitment that we are his.

The post MAY 4-Faithful Still 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

“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all things for the glory of God.”  

—1 Corinthians 10:31

Eating and drinking are two of the most basic human activities, so if we can eat or drink to the glory of God then everything we put our hands to every second of every day can be to his glory.

This helps us look at our daily tasks in a new light and infuses even the most menial tasks with purpose. 

Whether it’s doing the dishes, drafting a report for work, calling a friend back, paying bills, or whittling down that to–do list, all our actions can be infused with great purpose and done to the glory of God . . . or not. 

This stems from the position of our hearts, attitudes, motives, and desires. Most of us—if we’re paying attention and being honest—can clearly see if we’re doing a task to God’s glory.

If we aren’t, it’s not necessarily a simple thing to correct. We have a lifetime of habits formed around how we feel about paperwork, vacuuming, or mowing the lawn—any task that seems unimportant or unenjoyable. But we can begin to change those attitudes by:

Chances are that by doing things that seem bothersome and insignificant, we’re loving others, showing people the integrity and work ethic formed by our relationship with God, and performing chores that provide for and improve our lives and the lives of those who depend on us.

The day–to–day things are not holding us back from the things of God. 

They are all things of God.

The post MAY 3-Even the Dishes 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

“What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is the source not your pleasures that wage war in your body’s parts?”

—James 4:1 

Wanting something and not getting it—or even simply fearing that we won’t get it—is the source not only of quarrels and tensions with those around us but also of many of our inner struggles and temptations.

It’s good to perform a self–check when we’re feeling out of sorts, dissatisfied, and fearful.

There are some “wants” we should fight for—justice, respect, love, etc. But even this fighting should have Christ overlayed. It should never be from selfishness, fear, or fleshly pleasure but always trusting God and pursuing truth.

Instead of reacting angrily or manipulating circumstances to get what we want, let’s hold our desires loosely and offer them up to God, setting our minds on things above rather than things on this earth (Colossians 3:2).

Keeping the desires of our flesh from ruling over us and trusting God with them should be part of our behavior as Christians.

This will put us at peace within ourselves and with other people as far as it depends on us (Romans 12:18), and it will leave us ready to receive God’s guidance, even when that guidance goes against our desires.

The post MAY 2- Waging Peace Within appeared first on C. E. White.