Monthly Archives: June 2026

June 2, 2026 · 5:40 AM

True Dependence

On September 25, 2003 I had hit rock bottom in my life and found myself laying on the floor crying out to God. I said, “I can’t do this anymore. I need your help!” There was no amount of trying harder that could fix the mess I was in. I didn’t have the strength to keep fighting or to try to get up again. Everything I had tried wasn’t working and the bottom seemed to fall out from underneath me every time I tried to get back up. As I laid there on the floor, I heard the Lord whisper back, “Finally.” Finally I had come to the end of myself and realized I needed Him not just to help me, but to carry me. I learned what true dependency meant.

In Luke 15 we read the story of a young man who wanted to do things on his own. He asked for his inheritance and left home. He went far away to spend his money and live his life how he saw fit. When the money ran out, his “friends” left. Then a famine hit as well as a recession. He couldn’t find a place to stay or a job. He couldn’t only find menial work that was the lowest of the low. Verse 17 when he finally came to his senses, he decided to return to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father closed the gap by running to him. His father put the best robe on him, the family ring, shoes for his feet and killed the best calf. His desire had been to simply return as a servant, but the father restored his sonship.

Psalm 61:2 says, “From the end of the earth I call to You, when my heart is overwhelmed and weak; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I [a rock that is too high to reach without Your help]” (AMP). The psalmist too was sitting at rock bottom and recognized he needed God’s help to lead him to solid ground. He needed God’s help to close the gap between where he was and where he could not get to on his own. If you’ve been trying on your own and can’t seem to break free, be like the psalmist and the prodigal son who called out to their Father. He’s not going to shame you. He’s going to restore you. He will lift you up out of the pit and onto a place of solid ground. It’s a place you can only find when you’re truly dependent on Him.

Photo by John Koliogiannis on Unsplash

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June 1, 2026 · 5:43 AM

Your Gift Matters

In a recent church service, I found myself looking at people on the worship team and started thinking I wish I had their talents and gifts. Then when the pastor started preaching, I thought the same thing. I started thinking of conferences I’ve been to and how when the speakers were in the lobby, people flocked to them. I saw others try to take selfies with the ones who led worship. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that we tend to elevate platform gifts above all others. I wondered what would happen if we celebrated the Sunday School teachers or greeters the way we do others in the church. We’re really good at dismissing our own gifts as small or not important while envying the gifts in others that we don’t have.

Everywhere Jesus went, crowds followed. There were religious leaders who were jealous of His gift to draw a crowd without using guilt to keep them. I’m sure there were people who were jealous of the proximity of the disciples along with their giftings. In John 6, there was a crowd of over 5,000 people who had listened to Jesus preach all day. It was evening and Jesus asked the disciples to give them something to eat. They found a boy with the gift of being prepared and selflessness. He shared his five loaves of bread and two fish. In the hands of Jesus, it became more than enough for that crowd. We may not know his name, but we see that he was available with his gift when Jesus called on him.

1 Corinthians 12:7 says, “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other” (NLT). Not only do you have God given gifts, they’re important to the Body of Christ. The rest of this chapter lists out the various giftings that God gives us and explains it in context of body parts. We all have different gifts with different functions so the Body can function. Don’t dismiss what you have to offer. It plays a vital role in the Kingdom of God. It may not be on a platform for others to see, but God sees it and He’s entrusted you with it for a reason. Use it in love to be helpful wherever God needs it. You never know when God will look around and you’re the only one who is standing there ready with what seems insignificant, but gets multiplied in the moment. Your gift matters.

Photo by Maxime Gauthier on Unsplash

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