I am a singer, songwriter, wife, mother, Jesus follower. I send out a 2-minute read every Tuesday about Jesus and life in God.
Poured Out
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Hi Friends, As many of you are aware, families in the community where I live are in transition. Some are leaving full-time ministry for the first time and entering the workplace. Some are getting part-time jobs to supplement participating in part-time ministry. Nearly every friend in this position that I’ve had the opportunity to talk with has stated some version of this: I still want to live a life poured out before the Lord. Although most would agree that living a poured out life is not contingent on being expressed in one particular time or place, we most often use this kind of language to refer to a ministry position. That’s one reason it can feel disorienting to transition out of ministry. Let’s talk about this. But first, a chorus I have been singing for years: Let every moment of my life be offered up in love Among all the things He showed us by becoming a man, Jesus displays exactly what it looks like to live a life poured out before the Lord. When He was a student, learning the craft of carpentry. When He attended a wedding, staying long, even prolonging the party. When He laughed and played with children in a field. Let them come! When He cooked fish over a flame for his friends for breakfast. When He touched the hand of Peter’s mother-in-law, caring for her in her sickness. When He slips away for time to be quiet and pray. You could replace each sentence above with this phrase: Jesus poured His life out in love before the Lord. Yes, every last thing this God Man does is holy. No separation between flesh and spirit, between sacred and ordinary. He’s shown us that every moment is one perfectly crafted to give Him our love. Not just “adequate”…perfectly crafted. It doesn’t matter if you’re able-bodied or intelligent. It doesn’t matter if you have money or training. It doesn’t matter if you’re in ministry or driving trucks across the country for a living. Whatever life brings, whatever trial or joy or work, He is right there. Right here. Ready to be found. Ready to receive. And so we pour our lives out in love before You, Lord. –Anna |
Anna Blanc
I am a singer, songwriter, wife, mother, Jesus follower. I send out a 2-minute read every Tuesday about Jesus and life in God.
Hi Friends, Sometimes you put something down on paper and it haunts you years later. The last few weeks, phrases from this writing has been nagging me. Like a song stuck in circling in my head that I can hum but can’t recall the words. I finally pulled it up to read it through, and want to share it with you today. Let’s start with a chorus I sang about the beauty of God. When I think I’ve seen it allWhen I think I know Your heartI find I’m only at the edgeOf where the beauty starts God is an...
Hi Friends, Okay, pop-quiz time! (Don’t worry, you get to answer in your head. Or not at all. No rules here.) Which of these activities that Jesus did was holy? 1) Healing the sick2) Preaching the Sermon on the Mount3) Getting away alone to pray4) Walking through Samaria on His way to Judea5) Sitting down because He was tired6) Dying on the cross7) Cooking fish on the beach I think you know what I’m getting at. But first, what about a few more: 8) Re-measuring wood, muttering the number under...
Hi Friends, My heart has been stirred today with a simple meditation rooted in John 17:12. Jesus prays to the Father, saying: “I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost…” Kept. What are you facing today? Take heart. You’re in the hands of Jesus. He keeps and loses not one. A few hours after this prayer, when He is in the garden of Gethsemane with His disciples, Jesus demonstrates this keeping: The soldiers and Pharisees come with weapons and...