Lori Stanley Roeleveld's Blog

Dear Readers,

It’s been on my heart to write you some honest thoughts about our relationship (yours and mine) and life as a Christian writer in the days of publishing, consumerism, and division in the country/church.

First, God made me a writer. It’s in my original design.

As long as I can remember, I’ve written.  That’s me. I read and I write. (These days, I work hard to remember to also get up and move.)

Since the first time I sang, I Surrender All, I’ve known I wanted my writing to serve Him, the Living Word. If you strip me down to my essence, I am a sinner in love with Jesus, miraculously saved by grace, who has relied on that grace and written about it all my life so that others might love Him, too. I’m sure my agent knows this but don’t tell my publisher– even if I wasn’t paid to write, I would write.  Jeremiah’s words totally resonate with me “If I say, ‘I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,’ there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in,  and I cannot” (Jeremiah 20:9 ESV).

Second, God has given me a heart for you, people who have followed Jesus in this complicated world, often for decades.

Some of you are pastors, leaders, writers, speakers, or missionaries, but others of you have powerful ministries in your homes, in your prayer rooms, or in ways most of us won’t know until you receive your reward in glory. Like me, you love Jesus and like me, you love His Word. You know you aren’t living perfectly or sinlessly but every day, you open the Bible, pray, and seek His face again. I do, too.

Image by Sirin from Pixabay

These days, it’s hard not to lose heart. The division in our country and in our churches causes you great pain although some of you would argue one side and some of you the other. Your heart is heavy for your children, grandchildren, or the next generation of believers. Sometimes in the heat of spiritual battle, confusion or doubts creep in and you find comfort knowing there are others holding on to the truth you also hold dear. Those numbers are dwindling but you also believe God doesn’t need numbers. He’s not Tinkerbell counting on our applause to survive.

The deceitfulness rampant in our country angers you and it breaks your heart to know that some will fall away from the faith, lose heart, or never hear the truth of Jesus because sin and deception have suppressed the truth. You trust in the Sovereignty of God but you also trust that He calls us to bear witness.  You want to be among those who speak the truth but fewer and fewer are willing to listen. Even you have faced disappointments and hardships and heartaches that have sometimes quietly put your heart at risk.

You don’t want surfacy devotions and you’re tired of pablum and platitudes. You want real writing about what it’s honestly like to struggle with God’s Word and living breathing humans needing love. I want to be here for that.

Third, sometimes I lose my way as a writer.

Christian writers seeking traditional publishing have wrestled in the past twenty years with needing numbers of readers and honestly, that goes against everything we believe about where our focus is supposed to be. Most of us don’t want to be any kind of celebrity. We have no inner desire to be “followed” by thousands. And yet, we have experienced rejection after rejection, book projects that were praised for biblical content, strong writing, and relevance but sadly, we don’t have the numbers and so . . . file it away and try again.

Now, that’s hard, but it’s not hard like living in areas of the world where Christians are persecuted, imprisoned, even killed. It’s not hard like leaving family and friends to serve overseas to share the gospel. It’s not hard like being the only one in your family who knows Jesus.

It’s hard like pastoring and preaching in a small New England church week after week with humility and grace and I’ve seen godly men do this without complaint. 

So, this letter is not a complaint but I want you to be aware of the myriad temptations facing Christians who write– temptations to sensationalize, pander, compromise, or to give up. I’ve faced all those temptations. Pray for those called to preach, to speak, to write for Jesus that we have courage to resist and to remain faithful even when no one listens or reads. There are even newer temptations coming along with the rise of AI (artificial intelligence). We can ask it to do our writing for us. When we’re trying to earn an income and reach more people, the ease of that can be tempting. One reason for this post is that I want you to know I have committed NOT to allow AI to write my blog posts, articles, or any portion of my books. These blog posts and Substacks are written from scratch by me.

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Finally, I’m coming back to the heart of writing which for me is living worship.

I am blessed to be surrounded by godly men and women in the Christian writing world with their heads and hearts on straight about the business of writing. We encourage one another to be content with “small” ministries, to write and speak the truth even when it’s unpopular as long as its biblical, and not to chase the numbers (although we remain faithful to spreading God’s messages to as many people as we can reach).

I’m equally blessed to have a publisher, Our Daily Bread Publishing, committed to theological integrity, and editors who allow me to write deeper devotions with the writing voice God has given me. I believe you found that in Graceful Influence and you’ll find it again in God’s Abundant Mercy releasing this Spring. Hopefully, the new book I’m working on, The Emptiness Cure, will find a home that also cherishes biblical depth and the needs of believers who have walked with Jesus for a long time.

But, for a time I think I’ve been pinballing around blog/Substack topics trying to find some footing I started to lose (like Asaph in Psalm 73). I have opinions about all kinds of national topics including world politics, cultural conflicts, deconstruction of faith, and Christian celebrity influencers and occasionally I’ll write a thought or two about something that’s on trend but that’s not the focus of my daily life. I will write about headlines (as I know some of you value those posts) but I believe it’s been a mistake to let the media and the culture LEAD our conversation. God leads. We follow His leads and whether the culture follows or not, we have one another, yes?

I want to return to topics that may not be sensational but I find them in God’s Word and wrestle to apply them to my daily life– and so do you. I want to write to glorify God and I want to write for YOU.

Years ago, when I began blogging, I once complained to God that I was doing all this writing for “only 30” readers. In that moment, I sensed a great conviction of the Holy Spirit that each of those readers were of great value to Jesus and if I couldn’t value them, why would He send more. I repented and I committed to write with excellence no matter the size of my reach. Of course, my readership has grown and I remember you’re not numbers, you’re men and women like me, seeking God, walking toward home, trying hard to remain on the narrow road and love the way Jesus loved in a world that hates you a little more every day. We need one another and are blessed to walk this road together.

So, I really need your thoughts. Write in the comments or send me an email (lorisroel@gmail.com) and let me know what topics you need to read about in the days and weeks to come. We can face them and wrestle through them together.

I remain the disturber of hobbits, wanting not to settle into a Jesus-following life that is comfortable and easy but to be willing to follow Him into the discomfort of a life of truth, love, and sacrifice. That’s what I want to write about but more importantly, that’s what I want to live. What is on your mind these days? Please, let me know.  Goodness and mercy, Lori

Honest Thoughts from a Christian Writer about Us https://t.co/jWjSf5tOwG #Christianwriter #ChristiansandAI

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) August 26, 2025

The post Honest Thoughts from This Christian Writer about Us appeared first on Lori Roeleveld.

One has little power. Will you be the one?

One is no great voice. Will you be the one?

One is no force for change. Will you be the one?

And yet, “For the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth, so that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His” (2 Chronicles 16:9 NASB).

Be the one.

We look to crowds, to masses, to majorities for power. He has all power so He seeks the one. THe one whose heart is His.

This summer I’m working through the kings, those who reigned during the mess that was the divided kingdom because I feel at home there in that chaotic, crumbling time.

Most of us have lived in the divided kingdom of a broken relationship, home,

Image by Anton Abramov from Pixabay

congregation, or country. We know what it is to hear the raging protests, the whispers of palace intrigue, and the weeping of casual victims lost among the crowds.

What strikes me as I study is that often, even when all the people desert the Lord and race after idols, there remains one. One who calls for reform. One who destroys the high places. One who tries to return and encourages others to repent or to hold their ground. One who seeks to follow.

Be the one.

Where does this one find the heart? the vision? the initiative? the will?

I have to believe it was the Father drawing them. In the New Testament Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day” John 6:44 NASB.

Even when a king followed badly, the Lord noticed. He saw.

From Abel to Enoch, Noah to Abram, Hagar to Ruth, Elijah to Malachi, Daniel to Nehemiah, He sees the one. He found the one Mary in a see of Marys. He found the one tax collector among the compromisers and the one Zealot among the resistors. He seeks the lost lamb and He sees you.

Be the one.

Image by DaveMeier from Pixabay

We are never lost in the crowd. No one else may hear our voice or sense the stirring in our hearts, but He will, He does.

Why does this matter?

First, it is evidence that no matter how far any culture, country, congregation, family, or fellowship falls from God, it is possible still for one person to continue to follow Him. No excuses. He is and He does not hide from us, He desires to be found. His eyes search for us.

Second, it is possible for ONE to impact many. One whose heart is completely His has influence we cannot begin to comprehend. This theme resonates from Genesis to Revelation.

God so loved the world, yes, but He works through us one-by-one. We are part of a greater family of God but He sees individual hearts, he

Image by bess.hamiti@gmail.com from Pixabay

ars individual prayers, uses individual lives.

This is the song in my heart today. I know it’s hard. Where you are, it may appear to be impossible. That is an illusion conjured by the enemy.

He seeks the one. He encourages the one. He lives in and works through the one. Be that one, my friend. Be that one.

Thoughts? I respond to every comment and reply to every email. I love to hear your heart!

Goodness and mercy, Lori

The eyes of God search for the one. Be the one. https://t.co/3MWn6H9flp #betheone #Jesus

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) August 15, 2025

The post The Eyes of God on the One. Be the One. appeared first on Lori Roeleveld.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

I have been so tired.

I’ve experienced the kind of weariness that hours of sleep won’t cure. I know. I’ve tried.

Easy to know the reason.

Months of traveling around the country to speak to women famished for encouragement and peace. Writing dozens of articles and blog posts on a wide-range of biblical topics. Taking in editing on worthy projects to keep the lights on and the wi-fi working. Coaching a select group of women with writing gifts and burgeoning ministries– investing in their words as well as mine.

And doing all the things a woman in her sixties is doing– asking people about Medicare plans, visiting friends, celebrating my own adult children and building relationships with the grands. Leading women’s Bible study, lamenting extra pounds, singing at church, cooking, cleaning, organizing, keeping appointments, de-cluttering, paying bills.

Harder to know the cure.

Sleep wasn’t cutting it. Reducing screen time and news helped but not entirely.

Then, the heat arrived. Have you been in Rhode Island in July? 99% humidity and dewpoints over 75 day after endless day and no breeze even at night. Last week, I dithered on at prayer meeting like a madwoman about the drone of AC window units and the oppressive temps and my desperation for relief.

Just when I imagined this might be the July that breaks me, the heat relinquished its grasp around Rhode Island’s throat. I opened the

Image by JamesDeMers from Pixabay

windows. Dragged my laptop onto the porch. Poured some coffee. Inhaled. And He restored my soul.

So now, I’ve been developing a big new idea for a next book. Hip deep in God’s Word, I’ve been researching and writing and it is so well with my soul.

There’s so much I have wanted to write here, so much I would like to say to you, my readers, my friends, but I didn’t delude myself into thinking I’m the only weary one around and you must be so weary of opening emails and reading opinions about our current state of affairs and our souls.

I have wanted to write about standing firm in God’s truth even when we’re surrounded by Pilates who wonder if truth even exists and rush to wash their hands of Jesus’s blood.

To write about the urgency of studying the Bible, the entire Bible, and sitting under sound teachers whose lives are consistent with their words, teachers who cause discomfort because they won’t preach peace in the midst of war, even if they see you walking out the door to join the line for prophets who will tell you exactly what you hunger to hear.

To express my longing for deep, extended conversations between reasonable people who disagree but who can still crack open a cold one, stoke a fire, and laugh through passionate discourse, insightful questions, and long pauses to consider what’s been said before offering a response. My fear that those campfire chats are slipping into the ancient past like children playing outdoors until the street lights come on, civility, respect, and biblical literacy.

To remind you not all division is bad or wrong, in fact, some division is ordained. Since Pentecost when we became saints, we’ve been called to be set apart and there are times when that means others will walk away from us and times when our sandals will do the walking. That we must grow accustomed to being misunderstood and yet, not use that as an excuse for silence because it’s not about us now, is it?

Image by Valter from Pixabay

But today I listened to an old sermon preached by a pastor already home talking about old Abraham and how God calls us out to call us in and when we wander, He calls us back.

Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 6:23, “And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers.”

And old Abraham knew about this because God called him out of Ur and brought Him into that land of promise and when Jesus took us in, we fell under that promise and followed Jesus outside the camp that we might bear the reproach he endured. And we joined Abraham on that walk of faith toward a city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. And like Abraham, even if we wander down to Egypt, He will call us back up to the city where we belong. But, don’t we just keep wandering?

Which is why we sometimes grow so weary we can’t do what we normally do with ease– not write, nor preach, nor give, nor speak, nor join the debate, nor read, nor listen, nor barely hold onto hope– but we do not despair because hope will hold on to us.

“so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:18-20 ESV).

This pastor preached that the heart of every problem is the problem in the heart. And that was it really, I was losing heart. But, I have found rest for my soul in Him my heart will be restored.

Just as old Abraham left everything he knew to come out in faith, so we must come out to leave whatever must remain behind to follow God wherever He leads.

But have courage because as imperfectly as Abraham and Sarah, and later Moses and many others followed the Living God, God was faithful. He was the one who made something of them– a chosen people, a holy nation. And we each have a seat at the table because of Jesus, not because we’re so smart or well-behaved or wise but because of Him.

So, I apologize for lapses between posts. It may happen still. A weary heart revives at the pace the Lord decides but I am full of hope.

And you? Tell me about your summer, your heart, what you long to say that you’ve kept silent. We are strangers and pilgrims,

Image by Nurel57 from Pixabay

my friends, and we are not home yet but one day, He will bring us in to that far off land. For now, He walks beside us, leading us, keeping us, and sometimes dividing us from those traveling a different way (He is, after all, the Door and what does a door do but divide even as it provides safety and warmth and quiet).

One day, we will all cry, “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now…Come further up, come further in!” ~C.S.Lewis, The Last Battle

But for now, we have Him and one another and Paris. Okay, we don’t have Paris but we can find a gentle breeze and some days, that is more than Paris.

Take just a moment and listen to this refreshing and hopeful song written by my friend and brother in Christ, Brian Schrag, Further Up and Further In

What are your thoughts? I love to hear from you! It is a ministry to my heart. I respond to every comment and reply to every email. Thank you for your patience with me. Goodness and mercy, Lori

Why I stopped writing https://t.co/eDZCyMUS9k #losingheart #divided

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) July 22, 2025

The post Why I Stopped Writing and the Ins and Outs of Faith appeared first on Lori Roeleveld.

I am a small town girl down to my DNA.

There is nothing “big city” about me and I’ve never yearned for those bright lights.

That’s not to say I haven’t done my time visiting and living in cities. When I was young and full of heart to be near where God was at work (and imagined it only happened in places teeming with people), I lived and worked in Providence, Central Falls, and Pawtucket. I took a job just outside Philadelphia and spent a January college mid-term in New York City. I’ve visited Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, Osaka, Kyoto, and Boston to name a few. My favorite city to tour is Washington, D.C. where I have wonderful family memories but overall, I like my small town in my small state.

Cities fill the headline news. Cities are problematic for crime, crowds, and cars. Cities are loud with light that dims the stars. It’s easier for me to imagine myself near to God on my front porch with the sounds of peepers in the trees but I must admit I pray more often and with greater fervor in the city (and not just for parking).

So, it’s problematic that the apostle John had a vision of heaven and it was a city (Revelation 21-22). What? When I imagine the room Jesus has prepared for me, there’s a front porch, a lake full of still water, and lots of trees. Never in my wildest imagination is it an apartment overlooking a narrow street.

But one of the greatest chapters of the Bible, Hebrews 11, also proclaims that these great men and women of faith were looking forward to a city, “But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city” (Hebrews 11:16).

Sure enough, we only have glimpses of what is to come. Heaven and earth will be made new and God loves His creation so I don’t imagine Him paving over paradise and leaving us without nature and that’s the rub, isn’t it?

My imagination cannot match the creative power of the Living God (and I have the imagination of a writer). Paul writes in Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” And Paul quotes Isaiah in 1 Corinthians 2:9 writing, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.”

But a city?

Am I the only one who struggles with that?

There are aspects of cities that I love. I adore having people from many different ethnic origins living side-by-side. The aroma of the various foods, the music, and the languages. I love the cultural aspects of cities, art, theater, dance, architecture, and orchestras. There is much to enjoy.

And the city we look forward to in glory “has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10). I am curious to see His design, our Master Builder and Artist of all Artistry!

It also promises to be a city without sin. Now that is certainly something beyond our imaginations now. We’ve lived with sin for so long, we imagine it’s something we require like oxygen and coffee but really, it was never part of our original blueprint. Without it, the headlines will be filled with love, with beauty, and with joy.

Because really, isn’t it the people, the crush of them, the sheer numbers of them, and the crash of their sinfulness into one another that makes the city a fearful place? We don’t truly fear the city– we fear one another. But that’s true in small town life, too.

You see, when I imagine that porch and the still water, I imagine myself whole and holy. Even this side of glory, I can fool myself into that thinking when I sit alone in prayer, holding my Bible, and it’s just God and me. It’s other people that reveal the unsanctified frontiers of my wild heart and expose me for who I am, a sinner redeemed by the perfect sacrifice of the perfect Jesus who loved me and saved me despite my sin.

And what a blessed ministry is that exposé!

He had the perfect home in Heaven and yet, He made Himself human and came to this crowded city of a world to love us face-to-face, to sit across the table from us knowing He brushed the hand of the one who would betray and the other who would deny and the rest who would flee in the hour of His greatest need.

I need the city. I need the press of people so I don’t fall prey to the delusion that I am done and that Jesus loves me best and that I can save myself.

Last month in Chicago, I had trepidation about taking a taxi by myself. The drive to the airport was long and the city was preparing for a day of protests the next morning. The tension rose with the humidity and the small town girl in me sent up a prayer.

My driver was originally from Ghana but now lives here. He was kind and in our early chatter, we learned that both of us know Jesus. I asked if the police barricades and the press of protesters would interfere with his job or give him anxiety.

“This is not my concern. My citizenship is in Heaven and so that is where I keep my eyes. This is not my home. My home is with Him and so my thoughts are not of these protests but of Him. I have been listening to a sermon by the Reverend Billy Graham about praying in the Holy Spirit. Would you like to listen with me and we can discuss it as we drive? Do not worry, my sistah, I will get you safely to the airport.”

Why do I resist the city that is His Body, the church? For as much as I was humbled by my brother, the driver, so was I comforted and challenged to grow up a bit more. The ride was double the normal time because of the barricades and the police and the people but I was sorry it ended so soon because that taxi was an outpost of glory.

And so we can be for one another. We must resist isolation. We must not neglect meeting together as some are in the habit of doing (Hebrews 1o:25). We are His city on a hill (Matthew 5:14) and yes, this means we are exposed and our sins became the talk of others but it also means His light shines through us. Even this is beyond our imaginations but we serve a great God who never needed our false fronts or our self-made attempts at perfection to bring His kingdom come. We are never called to hide but to humble service and graceful words of truth.

This place is not our home. Our home, that beautiful city designed and built by the Father of Light, awaits, and don’t we want it full, full of those we love and those we once feared and those we once called strangers whom we now know as brothers and sisters of the Most High God!

We must embrace His city now and keep our eyes on the city yet to come.

Thoughts? I love to hear from you. I respond to every comment and reply to every email.

One little surprise!!! Here is the BEAUTIFUL cover of my upcoming book, God’s Abundant Mercy: 40 Days of Living in His Compassion.

This exploration of 40 Bible verses about mercy releases in April 2026 (although you can preorder it now). I’m so excited because the message that rings most in my heart from this study is that MERCY TRIUMPHS! Praise God.

What is the most surprising thing about heaven? https://t.co/s6CKPBESEh #heaven #cityonahill

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) July 1, 2025

The post The Most Surprising Thing about Heaven appeared first on Lori Roeleveld.

It’s easy for me to play along with the nation’s latest favorite parlor game of judging the actions of those who sit in seats of power.

They’re public figures, right? Fair game, after all.

Everyone has a favorite British prince and an opinion on their father, the king who loves his gardens.

We can all get behind David when Goliath invades even if David does refuse to wear a tie.

And there’s one leader whose name is certain to divide a room, a friendship, a congregation, a family. No one runs lukewarm on that one.

From the cheap seats, we can see how much it matters who has the ear of the one holding all the cards (or nukes, as it were).

Are they surrounded by yes-staffers?

Does their spouse run the show?

Do they poison or imprison public detractors?

Is that senior advisor exercising undue influence?

Does the media set the agenda or do they?

And it’s not that it doesn’t matter what happens from those thrones (of course, it does) but sometimes we focus on their kingdoms while ignoring the one we rule.

Palace intrigue isn’t reserved for the Kremlin or the Conclave, it crops up in congregations and clans as small as your cottage, too.

Who advises you? Who influences your focus? Have you run a scan, lately, on the sources of your information?

Beware of the Zeresh in your life. She’s worth identifying. She’s worth avoiding.

In the story of Esther, our focus is often on the two women central to the story—Queen Vashti and Hadassah (née Queen Esther). But Zeresh lurks in the wings which is where she tends to squat in every life.

Zeresh was Haman’s wife. And if you know the story of Esther (really, even if you don’t), Haman is the villain. He’s a self-centered, scheming, power-hungry ruler who sidled up to King Ahasuerus, rule of Persia, husband to Esther.

The king elevated Haman above all other leaders and they became banquet buddies, you know, the guy who sits beside the king sharing glasses of wine and enjoying how great they were together. It would have been an historic bromance except that Haman hated the Jews, in particular one Jew who refused to bow to him, Mordecai.

Mordecai was Esther’s guardian, the relative who raised her. The Queen, you see, was also a Jew.

Long story short, Haman convinced the king to enact an irrevocable edict that on a certain day, all the peoples would kill their Jewish neighbors, entire families, and plunder their homes and goods. You know, just a little bloodbath while Haman swapped stories and chuckles with the king over a hookah.

Mordecai prompted Esther to risk her life and appeal to her husband for the lives of her people so she invited the king and Haman to a banquet.

This made Haman crazy happy but on his way home, Mordecai’s refusal to bow down kills his buzz so Haman whined about it to Zeresh and his friends.

This stellar crop of cronies suggested Haman build a gallows and convince the king to hang Mordecai on it—then proceed to the banquet and enjoy himself. Haman LOVES this advice and that becomes his plan. He sleeps like a baby, unlike the king. You see, God kept the king up all night reading the kingdom records and especially pointing out Mordecai’s faithfulness. Next day, the king asked Haman to publicly, personally, honor Mordecai.

When it’s done, Haman runs home to Zeresh and the gang. When he explained what happened, they respond, “Yeah, Dude, if Mordecai is Jewish, you’re toast, man. It’s pretty over.” Then, they probably enjoyed Haman’s wine and food for the rest of the night.

Haman died on the gallows he erected (Zeresh’s idea) for Mordecai and Esther saved her people. Haman’s friends probably befriended another powerful Persian and ate his bread and wine.

Who has your ear?

It matters.

It always matters.

Proverbs 27:6 says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.”

Cultivate friends who will wound you, in love, rather than kill you with words you enjoy hearing.

Esther is a story about power. Kings who believe they have it and common men, like Mordecai, who know where it actually lies. Who use the power of their common lives wisely

No way Mordecai should have emerged from that story alive and yet . . . God.

While your eyes are on the ones who appear to have all power, are you ignoring the power of the one beautiful, surrendered life God gave you, my friend?

Are you scheming and dreaming or are you acting in faith? (If you’re not subscribed to my Disturber of Hobbits Substack and missed my post on scheming, CLICK HERE to read Stolen Hearts )

Are you dining with fools with little regard for life and eternal truths or are you sharing your table with men and women like Mordecai?

Find yourself a Mordecai because “who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14 ESV)

Need more convincing that your small life surrendered to Jesus has inestimable power? You’ll want to pick up a copy of Graceful Influence. (AWSA’s Golden Scroll Christian Book of the Year 2024) You’ll come away appreciating the far-flung influence your life and choices have.

Palace intrigue and who really has power from the Conclave to the Kremlin https://t.co/C3puBpmHfY #Esther #Conclave2025

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) May 6, 2025

The post Palace Intrigue from the Conclave to the Kremlin and Who Really Has the Power (And who has your ear, my friend?) appeared first on Lori Roeleveld.

Image by Seidenperle from Pixabay

I have not been here in this way in a while. I apologize for my silence.

Still, “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.” Proverbs 10:19

That’s the simple reason for my recent silence in these blogging spaces.

You don’t have to be a writer and speaker for your days to be filled with words in our times. Talking heads abound.

On any given morning, the moment I switch off my phone alarm, the temptation begins to check notifications. There, I’m sure to find breaking news from several media outlets I follow, right beside the days’ weather and one or two emails encouraging Christian outrage at one transgression or another.

I have thoughts. I have opinions. I consider writing but seriously, don’t we all need a giant pause where the only sound we hear is water lapping and birds calling from the trees?

Image by Khusen Rustamov from Pixabay

Notifications beckon but my commitment is God’s Word first. One verse, at least, in my thoughts before the bombardment begins. Hopefully, more. And a prayer. There’s an area rug beside my bed that reminds me when I plant my feet to pray. “Lord, I am yours and You are everything. Thank you for life, breath, a new day, and especially Jesus. I surrender my soul to Your Holy Spirit and ask for Your eyes, Your ears, Your heart, Amen.”

Doesn’t always look as beautiful as I write it to be (although, more days than not now, it does). Better to begin the day in the silence of my mind filled with His promises than the opinions of others paid to incite indignation and fear.

Today, the death of the Pope was everywhere. That broke into my thinking with all the sorts of conflicting thoughts a faithful Protestant might have at the passing of the Catholic pope. I didn’t know or follow Jorge Mario Bergoglio, but I thought, what a lovely day for a believer to go home.

My heart was full this Easter. I was home with people who love me as one of them. The music we sang was familiar and true. Our humble pastor spoke truth brilliantly so I remembered Jesus and I learned. There was hot coffee and simple food. The sunrise and the morning services were full of the powerful truth that Jesus rose from the dead.

Jesus. Rose. From the dead. Historical fact.

Image by congerdesign from Pixabay

He lives. He has triumphed—triumphed, the Spirit reminded my muddy soul—over sin, over death, over hatred, over evil, over all. Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.

Because He lives, anyone under the salvation and Lordship of Jesus Christ, if they departed this outpost of glory today is enjoying the radiance of eternal life even now.

Us, we’re still caught in the tension of the glory here but yet to come and the muck of our own grounded lives.

So, I’ve been speaking to women at retreats around the U.S. and reveling in seeing God work through His Word in their lives.

And as my soul fed on their stories, transformations, healings, encouragements, and conversions, my body gained weight on the lovely (and abundant) food, my head recovered from a concussion caused by a collision with the lid of my trunk at the airport, my voice held up despite an extended illness just prior to the events that gifted me with laryngitis, and I survived all the joys and challenges of air travel and long miles alone on the road.

The tension of the glory here, and yet to come.

It’s speaking season and it’s not done yet. A few more commitments before I settle back to life at home.

Speaking is a marvelous, messy mystery where the murk of my humanity (like the need to shower and sleep, the inevitability of my struggle with vanity and insecurity, and the terrifying prospect of standing before complete strangers who may or may not receive what I have to offer) merges with the miracle of the Holy Spirit at work in our midst because when two or three gather in His name, there He is.

Between these mountain-tops, there’s that landing home full of laundry, bill-paying, birthday-gift shopping and celebrations, catching up with family and friends and clients and assignments, dinners to be cooked, scales to be faced, prayers to be prayed and more words to be written.

I’m working on a new project. One that’s so precious and that I’m so eager to share but first, I need to be sure I’m hearing from God and not just my own enthusiasm. I tend to run off with a headline and forget to read the fine print and so, I wait.

In the midst of all these words, I had none for here. Occasionally, I felt guilty but here’s what I know about you, my readers, my friends. You’re not interested in words thrown here because it’s “that time.” Your time is full, too. Why waste it with a duty post?

And I was with some of you face-to-face.

I relish that. I adore the opportunity to dialog. To listen to your hearts. To know more of you and minister with hugs, unhurried conversations, and yes, food.

Image by Carlos Carlos Alberto from Pixabay

But I missed meeting you here, too. Still, I haven’t much to say. A long list of wordy assignments awaits me today along with packing once again to see God work.

One thought struck me yesterday as my pastor preached.

In Luke 24:36-49, Jesus was patiently assuring His follower that yes, indeed, although He was dead, He is now alive. Even after He showed them His hands and feet, they still “disbelieved for joy and marveling,” (v 41).

Then, “he said to them, ‘Have you anything to eat?’ And they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.” (vs 41-43).

By this, they saw Jesus was alive—He ate. A piece of fish here. Also, He shared a meal with those on the road to Emmaus. He cooked fish for Peter and the others on the beach.

With all my struggles with food, suddenly I remembered that I eat because I live. Life is a gift. Life is beautiful. Jesus ate to show He lives.

And we will eat again with Him in the Kingdom.

Our relationship with Him and with food will be right and it will be an eternity where all that was wrong is reversed so that going forward, our eternity is as He envisioned us to be.

Plan to join Him there, loved ones. There’s a seat at His table for you.

Image by ArjanneHolsappel from Pixabay

O glorious day. I would love to return home on the day after celebrating His resurrection with the Body of Christ. If I do, be sad for my loss but rejoice that I am home and have found my seat at His table.

Jesus said in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

**I’d love to come speak at your women’s event and visit with you face-to-face! Planning something or want help planning? Email me at lorisroel@gmail.com. Let’s chat (and share a meal).

Silence, the Pope, and Broiled Fish https://t.co/iq3b2q9MMC #PopeFrancis #JesusLives

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) April 21, 2025

The post Silence, the Pope, and Broiled Fish appeared first on Lori Roeleveld.

Image by rickey123 from Pixabay

I haven’t been writing lately because I’ve recently learned how unimpressive my credentials are.

Compared to my countless friends on social media, I am seriously lacking in the necessary experience to address the latest controversies.

Before you read any further, I warn you that I am not:

an expert in the intricacies of international diplomacy and peacemaking.proficient in the detailed biographies (both acknowledged and/or previously unrevealed/undisclosed or redacted) of Zelenskyy, Putin, or Trump.privy to the backroom workings of either the Democratic or the Republican parties.a world-renowned scholar on either the rise of Hitler or the fall of democracies to communism.an end-times prophet with special knowledge of either the anti-Christ, Gog and Magog, or God’s current relationship with any of the aforementioned world leaders.someone with access to a close friend, neighbor, coworker, relative, former pastor or professor, second-cousin or secret friend who is any of the above.

Not that I don’t have opinions. “Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!” Psalm 120:6-7 ESV

I hate war.I love freedom.Life is better than death.Peacemaking is often ugly and it’s not a spectator sport.Truth is the first casualty of war.It’s wrong to initiate aggression.It’s easy to have opinions from the cheap seats.“We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12 ESV

The latest Facebook feeding frenzy has been a boon to my resolve to reduce my time on social media. My friends are shouting without censor, unfriending with fervor, and spewing righteous rage so hot I use oven mitts to check my phone.

Honestly, you would think, from the number of times I’ve seen it cited, that Jesus overturned the tables at the temple in Jerusalem daily for His entire ministry. I’ve seen it used to justify at least a million memes.

I’m not discouraged when I learn that friends or others I respect see situations differently than I see them. What discourages me is when I see condemnation, labels, ultimatums, refusal to dialog, and happy division emerging from these disagreements.

Dear friends, don’t we know? “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.” Psalm 133:1-3 ESV

I don’t understand how all these people shouting into the social media-verse are such experts on peace when apparently, they aren’t even capable of peaceful dialog with people who share the same faith and live in the same country.

These days are testing my faith. I am asking God so many questions. 

Questions like:

Besides the Bible, in the midst of this flood of deception, where do we turn for truth?How do we know when it is sinful to speak and when it’s sinful to remain silent?Do you want Christians communicators to be debating online or is it time to go completely local and analog with these conversations?How do we maintain peace with one another even when we differ on current events?Besides intercession, what actions can we take, as believers, to best support your people in Ukraine, in Russia, in Europe, in China, in Mexico, in Canada, in the U.S.?How can we best reflect Jesus when we disagree?

This is not a dress rehearsal. This is our life, our lot, and our front line. There are not numerous wars around the world. There is one war. It is the war for souls and God invites our engagement on every front.

How do we wage peace?How do we sow seeds of relationship as we disagree?How do we discuss, differ, and debate from a foundation of grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ?

Image by Bob Dmyt from Pixabay

I’m not an expert on many things. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I study His every move. I read His every Word. I have thrown my lot in with Him. He is my peace even as the battle rages. He is my commander in chief. He is the truth. the way. the life.

From the beginning of time until now, there have always been men and women, kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers, dictators and diplomats exchanging words in high level rooms seated in leather chairs, surrounded by aides supplying fresh lemon water and delicacies while mothers and young wives holding babies beat their breasts beside freshly dug graves and young men exchange bicycles and video games for automatic rifles and sit with shaking hands praying not to have to die or to kill.

And the church has always found a way to continue to love–even under fire.

How do we love one another through this?What are we adding to the peace? to the conversation? to the truth?What earthly weapons are we willing to lay down so we are free to take up the weapons that are not of this world?Who will we follow and how will we lead those who follow us in this frought time?What questions are WE asking? And what questions is God asking US?

Putin, Zelenskyy, and Trump have a certain amount of power. How much power have we yielded to these leaders over ourselves and our relationships, our behavior, our  time, our peace? In the end we’ll find they had less eternal influence than one single soul completely yielded to Christ. Are we that soul?

Thoughts? I respond to every comment and reply to every email.

https://t.co/nkd2cLGSDP #Ukraine #Zelenskyy

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) March 3, 2025

 

The post How Do We Love in a Time of War? (on overturned temple tables, Ukraine, the United States, and God’s people) appeared first on Lori Roeleveld.

I am grateful for a humble, Jesus-loving pastor who doesn’t weave each week’s sermon from the whole cloth of the headlines and social media debates.

Oh, he’ll give you scriptural guidance if you’re wading your way through the muck of 2025 but not in a tweet.

It will look more like an open-book exam in a quiet room with extended time for thought and dialog.

He’s on social media but he’s no meme-a-minute minister. More like a steady-stream-of-Scripture scholar interspersed with slice-of-life comics and quotes from old dead guys whose faith survived their own 2025’s.

Our current sermon series, a leisurely stroll through Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, has been rolling along for weeks.

Now, we’re in Esther and, from that pulpit, our pastor is doing something radical, even unthinkable–he’s simply reading and teaching Esther.

With all the noise in the world, he has us open our Bibles, find where we left off, and continue on.

He reads the passage. Reads it again, slowly, helping us understand cultural or biblical context. Speculates from time-to-time but makes it clear it’s speculation. Then, when we’ve read it with our own eyes and should really have the gist of what the passage actually says, what happened, and what we might learn of God from it, he concludes with one or two thoughts for us.

But since now we’ve read it ourselves, been carefully taught, and we’re filled with the Holy Spirit, the Lord speaks.

I’ve read Esther many, many times. Women’s Bible studies and retreats spend inordinate and disproportionate hours on Esther and Ruth. This week, though, I saw something new.

Two main characters become indignant. Two other main characters, with much more reason for indignance, instead listen, speak quietly, and act when action is called for.

That struck me because my current world is awash with indignation.

From screaming podcasters to talking heads on television to friends on social media, I am subject to lethal doses of indignation the moment I check my phone in the morning. And not only am I subjected to it, I’m also encouraged to join in, suspect if I don’t, and the object of it if I dare suggest another way. (And yet, here I go.)

In Esther, King A (the name by which he’ll be known here for ease of reading) is powerful over all the Persian empire. His word is law. He has all that any man could desire–more even. One week, he throws a banquet for all his nobles and they enjoy his wealth and drink– a lot. His wife, Queen Vashti, holds a separate banquet for the women. At last, when everyone is quite rosy, King A sends a command that Queen Vashti appear before him. She declines.

We don’t know why (and even if you think you know, refrain from telling me).

King A becomes indignant. And in his indignance, she becomes “the woman formerly known as Queen Vashti” and he listens to unwise counsel from a bunch of his unwise guests. (Read the book for details.) He creates an ill-advised law and initiates a campaign to find a new queen.

That’s when we meet the two people who refrain from indignation–Mordecai and the young relative entrusted to his care, Hadassah, who will become known as Esther.

Read the story. You’ll see Mordecai and Esther do a lot of listening. They speak quietly, even when they are following the ways of their people rather than the king’s edicts. They act when necessary but not before.

You see, they are exiles, foreigners, Jews dispersed to a land that isn’t theirs. Their people have been endangered many times just for being who they are. They follow a living God but they are in a land of many gods. We can assume they’ve seen some trouble since Esther is an orphan and they are far from home.

But, they refrain from indignation. At least, from public displays.

The second man who indulges indignation is Haman. Haman has power, wealth, position, and every reason to be secure in life but such men never seem to rest easily on their status and acquisitions. He convinces King A to command that everyone bow down and pay homage to him.

Mordecai does not bow.

We don’t know why (and even if you do know, refrain from telling me).

Haman becomes indignant. And in his indignance, he indulges an ancient prejudice in his heart and entices King A to enact a law that on one certain day, all the people in all the kingdom shall murder every Jewish man, woman, and child in the land.

It would seem a threat to the Jews but as it turns out, Haman is the one executed in the end.

Indignation: “anger or annoyance provoked by what is perceived as unfair treatment.”

So, to recap, two powerful men grow indignant at perceived threats  and act unfairly, unwisely, and dangerously only to have it backfire in the end. One man and one woman, under constant actual threat listen carefully, speak quietly, and take action when action is required and they overcome.

After church, I began to think through the biblical stories. Who was indignant? Joseph’s brothers? Pharoah? Job’s friends? Nabal? Jonah? Who listened, spoke quietly, and acted when action was called for? Joseph. Job. Daniel. Moses. Abigail. God.

This is what guides me as we enter the breach of 2025. I am tethered to the rock that is higher than I. I stand on God’s Word. I listen to the quiet whisper of the Holy Spirit. I walk with Jesus. I listen. I speak quietly. I act when action is required. At least, that is my goal.

Indignation seems powerful. Rants are beautiful things. As a writer, I adore a well-crafted passionate rant but sort of like I appreciate a meal loaded with carbs, salt, and fat. It’s a delicious indulgence but the next morning is a dawn of regrets and consequences. A steady diet of it would surely lead to an early death.

None of us will build our platforms on listening, speaking quietly, and acting when action is required–at least, not on this side of glory. I get the temptation.

And yet, who knows? When the book of Esther opens, King A and Haman have all the power. They are the ones who look as if they’re holding every card.

God isn’t even mentioned in Esther. That’s the power He holds. Even in a foreign land where His name is not spoken and His presence isn’t celebrated by all, He is.

And those who know that, live to testify.

On this outpost of glory, we represent the One who has gone ahead to prepare a place for us. His life and His teachings weren’t characterized by indignation. If anyone had reason for it, it was Him.

He leads a different Way. Blessed are all who follow, even in a hostile land with many false gods.

Thoughts? I respond to every comment and reply to every email.  

If you’re feeling ill-equipped for hard conversations in 2025, remember there’s a book full of biblical counsel to remove from you the dread of hard conversation and equip you to have more effective ones. It’s the Bible (okay, there’s also one that I wrote called The Art of Hard Conversations: Biblical Tools for the Tough Talks that Matter and I drew from the Bible but, read the Bible first and THEN go for mine.)

Check this out! You won’t believe what happened. https://t.co/pIH4voyzgo #rant #Jesus

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) February 4, 2025

The post You Are Not Going to Believe This is Happening! appeared first on Lori Roeleveld.

Christians have a lot of different ideas about what it looks like to follow Jesus.

That’s okay. We follow a real and living God so while our salvation is only through Jesus, what our lives and ministries look like will vary wildly. The church isn’t an institution, it’s the family of God in relationship with Him and with one another, carried out in different times, locations, cultures, languages, and opportunities.

Our ideas of what a life following Jesus looks like are impacted by our understanding of the Bible, our place in the world, the times in which we live, our personality, our giftings, the other believers around us, and our experiences.

Most Christians with an awareness of the world worry about the skewed perspective of us followers in the Western church. Well, I worry about MY skewed perspective, anyway. Americans and others in the West have had the privilege of living in relative safety and for years experienced a culture that had at least a basic understanding and acceptance of our faith. We read our Bibles from calm, cushy seats and that colors the lens through which we process God’s great story.

For much of my life, I’ve lived in the first three verses of Psalm 23. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.” Thankfully, I’ve often lingered in an abundance of green pastures and gazed out over clear blue still waters. I am a soul restored.

Still, over the years, I’ve come to appreciate that the paths leading to righteousness for His names’ sake aren’t always the smooth and sunny saunters I’d prefer. Of course, the primary path, which must be chosen even to become a sheep in His fold is the Way that leads through Christ. But then, as we follow where Christ leads, we encounter some steep and rocky roads. As we should. The road Jesus walked was no life of ease. He was a man of suffering, acquainted with grief.

Since 2020, I’ve felt a strong leading to listen to the voices of those who live in places hostile to our faith, the voices of the persecuted in our times and in times past. They know Jesus in ways I can barely fathom–me who used to consider it a sacrifice simply to rise 30-minutes earlier to have a few moments with Jesus as I sipped my favorite coffee and read from one of the dozens of Bibles on my shelves.

But like others, I hear the coming hoofbeats and believe those who have faced hostility and persecution are our tutors now.

Where I’ve imagined my lifelong address would be in the first three verses of Psalm 23, these Jesus-followers reside in the valley of the shadow of death surrounded by God’s enemies. Initially, I feared it would be depressing or overwhelminly sad to listen to their voices. Instead, it’s been both a strong encouragment and a challenge to my faith.

These brothers and sisters, who do not court persecution but simply seek to follow Jesus and obey His Word suffer regularly, often daily, and yet, they know the green pastures, still waters, and restored souls Jesus provides even in darkened prisons, even while burying murdered husbands, even while praying for kidnapped daughters. They have sat at tables prepared before their enemies and known the annointing oil of the overflowing ministry of His Holy Spirit.

Those who suffer, know full well that Jesus is everything, even when everything is gone except lonliness, suffering, hunger, and pain.

They know the joy of reaching into hearts yielded to Christ and finding there abundant love for the very men and women who torture them, separate them from their families, or deny their freedom.

There’s nothing romantic about living in countries or with families hostile to Christ.  Knowing that a declaration of faith will cost not only us but our loved ones to suffer. Seeing the cruelty and unkindness of people deceived by the enemy. Going without work, opportunity, freedom, food, beauty, human compassion, or the comfort of other believers. These believers hold onto heaven because they will not see much of ease or personal fulfillment this side of glory.

And yet, they know Jesus and suffer rather than deny Him. Suffer to bear witness to the truth of Him. Suffer so that others will know Him and live eternally, too.

I hesitate to share the gospel simply for fear of offending or of receiving someone’s disapproval. This isn’t a failure of evangelism–it’s a failure of mission, of purpose, of faith, and of love.

Yes, the gospel is an offense but it is also the doorway to life. It is the only path to eternity spent in the presence of God who is love, light, beauty, goodness, kindness, holiness, joy, power, righteousness, and life. Eternity without God is eternity without those pleasures–separated from everything we crave.

Our God leads us to green pastures but following Him also leads down paths of righteousness for His names’ sake and through the valley of the shadow of death. We aren’t exempt from those paths here in the West and we’ll likely visit them more often as the time for His return draws near.

I was wrong about what I would find listening to the voices of those who suffer for Christ. Many of them speak of freedom, of joy, of greater love for others, of deeper commitment to Jesus, of a boldness that strikes light that pushes back the deepest dark in places the enemy thought he owned. Their words have challenged and encouraged me and shaken me awake from where I dozed among the poppies.

So loved ones, NOW is the time to know Jesus. Follow Him. Read the entire Bible again and again. Pray and listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Obey what God commands. Speak the truth and serve your neighbor without fear. Listen with compassion, exercise kindness, but speak often of the risen Christ and His power of life over death. Seek less a life of ease and become comfortable with discomfort for this was the path of Christ. Forget distractions. He is our purpose. He is our focus. He is our life.

There will be green pastures and still waters but they are found in Him. When we discover this, we discover a freedom no one nor any circumstance can take from us. In Christ, we are truly free.

“Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.” 1 Peter 3:13-17 ESV

Thoughts? I respond to every comment and reply to every email. Praying you are blest in the New Year, whether through comfort or through trial.

We follow Jesus down some rocky paths, what do we learn from the voices of the persecuted? https://t.co/HIOMtehnkL #persecution #Psalm23

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) January 17, 2025

The post Where God Leads appeared first on Lori Roeleveld.

Image by Markus Winkler from Pixabay

If I’m honest, for years I avoided Mary, the mother of Jesus.

You know, not in the grocery store or around town but in my thinking and Bible teaching.

It wasn’t personal.

Growing up, I was a checklist, abide-by-the-rules kind of girl, afraid of my own shadow and nervous if someone next to me stepped out of line. So, being Baptist as the day is long, Mary created enough anxiety for me that I developed Mary-phobia.

The adults in my life probably made pretty inoffensive, factual statements about the difference between the Baptists and Catholics (the two churches in our small town) but through the megaphone of my inflated, phariseeical need to get things right, I heard “DON’T EVER WORSHIP MARY OR PRAY TO HER OR EVEN LOOK AT HER WITH ADMIRATION SO YOU DON’T ACCIDENTALLY SLIP AND BECOME CATHOLIC!”

So, I ghosted the mother of God.

I’m not really sure how I pulled off this thinking during Christmas when Mary comes up all the time in Bible readings at church but I probably hummed a little song in my mind when her section was read. As I studied the Bible, it’s like I took a mental Exacto knife and removed the Magnificat and other mentions of Mary in the gospel.

But, then I grew up.

We need Mary like we need Simon Peter, James, John, Priscilla, Lydia, and Paul. We need to understand her life with Jesus and let that inform ours. Why?

Because Mary said an unqualified YES to God.

Specifically, she responded to the angel Gabriel saying, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38 ESV).

That’s a woman to emulate. That’s a woman to study. That’s a woman to know.

Photo by Marina Vitale on Unsplash

Every plan she had for her life. Every expectation of loving one quiet man, raising children, and following the ways of the Jews faded in the light of God’s glorious call on her life. Poof!

And she was just a smalltown girl who loved God.

Mary is more, though, than an example of a follower of God who chose obedience.

Her life tells the story of how obedience often leads to a life of struggle, sacrifice, and pain mingled with joy so satisfying a follower can endure the rest. She is a disciple who can help us find a way to endure our times.

Suffering right from the start.

Imagine Mary returning home from Egypt and running into a friend her age at the well.

“Mary, welcome home! What lovely boys you have helping you! Blessed with sons, may God be praised.”

“Rachel, I’ve missed you! And look at you! It seems you’ve had one child nearly every year.”

“Actually, it was every year, but two are . . . well, you know. The massacre of the innocents. My two boys would have been . . .well . . . close to the age of your Jesus.”

Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay

Mary suffered from the start. Changed plans. Set apart. Suspicions. Doubts from others. Running from Herod. Prophecies about her son, her child, but God’s Son, God’s Chosen One.

Years of division in her home. Brothers against Brother. The heartache of being the mother of THAT Rabbi–THAT Jesus

And yet, the joy of being the mother of THAT Rabbi–THAT Jesus.

And the agony of watching Him die. Every nail piercing this mother’s heart. Remembering the angel but recoiling from the soldiers gambling for her son’s robe as He bled and died.

And yet the joy of the resurrection! The wonder of His ascension. The exhileration of the Upper Room!

Yes, in Mary’s life, God shows us the life we will have when we say our unqualified YES to Him. Yes, Lord, let it be. Yes, Lord, I believe. Yes, Lord, I am Yours, I will follow.

Like Peter telling Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,  and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69 ESV).

We need Mary because she shows the power and the pain of obeying God, of saying YES to Jesus.  We need Mary because her eyes were on Jesus and that’s where our eyes need to be, this season and every season.

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 ESV).

This Christmas, when you see Mary or hear about Mary, don’t ghost her. Listen to the story her life is telling. Listen to her words to the angel. Say YOUR Yes to Jesus. Worship Him alone.

What about you? Did you ever ghost Mary? I’d love to hear from you! I respond to every comment and reply to every email. May you be blessed in this beautiful season. Amen.

What's a good Baptist girl got to learn from Mary, the mother of Jesus? https://t.co/1KOHw8DXUl #marymotherofJesus #ghostingmary

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) December 19, 2024

The post Ghosting Mary appeared first on Lori Roeleveld.