Wounded Healer

As a result of the wounds we receive growing up, we come to believe that some part of us, maybe every part of us, is marred. Shame enters in and makes its crippling home deep within our hearts. Shame is what makes us look away, so we avoid eye contact with strangers and friends. Shame is that feeling that haunts us, the sense that if someone really knew us, they would shake their heads in disgust and run away. Shame makes us feel, no, believe, that we do not measure up ;…

Every woman can tell you about her wound; some came with violence, others came with neglect. Just as every little boy is asking one question, every little girl is, as well. But her question isn’t so much about her strength. No, the deep cry of a little girl’s heart is, Am I lovely? Every woman needs to know that she is exquisite and exotic and chosen. This is core to her identity, the way she bears the image of God. Will you pursue me? Do you delight in me? Will…

After reading about Jesus’ response to ill, paralyzed, and demon-possessed people (Matt. 8:1-34), do you ever wonder why He doesn’t answer your prayers with miraculous healing too? It might seem God has changed His approach since the first century, but even back then, Jesus didn’t physically heal every hurting person. However, that doesn’t mean divine restoration is reserved for a lucky few. Instead, the Lord heals in His time and His way, and how He…

It was December 1st, 1995, when I walked into the US Marshals office at 601 Market Street in Philadelphia a free man – and exited a prisoner. In handcuffs, ankle cuffs chained together and to two other men shuffling to a waiting van in an underground garage. ‘How the heck did I get here?’ was the question I asked myself many times over the subsequent 90 Days in Federal Prison. Locked up for pleading guilty to multiple felony counts of mail fraud - setting…

“See that?” The clock repairman pointed his flashlight beam on a small, fine mark roughly engraved inside the old grandfather clock he was working on in our home. “Another repairman could have put that there almost a century ago,” he said. “It’s called a ‘witness mark,’ and it helps me know how to set the mechanism.” Before the age of technical bulletins and repair manuals, “witness marks” were used to help…

When someone repeatedly wrongs us, we often try to draw a line at the number of times we’ll accept apologies. In other situations, we may attempt to categorize which offenses we’ll pardon. But Jesus drew no such lines at the cross. God’s unconditional pardon of our sins means that our forgiveness toward others should likewise have no limitations—even when certain behaviors can’t be allowed to continue. Another issue is the temptation to hang on…

If then you are wise, you will show yourself rather as a reservoir than as a canal. A canal spreads abroad water as it receives it, but a reservoir waits until it is filled before overflowing, and thus without loss to itself [it shares] its superabundant water. (Bernard of Clairvaux) A beautiful picture. The canal runs dry so quickly, shortly after the rains subside. Like a dry streambed in the desert. But a reservoir is a vast and deep reserve of life. We are called to…

In 1952, in an effort to prevent clumsy or careless people from breaking items in a shop, a Miami Beach storeowner posted a sign that read: “You break it, you buy it.” The catchy phrase served as a warning to shoppers. This type of sign can now be seen in many boutiques. Ironically, a different sign might be placed in a real potter’s shop. It would say: “If you break it, we’ll make it into something better.” And that’s exactly what&rsquo…

Your sin has been dealt with. Your Father has removed it from you "as far as the east is from the west" (Ps. 103:12). Your sins have been washed away (1 Cor. 6:11). When God looks at you he does not see your sin. He has not one condemning thought toward you (Rom. 8:1). But that's not all. You have a new heart. That's the promise of the new covenant: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone…