It’s been a while! I hope you have all had an incredible summer! I pray that it was one filled with so much of the Lord, His goodness, and His grace!

I wanted to share with you all a little bit more of who I am and my life. I am a young adult living in New York City who wears many, many hats. I work at the intersection of healthcare and the nonprofit sector, managing a team of 8 people to help address cancer inequity. I am a lover of the kitchen; cooking for others is my love language. I am a person of prayer; the Lord has invited me to partner with Him in intercession. I am a lover of the Word, and the word. I have a servant heart; I love to support those around me. I love a nice cup of coffee. I love my family, both my natural family and my family in Christ. Most importantly, I am a daughter of God, saved by grace and adopted into a beautiful family and inheritance.

All that to say, I live a very full and very busy life.

My cup overflows.

I had a moment this summer where my cup literally overflowed, and not in a good way. There was a broken pipe that flooded my family’s kitchen. It came unexpectedly while we were on vacation, and we had to pack up and return home to find water all over our kitchen floor. Praise God, nothing was seriously damaged or broken. But little did I know this broken pipe would be a foreshadowing of a spiritual and physical reality.

I broke.

This year, the Lord has placed many things in my hands, and I have been so honored to partner with the Lord in the things He is doing in my city, in my church, and in my life. But I found myself in a place where I broke under the pressure I had placed on myself. I had expectations of how I wanted things to go, and the Lord surpassed my expectations. It is always better than what I can do on my own, but the pressure I had placed on myself was crushing me.

After an incredible event that I helped coordinate and seeing the Lord move so powerfully in my community, the stress of managing the event, work, relationships, and my family all came crashing down.

I tried to manage it all on my own.

The week after the event, my nervous system fell apart. I was the most anxious and on edge. My body was experiencing so much physical anxiety, even when, in my mind, I was calm. I could not rest. It seemed like nothing would help. This lasted for about three weeks.

Then, I had to make the decision to go back into therapy to try to figure out what was going on.

Eventually, I found my answer.

The Lord is growing me in this season. I am being deeply challenged in many aspects of my life that I wasn’t before.

When a cup overflows, we usually go get a bigger cup.

The Lord is using this season of my life to increase my capacity while simultaneously teaching me to lean on Him to carry what He has given me.

Sometimes, speaking to a therapist helps you connect the dots of what the Lord is speaking to you. My therapist is not a believer, but she allows me to share and process what I sense the Lord is doing. She made me realize all the burdens I had picked up that no one asked me to carry, leading me to exhaustion.

His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He asks me to lay down my burden in exchange for His—the burden which is light.

The Lord is molding me into a new cup to steward all that He has planned for me.

There have been HIGHS and LOWS.

In all this, I have seen the Lord. I have seen His kindness, His love, His mercy, His grace.

Even in my stubbornness to try to press on in my own strength, He reminds me again to come.

For He said, “Come.”

He was asking me to come.

To sit at His feet.

To be refreshed and restored.

To recline at the table.

To eat the bread of life.

To drink the living water.

He wanted to give me more of Himself!

He was inviting me into deeper dependence and intimacy with Him through the stretch and the trial.

I began to see both the invitation to come and rest in the Lord and the invitation to continue on the journey that He is taking me on.

I began to reflect on all the things that were overwhelming me and realized many are the things I once prayed for.

Abbie Gamboa’s new album is titled Have You Ever Looked Around and Realized Everything You Want Is Right in Front of Your Eyes, and I have come to realize that this is a season in which I am seeing prayers being answered. I needed to shift my perspective and hope again. If the prayers I prayed years ago are being answered today, I believe the prayers I am praying today will be answered as well.

I began to feel faith arise again within me.

My cup overflows.

I am living in answered prayers in the midst of challenges.

The role I have now, I almost quit my job just a year ago because I was upset it wasn’t just offered to me. Now, in my role, I have not only grown as a leader, but I have also grown as a voice for my field within my institution. I moderated sessions, presented my team’s work to other cancer centers, and continued to advocate for my team and my field.

The Lord opened and continues to open doors for me to use my gifts in ministry. He has allowed me to create and share. He has given me opportunities to help grow His kingdom and continue to run with endurance.

He has given me incredible friends, new and old. He has really shown me what the family of God is. I have gotten to make many birthday cakes and meals this summer for the community the Lord has given me.

I get to sit in a coffee shop once or twice a week, enjoy a good cup of coffee, and sit in His Word.

I get to pray. I get to worship the Lord. I get to lead people into communion.

I get to make new connections.

Abba has surprised me, and He never stops.

My life is busy. It is.

But each opportunity to go on this journey with the Lord is a reminder that I am living in answered prayers.

My cup truly overflows; my cup continues to grow.

He supplies.

He is both the water in my cup and the Potter of this earthly vessel.

I am just the clay.

Now, go listen to the new single Abbie released! May it bless you as it has blessed me!

Growing up, there were two places I would hide: in my closet and in the bathroom.

My mother tells me that at a very young age, maybe 3 or 4 years old, I would hide under the bed when I heard an ambulance. My grandmother was sickly, so EMS visits to our home were common. As I grew, I no longer fit under the bed, and I graduated to my bedroom closet. When I was 4 years old, I remember being told that my first pet, Charlie, had passed away. I remember coming home, hiding in my closet, and crying. I don’t have a lot of recollection of my childhood, but clearly I did my fair share of hiding. As I grew older, I migrated to the bathroom, where I could lock the door and let it all out. As an adult, the same can be said: I find a place to hide and cry.

For a few years, I struggled deeply with anxiety and panic attacks. I believe the Lord has freed me from the worst of it, but there is no denying that when the storm hits, it is so easy to fall back into similar patterns. After being panic-attack-free for about a year, I had a massive panic attack in December, and it has led to some serious ripple effects. Now, my panic is easily set off, and I have a panic attack every few months.

January of 2026 was marked by panic. Circumstances out of my control revealed my deep fear of not being able to control the people or circumstances of my life. I had panic attacks almost daily for the first few weeks. What a way to start off my 27th year: absolutely terrified of the future.

I have had a few moments in my life that have absolutely broken me, and so far this year will be one of them.

2026 has revealed to me the truth of Psalm 34:18: “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

I have encountered the Lord in a new and different way in the midst of trials and heartache. I have sensed His nearness in the Psalms and in the words He is writing on my heart.

I have always admired those who knew Scripture like the back of their hand — those in whom the Word so clearly and richly dwelled. Because of this, I have prayed many prayers asking the Lord to write His Word on my heart, that it may do the same. Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks, and I wanted my overflow to be all about Him.

I have seen the fruit of this prayer on the day of trouble through the Psalms.

In 2025, I began to read a Psalm a day in addition to my other Scripture reading, and I have just witnessed the Lord write those verses on my heart. The rereading of the Psalms over the last year and a half has allowed them to be a well to draw from when all else seems dry. The inspired words of David have become a balm to my wounded and broken heart. Somehow, the Psalm of the day often comforts my soul in ways that only the Lord can. The Psalms have been a place for me to land. They are words that can so easily be written on my heart and easily brought to my memory when the panic makes me feel like the world around me is about to end.

Memorizing Psalm 23 changed the way I navigate the panic.

In the midst of a panic attack, I can now focus my mind on the Good Shepherd, that though I am in the valley of the shadow of death (as perceived by my nervous system), I will fear no evil, for His rod and staff will comfort me.

I have discovered a better hiding place.

It isn’t a physical space but a person.

Jesus.

Paul writes in Colossians 3:3, “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” My life is hidden in Christ. Yes, this means that I am a new creation in Him, that I am seated with Him in heavenly places. As Paul wrote, I also believe it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20). In addition to this, I have begun to experience my hiddenness in Christ as a safe hiding place, a refuge in the chaos.

I have found safe shelter in Christ. He has hidden me in the day of trouble. He has concealed me in His tent and lifted me high upon a rock, as it is written in Psalm 27:5. Christ is my strong tower in which I find refuge, as written in Psalm 61:3 and Psalm 91:2. He is my hiding place and shield, as written in Psalm 32:7 and Psalm 119:114.

Like Psalm 23, Psalm 121 is a place for me to stand when the ground shakes beneath me.

When I am in need, when it feels like it is all falling apart, I lift my eyes to the hills. I look up. I lift my gaze to the Creator of all and remember that the One who has created it all holds me in the palm of His hand. That He is my keeper. He does not slumber nor sleep. He keeps my life. My life, the life of those I love, the day, the night — all held in the hands of the Creator of all.

Why should I fear? Why do I worry?

The past 7 months have deeply taught me to trust in the Lord.

For He is my refuge.

My strength.

The lifter of my head.

My strong tower.

My green pasture.

My still water.

My rest.

My safe hiding place.

There may be times I still run to a physical hiding place, but I am always safely hidden in Christ.

With love,

Ashley

It is peony season! What does that mean? Honestly, nothing except that one of my favorite flowers is in bloom.

If you know anything about peonies, they require patience, care, and time to bloom.

Last year, the Lord used peonies to teach me a very important lesson on waiting on Him, even when doing it myself might be easier. So I wanted to share this story with you all.

Since learning what peonies were from watching Gossip Girl, I have dreamed of my Chuck Bass... a saved and sanctified version of Chuck Bass, of course... showing up at my doorstep with peonies.

But one day last year, I was walking past a bodega on the way to a park by my office where I often go to eat lunch and spend time with the Lord. I saw the most beautiful peonies, and I whispered to the Lord expectantly, “I can’t wait for the day when the man that God has for me brings me peonies.” I went about my day as usual and stopped at Trader Joe’s on my way home, as I often do.

Behold, some more peonies.

Except this time, another voice filled my mind.

“Why wait for someone to buy you the peonies if you can just buy them for yourself?”

This thought was true. Why wait? There is nothing wrong with buying myself flowers. I did it all the time. It is such a sweet gesture. Buying the flowers now won’t get in the way of getting the flowers from someone later.

The hyper-independent woman in me got the best of me. I bought the flowers, came home, trimmed them, and placed them in a vase in my room.

A little while later, as I looked at the peony buds, conviction hit, and I felt the Holy Spirit say,

“These are an Ishmael.”

A few days later, I went away for Memorial Day weekend, expecting to come home to beautiful peony blossoms. I walked into my room to find that they did not bloom.

I waited.

They never bloomed.

Instead, the shriveled up and looked absolutely horrendous.

About a week or two later, I went to buy some allergy medication, and as I passed by Trader Joe’s, I thought to myself, “Let me get some peonies to make me feel better.” Something beautiful to look at, to help me forget my nasal congestion.

Immediately, it was dropped in my spirit,

“Ishmaels don’t bloom.”

So why Ishmael?

At 75 years old, God told Abram he would have his very own son as his heir. But Sarai had grown discouraged because she was unable to conceive and said that the Lord had prevented her from having children. She then offered up her handmaiden Hagar to Abraham as a wife so that they could have a child. Hagar bore a child to Abram, and she named him Ishmael, “God hears.” But this wasn’t the heir that God had promised. Years after Ishmael was born, God reminds Abraham of the promise that he will have a son through Sarah. A year later, Isaac was born, the son of the promise.

I believe that Ishmael was a result of impatience and discouragement. A result of trying to attain the promise through human effort rather than waiting on God to fulfill it. Essentially, short-cutting the promise.

Ishmael was Abram’s firstborn, an heir, flesh of his flesh, just as God said he would have.

Yet, Ishmael was an heir of the flesh but not the heir of promise.

I have come to understand an “Ishmael” as the thing we do to obtain a promise in our own strength. We try to help God fulfill his promises to us in our timeline.

God doesn’t need our help.

I have learned that God takes His time because He cares. In Genesis 2:8, we see God planting the Garden of Eden. The God who spoke the entire universe into existence took time to plant the garden. This is true of our lives. God is the gardener of our souls. With care, He tends the soil, plants the seeds, waters it, watches it grow, tending to it with love and care.

We are the impatient ones.

Human impatience created Ishmael.

We need to trust in His Word and His promises, despite what we see in the present.

The Red Sea was before the Israelites. They thought they were toast, yet the Lord parted the Red Sea to keep His promise.

I am still waiting on those peonies.

I have heard so clearly from the Lord to just wait. To wait on Him in this specific area of my life. To wait to be found by the man who will one day be my husband. I have felt from the Lord that I need to do nothing, that He will take care of it. Believe me, I love to do and pursue, but God has asked me to be still and to wait.

Waiting is hard.

As I wait on God and share my desire for marriage with others I get a lot of questions. Are you dating? Are you on the dating apps? What are you doing to put yourself out there?

All of these questions ask me about my efforts.

The truth is I haven’t gone on a date in about two years, not because I don’t want to, but because I know I am buried deep in the ground, waiting to be found.

This is about more than just the desire for marriage. It is a reminder to patiently wait for the fulfillment of every promise the Lord has made.

I have had many prophetic words spoken over me. I have seen some begin to flourish, and many feel forgotten. I have had dreams and desires that I have let die, in hope that one day they will come back to life.

Maybe you are waiting on a promise from God, and there might be an easy solution, a shortcut, or even a way to do it on your own. But I ask that you would wait patiently for the Lord. The Lord is taking His time. He hasn’t forgotten you.

There are many, many verses about waiting, but I love the last verse of Psalm 27:14:

“Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!”

So if you are waiting on the Lord, I pray you would be strong against the temptation of the world to take it into your own hands and do it yourself.

Waiting on the Lord can seem foolish in the eyes of the world. Let your heart take courage. Do not let the long wait discourage you and make your heart sick. Do not allow hope to be deferred. Continue to wait patiently for the Lord. He hasn’t forgotten you. He isn’t passing you over. He sees you.

Fight the temptation, take heart, and in due time the promises of God will bloom.

In the meantime, I am right here with you, waiting on the Lord.

I have been working on this piece for a while, but yesturday after having a few conversations that reminded me of what I was writing this some played. I hope it blesses you as it has me.

There have been times and seasons in my life where phrases or words have followed me around. I can’t outrun them. The most recent was “Abide” and the passage from John 15. I believe the Lord was using that season to teach me what it means abide through the constant reminder. Recently, a new phrase has been pursuing me. It is “How much more?”

This phrase comes from this passage in Matthew 6:

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? [Mat 6:25-30 ESV]

How much more?

I am the one with little faith described above. The last few weeks have been filled with a lot of self-doubt and deep feelings of insignificance. I found myself lost in comparison. I feel stuck, falling behind even. A sense of loneliness is starting to trickle in, and I don’t quite know how to deal with it. Frankly, I have allowed myself to wallow in self-pity. I have been looking at myself and my feelings instead of looking at Him, His faithfulness, and His character, in spite of all the Lord has done and is doing. It is a little vulnerable to admit, but I want to stay true to what the Lord is doing in my life and what He is walking me through.

Someone recently texted me and said, “I hope you know the part you play in the body of Christ and in the world cannot be replaced.”

I cried reading that because someone who barely knows me is able to see what I fail to see daily. My entire life, people have spoken and thought more highly of me than I think of myself, and that is truly a problem.

If an acquaintance sees me, and my friends and family see me, how much more does God see me?

In recent weeks, the Lord has so clearly highlighted to me that I have big faith for others, but not for myself. I can pray big, bold prayers in faith for others, but I am so scared to ask my Father for bread. He has shown me that I am believing the lie that “What He will do for others, He won’t do for me.”

To fight this lie, I have to remind myself of the beauty of testimony. That testimony builds faith in what the Lord is able to do! What the Lord has done for others, He can do for us as well. It might not be the same as what He did for that person, but it shows His power and willingness to act in that area of life.So, if I know and believe this, why do I continue to fall for this lie?

I think it is because the lie has led me to believe that God doesn’t want to answer my prayer. But again, I must fight this lie with the truth of His Word.

“Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

Matthew 7:9–11 ESV

He will give good things to those who ask! In these moments, I need to keep seeking and keep asking, fighting the lies with the truth of His Word. I need to remember that just because He has not yet answered doesn’t mean He won’t. However, I also need to remember that if the answer is “no,” my God is a good Father and a good Shepherd and knows the path in which He leads me.

I need to remind myself to keep asking, keep knocking and be persistent in prayer.

The Lord has continued to pursue and whisper,

“How much more?”

“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” Ephesians 3:20 ESV

That much more!

Because I can’t imagine what the Lord has planned for me, or fully understand how much He loves and cares for me, it is difficult for me to receive.

He cares for me. He is my Father, who won’t give me a stone when I ask for bread. He has bread and fish waiting for me, a table set before me, waiting for me to come sit and eat. I have seen His faithfulness time and time again. Then why do I so easily forget?

My prayer for today:

Lord, help me take You at Your Word because You are faithful to Your Word. Your Word never falters, and it never fails. Abba, help me always know that You are my good Father and my good Shepherd. Despite what I feel and what I think, You are above my emotions. Lord, increase my faith in my moments of unbelief. Help me, Holy Spirit, continue to see the Lord in the mundane things of life, in the small moments, and help me live with thanksgiving and praise on my lips. Lord, help me believe more and more each day in the waiting, that though I may not see it, You are moving and working. Amen.

So, if you could join in praying that with me and for me, it would mean the world.

Much love,

Ashley

As usual, here is a song that has been ministering to me recently!

Hey Fiery Ones!
Do you ever grieve something that hasn’t yet happened? How do you deal with God’s “Not yet”?

There have been many times in my twenties that I have found myself grieving the narrative I created.

In my youth, I would chat with friends about my plans for the future. I was going to go to college and medical school, meet my husband and get married by 25, have our first child at 27 or 28 after traveling the world together. We would have a home and a cute dog. By thirty, I would be a doctor and have a family and a home.

At twenty-seven, my life looks far from the dreams and desires I had as a kid. I grieve not being married, not being a mom, not having a “successful” career, and not living on my own.

This grief is evidence of a lie I am believing.

The lie is that since it hasn’t happened yet, it never will.

A perfect example: I sometimes accept that I may never be a mom. I hold babies and yearn to have one of my own. For years now, I have known that I have a medical condition that interferes with my fertility. It isn’t impossible for me to have a child, but it will be very hard. In addition, my mom tells me maybe once a quarter to freeze my eggs. So my physical reality, a diagnosis of PCOS and my singleness at 27, lead me to grieve motherhood. I sit with the reality that the older I get, the harder it will be to conceive.

I ask the Lord, “Will I be a mom?”

In these moments, He reminds me of all those in the Bible who conceived when it was “impossible.” God opened the womb of Sarah, Hannah, and Elizabeth, women who were thought to be barren. God can breathe life into barren wombs. So He can do it in His time, in His will, in His way.

So why do I grieve a door that is not yet closed? A door that is not yet ready to be knocked on?

The honest answer is that I don’t know.

I think I accept the possibility too early that my desires are not in God’s plans. If I accept the closed door now, then disappointment won’t hurt my heart later. I believe that if it hasn’t happened yet, it never will.

This is far, far from the truth.

Psalm 23:1 (NIV) says, “The Lord is my shepherd; I lack nothing.”

This is the truth.

Even if it doesn’t line up with my childhood dreams and current desires, I have all I need.

Jesus is the good and perfect shepherd. He knows where we are going. He will lead us beside still waters or through the valley of the shadow of death, and in all of those places, He is in control. On this path, if there is a need, He supplies it.

Although desires like to present themselves as needs, they aren’t.

“I need to be married by 25!” is something I found myself saying a lot! I didn’t get married at 25, and this was for the best. God knew I was far from ready for marriage. My 25th year was the first year of my life when I began to take my relationship with the Lord seriously. I wanted to be married at 25, but I did not need to.

The reality is that the Lord has done so much in me in the last 3 years since fully giving my life to Christ. If my life had gone my way, I may not have experienced this growth. In fact, the last three years have prepared me to be a wife and a mother.

He is teaching me to serve like He served, and I love it! I am very involved in my local church and its community. I can hold babies for moms who may need to give their arms a break. I can cook for people who may need some extra support during a rough time. I can sit, listen, pray for, and encourage friends and church family who may need it.

The Good Shepherd has led me to a pasture of preparation.

It might be to one day become a wife and a mother, but ultimately He is preparing me to be part of the Bride of Christ.

As part of the body of Christ, we are to build each other up. This may look like all the things I mentioned above. It may look like many other things. But we are called to be members.

Being part of the body has helped me deal with the grief of the “not yet.”

I use these qualities that would make me a great wife and mother to serve the body. I am able to be a better friend, daughter, church member, and leader when I share this with others.

So I encourage you to step into the body, support the members, and give your time and talents. Allow the local church to be the soil the Lord is using for your preparation and growth. Allow yourself to take root in a community and let those roots grow deeper.

When grief hits and you begin to believe the lie that God’s “not yet” is a “no,” remember that He is your good shepherd, and you have all that you need.

If your desire is not yet fulfilled, the Lord is faithful to provide in His time according to His plan and will.

I know many may read this and say, “But Ashley, marriage and motherhood aren’t promised.” This is true. But I have a good Father in heaven.

I believe that He has these things for me in His time. I am learning to deal with my desires in light of God’s truth and my physical reality.

I hold fast to what is written in Jeremiah 29:11:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

He has good plans. He is the good shepherd.

Today, I have all that I need. I lack no good thing.

In 1 Samuel 15 God commands Saul to attack the Amalekites and destroy absolutely everything. Instead, Saul returns with the King of the Amalekites and the best of the livestock. Saul disobeyed the word of the Lord and acted in order to please the people. Samuel rebukes him! in 1 Samuel 15:17-20.

In verse 17, Samuel calls out Saul’s insecurities, specifically his low self-image, and reminds him of who the Lord has anointed him to be. Saul wanted to be seen as great among the people, and because he did not see himself as great among them, he sinned for their approval. It was the Lord that anointed him as king of Israel, yet the opinion of the people was greater than Saul’s fear of God. In verse 24 Saul admits to his sin:

“Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.””

1 Samuel 15:24

His insecurity and his fear of man led him to be disobedient and sin against God.

Has this happened to you?

It has happened to me!

There have been times in my life in which I compromised my values or disobeyed the Lord to please others and find approval in their eyes. I have sinned, gotten drunk at a party by playing a drinking game because I feared that my friends would think I was uncool for not “having fun.” In reality, I weakened my witness. I wasn’t set apart in that moment.

My fear of man was greater than my fear of God.

How many times does our insecurity lead to disobedience?

If the Lord has called us, is His word not greater than the voice of the world? Do we not trust Him to sustain what He has placed in us?

The Lord is using us for his glory. He sees the bigger picture, so our obedience is important to the Lord.

Prior to Saul’s admission of sin, he tries to justify his disobedience and intention in returning with the best of the livestock to provide a sacrifice to God. Samuel again rebukes him and says:

“And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.””

1 Samuel 15:22-23 ESV

Samuel tells Saul that obedience is better than sacrifice. The Lord desires our obedience more than what we do for him.

Sometimes we act in disobedience and do something else instead of what the Lord is telling us to do. This can be a result of many things. It could be the fear of man and fearing what others will think when we say yes to the Lord. Or it could be that we do not want to step out of our comfort zone. In both of these examples, we are placing ourselves and others above God.

There have been times I have felt the Lord tell me to go pray for a stranger on the subway. I stayed where I was, I closed my eyes and prayed. But, that wasn’t what He was asking of me. The Lord wanted me to go up and ask the person if I could pray for them. But because I feared rejection, feared what others on the subway may think, or feared what may happen, I didn’t do it.

My biggest stronghold is my fear. Daily, I am learning to overcome.

The Lord only knows what would have happened if I had gone up to pray for her.

The Lord might be calling you to do something and asking you to take a step of faith, give Him the yes, and provide the ultimate sacrifice, your entire life.

We are often so reluctant to do this. Yet time and time again I am reminded not to fear, for He is with me. In His kindness, God has shown me that I can trust Him.

But, instead of a costly sacrifice of my obedience, I may give something else in return. Just like Saul, I may disobey God and provide the best of my spoils for sacrifice.

The best of my disobedience is not what God required of me.

We can sacrifice something that He did not ask for. I think of this:

“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’”

Matthew 7:22 ESV

Many did things in His name but did not know Him. They didn’t have a relationship with him. We can do all these things for the Lord, but is He in it? Are we doing it for Him or for us?

God wants a relationship with us more than what we can do for Him. A part of this relationship is to hear and obey His voice. I beat myself up for my disobedience, but some comfort, which many might call an excuse, is that the Lord is going to get the glory regardless. This doesn’t free me from obedience, but I should obey because I deeply love the Lord.

The reality is that we never know what is on the other side of our obedience. Our obedience may be costly. It could even cost us our lives. But God sees the bigger picture, and He works all things together for good.

Many will count the cost of following Jesus, and few will accept it.

A sacrifice is costly. The laying down of our life and our quick obedience may be costly. But dying to our flesh, dying to the fear of man, and living in the fear of God, living as a new creation, and carrying our cross is our spiritual worship.

So incline your ear, hear His voice, and obey. The leadership of the Lord is lovely. He is the good shepherd. Trust Him to sustain the anointing, the favor, and the gifts. It is all from Him and unto Him. We cannot do anything apart from Him. So let us be radically obedient to the Lord in faith.

Lord,

When I hear Your voice, do not let me harden my heart. Abba, keep me tender and sensitive to Your voice, that I may obey and act. Lord, replace my fear of man with a greater fear of You. Grow my fear of the Lord. Lord, teach me that works without faith is dead. Help me obey. Help me allow You to be Lord of my life. Thank you Jesus that you have shown us a perfect example of costly obedience. That you obeyed, even to death on the cross. Sustain me if this is the path I must walk as well.

Lord, You are my strength and my shield, my sustainer, the lifter of my head. Guide me and keep me as I learn to listen, love, and obey. Help me be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to You.

Help me live in surrender to You, where I would not count myself higher or greater than those whom You may touch through my yes. Lord, may You always increase and I be less.

Help me Lord,

Amen.

Happy Valentine’s Day! The day of love! We are so beyond lucky that we can celebrate love every day by rejoicing in God’s love and showing it to others, but it is also nice to have a day to celebrate all the love in your life. But it can also be incredibly isolating and grieving when you are single, there is no prospects in sight, and culture has focused this day on romantic love. I will admit February and Valentine’s Day is hard for many singles, it is a pointed reminder that we are single. But Fiery one, if you are single this Valentine’s Day, samesies! However, this Valentine’s Day “hit different” as the kids say. In the last year the Lord has reshaped my heart and has helped me to rejoice today instead of mourn. I want to be a little vulnerable today and bear a bit of my heart with you today.

This is the first February that I am not crippled by singleness. For years, I would say maybe next Valentine’s Day I’ll be in a relationship. It has been 27 years and never once have I had a valentine. This isn’t for pity that I say this, I know so many men and women that may fall into the same boat. Each year, I felt utterly horrible about it. I would listen to every single lie of the enemy. I believed that if I was prettier or more desirable maybe someone would choose me. I fell into the lie that there must be something I must do to be desired or loved. But as I continued to fall deeper in love with the Lord, allow Him to love me, and let others love me, I learned just how much God loves me and desires me, I have begun to rewrite these lies with God’s truth.

How vast is God’s love for me. His cares for me. He sent His only son to die for me without me ever having to do anything for Him. It was so freely given, soo unconditional. This Agape love does not have an equivalent on this Earth and that is why it is soo hard to comprehend. But as the Lord reveals more of Himself in the intimacy of relationship with Him, He is able to rewrite all the lies the enemy tried to make us believe are true.

I am fully known and fully loved by God. It is the first time in my life where I truly understand that is enough.

The more I have gotten to know the Lord, through spending time with Him, the more I have been able to receive His love and the love He shares with me through those around me. He constantly reminds me that I am the apple of His eye, that His thoughts about me are more than the sand, that I am His beloved.

This is all I have ever wanted, to be chosen and fully loved. He has done that already, before the foundations of the earth.

As a single, when people would say to me you just need to be content in your singleness and singleness is a gift I would be like, “I know that! Thanks.” or “I am content in this season.” At times it was true, at other times it was a boldface lie. Actually, I was the biggest grinch when it came to love. I was bitter and jealous. I wanted a relationship so bad that I couldn’t be happy for those who were in love around me. Each relationship that I saw begin or each time I wasn’t chosen, I grew more and more bitter. I tried not to show my discontentment at all!

This silent bitterness and jealousy was not contentment, it was sin.

I would cry constantly about not being in that season of my life and mourning that season as if it would never come. I believed that to be content in my singleness I would need to let my desire for a relationship, marriage, and a family die. This was such a lie.

Contentment in singleness and desire for marriage and a family can coexist.

I won’t lie! I still hope to be in a relationship, to have a partner, to run with someone closely. In fact, just a few months ago I was crying in my friend’s arms at a wedding because that season of life for me felt so far off. I was grieving something that was never given nor taken away. But it was another reminder of my sick heart.

Hope deferred year after year of me saying “maybe this year God”, made my heart incredibly sick. Every crush that fizzled away, every prospect that found another, and seeing love in my face my heart sick. I had allowed for bitterness and jealousy to take root in my heart.

God can’t heal what we hide. I had hidden this sin so deep. I didn’t even think it was there. But the more I realized how sick my heart was, I needed to repent and hand my broken and rotten heart to the hands of the Father. I needed Him to heal my jealousy and bitterness, and He did!

I cried soo much, wrestled with the feelings of jealousy and bitterness, fought with my discontentment and kept telling God that I no longer wanted to feel this way, I wanted to be happy for those around me, I wanted to be able to celebrate everyone’s relational and romantic wins. I didn’t want to be carrying the weight or burden of my singleness anymore. It was never meant to be a weight but a gift.

By laying this all down at his feet, I was able to see Jesus more clearly. As my revelation of Jesus increased, he became my joy and my delight.

Jesus is my desire fulfilled, He is my tree of life.

The repentance that I had sown in tears, I was now able to reap with shouts of joy! The Lord changed my heart completely. Now, I cry because I am soo filled with joy at the love around me. I am surrounded by the most beautiful God written love stories. Many of which have built up my faith that the Lord may have someone for me. Now when I see PDA I only cringe slightly instead of being so offended by it. I am going to soo many weddings this year and I am soo beyond excited. The Lord finds ways to reveal and prune sins in your life, and my struggle with love around me and my discontentment with my season of singleness, was a way that He has been able to free me from bitterness and jelousy.

So if you are struggling today, I encourage you to do a few things.

1. Sit with Him and receive the love He is lavishing on you.

2. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any areas of your heart that you may be hiding, and invite the Lord to come heal it.

3. Be candid with God. Tell Him exactly how you are feeling today

4. Let Him discipline you, He disciples those He loves. Maybe you need to take a break from the dating scene. Maybe you need to stop entertaining that person.

5. Ask Him to come and satisfy you today!

6. Pour His love out on someone today, share the love that He has given you!

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Sending you a warm embrace,

Ashley

As always, keep burning undignified and unashamed for Him!

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P.S This is what I was listening to as I wrote this and it I love that there are no coincidences

I know that I am a day late; I was cooking most of the day yesterday and then spent some time with family. But I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to each of you for supporting this dream that the Lord has put on my heart. I want to thank you for reading my words, listening to my podcast, giving me words of encouragement, and praying for To The Fiery Ones. I am so beyond thankful!

Thankful for you,

Ashley

Holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries are all moments of reflection—looking back and seeing what has happened over the last year. On Thanksgiving, we intentionally give thanks for the things in our life. As I reflect this year, I wanted to share one thing I am thankful for with all of you.

The Lord has done so much in my life this last year that it constantly blows me away; there is truly so much to be thankful for. I will eternally be thankful for the cross and His blood poured out for me, that I may be born of God—a new creation in Christ. But this year, I want to thank God for the work He has done in my heart. I have seen the Lord tenderize areas of my heart I did not know were hardened. Through this “heart surgery,” I began to become softer and more childlike.

I am thankful for a greater revelation of God as my Father. This revelation created a new childlike dependence that is replacing years of hyper-independence.

For years, I prided myself on my independence. I wanted to be that boss woman, and in many ways, I have grown into the strong, independent woman I wanted to be. This independence felt like freedom. I didn’t need to rely on anyone, no one would consider me a burden, and most importantly, I believed that I would make others proud of my maturity. But what I am beginning to learn is that this may not be what I am called to be; I am called to rest in the arms of my Abba.

In order to be independent, I grew incredibly stubborn. It was (and maybe still is) hard for me to take advice or feedback. I didn’t really consult with God on the small things or, many times, even the big things. Yes, I wanted the Lord to lead my life, but I was in the driver’s seat. I was driving the car, both hands on the wheel, with the GPS (Holy Spirit) giving me directions. But I would follow my own instinct, ignore the directions, and then get stuck in horrible bumper-to-bumper traffic that the GPS was trying to help me avoid.

As a side note, I don’t have my driver’s license, so feel free to have a little laugh at my example—but that is the best way I can describe it.

This hyper-independence also presented itself in my relationships with others. I could never accept help… EVER. If it was raining and someone wanted to share an umbrella with me, I would say, “It’s not that bad,” and get soaked. If I was carrying something heavy and someone offered to help, I would say, “No, I’ve got it, I’m strong.” When in reality, I truly needed the help!

I made it really difficult for people to help me, care for me, and support me—all because I wanted to be strong and independent. Eventually, people stopped offering to help because they knew it wouldn’t be received well. I made myself incredibly difficult to love; therefore, I felt undeserving of love. It hardened my heart in ways I didn’t know my heart was hardened. I never realized that my hyper-independence had bled into my relationship with the Lord. I didn’t ask the Lord to help me with things I already knew how to do; I didn’t invite Him into the mundane areas of my life. In the bigger areas of my life, I often failed to ask Him for help.

Slowly and over time, the Lord began to work on this area of my life. In being this hyper-independent woman, I grew really, really tired. Time and time again, I would come to the Lord exhausted. I would be moody, easily frustrated, impatient, snarky, and honestly very fleshly—lacking in the fruits of the Spirit.

Eventually, I told God, “I am tired!” and slowly—because I was stubborn—He began the work in my heart, healing wounds and softening my heart.

In January, a wonderful friend of mine and truly a prophetic voice in my life gave me a mug with Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God.” I was at a loss for words; I felt the Lord speaking to me directly. It was not the first time the Lord had directed me to that verse. In fact, this was confirmation of what the Lord was speaking to me: He was calling me into a year of rest. I deemed 2025 a consecrated Sabbath to the Lord.

Instead of a vision board, I had this phrase and a few verses on my phone screen for the year. I have looked at this many times over the last 11 months, often forgetting about them. Yet slowly, the Lord has instilled these principles: stillness, faith, and asking to increase my dependence on Him.

First, to be fully transparent, 2025 was not a year of rest in the traditional sense. I was incredibly busy, but I learned to find my rest in Him. My friends often comment that I am too busy, and it is something that I am working on. But my longing to be in His presence and with His people doesn’t make me tired—it is a place of great joy and refreshment. On the contrary, juggling work, friends, social engagements, and ministry became difficult at times. I knew I needed to rest when I began to grow cold, frustrated, and would constantly “crash out.” I needed to learn when to cancel plans to rest, to prevent frustration and emotional outbursts, and I am still learning how to balance it all.

However, in this last year, I have felt the Lord call me into deeper intimacy with Him. Through this intimacy, He disciplined me in many ways. I began to know him as my Father. He was teaching me to be patient, trust His timing, and that even if I didn’t see it, He was working on my behalf. I began to learn that allowing myself to sit in the Lord’s presence, take a deep breath, and just be present could refresh my soul from even the worst week or day.

In the past few months, I would say a great portion of my time in worship has been just sitting on the floor. It is both a posture of comfort and childlikeness, and an opportunity for rest. It helps me ground myself in His presence. It prevents me from getting distracted by things that might pull my attention away. It allows me to fully give my attention to God and be still in His presence.

This stillness and soaking in His presence has led to so much healing. I have heard the voice of my Father speaking words of life over me time and time again—of how He loves me, sees me, and is proud of me. I went from feeling so unlovable to feeling so loved by my Father.

He taught me to allow Exodus 14:14—“The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent”—to be true in my life. When seasons of my life grew difficult, specifically in the workplace, He made the way. I didn’t fight, and He did all the work. I began to allow the Lord to be my advocate; I began to allow the Lord to go before me. The Lord showed me that my hyper-independence was rooted in a need to prove myself—to prove my strength and my worth—which resulted in me trusting the Lord less and trusting myself more. But the Lord is teaching me to fully trust Him. Even if I can do it myself, it will be better when He does it.

Over time, I learned that my hyper-independence was a defense mechanism rooted in fear—believing the lie that I needed to care for myself because no one else would.

But my Abba replaced each of these lies with truth:

He loves me whether or not I am “enough,” because His Son was enough.

He delights in me; His thoughts of me are as numerous as the sand. (Psalm 139)

He cares for me and will keep me because I am His daughter.

I just need to let Him.

Let Him care for me, love me, fight for me.

Let Him do it all.

Now, when I believe this to be true—when I fully receive His fatherly love and my position as His daughter—I feel as though I can now ask and receive.

I can ask for help, guidance, provision, wisdom, comfort.

There are endless ways I can rely on Him and patiently wait on Him to respond. He knows my thoughts and my desires, and He is faithful, loving, and kind.

This is childlikeness—to be fully dependent on your Father for everything. Like a newborn baby is dependent on their mother to care for every need, that is the new dependence I am to have on my Father. Not just for the big decisions in my life, but even the smallest of things: where to go for coffee in the morning, or not going in order to steward my finances well. I have become more dependent on His guidance and His voice.

Though sometimes I, like a child, have a tantrum when I hear “No” or “Be patient,” through it all I have learned the love of my Father. I have cherished His nearness. I have cherished His tender, tight, warm embrace. In the good days and in the hard days, I run into the arms of my Father.

I saw a post that said something along the lines of, “Maturing in God is becoming more childlike.” I have seen this be so true in the last year. I have seen the Lord soften my heart to where I cry a lot. Crying is no longer a sign of weakness. I cry because I feel so loved beyond belief—I feel so undeserving, yet He tells me I am worthy.

I have seen Him increase my desire to be cared for, and I have slowly allowed Him and others to care for me. I am letting people back into my life to help me. I am letting people share their umbrellas with me. I am letting people carry heavy things for me. I am letting people love me in the ways they want to.

I have also seen Him open doors of provision that didn’t make sense. He has literally placed people on my path, opened places for me to stay, funded the podcast, and provided for an LLC. I have felt Him hold me as I cried out in the night. I have felt the gentle whisper of “I love you,” without having to ask, “Do you love me?” as I have asked many before.

He has surrounded me with people who have covered me with so much love over the last year—who have said kind things to me that for a long time I didn’t believe about myself. Now, I am starting to believe them.

The Lord is making me soft. He is making me tender. He is making me needy for more of Him. He isn’t done with me yet. There is more of His love, His fathering, His friendship, and His leadership for me to find.

I am learning to see that His yoke is easy and His burden is light—not because the call and purpose He has given me will be easy, but because He is carrying it with me. Now, I only want Him to carry me.

As the Lord healed my inner child, He has now allowed me to be a child again—to delight in the little things, to delight in His creation, and most importantly, to delight in Him. He has given me a childlike wonder for all that He has done, is doing, and will do!

Now I am in the passenger seat, at the Father’s feet, and resting in His arms.

If you are a strong, independent young woman, I want to tell you that you don’t need to be. You can rest in the arms of your Father. He will carry you. He will open the doors. Your strength for others—being the strong one for your family and friends—is a heavy burden to carry. You don’t need to carry it. You can lay it at His feet. Sit with your hands open; it allows Him to take whatever is in them and replace it with something better. Posture yourself to receive from Him.

The strength you gained, the power you now have—the Lord will use it, but it will no longer be in your strength and power but in His. His grace is sufficient. We can be weak and needy before our Father.

So if the load is heavy today, or the load is heavy tomorrow, lay it down at His feet. Tell Him you’re tired. Tell Him you need Him. And you will see what He will do.

May the Lord bless you, keep you, carry you, and give you peace.

With lots of love,

Ashley P.

There are times the Holy Spirit slows down my Bible reading. I call it a holy interruption, a moment when He is trying to tell me something. A verse leaps off the page and I simply cannot proceed with my reading. I must stop, pause, and receive the word He has for me. The word of God is alive and it is active, He will speak to you through His word.

Everyone does their daily devotional differently. Some read devotional books, some read a few verses, some read books at a time, and there are so many ways to spend time with God. For the past few months I have read about 3 chapters a day. I read a Psalm, a chapter in the Gospels, and an additional chapter of a book of the Bible. I am currently reading Psalms, Luke, and Romans. It is a good amount of reading and sometimes I won’t get fully through it. Especially, when the Spirit comes to teach me.

A holy interruption allows me to slow down and engage deeper with the word and recently I have had multiple of these moments and I wanted to share a few. I have bolded the words and phrases that stood out to me.

Romans 6:22: We are the freest slaves

When I read Romans 6 usually verse 11 is where I dwell. Yet this week when reading Romans 6 these verses filled me afresh. We were once slaves to sin, now we are slaves of God. While that might sound off-putting and might offend your flesh a bit, we are the freest slaves there are. We have a master, our Lord, that loves us and laid down His life for us. He redeemed us. The fruit we get from serving God and becoming a servant leads to sanctification and sanctification ends in eternal life. He saved us, is saving us, and will save us. We are moment by moment being sanctified to be more like Christ and each step of sanctification as we walk through this life submitted to Christ leads us closer to eternity.

Luke 8:15: Fruit requires your heart and time

The soil is the environment that you are in! Get into some good fertile soil where you can absorb it all: His love, His Spirit, His word. We need to be buried deep in the soil and develop expansive root systems in the Lord. Psalm 1 says “2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” When we delight in the law of the Lord, His word, we are like trees. Trees have very strong roots and we must have them as well. This verse also tells us that once we hear the word we must hold it fast in our heart. To hold fast is to keep secure, to keep firm possession of. We must have the word we hear written on our hearts (Jer. 31:33). Our hearts where this word is written must be honest and good, it must be pure. Jesus says that those with a pure heart will see God (Matt. 5:8), and the Psalms say that those with clean hands and a pure heart can ascend the mountain of the Lord (Ps. 24:4). Our hearts are very important, we must guard them (Prov. 4:23). Finally, we bear fruit with patience. It takes TIME! Stop trying to rush the fruit the Lord is producing in your life. He might need to prune you to make you bear more fruit (John 15). But the seed planted in good soil that Jesus refers to in Luke 8 bears fruit 100-fold. This 100-fold takes time. Be patient.

Luke 9:1-6: Where the Gospel is proclaimed there is healing

Jesus gave the twelve disciples power and authority to cast off demons and heal. Now that same power and authority is in us now by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. He sent them to proclaim the gospel and to heal. The Great Commission tells us to go and make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19). We also must now go proclaim the gospel and heal. Jesus is our sole provider, our sole healer, and without Him we can do nothing. Jesus shows that God is going before them by telling them to take nothing with them. I can only imagine the ways the disciples saw the favor they had in many of the homes and villages. But Jesus also prepared them for rejection by telling them to just leave and keep going if they were not received in a village. In that same way as we go out and proclaim the gospel and heal, because the gospel brings healing, if we are rejected we must not get discouraged but press on and press forward. Finally, the last verse emphasizes what the disciples did: they shared the gospel and healed everywhere they went.

Lessons Learned in the Holy Interruption

A few verses can hold so much wisdom and lessons. The Lord can speak to you with just one word that pops off the page. But these three sections of text have taught me a few lessons.

1. Being submitted to Christ leads to sanctification and sanctification is always occurring. We are not perfect and the Lord is making us more and more holy like He is holy as we submit in obedience to Him and submit ourselves to serve Him.

2. I need to slow down and practice patience. I love to go go go! I love to serve, I love to share, and I love to talk about Jesus. But I can easily fall into a place of striving. So I have decided to take it slow and allow that fruit to grow and ripen in its time. Soon it will be ready for the harvest, but for now I need to be patient with it. As they say a watched pot doesn’t boil and maybe the same can be said about the fruit of our life.

3. I need to memorize scripture, have the word written on my heart. I want to get into the habit of memorizing scripture. I just memorized Psalm 121:1-2. But as we memorize scripture and have it written on our hearts and minds we are able to continue to fix our mind on the Spirit and that is life and peace.

4. The gospel heals. To not proclaim it boldly is to not give people the opportunity to experience healing, new and eternal life.

5. The Holy Spirit makes the way and we just need to yield to Him, bringing nothing because He provides.

6. We have authority through Christ and the Holy Spirit!

Have you experienced this recently? What is the Lord teaching you?

Leave a comment, I would love for us to encourage one another and spur each other up in the faith.

Jesus,

When we get busy doing, when we find ourselves like Martha asking you about Mary at your feet, allow us to slow down and join her at your feet. Slow us down. Interrupt our day to day for you, allow us to pause and take time to spend it with you. Lord we want to be in communion with you not just in the morning but throughout the day. Lord help us surrender the works of our hands. Lord in our surrender fill us with a fresh boldness to go forth in the authority you have given us with the impartation of the Spirit that dwells in us to proclaim the gospel and heal. Let us be your hands and feet to serve, spread the good news, and help bring spiritual, emotional, and physical healing to our neighbors and the nations. Jesus you are the healing! Help us fix our mind on you at all times, write your word on our heart! Fill us afresh today Lord! Let our every breath be a gospel proclamation, may every breath give you glory, may every breath be a maranatha cry! We love you, Jesus!

Amen

I am sorry that it’s been a while. I never want to write to write or share just to share. My goal is that everything I share is something the Lord has been working in and through me. Remembering not to strive and not to do it in my own strength, which can often, truthfully, feel unproductive. But after a summer of transition, a ton of fellowship, and new projects, the Lord brought me back to something that He continues to teach me. Only He will satisfy my hungry heart.

This summer I have spent time reading the Gospels. Jesus has met me through His words again and again. The Lord has been ministering to me about so much. He is speaking to me on faith but also about the satisfaction we find in Him—that only He can satisfy our hungry hearts and thirsty souls. I wanted to share a bit of what the Lord has fed my heart in this season.

Jesus promises to satisfy the hungry and thirsty

In Matthew 5:6, during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” As we hunger and thirst to be acceptable in the eyes of God, we will be satisfied. But this satisfaction isn’t by our own doing. It isn’t by feeding ourselves or working out our own righteousness that we are satisfied. We are satisfied in Him, in the One who made us righteous. Jesus, by His blood, has made us righteous. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” Through Jesus’s death on the cross, He was made to be sin so that we could now be the righteousness of God. Jesus gave us Himself to satisfy our hunger and thirst for righteousness. He promises to satisfy, He did, and He continues to.

Jesus will never let us leave hungry when we come to Him

In the Gospel of Matthew there are two instances in which Jesus fed a multitude. In the first instance in Matthew 14:13–21, Jesus feeds five thousand.

The disciples wanted to send the people on their way for them to find food for themselves, yet Jesus wanted to feed them Himself. He wanted to provide and set the table before them. He took the five loaves and two fish and fed more than 5,000 people.

In the second instance in Matthew 15, Jesus feeds another four thousand people.

In this instance in verse 32 we see that Jesus says, "I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with Me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way." This is a beautiful insight into the heart of God. Jesus saw that the people had been with Him three days without food, and He would not send them away hungry. Jesus will never send us away hungry. When we come to Him, He is faithful to feed us before we leave.

He multiplies the loaves and fish, and it says in both cases that “They all ate and were satisfied.” We can all eat and be satisfied when we come to the table of the Lord. There is more than enough for all of us.

We can come, eat of the bread of His Word, the bread of His body, and be fully satisfied.

Jesus satisfies in abundance

In both instances of Jesus multiplying the loaves and the fish to feed those who were following Him, it says that they had baskets of broken pieces left over. Not only did Jesus multiply the food to feed the multitudes, but He did so with abundance. In the feeding of the 5,000 they had 12 baskets of bread left over, and in the feeding of the 4,000, 7 baskets. Jesus satisfies in surplus. He gives us enough to satisfy us not just for a momentary hunger but an eternal satiation. In biblical numerology both 7 and 12 signify completeness. When the Lord satisfies, He satisfies us completely. In John 10:10 Jesus says, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” He is a God of abundance, and the satisfaction He will provide is abundant.

Jesus will do it again

Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish not once but twice! Yet the disciples asked the same question the second time that they did the first: “How?” They said, "Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?" (Matthew 15:33, ESV). They had already witnessed Jesus feeding a larger crowd, but they still asked. Was this doubt?

As I read this I thought, “Are they joking? Didn’t they just see what He had done already?” Immediately, I realized I am the same. I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, that He is my provider. The Lord is so faithful to meet me time and time again, even through my own doubts and disbelief. So why do I doubt that He could do it again?

He is faithful to do it again! He is faithful to meet us more than once. He is faithful to feed you, to meet you, to satisfy you! He will do it time and time again!

We need to submit to the leadership of the Good Shepherd. Jesus in His leadership told the disciples, “What do you have?” YHWH did just the same with Moses. He said, “What do you have in your hand?” We need to look at our hands and give Him our loaves and fishes to feed the multitude. But if we have nothing in our hands, if we don’t have any fish or loaves, we have our lives. With our lives surrendered and submitted to Him, Jesus can feed many.

One day we will be satisfied for all eternity

We are promised that one day we will never hunger nor thirst. In Revelation 7:16 it says, “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.” Further it says in Revelation 21:4 that “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” One day, when we make our way home, the above will be true, and I can’t even imagine what that will be like, but I expectantly wait.

The Enemy will tempt you when you are hungry

We know that Jesus is the ultimate satisfaction for our hunger and thirst. But when we are hungry, we may be quick to seek other satisfaction. The Enemy is quick to meet us in our hunger and offer us the fleeting things of the world. We see this in the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.

It says Jesus was hungry, and the tempter came. Temptation comes in our weakness, in our hunger. In the moments we are hungry, we are weak, and the Enemy comes to tempt us to satisfy ourselves by turning stones into bread. Let us remember the Bread of Life. Let us remember that we will live by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Let us take up the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God!

Jesus,

Thank You that You are faithful to satisfy my hungry heart and my thirsty soul! That I can come to You and eat of the Bread of Life and drink from the Living Water without price! Jesus, You already paid the price. Now I can experience the abundance of life that there is in You. Thank You for the abundant life I have in You.

Lord, when my heart is hungry and thirsty, help me run to You. Help me wait to be satisfied by You and not run to the fleeting pleasures that lead to momentary satisfaction.

Lord, in the moments when I do not feel satisfied in You, help me, remind me that You are more than enough. That You are all in all. Thank You, Lord!

Amen!

Are you abiding? Or are you striving?

This question is often the quickest heart check. I have heard the Lord whisper to me, “There is no striving, just abiding.” In Him, we don’t need to strive, we just need to abide.

But what exactly is abiding?

The Greek word for abide is menō. According to Strong’s Definitions, menō is defined as a primary verb meaning to stay (in a given place, state, relation, or expectancy).

I have broken it down in this way: We are to stay in Christ (place), to stay in the spirit (state), to stay in sonship (relation), and to stay expectant of His return (expectancy).

To Stay in a Given Place: Christ

Did you know that you are in Christ? Duh, right? But really sit with that for a moment. When the Father looks at you he sees Jesus, we are hidden in him.

You are in Christ. You are made alive together with Him. You were raised up with Him. You have been seated with Him in heavenly places. We are to remain in Him, stay in Him, yearning to be near to Him.

We are born again. If we are in Christ, we are walking in the newness of life.

To Stay in a State: Spirit and Prayer

Water, liquid, gas — these are states of matter, but what state do we need to take up as believers? The state of the Spirit and a posture of prayer.

When we abide in Christ, the Spirit abides in us. We walk in the Spirit! As we yield to the Holy Spirit, we bear the fruit of the Spirit. We love more. We are filled with more of His joy and His peace. We become more patient, more kind, gentler, we grow in goodness, and faithfulness. We gain self-control!

The Holy Spirit isn’t far off; He is near, dwelling in us. There is power in that. The Spirit of God is dwelling inside of us; let us not take that for granted. Let us not diminish it, let us not grieve the person of the Holy Spirit.

Walking in the Spirit involves maintaining connection with God. How can we connect with God? By talking to Him. Prayer is our direct communication with the Lord. We have access with confidence through the Son to the Father. Therefore, we can come to Him with our day-to-day, every little thing. All of it. When Jesus taught the disciples to pray, he said:

When we pray, we are to acknowledge who God is and who we are. He is our Father, the Creator of all; nothing is impossible for Him. When we fix our eyes on the Father and see the Son at His right hand, how can we not give thanks? How can we not feel a little lighter knowing that same God calls us sons and daughters? When we behold Him, our perspective changes and somehow, some way, with the help of the Spirit, we are able to abide in Christ. It is not in our own strength but His; when we can’t pray, the Spirit prays on our behalf.

We must maintain a posture of prayer. Paul says it a lot in the epistles.

Some examples include:

1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV: “pray without ceasing,”

Ephesians 6:18 ESV: “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,”

Philippians 4:6 ESV: “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Colossians 4:2 ESV: “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”

Romans 12:12 ESV: “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”

To stay connected to the vine, let us stay yielded and surrendered to the Holy Spirit. Walking in step with the Spirit at all times, mindful to not grieve Him, and constant in our communication with the Father.

Stay in Relation: Son and Co-heir

As shown above, Jesus tells us in the Lord’s Prayer that we are able to call God, Father. In fact, Paul says in Romans 8:15, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” Our ability to call God, Abba, is an indication of our intimacy with the Lord. We are called into deep relationship with Him as our perfect father. Intimacy with God is key to abiding with him, it grows in the secret place, it grows as we depend on him.

We have already been adopted into the family of God. It was a decision made prior to the foundations of the Earth. So let us stay in relationship with Him, let us maintain our positions as sons and daughters in His house.

But let us be wary to not be like the brother of the prodigal son, who upon the return of the prodigal says to the Father, “What about me? I have been faithful?” Let us be careful of taking that posture but instead rejoice and run with the Father to meet the prodigal. We are ALL meant to be sons and daughters of God. Run with the Father to welcome back the prodigal.

If you are ever curious about your position as a son or daughter and the inheritance we have as co-heirs, go read Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1, revolutionized my identity in Christ. It solidified who I am, and who I am seated with.

These are some additional verses to support our identity as a child of God:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Ephesians 1:3-6 ESV

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Romans 8:12-17 ESV

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so, we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

1 John 3:1-2

When we know our position in the family of God, when we know Him as our Abba, and we dwell in the Father’s house as His children, we are able to abide. We are able to maintain our relationship with God. Once we have been born again, we will remain as His children. It isn’t a title that can be taken away, but it can be thrown away or taken for granted. So, stay, remain, as a child of God. Don’t trade your inheritance for a bowl of lentil stew, a quick satisfaction of the flesh, but be forever satisfied in Christ.

Stay in Expectancy: Waiting on His Return

Faith drives our expectancy. When we have faith for something, expectancy is the outcome. We hope and wait for the things we are believing in but have not yet seen. Often when we pray, we pray full of faith, expectant that God will answer because His word tells us He will.

Faith is integral to our entire faith; we believe in a God that we have not physically seen but know to be true! Therefore, our Christian life is full of expectancy. However, there is one thing we are all eagerly waiting and expectant for, that is Christ’s return.

We are expectant for His return. Waiting for Him to come save us from this world, to create a new heaven and earth in which we can dwell with the Lord for all eternity. We are told in Revelation 1:7 that He is coming and that all eyes will see Him. But we have no idea when this will happen so we must live as though Christ is coming today. Jesus tells us to be ready!

Jesus says:

Yet not even Jesus knows when He will return. Matthew 25:36 says, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” Just as we are waiting for Him to return, Jesus is waiting at the right hand of the Father for the moment the Father tells Him to return. Jesus is expectantly waiting for the moment He gets to save us from the world. But while He waits, He intercedes on our behalf.

So to abide we should:

• Stay in Christ

• Walk in the Spirit

• Pray without ceasing!

• Live as a son or daughter in the Father’s house

• Be expectant of His return

Read those again! A majority of the work required was done for you!

1. Through Jesus’s death and resurrection, we are in Christ. We have been brought near, into deep relationship with God through the blood of Christ.

2. The Holy Spirit was sent as our helper, the Holy Spirit helps us walk in the Spirit. We are just to yield.

3. When we can't find the words to pray, the Holy Spirit will give you the words. Jesus is interceding at the right hand of the Father on our behalf.

4. Ephesians 1 says, as we saw above, that He predestined us for adoption before the foundations of the world. But once adopted we must obey the words of the Father and not run off seeking our own desires outside of the Father’s house. Once a child, always a child.

5. Jesus is coming back no matter what we do; we don't know the hour or the day, but we know He will. We must boldly participate in the Great Commission.

God does the work, and Jesus tells us that apart from Him we can do nothing! This is TRUE! It is ALL in Him and through Him.

So why is abiding so hard?

It is hard because our society tells us that we need to do, and success is found in our own strength. But in the kingdom of God, we are told to just be still and be connected. To allow the Father to lead us and guide us, to submit to His leadership and His will, to allow His love to pour into us. To allow the wellspring of life to give us life. It sounds so easy to do, but it is so incredibly difficult. We don’t need to fight for what he has so graciously already lavished us with.

I was listening to a sermon today in which Kristi Louis said, “Inheritance is way better than striving.” This struck me; no amount of striving would grant me a greater reward than the inheritance I already have in Christ. Whatever He is calling you to, abide until He opens the door. Abide until He gives it to you. The waiting may be long, it may be hard, but the inheritance we have in Him is worth it all.

Abba,

I thank You that I just need to be still. When I want to go do, remind me to yield. When I want to speak, remind me to listen. All things flow from You. I find it hard to abide because it is much easier to strive. It is much easier to do things in my will and on my time. But Lord, I surrender my life into Your hands again and again.

Teach me to be still, to rest in my position in Christ. Teach me to yield to the Holy Spirit so that I may walk in step with the Spirit. Teach me to talk to You throughout my day, that I would bring the little, the big, the good, or the bad all to You. Teach me Abba, to remain in my identity as Your child. That I can cry out “Abba Father” and that this has allowed for a deeply intimate relationship with you. Lord, let me run to the prodigal with You and rejoice upon their return. Lord, let me be ready for Your return. Find me faithful with oil in my lamp, find me forever within Your gaze, that my eyes would not leave Yours.

Lord, remind me of the gift of my salvation, that it is all by grace through faith. That nothing I could do after deciding to follow You would make me any more worthy of the inheritance I have in You. Teach me to abide, that I would not strive to abide but through deep intimacy with You, my natural state of being would be to abide. Just like the natural state of the branch is to be in the vine, Lord make my natural state abiding in Christ. Be still, oh my soul, and rest in the finished work on the cross.

Amen.

A few sermons to listen to!

Kristi Louis’ Sermon referenced above: Fresh Bread in the Wilderness

Chase Durkin: Abide in The Vine

It is a privilege to have unlimited access to God’s word. Oh, how I love and desire every word that has flows from His mouth. I hunger to sit with His word, it is living and active. Allow his word to speak, allow it to cut you, to do what it needs to do in you and through you.

As I share more on this month’s topic—abiding in Christ—I want to begin by reflecting on what Jesus said about abiding in Him. In John 15 verses 1 through 11, Jesus provides an allegory of a vine and branches to create a picture of what it means to abide. Let us take it nice and slow, verse by verse.

John 15:1-11 ESV

v1: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.”

In this section of scripture Jesus provides an allegory and unlike many parables in which he provides the explanation after, in this example Jesus is defining the allegory first. Jesus is the true vine and YHWH, God the Father, is the vinedresser. The vinedresser is responsible for cultivating the vineyard and ensuring that the vine is bearing healthy and abundant fruit. Bible Hub’s topical encyclopedia states, “The vinedresser's duties included planting, pruning, protecting, and harvesting the vines to ensure a fruitful yield.”1 Based on this description, Jesus uses this allegory to indicate that it the Father’s duty is to plant, prune, protect, and harvest the vine.

As I read this verse the phrase “true vine” stands out to me. Are there other vines? False vines? A false vine can be the things of this world or idols. Anything that isn’t Jesus is a false vine.

v2: Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

Jesus continues to detail this allegory, and the role of the Father as the vinedresser. The branches off the vine bear fruit, but if they do not the father will prune those branches to bear more fruit. Pruning although painful leads to more abundant fruit.

Jesus also says, “every branch in me” this shows the relationship between the branches and the vine. In v5 Jesus shares that we are the branches. Therefore, we must be in Christ. Paul writes about this throughout his letters.

A few examples are:

We are in Christ!

v3: Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

The many times I have read this portion of scripture, I have not thought much about this verse. I have often mindlessly skipped over it. It feels sperate from the rest of the passage. But every word, every punctuation mark is God-breathed, so there is a purpose in them! Jesus reminds his disciples that they are already clean, not by their own doing but by all the words he has spoken to them. As I read this verse I am reminded of this verse:

In this verse “he” is Jesus and “her” is the Church. Jesus sanctifies us, the church, by washing us with his word. In that same way the disciples are already clean by his word, we are also clean by his words.

v4a Abide in me, and I in you.

Jesus tells us to abide in him and that he will abide in us. The New Living Translations translates this as “Remain in me, and I will remain in you.” A quick definition of abide is to remain or to stay. Next week, I will share more about the Greek word menō that was translated to abide. For now, let us use remain.

When we remain in him, he will remains in us. When I think about Jesus remaining my brain immediately goes to the Holy Spirit. Prior to John 15, in John 14 Jesus promises the Holy Spirit. Jesus says that he must leave so that the Holy Spirit can come and dwell in us. We are all temples of the Holy Spirit. So, if I abide in Christ, then the Holy Spirit abides in me.

v4b-5 As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing

Jesus makes it clear that unless we abide in him, we cannot bear fruit. These verses also call out striving. Striving as I described previously is doing things on your own and out of your own strength. Jesus says that the branch cannot bear fruit on its own, so we cannot do things for God separate from God. So, it is impossible for striving and abiding to coexist.

In v5, Jesus repeats that unless we remain in him, and he remains in us we can do nothing. Paul discusses this is his letter to the church of Philippi, He writes in Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” With out Jesus we can do nothing, but with him and the Holy Spirit dwelling within us we can do all things.

v6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

In my opinion, Jesus was both sharing what life without him his like but also the future result of a life without him. When we do not abide in him, we begin to dry up and die. Our spiritual life withers away. We become spiritually dead. Even if we believe that we are abiding in Christ, but we are actually striving instead of abiding this too impacts our spiritual life. Why? We get burnt out and tired, ministry begins to feel like a chore and not a delight. Striving kills— it kills our joy, it makes us dry, and it can pull us away rather than towards God.

I also believe that Jesus is prophesying about the final judgment. In Revelation 20, John writes:

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:11-15 ESV

Jesus is shining a light on what will happen to those whose name were not found written in the book of life. The wording in v6 is similar to that in revelation— they, those who do not abide or those not in the book of life, are thrown into the fire. Therefore, we need to not only make sure that we are abiding, but make sure that we are abiding in Christ alone. Not many vines, but the true and only vine.

v7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

The bearing of fruit is an immediate result of abiding in the vine, a natural product. A product of the pruning and care of the vinedresser is a healthy branch that the bears an abundance of fruit. These are natural facts of the allegory. However, in v7 Jesus gives us instructions and a promise. Jesus instructs us not only to abide in him but to also abide in his words. By doing so, he promises that we may ask, and it will be done for us. Unlike the bearing of fruit, which is a result of our relationship with Him, this is a promise that shows the goodness of God’s character and the joy of being His child. A branch cannot ask of a vine, and it will be done for it. Unfortunately, for the grape vines it does not work like that. But for us when we abide in Him and his words, we can ask, and it will be done! I hope that allows fresh faith and hope to arise today. Be encouraged to abide in him and his words, he attached a promise to something that did not need one, God could have just commanded us. In all honesty, Jesus more than enough reason for us to want to abide in Him and His words. But out of His goodness, grace and love for us He promises us this.

This also makes me think of Psalm 1:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law, he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. Psalm 1:1-3 ESV

The man/woman who delights in the law of the Lord (His word) bears fruit, lives, and prospers in all he does! Delight in the Lord and his words, abide in the lord and his words and it WILL be well with you!

v8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

Being a disciple is to follow and learn from the teacher, Jesus. By bearing much fruit, as a result of abiding in Christ and being pruned by the Father, we prove to be his disciples. When we are disciples of Jesus and walk in step with him. We follow him. Paul tells us in Ephesians to be imitators of Christ. Christ glorified the father, if we are imitators of Christ, we will glorify the father.

v9-10 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.

Every commandment that has been given by the Father flows from love. If we love in the way that he loves, we will fulfil his commandments.

Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. In its fulfilment he does not abolish what the Lord has said, instead He shows us that all of the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments. These commandments are rooted in love. We are commanded to love God with all of who we are and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. We are commanded to love.

How do we love?

We are called to be patient and kind. We shouldn’t envy or boast. We should be humble and honorable. We shouldn’t be self-seeking but instead counting others more significant that ourselves. We should rejoice in truth and not in injustice. We are called to bear all things, bearing with one another. We are to believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things. We are to walk in love.

Why do we love?

John said it best. No notes.

What happens if we do not love?

John again put it simply. We abide in death.

v11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

Jesus is telling us to abide, and a result of abiding on top of bearing fruit, loving, and being able to ask the Father and receive, He promises us his joy. His joy surpasses all the joy of this world. Once you experience the joy of the Lord no other joy satisfies. When we abide our joy is full! The joy of the lord is your strength, be joyful and be glad in him.

Jesus,

Thank You for Your Word! Thank You that it is a hearty meal that satisfies.
Holy Spirit, help me to go slowly through the Word, allowing You to illuminate the words I read. Let me ruminate on Your Word—there is always more to digest.

Jesus, teach me to abide in You. Teach me to abide in Your commandments, and to remain in Your Word. Help me to be still and rest in You. Help me to trust that abiding in the Vine is enough—that everything else flows from that place .All things flow from You, the wellspring of life.

Lord, help me to submit to the pruning of the Father, that I may bear more fruit.
Let my fruit be a clear indication of my discipleship of Jesus, bringing glory to the Father.

May I be an imitator of Christ—walking in love and abiding in the commandments of the Father.

Holy Spirit, fill me with the knowledge of how to abide, and the discernment to know when I am striving. If I am striving, come and convict me.

Jesus, I can do nothing apart from You. Help me to fully abide.

Amen.

Some songs for you!

Are you abiding or striving?

I ask myself this question, and honestly, there have been more times that I have found myself striving rather than truly abiding.

How do I know I am striving?

When I strive, I feel exhausted and frustrated. I am exhausted because I am doing it all in my own strength, my will, and leaning on my own understanding. I find myself doing things for the Lord rather than with Him. Then, I feel frustrated because I thought, “If I do all of these things for the Lord, I must bear more fruit, right?” Wrong. There is no additional reward for my striving; We already have an inheritance in Christ. Our fruit isn’t any greater when we strive in our own strength. In fact, I wonder do we bear fruit when we strive?

To further diagnose my striving, I often ask myself, “Why?” If I understand the reason I behind my actions, I can decipher if I am striving or abiding. If I am striving, my “why” usually has more to do with me than with the Lord.

Striving can be deeply rooted, but we need to uproot it!

Through the next few weeks, I want to start a conversation on abiding in the Lord. I want to dive into John 15:1-11, share what the Lord is teaching me about abiding, break down the definition of abiding, and talk about trusting the vinedresser.

Stop striving, abide in Him, and rest in His promises!

- Ashley

Jesus,

Thank you, Jesus! Thank you that Your sacrifice on the cross was more than enough for all of my sin. Thank you that I do not need to work for my salvation, that it is a gift that is freely given to me. Thank you that I have been saved by grace through faith, that it is not in my own flesh that I may boast. Jesus, allow me to always boast in You! To fix my eyes on the cross and to point others to the cross. That Christ and Christ crucified would eternally be on my lips. Let praise and exultation flow from my spirit always.

Lord, forgive my striving. I am sorry for doing things in my own strength. I repent for the ways I have done things without seeking You first. Lord, teach me to submit to Your leadership, to seek You first before I take action, and to abide in You. Let me be slow to speak and quick to listen to Your voice. Let me be quick to obey Your voice. Holy Spirit, help me submit to the Father as Jesus submitted to the Father. Jesus, You are our perfect example of abiding in the vine. Make me more like You. Allow me to rest in the Potter’s hands, allowing myself to be pruned and refined.

I love You, Lord! Amen.

If you know me personally, you know I love to share music. Hope they bless you!

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Hi! My name is Ashley and two years ago my life radically changed. I fell in love with God again. What started off as picking up my Bible and deciding to actually give a relationship with God a go turned into seeing my life transformed in ways I had never imagined. I have a burning passion for the Lord, my soul was set ablaze at one point, and time and time again the Lord has placed a fire on the altar of my heart. My heart has been consumed, the old me slowly burning away, and a new me rising like incense before the throne of God.

What is “To the Fiery Ones”?

I wanted to create a space to share what that burn has looked like, how the Lord kindled the fire, and how He stewards it. "To the Fiery Ones" is a place for all those that are burning or want to burn for Him. It is a place to hear about what the Lord has placed on my heart and maybe what He has shared with me will bless you too. It is a multimedia project that will consist of both written and audio content.

Where did the title come from?

For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.

Psalm 69:9

Zeal for His house consumes me. It is a fire that isn't easily put out, it is all-consuming. A few weeks ago, I wrote a few lines about burning for Him.

It says:

To the girl with fire in her eyes:

The fire in His eyes has kindled the fire in yours.

You continue to burn by beholding Him.

Keep burning, be consumed by zeal for Him

I am that girl. The fire in my eyes is kindled by the fire in His. Rev 1:14 describes Jesus in this way: "The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire." His eyes are flames of fire! The fire in His eyes has kindled the fire in mine. It has kindled the fire in yours. As we look to Him, as we lock eyes with Him and we behold Him, the fire, the zeal, it grows. Burning for Him is hard, being consumed by zeal confronts many—the lukewarm don't like it and the legalists don't either. Zeal can feel isolating. You are often called "Too Christian" or "Jesus Freak" or “ Emotional” but it isn't too much; in fact, it might not be enough. Do not be afraid to be consumed by zeal for His house, because better is one day in His courts than a thousand elsewhere.

Let us be burdened for what burdens Him, let us not be ashamed of that special fire He placed.

Keep burning, undignified and unashamed.