Month: March 2024

Beyond all limits

/ Vincent Chough / 4 Comments

Is it hard for you to accept limits? Are you experiencing a frustrating situation right now?

Maybe it’s an unreasonable employer or someone else you work with. Or perhaps it’s someone in the family that frustrates you. You see the mistakes they make, and it brings out the worst in you.

Situations can also set limits on you that are hard to accept. Maybe you want to advance in your career or education, but things stand in your way. Or maybe in your church or community, you feel things could be much better, but you are powerless to do anything.

Some limits are unavoidable, so what can you do about them? Don’t let them drive you to bitterness and anger. Don’t let them make you react in ways you’ll regret later.

Learn how to navigate and accept your limitations with patience and wisdom. There is no point in driving yourself crazy over things you can’t change. There is a much better way. Let your faith be your guide.

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Matthew 17:20

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Beyond all limits

Frustration gets the best of me.

My thoughts race. My mind cries out:

“This is all wrong. This is not how it should be.”

I hate this.

So, I get angry. Resentment boils up in me.

The devil loves to see me like this.

Angry. Arrogant. The proud know-it-all.

But the Spirit comes to me. He tells me:

Did you not know? Have you not heard?

In his hometown of Nazareth, he performed only a few miracles.

He did not stop Judas’ betrayal.

He did not stop Peter’s denial.

He did not stop the high priests condemning him.

Many left his side. They walked away.

He knows your anguish and frustration.

The Son of God had limits too.

And the hardest stop of all – the cross – even this he accepted, willingly, lovingly.

He knew beyond all limits, his Father was at work.

So he stayed faithful. He stayed true.

Learn from him. Trust in the Lord.

Come see the empty tomb and believe.

One day all limits will come crumbling down

– even the ones you keep in your heart.

So walk upon the waters of your frustration & fear.

In humility to God, all limits disappear.

Make my heart strong

/ Vincent Chough / Leave a comment

We’ve all been beat up and knocked down at some point in our lives. Nobody lives pain free. But if we try to avoid pain at all costs, what happens? What happens when you are afraid to feel?

Nobody should seek meaningless suffering, but you can’t deny your reality either. And if the pain makes you close your heart, it can lead to an emotional or spiritual death.

When the hurt from this world gets the best of you, it’s time to return to the only place you can trust with your soul. Return to the Lord. He will lift you up and restore you. He will restore your heart.

Full list of prayers

A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 36:26

Make my heart strong

The world can be so cruel and unkind.

Contradiction, betrayal, lies – yours and theirs.

Wounds appear upon your flesh, upon your soul.

Why, O Lord, why?

Your heart hurts.

It shuts down. It turns to stone.

You don’t want to hurt anymore.

But the cold, hard heart can’t feel.

The cold, hard heart can’t love.

What if your heart could be strong again?

What if you weren’t afraid to feel anymore?

What if you weren’t afraid to love?

The Lord Jesus Christ does this for you.

He gives his heart to you. It bleeds for you.

He loves you with a human heart.

It feels the pain. It suffers the wounds.

Just like yours.

But the heart of Christ is strong. Brave and faithful to the end. His loving heart conquers sin and death.

Take away my cold, hard heart, O Lord.

Give me a strong heart of flesh.

Give me the heart of Jesus.

Come what may, let me feel. Let me love.

Brave and faithful to the end.

My mess. God’s love.

/ Vincent Chough / 1 Comment

We all make mistakes, but that might not make you feel any better when you do something wrong. When you mess up, you can experience a temptation to shut down. You might want to close your heart since it hurts to much.

Nobody likes admitting their mistakes. Nobody enjoys feeling pain. But if you open your heart and hurt to God, his love will restore you.

Do not be afraid. Trust in the goodness of God!

“Come now, let us settle the matter,”
    says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
    they shall be like wool.

Isaiah 1:18

My mess. God’s love.

O merciful Lord,

I wonder sometimes,

What makes me mess up?

What makes me do the things I don’t want to do?

I slip up, I say the wrong thing, I do myself wrong.

Why Lord? Why does this happen to me?

I feel so foolish sometimes.

Then I hurt others. And I hurt myself.

An empty sore space opens in my heart.

If anything good comes from my mistake, it must come from you.

Maybe my ego’s too big. Or maybe I’m not paying attention. Maybe I’m not listening to you when you tell me, “You don’t have to prove anything to me. I love you, my child. ”

So I give up my hurt and shame to you, O Lord.

You are my only hope here.

Enter that empty sore space in my heart.

Cleanse my wounds, heal my hurt.

I let my guard down. I lay aside my pride.

Come, Spirit of God, do your good work in me.

May I be humbled by your love.

May God’s goodness set me free.

Wait child

/ Vincent Chough / 4 Comments

Feeling rushed or hurried about something? Is the pressure of life making you anxious?

Take the time to connect with the Lord. Let him give you clarity of thought and action. Let his Spirit prepare you. Then, when the time is right, you can move forward with confidence.

The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
    to the soul that seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.

Lamentations 3:25-26

Wait child

The world tugs and pulls at me. It pressures me.

I get nervous. I want to hurry up fast.

And my impulse tempts me to fly ahead.

I know myself all too well.

And before I go too far, you call out to me.

You awaken a place in my heart, a place you made healthy and free.

A wise place, a sacred place, where your Spirit thrives in me.

And you gently tell me, “Wait child. Wait for me.”

Let me not get ahead of myself, O Lord.

Let me not get ahead of you, as if I could.

Let me remain in your strength and your peace.

Keep me centered, quiet, secure.

And then, when it is time to move, let my steps be in line with yours.

Let my pace make time with yours.

And may my spirit be in tune with yours.

For in the past, I wandered alone and got lost. But now I am never alone.

For my God goes with me all the days of my life.

All in your love for me. All in my love for you.

Life everlasting, O blessed Lord.