I Am NOT Just a Number

She’s never named in the Bible. Her story is only whispered. But her pain was loud, and her son was labeled. While others carried swords, she carried shame. Yet from her womb came a warrior, a worshiper, and a king. This is the story of the u nnamed woman who birthed the rejected son God handpicked .   We all know who David's father is, Jesse. We have all heard of David's brothers and David's occupation as a shepherd boy. He was often sent off into the wilderness to tend sheep as his brothers were sent off as war heroes. Sometimes his father would send him to bring food to his brothers, but David was never considered the same as his brothers. He knew it and they knew it.  “I am a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my own mother’s sons.” — Psalm 69:8 We all know David’s father—Jesse. We’ve heard about his older brothers, the warriors, the ones honored by name. But David? He was the youngest. The shepherd boy. The one left in the field. He was often sent away, pushed ...

Isaiah 14:27 (NIV) “For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?” Some breakthroughs come in two waves: one to stop the enemy, the other to show the world that God’s hand was on you all along. That’s exactly what happened to King Solomon. When Solomon’s older brother, Prince Adonijah, tried to seize the throne, it wasn’t his assignment to take. He tried to force what God never gave him. Sound familiar? Many of us have faced that— Someone trying to steal what God gave us, Or worse, us chasing something that wasn’t ours to carry. Adonijah, the fourth son of David, looked at birth order and royal bloodlines.  He was counting resumes and rank.  But God had already chosen Solomon. The blueprints for the temple and the plans for the throne were already in place—long before Adonijah ever staged a coup. David, old and on his deathbed, knew time was short. So he ordered a fast-track coronation.  Zadok th...

 I sat in the room, nervous. I had sensed this moment coming all week. Though I felt a small comfort and peace, deep inside, I was terrified. I was bracing for the letdown—far from my first. I made small talk with someone twenty years my junior, knowing that soon, he would ask me to step down. That reality was hard to face. My mind drifted back to my first year as a deputy. I had called my father repeatedly, distressed over my fifth write-up. Each time, he told me to thank them for the discipline, not to quit, and to keep my head up. But I was overcome with sorrow. I felt like a failure. Maybe I could earn straight A’s, but I had no common sense. I feared I would never catch on. I was beginning to give up. Still, my dad insisted I keep going. In my first week alone, I had discharged my weapon—firing over sixteen rounds at a bull on Super Bowl Sunday. Not long after, I found myself in a full-blown foot pursuit of an escapee, my face, mostly pride battered from the struggle. My track...

Valentine’s Day is approaching. It’s easy to love those who are kind to us, but what about those who are cruel? How do we love a bully? It takes a conscious effort to show kindness to someone who has deeply hurt us. But when we learn to love even those who have wronged us—without waiting for an apology—we are truly attacking the heart . This kind of love isn’t normal. It’s outrageous. It means wiping the slate clean, deleting the post , starting over—not for ourselves, but to please God. That’s it. We know that God has forgiven our wickedness, so why can’t we forgive others? This is a love that brings true reward. We often think we practice this kind of love, but do we really? The next time someone enters a room—the very person you’d rather avoid—what will you do? What if God led you to walk up to them and bless them? Would you do it for Jesus? The Cost of Heartache We demand payment for heartaches. We take people to court, punish, divorce, fight, and even kill over them. This has been...