"According to His good pleasure," the Lord reveals Himself to us, reveals His truth, gives us grace we could never earn, gives us newness of life, a Spirit of power and authority, and most of all, His presence. Ephesians may not seem like a love letter at first. But the more I read, the more loved by God I felt. Dive deep into scripture and discover why.

Dive into the fruit of the Spirit and the works of the flesh, reflecting on specific areas you may need healing. Learn how to access the Holy Spirit inside you, so you may live a life of good fruit and godly virtue.

The enemy has many tactics with one goal--to separate us from God. Our wounds, traumas, perspectives, and desires can all be exploited to do just that. "Good girl" syndrome may leave you feeling like you're never good enough. The enemy wants us focused on trying to be good enough so we don't realize Christ already said we are. We are good enough to love, good enough to die for, good enough to be His, good enough to speak His truth. Grace is ours even when we struggle to accep

God is the missing piece to every puzzle. God is a father to the fatherless. No matter what your family dynamics are, God is ready, willing, and able to step into the roles that no one else is filling. He is ready to give a love like no other. He is ready to be reliable. He is ready to show up and support you through your most inconvenient emotions and experiences. He is ready to be your father and your mother. He is ready to fill the gaps in your life and be the family you'v

This new year, I'm unsubscribing to striving, planning, ambition, and goal-setting. And I am subscribing to surrender. Surrendering to the Lord doesn't mean you don't have any plans or goals. It means the Lord is the one guiding you. He is the one telling you which opportunity to say yes to. He creates new goals for you. He opens new doors for you. He gives you new ideas and desires. He will help you discern the right thing, the right one, and the right time. This year, slow

My story of letting God heal my sexual trauma and free me from shame. For so long, I felt like God couldn't meet me in this area not because He didn't have the power, but because it felt like this area was off limits. But God belongs in every room and in every situation. His presence is what drives out darkness. If God isn't in our bedroom, then who else is? Expecting man to heal what the devil broke was never going to work. So, I invited God into the place where shame lived

Feeling like I am the problem, like there's something wrong with me, like every failure delays my blessings, like God's goodness is based on my performance, pricks the core wound from my childhood, deepens my shame and sadness, allows the hopelessness to resurface, and makes me angry at God. The old lie has risen that makes me feel like I was set up to fail, because perfection is beyond my capabilities. I realize I've been striving instead of surrendering.

This past week has been hard. As much as I've engrossed myself in God's Word, embedded His truths in me, and rebuked the lies the devil has poured into me, I could only hold my ground for so long before the hopelessness tried to take root again. But what happened this week is so much bigger than the past seven days, so I'm going to back up to the beginning.

No matter the circumstance you face, no matter how far you feel you've strayed, God is with you. God is waiting for you. God loves you. And, undoubtedly, His goodness has already shown up in your life. You need only to recognize it. The key to growing your relationship with the Lord and finding strength and peace in Him is through His Word. I encourage you to embark on your own journey through God's Word. Seek Him and you will find Him. Pray to Him and He will listen.

Through this multi-part blog series, The Divine Return, I'm going to address three major areas from my return to God. The first: the lies the devil uses to keep us from seeking God. The second: the difference between religion and relationship with the Lord. The third: how to truly surrender to the Lord and accept the Holy Spirit.