Rooted and Built up in Christ

Psalm 23 is probably the most popular book of the bible, I'm sure even some non-christians know it by heart. Today, I was having a conversation with my mum that opened my eyes to interpret verse 1 of this psalm differently. The New Living Translation of verse 1 reads, "The Lord is my shepherd, I have all that I need". So as my mum and I were discussing, she says, "God is your shepherd so you lack nothing, if you ever think you lack something then you don't need it". Wow! Simple as these words were, they were still so profound because for the past few months, I've been burdened by fear, worry, and uncertainty as I've thought about my future. I'm nearing the end of my masters program so I've started job hunting and just in general planning for next steps, but because these past 5 years of my life have been so tumultuous in regards to my career progress, hitting one road block or the other due to my status as an international student, that feeli...

Last week was a very tumultuous one to say the least. From losing a high school friend to dealing with conflict in a relationship to disappointment about a performance on a test. Like me, we've all had a fair share of dealing with life's struggles, which sometimes leaves us wondering, "why me?"or "why do bad stuff happen to good people?", questions we'll probably never know the full answers to till we get to ask God face to face. However, I remember last week in the midst of everything happening, God reminded me about the story of Job  (I've linked an interesting summary of the story for your reference), a righteous man who loved and honored God. In fact, God personally described him as "blameless- a man of complete integrity" (Job 1:8). Job was a man of such high-standing before God, the devil had to take permission from God to test him because the devil believed the reason why Job was faithful to God was because of his blessings; Job was ...

"Don't get tattoos, Don't get piercings" the religious folks would say. But God has them. The only difference between Jesus' tattoos and piercings and most people's is that His aren't frivolous. They hold great value and are symbolic of His love for us. I must also add that His piercings aren't cute either. He went to great lengths to get them on Calvary's cross. The crown of thorns on His head, the nails in His hands, the nails in His feet, the spear in His side...He did it all for you. In chaotic times like this, when we feel alone, forgotten, and helpless, I hope this image remains clear in our heads. God loves us. I pray that we come to understand how far-reaching, deeply intimate, and endless this love is in this season (Ephesians 3:18-19 TPT). "But Dara, I've lost my job. I'm depressed. I'm hungry. I'm frustrated". God sees you. He has tattooed your name on His palms and you're always on His mind (Isaiah 49...