Bethany McIlrath

First and Second: Perspective On What Matters Most (Matthew 22:36-40)

Tag: church

  • Deja Vu and Milestone Moments

    Deja Vu and Milestone Moments

    You’re sitting on the side of the road in your car. It’s just broken down. As you sit and wait for the tow, you think of all the mess of your life of late. The list of complaints is probably long. Then you remember the last time your car broke down. It almost feels like…

  • Waiting Isn’t Passive

    Waiting Isn’t Passive

    Our days and lives are filled with waiting. For good, for bad, for new, for people, for change. Waiting is a God-designed practice. However, as the worn, torn magazines in waiting rooms around the world can attest, patience in the waiting isn’t a natural virtue. Waiting makes some of us crazy. In fact, I’m pretty…

  • Confession: I’m Not a Fan of Devotions

    Confession: I’m Not a Fan of Devotions

    My love-hate relationship with devotions started in college. It was my first time immersed in a Christianese culture. I didn’t know much about Jesus, and I didn’t care about the Gospel. I just wanted to be a good person and prove myself worthy to the God I didn’t understand. In waltzed a dorm-mate one day,…

  • Lie 3: Sin Defines You

    Lie 3: Sin Defines You

    (A series on lies sin tells us to tempt us and trick us. Join me in exposing sin’s lies to God’s Word in this 8 part series.) We more or less have a Sunday School answer memorized to counteract this lie: Christ defines who I am. But when it comes it to living it- predisposition…

  • Lie 1: Sin Doesn’t Matter That Much

    Lie 1: Sin Doesn’t Matter That Much

    (A series on lies sin tells us to tempt us and trick us. Join me in exposing sin’s lies to God’s Word in this 8 part series.) If we’re honest, we’d like to pretend sin doesn’t exist. One of the greatest obstacles people face when considering salvation is admitting they are sinners. As believers, we…

  • Overcome Failure Book Review

    Overcome Failure Book Review

    I’m one of those people who has regularly lived in fear of failure. Are you? I’ve made too many decisions based on what I know I can do, not what I believe I should do. All too often, I shrink back from the ideas that excite me, even when I know the Lord is offering…

  • In Peace We Trust

    In Peace We Trust

    {The twelfth and final installment in the In ____We Trust Series} Each and every topic in this series has convicted me. They’ve all added up. Here’s what I’m finding as I wrap it up… Every “thing” I trust in besides God, I trust in with one goal in my heart. Obtaining peace. I want the…

  • In Planning We Trust

    In Planning We Trust

    {The tenth installment in the In ____We Trust Series} For open words on life, faith, and the unfailing love of the Lord, visit Carly over at Life In The Spacious Place. So grateful for Carly’s honesty and simple, plain truth-telling way.  All my life I have been a planner.  I was always the child who…

  • Word of the Week: Complete

    Word of the Week: Complete

    Are you ready to rejoice in the freedom He offers us? Are you ready to feel free from long to-do lists, insane expectations, and accomplishing everything there is to achieve? I warn you: this might require a priority or perspective shift. Here it is: “And you have been made complete in Christ.” –Colossians 2:10 In…

  • In Control We Trust

    In Control We Trust

    {The fifth installment in the In ____We Trust Series} If I were in charge everything would be okay. People would do I want them to do, and since I generally care about some people, some people would be better off for it. I would have everything I think I need, really hard stuff wouldn’t happen,…