Blog — Kelly Needham

Posts in Knowing God

Waiting: The Fruit of Faith

"Will you marry me?" It's the moment many are waiting for. But however romantic the day of engagement, the time between "I will" and "I do" is often difficult. It's difficult because you know who you are going to marry, but you aren't married yet. It's a season of already and not yet. Very few people look back on engagement longing for it again. Being married is so much better than waiting to be married.

Similarly, Christians live in the already and not yet. We are the Bride of Christ. Our future is secure; our hope is certain. But it isn't yet. We do not see Christ face to face; we do not experience a life free from the sin Christ defeated. But yet it is certain that one day we will. We are the betrothed Bride of Christ, waiting for our wedding day. We live by faith, not by sight. And in faith, we wait.

Knowing GodKelly NeedhamJune 24, 2016

[Friendship Gone Wrong] Unseen Neediness

Though I never had an outwardly needy friendship, the weeds of codependency were still popping up in my life, just in a different form. I needed her to be ok with me. I needed her approval and her acceptance. I needed her more than I loved her. This is the essence of codependency: driven by our own needs we become unable to truly love other people. My neediness was near impossible to see because it manifested by keeping her at arms-length. I perceived myself not to be needy, but to be perfectly content without her in my life.

Friendship, Knowing GodKelly NeedhamJune 3, 2016acceptance, Friendship, repentance, Codependency, Weakness

A New Goal

As my life ebbs and flows, so does my definition of success.No longer trying to ace my college exam, I'm fighting to stay on top of laundry. No longer trying to be a good Christian (aware that I can't be good on my own), success equals dependency. But still, I live and die for success. But in the landscape of success and failure, Psalm 27 gives me a new frame of reference.

Knowing the Word, Knowing GodKelly NeedhamJune 2, 2016failure, Productivity

The Bible is a Witness; Not a Savior

How can you know if you are using the Bible to avoid Jesus? When it becomes a self-help manual instead of a platform to showcase your Redeemer. When the Bible produces to-do lists and not worship. When your Bible reading is devoid of prayer. Proper Bible reading first exposes sin, then offers a Savior. The Bible is a witness to the need for a Savior and the presentation of Jesus as that Savior.

Faith, Knowing the Word, Knowing GodKelly NeedhamMay 31, 2016repentance, Know the Word, Self-Righteousness, Pride & Humility, Faith, the Bible is a witness

When Feelings and Faith Disagree

Faith is not a warm and fuzzy feeling. Rather it is a willful choice to believe in the reliability of God even when that belief is lacking in physical evidence. It's easy to believe the promise that God works things for my good when good things have come to fruition; it's easy to believe that God is near when He feels near. But when my feelings and experiences tell a different story than the Word of God, faith isn't so fun anymore.

The test of faith comes when my feelings veer off to the left and God's Word goes to the right. Here I must make a willful choice to place my faith in what I deem most reliable—my feelings or God's Word.

Faith, Suffering, Knowing GodKelly NeedhamApril 26, 2016feelings, miscarriage, Suffering, Faith

Painful Pruning: An Unavoidable Season

When I consider the last decade of my life, I see a series of deaths: Death of my pride through living in the shadow of my husband's giftedness. Death of my fear of conflict through divorces in my family and among friends. Death of my fear of confrontation through difficult friendships. Death of my desires through multiple miscarriages. Death of my fear of failure through situations where I could not win. Death of my hope in myself through seeing my exposed sin in high-definition focus.

Each season of dying has felt just like that—dying. The choking out of something I have loved, desired, and clung to for hope, peace, and safety. The choking out of things in me, writhing, gasping for breath and praying, "Does it have to be this way? Can't I follow You and also keep this with me? Does it really need to die?"

In God's kingdom, pruning is caring. Jesus is the true vine, His Father the vinedresser. Every branch in Jesus that bears fruit, the Father prunes that it may bear more fruit (John 15:1–2).

God's answer to my question is yes. Yes, it does need to die. It must be pruned. Without pruning, my life will become something even I don't want—an overgrown, thorny bush with no fruit to offer.

Faith, Knowing the Word, Suffering, Knowing GodKelly NeedhamApril 13, 2016Suffering, Know the Word, Death, Sanctification, Sin

A Posture of Repentance

Growing up as a church kid, repentance wasn't a good thing. It was like flu medication. If you got the flu, of course, it was commendable to take the medication. But even better than that was not getting sick. Avoiding sin was better than needing to repent. Goody-two-shoes that I was, this was great news. I was pretty good at obedience, at following the rule book. But sometime during those church-going years, I got a glimpse of God in His Word: His character, His beauty, His holiness. Rule-following was no longer appealing. Knowing Him was.

Knowing GodKelly NeedhamApril 5, 2016repentance, Knowing God, Self-Righteousness, Sin, Holiness

Exercising an Idle Mind

I see in myself the need to flee not just from idle hands, but also an idle mind. As is true of many women, unless I'm sleeping, my mind is quite active. And if I do not give my mind a steady intake of good fuel to burn, I will often be burning whatever fuel I can find. The result? Lots of thoughts about aimless things.

Faith, Knowing the Word, Knowing GodKelly NeedhamMarch 31, 2016Know the Word, Thought Life, Prayer

Wanted: Friends Desperate for God

Before the moving truck arrived at our house in Dallas, I had already been asking God to provide at least 1 friend who would want to study the Bible with me. I knew that thriving in a new city meant finding a community who would join me in exalting Jesus together in the Word.

Faith, Friendship, Knowing the Word, Knowing GodKelly NeedhamMarch 25, 2016Friendship, Know the Word, Community, Faith

Corrie Ten Boom: Extraordinary Faith in the Face of Danger

Living in German-occupied Holland in 1944, Corrie ten Boom was leading an underground network protecting hundreds of Jews all over the country. This work earned her a ticket to Ravensbruck, a despicable Nazi concentration camp, where unspeakable suffering became the backdrop to a new ministry of prayer meetings in flea-infested barracks and ministering the Word of God to anyone in need.

Faith, Ministry, Suffering, Knowing God, Recommended ReadingKelly NeedhamMarch 24, 2016Suffering, Faith

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