With thoughts of branding and expertise and selling books and all that’s publishing, I sometimes grow tired of the treadmill and have to stop a moment and say something out loud.

I love Jesus.

He is everything to me.

I may struggle. I may wilt. I may cringe. I may wallow. I may smile. I may fail. I may hope and not see that hope realized. I may limp. I may succeed wildly or droop terribly. I may taste glory. I may ache for God’s glory. I may live in obscurity. I may backtrack. I may be unseen. I may be seen.

But wherever I am or however I find myself, the bottom line is simply Jesus.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

I hope He is who you see when you come here to Live Uncaged. I hope you encounter Him, hear from Him, are transformed by Him. I hope He turns your life inside out and upside down. I hope He ruins you for the mundane and spurs you toward the triumphant (for His kingdom’s sake, not your own.)

I hope Jesus moves through my words, enlivens them, and awakens your heart because of them. I hope you find hope here, realizing that Jesus doesn’t call you to perfection so He can bless you, but that He takes you as you are, flawed and broken, and pours His beauty into you.

The beautiful part of you is Jesus. It’s not you trying to manufacture Him so others will think you’re virtuous. None of that really matters. The externals. What matters is your heart, your inner peace, that place where God truly reigns and rules and offers tremendous and unearned grace.

Welcome to this place. Hang out with me here so we can taste and see just how good and amazing and real Jesus is. Let’s gather and love Him together. Let’s worship His prowess, His intelligence, His goodness. Let’s have a feast together where we are so enamored with Him that we have no time to point out each other’s flaws or try to one up each other to feel better about ourselves.

This is a level place. At the foot of the cross, we are all in need of a savior. No one is greater. No one is smaller. All count. All are wildly loved by Jesus. All are died for. All are important. You, me, us.

It’s not our lot to prove our worth. It’s our task to nestle into Jesus, hear His whispered words about our worth, and rest there.

Let’s love Jesus.

And let’s let Him love us.

Amen.