Wayne Jacobsen

The Sequel to He Loves Me

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Love is not a commodity you can possess; it is a river of life, flowing from the Father in which he invites you to dwell.

It’s not just a doctrine to comfort the intellect, but a way of engaging God’s presence as you go about your day. Resting in his affection makes it easier for us to entertain his presence, and living in that flow of life will change you over time. Love will not only define how he engages you, but also how you treat others—all others, not just those who think as you do.

Those who seek to contain love in themselves will find that it will wither away like day-old manna. That’s why it wasn’t good for Adam to be alone—not because he needed a wife, per se—but because the love God poured into him needed a recipient to flow out to. God’s love is easy to preach or write about since nothing is truer in all the world than that God is love and that he deeply loves those he created. What I find troubling is that so many people who teach and write about love in the vertical sense are some of the worst practitioners when it comes to sharing that love with others. They treat others, even their own staff, with anger and impatience. They constantly push past other people to be noticed or to build a following. They can even ignore others being abused around them, because they only love certain types of people.

As you live in the love of the Father, you will notice that it cannot be apportioned out to people you like best. Love is love, and you can’t truly live in it without it changing you to be as aware of others as you are yourself.  You don’t have to try to love; it becomes part of your being.

That’s why I’m so excited that this new book is finally finished. Just Love wasn’t even in my heart fifteen months ago. But through an intriguing email, I began a relationship with Tobie van der Westhuizen from South Africa, and out of that growing friendship, the idea for this book was born. His research into a mistaken translation in the Greek captured my heart because this was what love had been teaching me throughout the three previous decades. Now, I have biblical language to make sense of it and a better understanding of what Jesus accomplished to share his love with the world through people made just by their growing trust in him.

I’ve often said that He Loves Me is the most significant book I’ll ever write. If people only read one book of mine, that’s the one I would choose for them. It represents the most poignant shift in my spiritual journey—from trying to appease God so he would love me, to discovering that he already did. I didn’t have to wake up every day trying to be loved by God, but instead woke up as his beloved. That journey for me began over thirty years ago, and it continues to bear fruit in ways I couldn’t have imagined when I started. I want everyone to go on that journey.

However, in the last few years, when I would say it was the most significant book I’ll ever right, I’d feel a nudge inside saying, “So far.” I’d chuckle and dismiss it because I couldn’t think of anything on my radar screen of future writing that would come close. Now, I wonder where those words came from. Advanced readers of Just Love tell me that this is the most important book they’ve ever read, and I don’t disagree. While He Loves Me deals with our vertical connection to the Father through the Son, Just Love couldn’t be a more appropriate sequel. It is about how love flows through us to fulfill all that Jesus hoped for in demonstrating the glory of his kingdom amid the chaos of this age.

It is about God’s hope fulfilled in his justice, not by people performing better for him, but as the inevitable byproduct of people delighting in his love. How has Christendom missed this for so long?  Because of an unfortunate mistranslation of a single word in the Scriptures took our focus off of God’s justice revealed in the world, and instead preoccupied us with sin management and personal piety. I can’t wait for you to read this book, not only how it will change your reading of Scripture to be more true to what the authors intended, but also because we outline this amazing process where love works out God’s life in us. This makes the connection between the Old Covenant law, salvation, transformation, and kingdom.

It has been an absolute delight to work with Tobie to coauthor this book, and I am excited to introduce you to him in this book and in future podcasts. I wholeheartedly embrace what he wrote in our dedication:

Whoever reads this book will soon realize it could not have been written by either of us alone. It is the shared witness of two lives who followed Christ on different continents for nearly a century between them. It reminds us that true community reaches beyond the limits of one mind or one lifetime. In these pages, two worlds merge—the world of reflection and the world of lived experience—and that meeting is no accident.

The publication date is March 3. In a few days, you’ll be able to pre-order the book on Amazon.com and have it delivered as soon as it drops. I’ll be sharing some of that content here in future blog posts, as well as the comments some of our advance readers made about this book.

Just Love completes beautifully what He Loves Me started over twenty-five years ago. I’m so glad this has come about, and can’t wait to hear what you think or take on some of your questions as you process this significant shift in our understanding of the work of salvation.

As Brad said in his endorsement above, the content of this book could really change everything.

_________

And a couple of announcements before I go.

We are updating our mailing list and have found a significant number that did not check “marketing permissions” when they signed up on our list. Yes, I know it’s crazy, but it’s a MailChimp issue. Even though you are signing up for a subscription to my blog or to The God Journey, you also need to check that box as their permission to send email on my behalf. I promise it wasn’t about including you in a lot of marketing emails. So, if you are not getting the email notices you signed up for, that may be why. Please go to your MailChimp account and update your preferences.  (If you received this blog update in your email inbox, you’re all set.)

Also, I wanted to remind you that I’ll be in Bradenton, Florida, this weekend. If you’re nearby, you can join me.  Check my travel listing for details. On Saturday, I’ll be hosting a six-hour conversation focused on It’s Time: Letters to the Bride of Christ at the end of the Age. It will be broadcast via Zoom from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. If you’d like to join in, you can use the Zoom Link here.

 

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The Cries of the Abused

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I hear them today, deep in my spirit. It began in a time of prayer with some friends yesterday. I heard  thousands of voices, crying out to God, “How long, O Lord?” It was a cry of anguish from those who have been abused, deceived, and exploited by the powerful, the deceitful, and the abusers.

It tears at my heart. I’ve had occasion these last four years to sit with many people in such pain, who, through no fault of their own, have been taken advantage of for someone else’s gain or temporary amusement.

And I’m not just talking about the world. Have you heard the revelations in the last few weeks of the years of silence from Bethel’s leadership when the sheep were being deceived and abused? Did they learn nothing from the exposures at IHOP in Kansas City? I’m not surprised anymore at the lengths people will go to defraud or abuse the sheep, or what others will do to cover it up in the name of loyalty. Dozens of so-called prophetic and apostolic “leaders” knew of the prophetic fraud and the sexual abuse and said nothing. They apologize now, with excuses as to why they didn’t protect the sheep, but those who held it in silence are as guilty as the one doing the deeds.

If you can follow Jesus even for a dozen years and not find this behavior unthinkable, then you really have to question who you’ve been following.  John couldn’t have written it more clearly: “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” If you can stay silent when people are being exploited and abused, you have no idea who God is. Those who know God well love the broken well.

And if you’re still supporting ministries like this, you are part of the abuse as well. It seems the entire prophetic movement has covered up for those who are not God’s voices at all. The money, sense of power, and notoriety were too tempting to feel, in their own being, the damage being done to others. So while they claim great discernment on behalf of the nation and the world, they completely miss what God wants to do right around them.

Make no mistake, in these situations, God aligns his heart with the wounded. Truth be told, he always has. When Jesus went to the cross, it was not in anger at those who did evil, but in love for those being crushed by it. I am convinced that the injustice he wants me to hold is on behalf of the victims, not anger at the perpetrators. When I live in the anguish of those who have suffered at the hands of the powerful, whether they be in Ukraine, Gaza, Kenya, former 2x2s, or Bethel, I am closer to Father’s heart than all my rantings about false ministries.

And while most can only see the problem where sexual sin is involved, that is not their greater error. The greater sin of the prophetic movement has been that it has taken people’s innate desire to know God and profited from it. They wanted to tell others what God was thinking and for them to believe it, unquestioningly, as they basked in the adulation of the crowd, fighting for visibility and its related income. They made people dependent on themselves, rather than teaching them to find their fullness in Jesus and no other. The idols in God’s house today are human, who wittingly or unwittingly set themselves up as Christ substitutes. They manipulate people’s fears for political power and market share when they should have been calming their fears with the love of Jesus.

Does Jesus love those who perpetuate the false prophecies, opulent lifestyles, and sexual abuse of his children? He does, deeply, and offers them a path of redemption as well. And we will know they are responding to him when they cease their destructive ways, own their failures, and think first of protecting the sheep instead of their reputations.

Today, Jesus is standing with those who have been defrauded, deceived, and victimized by wolves pretending to be sheep. If you want to be near him, enter into the pain of those who have been hurt, not the ones doing the hurting. That’s where I want to stand, offering a caring heart and a listening ear as they sort through the damage done to them and seek connection with the God who can heal their hearts.

Will you join me? There, we will find his compassion and wisdom to bind up the broken-hearted and set the oppressed free, because that lies at the heart of his Gospel.

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The Unforced Rhythms of Grace

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I spent the weekend with people who have recently left the 2×2 congregation*. I met people of amazing courage, some who have suffered much and others who are having their eyes opened to the fact that the religious group that provided their foundation in faith wasn’t all it claimed to be.  But such moments of disillusionment open some wonderful doors into the life Jesus meant us to live inside his reality instead of following the dictates of those who pretend to be leaders.  And, that’s not just true of their group; that’s true for all of us. The life of Jesus comes from within us as we engage his presence and learn to live settled in his love.

One of the Scriptures we talked about on Sunday is the poetic descriptions of the life I want to live. In Eugene Peterson’s translation of the Bible, called The Message, there is a magnificent phrase. Matthew 11:28-30, he has Jesus saying, “Walk with me… (and) learn the unforced rhythms of grace.”  The arc of my journey over the last thirty years has increasingly led me into how restful and powerful his work is. I notice it most significantly in my prayer life. When I beg God out of anguish and desperation, my anxieties don’t diminish. I’m instead feeding them. The same is true when I beg God to take something away or to make me strong enough to overcome a challenge before me.  Why? I may appear to be giving them to God, but instead I’m focusing on my need and my own weakness, and will grow in frustration as God doesn’t answer the way I want him to.

However, when I pray out of my affection for God, and lean into my trust that he is bigger than anything I face, my heart comes to rest. I know he will have a way for me through it, even if it’s not the answer I want or think I need. In that space, my heart settles, and I find it easier to recognize what he is saying to me and how he wants to work in my circumstances. There, I find the unforced rhythms of grace. I don’t need the answer I want in the timeframe in which I think I need it. When I’m at rest in his work, trusting in his care for me, my heart opens to whatever Jesus might want to show me, and however he might want to lead me.

I now gauge so much by whether how I am responding to him leads me to greater fear or anxiety, or if it leads me to greater trust. This is where grace does its best work. It allows me to lean into him where anxieties fade, instead of focusing more on myself and what I should be able to do.  The “unforced rhythms of grace” is more than a fancy phrase; it’s a way to live restfully and fruitfully in his care.

Before I go, a lot is going on around here that I’d like to share with you:

The interview I did for Reader’s House is getting some exposure in some interesting places, like on the National Law Review and Associated Press websites, as well as others.

Sara’s ongoing recovery has opened the door for me to do a bit more travel. In two weeks, I’ll be in Bradenton, FL, for an all-day conversation on It’s Time: Letters to the Bride of Christ at the End of the Age. As excited as I am about my new book, Just Love, which should be out in a month or so, this one holds a tender place in my heart, encouraging the Bride as she prepares herself for his appearing, whenever that might be. And it isn’t about end-time stuff as much as it is how we can live in him now in whatever challenges we face. Space is limited, so if you’d like to attend in person, please sign up here: If you’re not in the area but would like to watch the Zoom broadcast online, you can register here to watch it online.

I’ll also be in Minneapolis in April, and seeing where else God might lead in the future.

Finally, my son-in-law has organized a Super Bowl Squares game to help benefit Luis’s Kids through Fighting Chance. If you’d like to join in, you can select squares here and then send $40 to the Venmo Lifestream account—@lifestreamMinistries. Half of the proceeds will go to Luis’s kids, and half will pay out the winning scores at the end of each quarter. We’re trying to fill out the whole board, so come join us.  If you’d rather just give money to Luis’s kids and not play the game, you can send it to that same Venmo account. Just designate it for Luis, and it will go to help his kids.

________________

*For those of you who haven’t followed a bit of this story through my podcast, 2×2 is a designation of a religious movement that began in the 1850s in Ireland and spread worldwide. It seems to have started with some genuine hunger, but the devolved as most of these groups do into the things cultic groups have in common: They are the only group that is saved and has the truth, they live by oppressive rules and enforce them with shame and excommunication, they repress women in the way they dress and how they’re regarded, and the leadership should be obeyed without question. This group began to unravel in recent years do to an FBI investigation and the discovery of significant sexual abuse of children by the workers who traveled about to encourage the congregations. Because the leadership couldn’t handle those revelations with repentance, honesty, and concern for the victims, many began to question the group as a whole and how Jesus works in the world today.

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My Friend Luis

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Back in February of 2021, I introduced you to My Friend Luis. Yes, that’s the name of the podcast we did, but now I’m talking about the man behind it—Luis, who is my friend.  If you’ve listened to the podcast, you already know his incredible story, growing up in an abusive environment in Mexico, and how his encounters with a stranger opened some new doors in his life. If you haven’t heard it, you’re in for a real treat. This is one of the most amazing stories of redemption I’ve ever heard, especially how he discovers the love of God the night he crosses the border. It also tells how my friendship developed with Luis and his family.

That relationship continues. He’s now a grandfather to a little girl, and he continues to be one of my closest friends, as we regularly get together to share the work God is revealing in each of us. It’s one of my favorite times of the week, and we both learn so much from each other’s journeys.

Sara and I have also been working with immigration attorneys for the past six years to legalize his status here. It is a laborious and expensive process, but last week he got word that his application for a pardon for his illegal entry has been granted. Hallelujah!  That’s step one in his attempt to secure a green card, and eventually, to apply for citizenship. I mentioned that on last week’s podcast, and many of you have already written to me to share in that joy.

Luis also continues his work with at-risk youth in this city. He was a Golden Glove boxer when he was younger, and when some young people found out, they asked if he could train them. So he spends 4-5 days a week working with over 120 kids as he teaches them to box. But more importantly, he shares his love and the life of Jesus with them as they are learning to navigate their young lives. Last week, he drove 200 miles to check on a suicidal youth who wanted his help. When he arrived, he found three young people in an abandoned mobile home, dying from an overdose of drugs. He was able to rescue them and get them to a hospital. All have recovered. I could tell you so many stories, and he does this all in his own time and at his own expense.

It’s developed into a ministry he calls Fighting Chance, giving young people the opportunity for a life outside the gangs and other dangers that prey on them. I wish you could see the work he does, and not just the training sessions. He’s involved in these kids’ lives well beyond it, encouraging them when life really turns against them. Many of his kids have gone on to college or military service with the character that Luis has helped instill in them. He also attends court hearings and funerals when things don’t work out the way we all hope. He carries their joy and pain every day.

I’m sharing this in hopes that some of you might be looking for a Christian ministry to support, especially one that works with at-risk youth. Luis’s ability to love these kids through the traumas that life throws at them is powerful and, for many, transforming. He didn’t intend to start a ministry; it’s just that the fruitfulness of his life opened a very wide door and his heart his captured by the love he has for them.  It overwhelms him sometimes, and he has a hard time asking for help from people who would love to help him.

This could easily be his full-time job, except that it doesn’t pay. Sara and I support him monthly, and if you’d like to join us, we would appreciate it. Not only does it help free Luis from cleaning houses to provide for his family, but it also has a powerful impact on this community. They currently train in a parking lot across the street from his home, with donated equipment. It’s rustic, but he loves it that way. However, it doesn’t work so well when his equipment gets damaged or stolen, or when the weather doesn’t cooperate with pouring rain or high temperatures in the summer. They would love to find a facility to lease, but that takes even more money.

He is forming a nonprofit, but until that is finalized, Lifestream provides an ongoing fund to help with their ministry. Contributions are tax-deductible. If you can help, please see our Donation Page at Lifestream. Please designate “Fighting Chance” or “Luis” in the Note section of your donation, or email us to let us know that your gift is intended for his ministry. You can also Venmo contributions to “@LifestreamMinistries” or mail a check to Lifestream Ministries •  107 N. Reino Rd, PMB# 411, Newbury Park, CA 91320-3710

And if you haven’t heard the podcast, by all means, treat yourself.  It is an immersive, storytelling podcast in fifteen episodes that you won’t be able to stop listening to. It has stirred churches all over the world to ask Luis about coming to speak there. Unfortunately, until his status is legalized here, he can’t go.

If you need further encouragement here’s what others have said about the podcast:

“I am just captivated by this story! Now I think I see why Wayne was excited about 2021… This is much more than a Podcast! I’m sending the website link to friends and family.” — Jack

“Loved this!!! Can’t wait to hear the next one!” — Harvey

“I heard two voices in my head while I was listening. The first voice said: “It’s his own fault, he tried to come here illegally and suffered the consequences”. This is the voice I used to believe was God’s (standing up for justice, consequences and all that). The second voice said: “This is my son, with whom I am well pleased and love dearly.”  This is the voice I now know is Father’s and the voice of grace and true justice. What a story!” — Isaac

“Ooh, love it!  It’s a great story … I didn’t realize it was so professionally done … Trailer is superb!”  — Jaq

“I love this story! Maybe people would have different perspectives, hearing the life of someone who comes from a country where there’s a lot of corruption and where surviving is a daily struggle! Wayne, I’m so glad you’re sharing Luis’s story with us.”  — Nellie

Find it on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or Spotify.

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Loving Those We’ve Been Taught to Judge

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When I was writing IT’S TIME, a few people asked if I would include a chapter about LGBTQ people.

I held that in my heart as I worked through that book, but it never seemed to find a place there. It just wasn’t what that book was meant to be. However, I do have this conversation a lot with people, and have hesitated to post here, knowing how easily people get offended over this topic.

Then, I received this email last week:

My wife and I have an adult grandson who is having a relationship with a “trans” person. As a younger person, he grew up in a Christian home, but he has left the faith. We love him and need guidance on how to deal with a delicate relationship. We want to meet with him and his friend early in 2026. We pray for him regularly.

I’m going to post my response here, as it may answer some questions for others:

You’ve been given a great gift—someone to love whose lifestyle you question. Now, you’ll never be able to see this as just a political or religious issue again without cutting off someone you deeply care about. However you walk through this experience, it will change you—hopefully for the better.

I’m glad you love him and pray for him. That’s a great start. So, I guess your question is, how do you engage them?

My first question would be, why do you want to meet with him?  If it’s to confront the ’sin’ of their relationship, that wouldn’t be my approach. He would already anticipate that, since I’m sure he knows what you believe. What he wouldn’t expect is your love being expressed to him in kindness, and you taking an interest in his friend, and what connects them.

One of the reasons we struggle here is by considering someone’s gender identity or sexual orientation to be the sole factor of their identity.  I don’t.  At most, I see it as about 10% of who they are. Beyond that, they are people with hopes, dreams, fears, interests, and needs that merit our understanding, kindness, and compassion, just as we would offer anyone else.

Unfortunately, as evangelical Christians, we have been taught to judge people like them, and regard their life as a threat, which is horribly misplaced! “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is still the mission and it didn’t come with exclusions. If you were him, her, or they, how would you want to be treated?  There’s your guidance.

Or to look at it differently, what if his friend were not a trans person? What if their relationship was more “normal” from your perspective?  That’s how you want to be with them. It is not for you to decide what is wrong with them and how they must fix it. If there’s any convicting to be done, entrust that to the Holy Spirit (John 16), who is so much better at it than we could ever be.

You’re free to love them both as you would any other two people. Take an interest in their story and their relationship. Loving them where they are does not condone anything, and it offers them the best possible environment for whatever God might want to reveal to them.

Or, so I am convinced.

So, how do you engage them?  Just love, which doesn’t mean you can’t be honest about your convictions when they ask. Just remember, “To a Pharisee, truth is more important than love; to the follower of Christ, love is the most important part of truth.” If you don’t get the loving right, you’ll have no basis to express the truth.

People who don’t understand the power and presence of God’s love often mock love and grace as a weak response. I did too, once, seeing it only as an emotion of niceness. Having tasted the transforming power of God’s love over the last three decades, however, I know there is nothing more powerful. (See Chapter 10 of He Loves Me.)

That’s why Jesus loved people lost in the darkness. Nothing opens a wider door to what God wants to do in people. When you let his love replace your fear of others, you’ll see them in a different light.

 

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Presence above Principles

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Sometimes when I respond to an email, I know the answer is for more people than just the one asking. So, today, I let you look over my shoulder again as I respond to a very important question.

I’ve been reading a yearly Bible plan this year, and came across a question that I thought would be interesting to ask you. I’ve noticed a couple of times where Jesus tells people not to share about the miracle he did for them, such as the two blind men in Matthew 9, and understandably, there are others whom he tells to go show themselves to the priests. I’ve always thought of the latter to mean that it would improve their standard of living in the current age, and potentially even bring wonder/curiosity to the religious leaders they showed themselves to. Those “go show yourselves to the priests” examples have always made sense to my brain why Jesus would do that. But I also think about the woman at the well and how she was told to go and tell about who he was, and what he had told her.

My curiosity lies with Jesus seemingly randomly telling different people not to share what had happened, or share what had happened! And it seems common that the people who were told not to share shared anyway, but that was typically shared at the end of the story, so I’m not sure what Jesus’ response ever was. What are your thoughts?

I was asked once in Kenya why Jesus told his disciples at one point to take a sword with them, and another time he told them not to.  “Are we supposed to take a sword or not?” the pastor asked.

I answered: “I think the point is to follow Jesus. When he wants you to take one, you do, and when he doesn’t, you don’t.”

This may not be the answer you’re looking for. I used to look for the same answers you wrote about. But over the decades, Jesus convinced me that he moves with infinite variety and for reasons we may never know. Look at how he heals people with such different modalities—sometimes praying, sometimes speaking to the person or the disease, sometimes telling them to go somewhere and do something, or sometimes spitting into the dirt and rubbing it in their eyes. These things may appear random, but they are not. He’s dealing with a person he cares about and giving them his best counsel. His ways are endless, and his creativity is so unique to each individual.

I understand the very human desire to figure out why he said or did different things with different people, but in the end, we’d only be speculating. And speculating is a very dangerous exercise. In fact, asking “why?” is probably the least productive Christian pursuit I know of, not to mention unsatisfying when it lies unanswered. I don’t use the why question much anymore. Trust doesn’t need a why; it only needs clarity. I suspect now that most of my why questions will only be clear from the other side. That reminds me of something a Bible teacher from New Zealand told me once. “Where something is important in Scripture, it will be clear. When it’s not clear, it usually isn’t important.”

The countless sermons we were raised on modeled the idea that Scripture contains all the principles we need to apply to a given situation and discern what God desires. For general living, healthy principles can be helpful. But when we need his direction for specific situations, those principles will fail us. What God was doing in Bartimaeus, Moses, Peter, or Annaias was unique to them at the moment. Seeing examples of what he might do may help us recognize him as he guides us. But copying what he did in one circumstance can be disappointing when it doesn’t yield the same results for us.

I come out of all of that convinced that what Jesus wants us to do is follow him—“every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Seemingly, Christianity has been on an endless search to divine principles from Scripture to follow instead of him. Remember WWJD? It removed the person of Jesus from our experience and encouraged us to resort to our own best reasoning, even if from the Scriptures.  But they were meant to unveil God, so that we can sense him in our hearts and follow him with eyes that see and ears that hear.

It was never principles he wanted to give us; it was presence, voice, and leading.

Knowing that will also help you discern healthy leadership in Jesus’s family. It is not those who dispense principles from the Bible and compel people to follow them. It is those who coach others on how to recognize his presence and follow his lead. That’s where our connection to him becomes limitless.

If you want to know more about how to read the Scriptures in a way that will enlighten your relational journey to know Jesus, please check out The Jesus Lens,  a video and audio series available for free through Lifestream.

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A New Year Begins

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Welcome to 2026!

We are looking forward to what God might have in mind for this year. Of course, we’re open to being wrong, and he’s free to take us down whatever road will best serve him. So the most important part of this year may be something I don’t even see coming yet, like last year’s connection to the former 2x2s.  With that in mind, here are a few of the things I’m excited about from my vantage point today:

First, we have a new book trailer for It’s Time: Letters to the Bride at the End of the Age, a book that I love discussing with people, as God shapes our hearts to be reflections of his glory in an ever-darkening world.  Here it is.

If your email doesn’t link to the trailer, you can view it here.

If you’ve read the book and resonated with its message, feel free to share this video on your social media or in emails or texts with friends. Include a sentence or two about your own experience with the book. I am grateful for how this book is finding its way into the world and for those who help share its message.

Second, tomorrow, my latest book, Just Love, is going to the copyeditor and will hopefully be available later this winter. Written with Tobie van der Westhuizen from South Africa, this book offers a view of the Gospel that I wish I’d been taught when I was younger. By mistranslating a simple word in the Bible, our early translators distorted the Gospel by emphasizing personal piety over Jesus’s invitation to love others the way we are loved by him. The effects of that have been profound, and getting it right would change everything about how we see God and learn to live with him. We’ll have more on this soon.

Third, though I haven’t done much traveling in the last four years to walk with my wife through her trauma recovery, she is doing so much better now. That opens the door to take advantage of some of the opportunities Jesus is bringing my way.  There will be three chances to hang out early this year if you’re near any of these locations:

Finally, this past December, I was invited to a Zoom conversation with 2x2ers from all over the world. For those who would like to see it, that conversation was recorded and is available for online viewing: When the Ground Shifts Beneath Your Faith.

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From Despair to Fullness

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Sara and I were recently in a religious environment that pins all its hopes on miracles. And although they have the occasional story to pull out that seems to prove the point, you ignore the hundreds of other people whose needs persist despite the same kinds of prayers and devotion. So when someone experiences a miracle, it’s touted as normal, and when people struggle with sickness, trauma, or challenging circumstances, they are looked down upon.

As we were leaving one of those meetings, I turned to Sara and said, “This would not be a safe place for anyone with a  need.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” she responded with a sigh.

I used to be part of groups like that, even leading them, until love began to change my heart. God does do miracles that change people’s circumstances, but those are few and far between. Mostly, the miracle he wants is inside of us, not outside of us. Sickness, or overwhelming need, does not prove you’re unloved or that you’re not trying hard enough. It just means you are caught in the chaos of this age, often through no fault of your own, and his love in you is even more valuable in such times.

The celebration of Christmas can bring this into sharp contrast. For those whose circumstances are wonderful, it is a time of great joy. For those who have lost a loved one this past year, are battling a life-threatening illness of their own,  dealing with toxic family members, or suffering financial stress, these days can only seem more lonely and lifeless. They don’t have to be.

If you’re facing dire difficulties, just remember God is with you to reveal his glory in the midst of whatever struggle you’re facing.

Sara and I read Psalm 23 yesterday morning. It begins with the sheer beauty and joy of God leading us to green pastures and quiet waters. But it also affirms his ability to lead us through the valley of the shadow of death and to set a table before us in the presence of our enemies. No one should be made to feel unsafe because the events in their life are not easy and joyful. If God isn’t as real in our darkness and fears as he is in easy times, then we’re missing who he really is.

So, wherever you find your life this Christmas, Sara and I pray that you’ll be at rest in this simple reality: Christ dwells in you, and he alone is your hope for the glory of God to be revealed in you. And that will surely happen. If the miracle you’re praying for doesn’t come, find the miracle of his life within you. He is surely there with encouragement, hope, strength, and wisdom.

Especially for those of you in challenging times, Sara and I hope you find his sweet presence deep inside your heart. We hope that allows you to give way to the joy of Presence, instead of letting your struggles define your day. You can know sorrow, fear, and confusion, and still know his fullness growing within you.

A few years ago, I got a letter from a woman named Ruth, who is a CEO in the health industry. Here’s what she wrote:

There is always this thing that pulls me down into despair and a helpless state. My joy doesn’t last. I don’t know how to get out of this!!!!! I don’t have any more strength to go to work tomorrow. I want to rest, but there is this… I honestly don’t know what to call it—constant pain, sadness, despair, exhaustion. It sucks the life out of me and leaves me empty even when I’m holding on to my faith that God is good to me.

I can’t be alone…. I can’t stand me…. It’s been like this for years now!!!!

I realized that all my life (33 years),  I was expected to believe what others believe. I lived for what others wanted for me and expected from me; it made me stop and think! So now I think this is the cause of my problem. I always wanted to keep the peace of my surroundings just for the sake of making everybody happy, but now I realized that it is at the cost of losing what God has in me, I guess! Help.

She’s not alone. I’ve met many like her on this journey, who write me from the end of the rope.

I told her it isn’t usually helpful to resolve these questions by getting a plan in our heads and pursuing it. “I think Father’s will for us unfolds in the circumstances we are in and how he nudges us in the coming days. So don’t think you have to have a plan, or even know which way is best. The restlessness in your heart is a good sign that Father has something different for you. So, keep your eyes open. Explore. But just keep walking ahead until greater clarity comes.  He probably won’t give you a fully-formed plan, which may be preferable for a CEO, but he will give you an open door.

“You can stress too much trying to get it exactly right. Relax. God’s best isn’t a certain direction or vocation; it’s his unfolding glory in you, regardless of what circumstances you’re in.

It’s not either/or, it’s a dance. His insight in you, you responding to him, more insight, more following, and out of that beautiful dance, you’ll find yourself in the best place for you to be.  He won’t scoop you into it; you don’t have to find it on your own.”

Imagine my joy at hearing back from Ruth a couple of weeks ago:

I’ve wanted to write to you for some time to express my gratitude. A few years ago, I reached out to you, not really expecting a response, asking for guidance because I was in a season of deep distress. To my surprise and blessing, you wrote back with such love, wisdom, and heartfelt advice.

You encouraged me to rest in the love of God and to let go of the burdens of religion. That simple guidance has stayed with me and has been transformative. Slowly but surely, the Lord has been faithful in delivering me from the shackles that once weighed me down, showing me the root causes of much of my trouble, and bringing me healing and freedom.

 Today, I can truly say that I live in the peace of God that surpasses understanding and with a constant joy bubbling from within me! While true transformation can bring changes in circumstances (which it did), my transformation is mainly because I myself have changed. I am no longer tossed to and fro! I am stronger. The Lord has made me stronger, and the burden that once weighed heavily on me has truly been lifted. There is a rest in my mind that slowly grew through the renewing of my mind.

Enduring miracles happen on the inside, when we are no longer tossed to and fro in times of pain. Finding our comfort in an outside miracle will only endure until some other difficulty comes. Finding God-with-us as powerful in the presence of our enemies as in the green pastures will serve us for a lifetime. Notice it took some time for Ruth to find this transformation, as it will for you, too. But what she has discovered will last her a lifetime.

That’s our prayer for you this Christmas: that whatever difficulty you face will not beat you down. Instead, it will invite you deeper into the well of God’s life already bubbling up within you. So that in this season, your heart can be at rest in the hope that all will be well because he is with you.

As Sara and I look forward to our holiday, with all the challenges we’re in the midst of, our hope is firmly anchored in Father’s love and goodness. We are grateful for all the relationships God has given us around the world that support and encourage us. We are blessed to know that through books, podcasts, and blogs, others have been enlightened on their journey and encouraged in their faith.

With blessings and love this Christmas,

From Despair to Fullness Read More »

“A Quieter, Fuller Awareness of Presence”

Behind the Scenes / / , , , ,

My most ardent hope for anyone who crosses paths with me, my books, podcasts, or websites, is that they, too, come to experience the reality of a fuller awareness of God’s presence at work in them. I pray the blinding veil of religious performance will be lifted from their eyes and that they will come to know that Jesus, alive in them, can provide all they need to navigate the day with his wisdom and strength, no matter what challenges they might face.

I got this email at the end of last week, tying together two of my most important books: He Loves Me, and Live Loved Free Full. She expresses well what I intended: that the gentle daily reminders of the devotional would invite hearts back to the realities of living loved, and not buy into the latest message the chaos around you is screaming in your ear. If you’re looking for a devotional for 2026, you might consider this one.

When I spent time with Live Loved Free Full, what struck me immediately was how deeply it continues the heart of what He Loves Me awakened for so many readers. Instead of simply revisiting familiar ideas, this collection feels like an invitation—gentle, steady, and deeply personal into a way of living daily from God’s affection rather than striving toward it.

The structure of the book makes it especially powerful. Each impulse is small enough to absorb in a single moment, yet carries the potential to shift a person’s inner posture for an entire day. These reflections don’t push or pressure; they draw the reader toward a quieter, fuller awareness of God’s presence, helping them navigate challenges with a calm and centered heart.

In a world overflowing with noise, that kind of daily grounding is invaluable.

Your emphasis on an inner life that remains rich even in hardship gives the book a depth many devotionals never quite reach. It gently teaches that freedom, fullness, and belovedness are not outcomes of perfect circumstances—but fruit of growing intimacy. Readers who long for authenticity over ritual, or who want a devotional that feels relational rather than formulaic, will immediately sense that difference.

Learning more about you made the book resonate even more. Your years as a pastor, your work with Lifestream Ministries, your writing on spiritual intimacy and relational community, and your conversations on The God Journey all shape a voice that is compassionate, honest, and grounded. There’s a lived sincerity behind every line.

Just completing another devotional this year, Sara and I have decided to read through Live Loved Free Full in 2026. Read with us if you like, and maybe we’ll have a chance to discuss some of its themes together.

And with 25% off these two titles, and all other books in the Lifestream Store through Christmas Day, there’s no better time to order. All you need to do is enter CHRISTMAS25 as the promo code when you check out. There are lots of books there that might make great Christmas gifts for your friends and family, including this devotional, as well as a coffee table book, A Man Like No Other, to help reveal Jesus through the Gospels without all the religion we’ve attached to him over 2,000 years.

 

 

“A Quieter, Fuller Awareness of Presence” Read More »

It’s Time Now Available in German

Behind the Scenes /

The message of It’s Time: Letters to the Bride of Christ at the End of the Age continues to grow in my heart every day. As I watch world events unfold and listen to the breath of the Spirit, my heart is captured by his passion to bring his bride into the fullness of her splendor. I enjoy the conversations I get into with people who are reading it, and how it is inviting hearts closer to him as well. In the New Year, I am planning on hosting a book discussion group via Zoom to explore its themes further with those who are interested. Also, on February 21, I’ve been invited to do a day-long workshop on the themes of It’s Time in Bradenton, FL, if you live nearby or want to fly in. We’ll get details out in the near future.

It really is time for the sons and daughters to be revealed on the earth. I’m excited to see how that takes place because I’m sure it will be far grander than I could anticipate.

I’m also excited to announce that It’s Time has made its way to Germany. My publisher there, Glory World Medien, has just released the German translation of this book. You can find it at their bookshop:  Wayne Jacobsen, Es ist Zeit! or at Amazon: https://www.amazon.de/Es-ist-Zeit-Briefe-Zeitalters/dp/3955786595. They have many of my other books as well.

Finally, let me share how two people are finding a way to pass this message on to others in their orbit.

Mike:

I really enjoyed It’s Time. It felt like a summation of numerous conversations and podcasts over the last few years. Seriously lightens my heart and puts life in the proper perspective.

    •  “The time of his coming may be at hand; the time for us to reveal his love definitely is.”
    • “I am convinced we live in the moments before the dawn. Certainly, darkness seems to rule everywhere we look, but for those with eyes to see, the skies have already begun to brighten ever so slightly on the Eastern horizon.”

That is a beautiful word picture to end an excellent read. That image makes my heart leap, like grass springing up through concrete. It is inevitable!

I sent those last few lines to quite a few friends.  They absolutely loved it. I’m going to be ordering a few books for gifts soon.  Yes, an uplifting read—sanity in the midst of religious, Christian, fearful, ignorance.

 

Rod (Australia):

We joined you on the Israel Tour, and both routinely recall with great fondness that trip. We have not felt comfortable returning to the institutional church and have basically had quite a few years of ‘inactivity’ with other Christians apart from a pure social context. For a long time, we were concerned that if we had a home church/meeting, people would be tempted to do things the way we had always and we were well beyond being interested in that. Personally, I wanted to explore what being a Christian over 70 years old meant and offered. Then you released It’s Time, and Jill thought that would be a good guide for us to meet and discuss it with our over-70s friend

So, eight of us have been meeting every fortnight or so to chat about a chapter of It’s Time and just completed week 6 yesterday. What a pleasure to have your thoughts on our faith and walk with the Lord as a catalyst for discussion on various topics. Having been involved in many, many small group meetings over the years, I don’t think there has been one where everyone participates the way they do when discussing It’s Time. We can’t believe how now every single person has entered, shared their perspective, even the traditionally quiet ones. What a joy! What an encouragement to hear how each other thinks about the Lord, our faith, and our later years of life on that journey. We look forward to how the Lord reveals our lives in Him as ‘70+ers. We are convinced there is so much more to find as we age.

Thank you, Mike and Rod, for sharing the message of this book. There is no better way to get a message into the world than word of mouth, whether that’s through a social media post, gifting a book to a friend, or posting a review on Amazon. All of that helps a book like this find its way into the world.
 

And before I go, don’t forget, Lifestream is offering a 25% discount on all books ordered from our store through Christmas. All you need to do is enter CHRISTMAS25 as the promo code when you check out. There are lots of books there that might make great Christmas gifts for your friends and family, including a devotional, Live Loved Free Full, and a coffee table book, A Man Like No Other, to help unpack Jesus from the religious distortions that 2000 years have put on him. Of course, all of Wayne’s other books are there as well. You can see them pictured below.

Unfortunately, we don’t sell It’s Time there because we do not print them here. It has to be ordered from Amazon, or in the U.K., it is now available from Waterstones.

 

 

It’s Time Now Available in German Read More »

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