Whispers of Truth

Recently, after a friend asked me about it, I purchased and have been reading through (and praying through) Matthew Henry’s A Method for Prayer: with scripture-expressions, proper to be used under each head . Yes, it is archaic; yes, it is awkward to read, especially out loud as prayers; yes, even its subtitle is offensive to this world in which we live (much less its content true to the Bible and politically incorrect); however, praying through this book has been teaching me valuable lessons. While I’ve known that scripture can be/may be/should be prayed, I confess that in the past, I have done it very little. Even thinking about praying using the words of the scripture seemed awkward. This has been my loss. I find that there is little more comforting than knowing that my prayer is uncorrupted because I am using His words. My will is easy to far too easy to pray, but sometimes knowing what to pray and how to pray it is hard for my human flesh to grasp. His Spirit speaks through His Wo...

For several years while teaching, I had my seniors write letters to themselves to about the things they wished they had known when they started high school. There was nothing original in this idea, but it was inspired by the song “Dear Younger Me” by Mercy Me. Each year when I gave this assignment, my seniors would start off scoffing the idea, and some never took it seriously, but the ones who did found they had already learned much during their four-year journey through high school, and they extended this wisdom to others because they took it seriously.  Today while reading chapter three of Proverbs, I came across the title, “Guidance for the Young,” and thought of that exercise. Almost immediately I did a little scoffing myself and thought of how many times I’ve read this chapter before. Then I really read it and ingested it, and found myself in need of writing a letter to future me, lest I forget what I have already learned and need chastening again later. Dear Olde...

In my morning reading, I find myself in a section of 1 Chronicles and Psalms, as the Chronological Study Bible places Psalm 2 (penned by David ) with Solomon’s ascension to the throne. We have already studied Psalm 2 in our Wednesday night sessions at church this year, but as usual, the Word of God is alive and applies the scriptures I read to my heart on a daily basis. Hebrews 4:12 reminds me of this: “The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (NASB). Psalm 2:10-12 speaks not only to kings to be wise as they judge the earth but also to the rest of mankind, to me as both kings and ordinary people will stand before the throne of God.  Verses 11-12 particularly spoke to my heart today: “Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way when His wra...

Digging into God’s Word and discovering its treasure brings me much joy. I love seeing something I haven’t seen before or often, if I am being honest, seeing something I’ve seen and forgotten only to uncover it again, a treasure unearthed. But new connections are the best! In digging in today in preparation for continuing through Luke with the ladies on Thursday evenings, I found a passage in Luke 12 that reminded me of Jesus speaking with Peter on the beach in John 21.   In Luke 12, even though He’s in the midst of a great multitude of people, Jesus’ audience is His small group of disciples, these who will soon truly understand what it means to trust God to provide for them in all situations at any cost. He is teaching them to: Beware of hypocrisy! All will eventually be known and revealed (v. 2-3); sooo . . . Fear God who judges the soul and values His creation, rather than men who can only hurt their bodies (v. 4-7). Boldly proclaim the name of Jesus before men lest th...

Recently, some friends and I were discussing Saul’s experience with the medium in I Samuel 28. I had never really thought about the chapter being controversial or having different interpretations but rather had read it as an indication of the depravity of Saul’s heart and his desperation to escape judgment that was surely coming to him. Yet apparently, the argument had been presented in a previous discussion that Samuel (as called up by the medium) wasn’t really Samuel but an evil spirit, and they were asking what I thought. It had never occurred to me, as I have read the passage in a very literal sense each time I have encountered it, seeing only what it reveals about Saul and his heart   By the time this incident occurs in Saul’s story, he already knows that the LORD has rejected him from being king over Israel because of the disposition of his heart, his open disobedience and rebellion. Earlier in the book, Samuel had spoken to Saul these words: “Rebellion is as the sin of divi...

I’ve had the unusual experience of going back over the last two months. Going back to where I was before the Lord moved me. Going back to the bustle of the classroom. Going back to what I had willingly left behind because there was a need. Admittedly, it has been a challenge and a distraction. And now I find myself eagerly waiting. Waiting to be released after helping to transition a new teacher into the position I was temporarily (and somewhat reluctantly) holding. Waiting to go back to my “normal” life. For now just, well, waiting. That meme that has made the rounds the past few years about waiting in the hallway for God to open the next door? That has been me this week.  While I’ve been waiting, I’ve continued reading and studying, the difficulty of which you might not understand unless you’ve ever been in an upper school hallway for any extended amount of time. Older people might remember rooms that quieted with the bell and the teacher’s roll call, but that is rarely the ca...

I have been fighting a battle against neutrality this week. Several ninth graders I have been teaching for the past month have fought me against taking a stance in their writing. They crave neutrality. It’s comfortable. It requires no effort. At first glance (or second) on an issue they can see positives and negatives but have no clear picture. They waver back and forth in their writing. Their untenable desire to maintain neutrality when arguing a point accomplishes nothing. A failure to take a stance is simply a waste of the valuable and limited time we have on this earth. This truth holds in the spiritual realm as well. In Luke 11:23 Jesus makes the point to the Pharisees he is speaking with that if a person is not with Him, he is against Him, and if that person chooses not to gather with Him, he is is scattering. Our Bible study group discussed this Thursday night in the context of people’s desire for neutrality. However well one might balance on the fence in the world, when it c...

When my children were very young, I bathed them at least once every day and don’t recall ever giving Joshua, Caleb, or Rachel any choice in the matter. Being bathed didn’t always please them and neither was it easy with three children whose birthdays are a total of 3.5 years apart for me to find time to get a bath daily, but I managed. I, too, like to be clean. Every day. After a bath, they smelled sweet, fresh, washed clean. Nothing much smells better than a baby or small child who is clean and tucked up under the chin for a snuggle and reading time. When my children became old enough to bathe themselves, I offered supervision and structure, reminding them when it was bath time each night. If necessary, nagging was applied. When my children became stinky adolescents who would prefer not to bathe until they felt it absolutely necessary, I got their daddy involved when necessary—bathing was not optional in the Pate household. The pungent aromas of teenagers overpowered their rooms an...

We’ve all experienced it time beyond measure, the knowing after the fact, the reasoning about what we could have or should have done in any particular moment, in the crisis of making a decision; yet the mouse-on-a-wheel pondering never does change anything.  Contrast this with God—sinless, holy, powerful, compassionate, all-knowing—who looked perfectly forward where we look helplessly backward. He saw stretched out in front of Him what would certainly be, and He created us anyway knowing the personal cost to His only begotten Son. (This will never cease to amaze me!) Context: Yesterday in Sunday school our teacher, Mike Stallings, who is a recently retired department head of the engineering department at Auburn University, made a statement while giving a practical application of wisdom from Proverbs that has stuck with me. He said in passing to make his point (and I’m certainly paraphrasing the gist as my memory is far too flawed) that he never felt it was his place to get an...

I saw a cow this morning with her head stuck through a barbed wire fence chewing her way through the tasty blackberry brambles on the other side. It was gross, like most things cows do--the strands hanging loosely from her drool mouth. The things cows will do to get to what’s on the other side never cease to amaze me. The reality is that while the bushes appear to be quite tasty to the cows, the protein content is usually lesser than the grass they have in pasture (barring drought). Hmmm. Sound familiar? —————————————————————————————————————————— I finished the top of an oversized king quilt for my bed this week while we were waiting on Greg's test results. Got Corona? If anyone hasn’t noticed, life goes on while one is in quarantine or sick. Family gathers, and one misses it. Friends lose loved ones, and one cannot be involved as desired. Church services happen, and one cannot attend live (just virtual). Community projects occur, and one cannot participate. Quarantine in a l...

Almost five years ago I wrote a post titled “ What My Facebook Posts Won’t Tell You .” As a rather new FB user at the time, I was rather disconcerted at the extremes I found there—consummate happiness or maximum dissatisfaction as well as people’s willingness to either pretend (by only posting happy moments) or rant publicly (posting moments I didn’t feel appropriate for public dissection). It was and still is rather off-putting—both extremes--and when I do put "pretty" pictures on FB, I don't want it to be for praise as that is rather disconcerting as well. Just enjoy the pictures. :) All that to say that below you will find my four-and-one-half-year update on life inspired by a day that did not go as I had planned.  ————————————————————————————————————————— As I write this, the acrid stench of spilled-over and burned-on hot pepper jelly overwhelms my kitchen. The smoke, however, is now gone (because I had to take my smoke detector off the wall and put it on the ...