Whispers of Truth

You’ve probably noticed that when people get together, one of the first things that usually comes up in conversation is the weather (unless you live in Alabama, and then it's football...). The conversation might begin something like this: “Can you believe this weather we’ve been having? I can’t remember a [colder, hotter, wetter, drier, etc.] one in the last twenty years"…and so on and so forth.  Most of us in these kinds of conversations are just stating the obvious, and probably, if we were honest, most of us could really care less. We’re all in the same boat, and mere conversation certainly won’t change the weather—for good or bad.  So why do we spend so much time talking about the inane or the obvious and so little time talking about what matters most? Probably because it is so easy—no thought or effort is required to make these kinds of comments in passing. I thought about this today as I was reading in Luke 12:54-56. In this little section of...

Weariness is normal, but it can derail or defeat us if we let it. As a teacher, my most trying and wearying times seem to come toward the end of the year, but I've noticed that the elation of finishing another year well overtakes the weariness at what seems like the last moment. It is elation at nearing the finish line that gives me the energy needed to complete the seemingly endless checkout tasks and paperwork that must be done before I can call it summer. Maybe it's because I'm an English teacher that I look for spiritual parallels everywhere, but I see the same principal at work in the life Paul. As he finished his journey here he seemed energized in looking forward to what lay ahead of him--namely, heaven and time with Christ. He also commented on finishing his race well. When I am weary with this life, I find encouragement in Paul's epistles. We have a God who is powerful to save and who supports us until we finish our races. Whether you are physically or spiritua...

Sometimes when I make an offhand comment about the way God is working in my life, I can get really blank looks that seem to say, “You really believe that God cares how you live?”  If you believe the pollsters, many in this world believe in God, but rather obviously, they aren’t all living like they do.  I’m all about striving to apply to my life what I’m studying and reading, and the older I get, the more I find myself making spiritual appraisals about everything I encounter in the Scriptures (and often seeing where I fall short); since I teach English literature, the novels that I teach often inspire reflection of a spiritual nature.          My AP class just completed The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and they discovered a somewhat recurring theme in literature that money cannot buy happiness. My connection is this: I’ve been reading recently in Ecclesiastes , and Solomon has much to say about wealth. In chapter f...

The following are my notes for today's luncheon for moms and grandmothers of preschoolers: Disciplining Our Children Is Always a Battle Worth Fighting Discipline Let me be the first to admit that I intensely dislike being on the receiving end of any discipline—it hurts something fierce and it stings my pride. As a child, I was able to avoid being disciplined very often because I understood how to avoid it—please the ones in authority over me. As an adult, I have become very adept at pleasing the people in authority over me, but I do so with a better understanding of the heart issues that I didn’t understand as a child. I am a sinner saved by grace, and as such, I need grace extended to me because I am trapped in this body of flesh, and I sin often. As an adult, the difference is knowledge of the One who disciplines me and His motive. Hebrews 12 speaks of the issue of discipline from both the standpoint of the parent who disciplines a child and the One who discip...