Whispers of Truth

Yesterday I mentioned that I got rather distracted when I went on a word search for the word agitation , but I didn't share what I learned from my search. It all began as I was waiting for the washer to fill up with water yesterday. My washer is rather dysfunctional, and as a result, I can actually have the lid open while my clothes are washing (yes, I know the dangers...). Unfortunately, I have the bad habit of starting the washer and then  going to get the clothes. If I get sidetracked, when I get back the washer is usually so full of water and suds that it takes me several minutes to actually get the clothes into the washer because of the suds that would overflow if I forced the clothes...so, as I stood waiting to put all the clothes in, I noticed the agitation that forced the dirty clothes down. As I stood and simply watched, it made me think of spiritual things. God often uses agitation in my life to get me clean. I don't always want  to be clean when I am steeping in...

Have I mentioned before that I am a logophile ? If you know me at all, you already know this, but those who don't know me shouldn't be scared. According to Emily Brewster, an editor for Merrimack-Webster's online dictionary, a logophile is simply "s omeone who loves words." Some of you who know Greek (or at least its roots) might have recognized the words  logos , which means    "speech, word, reason," and   philos , meaning "dear, friendly." Ms. Brewster goes on to explain that words  such as  analogous ,   apology , and  logic have a historical link to the word logos as well, and philos  contributes   -phile , meaning  "someone who likes something very much."  So I found this in a dictionary...it's what word-lovers read, OK? I am quite sure that many of you are weird in your own ways...but back to the subject at hand;  the point of this (besides my love of words) is my love of The Word (Logos), Jesus Christ. John 1:1 p...

Perspective matters. Malachi understood this. God loved His people, yet they questioned His love and saw their own actions much differently than God did. Where they saw sacrifice and worship, God saw the offense of their sins. Their lack of perspective got so bad that God told them to try offering the sacrifices they were presenting Him to their governor in lieu of their taxes and see the truth of the situation. There was no fear or reverence of God because they had slid into a pattern that wasn't even visible to most of them. This is common to us all. We take a small step off the path of righteousness, justify it IF we even recognize that there's a problem, and soon we have veered off the path to a degree that requires God's discipline to make the correction because we can no longer see the truth of our situation. It doesn't always feel like God loves me when I encounter hard things or trying times, but in my heart I know that all of mankind (even God's children) e...

I came home a few weeks ago to find a dirty, old brown bottle sitting on the catch-all shelf by the back door. I wasn't sure who put it there, but I suspected my husband had unearthed it while plowing in one of his fields. It was a squat bottle coated in dried mud inside and out. At first glance it was hard to see anything of beauty in it, but I grabbed the dirty thing as I walked through the door thinking to save it from shattering on my back porch. After setting it on the cluttered bar, I changed clothes and set to cooking supper--a rare occasion lately. The bottle sat there until I could no longer ignore it. The dirt bothered me, and I couldn't resist getting a peek at what lay underneath. As I scrubbed and rubbed at the dirt, I wondered what kind of bottle it could be--anything from DDT to an old brew could have been held in the circa 1974 bottle, but I could see it holding flowers.... After about five minutes of scrubbing using soap and hot water, the outside was clean, ...

I have to confess that often during the end of April each year I spend more time reading English research papers I've assigned to my 11th and 12th grade students than I do God's Word. I don't do this because I have a twisted longing to read a lot of less than ideal writing about subjects that are trivial or worldly. I do this because it is part of my job to train students how to write--and they cannot learn to write without writing. However, there's always a lesson in there for me, even when I'm sixteen hours into grading research papers about topics such as a lottery to benefit education... This year I asked my 11th graders take a stance on the often hotly debated topic of establishing a lottery that would benefit education in Alabama (somewhat like neighboring states). Due to the fact that they know very little about the subject up front, all but three chose to write on the pro-lottery side. It is interesting (and often scary) to get inside the heads of my stude...

Recently I have been thinking a lot about the idea of being redeemed. The old hymn by the same name has always been one of my favorites; in addition, what Christian cannot help but ponder the idea of redemption this close to Easter? The point where these thoughts that seem rather random intersect is what has been on my mind. To redeem something is to buy it back, which implies that ownership had been established at a prior time. I belong to Him and have from the beginning, and Jesus gave His precious life blood to redeem me. So why wouldn't I "love to proclaim it," as the song proclaims so joyfully yet reverently? I have always known there was a price for redemption paid by Christ, but I haven't always given enough consideration to the prior ownership of my soul...it is God's right to redeem me, and my job to bring Him glory. Honestly, relating the idea of redemption to a coupon helps me somewhat, strange as that is. When I go to the grocery store and have a co...

Yesterday, K-LOVE’s encouraging verse of the day was Nehemiah 8:10, which reads in the NLT: “ This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don't be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” While it was an encouragement to me yesterday—a rainy, post-Thanksgiving Monday back at school—it became more a thought to chew on in context of the whole chapter. When the people heard God’s Word read and translated so that they could understand it, they were absolutely devastated by the truths contained in the Law because it pointed out their sin. They were so devastated over their lack of observance of God’s Law that Nehemiah and Ezra had to encourage them with these words. Likewise, my sin, when revealed by time spent in God’s word, often overwhelms me, yet unlike the people of Jerusalem, I am without excuse. There is no language barrier—the translation has already been completed for me. There is no lack of access to God’s word--I have multiple access points ...

Who’s on the Throne? One of my favorite movies when I was a teenager (and I admit a little beyond) was Highlander starring Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert as immortals struggling to “keep their heads” because of course, “There can be only one!” It may seem a bizarre train of thought, but as I’ve pondered the upcoming week’s Bible study, this line popped into my head several times this week. The struggle against selfishness is not limited to Christians, but our perspective should be that there is only One on the throne—and it’s not us; it is Jesus Christ, our Lord. This was confirmed to me Sunday when I visited my parents’ church and heard a guest preacher preach from The Revelation to John. The focus verses were Revelation 4:1-4, and in the middle of the passage, even though it was not the emphasis of the message was the very verse that spoke to me the most:  “…and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne” (Rev. 4:2b, KJV). The fact ...

          One thing that we can count on is encountering obstacles in our Christian walk. Fear is one of these huge obstacles for many Christians, and if left unchecked, it can become paralyzing. Continuing with the driving metaphor…one of the things I’ve learned through years of experience is that I will generally steer where I am looking; it only stands to reason that if I begin looking at my obstacles—fear in this case—I’m only going to head straight into the trouble I am hoping to avoid. This sounds counter-intuitive, but it is so true. My focus determines which path I take. If I’m fixated on my fear, I will generally avoid making decisions—at least any sound ones—and that typically gets me in trouble. In the past, I’ve often failed to realize that making no decision because I’m afraid of making a wrong one IS making a decision, and it’s rarely a good one.  When I let fear take over and it paralyzes me, things escalate pretty quickly,...

1220 Ladies’ Fall Bible Study Group (Tallassee, AL - Tuesday Evenings @7:00) Theme: Intersections      Intersection Defined: 1.     The act or state of intersecting. 2.    T he point or line in which two lines or two planes cut each other. 3.    The place where two roads meet. 4.    A crossing 5.    Coming together 6.    A juncture Think about it…the term intersection implies that a meeting of two things or people exists—there is a juncture of some kind. For Christians, this requires a joining of our lives with Christ’s. At the junction of the cross, Jesus offered himself for us; he paid the price of our sin debt. At the point of salvation, He calls us on a journey to follow Him, and we begin walking toward eternity with Him at that point. While it can seem long and overwhelming, the journey between here and heaven is a vapor. Consider James 4: 13-17: Come no...