Whispers of Truth

I Samuel 16:7  "The LORD told Samuel, "Don't look at his appearance or his height, for I've rejected him. Truly, God does not see what man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart ."   Recently, I was pondering Facebook, and really, there seem to be mostly two types of posts—the supremely happy ones (the everything’s perfect here posts) and the raving mad rampages (the if I don’t say this I’ll explode posts). Don’t get me wrong; I do enjoy seeing people’s happy moments and sharing in the milestone moments and updates from my friends, but as a still relatively new arrival to Facebook, I feel like our generation is being somewhat misled.   Think for one minute about the posts that can create the “we’re perfect” appearance, whether or not that’s even the intention. Honestly—have you ever known a “perfect” family? Think about it--is yours even close? The focus on the appearance of what some people have that others may ...

Yesterday, my husband gave me yet another lavish gift in anticipation of celebrating 25 years of marriage in late January. In doing so, he caught me by surprise--I definitely wasn't expecting a party, much less one 27 days early. He diligently researched the camera I'd mentioned in passing a week or so before Christmas, found a good deal, sought the advice of a friend who is a photographer, and purchased the ultimate package deal in the camera I wanted. In addition, he orchestrated the party and tried to include as many close friends as he could under the guise of watching the Alabama football game at another friend's house without raising any suspicions. He enlisted my children, and they kept the secret, helped with the gift, and then showed up a the party, too. I was scratching my head trying to figure out why they were there, and then looked down to find a cake that read "Happy Anniversary." I looked around the room trying to remember if I had forgotten someone...

Distractions. What are yours? Does work get under your skin? Do financial worries bother you? Relationships? Do the daily little problems of life irritate you and distract you from following hard after God? These flaming darts and arrows seem rather painful, but if you are wearing the right protection, a little dart of fire (or even an arrow) is nothing--they bounce right off of us. The truth is, if we put on the armor God provides, the things that give us grief--the little day-in, day-out problems and distractions that we encounter in this life--probably wouldn't grow into giants that plague us.  Ephesians 6:10-18 gives us the low-down on the armor of God: 10  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the ...

I often find that when I am afraid, I tend to wrestle with the world more than I wrestle with God. Think about that for a minute, and you might find yourself in the same predicament. It's rather frustrating because I know the truth about God, and I know God, and I pray for strength, but I still sometimes let fear push me in the wrong directions. The strange thing about this thought is that it came to me as a result of taking pictures at an in-school match for our wrestling team in December. Honestly, watching wrestling makes me terribly uncomfortable on so many levels, but since I am responsible for the yearbook, I felt the need to go support my colleagues who coach, my students who wrestle, and my yearbook staff who will need to create pages for this sport soon.   Maybe you are unfamiliar with wrestling and wonder what could make anyone uncomfortable. If so, the following picture is for you--maybe it will help you understand. I chose this particular picture becaus...

Weeks like the one that just passed do little to advance for the kingdom of Christ. I have read so many posts supporting and rejecting allowing Syrian refugees into our country for safe haven. I have seen the bickering on Facebook by Christians on both sides of the argument. Some of what I've read shows the love of Christ and a recognition of where we would be without his love, but others fall short of expressing an understanding of what it means to be in Christ. Safety should not be our utmost concern, yet fear of what might happen seems to be the prevailing factor in many of the posts I've seen. Proverbs 29:25 expresses this wisdom: "The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe." Regardless of what happens to me in this life, God is in ultimately in control. The apostle Paul speaks to this in II Corinthians 5:1-8: “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, et...

When God whispers something to the heart that’s difficult to hear, what is a Christian to do? Life doesn't always present us with simple, clear cut decisions, and often,  making decisions that honor God means going against the tide of the world. How do we even begin to explain the mysterious workings of the Spirit in us to those who cannot begin to comprehend when we struggle to understand ourselves?  I think of Jonah, who struggled greatly with what God asked him to do. He didn't like the task God set for him, so he tried to run from it, which of course wasn't terribly successful. Sometimes, I don't know if I am hearing God clearly, and I've often wondered what it must have been like to know that God was speaking directly to someone. Really, though, doesn't He speak to us  through His spirit who lives in us if we belong to Him?  Jonah heard directly and still questioned God’s judgment in sending him. That really didn't change the end result—it just wrapped ...

Have you ever read (or watched) a frustrating story where the main character won’t accept the love or grace offered to them? If you’re like me, you groan, talk to the character, and question his or her sanity. We all know that happiness, when in our grasp, should be grappled close to us and held really tightly, right? Or maybe some of us just wish that the chance would come our way.   Well . . . how is God’s grace and His desire to extend it to all of us any different? Here we are with the chance for ultimate joy and satisfaction (everlasting, mind you), yet we repeatedly turn away. It goes back to our motivation, I suppose. We humans tend to want what we cannot have and disdain what we can. When God’s grace through Jesus Christ is offered freely to us (who aren’t worthy, by the way), we tend to believe it is too cheap to accept. Like the character in the story who just cannot be happy because he or she keeps making poor choices, we, too, keep on in our ow...

This morning I woke up with the refrain of a contemporary Christian song running through my mind. The song is by Kristian Stanfill and is called “Even So, Come.” The part that I kept hearing over and over in my mind was this: “ Like a bride waiting for her groom / We'll be a Church ready for You / Every heart longing for our King / We sing / Even so come / Lord Jesus, come.”   As I was getting ready for school today, I started humming this song and thinking about it intently. How much like a bride are we as the Church? Are we really intent on looking for Christ to come? Are we really longing for our King—or do we even recognize Him as being King? Are we playing the game of church, or do we really want Him to be the center of everything we do in this life? I’ve thought a lot this summer about the idea of being a bride because that is the simile the Bible presents to us over and over again. As we wait for the return of Jesus Christ for his Church—His bride—we are to be in a stat...

Sometimes I think I am just rather dense--it takes a while for the known to penetrate my heart through the work of the Spirit. How many times have you read (like I have) Ephesians 6:10-17?  10  Finally,  be strong in the Lord and in  the strength of His might.   11  Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the  schemes of the devil.   12  For our  struggle is not against  [ a ] flesh and blood, but  against the rulers, against the powers, against the  world forces of this  darkness, against the  spiritual  forces  of wickedness in  the heavenly  places .   13  Therefore, take up  the full armor of God, so that you will be able to  resist in  the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.   14  Stand firm therefore,  having girded your loins with truth , and  having   put on the breastplate of righ...

Today, Pastor Derek preached from Luke 7 and spoke about Jesus' interaction with the sinful woman at the home of Simon the Pharisee. Although the story is one I've read many times, today, the thought that kept visiting me was the idea that forgiveness leaves behind a pleasing aroma. Sin is ugly and smelly, but when Jesus washed away the sins of this woman, she was so filled with gratitude that she came and washed Jesus' dirty feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, rained kisses upon them, and anointed His now-clean feet with an expensive and fragrant oil from her alabaster jar. Jesus no longer saw her sin, but her faith, and he told her to go in peace with the pleasing aroma hanging in the air like a punctuation mark demonstrating just how much she had been forgiven and just how thankful she was for that forgiveness. From that point on, God no longer saw (or smelled) this woman's sin, but rather the righteousness imparted to her through the blood of Christ. In...