From My Heart

Isaiah 43:25 "“I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again." NLT Some days there is a song that just touches my heart as much as a scripture verse... I was surfing through some "You Tube" videos and came upon a Gaither video of "It Is Well With My Soul". Of course, this is an old hymn and I've probably heard it and sung it hundreds of times, but tonight there was a verse that just reached out and grabbed  my attention in a new way. "My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole, Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul! It is well..."  (Horatio Spafford) How often I forget the magnitude of what the Lord Jesus did for me on His cross! When I think about my sins being forgiven, is it bliss? A GLORIOUS thought? And not just one or two of my sins...not just part...the whole thing! All of it! Gone! I bear ...

Psalm 63:1-4, 7 "O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory. Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands....Because You are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings." The caption under Psalm 63 in my Bible reads "A psalm of David. When he was in the desert in Judah". You might wonder why David was in the desert - by this time he was King David. Why hang out in the desert? Turns out, he was running for his life and not from just anyone, but from his own son. Absalom had gathered himself an army and decided he was going to overthrow his father. Talk about a desert. David wasn't just wandering physically, he was wandering emotionally and spiritually. This must have been one of the driest, most devastating times of David...

Matthew 23:36-39 "Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Murderer of prophets! Killer of the ones who brought you God's news! How often I've ached to embrace your children , the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you wouldn't let me..." (The MSG) I am such a nerd. One of my new favorite websites is the Eagle Cam from the Norfolk Botanical Gardens in Virginia. This is a live streaming video of a bald eagle's nest that currently has three two-week old chicks in it. I could watch it for hours. Eagles mate for life and both parents care for the babies. This afternoon while I was watching the mother eagle brought a fish back to the nest and gently tore bits of meat and placed it in the mouth of her babies. Then as the afternoon moved into dusk, she pushed the fish aside and began to position herself over the chicks. She has a special arrangement of feathers on her chest that close around the chicks, then she slightly lowers her wings so that her sides are covered. ...

Acts 16:22-25  "The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown in to prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the other prisoners were listening to them." What is worship to you? Where do you worship? At our church the auditorium is called the "worship center" - is it? What do you do to prepare yourself for worship? How do your circumstances affect your desire or ability to worship? Consider - Have you ever said or heard someone say this about a worship service: The building was too hot/cold. We don't sing enough hymns/praise and worship songs. The service is too traditional/too contemporary. Preacher too loud/not loud enough. Someone got my sea...

Deuteronomy 22:21  "You must purge the evil from among you." I never really thought I would enjoy reading through the book of Deuteronomy. Truthfully, I can't say it will go down as one of my favorites, but I have found some wonderful verses as I have been reading through Moses' last book of law to the Israelites. For example, Deut. 11:25 promised divine protection to those who were obedient by literally promising that he would put fear and terror into the hearts of those they encountered. Kind of lends new meaning to the phrase "putting the fear of God" into someone. As I read through, I have begun to notice a phrase repeated over and over. "You must purge the evil from among you." Over and over, God instructed the Israelites to rid themselves of murderers, idolators, adulterers, drunkards, and other violators of the law. Some were cast out and some were killed - ALL were to be separated from the rest of the nation. No tolerance here. No pol...

(Today's comments are not original to me. I have a couple of devotional books by a woman named Ann Spangler that I love. The comments today come out of "Praying the Names of Jesus".) What does it mean to say that God is with us? Surely it doesn't mean our lives will be easy. It doesn't mean we will be insulated from failure or doubt or that God will take our side in every argument. (Here I would also add insulated from tragedy) But it does mean we will never face even a single struggle alone. It means the Lord will never withhold the help we need to do His will. It means that ultimately we will come out on top even if we feel like we're living most of our life on the bottom. What difficulties are you facing? Chronic illness? Troubled children? A broken marriage? Financial hardship? Take a moment today to stop imagining yourself surrounded by your difficulties and instead begin to envision yourself as you really are - surrounded by the presence of your fait...

Romans 8:34 "Christ Jesus, who died - more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." Revelation 5:8 "...And when He had taken it [the scroll], the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." The Offering The fire is lit - Smoke is rising Fragrance fills the air. Jesus whispers - The Father's smiling, He is pleased with my prayer. The Spirit leads - As I worship, Sweet aroma fills the room. Lifting hands - My focus upward, Praising Him dispels the gloom! Lord, I know I am not worthy Before Your holy throne to come. But Jesus died - My sins atoning, Forever death He freed me from. Now, because He sits beside You, The Eternal, Sacrificial Fire, I can offer praise as incense The fragrance lifting ever higher. Thank You, Father, that You love me. You gave the fina...

Genesis1:26-27 "Then God said 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness'....So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." John 15:9-12 "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's  commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: LOVE EACH OTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU." What does it mean to you that you are created in the image of God? Do you think of it as a physical likeness or a spiritual one? Have you ever stopped to consider how you are God's image to those around you? I have a sweet friend that came to me this week very burdened about a major life change she is facing. I could have remained across from her, handed her a tissue and told her it would all work out. This time I di...

John 14:6 "Jesus said, I am THE way, THE truth, and THE life. NO ONE comes to the Father except through me."      Today, I feel a bit of a soapbox coming on...Yesterday I talked about measuring the truth against God's Word. So if John 14:6 is THE truth, how does that affect my life?      Yesterday as I was working on my Sunday School lesson, I came across an interesting question in the material: "List substitutes for grace that you have observed in society." Hmmm...good one. I had to think for a few minutes. I thought of the "sexual revolution" of the 60s and 70s, the increased permissiveness in our society, a few related commercial jingles came to mind. Then it dawned on me...in our culture we have substituted tolerance for grace.      What do you think of when you think of a gracious person? Dictionary.com defines them as "pleasant, kind, courteous, merciful and compassionate, indulgent, beneficent in a...

Psalm 25:4-5 "Show me Your ways, O Lord, teach me You paths; guide me in Your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior and my hope is in You all day long."      How do we know the truth? All day long we are bombarded with billboards, commercials, TV shows, magazine ads, political statements, etc. and they all want us to believe that they have the truth. Ford would like you to believe that they have a better idea....than what? Loreal wants you to believe that you should use their cosmetics because you're worth it...a box of haircolor from the drugstore is all I'm worth? Kay Jewelers wants you to believe that every kiss begins with them...Really???      So how DO we wade through all of the hype and get to the REAL truth? How about this one: "If you hold to my teachings and you are really my disciples, THEN you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."  John 8:32      The truth is...God had the best i...

1 Corinthians 15:10  "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect." (Acts 9:1 - 19)      I have studied the life of Paul at various time over the years, but recently was awed anew by the magnitude of his conversion. I began to see for the first time how God had moved in Paul's life from his very birth, not just from the time of the Damascus Road experience.      Paul, himself, notes that he was chosen at birth for his mission and ministry. Even though his persecution of Christians was persecution of Christ Himself, God chose to save him rather than destroy him. God used his deplorable life and actions as a powerful example to us of what grace and mercy can do.      God saw him as he trained at the feet of Gamaliel. He watched as he persecuted His followers. God was with Paul on the Damascus Road - He even stopped to chat. If ever there was one who could sing "I once was blind...

Isaiah 49: 6  "See I have engraved you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me." I have been a nurse now for almost 30 years. One thing I know - nurses are nothing if not resourceful. Anyone who has been in the nursing profession for any length of time has, at one time or another written themselves a note on their hand. It may be a patient's vital signs, a note from a doctor to transcribe later, or just a reminder of something that needs to be done. Whatever it is, it is there so that something will be remembered. Sooner or later, the task will be completed and the note will be scrubbed off. Out of sight - Out of mind. God, on the other hand (no pun intended), has not only written my name on His hand - He has ENGRAVED it there. He has chiseled Himself a constant, permanent reminder of ME into one of the tenderest parts of the body - the palm of the hand. Questions Arise: How big must God's hands be that they hold the names of all of those He loves...

Acts 16:22-25 "The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God..." Paul and Silas weren't having such a great day...but some days things happen that put everything in perspective...      Monday, February 28 was not such a great day. It was a stressful day at work. We have new employees training, billing issues, staff shortages, and attitudes. I work in an office full of women that is often long on hormones and short on fuses! (And I love them all!)      In the midst of the chaos at work, my daughter calls. She needs a fax...now...I have to help her. I don't really have time to deal with t...