Meditation of My Heart

I would invite you to read James 2:14-26 before reading my post. What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but he has no works can that faith save him? James 2:14 Strong's defines the word faith as conviction respecting man's relationship to God and divine things with the idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it. 1828 dictionary describes fervour as earnestness in the duties of religion. It describes earnestness as zeal. Faith is zeal over the things of God. Save means to keep safe from Messianic judgment. Hell. I believe James is addressing the same problem we have today.  "Can your faith save you?"Is faith alone enough?  Does asking Jesus into your heart mark spiritual rebirth? Now I can already hear the cries of salvation is by grace alone. Please read the whole post. I am not arguing against that. Salvation is always by grace and not works. James asks a few rhetorical questions throughout the book. In verse James 3:1...

Adolescence is described as a period or stage of development preceding maturity. Recently I heard statistics that point to the fact that adolescence is not ending at 18, 19 or 20. We have begun to see adolescence clear into the 30s. This idea was foreign a few generations ago. Teenage years were a time of apprenticeship and beginning of responsibility.  Girls were married at 14,15 or 16 and society thought nothing of it. Why? Their period of development preceding maturity was a child. They expected more of them by the time they became teens.  Maturity is not a black and white moment defined by reaching a certain age. Maturity is the achieving a certain level of character that defines you as trustworthy. Maturity is having self-control. Self-control to do what you need to and refrain from those things you don't.  I have noticed a lack in teaching children to be mature. The Bible says even a child is known by their doings. I fear that we are going to s...

 I experienced a painful breaking of a friendship in my life. I have been reading through a True Woman Movement book which points out that all trials in our life are chosen for us by God. I had been learning to accept this season in my life as a gift from God. This weekend at True Woman Conference was an incredible working of God stripping things from my life. So painful and so beautiful at the same time. Through the sovereignty of God, I went alone to this conference. I couldn't even find anyone I knew. I had left phone numbers at home to be able to even contact them. God isolated me. A speaker asked us to pray with those around us about things when needed to surrender to God. Those around me gathered with people they came with. In that instance, I felt utterly isolated and alone. God revealed that I desired friendship with people more than friendship with Him. I felt extremely lonely. I began to surrender with the crying out in my heart that I will give this up, but...

I am beginning to think any sermon by a leader I admire named "Brokenness" if definitely worth listening to. This is the first of the message. Worth listening to the whole message. May I be broken before God!

When we moved to East Texas from the crowded city life, there were many strange differences. Things that are just normal to small town folks that they don't even notice them. However, come from a big city and it seems weird.  It was strange to see a hog running along the side of a highway. Nice little differences like not having to plan a whole day around getting your car registered. I actually had to double check that I was at the right building when I saw there was no one in line. Here in East Texas it is tradition that if a funeral procession is on the way from the funeral home to the grave sight that every car on both sides of the road will stop until they pass. I wish I could say someone had warned me of this tradition as I was toodling down the road with my children and had a woman from the funeral procession let me know in unrepeatable words how unhappy she was with me. The awkward embarrasment of knowing I had done something wrong, as well as the stares from the cars alon...

I have skipped a couple chapters and might post about them later. This has been a hard "assignment" for me. How do I respond in any adequate fashion to such eloquently written chapters? Now to sum up this chapter. Do I just say Sovereignty of God?  Yet the Sovereignty of God is so completely overwhelming where do we even start to comprehend that. Yet even a minuscule tidbit can so drastically throw my life in a spin that changes me forever. What is a true woman? One that trusts so completely that God is in such control, that He CHOSE every difficult situation we are in to HIS glory in us. I can rest in my struggles because He wants me to go through them. That is so reassuring, that is the basis of my hope and my joy. It is what allows me to hum praises in the hardest of days. Praying that I learn to live God-centered because in realty God is the center of all things. Isn't that the essence of sovereignty?  If I truly grasp this, my life will reflect it. It will chan...

We started Truthquest History this year and are thoroughly enjoying it. I love supplementing with hands on and movies when possible. We read the "true" stories and find it fun to find the discrepancies in the fiction and sometimes liberally influenced movies. Surprisingly we have found some really good historically Christian based movies as well. This is a good supplement to any history you are doing. Movies are sometimes very hard to classify into specific time periods because they don't write down the exact times on most descriptions. I am trying to figure out the best way to classify these. However, I have found while studying history if we are in the general area it doesn't seem to matter. I have listed dates as closed as I could. If the movie is about someone, I have listed the years they have lived. Depending if the movie is a life story or just a part of their life will determine the years it covers. TQ - Truthquest Recommended    FFF Feature Films for Fam...