Wake up my Heart!

Scripture of the Day: John 17:17 ...Your word is truth I think I have mentioned this before, but to reiterate - I spent most of my life not believing that Truth existed. In fact, my favorite Sociology professor in college used to tell us that there was no "truth" with a capital T. My how things have changed! I feel like God is hitting me over the head with this verse (which actually is my 3.5 year olds memory verse of the week). This past weekend I was lucky enough to attend a Beth Moore conference and what I most took out of it is that the Word is important. And in order for that word to really impact you, you have to believe that it is True! The Bible tells us that there is indeed Truth. The word of God is truth. What he says, he means. What he promises, he fulfills. What he makes a covenant to do, will be done. The Word also applies to us. What he tells us we should do...we should do! This "doing" goes across many levels - it tells us how we should act, ho...

Scripture of the Day: 1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us The other day as I was making dinner, my little man told me that God put love in my heart. It was out of the blue and just about the sweetest words I have ever heard! He was at the table and it made me cry over at the counter :). The words were particularly needed because I was having a rough emotional day and love toward everyone was NOT what I was feeling. A 3 year old changed my perspective (note - this happens frequently because out of the mouths of babes come some words that convict!!). He was right. God put love in my heart. And the reason that he did this is because he loves us. And thus we love. There is a Sunday School song with the lyrics: Oh, how I love Jesus Oh, how I love Jesus Oh, how I love Jesus  because he first loved me. Friends, God put love in your heart. He didn't put it there so you would revel in it and be happy and content in your own little bubble. He put it there so you co...

Scripture of the Day: Colossians 3:12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Oh goodness, isn't that great advice?! As a mother of a young child, how I wish I could "clothe" myself with the characteristics in the verse above! Sadly, patience is often hard to come by and even kindness and gentleness are hard to come at some moments! God desires we have these qualities, not only as parents, but because we are His children. Rather than going about our day, instilling qualities that the world may desire we have (greed, ego-centrism, and even a little bit of impatience to name a few) - we are to be prepared every day to go out and be the face of Christ. That face is always kind, and is capable of having "tenderhearted mercy" for the people we meet. I love the qualifier on the mercy, because I think mercy is good enough on it's own, but when you ...

Scripture of the Day: Nehemiah 8:10b Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. (note: the word "strength" used in Hebrew means "refuge, stronghold, fortress, place of protection") Joy is a tough one for me to figure out sometimes. This past weeks bible study has made me focus on the topic and Kelly Minter sums my problem out for me quite nicely, "Obtaining joy felt much like trying to catch a butterfly with a torn net-- I could never quite get at it. The problem was not so much the net but that I was chasing the wrong butterfly. I ran around grasping and striving for pleasure and happiness while joy just perched there quietly on my shoulder as if to say, 'Hey...I'm right here.'" What butterflies do you chase trying to find joy? Several things could be added to pleasure and happiness...we chase after the love of our lives, having children, "enough" money, quality time, material goods, being the "right" ki...

Scripture of the Day: 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 21  Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm  in Christ. He anointed  us,   22  set his seal  of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Sometimes the Bible is my "comfort food" if you will. The verse above is a fantastic example of that! When I read that it is God who makes us stand firm in Christ - that we belong to him - and and that the Holy Spirit is like a deposit in my heart, I feel great. I feel safe, content, peaceful and even like a weight has been lifted.  So, what is this deposit? I am no biblical scholar but I think it could be several things. Because the Holy Spirit is of God, that deposit could be the tiny awareness in you that heaven exists. It could be why we are hopeful (certain even) that when we die, we get to see Jesus face to face. The deposit could be the gifts of the Spirit ( love,  joy, peace,  forbearance...

Scripture of the Day: Isaiah 1:17 (from The Message) Learn to do good.  Work for justice.  Help the down-and-out.  Stand up for the homeless.  Go to bat for the defenseless. Oh man. I read that verses in a half-sleep stupor the other morning and felt like I was hit by a bus! (If you really want to see more, look at the verses preceding this one...God was definitely trying to get our attention!)  How are you with faith-in-action? I confess I am not really there! The most "action" I  see in my faith life is writing this blog, going to church and going to a weekly prayer service. I don't do much for justice. I don't stand up for the homeless. I don't speak up much for the defenseless (unless that defenseless person is my son and he is being mistreated at a play ground by an unruly child - then mama bear comes out to roar!). As a whole I go through my life blissfully ignorant of what is going on in the world around me...and that is NOT how God intended it...

Scripture of the Day: Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. I wonder how many times I have written on that verse! And I shall predict it will not be the last. Unfortunately...or fortunately, depending on how you look at it! I have posted before about how important prayer is and how I so want it to be a main focus of my life. At one point I was determined to do a prayer journal (big fail). But prayer is again sneaking up on me and maybe this time it will stick! I will say that I pray much more frequently than I have ever done before and about more things and people...but my prayer is largely focused on supplication. I spend most of my prayer time asking God for things and that is about it. Have you heard of praying by A.C.T.S? I have heard it many times but the acronym always leaves my mind. I think through the latest book I am reading, it is ingrained! ACTS is praying in...

Scripture of the Day: Ephesians 5:33 However, each one of you also must love his wife  as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Love and respect. We have all heard about these topics before. From a biblical perspective, we are taught that in a marriage relationship the woman needs love to feel loved and the man needs to be respected to feel loved. I have seen this play out in my marriage at times, but it has never seemed so apparent to me as when I look at the different triggers we have when it comes to dealing with our son. Confused? Here is my tie-in!  The characteristics I try to instill in my son the most involve love. When he is unkind (i.e. won't do something as simple as pick up something when someone's hands are full, or refuses to give someone a hug good-bye), it makes me crazy! I call him out on it, and ensure that he apologizes or corrects the behavior. What amuses me here is that my hubby, although he may get hurt feelings, will let the beh...

Scripture of the Day: Nehemiah 1:5-6a “ Lord , the God of heaven, the great and awesome God,  who keeps his covenant of love  with those who love him and keep his commandments,   6  let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear  the prayer  your servant is praying before you day and night..." It is powerful to pray Scripture. The Word is God breathed and when you breathe those words back to God, it means something! Please note I am NOT saying God doesn't hear you when you pray your own words. I am not very good at praying Scripture (except the Our Father because that is ingrained in me), because I am not very good at memorizing verses. I am at a point though, where I would like to try! I figure if my 3.5 year old son can memorize a verse a week, I should be able to as well. :)  Would you like to join me? If you choose to do this, let me know - I will help hold you accountable to memorize a verse a week, and you can do the same for me! ...