HEART MATTERS

“Do not let your adornment be merely outward-arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel-rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” 1st Peter 3:3-4

Lately I’ve been thinking about how much has changed since I was growing up as a young girl/woman.  The challenges young women face today are much more difficult than our challenges just 30 or so years ago.  For certain, there are some struggles that have always been the same.  We women have always wrestled in one way or another with coming to a place of self acceptance and self love.  I believe The Lord created us to be both cherished and adored.  However when this fails to happen or something interrupts and distorts it, we’re left struggling to believe we’re deserving of it or always fighting to attain it. This life, flawed by sin, has a way with leaving of leaving us wanting  or with a warped sense of who we really are.  The deficiencies of life: abandonment, abuse, and rejection have critically affected the ability of some young women to believe they are in fact adorable. The sinful choices of others: absentee father’s, verbally abusive mothers, favoritism,(and the most vilest of all)-sexual molestation, have greatly disabled and blinded many others.   The darkness they’ve experienced has caused them to retreat into a damp and dirty cave of disbelief.  Many women today struggle to believe they could ever be considered lovable by another.  Even those who’ve had the good fortune not to have experienced any of the ugliness noted above are still forced to process a plethora of information from a media that’s determined to both define and degrade a women’s self-worth.

As I look at the bombardment of lies young women are facing today such as the promotion of body shaming, immodesty, and promiscuity, I desire to share the truth.  I want the next generation of women to know The Truth.  More than anyone, women of God need to encourage other young women to see themselves  the way The LORD sees us.  In this day and age we really need to be reminded of what true beauty is and just how precious we all are in the sight of the Lord!

Continue reading Daughters of Sarah →

Heart Matters

“He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?”  Micah 6:8

I used to pride myself on being a fairly “principled” person. Google defines a principled person as someone “acting in accordance with morality and showing recognition of right and wrong.”  A principled person can be described as a person of integrity, upright, virtuous, honorable, and incorruptible.  They possess a serious bend towards justice and a strong regard for what’s ethical and respectable.  Others admire those who are principled because they are responsible, respectable, and reliable.  What’s not to like about this kind of person?

My sentiments exactly! I definitely embraced this strong character trait I thought I was so blessed to possess.  Being a principled person meshed well with my analytical, logical, and dogmatic personality.  I was proud of the fact that I had the wherewithal to relinquish incredible opportunities and forgo immediate gratification when it came to “the principle of the matter.”   My husband once told me one of the things he admires most about me was when I took a stand on something no one and nothing could move me from it.  Lovely right?! When it came down to it, I almost always took the high road-the one that said principle first and foremost-no matter what else was at stake.  However, the problem is that we don’t live in a clear cut world.  There are many factors to every situation and every circumstance.  As such, there’s no way for a person, even the most respectable principled of persons, to know when standing on principle is the right thing to do or when there’s something even greater at stake.  Principled people are normally looking at the situation from an limited and temporal view.  God wants us to look to Him so that we can see things clearly-with an eternal view.  God wants His children to understand that His purpose is always more important than our principle.

Continue reading Purpose Over Principle →

Heart Matters

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus said to him, “”You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”  Matthew 22:36-40

As a mathematically challenged person I remember how nervous I was about having to take geometry as a high school sophomore all those many years ago.  I’d heard geometry was unlike any other class and even different from the previous math classes I’d taken so I felt both intimidated and nervous about it.   You’d thought I received an A in the class when I received a C as my final grade!  I’d passed and that was more than enough for me! Today I’m still too ignorant of the subject to accurately explain exactly what geometry is (and thank God I never had to utilize it in my field of work)!  I know it has to do with the study of shapes, lines, patterns and  sizes-their properties and how they relate positionally to each other.  I also understand geometry has been and continues to be an integral part of our daily lives as we build, invent, arrange, and design.  Its concepts are utilized everyday by architects, engineers, physicist, designers and builders.

I’m thinking geometry is also evident in creation.  Did you know the Lord strategically placed the earth at just the right distance from the sun and the moon?  I read somewhere that if we were any closer the earth the heat would be unbearable.  And if we were any further away it would be too cold to exist.  We can see geometry in nature when we stop to gaze at the spider’s intricate web or watch a bird patiently design and build its sturdy nest. Both sun and moon affects the ocean’s tide! Have you thought about the fact that every single planet is perfectly round? God created geometry! Have you ever tried to draw a circle free hand-without a compass? How well did that work out for you?  If you’re anything like me, your circle would be either crooked, warped, or both.  But not so for our Lord-HE created everything perfectly good and in order!

Although I’m still not a fan of mathematical geometry I like the order of God’s universe. I believe there’s a positional principle evident in our relationships as well.  I’m convinced that our vertical relationship with God has a direct bearing on our horizontal relationships with others.  A continuous close relationship with the Lord is crucial if we’re to be successful in our horizontal relationship with others.  When we are rightly relating to our God we are more equipped to rightly relate to others. When we have an ongoing, growing, intimate relationship with our Lord we can be victorious in our relationship with others- no matter how challenging and difficult some of them may be.

Continue reading The Vertical Affects The Horizontal →

HEART MATTERS

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.  When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.  For I Am the LORD you God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”  Isaiah 43: 1b-3a

During our lifetime we each experience our fair share of tests, trials, and tribulations.  Life has a way of surprising us and it’s not always good.  Through the unexpected and unwanted challenges of life we often find ourselves sinking-everyday fighting just to keep our heads above water.  As we strive and struggle we lose sight of Whose we are.  We forget that we serve the Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient GOD!  Nothing suprises Him and nothing ever catches Him off guard.  In the most chaotic times of our lives the Sovereign Lord is in complete control.  As we feel battered and beaten by the torrenturous storms of life, the Lord who walks on the water is ready to save!

My pastor once said life is comprised of a series of mountain top and valley experiences. Like a roller coaster life fluctuates with its shares of ups and downs.  We all have our good times and bad.  Have you ever heard a pastor say “you’re either in the midst of a trial or headed towards one?” Grrrr-I never like hearing it!  Even a realist like me thinks that’s a bit of a negative statement.  But I understand where they’re coming from. Life is unpredictable, unstable, and unsettlingly at times.

Most people love a good roller coaster ride.  The higher the climb the more exhillarating the drop!  As we fly across the rails at amazing speeds the ride and all of its wonder is over before we know it.  With life-not so much.  While the roller coaster ride accurately illustrates the general pattern of life, it falls short when it comes to the details and duration of the problems of life.  Unfortunately our time spent in the valley usually lasts much longer than we’d like.  In fact, many times our valley experience feels like more than we can bear.  Therefore we spend most of our time in the valley struggling to get out.  We turn down every road we cross hoping that this will be the one that leads us out.  We attempt to make the vertical climb straight up the mountain that surrounds us without any assistance or support.  When we’ve exhausted all of our strength we find a spot to collapse resigned to barely surviving as we decide to accept our fate and cope with the consequences.

Whether we decide to struggle with all our might or merely to survive in the valley, either way we miss out on the most important reason we’ve been sent there.  Both approaches can cause us to miss out on a special encounter, an intimate journey, and a divine deliverance with our Savior!

Continue reading Victory In The Valley! →