Have you ever heard a sermon or teaching and immediately felt annoyed, or maybe like this was definitely NOT a message for you? I have. Now, there have been times, when the message was just downright nutty. However, that is rare. Most of the time (especially since I am VERY careful whom I allow to speak into my life), it is right on the money. Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of a humble spirit with the meek and poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. - Proverbs 16:18-19 (amplified) Pride is destructive to the person who holds the pride. Pride prevents us from hearing God's Truth and learning what He wants us to learn. Pride is a terrible disease of the heart that many of us have and are too prideful to even see it! LOL! What exactly is pride? Note: I am only focusing on the selfish side of pride for this study. Taking pride in your work and how you maintain your home are not what I am talking about here. We are only … [Read more...]
Stuck On Stuck
Contemporary Christian singer, Michael W. Smith, has a beautiful new album out called, Wonder. In a poignant song entitled, “One More Time”, a particular verse hung in the air for me as I listened. “Forget what lies behind you, Heaven walks beside you.” And to take it further on my own if I may, “Heaven walks beside you…and paves the way before you.” How liberating would it be for us, in the midst of suffering, to begin and end each day believing and feeling Christ’s Heavenly presence walking right beside us? Would that be enough to keep us centered in the present moment, and enable our hearts to leave behind painful memories of our past and see hope on the horizon? How I wish all of us as married couples facing challenges, despair, resentments, hurt and fear would allow God’s Grace to shower us as Heaven walks beside us. So many relationships begin a slow fade, fall into a tailspin and ultimately stall where the rubber meets the road. A husband and wife become stuck on … [Read more...]
Just Love
Several years back I enjoyed a wonderful conversation over tea with my husband’s grandmother about her life’s experiences. The wisdom shared by this kind and gentle woman of purity, grace and impeccable character was genuine and sincere. One piece of advice took root immediately in my heart when Grandma Clarice shared with me her memory of the wonderful fifty-five years of marriage she had experienced with her adoring husband. When I asked her to explain to me how and why her marriage withstood the test of time and overflowed with contentment, her answer was simple and profound as she said, “just love.” Over the years I have pondered her statement many times and shared her advice with several friends along the way. Coming from her lips this virtue sounded so easy, but I guess that’s what happens when maturity and experience do the talking. In my still emerging walk towards humility, growth and understanding in my marriage, those two simple words don’t always seem possible. When … [Read more...]
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