Feelings.....

(Regarding silly girls)


"They had a feeling,
or a feeling had them,
till another feeling came
and took its place.
When a feeling was there,
they felt as if it would never go;
when it was gone they felt as if it had never been;
when it returned, they felt as if it had never gone."
-George MacDonald


Feelings.













They'll throw me if I don't watch it.
So I will keep watch over them,
by day and by night!


And when they get out of hand...
I will check the culprit...

My thinking.

I really believe what I think
determines how I feel... "as a man
thinketh in his heart, so is he..."
Proverbs 23:7


I hope to keep the following verse
in the forefront of my mind at all times...

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing
that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God,
and bringing into captivity every thought to the
obedience of Christ; 2 Corinthins 10:5


And for another incentinve...

When I was a child,
I spake as a child,
I understood as a child,
I thought as a child:
but when I became a man,
I put away childish things.
1 Cor. 13:11

"Baby" God

TO ALL FRIENDS AND FAMILY...

A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE...

Jesus was born into "my" Humanity for a reason.

(He didn't have to come...but He did.)

Why? Why did He come to be

Emmanuel, i.e.

God with me?













Because...

He was...

Born to Crush Evil within me,

to Deliver me, a Captive,

to Reveal God to me,

to Come Live in Me,

to Give me Life Abundantly,

to Conquer Sin in me,

Born.... to pay the price and

Die,

for me.










All of His earthly, Human/God life
was for my good and your good.

All the way to the gruesome end
and further on to His grand
resurrection finale.













Now that's the spirit, Santa,
...you've got it right.
And I...
will do the same.

Merry ChristMass to all,

truthbyter

DOUBLE EDGED TRUTH

Truth is sharper than
a double-edged sword.









On one side of the blade,
Truth cuts deep,
spills blood,
makes a mess,
creates sorrow...
and really really hurts
like a 10 on the pain scale.
Truth on this side
reveals where deception
has been at work.

On the other side,
Truth has the power
to disengage a soul
from life-long,
crippling,
paralyzing and
agonizing deceptions.
This side of Truth
releases the soul
from bondage and
sets it free.

__________________________


But before I can have this release,
this freedom from deception,
there must be surgery.


And before I can have surgery,
there must be a willingness.














"MUST I have surgery?" I may ask.
(Must I face up to this crippling fault?
Must I submit to the removal of it?)

"YES!" is the Surgeon's
merciful answer.

Am I wanting to disengage
from harmful lifestyles,
engagements, habits,
relationships, etc?

The Merciful, Master Surgeon
must have his patient's consent,
and the patient must be still.
I must let the blade do the work,
and trust Him completely.




"For the word of God is quick, and powerful,
and sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit,
and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart."

Hebrews 4:12

Beatrix Potter's Relief

"Thank goodness I was never sent to school;
it would have rubbed off some of the originality. "

- Beatrix Potter

















Ah, you can survive public school alright -

but at home, you just get to be yourself
without being laughed at or ridiculed.
You can also be yourself and find joy in it!
And if your parents are smart - they will let you
be you and they will help you be your best.
And the "bestest" thing about homeschool?

Reading is Cool.

Big Difference

Cute.


===============














Not so cute.


===============


Evil exists.
Satan exists.
And he hates you,
Specifically.


I must respect evil
for the harm it causes.
I will not ignore it
at my own peril.

Two powers vie for my attention.
One good, and the other evil.
Which will I side with?
Which will I give myself to?
Which will I choose to serve?










There is no middle ground.
There's too much war, too
much misery, too much pain,
to just turn my head and
go about my self-serving ways.

God help me take life seriously.
God help me make my life meaningful
by being part of the answer -
rather than being part of the problem.




"Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil,
as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour ."
1 Peter 5:8



"Ye are of God, little children ...
greater is He that is in you,
than he that is in the world." 1 John 4:4

Deep Calls Unto Deep

Have I found a treasure!

It is hard to express
the effect it had
on me.

It represents all I try to communicate
in these little blogs of mine - little
expressions of inner discoveries
and inner convictions.

Here's the excerpt...

"For myself, I long ago decided that I would
rather know the truth than be happy in
ignorance. If I cannot have both truth and
happiness, give me truth. We'll have a long
time to be happy in heaven." A.W. Tozer

This little bundle of words
represents Truthbyter.

Someday I'll have the pleasure
of shaking the hand of Tozer, who,
unbeknownst to himself, nodded
with approval and understanding
and kindred sympathy towards me.

Thank you, Father.

You, who are Father
of all those who quietly
suffer such inward battles
with sin, with imperfection
and unhappiness, that after
a while, Truth becomes sweeter
even than happiness.











Truth that brings to light
what is of greatest value.

"Ye shall know the truth,
and the truth shall set you free."
John 8:32

Conviction

"If the Spirit of God is responsible
to convict the world of sin,
He must first of all convict us of sin
because we are the ones He indwells-
we are the tools He will use."
-Theodore Epp


This is no easy thing...
to be used to convict.

And it is no easy thing...
to first be convicted.




















And I often am convicted.

And when I am and express my grief...
those closest to me can be the first
to attempt "relieving" my conscience
and being my very own cheerleaders...
cheering me on to better thinking,
for the purpose of better living,
and of a happier disposition.

I do not blame them.
I understand it.

But I do not accept the cheers
nor the reproofs
for the posture I take.

If I take my sin seriously,
God will grant me freedom from it...
even if over time.

It is God's mercy
that He convicts.
Because
sin
hurts
us
all.

"Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts..."
Psalm 51:6

So What if I Worry?

Just a thought...
Just a wonder...
Just a little idea,
maybe not a big deal.

Well... actually... It could be worse
than I think. I mean, it really could be!

As a matter of fact... I don't think it
could be, I think it is! And you know,
it CANT get much worse! I mean...
LOOK at what I have here...
just, just look at it...........!

And this, I have been guilty of
over and over again.











Worry, pity-party, anxiety, fretting...
all of it - it all boils down to one thing...

Atheism.

The Devil's Delight

"The one concern of the devil
is to keep Christians
from praying."
Samuel Chadwick


I will not give him that pleasure.

If I am to help myself,
My self must pray
To its Maker.
















After all, prayer proves
to me that I'm not alone...
and that God is alive
and well,
in me.

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit,
that we are the children of God" Romans 8:16

"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities:
... (and) maketh intercession for us..."
Romans 8:26

Oh My!!!

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...

7...
(oh dear!)

8...
(oh boy!)

9...
(Oh yes!)

10...




Ready or not!

















Here He Comes!

___________________

When the prophesied
day-of-the-flood came,
Noah and his family
were ready.
Genesis 7:11-24


When our prophetic
Day-of-His-Return comes,
My family and I
will be ready.
1 Thess. 5:1-11

" Surely, I come quickly..."
Jesus says in Revelation 22:20
_______________________


For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ: for it is the power of God
unto salvation to every one that
believeth; to the Jew first, and also
to the Greek.

For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith;
as it is written... The Just Shall Live by Faith.

Romans 1:16-17

Flying Alone, Anyone?

Eagles ... fly alone...they are crows,
daws, and starlings that flock together.

--John Webster














Success does have its cost.
Aloneness...
blood,
sweat,
tears and fears...

Though I am no great success,
sometimes I do
feel alone.

And, honestly, each man does
have his moments where he is,
indeed,
alone.

Making decisions...
alone.
Facing regrets...
alone.
Counting the cost...
alone.
Feeling doubts...
alone.
And insecurity...
alone.
Dreadfully wanting...
alone.
In the midst of
intense suffering...
alone.










No one is immune.

Yes, eagles may fly alone...
And success does call
for swimming upstream,
and striving...
alone...

But that is not the end-all.

We are human.
Hard-wired for relationship.

To me, the end-all is
greater compassion for man,
and greater dependency
upon God through all
circumstances.

Actually...
a scooting up closer
and closer
to Him.

I have times
of aloneness...
of sadness...
of insecurity,

and though not always
unscarred, I do come
out o.k.

So, we have a common bond.

I am just like you.

Imperfect.

Struggling.

And it's ok.










"...for i acknowledge my transgressions.." psalm 51:3

About the "You Are His Beloved" Skit

Ever felt like the girl
in the skit on the right...?
(Find the video on the right
panel and see for yourself.)

Ever been tossed to and fro
by the call of the wild?

Giving in and getting zero?

What an accurate video.

I've been there.
I've done it.

And if it weren't for Christ,
I wouldn't be around.











Few know the extent.

But My Savior Knows.
And He has made me His.
I am His Beloved.

And Thanks Giving I am, because

God received me and cleansed me.










"God hath received her..."
Romans 14:3


Copy and Paste this link into your browser bar for a larger view of the skit:

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=ee73e63418003b47d7d5

ONLY KIDS GO TO HEAVEN

That is entirely Biblical.


Here it is:


"And Jesus called a little child unto Him
and set him in the midst of his disciples...

"And said, 'Verily I say unto you, Except ye
be converted, and become as little children,
ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

"Whosoever therefore shall humble himself
as this little child, the same is greatest in
the kingdom of heaven.' " Matt: 18: 2-5

So...

I must make an effort
to remain child-like,
not child-ish,
but child-like,
teachable,
humble,
trusting,
looking...
Wide-eyed...

for His love and
direction in every
possible
way.

_____________________________


The thing I found interesting...
is that in this passage, Jesus was
speaking to His own, as if to say,

"You, my representatives,
are to be childlike.
It was how you came to
Me, now remain humble,
teachable, trusting... one
not mightier than another...
all looking to the Father for all
mercies, empowerments,
and blessings."

We are but children...
beloved children.

Can Unbelief be EVIL?

Isn't it just... a weakness?
A sign of immaturity?
A small thing that you outgrow?

Hebrews 3:12 calls it "an evil heart of unbelief"
and says you are departing from God while
you entertain unbelief.

Unbelief, then, is not just a weakness.
It's not simply ignorance.
Not a slip of the heart.
Not a bad habit.
Not a small thing, by any means, but Evil.
Wicked.

Wow. That's interesting.

How often do I fall into unbelief?

And I don't mean the kind
of unbelief that can't seem to twist
God's arm for a miracle.

If "God hath said"... is all over the Bible,
what is it that pulls me to question it?

God hath said.... Come unto me, and I will give you rest.
And, Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.
And, God is Good...
And, God is Love
And, He who humbles himself will be exalted.
And, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

We want to take "God Hath Said..."
and make it into "Hath God Really Said...?"
Just like the Father of Lies did to Eve.

Many things said by God may not happen overnight...
but you can rest assured they will happen.
And if not overnight, is that reason for me to fall
into unbelief?
Is that reason for me to be despondent?














Is He not the Lover of my Soul?
Is He not my Comforter and Helper?
Is He not my Heavenly Father and my Creator?

Unbelief says, "naaaaah...
...it isn't true for me."

Boiled down, unbelief calls God a liar.

And I have to agree... that makes
unbelief evil and wicked. All that God wants
for us is for our good, because He is good.
He is Love. There is no hint of darkness in Him.











God help me when I don't believe!
I totally confess my unbelief...

Shhhhhhhh.

"If you can't improve the silence...

don't speak."
















I absolutely love this golden nugget.
I've heard it said a thousand times,
by a thousand tongues...

"if you don't have anything good to say,
don't say anything at all."

But what I like about the former quote is
that it speaks very highly of silence.

"If you can't improve the silence...

very simply... be quiet!"

Shhhhhh...

Yes, I yelled at my kids -
for a short while.
Everytime I did,
I remember hating it .
It felt so Wrong.
"Why am I acting like such a fool?
What an awful way to deal with things!"

I knew it was me that was out of control.
Not them.

The yelling came from my
own inward struggle...
they did not need me to yell
at them to get them to listen.

I had inward turmoil.
Turmoil I was not dealing with,
and I took it out on them.

I just thank God it was only
for a short period of time.

_______________________


Thankfully, God is not that way.
He has no inward turmoil.
Turmoil means trouble.
Inward trouble.
Confusion, fear, and doubt.

Now I understand why God whispers.
He does not yell (unless He wants to).
He does not startle you
with that "Lofty Voice".

Now I understand why He wasn't in the
windstorm when He spoke to Elijah
in 1 Kings 19:12,
nor was He in the lightning,
or the fire...

He whispered calmly.
Ever so gently.








And He still does today.
And those who hear Him
are those who have
quieted their souls.
I need to cultivate a quieter soul.

Father God, is it such a wonder
that you would ask me...
To Be Still...
that I might know that you are God
and able to speak to me?
(Psalm 46:10)

What's the Word?

I have noticed my writing is missing a crucial element.
There's transparency. That's good - I hope.
There's imagery and illustration. That's good.
They say I write well. That's good...

however...

Without the presence of God's Word,
my words are but a clanging keyboard.
A rattling cage saying things that won't help
anyone see Truth as God sees it.

I have some work to do.









Maybe go back and
apply Scripture
to all the previous posts...

or better yet,

start fresh and dispense the
Word that can change a life.

God's Word is eternal,
and really,
nothing else
on earth carries
that kind of Clout.

So, I have some work to do.

Here's a good start...


"Though I speak with the tongues of men
(blogging, journaling, chatting, publishing, phoning, IMing, googling, whatever)
and of angels,
(theological, scripturally correct, lofty and weighty, wise and sound)
but have not love,
I have become sounding brass or a
clanging cymbal." 1 Corinthians 13:1


And what is God's Word
but the expression of His Love...
for you and me... in written form.

A miraculous Love Letter.

BEFORE DISCIPLINE

In my previous post, I said...

"One of the first requirements ... in homeschooling...
will be the ability to administer discipline in respect to..."

and I went from there.

Well... though discipline is crucial...
and is one of the requirements...
it's not the primary thing...

The primary thing is that...

Parents have to be unified.
A unit.
At one.
In agreement.

In agreement on goals being aspired to.

In agreement on methods used in achieving those goals.

In agreement on discipline methods
when the hard stuff happens.











If you find yourself
in the above predicament
too often,

Do Not simply tough it out!
DO something!

It won't go away by itself.

Unity is everything.

Otherwise,

Children Suffer.

A DISCIPLINED EDUCATION

Wes Callihan writes:

“This is the heart of a good education:
a small but well-chosen library,
a place to sit and study,
some friends to do it with,
and the time and tranquility to do it in.

Read the best books
and talk to them
with like-minded friends.
That’s been the essence
of real education since antiquity…"














This is the hope and aspiration of
most sincere homeschoolers.
Do all succeed?
Some do,
some don't.

One of the first requirements demanded of parents
in pursuit of a successful homeschool experience
will be the ability to administer discipline in
respect to

1) character building , and

2) setting goals and achieving them .

Aspirations, hopes, desires, intentions,
charts, planners and well layed out rooms and
supplies and curricula are not enough.

Discipline.

There's no way around it.












We Need Him -
In all things -
At all times.

Me for You, You for Me

He became what He was not,
so we could become what we are not...

Exchanging sin for holiness is a bloody mess.
Painful and agonizing.















Jesus says to Mary "look... I make all things new"
-The Passion

It's war.

So... if I would see the value of holiness,
if I would see the benefit of holiness,

I should find myself willing
to make the Great Exchange.

Oh yes, it is a bloody mess...
In the midst of His presence in my life -
there's a battle to be fought.
And He calls me to fight.
To grow up.
To trust.
To love.
Him.



Thus I shall.

If He can bleed...
for me,









I can suffer for Him.

But...

is exchanging sin for
holiness really suffering?

Tell me what you think....
Leave me a comment....


... He who sits on the throne said,
"Behold, I am making all things new "
And He said, "Write, for these words
are faithful and true." Rev. 21:5

FOCUS!

If I want to do anything well,
(anything that is worth doing)

it's going to require FOCUS.












Be it sports, career, religion... name it.
There are so many distractions.

So... what's my goal?

a marathon?
a degree?
a business venture?
debt-free status?
a closer walk with God?

I Better Take Focus...
and not let go!

_____________________________________________

Conversely,

I can see why The Way is narrow.

Being focused assumes narrowing
my options as well as my peripheral
vision for the sake of achieving a
specific goal.







Ask any athlete...they'll tell you
that focus is crucial.

A kind of "distillation" process,
designed to eliminate foreign and
unwanted matter, leading to a pure
and untainted result. Scientists do it
all the time.

Refine.
Break down.
Refine.
Break down some more.
Refine some more.

So I don't understand the big hype
about Christianity being narrow.
It sounds like a compliment to me.
A very logical and desirable quality.
Eliminating distractions and
focusing on God's Will for my life...












You can't hit the target
with a wide and careless vision...

Holy Books

"A donkey with a load of holy books
is still a donkey." -unknown

Yes, I have a load of holy books.
You can see half of them in my video
there on the right under "Come and Visit"...

So - the question for me is...
am I a donkey...
just dragging the books along
from house to house?

Or am I reading, meditating and
fleshing them out in my life?

A Donkey - all up in the air about
all the holy books I own?
(or how long I've been a Christian,
or how well I can quote scripture,
or how much Bible Education I've had,
or how I'm related to the Pastor's family,
or how how long I've been at "this church",
or "who" I know in our Christian Body...
or "fill in the blank" etc.)


or Am I A Wise Woman? Quietly seeking
to become God's Woman...

DeVine Beauty

by Jocelyne Sade

Lord, I'm worried and troubled
about way too many things.

But You say only one thing is needful.
Just one.
Sitting at Your Feet.
Like Mary did.
Listening and receiving.

You are the True vine,
Full of grace and truth.

Blessed am I, unto whom the lord
does not count iniquity and,
well, in whose spirit there is
less and less... Guile.
Deceit.
Trickery.
Playacting.
Charading.
Pretending.
Performing.
Falsities.
Faking it and
LIES.

I'm learning the lessons of being purified.
Purified of pharisaism.
Purified of playacting.
Of performing.
Of being a liar.

Oh Jocelyne,

Let the effects of the True Vine
be felt through your veins.
Let Him impart to you
the Divine Vision
Of that which He
foresaw
for you.

Be no more divided.
Be evermore divined.

Beauty - true and attractive -
comes from the Divine
comes from DeVine

Draw from the Vine
Drink deep from the Vine
And be satisfied for
Therein lies your true self.

Waiting on You

Waiting, waiting, waiting...
Waiting on everything and everyone.
Seems like we all do an awful lot of waiting.








Our Heavenly Father waits too.


He waits on me...
He waits on you...

Oh, I don't mean like a
waiter waits... but, you know,
just waiting. Like we do.
He says...

"When will she call?
When will he come?
Ah, there she is!!!
... but... no...
she got busy, changed her mind.
Oh, but look!
what is he doing?
Ah, no... not yet..."

"I shall wait."


"Why shall I wait?"











"Because I love you."

Greedy Thrift

"Many Christians dread the
thought of leaving this world,
because so many have stored up
their treasures on earth,
and not in heaven." -Randy Alcorn


Would it be safe to say all I have,
I have received?
I think so.


I came into this world with nothing but a cry...
Everything I have has been given to me.
But right now, I'm feeling the weight
of everything I own like it was on my own back.
And it's getting tiresome.


I've decided I will begin to
lighten the load.

No, we don't make a lot of money,
and it's not that I've spent thousands,
but I have shopped thrift
until thrift has become greed...










so I vow to turn that around.
And to become really really rich
In the things that matter!

So help me God!