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."