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!

Intimate Choice

My friend,

Will your desire for genuine intimacy,
Lead you to false intimacy?

There are two intimacies.
Both move us.

One is holy. The other is evil.


Be full of care.









We do have an enemy.

Which Trinity Will We Embrace?

I am working hard to
never minimize what the flesh,
the world, and the Devil can do...











Spiderman, struggling in black...



Their plan is to keep me as distracted
from my Father, as involved with sin, and
as careless about it all as possible.
They want my company now and into
eternity, where they will keep me close.


Which trinity will I embrace?

The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit?
or...
The world, the flesh and the devil...
Which trinity will I choose to be intimate with?

They're not opposites.
They are simply enemies.

I cannot belong to two opposing armies.
And when I try, I go insane.
Both will want to destroy me.

I'll choose the Trinity that Loves me.








There is no detached looking-on.
I am either in one camp or the other.
I am either embracing the Hell-bent trinity,
Or the Heavenly Trinity.
I even hate to set them side by side,
So far are they truly apart from each other.

But no, while on earth... they will be side by side.
So close it makes my hair stand on end.

Adam and Eve's choice
is still set before me today.
Choice is God's divine appointment.
With me.

Life is Holy

"We serve Life not because it is broken,

but because it is Holy. "

-Mother Teresa















Holy: Belonging to God.
Holy: God's idea.

So. Even though this is the way it seems
much of the time, Life is not all about
brokenness. There is a coming out.
A pushing through all the pains
that surround you,
or that pound you.
And there's a pushing into Holiness.
Making Life worth living.

Is that promising, or what!

Sometimes I feel like I'm having a baby again.
I'm pregnant with what is yet to come.
That My Father has a plan, yet to be
lived out by me.

I feel the pains.
They come and go.
Lately, they come more than go.

But the thought that a baby is coming!
Oh my... Life!
Holy Life!
I can almost feel it in my arms...






______________________________________

Still Wogging...

Who's Education?

“I never let schooling get in the way
of my education.” –Mark Twain




What I like are these two words...

"my education"


Mark Twain doesn't say...
the education my
teachers are trying to give me

or... the education my
parents are trying to give me

or... the education my
government is trying to give me

He says... MY education.

OK Rory... that's how it is...

We'll provide the paper,
the desk, the love, the pencils,
the quiet, the trashcan,
the light, the eraser, the time,
the maps, the support,
the dictionaries, the
encyclopedias, the peace,
and the fresh air,

oh, and the books.
The many many books...

then you can fly.....

OK?

















Love you...
mom and dad.

Turning on The Mind

"When the mind is turned on
to real learning,
the mind is open,
a love for learning is ignited,

and the student cannot help but
become a great thinker and leader.

Our duty as parents is to keep it
as simple as possible for the child
so as not to overburden them
yet provide them with enough to keep them
progressing forward in their pursuits."

-Donna Vail





















YOU CAN DO IT, SWEETIE!

The Hard Way

It's a battle.
It's a struggle.
It's a fight.
It hurts.
And I often wonder... is it worth it?

But how could I ask such a thing...
When God has dredged me out of the muddy swamp,









cleaned me up, and set me on A Rock?













How could I ask such a thing...
When He, through His own incomprehensible suffering
Made Eternal Life With Him possible for me?

When even Heaven's angels gape at what I have,
Wondering how it can all be possible?

When I have been selected and set apart
For incredible opportunity
Being a vessel of the One Holy God who says
He Is Love?

He is Love.
A Love that has bled for me.
A Love that has suffered torture and humiliation,
Abandonment to a long and Lonely death
And a Hellish time with none to rescue?

But the Way He leads hurts
As I read recently, Messy-Love it Is
I might add, a rather bloody Way as well.
And at times I want to retreat
Because I don't always feel that Love
I just feel the Mess.

And I get lonely.
And preoccupied with self.







And what I suffer.
And didn't get in life.
And am still not getting.








I have a lot to learn
about the Love of God.
About resting in Him.
About trusting Him.

Dear Heavenly Father...
Let me In to You.
I want to get closer,
need to get closer.
I'm knocking...
timid, tired,
but knocking.







_________________________________________


WOGing continues...

Weak? Wounded? What else is new?

"Give yourself fully to God.
He will use you to accomplish
great things on the condition
that you believe much more
in His love than in your own
weakness."

- Mother Teresa









So, I should leave my weaknesses alone
- after handing them over to God, that is.

Like, my weaknesses and my wounds
are not even my own to manage!

I strongly believe that to the degree
I allow God to work through me,

to that degree I will find healing for
those wounds upon which I've wasted
so much effort in trying to be rid of...

or to that degree I will find strength for
those weaknesses I've wasted so much
futile effort in trying to overcome.

Kinda like -
overcoming evil with good.

Without getting stuck
in the evil.

Just like Jesus said to do.

A DAILY WOG

"Let us resolve at once
that it will be the one
characteristic
of our life and worship,
a continual,
a humble,
a truthful,
Waiting On God."

-Andrew Murray