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Showing posts with the label repentance

Pretty Heart

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  Parker McCollum made a pretty song (with requisite country twang) in Pretty Heart . The last time I heard it, I was getting my hair cut. I have heard it many times, and every time, I think of a particular man and a particular woman, and the things that man should say to that woman. I wished many times he would have turned around, repented of breaking her pretty heart so many ways for so many years, and put their lives back together. I prayed that literally thousands of times. No, that man is not me, though I wish he was because that woman would say yes in an instant if she heard the right words from the right man. I have the words, and he is the man. We just have to put those things together. If I could, I would tear my heart from my chest and replace that man's heart. I would take the words that exist in my mind and put them in his. I would sacrifice myself to put that man and woman back together, if I could. And he would say those precious words and do those necessary things. T...

Jesus and the woman with the alabaster box

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The story of the woman with the alabaster box has been preached around the world in every country, just as Jesus said it would. It is a very important depiction of a believer's relationship with Jesus, as I will try to reveal. It is a special story I hope to do justice. Below is the excerpt from Luke (Luke 7:36-50), though it is found in each of the gospel accounts. It appears there are two similar, separate accounts of two different women. One involves Mary , brother of Lazarus. She is named. This woman is not named, though she is designated a sinner (aren't we all?). This particular account occurred about a year before Jesus was crucified. It could be she knew Jesus would die for her sins. We don't know. What we do know is she knew Jesus was the Savior. She was genuinely repentant and full of love for Jesus. But, there is more to the story. Let's begin. *** 36  And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's ...

The love of God

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Recently I felt God convicted me of something. I'll mention that in a little bit. But first, I want to talk about the names of God. During these strange and troubling times, it is important to keep our eyes on God because "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." (Isaiah 26:3)  For those who are sick (or afraid they will get sick), claim this promise: " Bless the Lord , O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's." (Psalm 103:2-5) Recently, I came across the photo below which lists 17 names of God. Of course, the term "recently" doesn't mean much right now. I feel like I'm in a time warp. It may have been last year, actually...

Convicted

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Today, I have to share something. Today I was convicted. I read a verse last night that stuck out to me. Then I received the same verse this morning in my inbox (it's a random verse-a-day email). It's something God has been telling me for a while. I won't share all the details, but suffice to say I know when God is telling me something. What I've been posting in my blog is my feelings, sure, but it's not necessarily what God is telling me. What He is telling me hasn't changed. I just don't know how to deal with it, I guess. Writing things in this blog is a semi-private experience. But it's possible someone, sometime in the future, will read what I've written. And what I've written isn't necessarily what God has told me. So I repent of that.  In the future, I will try to steer away from certain topics. Maybe I've overshared. I don't know. That's the problem. I need to write what I know. Right now, all I know is what God has ...

Psalm 51

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  My heart has been drawn to this verse for many weeks now. I've read it countless times and prayed it for myself and all those with me in this pit of contrition. For those who don't know the story, here follows a mild retelling ( or the whole story is here ).  King David got in trouble with a woman named Bathsheba. She belonged to someone else. His name was Uriah. David slept with Bathsheba and she became pregnant. David then tried to get Uriah to sleep with his wife and take the child under his care. Uriah refused to go home to his wife while his countrymen were at war. Plan B was to take Uriah out to a hotspot in the war and pull back, leaving him to be killed. This worked. Nathan the prophet came to David to tell him a story. It was the story of a poor man who had one sheep he loved very much. And also there was a rich man who had many sheep and much livestock. But the rich man wanted the other man's sheep so he took the one sheep from the poor man. The story in...