A moment of your time, please?

I KNOW YOUR TIME IS VERY VALUABLE, AND SO HUMBLY ASK, AND I WOULD SO APPRECIATE IT IF THOSE OF YOU WHO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR LETTER WOULD TAKE A FEW MOMENTS TO READ ABOUT THE DREAMS AND WAYS GOD IS WORKING TO REACH FAMILIES ALL OVER THE WORLD!  Many of you know that Clay and I started our ministry, Whole Heart Ministries, almost 20 years ago, by faith. Our hearts were to inspire, train and Biblically educate parents how to build a godly home, and to help give instruction and materials and encouragement to help families complete this task.

Understanding that when marriages and Biblical vision was strong, families would be strong. When Mothers and Fathers undertand the foundational call to build a godly legacy in their own homes, righteousness will be passed down from generation. When righteousness prevails, nations will be strong, and families, cities and nations will flourish.

However, when families are falling apart and broken and marriages end, and children souls are not built, cities will lack righteousness and nations will become corrupt. A nation is only as strong as the families that make up that nation. And so the needs have grown and we are more serious and committed than ever to see what God would have us do to build a message in these areas.

We have been amazed at how the Lord has worked, as we stepped out in faith and began to work.  We lived almost 5 years without a regular salary, and began to write. By God's grace, we have written over ten books, have our books in 6 languages, have hosted mom's conferences for 13 years, and spoken all over the world, and had the opportunity to train leaders, produce training and encouragement over the internet, and work with many people in many countries.

As Clay and I ponder, Lord, in the next 10 years, how can we do more to help families and to strengthen them so that they might build godly generations? We are so excited to see what the Lord is doing as our vision is growing and we see many people coming on board to help us in this task.

And so, I interrupt my blog schedule to pass on the heart of our ministry, and to share our dreams with you, our readers. Would you mind taking a minute to read our end of the year letter and let us know what you think, and keep us in your prayers. We are most grateful for all of you who have helped our ministry grow and who have served, reached out and ministered to so many thousands all over the world. Please know that we cannot continue to move ahead without you, our precious and cherished friends! BELOW IS OUR END OF YEAR LETTER. THANKS SO VERY MUCH FOR TAKING TIME TO READ IT--IT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME!

The letter below was sent out recently to our limited physical mailing list ("snail mail"). We are also sending it to our full email list for those who do not receive our mailings but might be interested in knowing more about or supporting this ministry. Thank you for reading. December 27, 2011 Re: Where We Are, Where We're Going in 2012, and How You Can Be a Part Dear Friends of Whole Heart, We hope your Advent and Christmas season in your home has been full of grace, peace, and joy in Christ. It seems fitting, but also humbling, that the time of year when we remember the birth of the one who humbly came to meet all our needs, is also the time of year when we typically share our needs as a ministry. Christmas keeps our needs in perspective! That’s why we’re humbled to look back and to thank God for all the generous friends of Whole Heart who are the real reason we have come this far. What we have envisioned for so long is finally in the process of being birthed. We can see it beginning to happen. However, we can also see that we are still short of the resources we will need to see it through. We’re long on vision, but short on resources. So we come to you as we near the end of 2011, humbly and joyfully, with a vision for ministry that God will not let us let go. In a way, we are simply continuing the ministry that began with the Messiah in a manger—offering light, life, hope, and joy in Jesus to families and mothers around the world. Would you prayerfully consider a financial gift at this time to help us press on in 2012 with this ministry? One Generation Behind Us…Many More Yet to Come For eighteen years we have pursued a single ministry purpose—to help Christian parents raise wholehearted children for Christ. The culture in which we all live and minister has changed radically since 1994, but our vision to strengthen families and build Christian homes has stayed the same. Yet we know that how we accomplish our vision for ministry must change if we are to continue to be fruitful. By modern demographic standards, eighteen years is one generation. We’ve given our hearts to be effective in this ministry for a full generation now. But that’s not enough. We are committed to adjusting to cultural change in our generation so we can continue to change culture for Christ in generations to come. We want to complete the task God has given us to do. After 35+ years of ministry, we know realizing that goal will take three critical components: vision, commitment, and resources. We have clear vision—we know what God has called us to do. We are fully committed—we will pursue that vision for as long as God allows and enables us to do so. But, we need resources—we are a faith ministry, which means that we trust God for our needs. We need your financial support. Pressing On in 2012 with Vision and Commitment Every aspect of our ministry—publishing, conferences, communications, media, sales, teaching, training—is being affected by cultural change, but we are pressing on in 2012. By faith, we have hired two new part-time staff members to help us move forward. Our new Whole Heart Ministry Assistant is helping with office-centered computers and technology, and developing blogs, audio, video, ecommerce, and more. Our new Mom Heart Ministry Assistant will work with Sally and a Mom Heart Leader Team to oversee development of Mom Heart online ministries, social media, online conferences, and more. We are thankful for the gifts that enabled us to hire for these critical staff positions, but now we are trusting God to bless their invaluable contributions to the ministry and secure their involvement for the rest of 2012. Here's where we're headed: Whole Heart Ministries is ready to move strongly into digital publishing. We will still publish books in print format, but we will also expand aggressively into e-books so we can reach the digital and connected generation. We will continue to expand Whole Heart Online to provide a digital platform to reach the world with an improved and expanded Whole Heart Store, a blog for wholehearted parents, additional resources and downloads, and much more. Apologia Press will publish our homeschooling titles, and Whole Heart Press will publish our biblical, faith-building resources for Christian families. Mom Heart Ministry is our next-generation small groups ministry initiative to help restore moms’ hearts to God’s heart for motherhood. Our plans for the Mom Heart Online website include a database to see where Mom Heart Groups are meeting, video training for group leaders, downloadable small groups resources, and a forum for group leaders. The Mom Heart blog will provide daily insights and inspiration for biblical motherhood from a community of mom-hearted mom-bloggers. Mom Heart Conferences will continue to encourage and inspire women to be mothers after God’s heart. Sally will continue her ITakeJoy blog for Christian women, write new books on motherhood and Christian living, and move into writing e-books for digital distribution. We hope to expand Mom Heart internationally. We can see it all. We just need your help to see it happen. Pressing On in Faith…with Your Help As we near the end of another year, we are asking God again for new Whole Heart Partners to help us move forward into the new year. We are grateful to those who have given, and continue to give, to this ministry. If you can help Whole Heart Ministries financially at this time, you can donate by check to the address below, call our offices to donate by credit card or check draft, or donate online at www.wholeheart.org/donate. All gifts are fully tax-deductible and will be acknowledged with a receipt and an appreciative "Thank you." We are so thankful to God for our Whole Heart partners in this ministry. In whatever way you are able to give or pray, you are an encouragement to us. Thank you for sharing our heart for Christian parents. Grace, peace, and joy in Christ to you and your family. Wholehearted blessings in Christ, Clay & Sally Clarkson Click below to donate now online: DONATE NOW ONLINE Our ministry mailing address is: Whole Heart Ministries P.O. Box 3445 Monument, CO 80132 You can call us at: 888-488-4466 You can send us an email here: http://www.wholeheart.org/contact-whole-heart/ Thank you!

Filling your soul with beauty, truth and goodness

Sergey Ivanovich Svetoslavsky

"Behold, Thou dost desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part, Thou will make me know wisdom." Psalm 51:6

If someone could see the inside of your soul, the pathways of your thoughts, the flow of your worship, the landscape of your thoughts and attitudes, what would it look like? Would it hold beauty or ugliness?

A beautiful soul is cultivated and crafted over time  by the elements that surround it and that pour into its inner chamber. One lives and pours out words, behavior, attitudes, goodness or evil from what is dwelling inside it's borders.

In the same way that if one fills a pitcher with lemonade, and lemonade pours forth, so one must be careful to fill one's soul with all that is beautiful, true, lovely. When my children were small, I always thought about the verse:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Phil. 4:8

I sought to fill the moments of our days with all that was beautiful, inspiring, noble, lovely, good, excellent. Exercising vigilance to pick out stories and books that would inspire; seeking to protect my children from insipid, empty, dark, sarcastic, or  shallow books, media, people was constant. I knew that I was laying a foundation for life. I wanted them to have such a vast amount of truth, beauty, love and goodness stored up in the deep vestiges of their souls, that they would draw from the wealth of true beauty the rest of their lives.

Such investment requires purposeful planning and active engaging in each moment of their lives. How blessed I have been to see that what I invested has reaped rewards.

My concern, today, is that many young moms, exposed to contemporary culture, don't even have a model or understanding of what is good. Christianity is mediocre and weak and insipid because the souls of believers are as empty, shallow and contaminated as the fallen culture that surrounds us. One cannot watch garbage and violence and adultery and not be effected. One cannot feed on what is shallow and not become shallow.

In the same way that cancer and diabetes are growing rapidly and devastating many lives because of the intake of what is unhealthy in our foods, products and environment, so our souls will die and become ill and infected if they are always surrounded by garbage, pollutants, contaminants.

One cannot pass on what one does not himself have, and so if we want to pass on health and beauty and goodness, then we ourselves must discipline ourselves to invest and pour into our minds and souls truth from scripture, seek out wise people, read great books and thoughts as well as protect our souls from all that is base.

Media is on occasion used for good, but it is mostly a wasteland of mind-death and soul-killing.

And so, as I ponder what I want to become more of this year, I must take seriously the cultivating of my own soul, so that when others come to draw from me, they are drawing from Him, because I have invested time in Him, His word, His wisdom, His truth and His ways. I am working on my own personal goals to choose how I will use my time, this year, to insure that I am growing in all the elements that are beautiful, true, wise, good, lovely, and I am seeking to guard my heart (and my soul.)

"Above all else, guard your heart for it is the well spring of life." Proverbs 4:23

*Seek out a time to get alone, away and consider how you would like to grow this year.

*Evaluate what are the good habits and what are the bad habits that you practice and how they influence your soul, and your heart and consequently, your worship of God, as we are commanded to worship Him in our minds.

Make a plan of how you will grow in wisdom, beauty and truth this year. What will you read? When will you have a quiet time? What do you need to stop doing?

Make a plan for all the ways you will pour beauty, goodness, wisdom and truth into your children this year. What books and stories will you read to them? When will you have devotionals with them? How do you need to change to reflect love and graciousness to them so that they will form their relationship habits on gentleness and generous love?

What do you need to do to focus more on investing instead of just passing time with emptiness? (internet, television, computer, etc.)

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask it of God who gives to all men liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him."

All of these issues I will be speaking about at our Mom's conferences this year, as I am so very concerned about what I see happening in the lives of my wonderful mom friends. Please join us if you can. The Lord Jesus will be in our midst.

Register HERE. or call 888-488- 4466 to register.

For those of you who cannot come, we hope in the next year to figure out how we can stream the speakers and our messages, as we so desire to encourage you in your calling from God to be a civilizer and one who disciples your children into godly people. Pray for us to develop people and resources so that Clay and I may help encourage more precious women. Thanks so very much.

And a Merry and Blessed Christmas --from all of the Clarksons

http://youtu.be/JYwnkPwpdeo

I wonder, how does one choose the mother of God?

Alfredo Rodan

"Greetings, favored one, the Lord is with you." Luke 1:28

Mary lived in a tiny, obscure village amidst a humdrum life. Wheat was ground, bread was pounded out on wooden tables, crumbs were swept from the floor, children lovingly tended, mother and father presiding over the home, the Shema was listened to every day over shared family meals, the Sabbath was kept. Mary lived in invisibility in the moments of an ordinary, obscure life, as far as anyone in her own life knew. And yet, in the living of her life, quietly, faithfully, God noticed her, God saw her and she found favor and pleased His heart.

God always sees even when no one else is noticing.

Imagine being greeted by an angel, in the midst of a normal day, when no one else knew, "Hail favored one."

And then, "Mary, do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God."

Really? She did not have a college degree or a ministry position or title and had never published a book or even spoken in the synagogue--and yet, in the midst of her quiet life, she of all women, had found favor with God. I have been pondering this.

But there are clues.Being the mother of Jesus would require a tenacious, steady, engaged faith. As his mother, her  life would be  in danger, Jesus would be  pursued by a crazy king, and at every point, people would cast doubt on her irregular, fantastical story.

 Satan would have wanted to prevent Jesus becoming savior and Mary would be his protector--a shelter from danger, a nurturer of his soul, a provider of truth, a teacher and trainer, a strength in storms--all of this she would be asked to be for God, the baby, entrusted into her hands, as his mother, a divinely appointed role.

She would have to move, put up with peer pressure of her own village, believe in the miraculous, obscure amongst the humble, live amidst despised Egyptians. Her life would be filled with stress, pressure, rejection, fear, loneliness and questions.

And yet, God had called her favored, He had seen her heart, he had noticed her response throughout her life, He had tested her willingness to obey, and she had been found faithful, and so she was favored.

Her response, ready on her lips, practiced in her heart.

"“Behold, the^]bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” Luke 1:38

God looked for one who would serve Him, willingly, readily, at the moment of His impossible request, one who would respond in utter submission.

I am your bondslave--a commitment he had seen in her prayers, through out her life as she engaged her heart in scripture, He had seen her practice of worship by choosing, through all the years of her training, her response of believing and her heart consecration to serve Him, to obey throughout the seemingly unnoticed moments of her life.

Is that my response to this life He has given to me--be it done according to your will for I am your bond-servant? Even if it means sacrifice of the plans I hold dear? Even if it means being misunderstood? Rejected? Chased? Inconvenienced? Even if it requires me to have courage against fears that will assail my life?

And yet, we are left  another clue. Elizabeth, her older cousin, who had also lived above reproach and obeyed God, upon seeing Mary, responded, "And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”

Mary believed God. She had a ready heart to believe Him, trust Him with all that it would require of her, to await the miraculous, to live through long years of waiting and quiet and mundanity, as she awaited to see this little baby become the expected Messiah, the fulfillment of His role as a savior.

She believed there would be a fulfillment.

 She had practiced believing in Him her whole life and this, I think, was in part, what would qualify her to be the mother of the son of God, she was ready, willing to immediately respond to Him in belief--even to the impossible--even in the obscure place of dust, dishes, and duty.

And so God shined His light on my soul this early morning as I pondered Mary in His presence--am I ready to believe, to obey wherever He takes me, to await the fulfillment of His word and to choose to believe in His future fulfillment of faithfulness in my own life and in my own prayers--even if the ultimate fulfillment will take years and years, as it took Mary?

So, today, as I live amongst feasting, gift-wrapping, cleaning, sharing hearts and thoughts, singing beloved hymns at church, celebrating in the sparkle of our Christmas home, I hope that He will find me, in the integrity of my heart,  obeying, responding, bowing my knee to His will, a bondservant whose heart is ready to follow, obey, accept limitations of a world at battle for righteousness, and yet ready, in His strength, to believe.

May He prepare your heart today to worship in the quietness of your life, right where you are. May He bless you with His peace and grace.

I pray you have a most blessed and favored Christmas.

"

Progressive dinners that provide history

Every year for the past 5 years, our little history group, (2 other dear families and us) get together once a month for dinner, because we love and need each other. Our family doesn't have a lot of contact with our greater family because of distance or awkwardness, so we are blessed to have friends who act as surrogate family. Some of them live far away,  some live near. But really, so many of you have helped our family feel loved and cared for during this challenging year and I thank God for you.

Every Christmas, we have a progressive dinner--first appetizers at one home, then main meal at another home, and finally desert at the third home. We all take turns every year as to what we will have at our house.

All of our the older children of all of the families who live far away, try to come into town so we can all do this before Christmas. Gifts are given to most everyone--most little, but always the way we end the night--gifts, singing carols and having fun. We are all so loud and "talky" and close that it is a cherished time.

Yesterday in the kitchen, our kids said, "We haven't had the opportunity to be real close to real family, but God has really blessed us over the years with friends who make us feel like we have family and then they started naming all of the people who have loved us and adopted us. I am very grateful and thanking God for them--how they have all helped us through this year. I couldn't have made it through some of the obstacles of this year without sweet friends who have been so generous to love us.

Thanks for those who have extended love so generously to us this year. We are so very grateful.

Be blessed in His love today.

Everyone you know needs your grace, every day, today--no perfect people

The longer they are home, the more grateful I am---really. I love who my children are inside--and that somehow they are still all idealists.

Last night, after a dinner of homemade soup and a great movie, most of us were sitting around in our den looking at our computers and phones and checking to see if anyone had loved or noticed us in the last 2 hours. :)

Then we all started commenting on statuses of friends old and new on facebook. Then we started judging a few pics and choices and things that had happened to people......

Then one of my kids said, "Just look at us, we are all sitting around being petty--we need to stop being gossips and get off of facebook and just keep enjoying this great night."

He was right.

I can have a quiet time and walk out the door and be impatient with someone in my family who I love--and get angry.

I can be committed to encouraging women in the Lord and read all sorts of books and pray and have quiet times and still I am shocked at what silliness and selfishness can bubble out of my mouth without any contemplation.

Wretched woman that I am......

And then I read Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

"I came to set the captives free," He said.

I am captive to my own human frailty, my own limitations, my own small-minded self.

But he saw me in my need and decided to have compassion. He gave me grace, He came and love and lived so that I would not have to live in this captivity to my own limitations of my human, sinful self.

Today I am so very grateful that He came, He forgave, He sees me as though I am not little in spirit, but He sees me with the eyes of His love that covers my fragile state of being.

I had cancer of the soul, and He became my anecdote, my healing.

The older I get the more grateful I am,

and the more I see my need and pettiness and selfish heart,

the more I am so very grateful for His grace

and the more I receive this grace in the midst of my own need,

the more willing I am to extend His grace to others, assuming that maybe, just like me, they need it, too.

And so today, I have realized that everyone in my life means well, just as I mean to be good, but has probably fallen short, just like me.

And today, I see that everyone I know needs His Christmas grace.

A Cool Christmas tradition--Raspberry soup

Once on a hot summer's day, I was searching the streets of Budapest, Hungry, for an apartment where a Christian contact was awaiting our arrival. We called the telephone number that we had been given, but no one answered. Our instructions, as young missionaries working in a Communist country behind the iron curtain, we were given instructions to find a local cafe and wait one hour until we called again. (Sometimes if the secret police were near by, and a family was expecting us, the hosts would not answer the phone in order to warn us to stay away.) And so, my friend and I found a tiny, smoky cafe and entered to see if we could find something delicious to eat while we were waiting. We found a tiny, round table in the corner with a lovely woven traditional flowered table cloth, fresh carnations in a red clay vase and soft music wafting in the background. Seems we had found a jewel of a place.

Our waitress immediately knew we were Americans and talked to us in broken English. We asked her if they had a speciality. Her reply was, "Have you had our cold raspberry soup?"

I had never heard of any kind of berry soup, but we couldn't speak a word of Hungarian and as berries were in season, we took  a chance.

Heaven couldn't have produced better fare for us that day! Light, sweet with a touch of sour, whip cream and berries--all cold and smooth.

Every Christmas when I have friends over for lunch, we always have cold raspberry soup as the starter--red for Christmas and special for a unique tradition--a favorite taste of our family and a celebration whenever we eat it. So here is my recipe:

Chilled Raspberry Soup

Ingredients

• 2 bags frozen raspberries or around 18-20 ounces. I thaw them the day before I make the soup in my fridge.
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 1/4 cup white zinfandel or sweeter wine (if desired--not necessary) Do not use a very sour cooking wine.
• 1 cup cranberry apple juice or cranberry -raspberry juice
• 1/2 -1 cup of sugar to taste
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 t. ground cloves
• 1 -2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 (8 ounce) container  raspberry yogurt (I use the Greek yoghurt)
• whipped cream or sour cream--depending on preference

Directions

1. In a blender, puree raspberries, water and wine if desired. (Taste to see if it is the right consistency for you--some like it thick, some like it thinner--juice or water will thin it.) Transfer to a large saucepan; add the cran-raspberry juice, sugar, cinnamon and cloves. (I have had sweet raspberries and some that were sour. If they are sour, they will need a little bit more sugar. Be sure it blends in.)
2. Bring just to a boil over medium heat.
3. Remove from the heat; strain if you want it totally smooth,  and allow to cool. (I grind my raspberries so much in the blender that you cannot notice the seeds, but sometimes cooks strain the seeds out to make it totally smooth.) Whisk in lemon juice and yogurt. Refrigerate long enough to cool. To serve, pour into small bowls and top with a dollop of sour cream.

*************************************************************************************************

Every year I go to a craft store and buy up the little packets of inexpensive ornaments (the reindeer) and give them as little favors to my friends. Here was our setting this year. This is a simple treat to enjoy--we put a big dollop of whip cream on top of our soup--yuuummmmmm!! Enjoy.

PS TO ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS:

1. Best served cold so allow at least 2 hours in the fridge to cool off--or over night as it is so lovely when chilled.

2. As to servings, not quite sure! You can see that sometimes I serve it in these little fruit cups so when I do it this way, it goes a long way. Just figure out about how many ounces everything adds up to and divide it by the size of bowl you want it to serve. (In other words, if you do one batch and it is 32 oz of raspberries, 3-4 cups liquid (another 32 ounces) then you have 10 6 ounce servings (which would be large) or more if you do smaller bowls.

Enjoy and use as a tradition--it is a surprise whenever I serve it to people who have never heard of it and it is delicious and nutritious!

Ho, Ho, Ho! Today I am an elf.....

Norman Rockwell

Shopping at Sam's as the snow began to fall--food for the week, for 2 parties, for Nathan coming home tonight, for all sorts of fun. I love, love that my home is filled with all of my family.

Then, I shopped for 10 Christmas presents and felt very proud of my finds--I tend to get 10 of the same things for friends if I get what I like and a good deal.

Unpacked everything. I made chile for 30 people, (it will become frito pie with cheese, sour cream, cheese and fritos--a fav of the kids on cold nights!) to come for a Christmas party tonight. Joy and her friends are decorating cookies,  and having a cookie decorating contest, going caroling, and then watching Muppet Christmas Carol. We have been excited all week. So sad for some to not come but the house is filling up!

However, it is snowing outside, 6 degrees and so a few people are starting to cancel.

We have been excited all week. So sad for some to not come but the house is filling up!

Maybe we will have a make-up party for them on Wednesday night--such is the situation in Colorado.

Joel is on the way back from the airport in Denver picking up Nathan--took him 1 hour and 45 minutes for a 50 minute drive--they are still not home yet--will have to have the cookies Nathan wants when he walks in the door. Clay still hasn't made it home and people are stuck on the hill coming up to our house--oh fun---another adventure but we are all a bit used to this and happy to be partying on such a night.

Candles lit, fireplaces burning, and I am one happy mama and figuring out how I can sleep everyone here tonight if the 16 people who have come get snowed in--of course they are all hoping so!

Off to make a welcome sign for Nathan. Stir the chile. Get out the drinks........

So what are you doing today?

******************************************

So 20 people showed up and the kids caroled and caroled and were asked into a home where they helped to decorate a tree and drank hot chocolate--now some playing piano, some on the floor with feet up to the fireplace and others eating in the kitchen.

Nate and Joel got home after 4  hours from the start and we have talked and eaten cookies while the carolers were out and now the "boys"--Clay and 2 boys--doing music in basement--Nathan and Clay on guitar and Joel on piano--and Sarah and I looking for a movie to watch upstairs in my bedroom together. Still snowing--guess we will have some stay the night.

Sweet dreams!

Who are you listening to? Wise or fools?

Mauryey Gottleeb

He who walks with the wise becomes wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. Proverbs 13:20

Who is informing your decisions?

What peer pressure are you succumbing to?

Are there fools in your life who will indeed eventually cause you harm--to your life decisions? Your personal contentment? Your walk with God? Your family? Are people giving you the freedom to compromise essential ideals that will have long term consequences?

Are you deciding how to live your life by the voices of your peers, the world?

Who is wise that is regularly investing in your life? Is it a person who has long term integrity?

Are you living from a plan or randomly from philosophy to philosophy?

He who walks with the wise will become wise---find wisdom, hold fast to wisdom, look for wise people and ask them to invest in you, read them, follow them, cultivate relationships with wise people--go to conferences where wise, people who have lived life well, are speaking, seek models of excellence, read great writers of the faith---you can walk with the wise and it will rub off on you..

Incarnating His Life inside the Walls of Home

Artist unknown

"“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem." Isaiah 2:3

Over and over God brings me back to my purposes--that through me, others may learn of Him, love Him, know Him,

That when all come into my home, they would sense, immediately, His welcome, undivided Spirit, His gentleness,

That my home would be a repository of Him and His life in many dimensions--

Enjoy and dwell in His love

See His beauty

Know His approval

Be inspired to live valiantly for HIs purposes

Experience His joy

Be inspired to live a holy, excellent life of beautiful moral character and sacrifice

Understand the vast truth and wisdom of His soul from His word

Find healing

Know deep forgiveness,

All these things I want my home to be and more. There is an energy to the Life of God that fills the hearts of those in His presence. I want that when people enter my arena, they feel His presence.

God desires to pour out Himself through us to a people who long for His reality. Yet, we must be filled up with God in order for our lives to be a channel of Him.

Yet it is only when I invest in Him, HIs word, in obedience to His will, that I fill my soul with His truth, that there will be His substance from which others can draw.

I have realized, in my own life, the sin of selfishness, lack of love, peer pressure to conform, guilt, anger, lust, idols, unrighteous call out to me, to us,  through the voice of the world every day. These life-sucking voices and pressures harden our hearts to create indifference and hardness of heart to what His priorities and holiness would give us to be His life in our worlds.

And so, today, as I have invested time, precious time, in Him and His word, I am drawn back to remember what is on His heart, what matters. I cannot give to others of Him, unless He is the primary influence and filler of my heart.

This busy season, I want to do whatever it takes to fill up my soul with Him, that I may give Him to others, especially this season where I want to truly celebrate and worship Him, the God with us.