Whole Heart Devotion

Having lived in a pastor's home for all thirty-three years of my life ( preacher's kid turned preacher's wife ), I think I've probably heard just about every reason why someone has become disgruntled and decided to walk away from a particular church.  While some are legitimate reasons that are worthy of a change of scenery, some are lacking in merit.  Here are just a few from both sides of the spectrum: It was always too hot/cold in the sanctuary. If you weren't born and raised in that church, you'll never be fully accepted. They kept asking me to serve on committees or teach Sunday School. I don't agree with the way they spend money. My child didn't fit in with the other kids in the youth group. Their music was too loud/fast/slow/dull/traditional/contemporary. The pastor's preaching wasn't Biblically accurate. The pastor was always preaching on sin and salvation. There always seemed to be a spirit of dissension among the church body.

If you were to ask me what the five most important things are in the life of a Christian, I would tell you that right up there near the very top of the list would be for them to be an active part of a local body of believers.  I absolutely LOVE the church! Yes, I love my church, but I love God's church!  I love the divine design of the church.  I love how God uniquely equips different people with all sorts of gifts and then when they are brought all together, you get to see a beautiful picture of God's handiwork. Ephesians chapter four has always been a favorite passage of mine concerning the church because Paul does something here that I truly appreciate in Scripture  -- he draws a a word picture.  He very practically compares the church to a human body. "Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.  From him, the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligam

"A good name is more desirable than great riches, to be esteemed is better than silver or gold."  Prov. 22:1 One of the best things about living in the same general vicinity as your parents and in-laws is being asked by a new acquaintance if I'm related to " said parent or in-law" .  So many people that I come in contact with in a variety of places have a knowledge of either mine or my husband's parents. There is no better feeling than to have a reputation of honesty, integrity, and Christian influence preceding you merely because of your relationship to someone else. Well, a good name is one of those gifts that brings some great responsibility with it.  I get the honor of claiming that name, but I also get the task of maintaining that good name and bringing honor to it. I don't only get a good name from my earthly family, but from my Heavenly Father.    "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God,

After having a rather bizarre dream a few nights ago, I couldn't help but think about the various times that dreams are spoken about in the Bible.  One of the first mentions of the word comes in the story of Joseph. Oh, how I love the story of Joseph! The story of Joseph teaches us so much about God's sovereignty and how He can take a situation that is nothing but evil and turn it into something good (Gen. 50:20).  Only our God can do that! God gives us fourteen whole chapters in the book of Genesis on the life of this one individual.  This young man goes from a dark pit, to a royal palace, then to a prison.  The portion of his life that I want to focus on comes from chapter 41 when Joseph is finally able to get out of prison and asked to interpret Pharaoh's dreams. You see, Pharaoh was like me and had a bizarre dream!  When he heard that this young Hebrew prisoner named Joseph had the God-given ability to interpret dreams, he decided it was time for this boy to see

My husband and I were blessed by someone and was afforded the opportunity to go off this past weekend to watch his favorite college team engage in a well-played game of basketball (Go Heels!).  Let me just say that college basketball is crazy!  I have never seen so many people act in a way that is probably so unlike their normal everyday character, all in the name of being a loyal fan. While watching the game and attempting to take all of the madness into my feeble brain, I was taking in more truths than the athletes realized they were dishing out.  I was reminded of how similar the game of basketball is to the game of life.  I literally came up with way too many comparisons to expound upon in one post ( perhaps I'll come back to some of them at a future date ), so I'll only focus on a couple today.  Here are my observations of how life is like a basketball game: You only have so many minutes to play, then the game is over. -- no second chances. We often come out strong

I came to the end of a journey today.  I wish I could tell you the exact date that this journey began, but that really isn't important.  My journey was through the book of Psalms. I first started reading it as an attempt to have a better laid out plan for my daily quiet time with God.  In the beginning, I didn't think I would ever make it to the end, but now that I'm there, I'm sort of sad. There are two very important truths I've gained on this journey, and I urge you to see if you can relate to them.  My life looks a lot like the book of Psalms. Reading the Bible has become a privilege, not a chore. If you have ever sat down and read multiple psalms back to back, you might think that the author was on a roller coaster ride.  One psalm might sing unwavering praises to God and then the very next one will be practically the polar opposite with a "woe is me" undertone.  I have a feeling that if my prayers were chronicled in one book, they might just l

Through the years, I have tried hard to make strides in avoiding my natural tendency to engage my mouth before I engage my brain.  The age old adage of "Think before you speak" comes easier for some than others.  I know people who can't seem to get one foot out of their mouth before their other foot is making its entrance! As hard as I've worked on watching what I say, I still have momentary lapses in judgement.  There are times when I speak harshly to my kids or husband, or pass on that juicy bit of gossip to a friend (in the form of a prayer concern, of course!), or even let a word slip out that I'd never utter within the four walls of the church house! The book of James uses some beautiful word pictures to describe this feat of taming this tiny part of our body.  In chapter three, he likens our tongue to a spark that can cause an enormous fire and vast amounts of damage.  We've all seen that, haven't we?  Words spoken in anger that can never be fo

I was reminded in church on Sunday of a hymn that I remember singing growing up, but haven't sung (nor thought of) in quite some time.  Here are the words to the chorus: I am satisfied, I am satisfied, I am satisfied with Jesus. But the question comes to me, As I think of Calvary, Is my Master satisfied with me?* So many songs we sing ask such deep and soul-searching questions, yet we breeze right past those questions and hit the "Resume" button on our lives as we walk out the church doors without ever truly conducting a personal analysis.  I think a lot of believers can lay their heads down and night and feel truly thankful for the sacrifice made on their behalf by Christ.  However, I wonder how Christ would feel if He laid His head down at night and thought about me. Now is a perfect time to remind us all that we can never DO anything to be worthy of God's good pleasure.  He loves us all, even when we're unlovable.  He desires for fellowship with u

As I was growing up, I had a hard time understanding that Martin Luther and Martin Luther King, Jr. were two different people.  For many years, I thought that they were one in the same!  Since this amazing discovery, I have quite enjoyed learning more about Martin Luther and the very important role he played in pursuing the instruction of grace through faith. The truth is, even though approximately 450 years time separated the teachings of Martin Luther from Martin Luther King, Jr., and their causes weren't quite the same, many of their ideals and convictions walk hand in hand. If you're an American, you are probably quite familiar with the ideaologies and convictions of Martin Luther King, Jr., but I have a feeling your knowledge of Martin Luther might not be as vast.  Perhaps you are like me and have spent the majority of your life thinking they were the same person!  Although I am certainly not a scholar on Martin Luther, let me share with you some truths about him tha

Have you ever felt simultaneous joy and sorrow before?  You know, where your heart is full of elation and sorrow at the exact same time. Perhaps it was a situation that was occurring in your own life, or maybe it was emotions you were feeling on behalf of others. My heart is full of praise and thanksgiving today after hearing about what God has done to fully restore a marriage that was under attack and knocking at the door of divorce. Yet, at the same time, my heart is breaking for a family who has not yet seen the miracle of repentance and restoration in their home and the pain is very raw and the future is very uncertain.   "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep."  Romans 12:15 Regardless of what the circumstance is, God wants us to understand that when we are truly offering ourselves as living sacrifices to Him, it will be visible by how good of a friend we are. Unfortunately, I've seen people who have trouble with one or both parts o

One of the joys of homeschooling is that I get to relive my childhood by reading through many of my favorite childhood books with my kids.  Savannah and I have been reading the ever popular, Charlotte's Web .  Well, I saw God in this classic children's book.  As 8 year-old Fern's fascination with Wilbur and all the other animals at Mr. Zuckerman's farm grows stronger by the day, her mother grows extremely worried about Fern's mental state as she comes home speaking of talking animals and spiders writing words in their web.  She decides it's time to go see Fern's doctor and tell him about all of this strange behavior. And this is where a children's book becomes an encounter with our miraculous God.  After Fern's mother tells the doctor about the spider's web with the words spun into it, the fine country doctor looks at her and says that the miracle isn't in the words that are spun into the spider's web, but in the web itself .  He rem

As a mom, I have found that one of the most difficult things to get through to my children is that I expect them to do what I ask of them -- when I ask it.  I am not a dictator-mom who expects them to jump at the snap of my fingers, but I do expect to see obedience in somewhat of a timely fashion.  After all, isn't delayed obedience a form of disobedience?  The reason why I want my children to obey promptly serves a greater purpose than just accomplishing the task they've been asked to do.  I'm trying to instill in them character traits that are applicable in their everyday lives, as well as their walk with the Lord. You don't have to look any further than the prophet Jonah to see how delayed obedience can take you down a rough road.  From a frightful storm at sea to taking up residence in the belly of a whale, I think Jonah had to learn the hard way of why listening the first time is a good idea!  Aside from the calamities that came Jonah's way because of his

As I slather the concealer on my dark circles every morning, I always think about my paternal grandmother. She is the beautiful lady that I get to thank for these troublesome dark circles. It doesn’t matter if I get fourteen uninterrupted hours of sleep a night, the dark circles will be there to greet me when I get up. I have a feeling that my daughter, Savannah, will have to learn to embrace this same lot in life, thanks to the strong Pearson genes! Only my family and closest friends have seen what lies beneath the concealer.  Just as I try to cover up all of the imperfections on my face each morning, I have to be honest and admit that I have some other imperfections that I tend to only let hang out around the people I love the most.  You know what I'm talking about:   Having a short fuse Gossiping (with my closest sisters in Christ, of course) Disrespecting my husband Being slow to forgive (yet expect quick forgiveness for my grievances) Need I go on? Oh, but Heaven

On many occasions over the last few months, I have thought about the Shunammite woman whose story we see in 2 Kings 4:8-37.  You see, I felt like I identified with her in one way, and then completely coveted her faith in another way.  Here's a brief synopsis of her story, focusing on the parts that pertain to mine. 2 Kings tells us that the Shunammite woman and her husband had shown great hospitality to the prophet, Elisha, and during one of their visits together, Elisha prophesied that the woman and her husband would bear a son within a year's time.  I can imagine her elation after hearing this news.  As a woman in Old Testament times, her future well-being lay in the hands of the children she would bear, but most importantly, the son she would bear.  She was obviously so desiring a child that she even looked at Elisha after his prophecy and said, "Are you for real?  Don't joke with me!" ( my own translation !) This is the portion of the story that I can iden

So, as I enter the blogging world, I feel like I have some confessions I need to make to anyone who might stumble upon this site.  First and foremost, I am not a blogger!  I don't read blogs religiously and I really don't even like the word "blog" -- I just might come up with my own word for this whole thing by the time I'm done!   When the thought first crossed my mind about creating one, I quickly told God that the last thing the world needed was another blog!  Surely there were enough people out there pontificating on everything from diapers to dandruff.  Many years ago as a teenager in the youth group at church, we often did team building exercises like the trust fall.  One person would stand on a chair and willingly fall backwards into the arms of the youth standing around them, hoping and praying they would actually catch them.  Well, I am sitting here behind this computer screen today because this is obviously another exercise of trust that God has for me

Ever since I was around the age of twelve or thirteen, my heart has had a mind of its own.  Where most people's hearts happily beat around sixty times per minute, I'm lucky if mine ever gets any lower than one hundred beats a minute.  While the side-effects from such a boisterous heart rate are sporadic and minimal, my doctor tells me that there is a minor heart procedure that could possibly fix my problem.  I have avoided the procedure for various reasons, but primarily because my doctor can't give me any certainty that it will work on the first attempt and she won't have to repeat the procedure multiple times. As I think about how my physical heart needs to be monitored and potentially needs some fine tuning, my spiritual heart is just as vulnerable and needs a daily dose of attention.  I ashamedly admit that my heart's loyalties through the years have varied from one extreme to another.  From being a die hard "New Kids on the Block" fan in the eightie