Magdi Allam, a recent convert from Islam to Christianity,
". . . explained his decision to title a recent book 'Viva Israele' by saying he wrote it after he received death threats from Hamas.
"'Having been condemned to death, I have reflected a long time on the value of life. And I discovered that behind the origin of the ideology of hatred, violence and death is the discrimination against Israel. Everyone has the right to exist except for the Jewish state and its inhabitants,' he said. 'Today, Israel is the paradigm of the right to life.'"
(Quoted from Yahoo News.)
Monday, March 24, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Another Quote
We cannot kindle when we will
The fire which in the heart resides,
The spirit bloweth and is still,
In mystery our soul abides;
But tasks in hours of insight willed
Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled.
(Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, 3/22)
The fire which in the heart resides,
The spirit bloweth and is still,
In mystery our soul abides;
But tasks in hours of insight willed
Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled.
(Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, 3/22)
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Quote from My Utmost for His Highest
“Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led. But it does mean loving and knowing the One who is leading. It is literally a life of faith, not of understanding and reason—a life of knowing Him who calls us to go. Faith is rooted in the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest traps we fall into is the belief that if we have faith, God will surely lead us to success in the world” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, 3/19).
Lord, lead us to success in Your kingdom. Help us to desire that more than success in the kingdoms of men. Let us not worry about where we are going, but to be content that we are going with You. We know Who is leading, so we need not be afraid of the destination.
Lord, lead us to success in Your kingdom. Help us to desire that more than success in the kingdoms of men. Let us not worry about where we are going, but to be content that we are going with You. We know Who is leading, so we need not be afraid of the destination.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 18:2
A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart. (Pro 18:2 NKJV)
Ouch. That hits close to home. Too often, I answer before I listen. And even if I do hear and retain what the other person says, I don’t acknowledge their input, for I am more focused on “expressing [my] own heart.” I am sure that leaves them feeling unheard, for my husband has expressed that in many ways. In fact, he’s the reason I even know that I do it. Lord, please make me aware when I am conversing with others. Help me to “delight in understanding” more than in finding that perfect way to communicate what I am thinking.
Wow. That word “expressing” means “to denude (especially in a disgraceful sense); by implication to exile (captives being usually stripped); figuratively to reveal: - + advertise, appear, bewray, bring, (carry, lead, go) captive (into captivity), depart, disclose, discover, exile, be gone, open, X plainly, publish, remove, reveal, X shamelessly, shew, X surely, tell, uncover” (Strong’s).
What are You saying to me, Lord?
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. (Pro 18:21 NKJV)
Oh.
He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him. (Pro 18:13 NKJV)
That’s me.
The heart of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. (Pro 18:15 NKJV)
Lord, help me to speak much less and to listen much more. Let my heart stop trying so hard to express itself (which merely exposes my foolishness) and instead love to acquire knowledge by hearing what my husband, my children, and others are saying. In fact, please help me to stop listening to my own thoughts as much and instead be attentive to Your voice.
Today, in Your strength, I will close my mouth and open my ears. “Zip your lips, little Michelle, and put on your listening ears.” How many times in my life have I heard similar words? Have I ever truly heeded them? Oh, that today might be the day that I begin to hear. Jesus, may it be so.
Ouch. That hits close to home. Too often, I answer before I listen. And even if I do hear and retain what the other person says, I don’t acknowledge their input, for I am more focused on “expressing [my] own heart.” I am sure that leaves them feeling unheard, for my husband has expressed that in many ways. In fact, he’s the reason I even know that I do it. Lord, please make me aware when I am conversing with others. Help me to “delight in understanding” more than in finding that perfect way to communicate what I am thinking.
Wow. That word “expressing” means “to denude (especially in a disgraceful sense); by implication to exile (captives being usually stripped); figuratively to reveal: - + advertise, appear, bewray, bring, (carry, lead, go) captive (into captivity), depart, disclose, discover, exile, be gone, open, X plainly, publish, remove, reveal, X shamelessly, shew, X surely, tell, uncover” (Strong’s).
What are You saying to me, Lord?
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. (Pro 18:21 NKJV)
Oh.
He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him. (Pro 18:13 NKJV)
That’s me.
The heart of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. (Pro 18:15 NKJV)
Lord, help me to speak much less and to listen much more. Let my heart stop trying so hard to express itself (which merely exposes my foolishness) and instead love to acquire knowledge by hearing what my husband, my children, and others are saying. In fact, please help me to stop listening to my own thoughts as much and instead be attentive to Your voice.
Today, in Your strength, I will close my mouth and open my ears. “Zip your lips, little Michelle, and put on your listening ears.” How many times in my life have I heard similar words? Have I ever truly heeded them? Oh, that today might be the day that I begin to hear. Jesus, may it be so.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Crying Out
I cried out to God with my voice, to God with my voice; and He gave ear to me. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; my hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah (Psa 77:1-3 NKJV)
“Days of trouble must be days of prayer, days of inward trouble especially, when God seems to have withdrawn from us; we must seek him and seek till we find him” (Matthew Henry, commentary on Ps.77:1-10).
Lord, I will cry out to You until You come and teach my heart to rejoice again in You. I am overwhelmed, but I will not distract myself from the pain. I will press in to You until I find You in this day, this house, these children, this work, and this body of flesh in which You dwell. Give me hope. Teach me patience. Pour Your love into my heart and my children’s.
“Days of trouble must be days of prayer, days of inward trouble especially, when God seems to have withdrawn from us; we must seek him and seek till we find him” (Matthew Henry, commentary on Ps.77:1-10).
Lord, I will cry out to You until You come and teach my heart to rejoice again in You. I am overwhelmed, but I will not distract myself from the pain. I will press in to You until I find You in this day, this house, these children, this work, and this body of flesh in which You dwell. Give me hope. Teach me patience. Pour Your love into my heart and my children’s.
Friday, March 07, 2008
A Home Educator's Prayer
Lord, You are holding everything in Your hands, perfectly in control. Please intervene on behalf of parents in California and in our nation. Please don’t let control of our children’s education pass from parents’ hands to the hands of the state. We have seen in socialist countries what that can do to a nation and to children. (In Germany, it turned them into Nazi Youth who supported the atrocities the government ordered.) That is diametrically opposed to Your way of training and educating children. You gave that right and responsibility to parents. We will stand before You and account for what we taught them and allowed them to be taught. Please wake up the church and parents to realize what a precious responsibility this is, and help us not to give up our rights without a fight. We stand in confidence before You, knowing that You are the one who can and will act on our behalf. Though we cannot move our government to act righteously, You can. Please be our advocate, and let those in places of influence be moved to correct this situation—no, let this even be turned from a defeat for home schooling into a great victory. Give us back the ground that the enemy has taken. Let this become a great defeat for the powers of darkness that would steal the hearts and minds of our children.
Sign this petition!
Sign this petition!
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Imperfect Parenting
“It finally dawned on me that I had asked something of my parents that they could never be: I had wanted them to love me as only God can love me. And I wanted to love my kids as only God could love them.
“In short, either I was setting up rivals for God or I was trying to compete with God—both are efforts doomed to failure. I finally came to a major crossroads: instead of competing with God, I realized God had called me to focus my efforts on introducing my kids to God, even using my own failures and inadequacies as compelling causes for my children to find their refuge in him.
“What will it be for you? Will you try to compete with God, or will you work to introduce your children to the one true God?” (Gary Thomas, Sacred Parenting: How Raising Children Shapes Our Souls, p. 44).
Lord, please help me give up trying to be the perfect parent, the perfect representative of You to my children. Instead, may I live repentant before my children to help them recognize that You are the only one who can love them perfectly.
When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take care of me. (Psalm 27:10 NKJV)
Though I do not want to, I know that I daily let my kids down in many ways. You, however, are the perfect parent that they need. Help them to find You and to be secure in Your love, and help me to forgive myself when I fall short.
“In short, either I was setting up rivals for God or I was trying to compete with God—both are efforts doomed to failure. I finally came to a major crossroads: instead of competing with God, I realized God had called me to focus my efforts on introducing my kids to God, even using my own failures and inadequacies as compelling causes for my children to find their refuge in him.
“What will it be for you? Will you try to compete with God, or will you work to introduce your children to the one true God?” (Gary Thomas, Sacred Parenting: How Raising Children Shapes Our Souls, p. 44).
Lord, please help me give up trying to be the perfect parent, the perfect representative of You to my children. Instead, may I live repentant before my children to help them recognize that You are the only one who can love them perfectly.
When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take care of me. (Psalm 27:10 NKJV)
Though I do not want to, I know that I daily let my kids down in many ways. You, however, are the perfect parent that they need. Help them to find You and to be secure in Your love, and help me to forgive myself when I fall short.
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