Lara Love's Blog, page 363

Turkey, Stuffing & REPENTANCE?

Americans most commonly equate Thanksgiving with a day of food, fellowship, and family, with an occasional prayer or toast perhaps haphazardly tossed into the mix. But turkey, stuffing, sweet potato pie, football games, and leftovers for dinner often become a much higher priority than the giving of thanks. Some people count a few blessings here and there, topped off with homemade apple pie, whipped cream, and a bunch of Pepto Bismol as needed. Others do give a high priority to thanking God fo...

The Whole Word

The Whole Word

“And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;” Hebrews 5:9 /// “…but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” 1 John 2:17. /// “For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end.”Hebrews 3:14 /// “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Mt. 24:13 /// “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he th...

Goodbye Baby Bottle

Goodbye Baby Bottle

“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:12-13)

The first time...

Martha’s Message

Martha’s Message

“…a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good...

True Thanksgiving

True Thanksgiving

“…when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;” Hebrews 1:3 / “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,” Revelation 1:5

Why when we think of thanksgiving do we tend to jump immediately to thanking God for our physical provision? Food, shelter, clothing. Loved ones. Relatio...

“Despise Not the Chastening”

“Despise Not the Chastening”

“…My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them...

A Place of Belonging

A Place of Belonging

“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” Ephesians 1:4-6

Who doesn’t enjoy being liked? And like being loved? And want to be accepted? And to feel welcome? Who does...

Brokenhearted

Brokenhearted

The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” Psalm 34:18

My heart was totally broken. But after decades of lugging around a heavy, grieving, broken heart, I realized it was a new kind of broken. Instead of finding myself wallowing in all the hurt and harm done me by a broken world, my heart was achingly, painfully, wrenchingly broken over how I knew I had hurt God. My heart was broken over my sin against Him, and rather than...

The Wrong Directions

The Wrong Directions

“There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 16:25

Ever stopped to get directions only to find the directions somebody gave you were totally wrong? Land in the wrong place? Believe all along the way of following the directions you were headed in the right direction – until you arrived in the wrong place? Convinced the directions were right, eh? Until you landed in the wrong location – maybe even a dead end.

Lots of u...

The Condition of Your Heart

The Condition of Your Heart

“Now the end of the commandment is charity [love]out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned…(1 Timothy 1:5)

When a beloved friend of mine shared how she had managed to keep her mouth shut in response to someone who had been hurting her over and again, I quickly pointed out to her that keeping her mouth shut when someone hurts her is simply not enough; she needed not only to love and forgive the person, but she needed to bring her heart b...