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Battle

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I was reading in Hebrews yesterday, Hebrews 11-13 to be specific.  That's great stuff, by the way.  Once upon a time I thought Hebrews was a bit boring, but now I don't understand how I ever thought that!  Chapter 11 is the famous "faith" chapter that quickly runs through a lot of the old testament heroes and how they lived by faith.  In verse 32, the author mentions others who he doesn't have time to talk about but who still lived by faith.  So my first thought was, why Barak? I went back to read his story again, which is in Judges 4 and 5. Israel was being oppressed by the king of Canaan. His army commander, Sisera, led a formidable army that included 900 iron chariots.  Deborah was leading Israel at the time as a prophetess. I've always liked Deborah, probably because she was a female judge and also because she actually went into battle! When she told Barak that God wanted him to lead troops into battle against Sisera, he said he'd only go if she went
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Labor In Love

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"We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." -- Thessalonians 1:3 I like how here there are several external actions that all spring out of the heart.  I like how the work is produced by faith.  It's created by it, a by-product of faith.  It's cause and effect.  So the work would not happen if there weren't faith first.  As James 2:17 says, "In the same way, faith by itself, if not accompanied by action (works) is dead." So faith produces work because it must.  At least, living faith must always produce works. Then your labor, your effort and toil, is prompted by love.  You have to have some incentive to work.  Most people are motivated by money--that's why they go to work every day.  Or maybe they're motivated by the satisfaction they get from their jobs.  Or maybe they're motivated by the desire to be a goo
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The Heart Start

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Starting yet another blog, and one with an either weirder name. I did try to pick something else, but Heart Food (the name of posts on an old blog) was already taken. Heart Vittles didn't quite sit right. Heart Grub is kind of strange, but then again, I like it. Grub has a nice, down-to-earth ring to it (although it also makes me think of "grubby" which I guess isn't too far off). The point is, that you need to feed your heart as much as you feed your stomach. Years ago, I titled one of my journals "What You Think On Grows." That's true. What you put in your heart also comes out of your heart. That's why the Bible says to "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." (Phil. 4:8). If you think on good things, it grows in that direction. If you think on bad things, your thoughts flow that way. Every morning I spend tim
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