Thoughts from the Past - Follow Your Heart?

Sept. 14, 2006 [edited]

Follow Your Heart?

"Follow your heart," the world tells us. "If you follow it you can't go wrong. Your heart will always lead you right."

God has a different thought on that -- as is usual where the world's philosophies are concerned. (By the way, a research on Google showed that this phrase is popular with New Age type people. That should tell us something.)

Proverbs 28:26 He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.

You might want to read that again. That first part is a strong statement, and there's no getting around it. If you "follow your heart" you are a fool. God said so.
Why would the Lord God say a thing like that?

The answer: Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Our hearts are deceitful above all things. There is nothing more deceitful than the heart. Wow. That's a pretty amazing statement, and yet history has proved it absolutely true. I am not an exception. You are not an exception. (And, your wonderful boyfriend or darling son/daughter is not an exception either, by the way.) We are all sinners, and our hearts are not trustworthy.

My grandpa used to say that our hearts are so deceitful we can deceive ourselves and not know it, even when the people around us do know we are deceiving ourselves. Scary, but true.
God has a solution, though. He always does. (That is one of the proofs that He is God Almighty.)

Psalm 119:80 Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; that I be not ashamed.
Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

Now, we might ask, "Since our heart is not trustworthy, how can we trust in the Lord this way or keep our hearts for Him?"

1 John 3:18-21 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

God is greater than our heart! What a wonderful comfort that is! Even if our heart condemns us unjustly, God is bigger and stronger, and He cannot lie! (Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;) The Lord knows if we are saved, if our real desire is to follow Him, and even if we are deceiving ourselves. There is no problem in our heart that is too big for Him!

To "follow your heart" then, is truly folly. We can only be safe in following our Lord, for only He knows and understands our hearts.

Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

1 Peter 2:21-25 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

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First posted here Sept. 2012

Evening Song - What A Lovely Name

Philippians 2:9-10 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;


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Photo and Poem - Faith

Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees,
And looks to God alone;
Laughs at impossibilities,
And cries, "It shall be done!"

- Charles Wesley

The Threefold Work - A Poem by Annie Johnson Flint

1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.


The Threefold Work

Three things the Master hath to do,
And we who serve Him here below
And long to see His kingdom come,
May pray or give or go.

He needs them all - the open hand,
The willing feet, the asking heart -
To work together and to weave
The threefold cord that shall not part.

Nor shall the giver count his gift
As greater than the worker’s need,
Nor he in turn his service boast
Above the prayers that voice his need.

Not all can go, nor all can give
To arm the other for the fray;
But young or old or rich or poor,
Or strong or weak - we all can pray.

Pray that the full hands open wide
To speed the message on its way,
That those who hear the call may go
And pray - that other hearts may pray.

- Annie Johnson Flint -

Luke 10:2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. 

Evening Song - He Hideth My Soul

Exodus 33:21-22 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:

Looking Back - Favorite Kitchen Things – Electric Egg Cooker

I am going to try cutting back on my posts here at least for awhile. Because of that I will be trying to post my mid-week posts all on Wednesday and they will vary widely. There will still be photo posts but not every week any more, but they will be interspersed with other things. We have had a lot of thunder storm days this spring when I am off the computer entirely. This may not continue, but at present responsibilities with my parents and other things we desire to do means that I have more things to think about and juggle. For today I'm reposting a review of a kitchen gadget. :-)

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Five years on and I'm still using this same cooker. I have looked at buying a stainless steel model for health purposes (no plastic leaching), but so far have not done that. It is perhaps not quite as accurate as it used to be, but I can still guess on the water amounts close enough. :-)
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This little electric egg cooker was given to me by my Texas sister-in-law.  This one is called an EggGenie™.  It is very handy and since it uses a minimal amount of water for cooking boiled eggs (really steamed), it also does not waste water – something we think about quite a bit in Texas these days (and should think of more).

Although I’m not exactly thrilled to cook my eggs in a plastic cooker, this is still one of my favorite kitchen appliances.  The electric egg cookers my mom had when I was growing up all involved aluminum in their construction – something I want to avoid.  This one is plastic and stainless steel.  I don’t make boiled eggs terribly often, so it isn’t like I use it all the time.

It can cook up to 7 eggs at once.  The measuring cup that came with it gives exact amounts of water for the level of done-ness for various numbers of eggs.  It’s pretty accurate if you don’t leave the eggs sitting in the cooker too long after turning it off.  Ahem! :-)



Also, before cooking the eggs, you have to poke a little hole in the large end of each egg.  There is a sharp pin inside the cooker for this purpose.  It usually works fine, but occasionally there is that weak shelled egg or something goes wrong and then there’s an clean up job to deal with. :-/  The purpose in the hole is to allow the air to escape from the little sealed chamber at the large end of the egg.  If you don’t do this the egg can crack and even leak during cooking.  Apparently this is more of a problem when steaming eggs.

One complaint with this model is that it doesn’t have an on/off switch.  When you plug it in, it’s on.  So, I have to remember not to plug it in before it’s ready to go – something I forget regularly.  It also doesn’t have a very loud buzzer to let you know when it’s done, and it does not go off till you come and unplug it – really Not Good!

Nevertheless, I’ve used it and found it very handy since I can get the eggs cooking and then tend to other things without giving them much more thought – except to turn them off and rather promptly remove them. :-)

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First published in March 2014.

Mothers, Teach Your Children

Over at The Home Maker's Corner I wrote a message encouraging Christian mothers to teach their children. I hope it will encourage someone today. :-)
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Proverbs 6:20-22 My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

One of the greatest things a Christian mother can do for her children is to teach them things they need to know about life and how to live it. This can be done in a lot of different ways, but I was thinking recently about a couple of specific ways my mother did this for my sister and me.

When I was in my teens my dad was pastoring a small church in western Michigan. Often while we were working in the kitchen we listened to a radio station called Blue Lake Public Radio. Sometimes we were listening to music. Often in the evenings when we were cooking dinner we heard one or two programs from NPR (National Public Radio). It covered a wide variety of topics. Some were more interesting than others. Sometimes we learned interesting things. Sometimes we were so disgusted with what they were talking about we just turned it off. But, the thing that influenced me the most without me even knowing it was that we often made comments to each other about what we heard and sometimes we even had discussions. My mom taught me a lot through that. Many things I'm sure have influenced me over the course of my life and instructed or altered my thinking even though I can't remember a lot of specific details now.

Please Continue Reading here.

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Art work by I. Lovering?

Evening Song - No Night There - and a bit of church history

Revelation 21:1-4 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 

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My understanding is that this is a very old Waldensian hymn. The Waldenses, a Christian group long before the Protestant Reformation in Europe, were originally in Italy and were persecuted severely for not following the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. I believe the book that I read was The History of the Waldenses by J . A. Wylie. I first read Paula the Waldensian by Eva LeComte years ago - a book I recommend.

Disclaimer on the website at the end of the video. I do not know this person and so cannot say one way or another as to his reliability. Use your own discretion.

Random List - May 2019

Matthew 6:33-34 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. 


Lately I have been…

Making: messes. I can't seem to stop leaving stuff lying around and then I have to backtrack later to tidy it all up.

Cooking: less variety due to my very limited diet for SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth) combine with my food intolerances. It's a frustration sometimes.

Reading: Just finished a novella by Chautona Havig yesterday. Various and sundry other things. Proverbs.

Wanting: to get our master suite more thoroughly cleaned.

Looking: for athletic shoes that are in my size, not ugly, and feel comfortable for daily wear.

Playing: a word game on my phone. A little with paper crafting stuff.

Learning: the challenges of helping aging parents with the complications of health problems and life.

Deciding: some hard things.

Wishing: I could eat some things that I used to be able to eat without any trouble. Ho hum. Also that I would get more done some days.

Enjoying: time out and about with my husband.

Laughing: at our silly cat and my husband's ridiculous humor. :-)

Waiting: for my digestive issues to improve?

Liking: photographing wildflowers.

Wondering: when life will calm down a little, and how bad the next set of thunderstorms will be.

Loving: hot showers, my husband's helpfulness, the extra green spring we're having, our cats being social.

Pondering: whether it's time to transition into a somewhat different ministry phase - at least for the time being.

Watching: my parents struggle with the limitations of aging. (Very sad.)

Hoping: we can do more in the way of hospitality; that some things become more clear soon.

Marveling: at the variety of wildflowers we've had this spring. It has been a delight from the Lord.

Needing: to take on new challenges, to allow things to be out of control when there's nothing I can do about it, and to rest in the knowledge that the Lord knows all about it.

Smelling: mold. We've had a lot of rain this spring.

Considering: what "wishful projects" I could let go of to stream line my hobbies and art into a more productive direction, and whether a better organizing system would make me more productive too.

Wearing: loose fitting t-shirt dresses that are cooler and more comfortable.

Buying: shoes that don't fit. Argh. Did you know that women are punished in America for having wide feet? Look at the very limited choices in shoe stores. It's discouraging. Maybe it's just where we live?

Noticing: that I'm struggling to keep up with the online writing and ministry.

Knowing: (or trying to know) that the Lord is growing me in ways that may not be entirely apparent or understood at the present, and that He is already in the future that feels so uncertain to me and knows exactly what I will need when I get there.

Thinking: out story plots for books I'll probably never write. Sigh.

Feeling: like life is out of control, and I'm not keeping up.

Admiring: My husband's persistence. My dad's care for my mom. My mom's determination to remain cheerful in the midst of her health struggles. My mom's beautiful red rose bush.

The Thousand Word Project - Hopeful

Strawberry blossom. Tennessee.

Evening Song - What A Prayer Can Do

James 5:16-18 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. 

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FREE Vintage Scripture Graphic - Pray without Ceasing

Here is another vintage graphic that I edited. I got the original graphic from the Old Design Shop. I made some changes and added the verse. You can save the image from here, but it will not be very high quality.  You can get it in higher quality if you go over and download it here. (Use the download button in the lower right corner.)

If you wish to use this online, please do not link to the graphic from either of my locations. Save it to your own computer and then upload it to the place where you store graphics online for you own use. Thank you.

Note: It's OK to link the graphic from here only if you are sharing the link to this specific post on my blog - either on your own blog or in social media. :-)

Enjoy!