6 Benefits of Living a Holy Life

 

by Barbara Latta @barbaralatta

Holiness is viewed by the world around us as an undesirable trait.

The reason for this is because they don’t understand what holiness means. To unbelievers, holiness means being a boring, never-doing-anything-fun type of person.

According to Strong’s #H6944 holiness means, hallowed, consecrated, dedicated.[i]

Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due His name; worship Yahweh in the splendor of His holiness. (Psalm 29:2 HCSB)

One of the dictionary definitions of holy is having a spiritually pure quality.

The secular environment focuses on health, appearance, and pursuit of youth. Billions of dollars are spent year after year on cosmetics, exercise equipment, gym memberships, health food and vitamins.  Nature programs push taking care of the earth to the point of defying the planet.

Yet this same group of people think nothing of what goes into their minds. Movies, books, articles, conversations, and attitudes that permeate culture can poison souls.

Why does the world want to be pollution free in the physical, but ignore the pollution that enters minds and emotions?

Must I Forgive More Than Once?

 

Blog By Barbara Latta Guest Post by Debbie Wilson

This week we are honored to hear from Debbie Wilson as she launches her new book, Big Hurt, Bigger God. The link to order is at the end of the post as well as Debbie's website where you can enjoy more inspiring articles. 

Please welcome Debbie!

Must I Forgive More Than Once?

A cartoon in the New Yorker magazine showed an exasperated father saying to his prodigal son, “This is the fourth time we’ve killed the fatted calf.” God does that over and over in our lifetime.

—Bruce Larson, Setting Men Free

At the beginning of my senior year of high school, my parents let me drive our carpool to school. This was our first parent-free commute. My neighbor climbed in the passenger side, and I set off to pick up the others.

As I turned the corner, my schoolbooks slid across the bench seat of our Oldsmobile into my friend. When I reached for them, I inadvertently turned into a parked car. Besides the humiliation of smashing my parents’ and a stranger’s cars before I’d even left my neighborhood, I banged my lip on the steering wheel.

Daddy called our family doctor to stitch it. My wound continued to ooze clear fluid for at least twenty-four hours. That weekend a swollen red lip accessorized the white tulle gown I wore to our senior ring dance.

Deep emotional wounds, like physical wounds, must be cleaned to heal properly. Forgiveness is God’s tool to clean our wounds.

A deep wound stings more than a surface scratch when tended. And an oozing wound, like my lip, requires repeated cleanings.

How often do we clean our wounds? As often as they weep.

4 Remedies to Conquer Rejection

 

by Barbara Latta @barbaralatta

“Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me!” This often-taunted phrase is a lie. Words can hurt worse than a physical injury and last much longer. 

Bullying has always been around, but it seems more prevalent now than ever before. Children are exposed to torment from others and this can cause emotional scars that can take years to heal if not dealt with properly. Too many kids have even committed suicide because of what others have said or done to them.

We, as parents, grandparents, and friends can help our children and students by teaching them how valuable they are, and how much they are loved by God.

What is the Depth of Redemption?

 This week for Christmas in July, I am sharing an excerpt from my book, Redemption, the Heartbeat of Christmas, What the Birth of Christ Means to the World. The book is available on Amazon. I hope this reminder of what Jesus did for us will speak to your heart, as God did to mine. 

What is the Depth of Redemption? by Barbara Latta @barbaralatta

In church, we hear a lot about redemption. Sometimes we hear the word so much we lose the depth of its meaning.

What is the depth of redemption? We can better understand how deep Jesus’ sacrifice was for us by thinking about a person in prison.

Those of us who have not experienced the despair of imprisonment can’t fully understand the feelings of this punishment. My husband and I were confined to two weeks of quarantine when a we arrived in a foreign country during the Covid pandemic.

We lived for two weeks in an Army barracks with only thirty minutes of fresh outside air per day.

Days dragged on minute by minute, hour by hour.

We walked ten feet from one wall to the other to stretch our legs.

We looked out the window at the scenic air conditioner unit below our floor.

Packaged food appeared at mealtime.

The next day repeated the same boredom, the same meals, the same hard mattresses. As bad as this felt, we were released after our required time ended. The day we left with our luggage blessed us with a small taste of freedom.

Our experience had no comparison to life in a penitentiary.

A Prayer for America

 

by Barbara Latta @barbaralatta

We celebrated the 250^th birthday of the Declaration of Independence last week in a spectacular display of fireworks, music, military drills, and speeches.

America has never seen an event like what Washington, D.C. displayed before.

Our history has been maligned over the decades until students and even adults are not aware of what the liberty they enjoy cost others. We need to protect this freedom from forms of tyranny like socialism and communism. We do this by remaining strong in biblical values, voting accordingly, and praying for America.

What can heal our land?

What Can Our Ancestors Teach Us About History? - Guest Post by Dr. Rebecca Price Janney

 

by Barbara Latta @barbaralatta 

This week's post is by Dr. Rebecca Price Janney. She has written a six-book series set in the Revolutionary War period of America. The main character in all these books is actually an ancestor of hers. As a person whose favorite part of history is this Revolutionary period, I learned a lot about some of the battles and hardships our founding fathers experienced. Travel back in time through these books and you will have more to appreciate as we celebrate our 250th birthday. She has also written two books about the Great Awakening in the early 1900's in Korea and the Korean War. Since we lived in Korea for two years, I found these novels fascinating. I think you will too! Welcome, Rebecca. Links to her books are at the end of the post.

             Four years ago, I got to address a group of newly-naturalized citizens from around the world. Most of them were with family members and wore big smiles to go with their American flags. What could I say to encourage and welcome them? Since I believe my family’s story reflects “the American dream,” I went with some of the details before bringing my journey to bear upon theirs.

3 Biblical Remedies for Guilt and Shame

 

 by Barbara Latta @barbaralatta

Even since Adam and Eve took one bite of fruit humans have dealt with guilt and shame.

God warned them.

Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. (Genesis 2:16-17 NKJV)

Up until that time they had only known good. Then a serpent’s words carried more weight to their minds than what their Creator told them.

The temptation to know everything sucked Adam and Eve into the trap.

Through mercy, God brought the skins of a slain animal to cover the guilt. The couple was forgiven.

But the shame continued. Their minds probably ran away with the accusations that came from the mouth of their tempter. “You are bad.” “Look at what you did.” “The human race is doomed because of you.”

This is what the devil does. He tempts and then when we give in, he accuses and condemns us.

What is the difference between guilt and shame?