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Back to Basics

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” ~ Psalm 19:14 (ESV)

Humanity is looking for something – something better. We are all searching for hope – for an ‘easier’ life – for purpose. The problem is that we sometimes look in the wrong places.

From where I am standing, life is hard. Yes, I struggle with life, with people, with circumstances, with every day ‘stuff’. I would lie if I’d tell you that life is ‘peachy’. Let me share my secret on how to travel the road of life. Let me introduce you to my personal ‘self-help’ book I refer to daily. It gives me strength, peace, comfort, joy, hope, direction. I am confident that the Author of this particular ‘self-help’ book is trustworthy. You are wondering what I am talking about? The Bible of course.

Some might say that the Bible does not apply to today’s society; it is too ancient, times have changed. I beg to differ. God is still God; humans are still the same as they were thousands of years ago. Nothing has changed. Except that 2,000 years ago, God provided a way ‘out’. He sent His one and only Son to die for the sins of this world…to give us a hope, a future.

Over the past two years many self-help and New Age books have flooded the market. What concerns me is that we, as believers get caught up with the masses. Even some Christian authors forsake the Truth to market their books – to have a book on the “Hot Seller” list. The Gospel message is rewritten to appeal to the masses.

Let me tell you: the Gospel message is appealing to the masses by itself. There is nothing more pure, full of truth to read God’s promise in John 3:16-17 (ESV):

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

There are different translations of the Bible out there. It can get confusing. Do your own research on which Bible translation is best for you. All Bibles are translated from the original languages Hebrew and Greek. The difference is that the translations are either word for word (NASB, KJV, NKYV, ESV, NRSV, NAB), thought for thought (NIV, NLT, NJB, CEV), or paraphrased (TLB and MSG). No matter which translation, it is God’s Truth, the best ‘self-help’ book on the market. Get back to basics – no New Age book can come even close…

My friend Lynn posted a very thought provoking post on Monday. Over the last couple of days I prayed if I should blog about my own thoughts – on what is going on in the Christian (writing) community; what unbelievers think of Christians. The more I prayed, the clearer it became – I have to. I hope that God will give me courage to share more of my thoughts over next several weeks. How about you? I would love to hear about your own thoughts…

Blessings to you and as always…

Footnote – Bible Translation:
CEV Contemporary English Version, ESV English Standard Version, KJV King James Version, MSG The Message (Eugene Peterson), NAB New American Bible (Catholic), NASB New American Standard Bible, NIV New International Version, NJB New Jerusalem Bible (Catholic), NKJV New King James Version, NLT New Living Translation, NRSV New Revised Standard Version, TLB The Living Bible (Kenneth Taylor).

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Welcome to “Grace Alone…”

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV)

After almost 3 years being known as “Sting My Heart” around the blogsphere, I was convinced that it was time to change the name and the look of my personal blog. But “why?” some of you might ask. How can I disobey God? He put it on my heart to make this drastic change…

Let me be honest with you; I struggled over the past 6 months. I had a hard time adjusting to our son being all grown. I was doing well…so I thought. “Empty Nest” syndrome hit like a ton of bricks 6 months after Daniel moved out.

I felt empty…I had a hard time adjusting to being ‘just a wife’…Two weeks ago everything changed. A new outlook on things. Believe me, that did not come from me; it was a God ‘thing’. He softly spoke to my heart — “You are not ‘just a wife’. You are still a mom, a daughter, a sister, a friend. And you are MINE!” I finally surrendered EVERYTHING.

After that morning I knew I had to rename my blog; give it a new ‘face’. I wasn’t sure about the name. Many names rattled in my head, but GRACE was always one word that stuck.

I emailed a couple of my blogging friends to see if they could help out renaming my blog. Darlene said something profound; it reminded me of the morning when my Lord spoke to my heart:

“I love “Grace Alone…” with the dot dot dot at the end because it says so much. It is a continuation of thoughts. Grace Alone carries you through, Grace Alone brightens your day, Grace Alone gives you strength…”

All I could say “Amen”. His grace saw me through the days of my ’empty nest’. His grace gave me strength. His grace brighten my days…His grace was/is sufficient for me in my weaknesses…

I want to thank my blogging friends Laurel, Lynn, Angie, Jamie and Darlene for their prayers and encouragement over the past 6 months — your prayers meant the world to me.

I hope that you, my dear sisters in Christ, will enjoy the new blog. I pray that He will give me words of encouragement to share with you.



PS: If you by chance have ‘Sting my Heart’ on your blogroll, could you please change the name to “Grace Alone…”? Thank you so much 🙂