Jim and I continue to read Paul David Tripp’s book entitled War on Words. In today’s chapter, he discusses idol words. He takes the reader through specific scripture to reveal to us why we say the things we do. There is no way I can do justice to the wisdom he imparts — you really need to buy this book and go through it on your own. But I particularly was encouraged by this paragraph — it applies to all sorts of situations, not just words:
“But don’t be discouraged. God never reveals our hearts to discourage us. Convicting us of sin is one of the most profound ways he demonstrates his love for us. He is committed to completing his work in us. He will not allow us to live with hearts that are enslaved. He works in every situation so that we would know the freedom his death purchased for us. So, he exposes not only the fruit of our sin (wrong words), but the roots of our sin (heart idols) as well. The conviction of our hearts is a sign that we are his dearly loved children, who have not only been forgiven of our sins, but are in the process of being delivered from them.”
I don’t know about you, but that just encourages the heck out of me. I guess I should worry if I don’t feel convicted about my sins. As we heard last Sunday in church, when was the last time that you repented of specific sins? If you can’t even recall the last time, or it was months ago, you better ask God to reveal yourself to YOU! And then repent. And accept His forgiveness.
And recognize that you are one of his dearly loved children.
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Ukrainiac, I am Shannon’s father, she is known to you from rocksinmydryer. I have seen a couple of your posts and wanted to write and ask you how close you are to Lutsk, Ukraine. A woman named Raisa Gerasimchuk came and lived with me and my wife one summer on an exchange program and I’ve pretty much lost touch with her. I thought if you were really close, I could give you her address and perhaps you could check on her for me. Thank you. Don Dunn
Don: A pleasure to meet you! I have been enthralled with Shannon’s posts from Uganda. We are about 6 hours from Lutsk. I was there for the first time last month. And, my husband is going back on the 29th of this month. He is helping to organize a conference for helping to develop early intervention programs for children born with disabilities. We have several contacts in Lutsk who would, I am quite sure, be willing to help us track down Raisa for you! Feel free to shoot me an e-mail and we can talk specifics.