My Reasons for Writing by Nina Faye Morey

So, why do I write?

To gain a greater understanding of God’s Word

One of the main reasons I enjoy writing is that it helps me develop a better understanding of God’s Word. Through my Christian writing, I’m able to grasp more meaning from Bible verses and gain greater insights into the Scriptures than by any other means. When I open my heart and mind to Jesus’s words, I feel like His apostles must have felt listening to His teachings. It’s as though His Holy Spirit is inspiring and guiding me, prompting me to write the words that flow through my pen and onto the paper. So many times I’ve been searching for just the right words or the right Bible verse, and suddenly the words magically form in my mind or I open my Bible by chance to the perfect Scripture. But my experience isn’t unique. I’ve heard other Christian writers express these same feelings and experiences.

And let us consider how we may spur

one another on toward love and good deeds.”

~ Hebrews 10:24

To use God’s gift for the good of others

I can’t imagine not using this great gift that God has given me (Ephesians 2:10). I know that many Christian writers feel this way regardless of whether they write for the Christian market, the mainstream market, or both. Whatever and wherever we write, we feel impelled to uphold Christian principles because we wish to serve our Lord and use our gift for God’s glory. We want to reach out to our readers and have a positive impact on their lives, comforting, encouraging, and inspiring them. We want to help and uplift them in times of tribulation. We want to bless and heal their hearts and souls with God’s Word. It’s true that the pen is mightier than the sword, so we must choose our words wisely so we never lead our readers astray or cause them to stumble (Matthew 12:36). We must always remember that our words are capable of inciting love or hate, good or evil, violence or peace.

“I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.”

~ Flannery O’Connor

To gain a better understanding of myself

I write to find out what I’m thinking. It’s as though I don’t know what I really think about something until I’ve written down the words and read them on paper. It helps me express my ideas, insights, and emotions. Writing helps me answer questions and work through problems. It helps me process my thoughts, feelings, ambitions, and motivations. It helps me embrace my hopes and fears. It provides a cathartic release whenever the floodgates open. Writing helps me unravel the mysteries of life and discover what is truly important.

To indulge my love affair with words

Ever since I first learned to read, I’ve desired to participate in and find my niche in the writing world. I never tire of the thrill of capturing an idea that’s in my mind or an emotion that’s in my heart with just the right words. Writing is never easy. But that’s also part of the attraction for me. It can be very difficult to craft a well-written article, story, or poem that reaches readers’ hearts and minds and stirs their emotions. If you write for publication, there is not only the need to write well but the additional pressure of meeting the editor’s expectations and deadlines. But even if no one ever read a single word I wrote, my love affair with words would impel me to keep writing them down on paper.

So, why do you write?

Photos: Pixabay Free Images

THANKFULNESS FIRST by Bryan Norford

 

Why is it that we tend to blame God for the difficult times of life, but credit ourselves when things go right? Clearly that cussed nature inherited from our earliest forebears still dogs us all, even when we know different.

The exhortations in Scripture and frequent calls from the pulpit to be thankful—even the theme for this month’s blog—only emphasize this tendency. Do we really need a special day in October to be sure we’re thankful?

The Bible even goes so far as to suggest lack of thankfulness is the leading edge of futile thinking, “For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened,” Romans 1:21, my emphasis.

An inspired thought: clarity of mind comes from thankfulness. Without it our view of life is distorted and unreliable. Absence of thankfulness only feeds into a pervading view that God is somehow responsible for our ills. We concentrate on the darkness around us, with increasing resignation, bitterness, or anger.

None of us reach the older years of life without having faced distressing circumstances. I have been impressed this month with InScribe blogs where members have described the most difficult conditions of life, yet allied with evidence that thankfulness was the bridge holding each one up over those troubled waters.

This thankfulness would not initially be for the experience, but thankfulness during it. As we are exhorted, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus,” 1 Thessalonians 5:18. But of greater value is the almost universal idea that adversity brought new understanding of our faith and a more intimate walk with God.

The hardships we experience are not to be desired or sought, but adverse times teach us much we cannot gain in less oppressive episodes. In all circumstances, our joy, peace, and sense of well-being, all depend on being thankful.

I believe that was Paul’s secret to contentment.  “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want,” Philippians 4:12.  

May it always be ours.

Keep Strong in the Lord

It seems that the older we get, the more challenges there are. When we hear of bad news we say, “What next is going to happen?” Strife comes to all of us and it is something that we must endure throughout life. But life is not all bad. We share in joy and laughter when we hear and experience good news.


There is something that each of us can share in regardless of the storms of life and the blessings of happiness, and that is hope! How can we say that we have hope while we live in this world as we know it? Keep in mind that Jesus came to earth to be among us to fulfill the Father’s will. He came to offer hope and life but he suffered and died on a cross so that each one of us may have the opportunity of eternal life. That is our future hope!

He knows the problems that come our way. There is nothing that any one of us can go through that He hasn’t endured himself. In fact, He already suffered more than we could ever fathom but His resurrection was victorious and triumphant. Hebrews 4:14 says, “Therefore since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.”

God sympathizes us in our weaknesses. Our sinless father to whom we cry out and have our hope is our compassionate Father. He asks us to place our hope and confidence in Him. Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

In our prayers we can exclaim, “Lord you know my need, you know what I’m going through. I am seeking your grace and mercy to help me. I believe you will Lord, because you understand!”
Take hold of the hope that is yours! Keep strong in the Lord! Do not give up believing that God’s power and grace will carry you through life just as He promised He would.

“You can’t find firm footing in a swamp, but life rooted in God stands firm.” Proverbs 12:3

(The Message)

Janice Keats

Clouds, Grease, and Bits of Orange — Lynda Schultz

This is not my story, but arises out of the conversation between two friends of mine. She really does need a dishwasher.


“I’d really like a dishwasher.”

We were discussing the move into our new apartment. When we’d done the walk through with the real estate agent I noticed that there was a space under one of the kitchen counters that seemed like it was just made for a dishwasher.

I planted the idea with my husband, though I should have known better. His response was predictable.

“No, no. We don’t need a dishwasher. I always thought it was foolish to have a dishwasher. Every person I know who has one ends up washing their dishes before they put them in the thing. Seems silly to me to wash them twice. All you have to do is take a little extra care to make sure that you clean them right the first time.”

I sighed. It seemed as though we had had this conversation before. I always lost, or gave up; overwhelmed by the tidal wave of verbiage he is so gifted with.

“Besides, there’s the electricity it uses.”

Then it was back to the double washing.

“And you know what happens if you don’t get all the junk off before you put the dishes in the thing. Those traps are really small, and they get easily clogged. The next thing you know the water can’t escape. You open the door and out comes all the water all over the floor.”

I nodded my head. Okay, I get the message.

“Then there’s the bill to repair the thing.”

He finally noticed my facial expression.

“But you know, I do anything for you. If you really want a dishwasher, then it’s a dishwasher we’ll get.”

He was trying and I appreciated it. However, we both knew where this argument was going and what the conclusion would be.

“Honey, you really don’t need one, you know. I’ll do all the dishes. You won’t have to worry about them ever again, I promise. I already do my own after breakfast, right?”

“Yes, that’s true, dear,” I said, gamely. He had been doing his own breakfast dishes for a while now in an effort to be a husband more aware of his wife’s needs. I didn’t want to discourage him.

He nodded, satisfied that his point had been made, and then took off down the hall as I cleared the kitchen table of my cereal bowl and coffee cup.

I turned toward the sink and picked up the first of the breakfast dishes already stacked in the rack. I examined each one, putting aside the still cloudy glasses, the frying pan with grease still stuck to its side, the pieces of the juicer to which bits of orange still clung. As I washed—for the second time—the dishes he had so “carefully” done after his early morning breakfast, I breathed a prayer:

“Lord, bless him, but I’d still like a dishwasher.”

There is no man so deceived as he who, being blind, thinks that he can see.