Emotional Purity - an affair of the heart

05/01/13 - Lessons from the Golden Calf

2013-05-01T08:34:00.001-05:00

I am too much like the stubborn people who built the "golden calf" in Exodus 32, are you?

In verse 1 we see the people going to their leader, "Up, make us a gods...." Instead of trusting their leader they grew impatient and demanding. How often do I look to my leader to be at my beckoning call? I want to guide and lead, instead of trusting the beautiful line of authority God established.

Then the people go on complaining about their leader to another leader. This caused division!

Aaron, then went on to "appease" these stubborn people by telling them to give him all their gold.

Now think about it, these people are in the desert and he asks for their possessions of gold. Verse 2 says, "Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives..." Gold, this fine, precious metal is what the people give up because they aren't willing to wait on God.

What do I give up because I grow impatient on God's timing? How often do we run ahead of God, willing to give up precious things, because His timing is not YOUR timing! I've seen people race ahead of God and marry a non-believer because they don't want to wait on God's timing.

After Aaron build the calf the first thing they say, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" vs. 4. Are you kidding me?!? Did they forget that the Red Sea parted? Did they forget how God brought 10 plagues?

How often do we forget God's faithfulness when we are in a season of waiting? We must reflect and remember His goodness to avoid carving our own "golden calf'".

Aaron went on to build an alter to the Lord and proclaimed they would have a feast to the Lord. Here we see mixing idol worship, with worship of the Lord. Oh, yes friends, we can be in church "worshiping" God, yet clinging to our idols. This is not worship of the Lord, you can't have both, you must choose!

After their "worship" service they got up "to play" (vs. 6). Really!?! They are flat out disobeying God and they just want to play!? Do we "play" Christian? Do we go on Sunday, but by Monday we are worshiping the idol of self? Do we claim to have faith, yet "play" with the things of this world?

We see God tells Moses to go back to the people and Moses gets so mad at the people he breaks the first set of the Ten Commandments! In Chapter 34 Moses makes new tablets and the Lord proclaims in verse 6-7: "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgressions and sin..."

What grace! What love!

But God adds to Moses that: "You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal."

There is more to take from this story, but as I read this morning these thoughts just jumped at me!

What jumps out at you?

Don't forget my giveaway of Thrive!

04/30/13 Thrive: The Single Life as God Intended

2013-04-30T12:13:00.001-05:00

I am excited to have a give-away of a new book called: Thrive: The Single Life as God Intended by Lina Abujamra .

Lina is a single ER doctor who is the Women's Ministry Director at Harvest Bible Chapel, she blogs (at a few sites including True Woman and Lies Young Women Believe), she teaches the bible on Tuesday night (you can download her podcasts: Living with Power).

One thing I appreciate about Lina is she doesn't mince words and delivers the gospel with a power punch! Her first book: Thrive, is a blueprint for thriving as a single through the lens of scripture and what I love is Lina is thriving as a 40 year old single woman (well she just had birthday, so 41 year old...but who's counting!)

To win a copy of Thrive leave a comment or question for Lina, here or on the Emotional Purity Facebook page and I will draw the winners on Monday, May 6!

Complete Take-Over

2013-04-19T09:31:00.002-05:00

When Christ comes into our life, He doesn't want to have co-ownership, He comes for a complete take-over.

He wants our:

body
thoughts
money
relationships
time
talents
gifts
hearts
schedule
eyes
work
motives
attitudes
homes
future
education
ears
desires
mouths
dreams
EVERYTHING

Do we live in light of this? Do we surrender all to Him?

What needs to change in your life today? What do you need to repent of clinging too and not giving to Christ? Don't delay. Give it to the Captain of your Life!

Distractions

2013-04-17T22:16:00.001-05:00

Life is full of distractions.

You know what your distractions are, I don't have to tell you.

I've been battling my own distractions.

When my distractions (not sinful things, just things that take my eyes off the priorities in my life) rule, I realized I have: less joy, less patience, more self-focus, and feel distant from my Savior. Makes me spiritually dry!

I must lay aside what distracts me, run hard after Christ, and fix my gaze upon Him.

Just acknowledging that caused a wave of peace to wash me and revive me.

Selfisness

2013-02-16T08:32:00.001-06:00

We live in a culture saturated by self.

We self protect. We live for self. We have messages that bombard us saying, "Care for self! No one else will!" Me, Me, Me!

We say we have to create our own identities. We have to make time for self. We have to protect self.

We say that if someone is offended by you, it's their problem because self is protected.

The thing about these messages is there's an element of truth. But we've gone to far!

As a follower of Christ we are commanded to give away self, to die to self, and to lay self aside. We can not serve both self and Christ! We must choose.

Self needs to die.

Selfishness gets bumped into all day long! How do you respond? Does Christ spill out of you? Or does self rear it's ugly head?

Oh friends, lay self aside. Seek to serve Christ and be the hands, feet, and heart of Christ to those around you. Seek your identity in Him and in Him alone. Ask for wisdom to see the lies the culture sells! You will have joy like you have never experienced before.

This is my prayer for my own heart and for yours as well!

Daily Bible Challenge

2013-02-11T07:56:00.000-06:00

I had the awesome privilege of sharing my testimony on Revive our Hearts last month. Last year I took the "daily bible reading challenge" and I share how reading the bible every day in 2012 changed my life!

Take a listen: Your Personal Bible Reading Challenge

I am guilty!

2013-02-07T10:58:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I posted about "noise" and you know what: I am guilty of adding noise into your life!

So I have to ask, "Am I pointing people to Jesus Christ and Him crucified or am I pointing you to my thoughts and advice?" "Am I pointing people to repentance and faith in Jesus or am I a loud gong?" "Do I balance love and truth?"

If I am bringing attention to myself, then I am noise. Forgive me!

If I am bringing glory to God, then I pray I encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and admonish the idle. (1 Thess. 5:14)

Noise

2013-02-06T15:49:00.001-06:00

Have you ever taken one day to pay attention to the noise around you?

Podcasts, pandora, Wii, movies, websites, radio, restaurant music, mall music, kids, coworkers, traffic, and sirens blare! Then social media, blogs, pinterest, email, and text message provide more mental noise, advice, and static (at times).

We stay distracted, busy, and always peering into the lives of other people.

During my Facebook break I have realized how overly saturated I've been with noise. Noise that invades space. Noise that invades peace.

Seeking the One thing that brings lasting peace and joy can be hard to "hear" in all the noise.

Before I took the plunge and de-activated my Facebook page, I prayed that God would revel anything that was keeping me distracted from Him. This break has been good and I feel like I have more processing to do before I re-join the social media world of Facebook.

I want the noise and advice of the world to be quiet, so I can hear, more clearly the voice of my Beloved Savior.

Facebook Break

2013-02-04T08:32:00.000-06:00

Here I just post for you to find me on Facebook and Saturday I decided I needed to de-activate my account and take a break.

This break was a couple weeks, maybe a couple of months, okay, maybe a couple of years in the making.

At times I find myself wrapped up in drama by what is posted on Facebook. I see posts from people who I think, "Don't they know better." "Don't they see how they are being entertained by worthless noise!?"

Then I feel judgmental and I don't want to be prideful.

So I have unsubscribed to so many people to just avoid that critical heart which comes way too easily for me. (Yes, it's my issues to work on!)

But last week a photo was circulated that was just "worthless chaff", but it seemed I was alone in thinking the picture was not funny at all.

My heart just broke as this picture was shared by many and people just "LOL" at it.

This picture was not God-glorifying, but glorified self. It was a slam on male/female relationships and it did, in no way lead people to the cross, but to self.

But I felt like I was being too sensitive, perhaps.

So I took a Facebook break to re-calibrate my heart. To decided if I am "in a Christian bubble" or if I am "guarding my heart"?

I desire deeply to be a "tree firmly planted" that is guided and directed soloing by the Word of God. I want the smile of God on my face. I want to please Him.

I am still tweeting, I find twitter to be a bit safer and not filled with as much useless posts: https://twitter.com/HeatherArnel

I'd love your thoughts! Really! Share away!

Digging Deep

2013-01-31T21:11:00.004-06:00

If I had a word for 2013 so far it would "study".

So far in 2013 I've been digging deeply into God's word.

In 2012 I committed to read the bible every day and I actually accomplished my goal!

This year I wanted to take it to a deeper level!

I've come to see that the more you are in God's Word, the more you think biblically. You filter your thoughts, attitudes, actions through the bible.

Friends, I hope you are taking time each day to read God's word!

If you want to be encouraged, I post almost day on "Emotional Purity Facebook Page". I desire to see people to get radical for Christ, to dig into His word, and live out a surrendered life! Join me over there!

OneCry

2012-11-07T12:36:00.002-06:00

Are you sad about the outcome of the election? Then DO something about it! Print this booklet from OneCry called: Draw a Circle. And draw the circle of revival around YOU!

Start with YOURSELF:
Get rid of hidden, secret sin!
Forgive!
Let go of bitterness!
Love your neighbor!
Stop trying to control your family!
Stop living with the entitlement mentality!
Stop living in sexual sin!
Let go of greed!
Humble yourself!
Repent!
Stop being critical of others!
Lay aside gossip and slander!
Respect authority!
Help the poor!
Serve the widow!
Take care of the orphan!

Above all love God with all your heart, your soul, your mind, and your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself!

Don't look to government to save us...God revive us and start with me! Will you join me!?! Print the "Draw the Circle" booklet and cry to God for revival!

Are you desperate enough to radically obey! Holy Spirit help us obey!

10/22/12 - Authority

2012-10-22T14:15:00.001-05:00

Our culture is anti-authority!

We scoff at anyone telling us what we can or can not do!

We despise the line authority God established.

Because we are so anti-authority in our culture we question the full authority of the bible. We fall into the trap of those that question God's Word without much backlash, because after all would God really say that, or did He really mean that? We have set ourselves up as "the authority" in our life, so we can use His word like a buffet, taking what we like, leaving the rest behind. We choose what we want to obey and what we don't! After all, if the Bible isn't the final authority it doesn't really matter!

Because of this pervasive anti-authority issue in our culture many believers are living lives with one foot in the world, one in God's kingdom. Their theology is wimpy, so they are wimpy. Their view of God is wimpy. Therefore they view themselves through this distorted picture.

Because of this culture balking at authority we are critical of our pastors and elders, figuring out ways to go around their authority. We talk about our bosses behind their backs thinking they aren't that good of leaders anyway! We storm off when our parents set any type of boundaries in our life, rolling our eyes and disregarding their authority. We manipulate our husbands and chide their authority in our life.

Oh friends may this not represent our lives! May we fully embrace the wonderful, freeing authority God has established! May we always be mindful of honoring and respecting those that God placed as our authority. May we lay down pride thinking we are our final authority and bow our knee to the King of king and Lord of lords!

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the way of the wicked, nor stand in the path of the sinner, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. BUT his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates both day and night. Ps. 1:1-2

10/3/12 -Life

2012-10-03T12:31:00.003-05:00

Hello readers!

I am around, just not much blogging here lately.

I try to post on Emotional Purity Facebook page almost daily! My hope it to encourage people to walk in humility, brokenness, and honestly before their Lord. To seek to be revived and seek to live the gospel in their every day lives!

Hope you join me over there!

If you have a blog topic you'd like me to write on, please share!

Also, I am blogging over at Beyond Bath Time! It's been fun encouraging moms!

08/23/12 - Hardening our Hearts

2012-08-23T10:06:00.001-05:00

This morning my bible reading lead me to Psalms 95...here's just verse 6 to 8

"Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts..."
I was stopped at "do not harden your hearts"!

How often do we harden our hearts by ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit? How often do we avoid doing the hard things God is calling us to do?

Oh may our hearts be soft to the voice of God in our life and may be keep ourselves humble under His mighty hand!

08/22/12 - Only 29 days!

2012-08-22T16:02:00.001-05:00

I hope you can join me from True Woman 2012 as we seek God together from spiritual renewal!

Register at True Woman 12!

Leave a comment if you are already planning on coming!

Blessings!

08/04/12 - Blogging at Beyond Bath Time

2012-08-04T13:46:00.004-05:00

God is so cool!

He has opened a door for me to join the blogging team at Beyond Bath Time!

Check out my first post: Family Vision Statement

08/02/12 - Christian Marriage

2012-08-02T10:23:00.001-05:00

If you've keeping up with what's happening in the cultural wars this week you know that marriage has been a HOT topic!

We may hold to the belief that marriage is between one man and one woman, but let's us look at the Church in regard to marriage over the last decades, by asking questions.

Do Christian marriages reflect Christ and the church to a watching world?

Are Christians thriving in their marriages, or just merely surviving (living as roommates)?

How many couples in your local body of believers have been divorced in the past 5 years?

Does your church have a solid marriage ministry where couples are encouraged to display the gospel in their marriages?

Do you think the Church displays the beauty of manhood and womanhood?

Marriage, family, and gender have been under attack in our culture for 40 years! Let's start with our marriages to turn the tide!

Understand your role! Live out the gospel! Thrive in YOUR marriage!

07/21/12 - Quiet Time

2012-07-21T11:50:00.000-05:00

Over the past couple of years I've asked people who are struggling with a consistent quiet time, "Has anyone sat you down and shown you how to have a quiet time?"

I will be the first to say there is no formula to a time with God. There's no right or wrong way! There's no perfect way...but having someone show you how they do can be extremely helpful!

For example some think that your quiet time has to be just that, quiet! Well that's not always possible! Some think quiet time has to be a full 30 minutes or it doesn't count! Some even think that there's a certain amount that has to be read in order to qualify as a quiet time! Some don't realize a simple reading plan could greatly enhance those times with God!

My quiet times have looked different in different seasons of my life.

But the one constant...seeking God!

If you are struggling with a consistent quiet time start asking people, "What does your quiet time look like?" "How much do you read?" "Do you have a reading plan?"

And maybe if you're comfortable with them ask them to observe their quiet time...it may help in your own personal devotional life!

The more you are in Truth for yourself, the more you see the lies all around us!

06/30/12 - Worldview

2012-06-30T09:37:00.000-05:00

We all have a worldview: you, me, your friends, your family, we all have a worldview.

Worldview is a certain view you take on the world around you. A certain philosophy on life!

A worldview is like a pair of tinted glasses, let me explain.

Let's say I hand you a pair of yellow lens colored sunglasses. When you put them on you can only view the things around you with a yellow shade. Everything you see and view is effected by the yellow glasses. You can't see anything without a hue of yellow!

So is a worldview!

Your worldview will tint everything you see! Everything!

How you view education, marriage, family, relationships, conflict, work, media choices, recreational activities, church, ministry, money, and everything else you do or think is effected by your worldview.

This is why it's so important to understand the culture is SCREAMING it's worldview at you! It's telling you to put on it's sunglasses and view the world through it's lens!

The culture's worldview stands in near completely opposition to a biblical worldview.

As followers of Christ we must seek to find the biblical worldview. To do this we have to be in God's word and seek hard after truth. The more we see through a biblical worldview, the easier it is to spot the worldviews the culture wants you to believe is truth.

06/26/12 - Clothes

2012-06-26T16:28:00.001-05:00

What's modest? What's not modest? Does it matter? Does it cause someone to stumble?

So many blogs, articles, and opinions about modesty!

Oh I have them...opinions that is!

But the more I think about modesty I think of 2 things:

1) Modesty is an issue of the heart. A woman who is Christ-centered will have a heart that longs to exult Him. She won't use her clothes to get attention.

2) My clothes need to point people to the gospel and make the gospel evident in my life. I don't want me clothes to tarnish the gospel and the work of Christ in my life at all.

We live in a culture that needs to see God's people acting, living, dressing in a way that is completely consistent with the fact that we are God's Royalty! We are sons and daughters of the King!

When our heart is submitted to the King and when we are behaving in a way that honors the King we serve, the question of what is modesty or what is not modest will not be what we ask.

We will ask: Does this make more of Christ or more of myself? Does this point people to Him or to me? Does this display the gospel or does this display my idol of self? Is this attractive or does this attract unwanted attention?

As the temps warm up don't do a too low, too short check (although that can be helpful) but do a heart check!

06/15/12 - Laughing At Winter

2012-06-15T06:32:00.001-05:00

My mom has set out on a journey.

Some of her family members have walked away from the Lord in their 70's and 80's. This has caused her to ask, "What is the key to walking faithfully to the very end of life?"

She's begun interviewing older women, women in their 70's and 80's to find out how they have stay the course.

We need to look to the gray haired faithful women of the faith and learn from them.

Check out my mom's blog: Laughing At Winter

06/07/12 - Fear vs. Faith

2012-06-07T20:18:00.002-05:00

Are you being controlled by fear?

Or are you being controlled by faith?

If you are being controlled by fear you will become judgmental, prideful, critical, scared, box God in, and point your finger at those not "doing" what you think they should be doing.

See when you are controlled by fear you will think a formula will keep you pure. You will think that if you do X, Y and Z, than you will be pure!

When you are walking in step with the Holy Spirit, you may look, externally, like a person who is being motivated by fear, but your heart will be humble, peaceful, looking for the way God is going to move, and smile at what is to come.

You will know God's plan is the best. You will know that God is moving and working in ways you can't see. You will know that God works differently for His different children.

God is not a god of fear or confusion...but a God of peace and can be wholly trusted!

06/05/12 - Email

2012-06-05T13:04:00.000-05:00

I always enjoy hearing from readers! These types of emails bless me more than you know!

"Hi Mrs. Heather,

I just wanted to thank you so much for your book Emotional Purity and all that it means to me. I am sure that you get emails like this all the time but this book is truly amazing. It is my favorite book (outside of the bible). I have read many books on purity but have never read one that touched me so deeply and really hit home for me. In fact, I just finished reading the book through for the third time.

A year and a half ago your book, along with the hand of God, helped me get out of an emotional relationship that had been battling in my head for some time. After I got out of my 'relationship' (it was only in my head) the Lord placed a group of girls for me to share my testimony with. He continues to give me a platform and although I am very thankful I never would have guessed I would have been here nor have I asked for the platform. I am only 18 and while many of the girls God has sent my way are my age some are older and younger as well.

I have told so many people about your book and tonight will be finishing a girls bible study where we went through your book chapter by chapter discussing how we can apply the principles to our lives.

I am continuing to find that purity is not a black and white concept but that you have to have an open mind about it and if not you miss out on the greatest ministry and learning opportunities. I am continuing to ask people around me, who have gone through relationships, for advice. Gathering information so that I am equipped for when the day comes for me. In fact I have already had to explain to a few young men that I do not date although they looked at me funny I feel again that they Lord used it to minister to the young men. I've also found so much freedom by sharing with my parents little things, even though it was hard at first.

Again thank you so much for the encouragement you have already given!"

Emotional Purity was first published 11 years ago and it blows my mind that God is still using it to challenge and encourage young men and women!

To God be the glory!

05/25/12 - The Voice of God

2012-05-25T07:38:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I started Discerning the Voice of God, by Priscilla Shirer. As I read it reminded me of advice I've given young women who are single.

I am often asked, "How do you know God's will in regard to marriage?"

Lately my reply has been, "Learn to hear and know the 'voice' of God in your life. He speaks to each of us differently and when you can hear His voice, that assurance will be the guide to follow the green light or stop if there's a red light (or red flags!)."

This book is what I'd recommend if you want to know the different ways that God "speaks".

If you are single you have a chance to get to know God with an undivided heart and attention. Take FULL advantage of that! When life gets busier, and noisier (with kids ;-) ) you'll know how He gets your attention and you'll be able to hear His voice over the noise of life!

Cultivate a deep, intimate relationship with your Creator! Ask Him to make Himself known to you in a new, fresh, powerful way today!

Praying for you today! Hugs!

05/22/12 - Audience of One

2012-05-22T09:16:00.002-05:00

Lately that phrase "audience of One" has played over and over in my head.

Being misunderstood, criticized, words twisted, mistreated, or slandered for speaking the truth can be painful. We may want to retreat. We may want to defend. We may want to clarify.

But those are all reactions to having the fear of man.

We must not worry what others think of us.

Yes, we should engage and dialog but our goal isn't to satisfy their tickling ears, but please the One that really matters.

Galatians 1:10 For am I seeking the approval of man or of God?

Live, breathe, and move for the audience of One!