Articles Tagged 'Grit'

For over 30 years, Heartlight has shared articles to help people live for Jesus in everyday life. While we are no longer publishing new articles, this enduring collection features relevant pieces throughout the year to encourage faith, offer biblical perspective, and speak to real-world joys and struggles.

Dry Pine Needles and Cold, Dusty Attics

Phil Ware reminds us that as we clean up from Christmas and New Year, the mess left after the holidays should remind us of the hard times Jesus and his family faced after his birth.

Jesus' real-to-life circumstances, along with his dangerous predicaments caused by his divine reality, are comforting to me.

This Collision of Grace

Phil Ware reminds us of the discontinuity, the absolute collision, of the grime of our world and the glory of God in the birth of Jesus.

Greatness and grace reveal themelves in a world so real we can smell the manure and hear the breathing sounds of the Son of God.

Jesus, Be Born in Me

Phil Ware reminds us of the gritty reality of Jesus' birth and Mary choosing to accept the challenge of being Jesus' mother and reminds us of our need to commit to have Jesus born in our lives.

Like Mary, we don't know fully what we are committing to do, but we know that our ultimate destination is Jesus.

The Grit of Grace

Phil Ware and James Nored introduce Heartlight.org readers to the grit of grace and the coming video series called, "My Story in God's Story."

Come on! The New Year is coming, don't we need to move on and get ready for it!

Throw What Stinks Out of God's House!

Phil Ware finishes up his series on Nehemiah and emphasizes the importance of leaders being people of integrity.

What's the greatest danger to participating in a great move of God?

The Missing Link

Rubel Shelly reminds us that the real missing link in so many great athletes, politicians, and business leaders is integrity and character.

What's lacking when see all this failure in positions of leadership?

Discovering the Character of Your Church: Values & Integrity

Greg Anderson reminds us why values are so important and how we must live out of our values with integrity.

How do we handle our values with integrity in the life of our congregation?

Worthwhile Things Take Time!

Rubel Shelly reminds us of the missing virtue of persistence -- endurance and perseverance mixed with consistency and integrity.

Perseverance, not slow and steady, wins the race!

Tyrannized by Our Feelings

Rubel Shelly reminds us that we don't have to be ruled, enslaved, and tyrannized by our feelings, but our emotions can be channeled and overcome by the power of commitment, the Holy Spirit, and love.

Are you enslaved by your emotions?

Moments of Decision

Phil Ware continues his series connected to The Story, this week from Chapter 3, focusing on Joseph and his temptation with Potiphar's wife.

What will we do when the choice is ours and the moment comes?

To Tell the Truth

Rubel Shelly addresses the issues of honesty and integrity and the importance of telling the truth and the sin against each other and ourselves when we lie and do not tell the truth.

Does truth matter to us much these days?

The 'Christian' Vote?

Rubel Shelly reminds us that there is really no such thing as the Christian vote, but a reality that politics often uses religion and religion gets used in politics, but the kingdom of God comes in different ways.

Is there such a thing as this?

Commitments and Complications

Rubel Shelly talks about trustworthiness, about keeping our word, honoring our promises, and even more, honoring God by keeping our promises.

How true are we to our promises?

He Didn't Save it for Us

Rubel Shelly talks about a family who found money in the attic of their newly purchased house and returned it to the heirs of the previous owners because they were honest and wanted their kids to know the truth of character.

Integrity can be costly in the long run while paying huge dividends in those we teach!

The Path from Brokenness to Peace

Ron Rose talks about the temptation to compartmentalize life and live by different standards in different roles and walks in life instead of living with integrity for God.

Can I really be the same person in each place?

Living in God's Story

Rubel Shelly invites us into the dangerous story of Jesus and the Bible and to invite God into our lives to catch us up in his Kingdom work, the real life of faith and integrity.

Ready for a dangerous read?

Do You Know You Are Loved?

Rubel Shelly writes about a great friend and follower of Jesus, Dr. Everett Blanton.

Holes in our hearts and hope for heaven.

Joy to the World!

Phil Ware continues his series called When Spirit Becomes Flesh and he focuses on the grit and real world feel of the birth stories and also the joy that comes from Jesus' birth.

With the birth of Jesus, we enter a gritty world that we know is our own.

Through God's Eyes

Rubel Shelly reminds us that our self-perceptions may be totally inaccurate.

How do I really look?

The Heart of Successful Leadership

Rubel Shelly challenges us to go beyond the facade and charisma of many supposed leaders today and demand more.

Where can we find this kind of people today?

A Broader View of the Sacred

Rubel Shelly reminds us that all space is sacred space and that all of life is bound up with the holy because God is with us and in us.

Where are we called to live holy lives, in private or in public?

Respect and Truth-Telling

Rubel Shelly challenges us with an old story to be people of truth and respect even in the most dire and painful circumstances and treat people with the same ethical respect we would expect ourselves.

Would you have told the truth in such dire circumstances?

A Tact Attack

Rubel Shelly shares his insights on tact, telling the truth, kindness, sophistry, avoidance, and sugar coating the truth.

What do you mean my dog is on the roof?

Look Them in the Eye

Phil Ware shares his father's values in a letter to his children Zachary and Megan

What do you have to hide?

A World of Deception

We live in a world of deception but God has called us to be Kingdom people, people who tell the truth and do not deceive, yet forgive those who confess their deceitfulness to us.

How deep does our deception go?