Tag: heart

Inside your Heart- soft or hard?

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Psalms is filled with images of the heart.  Today think about some of these and see if you can identify and claim them for your own heart towards God.

A heart filled with Praise and Thanksgiving, Psalm 9:1  “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
    I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.”

A heart filled with Confidence, especially in times of adversity, Psalm 27:3  “Though an army encamp against me,  my heart shall not fear;  though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.”

A heart filled with JOY because of God’s Word, Psalm 119:111 “Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.”

A heart that is willing to wait upon the Lord, Psalm 27:14 “Wait for the Lord;  be strong, and let your heart take courage;  wait for the Lord!”

A heart that is unafraid to call upon the Lord for help, Psalm 119:145 “With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord!  I will keep your statutes.”

A heart that yearns for God’s presence,  Psalm 84:2  “My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the Lord;  my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.”

A heart filled with Praise and Gratitude,  Psalm 138:1  “I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;  before the gods I sing your praise”

Our heart attitude needs to begin and end with praise and thanksgiving each day.  God’s Word is so descriptive and really points to the true needs of our hearts in relationship to and towards God.  Do you see confidence in Him? Joy in His Word? A willingness to wait upon Him?  Fearlessness in talking to God about your problems? A yearning for God in your heart?  Let His Word be your guide today as you examine your heart before Him.

Desiring a heart that is looking to God,

Linda

Where does you Heart need Relief today?

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Two heart verses spoke to me this morning.  Knowing our hearts are deceitful and driven by original sin, God promises to do a work in our hearts that is amazing.  Proverbs 3:5-6 is a well quoted verse that speaks of God’s power to lead and guide if we will trust and acknowledge Him in our lives.  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  6 Seek his will in all you do,  and he will show you which path to take.”   God is the one with the transforming power in our lives if we will seek to know and trust Him.   

My second verse is found in  Psalm 34:17-18,   The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help.
    He rescues them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
    he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. David wrote these words during a very difficult time in his life.  He knew God. He knew God would hear his cries for help.  David knew God would and could rescue him.  He knew from experience that God was near to him when his heart was broken and his spirit crushed.   David knew God and had experienced His love and care during times of great need.  

God knows our hearts and sees what we need even before we ask for help.  God knows our desire for guidance and He alone has the power to mend our broken hearts and crushed spirit.   Seek Him like David did and lay your sorrows, hurts and needs before Him.  He promises that those who seek Him will find Him.  Moses told the children of Israel just  before they entered the Promised Land, “But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.”  Deuteronomy 4:29   God promises to be found if we seek with an open heart.  Seek Him today and tell Him about your broken heart, your crushed spirit or your desire to be guided by Him.  God can and will answer your prayers, just as He promised.

Seeking His comfort and clinging to His promise as I  walk with Him daily,

Linda

A Little Heart Check before Lent-join me!

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February is a month that retailers, florists and card makers would like us to focus on love. Valentine’s Day is big business. They capitalize on the desire of people to find ways to express their love and friendship towards one another. God desires that we have a right heart before Him and attitudes, feelings and joys of the heart are of importance to Him. Deuteronomy 6:5 tells us “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Our devotion and love for God is to be paramount in our daily walk with Him. As we move towards the Lenten season which begins on Ash Wednesday, the 17 of February this year, I want to spend a few weeks talking about our hearts and seeing that they are realigned to Him before Lent begins. Join me on this brief look at the heart and be sure yours is in line with God and His desires for you.

What is the true nature of the heart?  Scripture teaches the hard truth of what our hearts are like because of sin.  Jeremiah 17:9-10 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick;  who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart  and test the mind,  to give every man according to his ways,  according to the fruit of his deeds.”  God knows the true nature of our hearts and is the only one who can transform a sin sick heart.  He searches our heart, tests our mind and will evaluate us according to our deeds.  This does not mean we have to earn our salvation.  It means there will be a day of accounting where God looks at our actions.  We are clean and purified by the blood of Christ, so He will not be looking at sin, but at our heart for Him.   What causes you to do good or hard things for God?  Is it love, devotion, thankfulness, or zeal for the gospel?  

I totally identify with David’s plea to God in Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a right and steadfast spirit within me.”  By nature our hearts are filled with sin but God can create a clean heart within us.  Because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, we can be transformed by faith in Him.  Jesus is our pathway to cleansing, restoration and hope.  Just like David, we have to desire it and ask God for it.  He promises to renew our hearts and make them pure, and committed to Him.

Will you ask Him today to create a clean heart within you?  It will be a new beginning and a step that pleases God, renews and revitalizes life, and brings hope and restoration.  Ask Him today.

Prayer:   Lord Jesus, I believe you have the power to transform my heart and make me clean and pure.  Root out the sin that plagues me and bring me into a vibrant relationship with you.  Create in me a clean heart that will be devoted and steadfast in loving you.  Create in me a new life with new desires and new hopes that are firmly placed in you.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Linda

Advent Teaches about Attitude

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Mary’s story has so much to teach us I wanted to spend another day looking at the scripture of the Angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary and her response. Here is our scripture passage, Luke 1: 26-38 , in the Amplified translation. “26 Now in the sixth month [of Elizabeth’s pregnancy] the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming to her, the angel said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was greatly perplexed at what he said, and kept carefully considering what kind of greeting this was. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Listen carefully: you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 He will be great and eminent and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob (Israel) forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin and have no intimacy with any man?” 35 Then the angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you [like a cloud]; for that reason the holy (pure, sinless) Child shall be called the Son of God. 36 And listen, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. 37 For with God nothing [is or ever] shall be impossible.” 38 Then Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel left her.

Mary was perplexed at the greeting from Gabriel and wondered what God could possibly mean. Isn’t that just like you and me? We are led by God to do something and constantly ask why or why me? What did I do to deserve this? Did I make a mistake or maybe God did by choosing me? All Mary’s questions were answered as the angel explained fully about this child. Gabriel said her conception would be supernatural and that the child would be called the Son of God. Now that is an answer that requires faith to even at attempt to understand it. How much like our own lives and God’s answers to our prayers. We cannot see the forest for the trees, so to speak, when God shows us an answer that seems impossible. I love Mary’s response as God knew that she was a servant at heart. Do you see yourself as a servant of God? Are you willing to do whatever He asks of you? At my age, even knowing the Lord for a long time, I often hesitate. Mary at probably 15, had tremendous faith in God and was willing to serve the Lord without question. What a wonderful heart and attitude she had.

May we not lose the wonder at what God can do in us and through us, and May our hearts be as open and willing as hers.
Linda

Experiencing His Power within

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As Paul wrote that he was praying for the Ephesian believers, he eloquently told them he was praying for the eyes of their hearts to be flooded with light.  He wanted them to know God, know His power and believe that they possess a portion of that same power Ephesians 1-18in their lives.  Ephesians 1:18-20 “I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.  19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.”   

Ask yourself,  do I feel flooded with His light in my life?  Am I confident and assured in my faith?  Do I feel like I belong to Him?   Paul says we can be sure of His love and power in our lives as it is the same power that raised Christ from the dead!  His indwelling Holy Spirit is that power in our lives.  The same power that created the universe and defeated death lives within us.  When we truly grasp this truth, there is nothing that can shake or defeat us.  In Matthew 19:26  But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

god-in-me-2-sensory-fontToday ask God to show you His power within as you step out in faith to engage in your day.  May you have a new sense of confidence and awareness of His Holy Spirit within you.

Linda

#7 Practicing Devotion to God-By Thinking Biblically

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This idea of thinking biblically is something I’ve given quite a bit of thought.  Scripture tells us in Isaiah 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways Isaiah-55-9higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”   God’s way of thinking and doing things are not the same as ours.  We are human and finite and God is omniscient and infinite.  So, we need to learn to think biblically to understand God’s ways better.  How do you go about that?  The process begins by spending time in God’s Word, memorizing His Word, and meditating on His Word  so that your minds thoughts are immersed in His thinking and ways.  Then when you are faced with a situation, you will respond with biblical thoughts more often than with worldly thoughts and actions.  

I have had this happen many times while I was memorizing the book of James.  It is a very practical book with loads of thoughts to direct our actions.  When something would happen, I would immediately recall scripture as my first reaction to a situation.  I realized I was practicing biblical thinking and acting like God would have me act.  It is an amazing feeling when your first reaction is godly and not worldly.  Our thought originate within ourselves and are selfish at heart and of this world.  God’s ways are not like ours and only come from being fully covered in His Word.

Psalm 119:11 confirms this idea, “I have stored up your word in my heart,  that I might not sin against you.”  Psalm 119: 98 “Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me.”   Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”  Hebrews 4:12 tells us that God’s Word is powerful and can discern truth.  “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”   Having God’s Word in your heart and on and in your mind causes you to think Biblically and react as God would have to you act.   As you strive to be more and more like Jesus, becoming sanctified in Him, your thoughts and actions need to reflect Jesus more and more.

psalm 119 11Ponder how you can think more like Jesus.  Delve into God’s Word and try to soak it up into your very being.  Endeavor to practice Biblical thinking this week and see if you are not wiser and led into sin less as you look to His Word as your guide.

Linda

#4- Practicing Devotion to God-Meditate on God’s Word

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Unlike the ancient believers we have the whole Bible to rely upon, refer to and reference for any and all circumstances, needs, encouragement, hope and reflection.  What about God’s Word makes it special?  Hebrews 4:12 tell us “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  God’s Word can touch us at the very heart of our being and is living and active 2Timothy 3 16-17in us and in our lives.  2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”  God’s Word is inspired and breathed by God so that in using and applying it to our lives we can be ready to do the work and live the life that God has for us.   Can you imagine the power it took for God to create the universe?  That same power is available to us in His Word, He spoke the world into existence and we have His Word before us in the Bible.

isaiah 55 11Isaiah 55:10-11 tell us the intentionality of God’s Word in the world.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
    and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”  Sovereign God knows where His Word is going and what it will accomplish.   We can count on its success as God never fails or is defeated.  “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”  Job 42:2

Knowing the power of God’s Word and how God will use His Word in our lives should give us hope and confidence as we study and learn from His Word.   Psalm 119:15-16 gives us what our attitude and actions towards God’s Word should be so that we can be  used of God and bearing fruit in our life for Him.

hebrews 4 12“I will meditate on your precepts
    and fix my eyes on your ways.
16 I will delight in your statutes;
    I will not forget your word.

May you be mightily blessed as you open God’s Word and let your heart meditate and soak in the truths about God and what He has for you to do. Let the living Word of God live within you today!

Linda

Focus on Heart Health with Thankfulness

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Many of our prayers are sent heavenward for good health.  John begins his third letter like this:  “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” 3 John :2   Scripture often refers to the health our souls and not necessarily our bodies.  Jesus spoke about this in His sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:22 ““The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.”   Perhaps we have our focus wrong when praying for others.  Not only should we pray for healing of the body but be concerned about the health of the soul.  James tells us that we should pray for health by getting involved with the sick person.  “Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.  James 5:14-16   Verse 16 encourages us to rid ourselves of sin through confession and pray for each other so that we may be healed.  Healing here is both in body and soul.  Proverbs 17:22 “A cheerful heart is good medicine,  but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”  Points us to the state of one’s heart and soul as the source of good health.

My thoughts on praying for health and well being of others needs to be adjusted.  When I pray for good health, or return to health for someone I should also be praying for the state of their relationship to God, their soul.  If we want healthy souls, we have to have the light of Jesus in our hearts as that will bring permanent light and healing to our bodies.  As James admonished we should pray for each other when sick but also check in with their spiritual health too.  Having a healthy soul is more important than having a healthy body.   As Proverbs says, a cheer heart attitude is good medicine and enlightens our soul, but a discouraged, depressed heart is crushing. Pray for one another that we may be heart healthy in both body and soul. 

cheerful heartGive thanks for your good health today as you look at your heart.  If you see the light of Jesus in your heart, you are well and blessed!

Linda

 

Words of life, do you have them?

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Because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, I have a complete manual for living in God’s Word.  God’s Word has stood firm and resolute since the beginning of time.  His Word, Jesus, came in human form bringing salvation to all who believe.  His Words in the Bible bring life, depth, understanding and guidance to us so that we can live the lives that God intends by following His ways and bringing Him glory.   Here are a few verses affirming the guidance and hope we receive in God’s Word:

Psalm 119:9 “How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word.”  Obedience to God’s Word leads one towards purity in all areas of life.

God's WordPsalm 119:11 “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”  God’s Word internalized helps us not to sin.

Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet  and a light for my path.”  God’s Word provides guidance to my life.

Matthew 4:4 “But Jesus told him (Satan), “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”  God’s Word rebukes Satan and gives spiritual sustenance for living.

Luke 11:28 “Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.”  Applying God’s Word to our lives brings blessing.

John 6:63 and 68  “The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”  and “Simon hebrews 4 12Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life.”  God’s Words are words of life and spirit and they lead to eternal life in Him.

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”  God’s Word is alive and works on our hearts, minds, souls and desires to align them with His ways.

Jesus plainly said that His Words lead to life.  Thank you Jesus.

words of lifeLinda

Suggestion:  Open His Word today and reread some of the above passages.  Let Him speak to you from His Word and be blessed.

A New Spirit for the New Year

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102685840-happy-new-year-2019-poster-templateHappy New Year!  I can’t believe 2018 is done and we are ready to embark on 2019.  At this time of year we wonder what the year will bring- changes in places, people, relationships and even jobs.  It is a good time to take a closer look at our relationship with God and reevaluate our commitment and devotion to Him.  God never changes.  Hebrews 13:8 tells us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”   Psalm 33:11, “But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.”  James 1:17, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  These are just a few verses that reassure us that God is immutable and never changes.  Knowing that fact about God, we can look more closely at ourselves, our attitudes and actions. 

How do I remain faithful to a faithful God?   God reassured the children of Israel when they were taken into captivity in Babylon that He would be their sanctuary.  He alone would hold them steady in faith.  Ezekiel 11:19 “And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,”   God promises to put a new spirit within us and remove our heart of stone- attitudes of rebellion, faithlessness, unbelief, despair, rejection….   God can and will remove those from you and give you a NEW SPIRIT for the New Year.   He will give you a heart that is loving, compassionate, believing, and filled in christ alonewith hope.   How do you get this new heart and spirit?  In Christ alone our hope is found.  1 John 5:11-12 describe our hope. “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”  Belief in Jesus, commitment to Him in gratitude and service is a place to begin.  Repentance of past sins and asking forgiveness brings us to our knees and realigns our hearts with Him.

New Year new spiritCelebrate your life in Christ, your hope in Christ and be assured that God will give you a new heart and a new spirit to live triumphantly in Him this year!  2019 Bring it on!  We’re ready with a repentant heart looking to our Savior.

Linda