For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)
In the movie the Wizard of Oz, the Tin Man wants a heart to feel emotions like love, kindness and sorrow, believing that without one, he cannot love. In the beginning he explains his need for a heart and later he notes, “Now I know I’ve got a heart because it’s breaking”.
Tina Turner sings a song, “What’s Love Got to Do With It”. This was a song about anti-love, keeping relationships casual and physical, rather than emotional, to avoid heartbreak. Its focus is on, distrust, emotions driven by past pain. It’s about protecting oneself from future hurts by not allowing themselves to fall in love. The chorus: “What’s love got to do, got to do with it? What’s love but a secondhand emotion? What’s love got to do, got to do with it? Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?” This secondhand emotion suggests that emotional intensity is less important than physical experience. Tina Turner stated in an interview in 1984 that she personally believed “love has everything to do with everything,” even though the song fit the “liberated” and faster-paced mindset of the time. The song inevitably denies the importance of emotions.
The movie is a fairytale, the song is based on an era in time, but what does God have to say about the matter of the heart? God views the heart as the center of human personality-encompassing intellect, emotion, and will-and the primary indicator or spiritual condition. As humans we tend to look at the outward appearance, God looks directly at the heart as in the Scripture (1 Sa. 16:7), which is often described as naturally deceitful, sinful, and in need of divine transformation. Scripture also speaks of the heart being wicked; filled with evil thoughts, immorality, and greed. Jesus taught that the heart is the source of all behavior, that what defiles a person comes from within, including evil thoughts, murder, and adultery. God says, he searches the heart, he tests it looking for evidence of His spirit, and then he refines it and blesses it according to our conduct; [“I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deed.”] I as many of you reading this have experienced our own story of emotions on the matter of the heart. As horrible as the brokenness and the wounds that we have been carrying from the emotions of the heart are, there is GOOD NEWS. In the Word of God it says, broken hearts are not abandoned, but are the focus of His intimacy, healing, and restoration. God draws near to the brokenhearted, offering to bind up wounds, exchange the emotional ashes for beauty, and transform painful experiences into a testimony of His love and grace. He saves the crushed in spirit (Psalms 34:18). He turns sorrow into joy (Is. 61:1). No matter how shattered the circumstances of your life may seem…”preaching to myself here,” God is the restorer of the damage done. God will use these moments of brokenness to draw me and you closer to Him, a place where His strength and love abound and this is the heart of the matter.
Knowing the testing of your faith produces patience. Let patience do its perfect work, that we may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (Ja. 1:3-4)
Let’s turn our adversities into opportunities. Let’s become complete and whole. Let’s produce “FAITH.” Faith produces patience, endurance, and perseverance, which leads us to completeness, I want everything God has for me. Faith produces the ability to withstand hardships which in turn should mature us as believers. Eventually it will lead to good works and obedience in God, which I am steadily maturing in with each circumstance presented before me. Faith is our weapon to war against the enemy. If we have the faith to believe God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31). Battles seem to be never-ending, but with God we are more than a conqueror. It also produces peace, joy and love for others, that’s where we see the adversity turning into an opportunity. An opportunity to show the love of Christ in any given circumstance; I am still working out the kinks in that area just FYI. Faith is the foundational assurance of things hoped for, confidence to trust God’s promises. I have hope, and I trust, that’s the only reason I am still here. It is an anchor, a grounding for all future hope today, tomorrow, days and years to come. While hope is looking forward with an expectation, our faith is relying on God’s character that He is who He says He is. Faith is the inward certainty that generates the outward expectation of hope. This is where I know that I know comes in. If we will get this seeded deep inside of us, it makes it possible for us to move forward with confidence. Life allows us so many opportunities, yet I have found most require faith to do them. I don’t always feel that kind of faith. I have to stir up faith inside of me, it’s there, but I have to remind myself. Without it I am an “Udder FAILURE,” I have to pray for direction and guidance and be ready and willing to receive. God simply wants me to trust in Him, have “FAITH.” By doing it that way it is perfect, I lack nothing. That trouble situation, self-doubt, rejection, lost loved one, struggle to succeed in what I am trying to accomplish; adversity overcome. DONE! Once you have faith, the test is finished. (Hebrews 12:2), Jesus is described as the “author and finisher” (or perfecter) of our faith. Doubt and faith do not co-exit.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations …” (Matt. 28:19)
Jesus gave the command after his resurrection and shortly before his ascension into heaven. Immediately after rising: He appeared to his disciples behind locked doors in Jerusalem and told them, “As the father has sent me, I am sending you”. Shortly before ascending: He gave further instructions near Bethany on the Mount of Olives, telling them they would be his witnesses “to the ends of the earth” after receiving the Holy Spirit. According to Scripture in (Matthew 28:18-20) [And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”] This applies to all Christians as a mandate to share our faith. We just spent an entire week in preparation for the celebration of our Risen Savior, now it’s time to GO! If you gave your life to Jesus at anytime during or before the celebration you have now been commanded to Go …share the good news, be fishers of men, make disciples. This is the mission of the Church to spread the gospel message of salvation, we are the Church, don’t just sit around and wait for the world to come to you, we need to GO to them. If you need a place to start, start with letting others see the change in you. What the cross did for you, your freedom from the sins you were carrying, the hurts, habits and hang-ups the Lord just freed you from, the new love you have for people, even the unlovely. Go … looks different for everyone, just like our fingerprint is different from everyone else’s, so is the way we bring others into a personal relationship with the Lord. For others it may look like evangelism in the streets to the homeless or a co- worker the Lord put on your heart, a schoolmate or a random person at the grocery store. Acts of kindness are a very good tool for everyone to start with. Let me also remind you, that you are not the one doing the calling, the Holy Spirit calls them, you are the tool in which He uses to accomplish His good work, lest anyone boast of his good work (Eph.2:8-10). The purpose of good works is not causing salvation, instead we believers are created to do the good works to show the fruit or evidence of our faith. Remember is was entirely by the grace of God that you were saved and it is by grace that others will be too. Just GO! that is the command, put your individual fingerprint on another soul for the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
I was at a funeral this week for a man that was given just a few weeks to live. This man had experienced hell on earth in many different ways, and he had a faith in Jesus that what Jesus did on that cross was real and it was for him, death would not win because Jesus had already conquered death once and for all. He knew in just a few short days he was going to Heaven and Jesus was the only way there. He wasn’t scared, NO fear! He knew the devil was real and he was a liar. He had the Holy Spirit living in him, guiding him through all truth, it just resonated in his whole being. No questions what-so-ever, truth is truth, believe it or not, he believed and we should too. The day of the funeral was a celebration day, not a sad day, because how could we be sad about where he was? A place we all want to go to one day. Of course he will be missed by many, but the awesome part of that for those of us that know the truth, we know that we are just going through a temporary separation and soon we will all be together once again. Our friend is not gone for good; he is in heaven awaiting our arrival. When the Pastor was with our friend shortly before he left this earth, he asked him, “are you okay?” Meaning did he have any reservations about what was about to take place. The Pastor said, “In the 20 years of being with those that are dying, I never met a person so prepared, so sure and so ready to go” and not because he was suffering or in pain, though he was, but because he was just that certain of where he was going. We would be wise to prepare ourselves for the truth in such a way as our friend did. Death is not the end; it’s the beginning of a life that we will never be able to obtain here. We will have for the first time a direct, unhindered communion with God. To actually be in His presence, the “Heaven of heavens” a place where our souls find true rest. So, the answer to the question is: Yes, Jesus is the ONLY way to get there.
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9-10)
Prayer of Salvation “Dear Heavenly Father, I come to You in the Name of Jesus. I confess that I am a sinner, and I believe that Jesus you died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead. I ask you Jesus, come into my heart and be Lord over my life. I repent of my sins, and I trust in You alone for my salvation. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
“See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” (Hebrews 12:15)
Do you have some unchecked resentment, anger, or toxic attitudes that are growing beneath the surface? If so, these roots eventually will cause you emotional, spiritual, or relational damage, usually stemming from offenses, disappointments, unresolved feelings of being wronged, betrayed or unforgiveness. I assure you this force will spoil your joy and ruin your peace. In the scripture above we are warned about the trouble it will cause, a deep-seated animosity toward others around you. Like this tree the roots were under ground, you weren’t able to see them until one day they grew outward. Our bitterness is like the roots of the tree, it isn’t always seen until it produces “fruit”-outward actions like sarcasm, hostility, negativity, resentment, or bad behaviors caused from pain, jealousy, or lack of forgiveness, the list goes on and on. The consequences if left unchecked, can lead to severe anger, broken relationships, isolation, faith being challenged, even physical/emotional sickness. By addressing it, bringing it to light, forgiving our offender, practicing intentional joy, and relying on grace we can overcome and rid this root once and for all. This is not just a personal feeling, it spreads and it affects others. As I sit here ruminating on this root I realize how many times I have dealt with this in my life and as easy as it is to write what I know to be true, it sometimes is hard to follow, that’s why I need grace. I need the Holy Spirit, my Paraclete, my Helper. Jesus promises me an “Advocate,” “Helper,” “Counselor” in John’s Gospel to be present with me forever. He is the One who comes alongside, indwelling in me offering guidance into truth, comfort, and strength, never leaving me alone instead making it possible for me to overcome. This is where I find myself being honest with God and myself admitting my anger and forgiving the offender. This is where I stop the ruminating on the offense and move past. This is where I replace negative thoughts with gratitude for the positive aspects of my life. This is where the good fruit grows.
You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Ps. 16:11)
Yesterday was such a refreshing in my soul. My husband and I spent the entire day enjoying being in the elements of this beautiful nature God created for us. We get so busy just doing life that we don’t take enough time to simply bask in His presence, allowing our souls to be filled with joy, “unspeakable joy.” The trees are in bloom, the waterfalls and streams are flowing from the spring rains, flowers are budding. The forecast was: God reigns and the Son shines, it was a beautiful day. A day to be taken in with every breath, exhaling with all thanks and gratitude. There is none like You Lord. As much as I enjoyed the day, spending it with my husband riding the trails on our ATV’s, I couldn’t help but see God everywhere. I would be rolling right along and suddenly come to an almost stop in awe of His wonderful creation before me. The cliffs of the rocks and how flowers were blooming out of them. A trunk of a tree that some animal had managed to create a home for himself. The ripples in the water and the rocks how they had changed over so many years and the sound of the water flowing was so soothing to my ears, so peaceful. True joy and fulfilment can only be found in God’s presence, and I was certainly there in His presence. I knew our time of joy out there was going to end soon, but my intimacy with God is a lasting satisfaction and joy. This day was temporary, like many things we do in life, but God offers us everlasting, eternal blessings and happiness, rather than just temporary, earthly pleasure. My destination yesterday was Mill Creek Trails, my destination with God is a place of security, peace, and eternal reward, “Joy Unspeakable.”
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light; ( 1 Peter 2:9)
HE CHOSE US and WE MATTER!
Yesterday was the second annual fundraiser for my dear friends Non-Profit organization, which I have had the opportunity to help host both years. I also, am given the opportunity to sit in on these amazing guest speakers Break-Outs throughout the day. This conference is an emotional health conference for professionals. To help equip them to better serve their employees, co-workers, patients whatever field of work that might be. And more importantly learning how to better care for themselves so that they can be the best version of themselves doing what they do without the feeling of they are not enough, they do not matter or all to often …burnout. I tell you that to also say, I’m NOT a professional of any kind, but I MATTER. And because I matter and so do all the volunteers that come to help out in the conference we are ALL given the opportunity to sit in on any topic we feel might help us to be the best version of ourself. This picture of the chimney was from one of the Guest Speakers and I am sure she would not mind if I shared her name and or even a little bit about her. Lynette Thrower; her topic was on “The Matters of Mattering” which is also the name of her book she authored. “The Matters of Mattering: I, You, We Matter,” regarding belonging, validation, and emotional authenticity. Her teaching challenges us to reflect on how we assign our value, especially in relation to our performance, productivity, and personal worth. If you look her up on Instagram you can see how she defines herself; Lover of YHWH. Prayer warrior. Peaceful poet. She realizes her life matters and so does ours. The chimney was an illustration from a Highlight magazine back in the day. I didn’t get a picture of the first clip, but it was a large chimney telling the small chimney that he was to small to smoke. This was suppose to be a riddle in the magazine, but there was so much more to be taken from that photo than a riddle. Here was this happy little chimney doing what he knew he was suppose to do and then being told, your to little to smoke. The little chimney became afraid of his purpose so then refuses to smoke. And as you may already know, a chimney must smoke in order to keep the house from backing up with smoke, and from the air becoming toxic and people getting harmed. So there is purpose in a smoking chimney. If the chimney/we allow what others say to us we can find ourself withdrawing from our purpose, preoccupied with the criticism, and then our vision of ourself becomes distorted. We begin to feel insignificant, invisible or unimportant to others. We are then no longer doing what God created us for or our God-given gift or talent. When that kind of fear takes hold of us, we begin to distort how we see ourselves and our place in this world. We begin having false beliefs about the role we were designed to fulfill. I recently felt all of that in my blog writing. I called it writers remorse when telling my husband about it. As Lynette says, “Our lives are meant to be a beautiful symphony of purpose and belonging, but fear introduces a dissonance that can overwhelm our sense of mattering.” I’m not going to go into the complete teaching on this, but I wanted to share from the beginning because we do have purpose and we do matter and that “WE” is EVERYBODY. God says we are: Chosen (John 15:16), Loved (Jeremiah 31:3), Forgiven (1 John 1:9), Precious (Is. 43:4), Strong (Is. 40:31), Unique (Ps. 39:13), Important (1 Peter 2:9), Protected (Ps. 121:3), Enough (2 Cor. 12:9). So we are able to say, I am____________, you fill in the blank. Be that little chimney and SMOKE with your calling, gift or talent.
“There is neither Jew not Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28)
This is my family in India. It was 2015 when I was given the opportunity to go on a missions trip out of the country. It was more than an opportunity, it was a divine appointment. One that will remain in my heart forever. From the time I rededicated my life to the Lord I saw different things I would do as a Christian and one of them was missions. There were three of my dear friends from church that were about to go to India and I felt the Holy Spirit saying …GO! I didn’t see any way possible for that to happen, after all it is very expensive, I’d be gone for 2 full weeks and at that very same time I had just signed on to host not one but two foreign exchange students that year as well as I would need to take time off work. All this would be left in my husbands hands and he to had a full time job. I had already resigned to the fact that my mission work was here, with the exchange students. I do want to mention that while the boy from China was here he did give his life to the Lord and our girl from Slovakia was already saved yet, she and him both were baptized while here with us. Glory to God! Through much prayer and discussion between my husband and I, he made the decision that I should go, this would be an anniversary gift from him to me. Of course it would require fund raising to pay for what we were not able to pay for, but if God calls you, He will provide what’s necessary, and He did. This process began in October of 2014, Jan. 2015 I was on an airplane headed half way around the world, to an unknown territory. Fear has always been a factor in my life, but this time “NO FEAR” pure excitement to know God had chose me to go be the hands and feet of Jesus to a people that I knew nothing about. Not only did I know nothing about, but we did not speak the same language. I’m not a quick study and learning Telugu which is the language in Southern India was out of the question. I was so thankful that my new family, Raju; the pastor and father of the village I stayed and his son Jonn spoke English …YAY! There were a couple others as well, but for the most part I had to rely on interpreters’ or the Holy Spirit. One thing I really want to share about this trip was how the Holy Spirit did play the interpreter between myself and Raju’s wife Lalita. A little bit about who she is; she is a wife, mother, and had just become a new grandmother when I arrived. She was the one that made sure the village was running on course, there was a school for children, a place for Christian’s to stay and be safe, due to being persecuted for their faith in Jesus if they were elsewhere. There was a church all within their small village/camp/home area. Lalita prayed! When I say she prayed I mean this woman talked to God about everything ALL the time. I fell in love with her spirit. Her and I could not speak to one another in words but, OH how we conversed in a way only the Holy Spirit could have made happen. We would sit outside the huts and somehow talk, to this day I can’t put it into words how that all happened, but it happened. We laughed, we prayed, we cried, we shared anything and everything we had or could. I’ll never forget the two days before I was about to head back to the states, I was speaking with my husband on the phone, he and the exchange students were ready for my return. When he asked me, “are you ready to come home?” I didn’t know how to answer him because the truth was, I wasn’t. I had fallen in love with my new family and I couldn’t imagine leaving my new sister in Christ, Lalita. The next day was even harder, I was counting the hours down to my departure. She and I were feeling all the same things and we did manage to learn to speak a few words in each others language over that two weeks. The morning came, we cried so hard. We were in every way now family. I moved off from Michigan to Texas right out of high school so I remember what good byes with my family were like when I would come for visits and then have to leave. It was just the same with Lalita and Jole her daughter in law and Jonn her son and Jaqc her new grandson and of course Raju. All the women there in the village were so kind and generous to me while I was there. These women even made me a Saree and some Punjabi’s I now could dress as them and take these articles of clothing home with me in remembrance of them, they were so kind and loving. I can’t say enough about how good I was treated, they protected me as we entered dangerous territories. I was very sick the entire time I was there and they made sure I was being nurtured back to health in everyway possible. Let me add, I never missed a meeting or clinic no matter how sick I was or how far away that village may have been from where we were or how long it may last. Sometimes those meeting would go on for hours and then we would have to travel back to our village when finished. I remember just a few days before I left there was a trip planned to go to the mountains near Nepal, it would require a car, train, jeep and a lot of walking to get us there, two days worth of traveling. This trip would be very different from the other days, it would definitely require me being physically able. Raju did not think I should go due to my health. It was Sunday the day before the trip to the mountains and we were at church taking communion. I remember taking communion unlike anytime in the past. I said to God with everything inside of me, “I BELIEVE this cup and this bread was and is for my healing” I stood in faith like never before, “I am HEALED” I will make this trip to the mountains. I went and laid down for a little nap after church and when morning came, I was well and ready for the trip. Praise be to God! God showed me so many things over that two weeks, I was beginning to know Him in ways I had never known. To tell of all that would require another blog. Todays emphasis is on family. Today, 11 years later, I am still very much a part of this family. Thanks to WhatsApp, video chats, cell phones, MoneyGram and computers. We are still able to be together, encouraging one another, supporting the family through financial means, prayer, tears and laughter. They give back as much if not more to me then I could possibly give to them. This is my Blood bought Family!
“While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (1 Cor. 4:18)
Sometimes I look at life with eyes of disbelief. How is it certain things in my life go the way they do? Or why do some people act the way they act? Heck, why do I act and think like I do? My precious Pearl girl here, she is always looking at things from a different perspective, she makes it seem so simple. I try to look at things from a different perspective because I/we naturally believe everyone sees things from my/our perspective, that is SO NOT true. I/ We tend to get caught up in the temporal things in life, when really, I/we should be more focused on what’s lasting, what is real, things we don’t have to question or at the least shouldn’t question. I am trying to make it my goal to be more like this scripture above. While looking at something or someone I actually consider certain factors such as what God might be up to. We don’t have a clue what God is doing, so to think one way and one way only doesn’t even make sense. There is always a BIGGER picture. My husband just gave me an illustration of Jonah. Jonah thought God should just wipe out the people of Nineveh, but that was not God’s perspective. So, you can see where perspective in this case would be getting a new perspective or end up in the belly of a whale for three days. Not only that, but Jonah’s perspective didn’t allow for the well-being of others. He could have caused a dire jeopardy for himself as well as others had he disobeyed God. Read the whole story in the book of Jonah. How about the story of Jesus and the devil where the devil says to Jesus, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered him saying, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” That was after 40 days in the dessert, no food, no water. (Luke 4:3-4) See the difference in how the devil perceived hunger vs how Jesus perceived hunger? The enemy as well as ourselves will get us focused on temporal things, even false things. We Christians must continually discipline ourselves to focus on eternal realities, instead of the temporal realities of this earth. We all could use a new view on things, a sense of awareness and understanding to the things and people around us. Maybe we should go deeper in our intuition, that place where the Holy Spirit dwells, where real discernment lives. That is just my perception of things.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; (Ezekiel 36:26)
Forecast is rain for the next several days, after all it is almost spring. I’ve been raking for hours on end trying to prepare for spring. As I looked out my front door I realized the trash man hadn’t run yet and I really needed to rake up a couple bags of leaves right quick to put out with the other trash. As I was raking I began listening to God talk to me about being a good steward of what He has given me. He gave me the means to buy my home and He gave me the means to buy this fencing to house my dogs when they go outside. He also spoke to me about the importance of keeping up with it, not just the bare minimum, but to make it nice showing my gratitude for what He has blessed me with. This area that needed tending to is my dogs area for the most part, but I utilize it as well and so does our company. The ground is dirt, stone and little patches of grass that is just now coming up. Since I will be going into town today and already needed to go by the Co-op, I thought this would be just the right time to pick up some grass seed. First, I was going to need to get the rest of those leaves and tiny sticks picked up and rake the yard for aeration before the trash man got here. While out there raking I’m just listening to God giving me all the reasons why I need to do this and how to do it, etc. I’ve mentioned in other writings about my conversations with God being on-going all day long. Sometimes it’s as if no one else even exist because He is the one I sense in my presence all the time and it’s His voice I am always hearing. I heard Him saying things like: if you are grateful for what I have given you, you need to show it. If you want green lush grass your going to need to care for it, cultivate it, nurture it. This is what I do for you. I love you and I only want the best for you. Good things. I want you to flourish in life. I began thinking about that and all the ways He does just what He was saying to me. He truly is the Gardener of my Heart. He knows the deepest most sensitive issues of my heart. He knows how to cultivate and aerate it to cause it to breathe the breath of life again when it feels dormant. He knows what ingredients it will take to cause it to spring forth. He knows what elements it requires for me to flourish. I love how He loves me and cares for me. No one knows me like my Father and no one can do for me what He can do. He created me, He has ownership of me and He has designed me to be what I am. He has created me as a beautiful landscape.
Bread and Water 