Matters of the Heart

Giving your heart away can sometimes make you look like a fool; especially when you give it to the wrong person. Matters of the heart can be confusing and tricky. Our head says one thing and our heart feels another. We believe we are in control of our emotions even when the person we've opened up to doesn't receive the matters of our heart.
So what are you suppose to do with this tangled webb you have weaved?
First, you must step back and look at the situation at hand. If you do not love yourself, how can you love someone else?
Next, what do you know about love, really?
Have you truly accepted the greatest gift of all? God gave the ultimate gift of love. Do you know the depth of unconditional love?
I have been reading and studying this great love; sacrificial love. I have found that I did not know what love was. I have hurt MANY people in my life because of my ignorance.  I can only ask for giveness and move on. I suggest you too search God's love and talk to him about it.
Last, be smart. Don't just go with your heart's feelings. Your feelings are not facts. God is the giver if life and love. His word says " what God puts together.." Satan is slick and he is out to trip you up. Be smart and go to God. He will reveal himself through scripture.  I don't reommend assuming anything. This usually brings trouble and makes you look like a fool.
God is love and He is the giver of unconditional love. Pressing into Him and concentrating on your relationship with Jesus first will lead you to a great love.

Matters of the heart will make you out to be a fool, but be smarter and be wise.

~ Be encouraged by God and experience His love before giving your heart away.

Sorrows Into Joy

I tossed, I turned, I tossed some more and turned some more. I couldn't understand why I couldn't sleep. But then I realized the burden of my heart; my children. My heart ached to be with my children who are busy with their own lives. Too busy for me.
It is funny how in our lifetime things get in our way as parents and we don't spend enough time with our children. Then they grow up and then they don't have time for us.
So when I woke up this morning, I said to the Lord I give my children back to you. I asked the Lord to watch over them, care for them, and love on them, most importantly keep them safe. I pray for a laborer to come and talk with them and share the love of Jesus Christ with them. For they don't have time for me, but maybe someone else will have time for them.
"Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. For his anger is but for a moment,  His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning."

This morning I woke up with a song in my heart; I danced to the Lord and gave Him my praises. I have a new song in my heart.  I have joy that surpasses my understanding and it is an emotion I cannot contain.

~Be encouraged; if your children are walking on a different path than what you want for them; the Lord is with them and will never leave them.  Keep your joy.

Just Enough To Get By!

What have you begun but have not finished? Some people leave an oil painting incomplete, an unfinished book, and some leave before building a business. How many times have you stopped following directions or didn't even listen to the directions given because you think you know what is best?  Joash left unfinished business because he did what he thought was best.  He hit the ground three times instead of five or six to destroy the enemies.  

2 Kings 13:14-20

New King James Version (NKJV)

Death of Elisha

14 Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, “O my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!”
15 And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and some arrows.” So he took himself a bow and some arrows. 16 Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. 17 And he said, “Open the east window”; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot”; and he shot. And he said, “The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them.” 18 Then he said, “Take the arrows”; so he took them.And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground”; so he struck three times, and stopped. 19 And the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyedit! But now you will strike Syria only three times.”
20 Then Elisha died, and they buried him. And the raidingbands from Moab invaded the land in the spring of the year.

How about you?  What has God called you to do that you have become complacent with? What has brought you to become complacent?  Perhaps you haven't seen any fruit from the labor, your disbelief levels are low, and your cup is almost empty. 
What is keeping you from going further than a couple of steps?  

We all get weary and tired, wonder when the fruit is going to show; we all wonder if what we are doing is worth the effort. Maybe you need to find out why you are doing what you are doing. Is it a calling or a placement?  Did God call you to this task or did you appoint yourself? Are you not seeing fruit because it was your self appointment? Perhaps it's the timing? 

The harvest is ready in due season. Make sure that what you are doing is not done in convenience or compliance, but in love.  Jesus tells us in His word to work as though we work for the LORD; Him.  Are you working for Him? Are you working with a joyful heart or are you working because you have to pay bills.  Why are you doing what you are doing?
Are you doing whatever it is because it makes you feel good (pounding the ground 3 times) or are you doing it to complete the goal (pounding the ground until it is complete)? 

I want to encourage you that if you are on a journey or looking to begin one to make sure you are doing it for all the right reasons and not all the wrong ones. Make sure you know your why. 

~ Be encouraged that whether you go the distance or not, Jesus loves you and does not condemn you. 

Lift My Life Up

Do you shadow box?  Do you fight against something that you cannot see, but you know it is there? 

I sure do. I have been doing some of the same things over and over again expecting different results.  Then this morning I surrendered to God completely! It was a visual of having confetti in my hands that represented my fears, broken heart, and dreams. I threw them up and said God take them from me and you give me what YOU want me to and leave the rest. 

I've been on this journey to find out who I am in Christ and what I was made for.  God has given me a fresh start, a new outlook on life, and a rejuvenated spirit that is united with His. Do you want the same thing? 

It really is not difficult to do. Here is what I did and maybe you can find out what works for you.  I have an area of my life that I struggle with and I asked the Lord to show me what He wanted for me. He took me directly to scripture that made me ask "really?" So I had to recognize that I had an area of habits that He wanted me to throw up to Him.  Then my dreams, He wanted them too. This was really terrifying for me because I was in the "what if" mode. What if they didn't come true? What if my dreams were a waste of time? What if I never dreamed again? 

After I threw all my dreams to Him, I began to see Jesus picking up the pieces and handing back to me the ones He wants me to keep and threw the others away. 

I now have a fresh start, a clean slate, and a new beginning of life to work with.  I don't know what my today or tomorrow holds; I just know who holds them.  

I have my struggle with "self" today. Self is kicking and screaming to get its way along with desiring to be in control and selfish again.  However, God is now in control and I'm leaving all my selfishness at the cross. 

~Be encouraged that when you lift your life up to Jesus and let Him have full control, He will give you something better. 

Just Brillo Pad It?

My friend Robin made a funny comment to me that has not left my mind. I want to share it. She was surfing the internet and came across some photos she really did not want to see. She immediately thought to herself, "man, I wish I had a Brillo pad to scrub those images out of head." Did you find the humor? Isn't that what you and I wish too?
I've seen images off the television on commercials and on television shows that I just wanted to Brillo pad it. Yuck, now what DO we do with those images?  Recently the buzz on television and the internet has been the Miley Cyrus issue. I do not know what that is about as I've been making sure I don't have to use a Brillo pad on my forehead. However, this could be your question on the issue, 'what do I do now?'
Well, since you cannot Brillo pad your thoughts like you want to, you can take every thought captive and change what you are thinking about.
Jesus says we ought think on things that are true, honest, right, pure, lovely, good report / praise worthy, and virtue. I think Jesus knew we would one day desire to erase the things we see or even hear and that is why He has told us such things. Now, is it easy to do? Absolutely not, at least not in our own power,  but with God it is possible.  Take the opportunity to tell Him what your thinking, He knows already, and then ask Him to help you with thinking on those things listed in Philippians 4:8.
You might be surprised how He changes your ungodly images to glorious ones.

~Be encouraged, you are not alone with wanting to erase images from your thought process.

Ready For A Ride?

Spending time with your friends is a certain treat. Whether you are having a cup of coffee and talking, sitting by the pool drinking a cup of lemonade, or reading the same book and having a detailed conversation about the contents. But what happens when the good times aren't so good? How do you handle things when your friend gets upset with you and speaks negative things about you to others?  How do you handle things when the times just get difficult and hurtful, but they won't let you in? 

I recently went through a very difficult time in my life that left me feeling insecure about a friendship of mine. However, in the midst of my time with the Lord, He gave me a vision and words to live by as I went through my struggles. 

I imagined a huge yellow raft with thick and wide handles on the sides and I was sitting in this tube. The water under me and before me was raging wild. There was no rope coming from the rocks or trees on either side of me, just the water and raft. The Lord spoke to me and said, "You will go through tough times, but the waters you are in will not over take you, nor will you drown in them."  Sure enough the troubles came with a friend of mine and as I went through tears and hurt, my mind immediately went to the visual and words God spoke to me. The ride was for a short time and I did not drown. In fact, the next day I was blessed by my friend I had troubles with and God brought a few fresh friends in my path that encouraged me through prayer also.

~Be encouraged my friend, though we struggle with people or situations on our journey, God is our provider and protector. He is the One we should hold onto as we go through our struggles.  The sad truth is that we do not grab a hold of Him and we grab onto others and get deeper into our troubles.

  

Isaiah 43:2a

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.

What I Wasn't Told

I am mad at God. I was down right angry with Him. How could he allow such a thing to happen? I mean, He is the Creator of the Universe and He is supposed to be the God of goodness. How could He do such a thing? I almost hate Him.
Does this sound like a statement you have proclaimed in your lifetime? I can tell you I have heard people say this and I have made proclamations similar to them.  I have heard the arguments about losing your faith. Some people say you can and others say you cannot. I can say that the human race are the ones that walk away; not God.
I want you to know that you can think, say and do things against God, but He is still going to love you. You can do things against God, but He is still waiting for you with open arms. You can put Him in your own box and dress Him up anyway you want, but He is still a big, big God. I wasn't told that God loved me with an extravagant love and I can hurt Him, but He will never turn away from me. I wasn't told that God is a soft hearted God with a strong wrath. I thought He was a constant punisher, but He's not.
The great news is that God does great things for sinners, like you and me, who come to Him in repentance and faith. We return to Him with our mess, brokenness, sin-stained lives, and He gives us, in Christ, forgiveness with a brand new start. The Holy Spirit is to convict us about sin, righteousness and judgement.
When you are tired of holding onto the world and all the emptiness it has to offer, you will find rest and restoration. Your life will make a change for the better.

Look, some people think that God is out to hurt and harm them. Some people think that God is a God of destruction and pain. I am here to tell you that He is NOT. He walks with you in your struggles of sin and pain. He has plans to prosper you and not to harm you; if you would just throw your hands up and give in.

~Be encouraged, God knows your hurtful statements and disbelief.  He loves you no matter what you do or don't do. You can't stop Him.