How Many Hearts Do You Have?

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.  Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)

Friday was a bad day. I was rushing. I was making mistakes. I was missing things I should have caught. When I left work I was discouraged.  As I drove home, I thought about a conversation I had with a co-worker earlier in the day.

She was telling me about something she had to do that was hard. And she said "I had to put on my second heart to do it." When I asked her about the saying she explained that it was a Creole expression that her mom used as she was growing up. 

Made me wonder....after a day like Friday...what second heart would I put on?

A Heart of Trust:  Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:6

A Heart of Strength: My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever. Proverbs 73:26

A Heart of Courage: Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the LORD. Psalm 31:24

A Heart of Praise: I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done. Psalm 9:1

A Heart of Love and Patience: May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of Christ. 2 Thessalonians 3:5

Yes. Next time I have a bad day, I am going to take my friend's Mom's advice. I am going to put on my second heart.

Stop Trying So Hard

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.  Ephesians 2:8-10 (NLT)

If asked, I would have to admit I am a Type A personality.  Even though I believe that as I get closer to Jesus, that A inches more toward an A- or B+ because I am learning to let the Holy Spirit lead in my thoughts, my decisions and my reactions.

This is solely the work of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Nothing I do saves me. Nothing I accomplish helps me be Heaven-Bound. This is all the gift of God through Jesus. Imagine if getting to heaven were accomplished because of the tasks we did. Heaven would be filled with a bunch of competitive, over-achievers.  That might be a little annoying.  (Smile)

Today’s verse was summed up best by a paragraph in The Voice (a translation of the Bible):

The relationship between faith and works is often misunderstood. Some think that salvation is God’s reward for good deeds. If that’s true, then it can’t possibly be a gift. If it were a reward, then heaven would be a place where people might compare notes on what they did to make it through the gates. But Paul is confident in the truth of the gospel. The truth is that salvation is God’s gift through Jesus. Grace and faith make salvation real in us. When we are transformed by grace, then we become His new creation and begin to live out the good works He has planned for us. Works, then, aren’t the cause of salvation; they are its result. To put it another way, works aren’t the means of salvation; they are its presence. 

If you are working to be saved; if you think that you have to check the box to be “right” with God; stop. What he wants is a relationship with you.  He wants your heart, not your deeds. When you give him that, he’ll do the rest.  He already has a plan. 

Who's Righteous?

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.  James 5:16 (NLT)

When I first heard this verse, I thought "Well, there you go. I am not righteous so that won't help me."  I thought being righteous meant to be good; you know, to follow all the rules.

It doesn't meant that.  Righteousness is being right with God. How do you get right with God? You believe and follow his Son, Jesus Christ (Romans 3:21-24). When Jesus died for us, our sins were covered with his blood. When God sees us he sees his Beloved Son. He sees his righteousness.

So, if I believe and follow Jesus, my prayers are heard and they contain great power. In other words, they mean something. There is weight behind them.  The weight of a child asking their Father for help. 

Kind of simple really. The MSG puts it like this.
The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. (MSG)

Why do we make it so complicated when God made it easy?

A Minute In It - What An Imagination!

A minute in God's word will change your life. Sometimes, we need to remember that we are special. Take a minute to read the passages below and ask yourself the questions in the passage and the questions at the bottom of the post.

Job 38
8 Who kept the sea inside its boundaries
    as it burst from the womb,
9 and as I clothed it with clouds
    and wrapped it in thick darkness?
10 For I locked it behind barred gates,
    limiting its shores.
11 I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come.
    Here your proud waves must stop!’
34 Can you shout to the clouds
    and make it rain?
35 Can you make lightning appear
    and cause it to strike as you direct?
36 Who gives intuition to the heart
    and instinct to the mind?
37 Who is wise enough to count all the clouds?
    Who can tilt the water jars of heaven
38 when the parched ground is dry
    and the soil has hardened into clods?
Job 39
5 Who gives the wild donkey its freedom?
    Who untied its ropes?
6 I have placed it in the wilderness;
    its home is the wasteland.
7 It hates the noise of the city
    and has no driver to shout at it.
8 The mountains are its pastureland,
    where it searches for every blade of grass
13 The ostrich flaps her wings grandly,
    but they are no match for the feathers of the stork.
14 She lays her eggs on top of the earth,
    letting them be warmed in the dust.
15 She doesn’t worry that a foot might crush them
    or a wild animal might destroy them.
16 She is harsh toward her young,
    as if they were not her own.
    She doesn’t care if they die.
19 Have you given the horse its strength
    or clothed its neck with a flowing mane?
20 Did you give it the ability to leap like a locust?
    Its majestic snorting is terrifying!
21 It paws the earth and rejoices in its strength
    when it charges out to battle.
22 It laughs at fear and is unafraid.
    It does not run from the sword.

Can you fathom the imagination of God? All he has created and all he has done and nothing is the same. If God is that ingenious, couldn't he manage your life?

As Sure As The Sunrise

Oh, that we might know the Lord!
    Let us press on to know him.
He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn
    or the coming of rains in early spring.  Hosea 6:3 (NLT)

Once in a while we get to go on a Family Beach Week.  This is when a whole lot of our family gets together and rents a house at the beach for a week.  It is one of my favorite things.

Always during the week we get up pre-dawn, go down to the beach and wait for the sunrise. We take blankets and make ourselves comfortable on the sand. Then, we wait. We usually get there too early so we spend time talking and laughing. Never, ever, do we ask "Do you think the sun is going to come up today?"  Why not? We don't ask it because we know it will.

I think it's amazing that God used this analogy when talking about how surely he will respond to us. God will respond to us as surely as the sun will rise. That's a pretty sure thing.

Next time you are wondering if God hears you and is going to respond, remember the sunrise. God is that faithful.

Lessons From A Rain Forest And A Flat-Footed Guide

So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31 (NLT)

Many years ago we went on a mission trip to Fiji.  We were on a remote island with no electricity. We spent two weeks there working on the building we were standing up.  At the end of the first week, our leaders decided we needed a break so we went on a hike up a mountain through a rain forest to a beautiful waterfall at the top.

I have some funny stories that my son would tell of my reaction to the size of the tarantula's but we'll save that for another day. After we spent some time at the top, we began to ascend back down.  Going down was harder than going up because the rocks embedded in the soil were damp and slippery from the mist and the mud on the path.

One of the young girls with the group had worn flip flops. She was in so much pain from her feet slipping off the damp rocks and landing hard into another rock I offered to trade and give her my sneakers (not sure what I was thinking) and she accepted.

The way down was super painful because it's hard to control flip flops on damp, slippery rocks. Our guide was trying to give me instructions. Then, I noticed he was bare foot!  I asked if it would be better if I took off the flip flops and went bare foot too. He said no. He explained that his feet were made for this and he'd traversed this path many times toughening the bottoms so it didn't hurt.

Well, being who I am, I decided to try it anyway.  He was right.  That was worse.  As I looked at his feet, I realized they were wide and completely flat. Not narrow with a high arch like mine. And he knew from doing this so many times where to put his feet to receive the least impact and what to avoid. He was equipped differently than I was.

We are all different. Whether it be physically, through training or the gifts God has given us, we all bring something to the table that is unique. God designed it that way.  Interesting thing though, we were all designed for one purpose and that is to glorify God.

God's Got This

God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  1 Corinthians 1:9 (NLT)

Most mornings, I wake up, say "Good Morning" to God and ask him what he wants to read. I figure I may as well go straight to the source. Not every morning do I get a clear, concise answer but I did this morning.  The text that popped into my mind was 1 Corinthians 1:9.  Super random so I figured it was probably God. I got up and read it. Then, I read it in different versions. Here it is in the MSG.

God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that.

After praying over this and pondering it for a while, I think I have a paraphrase that I can take with me today.

God's got this. Don't worry. He doesn't ever drop the ball. If he's invited you to join him and Jesus in a partnership, you are good to go.

Pretty much, he's invited us all to join him and Jesus in a partnership.  I guess we have no excuse to not join in.

Happy Friday Everyone!

A Minute In It - You Are Important

A minute in God's word will change your life. Sometimes, we need to remember that we are special. Take a minute to read the passages below and remember.....to God you are very special. You are one of a kind, unique; he created you and he knows you. You are important.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
    and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
    as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed.
Psalm 139:13-16

Long ago the Lord said to Israel:
“I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.
    With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself. Jeremiah 31:3

For the Lord your God is living among you.
    He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
    With his love, he will calm all your fears.
    He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”  Zephaniah 3:17

And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. Luke 12:7

Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person. Genesis 2:7

Others were given in exchange for you.
    I traded their lives for yours
because you are precious to me.
    You are honored, and I love you. Isaiah 43:4

See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.
    Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins.  Isaiah 49:16

It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone. Ephesians 1:11-12 (MSG)