From Rainboots to Football

Psalm 27:13-14

I am still confident of this:

I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord;

Be strong and take heart and

wait for the Lord.

It was a hard day. 

It was super rainy, and I got soaked as I walked from the parking garage to class. I was freezing cold all day. I was easily distracted and there was definitely no "operation focus" going on as I tried to study.  Then I was by myself studying all night. Ok "studying" cause the Bears and the Packers were playing (Go Bears! Only undefeated team left in the NFC).  And on top of that I was just wrestling with God all day. 

I've been wrestling with this for awhile, but yesterday it came up in a new light. I realized some hard truth last night.  And I don't know exactly why, but He kept bringing this verse to mind.  Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.  

This is where it gets hard. Knowing that the Lord has a plan and that He is so faithful. I can still be confident in Him, even though my hope has been deferred. Its a choice though. A choice to wait on the Lord instead of myself. A choice to trust Him and be strong and courageous and choose to wait for Him.  

Wait on the Lord. He promises to be faithful!

Lamentations 3:22-23

But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed.

His mercies never come to an end,

they are new every morning!!

Happy Birthday

This post is dedicated to the two most incredible women in my life.  My mom and my sister.  They share a birthday. Its today. Happy Birthday Mom and Carrie. I love you.

Let me tell you about these two women in case you haven't have the privilege of knowing them.

My mom is THE most influential woman in my walk with the Lord.  My mom is the most servant hearted person on this earth.  She puts nothing before her kids and her husband.  But my favorite thing about my mom is her passion for the Word. She is incredible at memorizing God's word and takes hiding it in her heart literally.  For as long as I can remember mom has been quoting scripture for practically everything in life.  That is definitely something I am so thankful for.  I can't even tell you the countless rides to school where she would have us going over Scripture memory to get our weekly pack of gum.  She either knew verses from memory or was able to quickly reference one for any situation we were going through.  She is always quick to apologize even when she had done nothing wrong.  She loves her family and is incredibly loyal to her friends.  She is incredibly creative, but always says she isn't (its just because she is comparing herself to my dad, and I mean he is an artist, he makes anyone feel not creative).  She loves puzzles. She hates t.v. because it means we can't talk.  She loves Jesus and seeks to know Him every single day.  She has a heart that beats to be hospitable to others. She loves having fun and is so goofy and crazy.  She loves watching her kids play sports, and she is quite the athlete herself.  She went to Ball State on a gymnastics scholarship.  She can still do an ariel cartwheel and she learned how to wakeboard this summer.  Today is her 50th birthday. Yeah, I don't feel bad about saying that.

Mom, I am so incredibly blessed to have you as my mom. I love you more than I can ever explain to you. You truly are the reason for my walk with the Lord and my love for the Word.  I want to be just like you when I grow up.  I want to be a mom like you who puts her family before absolutely everything.  You are truly an incredible woman of God and are so so wise.  I'm so thankful for you!! Happy Birthday!

Carrie.
My sister.
She is absolutely my best friend in this whole world.  I cannot imagine my life without her.  She is brave. She is strong. She is confident.  Every important memory of my life involves Carrie.  She used to get mad at me for copying her, which I truly did in everything, but I only did it because she is amazing and so cool.  She has been the most athletic girl on the soccer field since the day she stepped on the field at 5 years-old.  She is funny. She can make me laugh like no one else in this world.  She is very strategic.  She is one heck of a prankster, and everything I learned I learned from her.  She can throw a football better than Peyton Manning. She is tough. She takes what life throws at her with incredible bravery, consistency, and persistence.  She is brilliant. If you ever have a question about school or something related to being smart, just give her a call. Even math. She is smarter than she thinks.  She loves Jesus. Oh she so loves Jesus.  She strives to know him and love him.  She seeks Him every day and longs to point other people to Him.  She has a passion for others. She is the most incredible leader I have ever known.  She has an ability to command a group of people and get things done. Even things like having a blast.  She is hilarious when caught off guard, but she hates being scared.  She is an amazing water skiier and a crazy tuber.  She is so fun. She just brings the party.  She is wise and loves to help people and share her wisdom.  There is not a fun memory in my life that doesn't have Carrie in it.

Care,
I just can't say enough wonderful things about you. You are the most amazing woman I know. You are the most faithful friend. The most loving sister. I am so thankful for how close we are. You truly inspire me and I want to be more like you.  I am so so so SO thankful that you are my sister. I am blessed to be the closest person to you and I am privileged that you are the closest person to me. Gosh, I love you.

Mom and Care,
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you I always pray with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this that he who began a good work in you will carry it onto completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil 1)

I love you Mom
I love you Care

Happy Birthday!!!!!

15 items or less

Well, I have a confession. Day 1 on the road to normalcy was an epic failure.

Okay, maybe not epic.

But in an effort to make my morning routine, I slept in 30 extra minutes, missed my date with Billy Blanks and his Boot Camp clan, and did not stay on campus until 5pm to study. I did however work on some school related stuff like my resume when I got home, so I guess that still counts.

Actually, it wasn't that bad. I'm realizing the whole reason for the "21 days to normalcy" is to help my life be a little less stressful, and for me to feel like I have some sort of control on my school work and on my time.  It is not a pursuit of perfection. It is not another unrealistic expectation that I am going to put on myself to be flawless.  It is just a goal of forming good habits and good time management.

So, I will put day 1 behind me, and strive again for a normal routine in day 2.

Philippians 3:12-14

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

And I'm having some trouble with WalMart right now.  I think I should write them a letter. This is what I would say:

Dear WalMart,

Why in the WORLD do you have 45 check out lines? I have never in my life seen more than 10 open at once. You are wasting space. And giving me false hope of finding a short line.  

WHY at 9:00 at night, in a city such as Knoxville, which is full of people that stay up late, do you only have 3, yes 3, checkouts open? Where is the logic there? And just because you have the "express" line open doesn't mean it is "express". When it is one of three lines open, EVERYONE who came in at 9:00 to buy something quick will end up in that line. You should rename it the "sloth" line. Yes, still 15 items or less.  And who thought it would be a good idea to close all of the self checkouts? Even though they take longer, it feels shorter because the customer is doing it them-self.  Keep them open. Please. And one more thing? Why is one of those 3 checkout clerks the most ill person alive? Seriously. If the person checking me out, touching everything I am purchasing and bringing into my home, is sniffling and blowing his nose, I really would rather just put my stuff down and leave.  That is just not good for customer relations.  

That is my advice. Take it or leave it. 

Sincerely, 

Your most valued customer.  

Ha. If only.  

I should probably share this verse.  It is one of my favorites, and by favorites I'm not really sure if I mean that because it just convicts me and puts me back in my place every time.  

Philippians 2:14

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure children of God . . .

I forgot to mention that the reason I went to WalMart tonight was to get the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shread. Each video is only 20 minutes long. I'm starting tomorrow morning. I'll let you know how it goes. And yes Jillian, you can send me the check for that endorsement now.  

21 days to normalcy

I've heard before that it takes 21 times of doing something to form a habit.
Its been just over a month into the semester and I've started to see lots of BAD habits beginning to take root. So after finally having enough of myself, I decided that I'm going on a 21 day trek to a normal routine.

One big reason for doing this is that fall is one of the worst seasons for me for migraines. I've had several in the last 2 weeks that have been awful. Having a normal routine, specifically normal sleep patterns, significantly helps migraines.

Another reason is that I want to try to get into a routine of having a "job." School is technically my job (only for 3 more months, praise JESUS!!) but I want to get into that routine.  I do well on routines, and college is definitely one of those times in life when no two days are the same.

I don't like having to do homework at home. I'd rather stay on campus, get my work done, and relax when I get home.  Having a routine will help that because I'll know what needs to get done at school, and then it won't feel as though school is running my life.

Lastly, I was very inspired by a Nutirgrain commercial.  It was all about making good decisions, and how one good decision leads to a whole bunch of other good decisions (watch it).  Its totally true. If I wake up and pull myself out of bed and go work out, I feel better all day, I eat better all day, I'm more productive, and I even go to bed better.  It goes the same with my relationship with God. If I get up and spend time in the Word, I am more focused on the Spirit, more in tune to what He is saying to me, and more apt to run to Him with every need.

For whatever reason I'm not so good at being regular with running right now. And I always have a tendency, like most runners, to increase my mileage, which just takes more and more time.  SO, because of that I'm going to let my friends Billy Blanks and Jillian Michaels help me out.  Yeah, thats right. Billy's Boot Camp or The 30 Day Shred every morning for the next 21 (well, 30 I guess) days.

This could turn out to be a very hilarious endeavor.
Well call today day 0. I'm also very curious to see if this habit thing works too.

Bring it on discipline!!

Hebrews 12:11

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  

Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.  

Well, I'm off to coach some flag football. My friend's team is playing the all campus champions from last year. I made them some brownies to soften the blow . . . pray it doesn't end as I'm anticipating.  :)

. . . make all your plans succeed . . .

I've realized a fundamental truth.

As I am earnestly seeking the Lord in prayer and bringing my requests and the true condition of my heart and life before Him, He reveals truth.

I don't mean the flippant kind of prayer that I do way too often. The "oh I'll just pray while I'm eating my breakfast quick because I ran out of time this morning because I checked my face book instead of reading my Bible"

I mean prayer where I am focused on the Lord. Focused on what I am bringing before Him. Seeking His truth. Not holding anything back from Him because He knows the true condition of my heart.  Prayer where I am raw and bare before the Lord. Prayer that takes more than 5 minutes while I scarf down cereal or 10 minutes while I fall asleep.

The thing about this kind of prayer is that while I am praying, the Lord reveals His truth right before my eyes.  I get distracted easily, so I'll often journal while I'm praying.  I've found myself journaling things that don't come from my own head. Words, and truth from the Spirit. He is so faithful!!


Understand that the Lord longs to reveal truth to you. He wants you to know His desires for your life.  He promises to be faithful and reveal Himself as long as we are seeking Him. (Jeremiah 29:13 "you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart").


Keep in mind though, it takes silence for the Holy Spirit to speak truth into your life.  Prayer should be a combination of you pouring your heart out before the Lord and listening to His response.  


Just this morning I was hit with one of these major truths.  I took some time to just pray this morning. I journaled the things that were on my heart and just laid them before the Lord. I was praying a lot for my future; job, husband, life after college, etc.  A lot of earnestly praying and trying to weed through selfish desires of my flesh and what God truly has for me.  


As I was closing I looked up Psalm 20. No particular reason, just that it was the 20th.  


Let me tell you what it said . . . 

May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;

may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.  

May he send you help from the sanctuary and grand you support from Zion. 

May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings.

May he give you the desires of your heart and make all your plans succeed.  

We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.

May the Lord grant all your requests . . . 

This was an incredible reminder of the faithfulness of my Savior.  He wants to give me the desires of my heart.  

I looked up heart.  The heart is seen as the center of the human spirit, from which spring emotions, thoughts, motivations, courage and action.

The heart is where we hold our deepest desires, fears, and longings, some of which we may not even realize.  

Does this mean God is just going to give me everything I want and desire? Unfortunately not. 

Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."

This doesn't mean just "delight" yourself in the Lord and He will give you a great gpa, a new car, a perfect boyfriend, athletic ability, friends, or money.  

What this verse is saying is that if I am delighting myself in the Lord, I mean truly delighting myself in the Lord, what will happen is that my heart will be transformed!

He will take MY desires and change them into His desires.  The desires of my heart will match the desires of my Father's heart.

Those desires are what He answers. The ones that match His heart.  

As I sat back and reflected on all of the things I had just brought before the Lord I felt an incredible peace.  I have a loving Father who knows how to give good gifts to His children (Matt. 7:11).  If I continue to seek the Lord, the fleshly desires of my heart will fade away.  The desires He has placed on my heart for my life will remain, and He will fulfill them!

Oh He is so faithful! Rest in that truth today!

Disappointment

Let's be real . . . any Saturday that the Vols lose a game usually just turns out to be a bummer of a day.
Darn. My team lost. Again.
But just for the record I still love them and will always be a faithful fan.
It just stinks sometimes.

About a week ago I found out something very disappointing.
I was hoping and expecting a situation to turn out one way.  It didn't end how I thought.
And it just stinks.

There are so many times in life I hope SO hard for something, or pray SO hard for something, and it doesn't turn out the way I hoped.
And it just stinks.

Disappointment is real. It happens all the time. Some things don't end up the way we hope. And it is frustrating.

Proverbs 13:12

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. 

This verse is so true. How often do I misjudge the power of hoping for something. It will either make my heart sick when it is deferred, or give me LIFE.  It is SO powerful.  

There are going to be days when our hope is deferred. All the time. 

But there are going to be days when our deep longings are fulfilled. 

The longing fulfilled it is talking about here revives and strengthens.

Revives and Strengthens. 

That is cool. 

But would those fulfilled longings revive and strengthen in such a powerful way if the hope deferred didn't make our hearts so sick? Would we realize how valuable the longings fulfilled were if we hadn't had so many times when our hope was deferred? 

I don't think we would! I know I certainty would not realize how gracious God is and how powerfully He fulfills the deepest longings and desires of my heart if I didn't have so many days full of tears and disappointment because my hope was deferred. 

I think the best way for us to combat the sick heart that comes from our hope being deferred (because it is guaranteed to happen) is by remembering all of the times our longings have been fulfilled. Choosing to meditate on those, and the faithfulness of God instead of the sickness of my heart . . . SO FREEING!!

How much sweeter are those fulfilled longings because I have tasted the sickness of the heart.  

Psalm 13

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? 

How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.

Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, 

"I have overcome him,"

and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

But I trust in your unfailing love;

my heart rejoices in your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord,

for he has been good to me.  

Timing

One of my best friends and I went for a little walk today. In the middle of studying we took a break and walked 200 yards to the Weigles on the corner to get some milk.  It was a beautiful night.  As we walked we were realizing how our nights like this are numbered. Nights of frolicking, playing, being together, and not having a ton of things to do. Being so close to the end of college we can taste it, I think we realized just how precious these moments are.  That realization came along with a little regret of missed moments like that one over the last 4 years.

An hour later I'm sitting here on my computer counting the hours I have left to study for the two tests  I have this week and all of the things I have to do within those hours.  Oh boy.

"But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, "You are my God."

My times are in your hands . . ."

Psalm 31:14-15

What a comfort David's words bring! My times are in the hands of the Lord! 

The time I have left to study and all of the studying that needs to get done: In His hands!

The time I have left in college and all of the time I have already spent here: In His hands!

Praise the Lord that He is in control. I can sit here and worry, or I can trust in His unfailing love and His wonderful plan for my life. My times are in His hands!!

This is a picture of Lauren, Olivia, and I sitting on the seal on campus. You are not supposed to step on the seal while you are in school because the superstition is that if you do, you will not graduate in 4 years. Lauren and I both walked on it. We are graduating in 4 and a half and 5 years. Olivia didn't step on it. She graduated. I just find it hilarious. And appropriate! 

faith

Oh faith. Such a little word with such big implications.

This has been quite a theme the last week. All week I've been wrestling with a situation and how much I was going to trust God with it.
Of course I want to tell you that I was able to completely give it to the Lord and fully trust His plan and His timing. I wish. And I wasn't struggling with God's ability to do His will in the situation. I was wrestling with WHAT His will was. Well, it wasn't the same as mine. Shocker, I know.

I wasn't trusting God because of two things:
1.  I've been here before. Like this exact same situation. Multiple times. So many times I should've been able to see how this was going to end. I was relying more on the past circumstances and that I thought I should be able to handle it. Not on Jesus.
2.  I wanted it my way. I knew exactly what God was saying. I heard every word. And honestly, I didn't ignore it. I just thought that this time maybe it would be different.  Maybe I was just airing on the side of caution instead of hearing from Him.  I knew exactly what God will was, I just wanted mine.

So here is what I've learned from this situation:
If I ask God to increase my faith, He isn't going to supernaturally fill me with this incredible faith where it is easy to trust Him at any moment.


He is going to give me situations and opportunities that will force me to trust Him more.  

This is really forcing me to trust Him more. To trust His timing, His plan, His goodness, and His love.

This verse has been a theme this week. And it has been very hard to believe, but I'm clinging to it now.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, 

because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists

and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Hebrews 11:6

Lauren

Today was one of those lazy days.

I woke up and it was supposed to rain. I went to Walmart and grabbed some $15 rain boots (which are bright pink and I am very excited about) and went to class.  It was supposed to rain, but it didn't.

I spent my entire afternoon trying to be productive and work on school work and I failed miserably.

Then I spent the night with one of my best friends. We ate pazokie (its a cookie that you put icecream on when it is still warm so the icecream melts), watched Friday Night Lights, and talked about boys.  It was wonderful.

Lo, I am just so thankful for you.  And even though you're not Paul's biggest fan right now, he says it well . . .

"I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you I always pray with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel, from the first day until now, being confident of this that he who began a good work in you will carry it onto completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

Phillippians 1:3-6

Part 4

This is my favorite part.

Remember how our hearts become divided because of sin? Well there is good news!

Ezekiel 36:25-26 says "I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you."

What a promise! He promises to remove all of our impurities from us and give us a NEW heart and a NEW spirit!
And guess what! If you have accepted Jesus as your savior he has already made you a new creation!! (Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17)
Isn't that great news! You don't have to wait for a new heart, YOU HAVE ONE!!

So where do we go from here? We've been given a new heart, but how do we keep it from falling into the temptation of becoming divided again?

Jeremiah 17:9 says that our hearts are deceitful and beyond cure.  1 John 3:19 says that our hearts are condemning.
How do we keep our hearts from going there? How do we keep them focused on the Lord and believing the truth instead of lies?

Proverbs 4:23 says to guard your heart above anything else because it is the wellspring of life, and Philippians 4 tells us HOW to guard our hearts.

"Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again; Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." (v. 4-8)

Did you catch that?
We guard our hearts through the PEACE OF GOD. And how do we experience his peace? By presenting our requests to Him, AND meditating on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy.

That is the key. Meditating on those things.
What is true? His word.
What is noble? His word.
What is right? His word.
What is pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy? yes, His word.

Memorizing and reciting the Word of God is the number one way to guard your heart.

It's not always easy, but it is so worth it! Guard that heart! It is a new creation!!

Heart part 3

Here we are . . . examining our hearts.
Lets review quick . . .

Why are our hearts such a big deal?
They are what God looks at (1 Samuel 16:7)
What are we commanded to do?
Love the Lord with all our hearts (Deuteronomy 6:5)
Unfortunately, that is not easy or guaranteed. Just look at David. He is called a man after God's own heart yet he constantly messes up and begs the Lord for an undivided heart.

How do our hearts reach this point of division? What causes them to turn to sin instead of to the Lord?
Romans 1:24-25 says "Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts . . . They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator . . ."

Essentially, all it takes for sin to gain a foothold in your life is for you to believe a lie. Any lie. In doing this, we remove the truth of God's word in our hearts and replace it with a lie.  This causes our hearts to be divided. We no longer love the Lord with all of our hearts, because part of our heart is loving sin.

This looks like a huge issue to tackle. It is.

BUT DON'T GET DISCOURAGED!!!

God is faithful. He wants to get at the junk that is in your heart and allow you be undivided in your love for Him.  Philippians 1:6 says that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  He promises to not abandon you, but to work on you and mold you to maturity.

So here we are, at this point where we know our hearts are divided and full of sin, but what do we do about it?

First, we need to seek the Lord. We need to determine WHY our hearts have become divided. What sin is deeply rooted in there.  We need to start by figuring out what is in our hearts

For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt. 12:34) (Matthew 1, 2, 3, 4. thats an easy one to remember). A lot can be said about your heart by what comes out of your mouth. Not just the things you say in passing or in conversation, but when you are talking to your best friend, and all those unfiltered, unorganized thoughts come spilling out. That is what we need to be examining.

As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man (Proverbs 27:19 sorry, no fun tricks to remember this one).  Your heart reflects your true character. Do you want to be reflecting a heart of sin or a heart for the Lord. Or a divided one?

When examining our hearts we need to be careful of something. We can't just look at specific issues, problems, or events. We need to go deep. Look at WHY you reacted that way. Understand WHAT motive in your heart caused you to do that.  Don't look for the bandaid either (oh, I was just tired. Well, honestly, your true self is going to show up the most when you are tired and all of your filters are off).  This is heart surgery. Let the surgeon to actually do surgery.  And yes, surgery is painful.

Seek the Lord and ask Him to reveal to you what truly is going on in your heart.  He wants nothing to come between His heart and yours. And He will stop at nothing to get you to that point.  Nothing.

There is hope for our little undivided hearts though!! More tomorrow!

Undivided Heart (Heart part 2)

Last night when I decided to do this whole heart thing, I didn't realize just how much there is to our hearts. And how much truth there is about our hearts in God's word. This is very exciting. I hope you'll walk this with me, cause it is going to blow all of our minds. Get ready

We are called to have an undivided heart towards the Lord. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done.

Deuteronomy 6:5 says, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

We are commanded to love the Lord with all of our hearts.
Oh yeah, sure. I can do that. No, not really. We need the Spirit to guide us, convict us, teach us, and point us to truth in order for our hearts to be fully in love with the Lord.  Don't worry, over the next few days we are going to dive deep here into how we love the Lord with all of our hearts.

Lets take a look first at a man that was truly devoted to the Lord. King David.  Acts 13:22 talks about David's heart.

"He testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart, he will do everything I want him to do.'"

God calls David a man after his own heart. I know I would love for my Savior to say I was a woman after his own heart. I wish it were easy to do. Its not. But look at this truth for a second. We have all seen David's life, his successes, his failures, and definitely his sin.  He was still called a man after God's own heart.

Praise the Lord that the way he looks at our hearts is not affected, NOT AFFECTED, by our sin.

And I am certain there were times that David did not believe he deserved to be called a man after God's own heart.  David knew he was not fully devoted to the Lord. We hear his heart in Psalm 86:11 when he says "Teach me your way, O Lord,  and I will walk in your truth, give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name."

David knows he has an undivided heart. Remember yesterday, when 1 Samuel 16:7 says that the Lord looks at the heart? We don't even know the true condition of our hearts. BUT God does. Praise him for that.  He knows the true condition of your heart. He knows what sin is holding your heart captive. He knows what lies your heart is believing, and what lies your heart is telling you. He wants to break you free from that.

Ask the Lord to reveal to you the truth about your heart. He wants you to believe his truth about you. And he wants your heart to be undivided towards him.  We'll talk more tomorrow!

Heart (part 1)

I started blogging tonight about a verse that God has definitely put on my heart lately. He has given me a passion to understand it an also share it with others. I started writing about that verse, and realized I could talk for a LONG time about it.

So, for the interest of time, we are going to go ahead and break this down into several parts. And we'll just do a little introduction to start.

We're talking about your HEART.

It is such a powerful thing. It has a mind of its own. It rarely makes sense. It can be very convincing. It can be wrong. It can make us do great things. It can cause us to cling to Jesus. It will fail.

I really want to take some time to talk about our hearts. Their condition, how they dictate so much of our lives, why they steer us in so many directions, why they matter. Stick with me for the next several days and we'll unpack some interesting truths about our hearts. I'm very excited.

But for now, I think we need to understand why our hearts are so important.

Thankfully, it's not very difficult to grasp.

1 Samuel 16:7

But the Lord said to Samuel,

"Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.

The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. 

Man looks at the outward appearance,

BUT THE LORD LOOKS AT THE HEART."

Yep. Thats it. 

Our hearts are so important because they are what God is looking at. Right at our hearts. He does not look at your outward appearance, how you come across to others, all your successes, all your failures. No. He looks RIGHT INTO YOUR HEART. 

That's why it is such a big deal. Your heart is seen by the one who created it. The one who truly cares about the condition it is in. He wants it to be as pure as it was when he made it. 

Take some time to examine the condition of your heart.  Ask the Lord to be working in your heart. I'm excited to walk this together. 

Wisdom

Wisdom is definitely something I could use more of. At any point in my life I feel like I could always grow in this area.  And it has been on my heart today.

Proverbs is always a great place to go when we need wisdom. And it definitely keeps you humble, thats for sure.

I have definitely come to a point in my life where I am seeking wisdom daily, mostly about the future. I have also had some close friends that were going through some big decisions, and I find myself praying for wisdom every time I talk to them.

Proverbs 2 and 3 talk about the benefits of wisdom.
" . . . if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.  For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." (v. 3-5)

"For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.  Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you." (v. 10-11)

I love that. God promises here that understand will guard you. It will guard your life and wisdom will be pleasant to your soul. I definitely want to be filling my heart and mind with things that will guard me and that are pleasant to my soul.

Hm. what am I filling my heart with? What is consuming my thoughts, what songs are stuck in my head, what truths (or lies) am I meditating on?

Proverbs 3:7 says, "Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil."
I need to make sure I am seeking the Lord and his wisdom. Not my own. I need wisdom that comes from truth.

James 1:5 is one of my favorite verses. It says "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."

He promises to give us wisdom. When I feel like I'm lacking, all I have to do is humbly come before him, knowing that I do not want to be wise in my own eyes, and ASK HIM. His word promises that he will give to ALL. Thats you, thats me! We are included in ALL.

Lord, I need your wisdom today. Amen.

Tenderhearted

I was reading through this in my Bible study today. It stuck in my head all day, and has just been a wonderful reminder of the heart of our Savior

This is 3 days after Jesus was crucified, and Mary Magdalene and the disciples have just visited the tomb.

Matthew 20:10-17

Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying.  As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

They asked her, Woman, why are you crying?"

"They have taken my Lord away," she said. "and I don't know where they have put him." At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."

Jesus said to her, "Mary."

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).

I think this interaction between Mary and her Lord is so powerful. Mary was the FIRST person to see Jesus alive. Why would he pick her?

"Mary Magdalene's hear was broken.  She owed Jesus her life and her sanity.  She had experienced life firsthand in the web of the evil one.  Yet, she had also experienced true deliverance.  After being set free from her sin, Mary devoted her entire existence to her Deliverer.  She did not deny herself the pain of watching Him die, nor did she leave Him until the stone was rolled into place.  Suddenly He was gone.  Unlike many others, Mary did not lament lost opportunities, nor a seemingly forfeited kingdom.  Her grief was simple.  She missed Jesus.  So why did He appear first to her? I believe the answer is because Mary's Lord, and ours, is tenderhearted." (Beth Moore, from her study Living Beyond Yourself)

I think this is so neat. Our Lord is tenderhearted.  Why would he choose to reveal himself to me the same way he did with Mary?

Because He is tenderhearted. And he loves you. So much.

Rest in and BELIEVE that TRUTH today