How's Your Heart?

THE WORD:
"You have no part or share in this ministry because your heart is not right with God . . . For I see you are full of bitterness and captive to sin." (Acts 8:21-23)

" . . . the message (the Word) they heard was of no value to them because those who heard it did not combine it with faith." (Hebrews 4:2)

"Those who obey His commands live in Him, and He in them.  This is his command: to believe in the name of the Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us." (1 Jn. 4:24-23)

"Rid yourself of all anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips . . . clothe yourselves (instead), with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. . . over all these, put on love . . . and be thankful." (Col 3:8, 12)

MY TRUTH:
I want so badly to be used by God, to be filled with His Spirit, and this Word revealed to me why I haven't been able to experience the fullness of His Glory. . .

I recently pondered a question in my bible study group: Can we be so spiritually minded that we are no earthly good?  I guess depending on your definition of "spiritually minded", your answer to that question may be yes or no.  I do, however, believe that we can be so religious that we are no spiritually good. As in the story of Paul, God had a very special assignment for him, declaring "this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name" (Acts 9:15), but He couldn't use him because his heart wasn't right.  How many of us are chosen by God to carry out a task that only we can fulfill, but God's plans are on hold because we're defective from a hardened heart? 

Before his conversion, Saul was a religious man, a rule-enforcer, rigid and suffered from a hard heart.  According to Hebrews 3:7-18, our hearts our hardened through sin, disobedience and unbelief.  Our hearts can be hardened from many of life's experiences: pain, hurt, disappointment, and failure to name a few.  Whether from our own sin or disobedience, or that of others, it's easy for us to harbor those experiences and allow them to callous our heart, tainting our interactions with God and other people.  Then, we try to work our way into heaven, by practicing good deeds on the outside, all the while our insides are rotting away.

Unfortunately for Paul and the rest of us rule-followers and law abiders, it doesn't work like that.  We can not purchase or earn the power of God (which is the Holy Spirit) through our own righteous acts.  It's not just good enough for us to know the Word, and walk around with a halo floating above our high buns.  Our spirit has to be right, because God looks at our heart.  Like Acts 8:21 states, we "[can't]share in His ministry [if] our heart is not right with God."  Before God could use Saul,  He had to soften his heart(Acts 5-9).  He accomplished this through first humbling him (he blinded Saul so that he could not see).  Then Saul had to respond with obedience (He went into the city that God commanded him to), and sanctification - that is, he separated himself unto God - by fasting for three days.

But can we evade this process of being humbled by God in order for Him to use us?  How can we humble ourselves first, before He has to do it for us?  This is where I believe the principles of Faith, Love and Fruits of the Spirit will cleanse our hearts so that we "may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God," (Eph 3:19b) and maybe help us avoid an encounter with God where we are forcibly brought to our knees.

God willing, my next couple of posts will be on a journey that will examine how we can exhibit these three principles in our daily lives to grow deeper in relationship with God.

How Bad Do You Want It?

Reflection from Joyce Meyers' book, Knowing God Intimately

THE WORD:
"You will seek and find me when you seek me with all your heart." (Jer. 29:13)

"No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age, and in the age to come eternal life." (Mk 10:29)

MY TRUTH:
How many times have we said, "God, if you would only make it plain!"?  The truth is, God is as close as you want Him to be.  I want to know that I know that I know God.  As a matter of fact, I want to experience what the Apostle Paul prayed for us, that we might "surpass knowledge, [and] be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Eph 3:18)  See, knowledge is just to have information about something - we all have access to that through the Word - but to be filled with God, that's something different.  But how do we get there?

Well, according to Jeremiah 29:13, it's a guarantee that we will find God when we seek him with all our heart.  God told us, "draw near to me, and I will draw near to you." How often do we draw near to God?  During the time of the Israelites, God demonstrated the different levels of intimacy we can experience with God (Ex 19 & 24).  God loves us all, but isn't close to us all.

• Level 1 - The majority of the Israelites had to wait at the bottom of the mountain, and observe God's glory from afar.  God told Moses, "let the people hear me, when I speak to you." I don't want to receive my Word through someone else!  Then He said, "let them be ready for the third day." They can only experience God at certain times - I need God with me at all times.
• Level 2 - There were a few elders that could come a little up the mountain and "they saw God, and they ate and drank."
• Level 3 - Reserved for Moses and his aide, Joshua.  Joshua was special because he was an aide - he dedicated his life to serve another man, and through this, serve God.  He was a helper, a man of faith and spent his time in prayer.
• Level 4 - The deepest level of intimacy was experienced only by Moses, who had sacrified his previous life as a wealthy heir to the throne of Egypt, and ultimately claim identity with an enslaved people.  He spent 40 days and 40 nights spending time with God.  In this level, God speaks directly to Moses.

Our intimacy with God grows with increased obedience and sacrifice.  When I was preparing for my wedding, I wanted to get in shape.  I made it a priority - I planned my meals in advance, bought healthier foods that cost more, and prioritized going to the gym twice a day.  It took discipline and sacrifice.  Jesus told us to "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Mt. 6:33) 

He wants us to make seeking Him a priority, but how do we prioritize God?  You can tell someone's priorities through their TIME and MONEY - if we evaluated our investments today, what would they reveal about our priorities?  Do we plan out our alone time with Him and make it sacred, or do we put prayer and reading His Word on the backburner, and then it never gets done?  Are we like Joshua, being an aide to others in our lives, or do we revolve all of our prayers and daily tasks around ourselves?  Would we sacrifice our money, identity, and future like Moses, or do we only obey God when it's convenient for us?

Taking our relationship with God to the next level means that we are going to have to get serious about our commitment.  He is looking for believers who are seeking him diligently with all of their heart, through sacrifice and obedience.

The Key to Resisting Temptation

THE WORD:  The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written:  ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’(Deut. 8:3)” 

“If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down [from the highest point of the temple]……Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’(Deut. 6:16)” 

“All this I will give you, if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written:  ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’(Deut. 6:13)”  Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

– Matthew 4:1-11

MY TRUTH:  We learn something very important from these scriptures….how to fend off temptation, and we simply do this with the WORD!  Wow who knew it was that simple!  Each time the devil came to Jesus he quoted scripture to resist temptation.  He immediately answered with the word.  This is what we must do….immediately answer our fleshly temptations and desires with the word.  That is why it is so important for us to read our bible so that we will have the right verse to respond to the devil with when he tempts us.  Key thing is WHEN!  If the devil tempted Jesus he will surely tempt us so we should not be surprised when the enemy comes against us.  The word very clearly states that the devil comes to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10) so we must be prepared.  Let’s be proactive instead of reactive.  This is a work in progress for me, but I encourage you to write down and/or memorize 5-10 scriptures that you can have readily available to respond to temptation with.  If you respond to your temptations with these scriptures and believe in your heart (that’s the key….you have to believe and have a little faith and be sincere about it or it won’t work) you will be able to resist any sinful temptation that comes your way.  Be encouraged and vigilant.  We must not be surprised when the devil attacks us; we have to be prepared, and the key to preparation is the WORD of God…the bible.

Activating Abundance

From Tosh Young.....

THE WORD: "The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (Jn 10:10)

 "When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break." (Lk 5:6)

MY TRUTH: Sometimes I get frustrated when I come across things in the Word, that don't seem like they actually work or happen.  For instance, Jesus said that he came so that we would have life abundantly.  NIV translation says "to the full".  But what is abundance?  Abundance is like Simon in Lk 5:1-11, when he had more fish than his net could even hold.  Abundance is defined as: oversufficient quantity; overflowing fullness; affluence, wealth.

So if Jesus came for me to have life Abundantly, why am I operating in deficit or lack in so many areas?  I need my family to be saved, my husband to be delivered, my child to be protected, my nation to be healed, my students to be covered.  Not to mention the financial part - while I may not be broke, I'm definitely not living in wealth or overflowing.

But God is not a man that He should lie, and God is Word, so His Word must be TRUTH.  So I found a passage, Luke 5:1-11 where Jesus shows us how to Activate Abundance.  Simon and his fisherman friends had been going out fishing for a while, to no avail.  What have you been trying to Catch, but keep coming up empty? 

This is the truth God revealed to me, to fill our empty net:

1. Be in close Relationship with God (v. 3) - Simon had direct access to Jesus because they were in the same boat.  Are you close enough to God to hear Him when He speaks to you?  Is Jesus even invited in your boat, or are you too busy trying to catch the fish by yourself?
2. Catch His Teaching (v. 4) - Jesus was speaking to throngs of people on the shore, while they were swaying in a boat in the middle of a lake.  There had to have been a lot of commotion - and just so subtly, after He was done speaking to the crowd, Jesus turned and delivered an order to Simon to cast the net into the water.  We have to be sensitive to hearing God speak to us, even in the midst of the commotion of our daily lives.
3. Obey (v. 5) - As soon as Simon Heard the Word, he immediately replied in faith "But because you say so, I will let down the nets."  Despite the fact that Simon had been trying for days without catching fish, he trusted in God.  We are called to believe in our heart (faith) things that we may not yet see, profess and proclaim, and act in obedience.

Lord, help me to draw near to you, to be conscious of your presence, your rebuking, and redirection, and give me the strength, discipline and courage to obey your instruction without delay. 

Day by Day

From Tosh Young....

THE WORD: "Blessed is the man . . . whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers." (Ps. 1:2-3)

MY TRUTH: Recently, I've been preparing for a staff training before school starts.  Each summer I always begin training with some self-reflection and sharing of our personal strengths, weaknesses, hopes, desires, values, etc in the hopes that we can build strong team culture.  In my preparation this year, I've had my staff take a Strengths Finder Test, and in doing that, came across my Strengths Profile from a couple years ago.  My very first strengths is "Achiever", which basically means that I'm the epitome of a Type A personality, and that I make everything from work to washing dishes a goal that I have to accomplish.  I believe that similar to me, many women "suffer" from this over-achiever mentality.  We just have so much to do within a given day - be leaders at work, raise kids, keep the house clean for our families, that we push ourselves HARD to accomplish at least one thing everyday.

The truth that God has revealed to me is that in His world, slow and steady wins the race.  The author of this psalm compares the "blessed" man to a tree.  Now, I'm not a geologist but I do know that trees live a LONG life, and they grow, slowly . . . inch by inch, day by day.  In order to yield our fruit in due season, we have to make it through some time.  For me, I realized, I get overwhelmed and shut down in my study and personal time with God because I want to Achieve it all.  You know that Fight or Flight complex? Well, I have Flight.  There are so many themes that I want to study, but I can never get started because I feel like I have to dedicate my whole day to Accomplish all that I want to learn. 

My truth is that I can be satisfied with being a tree - growing a little, day by day and that "some is better than none".  And soon enough, I will be a 100-ft tree, planted by strong roots, and yielding fruit in all aspects of my life.  God, remind me that the race is not to the swift.  Help me to overcome by urge to bite off more than I can chew.  Teach me discipline, to meditate on your word, day and night, one day at a time.

- Tosh Young