His name is Love.

Love. Sounds simple enough right? We use the word all the time. We “love” our favorite food or our pet. We “love” the new car or house. We love new clothes, traveling, money, stuff, people who can do stuff for us. “I love you.” Really? No wonder we have a hard time loving each other and an even harder time believing that others love us, or that Jesus loves us (??) when we tend to use the word so carelessly. So wrongly.

Being honest, some of us had really messed up experiences with people who claimed to love us. I can remember hearing the words “I love you” after being ignored, or screamed at or devalued in one of a hundred different ways by my parents and thinking, “No, you don’t.” My mother drank too much when I was a kid. Way too much. One of her favorite things to do was to drink to the point of just being ridiculously intoxicated then grabbing me as I was on my way to the kitchen and breathing in my ear the words ” I LOOOOOVE YOUUUUU.” My immediate gut reaction? “No, you don’t.” In my mental suitcase I have thousands of these experiences with various people over the course of my life. Too many to go into here but what I will say is this.. one, the ways we learn to experience that word as children and into our adolescent and teen years totally shapes how we receive “love” as an adult. And, two- I can tell by being around people for five minutes whether or not their “love filter” is damaged or broken and hurting or maybe, just not even there. I can tell when someone learned to “unlove” because that’s what went into them somewhere along the way. I can tell because something about them tries to make me feel unloved.

We are created to love. We are breathed life into in order to be loved and to give love away. Why’s it seem so hard then? I think because the flesh love we can give and what we look for in other people is always lacking. Its not enough to sustain us. We have more need than that. And others need more than we can give them. We try to guilt others into making them love us the way we think we need to be loved and maybe they can’t do enough. We try to love other people the way we know how and it never seems to be enough. It’s HARD to love others.  Yet, in the church we are called to love.. BE LOVE! If we can’t LOVE then we are clanging loud cymbals and gongs and we are never getting it right. We stink at love. We are great at being hurtful and jealous and snarky and selfish- but we stink at love.

But God.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. I John 4:10.

This is real love. This is the love we have to seek God for, and the love that teaches us how to truly give and receive love. It is not limited, it is not selfish, it is not conditional. He LOVED us and sent Jesus sacrificially out of LOVE. This is the kind of love I want to have in my heart and the kind of love I want to give. I want to give it without expecting. No strings attached, filled with Truth and Grace and Mercy and Justice and always pointing to the source. Jesus.

Pray with me …

God, thank You for loving me this way. Help me to believe You and to trust in Your love for me. I want to learn more about Your love and I want it to flow from my heart to others. Its my greatest need and my deepest desire. Please reveal Your love to me, and let Your love overwhelm my heart and I ask that You love others THROUGH me. I can’t do it on my own. Thank You for hearing my prayer and for answering the cry of my heart. I do love You, Jesus- and its in Your precious name I pray. Amen.

Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees. -Victor Hugo

I remember singing this one  song in high school for a choir event.  It was one of the rare times that a song we did in my secular environment actually meant something to me. The song was by Elvis Presley, and the lyrics go like this:

Precious Lord, take my hand
Lead me on, let me stand
I’m tired, I’m weak, I’m lone
Through the storm, through the night
Lead me on to the light
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

When my way grows drear precious Lord linger near
When my light is almost gone
Hear my cry, hear my call
Hold my hand lest I fall
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

When the darkness appears and the night draws near
And the day is past and gone
At the river I stand
Guide my feet, hold my hand
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

Precious Lord, take my hand
Lead me on, let me stand
I’m tired, I’m weak, I’m lone
Through the storm, through the night
Lead me on to the light
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

It’s a bit depressing I guess, but the fact is, this song ministered to me when I was young. I was lost much of the time like most teenagers feel.  I won’t go into much of that in this post but what I will say is this. I realized today that God has led me through all the places this song describes.  In my young heart, it served as a prayer.  Jesus has walked me through the darkness of who satan told me I was, and He led me through the dryness of who I told myself I was.  He healed me and led me though the desert when I believed too much of what others said about who I was.  I now walk in the Light of His Truth and who HE says I am. Thank You precious Lord for leading me and teaching me how to stand.

I  will bless the LORD who has counseled me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. I have set the LORD continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Psalm 16:7-8

How’s your heart?

I will just get right to the “heart” of this post ( sorry, LOL) but God is really speaking to me about the care and usage of our hearts. He is also confirming to me the connection between our spiritual hearts and our physical hearts. It is crucial to take good care of both.

Listen to a Father’s instruction. Proverbs 4, verses 23-24.

“Above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity, and keep corrupt talk far from your lips.” What does this mean exactly?

Guarding anything means to keep it safe. We keep things safe so that nothing can damage it, right? In the very next verse we are warned about the things that can damage our hearts. Perversity and corrupt talk. Lying. Gossip. Slander. Coarse language. Hurtful words that wound. The list goes on and on. If we incur this type of damage we are prone to pass it on. That’s how “sin” tangles us up, it’s a cycle of damaging events and choices- and because everything we do flows from our hearts, that means that IF we have not  protected our hearts, we are not going to be protecting anything from damaging another heart. Sad.

God showed me that our hearts are His love storehouse. If it’s not taken care of, any Love He puts there can be contaminated. And if everything we do flows from a contaminated spiritual storehouse- that means it will in turn have an effect on our physical well being. (EVERYTHING we do.) I see a connection here.   A sick spirit heart could very well damage the physical heart.

We know what some of the advice is when our physical hearts are sick. Eat more healthy foods. Exercise. Find the best doctor  and follow his advice. Do what he says.

But what happens when we begin to understand that the root issue is in our spiritual hearts? What happens when we begin to understand that the real problem is not so much that we have done or said something we shouldn’t have, but that we have a heart that is bitter, unforgiving, wounded and hurting and we are too prideful to admit it?

Same course of treatment. Read God’s word and do what God says. Exercise some spiritual discipline and PRAY for God’s help. He is the Great Physician after all.

Father, please help us. Help us to admit that we aren’t using grace like we should.  We don’t come to You like we should and we are sick and spiritually anemic because of it. Forgive us, help us, heal us and make us whole in You, Jesus.

In Your precious name we pray, Amen.

Best Post Ever from Rick Warren

Reposting this.  So simple and truthful but so hard.  However.. Huge blessings in store for those who will just remain quiet and allow the Lord to defend us.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” Psalm 23:5 (NIV)

Our civilization is losing its civility. The world is getting ruder! One of the things that’s causing that is the Internet, because it allows people to hide behind the screen and say things online that they would never have the courage to say to others face to face.

All those people are doing is revealing the smallness of their hearts. Great people make people feel great, but small people belittle people. People who belittle others have a little knot for a heart, and they make fun of others because they think it will make them feel better.

How do you handle rude people? You don’t. You let God handle them. You let God be your defender.

King David was a pro at this. He knew what it meant to be attacked emotionally, verbally, and physically. As a young man, he was anointed by Samuel to be the next king of Israel, but he spent two years running from his predecessor, who wanted to kill him. He hid in caves while being criticized constantly behind his back.

Yet David never said a bad word against the king. He never retaliated, because God was preparing him to be the king after his own heart.

David says in Psalm 23:5, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows” (NIV).

David was recognizing God’s goodness to him. God would anoint his head with oil, which says to the world, “This is my guy! Back off! This is going to be the next leader.” David’s cup overflowed, which meant God kept blessing him and blessing him, even when others attacked him.

Does it sound like David was stressed out? No! He didn’t have to use up all his energy defending himself because he trusted God to be his defender.

It takes a lot of faith and humility to rest and trust God when you’re under attack, when you’re misunderstood, when rumors are spreading about you and people are saying things about you online. When that happens, everything in you wants to rise up and do something about it.

But you are most like Christ when you remain silent under attack. Jesus was constantly attacked, yet he never retaliated, even on his way to the cross. He remained silent before his accusers because he had entrusted himself to the care of the Father.

“So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you” (1 Peter 4:19).

“Who touched My clothes?”

Most mornings I walk with one of my dogs. This is a time of worship and prayer for me… I have felt God’s presence more strongly when I take these walks than just about any other time during my day. I think this is God’s way of getting me addicted to walking and exercise, because now I crave that time with Him so much that I will joyfully endure the exercise. (God is funny with things like that.)

This morning I was doing the usual.. talking some, singing some, and praying out loud a lot ( yep, my neighbors think I am insane but they smile and wave at me so that’s OK) – and I was stopped in my spirit by a thought. God brought the story of the bleeding woman to my mind and I remembered Him asking the crowd who had touched Him. He knew someone had reached for Him because He felt power leaving Him and healing the person.

A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.

Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”

His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

I was sort of watching the story unfold in my mind’s eye and something in my heart longed to see many many people reach out to Him like that. It brought stinging tears to my eyes because I know Jesus is more than able and more than willing to allow His power to “come out of Him” and flow into us. We just have to admit our need for it, and reach and ask.

Then there’s this part of the story.

But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”

( Mark 5:24-34)

He ended her suffering HERE on EARTH!!! Praise Jesus!! He blessed her with peace, and ended her health issues and suffering as well. All she did was reach out to Him and believe. I love this!

Father , thank You for Your healing powerful touch. I pray You would give us eyes to see our own need, admit that we can’t do in our own flesh, and reach out to You and ask You for it. I pray God that when we ask, we also have enough faith to receive and then give YOU all the honor praise and glory you are so worthy of. I pray this in the mighty, powerful, beautiful and HEALING name of Jesus. Amen

Turning Your Heart Toward God, L1Pt.2

Hi there 🙂

Yesterday we finished up the first week of the study.  The main thing we seemed to take away from this second half is  this- God has everything we need to meet every single need we have.   In Jesus, the Lord has done everything necessary for God’s children to thrive in His kingdom.  One thing will hinder us in receiving all that He has.. and that is Pride.

“Blessed are the poor in Spirit..

( Blessed are those who humbly acknowledge and admit their deep and great need for God because they understand that they just cannot do it without Him)

…for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.”

( Humility is the key to the Kingdom- once we look at God and ask for Him to help us.. from our hearts, He is there to meet us right where we are ) .

Father, being saved is wonderful, but help us to remember that we don’t stop needing You just because we accepted Jesus into our hearts.  If anything, salvation increases our understanding that we just need more of You.   Help us to become fully dependent on You so that we “gain Christ” … more and more every day.  We pray this in His holy name- Amen.

 

Turning Your Heart Toward God, lesson 1 Part 1

This week, we began lesson 1 and made it about halfway through. Lesson 1 takes us through the beginning of Matthew 5, and helps us begin to define the word “blessed” as it is used in scripture as it pertains to the nature of God, as well as what Jesus says that “blessed” is supposed to look like in the life of a believer.

The word “blessed” in our English language ( as well as our culture) has come to mean something having to do with “things”, material blessings, or favorable circumstances. In the Beatitudes, however, we find that this word means something very different and far more valuable. Blessed in the greek is “makarios” which actually means being in favor with God, or to “possess the favor of God.” To be truly blessed is to be walking in the fullness of God, regardless of the circumstances.

We also looked at the first Beatitude in Matthew 5, verse 3, in which Jesus says “Blessed are the poor in spirit , for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” To be poor in spirit means ” to be utterly poverty stricken, powerless, destitute and bankrupt.” To be “poor in spirit” means knowing that we have nothing to offer and acknowledging our total dependence on God. It suggests true humililty, which is the opposite of pride. ( lesson 1, page 9 Insight.) In the group this morning, we discussed the fact that the only thing we really truly have to offer anyone is Jesus Christ. He is the source of help and rescue, and we are most helpful to others as we point them to Him. Jesus also says that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are poor in spirit. This is TRUE blessedness! It’s hard to even comprehend this- but to even get a small bit of understanding here, contrite, obedient humility is so important to the Lord that He says those who are, get Heaven. He humbles the proud, but those who admit their deep need for Him, are honored. Lord, I pray this truth sinks deeply into our hearts!

The last passage we looked at was from Luke, chapter 18, verses 9-14. In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, we see the contrast between pride and humility. The Pharisee measured his own righteousness by the “sin” he saw in others. He was convinced that since he was a”better” citizen, followed all the religious rules of the day, and was not like the wicked people around him, he was in good standing with God. He was prideful of his own level of knowledge and righteousness. By contrast, the tax collector understood that in the presence of God, he was nothing but a sinner who deeply needed His mercy. Jesus, in His shocking, world- and heart-changing way, said in verse 14 that the tax collector was the one who God justified, not the “righteous” Pharisee. “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” God sees what is truly in our hearts… even if we can’t always see it ourselves.

For next week, we will cover the second half of lesson 1, so you all can be reading and praying through that this week. I pray God blesses each of us in our study and quiet times with Him!

Father, thank You for how You lovingly teach us Your ways. I pray we would daily be encouraged and compelled to surrender a bit more of ourselves and our wills, to Your care. No matter the level of need, You are there to meet and satisfy it, Lord. Praise You for meeting us right where we are, every time we call out to You. Speak to us in our quiet times, and lead us moment to moment by Your spirit.

In Jesus’s name we pray-
Amen

Turning Your Heart Towards God-

In a couple of weeks, I will begin teaching this study on Matthew 5 (The Beatitudes) by Kay Arthur. If you currently follow my blog and would like to participate, here is the link to purchase the book or the e-book :

http://www.christianbook.com/turning-your-heart-toward-god-ebook/kay-arthur/9780307458735/pd/12312EB

If you are participating via the blog, send me an email or something so I know and can be praying for you as we learn together… I will post questions and commentary like I have done in the past.

cstevensfl@gmail.com

I can’t wait to get started!

Blessings-
Cheryl

The seeds we sow…

God gave me a vision this morning that delighted my heart and fed my spirit and soul. He showed me a beautiful butterfly flittering around an amazingly colorful and prolific flower garden… but I knew the butterfly was not merely drinking nectar. It was being used for pollination purposes. This thought piqued my curiosity so I did a little research- I guess I always thought bees were the only pollinators. ( I never liked Science all that much in school so I paid as little attention as possible and I regret that now at times!) Anyway.. butterflies are great pollinators. They can see color (bees apparently don’t), and they can travel great distances so their pollination possibilities are quite far reaching. As I read and prayed through what I felt God saying to me about the connection between the vision He gave me and His Word.. He reminded me that He is the Lord of the harvest. (Matthew 9:38). He is in charge of all the pollination that occurs both in the natural kingdom, and His kingdom as well.

Pollination is almost an unseen activity, but it is very important. Without it, those flowers and plants would die! The thing we see with our natural eyes, is the butterfly (or bee or moth or bat) flying and landing, then flying again, and so on. Some of the pollen might be caught up and carried on a breeze, or some falls to earth again and is lost. The end result, however, is seen in the growth and flourishing of flowers and plants. This is what happens in nature. God reminded me, though, that our prayers are sort of like the pollen.. except for one thing. Our prayers always make it to heaven. Always. None of them get lost. None of the seeds we sow in God’s kingdom are value-less. Some are seen ( like good works) but our unseen prayers always reach their destination. The Holy Spirit carries them and they get right to where they need to be!!

The other interesting thing He showed me about this is that when we sow in prayer, and we plant seeds in His kingdom in faith and trust… the Lord of the harvest is in charge of when and where those seeds bloom! Just as in nature, there is an unseen force that is in control of how and when reaping will occur. This thought was amazing to me! Sowing seeds in one place does not always mean that is where they will bloom. He takes those prayers, and once we release them to Him, He gives the growth where He sees fit. Our job is to just keep sowing, particularly in prayer. Keep planting and “pollinating”… praying and releasing love, and the truth of God’s word into others, and like the butterfly and bee, allow God to take care of the growth. For they belong not to us, but to Him.

ICorinthians 3:6-9….
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

Father, thank You for being the Lord of the harvest. Thank You for a heavenly purpose in our lives, that is measured not always by what is seen here but by what is evident in the unseen, in the eternal Kingdom of God. Thank You for Your Word and for Your Son Jesus and the life He brings to us! Give us more opportunities to be sowers in prayer, in Love, and in Truth.

In His name I pray, Amen.

Repost from Chuck Swindoll on humility.

August 15, 2013

A Proud or Humble Heart

by Charles R. Swindoll

Psalm 131:1

In a matter-of-fact fashion, David addresses the Lord in Psalm 131. Throughout the song, he carries on a conversation with his God. While humility is the subject, the focus is himself. Eight times in the first two verses he uses “I,” “me,” and “my.” The poem is a brief glimpse into David’s personal journal.

Verse 1

O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.

In the Hebrew Bible, whatever appears first in a clause or sentence is frequently placed in that position for the purpose of emphasis. This is especially true when the phrase is rearranged and written in an awkward, strange manner. This is precisely what we find in verse 1. There are three negatives set forth at the very beginning of three clauses: “not proud,” “not haughty,” and “nor do I involve myself.” David is communicating the depth of his feelings. The structure of his words reveals strong passion. The terms do too.

The term “proud” comes from gabah, meaning “to be high, exalted.” He mentions his heart first-the root source of pride down deep within. He says that as deeply as God may wish to probe, He will not find a trace of a “high, exalted” attitude within him. God may “search” and “know my heart” (Psalm 139:23) all He wishes, declares David.

The term “haughty” comes from another word having a similar meaning: “room.” This Hebrew term means “to be lifted up, raised.” The idea is that one who is proud within shows it in his eyes, which are “lifted up, raised.” That is exactly what Proverbs 30:11–13 says:

There is a kind of man who curses his father
And does not bless his mother.
There is a kind who is pure in his own eyes,
Yet is not washed from his filthiness.
There is a kind—oh how lofty are his eyes!
And his eyelids are raised in arrogance.

The “proud look” has to do with eyes that are “lifted up.” We have all seen this among the pseudo-sophisticates and on the plastic masks worn by many of the Hollywood stars and television celebrities. David declares that both his heart and his eyes will stand the test of God’s scrutiny.

There are two simple and quick ways God says the true condition of the heart is revealed. (Many of us may think we can hide it, but we cannot.) The first is through the eyes (as we have seen here) and the second is through the mouth (as Jesus says in Luke 6:45). Of course, one’s life is another proof of one’s heart condition, but that takes longer to observe. Keen counselors and wise people are careful to listen to words (what is said as well as what isn’t said) and watch the eyes of others. You soon discover that the heart is like a well and the eyes and tongue are like buckets which draw water from the same well. If true humility is not in the heart, the eyes will show it.

❝ If true humility is not in the heart, the eyes will show it. ❞ —Chuck Swindoll
– See more at: http://www.insight.org/resources/devotionals/a-proud-or-humble-heart.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20DailyDevo%20%28Chuck%20Swindoll%27s%20Daily%20Devotional%29#sthash.meX9yl50.dpuf