Sticks and Stones, Rubber and Glue...

"Sticks and Stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me."

"I am rubber, you are glue, what ever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you."

These are some of the biggest lies we learn as children.  The truth is, broken bones heal over time, but words can harm a person for life. On the other hand, the use of positive words can change the course of a life in a positive direction forever.  I don't believe that everyone who hurts people with their words intends to. In fact, I believe that many of us Christians, who intend to display God's love, end up using hurtful words in the heat of a moment in which we act purely in the flesh and we briefly forget about God.

Sadly the most common place where this happens is in our own homes.

I am 3 months pregnant and my hormones are going crazy. I have noticed that especially in this last month, I snap VERY easily. I hear myself lashing out at someone and in the back of my mind I am thinking, "Lindsay, what are you doing?????" The other part of me responds, "I am letting them know the truth, they need to hear it!!!" Then I get it all out, yet, strangely, I don't feel better. I now feel guilty, almost like I am grieving over what I have just done. I feel ashamed of myself as a Christian. I feel embarrassed because God just witnessed my little hissy fit. 

Just to be clear, I don't call names. I strongly disagree with words like, "stupid," "dumb" or anything that could cause a person to believe negative lies about themselves. What I am talking about is the fact that I respond to conflict with a lack of love. I lack patience in my response. I respond with the blunt truth without allowing God to help me filter it through the filter of love.  Some of you may think that I am making too big of a deal out of nothing. You may think being blunt is a good thing and that people need "tough love."

Question:

In the heat of the moment, WHY am I about to lash out?

Common Answer:

 "I was just treated unfairly, now I need to defend myself. This person may go on in life, unaware of the fact that they just offended me, so I better let them know!"

What we are forgetting in the heat of the moment:  

^"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,  making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." -Ephesians 5:15-16

How can we choose to make the most out of this moment? When we lash out, are we making the most out of that opportunity? Or could there possibly be a better way to handle the situation which will bring more glory to Christ and more humility to ourselves?

"Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always." -Psalm 105:4

Always? Even right when we want to go off on someone? Yes, "always" means "always."

What happens if we choose to look to God instead of going with what we feel in the heat of the moment?

"Those who look to him are radiant. Their faces are never covered with shame." -Psalm 34:5

No shame afterwards. No regret. We are left with the peace that comes from knowing we did not cause another person harm.

What else does God warn us about, when it comes to our words?

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."
-Ephesians 4:29-32

What should motivate us to obey this teaching? This one will cut to the heart....

^"When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly." 1 Peter 2:23

Our Lord and Savior was offended more unjustly than any offense we will endure in our lifetime. He did not retaliate, but instead, he trusted himself to him who judges justly. Can we model that? Can we remind ourselves in the heat of the moment that Christ chose NOT to retaliate, because he trusted his heavenly Father? We who are in Christ have the same Father.  He is just as trustworthy to us as he was to Jesus Christ when he walked the earth.

When we feel that we have been "put down" we retaliate in an effort to "elevate" ourselves. We want to even the score against our accuser. This is the opposite of what we are taught in scripture.

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." -James 4:10


Father God,
Please forgive me for the times that I have allowed my emotions to take control. Please forgive me for allowing my words to cause harm. Keep me aware of ways that I can make the most out of every opportunity. Help me filter my words with love. Help me to respond with patience. Never let me feel comfortable if my words cause another pain. Always cause me to feel conviction so that I can repent. Show me opportunities to use my words to build people up and encourage. Thank You Lord, for the grace and mercy that you give me through your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank You that he lived the perfect example of godliness so that we have someone to model our lives after.
In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. 

Are you a lukewarm Christian?

What is the point of lukewarm Christianity?

Many people say that they are Christians.  It is not for me or anyone else to say whether or not that is the case. It is something that only God really knows.  Yes, we can see whether or not they are producing the fruit of repentance... but still... it is hard to determine the line between encouraging one another to press on towards Christ and actually becoming judgmental. We are warned in the bible not to judge one another. We are also told to encourage one another to remain free from the entanglement of sin. Many times what it comes down to is whether or not a person WANTS to be held accountable to living a biblically based life, or not.

Some church go-ers are more in love with their imagined view of Jesus than the actual Jesus we read about in the bible.  They like the "feel good" parts of scripture that all have to do with what God can do FOR them.  They don't spend any time studying what God asks of us. They have bought into the idea that to be a Christian, you repeat a prayer one time, attend church services and put some money in the offering bucket.  Sometimes they even feel a little bit guilty about sinning... so they cry, ask for forgiveness, and try really hard for the next 48 hours to refrain from that sin, before giving in again and allowing the cycle to repeat itself over and over. 

Always a victim of sin's side effects, they never truly get to the point where Christ gives them victory over their bondage to sin. This shakes their superficial faith... "Why isn't God doing anything to help me?" they ask. Well.... what God are they referring to? The imagined one that they conjured up in their mind using a verse here and there out of context? The God who they only turn to when an emergency happens? The God who they plan to thank if they have an award speech but not when times are hard?

Many of us need a perspective check. We have either forgotten, or we were never informed, how mighty, holy, powerful, sovereign and unapproachable the glory of God is.  It is impossible for him to be anything less than perfect and holy... which we could never be, therefore, a relationship between himself and us would have been impossible. We are taking for granted the fact that the only way we are able to have the Holy Spirit of God live in wretches like us was through the sacrifice of God's own Son.  We have no idea how huge that is.  We can talk about it without any emotion. It has become casual information to us. It is not even as exciting to us as preparing for Santa Clause to come for our kids on Christmas.

We sin against our own bodies in which the Holy Spirit dwells, expecting that he isn't going to mind, just because we haven't heard from him lately. We don't read the bible because "it's confusing," "it's too long," "it's boring," or "we are too busy." Yet we make time for the things (or idols) that ARE important to us.  Then we want to know why God has not just placed the victory over our addiction to sin in our laps without any effort on our own end. (Crying and feeling bad and asking for forgiveness does not count as effort.)

God always does his part.  When we express genuine faith in Jesus Christ's death, resurrection and Lordship, then ask for his forgiveness (with a heart that yearns to change and a mind with the full intention of doing so) he absolutely does wipe our slate completely clean.  There is nothing you or I can do through our own efforts to earn God's righteousness. Salvation is freely given to us. No one is deserving of it. The moment that we repent and confess Christ as Lord, we are called sons and daughters of God and all of the angels in heaven are rejoicing over us!

The problem, often times, is that we do not understand what it means to be a new creation.  We think we are still the same old person, who will continue to do the same old things, only now, Jesus will come along with us to make us feel good while we go about OUR business.  We don't sit down and identify how we got to the place where we hit rock bottom in our sin.  We don't want to admit that we are weak and we might fall again if we don't set up some boundary lines in our lives.  We pridefully hold onto things that might actually lure us back into a place of bondage and addiction.  Maybe it's because we like those things so much.  Maybe it's because we are afraid of standing out of the crowd and seeming too radical about our walk with Christ.

If that is the case, I will ask it again... What is the point of lukewarm Christianity? What does that do for us?  Is it anything more than a silly, meaningless cycle of being a victim to sin without being willing to walk in the obedience that is required for God to finish the work that he has started in you?

If you want different results than you have been getting, you must do something different than what you have been doing! How about practicing biblical Christianity? The kind that says, "Jesus, you have complete authority in my life.  I know that I will make mistakes along the way, but I commit to do everything within my power to flee from sin or anything that wants to influence me to return to sin. I am choosing to abandon my own will and live my life for the purpose of building your kingdom. I will find my satisfaction in pleasing you. I will trust that your ways are supreme and always better than my ways. I will be obedient when it isn't popular because I know how much you love me. I know that you have a purpose for me.  I am not willing to let the devil deceive me and steal what you have in store for my life."

What would that look like for you? Who will you need to say goodbye to? What habits will need to stop? What social ideals will need to go out the window? Who will you need to stop needing to impress? Who will you need to stop envying? What will you need to say "No More" to? Who will you need to start spending more time with? What will you need to start doing? Who will you need to start sharing Christ with?

I have got to tell you, it is better never to have heard of Christ at all than it is to be a lukewarm Christian. We will be held responsible for the fact that a buffet of truth (God's word) was right in front of us but we didn't feel like eating. We made excuses. We didn't see anyone else eating so we felt too awkward and afraid to dig in. We never made disciples because we never actually even became one. We never followed Christ, we just listened to sermons about him. We heard the word and so deceived ourselves, never actually doing what it says.

Listen, if something is stirring up inside of you, don't ignore it.  I don't care if you have to stand alone.  You better respond to what the Holy Spirit is trying to do inside of you. Lukewarm Christianity can end today. There are so many bible verses that go along with this message but I have to get the kids to bed so I'm gonna leave this as it is for now and publish the verses separately tomorrow. 

For those of you who want more out of your walk with God, you can look up the verses for yourself and study them.  Ask questions! Talk to people about them! Fight to get to the place in your walk with God that you have still never been.  It will be worth it. Your life will finally line up with what the bible says about Christianity.  You will finally experience the power of God working through you. Lives will be changed because you decided to take it to the next level with God. And when you stand before him in all of his brilliance, he will say, "Well done."

Tone it down a bit will you?

The moment we decide that we want to live our life 100% sold out for Jesus Christ, we feel excited for the adventure to come.  We envision ourselves receiving blessing upon blessing in our family and our relationships. We see God using us to change the world.  We dream of all of the amazing things that God will use us to do in this world for his glory.  We assume that those people who are close to us will be happy about the decision we have made to change for the better.

We don't think much about persecution.  We don't consider being hated by those people who used to be close to us.  We still have no idea about the trials and tribulations that are to come in order to strengthen us as a believer and rid us of superficial faith.  In order to become deeply rooted followers of Christ, we will have to say "NO!" to some pretty heavy temptation.  We will have to say "Yes Lord!" to some pretty crazy ideas.  We will have to sit still and trust him when we feel like taking over and handling the situation on our own.  We will have to cling to the encouragement found in scripture when people closest to us say hurtful things in an attempt to bring us back to our former way of life.

When we read that we are the light of the world, we imagine people looking at us thinking, "Oh wow, look at that beautiful and glorious light!" The truth is, light is not always an admirable thing.  Many people's eyes are so accustomed to darkness that our light is blinding to them and it hurts.  They want nothing to do with it because it exposes something inside of them that they would rather keep hidden.  The minute they see our light they either squeeze their eyes tightly and turn away from it, or they reach for their sunglasses to tone it down a bit.

Perplexed, we contemplate in our own mind as to what is causing this negative reaction to the newfound life, hope and purpose that we are so ecstatic about.  How can something so wonderful be hated so passionately? This was not the reaction that we had hoped for.  This is not how it played out in our imagination.  There is now a noticeable friction between ourselves and the world in which we live.  The world is no longer comfortable with us and we are no longer comfortable with the ways of the world which are our former ways of life.

Many new Christians get to this point and they have a decision to make.  It is a fork in the road which God places in front of us.  It has a sign with one arrow pointing one way saying "The World" and the other arrow pointing the other way saying "Jesus Christ."  Sadly, not even realizing that this is what is happening, many new Christians decide to take the path of the world, because they believe that the resistance and rejection they are experiencing is too much for them.  They would rather please their childhood friends and family members than God.  They don't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable so they switch their light switch to "OFF."


Now they fit in again.  Now their friends feel comfortable around them again. Everyone else is happy again, so they should be too right? The problem is, this Christian who decided to go back to their former ways of life is now feeling empty inside again.  They have removed God from the throne of their heart and replaced him with something or someone else.  Maybe it's a party lifestyle, a boyfriend or girlfriend, money, success, drugs, pornography or workaholism.  The problem is that none of the replacements for God will ever satisfy the way that God satisfied.  They never love us back the way that God loves us back.  Now we are ashamed of our choice, but so deep into it that we would rather keep trying to make it work than admit that we need to go back to our true love, our true peace, our true fulfillment.

Meanwhile, all of the broken and hurting people who desperately needed to see our light can't find any light.  There are divine appointments that God sets up for us where he will use us to influence the lives of others in a very powerful and life changing way.  So the problem is, we not only chose the world over God, but we chose the ways of this world over the lives that we were meant to impact for his glory.  There were those who desperately wanted to hear what we had to say, but we allowed ourselves to be silenced by those who didn't want to hear what we had to say.

Friends, we must make a choice.  Are we in this thing or not? If we are truly in this "living for Christ" thing, here are some words from Jesus himself that should be considered...

"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." -Matthew 5:10-16

"You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved."-Matthew 10:22


"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.^[a] And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn

“‘a man against his father,
    a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
    a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’^[b]

“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.” -Matthew 10:28-42


We want to be like him right?  He suffered.  He chose rejection and betrayal in this world to receive acceptance and love in the world to come.  Everything we do and think is different when we have our mind set on eternity and not on the temporary trappings of this world.  Be a light, even when it hurts.  One day, all will acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord.  The reward is great for those who choose to acknowledge it now.  

Heart Condition: Part 3, Guarding Your Heart...

             "Above all else, guard your heart,

                            for everything you do flows from it."

                                                                         -Proverbs 4:23

I had come to a point at 20 years old, where I wanted to come back to Christ, but the pull of the world's evil was so heavy on me that I thought I would never escape it's grasp.  I would go to church on Sunday, cry my eyes out during worship and feel so drawn to Jesus.  By Wednesday I would find myself flirting with my male co-workers at the gym I was working at, acting just like the "Old Lindsay. "

           Inside of my mind I was screaming,

                                      "What am I doing????"

I had such a wayward spirit.

(wayward: turning away from what is right or proper; willful)

I felt trapped in this pattern.  It felt like there was no escaping it. 

I had not yet learned how to allow Christ to help me protect and guard my heart.

 

Over Time, I made relationships with some encouraging sisters in Christ who instructed and guided me on how to live my life with Jesus Christ on the throne of my heart.  What that means is this... He sits high and exalted there.  Nothing takes precedence over Him. 

No man takes precedence over Him.  No job takes precedence over Him.  No friends take precedence over Him.  No fancy things, no silver or gold, no amount of fun partying or temporary satisfaction of this world takes precedence over the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who sits upon the throne of my heart. 

This may sound like a fancy way of saying that you sacrifice all your fun to God.  That would be a tragic misunderstanding of what I am saying.   You see, He pursued me with a passionate, redeeming love and proved Himself worthy of that place in my heart.  He allowed me to feel His presence and become so enthralled by Him that nothing else mattered. 

Picture Jesus on the throne of your heart. When something comes knocking on the door of your heart, it is not for you to decide whether or not to let it in. It is up to Jesus Christ, who dwells in your heart.

"Jesus, Envy is knocking at the door of my heart. Should I let it in?" or "Jesus, Pride is here again and it already has it's foot through the door! Please don't let it come in!

When guarding our hearts,

              we are protecting what God  wants us

        to hold inside of it as well as

                                    keeping out

                                                                                the things that have no right to be there. 

So what belongs inside of our hearts?

Jesus Christ

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." -Ephesians 3:16-19

Love

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and

with all your soul and with all your strength."  -Deuteronomy 6:5

Faithfulness

"Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart." -Proverbs 3:3

God's Word

"I have hidden your word in my heart

that i might not sin against you." -Psalm 119:11

"...Take hold of my words with all your heart;

keep my commands, and you will live." -Proverbs 4:4 

God Given Desires

"Take delight in the Lord,

and He will give you the desires of your heart." -Psalm 37:4

Desire For Him

"Blessed are those who keep his statutes

and seek him with all their heart." -Psalm 119:2

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." -Jeremiah 9:3

Trust in God

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;" -Proverbs 3:5

Wisdom

"Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom." -Psalm 90:12

Gratitude

"I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;

 I will tell of all your wonderful deeds." -Psalm 9:1

Peace

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.   And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:6-7

Gladness

"Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will rest secure." -Psalm 16:9

How do we acquire these beautiful attributes? 

They will never come naturally without supernatural intervention.  They are deposited into our hearts by the Holy Spirit as we seek the Lord through prayer, worship, meditating on His word and fellowship with the body of Christ.  You cannot skip any of these things if you want to experience the fullness of walking in relationship with God.  After all... look what scripture says about our natural heart...

"The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?" -Jeremiah 17:9

So what does NOT belong inside of our hearts?

If you have not read the intro or the first 2 parts to this series, I would highly recommend reading them now.  In them, I discuss the junk inside of our hearts that causes us pain, hurt, stress and distance from God.  Once we experience healing from those things... It is no one else's job but our own, to protect the beautiful new heart that God has given us.  What does that look like? 

How do we keep out the evil that used to so comfortably reside in our hearts?

                          You FIGHT!!!!!

It takes effort.  You make a daily choice not to do the things you used to do and not to surround yourself with the same environment that you used to surround yourself with.  One thing that will help a lot is to sit down and identify all of the small compromises that led you to the state you ended up in before allowing Christ to take his seat on the throne of your heart.  Who had you been spending time with that influenced you?  What places were you spending time at that effected your mind?  What kind of words were in the music you were listening to?  What websites were you visiting?  How much time were you spending on the phone with certain people?

What kind of boundaries did you have (if any)

when interacting with the opposite sex? 

Get alone with God and ask Him to show you where you went wrong last time.  Once you have identified those things.... take no prisoners!!!  Destroy your ties to anything that will hold you back from knowing Christ in all of the fullness that you can know Him.  There is a place of intimacy with him that has only ever been experienced by the people who were willing to make sacrifices for him and persevere through hard times.  Hasn't He already done the same for you?

As soon as you make this commitment to Christ...
TEMPTATION IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!!!!  Stay tuned to this series to read more about the temptation that follows the believer's commitment to Christ.  Satan does not use any new tactics.  He has been repeating the same tactics for generations and believers continue to fall for the same old things.  The only hope is to know the strategies of the enemy and be prepared to fight back with the Full Armor of God. 

Lord Jesus,

I invite you to sit on the throne of my heart.  Help me make decisions that will guard the treasures that you have given me and fight off the attacks of the enemy.  Help me to have the life that you want to give me.  Let me not get in the way of what you are trying to do in my life.  I want to be obedient to you so that I can thrive in my relationship with you.  I want to be close to you.  I want your presence to be REAL TO ME.

In your precious and exalted name I pray,  
Amen.

Heart Condition: Part 2 More on Emotional Healing...

So What do you carry in your heart?

Here is a list of a few if the things that might be in there that will absolutely, without a doubt, hold you back from experiencing freedom in your life...

Unforgiveness
Shame from sin
Pride
Perversion
Addictions to Alcohol, Drugs, Food, Masturbation, Pornography, Eating Disorders, etc.
Strongholds
Generational Curses
Lust
Selfishness
Anger
Bitterness
Resentfulness
Hurt
Pain
Self-Hatred
Vanity
Feelings of Abandonment

There are more, but this is enough for you to get an idea of what I am talking about.  These things weigh you down so heavily that you feel like there is no escape.  You cannot move forward because these things are so heavy they are preventing you from coming anywhere close to the future that God has for you.

I remember a time when I said, "I feel like Satan has my arm and is pulling me through life."  I had lost control.  The funny thing is that the reason I lost control was because I decided to take control.  I decided to walk away from God's "rules".  I no longer thought I needed His guidance.  I thought I was becoming FREE.  I knew He was good.  I knew He was right.  But I mistakenly thought I knew best in that moment.  So I took my life into my own hands and just did what I wanted.

I drank, I partied and I had sex... and more.

It was fun... for a little while.  Oh how the enemy fooled me.  When the nostalgia of being a new party girl wore off... all I was to anyone was another one of them.  I no longer got that special attention that I had gotten when I first entered the party scene.  There was nothing special about me.  I had a heart that was full of pain and addictions.  I could not sleep at night unless I had someone next to me, or unless I had partied so much that I just knocked out exhausted and drunk.  I felt like I had lost complete control of my life and I was no longer worthy of God's grace.

Thank God He never gave up on me.

So what is in your heart?  Chances are you are not even exactly sure.  Some of what is in there might be obvious, but some of it is so deeply rooted that God himself will have to remind you of it in order for you to be healed.


"Test me, Lord, and try me,
    examine my heart and my mind" -Psalm 26:2


"...He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and 
will expose the motives of the heart." -1 Corinthians 4:5

"Search me, God, and know my heart; 
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting." 
-Psalm 139:23-24

Once God reveals to you what is in your heart that needs to come out, what do you do with that knowledge?  What you do is this; Ask him to purify your heart through the Holy Spirit by His grace.  When Jesus died on the cross, it was for our sins, our hurt, our pain, etc.  Forgiveness of sins is great... and that is one of the things burdening our hearts... sin.  But He can also clean our hurt and pain from things that were completely out of our control.  It is not something you have to wait until heaven to experience.  

By the blood of the lamb, we have emotional healing available to us right here and now.  

But know this!!!!!   When your heart is cleaned and healed up by God... you better protect what He has done!  What Satan sees is a soft, clean, brand new place to wreak havoc.  The first thing He will tell you is this.... "That did not really happen," and  "You are still the same dirty person as you have always been."  You must equip yourself daily to fight off the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Please stay tuned to this series.  The next post will be about guarding our hearts, which is absolutely crucial to our ability to live out our freedom in Christ.  

Lord Jesus,

Search my heart and show me what is there that is causing me pain and suffering.  Show me what is causing me to be burdened, anxious and distant from you.  Show me what does not please you.  Show me what is stopping me from experiencing the freedom that you have in store for me.  Show me what it is so that I am able to ask you to remove it from my life.  I need your power Lord, or I will be stuck with these things forever.  Remove them from me in Jesus' mighty name.   I believe that you are able to remove these things from my heart.  

Do it for your glory, In Jesus Name,

Amen.

Heart Condition: Part 1 - Emotional Healing

There I was in drama practice. It was my first year in Master's Commission, I was 21 years old and we were preparing to do a human video to the song, "Wonderful," by Everclear.   
I had been assigned the role of the Mom in an abusive relationship. Our team had spent time in prayer before practice. We had just started listening to the song so that Chris, our drama teacher, could explain what the drama would look like with each part of the song. I was focused on my role and wanted God to use me to minister to people.

As the song played, I suddenly felt overwhelmed with memories and emotions that took me to the ground as I sobbed and cried like I had not done in years. It was loud crying like a child. I literally could not stop. I was seeing flashbacks of violence, arguing, and myself as a little girl alone in my room crying and afraid. I was remembering the feeling of being at school and not wanting to go home when the bell rang.

The staff member leading the practice, Chris, knew exactly what was happening. He had seen this before...

God had decided to heal me in the area of my childhood right then and there during drama practice.  He was allowing me to feel every ounce of the pain all at once, so that I would realize what I was still carrying inside of my heart.  Chris had the team lay hands on me and pray for my emotional healing.  I litterally felt the weight of the pain lifted off of me. 

So this is how it happened; first, the Holy Spirit confronted my pain, then He healed me of it.  He pulled it right out of my heart and replaced it with peace, love and an increased measure of faith to believe in the future that He had for me.  I had not intended to receive healing that day. I was just there to learn the new drama that we would be using for ministry outreach. 

And that is how Jesus works. He is a healer. He loves us too much to allow us to keep our pain bottled up inside. But first.... He confronts it. It hurts. It is uncomfortable to allow Him to go there. He reaches into a place so deep inside of our hearts that we actually forgot it was there.

What He showed me that day was that He cared about my pain, He remembered my pain, and He was with me way back then, while it was happening. He cried right along with me while I cried and He had been waiting for this day to come. He had been waiting for me to come near enough to Him, away from all of the distractions, so that my heart could be healed.

In order for Him to be able to heal us, we need to allow Him to soften our hearts. If we have hard barriers of stone built up around our heart, we are choosing to shut Him out. If we shut Him out, we shut His super-natural comfort, peace, strength and healing out as well. The good news is that He is able to tear down the walls that we have built up around our hearts.

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." -Ezekiel 36:26



There is much more to be said about what the bible has to say about our hearts. For tonight, however, lets rest on this. This is most important to Christ. He always went straight to the greatest need of a person. All of the other details He can work out on a one on one basis over time as we grow closer to Him. He knows that if He can accomplish a genuine spiritual heart transformation in us... We will know that He is real. We will know that He is a loving God. We will know Him for ourselves.


"Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion." -Hebrews 3:15


Father God,

As scary as it may feel to ask you for this... I ask that you would reveal to me the areas in my heart that need to be confronted. Show me the areas that are in need of your healing. I believe that you can heal my heart. I don't want to have a heart of stone anymore. I trust you to give me a heart of flesh. Lord, You have my permission to have your way in my heart.

In Jesus' Name I pray... Amen.

Heart Condition Intro

HEART: organ that circulates blood; the vital center of one's being, emotions and sensibilities.

I am not interested in telling people what they should or should not wear.  I am not interested in telling people what they should and should not do.  I am certainly not interested in telling people how much money they should make or not make.  But God has given me a passion to talk to people about the condition of their heart. 

At the core of every person, if you look deep enough, you find the truth.  This truth lies in their hearts.  You cannot see it from the outside.  It is not obvious to the naked eye.  Facial expressions cannot give it away.  Only God can see what truly lies in the heart of a woman or a man.

We carry all sorts of emotions inside of our hearts that are attached to memories from our past.  Our mind and our heart communicate with one another constantly.  For Example: Our mind recalls a traumatizing memory from our past and immediately in our heart, we feel ashamed, afraid, angry abandoned or insecure. 

We want someone to actually know and understand the real us.  We want them to know what is in our heart, then choose to love us anyway.  The problem is, many of us do not believe that if we allowed someone to see the entirety of what we hold in our hearts, that they would love us enough to stick around afterwards.  If someone could see my envy, fear, hurt, lust, insecurity, greed, anxiety or selfishness would they still love me?

So there are a few ways that we deal with our emotional heart condition. 

Some people build up walls of steel around their hearts.  They let no one near it for fear of exposure and vulnerability.  Trusting no one, they keep everyone at a distance.  Other people have found themselves in a cycle of giving their entire heart away and regretting it over and over again.  They hold nothing back. When they meet a new person, whether it be a romantic relationship or even a friendship, they pour out all of the details of their life onto that person.  They may secretly be hoping that by giving so much of themselves emotionally, that person will now feel like they owe them something for the investment. 

Then their are those who we wish we could be.  They love themselves.  They love others.  They have their boundaries but they have not cut off their ability to become deeply intimate with another person.  These are the people who have the ability to fall in love, get married, stay married and live as an example to those around them of what love actually looks like.  They have healthy friendships and they make great parents.

How can we go from merely surviving our emotional heart condition to walking around this earth with a strong, healthy heart, ready to love deeply but at the same time remain guarded against manipulation or abuse?  What if I told you that your heart in itself was created by God for a purpose?  It has not yet begun to serve it's actual purpose... which is why it is so messed up right now.

What I love about Jesus was the fact that when he had conversations with people, he always went straight to the condition of their heart.  The person usually wanted to talk about surface issues, but he would direct the conversation to where it really mattered... their heart. 

Why?  He loves us.  He is a mighty God who just so happens to be a heart surgeon.   It  saddens him to see us carrying around the hurt inside of our hearts that we mask with smiles.  He is a healer and he specializes in restoring what has been damaged.  He sees more for us and for our future than we could ever imagine, but we will continue to hold ourselves back from the life that He can give us until we allow Him to heal and restore our hearts.

As  I was preparing for this blog, I found WAY too much in scripture to make this a one part blog.  So I'll call this the intro and I will release it in parts.  This study is blessing me and I hope it blesses you along the way.

Lord Jesus,

Thank You for being a perfect savior and a master healer.  Thank You for loving us enough to bring this up so we can deal with it.  I pray for myself and for each person reading this blog with me... that you would search our hearts and show us what's inside.  Whatever needs to be healed Lord, I pray that you would expose it and show us how to experience healing in that area.  Let your words come through this blog and speak to those people who you had in mind when you put this on my heart.

Amen.