Tag: the Word of God

Who Is The Keeper Of Your Heart?

So often we do not recognize how important protecting our hearts are. We may think that we are guarded but if it’s not through healthy boundaries it can be guarded by hardness, defense mechanisms, repressed hurts, or apathy. But to truly guard our hearts we need to be the keeper of the key to our lives. Why should we guard our hearts and what does it mean to guard your heart? What are a few ways to recognize if you are or are not guarding your heart?

Our hearts are where the issues of life flow so guarding them would be wise. The Bible says in, Proverbs 4:23 NIV “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”

Proverbs 4:23 NKJV “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” The heart and mind are connected so when we want to guard our hearts, we must also examine how our thinking is affecting us. What types of thoughts have you been dwelling on? Do you reign in your negative thoughts or give them free reign?

First way to guard your heart is to be aware of your thought life. If we choose to mediate on the word of God, it helps us in our thoughts. When we are facing situations that are beyond our control staying focused on what the Word of God says will produce peace. There is a scripture that states in Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trust in You.”

Secondly, learn to recognize what steals your peace. If we learn to stop and look at the situation from a calmer place, we will recognize what we need to do. Guarding your heart isn’t about shutting down it’s about placing boundaries in your life. It is about knowing what you will allow and what you will not allow. Taking a good look at your valves, goals, and desires. Setting boundaries helps us know where we start and stop. Boundaries are necessary to guarding your heart.

I was speaking with a friend recently and said that “You’re the keeper of the Key for you!” So often we forget that we can let our yes be yes and our no be no, which is boundary making.

Keys stand for trust, responsibility, power, and authority in the scriptures but also in everyday life. We do not give our house key to just anyone it’s only those we trust. It is the same principle for our life and guarding our hearts. You are the keeper of the key to your heart and life. Set healthy boundaries and learn to say no and yes.

The door to my heart has a name and His name is Jesus, He has saved and healed my heart. The key for me is to remember “I am my beloved’s, and He is mine and His banner over me is His Love.”

I am always responsible to guard my heart from the things that would pull me away from His peace, joy, and love.

Boundaries help you to recognize the peace stealers, joy wrestlers, and love thieves.

What are your boundaries…

The Marvelous Mind & Know your thoughts!

What is the Maturity Factor?

How do we develop maturity in our lives? What does it look, sound and feel like? Sometimes we think we are mature and then life throws curve ball on us and we realize we lack patience in our situation. You can tell where you’re at by your responses, although sometimes we respond correctly, we may still carry it internally. God knows what is in our hearts. We do not always sense where we are at because our own hearts can deceive us.

In the bible James 1:2-4 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trails, 3-knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4-But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

The NIV states, “4-let the perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

How important is maturity to you? It’s important to God or he wouldn’t be perfecting us through patience. Trials come and go it’s something we all face. How we develop through it all depends on us. Here are three ways people face trials, delays or setbacks:

One way is to get upset, complain and grumble. Obviously, this is not the best way to handle life’s situations. It only makes you anxious and grumpy towards others and life in general. Will it produce anything to happen quicker? The answer is no it will not. Truthfully the more aggravated you get it feels like the trial will never end. When we speak the complaint out loud, we are producing with our own word’s negativity over our situations and life. Complaining brings you down mentally and emotionally. Yes, we can talk about the bad and discuss it to deal with our problems but complaining is not just discussing a situation. It takes on a self-pity attitude that if done enough will cause your mind and emotions to lean towards the negative. When we complain too much, we can become self-righteous without realizing we are doing it. The bible tells us to think on good things, things that are pure, lovely, and of a good report. I speak the word of God over my situations it produces faith and reminds me who is in control. God is for us when we are His child lean on Him and trust Him through any delays.

Another way to face it is avoidance. Pretend nothing is wrong just pretend life is good and repress your emotions. This causes internal emotional side effects. When we repress our emotions and thoughts etc. it doesn’t go away it goes down deep into our subconscious. You may think it’s gone but no it’s not it’s just hiding out till the day it explodes. If your responses become sudden outbursts, it’s a sign you have repressed something such as hurts, unforgiveness, resentments, bitterness etc. Traumas and hurts that have not been dealt with through healing will result in us having inner emotional, mental and physical problems of some type. The good news is that Jesus died for our life spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically. There is hope!

The third way to handle trials, situations or delays is to go to God with them. Prayerfully read the Word of God and mediate on it. Process the frustrations, pains, hurts or delays through the guidance of The Holy Spirit. God is always working to make us whole, healed and healthy. Yes, He uses the trials we face. All our trials are not wasted but when you’re leaning on the grace of God as you go through it you will end up better off than when it started. No matter what you are faced with God wants to get through it with you and then use it for the development of your maturity.  

The maturity factor is God working within you to develop into a mature and complete person.

What Are Three Things Prayer Provides?

How important is prayer to you? What types of prayers do you pray? Why does God want us to pray? These are a few questions we will look at. What are three things that prayer provides us with?

To me prayer is important because it is time spent with God. It is a time to ask and listen. So often we can pray and then walk away as if God doesn’t speak but He does. He wants to be heard just like we want to be heard. To me prayer is more than petitions and requests it is a time of fellowship with praise and thanksgiving, a time to meditate and listen, and petition and intercede for others and ourselves.

I know that we can sometimes make our prayer time a ritual, but it doesn’t have to be. Having communication and communion with God through fellowship and reading His Word is also about our prayer life. God’s Word is alive and active. It penetrates to the dividing of our soul and spirit. When we read His Word with a hungry heart for our own lives it is an exchange of His Word for our weaknesses. I like to ask the Holy Spirit to quicken His Word to me. We all need a fresh Word from the Lord. Even if it’s a correction it still produces life.

First, prayer provides us with answers and help from Almighty God through what Christ Jesus did for us in crucifixion, death and resurrection. The shed blood of Christ enables us to go before the throne of God with our requests and receive mercy and grace in our times of need.

Second, prayer provides connection with God in understanding His ways according to His Word. His ways are greater than our ways. Through prayer and reading the Word of God we discover what we really think and believe. The Word of God prayerfully read will uncover right where the heart of the matter lays.

Three prayer provides us with His fellowship. God created mankind to have a relationship with Him. He wants that relationship, and He supplied the way for that relationship. God longs to spend time with you. When you surrender your life to Jesus and receive forgiveness for your sins you become a child of God. He is our Heavenly Father, and He wants to hear from you.

There are many benefits to prayer these are just three things prayer provides. Be encouraged today to seek God in prayer.

The Parable of the Sower

What does the parable of the sower mean to you? When reading the bible, it is important to read it with three thoughts in mind. What does it say, what does it mean and how do I apply it to my life? I was reading in Matthew chapter thirteen ‘The parable of the sower’ and I saw something revelatory for me. I am sharing it with you.

Matthew 13:3-4 “Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4)And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.”  Jesus explains to the disciples what the parable meant.

Saying in Matthew 13:18-19 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower; 19)When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.” I believe there are key words in this parable to help understand how we receive the word and what to do with it. A seed is the word of God and it needs to be understood. With out understanding we can not apply the word to our lives. When ever we read the word, we need to have these three thoughts of what does it say, what does it mean and how do I apply it. What is said is more than just words it has a meaning that must be understood.

We can understand Gods word through the revelation of His Spirit. If you just read the bible with out understanding you are filled with words but when the understanding of intent is revealed it produces life change and faith.

Matthew 13: 5-6 “Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth 6) But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they has no root they withered away.”

Jesus explains what this part of the parable means in Matthew 13:20-21 “But he who received the seed on stony places, This is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21) yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.”

This person hears the good news gets excited but has no root in himself. The root is, ‘the root of Jesse’, which is Jesus.

The bible tells us in Isaiah 11:1 “there shall come forth a Rod from the Stem of Jesse, and A Branch shall grow out of his roots.”  And in Isaiah 11:10 “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious.”      

The parable says this person has no root. Either they have not received Jesus, or he has a shallow relationship with Jesus, so he endures only till it is not convenient, there’s trouble or persecution comes because of the word.

I sensed the Holy Spirit say this parable is about your heart in relationship to the (seed) the Word of God and how you receive it and understand it. That is why what it says, what it means and how do I apply it is so important.

Matthew 13:7 “And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and chocked them.” Jesus explains this part in Matthew 13:22 “Now he who received seed among thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches chokes the word, and he becomes unfruitful.”

This speaks to us about our focus and how the cares of the world events and amassing riches can choke the word in you. How by letting them take your focus away from receiving and understanding the word of God. You can become distracted to the point of unfruitfulness. There is nothing wrong with riches if it does not steal your relationship with the Lord but if it becomes your idol it will choke the word.

Matthew 13:8-9 “But other fell on good ground and yielded a crop some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9) He who has ears to hear; let him hear!” Jesus explains the parable in Matthew 13:23 “But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

Good ground is a repentant, humble, and forgiving heart this type of heart can hear, receive, and understand. It produces fruit 100,60,30. Hear the word, understand it, and then apply the word to your heart and life and it will produce fruit and your fruit will multiply.

The Waiting Game…

These were worth the wait

Waiting, waiting, waiting is how it feels sometimes when situations are out of our control. We all wait for different things but still we experience waiting periods. What do you do while you wait?

We found out yesterday we have mold in our crawlspace. So, we lined up contractors and now we wait. Some could come sooner than others. But wisdom says, get an estimate from at least three contractors who do mold remediation, drainage and encapsulation. All we saw yesterday was $ signs.

As I thought about years ago when I had mold in my apartment in the ducts and walls how I was sick and hospitalized several times from lung issues before we found the mold. Fear tried to knock on my mind.

Funny thing is yesterday I had to apply what I wrote on. I refused to be afraid that one month is going to hurt us. I spoke Gods Word to it. I like this scripture when I don’t understand the whys. Romans 8:28 states, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

Is mold good? Absolutely not but it’s good we found it because you can’t fix what you don’t know about.  And that’s the problem with waiting you just don’t know.  Whether it’s time, cost or how it will happen whatever the situation is you just don’t always know which then causes a waiting on.

How do you wait? One way is to remind yourself time is my friend not my enemy! However long it takes God’s got the solution and He will bring it to pass.  Now it may not be the way we want but His love is greater, and His will is perfect.

That may be a hard sentence for you if you don’t know the love of God. But knowing His character and having a relationship with him helps to understand while you wait.

Sometimes we wait years. I waited 19 years for my husband Roger. He waited 24 years for me.  Roger and I both were divorced. We both dated  people in those years, and it taught us what we didn’t and did want in a relationship.

But eventually God connected us. We knew each other for 9 years never dated lost touch I forgot his last name, he looked for me, but I had moved from one apartment to another because of mold.

But one day in fall of 2011 he came back to the Church I was at and we reconnected. This relationship is like no other I’ve had. We have a love that is based in solid connection and commitment. We have comradery, laughter, tenderness and even disagreements. To me waiting for this relationship was worth all the years of heartache and loneliness etc.

I wrote about our wait so that you can see and hear that I understand the emotions of waiting, waiting and more waiting.

The word of God tells us in Isaiah 40:31 “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

What does that mean? It means those waiting on the Lord can have renewed strength while they wait. It means you can rise above the wait and not get weary while you wait. It means you can keep going while you wait, they shall walk and not faint. 

But how you may be thinking. By keeping your eyes/focus on God. Remind your self your waiting on God not people or situations.