HOW'S YOUR HEART?

Let the words of my mouth, and the
meditation of my heart
be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord,
my strength, and my redeemer.
Psalm 19:14

Went to the cardiologist who had treated me in the hospital in March. Didn't really need a cardiologist at that time but that's a whole other story. I don't mind going to doctors, but this one I was dreading. I realize God is in charge of my life, including the condition of my heart, but sometimes the human part of me creeps into life. I didn't think anything was wrong with me, but there's always that little quirky thought of concern that can rise to the surface.

I was at the office for the longest time, saw three people including the doctor...nurse, doctor's assistant and then the doctor again. I scanned through two or three magazines in the rest of the time... it took about 20 minutes seeing the three of them. In a cardiologist's office, it's not really the place you want to spend time waiting, but I guess that's just me. In the process, everything was checked that would be in a practice like that...blood pressure, lungs, carotid artery, heart listened to from different angles. After that was all done, the doctor said he couldn't believe I was in such good shape (wanted to say “for your age” but didn't). It was good getting a good report. I had already had lab tests done so I walked out feeling very thankful to the Lord.

Well, that's all well and good to get a good report from that doctor. However, I have wondered since getting home what shape my spiritual heart is in. If God were to walk into the room to give me His overall report, would I in the end feel good or very disappointed in what my Heavenly Father would observe about my spiritual condition?

For where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also.
Matthew 6:21

A good man out of the good
treasure of the heart bringeth
forth good things
Matthew 12:35

Jesus said unto him, Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy
mind.
Matthew 22:37

In the first two verses, the word “treasure” is obvious. We all have our treasures. With that word, we think of great riches, but most of us don't have treasures as far as money or other means of wealth to any extent. There are many things we hold dear to our hearts that have nothing to do with finance. I treasure my family, the house I live in, books...especially my Bible, my church, my Christian friends, our country and could probably list more. Off of those things can be people or situations that can occupy more of my heart than they should. Jesus said we are to love our Lord with ALL our hearts. That's a big order for Christians who have so much compared to others in other countries who may have so little.

We could all well take some inventory here at the beginning of a new year where Jesus stands in the line of importance of our lives. Is there a person, place, pleasure or thing I can honestly admit stands ahead of Him in my life? I realize God has put people in our lives to love and care for, but never to take His place. The biggest part of our love and devotion belongs to Him...in fact, it all belongs to Him.

I think of ways we short change the Lord. For some, church attendance may be a chore. Others may have to look around the house for their Bibles on Sunday morning because they haven't read them all week and don't know where to find them. How about time spent in prayer? God waits patiently to hear our voices directed to Him in just ordinary conversation.

Is God my greatest treasure? With all Jesus did for you and me, how can we put Him in a corner somewhere while we go about our daily living. Many of us would fall short if there was a machine that could monitor or diagnose the spiritual condition of our hearts.

Oh, friends, I pray you and I will fall in love again with THE One who should be our real treasure...our true love.

Father, forgive me for not loving You as I should. I get busy seeing to so many things and yet You have been so generous in my life and I have often been so slack in really loving You with all my heart. I want You to be my treasure. In Jesus' precious name...Amen

SNOW FROM HEAVEN

For as the rain cometh down, and
the snow from heaven, and returned
not thither, but watereth the earth,
and maketh it bring forth and bud, that
it may give seed to the sower, and
bread to the eater:
Isaiah 55:10

As I write, over the last several hours, we have been blessed with a beautiful snow. It has been a slow, constant snow. We laugh as we think back to our days in the north when there would be many inches of snow fallen. Men got up in the mornings and shoveled their cars out of their driveways and went to work. Churches didn't close nor many schools. Most stores were open as snow plows got early starts on roads and parking lots. When we moved to Texas, we used to laugh that if about 10 snow flakes fell, there would be an emergency bulletin announcing the canceling of schools, city offices closed as well as many companies. No matter where folks live, they learn to cope with snow be it a blizzard or just gentle falling of snow flakes.

Many years ago, a farmer friend and I were standing by one of his fields where his crops were trying to grow. However, we had been without rain for some time and I mentioned that a good downpour of rain would be beneficial about then. He immediately told me that his crops didn't need a good downpour. He smiled and said if it were all possible in the spring, his crops needed a good snow. He said that a downpour of rain can destroy crops depending on the type of plant. However, snow is soft and it melts gradually in the ground giving crops of any kind a slow, constant watering as long as the snow lasts. Of course, a snow in May wasn't going to happen, but I understood what he was saying about snow.

I know there are Christians who rely on downpours of spiritual input to keep them growing and enthusiastic regarding the things of God. Some may attend spiritual conferences or retreats. Those are wonderful but don't contribute in bringing about consistent spiritual growth. Many experience a spiritual high after a revival or Bible conference at their church, but that deluge of spiritual input pours down on the heart and runs off in short order if one isn't careful. Often a time of dryness occurs because folks think the big emotional times will bring about consistency in spiritual growth. It may for a time but then another big event is expected.

If we could learn to grow spiritually as falling snow...slower than rain. It soaks in and contributes to growth. Spirituality is difficult for many Christians because spiritual growth takes time. It rarely is as beneficial if it comes in surges in and out leaving lapses of spiritual input. When I've been in conversations with others about Bible study methods, I hear almost invariably such statements as: “I'm too busy to spend that much time.” or “I have other things to do that keeps me from reading through Romans.” or “I just can't sit long enough to read for long periods of time.” In every one of those statements, there is a reference to time in someway.

I've been asked by ladies about what it takes to grow as a Christian. My answer isn't the usual. I generally refer to a person being willing to give time to it. If we want to grow physically to stay healthy, that process takes time. It means shopping, cooking and eating. We think nothing of taking that kind of time for taking care of our physical needs.

Snow, when it begins to fall, usually takes it's time. It doesn't come down in large drops like rain. Snow flakes don't even seem to much bump into each other until they land on the earth. Rain can come down in sheets, hits the ground and runs off. Unless it's in blizzard form, snow seems to take it's sweet time. Time is a precious gift from God. We rush through life like a fast falling rain. If we notice, we manage to make or take time for whatever we really want to do.

Daily time spent in God's Word doesn't mean we have to rush through anything. The times God has spoken into my spirit through His Word is when I have pondered just two or three verses and sat afterward taking in their truths...slowly, quietly falling into my spirit as a gentle snow that spiritually will melt and be absorbed in me to bring about growth, direction and blessing.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the floodgates God has a way of pouring out on us, but how grateful I am for those soft touches of Himself that comes as gently as a snowflake on the back of my hand. It's those snowflake moments that keep me going, but I thank the Lord for however He chooses to minister in my life. He knows better than me what my needs are and knows how to meet those needs....be it through showers of blessing or snowflakes of teaching in ways I need at any given moment.

Father, may we allow Your words and truths to fall into our lives as a soft falling snow that upon contact can slowly melt and enrich our lives. Thank You too that just as You created every snow flake different from all others, You have done the same with us. As different as we all are, You see us as individuals and work in our lives in very personal ways. Thank You for for the snow that is gentle and beautiful just as You are. In Jesus name...Amen

EARTHQUAKE EVENTS

 

And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed,
and sang praises unto God; and the
prisoners heard them.
And suddenly there was a great
earthquake, so that the foundations
of the prison were shaken: and
immediately all the doors were opened,
and every one's bands were loosed.
Acts 16:25,26

In our day, we hear of earthquakes all the time. We often see horrible aftermath pictures of destroyed buildings, people being discovered under rubble, emergency workers scurrying about and people put in ambulances. There are relief organizations that come to such a site from hither and yon. Relief funds are raised and damage control becomes an immediate necessity.

We have all read for years about Paul and Silas being in prison...singing and praying. All fellow prisoners heard them. They were all in a terrible situation as you and I are at times. Instead of our moaning and complaining, I wonder if fellow prisoners in their own circumstances see in us spirits of prayer and praise like with Paul and Silas, but that's beside the point.

The word that recently stood out to me in the above verses was the word “earthquake.” We have read that word and just skipped on to the next verse. We rarely stop to think about the fact that in the whole scenario of this event, a real, live earthquake occurred.

In my thinking, I'm recalling types of earth events in time past we may have known about or even experienced. They are: earth tremors, sink holes and full blown earthquakes. We might wonder how there could be an earthquake in a jail and all of the city still be standing. My explanation is the same one I give for anything like this: God can do anything He chooses to do however He wants to do it. If he wants to just shake one building up, He can do that so let's not let all of our wonderful head knowledge question what God can do when and where He wants to.

Tremors that occurs in an isolated part of the earth can be frightening. The one sturdy place you and I stand is on solid ground. We never think of it shaking or moving underneath our feet. When that happens, there's no place to run or hide. We fear being eaten up by the earth itself. There is no place to run and hide from those tremors under our feet.

Then there are sink holes, a type of earthquake, but in a different sense. We see pictures of there suddenly being a huge hole that develops on a city street or even in someone's back yard. The earth just seems to give way, swallowing anything located on that exact spot whether it be a car, house or backyard swing set.

Then there are the full blown earthquakes, some with horrific intensity and some more minor in their effect. With these, everything is effected within its radius. Buildings are either destroyed or so badly damaged they are beyond use. With this event, transportation is interrupted, water and gas lines erupt, people injured or killed and other unthinkable damage. Recovery from this type of earth event is long, tedious and painful and that requires great personal effort to get back to any normalcy.

Tremors can be unsettling and frightening. I've had such spiritual tremors in my own life. I look back and see how God designed those unsettling times to get me to another place in my life. It was often filled with personal insecurity, but when God allowed those tremors in my life, He was trying to get my attention and never left me alone in the process. I was usually either where I wasn't supposed to be or doing what I wasn't supposed to be doing. I found these to be slight warnings compared to what it could be if I didn't respond to God's prodding.

There are the sink holes that seem to appear out of nowhere in our lives. They usually mean some kind of loss that comes on us suddenly. Loss of possessions or even persons in our lives. I look back some 50 years to the death of my grandmother. She hadn't been ill very long but was found with cancer that was well advanced. The loss I felt was beyond explanation and in that time, God spoke to my heart in ways I hadn't paid attention to in many months. However, that “sink hole” time in my life proved to be life changing for me and with God's help, set me on a different path.

Fortunately, I haven't gone through a full blown earthquake. After moving to Tennessee, it was discovered by a new doctor that I had bladder cancer that had to be dealt with. Earthquakes in the lives of people will be different and varied. In the Christians life, these are often events to build us in our faith, to increase our faith. After this kind of quake, it's an event that really stays with us for a lifetime, especially when we've learned to lean on the Lord and come to trust Him in our every situation.

I don't speak of these three situations in a spiritual sense to say that God is out to totally destroy us. That's not His goal. He wants to pull us to Himself, to snuggle in His arms where HIS security is warm and a forever thing. Earthly parents do the same with their children, but our Father does it so much better in every way.

Is God trying to get our attention today? The quicker we respond in obedience, the less God will have to shake us up in some way. If we do go through some quake times, may we respond as God would have us respond. His goal is always love, our followership and drawing us to Himself. I just know that I never want to be on shaky ground with God and am sure you feel the same way.

Father...thank You for loving us enough to guide and direct us because the great plan You have for each of us. May we keep responsive hearts to Your every bidding knowing You do all things well in our lives. In Jesus' precious name....Amen

DUAL CITIZENSHIP

Perhaps you like me have heard of countries that accept “dual citizenship.” This means there are countries I could move to, keep my citizenship in the United States and also become an official citizen of one such country. Spiritually there are those I'm afraid who feel they can have that same kind of citizenship as Christians. Perhaps we Christians live and have our being right now on planet Earth and are probably citizens either of the United States of America or another country (for my distant readers), but Paul writes to the Philippians in his letter to them (3:20-21):

But our conversation (citizenship) is
in heaven; from whence also we
look for the Saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ:
Who shall change our vile body,
that it may be fashioned like unto
his glorious body, according to
the working whereby he is able
to subdue all things unto himself.

I may be a citizen of the United States of America for the time being, but God has laid a claim on my life through the death and resurrection of Jesus that ensures my citizenship in a far better place. It's a far country for now, but before any of us can guess, our true citizenship will be realized when we arrive in Heaven.

However, I wonder if we ever stop to think about this dual citizenship we have...now on earth and later in Heaven. I'm afraid there are some Christians who feel their lifestyles here don't matter in light of Heaven, that they can live however they want to live and will then adjust to another lifestyle when they get to Heaven. Our response should always be the words of that old gospel song, “This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through.”

I've been doing some comparisons of this dual citizenship of mine. It isn't exhaustive but very interesting.|

1. Both of my citizenships (earth and Heaven) came as a result of the birth process.
   Physically I automatically became a citizen of the USA having been born to a mom
   and dad who were both already citizens.
   My spiritual citizenship came as a result of accepting Jesus as my Saviour at the ripe
   old age of 10. My name was registered in the book of life on that day just as I was
   registered on a birth certificate at the time of my physical birth.

2. I have a history in my country. Not only was I born here but have been educated here. I didn't have to apply for special permission to get married or to hold a job. My citizenship made that easy.
   I have a history spiritually that guarantees many privileges. My history began with Adam and Eve and has come down through Scripture and history to this day. Upon my death, I will have immediate access to Heaven and God's presence.
   In both cases, there are people who died to assure my citizenship...men who fought and died that we might be free. But only one Man died to insure my citizenship in Heaven and freedom from Satan's clutches.

3. My dual citizenships bear official seals. My birth certificate has a seal on it officially verifying my birth. But I bear another seal that is better than any visa I might need to apply for to travel to another country. The day will come when I will travel to another country, my Heavenly home. The Holy Spirit who dwells in me is the perfect seal on that travel transaction. I don't know yet how I will make that journey, but it is a sure coming event and my Heavenly Father has all of those travel plans made.

So with just those bits of info available about my citizenship (and am sure I could go into even more detail), what does it all mean for me now. A few thoughts:

*When people move to another country, they are expected to speak the language and adopt all that country is. However, my main citizenship is not this earth. This is Satan's territory. I don't want to speak his language or adopt his ways. I'm here on a temporary visa spiritually speaking.

*All the events and attitudes of this life should be lived in light of that future home where my eternal life will be spent.

*Meanwhile, I need to be reading daily from the Book that reminds me of my history and heritage in God. I need to obey and follow it's instructions. We shouldn't have to make any drastic adjustments when we get to our permanent country. It should be an easy move and transition if we are living now lives pleasing to the ONE, the great I AM who reigns supreme in our wonderful Heavenly home where our citizenship is already assured. We have that assurance only if we have accepted Jesus Christ as personal Savior.

Dear Jesus, thank You for dying for me and my friends so that we might walk in spiritual freedom here on this earth and later to breathe Heavenly air with you in our eternal home. I praise You for who You are and for all You've done. Forgive when we act too much like this temporary place. In Your precious name....Amen

The Peace of Surrender

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service.
Romans 12:1

There is a place where many Christians are about as dishonest as they can be and that's in their own church worship centers. The biggest lies we participate in occur during the music portion of our worship services. We sing with great heart, the wonderful old hymns and some new ones without giving a thought to what we are singing. They are lies, none the less. I'm thinking of some of them that are the “I will” types of song. Those that aren't, should convict us as well. For instance:

*Where He leads me I will follow”
“Because He lives I can face tomorrow”
“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine”
“Joyful, joyful we adore thee”
“I know whom I have believed”
“It is well, it is well with my soul”
“Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus”

and the really big song often used for invitation time at the end of a service is the familiar:

“All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give.|
I will ever love and trust Him
In His presence daily live.”

How often have we stood singing the words of that hymn, just hoping the music leader would only sing two verses instead of four. Forget the words, as we already knew them. It was already pretty close to noon and the roast in the oven at home was probably ready for eating. Sounds pitiful and exaggerated doesn't it but I'm afraid the most of us have been there.

What does it mean to live in surrender to our Lord. Surrender is a term of battle. When one army surrenders to the victorious army, certain things occur. The losing army in history has put down their arms, even turning them over to the victors. They gave the victors anything they requested. Suddenly the losing army had no control over their lives or possessions. They were totally at the mercy of the victors.

There is another kind of surrender. It is that of volunteer surrender. There may still be a battle within us but any kind of surrender is when one gives their followership to another of higher authority. I recall hearing of a mother who was trying to put her four year old boy in a chair in the corner for a time out. After a bit of resistance, she got him there. However, he turned to his mother and said, “I may be sitting in this chair, but inside of me, I'm still standing up.”

I think that's often how we respond to God when he puts a call of surrender on our lives. We live time after time living for God on our own terms being our own authority, living for God on our own terms. When there is total surrender, believe it or not, there is peace, peace in abundance. With surrender to God is peace because we put out entire well being into His very capable hands.

All of us have been in situations at times where there is rebellion. By the way, rebellion is an attitude that fights surrender. School classrooms can be in turmoil if there is even one student with a rebellious attitude toward the authority of the teacher. Homes can be in turmoil if there are children who refuse to yield to the authority of their parents. Bosses in various areas of business often have to fire employees who refuse to comply with simple requests. Any policeman can attest to the difficulty of dealing with rebellious citizens.

Like it or not, as a Christian, I must recognize God is my true, loving and ultimate authority. It makes no difference if I don't like it or if I don't want to comply. Rebellion against God is far more serious than we can imagine. Many Christians wonder why things go so wrong in their lives or always have such “bad luck” as if there is such a thing. Even when surrendered to God, we will face difficulties, but as we live in right relationship with our Heavenly Father, we can live in peace knowing He is in control of our situations and of our care and well being.

Believe it or now, with surrender comes peace. In the case of two earthly armies, for the losing side, the peace may be an uneasy one but it is peace none the less. When surrender is voluntary, it is so much more meaningful. We are looking at a new year. How wonderful if we could enter it with complete surrender to our Heavenly Father, for Him to take and use us as He sees fit. We don't know what a new year holds for any of us but I can't trust the world to take care of me, to give me peace and happiness. I can, however, rely on my Heavenly Father to see me through the happy and rough times and so can you. In the end, a yielded heart will be blessed and at peace knowing our Father does all things well on our behalf. The happiest new year we can have is a year with yielded hearts to our trustworthy Father who has given His all for us. Can we do no less.

Father, help us as we approach 2018 to be real and authentic in our walk with You. Help us to have surrendered hearts for Your honor and glory. We want to be used by You this year like never before. Thank You Jesus for making eternity a reality in our livies. In Your precious name....Amen