His Heart is Set on YOU

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Do you know that God’s heart is set on YOU?

When we make a decision to walk in the ways God has set out for us we soon realize several things that melt our hearts with love for Him.   And when we do walk in His ways, His heart melts with love for us!

As Lord of All, He is Kind, Benevolent, Merciful and Gracious – He is these things towards us and we are the first in His heart.  His heart is set on us and will not be moved.

His thoughts towards us are as the sand of the sea…we will never comprehend or fully know how much He is always thinking about us and how He considers us to be the shiny, untarnished, unblemished apple of His eye.Continue Reading

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The Logistics of Love

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Keeping the commandments-the greatest one love for God and love for people drives us to abide in the love of God.  His word teaches us the logistics of love.

What sweeter place can there be?  What better hiding place when we discover we do not have the natural ability to love as He has.

When we find it difficult to keep the commandment to love we then must choose to obey by faith the Lord’s instructions to love and to meditate on what He has taught us about the logistics of love.  

I shall love the Lord my God, I shall because I am obliged to do so – I obey and the fruit of my obedience is blessing!  And His enabling power to love who I cannot.

When we have chosen to deliberately set our wills to love God by our obedience to His Word we will discover that we are abiding in His love and living out of that determination to keep the Father’s commandments.

How many times are our hearts apprehensive when we hear the words of Jesus speak to our hearts to love one another just as He has loved us?  It isn’t everyone of us who is easy to love after all!

One might think He was asking too much of us until we consider Jesus who said and continues speaking out the truth that ” we are His friends if we keep on doing the things which He commands us to do” see John 15:14.

But I have called you My friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father.  I have revealed to you everything that I have learned from Him.”

I have called you My friends…

He looks out at the sea of humanity and declares His friendship with each person.Continue Reading

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From Lame and Lonely to filled with Glory

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He was growing weary of this unchanging routine day after day.  Sure, he was thankful for his buddies who were willing to carry his lame body day after day to the Beautiful Gate, but life didn’t feel very beautiful there.   And yet it was no ordinary gate for Ezekiel 43:1-4 speaks of how the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the east, the Beautiful Gate.

He felt forgotten about, lonely and largely ignored by those who passed by.  Feeling ignored and  lonely were feelings he had hardened himself to as one day turned into  a month that turned into years and here he was. Still spending his days begging alms and praying. 

 “Alms are noted as being compassionate, charitable gifts as exercised toward the poor.  The tender heart of the giver is showing mercy and compassion to the poor.”  They really hadn’t helped him that much as he thought about the depth of his need, the never changing hunger, the ever growing desire for something more, something beyond his reach.

He had to admit his praying had created a hunger inside him for more than just food and money.  He wanted so much more but couldn’t quite put a finger on his need and what would meet it.Continue Reading

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Why I am not Giving Up Anything for Lent

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 I have never celebrated Lent nor given much thought to it. 

To be completely truthful,  mostly all I know of Lent is from Facebook posts that talk about what the individual is going to give up for Lent.

 Lent has never been part of my Christian walk, nor have I had any teaching on it.

  I think of how Jesus came and took our sin and gave us His righteousness.  God has given us the Way, the Truth and the Life and in Christ, we live and breathe and have our being.  We are loved, wholly, passionately and without reserve by a God who gave His only Son for us and we are well pleasing to Him.  God gave all, He gave the best ~ for you and for me.

…Well, no matter what I know or don’t know, I am not giving up anything for Lent… 

Especially when I can come into His presence and give Him my heart.

As I gaze at the years behind me, I know I have experienced the strength that truly does rise as we wait upon the Lord.  Of even greater importance is the amazing joy and freedom I have experienced after a time of repentance.  The shame I wore for so many years kept me from a real heart to heart relationship with Jesus and when I finally heard the term ‘repentance’ my heart was broken and became completely HIS.Continue Reading

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Just to tell You I love You

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Probably the most important discipline I have learned as a believer and follower and lover of Jesus, is to pray His word. When we hide His word in our hearts, we have something of substance to chew and stand on in time of trouble.

Instead of letting worry and fear rile up our insides and give us stomach aches, if we choose to meditate on His word, our heart and soul will know peace.  Great peace even in the midst of great trouble.  I don’t think I’m wrong to believe that great peace is something we all hope for in this day and age.

The hiding, meditating and speaking of the Word takes practise, it is a choice we make moment by moment.  After time, after experiencing the ways God moves on our behalf,  it becomes a discipline of much joy as we realize we reap many benefits of the promises of God’s word. 

The Hebrew alphabet at the beginning of Psalm 119:161-168 is “Shin”. It represents a chewing tooth  or teeth that consume and destroy.  Meditating on and speaking out His word is part and parcel of what a ‘chewing tooth’ does.  The lies of the enemy of our soul are brought to light and the Word of God consumes and destroys the work of the evil one. 

I have been working through the Bible study in Beckoned by the King for the last year and a half.  Reading and rereading Psalm 119, longing to have a deeper understanding of how the truths in it can be applied to and lived out in our everyday lives.  I can tell you in all sincerity and honesty – my heart has changed so much, its hard to recognize it as mine!  The fears, doubts and worries I had have all been swallowed up by the beautiful, life changing word of God.  I stand amazed at the work God has done in my heart and soul.  I am so thankful for the absoluteness of the confidence I have in Him and in His word. 

The NIV Study Bible says this about Psalm 119:  “The author of Psalm 119 had a theme that filled his soul, a theme as big as life that ranged the length and breadth and height and depth of a person’s walk with God.  Nothing less than the use of the full power of the language would suffice, and of that the Hebrew alphabet was a most apt symbol.” 

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