Guard your heart - Proverbs 14:23

Have you ever thought about that verse? What comes to mind when you think about guarding your heart?

This verse had been rattling around in my head and I could not remember anything but ‘guard your heart...’ I was thinking about all things that  come against us that are deceptive.

Daily we hear criticism, reminders of mistakes or new direction we should take. We let advertisements and songs play over and over in our minds.

There is an endless stream of tasks that need to be completed. 

There is an ever present virus that stays lurking in the backs of our mind. It creates fear and unsettlement with no end in site. 

There are unpaid bills and financial strains that pop up constantly. Wrecked cars, broken arms and doctor appointments add to this stress.

We have people who haven’t texted us back or called us back- or we forgot to text them.

There is a constant demand for or attention.

On top of this, we daily are faced with weaknesses, unholy thoughts and reminders of our lack of ‘goodness’. This can happen just by driving to Ingle’s. (Road rage..)

How on earth, do we guard our hearts?

We let thoughts, lies and paranoias creep in and now we have completed a day, once again, in a troubled, stressed and defeated tone.

Today was one of those days - I was feeling rather low when I decided to look this verse up...

What popped up with it was Phil 4:7. It said the peace of God would guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. 

But how? Especially when the thoughts stirring in our head are full of doubt and anything but peaceful. 

Thankfully, I happened to know the verse that precedes Phil. 4:7. Philippians 4:6 says, ‘be anxious for nothing. (This verse then gives the prescription for peace...)the rest of the verse states, ‘but pray about Everything’ (emphasis mine).

Everything. Do we take every take everything to God? I know I haven’t the last few days. Typically, I truly try to give things up to him, but in my rat race lately, I haven’t. I have held on to everything- and what happened? I found myself awake at 3:39 AM worrying, doubting, thinking I wouldn’t be able to do anything right and that I was doing a pretty good job of failing. Anxiety has been creeping at the door for a while now. Even as I type these words I can feel it stirring.

The key is Jesus. We have to take our burdens to him. He says to cast our cares upon him. I literally picture myself throwing a burden. I never quite knew how to cast a care. But now, I believe he is saying it’s simple. pray about it. For example, we have a new car payment  now- when we had made the effort to get rid of a car payment. (Due to a wreck that wasn’t my fault and it totaled our car.) 

So I lay this at his feet:

'Lord, you know that we did not plan for this car payment, in fact, we had other plans for the money we were saving by not having a car payment, but here we are- in a strain again. Will you provide for us, and help my heart with the the other plans I had? Amen.'

Then we walk away from the burden. We trust that he will provide. 

The second factor to this burden equation is take captive every thought. This is another verse I have heard over and over. But how do we take it captive?

I have begun asking God to ‘flag’ things in my mind when I start going down a negative spiral. I am now asking him to help me recognize a bad thought, a worry or a lie the second that thought passes through the synapses of my brain, and to give it to him. I am not a failure. He will provide for my need.

Factor number 3 is to immediately replace the thought with scripture. Ask God to bring verses to you that combat the lies or the worries or anything else you need to take captive...

I am a chosen a royal priest hood. His mercies are new everyday.

And the final step:

Thank him for what he has already done and will do. Look to the ways he has helped before - the ways he has come through and been faithful.

Joe and I entered in a an apartment contract in New York, forgetting to take our tithe into account- and I realized we were going to be short. We both started praying about what to do- and within a few weeks God provided me with a new job that gave me a $20,000 raise from my old job... if he can do that in NYC, why couldn’t he do that here? He is faithful. 

Joe and I found ourselves praying again due to this car, and do you know what he did? Provided a job that I will be starting soon. This job was another answer to a prayer I prayed long ago. I delight to live in the house of the Lord...psalm 27:4.

He answers.

He is faithful.

We just need to go back to him. The verse that says take captive every thought comes from a passage that is telling how to tear down strong holds. 

How many thoughts hold us captive? How many of our strongholds are related to our thought pattern? 

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭10:4-5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/59/2co.10.4-5.esv

Our enemy wants us to feel defeated useless fearful and like a failure. If we walk around in a cloud of defeat, how useful are we to the kingdom of God? 

Thinking about this brought me to the conclusion of this blog... 

Guard your hearts. Do you know what the rest of this verse says?  

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭4:23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

https://www.bible.com/116/pro.4.23.nlt

If our hearts are full of worry fear and anxiety, guess what kind of life we lead...  a rat race: just trying to get to the next ‘appointment’ - the next bills paid. We live day to day just trying to get through. Forget the abundant life we are promised by Jesus. We don’t have time to live abundantly...(Jn.10:10)

But imagine if the thoughts of our hearts are guided by... the promises of Christ being yes and amen. (2 Cor. 1.20.)

The conclusion to this comes with a verse that had escaped me lately...

‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.’ Romans 12:2

What is the pattern of our world? Yes - rat race.  It’s full of anxiety and fear and judgment and condemnation. Our thoughts truly reflect the world - but if we can make a habit of replacing those thoughts with the Words of God, we can truly transform our minds. He does it for us though his word. Then we walk in a peace and a steadiness that is not of this world. (Jn 14:27) We suddenly are free to run the race He has set before us. (Heb. 12:1) We will know his will because the distractions of the world have faded. We can live for him, not our next appointment.

It is time to be kingdom minded. Not earthly minded. There is enough trouble in our world to give us a clue that he may return sooner than we think. I want to use the rest of my time bringing as many with me to heaven as I can. 

It’s time to renew our minds.

Trust God. Memorize his word. Be intentional about what goes into your heart. 

Let it be his word that you focus on.

1 Peter 2:9 ‘But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.’

Scripture references:

Psalm 27:4 ‘One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.’

John 10:10 ‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.’

2 Cor. 1:20. ‘For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.’

John 14;27 ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.’

Hey. (12:1) ‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us...’

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭12:2‬ ‭KJV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/1/isa.12.2.kjv

Be the Light

I am grateful for the many friends I have had in my life. My parents taught me to love all. My Great-grandparents came through Ellis Island when they migrated to America for a ‘better life.’ Because of this, my mother was mistreated, made fun of, had rocks thrown at her for being a ‘foreigner’ Her school told my grandfather to walk her to school through the back streets (which thankfully he refused and fought back.)

Mom loved all races and ages of others. She led others to let go of racism. She taught it - She lived it.
Gratefully, she welcomed all my friends from every background they came from. I not only had friends of many different races, but friends with different religious beliefs. My mother’s love for others brought Joe and I together. They worked at the same business together. The owners of the business practiced a religion much different than what Joe and my mom practiced and believed. I am blessed to have been taught differently. However, as we know, not everyone has been raised that way.

I do not know what it’s like to walk around with different colored skin. I don’t know the fear in that. I am sickened at the video of George Floyd and I am hurt hearing the voices of my black friends crying out.

Racism is sin. Prejudice comes in all shapes and sizes. We are living in a world where there is as much hate for different political parties as there is for any other prejudice. I believe we are all capable of looking down at someone or treating them differently because they are different.

I keep coming back to 2 Chronicles 7:14. “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”
‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭7:14‬ ‭NLT‬‬
https://www.bible.com/116/2ch.7.14.nlt

We have lived too long in a self-seeking, self-serving world that we don’t have room for Jesus because we can live comfortably without him. The problem is- the more comfortable we are - the less we need him. The less we need him, the less we seek him (and his will.) The less we need Him, the more confident we are in ourselves - and others like us. We start listening to man over God. We shape scripture to our point of view. We believe traditions and stories over the Bible. We all have a belief system enshrined in us from the way we were raised, and in a moment, society is living for itself and reckless pleasures. We lie to ourselves and repeat lies about ourselves and others. We are so glued to our own belief system that we refuse to see truth. Until we can lay our belief system down, and yield humbly to God and his word- then this cycle will repeat itself until Jesus comes back. We will keep perpetuating our views, our hatred, our rights- and we will fall. We will divide and never see this racism boat turn around.

No, we don’t understand and cannot comprehend the past and the hatred on both sides. All we can do is choose to come together and lay this at the feet of Jesus. If we can walk hand in hand laying our differences down and humbly seek Christ’s face- then we can let him form and teach the solution to this hate. There is too much hurt to erase. There are too many mistakes to make right- but if we can move forward from this moment - could we try to work together and walk forward- not only humbly listening to our God, but humbly listening to each other?

I know what I can teach my son. He has a cousin of another ethnicity and color. My cousin and her husband adopted him. We had to figure out how to explain and teach our 3 and 4-year olds that God made all of us different. Our desire is that our sons never treat others differently for being different.
I can’t however go into homes of others to teach them.

Our generation could be the one that stands up to racial intolerance by teaching through love. But we have to work together. We have to be willing to listen. We have to be willing to yield to new ideas. We have to move forward differently than the past.

My prayer is that God would heal our land- of so many things. My prayer is that people will come forward from all colors and choose to work together in this. We must lay the hate down. I know there is a program called ‘Be The Bridge’ led by Latasha Morrison.
Check it out. https://bethebridge.com/
This runs deeper than what has been happening. Only Jesus can fix it, but we need to go to him for help.

Prayer for the Church

What would God do if he had one heart sold out to him?

What would God do if he had 5? We saw what he did with 12. What would God do if we fell on our knees humbly and ask him to come revive us.

What would he do?

Do we know?

Do we want to know?

I do. I do. I have been praying so many things in my heart for years. Years. He has certainly taught me praying through and praying it out. So, I have prayed for something to happen since before I met Joe. And I think it is now. I believe ‘it’ is upon us. What is ‘it’? Well, I’m not sure the extent of everything ‘it’ is, but in my heart of hearts I have wanted to matter. I have wanted the words I say be words that lead others straight to the Father. I have wanted hearts to yield and turn to him. I have wanted to see what would happen with hearts that are free of chains and strongholds and insecurities and fears – and just allowed to run free.

I want that for you! God has had me praying about throwing off not only the sin that easily entangles – we all have those – but also throwing off the weights that hinder. One big weight is ‘what if.’ What if they don’t like me. What if they make fun of me? What if they stop being my friend? What if they are offended?

There comes a time when the will of the Lord exceeds the ‘what ifs’. What if we are about to enter the ‘end times’? What if Jesus is coming back soon? I’ve been thinking about the term living like you were dying. What if it was our last few days? Years? I know living with a deadly disease is something I do not and cannot comprehend – and this is not what I’m talking about. I am saying if we knew Jesus was coming back soon –we are healthy, full of the gifts he gave us and his holy spirit… what would we do?

I keep thinking – take a many as we can with us. Yes, there are things I would love to do – a bucket list. But I am telling you – where I stand, if he is fulling a promise he has given me for over 20 years…then I believe that promise will be worth more than anything distracting me at this time. I want revelation from God. I want to make a difference. I want lives to be transformed and I want people to find Jesus.

I am one person. I am praying. I am talking to people. I am encouraging and pouring out my heart about this.

I am pretty sure ‘this’ or ‘it’ is revival. We stand at the door of something unprecedented. We are coming out of a global catastrophe no one expected. We are seeing hints of what it could be like after the saints are taken home, and before the great tribulation. We are the ones that have a hope in this pandemic. It’s Jesus. But what about those that don’t? What about those that will be left behind?

So this is what I am wondering. What if all of this was for nothing? Did we just have a global crisis for nothing? I can not believe that. I will not believe it. What do we do with those that do not know Jesus.

IT IS UP TO US. We have the message, we have the good news. This is up to the body of Christ. So what do we do now? Billy Graham is already home.

We get on our knees and pray. God has put a revival formula in his word. He is waiting on us. Jesus told the disciples that the harvest is ripe, but the workers are few. Don’t you want to be a worker. Don’t you want to be the ones that make a revival history?

I do. I want to make history. I want to stand before my Lord as a person that took what she was given and I want to multiply it. I want to tell others. I want them to join me. And I want to harvest. I want to take them with me. When get to heaven, all these things that seem so important will wash away. We will be standing at the feet of the One. The great I Am – the Lamb of God.

Who is with me?

Who will join me in this prayer?

God. Forgive me. Forgive me distractions and living a comfortable life with out really including you in it. Forgive me for letting others be my source of you and not seeking you for myself. Forgive me for putting everything else in front of you – until I need something. God forgive me for ______________________

God. I seek your face. I seek your heart. I seek your hands to go and your understanding. I seek boldness to do what you have called me to do. I seek You. And God, I seek revival. Your word tells me I can boldly approach the throne of Grace. Your word also says that where two or more are gathered, you are there among their midst.

God we may not be standing side by side, but we are standing united asking you to forgive our people and heal our land.

With a penitent heart, we are turning from the idols of distraction and laziness and turning to you and your mission.

I believe you for this. I believe you are seeking many, many hearts turned back to you in repentance.

And when we do God – we can stand firm as one body – praying for the souls that need to come join our body. You said you so loved the world, so that is who we are praying for. We are praying for our friends, our family, our neighbors, our towns, our cities, our regions, our states, our countries, God – our world. Lord, bring them to you and lead us to them. We are the hands and feet, but you don’t need us. We are grateful that you would consider using us. Will you use us?

God will you do something big in our time? In our generation? And let it begin with me.

And who knows, maybe we have been created for ‘such a time as this?’ I don’t want to let you down.

Now to you who are able to do immeasurably more that we ask or think – hope or imagine,

We collectively pray for revival. And let it begin with us.

In your son’s name,

Amen

To all the Moms out there...

Today,

I feel the need to reach out to you moms. Times like this are just plain unnerving. And kids catch everything (I’m talking colds, the flu, etc.) … This morning I felt pulled in 5,000 directions. There were needs everywhere, Joseph was crying, the dogs were barking, I realized something I hadn’t done yesterday and all I wanted to do was clean out the dishes! After losing it on my husband who I couldn’t get a hold of because he was recording something at work, I finally sat down with God.

I finally prayed. Do you know what happened? Two things: 1. I calmed down and had true peace. 2. I realized that at this moment, my most important job is Joseph. This is when tension is higher. Joe and I both are highly involved at church, yet he is the one who is on staff. He oversees modern worship and student ministry so he has to be there. We run into this every time there is a Sunday morning or Wednesday night Joseph is sick. I hope I don’t sound like I’m complaining. I just want you all to know I understand times that you can be conflicted as a mom.

It’s hard to be at home sometimes and it’s hard to be working. I want you to know I am grateful to have Joseph beyond anything I can say. I prayed for this child most of my life and marriage. He is the miracle we waited on for years. The thing is, I did a lot of ‘things’ while waiting on this child and life is totally different with children. I am struggling. I see needs I can meet but I can’t because one of us needs to be home. I know I can take Joseph with me, but there is a virus floating around and I am becoming uncomfortable with having him out.

What I am saying – that I heard today in my time with God – is that we all can only do what we can do. We can’t put pressure on ourselves to be the hero or the answer – we just need to be obedient with what God gives us to do. And honestly, even in these crazy times, we need to minister with our gifts – when we can, how we can. Sometimes I think we try to minister in ways that aren’t what God has asked of us. Then we feel guilty when we can’t fulfill the need or don’t want to. It’s time to give ourselves a break.

First, I realized God has given me an incredible son I (and Joe) need to take care of. Wisdom is part of that call and we need to be wise. Second, God has given me a computer I can utilize to minister through writing or talking (yes – God has given me the gift of a mouth.) Third, we have two dogs, eight chickens, eleven fish and a partridge in a pear tree. We have a home.

With all of that being said - we can only do what we can do. We are in a pandemic. The most important thing for all of us is to find that time with God – even if it’s 5:00 AM or midnight. Ask him what he wants you to do today and ask for grace to do it. We all can’t do everything; But we can go to Jesus.

So – all the moms out there – give yourself grace. Sanitize, feed your children, clothe them, watch an extra movie, cuddle and walk out of the room when it’s too much to handle.

God has this. We don’t have to carry it. This is one time we can’t spread ourselves too thin. My prayer is that we all receive extra grace from God to do this. And I can’t help but wonder what’s on the other side of this virus… Revival?

2 Corinthians 12:9 English Standard Version (ESV)

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.