Tag: #itsaheartproblem

Broken People, Broken Prayers

“For we are GOD’s Masterpiece. He has Created us anew in CHRIST JESUS, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.” – Ephesians 2:10 NLT

We are so unworthy of GOD’s Love! As we come into Spring, reminders of our GOD are popping up all over the place. Green shoots pushing up through the debris of Winter, bird songs filling the air and the skies full of geese and other migrating birds – my first daffodil of the year just opened. How can anyone not believe in a greater Being than us, especially when surrounded by the new life coming through what appeared to be all dead? Our LORD personifies the renewing of life. From the moment He stepped down from His Throne in heaven to come down to our human level and be born to live as a man, to the end of His life and ministry, Jesus was like a beautiful plant.

“Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.” – Luke 2:52 NLT

To everyone alive at that time, as they saw JESUS die a human death on the cross and buried as a man in a tomb, it was the end of Him. Like the flowers and grasses that die and are swept away in the winter, our LORD, Jesus Christ, was resurrected from from death. He blossomed as He spoke to His followers and to the crowds that surrounded Him. Nature shows us the Resurrection story every Spring with trees and grasses, and babies of every kind being born. It is a wonderful time of new life. We are broken people. We have hardened our hearts to the point that even when we want to open them, all we can do is offer up broken prayers. I know how difficult it can be to open up that hard kernal we call a heart; to let the nourishing Light and Love of our JESUS in to cover us and allow us to grow.

It is through JESUS that we are healed. It is through His Mercy and Grace that we are forgiven. Never assume that being a “good” person will do any good when we all stand at the Great White Throne on Judgement Day! Read Revelations of John 20:11-15. Let the Light of Jesus, and His cleansing Blood, wash over your hurting heart and broken prayers today.

Listen to Broken Prayers by Riley Clemmons. (Here’s an excerpt)

You want my tears, every messy word
Every scar and every fear
You want all I have
With no holding back
When I’m hurt, at my worst
You meet me there
‘Cause you see the beauty
In my broken prayers
In my broken prayers

A Synopsis Of God’s Love For Us

Start in Genesis 1:26…

“Then God said, “Let US make mankind in Our image, in Our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Genesis 6:5-6…

“The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that He had made human beings on the earth, and His heart was deeply troubled.”

And Exodus 34:5-7…

“Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed His Name, The LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, The LORD, the LORD, the Compassionate and Gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished; He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

And last, but very important, John 20:21-23

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.” And with that He Breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

That’s a lot of scripture. The point is that GOD, the CREATOR of the Universe, Who made us in His Image and gave us free will, THAT God, Loves us enough to forgive us of our sins. This is not a white, old, man-god with flowing white robes, this GOD, looks like every man. He’s a colorful God! Look at us, and look at nature. Does all of this really make you think He fits only one picture of Himself? He knows our sins; all of them, whether it’s a “little white lie” or horrific torture and murder. Sin is Sin. In God’s eyes, it is ALL equally bad – and still, He Loves us so much that He is ready and willing to forgive us.

Then He (Jesus) said: “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

I have people I need to forgive. Thank GOD I have His help, because I couldn’t do it on my own! Praise His Mercy and Grace. One of my favorite songs is Victory In Jesus. Love to sing this!
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him,
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood
I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing power revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit,”
And somehow Jesus came and brought
To me the victory.

Sin = Sorrow

WARNING. This post will offend you, or I haven’t made my point.

“What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting. Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of My Heavenly FATHER.” –
Matthew 18:7‭, ‬10 NLT

“Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.’ ” – John 8:34 NLT

Another horrendous school shooting. People drawing lines in the sand, screaming for tougher gun laws. Politicians slamming each other verbally across the aisles. Children bringing knives to school with the intent to harm. People using vehicles as weapons of mass destruction by driving into crowds. Christians going against Christians. The PC ‘police’ going after anything that is offensive to them (the latest: a woman ranting about how offensive the word ‘man‘ is!) Disrespect is rewarded and even encouraged. Abortion is rampant with over 3000 babies every day; that’s over 22% of all pregnancies, just in the U.S. The litany goes on and on, and that’s not even taking into account the atrocities happening in countries outside of the U.S. What are we supposed to do?

Oh God, we need to be a nation on our knees instead of lining up to throw barbs at each other.

So here is where I stand:

I am a Christian, and by that I mean that l am a follower of the LORD Jesus Christ. I believe in the Triune GOD; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I believe that the Bible is the Truth, the Word of the Creator GOD, literal and complete, spoken through men to be our guidebook on earth. I know that Jesus left His home and His throne in Heaven to come to earth and live as a man, to be the ultimate sacrifice; to allow Himself to be tortured and hung on the cross so that His Blood would then and forever cover our sin. I believe that this same Holy God was with our Founding Fathers as they drafted the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I encourage you to delve into the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and other papers written by those men. Let me remind you of the First and Second Amendments:

Amendment 1
– Freedom of Religion, Speech, and the Press

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment 2
– The Right to Bear Arms

A well-regulated militia [“A nation’s able-bodied men who are not enlisted in the regular armed forces but may be called into military service in an emergency.” ] being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms [“To carry; to be equipped or furnished with weapons, firearms.”] shall not be infringed.

(Side note: the Second Amendment is what guarantees we get to enjoy the First Amendment and all of the following Amendments. )

I am a Patriot. I hold that I, as an individual, have the right to use whatever means necessary and available to defend my honor and my person against any transgressor. That translates to this: l am a Life Member of the NRA (that’s the National Rifle Association, for those who don’t know). As such, I will retain any weapons and firearms as I am able to obtain them. I will not give up my guns or ammo, my knives (kitchen and otherwise), my walking sticks, hammers, or my vehicle – all of these, every single item, is a potential weapon. And don’t forget aerosol containers, pots and pans, rolling pins…. just about anything can be a weapon. You can be just as dead by a pen or pencil in the right hands as you can be from a bullet, and a .22 kills as effectively as a .50.

This nation has lost it’s focus, and there is only one way to regain it. Turn back to the LORD. We need to preach and teach respect, and turn away from all of this PC garbage. Instead of bowing to Hollywood and their skewed vision, we need to be on our knees, begging our LORD to wash this nation clean! I am offended by PC, and I am deeply offended by all of the politicians who are diligently working to take away my rights.

Teach respect. Preserve the lives of our unborn. Provide for our weak, our children, and our elderly. Support our veterans – after all, we wouldn’t be able to exercise these rights without their sacrifices to keep us free. Stop rewarding bad behavior. Take care of our teachers! An elementary teacher should be making more than some foulmouthed, opinionated, self centered athlete or actor. Treat mental illnesses appropriately. Again, these things go ad infinitum…. but the bottom line is RESPECT. Guns are not the problem. Knives are not the problem. More laws will not solve our societal issues. We already have too many laws. As a country, a nation, we are wrapped in sin and sorrow. There is only one solution…. GOD IS THE ONLY ANSWER.

Respect me, and I will respect you. Disrespect me, and you will be disrespected by me….. but I will continue to pray for you, that God will bless you, and that He will help me forgive you. (I can’t do it on my own, but I can forgive through His Grace.)

So, to end on a positive note:

“All praise to GOD, the FATHER of our LORD JESUS CHRIST. GOD is our Merciful FATHER and the Source of ALL Comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort GOD has given us.” – 2 Corinthians 1:3‭-‬4 NLT – AMEN.

Listen to God’s Not Dead by the Newsboys.

Crisis!

It’s interesting to hear how that word is used by different people. For one person, having a crisis might mean not having enough cash to get their morning coffee. To another, it could mean losing everything they have in a disaster. To a child, a crisis is, well, anything that doesn’t go their way. Is your current crisis a danger or is it an opportunity? By definition, a crisis is a turning point, an emotionally significant event, or a decisive moment. We all have crises in our lives, and depending upon our emotional and physical states, they can vary in intensity. Jesus tells us:

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” – Matthew 6:34 NLT

Believing that GOD has our every need covered (note: need, not want) is hard, sometimes. When your child is throwing a fit, or when you are facing personal loss, or it might be that you are obsessing over how you are going to survive with no job or income, it’s not easy to let it go and let GOD handle it. (Guilty!) The one thing I know for sure, the Peace I have in my heart, all stems from the crisis I had when I realized that without JESUS, my LORD and SAVIOUR, I would die and go to hell. Our lives get jambed up all the time. The thing that seems trivial to someone else may constitute a major crisis to me. For me, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see daily life as a crisis …. and that’s a good thing! (Don’t be fooled. I still have meltdowns!) Everything on this earth; every person on this earth, will experience crises in their lives. I’m quite sure I will experience and witness crisis-induced meltdowns throughout the rest of my natural life. It’s normal; it’s human.

When you are faced with the insurmountable and the odds are against you, switch your focus from the mountain and look to JESUS. Whenever I can’t waĺk, He picks me up and carries me. He wants to help you in the same way. Whatever crisis you are dealing with today, remember that this, too, shall pass. Eternity is forever. Human life is fleeting.

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” – Matthew 6:33‭-‬34 NLT

We All Bleed The Same – WARNING. This Is NOT A Politically Correct Post

So much ugly going on in the world! Wars and rumors of wars. Brothers killing brothers. Marriage disdained and disrespected. Unnatural relationships; paedophiles in the news every day, same-sex relationships glorified in the media. School shootings, church shootings, workplace shootings. Mass killings in public places.

Christians are having to dig deep to find the courage to stand today. It is politically incorrect to proclaim Jesus Christ as LORD, but It’s encouraged to worship anything, anyONE, besides our GOD. Is it really courage we lack, as much as it is the desire to be liked and to be a part of the popular scene? I’ve never been very courageous, myself. I was a shrinking violet, a wallflower, in junior high and high school. Once I was at college, I connected with the ‘cool kids’ – the rebels from the restrictive Christian families we came from. Hear these words from Jesus to us!

“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t Love Me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your Lampstand from its place among the churches.”

“I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan. Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the Crown of LIFE.” – Revelation 2:4‭-‬5‭, ‬9‭-‬10 NLT

The LORD knows our suffering, and He is practically begging us to turn to Him; to be FAITHFUL to Him in our despair. When I rely on JESUS and rest in His Arms, He lifts me up and gives me a peace that surpasses and rises above the mess surrounding me. He wants to do the same for you and every person alive. All you have to do is ask Him. He will give you all that you need. JESUS is not about being a Liberal or a Conservative; Republican, Democrat, or Independent. He doesn’t care where you were born, or how much money you have. The color of your hair and skin is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter if you are the richest man on earth or the poorest of the poor, living in abject poverty. We all bleed the same, we all have one soul, and we all have a choice. JESUS, or the world. JESUS, and an ETERNITY with Him in Love, or Satan, the world, and an ETERNITY in hell and unspeakable, unimaginable suffering. Satan is Fear, and Fear is a Liar. JESUS is Truth. If you choose not to choose, then you have made you choice. You have to ask Jesus into your heart and life. He’ll never force Himself on you.

“But those who drink the Water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them Eternal Life.” – John 4:14 NLT

“So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the LORD, for you know that nothing you do for the LORD is ever useless.” – 1 Corinthians 15:58 NLT

Maybe our prayer today shoud be for the courage to be politically incorrect, and to let our choice of JESUS CHRIST shine on the world.

Listen to Mandisa’s song “Bleed The Same” (or Google the video!) and Zach Williams’ “Fear Is A Liar.”

NOTHING

NOTHING. That’s a really big word. How do you describe such a word? The Mirriam-Webster dictionary gives it a shot:

“Nothing” can be a pronoun, an informal adjective, or an adverb : defined, “nothing” is “not any thing, not a thing,” or “someone or something that has no interest, no value, no importance.”

Isn’t it, by definition, an oxymoron to try to describe “nothing”? If there is “nothing” there, how can you have it? On the other hand, if there is nothing, not any thing, no thing, then there is emptiness, right? I think the second definition may be the most important in light of the following scriptures: ”

of no interest, value, or importance.” Of no consequence.

If we embrace the meaning, the “no – thing”, then the opposite is, of course, every – thing, or any – thing.

“And we know that GOD causes everything to work together for the good of those who love GOD and are called according to His Purpose for them.

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If GOD is for us, who can ever be against us? Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also give us everything else?

Can anything ever separate us from CHRIST’s love? Does it mean He no longer Loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For YOUR sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.” ) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through CHRIST, Who Loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from GOD’s Love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from GOD’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the LOVE of GOD that is revealed in CHRIST JESUS our LORD.” – Romans 8:28‭, ‬31‭-‬32‭, ‬35‭-‬39 NLT

Look again at verse 38 – What a sermon in one sentence! Do you feel alone, separated, bereft of your God? Is it because the god you worship is not the GOD of the Universe, the GOD Who left heaven to come to earth, the GOD Who became the sacrificial Lamb in order that we might have eternal salvation? I, too, am convinced that nothing can separate me from my GOD. The enemy certainly has tried! But you see, whatever you think is separating you from the Almighty is nothing…. the enemy of my LORD, by name of Satan or Lucifer or any other name, is

of no interest, value, or importance; he is of no consequence when it comes to JESUS! It’s all in the name, people, the NAME of JESUS.

Listen to the song “Praise Him In This Storm” by Casting Crowns.

Know God?

“Yes, they knew GOD, but they wouldn’t worship Him as GOD or even give Him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what GOD was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.” – Romans 1:21‭-‬22 NLT

What does your god look like? Is He Majestic and Holy, clothed in His Creation? Is your god clothed in Sooner cream and red, Dallas blue and silver, OSU orange? Perhaps your god is dressed in the latest fashions, or corporate goals. Maybe your god is wrapped up in busyness or children or a spouse. Loyalty, addiction, obsession to something in this world can so easily supplant THE God, Creator and Saviour. Too many times, in our quest to fill that God-shaped hole inside us, we get caught up in the external and the glittery temptations that God’s enemy, Satan, places in front of us. It’s so easy to get sidetracked into his lair, and it can be incredibly difficult to extract ourselves from the webs of deceit he weaves to trap us.

Reflecting on my past, I see clearly many instances where I was hung up in those webs. I was so busy having fun, I could ignore how miserable I was. That’s on way the enemy keeps us trapped. Busy, busy, busy. Career, kids, school, football and other sports, cars, shopping….. rather than dwelling on “What’s in your wallet?”, can we switch focus to “What’s in your heart?” Do you know the Almighty GOD? Is HE in your heart, filling it with love and compassion for His people, or are you cramming tnat hole full of earthly pursuits? It’s lke the sign says,

“Know God, Know Peace. NO God, NO Peace.”

Which part are you? Do you KNOW Peace, or do you have NO Peace in your heart? Be like the author of this psalm: Praise Him, be Thankful for Him, and Pray for God’s help and protection.

“I praise GOD for what he has promised. I trust in GOD, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?” – Psalms 56:4 NLT

Fools….

There are a LOT of verses about fools in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments! Wonder why? Even Adam and Eve, father and mother of all humanity, acted foolishly with their free will. Rather that walking with, and listening to, their Creator GOD, they foolishly chose to listen to the serpent, who represented Satan. Fools, and it has passed down from generation to generation through the eons, to today. While they could have chosen contentment with dwelling in a breathtakingly beautiful setting and walked with God daily…. with GOD, people! Actually physically present, supremely approachable, the LORD of the existence…… they chose to leave God’s beauty for a promise from a serpent??? Their punishment has become ours:

“Then {The LORD} said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you…. And to the man He said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.” – Genesis 3:16‭-‬17 NLT

Wow. And so it goes…..

King Solomon wrote poetry and prose, and there is much about fools and foolish behavior in his writings. Some examples from the book of Proverbs follow:

“Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.” – Proverbs 13:20 NLT

“Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others.” – Proverbs 12:15 NLT

“Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions.” – Proverbs 18:2 NLT

We have all been fools, or foolish, in our lives, JESUS being the only exception in the history of mankind. Oh, I sympathize with you! Much of my life has been spent under the categorization of a fool. I associated, by my choice, with people who made consistently unhealthy choices. Not surprisingly, we got into trouble. Lots of trouble. We thought we were right. Our way was the way, and we made sure our opinions were loudly voiced. We didn’t listen to anyone we disagreed with. We didn’t need to, because we were right. It has taken years of turmoil and heartache for me to understand that I am not always right on every subject. I’m trying to do better at picking people to spend my time with, although I will be the first to admit that my ‘picker’ is broken! I have learned – no, that’s wrong. I am learning to let go and let God do the picking.

Okay, so my sympathy only goes so deep. When someone continues to make poor choices (ooh, me me me!!) in their friends and in their decisions for life, when they KNOW that they are doing it and they KNOW the cure, well, I get very impatient with that person. (Yes, I get very impatient with myself!) I don’t think the LORD sympathizes, but I know He understands. He offers Redemption, and Salvation; Healing and the best friendship ever, because He has experienced temptation. He has Compassion and He knows our realities. There is nothing we are faced with where He can’t help us. If we remain fools; if we continue our foolish behavior, we are skirting disaster. I want to walk with Jesus. I crave His Presence in my life. While with Him, while I am spending time with Him, will I continue making foolish decisions? Probably. I’m still human, I’m imperfect, and I’m very opinionated. Where do uou stand? Are you still hanging out with fools?

Trust and Believe

Trust and believe. These two words are different, but I find them used interchangeably in the English language. To trust someone, we must believe that person, and to believe in that person, we must trust them. I found this quote while researching these words and their meanings at http://www.englishstackexchange.com:

“If someone gives you an [sic] information and [you] find out that the information is true, then you will believe. Belief is to accept something as being TRUE …”

On http://www.dictionary.com, Trust is defined as a “firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something,” while Belief is defined as “an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists.” Interesting how they overlap. Can trust exist without belief? Can you believe without trust? In scriptures, especially in the Gospels of the New Testament, we are admonished alternately to trust in God and to believe in God. Example: Jesus is speaking with His disciples at their last Passover meal together, and He answers Peter with these words:

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in GOD, and trust also in Me.” – John 14:1 NLT

Trust. But in the ESV, NIV, and the KJV, the word believe is used in place of trust. “Believe in GOD, and Believe in Me.” I don’t see how it is possible to have the one without the other. You have to trust God to believe Him, and you must believe in Him to trust in Him. Maybe, it is easier to unstand it this way:

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Believe and Trust in GOD, trust and believe also in Me.”

I believe that GOD is Real. I mean, look around you. Do you seriously believe this world and the stars and planets evolved from nothing? (If you say “space dust,” I reply, “And where did the space dust come from?” I could go on all day! 😎 ) Like l said, REAL. See, easy to believe. I trust God; I trust in GOD. Sometimes my trust waivers, because of all the ugliness and hopelessness I see and experience in the world….. but my belief holds firm. Maybe, just maybe, the scholars who worked so hard to translate the scriptures in English under King James had it right when they used believe, rather than trust. With GOD, belief for me comes easy. Trust, on the other hand, is difficult at times because man (men) has broken trust with me so many, many, times.

“Trust in the LORD always, for the LORD GOD is the Eternal Rock.” – Isaiah 26:4 NLT

“It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in people. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.” – Psalms 118:8‭-‬9 NLT

The LORD is the Rock. Man will always fail us and hurt us and disappoint us. The LORD will not abuse your trust, but you must believe Him, believe in His Son, and believe His Words in order to gain that trust. Sometimes, like the father whose son was desperately ill, we just have to say, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” – Mark 9:24 NLT

It is our choice to stay in our state of not trusting anyone, or we can open our hearts and arms to the only One Who will NEVER hurt us or stab us in the back….. don’t blame me for my trust issues, just show me the One to Trust.