Words from the Heart

 To those who have followed my blog over the years, I want to apologize for so long between posts.  I've been working full time (economics) and made a major change in churches.  My new church home has provided me a wonderful place to worship, fellowship, and learn. 

John 15:5-8 in The Message says:


I've been able to also make myself "at home" again with the Father.  Believe me, it makes all the difference in the world.

I hope to return here to Words from the Heart and share how God has "grown" me during this time I've been away.

Until then, abundant blessings,

Francine

Knowing that God goes before us and often leads us out of harms way gives me a wonderful sense of security. I hope I never forget that He brings me into the spacious places David talked about in Psalm 18. And it would be easy to continue to cruise along life’s highways and byways, staying safe, and never venturing down some unexplored path. Yet I think in order to experience spiritual growth, we should all look for opportunities to step out of our comfort zones.

While our reliance on God in all aspects of our lives is crucial to an intimate relationship with the Creator of the Universe, I don’t believe we are to live our lives isolated from the world. Taking the gospel to all the earth is the impetus for missionaries who carry the truth around the globe. Many are called into that ministry. But what about those of us who aren’t?

Some serve in various ways within the parameters of church. Others serve in well known organizations like the Salvation Army, reaching out and meeting needs, regardless of a person’s faith or beliefs.

But I believe we must go beyond the walls of churches or organizations and actively live our faith. In other words, WE must be in the driver’s seat, leading others who don’t know the way.

It comes first by making our stand as Christians, identifying ourselves as followers of Christ. “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:35, NLT

Once we do so, then we have a responsibility to not only be an example to others in word and deed, but be willing to clear the way for them so they too can come into a spacious place.

It can be something as inconsequential as a smile to a stranger or as significant as financially helping someone in need. It could be taking the time to pray WITH someone who is struggling through difficult circumstances or encouraging a neighbor who lives alone. There are a thousand and one ways each of us could touch a person who doesn’t know God’s truth. Too often, I believe we think presenting the plan of salvation is the answer. But if we look at Jesus’ life, we’ll see a man full of compassion for the lost. He met their needs. Can we say the same for ourselves?

“Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” 1 Peter 5:2-4, NIV

Blessings, Francine

When you’ve lived in a semi-small town for as long as I have, you know the quickest routes, the easy short cuts, and which streets to avoid at certain times of the day. In other words, you know the traffic patterns by heart. And, when you leave for work as early as I do -- 5 a.m. each morning -- you also have few distractions and almost no traffic hassels.

In my town, many of the stop lights are “tripped” when a car approaches them during slow traffic times. I’ve learned that while having this convenience that changes the light almost automatically, I can count on having to come to a dead stop before the light actually turns green. Slightly annoying for an A-type personality like myself.

But today I learned something while following behind another car. As I was traveling up one of the main arteries through town, there was another vehicle ahead of me. We both pretty much stayed within the speed limit but there was enough distance between us that the other vehicle “tripped” the sensor to change the light before I even had to put on my brakes. I can honestly say it was one of the nicer drives to work. And it got me to thinking.

While, we as Christians, strive to follow our leader, I wonder how many times He’s cleared the way ahead of us to give us a smooth ride. Certainly most of us may recognize it when we are manuevering through difficult times or battling some of those mental traffic patterns that have a tendency to clog our thoughts and sometimes bring our peace to a screeching halt.

I have to think that there are more times than we realize when our Creator trips the sensor to allow us to peacefully steer clear of obstacles or other stumbling blocks without us even realizing it.

Maybe we should recognize that some of our unencumbered paths aren’t because of what we do but because Jesus has cleared the way before us, altering our spiritual and personal traffic patterns, and has steered us into more spacious places.

He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. Psalm 18:19, NIV

Blessings, Francine

There are many things we keep between ourselves and God. That’s one of the wonderful privileges of having that intimate relationship. How blessed we are to have the Creator of the Universe love us and provide the Comforter to live within us, knowing our most secret thoughts and desires. We can pour out our innermost fears, our endless worries, and our deepest hurts to Him and He hears. Not only that, He knows the exact and perfect way to comfort us.

But what about when there is SOME THING between ourselves and God. What if there is unconfessed sin, a behavior we KNOW is wrong, or a habitual sin we can’t seem to let go of. And if not a sin of commission, it could be one of OMISSION. We so easily slip into routines that don’t include prayer or reading God’s word, thinking it doesn’t have a direct affect on our lives.

When our Father points out something we need to change and we don’t, the space between us and Him begins to grow. It might not be much at first. But the more we allow it to continue, the larger the space becomes. It can grow into something that is deeper than the deepest canyon and wider than the biggest sky.

The good news is that the Father rarely allows us to become comfortable with the sin or the behavior.

A sense of disquiet, distress, or disappointment nags us ... around the edges at first but as time goes by, our discomfort grows into an almost constant state of agitation. Peace and joy all but disappear and we no longer hear the Father.

Sometimes God speaks loudest in silence. If there is a gnawing sense of unrest in your soul, you may want to see if there is SOME THING between you and God and redirect your singular focus on the Creator.

“So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you. Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery].” James 4:7-8, Amplified Bible

Blessings, Francine

My previous post quoted Paul’s words from Romans (Romans 1:18-32) where he basically talked about the depravity of this world and how bad it would get. It’s easy to look at all the behaviors he listed and easily agree.

BUT -- we must never forget that sin is sin; whether it’s the seemingly out of control behavior we see today or something as simple as not loving our neighbor. You see, it doesn’t matter. True, Paul’s words resonate with the idea that the more people sin, the more they will sin and the possibility of God giving them over to that sin. But we must not convince ourselves that our sins aren’t as bad as those Paul is talking about.

As I’ve noted before, Jesus gave us two commands to follow: Love God and Love others. I’ve also written that love is an action verb. It means we are to do more than just have “loving thoughts” of others. We must put into action Jesus’ commands.

We can look around our world and agree that it appears it’s out of control. But we are not to look at the world. We are to look at our Creator. He is in control. Nothing happens that He is not aware of. Nothing happens that He couldn’t stop. After all, He spoke this universe into existence.

I do not claim to know God’s intentions in letting things appear to be unraveling. He tells us, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 (NAS)

Finally, we have God’s word that He will heal us: “If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:13-15(Amplified Bible)

Blessings, Francine