Words from the Heart

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future, Jeremiah 29:11, New International Version.

For those of you who have visited my blog in the past, you know that there’s not been any activity for the past six months. I returned to my home in the United States in February and have been in the process of catching up. It’s been a homecoming in one of the truer senses of the word – returning to my family after a three-year stay in Germany.

Since then, my husband and I have been refurbishing our home, reacquainting ourselves with friends, and re-establishing ourselves within our church and local community. It’s been full of hard work, laughter, and bittersweet memories. Most importantly, it’s been a time of new spiritual directions and growth.

There were times when I worried over my inactivity here but I try not to do things based on my feelings or emotions. There would be a time when God would lead me back.

It’s funny how God works in our lives, using anything and everything to speak to us. As a writer, one of my greatest pleasures is writing. Yet, I sometimes life gets in the way. That’s when the Creator of the universe steps in and gently reminds me of His plans for me. Moreover, each time is like a homecoming.

This verse from Jeremiah has brought me hope over the years … kind of like a light in the darkness of confusion. It also has given me reassurance. If I’m attuned to God’s moving in my life, He makes those plans known. Maybe not the whole picture but certainly the direction I should take. As my trust and faith grow, so does my ability to take just one step into the plans my Father has for me.

You may notice something new on my blog. In all honesty, it’s only through the help of a dear friend that I’m now “connected” to a web ring of other Christian bloggers. God used one friend’s obedience to reach out and show me it was time to take that one step.

I pray that He might speak to each of you.

Blessings, Francine

The older we get, the more there is to remember. The passage of time can blur or distort past events, softening the heartaches and from time to time shifting the facts. As a person who keeps a journal, I am occasionally surprised when I revisit an event and realize there’s more, or less, to the story than in my memories.

I think it’s vital that we remember special events, especially as they relate to our spiritual growth. It’s not an easy thing to do and it isn’t something that can be completed in a short amount of time. Yet, the hard work is worth it.

You see, even documenting painful experiences can give us a glimpse of how the Creator of the universe comes close to the brokenhearted. For me, it’s been during the most heartbreaking times that I’ve discovered just how much God comforted me and how much I grew spiritually.

Everyone will face the death of a loved one, the threat of disease, and all kinds of losses. We wonder how we will carry on. I can share from personal experience – I believed I couldn’t cope with those things, but I did. Certainly, I felt grief and suffering but God gave me strength to not only survive the deep darkness of immense sorrow, but a supernatural peace.

And those sorrowful experiences where God stepped in have been crucial in strengthening my faith. Let’s face it, if our Creator can get us through devastating loss, He can guide us in day-to-day living lives full of stress and anxiety.

The important thing is to remember.

I would encourage you to take the time and develop what I call life markers. I started with major milestones, so to speak, and then filled in other things in as I remembered.

I must confess, I was amazed to see God’s footprints more clearly in the landscapes of my grief-stricken darkness.

The more I worked on my life markers, the more I saw God’s presence in my life, and the more I trusted Him.

There are plenty of scriptures encouraging us to remember God’s laws, words, and comfort. Learning about different people in the Bible shows how others were able to reflect on all that God had done for them. One of the more interesting, and possibly less known, is Asaph. You’ll find him in the Psalms.

Asaph was one of David’s choir leaders and is credited with Psalms 73-83. The first psalm he wrote is one many could probably identify with. I particularly like him because he’s brutally honest in asking why life is so unfair.

His words in Psalm 77 are a beautiful reminder that even in the darkest of times, God’s footprints across our hearts and lives brings us to a place of refuge and sanctuary.

“I recall all you have done, O Lord. I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago. They are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about them. O God, your ways are holy. Is there any god as mighty as you? You are the God of miracles and wonders!” Psalm 77:11-14, NLT.

If you remember nothing else, remember this: Satan would like nothing better than for us to forget God’s presence in our lives.

Blessings, Francine

SPECIAL NOTE: I pray that each commentary I write here will bless you, but please understand that some are built on previous entries. I’ve tried to build a Biblical basis from which my thoughts are developed. It’s important that you understand “my words” aren’t the end of the story, so to speak. I would encourage you to check out previous entries if you have questions concerning what I’ve written. Also, I’ve included links to several web sites that can provide much more detailed guidance than I’m able to do here. Check out “Running Empty” or “Power to Change” (see list of links to the right). For more in-depth study, you can visit “Now Try God” at http://www.nowtrygod.com or “New Christian Life” at http://newchristian.com as additional resources. The bottom line – don’t accept what I say as gospel. That’s what the Bible is for. An excellent on-line resource is BibleGateway.com at http://www.biblegateway.com.

Another good site is Crossmap, at http://crossmap.com and not just because my inspirational messages can now be found there. This organization, which has been running since 2000, serves the Christian community as a web portal. There are great columns by talented nationally known writers and pastors, a wide variety of other Christian sites, news, and commentaries.
As always, I welcome your comments or you can contact me at tenderheartaz@yahoo.com

If we want God’s presence in our lives, we won’t find it in religion. It begins with a relationship.

We spend huge amounts of money, time, and effort trying to find God. Roam the aisles of any bookstore in the Religious section and you’ll find hundreds of books. Unfortunately, unless we start with The Book, we may find ourselves lost in all the how to’s.

There are many excellent authors whose books are planted firmly in God’s truths. Often, their words help guide and direct us in our search with encouragement and inspiration. Still, if we don’t understand that God’s word is the only Truth, we will continue looking in all the wrong places.

It’s easy to tell others to read the Bible but a lot harder to actually do that. Where do you begin? What version should you use? How do you understand all that stuff?

Jesus knew how hard it would be for us and when He arose to the Father, He left us with a comforter – The Holy Spirit.

Jesus first told the disciples of the Holy Spirit in the last hours He spent with them.

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:16-18, NAS.

So many of us are heartbroken because we fail in our desire to follow Jesus. And therein lays the key. We do not have the power to follow Christ in our own strength.

All you have to do is look at Peter. He loved Jesus, proclaimed he would die in his devotion, and yet, he denied Christ three times. How often have you come across the verses describing Peter’s denial and wondered, “How could he do that?” If you search the scriptures, you will discover that Peter said what he said and did what he did in his own strength.

Look closely again at Jesus’ words, “but you will know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”

It wasn’t until the disciples were pretty much at the end of their ropes, so to speak, that they were able to comprehend these words. They’d watched their Lord beaten and crucified and saw His lifeless body removed from the cross. Then they ran and hid. It’s hard to imagine the loneliness, anguish, and fear they experienced. I think they probably felt abandoned as well. Then, Mary Magdalene comes and tells them she’s seen the Lord.

As they are hiding behind locked doors in fear of the Jews, Jesus appears to his beloved disciples. His first words to them still take my breath away, “Peace be with you.”

As the disciples rejoiced, Jesus then told them, “Receive the Holy Spirit,” John 20:22.

We cannot receive the Holy Spirit if we are living by our own strength. Usually, it’s only when we come to the end of our rope that we are ready to enter an intimate relationship with Jesus.

Blessings, Francine

Scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible

Dear Readers:

For those who are returning guests and to those of you new to my blog, you will note an absence of posts between Aug 3 and November 29. There were 20 posts on the Beatitudes, part of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:3-8. I’ve removed these posts and they can now be found in my column on Crossmap (http://www.crossmap.com/). I invite you to visit Crossmap – it’s filled with a variety of columns, information, and news of particular interest to Christians.

I began posting a new series of inspirational commentaries on my blog this month. They focus on what it means to abide in Christ and will continue with encouraging inspirational messages on how to have a closer relationship with our Creator.

As always, please feel free to contact me at tenderheartaz@yahoo.com with thoughts or questions.

Here’s information from the Crossmap website about their columns:

“Crossmap Columns was launched in June 2004 to showcase uplifting and encouraging columns from Christian writers.”

“Crossmap posts columns with the young to mature Christian in mind. Although we will have some articles written about the very basics of faith, and several about more mature ideas such as Christian philosophy, the majority of columns focus strictly on how to be better Christians. For young and growing Christians, these columns should be invaluable – they are insights into the daily lives of Christians who have already walked the path of the Lord for years, and in some cases, decades. Columns are written by husbands and wives teaching how to be more loving and considerate, by fathers and mothers explaining how to best raise children, and by pastors whose writings are extensions of the sermons they have lived preaching.”

Blessings, Francine

If we want to have God in our lives, we must first learn to abide in our Creator.

The word abide has several meanings, usually beginning with the negative connotation of “to put up with or tolerate.” A second definition is “to wait patiently for.” I like that one, but if you do a little research, you’ll find another meaning that I believe more clearly illustrates what I think Jesus meant when he was instructing His disciples. “To continue to be sure or firm or to dwell or sojourn.”

I sometimes think we see God almost like the great and powerful Oz – impossible to approach without performing some heroic feat. The truth is we can’t perform heroic feats without intimately knowing our Creator. If you don’t believe me, just think about David and Goliath. Most of us aren’t even thinking about performing daring deeds; we just want to get through each day with some sense of peace.

But how do we do that?

As Jesus was talking to his closest friends during his final hours on earth, he told them, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” John 15:7, NASB.

The Message gives an even clearer picture: “But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon.”

These verses are within the context of Jesus’ teaching about the “Vine and the Branches.” Earlier he says he’s the vine and God is the vinedresser who takes care of the branches – that would be us.

In verse 5, he tells us that those who abide or, make themselves at home with him, will bear fruit, but without this kind of connection, we can do nothing.

It begins with a relationship that requires active interest, care, and love between God and us through Christ.

I am sometimes amazed when I read the Bible. It truly is like a love letter … from the Creator of the universe to His beloved creations – each of us.

Blessings, Francine