My Heart Belongs to You

 

Valentine’s Day, Monday, February 14, 2022

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.  1 Corinthians 13:13

Roughly 72-million adults will combine to spend a couple billion dollars on gifts for their loved ones today.  In America, pet dogs come in higher on the Valentine’s Day gift list than cats (53% to 47%[1]).  The reason may be because dogs wag their tails as a sign they’re glad to see you, while a cat’s wagging tail is a veiled warning your kitty is getting ready to shred your arm.  Teachers receive more Valentines than anyone else.  It may certainly be a sense of admiration from their little students, but I’ve long-suspected it might be a way to a better report card.  All this may well be revealed at the Great White Throne judgment, but, until that time, it’s fun to wonder why lovers do what they do.

Of course I’m always prepared for Valentine’s Day.  I’ve got an advantage; two days prior is the anniversary of the day Elizabeth and I got married.  That advantage is February 12, 1967 which was the best day of my life. With all the TV advertising the month before the great card, flower, and choclate-exchange, it’s impossible for me to forget the way she looked walking down the aisle.

This year that thanksgiving for my blessings takes on a new memory.  I am thankful for the love shown me by the nurses and staff at Lexington Hospital’s cardio rehabilitation unit.  It is impossible to miss the sense of dedication and purpose surrounding that great team of mercy. 

I spent the mornings of 36 days (over 5 months) being guided through exercises and health education with Cynthia, Kathy, Elizabeth, and Teresa.  They are a great team that exudes energy, positive direction, and encouragement.  Of course the silent partner of the team is Tin Man, who was always on the job.  I found out that a previous patient made that fellow as a thanks-gift for the staff.  I can identify…he’s the Tin Man in the movie, The Wizard of Oz, who lamented to Dorothy, I don’t have a heart.  Tin Man found his heart by the end of the movie, and I sat under his likeness all those mornings, trying to encourage mine to behave itself.

This Valentine’s Day I will be basking in the glow of having spent 55 years with my bride, my best friend.  I will also be thankful for new friends who helped me develop an attitude of recovery.  I’m also going to take with me the image of Tin Man’s sincere joy and loyalty, as a reminder that love comes in many shades, colors, sizes, touches, and selfless deeds.

It is my calling in this life to serve He who is the source of joy, Jesus Christ.  I serve the One who gave the ultimate gift of love, His life in exchange for my need of forgiveness.  And each time I am reminded of that, because someone exercised kindness, helpfulness, or unselfishness to bless me, like the Tin Man, I find a little more of what my heart was designed to be.      

For You Today

You’ve got a heart!  You were designed with one that can love or hate.  When you dwell on the good and lovely things in this life, like people who’ve been a blessing to you, and the God who loves you, you’re likely to use the energy and breath God gave you to pass-along joy and hope to others.  In a world so challenged with hatred, violence, and sadness, there is a great need for the heart inside you and me that will say:  I love you.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title:  Russell Brownworth (own work)    Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

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[1] Finder.com survey

The Unseen

 

Friday, February 4, 2022

You blind Pharisee!  First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.  Matthew 23:26

The Pharisees were religious leaders in Israel.  It was important to them to look like leaders who lived what they said.  Jesus got to the crux of the matter when he challenged one of them to be as clean on the inside as the outside advertised.  That’s a lot easier-said-than-done, eh?

My dear bride, Elizabeth, was sometimes called The White Tornado by our three children.  Elizabeth knows how to “clean with a vengeance.”  It was often stated that Mom could spot a dust bunny under a rug or sofa at midnight, with the lights turned-off, from three rooms away.  Now, if there are, as my friend, Dr. Don McCutcheon used to say, two kinds of people in the world…cleanies and messies, there isn’t a shadow of a doubt on which side Elizabeth comes down!  However perceived by our then-teenaged children, Elizabeth’s motive was always more than just keeping spotless for the sake of pride; she knew the unseen enemies couldn’t be cleansed away by hitting a-lick-and-a-promise with a dust rag.  Deep cleaning meant a healthier house for those she loved!

In “Praying the Promises of God” English author Alan Redpath wrote about the difficulty of having the inner person as deeply-cleaned as you try to present the outer person to those around you:

Do certain behaviors and habits continue to plague you, no matter how often you try to stop them and resolve to do better?  This happens to all of us.  When we belong to Christ, we long for holiness in our outward behaviors because we have an inner barometer that is weighted toward righteousness.  Sin unbalances us and makes us feel “off.”  Each of the behaviors we so want to change is the fruit produced by unrighteousness on the inside.  If the inner root were gone, the fruit of it would be gone as well.  When we put all the emphasis on an outward behavior and don’t think about the root of that behavior, we find ourselves chasing our own tails and repeating the same behaviors over and over again.  Then we fall prey to the enemy’s attempts to discourage us.  Or, like the religious leaders to whom Jesus addressed these words, we compensate with outward forms and traditions and find satisfaction in the mere appearance of holiness.  Because Jesus comes to reside in us, he has the power and access to work on our sins at their root.  From within he cleanses and purifies us—making the inside of the cup and dish clean.  The more we surrender to him in obedience and look to him for guidance and strength, the more we will find old behaviors and thought patterns disappearing and being replaced with healthy expressions of the Christ who indwells us.[1]

For You Today

The adage, what you can’t see can’t hurt you is miles from reality.  Our house’s foundation is cracked, due to soil erosion underneath, where only the moles and worms live.  But the evidence is there, and needed to be addressed.  The crew dug deep….down to bedrock…and now the foundation stands firm. 

The same can be applied to the inside of your soul.  And the only “crew” that can get there is the one who walked out of an empty tomb on Easter morning.  When He hears your confession, deep cleaning for the unseen will take on a new meaning!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

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[1] Alan Redpath(1907–1989), English evangelist, pastor, and author in Praying the Promises of God (Tyndale House publishers, Carol Stream Ill)

Aching Bones & Hopeful Hearts

 

Monday, December 6, 2021

For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering.  We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.  We were given this hope when we were saved.  (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it.  But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)  Romans 8:22-25

When your body is in pain, that pain can radiate to your mind, spirit, and soul.  That is true of all humans – and so is the inverse.  When your soul has joy and hope, it will radiate to the body.  You are probably familiar with the children’s ditty:  If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands, stamp your feet, tell your face.  (That last part isn’t in the kid’s song; I added it to make this point…let the joy inside you tell your body, so your body can radiate joy outside you.)

The Apostle Paul was making a similar, but seemingly contradictory point – not nature’s way, but a spiritually-sound principle of Christian doctrine and eternal truth.  That truth is:  although our bodies (bones) ache for release from the deadness of sin – that alienation from our Creator – the hope that resides in our inner being (heart) is so steeped in the confidence of hope (in Christ), the ache and hope pump together like systolic and diastolic measurements…they pump life into despair, joy into darkness, and out comes lightness to the soul.  The hope of Christ’s glory within our being counteracts anything Satan throws at us.

It’s no secret that some of us wear our feelings on our shirtsleeve; those folks make terrible poker players…couldn’t bluff their way out of a paper bag.  Then there are those who hide it like a master.  They stuff everything, good or bad, deep-down into compartments where they never have to meet with each other.  It’s a protection device humans develop to avoid pain.  It isn’t a new thing that Freud or Jung discovered; it is so old we read about it in the opening pages of Scripture.  Adam and Eve messed up, and God confronted them.  They both tried to shift responsibility to anywhere but owning it.  The result was the motherlode of dysfunction.  Their children picked-up on this and took it to the next level when Cain killed his brother Abel.  We do anything to avoid facing the pain caused by our own actions.  That’s why Paul wrote that we ache (literally agonize) for the day when we will be released from all that internal conflict and pain.

As in all of nature, a need presupposes something to meet that need.  A void has air to rush-in, like opening a sealed can of nuts…pssss!  Thirst presupposes there is water to quench the need.  And the ache in your inner, conflicted being which is caused by the separation you feel from your Creator (a result of that first step away from God’s will) presupposes the existence of salvation – God’s forgiveness and restoration (which are truly one and the same).

For You Today

Do your bones ache for release?  How about the heart…are you in-Christ, trusting His offer of grace and forgiveness.  Let those two realities out of their hiding places; let them meet without fear.   Let the Christ in you become all your spirit needs to grow strong and radiant.  Aching bones and a hopeful heart are the ingredients to mix together for an overcoming life.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

For another post on this text see The Creation That Groans and Foretaste of Future Glory

Standing Out Where No One Can See

 

Monday, April 26, 2021

Now the Lord said to Samuel, “You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem.  Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king.”  But Samuel asked, “How can I do that?  If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.”  “Take a heifer with you,” the Lord replied, “and say that you have come to make a sacrifice to the Lord.  Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you which of his sons to anoint for me.”  So Samuel did as the Lord instructed.  When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town came trembling to meet him.  “What’s wrong?” they asked.  “Do you come in peace?”  “Yes,” Samuel replied.  “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.  Purify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.”  Then Samuel performed the purification rite for Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice, too.  When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Surely this is the Lord’s anointed!”  But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him.  The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them.  People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  1 Samuel 16:1-7

David was about to be picked as the next king of Israel, and Samuel, prophet, and consummate-insider to the current king, doesn’t have a clue.  He was looking for the tall, impressive, kingly sort, and Eliab seemed to fit that profile.  His picture would look good on Israel’s Chamber of Commerce brochure inviting people to visit and spend their cash.  He would be a dashing, electrifying figure in a chariot for the army and cavalry soldiers – a very inspiring presence for sending them off to war.  But God said, Nope…not him.  He doesn’t have the heart I’m looking for.

And who, exactly is the one who does have that kind of heart?  It was David – somewhat less-impressive in the Instagram sense – not likely to grab the attention of the Kardashian followers.  But David had a heart in tune with God’s heart.  And that is always where God is looking.

We live in a world that has gone mad for the rock-star mentality.  It is about as certain as the sun rising in the east that sound-bites, beauty, charm, and outlandish lifestyles will grab the attention of the public like a dangling lure will attract trout (for at least 5 minutes).  But in the realm of substantive choices, God is looking for those who have heeded what David’s son, Solomon would one day write:

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.  Proverbs 4:23

So, what was it about David that developed such a heart?  David lived a life of quiet, but certain, dedication to finding and following God’s will.  His heart was bent towards all the things God loves, faithfulness, purity in lifestyle, righteousness over appetites, and more.  It is the simple statement of another of God’s prophets that wraps up having a heart of which God approves:

No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.  Micah 6:8

For You Today

It’s easy to get sucked-into grabbing for attention and an audience of followers.  That’s mainstreaming, but it also leads to a façade of glitz, which, at the end of the day, will fade into a newer, glitzier model.  But a heart for God will never go out of style.  And never is a lot longer-lasting than just a moment in time.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

The Problem with Knowing

 

Friday, July 3, 2020

Romans 7:7-20

Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful?  Of course not!  In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin.  I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.”  But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me!  If there were no law, sin would not have that power.  At one time I lived without understanding the law.  But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, and I died.  So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead.  Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me.  But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.  But how can that be?  Did the law, which is good, cause my death?  Of course not!  Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death.  So we can see how terrible sin really is.  It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.  So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good.  The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.  I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it.  Instead, I do what I hate.  But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.  So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.  And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  I want to do what is right, but I can’t.  I want to do what is good, but I don’t.  I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.  But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

There’s a story that rolls around in my head about the campaign to end the second world war.  Secrecy about the place and time of the invasion was of utmost importance, so the Commanding General called in all the reporters travelling with the Allied Forces and told them the exact details of the plan…where, when, how many, and where the plan was vulnerable.  He ended his talk with:  Now you know everything…and if this plan fails, I will know one of you leaked it, and I will have every one of you shot for treason.

History assures us the reporters kept their mouths shut!  But what rolls around is Paul’s common sense portion of Romans 7 – when you know, it is then a natural response to want to do.  And that’s the rub.  Each of those reporters had the scoop of the century, and had to sit on it.  After all, what good is playing Bernstein and Woodward[1]if you’re lying in an unmarked grave? 

And this is the problem of sin.  Scripture tells us that sin is enjoyable…for a season.  Reason tells us this is true; why would any of us get involved in sin if there wasn’t something attractive about it?  But the wages of sin is still death, and therein lies the rub of why we do what we do, when doing so causes such pain.  Paul answered that question:  I really don’t understand myself. 

Past that self-confessing riddle of “why” we do what we abhor, Paul arrives at the only possible conclusion – it is not our nature to do good; we are prone towards rebellion and destruction.  If you have doubt about that, 20 minutes with the morning news cast will open your eyes.

And all of this shouts volumes about trying to legislate the hearts of people.  If that worked at all there would not have been a cross.  God laid out law upon law, written on tablets of stone for His children.  They sinned anyway.  He sent prophets to reinforce how wrong that was; they sinned anyway.  He sent more prophets, rulers, and priests; they stoned them, drowned them, hacked some to death, and set others on fire…and sinned, anyway.  The problem with knowing what’s wrong is it entices us to do wrong.  And if you doubt that, just tell a child he can’t have something.  Or tell a teenager to be home at a certain time.  Or lay down the rules for social distancing, handwashing, or mask wearing.  You’ll be convinced of the shortcoming of rules. 

The only answer is the heart; and to get to that you need a Savior, a cross, and blood.

Let’s Pray Together:

Father, our hearts are the real place for Your law and Your love.  We don’t accept rules; our nature sees to it, and is only challenged to break rules.  Help us to see love with our hearts; Your love – the kind that went to the cross for us, and willingly took our punishment.

For You Today

I’m thankful for every officer of the court, sworn police, and the system of justice we have.  But if you’re counting on any of them to make a difference in the hearts of violent people with laws, enforcement tactics, and threats, you’ll have a long wait.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!

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Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For other posts on Romans 7 see Free Will and Somebody Stop Me

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[1] The reporters who broke the scandal of Watergate, June 8, 1972

Healthy

[1]

Friday, January 18, 2019

O continue Thy chesed unto them that know Thee; and Thy tzedakah to the yishrei lev (the ones upright of heart).  Psalm 36:10(OJB)

It’s easy to get lost in language; it’s like a 70-year-old thinking he really understands what his 13-year-old grandson is saying.  So, a little translation sometimes goes a long way.  The Hebrew words of the Psalmist are rich in helping us understand our Lord’s love.

Chesed, or covenant love, also translated as lovingkindness is the sum of God’s promises to His covenant people.  That extends to both the descendants of Abraham, as well as the New Covenant disciples of Jesus Christ. 

Tzedakah is justice – also a word related to God’s love, but more a fulfillment of covenant love.  It is the charitable obligation God assumes towards those who love Him.

Yishrei lev is an “upright” or “honest” heart.  It’s the heart that holds nothing back from God.  Ancient Israelites didn’t even have a word for “brain” that we know of! Instead of the brain, the Israelites imagined that intellectual activity takes place in the heart.[2]

So, applying these translations to Psalm 36:10 I would give this sense to King David’s prayer:

Mighty God keep your word to us; cover us with your loving promises; we hold nothing back from you; our hearts are open for inspection.

Now, that’s a prayer that should be on all our hearts and lips this morning.  But let’s take it a step further.  In biblical Hebrew, the heart is where we feel feelings, think thoughts, and make choices motivated by our desires[3].

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.  Proverbs 4:23(NLT)

That open heart is a great and necessary practice in our relationship with God and each other.  However, the heart must also be guarded against influences that will corrupt us and turn us from God, which will turn us against each other.

When a heart is honestly open before God changes will occur.  From the perspective of the Hebrew prophets, the only true redemption for humanity can come through the total renewal of the human heart[4].

The Lord your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live!  Deuteronomy 30:6(NLT)

For You Today

Your healthy heart depends on two things:

1.     God keeping his lovingkindness promises, and…

2.     Your willingness to be honest with Him…totally!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

Go to VIDEO

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com

[2] The Meaning of “Heart” in Hebrew – on Pursue God.org

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

Words Matter

[1]

Thursday, October 5, 2017

How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?  Cleanse me from these hidden faults.  Keep your servant from deliberate sins!  Don’t let them control me.  Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Psalm 19:12-14^(NLT)

Words and thoughts do matter.  It is from the heart that all the weighty matters of life issue.  What’s down in the heart eventually comes to the surface – for good or evil.  And most often, that which divides and separates us as brothers and sisters in humanity can be linked back to the “words” swirling around deep in our souls. 

For instance, in the Black Lives Matter movement the premise is that white persons, particularly those wearing blue, persecute innocent persons of color.  Such an assumption breaks down with the word innocent.  In the same way, the knee-jerk movement of Blue Lives Matter wobbles on the false assumption that the hearts and inner thoughts of white (or any) law enforcement persons are somehow innocent.

What does our Creator say about our hearts?

“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked.  Who really knows how bad it is?  Jeremiah 17:9^(NLT)         

As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one. Romans 3:10^(NLT)

The Psalmist, King David, understood himself.  As a human who was well-connected to his Creator, the shepherd boy-turned-king of Israel, understood his life was out of control.  Above all else, wealth, fame, power, and personal strength (David’s God had given him all that and more) David craved innocence.  And so he prayed not for justice or freedom…David prayed for cleansing.  In this psalm he prayed that God would so cleanse him that the words of his mouth and the very thoughts of his inner being would match up and be pleasing; he wanted the God of holiness and righteousness to give him clean words and thoughts that really mattered. 

Many people in our culture do not understand this as the most prescient need in our culture today.  Our biggest void in the battle for humans living together in peace, harmony and fairness is not more laws, regulation or stricter enforcement.  The biggest battle is the eternal, internal struggle for righteousness in the human heart.  Because once the inner person is freed from his lust, anger, greed, haughtiness, envy, pride and gluttony he is not only fit to live with…he is then fit to love.

For You Today

Your words do matter.  And they matter first and foremost when they’re uttered to God, honestly, without agenda.  And when God cleans up those words and inner thoughts, they will do the most good in loving your neighbor as yourself[2].

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

[2] Matthew 22:39