Heart Safety

Your safety lies in falling in love with your Lord. If you are in love with Him, your perspective will be transformed so that injurious words and actions are deflected from your heart.  God's love for you is a shield around you; but your love for Him grants a clarity of spiritual vision that protects your heart.  

Relationship

So long as you view your relationship with the Lord as a job you have to do rather than an experience that is yours to enjoy, you will struggle with rebellion against Him.  You are a child, not a servant; brethren, not a stranger.  Come to the family table! Do not hover at the door wondering what assignment will be yours.  Partake!  

"See what great love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God.  And that is what we are!"  1 John 3:1

From Spirit to Flesh

The mystery of Christ is that we must die in order to live.  Giving up in order to receive is the opposite of the world’s philosophy, which tells us we must strive hard to obtain what we need and want. The Bible tells us that flesh must die to its own desires, giving way to the Christ-submitted spirit.    

The focus of the Christian’s heart is to know God, in fact, knowing God is to be the goal of our lives. The nurture God provides enables us to be lifted above the storm of earthly care, and we are provided every blessing in the Heavenly realms. This translates into corporeal blessing, because it is through intimacy with Christ that the reality of Christ is translated from Spirit to flesh. 

Scripture:  "...those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Romans 8:14 NIV).  

Don't Be Manipulated by What Others Think

You mustn't allow the displeasure of others to influence you away from God's direction.  Leave what others think with the Lord, and spend this time with Him unencumbered by the expectations of your fellow human beings.  People resent those who are unencumbered by the onerous duties to which they have bowed either because of their own self-judgment or the "righteous" expectations of others.  This resentment is not of the Lord and is not your concern; He will protect you from it. 

God holds your loved ones in His hand.  Your willingness to be broken out bread and poured out wine for them is a worthy trait, but come to the Lord now.  Apart from God you do not have the strength to carry them, but with Him you will find that you have exchanged the yoke of your own choosing for His. Then and only then will all the facets of your life reflect Him more accurately, as when a prism is adjusted to catch a beam of light so that the colors of the spectrum become apparent.

How to be Happy

If you belong to Jesus and do not abide in Jesus, there is no happiness for you anywhere. You will blame your circumstances or other people for your unhappiness, in short, you will become a menace to others and to yourself.

To abide in Him all your desire must be for Him. It is easier to explain the fruits of abiding than it is the mechanics of abiding; the one who abides in Christ has peace within.

Align your heart daily, hourly, moment by moment with Christ.  Turn your thoughts to Him.  Purge yourself of all that would distract you from Him; even seemingly sinless pursuits can draw your attention from the Lord.

Obedience and abiding go hand in hand. Obey the thing in front of you, that thing you know you ought to do, and you will feel the peace of a favored child. You will not want to turn to the right or the left because the blessing of His approving gaze will hold you.  You will have joy.

Don't be like the rich young ruler, who was unable to release his grasp on that which was dear to him. Let go your fear and give the Lord access to every part of you.  Determine to exchange your dreams for God's plan, and you will find joy far exceeding any you could have created for yourself.

Give Up Resentment and Fear

The Lord is with you. Trust Him in the moment you are in. Resentment and fear are the burdens that make your load too heavy to bear, and they feed one another. Give up either of them and the other will recede.  Fear goes as you release your loved ones into God's hands and recognize your inability to resist His will, yes Child; God's Will. Many of your prayers have the goal of circumventing the Lord's will if it seems He is about to take some sort of an action to which you object.  Since you are unable to predict His actions, this mindset becomes a constant stress as you fight an imagined future.  Resisting what you fear may happen requires a great deal of energy. This struggle has brought you near the breaking point today.

The Lord is with you. Do not be afraid.  


Scripture: "So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10). 

Lazarus Versus Peter

When the Lord seems inscrutable, untraceable, and imperceptible, it is time to trust what you know; He is loving, intimately involved in the smallest detail of your life,  all-knowing, and all powerful.  You can bank upon what you know about God and what Scripture reveals regarding Him. 

Do not be afraid.  

You must know there are some inaccuracies in your perception; you have over-focused on the cost and under-focused on the reward. Remember that the Lord is your family's Provider, not you! You find your acts of service burdensome, but they need not be.  This is not so much an issue of Mary versus Martha, but more Lazarus versus Peter. Lazarus was resurrected, Peter sank. 

Lazarus came out from bondage when Jesus called to him, but Peter--although the Lord had called his name--began to sink because of fear.  Yes, Child, your grave clothes still cling but they are no longer binding; they are falling away.  Keep your eyes on the Lord and do not give way to fear.  The Lord is with you. 

Seek Him First

You cannot kindle joy for yourself. Joy is a gift from from the Lord, and is ephemeral. Do not seek the emotion, seek the One Who grants the emotion.  The Lord is  your needs-meeter. Trust Him to give you what you need even when this differs from what you want.  

Scripture: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33 KJV).  

Whose Cross Will You Bear?

Your peace of heart and mind must not depend on your own obedience. You have not partially saved yourself.  It is as though you are willing to give the Lord most of the glory, but by keeping back a small portion of responsibility for your own salvation you also keep a portion of the glory for yourself.  It is a terrible burden.  You cannot bear the weight of the tiniest part of your own sin; you must cast it all upon Jesus. 

Do not confuse the nature of your cross.  If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me (Matthew 16:24).  The burdens you are to bear come by God's hand, not yours.  You must decide whose cross you will carry: your own, or the cross the Lord has provided.  

Scripture:  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30). 

Release All

All the Scripture in the world—all of the words between the leather covers of your Bible—will not do you good if you do not put it into action. 

You cling to the last vestiges of yourself and your sin as though you were your own lifeline. Release all to the Lord, and all will be well.  

Scripture:  "Whoever serves me must follow me..." (John 12:26). 

He Will Not Disappoint

Leave off examining your heartache and stop describing the sins that have been done to you, not because your description is inaccurate, but because there is no fruit to be had in rehearsing the truth of how you were hurt.  

Let me tell you where to look for encouragement: look to obedience and its fruits!  Look to your own heart and stop worrying about the hearts of others, because, Child, so long as you wear this cloak of flesh you will be alone. You cannot obtain the communion and sustaining love you crave from other human beings. 


Human beings are always going to let you down, but you are going to be enabled to live quite happily in the midst of their failure to do what they ought to do for you because the Lord Himself is sustaining you. Your jar will not be empty and you will not lack bread, because He is your source of sustenance.

Do not make your happiness dependent on other people doing what they ought. Do what you ought and place all your hope in the Lord.  He will not disappoint you.

Scripture: "“Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,” declares the LORD" (Jeremiah 31:16).