An occupied heart.

As the new year fast approaches I want to touch on something.

Last week I touched on the importance of humbling ourselves.

If you missed that post you can read it here.

This week I want to touch on the heart. Does God have your

heart? Why am I asking such a seemingly “obvious” question?

Maybe it’s not really that obvious……

 

It all started when I was singing, “when I lost my heart to you

Hallelujah“from Hillsong United’s new album Empires.

There is a line I kept singing which says,

“You have my heart”

 

As I kept singing that over and over I thought to myself,

Does He really have my heart??

As I look back at the year I see how I have struggled in my

relationship with Him. My heart has not been entirely here.

I have ignored Him A LOT, got distracted, had times where

I didn’t talk to Him, worshipped other idols…..shucks!

It’s been a challenging year and I allowed the challenges

to come between me and Him!

So as I sang that line I realised my heart was very occupied but

not with Him. God doesn’t want a part of my heart…..

He wants my whole heart!

 

“I will punish her for the days of the Baals to which she burned

incense. She decked herself with her earrings and jewelery,

and went after her lovers; But Me she forgot, says the Lord.

Hosea 2:13

 

This passage depicts where I was at. I was the one who forgot

the Lord, I was the one who chased after other idols……

My heart was far from the Lord.

When I had a choice to seek the Lord I would

occupy myself with something else but Him. It breaks my

heart thinking about that. My heart is reserved for God and I

want Him to have it all!

In His mercy and great love He still chases after me! He

hasn’t given up on me. I don’t deserve His attention. I have done

nothing to warrant it yet He still pursues me!

 

Therefore, behold, I will allure her,

will bring her into the wilderness,

and speak comfort to her.

 

She shall sing there,

As in the days of her youth,

As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

And it shall be, in that day,

says the Lord,

That you will call me, My Husband

And no longer call Me, My Master,

For I will take from her mouth the names of the baals,

And they shall be remembered by their name no more.

Hosea 2:14-17

 

Even though God’s people rejected Him and chased other idols,

He pursued them relentlessly. I am so grateful He chases

after me relentlessly! He is doing the same for you.

Don’t stop chasing after me Lord!

My heart is yours…..!!

 

Keep your heart with all diligence,

for out of it spring the issues of life.

Proverbs 4:23

 

I was supposed to guard my heart, I was not supposed

to let anything in but I failed, I gave my heart away!

When I think of this scripture

I think of a husband and wife.

A true wife will guard her heart from other men.

She will not allow other men in because she loves her

husband. She doesn’t have to be taught to do that but out

of a deep, unshakable, love for him she will protect her heart

with everything in her. Her heart is reserved for her husband

and him alone!

So it is with her husband. He will not flirt with other women,

he will not entertain the idea of being with another woman

because he loves his wife. He too will protect his heart because

of his love for his wife.

His heart and affection will be towards his wife alone, and

he will not compromise!

 

As it is with husband and wife it should be so with me. If my

heart is truly His I will do everything to protect my heart.

Yes, I am a sinner and yes I will fail at times but I will fight

to guard my heart because He loves me and I love Him!

I won’t entertain anything else. I won’t give my heart away

to anything else that would take me away from God because

my heart belongs to Him!

 

I should be complete at this moment and not looking for

something to complete me. He should be enough for me!

He should be all that I need….because HE IS all that I need!

Because of the price He paid I am complete, I am

whole!

 

Where are you at? Does your heart fully belong to God,

or is it occupied with other things?

Have other things crept in and taken His place?

In this coming year make a decision to consume yourself

with Him alone. He is our Savior and He wants all of us,

not part of us!

He pursues us because He loves us.

 

He has my heart! When I surrendered my life to Him all those

years ago I surrendered my heart to Him. What I need to do is

consistently check myself. I need to constantly check the state

of my heart because the truth is that the enemy wants my

heart as well. he will do everything in his power to have it but

it’s taken! My heart belongs to God and I must guard it. But

I am not alone because the Holy Spirit is with me. He will help me, ‘

and He will help you if that is your desire. And that is so

encouraging!

 

 

Prayer

I am so sorry Lord for occupying my heart with other things.

I am so sorry for chasing after idols.

My heart is Yours so I ask for Your help.

Help me to guard my heart.

help me to keep my heart set on You and You alone!

Take this occupied heart and fill it anew with You….

Just You Lord!

I love You.

Amen…..

 

Rolain

 

 

Will you hold on…???

I had an amazing couple of days this past weekend.

The month of April in my country

marks the end of the first school term so that means holiday

time and holiday camps! And since I serve in our kids ministry

I went for camp with the kids I teach.

This was one of the best camps I have been on. Yes, I was

involved in the planning and organizing of it but I still had fun!

The kids we went with had a blast! As a leader it was a privilege

serving the children.

But what stood out the most for me was how God came and

ministered to me and the other leaders. I have been trusting

God for a lot of things and I have to admit it gets hard. It’s

hard holding on in faith and this weekend my faith was tested.

But in the testing God used the three days I was on

camp to re-adjust my focus.

This is what He spoke to me about:

 

“Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed Him, for they

were all expecting Him.

Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell

at Jesus feet, pleading with Him to come to his house

because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.

Luke 8:40-55″

 

We all know the story very well but there are a few things

that I saw that jumped out at me that I would like to point out:

 

– Jairus came to Jesus because he had faith in Him. He believed

Jesus would heal his daughter. Jairus was desperate! He may

of tried a few doctors but with no luck.

 

– Jesus stopped walking when the woman with the issue of

blood touched Him. I am sure Jesus knew how desperate and

serious Jairus’s situation was but He still stopped?? How do we

know the woman with the issue of blood had that problem for

twelve years and how do we

know she used all her money on physicians with no change?

We know all this because one of the disciples must of taken

the time to speak to her. He must of spent some time asking

questions or Jesus must of simply listened to a healed ecstatic

woman tell Him how she had spent

all her money on physicians with no results and tell Him how

long this went on for!

Whatever the case, Jairus was waiting! What was on his mind as

all this was happened? Did he push Peter to speak up…?

 

“When they all denied it, Peter said, Master, the people are

crowding and pressing against you.” Luke 8:45

 

Where was his faith then?

Did he convince Peter of the absurdity of Jesus question? We

don’t know…..!

Then it happened….!

 

“While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the

house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. ‘Your daughter is

dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” Luke 8:49

 

What exactly was going through Jairus mind? It was faith

and desperation that led him to Jesus but was that faith

still there? Did Jesus take His time with the woman knowing

Jairus was desperate?? Did He want Jairus to endure

in his faith???

Having faith and enduring in your faith are two completely

different things. We do well when we trust God but is that enough?

We must also learn to endure in our faith. That’s the lesson

I learned on camp.

Jairus had faith in Jesus but his faith was tested. He had to

learn to endure in his faith he soon found out.

Don’t lose hope along the way! Jesus has not forgotten your

faith! Jairus may of felt like Jesus didn’t care or had forgotten

him but He didn’t!

 

“But Jesus, on hearing this, answered him, Do not be seized

with alarm or struck with fear;

Simply believe [in Me as able to do this], and she will be

made well.     Luke 8:50

 

When Jairus faith was failing, Jesus was right there

to encourage him. Jesus wants us to endure in our faith.

You may be trusting God for something and weeks,

months and years have passed without anything happening

but be assured,

something will happen as long as you endure in your faith!

Don’t give up in your faith. Don’t let fear cloud the truth

about your faith.

The truth is, God will come through!

God has heard you and will not let you down!

He wants to help you more than you will ever know!

Your faith is precious to God!

Your faith pleases Him.

As long as you have faith, the enemy will always lose!

 

At the end of the day, Jairus got his daughter back. Jesus

did a miracle in his life because he endured in his faith no

matter how bad things seemed!

Jesus knows where you are at. He has not forgotten about

you. He says,

 

“Simply believe [in Me as able to do this], and she shall be

made well.” Luke 8:50

 

Believe He is able to help you.

Believe He has heard you because He has.

 

As I sign off I want to encourage you to endure in your faith.

That is what I was challenged to do on camp!

God bless….

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The problem with this moment…..

Happy 2014 to everyone!!! I hope I find you well. This year has so much potential. I really believe it is going to be a great year. As 2014 has come I realize there are things that need to be accomplished in my life. There have been things I have been trusting God for, for years and they have not come to pass. But my faith is in Him. A lot happened last year and I know there is so much more. Here is where it gets tricky though, I can see all these amazing things God has for me but my current reality betrays me. The challenge is to not get sucked into the present reality, what I see, taste and touch. This present reality with it’s trials and challenges and failures makes it hard to see ahead. There is such a temptation to think, this is it, God has done all He can, this is all He has destined for me!!
But that’s not the truth right? My present reality is not the ALL of God’s plan. It’s just a part of it. In fact, this is part of the journey and not the destination! It’s only by faith that I can go beyond what I see to reach what God has for me. It may seem like nothing is happening but it really is happening!!! God is behind the scenes making things happen. I will not allow my present circumstance to dictate who I am. God is the One who dictates who I am. I will not allow my present circumstance make me believe there is no hope because God says, He knows the plans He has for me, to prosper me and bring me to an expected end!! (Jeremiah 29:11) I will not allow my present circumstance to dictate what I can and can’t do.

Abraham was told he would be the father of many nations when he had no child! It must of being difficult but He made a decision to trust God and it was counted to him as righteousness.
His wife was barren, they were well advanced in years. His circumstances were saying the total opposite of what God had promised but he decided to trust in God.
His story gives me hope. There is hope. God has great things in store despite what people say, and despite what my circumstances are. God is in control……!!!!

That is what has been on my heart. My hope and prayer for you in 2014 is that you will always keep God first. Trust in Him with all of your heart. He can be trusted!! Looking forward to a great year…..   🙂

Rolain.