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 be that friend??

 

 

 

 

 

And her [promised] husband Joseph, being a just and upright man and not willing to expose her publicly and to shame and disgrace her, decided to repudiate and dismiss (divorce) her quietly and secretly.    Matthew 1:19

This is such an inspirational verse and it is one of my favorite scriptures. As I read the scripture this time round relationships came to mind.
In verse 18 we see that Mary was found with child through the power of the Holy Spirit but Joseph didn’t know that. It normal circumstances it meant Mary would be stoned to death. Was Joseph hurt? It could be possible. He had every right to be angry at her and tell everyone what she did but he didn’t……
Instead, he protected her, he covered her. Men, we need to learn to have that same mindset. We need to protect the women in our lives. We need to cover them. But I don’t want to just talk to the men. Let us look at this passage in the context of friends. As friends we need to be there for one another. The word says Joseph was NOT willing to expose her publicly! We need to cover our friends and not expose their faults for the whole world to see. If you see something not adding up in their life then you have a right to confront them but in a way that builds them up.

When you are confronting them or rebuking them do it with the mindset Joseph had. He didn’t want to expose Mary publicly even though it seemed like she slept with another man.
He didn’t want to disgrace and shame her. I would dare to say that his relationship with her was far more important than the “sin” he thought she committed.
Our friends need our support and love. They need us to be transparent and real. They want us to have their back. Will you be that friend?

Rolain

Will Your Words Last Into Eternity?

Do you know why it is important to speak the truth and not lie? Some people do it because it is the “right” thing to do!
But that is not enough. We need something more concrete and that is the same for all our other beliefs. You can’t just believe in something because “it’s the right thing to do”!  Why do you believe what you believe?

A few months ago God focused His magnifying glass on truth and lies in my life. He shown me how much I lied! At first I couldn’t believe it but as I looked at my life through His magnifying glass I seen how bad it was. The worst thing about it, was how experienced I was!! I would just lie without even thinking about it and then there were times when I would think about how I would lie!!! It was crazy. But in God’s amazing grace, He helped me.
In one of my previous posts I spoke about the word of God. I shared Hebrews 4:12 which says the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power and that is what we should see the word as. It is not just some random book!! If you have not read that post just click here.
His word IS alive and full of power because as I was reading His word in that crazy season He spoke to me through a verse. The verse of scripture that He used was Proverbs 12:19 and it says,

Truthful lips shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is [credited] but for a moment.

That scripture hit me like a ton of bricks and it still does today. Truthful lips will be established forever! It is not just speaking about your time on earth. Your truthful words will make an impact lasting into eternity!!!!
Can you imagine that? When you are in heaven your truthful words will be still making an impact?!!
Let me say it another way. You will be remembered on earth for centuries to come because of your truthful words and in heaven your words will still be making an impact because you spoke the truth here on earth!!!
“Truthful lips shall be established forever”,

But there is a flip side to the verse. It says, “but a lying tongue is [credited] but for a moment”.

That sucks right? A lying tongue will get you no where. You may prosper for a bit but it will come to an end. You will never win when you lie.

When I got that revelation I asked God to help me. I knew I needed His power to change. I still struggle with lying but there has been a change. I am still working at it. I want my words to count in eternity. I want to be established forever and not just for a season. I don’t want to play with my words because they really do have power!!
Let us desire to speak the truth even if it hurts. As we do that we are being established.
Another reason we must speak the truth is because God hates lying lips. Proverbs 12:22 says:

Lying lips are extremely disgusting and hateful to the Lord, but they who deal faithfully are His delight.

“Lying lips are extremely disgusting and hateful”. Those are very strong words but as sons and daughters of God we need to have the same view of lying lips. We should come to a place where we are disgusted by it and we totally hate it. We should be disgusted at lying and hate lying not just in other people but in ourselves to!!!

As I end I would like to ask you a question. Have your words got Ever-lasting power? Are you establishing things forever or are things breaking down in your life because you are not speaking the truth?
Let us ask for God’s help in this matter…..
Amen.

Rolain.P