Tag: womensministry

What’s in YOUR Heart?

 

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And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them.
And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh.
-Ezekiel 11:19

Our Heart, the Deepest Place

Anyone who’s taken even freshman biology can probably remember what’s in our hearts: mostly blood, muscle, chambers, and valves. But the heart is also a euphemism for the place where our innermost man lives. It’s the seat of our emotions and the chamber of our most secret desires. The Hebrew word for heart in the Old Testament also denotes the deepest place inside us, the room we rarely reveal to others.

It’s the place we rarely unveil even to ourselves.

The things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.
-Matthew 15:18-19

The heart is the real us. That can be frightening if we’re honest enough to take a good look inside. It’s so scary we often craft a careful wall of excuses and religious piety to cover our real motives. We may fool ourselves and others, but there is One from whom we can never hide.

The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?
I, the LORD, search the heart.
-Jeremiah 17:9-10

It’s a sobering thing to know God searches my heart. I know what’s in there. I don’t even like me when I look inside. It is beyond me that God, knowing what my heart clutches within its walls, still pursues me to gain that fickle devil for His own. He knows the state of my inner man, and He wants me anyway.

For God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance,
but the LORD looks at the heart.
– 1 Samuel 16:7

Throughout history, God has always reached for the heart of His creation. The Bible tells us:

For God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.
– 1 Samuel 16:7

God wants our whole hearts – dirt, pain, and all. He loves us, not for what we give or do, but for what we are to Him. When we respond to this love and surrender to Him, He goes to work. He alone can cleanse, purify, and restore us.

It’s this work that changes from the inside out. It’s not about reforming ourselves. That will never happen. It it were about doing everything right, none of us could stand.

Even God’s beloved King David committed two terrible sins: adultery and murder. Although he was severely disciplined for his actions, God later called him a man after His own heart.

How could that be?

With All Your Heart

David was flawed, to be sure. But he ran after God with all that within him. When he fell, he cried out for forgiveness. He sought to be reconciled to God. He surrendered his life to his King.

Jesus told humanity:

YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD GOD WITH ALL YOUR
HEART,
AND WITH ALL YOUR
SOUL,
AND WITH ALL YOUR
MIND.
This is the great and foremost commandment.
-Matthew 22:37-38

This is the great commandment. If we love Him with all that is within us, He will do the rest.

Although David couldn’t trust his own heart, he could entrust it to a faithful Father. David came to understand this one thing: It’s about what’s in our hearts.

It’s about what’s in His.

Salmon Valley Celebration

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Be hospitable to one another without complaint. – 1 Peter 4:9

Our destination was the town of Salmon, in southern Idaho. We started from our home in northern Idaho. We drove west for several hours up the Clearwater River and over the winding Lolo Pass.

That put us in Montana.

Then we drove several more hours south along the craggy Bitterroot Mountains. At the top of Lost Trail Pass, several inches of snow greeted us. Down the other side of the valley, we followed a meandering river through lovely groves of golden trees and hills scarred by some recent fire.

That put us back in Idaho.

Such are the rigors of travel in the Inland Northwest. People in our neck of the woods are used to traveling long distances between towns. Much of Idaho is still wild, forged of mountains and valleys largely unscathed by the insult of a four-lane highway. Or anything resembling a highway.

The drive, though slow, was glorious. My long-suffering son Daniel offered to drive me to the town of Salmon to speak to the ladies of the Salmon Valley Baptist Church and their guests on October 11. Dan and I took the opportunity to talk and enjoy the panoramic views of the Lochsa River country.

For caregivers, even a drive is a gift.

In Salmon, I had the chance to reconnect with Ron and Connie Seibert, the couple who led my husband and me to the Lord nearly forty years ago. As pastor of the Southern Baptist church we attended, Ron baptized both of us in the faith. Ron and Connie discipled us through those first crucial years of walking with God. Connie and I recently found each other online and discovered our common love of writing.

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Ron and Connie Seibert

The ladies of the Salmon Valley Baptist Church were warm and welcoming; their hospitality rich; their hearts open. I was blessed to be there and reluctant to leave them so soon. God encouraged me to just “give them Jesus” as I prepared for the trip. I can tell you I received Jesus back with much love from my Southern Baptist sisters.

Thanks to all of you who prayed for the trip. Special thanks to Aaron and Grace for holding down the fort at home while I was gone. Thanks, Dan, for your generous heart!

Photos courtesy Dan Thorson

Fall Celebration

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 I’m honored to be invited to speak at the Salmon Valley Baptist church on October 11, at 6:00 p.m. The occasion is a women’s ministry meeting and fall celebration. I also get to catch up with the lady responsible for leading me to the Lord nearly four decades ago. Connie Seibert and her husband, Pastor Ron Seibert were instrumental in discipling my family in the early years of our walk with Christ. Connie is now a fellow author.

It will be a pleasure to see them again. We have lots to share!

If you live in the Salmon Valley area, I’d love to meet you. Otherwise, your prayers are much appreciated for this evening as I share my heart with these lovely ladies.

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