God is > Our Hearts: How NOT to be emotionally driven

God is greater than our hearts. he should be at the center of all we do if we claim to belong to Him. I learned this the hard way.

When I first started dating, I was consistently led by my emotions. He was cute. I was cute. We would make a cute couple. We could get married, make cute babies, have lots of grandchildren, etc.. My heart would lead me down this whole trail of possibilities without caring about if it was the Lord's will for my life or not. Add hormones and you have a set-up for disaster!

During one relationship prior to marriage, I was so emotionally attached that I lost hours and hours of sleep waiting for this guy to call me. Then I would fall asleep on him because I was afraid that I would miss something he said. Everyday was spent obsessing over our next date, next phone call or text message. I couldn't concentrate. I didn't read my bible daily anymore and if I did, I would cut it short because my mind and my heart belonged to this guy who didn't even end up being "The One". He wanted me in bed in his mom's basement - seriously! I was so clueless, and heartbroken too. Smh...When I met Maurice, I was tempted to go down that same road, but I purposefully prayed throughout that relationship. It also helped that he was a praying man too and was looking for a wife, not a toy!

We may find ourselves wrapped up in something else emotionally too like in a tv show or a book. We may be spending too much of our energy becoming emotionally invested in shopping, activities or parties. When we start wishing that we could stop, we have probably gone too far from our center. Our emotions and desires can be deceptive and cause us to be led away from God's best for us. The enemy knows how to manipulate your desires in a way that is distorted and pulls us apart from the narrow road. So the closer we are to God, the better.

The solution is to stay close to God and to keep Him central to your whole life! We have all had that experience of feeling so close to God after a church service or worship experience, only to have that joy stolen the next day. Do not let the enemy make you feel guilty for needing God regularly. You may need to pray daily, hourly or moment-by-moment. That is why the bible says to "pray without ceasing". (1 Thessalonians 5:17, KJV)  We need to. We ought to.

Keeping God central is not just putting Him first then doing whatever we want. 

It is seeking Him first, next, during and after. If you cannot find a place for God in whatever activity that you find yourself doing, is it really worth it? He demands our whole lives, not just the parts that we are willing to hand over today. That is why God's relationship to us is compare to marriage. (Ephesians 5:25-27, KJV) You surrender your body to your spouse and they do the same. You are no longer two, but one.

It may look like asking God if it is His will for you to stay at your current job, then waiting for a response. Then the Lord may direct you to look around at other opportunities. Then you keep praying for clarification and clear discernment of His will. A certain position may seem great to you, but you do not move until you know for sure that the Lord has opened that door for you. You pray again. You ask for the job in faith, but you are willing to not pursue it if God says the same. Then you apply and get an offer. You pray again before saying yes. You wait in faith and then say yes!

You see the process? Your heart has desires, but it is deceitfully wicked. (Jeremiah 17:9, KJV) Without constant prayer we could be easily led astray, like a dumb sheep. Make God your GPS, not your emotions.

Let's not live our lives in regret. God is greater than our hearts. Do not be emotionally driven. Your heart is safe with Him!

Hardening Hard Hearts

Bitterness. Unforgiveness. Holding a grudge. Sin. All of these kinds of things harden our hearts. They stiffen us and build walls to keep people (and God) out. The enemy knows that if he can close you in and get you centered in on yourself, that you will implode. We are made like a filter - emotionally speaking. We need to be able to cycle through our emotions in a healthy way. There are good days and bad days and those who follow Jesus need to learn to appropriate every feeling we have.

The bible warns us to stay repentant and to remain in a place where we can be convicted by the Holy Spirit. If not, the hardening remains. Like a heart with vessels hardened by cholesterol, sin makes it difficult to feel for others and especially from God and then you die. The blood is there for your healing, but it cannot move to help. We only harden what is already hard when we stop the flow of the Holy Spirit.

What you have been eating is now eating you.

The Word of God needs to land on soft soil for growth in order to produce change in your life. Mark 4:16-17 talks about letting seeds fall on different kinds of ground. We could think of the status of our hearts in that way. Some of us are rocky and nothing will grow there. Some are thorny and allow the cares of this world to choke out anything good. Some seed falls on good ground. Those hearts are a good environment. They have been uprooted from the stuff holding them down and have allowed the Lord to cut out things that hinder their growth.

The fruit of gentleness is a product of allowing the Holy Spirit to convict and reform our hearts. When we are tempted to lash out at our spouse or to steal or gossip, the Lord will make you sensitive to the Word that has already been planted in your heart. The guilt that we feel is a sign that the fruit of gentleness has been planted. When we no longer have guilt, our hearts are too hard. God is knocking at the door of our hearts, but we cannot even hear Him anymore. The heart vessels are clogged. We cannot forgive. We can't let it go. We are unable to sense the Holy Spirit moving.

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.... (Romans 1:27-28).

The Bible warns us of having these reprobate minds. We don't even want to hear from God once we reach a certain plateau. Don't let your heart go there. Don't wander to far away from the Lord because the wider that divide is, the harder it will be to get back to a soft heart. Think of it as a hard-boiled egg. It can't be soft again because it has been boiled. However, God is the God of do-overs and second chances. He can do it!

So how do we make a change? 

1. Return to your first love. Exchange your sin and bitterness and pride for His forgiveness, grace and hope. Sometimes it takes a while to identify all the things that have stunted your growth for so long. As the Lord to reveal even the hidden things that you hide from yourself. He is waiting to embrace us. Always.

2. Repent. God is holy. He is ready and willing to forgive you of what you have not even forgiven yourself of but we must acknowledge that we cannot do it alone. You will only harden a hard heart if you don't.

3. Plant. What God has removed from your heart is not an open space to re-introduce it. Tell the devil that he has NO PLACE any longer and he is completely evicted. Then you must quicky fill your heart with the Word of God. His promises and affirmations will sustain you and grow the fruit of gentleness where bitterness once resided.

Softening a hard heart is not easy, but it is necessary for growth in all of our relationships.

The Heart of It

This past Sunday there was no post. Why? I was "under the weather". We actually had great weather, but I could not experience it due to a bug that has me dizzy, nauseated and having body aches. I went to the urgent care center to identify the source of my illness. Unfortunately, I was sent home with a drug for only one of my symptoms. No cure. No answers as far as cause, just medicine to prevent one of my symptoms. I took the antivert for my dizziness and found that I could not fully awake the next morning. Anyone who knows me even a little knows that I am an early bird. I get up before my family to put God first so He can order my day. But, I could not even bring myself to open my eyes or move my body. I later (after waking up fully) realized that the medication has a side effect - drowsiness, as they say. It's more like semi-coma-ness for me. So the answer to my problem only gave me another problem or did it?

This is how life is when we are not fully committed to the One who gives us purpose. We are all sick and in need of the Great Physician's care (see the Dialysis Gospel blogpost). When we come to him, we expect a cure not a band-aid. What I have come too realize however, is that like any GOOD doctor does not look at what we look at. He searches for the source of the ailment. We are usually diagnosed with something that was preventable, not sick from what we think. Usually, it is what is inside that affects the outside. Jesus spoke of this in Matthew 15.

10 And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 11 kNot that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. 12 Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? 13 But he answered and said,lEvery plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 14 Let them alone: mthey be blind leaders of the blind. And nif the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. 15 Then answered oPeter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. 16 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? 17 pDo not ye yet understand, thatqwhatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 18 But rthose things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile sthe man. 19 For tout of the heart proceed uevil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat xwith unwashen hands defileth not a man.

Our hearts are defiled. This is the root of sickness and sin. That attitude, that unforgiveness, those lies...these are symptoms that point to the heart.

So by putting me on a medication to treat one of my symptoms, its side effect resolved my need for rest (because it put me to sleep). Sleep increases the function of the immune system thereby helping my body to fight against infections that can cause symptoms like dizziness, nausea and body aches. Sometimes, I get too busy and stressed and the Lord uses illness (among other things) to get my attention and to keep me centered on what is most important.

Has God ever answered your question with a question? I know what the answer will always be - "For my Glory". Why is my husband like that? - To test you, for my glory. How come I cannot overcome this issue? - For a testimony, for my glory. Why won't you heal me? - So you can comfort others, for my glory.

It is for your glory alone Lord that I live my life. As I lay here and rest in your loving care, I will trust you with all my heart <3