Chad O on "Having a Heart"

"Have a Heart"

Psalm 37:4 "DELIGHT yourself in the Lord and He will give you the DESIRES of your heart."

Not long before "American Girl Dolls" became my daughter's interest, I remember my wife dragging me to a Build-A-Bear store in the mall. "Please, Mommy, Please" Mallory begged and in we went. Each time we went to the mall I noticed that the well-marketed store always motioned and drew my daughter in. Upon entering the store, Tania and Mallory started the process of creating a unique teddy.

First Mallory chose which type of teddy she wanted to adopt, complete with adoption papers. Her delight was in a soft tan hide. Next we filled the soon-to-be adorable creature with fluffy cotton that would give shape and substance to the chosen bear. Before they decided on the outfit the bear would wear, Mallory ever so carefully personally chose a satin red heart that she would place inside the forming creature. Before she laid the heart inside, she was instructed to hold the heart in her hand, close her eyes, make a wish, kiss and then lovingly place it within.

As I read this verse, I remembered this parenting memory of Mallory placing that little heart inside her bear and thought that maybe that's what God does with each of us. He has in mind the exact time we are to be given life, and carefully chooses each of us inside and out.
He puts His loving hands over our heart, He longs for us to one day connect with Him. His desire is for us to desire Him. When we do, he will give us all that we will ever long for, and that's something to cheer about.

Recall your favorite teddy bear or doll. Do you remember it's name and what made it so special to you.

Betrayed and Bitter by Jonathan Martin

Betrayal has to be one of the worst experiences.

When someone who is supposed to love you doesn't just neglect you but intentionally does something that harms you…that's the kind of wound that cuts deep.

I'm gonna be real with you:

My wife, Emily, and I have been talking over some things in our lives and how we deal with fear and hurt. During that process I've been sorting through how my natural response is to get bitter. Bitter and negative and cynical.

I've actually known this about myself for a while, but the Holy Spirit has me at a place in my life where I'm just seeing this sinful response in all new light and with new clarity.

Hebrews 12 encourages to throw off everything that weighs us down. That's how bitterness feels. It feels like a heavy weight.

If I've learned anything, it's that bitterness isn't helpful.  I need tools for dealing with life and relationships that won't weigh me down, but that will help me to continue running my race.

I have found no better place for life-giving tools than the Word of God.

Take Joseph's life for example. I'm going to assume that most of you are semi familiar with his story, but here are some key points:

- He was betrayed by family (brothers wanted to murder him, but sold him into slavery instead)  

- He was betrayed by his employer (employer threw him into jail after the employers wife lied) 

- He was betrayed by co-workers/friends (fellow prisoner forgot Joseph for many years and left him in prison) 

(If you want the full story you can read it in Genesis chapters 37-50)

Joseph's story is basically one wrong committed against him after another. The amazing thing is that Joseph, in the midst of it all, doesn't let himself get weighed down in bitterness. Instead, he runs his race diligently.

Here are somethings I learn from the life of Joseph.

1. He pressed on - he didn't give up on life, he continued forward in each new season

2. He worked hard with integrity and great character striving to be excellent in all that he did - he didn't just "press on," he really did everything with excellence which is why he continued to rise to the top no matter how low he was previously.

3. He used whatever God-given power he had to serve, both in the heights and the in the depths of his life/career. - Whether in prison or with empowered by Pharaoh himself, Joseph was constantly serving others.

4. He forgave - He let it go. He didn't hold-on to things.

5. He repaid good for evil - His life proved he had forgiven by saving and rescuing the very lives that sought to murder him years earlier. He comforted those that hurt him.

Listen to this amazing response of Joseph to his brothers in Genesis 50.

His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.”But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Bitterness doesn't equip me to do any of these things.

Bitterness doesn't equip me to repay good for evil. To run my race with diligence. To be excellent in all that I do.

Bitterness truly IS a poison for the one that holds it in their heart.

This is why Jesus encourages us in Matthew 5:43-48 to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

I'm convinced that EVERYTHING that Jesus commands He commands it not only because it's right, but also because it is for our benefit.

We don't love our enemies JUST because it's the right thing to do…it's also the better thing for us to do. It's the most life-giving thing for us to do. It's going to be the thing that will give us the most success in life.

Jesus came to give us abundant life NOW. Loving our enemies doesn't work against that, loving our enemies works towards giving us that abundant life. 

 Maybe you, like me, need to look more in the Word, look more to Jesus to give you tools for overcoming bitterness.

Jesus was like Joseph. He WAS murdered and betrayed…and He too offers salvation to those who have betrayed Him. (aka. everyone/you/me)

Jesus wasn't controlled by those that hated him…and He can empower you and I with the same kind of freedom.

He can empower you to return good for evil and in doing so you will be equipped to live life to it's fullest.

Naked and Scared by Brad Hodges

In the first marriage, everything started out very well.  In fact, Adam and Eve began "naked and unashamed."

Genesis 2:24-25 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.  The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

They started out with no barriers to intimacy.  There was no fear, no negative patterns, and what must have been an incredible and fun intimacy.  This ended when they sinned, and covered themselves.

Genesis 3:7-8 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves... and they hid from the LORD.

They hid from each other and they hid from God.  What had been great intimacy was shattered.  Adam's response:

Genesis 3:10 "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

At the core, we are all imperfect people who, like Adam and Eve, seek closeness and acceptance.  This desire for relationship was built in by God before sin even entered the picture.  But out of fear (a result of sin and the fall), we tend to cover ourselves and make barriers in our relationships. 

Relationships, especially marriages at times, are all to often not safe for intimacy.  We get afraid, and we let our fears impair our ability to love fully.  We cover up and the relationship in marriage suffers.  But scripture points to the antidote to such fear, LOVE.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear, ...

Put your love in action in such a way as to keep the avenues of intimacy open in marriage.  Work with God's strength and wisdom to overcome the tendency to build barriers in marriage.  God designed marriage for great blessing--oneness in all its mystery and promise!

Chad O on "Paying it Forward" - Part 2 of 2

"Paying It Forward - PART 2"
 
Philippians 1:6-11 is the passage we are in. Just like many of us today, Paul was in the middle of a crisis. His letter from prison has provided us with a prescription for follow-up called, "Paying it forward!"

1. In keeping with Paul's positive attitude, complete these sentences:
I feel PEACE when _________________________________________.
I feel JOY when ___________________________________________.
I am THANKFUL when ______________________________________.
I am CONFIDENT in ________________________________________.

2. Who do you know that needs words of encouragement today?

3. Take 5 minutes right now (yes, right now) and write this person an email or send them a note letting them know they are on your heart. Tell them what you are praying for them. (Use verses 3-11 as a model.) You may even include these verses in you note, substituting the person's name where any pronouns (you, your, etc.) may be.

4. Before jogging off to start your "to do list" for today, thank the Lord for your "positive emotions" listed in #1 of today's prescription for follow-up and pray specifically for the person you listed in #2 above.

And just in case you still haven't followed up with that note of encouragement, do it right now before you get distracted!

Chad O on "Paying it Forward" - Part 1 of 2

"Paying It Forward - PART 1"

 Philippians 1:6-11 (STOP! Read this so we can discuss it.)

Through a letter he has written to friends, Paul the Apostle shares words of encouragement with others, in spite of the fact that he is in the midst of his own crisis. Due to unfair circumstances (bogus indictment and consequent imprisonment), Paul has somehow found the secret of contentment no matter what his situation is.

Observations:
1. He recalls the good times in spite of his current hardship.
2. He looks for something for which to be thankful.
3. He connects with God by praying.
4. He prays for others needs even though he has overwhelming needs of his own.
5. He focuses on helping others instead of waiting on someone to do something to lessen his plight.
6. He speaks/writes positive words such as grace, peace, thanks, joy, instead of bringing others down to a level of gloom and depression.

We need more "Pauls" in the world today. We whine, we complain, we sulk, we want others to feel sorry for us and many time our conversations tear others down so that their attitude will join us in our pity. Oh I want to be like Paul. Tomorrow, we will work on an assignment together that might just change our little corners of the world.

Enjoy your day. Part 2 is coming soon...

Pondering and Meditating ?!?! by Matt Warren

I am on a journey through the Psalms right now . . . God is teaching me more and more about their power in the life of a Christian.  From Bonhoeffer, Spurgeon, Piper, and others I am discovering greater truths, greater strength, and greater intimacy with God.  In Psalm 77 we find an important revelation from Asaph, the writer of this Psalm.  He admits to great struggles in his life, and overwhelming sense discomfort.  In this moment he senses a great distance from God and wonders if the Lord will spurn him forever, even asking if His steadfast love has ceased (certainly these are rhetorical questions that we all ask when we experience aspects of disconnect, all the while knowing the answer - The Lord is always faithful.).

Then Asaph imparts an important tool, he teaches us to acquiesce to the will of God.  This is the meaning of verse 10.  We must accept our circumstances as those imparted by the will of God for us.  When this occurs we are more apt to acknowledge that the Lord is able to change this.  So we find not only solace or comfort from the power of our God, we discover Asaph acknowledging the God of wonders.

I am convinced most Christians arrive at this same location, but we don't often know what to do with the truth of this.  This is where Asaph so poignantly gives us a practical application.  He says that he ponder all of the Lord's work and he meditated on the Lord's mighty deeds.  The words here are interesting.  Ponder means to talk to one's self as if in the thinking process to not only consider but to speak the words out loud.  It was often used in relationship to the Word of God.  Meditate means to talk out loud regarding what was being considered.  But it is a different talking.  It is built around repentance focusing on the works of God, which declare his power and bring the soul into right position before him.

John Piper, teaching on this same Psalm said, ". . . the Word is our only hope to survive and come through our struggles with faith and hope."  So I am left with this "takeaway" - When life is overwhelming and when from my perspective things seem very bleak, I need to ponder the things of God - I must be in the Scriptures to find the reminders of His wonders and goodness.  Then I must reorient my thoughts and attitudes and consider a new perspective, His- and come to Him in worship that acknowledges His supremacy in all things.

Therefore, I need to be in His Word, pondering it, allowing it to divide me (Hebrews 4:12-15) and addressing life by spiritual songs, psalms and hymns (Ephesians 5:15-21), so that the meditations of my heart enable me to "be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might." (Ephesians 6:10ff.)