Absence

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder.  Who says that I don’t know but I wonder does that work the same with God?  We all get into those seasons or ruts where we are not as close to God as we would like.  Not as intimate and in some cases we almost can’t seem to hear Him.  When you miss time with God does that bug you?  When you miss time with God does it create a hunger in you to get back to Him to hear from Him?  I hope it does.  I hope that the season you may be going through or will go through does not cause you to separate from Him for too long.  He loves you and has so much He wants to share with you if only you chose to return to Him and stop and listen.

From Within Our Hearts

Thinking back to my life group last week I keep thinking about his statement, “We associate guilt with church.”  Wow how true that is but it’s all representative of our heart.  In the New Testament Jesus did not leverage guilt to get others to do what he wanted.  I’m sure he would have been great at that but Jesus consistently modeled kindness that led to repentance.  Below are a couple key points about guilt.

• Guilt says I owe you an apology.
• Guilt is like a weight or a burden.
• The weight that I pick up from my past I carry into my future.
• It’s almost impossible to please someone who is carrying guilt.
• Guilt eats at the heart and it grows in the darkness but is destroyed in the light.
• Confession breaks the power of guilt.
• Confession eliminates years of guilt.

You will never be able to forgive yourself until you ask for forgiveness from the one who you offended.  Take the first step towards spiritual maturity and health and forgive.  You’ll be glad you did it.

It Came From Within

Our life group started going through It Came From Within by Andy Stanley last night and I was challenged by the verse in Matthew 12:34 that says, “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” Really?  That’s not good to hear because if I’m honest I have become a master at using “filters” in my life and I have become a master of behavior modification.  When something happens that comes out of my mouth and I correct it, do I do so because I honestly feel true remorse for it or do I correct it out of fear of my reputation and image?  See if I was to be honest I think it would be more out of fear of what others think than what God thinks.  Sad isn’t it?  Can you relate?  How do we change that?  I think part of the journey is simply being aware that we do that.  I grew up in church most of my life being taught that if I did this or that, I would be looked at as a good “Christian” but the truth is I was never taught to find out what was at the root of the issues, Jesus would say that it is a heart issue.  No matter how hard I try to blame my environment or upbring, I must come to the realization that I have sin in my life and my heart is dirty and wicked.

I would love feedback on this as I am on this journey that I didn’t know that I was all of a sudden.  I really do want my heart changed instead of adding filters and modifying my behavior.

I love my life group and the journey we take together.  I love being challenged by them.  As someone who spends a majority of their life pouring into others it is great to be poured into and challenged by my life group.  If your not in a life group, you are missing out!