A New Heart

the last time i checked,

GOD was in control.

but then, i made a move.
it wasn't a good move.

it was something that came from out of nowhere.

or, maybe...
somewhere down below.

deep down within my soul.

somewhere hidden, and foul (quite frankly).

so now what?

do i hand it back?

do i turn around?

what do i do?

Lord, can You help me?

will You help me?

control is not good in my hands.

 

my hands aren't wise.

my heart isn't pure.

will You make me new?

His response.....

"I will give (you) an undivided heart and put a new spirit in (you);

I will remove (your) heart of stone and give (you) a heart of flesh. 

Then (you) will follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws. 

(You) will be my people, and I will be (your) God." 

~ezekiel 11:19-20

By way of reminder, the Lord responds to me, restoring my heart and mind as I call out to Him.  That undivided heart and new spirit was given to me on the day I gave in to His call to love Him completely.  To trust Him with my life. (the same is true for you!)  My heart of stone was changed to a heart of flesh.  A heart that was set free to love and to be loved.  "Now go," He says, "and sin no more." (John 8:11)

Eternity

He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men… -Ecclesiastes 3:11

She was a really strange lady. I was 18, and working in a department store. She would come into the sportswear department looking for clothing of white linen. All white. All linen. She said it was the only thing she could wear because it was what God wanted (or something like that.) I don't think she ever really tried to convert us, but something in her eyes made us feel like she thought we should join her. I remember the girl I worked with once asked me what I thought of her. I thought she was a nice enough lady. My co-worker asked me if I believed what she said was true (about God.) I remember I shrugged her off saying, "I believe *she* believes it."

Hope

Hope is being broken beyond repair,

and knowing that even so, the Lord will make you whole.

Hope is being so wounded that you can't imagine living life again,

yet you live beyond that moment.

Hope is being lost, and you take a step in the direction of faith.

Hope is hoping beyond any shred of hope that God is God and He will prevail

...and He does.

Without hope, we die.

Even those who are at the end of hope, still have it.

It is hope that helps us to move forward, and ultimately experience the reward of faith.

Faith, hope and love...

and the greatest of these is love.

Lord, help me to trust in Your unfailing love.

Amen.

Meant to be Broken

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted…  -Isaiah 61:1

"Everything's meant to be broken."  A teen guy had posted that on his mySpace.

When I saw it, I felt sad.  Like something bad had happened.  Then I wondered, "Is that true?... Is everything meant to be broken?"

Silly Girl

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. -1Corinthians 13:13

Many years ago, I was talking on the phone with a guy I knew. (That's when phones were connected to the wall!) I was a very young woman, and I'd spent my teen-age years trying to fill an emptiness in my heart with this or that guy. No matter how far I went, nothing seemed to really work out. While I was on the phone, I flipped open a Bible my grandpa had given me, and started reading…