My Journey 7/10 - 7/12/2010

God's insight to me:

Max Lucado's devotional goes very well with Chuck Swindolls. Both speak of the heart. As I was reading Max Lucado's the words "if only" came to mind. If you are a Christian just stop for a moment and think if all the non-believers had Christ in their hearts for one day. Wow! I can only speak for myself but if they feel like I do they would not want to go back to the old life.

I remember the radio just as Chuck Swindoll describes it in his devotional. Last month as I was presenting the Seeds of Youth program I mentioned, it just as he was describing it, to the various shut-ins that the God's Love Outreach Ministry ministers to. I wonder how the kids today could ever envision being without a TV, but I remember it. I love how this devotional mentions the heart. To me it is the most important organ in the body. As Chuck Swindoll wrote about, we don't know what is on the heart of each person. A lot of times I am asked, "how are you doing"?, and I reply "good", when in fact I am having some trouble in my life. Many Christians in church on Sunday may seem to be like they are worshiping God, but their minds are truly not on Him but their own problems. The church is a good place to be when that is happening. But just like Mr. Swindoll points out God is very aware of our heart's situation. This is a poem the Lord blessed me with back in February of 2008;

The Heart

The heart is very interesting
its job is so immense,
for it to fail is not an option
through days that are intense.

It also holds emotions
those good and also that are bad.
It has to work so much harder
on the days we feel very mad.

Of all the places in us
that God chose from above,
He chose the heart for His Spirit to live
and work through Christ’s precious love.

So when you’re feeling troubled
in your heart His Spirit seek,
and listen very carefully
to the Word that He does speak.

But if we do not listen
from the heart what the Spirit has to say,
we find the heart gets very exhausted
just to make it through the day.

E. P. Shagott
2/9/2008

As I read A. B. Simpson's devotional the Lord touched my heart with turning it into a daily prayer. How awesome it turned out. After reading it, you may want to also use it to begin your day;

My Daily Prayer

May this day we be with You Lord. May we seek it’s plan and direction from You. May we take Your highest thought and will for us in it. May we always look to You for our desires, ideals, expectations in it. May You be our Guide and Way. May we always be thinking of You as our Personal Guide of every moment, on whom we constantly depend to lead our every step.

May You Lord also be the sufficiency and strength of all the day. Let us never forget the secret: "I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me." Let us have You Lord in us to do the works, and let us every moment fall back on You, both to will and do in us of Your good pleasure.

Let our holiness be "the law of the spirit of Your life." Let our health be the "Your life manifest in our mortal flesh." Let our faith be "the faith of the Son of God who loved us." Let our peace and joy be Your peace and joy. And let our service be not our works, but of Your grace within us.

Jesus we pray this in Your precious name,
Amen

From God's heart, to mine, to yours,
Ed Shagott
*************************************************
July 10

A New Heart
By Max Lucado

“You were taught to be made new in your hearts, to become a new person.” Ephesians 4:23

What if, for one day and one night, Jesus lives your life with his heart? Your heart gets the day off, and your life is led by the heart of the Christ. His priorities govern your actions. His passions drive your decisions. His love directs your behavior . . .

Would people notice a change? Would you still do what you had planned to do for the next twenty-four hours?

*************************************************
July 11
Devotional by A. B. Simpson

"For it is God which worketh in you" (Phil. ii. 13).

A day with Jesus. Let us seek its plan and direction from Him. Let us take His highest thought and will for us in it. Let us look to Him for our desires, ideals, expectations in it. Then shall it bring to us exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think. Let Him be our Guide and Way. Let us not so much be thinking even of His plan and way as of Him as the Personal Guide of every moment, on whom we constantly depend to lead our every step.

Let Him also be the sufficiency and strength of all the day. Let us never forget the secret: "I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me." Let us have Jesus Christ Himself in us to do the works, and let us every moment fall back on Him, both to will and do in us of His good pleasure.

Let our holiness be "the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus." Let our health be the "life of Jesus manifest in our mortal flesh." Let our faith be "the faith of the Son of God who loved us." Let our peace and joy be His peace and joy. And let our service be not our works, but the grace of Christ within us.

*************************************************
July 11-12

Who, Indeed, Knows?
by Charles R. Swindoll

Psalm 139

I grew up in the heyday of radio. (Fact is, I didn't even see a television set until I was a teenager.) If we got our homework done, we could listen to various weeknight radio shows. Remember that spooky line the announcer always gave just before The Shadow came on: "Who knows what evil l-l-lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!" Then there would be a blood-curdling laugh, which faded away into the distance. I always liked all the lights on when we listened to that program.

Many years have passed since those simple and innocent days of my childhood, but that single line remains a haunting question to this day: Who, indeed, knows what wickedness lurks in the hearts of men and women?

We think we do. But how wrong we usually are. The heart houses secrets we can never see. People are awfully good at cover-up. Smiling masks often camouflage breaking hearts. About the time we think we've got somebody figured out, we're stunned to discover how much was hidden from view. Lurking in many a life is pain beyond belief.

In our world of superficial talk and casual relationships, it is easy to forget that a smile doesn't necessarily mean "I'm happy" and the courteous answer "I'm fine" may not be at all truthful. Just because it's Christmas, we can't assume everybody's merry. Even the closest family members can be blindly unaware of each other's pain.

I'm not suggesting that everyone is an emotional time bomb or that masks are worn by all who seem to be enjoying life. But I've lived long enough to know that many a heart hides agony while the face reflects ecstasy.

There is Someone, however, who fully knows what lurks in our hearts. And knowing, He never laughs mockingly and fades away. He never shrugs and walks away. Instead, He understands completely and stays near.

Who, indeed, knows? Our God, alone, knows. He sympathizes with our weaknesses and forgives all our transgressions. To Him there are no secret struggles or silent cries. He hears. He sees. He stays near. He accepts us and loves us unconditionally. He is "the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort."

He who loves us most knows us best. He who knows us best cares the most.