Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Quiet Reflections: Undone




From a Mother's Heart to her Daughters....






Dear girls, I want you think about a word and what it means. That word is "undone".

What does it mean to you? Your first thought?

Did you think of a hair bow and how it can become undone? A shoelace? Your hair? Typically our thoughts go to something that was completed that is suddenly back to its original state. Right?

A bank account can be like that. You deposit your check and that amount becomes "undone" as you spend the money.

You spend an hour cleaning your room and within 5 minutes of having friends over it becomes "undone".

Your gas tank works the same way, right? You fill it up and eventually it becomes "undone" again.

There are some things that cannot become "undone"....your homework? The words you say? Going against a rule? Or a moral value?

To be "undone"...is it a good thing or a bad thing? Can choices we make in life change us beyond the ability to be who we were intended to be? Can our mistakes chain us down and debilitate us? Is that what makes us "undone" or is there something else more powerful to being "undone"?

Listen to this song...



Can I encourage you to look at being "undone" in a different view? A worthy view? A spiritual view? Can I implore you to consider that the best thing we could do is to be "undone" for God? Isaiah from the Bible had an opportunity to taste heaven and to see God and when he came back to his reality on earth, look how he responded....

Then said I, Woe is me! For I am undone and ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts! ~ Isaiah 6:5

That small glimpse of eternity broke him to his core. He realized how selfish his life had been and he was a man of God, someone spiritually strong like our pastors. If he was shamed with his life after seeing heaven, where does that leave you and me?

OUCH.....

Dare I call you and myself to live a life "undone", focusing on the eternal over the here and now while on this earth? Can we live "undone" from the chains of our past mistakes and live for God? Can we live "ruined" by the worlds standards but "undone" for eternities standards?

Oh girls, we so need to live "undone"..."ruined". We should live as if we believe Isaiah 53:5
But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.

Does your life demonstrate you understand the journey of Calvary and the Cross? Is He worth being "undone" for? Is He worth being "ruined" for?
 
He must increase, but I must decrease.  ~ John 3:30

Lets live this out together...for our God. I love you!
 






Sunday, April 14, 2013

Quiet Reflections: From Your Heart Comes....






Letters From a Mothers Heart to her Daughters....






Hey girls, we had a situation this week in which one of you made a comment that you could not see as an inappropriate response to another person's joy. No matter how much I tried to explain the wrong, you couldn't...or wouldn't...see it. Then, literally within hours of our conversation I saw this on Pinterest:
 
Think about it. How many times do we speak without thinking? And when we do that how many times do we ask our self why we responded in that manner? I challenge you to look closely at your heart next time this happens and examine your emotions to your response.

Too often we do not want to admit we can have some raw and even ugly emotions or feelings  buried deep within our inner being. If we don't face those emotions or feelings for what they are, they will come out in one form or another.  It may be in words. It may be in a gesture. It may be evident in what we don't do or how we don't respond.

Look at Luke 6:45 as it was written:
 
"A good man produces good out of the good storeroom of his heart. An evil man produces evil out of the evil storeroom, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart."  ~ Luke 6:45 (HCSB)
If your emotions and feelings for that person who gets under your skin isn't dealt with, you most like will say or do something that will cause pain on that person.

If you cannot forgive someone or a situation where you have been hurt, your response to something related to that person or situation will most likely reveal your heart in it.

How can you hold a grudge on someone and have a good heart? How can you live with unforgiveness in your heart and live with a good heart? Good and bad cannot unite or live in harmony. You have to choose which one you want to have in your life.

Even if life has been unfair, if you have been mistreated or wrongfully accused, you have to guard your heart and your mind from the bad within it. The easiest way to do that is to match it with truth. The best truth you can find for any wrong can be found in Scripture (*). Such as...

You say: I feel worthless...
God says: You are precious and loved by Me
 You are precious and are honored in my sight, and...I love you. (Isa 43:4)

You say: Everyone is against me...
God says: I am for you!
If God is for us, who can ever be against us? (Rom 8:31)
 
You say: I just want to quit...
God says: Be strong and do the work!
 Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. (1 Chron 28:20)
 

 You say: I'm nothing special...
God Says: You are a masterpiece.
For [you] are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Eph 2:10)

 You say: I feel so ugly...
God says: I think you're beautiful.
The king [is] enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord. (Ps 45:11)

You say: I'll never change...
God says: I am transforming you.
So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. (2 Cor 3:18)

You say: My life is too hard...
God says: Let Me help you.
When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. (Ps. 91:15)

You say: I can't figure things out...
God says: I will direct your steps.
 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.(Prov. 3:5-6)

You Say: I feel so alone...
God says: I will never leave you or forsake you.
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. (Deut 31:6)

You say: I can't forgive myself...
God says: I forgive you.
God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong. (1 John 1:9)


What we hold in our heart effects what we say, how we react or don't react, and how we feel about ourselves. Guard your heart with God's word and you will have so many less struggles than your mother had. I love you.







* You say/God says taken from Renee Swope's book "A Confident Heart"