Encouragement grounded in Scripture
Rooted in truth. Anchored in Christ.
New reflections weekly.
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Promises of God: A New Heart
And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. Ezekiel 36:26-27
The heart. One tiny organ with a very large job-to pump blood and provide oxygen to the other major organs of the body. It’s one of the smallest organs that carries the toughest load. Any problem with it can cause a number of physical problems.
I’ve learned lessons about the heart in the last several years that I didn’t think I would have to learn. Like-did you know the heart has an electrical system? This system controls how the heart beats, and any malfunction in this system can cause a number of issues. Too many beats can even lead to death.
When our heart is not functioning physically, we do what we can to fix it. To repair it. We change our lifestyles. We change our routine. We listen to the experts who are equipped to take care of and maintain the healthy function of our hearts.
That small organ with such a large job, also houses more than blood pumping chambers and electrically timed beats.
It is also the holding center for the effects of our emotions. When we feel joy, happiness, and connection our heart is also happy. But when we feel sad, lonely, angry, or anxious the heart rate quickens, it works harder, and its health begins to deteriorate.
It’s the same with the spiritual health of our hearts. If we hold onto anger and bitterness, unforgiveness, and unhealthy lifestyles-our heart is not open to the amazing experiences God has for us.
He knows how important the heart is, and He wants to give us a new one.
God wants to clean up that system in our body, heart, and mind that is pumping in evil thoughts and behaviors. Spewing out harsh words. Filling us up with bitterness.
When we seek God to remove the hurt and pain that lives there. When we seek God to help us forgive others. When we seek God to change our lifestyles just as we do with our physical health, He delivers. He cleans up all the malfunctions of our hurting, cold, and bitter heart; and He begins to pump love, compassion, tenderness, and mercy through it.
Is it time to take your spiritual heart health as serious as you take your physical heart health? If so, God has the answer to your heart troubles, and He is ready to give you a new one that beats like His.
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Promises of God: A Family
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:4-5
When we go to work, we likely build connections with others during our day to day interactions. This is the place where we spend a lot of our time. At least 8 hours of our day, more than likely 5 days a week. We may spend more time with our co-workers than the family we have at home. We may even crave this connection and time away from the demands of parenting. We share big moments, trials, triumphs. These people become like our family.
But what happens if you don’t have that? If you, on a daily basis, don’t have this family-like connection with others in your workplace?
Prior to COVID, my day to day role as a mental health professional placed me in a local school setting throughout the year. This was my “placement” and my assignment for the entire school year, or longer if I desired. I spent each day in the buildings I was placed with the staff and students. I become part of their daily lives. I was connected. Part of each individual school family, even if my name badge indicated I worked for an outside agency. I had a work family.
It has been 2 years since COVID shut down schools for the better part of over a year. These days I shuffle back and forth between 5 different spaces during the week. Some on the same day. Most days I appear as a random face who is popping into a building for a couple hours a day, once a week. I don’t know most of the people. Don’t even know their names. Certain they don’t know mine either. My work family now consists of people across phone lines in another region most days, and I feel disconnected from the many places in which I spend my day. Like I don’t belong. Like I am still searching for my family.
The second scenario is how many of us go through life. Feeling distant from others. Shuffling from place to place, trying to find a spot where we belong. A place that makes us feel like we are connected. Loved. Wanted. A family.
But to all who believed in him and accepted him, he gave the right to be called, children of God. John 1:12
When we seek God, repent, and accept His grace, we become part of His family. We are no longer disconnected because we are now connected with our Father. And with that connection comes all the perks of being part of a family. We have someone to comfort us in times of sorrow, to share in our joy. And we become united with other brothers and sisters within His church. Working together to fulfill one mission. We no longer have to feel as if we don’t belong, or are just wandering from place to place. We have finally found a home. A family. With Him.
If you are still wandering from place to place today, desperately looking for a connection. A family, some place to call home-why not call on God? He promises to adopt you as His own, and He doesn’t care what company is listed on your name badge. He desires that you be part of His family. He has a place waiting just for you.
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His Love Letter
This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. 1 John 3:16, MSG
We are ending our monthly exploration of the ways in which God expresses true love, and the ways in which He desires we go out and love on others. That we have learned it is far more than receiving gifts, flowers, sweet nothings whispered to us, and seeking this love from a person. That it is a sacrifice we offer, even when we often don’t feel like it; to those we don’t often like.
Speaking of those we don’t like, I recently had a conversation with my husband. It was after I had kept something that was hurting me to myself for a while. I was disappointed by a relationship. By someone I thought was close. Wouldn’t leave. Was there for me one day, and gone without any explanation the next. It hurt me. It left me wondering what I did wrong. Left me doubting myself. My worth. And I remember in this conversation fighting back tears, though it didn’t take long for them to flow, asking him, “What is it about me? Why are others just so mean to me? I know I do things that are annoying, and I know I have made grave mistakes, but why do I get treated like such dirt?”
This is the human experience of love at times. Or the worldly love we have come to know. The kind we just toss away when it disappoints or we find a shinier, better version. We cut off, or we speak hurtful words. Love should not hurt. Yes, we sacrifice; and sometimes we do things we don’t really want to do for the ones we love; but we don’t hurt those we love. We sacrifice our feelings for them. We put aside our agendas for them. We are willing to leave them better than we found them, even if we have to leave them. If we don’t do these things-we don’t have love. And yes, love disappears. It can even disappear from the person who freely gave it you, leaving them wondering if they are worthy.
I heard this song recently, and I am sharing it as I believe it concludes this month’s exploration; and moves into the next month appropriately. While in love, we may desire letters. Well-crafted words that express feelings of affection; which most of the time we don’t likely receive.
But, we have one. We have a love letter. It’s from God, and I imagine the love letter I would receive back from Him would sound much like it does in this song, especially on those days when I cry out like the artist does to Him-trying to make others proud, seeking approval, coming up empty, feeling worthless, and wanting to just give up. Proving that I need Him more and more.
My desire for you today is that you do love like He loves you. Not in the ways others have disappointed you. That you leave others better than you found them, not the way they left you. All these things are written in your love letter. He will show you how. Just read it when you feel like giving up.
I do not own the rights to this music or video.
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March Scripture Study
March.
Some celebrate St. Patty’s Day, and focus on luck and blessings such as worldly possessions, but God promises us a number of blessings that have nothing to do with what we can obtain with wealth or through sheer luck.Follow along with me as we read His Word, and focus on some of these promises during the month of March.
Link to printable below!
Also, sign-up to receive a daily reflection on each of these verses right in your email inbox, as well as exclusive access to April’s Scripture Study Calendar. Both are only available on the blog or via email subscription!
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We Give Because He Gave All
If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? 1 John 3:17
I have the opportunity each month to mentor a few teen girls. While it is part of my role as a mental health provider to also provide some form of group counseling, the challenges of COVID means that the organization for which I work has had to be creative with how we provide this service over the course of the pandemic. As a result, many group counseling sessions take place outdoors or in the local community; at local parks or nature trails.
It was during one of these park activities that the discussion of homelessness came up. There was a homeless man walking along the edge of the street close to the complex where two of the girls lived. They talked about how they had given him money in the past, and one of the girls asked why he couldn’t just get a job. I told them why some of the population may not work, why I don’t give out money, but will stop and provide a drive thru meal, asking them if there was something left we could give that day. With excitement, they all noted we had an extra hot chocolate, and some left over snacks. “Let’s stop on the way back and give them to him!”
And so we did. I made it clear it didn’t matter whether he accepted what we gave, but that we gave what we had in abundance, cheerfully.
Jesus was clear many times throughout his ministry about giving, especially to those in need. In fact, he mentions in Matthew 25:35-40 how giving to the “least of these,” is like giving to Jesus himself:
For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me. “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
We are called to give as Jesus gave, and He gave it all. We are called to love as Jesus loved. And he loved enough to die so we could have life. If we profess to love Jesus, we must be willing to give to others as a testament of that love. Not just to those we like. Not just to those that look like us. Not just to those in our inner circle, or those that believe what we believe.
To the hungry. To the thirsty. To the stranger. To the naked. To the sick. To the prisoner. As if they were Jesus.
We give in this way to the “least,” remembering we were once the “least,” and he gave to us first. We give because he loves, and we want others to know this love.
We don’t question who deserves it, we just give.
About Me
I am January! Wife, mother, meemaw, pastor, and mental health provider who makes it through the day with my coffee, my journal, and my God. A simple human, navigating life through the messy and sometimes chaotic. All focused on Him.
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Grace 'n Grounds 