Archive for the 'Heart' Category

03
Oct

conceiving and building

By couch 1 Comment
Categories: Heart

“What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.” - Psalm 51:6 (MSG)

We all love it when our life in God is effortless, and we feel alive in His presence. Circumstances intertwine with new-found joy and peace and outflows communion with God. We are experiencing God and our partnership with Him feels tangible.

Then there is the opposite. Where did He go? Did I do something wrong? Even the most basic things in our life in Him seem arduous and devoid of His presence. We are restless, truth isn’t sitting well in us, and nothing comes as easy as in the previous days. The faucet is still turned on, but there’s nothing coming out anymore!

In seeking to know God, we often focus on His characteristics (His omniscience, meekness, power, etc), which is a very powerful and necessary activity. But just as important is how those characteristics cause Him to act towards us, and work inside of us. We need to not only know God’s character, but become familiar with how He works in our lives, that we may not be so “caught off guard” at His dealings with us. This is called knowing His ways, which flow out of who He is.

In my experience, these “opposite” times when God doesn’t seem near are critical moments when we can really dive deep into the “hidden wisdom” (1Cor. 2:6-7) of God and come out with some real understanding. If we can just get past the initial offense of “what’s wrong” we can begin to settle in and search God out. First, we recognize what He is doing in our lives. We realize we are in a season where He is calling us beyond our practical experience and into a deeper realm of faith.  It doesn’t mean He isn’t there or that there won’t be times where we do feel Him again, but we recognize that He is building truth in us by faith. When we recognize how He is working in us, we can then follow that trail back to who God is, seeing His goodness and delight in working in us.

To put it a different way, God’s desire is for us to know Him by faith, so that we don’t ultimately trust in feelings or our own understanding as our barometer of His active involvement and heart towards us. When we can’t feel Him, we can either be offended and slip away from Him, or take the invitation to dive deep into His Word and search Him out by faith. Whether we feel it or not, the Holy Spirit is filling us with the true, new life of Christ!

When we feel Him, we are actively experiencing Him, and that points to His goodness. When we don’t, He is actively conceiving truth and building us through our faith-choice, and that points to His goodness. Be encouraged, for God’s goodness is His glory! (Ex. 33:19)

25
Feb

on the preaching of many sermons

By couch 1 Comment
Categories: Heart, Preaching and leadership

Preached my head off and my heart out tonight - the third message in 48 hours I have given. Even though I felt at the height of weakness, the Lord was gracious to me, surely because of His love for me and for the hearers, and His earnest desire and understanding that the messages on His love were necessary, exceedingly more so that I’ll ever know or be able to communicate.

It is an amazing gift of the Lord to preach, and a joy to be "caught up" in the whirlwind of His word, speaking the things you hear, see, and experience, and the things you catch glimpses of, though afar off, but in the straining of prayer and voice attempt to articulate. It is sincerely humbling, for every time you see how much you need the very Word you gave, perhaps moreso than those hearing! And, having reached a pinnacle with the revelation you were given, you proclaim it, only to see, as you do, that there are infinitely higher heights that you have yet to even begin to understand.

You don’t despise the revelation, for it is high to you, but for the greater heights one must continually lay Himself down, trusting in the readiness of the Father to lift us up and take us ever step of the way. You don’t know what to do, either to continue to plead the truth from the peak on which you stand, or continue to press on to higher heights. Then, the word hits you, "My son, do not cease to learn, lest you forget what you’ve already learned." And higher and higher you go, knowing you don’t fully understand where you’ve been but that you must go onward in the hand of a trustworthy guide.

More acutely, there is this restlessness, especially after preaching, this ache that seems to grow. It can be easily dulled by going into some other mind-numbing activity, but it returns again and again. It is the feeling of being poured out, which is a good thing, and it is that feeling that is inspiring us to be filled again, lest we, being in the vulnerable state of emptiness we are in, are quickly filled with something other and darker.

For me, it is also this feeling that reminds me that preaching is never and can never be my highest calling. Oh how I used to think it truly was in God. How thankful I am now that its’ not! It is surely a joy and a blessing, but it reinforces what I know to be true, that my highest calling is my own personal singular pursuit of the knowledge of God. That alone is eternal life (John 17:3), that alone satisfies and sustains, and though I am called to preach, my identity is a child of God meant to be in His embrace. Seasons of preaching will surely come and they will go, but let my heart always be before Him, the all-consuming fire.

To the young(er) preacher, I exhort you - do not be deceived, though many men make a glamorous picture of preaching, they may still be dead on the inside, bored in their life with God. Your heart before the Lord, more than your words before men, will sustain you in the night hour. Then, your preaching, having been placed in proper order, will be more authentic, and God will honor that with grace and favor. So I am believing for myself!

20
Feb

the singular light of the healthy body

By couch 1 Comment
Categories: Heart and Vision

Jesus said - "Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is healthy, your body will be full of light. If it is bad, your whole body is full of darkness." (Matt. 6:22-23) Of what great importance is what we lay our eyes upon! This is another great passage to demonstrate that the defeat of darkness, sin, and temptation does not come from the focused elimination of the bad via the bad, but on the focused concentration of the good, from which the bad simply falls away.

Paul said it this way - "Walk therefore in the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." (Gal. 5:16). And David, having this revelation for Himself (as we need) said "I have hidden (focused, meditated on) your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against you" and "How can a man keep his way pure? By living in accordance to (the understanding and application of) Your Word." (Psalm 119:9,11) Again, it is by the revelation of the Word, not the revelation of what sin is, that gives us the power to overcome. Of course, Jesus is the Word, and revealed through the written Word by the Holy Spirit, and is our light in the darkness (John 1).

Note the verse above about the lamp of the body instructs that our eye needs to be "healthy". Interestingly, that same Hebrew word that’s translated "healthy" can also be translated as "singular". The point being obvious - a healthy eye is a singular eye. A healthy vision is a singular vision, not looking to the right or to the left for fulfillment, passion, or power, but "unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith." (Heb. 12) There’s a reason Paul told us to "set our minds on things above, where Jesus is…" (Col. 3) because its’ both the wisest way and the most blessed (inner-fulfilled) way to live!

Everywhere you look these days, our eyes are being bombarded with tons of messages, information, and images. When I think about the volume of all of this, compared to what a man 150 years ago would have to deal with, it is overwhelming! The great servant of the Lord Art Katz once told me "You are apart of a special generation. I can’t imagine being a young person and having to deal with the continual rampart of filth being thrown at you from every direction." When he said that, I realized how true it really is. One can not even go to a News website without being tempted with shady pictures and links. How important, more than ever, is it that our gaze is singular, on the majestic King! And how much grace is given, in lieu, to those who will continually war for the healthiness of their soul!

Truly, David was not deadening his heart’s passions when he asked "One thing I ask….that I may gaze upon the beauty of the Lord." (Psalm 27:4) Surely David was not beating his body, forcing his gaze away from more pleasurable things to be "religious" and do the right thing. Most definitely he had the revelation (as we all need) that to look upon Jesus is to behold the most pleasurable, satisfying, fascinating and wonder-inducing thing in the universe. A true treasure/pleasure seeker! A true man after God’s own heart.

Lord, keep our eyes away from what will darken our souls. Let our eyes be filled with the light of Your face, yes, make Your face to SHINE upon us. You are our light and our salvation, and let our gaze upon You not be to fulfill a new law, or to satisfy some great requirement, but to truly understand that it is the primary purpose for which we were all created. Let our body be full of what light brings to a dark room: illumination, vision, purpose, warmth, joy, power, growth, energy, and more. Truly singular vision is healthy vision. In Jesus name, Amen.

And now, I remember that tonight (20th) there is a lunar eclipse at 9:01 CST. Interesting.

27
Mar

Mr. Jones and Our Seven Longings

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Categories: Heart and music

Sitting outside the new coffee place in town, enjoying the Sunday afternoon breeze - an old familiar song came on the speaker. It was Counting Crows famous “Mr. Jones and Me” song, “La la la la la la yeah” the song began. I had been sitting inside, where everyone, including the workers, had been staring agape at the teenage couple outside by the fountain that were embarrassingly making out for all to see. Many people were laughing, hard not to I guess, but it made me think about what I’ve heard taught about the “Seven Longings of the Human Heart“.

These kids were simply trying to fulfill these longings, afar off from actually doing so, and in their giddy foolishness ignored the world around them as they plunged head-long (literally) after their longings. I wanted to go interrupt them, not to tell them to leave, but to kindly remark that their love for each other would never ultimately satisfy. To point them to the love of Jesus, the truest, purest love man could ever know, not only as the foundation and fulfillment of their own hearts’ longings, but for the purer enjoyment of their own human relationship with each other. But, unfortunately or not, I didn’t. I went outside.

And the Counting Crows front-man began to howl out the loud-speaker. As the familiar tune played, I realized - this is the PERFECT song to articulate the Seven Longings of the Human Heart! Seriously, check out these lyrics below:

1. Longing for Beauty. “We all want something beautiful, man I wish I was beautiful.”

2. Longing to be Fascinated. “Come dance this silence down through the morning! Cut Maria! Show me some of them Spanish dances and pass me the bottle, Mr. Jones!”

3. Longing to be Great. “I want to be a lion. Yeah! Everybody wants to pass as cats, we all want to be big big stars - but we don’t know why and we don’t know how…”

4. Longing to have Intimacy. “Yeah, we stare at the beautiful women. She’s looking at you, man, theres’ got to be somebody for me!”

5. Longing to be Enjoyed. “When I look at the television I wanna see me, staring right back at me!!”

6. Longing to be Whole-Hearted. “I want to be Bob Dylan….I will paint my picture, blue and red, and black and gray. All of the beautiful colors are very very meaningful…if I knew Picasso, I’d buy myself a gray guitar and play!

7. Longing to make a Lasting Impact. “Mr. Jones and me look into the future…where everybody loves me, I will never be lonely….I’m going to be just about as happy as I can be!”

So here’s to you - crows that count! You have counted for us very clearly the seven longings in each and every human heart. Here’s to finding your longings in that which satisfies ultimately, Jesus the Christ.

18
Mar

On the Joy of Being the Lord’s on THAT Day

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Categories: Heart and end-times

What a serious thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Dreadful, powerful, necessary. As Jesus said, better to fall on the rock and be broken, than to have the rock fall on you and you be crushed to pieces. What a joy it will be on that great and terrible day of the Lord, the day He will split the sky with a shout and descend like a conquering King, the ultimate champion’s title emblazoned on His leg, the same color as His eyes of fire, while a sword comes forth from His mouth to bring retribution on His enemies.

What a joy that I will be behind Him and not in front of Him! No spectacle on earth could compare to that great event, as the sun and moon are darkened to allow for the shining of the brilliant one. And how terrible will be His jealousy, for it will be a bridegroom’s fury as He comes to destroy the one who has touched the apple of His eye. Woe to the enemy of the King on His wedding day. He shall be consumed by the breath of His mouth.

What a joy that I will be behind Him and not in front of Him! For as Mark 13, Matt 24, 1 Thess 4, and 1 Cor. 15 so beautifully describe, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sounding of the last trumpet and the voice of the archangel, my body shall be gloriously changed, transformed, and raptured up to fulfill Jesus high-priestly prayer in John 17 - “Father, I desire that they would be with me where I am.” I will be taken up to be with Him where He is, and then taken down with Him to where He will be going, to establish righteousness on the earth through an increasing government from Jerusalem that will have no end (Isa. 2).

Oh, the wonder of meditating on being His on that great and terrible day! For many will cry out for the rocks to fall on them and kill them, but they will not. The Rock of Ages, instead will crush them to pieces. Lord Jesus, may I fall on you now!

15
Mar

On the Joy of Being the Lord’s Today

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Categories: Heart

Today. I’m more than alive - more than free. My head has been lifted up above my enemies! I have a higher vision to understand who the God of the Universe is. I have a higher vision to know that He really does love me, even like me, and has invited me to love Him and work with Him on things that are really important to Him. Things like His Word, His love, and His kingdom come on this earth in my life and the lives of those around me. And in the process, I start to realize why He likes these things so much and I begin to really like them too.

My heart fills with joy as I think about God’s perfect leadership over my life. Because I’ve been deceived as to what real leadership is by my former master, God’s perfect leadership seems to include my confusion as to why I am where I am, doing what I’m doing, and things like that. His leadership allows me to be restless, so that I can learn to seek Him, learn to understand His ways, and learn to be excitedly surprised when He peels back the veil as to the reasons why He is doing what He is doing in my life. Like a lover who leaves rose pedals along a beaten path, God continues to draw me along, with a smile on His face and His gentle whisper in my heart. And His leadership always prepares me step by step for a deeper understanding of Him, and a greater fellowship with Him doing the things that are really important to Him, and more and more so, to me.

I’m the Lord’s today because He gave all for me to be His today. He rescued me from my former slave-driver. He even gives me new mercy every morning in case I forget, which I’m prone to often do. His Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, guiding my path only with what is necessary to inspire more hunger for Him. This is a stark contrast to my former master’s ways. Oppositely, he would seem to show me everything ahead of time, all the “great” things I could and would have, promising all these pleasures and successes, alluring me with things and stuff, never himself - and then when I would follow after I would only fall deeper and deeper in darkness. The “prize” was always a vanishing mist, always promised by never given. In contrast to the Lord, the more I walked after the former master’s ways, the less I learned, the more unprepared for life I was, the more unsatisfied I was in my relationships, and though I may have appeared confident, the more and more deluded I became about who I was and what my purpose was.

God’s leadership style is so different, but so perfect. He shows me little by little, allowing me to enjoy Him and His ways now and beckoning me on even though the path is difficult. Satan’s leadership is terribly alluring, but incredibly horrifying. He shows me everything and anything I “think” I want, allowing me to destroy myself with my ways and dragging me along into misery, though the way seems “smooth” ahead. God always prepares me for truth, Satan would always devastates me with lies. God sets me up for love, joy, and freedom, Satan would always set me up for hate, bitterness, and bondage.

Oh the joy of being the Lord’s Today!

07
Nov

Eye:See::Heart:Understand

By couch 0 Comments
Categories: Heart

I’m stuck lately at a few verses that align the word “heart” with the word “understand”. I did a brief study on it, and indeed, there are many verses that relate the two together. Understanding, according to the bible, comes out of the heart. Just as seeing comes from the eyes and hearing comes from the ears, true understanding comes from the heart.

According to Nave, the heart is “the seat of affections”. It is the “wellspring of life” according to Proverbs, from which flow “all the issues of life.” We know well that to speak of your heart speaks more than the blood-pumping organ in your chest, but the place where you feel deeply, make decisions, and emote life. Interesting, that our heart’s purpose, is to emote life in the natural, as a picture of the spiritual.

Easton says the heart is the “home of the personal life.” We would agree with that, and we know that we should guard it, as it is the free gift of God given to us, that which we have of our own, to make our own decisions with. The home of the personal life - the life within us that is personal, unique, our own, coming from our unique and specific relationship with the Giver of Life who made us. That flow of life is like streams of water “welling up into eternal life.”

And eternal life is to know God. But how do we know God? Paul prayed that the Ephesians would have a “spirit of revelation and wisdom that you may know Christ, having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may understand…” The Holy Spirit, gives wisdom and revelation (literally - “breakthrough”) into our hearts (NLT - “flood your hearts with light”) so that we could “understand” God and His ways.

Interesting how we must understand the Lord with our hearts firstly, and the mind is not mentioned. The mind surely is important, as we are to love the Lord our God with all of our mind, etc - but what does that say about human nature that God is giving us instruction? Perhaps the best place one can “understand” so that it really sticks, is the heart.

God’s user manual for the creation of man is detailing the fact that man understands things best when they are experienced in his heart, rather than just in his mind. Now, often the two can accompany each other on the journey to know the Lord, and should - but the heart is of firstmost importance. Unfortunately, the mind is the first thing we utilize in trying to understand the Lord and His ways, when the Bible clearly says it should be the heart. Examples:

Psalm 49:3 - “My mouth shall speak wisdom. The meditation of my heart shall be understanding.

Prov. 2:2 - “..incline your ear to wisdom, and your heart to understand.”

Prov. 3:5 - “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding…”

Eph. 4:18 - “They are darkened in their understanding…for they are hardened in heart.”
(again the similarity between light and understanding as in Eph. 1:18)

Deut 29:4 - “But to this day the Lord has not given you … a heart to understand.”

Daniel 10:12 - “And he (the angel) said to me: ‘Fear not, Daniel. For from the first day you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before God, your words have been heard and I have come because of your words.’”

Matt. 13:35 - “For this people’s hearts have grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, for they have closed their eyes, lest they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and I would turn, and heal them.”

Perhaps a lesson can be learned hear not only for our spiritual understanding, but our natural one as well. How often do we say “I would do better at school, if I were only passionate about what we were learning” or “Give me something that interests me and I’ll do well”. Ultimately we are right, for if the “seat of our affections” is given to something, as well as our mind, then we will not only obtain the knowledge necessary, but the understanding to do well.

Webster defines “understanding” as “that faculty whereby we are enabled to apprehend the objects of knowledge”. I like that word ‘apprehend’. It means to grasp something or to really take hold of it inwardly. More than just memorizing facts, it is to become enlightened by the why as well as the what about something. It’s like knowledge in 3-D.

So, when we come to the Lord, let’s not only pray for “eyes to see and ears to hear”, but “hearts that understand”. Then, we have to let the Lord engage our hearts by talking to us, pouring out His love over us, fascinating us with His word, etc. Then, when our affections are touched, our hearts are held captive by His gaze and word, our mind will be flooded with knowledge, our spirit with genuine spiritual life, and our heart with the light of understanding. Praise God!