Thankful Thursday

Our dear friend, Iris, is taking some time away from blogging and hosting Thankful Thursday. For the month of March, Lynn will be hosting...please stop by to check out all of the other Thankful Hearts.

I want to begin my Thankfulness the same way Lynn began...thanking God for blessing me with such a wonderful friend in Iris, and thank Iris for all of her hard work.

Lord, I am so THANKFUL for You prompting me to post the Bible Study, A Make-Over of the Heart! It is exciting and humbling to see how You are using it to encourage women. Thank You, Lord!

I am thankful that I had such a wonderful visit with my parents last week. The best part of the visit was a very special conversation I had with my mom. We had gone to Target to get a broom, but never made it out of the parking lot and into the store! We began talking about my mom's faith (I don't even know how we got started on this conversation!).

I learned a lot of things I didn't know about her. She was the oldest of two girls in her family. Her parents didn't go to church. So, even though she was a little girl, she walked to Sunday School by herself! She said she had a desire to go and learn about God! And, then, when she was a little older, she went to church and Sunday School on her own. Wow! I can't even imagine. When she had polio as a little girl, she developed a strong prayer life.

Thank You, God for placing in my mom such a strong faith for you, that no matter what her circumstances, she turned to You. Thank You that she loved(s) You. Thank You for her simple faith that inspires me.

I thank You, God for the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ! We had a wonderful Lenten service tonight (Wed.) and a time to worship You. Again, we turn our hearts to You as we ponder/focus/meditate on the incredible sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Thank You, Lord.

Wordless Wednesday

It's been a while since I posted WW, so I have few pics.....JUST for FUN!

Kids took this one! I guess they thought it was funny! :)

A MakeOver of the Heart Bible Study

Welcome to the first day of MakeOver of the Heart! Oh, how I pray it blesses you as you seek God in transforming your heart. I am SO EXCITED you are here!

Please know this is a "safe" place. I pray you will feel comfortable to ask and share anything. Please comment and share with each other. If you would like to keep a comment private, please just tell me and I won't publish it. Or, you may email me as well.

Let's get started!

WEEK ONE
Introduction

In this age of makeovers and “extreme makeovers,” we are always looking for ways to transform ourselves. We are not satisfied with staying the same, but are searching for ways to improve. So many times this concentration is focused on our outward appearance. But, the Bible says to concentrate on our inner beauty. Peter says, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of fine jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, your beauty should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.” (1Peter 3:3-4) The transformation we will be concentrating on is a makeover of the heart.

What is a heart makeover? What does it mean to renew and rekindle your heart? What does it mean to have a complete transformation of the heart? To have a heart for God?

TAKE A FEW MOMENTS AND PONDER THAT....

If you are like me, I didn’t even realize I needed to change my heart! I thought, “My heart’s OK. I’m a good person. I love God.” But, over the years, I have had a total transformation of my heart. My heart has opened to a new Truth, a new joy, a new love, and a new way of life. I have had a complete MAKEOVER of my heart!

It is my heart’s desire that you too would experience the pure joy of giving your heart completely to the Lord- to completely abandon yourself to His love for you. I want you to “love the Lord with all of your heart, all of your soul, and all of your strength!” I want you to experience the ultimate makeover- to become a new creation in Christ starting with your heart.

Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” God’s word tells us most importantly, above everything, to watch and to guard our hearts. Out of the heart, springs life. So, our hearts, and the state of our hearts, should be a top priority. The Bible says, “Above all else, guard your heart.” How does your heart look? Are you ready for a heart makeover?

WHAT DO YOU THINK IT MEANS TO "GUARD YOUR HEART?" What does this "look" like?

For me, I think it means that I am so careful what I allow to enter into my heart and what I allow to take up residence there! I don't want to allow any bitter root to grow. I constantly pray: God, give me a pure heart. Create in me a clean heart! Get my heart RIGHT!

As women, we often think of ourselves as “heart experts.” We can all pick the perfect greeting cards. We all cry at the same long distance commercials. We say we give our hearts away completely. We may think we give them freely, but do we? What keeps us from giving our hearts completely to our children, our husbands, our parents, and to God?

Sometimes it is a fear that our hearts will be broken. Sometimes our hearts are wounded and hurt. Sometimes our hearts are stubborn. I know my heart can act like a spoiled 2 yr. old throwing a temper tantrum! (anyone identify with that????) It wants what it wants and it wants it NOW! My heart can be very selfish and very self- centered. Sometimes our hearts can be filled with anger or unforgiveness. We feel we are right in a broken relationship and our hearts become hardened to that person.

We’ll begin our heart makeover by allowing God to perform a complete “heart transplant!” You’ll need to take a look at your heart-full of its own selfish desires, its own agenda, and its own self-gratifying habits. You’ll need to allow God to take out that heart and replace it with a completely new heart; a heart head over heals in love with the Lord, completely focused on Him and His will for your life.

Ponder for a moment....what is it that you want the Lord to remove from your heart?

We’ll be meditating on Psalm 37:3-7a. It says, “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still and wait patiently for Him.”

This new heart will take delight in the Lord. This new heart will trust the Lord. It will be committed to the Lord. And, this new heart will patiently wait for Him. We will take each section of this scripture and apply it to our lives in our heart makeovers. We’ll talk about delightful hearts, healed hearts, committed hearts, and prayerful hearts. I invite you now to experience a heart transformation and a complete makeover of your heart.



Before we begin this transformation, I would like to pray for you. I will be praying with you throughout the book, and have been praying for you during every step of the writing process. I believe in prayer. I believe in the power of God’s Word, so I use scripture in prayer. Whenever you see quotes during the prayer, these sentences or phrases are taken directly out of the Bible. I use several translations, including the New International Version, the Amplified Bible, The New Living Translation, and American Standard Version. Please feel free to use these prayers in your own personal devotion time. Include your own name in the scripture or in the prayer.

For instance, when I say, “I pray that God will give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation,” you would change it to “I pray that God will give me (or your name here) a Spirit of wisdom and revelation.” Make the prayers personal. Praying scripture is such a powerful way to grow closer to God and grow closer to the heart of God. The Bible says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” There is no better way to draw near to our Lord than to pray in the Spirit, using His Word.



Prayer
Father God, I love you! I give you all glory and honor and praise! You are such a good God. I thank you for the opportunity to minister to this woman reading. I pray that you bless our time together, Lord. I pray that you would open the heart and mind of the woman reading this book. Reader, I pray that the “eyes of your heart would be enlightened. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know Him better. I pray that out of His glorious riches, He may strengthen you with POWER through His Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” I pray this woman would have a total transformation of her heart. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.





Questions

1. God’s Word says that when we delight ourselves in Him, He gives us the desires of our heart. Have you taken any time to ponder WHAT the desires of your heart are? Take a few moments to sit quietly before Him. What are the desires of your heart?

Ask God to show you what the desires of your heart are. Take time with this.

2. Make a list of ways you would like to be transformed during this bible study. How do you want God to change you? What are your personal goals with this study? What are your personal expectations? Why are you reading this? What do you hope to accomplish?

I hope you share what God has revealed to you in the comment section!

For Thursday, please read and ponder these:

We'll talk about this on Thursday!

Read Ezekiel 36:25-28

God is speaking. He says, “I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God.”

Write in your own words what God is going to do. Does that get you excited?



Ezekiel is a book of the Old Testament. This represents God’s old covenant (or His pledge or promise) that He has with His people. Jesus talks about a new covenant in Luke 22:20. Right before Jesus sheds His blood for our redemption, He says, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

Jesus also promises that the Holy Spirit will come and live within us when He leaves the earth. John 16: 7 says, “It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

Ponder how Jesus fulfills the promise of Ezekiel. Through Jesus, we have the promise of a new heart and new spirit!

Ladies, I pray such blessings over you as we take this journey together! I know God is going to be doing amazing things!

See you Thursday!

In Other Words

Thank you, Miriam at Miriam Pauline’s Monologue for hosting this weeks, In Other Words. She asks us to ponder:

“God does not speak simply to be heard. He speaks to be obeyed. Obedience is the Alpha and Omega of discerning God’s voice.”

by Priscilla Shirer

I love the beginning of this quote- God doesn't simply speak to be heard, but to be obeyed!

As a mom, I know exactly the meaning of this! I want my kids not just to hear me, but to OBEY me. In fact, I just said something similar to my Ashley (10) this morning. She didn't obey a command I had given her. She said, "Oh, I didn't hear you, Mom," but I knew she had heard me. So I said, "You heard me, Ashley, you just choose not to 'listen' to me...you disobeyed!"

I am also teaching my children that I am not speaking just to talk, but that I have REASONS why I am saying things. They have learned the "hard way" that Mom says to do something for a reason- a reason of love- not just to be "mean." And, when they choose to ignore my commands there are consequences....sometimes natural consequences, sometimes consequences from Brian and I.

God is like that as well.

He gives us commands for a reason....not to be mean, but because He knows what is best for us. And....we can choose either to obey or go our own way...

It's been like that from the very beginning! In the garden, God's Word said not to eat the fruit. But Adam and Eve choose to do it their own way and disobeyed God's Word.

Then, all through the Old Testament, we see the Israelites choosing either to obey or disobey. When they disobey, we see God's anger and His consequences (often Him allowing them to be taken into captivity). Proverbs 1:31 comes to mind that says when sinners disobey, they will EAT THE FRUIT of their own ways. Ouch. Hmmm....kind of like the rotten fruit in the Garden....We are still eating the fruit of Eve's mistake!

Like the Israelites, when I choose to disobey God, I will be taken off into captivity.....

I experience the bondage of my own SIN~

See I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse- the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God...Deuteronomy 11:26-28

I struggled with the last part of the quote:

Obedience is the alpha and omega (beginning and end) of discerning God's voice.

I'm not sure what the author means by this, so I look forward to reading others' take on it! I didn't have time this week to go to the original writing....

Please take a few minutes and check out what others are saying in their words!

And, please join us today in the first day of our Bible Study,

At the Well

Persistence

The discussion questions are:

Think about your daily life as a wife, mother and child of God.
What are some ways that you have persisted when you have been knocked down?
How have these circumstances brought glory to the Father?

This was such a great topic today at the Well....

I began pondering the idea of our daily trials and circumstances of life, the times "we have been knocked down." Like so many of you, I, too have experienced the HUGE trials that have brought me closer to God... a broken childhood and abuse, many addictions and strongholds, two miscarriages, a move away from family and friends...

But, what I thought about today was the "little things" that we experience daily...the day in and day out circumstances we face on a day to day basis...how these mundane, "trivial" things can build up and knock us down...IF we allow them.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1:2-4

I won't be MATURE or COMPLETE....unless I face trails....unless my faith is tested.

But, what we forget is that we face trials everyday..

the milk spills

there aren't any matching socks

the dog makes a mess

the car breaks down

the bill comes due

my kids argue

Tragedies often bring us to our knees, but do we seek God in "the dailies?" When I face the "daily grind," do I persist in the Lord, or do I try to do things in "Tracy strength?" When I hear of a friend battling cancer, I hit my knees. When my mom is waiting for the results of her test, I hit my knees. When a friend's husband loses his job, I hit my knees.

But, what about when my child has the sniffles?

What about when my day is full of activity and I don't know what to do first?

What about when I have to help my kids with homework and make dinner at the same time?

What about when I have to chauffeur my children to activities?

Do I hit my knees when these "little" things that come up every moment of every day?

It is our relationship with Jesus that will sustain us when "living in the dailies" tries to knock us down. This brings glory to God....abiding in His peace....trusting Him through daily life.

I was thinking about the Parable of the Sower this morning. (Matthew 13)

A farmer went out to sow his seed. He scattered the seed and some fell along the path and the birds of the air came along and ate it. Some fell on rocky places where it didn't have much soil. It sprang up quickly but when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop- a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

Jesus explained the Parable.

When anyone hears the message about the kingdom of God and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the Word at once and receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, he falls away quickly.

We will face trials everyday...some that devastate us...others that we ignore because we think we "can handle it" on our own. We must be rooted in Jesus, in our relationship with Him.

That is the only way we persevere.

Please take a few minutes to visit the Well if you haven't! There are many women gathering today sharing about being persistent for His glory!