Golden Keyes Parsons's Blog, page 11

The Renewed Heart – Part 1

The Renewed Heart Part 1
Matters of the Heart Series

Renewal, revival, restoration, rededication. What do these terms mean to you? A series of meetings at your local church?

I’m not so sure the “meetings” we have at our churches with a guest preacher for a few days is really a “revival.” They are simply a series of meetings the members begrudgingly attend after the pastor announces a series of special nights such as “Pack the Pew” night, or a pizza night for the youth. We do whatever we have to do to fill the pews for a few nights, then go back to our regular lives afterwards. Fortunately these are not as prevalent as they might have been several years ago, but many churches still have meetings they call “revivals.”

In 1970, we were  privileged to have been a participant in a true revival. It started out in the same typical way as many other meetings, but God took over and shook our traditional, well-heeled, suburban church. Seven hundred plus individuals came to know the Lord that week, in one church, during a seven-day period. The Lord came to my husband the last day of that revival in a dynamic way. He came to know the Lord in a way he’d never experienced before, and he never got over it. We’ve been in full-time ministry every since that revival in 1970. True revival is life changing. (Tweet this!)

What we didn’t know was that revival was sweeping the country. A few months before God had visited Asbury College in Kentucky in a mighty move of His spirit across that campus. The Jesus movement was in full swing.

As the years have gone by, we hear from time to time of pockets of revival and renewal all over the country, taking place in every denomination. In his book, Surprised By The Voice of God, Jack Deere speaks of healing taking place during a revival at the altar call at the church where he pastored. The problem was his denomination didn’t believe in healing. He had a dilemma on his hands.

At the beginning of our ministry, my husband and I were faced with a situation where we had to deal with the demonic. We didn’t believe in all that kind of sensationalism, but here it was … coming at us. We had to change our theology on the spot.

Healings, deliverances, revivals taking place all over the world across all denominational lines. What does it mean when true revival comes to our church or community? (Tweet this!) It’s not always neat and tidy. Sometimes it’s a bit messy, but it is always … well, honestly, I’m having trouble coining a phrase to describe the emotions, the shift of one’s heart which takes place when the Holy Spirit does the work of renewal in a heart.

Job cried out to the Lord after his suffering, “I had heard of thee with the hearing of my ear, but now my eyes seeth thee.” (Job 42:5) Moses encountered a burning bush. Jacob wrestled with an angel. David danced nearly naked into Jerusalem in front of the ark. When the Spirit of the Lord comes, total surrender is the only correct response. (Tweet this!)

Revival, renewal takes place in the hearts of God’s people. My husband says you have to have been “newed” at one point or another in order to be renewed.  Renewal is for God’s people. Somewhere along the way most of us start to lose the joy of our salvation. (Tweet this!) We are disappointed in how God is handling our lives, or in another believer, or in the pastor, the church. Our hearts grow cold and hard. We leave our first love. We need renewal, We need revival.

How do we know when we need renewal? What are the symptoms of a need for renewal? Am I willing to allow the Holy Spirit to have his way in my life? We’ll discuss those questions next week, but for now, meditate on the following:

How long has it been since you experienced revival … if ever?
Have you ever been in a religious service when supernatural happenings made you feel uncomfortable?
What was your reaction?
Is the Holy Spirit under any obligation to only operate within “comfortable” boundaries?

 

I would love to hear stories of renewal in your own life. What experiences have you had with the Holy Spirit that lit a fresh fire in your soul? What was a turning point in your walk with the Lord where you began to follow Him in a deeper way?

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends and subscribe to my blog and newsletter below. You will receive my modern short story version of ‘Trapped: The Adulterous Woman’ in your thank you email.

 

 

 

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31 Ways to Mess Up Your Marriage – #19 – Lack of Knowledge of How to Resolve Conflict

31 Ways to Mess Up Your Marriage
#19 Lack of Knowledge of How to Resolve Conflict

Conflict is an inevitable reality of life. There is no way to avoid it in our imperfect world, and marriage offers a wonderful opportunity to learn how to manage conflict. (Tweet this!) To enjoy successful relationships we must learn to manage conflict, not avoid it. How we handle conflict may very well determine the longevity and health of our marriage relationship. 

Many of us adapted very destructive ways of solving conflict as we grew up (Tweet this!) — withdraw, belittle, criticize, attack, pout. None of these are effective ways to resolve conflict. The person may get what he/she wants for the moment, but the relationship will be sabotaged and the long-term effects are usually disastrous.

In seeking to resolve conflict:

Use wisdom in the timing. Ask your mate if it’s a good time to discuss the issue. If not, ask when would be a good time.
Pray first for yourself, then pray together.
Seek to understand, not simply to be right. Identify the problem. Share your feelings and allow your mate to do the same.
Brainstorm possible solutions.
Agree on a possible plan of action to try. Be willing to compromise. Find a solution that is agreeable with both of you.
Work the plan and if it doesn’t work, try another one.

You will go through this cycle in your marriage over and over again. And how you manage the conflict you will certainly encounter through the years may very well determine the success of your relationship. (Tweet this!)

What good examples have you had in your life that taught you how to handle conflict in a healthy way?
Please share any stories you have where you have successfully navigated conflict in your marriage and worked through the issue productively?
What benefits have you seen from working through conflict productively in marriage?

 

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends and subscribe to my blog and newsletter below. You will receive my modern short story version of ‘Trapped: The Adulterous Woman’ in your thank you email.

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The Hard Heart – Part 4

The Hard Heart Part 4
Matters of the Heart Series

Are you subtly developing a hard heart? I ended the post last week by saying that life would either make our hearts: 1) hard, bitter and cynical, 2) soft, empathetic and tender, or 3) broken and ineffective. (Tweet this!) How do we know if we are developing a hard heart? Ask yourself these questions:

Have I become emotionally unresponsive?
Has my heart become rigid and cold?
Do I push the nudging of the Holy Spirit aside?
Do I hear the Word of God Sunday after Sunday, and do nothing about it? (James 1:22)
Have I become cynical and critical?
Are my eyes dry?

 

When we begin to harden our hearts, we slowly begin to “dry up” emotionally.  (Tweet this!) Some of us cry easily, some not so easily. However that’s not exactly what I am talking about. What I am referring to is the condition of your heart. Is your heart soft? Or are the eyes of your heart dry? There’s something about how the Holy Spirit works that releases the emotions. (Tweet this!) Consider these Scriptures:

“Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the prince of my people, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears; behold I will heal thee … “ (2 Kings 20:5).

“Thou numberest my wanderings: Put thou my tears into thy bottle; Are they not in thy book?” (Psalm 56:8)

“They that sow in tears shall reap in joy” (Ps. 126:5).

“But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down tears, because Jehovah’s flock is taken captive (Jeremiah 13:17).

“Serving the Lord with all lowliness of mind, and with tears, and with trials which befell me … ” (Acts 20:19).

“For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be made sorry, but that ye might know the love that I have more abundantly unto you” (2 Cor 2:4).

These Scriptures indicate that there is a place for emotion and tears in the spiritual life of a believer.

If we are not responsive to the Holy Spirit, we will become unresponsive and cold and develop a hard heart. (Tweet this!)

 What area of your life are you protecting even though God is pressing in?
Of what are you fearful in regard to becoming vulnerable?
In what area are you becoming hardened, rigid and cold?
Are the spiritual eyes of your heart “dry?”
What do you need to do to be free?
Ask forgiveness? Abandon yourself to the Lord in praise and worship? Repent?  Quit complaining about how God is running your life?
Psalm 106:15 says, “And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul and disease and death.” Are you asking God for something that is not the best for you, but you are insistent? Or are you settling for less than the best because it is too much effort or not convenient or will require too much sacrifice? Are you willing to have “leanness of soul” just to get what you want or be comfortable?

 

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends and subscribe to my blog and newsletter below. You will receive my modern short story version of ‘Trapped: The Adulterous Woman’ in your thank you email.

 

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31 Ways to Mess Up Your Marriage – #18 – Failure to Anticipate Trials

31 Ways to Mess Up Your Marriage
#18 Failure to Anticipate Trials

We received a horrific phone call early one evening from a young couple in our congregation who lived in the neighboring town. The young mother had checked on their three-year-old daughter whom she had put down for a  nap earlier and found that the child had accidentally gotten tangled in the cords of the Venetian blinds and hung herself. This tragic accident devastated the couple, and the marriage failed.

All of us marry with high hopes, aiming to succeed in our marriages. (Tweet this!) None of us want to fail in this most important union of our lives. But many of us don’t allow ourselves to think about tragedy, illness, death or any number of circumstances that might come our way and shake the very foundations of our families. Ideally, the partners pull together and strengthen each other through the crisis. But many times each one is overwhelmed with feelings of failure, guilt, shame, bitterness and blame, and the marriage comes crashing down.

What makes the difference? Why are some marriages destroyed by a crisis while others work through it and become stronger? (Tweet this!) Here are some of my observations:

Perspective – Realize that everybody deals with hard times at one time or another. God’s not picking on you. You are not cursed. We simply live in a fallen world and have to deal with the conditions of that world.
Attitude – The Scripture tells us to give thanks in all things. This attitude of gratitude carries one a long way in overcoming difficult seasons. I am a two-time cancer survivor. My doctor kept talking about how much courage I had. It wasn’t courage; it was faith and gratitude to a heavenly Father whom I knew loved me and would see me through no matter what.
Preparation – Couples who make it through trials are generally prepared. (Tweet this!) They are prepared somehow financially either with an emergency fund or insurance. They have been building their relationship through communication and demonstrations of love and caring. They are prepared spiritually. God is not just their spiritual aspirin that they call on from time to time. He is the Head of their household, Father, Provider, Comforter, Healer, Counselor, a Very Present Help in Time of Trouble.

 

Have an honest conversation with your spouse and discuss whether you are prepared if/when trials come. The Psalms tell us that we need to learn how to dig wells in the desert. Parsons translation

What unexpected trials have you encountered in your marriage?
How did you survive these trials?
Are there ways that the trials actually brought you closer in the end?

 

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‘Hidden Faces’ Goodreads Book Giveaway!

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Goodreads Book Giveaway







Hidden Faces



by Golden Keyes Parsons

Giveaway ends August 31, 2014.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter to win

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The Hard Heart – Part 3

The Hard Heart – Part 3
Matters of the Heart Series

How do we know we have totally forgiven? How do we get to the point of total freedom from the angst of bitterness and hurt? How do we prevent our hearts from becoming hard?

We must remember what Jesus has done for us. How can we look at Jesus on the cross as He says, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do?” and continue to hold bitterness against a brother or sister? (Tweet this!)
We must realize God loves the offender as much as he does us. God is no respecter of persons. We all come under the umbrella of his authority and protection. He loves us all equally.
We are called to give a blessing instead of an insult. We are called to love God and love one another, not love God and hold one another hostage by our unforgiveness. We may be right in the situation, but sometimes we can be very wrong in our “rightness.” (Tweet this!)
It is an issue between you and God, not primarily between you and the offender. Do what God has told us to do and let Him be God and deal with the offender (Mark 11:25).

 

Have you been deeply wounded and you’ve erected walls of self-protection to keep that from happening again? We have a choice. We can obstinately protect ourselves, remain emotionally unresponsive, respond with “Sunday School” answers when God deals with us, and spend our whole lives fooling ourselves – and end up with hardened hearts. When life deals blows, disappointment comes, we begin to build up walls around our heart as self-protection, and we don’t even realize it. As a result it becomes sin. (Tweet this!) Everything we do becomes a means to protect ourselves against feeling pain again rather than pursuing God whatever the cost.

I have in mind people who drop out of church because someone offended or hurt them. As pastors, we talked to people all the time who were hurt at one time or another by a church member, and dropped out. Commitment to the Body of Christ is like a marriage. You don’t get a divorce, because your spouse slighted you or even sinned against you. You work it out. (Tweet this!) Give those hurts to Him. Harden not your heart.

Or many times people are mad at God because their lives didn’t turn out the way they expected or desired. (Tweet this!) My dad ended up a very bitter man. Life had disappointed him, and instead of trusting God, he hardened his heart and blamed everybody around him for his failures. I talked to him many times about the Lord. His answer was, “I tried that, and it didn’t work.” His heart was hard. “Keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

Our hearts have to be right. The standard of whether we are genuine disciples is not just a conscious desire to follow Jesus. The children of Israel sincerely believed in God. But they were complaining and murmuring against what God was doing in their lives.  And here’s the scary part: they were trying to follow the Lord. They thought they were following the Lord, but their hearts were becoming hard through murmuring and complaining. They just didn’t like how God was handling their lives (Psalm 106:12-15).

God looks at the heart. Why did God love David so much? Because of his heart (I Samuel 16:7).

We can fool ourselves our whole lives and end up with hardened hearts. (Tweet this!) Life does something to our hearts to make them less than receptive.

Before you are finished life will do one of three things to your heart: 1) make it hard, bitter and cynical; 2) soft, empathetic and tender or 3)broken and ineffective.

When God speaks do you respond with “pat” answers and feel very righteous, and go on your way through the day unchanged?
Are you a hearer of the Word only?
What has God told you to do which you have put off or are unwilling to do?
What are some ways that you have found the Holy Spirit helps to keep your heart soft?

Harden not your heart.

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends and subscribe to my blog and newsletter below. You will receive my modern short story version of ‘Trapped: The Adulterous Woman’ in your thank you email.

 

 

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31 Ways to Mess Up Your Marriage – #17 – Sticks and Stones

31 Ways to Mess Up Your Marriage
#17 Sticks and Stones

There’s an old saying “Sticks and stones may hurt my bones, but words can never hurt me.” I’m not so sure that’s true.

I was keeping our grandchildren for three weeks while our daughter and husband were on a trip to Africa. The boys, along with their twin cousins, became engaged in an argument, so I sat them down at the breakfast table and placed a paper plate down along with a tube of toothpaste. “Squeeze all of the toothpaste out onto the paper plate.” They looked at me, their eyes questioning whether I really meant it or not. “Go ahead. All of it.” They enthusiastically dove in, delightfully spreading the gooey toothpaste all over the plate. After they squeezed every last bit out, I pointed to the plate and said, “Now, put the toothpaste back into the tube.”

Five pairs of round little eyes looked at me as if I’d asked them to fly to the moon. “There’s no way!”

“Exactly. And that’s the way harsh words are, guys. Once you’ve said ugly things to someone, there’s no taking them back. (Tweet this!) So think about what you say.”

In the marriage relationship familiarity and stress almost breeds permission to speak unthinkable things to each other. (Tweet this!) I’m not talking about being transparent here. Certainly we are to be free to express our most intimate thoughts, fears and dreams to our mates. But I’m speaking of spewing angry, harsh insults at each other in the heat of arguments. Or continual put-downs under the guise of humor or otherwise.

I was speaking to a single mom recently divorced from an abusive marriage who told me that she could have taken all the other mistreatment, but it was the daily verbal abuse that finally drove her to divorce. Words have incredible power. (Tweet this!)

We are called to render a blessing, not an insult (I Peter 2:21-25). A soft answer turns away wrath. (Pro. 15:1). A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver (Pro. 25:11). The Bible has much to say about our words. Let us speak words of life and not death to our mates and our children. (Tweet this!)

What are some ways you’ve found that help you hold your tongue with your spouse when you’re in a heated discussion? Can you think of other married couples in your life who have done this well? How were they a good example for you? Do you find it more difficult to tame your tongue with your spouse because the two of you are so familiar with one another?

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends and subscribe to my blog and newsletter below. You will receive my modern short story version of ‘Trapped: The Adulterous Woman’ in your thank you email.

 

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The Hard Heart – Part 2

The Hard Heart – Part 2
Matters of the Heart Series

In a previous blog I gave two pointers to check for unforgiveness or bitterness in your heart.

1. Do you feel anyone owes you anything?

2. Is there anything in the midst of which you can not give thanks?

If offenses toward another is not dealt with in a healthy manner, unforgiveness and bitterness will start to form and a hard heart is the result. Is there some relationship that needs to be made right? Do it today – harden not your heart. (Tweet this!)

This subjects of bitterness and unforgiveness can fill volumes. At nearly every retreat where I speak I deal with the issue either publicly or privately. In fact, in recent years I’ve begun speaking on the subject the first night so we can get it out of the way, because, in my experience, it will come up sometime during the weekend.

I’m going to give you an assignment, because the passage is too long to put in the blog, but it is pertinent. Go on. Get your phone or Bible or click the link to read Matt. 18:21-35.

If we want to enjoy the benefits of what Jesus did on the cross, we must forgive others. (Tweet this!) Do we want to live in torment? In verse 34, we are told if we don’t forgive, the master will turn us over to the torturers. We will always feel justified, but can we honestly look at Jesus hanging on the cross and get any pity? God will not forgive our debts if we don’t forgive others. Many Christians don’t feel forgiven. Maybe it’s because they haven’t been willing to forgive others. (Tweet this!)

The word for forgiveness means to abandon it, let it go, release it. (Tweet this!) We may not feel forgiving. We probably don’t most of the time, but we can release it to God and let Him deal with it. When I learned that principle, it freed me from having to bring my emotions into rein. I couldn’t make myself feel forgiving. However, what happens is that as we let the offense go, our emotions begin to heal. We might have to release it many times, but God will work in your life and the offender’s life as well, and healing will take place.

The following is thanks to R. T. Kendall’s wonderful teaching on Total Forgiveness. 

Meaning of Forgiveness

Permanently canceling the debt and bringing the balance to zero.
Permanently giving up any reproach.
Permanently foregoing any private or public critical conversation about that person/issue. It’s over. The debt is zero. They owe you nothing.

What Forgiveness Doesn’t Mean

Forgetting. God doesn’t expect us to have spiritual amnesia.
Allowing yourself to be in harm’s way. If you are in an abusive situation, remove yourself and your children from harm. Nothing about forgiveness requires one to remain in a dangerous situation.
That you cannot confront. You can address issues, wrongs and offenses. “Speak the truth in love…”
That there will be no consequences, punishment or discipline. It must, however, be restorative.
That you can’t seek legal or civil means of protection. E.g. A restraining order, a “safe” house, etc.

Symptoms of Unforgiveness

Slander
Avoidance. There was an elder’s wife in our former church who would avoid me when she was angry with me, the pastor’s wife, about something. We might want to avoid someone with whom we are angry, but if we feel we want to do that, we might check to see if we have unforgiveness toward them.
Judgmental/critical attitude
Rejection
Sarcasm
Hostility
Labeling
Lack of mercy and/or compassion
Murder (physical or verbal)
Praying against a person.

 

What item(s) on these lists give you the most trouble? Please share your thoughts below.
Has the list of symptoms convicted you of the need to forgive someone?

 

If God has spoken to you about this issue, get together with a friend, your spouse, a pastor and work through the process. Harden not your heart.

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends and subscribe to my blog and newsletter below. You will receive my modern short story version of ‘Trapped: The Adulterous Woman’ in your thank you email.

 

 

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31 Ways to Mess Up Your Marriage – #16 – Failure to Achieve Oneness

31 Ways to Mess Up Your Marriage
#16 Failure to Achieve Oneness

“And the two shall become one … ” Familiar words from Scripture and from the wedding ceremony, but not easily, nor instantly accomplished. I think perhaps one of the saddest things my husband and I have witnessed as we’ve grown older is couples our age who have been married 30, 40, even 50 years who either divorce, or have not achieved oneness and live their latter years as married singles. We were eating lunch with one of our daughters yesterday and commented about how many couples we observe in restaurants, young and old, who never talk during their meal. They eat in silence, pay the waitress and leave. We vowed a long time ago that we would never fall into that pattern.

Oneness must be achieved on three levels: 1. Spiritual. 2. Emotional (Psychological). 3. Physical. (Tweet this!)

1.)  SPIRITUAL - Ideally a couple who feel that God might be bringing them together would seek to know each other spiritually first. Are both partners believers? Not only are they believers, but is each one a growing, maturing, walking-with-Jesus believer? Sadly, this is the last area many couples explore when it should be the first. (Tweet this!) Praying together is one of the most intimate things a couple will do. And I’m not talking about saying grace over a meal. I’m saying praying for daily needs and guidance, for finances, for your relationship and so on. I can’t help but feel that couples who don’t achieve oneness on this level are the ones who many times end up in divorce court.

2.) EMOTIONAL - This area covers much ground, and again takes a lifetime to achieve. After 50 years, although I know my husband pretty well, I am still learning things about him. Probing questions are a great way to learn about each other. We used to keep a book of questions couples can ask each other in the glove compartment of our car, and when on a trip, we would discuss them. I.e. If money and talent were not an issue, what would you like to do/be? What is your least favorite color and why? What do you remember most about your grandmother? What was your favorite Christmas gift as a child? One time I asked my husband, “Is Jesus as real to you as I am?” That led to one of the most profound spiritual experiences of our lives as the Presence of the Lord literally came into the room, a palpable Presence. I cannot explain it, but I know we experienced it. And it came about because we were relating on a spiritual level.

3.) PHYSICAL - If the sexual relationship in marriage is not right, then all the others will be off kilter. (Tweet this!) I know how old-fashioned it sounds to the modern ear to say that the full-blown physical relationship should be saved until after marriage, but that doesn’t make it any less true. The spiritual and emotional components of a relationship should be explored before the physical, but sadly Hollywood has glamorized the sexual relationship as being the most important. Co-habitation is accepted as the norm. We have observed that if the sexual relationship is explored too soon, it is very difficult to develop oneness in the other two areas–not impossible, but difficult.

Achieving oneness is a key in a satisfying, fulfilling marriage. (Tweet this!) And a prize that is worthy of pursuit for the duration of one’s marriage.

What are some ways you pursue these areas of oneness in your own marriage? Which area have you found the hardest to be unified in? Please share stories of success where you feel more unified in an area with your spouse than you used to.

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends and subscribe to my blog and newsletter below. You will receive my modern short story version of ‘Trapped: The Adulterous Woman’ in your thank you email.

 

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The Hard Heart – Part 1

The Hard Heart – Part 1
Matters of the Heart Series

This is a difficult topic to address, but one we must hear. I write this blog in all humility, admonishing myself as well.

It is out of pure grace God comes to us.  He is the:

Author: “…the author and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2).
Aggressor: Think back to when you decided to follow Jesus. He came after you through the Holy Spirit. He wooed you. He drew you. (John 6:44-45)
Architect:  Of our triumphs, our troubles, our trials, our life. It is only through Him that life makes any sense. (Romans 8:28-29) (Tweet this)
Absolute Authority: With power to do his will. “Not in your own strength for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you – energizing and creating in you the power and desire – both to will and to work for his good pleasure and satisfaction and delight” (Ph.2:13 Amp). It is only through Him we have the ability to do His will. 

 

Listen! God wants to speak to you. “Speak Lord – your servant hears.” He wants to make sense of your life. (Tweet this!)  When does God desire to speak to you? Today.“Today if you would hear his voice, harden not your hearts” (Psalm 95:7-8 NASB).

“But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called Today; lest any of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Heb. 3:13 NASB)

God gives life to us in daily chunks–24 hour daily compartments. If we don’t listen today, we become a compilation of piled up days. (Tweet this!) We become a summary of unexpressed responses to what the Lord has said. And a succession of those layers of yesterdays of not listening results in a life of unexpressed praise, of unexpressed responses. Our hearts become hard.

“And todays turn into yesterdays

And yesterdays turn into walls

The walls turn into mountains

And we are destined for a fall.” (Kathy Wright Gipson)

God does not promise us tomorrow – respond today!

What is a hardened heart? How do we know if we have begun to develop a hardened heart? A hard heart is one that continually resists the convictions and warnings and wooings of the Holy Spirit. (Tweet this!) And I’m not talking about lost people here. A hard heart can develop in the life of a Christian. The Hebrews 3 passage is written to the church.

It is dangerous to sit under the preaching of the Word week after week and not respond in obedience.
It is dangerous to sit in your pew and sing and praise and worship.
It is dangerous to listen to tapes …
… or go to conferences …
… or Women of Faith …
… or retreats and seminars
… or prayer breakfasts
… and not be changed!

 

My husband used to get amused at people leaving church who would say, “Sure enjoyed your sermon, Pastor.” He was temped many times to say, “I really don’t care whether you ‘enjoyed’ it or not. What are you going to do about it?” Did they even have a clue? Do we realize we are in a spiritual battle? It’s warfare. It’s serious!

Can’t you picture guys in the military? “Well, I think I’ll do this, Sarge, but I don’t feel like doing that. So I believe I’ll just sit this particular exercise out for today, thank you very much.” Yeah, right! A soldier has signed up for the Army, and it is the daily discipline of following the commander’s orders which prepares him for battle. An undisciplined soldier is no good in the battle, and is even dangerous to his fellow soldiers.

Somehow, we’ve gotten the idea we have a supermarket type Christianity. We go down the aisles of our faith, if you will, and we think to ourselves, “I believe I’ll have some of that, but I believe I’ll pass on this for right now.  This is too bitter,” or “That’s too hard.” That’s not the way my Bible reads. My Bible reads, “Today if you would hear His voice harden not your hearts.”

Questions to Ponder

Do you desire a Spirit led and filled life? Start today. Harden not your heart.
Are you trying desperately to solve your problems yourself? Turn the reins of power over to Jesus today. (Tweet this!) Harden not your heart. 
Begin praising God for his deliverance in all circumstances today. “In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (I Thess. 5:18). Praise him so that he will get the glory in every circumstance. Harden not your heart.
Is there some pet belief or tradition you are clinging to…even though God is pressing in? He’s calling you.
Is God wooing you, but you are afraid? Or even worse, your pride won’t release you. Lay it at His feet today.  Harden not your heart.

 

Questions for Discussion

Can anyone share a time in their life where the Lord helped them to let go of hardness in their heart and then they received a clear word from Him?
What are some things you do in your life that you have found keep your heart soft towards the Lord?

 

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The post The Hard Heart – Part 1 appeared first on Golden Keyes Parsons.