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Do I have a hard heart?

May 19, 2021May 18, 2021by dramyoberg2 Comments

In the song Graves Into Gardens, there is a line in the second verse that says:

I’m not afraid to show you my weakness, My failures and flaws Lord you’ve seen them all

Are we afraid to show God our weaknesses or failures or flaws? Is it hard to confess our real feelings to God? When do we lay them before God and ask for his help to change our heart? Sometimes these unsaid, ignored weaknesses turn into a hardened heart.

It is not hard to see a person who has been taken over with bitterness—honestly it is hard to witness, watch or be on the receiving end. This is a good time in our world to talk about why God tells us “do not harden your heart” multiple times in the Bible.

Hearing this, everything in me bows my head to ask God…Do I have a hard heart? Truthfully, this is not an area I want to pay much attention to—most of the time I feel justified. The warning is that callousness starts somewhere soft and then builds into a hard heart. It creeps in without knowing it and the enemy turns it into a bitter root. But maybe there is room to bring these things before God so it doesn’t go on longer than it should.

What classifies as a hard heart? Let’s make sure we are all talking about the same thing. Can Christians have a hard heart? Yes! For me, it would be God asking me a question and my answer being “No!”, “no thank you.”, “lol, hard pass.” or any other version of “no” you can come up with. In my life, this is a danger zone and something I need to bring to God right away.

How can I bring it to God? Psalm 95 gives us some instruction and warning about a hardened heart. I have added some commentary.

Psalm 95
1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; (invitation to come to God)
    let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. (He is the Rock, the only person worthy of bringing our stuff to).
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving (with thanksgiving and honor first)
    and extol him with music and song.
3 For the Lord is the great God, (the Lord is to be praised because he is GOD)
    the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth, (from the depths to the heights He made it all)
    and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it, (don’t forget how big God is)
    and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship, (another invitation to acknowledge who God is)
    let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; (make sure we kneel in reverence)
7 for he is our God (proclamation of who God is to us)
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    the flock under his care.
Today, if only you would hear his voice, (Listen to God in what He is saying)
8 “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah (rebellion),
    as you did that day at Massah (trials) in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested me;
    they tried me, though they had seen what I did. (remember what God did in other people’s lives’ and our own)
10 For forty years I was angry with that generation;
    I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
    and they have not known my ways.’ (We are prone to wander if we do not know who God is)
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” (There is no rest without God).

We are warned there is no rest without God. Hard hearts, rebellion or tested areas in our life will create unrest, anxiety, anger, impatience, snarkyness, harshness, and indulgence. Bring callousness, hard heartedness, fear, failures, trials, doubts, and weaknesses to God. We are invited by God to bend our knee, remember who God is and worship Him in thanksgiving…then he can soften and change our hearts.

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Name Without Shame

May 12, 2021May 12, 2021by Guest Blogger3 Comments

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. [Psalm 42:5 NIV]

Have you ever been ambushed by a tsunami of emotions that threatened to hi-jack the noble, mature, responsible you? Have you ever been a primal scream wrapped in skin? I have to raise both hands here and admit that for years I did not know what to do with the molten lava of feelings I often felt inside.

Happily, Christian teachers are now beginning to acknowledge our need to train, rather than try to manage our emotions honestly and without shame, a development that can bear so much fruit in our hearts and help us connect with our inner lives, with God, and with others.

One of the first skills I began to practice came from our God-given identity as “namers.” God gave Adam and Eve the job of giving names to the flora and fauna around them in the Garden of Eden, and we have been assigning names and labels from that day to this. Naming is a powerful tool, because identifying an emotion, issue, or worry, brings it out of the darkness into the light. What we acknowledge, can now be placed into God’s capable, competent, compassionate hands for healing and change. Naming is often the first step in managing that volcano inside.

In Psalm 42, King David is practicing an emotionally healthy strategy by looking inside himself and trying to name what is troubling him. He is engaging in some fruitful “self-talk” by not only asking this question, but also turning his focus on God as Savior and a giver of grace. Some scholars believe David wrote this when he was fleeing from his own son and could not enter God’s house to worship. In Psalm 42, he honestly names what is defining his life at present: a soul (mind, will, and emotions) drained dry by the tears of betrayal that have poured out day and night.

The pandemic has caused many of us to feel a level of disconnect we have never experienced before, but there is hope! A tidal wave of emotion may sweep over us, but as Charles Spurgeon says, “Grace swims!” So, how do we invite God into our emotional tempest?

ASK God for help to put a name to what is driving the storm inside us.
POUR out all that is inside to the only One strong enough and safe enough to handle our strong emotions.

Psalms 5, 10, 17, 35, 58, 129, and 140 are examples of powerful and often not-too-noble feelings being poured out before God in the privacy of personal prayer. Then, we sit quietly before God asking Him to love us back to sanity, and to give us safe people to help us process our emotions. Remember, this is a process defined by God’s loving acceptance. No shame allowed!

BY: Stephanie Murillo

[Bonus verses to look up later: Psalm 27:14 Psalm 37:7 Psalm 91:15 Romans 4:18-19]

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An Underrated Blessing

April 28, 2021April 27, 2021by Guest Blogger1 Comment

As things continue to return to normal, I have been reminded that normal…is….busy! Run, run, run! Go, go, go. Some days there is barely a moment to catch your breath!

Because normal = busy, time seems to fly by. I blinked and I was graduating high school. I blinked and I was saying good-bye to my 20s. I blinked again and all 4 kids were in school. And I made the mistake of blinking again and my oldest is now almost 17 years old and when he stands up straight, he is looking me right in the eyes!

As I approach the halfway point in my life, I want to take the wisdom I have acquired, some of it which came at great cost (life’s tough lessons often don’t come cheap) and I want to apply that wisdom to the days that I have left. One of my goals for my second half is to fight twice as hard to give my time to my family. If I trade in my family time in order to be successful at work? That’s actually failure. Family must be first.

But there is an overlooked aspect of life, a blessing that God intended us to have, and with all of the things going on, it is often easily neglected. That neglected blessings is friendship. I have had this thought running through my head for a while now: “Friendship is a gift you give yourself.” Making time for friends, pursuing a quality person in friendship seems like a selfish thing to do. I feel like I almost have to give myself permission. With so much competition for time, you could feel guilty for creating some space to enjoy your friends.

Another reason we might neglect friendship is because relationships are messy. We can step on each other’s toes. We can get offended. Sometimes friendships end badly. I have had seasons where I have had walls up, because I didn’t want to get burned again. I look back on those seasons now and I wish I had taken the walls down sooner. I was missing the blessing that comes from friendship.

David in the Bible had a wonderful friend in Jonathan. David’s life was stressful! One minute King Saul wanted to hear David play his music, and the next minute, with no warning, he tried to kill David. Since he was in the service of King Saul there wasn’t much David could do about it. In this rough season of life, David found support from Jonathan, who was like a brother to him. Jonathan was a true friend.

Here are some characteristics of a true friend:

They always tells you what you need to hear, not what you necessarily want to hear!
They will be genuinely happy for you when blessings come your way. They won’t grumble about ‘how nothing good happens to them,’ they will celebrate their friends happiness!
They will hang in there with you, when you need them the most, even if it is unpopular. King Saul was not pleased with his son’s loyalty to David!

In this marathon called life, it isn’t good to run alone. Prioritize godly friends, and you will enjoy the journey!

By: Matt Larson (senior pastor at journey church)

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Listen…

April 21, 2021April 20, 2021by cstine0602Leave a Comment

I have a confession to make. I am a terrible shopper when I am hungry. (Be honest, you are too). I go into the store to grab a tube of toothpaste, and leave with three bags of pizza rolls, a sandwich, and a king size candy bar for later. (Cue the guilt, shame, and promises to do better next time, also, I forgot the toothpaste again.)

Anger is also not my friend. A perfectly good moment to teach my kids about kindness and care to one another turns into me grounding them “until the end of time” or some other edict that is incredibly unreasonable simply because I’m so frustrated, I can’t think straight!

And when I’m tired it doesn’t get much better. Sitting on the couch on a Thursday evening, after a week of pure chaos, one of my children has the audacity to ask if they can have a sleepover with 12 of their closest friends. If I’m not careful, my answer is going to be “yes” and then I’m in trouble. With an adequate amount of sleep, I would never consider the idea, but catch me without sleep, and all bets are off!! (And I get a lil cranky.)

In these moments, I must remind myself of 1 Kings 19. Elijah’s just seen God work in an incredible way on Mt. Carmel in chapter 18 (check it out when you have time). He hears that Queen Jezebel wants to kill him, so he runs away. He gets into the desert and sits down by a bush and tells God to just kill him. He’s suicidal. His life’s work seems pointless. His interactions with other people seem frustrating. No one seems to understand or care about him. He’s alone. He’s tired from running. He’s angry at God and at the people who aren’t following God or doing what they are supposed to do. He’s in desperate need of something drastic…or is he?

Check out 1 Kings 19:5-6, “Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “get up and eat”. He looked around, and there by is head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.”

The story goes on to say that the angel fed him again, and he had supernatural strength to travel for 40 days and nights to a place where he could meet with God. God who spoke to him not in an earthquake, not in a fire, not in a hurricane, but in a “gentle whisper.” (1 Kings 19:12).

I must remember all the ways I can hear God speak to me. In the quiet. In the calm. In the boisterous and joyful. Through the sound of my daughter singing her favorite worship song in the next room. In the warmth of his beautifully created sunlight and the sounds of his amazing creation. In the joy on my sons face as he throws a baseball. Through the note left for me by a loved one. And especially through the notes God left for me in the pages of Scripture.

Sometimes, all it takes to be ready to hear from God is a snack, some water, and a nap. Then listen…

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Love is a Highway

April 7, 2021April 7, 2021by Susan Collins1 Comment

Life is a Highway, I wanna ride it all night long! ♫♩♯

This song was originally recorded by Tom Cochrane in 1991. The song was originally conceived in the 1980’s with the working title “Love is a Highway.” Then was made popular again in 2006 by its use in the movie Cars.

Highways are interesting things. They are so common to us that we don’t see them as an invasion of the environment, but that’s exactly what they are. They are envisioned, created, and maintained by humans for our convenience.

Sometimes religion is like that. Religion can be so much a part of our interactions with God, that we fail to see it as an invasion of that relationship. In the Resurrection message, Matt talked about how God was robbed of the relationship He had intended to have with humankind. Then he set out on a journey to reconcile that relationship.

Like most highways, that journey has lots of ups, downs, twists and turns. Several side roads that eventually make us turn around and go back to where we started.

Human nature is to want the road to look like this:

Or I at least want other people to THINK this is what my highway looks like!

For most of us it actually looks like this:

As I contemplate what Jesus went through from Palm Sunday through Resurrection Sunday, I think of a bumpy, curvy, unpredictable road. He knew what was going to happen, and He still willingly went into the journey to restore the relationship between humans and God.

When I think of the working title “Love is a Highway” as it relates to God’s love for me it becomes very personal.

Jesus didn’t make a turn down a side street then find out it was not where He wanted to go. He intentionally and deliberately set off on a journey down the most dangerous highway imaginable because He loves you and me. Religion can be a vehicle on the highway to God, but it is not the Way, the Truth, and the Life. That is Jesus.

God has given us the relationship that restores what was stolen from Him and us in the garden. Will you accept the gift? It comes completely free….that’s Amazing Grace!

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Rescue

March 24, 2021March 23, 2021by justicepooleLeave a Comment

Passover. This week is a week that has been celebrated for centuries- it goes down to the root of our belief. It’s a moment that we see God continually point to, to remind His people of His enduring faithfulness. When we dive into the book of Exodus, we see a people group who has been enslaved and oppressed by the Egyptians for 400 years. But those slaves aren’t just anyone. They are the descendants of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. These are the people that God said would be blessed. And yet, they are slaves.

But their story doesn’t end there. These Israelite’s cry out to God in the midst of their oppression, and God sends a messenger named Moses to help them in their plight. Moses goes directly to Pharaoh himself and asks for relief for God’s people. Pharaoh proceeds to make their lives somehow more miserable. So God then starts sending plagues down upon Egypt every time Pharaoh refuses to let the Israelite people free. Finally, God says enough is enough, and he tells Moses to prepare the people to leave. But in order to do so, they had to kill a lamb and spread its blood across their door frame in order to be safe from the last plague God would send. And so God sends an “angel of death” to Egypt and every person without lamb’s blood across their door looses their firstborn child…including Pharaoh himself. This causes Pharaoh to finally let the Israelite people be free.

God is a rescuer. He continually shows up to rescue the people that love Him. We see this in not only the Exodus story, but in the story of Jesus as well. When Jesus entered into the town of Jerusalem, he was going there to celebrate the Passover and remember the greatness of our God! But he also was there to rescue us. His life’s mission was going to be accomplished within the week.

As we celebrate Palm Sunday this week, I want you to remember all the times God has rescued you. Everyone’s stories are different in how they found the salvation of Jesus and freedom from sins. But they all have a theme of redemption and rescue, because our God cares for us. Our God is different from most other religions that when we couldn’t get up to Him, He came down to us. And He perfectly lived His life on earth so that we could be free. God holds out his hand to each and every one of us, asking us to believe in what He’s done. Just like the Israelite’s had the chance to free themselves from slavery by believing in their God, we can be free from the shackles of sin and death by believing in what Jesus did on the cross for us.

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Perseverance in Storms

March 17, 2021March 16, 2021by Guest Blogger3 Comments

I was asking Amy what the topic was to write on and before I got that question out of my mouth or shall I say onto my keyboard, here came these words…Perseverance in storms.

May I just tell you I hate to talk or write about these things. I don’t want to sound like some puffed up guru on suffering because I have had my fair share of it (as many of you have) or like I know all the things and glided through these storms with such Christlike character and grace everyone who watched stood in awe. Now, I know there are some ladies who have done this, and I applaud them and maybe even envy them a little if we’re going to be honest; but I personally wasn’t one of them. I fussed and cussed and wept, I prayed and begged, bargained and reasoned and fasted then finally, and I do I mean finally, surrendered and accepted His will over my own. To be honest some days (were down to minutes now not all day) I am still licking wounds of stuff I just down right can’t understand. BUT that being said, this does not nullify the Love nor the Faithfulness of my Mighty God.

My mighty God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Yep, my God heard me say those things I wished I could take back when I didn’t think I could breathe through the pain or ever truly smile again. You see my Bible says He knows me; He knows how I am formed. He remembers I am just DUST…that’s right…I’m dirt and I can act as low as it with enough pain or frustration in my heart. The only time I am above this is when He mercifully breathes His life into me, and Hallelujah He does!!! In the south when someone is acting a fool you will hear the words ‘Bless your heart, your slip is showing”. God has seen my slip more times than I care to remember and yet loves me still.

Okay so about this perseverance in the storm. What does the above several paragraphs have to do with all of this…EVERYTHING! God did not ask me to be fake and phony with a false hallelujah on my lips as my sister, husband, niece and finally Poppie lay breathing their last.

Deb, my sister, died when I was only a few years into my recovery (by the way she hated me calling her Deb, she was my big sis…tough now sis, love you!). That about flung me so far into space I thought I might never land back on planet earth. It isn’t just that she had died, but she died in her addiction…the one I had just been miraculously delivered from. The one I had just took a best friend’s sister to go get help and she was delivered from! What??? Why?

Eric, my husband, passed Aug 29, 2018 exactly five years and one day from when his beautiful young wife had died of cancer before we married. Now his girls have no mom and no dad. (Yes, I am there BUT I am not themmmmm). That was space travel number two.

Seriah, my niece, had just helped another young lady get to work because she didn’t have a vehicle. While doing a kind deed (this wasn’t just a practice of her it was who she was) she was t-boned and broken in more places than I care to remember. We clung, I mean ferociously clung, to Psalm 27:13, “I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living”. We wrote it in her hospital room, we prayed it, we sang over her, we wept and held on for dear life, 27 years old y’all, 27 years old and now gone. I can still see her huge blue eyes, and ache to look into them some days. This is deep space.

Poppie, my dear Poppa, every two hours more meds and more meds and cleanings and rolling to prevent bed sores and shallow breaths. I was watching my mom be ripped in two and wondering if she would survive it (My mom has such precious faith, her and Jesus are doing good…she is finding her way through the valley of the shadow of death and Jesus is championing her through it). He promised me He would care for her. He has never failed on one promise NEVER. This is a whole other galaxy.

Why am I sharing all of this? Because Beloved, I want you to be real and vulnerable and honest as to where you are in your sufferings or storms. Did you notice the word perseverance had the word SEVERE right in the middle of it? If we saw someone go through a severe physical incident we wouldn’t be like “hey you smile and press on”…NO! We would be completely honest about the condition of their body so they could have proper care to be restored. LADIES, it is the same with conditions of the heart, psyche, and spirit. Broken is Broken. But Healed is Healed. You cannot be healed without the truth, period! It doesn’t work that way. Jesus is The Way, The TRUTH and The life. He is not afraid of the truth He IS the truth He lives there He dwells there. Don’t hide in the shadows, come out and speak to Him, let Him heal you. Loving you and praying for you. He is faithful and ever will be. Tiff

PS. I landed back here in the Everlasting Arms.

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Rebuild Trust

March 10, 2021March 9, 2021by dramyoberg5 Comments

Can trust be rebuilt? Trust has been lost over the last year in a host of ways. It is not hard to see systems break down in our society, career paths squashed, and relationships took a huge hit in our world. Families, friends and just about every one of our relationships were challenged in trust…including our relationship with God.

What happens when things are broken in a relationship? How do we rebuild?

Recently, I heard a Ted Talks on this topic and it talked about rebuilding trust taking three things: authenticity, logic and empathy. These three pieces need to be present when working on a broken relationship.

Authenticity: We really need to be authentic in our relationships or then it is not a real relationship. (Psalm 119:73-74)

Empathy: Empathy is required to have a mutual relationship. It is defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. (Galatians 6:2-3)

Logic: This part of the triangle fascinated me! Logic is the form of communication necessary to have understanding. (I know this is where people throw their hands up and determine that rebuilding trust requires the other person to be logical…but both parties need understanding). She drew a simple triangle to explain logic. (Proverbs 3:5)

Start with the story? Many of us start with story and maybe, maybe get to the point sometime in the future. When there is no trust or empathy, then the story will probably fog up the logic and create confusion in understanding if we ever get to the point.

Start with the point? Most of us should start with the point so it is not lost in the story. When rebuilding trust, we may have an opportunity to share the story when trust is built by the point.

This is an incredible formula that can be used in every relationship. Think about how you implement this in your life. When I am with people I trust, I tell them the whole story because the all details matter. When I am with someone I don’t trust, I usually get to the point pretty quick (and maybe I should more quickly). I usually try to tell people the story so they have empathy, but I’m learning it doesn’t work that way. Many times when I am telling a story and I see someone mentally check out…I should get to the point and wrap it up.

Hopefully you can take this formula into your life and put it to good use. While human relationships are hard, God does not need a formula. He loves you just the way you are, he is with you in your emotion, and he understands your story. Trust Him while rebuilding trust in other relationships.

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As the deer pants for streams of water,

March 3, 2021March 1, 2021by Susan CollinsLeave a Comment

so my soul pants for you, my God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

Psalm 42:1-2

Sometimes as I sit in worship, my mind wanders. Shocking, I know. I sure this never happens for anyone else, but it does for me. The preaching is what makes this happen most of the time. Something will be said from the stage, and it triggers a tangent in my mind.

That happened recently, and it is turning into this blog post. On February 28, 2021, Matt preached on Hebrews 11:13-16. As he unpacked this scripture, he pointed to the word “longing” as the key to this passage. I was already singing Psalms 42 when he quoted it. My soul longs for God, just as a wild animal longs to drink the cool, clear water of the stream.

In my first blog for this site, I wrote about finding God in the wilderness. One of the experiences I had on that hike was running out of water on the trail with no clear indication of how far I was from a drinkable water supply. My body panted and longed for water (and my feet were screaming to escape my hiking boots). When I arrived at the Phantom Ranch canteen, water was there…what a blessing and a miracle!

I have learned a few things while hiking in the desert:

Water is absolutely essential for life.
Too much water without food is just as dangerous as dehydration. (we need the balance of the electrolytes)

Sister, we all know that Jesus is the answer. He is the way, the truth, and the life. There is no argument against that.

I sometimes forget that I also need the balance of human relationships with other believers to keep me grounded in the soul’s electrolytes. I need accountability to push me toward the synonyms Matt used for “longing.”

This might be a Journey group, a small Bible study group, or any other group of believers that you regularly meet and can be vulnerable with.

Jesus is living water. Who are your “people” that help balance the electrolytes of your soul?

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God IS Love!

February 24, 2021by Guest Blogger1 Comment

When I thought about writing this at first, I was like, I have no idea what to write…then it began, tell them that I love them, truly love them. Uggghhh, love…such a sloppy word in the church these days. Let’s go ahead and unpack this thing. Sister, I wish we were snuggled up with a warm cup of coffee and our favorite scented candle burning sitting face to face. It is so easy to misconceive what is being said from afar. Our Father in heaven, please let this be exactly what you would have it to be, a talk between sisters and friends.

Love…for some of us that word crawls all over us—let’s be real for some of us it is downright painful. For others, well it’s like a mystical place of wide-open fields with no boundaries doing whatever makes us “feel” loved and “free”. I have been in both camps…imagine that. But what would it be like if we were smack dab in the middle of all of that? Some of you are probably saying where is she going with this? Glad you asked, sis. Go ahead and read 1 Corinthians 13. Now, don’t read it to see how far from being that loving Christian woman your supposed to be, but from the point of God loving you. God is patient with me. God is kind to me. Sister, you at this moment in time, are deeply and wholly loved right as you are…no, exactly as you are. God’s love isn’t flaky; it is not the pulling of petals. He loves me, He loves me not, He loves me, He loves me not. Oh, PLEASE let the last petal be that He loves me. Holding our breath, hoping He can and will forgive us just one more time as were trying to get “this” thing in our lives right for the hundredth time. It’s such a miserable way to live.

His love for you will remain completely intact even if you walk away forever. I know, how dare I say that! Yet, it is true, you see God IS love. That is WHO He is not what He feels, it isn’t a slippery slope…it is a gigantic ROCK to build our lives on. As I wrote that line above, the “even if you walk away,” my heart cringed and I breathed a prayer, please no. Not even one of these who will read please let them never walk away-the consequences of this choice is far too great a price to pay.

Let’s talk about this everlasting love. A friend will tell the truth even when it hurts. So Sis, Why are we so angry at God’s love? Not all of us but some of us. I mean really…He says no to that prayer we’ve been praying forever and we’re angry. That person isn’t healed and we’re angry. There’s an accident or tragedy and were angry. Then, we accuse and blame like our sisters of old; you know Mary and Martha – one wouldn’t even come to meet Jesus and the other one said pretty much if you would have been there death wouldn’t have happened. Dare I say truthfully, I have uttered these words and worse through streaming hot tears and dripping nose.

Ladies, HE Loves you and He loves me! He knows our humanity. He knows sorrow and suffering; He is deeply acquainted with it. Our ache does not diminish His love. Remember it is the Rock, not the slippery slope. I imagine us hitting up against it, trying with all we have to budge it and it’s not moving. It is there. The only way you can “try” to get away from it would be to move away from it. Have you given God the cold shoulder? In all the whys of this life, has our love waxed cold? Are we just a little more reserved in our praise? A little less quick to pray? Remember, He knows your frame. You were not hidden from Him during your making and you are not hidden from Him now. Sister may I suggest not walking back to the Rock but running to Him. Yahweh Tsuri, Your Rock Eternal. He loves you and He is waiting.

Until we meet again, I’ve gotta tell you, if you will wholly return to Him, times of refreshing will come. I love you sis, Tiffany.

1 Corinthians 13, Psalm 139, John 11, Acts 3:19