Lay Down Your Lovies

One morning, my nine-year-old daughter caught me in the middle of my quiet time when she woke up. She laid down her lovies and crawled onto my lap with open arms. The way our snuggle was positioned, I could feel her heart beating against my chest. She nestled there perfectly content and quiet for at least five minutes. Then as she let go and looked straight into my eyes with pure admiration, she leaned close in and gave me an Eskimo kiss, then looked at me again and gave me a butterfly kiss. She went back to the clench hug and said, “I love you, Mommy.” They were moments to be branded on my heart forever.

About a half hour later, my seven-year-old daughter (at the time), came down the stairs and found me in the same position (still trying to finish my alone time with the Lord). She hopped up on my lap with a bunch of stuffed Webkinz lovies in her arms and hugged me.

“Sweetie, why don’t you put your stuff down, so Mommy can give you a real hug,” I suggested.

She replied, “That’s okay, I’m all warm and comfy.” 

We had our bulky snuggle time for a few minutes, she got down, gave me a quick, wet smack on the cheek and said, “Love you, Mom,” as she went on her merry way to begin her day.

~

This tangible experience became a spiritual example for me. When I go to my Heavenly Father, do I lay all my “stuff” at His feet so that my whole heart and mind can cling to Him? OR do I hold on to the things that make me feel warm and comfy inside, halfway embracing our relationship? Both of these scenarios are in contact with Him, both illustrations communicate my love for Him, but the first is deeper and fuller and will produce the fruit of the Spirit in the ripest and richest way.

“Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul
and with ALL your mind and with ALL your strength.”
Mark 12:30

The idea of this sounds beautiful, but how can it work practically? 

When I look at any verse of worship or devotion to the Lord, I try to put hands and feet on it to help me out. Let’s sort through the following Love The Lords:

• WITH ALL MY HEART ~~~ My heart is what gives life to my body. It is the place where the things I love to do, the people I love, the situations in my day and the passions I have are turned into emotion.

• WITH ALL MY SOUL ~~~ My soul is the whole me, that which identifies me and makes me feel whole.

• WITH ALL MY MIND ~~~ My mind is where the main battle occurs, where the choices are decided, where the output of what is in the heart and soul is processed.

• WITH ALL MY STRENGTH ~~~ My strength is my efforts, and it is a direct result of what comes out of the mind.

To have the fullest abiding relationship with the Lord, we must lay down our lovies and fully cling to Him. Is there anything or anyone we love more than Him? Is there anything or anyone we love as much as Him? Is there anything or anyone that distracts us from fully loving Him? Lay it down. He wants every part of us…there’s nothing He desires for us to keep to ourselves--

-NOTHING. 

“For in Him we live and move and have our being.”
ACTS 17:28a

Father God, You have loved us with a gigantic, perfect, whole, unconditional, 

surrendered love. We are so thankful. Work in us that kind of love today, LORD, 

through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name, Amen.

My Heart Will Rely On Him

I read this in my Edges of His Ways Devotional this morning, and I had to search my heart:

***from Edges of His Ways:Daily Devotional Notes by Amy Carmichael, p.16, January 10th excerpt:

1 Samuel 23:16: "And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened His hand in God."

God make us all his Jonathans. There is a great hunter abroad in the world. Like Saul who sought David every day, he seeks souls every day; never a day's respite, always the hunt is on. Although the words stand forever, "but God delivered him not into his hand," yet sometimes souls tire of being hunted, and like David they are in a wilderness in a wood. Then is Jonathan's chance. But notice what he does; he does not so comfort David that he becomes necessary to him. "He strengthened his hand in God." He leaves his friends strong in God, resting in God, safe in God. He detaches his dear David from himself and he attaches him to his "Very Present Help." Then Jonathan went to his house, and David abode in the wood--with God.

As one with the gift of mercy, I had to search my heart. Do I comfort or advise people so that I become necessary to them, or do I do so encouraging that God become necessary to them?

And even deeper, who do I reach out to when I'm in trouble? Do I grab the phone, or do I hit the floor? Do I rely on the counsel of others, or do I turn to the Word?  And when I reach out to others, what kind of people do I call on? Those who will pray for me and tell me the Truth, or those who will tell me what my flesh wants to hear. First and foremost, the Lord wants to become my "ever present help in times of trouble." Then He will lead us to the people who will give us the Truth He wants us to follow. 

Wowzer, Amy Carmichael always gets my heart and mind thinking and seeking. I could be tempted to take this powerful devotional of hers today too far in either direction at any given time, though. God gives us people in our lives both to help and to lean on...but may we never allow someone to lean on us so so hard and so long that they forget to lean on their Rock, their Redeemer, the ONLY firm foundation. (And visa versa).

Lord, give me an undivided heart during times of trouble. May I come to You first and then follow Your leading and Your timing on help from others. Strengthen me, O Lord. Help me not to be a spiritual weakling, but strong in You, Father--God-strong instead. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

In the Key of HE,

Undivided Time in 2009

It's Word-Filled Wednesday!

My goal this year is to remember that everything I see, say, read, do, touch and write needs to be in line with His Truth. I don't want my heart sliced into pieces like pie, leaving only the leftovers for my Lord. I want each fraction of the seconds in my life to match up with whatever is true, praiseworthy and right. I want to honor Him and have appropriate awe for His glorious name.

I pray that anything that divides me from a pure heart for the Lord will be tossed out, whether it be wasted time or entertainment or worry or ministry or self-promotion or interests or talents or relationships or...  If the Lord can use any of these for His glory, I pray I will pursue them with full force, running fast 'n hard with the strength He provides. As He teaches me, and as I submit, I'll know what to do by the leading of the Holy Spirit in me.

My personal verse for 2009:

Father God, I long to have an undivided heart. Just as Jesus showed single-mindedness in Your will for Him, I want to be solely devoted to You as well. I long to worship You and live for you with no duplicity in my heart or from my lips. And I want to want it every single day. Lord, help me to fear You and love You with all that is within me. In Jesus' name, Amen.

For more Word-Filled Wednesday and for visual inspiration from Scripture, hike on over to:






In the Key of HE,

More Deep Devotion

Okay, well I gotta do it again. My heart is stirred by what I read in my devotions this morning, but it is deeeeeep and uncomfortable. Read at your own risk. ;)

This is from "Meditations on The Heart of God" (pg. 31) by Francois Fenelon, which my good friend Whitney nudged me to pull off my bookshelf and read. To think all this incredible stuff has just been sitting there dusty, waiting to be re-read. I've been missing out. Anyway, here 'tis:

Do this, and you will live. (Jesus Christ, in Luke 10:28b, RSV)

"We often say we would like to know what to do to advance in virtue--but when the Spirit of God shows us what to do, we often lack the courage to carry it out. We have a strong feeling that we are not what we ought to be. We see how our burdens grow day by day. Yet we feel we are doing a lot just by saying we want to be delivered out of ourselves.

"Let us count it as nothing if we say we are willing to follow God, and then do not go as far as sacrificing the things that stop us from walking in God's ways. Let us not hold the truth captive through our unrighteous half-heartedness."

Those last two lines are the kicker, aren't they? Listen, this stuff is not for the legalist. If you struggle with legalism, you may want to consider letting the Lord help you with the issue of freedom in Christ first. But if you have been a Christian awhile, have set aside legalism, and you've been walking free in the Spirit, then this is for you. It's for me too. It's where I am.

I want the deeper life because I love the Lord. I want to be righteous because I love the Lord. I want to live whole-heartedly devoted to Him, because the Spirit of God is pressing the matter within me.

Is He doing the same in you?

Psalm 86:11 (NIV)

Teach me your way, O LORD,
and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.

Father God, I'm almost speechless. I'm in awe of Your goodness, even at a time in my life when my groanings are louder than ever. I have need for nothing. You have given me every single thing I need, and to be honest, most of what I want as well. But Lord, You have placed this restlessness within me for a deeper fellowship with You--not an anxious restlessness, but a holy one. Lord, help me to mean it when I say I want You to lead and direct my ways. Help me to tell the truth when I offer to be a living sacrifice for You. Replace my timid spirit with Your spirit of power. Substitute my selfish heart with Your heart of sacrificial love. I pray that You would do the same, Lord of all, with my brothers and sisters who answered a "yes" to the question above. May we fully rely on Your Holy Spirit in us to do this work. In Your magnificent name I pray, Amen.

In the Key of HE,

Burn It, Baby!

Hey all, some of the readers of my blog may not know that a huge part of my Lifesong--where my love for ministry writing was really born was from a totally separate devotional ministry where I send out devotionals and fiction stories from my Lovinthearts.com ministry website . I thought I would post one from last year, and I hope it ministers to you today.

If you would like to sign up to receive my edevos straight to your inbox, as well as some short fiction devo stories, click here:
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Burn It, Baby!

As a little girl growing up in the Midwest, I have memories of the smell of burning leaves. In the fall, people would rake their massive volume of leaves, sometimes multiple times a week, but instead of bagging them, they would put them into piles for burning. It was a unique odor that I will never forget…not a bad one, just distinct.

One day, I was going with my Mom to my aunt’s house in “the country,” and I smelled the most horrible odor. This was AFTER making it past all the OTHER odors that one survives as she drives through the rural areas of southern Illinois (maybe to do with cows). Anyway, it was something burning, but it wasn’t leaves, and it stunk to high heaven! I pinched my nose and asked my mom what that hetrocious smell was as I gagged through the little air I allowed to come in through my mouth. She said, “Someone’s burning trash!” I had no idea that people could burn trash, but she went on to let me know that this was a regular act for country folk.

This memory came to my mind as I was reading this morning, and you know what, the smell even came back with it! YUCK! I’m glad it did, though, because it gave me a tangible grasp on this passage of Scripture from The Message:

Matthew 3:11-12
"I'm (John the Baptist) baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The Main Character in this drama—compared to Him I'm a mere stagehand—will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He's going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He'll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false He'll put out with the trash to be burned."

Imagine that! When we were saved, He lit a fire within our souls …the Holy Spirit. His role was to change us from the inside out…so the flame lit inside of us shines brightly on “Christ in us” while burning the “trash” at the same time. He took up that stink, so that we would be clean before Him…Do we get that? Our souls are spotless before the Lord because He did some sweeping, raking and burning.

Our goal as Christians is to keep living in Him, in a deeper and brighter way each day. The salvation part is covered, but there is still sanctification to be done. The cool thing is that we have the perfect Source of life within us, and we have access to that Source as we keep ourselves plugged into it.

When the Lord is our starting place for energy, for purity, for holiness, for light, for joy, for peace, for fullness, for pleasure—when HE is the supply of all those things—THEN and ONLY then, will we have success at living the Kingdom life here on earth. There is absolutely no way to do it on our own.

John 14:19 says, “Because I live, you will also live.” Because He did not give way to sin or to death, HE LIVES! When we draw on His life, He gives us the ability to say “no” to sin and death for today. As we repent and submit, He takes out the trash in our hearts and minds and burns it, baby! And I’m sure it stinks to high heaven. After those ashes comes His beauty as He reorganizes our priorities with His own.

What a wonderful opportunity for us to recognize His work in us today, friends, and to praise Him…to fall down and worship Him…to submit to Him. I’m ready for the Main Character in my drama (and there’s always lots of it) to do some igniting in me, how about you?

Let’s go to our Starting Place:

LORD JESUS, YOU ARE OUR SOURCE, OUR PROVIDER, OUR HELP. WHEN WE’RE TIRED, YOU’RE OUR ENERGY. WHEN WE’RE WORRIED, YOU’RE OUR PEACE. WHEN WE’RE CONFUSED, YOU’RE OUR COUNSELOR. WHEN WE’RE ATTACKED, YOU’RE OUR DEFENDER. WHEN WE’RE WEAK, YOU’RE OUR STRENGTH. WHEN WE’RE ANGRY, YOU’RE OUR CALM. YOU AND YOU ALONE DO ALL THESE THINGS IN US, AND YOU DO THEM WELL.
HELP US, FATHER, TO TRUST IN YOU TODAY, TO MAKE YOU OUR SUFFICIENCY.
IN YOUR NAME WE PRAY, AMEN.

In the Key of HE,