Heart Transplant

Jesus looks on our heart

while man looks at the outward appearance.

When David sinned he ask God to create in him a clean heart.  That is what God wants to do in each of us.  To create a clean heart in us we have to allow Him to come into the hard places and do a work in us.  This can only happen if we are willing to let Him come in and do a heart transplant.

When we go through a heart transplant there is pain involved.  It is what is in our heart that causes that pain, that keeps us bound such as unforgiveness, jealousy, envy, strife, bitterness and so much more.  A heart transplant requires the surgeon to come in and remove the old heart and put a new one in.  Jesus is the surgeon, the great physician, who can clean our heart up so we can truly walk with Him like we are called to.  Jesus will renew a right spirit within us to maintain that clean heart.  We need to let the Holy Spirit come in to help us stay clean.

So, are you ready for a heart transplant?

If I Coulda Shoulda Woulda...

If I was taller I could have been a model.

If my hair was straight I could do so much more with it.

If I was smarter then I could have been a lawyer, 

doctor or an accountant.

Why couldn't I have been as smart as my siblings 

then I would not have to study so much.

If I were popular then I would have friends 

and I would not have to spend so much time alone.

If I would have waited then everything in life would be better. 

As children of the most high God, why do we continue to live in the land of If I Coulda Shoulda Woulda?  God wants to take us to the promise land and we're the ones stopping it.

Are we willing to go where God is taking us?

God's promises are real and he has good things for us.  He did not say the road would be easy but He will walk with you every step of the way.

Are you ready to move?

How long do we want to wander around in the wilderness when God has a promise land flowing with milk and honey?  How long do we keep ourselves stuck in a past we cannot change?

Stop making the wilderness your home!

Step into your promise land!

God has something amazing for you.

Gifts from God

God has gifts for each of us that He has given us but 

some are too scared to open them.

Take hold of each gift that God has given you.  

Open them and unwrap them and use them for his glory.

Some of the many gifts are :

PEACE

           Unwrap and take it. You no longer have to live in torment.

JOY

This includes laughter.  The Word said the Joy of the Lord is our strength.  

Smile even when you don't feel like it and regain your strength.

LOVE

This is one that we desperately NEED because the Word said 

if we don't have Love all the other gifts are pointless.  

Love covers a multitude of sins.  

Two ways to demonstrate Love are random acts of kindness 

and praying for people who use you or who have mistreated you.

MERCY

This is treating others as you would like to be treated.

Mercy looks into the situation and has compassion and can pray for the situation.

The Word says HIS mercies are new every morning.

PRAISE & WORSHIP

It changes our heart and takes the focus off of us 

and puts it back on God where it belongs.

We need to praise Him through our circumstances 

for He alone is worthy of our praise.

We need to become true worshipers 

and stop giving God lip service.

Praise and worship Him even when you don't feel like it 

and watch your heart change.

FORGIVENESS

This one is a very interesting gift because to get this gift 

we have to be willing to give this gift first.

God forgave us of our sins when He paid 

the ultimate price on Calvary but yet still

it is so hard for us to forgive someone 

for saying something about us.  

The more you give this gift away the greater the reward.

These are just some of the gifts God has given us.  

Ask the Holy Spirit to show you which ones you have not unwrapped yet 

and open them then use them for the glory of God.

The Image of Jesus

We need to stop depicting Jesus as a “pretty boy.”

The Word says HE was plain.  He was ordinary so why do we chose to depict HIM as this buff pretty little boy?  Can we really truly understand the nature and image of Jesus while He walked the earth?

For awhile that image was OK but I recently had an experience with Christ Jesus that changed my perception and my thoughts about how we depict Jesus.  A true image of Jesus would consist of all the characteristic of all the races.  He would look ordinary.  It bothers me to see a crucified Jesus prettily laid out on a cross because the image HE gave us was not a pretty and cute Jesus that died for me.  HE said he was beaten beyond recognition.  That means HE was bloody and in a lot of pain with raw flesh showing from beatings he had taken.  They put a crown of thorns on Jesus’s head that means that there was blood running down his face as the thorns stuck HIM in his head.  Jesus was stripped naked that means HE bore our shame and guilt.  Then they drove stakes through HIS hands and feet. Can we imagine the agony that HE was feeling? They tried to give him vinegar which was bitterness and in the midst of all that pain and agony HE said Father forgive them they know not what they have done.

The image of a pretty boy Jesus does not compare.  Does it bring comfort or does it keep us in our mess with an unwillingness to change?  The image of a bloody Jesus will change and transform your walk with God because the true image of a Crucified Jesus will set you free and change your heart and mind.  Christ Jesus died a horrified death for your sins and my sins that is something a pretty boy would not do because with a "pretty boy"... it’s all about HIM and HIM alone.  

Jesus loves us so much why is it so hard for us to show each other love?  

When we have a true depiction of the crucified Jesus then we can love him and see HIM in the right light.

Heaven Bound

We need to live as if this is our last day on earth. 

If we knew that tomorrow God was coming back for this world how would we live today?  We would be conscious of our words and actions.  In everything we do we would make sure God is reflected.  So why don’t we live like that each day? 

If we knew when he was coming we would spend a little time pleasing him, and spend a little time reading his word.  We would think about repentance and truly mean it.  We would want to tell as many people about Jesus, we would make sure we have no un-forgiveness in our heart.  Most of all we would inventory our heart, mind and soul to see where we are and to repent for any and all sins and iniquities.  So why do we as Christians live like tomorrow is promised to you?  The term Christian means Christ like, Christ followers.  We need to be set apart.  He said this world is not my home so why do we look so much like the world?

He said no man knows the day nor the hour of his return so we need to take stock in how we live.