The follow of my heart

On the new Needtobreathe album there is a song entitled "Garden." It's a fantastic song! The chorus says:

Let the songs I sing bring joy to you

Let the words I say confess my love

Let the notes I choose be your favorite tune

Father let my heart be after you

When I first heard the song I thought the final line was "let the follow of my heart be after you." When I heard the song a few more times I realized my mistake. As I have listened to the song over the last few weeks, and I have done that a lot, I keep hearing the wrong words. I know the last line is "Father let my heart..." but I keep hearing "Let the follow of my heart..."  Today I realized why.

To say it has been a tough week would be an understatement. I won't go into all the reasons why but suffice it to say it has not been a good one. Today I probably should have stayed home and let someone else bring the message at BridgePoint. I just was not in the right frame of mind to preach today. Don't get me wrong, God showed up today and I believe some great things happened, but it would only be because of Him. It is amazing how He uses us in spite of ourselves sometimes.

After I got home I didn't feel like doing much except lying on the couch and zoning out with a little football (Favre is amazing), golf and even NASCAR. As I laid there the words to "Garden" kept rolling through my head. Each time I got to the last line of the chorus instead of the right words I heard "Let the follow of my heart..."  Now I am a little slow but give me a little time and even I finally get it. You see, the majority of my struggles this week, and every week for that matter, are a result of "the follow" of my heart. 

When I let my heart follow after the temporary things of this world and that which brings momentary satisfaction I will always struggle. When I let anxiety and worry dictate and control my life, when I stop trusting God and try controlling  my on life and when I let the response of man rule my decisions, I am letting my heart follow the wrong thing. Faith and trust get shoved aside and stress and worry take over.

That familiar verse from Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that the Lord has "plans" for you, "plans" for me. He says the Lord has "plans to give you a hope and a future." Right after that, in verse 13, he tells us that the Lord declares that "you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." That's it! 

While I messed up the words to the song the truth in what I was hearing wasn't messed up at all. What God was trying to get through my thick skull was that when "the follow of my heart" is after Him I will find what I am looking for and when it is not I will struggle. It really is that simple. This week I let "the follow of my heart" get off track. This afternoon I have recommitted myself to seek and follow after Him, with all of my heart. 

How about you? Where's "the follow" of your heart? My prayer is that you also will recommit yourself to seeking after Him. Seeking Him with all of your heart. Jeremiah tells us "'I will be found by you', declares the Lord." What a promise!

By the way, get Needtobreathe, The Outsiders. It's a great album. You won't be disappointed. 

Whatever It Takes!

Tim

Know Him and make Him known.

These words to a chorus have been stuck in my head all week,

"All of life boils down to just one thing

to know Him and make Him known"

I don't know if it is because of the series I am preaching or because I turned 51 this past Friday, but I have really been focused on those words. 

The series is called ONE and has really challenged me with the idea of staying focused on the "one things" that are most important. The opportunities that I have each day to live out those words. Each day God gives me "ones." It might be one touch, one conversation, one encounter or one experience. All designed to give me a chance to know Him better and make Him known to this world. I am most alive when I am allowing myself to be used to reflect Him to the world. That's what I think Paul meant when in Eph. 2:10 he said:

"For we are God's workmanship,

created in Christ Jesus to do good works,

which God prepared in advance or us to do"

The prophet Jeremiah wrote "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord..." Paul tells us what that plan is. We are here to do good works. What is the good work we are here to do? See the words to the song. 

We are here to know Him and work like crazy to make sure as many people as we can know Him too. How do we do that? By seizing the many "one" opportunities He gives us. It really is that simple.

What about turning 51? The fact is as I get older I realize that my window to achieve the above is getting smaller. After all I am closer to 100 than I am to 0 (that's an ugly thought) and I have fewer years left to do what He has prepared for me to do. I told someone the other day that all I have ever wanted was a chance to win. A chance to make a significant impact. As each year passes I know that my "one" opportunities get fewer. I just want to make the most of each day I am given. I want to make the most of my "ones."

Will you join me in making the most of your "ones?" Make that one call. Take that one step. Have that one conversation. Reach out to the ones He puts in your path that need to know Him. I hope the words to that song resonate in your head and heart like they have in mine. Together we can make Him known, one person, one touch at a time!

Running on Empty

This past Sunday I concluded a series at BridgePoint called Ordinary People Extraordinary Lives. We wrapped it up by looking at a woman in the Old Testament. Her story is recorded in 2 Kings 4. Let me give you the short version.

A lady has lost her husband and inherited a great about of debt. She had no way to pay the debt and her husband's creditor was coming to take her two sons as his slaves as payment. She turned to the prophet Elisha for help. He asked her what she had to pay the debt and her reply was nothing. She was tapped out except for a "little oil." She was running on empty.

I have a feeling, like me, many of you can relate to this woman. We are tapped out, running on empty and just trying to keep our heads above water. We are desperately looking for a way out. We turn to God and God's people looking for answers, looking for help.

What is so interesting about this story is what happened next. Elisha tells the woman to go ask her neighbors for their empty jars. There are three really cool things related to this request. First, by getting the neighbors jars she realizes that she is not alone in her struggle. Not only are her jars empty, her neighbors have empty jars too.

Often times we feel so alone in our plight. It's as if we are the only one struggling. We feel like no one else can identify with us. The reality is that all around us are people who have equal or greater needs. We are not in this alone!

The second interesting thing is that instead of providing a quick exit for the woman Elisha forces her further into her emptiness. By gathering her neighbors empty jars he is asking her to surround herself with more emptiness. Often times in our lives God forces us further into our emptiness before he fills us. He asks that we become totally dependent on him. He wants us to totally trust him. He wants all of us and unless we are totally empty of self he can't fill us.

There is a promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13 it says:

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.

And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond

what you can bear. But, when you are tempted, he will also provide

a way out so that you can stand up under it."

One way to look at that scripture is the promise that as we are sometimes forced further into our emptiness we can take heart and trust that he is "faithful" and has given us the strength to endure and "bear" that emptiness. He also promises that when we can't "bear" it he will "provide a way out."

That leads me to the third truth I discovered in this story. The "way out" Elisha provided may not have seemed like a way out at first. You see, he tells the woman to pour her oil into the empty vessels she has around her. The problem is that the empty vessels he asks her to pour into aren't hers. They belong to her neighbors. Now, they had freely given them to her to help in this time of need, but the reality is that when she poured the oil into their jars she was risking them taking it for their own. After all the jars where theirs. Elisha is asking her to trust and be willing to risk what little she has. She had to trust her neighbors and the process.

Again, God is saying are you going to depend on me? Are you willing to give away what you are hanging on to so that you have nothing else but me? Are you willing to risk it all for me. Instead of running around on empty trying to figure it out on your own God is saying give it to me. Trust me you don't need what you are hanging on to. I will fill you.

Well, the story concludes with an awesome display of God's power, faithfulness and provision. The woman pours the little bit of oil she has in jar after jar and God multiplies that oil until every last jar is full. He provides enough for her to live on and to sell to meet her debts. He meets all her needs and gives more than she asked for.

Great story! By the way, I like to think there was a little oil left in those jars for those neighbors too. What do you think?

Whatever It Takes!

Tim