Your heart is your inner impression and response mechanism. It works in a two-way exchange of giving and receiving impressions. It first receives an impression, which in turn triggers a response. This inner response sends a signal that the people around you receive as an impression from you. You are communicating something even if you’re unaware in the moment. A Sweet Response to Mommy’s Impression Mother’s Day bouquet of wild daisies, reminiscent of the hundreds of bouquets my daughter used to create for our home. I remember once when my children were in their bedroom down the hall working on their projects. I was at the kitchen table working on papers, when I (unawares even to myself) began to ever so gently sway to the quiet spiritual music coming from their room, and I got lost in my own thoughts of worship to God. I was quietly “brought back to myself” when my daughter noticed me as she emerged from the bedroom, saying that she’d turn up the music for me. How did ...continue reading
Your heart is your inner impression and response mechanism. It works in a two-way exchange of giving and receiving impressions. It first receives an impression, which in turn triggers a response. This inner response sends a signal that the people around you receive as an impression from you. You are communicating something even if you’re unaware in the moment. A Sweet Response to Mommy's Impression I remember once when my children were in their bedroom down the hall working on their projects. I was at the kitchen table working on papers, when I (unawares even to myself) began to ever so gently sway to the quiet spiritual music coming from their room, and I got lost in my own thoughts of worship to God. I was quietly “brought back to myself" when my daughter noticed me as she emerged from the bedroom, saying that she’d turn up the music for me. How did she know? My barely perceptible sway and far away look in my eyes was an impression I was giving off ...continue reading
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There are many more excuses than just the 7 excuses of an adult temper-tantrum that I list here, but since this is my personal story, I’m giving you the ones I used to have. After reading, you might be able to identify completely different ones that you practice. Do your emotions run your life with adult-sized excuses? Did you know that how you deal with your emotions reflects your spiritual maturity? You’d be surprised to learn that many serious parents have never even considered this idea before. In fact, I was just talking to someone the other day who was only just beginning to see how emotionally immature he had been his whole life—not able to get a grip and respond appropriately to life’s challenges. A Novel Spiritual Growth Idea Here’s a novel spiritual growth idea for you to consider: Emotional immaturity is immoral because it is self-centered and unloving. Your heart is the center of your emotions (the 7th function of your relational heartbeat) and the place of emotional fitness just like it’s the place ...continue reading
We can become uneasy and thrown off balance when the Holy Spirit begins a work of conviction in our heart. The Lord’s disciplinary process toward true spiritual growth is quite unfamiliar to us. We are easily tempted to thwart His work not recognizing the signs or how personally intimate and relational His work really is. Here are five temptations you might experience when facing conviction. Love this happy picture! When you experience these temptations, you can be certain it’s your flesh, and that you need to be set free from old patterns of behavior, and perhaps life-long strongholds that have captured your soul and falsely shaped your relational habits [your character]. Instead, humbly let God take you to the cross of putting to death your fleshly ways when tempted to act in one of these five ways. Temptation #1 — Denial You may want to respond with, “I’ve been hearing the Gospel all my life. I already understand it. This couldn’t possibly apply to me”, or some other version of this scenario. You might continue to ...continue reading
There are four experiences in your heart that at first seem quite unfriendly. But watch out! You don’t want to reject the work of the Holy Spirit. If you’re aware of the possibility of experiencing these heart-level happenings, and recognize them for what they really are—the Holy Spirit’s work in you—they will work for you instead of against you. Unfriendly Experience #1 Deep Sense of Hearing the Truth and Being Convicted The conscience knows when it is hearing the truth. In Romans, Paul refers to the Gentiles who were not even brought up in the Law, but by their own God-given conscience were able to give attention to what is right and good, proving the Law is written on the hearts of men: “They show that the essential requirements of the Law are written in their hearts and are operating there, with which their consciences (sense of right and wrong) also bear witness; and their [moral] decisions (their arguments of reason, their condemning or approving thoughts) will accuse or perhaps defend and excuse [them].” —Romans 2:15 ...continue reading
Your heart is your inner impression and response mechanism. It works in a two-way exchange of giving and receiving impressions. It first receives an impression, which in turn triggers a response. This inner response sends a signal that the people around you receive as an impression from you. You are communicating something even if you’re unaware in the moment. A Sweet Response to Mommy’s Impression Mother’s Day bouquet of wild daisies, reminiscent of the hundreds of bouquets my daughter used to create for our home. I remember once when my children were in their bedroom down the hall working on their projects. I was at the kitchen table working on papers, when I (unawares even to myself) began to ever so gently sway to the quiet spiritual music coming from their room, and I got lost in my own thoughts of worship to God. I was quietly “brought back to myself” when my daughter noticed me as she emerged from the bedroom, saying that she’d turn up the music for me. How did ...continue reading
Can you take a snapshot of your relational heartbeat? Don’t you think it’s an intriguing idea? If given the chance to get a snapshot of your relational heartbeat, would you want to? I hope so because Scripture encourages us to examine ourselves to see if we are showing the proper fruits of our faith. I discuss this idea more, later in this post. Many of us are familiar with the sound of the fast pulsating beat of a fetus’ heartbeat. My husband and I were present to hear each of our grandchildren’s first heartbeats. We would be waiting for that sound of life indicating all is well, and then sigh with relief and joy! We also were excited to witness their rapid beating hearts on an ultrasound! Those signs of life are critical. They are the first indications that the precious new life is on track for growing a healthy baby. EKG to Check the Human Heartbeat When someone appears to have had a heart-related incident, doctors will use an EKG machine to check the condition of the human heartbeat. Protocol is ...continue reading
Faith—Do you know where you have active, believing faith? It’s easy to confuse the faith or intellectual belief in some body of truth with true active faith. The active faith I’m talking about believes God will be there to hold you when you press toward spiritual breakthroughs within yourself that will impact your primary relationships for God’s glory. The Scripture tells us that true belief is in the heart. It’s “with the heart man believes…” and “believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord…and you shall be saved.” God wants to continue His saving work in your life toward mending areas of brokenness in you and in your family relationships. He wants to rescue you from your self-centered heart that contributed to relational brokenness and that keeps you stuck in your fleshly, unloving ways. He wants to rescue you from your need to be in control of everything. There are some things you need that only God can give you. All any of us can really do is to cooperate with what He is showing our heart. Our ...continue reading
Moral Compass — We all have one. Do you know which direction yours and your children’s is pointed? To answer that, let’s define morality so we can know where our compass is pointed—in a range of direction anywhere from unloving, self-centered behaviors to loving, Christlike behaviors that consistently show the fruit of the Spirit. One of Our Precious-Hearted Troopers ~ 2012 What Is Your General Morality? It’s common to think of morality in terms of your stand on various social issues, or your position on things like abortion or sex outside of marriage. It’s common to think of general morality as what you think makes you a good person. Perhaps you feel that honesty is important to you, or cleanliness, or good manners, or church service, or financial responsibility. Whatever you think makes you a good person is your general morality. All of us have a self-generated, or often family generated sense of what is important in terms of right and wrong. Your ideas of morality are very closely tied to whatever standards (see last post) you’ve adopted for what you think is right ...continue reading
