"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" Matthew 12:34. The values that we hold most dear, that are in our heart, are reflected in our speech. In this podcast, we discuss how to prepare your heart, be at peace, have a healthy sense of your own integrity before you have meaningful communication, particularly with those who are close to you.

Godly communication is not about convincing someone of your position, but speaking the truth in love. It is not trying to win a debate, or convince the other to change their beliefs, but to hear and understand one another. The battle is not with anything or anyone outside of myself, but within my own heart.

"What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?" James 4:1

"Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding." Proverbs 17:27

"The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things." Proverbs 15:28

"Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city." Proverbs 16:32

Proverbs 4:23,  "Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life." Since our heart is hard to discern, God gives us a window into what we value, and that is our treasure. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also," Matthew 6:21.

Our treasure is more than our money or possessions, it is where we invest our time, energy, and resources. When we are able to identify what motivates us and inspires us, our treasure, then we get a glimpse of who we are. The word of God also helps us understand our heart.

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." The reason we are spending studying what God says about our heart, is that it is the most important factor in God honoring communication.

"For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks," Matthew 12:34. When our heart is right, our tongues will follow. Time spent quieting our heart and asking God to work in our heart, is time well spent.

"The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart."  (J. John) The word heart, as used in scripture, does not represent the organ responsible for distributing blood throughout the body. Neither is it to be interpreted as a passion or emotion. Rather, it is the very essence of who you are. It is the inner man. A changed heart is the mark of a Christian. Unless God transforms us in the innermost man, we are still the same egg. All of our external behaviors are just window dressing if we have not been remade on the inside. It is for this reason that we must believe in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, and ask Jesus to live in our hearts by faith.

Proverbs 4:23, " Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life."  David, one of the central figures in the Old Testament is described as a man after God’s own heart. 1 Samuel 13:14. " The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart." Prayers of David:

Psalms 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts; 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalms 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me.

God is in the business of transforming our hearts.

Ezekiel 36:26 " A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep mine ordinances, and do them."

How does Jesus love us? In the same way that He loves us, we are to love one another. This is the new commandment. John 13:34, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, or by changing the order of the phrases; Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ." It is my hope that this episode will encourage us to look at Jesus and observe how he has loved us. Jesus is love in the flesh. He is the ideal example for each of to discover how to love each other.

He denied himself and laid his life down for us.

He served and washed His disciples feet.

He built them up and taught them.

Jesus is gentle and humble of heart.

The Son of God is kind and forgiving.

He prayed for His followers.

Jesus promised to never leave or forsake His children.

He came to save us and not condemn us.

Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

He bears our burdens and weeps when we weep

May our gracious God help us to fulfill the new commandment and love one another as He has loved us.

We each want to parent our children well. Today we will look at how Jesus the Son of God, was parented by His heavenly Father.

As the father has loved me, John 15:9

Jesus had the blessed assurance and complete conviction that He was thoroughly loved and totally accepted by His Heavenly Dad. How did He learn this essential truth that every son needs to know? How was His Dad able to successfully convey His love to His Son?

When John was baptizing Jesus, and when God drew near on the Mount of Transfiguration, a voice from heaven affirmed Him audibly and publicly saying,

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17, 17:5

God the Father always heard His Son’s prayers.

“Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, John 11:41

The Father trusted His Son and showed Him all that He was doing.

The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. John 3:35

For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. John 5:20

Jesus was taught and empowered by His Dad.

I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. John 8:28

The Father and the Son are a team.

I and the Father are one. John 10:30

The Best part, the Good News, is that this same love shared between Jesus and His Dad, is now in us as well.

That the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them. John 17:26

It seems that is much easier to see other people as God sees them, that it is to see ourselves as God sees us. We know that God loves and values others, but it is difficult to believe that He loves and values us.

We need faith to believe the Good News. We also need faith to believe that the Good News applies to you and me. The writer of Hebrews was inspired to give us an excellent definition of faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”.

The first building block in a healthy relationship between two people, is for each of these unique creations, to be fully assured and completely convinced that that they have been created in God’s image, are valued, and liked by God Himself.

When we have embraced, by faith, these truths we are becoming healthy, and are on the right path to becoming what God designed us to be. This life changing transformation comes about through ongoing exposure to the truth.

In 2006 I attended my first Joni and Friends Family Retreat. This was the first time I was face to face with disabilities 24/7. I confess that for the first two days I was very aware of the disabilities all around me. But as the week progressed, I began to get to know people individually by sharing meals and hearing their story. By day 3 I was learning to see the real person on the inside.

These unique and special folks were created in the image of God and adopted members of the family of God. They each had value and gifts that contributed to the body of Christ.

I was learning to see these brothers and sisters in Christ, as God saw them.

We are all human. And we all have our own stuff. We have each sinned, and were brought up in dysfunctional families. Who we are is a combination of our past and our present. We each have a story. The good news is that we are not alone. We all have strengths and weaknesses. We all share a common woundedness. Today’s episode is my story over the past year and a half, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Fortunately God is a wonderful Redeemer, or as I heard recently, the Great Composter.

To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side I learn who I am and what God's grace means. -Brennan Manning

Building families of faith begins with each of us having a personal vital relationship with Jesus. Then we begin to build a foundation for our home on the word of God with Jesus as the cornerstone.

Jesus loves us and like us. He lights up every time we come to Him. He knows us intimately, He designed and created us. But believing and assimilating this truth takes time, in the truth. Jesus says, As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Then he adds, “Abide in my love.’

Abiding in His love, does not come naturally. It requires intentionality and purpose. Paul exhorts us to remain rooted and grounded in God’s love and care. To rest in His care and stay in this good place, requires transformation of the way we think about God and His love for us. This renewing of the mind occurs as we meditate on the truth of God’s word.

We each have to work out our own salvation and find out how we can best be renewed in our minds. I have found benefit in putting together lists of scriptures, prayers, and Psalms to help me. My feelings and emotions are as changeable as the wind, but God’s word is a rock.

The best thing I can do for my family is love God with everything in me, and be fully assured that He loves me. As I receive grace, then I am equipped to give grace. As I experience the love of God in Jesus, I am able to then love others as He has loved me.

The best gift we can give our children, is to love them unconditionally. When they are loved like this, it prepares them to receive grace, or God’s unconditional love. But we can’t give what we have not received. So how do we experience this divine love and not leave our first love as did the Ephesian Church? Many of us have heard of God’s love so much that this expression has lost it’s power. So I am going to share how God made me know that He likes us. That He knows us intimately and still likes us.

There are two components that are important to understanding this important dynamic, His nature and His work. God is. He doesn’t change. He can’t change. He is the same, always. He is also love, and He is light.

Malachi 3:6 I am the LORD, and I do not change.

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

1 John 1:5 God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

1 John 4:8 God is love.

This is His divine nature. We can bank on God being God forever. We are His workmanship. He is the one who gives value to our being.

He designed and created us in His image.

He adopted us and made us His children.

We have value as a part of the body of Christ

We are a temple of the Holy Spirit.

He knows us intimately.

His love and affection, His eternal “like” never changes because He never changes and His work endures forever. He reveals this love in His word and then tells us to Abide in my love. John 15:9.

May God help us to live, abide, and dwell with the knowledge that we are liked and loved with an everlasting love! Amen.