Heartbeat

As Jesus was doing the will of His Father; gathering His disciples, renaming some of them, healing the sick, ministering to the poor, preaching to the crowds…

Mark chapter three says that when His friends heard of this, they tried to hold him back because they thought he had lost his mind. Kingdom living often looks quite strange to the rest of the world.

What has God called you to do, that you’ve dared to do, that isn’t making you popular among your friends? Maybe you’re the one who’s quick to forgive, to lend a helping hand, to see the good and not the bad.

Whatever it is, remember, Jesus didn't let His critics stop Him and either should you.

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In Luke, chapter 22, Jesus is breaking bread with his disciples for the last time. After he gives thanks for the meal, he says to them, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me”.

Now this has become a beautiful sacramental expression of faith in the Christian Church, The Lord’s Supper. A sacred moment as we gather for a meal to pause and remember Christ. However, this doesn’t have to be the only sacred moment in your day. When we’re at our best, we should see all of life as a sacrament. When something is sacred, you recognize its connection with God. A walk-through nature, time with your spouse, or your kids.

How do you recognize and remember Christ throughout your day?

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Have you ever been in that place where you have to choose between what God has instructed you to do and what you think you should do? Maybe it’s how you WANT to react to someone who has mistreated you. The human reaction and the Godly reaction are quite different.

If you’ve been in this place before, don’t feel bad, me too. You either appear weak in someone else’s eyes, or you walk in complete obedience to God.

Keep in mind, that God knows the plans He has for you.  His instructions at this moment and in this season are for a reason. What has God asked you to do that you are yet to do? Could you be delaying your blessing or your breakthrough?

Choose wisely in this season and watch what our Father will do for you.

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Fear is a natural, chemical reaction in our brains. The amygdala is a part of the brain that activates when we sense a threat and causes the body to have a physical response. However, the hippocampus is a part of our brain that then helps our brains interpret the threat. So, if we were to see a T Rex coming towards us, we may instinctively be afraid, but, that fear is tempered by us knowing it’s just a movie.

This tempering of fear is the job of our faith. It’s a filter through which we view our world, fearful events and circumstances- reminding us that no matter what we see, God is in control.

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How do you handle loneliness? It’s a feeling we all struggle with from time to time. Some may try to fill their time with distractions like social media, Netflix, medication… But what are you left with when there’s nothing to watch or when the bottle’s empty?

Jesus knew loneliness as well. Leading up to the cross we see Him in the garden of Gethsemane, overwhelmed with emotion and praying to His Father- asking for another way. But in the end, He says, “Not my will but Yours be done”.

I think something we should learn from Jesus is that even in our darkest times, at the loneliest moment, God still has a plan and a will for our life. You are never alone.  The Creator of the Universe resides in your heart and He’s more than happy to call it home.

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How many times have you simply needed someone to listen?

We live in a world where many within our journey of faith carry heavy burdens and feel as though no one wants to hear them for fear of being judged or ridiculed.

But praise God they have you in their lives – a fellow believer who will “carry each other’s burdens, and in this way fulfill the law of Christ.”

Be that listening ear for someone today. Be present and ready to listen to your brother or sister in Christ. As you serve the Lord, look for opportunities to be “slow to speak, but quick to listen”.

As the author, Krista Tippett once said, “Listening is about being present, not just being quiet”

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I was talking to a friend of mine the other day who told me his relationship wasn’t going great.  A week ago, he was thinking of proposing and now he tells me they broke up because she was chewing her food too loud. I think my dear friend might be a little too picky.

Some of us can allow ourselves to set impractical expectations when looking for a partner in life. The truth is, that marriage is about two flawed people coming together for love and support of each other and their imperfections.

Set your heart to find that imperfect person who, with Christ as the center, together can experience another form of the same, undeserving, loving grace that is extended to us by our Heavenly Father.

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All of us, at some point, can find ourselves in a dark place.  Where we may even begin to feel like nothing matters. And while we’re in this funk, it’s difficult to realize we all matter in God’s eyes. In fact, He loves us beyond what we can ever understand.

Luke 12:7 states, “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”

So, hold your head high and know you are loved and known by your Heavenly Father. He knows all your fears and secrets yet loves you unconditionally and beyond measure. Feel a reassuring peace that you are His child and everything about you matters to Him.

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I was taking a walk through my new neighborhood and noticed one of my neighbor’s dogs on a chain in the backyard. There was a perfect path where the poor thing had paced so much at the end of his chain that there was bare lawn. The owner noticed my concern and said, “Oh, that’s Dingo; he has way too much energy”. I said, “well, do you ever take him off his chain?”. With a horrified expression he replied, “I can’t do that, he’d run away”.

Unlike this poor dog, in Christ, our Heavenly Father has let us off the chain. And we have the freedom to choose a relationship with Him or not. Galatians 5, verse 1 says,

“It is for freedom that we have been set free”.

In Christ, we’re His sons and daughters, not slaves. He draws us in with perfect love, not demands. He paid the greatest price to call you home, so don’t allow anything to you back on a chain.

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At this very moment, you may be enjoying your favorite Christian fast food, in your Christian car, while driving to your Christian job. And while many of these things we praise God for having the freedom to enjoy; have we left the world behind in pursuit of a life only surrounded by quote, “Christian” things and other Christian people?

While we, like the apostle Paul said he was, are “set apart” for the Gospel of God; does being set apart mean that we step aside and lose all connection to the outside world?

As believers, we are here to be the light in a dark place. We are here to introduce people to Jesus and to be the omnipresence of our Father through our loving actions toward our neighbors.

To do this effectively, we’re going to have to get outside of the walls of the church.

Enjoy your favorite Christian music, but don’t forget to show love to your atheist neighbor while you’re at it.

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