His Heart, Our Heart

‘For the Lord has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his dwelling place: “This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.” ‘ Psalm 132:13-14

Most of us probably know of the war going on in the Middle East, specifically Israel. Thousands of people are dying, children are being kidnapped, people lay in hiding while rockets and bombs fall around them. And for many it may seem that darkness has won. Even that God has forgotten them.

But He hasn’t. “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.” ‘ Isaiah 49:15

No matter how far Israel has gone in sin, He still loves them. And His love for them, the people He chose, is everlasting.

And Jesus is inviting us to join with Him in His heart for His people Israel. To be watchmen posted on the walls, who give ourselves no rest until the Lord comes back and reigns in Zion. To not be silent until her light shines out. (Isaiah 62).

To cry for what He cries for, to pray for what He prays for, to have a broken heart for what breaks His.

He loves Jerusalem. We love Him. And so we love what He loves. And we pray for what He prays for.

Lord, save your people.

Who Will You Follow?

We live in a generation that wants to be “woke”, aware of everything people say and do, a generation that, in short, wants to live offended.

But then we see Jesus, He was betrayed, disowned, mocked, basically He had every reason to be offended. But He still gave up everything for us. Dying on a cross all for love. Because He desires us.

He laid down His life for us. For people who spit in His face, who said terrible things about Him. This is the greatest love. (John 15:13)

So who are we going to be like? Are we going to be a generation living offended? A generation who lives complacent, dull, dry?

Or are we going to be like Jesus, who lived a life of complete servanthood, laid down, even unto death. Picking up our crosses and following Him. (Luke 9:23) Because He is so worth it.

“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” -John 15:15

‘And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” ‘ -Luke 9:23

His Friends

"As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”  But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” -Luke 10:38-42


In this story we see Jesus coming to visit His friends, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Martha is in a flurry of activity, and then; where is her sister Mary? Sitting; apparently doing nothing. 

But when Martha goes ask Jesus about this, he answers, patiently, "Mary has found that one thing that won't be taken away. Sitting at my feet in poured out love and devotion." 

In John 12:1-8 Jesus goes back to Bethany to spend time with His friends and in verse 3-8 it says:

 "Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”... Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

Mary pours out an expensive perfume on Jesus' feet; (300 denarii was normally a year's wages.) Mary gave up everything to be able to buy this perfume. Others saw this and reproached her, saw it as a waste. But Jesus saw great beauty in that. 
He doesn't look at the outside He looks at the inside. And He saw a laid down friend in Mary. And He loved that. 

And this is what Jesus really wants. He wants wholehearted love and devotion. To take a moment of our day and just sit, silence any distractions and just sit and talk with Him, listen to what He has to say. To pour out everything, no matter the cost, because Jesus really matter to us. More than earthly riches, glory and human approval, which will all fade away. 

And it will cost us so much.  But Jesus sees our sacrifices (no matter how small), and He sees great beauty. 

Jesus longs for friends who will stand by Him, who will take time out of their day to sit and tarry with Him, those who are wholeheartedly in love with Him, devoted to Him no matter the cost. 

Are we going to be those friends? 

I’m Back!!! A little inspiration and a Spring Photo Dump

Hello everyone! I am back! I am so sorry for not posting in so long, life has been pretty crazy busy.

Anyways, I am trying to fall back into routine with posting, so here I am 🙂

Spring has finally arrived!!!! I don’t know about you, but for me it felt like it would never end 😅 (I do love winter of course, but I’m not a big fan of the cold 🙃)

With everything getting greener and the weather getting warmer, I am newly reminded of God’s love, mercy and faithfulness.

He is the giver of life. The giver of good gifts. We don’t deserve it, but He still gives it 🤍

How great and wonderful is our God!!!

And without further ado, here are a few picture I’ve taken recently…

Our friends llama: Leonard

The trees are getting green!!!

They’re so colorful!

A common dandelion (Taraxacum Platycarpum)

Wildflowers (Wild Violets and more Dandelions)

God is such a creative artist!!! 🤍

Hope everyone enjoyed this!!!

God’s Love

Jesus had the option to not die, He didn’t have to do it. The Creator of the Universe didn’t have to take the form of a baby, and come down to earth, and grow up in a broken and sinful world, while He Himself was perfect. A place where He would get reproached, and hated, where He would get unbelief and ridicule. Where after 33 years, He knew He would get killed, where He would die… and not just any death, but death on a cross. A horrible, unimaginably painful death. Imagine Him there, hanging from a cross, with nails through His hands, barely able to breathe. An innocent sinless man, a Jewish carpenter from Nazareth, and also the Creator of the World, died beside criminals… because He loved us. (Jeremiah 31:3) Because He wanted us to be with Him where He is. (John 17:24) Because He wanted friendship with us. (John 15:13-15) And because He keeps His promises (Genesis 17:3-5; Luke 1:55).

And that is true Love.

Not the “love” the World wants to give us. That love is fleeting and passing. A love that changes with our feelings and emotions.

But God’s love is everlasting, unchanging, unmovable. It’s a love that weeps with those who weep, and rejoices with those who rejoice. It’s an unselfish love, a patient love, a humble love, a love that doesn’t envy… (1 Cor. 13)

Because God is love.

Wasting Our Lives For What Matters the Most…

• Matthew 6: 19-21
• Matthew 10:39
• 2 Corinthians 4:18 

These verses especially Matthew 10:39, (‘If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it. ‘); have really made me stop and think. We say we love Jesus or we say “send me anywhere Lord” or I’ll do anything God”, the question is do we mean it?

The times we’re living in are hard times, and they haven’t exactly touched us here in the West yet (except maybe Covid). But any day now it could come to us. And we have to be ready. I want to especially encourage  those of my age group, (GenZ).

Instead of focusing on “now” we have to focus on the return of Jesus. (2 Cor 4:18) Instead of worrying about what we’ll do when we grow up, (that’s important) but we should focus more on growing in the Lord.

Instead of worrying about “romantic” relationships, or if and who we’ll marry (I do that a lot 😅 ), let’s focus on making Godly friendships. On being those good Christian friends. And most importantly grow in our friendship with Jesus.

Instead of wanting the latest thing or going with the flow, let’s be different, let’s stand-out; for Jesus! I know peer-pressure and wanting to do what everyone else is doing, is tempting (another thing I struggle with). But being cool and popular; is it anything compared to what Jesus has ready for us?

So I encourage you, ‘ “… let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” ‘ (Hebrews 12:1);

and even if we die for Christ we can have the assurance that we will be raised up from the dead, and we will be able to say, ‘ “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” ‘ (2 Tim. 4:22).

Hope this was encouraging! Love you all. Blessings! ❤

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” -Jim Elliot

                                                                                       

Ants

Ants are like Christians (or maybe we’re like Ants, lol)… I’m sitting in my garden while I write this, watching a group of ants crawling up a wall. There they are like always scurrying up and down carrying tiny specks of food, stopping every once in a while to rub another one with their antennae (I think that’s their special language 😊), and it got me to thinking…

The ants are “running a race” or just “running” to the prize. They diligently and persistently carry their food and go home, where they can enjoy it. That is a prize, right? They continue directly, not stopping, except to encourage and tell of the great news, that, (perhaps) a family left the remains of a picnic. Sound familiar? To me it does! We Christians are running a race, (Hebrews 12:1b). It isn’t easy; there are temptations that distract us from our goal; there may be people who discourage us. But we must continue on. Knowing that in this world there will be tribulation, but we can take heart because He has overcome the world, (John 16:33). And there is something at the end of that road, that rocky narrow path, something much better than what the world has to offer. And what is that? Eternal Life! (“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” John 5:24).

But we also stop to tell others about this wonderful promise, of Eternal Life with Jesus in the New Jerusalem. (Isaiah 52:7).

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

Revelation 21:4

A Heart After Him

“Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” -1 Timothy 4:12

God loves young people, teenagers.

He made Mary, a young 15 or 16 year old, the mother of Jesus. And Joseph who was probably in his early 20’s His earthly father.

When Jesus chose His disciples, He chose young immature teenagers. (Peter who was married was probably the oldest, but still in his early 20’s)

And now, believe it or not, Jesus is after our hearts, after Gen Z’s wholehearted love.

He wants TEENAGERS,

Who like David write and sing songs to our Creator. (1Samuel 16 & the Psalms)

Who like Isaac have great faith in the face of trouble. (Genesis 22)

Who like Samuel hear His voice and answer. (1 Samuel 3) 

Who like Naaman’s servant girl,  trust that our God is a God of miracles (2 Kings 5:1-14)

Who like Josiah, choose to pursue God (2 Kings 22:1-23:30 & 2 Chron. 34:3-7)

Who like Daniel, though living in a land full of evil, stand strong in the Lord (Daniel 1)

Who like Esther, have courage. (Esther)

Who like Mary, say “I am the Lord’s servant.” (Luke 1:38)

Who like Mary of Bethany, pour out our lives like oil at His feet (Luke 10:39,41 & John 12:3-7)

And like the disciples, laying everything we know aside to follow, ‘a Jewish carpenter’

Teenagers who devote themselves to prayer, to fasting, to living a life of devotion, until His return…

That is what Jesus wants from us. Wholehearted and undivided love.

 Are we willing to risk getting turned down, looked down on, laughed at, mocked? If we really love Him we should be more than willing. Like that “yes” that a bride gives her bridegroom, should be our yes to our bridegroom: JESUS

A Willing Heart

A Short Story

It was a warm summer night, and a young girl lay in her bed thinking about what had happened at church that day… And what had happened?

That morning at church they had a very special guest. A missionary! It had been a petite, dark-haired woman, telling them about the work going on in the jungles of Ecuador. The girl’s eyes had shined, and as she sat on that pulpit she had prayed, “Lord I want to go!”

And now she prayed again, “Lord here I am, send me. I am willing to do anything for you.”

And she heard God, in response ask her a question. “My child, are you really willing?”

“Of course, I am!” the girl said, almost surprised that He would question her words. “Anything!”

“Very well then.” He responded, “I have one simple but very important task for you.”

The girl’s heart skipped with excitement, “Yes Lord, yes!”

“Ask your sister for forgiveness. ”

The girl blinked in confusion, “What do you mean?” she asked slowly.

“Go to your sister and say you’re sorry.” He repeated.

“But Lord that’s not what I meant. I meant that I am willing to go to the mission field.” She answered.

“My precious daughter; if you aren’t willing to be humble and ask for forgiveness, in this task I’m giving you now; then how do plan on being able to face the many trials later in life and on the mission field?” He asked so kindly and patiently.

The girl was silent, thinking over His words. In her heart was being fought a terrible battle; she knew that His words were true, (they always were). But her pride was also strong. Finally, she took a deep breath. “Help me Lord, please. I need your help; I can’t do this on my own.”

“I know you can’t my daughter, and I am more than willing to help you.”

 

***

 

“…and that is how I came to be a missionary.” 10 years later, the same girl, now a woman, sat among a group of eager children, telling them her story. “One of the greatest things we need, not only as missionaries but in every day life, is sacrificial love, and true sacrificial love needs humbleness.”

 

A Priceless Treasure

“Priceless: so precious that its value cannot be determined.”

Jesus calls us His masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10); He calls us His (Isaiah 43:1); He loves us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3); the King calls us His children (Romans 8: 15-17); He calls us His friends (John 15:15-17). How amazing is that?! To know that the Creator of the whole world, who can move mountains, and raise people from the dead, would actually call us Priceless, (Isaiah 43:4), just blows my mind away.

We are sinners who deserve death, but He instead died for us. On a cross, a humbling and super painful death, and then promises everlasting life. So, what more can we give Him, than a life laid down in pure devotion. Let us Treasure Him before anything else. Let’s make Him Priceless in our eyes. Let us be willing to leave father and mother, sister and brother, riches, and fame… for HIM.

Because, when you come down to it; what matters more? Riches and fame that pass away…? Or everlasting life in the New Jerusalem sitting at the feet of our Priceless king…?