Turn your heart towards Jesus

Remember when you were so in love with Jesus that nothing else mattered? When your heart burned with love and devotion for your savior? When you first became a Christ follower and your heart was completely His?

Somewhere along the way of our lives with Him have begun to slightly turn from our first love to other things.

"Yet even now," declares the LORD, "Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments." Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil.…Joel 2:12-13

The word "return" in this verse in Hebrew is shub. 

         

 shub means-to turn back, return

In the Jewish faith the time period of Elul usually occurs in late August–September. Elul is a time of repentance in preparation for the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

“Elul,” in Hebrew when the letters are read as an acronym, reminds us of the verse, "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine"  Or in my translation, God has my heart!

Often when speaking of the time period of Elul it is said that we enter achor el achor, meaning “back to back,” and by the end of Elul we are panim el panim, “face to face.”

Sometimes our hearts turn toward other things and we don't realize that we have turned away from God. If we stay turned for too long we can feel distant and disconnected from Him.  Sometimes we even convince ourselves that God has moved from us. 

If I am honest, I have been in this turned away position. I am not mad at God, I didn't mean to  become back to back. Somehow as I was focused on work, taking care of my mom, doing ministry and living I began to slowly turn away from my first love. This post is so for me! Today is the beginning of my time of Elul. I am choosing to seek God and turn towards Him.

Where is your heart today?  Is it turned away from God? (back to back)

James tells us that God will be close to us if we come to Him.

Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. James 4:8

Are you willing to turn around, to become face to face with God again? (panim el panim)

If you want that closeness and an intimacy with God again you must be willing to turn around and look at Him. When you look into His eyes you will feel both the embrace of your savior and the reassurance of His love for you.

 

The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.         Exodus 33:10 

My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek. Psalm 27:8

May you be blessed as you seek His face once again.

My vaulted heart

A bank vault stores valuable possessions and protects the contents from robbers.


The Egyptians made the earliest known locks. Later the Romans created a more sophisticated locking system. They made a system that had special notches and grooves that made picking the locks more difficult. 


According to Wikipedia, "Vault technology developed in a type of arms race with bank robbers. As burglars came up with new ways to break into vaults, vault makers found innovative ways to foil them. Modern vaults may be armed with a wide array of alarms and anti-theft devices. Some nineteenth and early twentieth century vaults were built so well that today they are almost impossible to destroy. These older vaults were typically made with steel-reinforced concrete. The walls were usually at least 1 ft (0.31 m) thick, and the door itself was typically 3.5 ft (1.1 m) thick". 


You and I have created our own vaults around our hearts, possessions and lives.  

Sometimes we lock ourselves in to protect us from harm and hurt. Other times we are locked in by our fears and have stayed there for years.

Jesus came to set us free from this life of over protection. He knows that this is not an abundant life!

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10

I came that they may have life, Jesus boldly declared.  I wonder if we are truly living that life or if we have just hidden our fears and pains behind a vaulted door that keeps us ever so protected from venturing out to the places where we might once again experience hurt?

God is the one who can set us permanently free!  He alone has the key not me. If I want to be free i must go to the one who holds the key to freedom.

Father, help me to venture to where you want me to be. Thank you for reminding me that you are the one who is guarding my heart. I trust you to lead and guide me.

Tomatillos

 

I used to think that green salsa was made from green tomatoes, but it actually is made from a Mexican relative of a tomato, the tomatillo. This odd looking vegetable looks like a small green pumpkin covered with a paper thin husk.

This week I made my first salsa verde. It was an amazing thing to unwrap the small little tomatillos. As you unwrap the husk a firm little green tomato-like vegetable is revealed. I wasn't expecting this.    

When combined with onions, peppers, cilantro, lime juice and seasoning it makes a fabulous salsa. Yummy! The recipe came from the Food Network. You can see the recipe here.

This little vegetable made me think about how often we judge things by what they initially look like.  It takes time to discover the little gem that is hiding within.

We can do this with people, problems and places. If we just look at these with their husks still on we may have lost an opportunity to learn something important.

We can learn amazing things when we stick around long enough to discover the hidden gifts that are within.

I am so glad that God looks at the heart and not at our outside appearance! He is concerned about what He finds on the inside.

For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart. I Samuel 16:7

Father, help me not to be quick to dismiss people, problems and place. Remind me that there are lessons to be learned and beauty to be revealed.

Do not harden your heart

Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart…" Psalm 95:7-8

 

This morning I was busy cleaning and organizing.  My day was planned. I had my list. The list that told me all of the important things that needed to be done. I was let's say "in a cleaning frenzy"!

• Unload the dishes
• Sweep the floor
• Wash the floor
• Clean the refrigerator
• Vacuum
• Bathrooms
• Strip the beds
• Windows (maybe)
• Dust
• Clean the ceiling fans

I was well on my way to hitting these items hard and fast.  I felt like the energizer bunny.  In the midst of cleaning those pesky crumbs, coffee beans and dog hairs from under the front of the stove I had a thought come into my mind,

"Meet with Me."

There was no misunderstanding as to who was talking. God was asking me to stop and spend some time with Him.  again I heard,

"There is only one thing that is needed."

I would like to tell you that I dropped everything and immediately spent time with Him.  Sadly, I did not. I want to make an excuse and say, that what I was doing, my list and all, was so important. It was not! So I set an appointment with Him and set the clock for five minutes. In five minutes, no matter what, I would sit with the Lord. I am happy to say that I did. I know that you may think, "why would she do that? She should have and sat with Him right away."

I would rather come to Him with my heart and mind focussed then to be distracted. I want to sit at His feet and learn from him. I am grateful for the graciousness He shows to me and His gentle leadings.

Sometimes we have this picture of an angry God who demands our love and committment to Him. That has not been my experience with Him. He gently woos me and lovingly redirects when I am out of step with Him. As I have begun to listen to his direction more and more, I hear His voice more clearly than before.

How is God calling you to spend time with Him?
                                              
 Enjoy His presence.                                                              

He is calling you to himself.

Father,

Thank you for times in your presence.  There is nothing like being with you in prayer and in your word. I love hearing you call. Help me to not let my list or my day come before you.

Jann