Cross My Heart Ministry

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,
but whoever rejects the Son will not see life,
for God’s wrath remains on him.
John 3:36

 Everyone human being falls into one of two camps:

1. Believer
2. Non-believer

Some might say, “I haven’t rejected Jesus – I just don’t believe in Him.” But by default, refusing to accept is equivalent to rejecting Him. There is no middle ground.

Choosing not to choose is a choice in itself. And, like everything in life, choices bring consequences.

Age has a way of humbling us and providing wisdom that can only come from experience. I remember hearing a story once about a young manager in an organization seeking counsel from an older, successful manager. “What is the secret to success?” he asked. The wise older man responded, “Good decisions.” The young man nodded agreement. Then, furrowing his brow, he asked, “How do I learn to make good decisions?” The older man then answered, “Poor decisions.”

If you’ve lived more than a handful of minutes on this planet, you’ve learned that poor decisions indeed bring consequences. And, if you have a teachable spirit, those consequences prompt better decisions in the future.

But of all the decisions we make (education, career, housing, spouse, and a myriad of others), none carries a greater impact than our decision to believe Jesus. This decision alone impacts us for eternity.

Do you believe Jesus? Are you sure you believe Jesus? If there is any doubt, make that decision NOW. Do not wait!

The choice is simple, but profound. It takes but a moment, but changes eternity. Use your own words or use this prayer as a guide:

God Almighty, if you are there, if you are listening, if you are care,
I am finally ready to cry “uncle.”
I am ready to yield my life to You.
I am a mess. I have made a mess.
All my striving has come to nothing.
My motivations are rooted in pride.
I have rebelled against You.
But today is my line in the sand.
Enough.
I’m tired of trying and weary of running.
I believe you exist.
I believe You are the Son of God!
I believe the unbelievable
 – that you love me and actually died for me.
You paid my bill, the debt I owe for my sin and rebellion.
Because you died for me, I want to begin now to live for you.
Help me live for you.
I’m sliding over to the passenger seat now and letting you take the wheel of my life.
Please drive.
It’s simultaneously frightening and freeing
to take this step of faith and let you be in charge.
I love you, Jesus.
Today is the day.
Thank you for keeping me alive to reach this day.
Thank you for every hard thing that you have allowed into my life.
Looking back, I see now that nothing was wasted.
You used every bit of it to bring me down so I could look up to You.
Thank you for loving me.
Thank you for giving me hope and a future.
Amen. 

We’ve completed our time in the Old Testament book of Nehemiah and this week’s teaching video marks the beginning of a new 4-week study in the 17th chapter of John. Before examining the last words of Jesus recorded in His prayer in John 17, we back up a few chapters this week and review a summary of His last words in John 13-16.

A lot happened on that Thursday before the Friday crucifixion of our Lord.

Last words are powerful and impactful. Let’s consider those released by Jesus in His last few hours on this planet. We invite you to listen to Laura’s Intro Teaching Lecture for John 17. Free copies of the study guide are available for download here.

But these are written that
you may believe
that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God,
and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:31

The reason John wrote his gospel is the same reason many of us talk to our children and grandchildren about Jesus: we want them to have eternal life!

On a Sunday morning not long ago, I watched as a little girl in our church was baptized. The children’s pastor commented that when he asked her about coming to know Jesus she responded, “My family talks to me about Jesus all the time!”

Let’s pray that our children, grands, and great-grands will grow up saying the same thing about us!

When our children are at home, we teach and train them. We go to their soccer and baseball games. We chase their bent by investing in music lessons, sports camps, and science kits. We love them. We take them on vacation, teach them to cook, and caution them about stranger danger. We teach them about money, relationships, forgiveness, generosity, and how to change a flat tire.

But as followers of Christ, what we want most is for them to come to know our Jesus!

God has no grandchildren. Our faith is not inherited by our children, but it is seen and heard by them.

Other than our living testimony, they also get to know Jesus through His Word.

The beginning of a new month brings the next installment of our Write the WORD series. The selected verses for this month highlight the word believe.  

If you are a mother or grandmother, you may be anticipating spring and starting to plan for  sports, vacations, and other activities for your family. But whatever your plans, be sure you also talk to them about Jesus. I hope and pray that the verses on this bookmark will fuel some great conversations with the young ones in your life, as well as with our Lord as you pray for them.

My prayer is that as you write each verse, you renew your belief in Jesus and your faith is strengthened by His Word.

Do you believe in my Jesus? Have you placed your faith in Him? It’s simple, but changes everything:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  Romans 10:9

If you are ready to commit your life to Jesus, here’s a simple prayer prompt:

God, I’ve made a mess and I am a mess. I am a sinner. I cannot fix or change myself. I need You. This day I give my life to You, Jesus. Thank you for taking the punishment on the Cross that I deserved. Come into my life. Take over. Take charge. From this day forward, I will follow You. You are my Savior and my Lord. Amen. 

Whether you prayed that prayer or something like it (and whether you prayed it today or many years ago), your life in Christ will be transformed by His Word. Why not commit to writing God’s Word daily – and then pray it, speak it, and live it.

We’ve just started a new month, which means it’s time to start another Write the WORD topic. In March, each verse for each day includes the word, BELIEVE. Please listen to this week’s teaching video, as Laura explains what this word means spiritually and its implications for eternity, as she reflects on Jesus’ words from Mark 1:15, “Repent and believe the good news.”

Our free monthly Write The WORD bookmark is a tool to encourage you to abide in His Word. Our newest bookmark (highlighting the word, believe) can be found on the Downloads page.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24

Here in Psalm 139, we witness David making himself completely vulnerable before God. His prayer reflects a heart eager to know God and to be refined by Him.

Do you and I wear masks when we pray? Do we offer up platitudes, posturing before God as we suppress our real thoughts, motivations, and struggles?

Of course, we’re not hiding anything from our omniscient heavenly Father … He knows it all anyway!

Yet we play that game.

Sometimes we avoid God altogether until we “get our act together.” Shame keeps us in hiding — not unlike Adam and Eve hiding out in the Garden! The same enemy wants us deceive us. Satan would have us believe we need to clean ourselves up before coming before our holy God.

But we miss the whole point of the Gospel when we try to fix what is broken on our own. We need Him to do it for us. We cannot orchestrate our salvation and we are equally helpless when it comes to our sanctification.

Are you ready to pray a gutsy prayer? To give up on being “polite” before God? Are you ready to cease the safe, surface-only, stale, boring, cold, rehearsed prayers?

Let’s get gritty! Let’s get real!

Let’s decide to be open, honest, and vulnerable as we lay out our proverbial dirty laundry before God. Those sorts of prayers will reflect a heart longing for God to do a mighty work — a heart willing to have God search and test and examine, and then lead us “in the way everlasting.”

O Lord, forgive me for floundering on my own when your help is near. Search me today. Search me now. Show me where I need a course correction. Draw me to Yourself. Refine me. Conform my thoughts to Your thoughts, my ways to Your ways. Make me more like You. I echo David’s prayer from way back then for my life now: Search me, test me, and lead me!

Our Write the WORD verses this month all include the word, HEART.

In Friday’s teaching video, Laura unpacks one of these verses for us. In Psalm 27:14, David spurs us on to “Wait on the Lord.” In fact, he begins and ends this short verse with this phrase, and in the middle, he gives two helps for doing. We invite you to watch and listen as Laura brings a brief devotional on the challenge to wait well!

Visit our Downloads page today for your copy of the HEART bookmark and finish the month by reading, writing, and studying God’s Word with us!

In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps.
Proverbs 16:9

It is good to make a plan. We’ve all heard the old adage, Failing to plan is planning to fail — and often in life, it proves true.

This girl loves To-Do lists and schedules. I get so excited when it’s time to buy a new planner! Some of us check off the tasks as completed, while others cross off, and some do both! And the super-task-oriented amongst us take delight in adding something already completed to the list, just for the sheer pleasure of checking (or crossing) it off!

The Psalmist prays, “Teach us to number our days…” (Psalm 90:12) and Paul challenges, “…make the most of every opportunity.” (Colossians 4:5). It is good to be faithful stewards of the time we have. Time is valuable and too priceless to squander — and more precious with each passing year.

But even as we exercise diligence in our planning, we receive a caution here in Proverbs: hold those plans loosely. We make our plans, but ultimately God is sovereign over our lives.

God will always have His way. He works through events and circumstances to move us, shape us, and refine us according to His plan. He determines our steps.

I am unable to ascertain where our free will ends and where God’s sovereign will begins … and, frankly, am a little concerned by those who could definitively answer that question (unless there is clear sin involved)!

But here’s the thing: as I make plans in my heart and plot a course to fulfill those plans, I pray that my plans and my will are so yielded to God’s will and so tuned to His best for me that “Laura’s will” completely melts into God’s will.

I pray my love for God means that my will is not straining at the bit to run from His will or exercising super-human strength to reign myself in to yield to His will.

My prayer is that in child-like faith, I love Him and trust Him and that I want what He wants — what He determines for me.

I pray that each new direction becomes an opportunity to lean hard into how He might use this new or unexpected course for His glory … and even my good.

It is simultaneously sobering and encouraging to note that my Savior prayed in the Garden, on the night before His crucifixion, “Not my will but thine be done.” In His humanity, Jesus asked, Is there another way? And I may ask the same: Lord, is there another way? Would you fix this, change this circumstance?

If my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ would choose to humble Himself and bend His human will to the divine will of the Father, then who am I — a mere, sinful woman — to think I should or can hold out for my way over His?

Lord, conform my will to Your will. Give me strength to do the work of planning, but to hold my plans loosely and be ready to pivot to a different path as you direct. You know me best and yet still love me most. You are worthy of my complete trust. I have trusted You with my destiny for eternity … how can I not trust you with my now? Be glorified in my life. Amen.

In this week’s teaching video, Laura wraps up the ladies’ Bible study of the amazing book of Nehemiah. The group has studied the work of rebuilding the walls and rebuilding the lives of the people. In this most recent teaching, we turn our attention to the man God used to do it and what we can learn from his example. Please listen to Laura’s teaching lecture, then prayerfully consider how God is calling you to live as a thermostat in your corner of the world.

Delight yourself in the LORD and
he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4

The name-it-and-claim-it crowd would immediately gravitate to the second part of the verse: “…he will give you the desires of your heart.”

“Yes, please! Give me the ‘desires of my heart,’ Lord!” followed quickly by, “I’ll even tithe 20% when I win the lottery!”

Hyperbole aside, do we unconsciously adopt a transactional approach to following God? Do we somehow think that if we obey Him and try to live a good life, He owes us? Is our first response when trouble comes, “Why me?” rather than, “Why not me?”

The key to receiving our hearts’ desires is found in the first part of this verse: “Delight yourself in the LORD…”

As we commit ourselves to delighting in God — to keeping HIM on the throne, to following HIS will and living life HIS way, to making it our chief aim to bring HIM glory — blessing upon blessing will roll right back upon us. We find ourselves joyful, even when circumstances are unhappy. We realize we are peaceful, even amid chaos. More and more, we see love lead out in our actions, attitudes, words, and behaviors.

This is the blessing of abiding in Christ.

As we make that daily choice to delight in Him, we will one day realize that, to our surprise and amazement, He has given us the desires of our heart. But He did something a little sneaky: He did by changing our hearts! What a joy to see our hearts transformed and brought into alignment with God’s will and His desires for us.

We are often quick to see the connection of emotions with our heart, but as women of God committed to transformation and maturity, it is our will that must be engaged. The emotions can catch up later!

One mark of maturity is doing what you are supposed to do, what you are called and commanded to do, what is the right thing to do — even when you don’t feel like doing it. As have-to becomes want-to, then gives way to delight-to, you will have the desires of your heart!

In this week’s teaching video, Laura shares insight on Nehemiah 13, verses  1 – 14. We pick up as Nehemiah returns from Persia and finds a sad state of affairs in Jerusalem — and in the Temple. And so, Nehemiah sets to work cleaning house! We invite you to watch now as Laura challenges each of us to get our spiritual house in order by standing on the truth of God’s Word.

Find your copy of this month’s Write the WORD bookmark and optional S.O.A.P. study pages, as well as other free resources, on our Downloads page.

It’s the month of chocolate hearts, pillows shaped like hearts, and Valentine cards splattered with hearts. No wonder that I’ve chosen HEART for the February Write the WORD theme – it is all around us!

When I entered “heart” in my Bible search program, 725 results were reported! 725! From those 725, I pared down to the 28 featured on this month’s Write the WORD bookmark. Some are familiar and others, not so much. I like to think of it as the biblical equivalent of, “make new friends but keep the old.” I pray the familiar verses take on new shades of deeper understanding this month, and the new ones bring you fresh truths to ponder.

Here’s a sampling of what to expect:

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  (Deuteronomy 6:5)

Lord, show me where I’m holding out.

May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.  (Psalm 20:4)

O LORD, I pray my desires are in alignment with your plans for me.

…Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  (John 14:27)

Jesus, thank you for filling my heart with peace. Because you are with me, I do not fear.

God especially drew my heart to this verse in the Psalms, penned by David:

My heart is steadfast, O God. My heart is steadfast. I will sing and make music.  (Psalm 57:7)

When we read these verses, then write them, and then pray over them and consider them in context, there is SO MUCH here! Please don’t miss out! You can visit our Downloads page today for your own HEART bookmark and optional S.O.A.P. study pages.

You’re invited to join us as we write God’s WORD in February! Each verse this month includes the word, “HEART.” We hope you’ll take a few moments to watch and listen to this week’s devotional video, as Laura explains how our Write the WORD bookmark works and also unpacks a couple of verses on getting our heart’s desire!

…everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory...
Isaiah 43:7 

We began this month’s study on GLORY with this verse, as we examined the truth that each of us was created for one purpose: to glorify God.  

During January, we have written, prayed over, and no doubt memorized verses that include the word glory, as our hearts have been stirred to understand and embrace the purpose for our existence.  

As we wrap up our month-long focus on glory, let’s examine one final verse. This one is familiar. You have most likely memorized it and even taught it to your children. It’s one of the “Roman’s Road” verses often used in sharing the gospel: 

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Romans 3:23

Our initial commentary on the passage might include comments like:  

• “Nobody is perfect.” 
  
• “Everybody messes up.” 
  
• “We all need Jesus.”
  

Every one of those statements is absolutely true. But in our quest to reassure one another that we are “all in this together,” do we overlook the definition of sin found here? 

If asked to define sin, we might respond with answers such as: 

• Bad things we do. 
• Violations of the 10 commandments. 
• Things that disappoint God. 
• Missing the mark. 

Again, all true. But when we re-read Romans 3:23 — and I suggest taking a moment to do that now, please — we find that sin seems to take on a graver, sobering, more eternal significance. No longer is it just “bad-stuff-I-do-and-we-all-do-it.” Now it becomes a comparison of where I am – who I am – in relation to why I am here.  

Juxtaposing Isaiah 43:7 with Romans 3:23 leads me to this conclusion:  I was created to glorify God. And when I sin, I miss the whole purpose for my very existence.  

A car may be beautiful inside and out – shiny paint, leather seats, state-of-the-art sound system – but if it fails to run, it falls short of its purpose: transportation.  

The analogy can be extended to the kitchen, the home, and even to professions: An oven that won’t bake. A fireplace that won’t light. A nurse who runs at the sight of blood. A mechanic who doesn’t know how to change the oil. 

The oven may be top of the line, with every available option. The nurse may look the part in scrubs and a stethoscope. But if the oven won’t heat and the nurse is running away, neither one is serving its intended purpose.  

And, likewise, human beings — who were created in God’s image to glorify Him and so often fail to do so — are sinners. But rather than reject or replace us (as we might do with a faulty appliance or ineffective employee), God keeps loving us. He never gives up on us.  

Perhaps a large part of our failure to fulfill our purpose is because we rarely embrace it, or dwell on it, or even acknowledge it. My preoccupation with SELF distracts me from a focus on HIM – bringing Him glory, elevating Him, making much of Him.  

As my thoughts and desires shift outward from myself and upward to Him, it prompts love, gratitude, and sheer amazement: He not only knows me and loves me, but wants to use me. He has a plan for my life and it is for Him. Even knowing all my stuff — the messes, the shame, the selfishness, pride, and junk I have tried to fix, change, and hide from everybody else — He continues to love me, and keep me around, and give me opportunities to be part of what He is doing.

In much the same way as I allow my young granddaughters to “help” me prepare dinner, He could do it more efficiently without me, but He seems to enjoy letting Laura “help.”

It’s amazing … humbling … extraordinary.  

I am nothing, but He sees something He can use.  

I deserve shame, but He chooses to honor me. 

I should be hated, but He loves me.  

I should be rejected, but He chooses to embrace me. 

It is unbelievable, but by faith I choose to believe it. I want to believe it. I must believe it.  

It is ludicrous, unfathomable, and delightful: the God of this universe, the Creator of everything, knows all about me yet still loves me. He is powerful, yet compassionate, merciful, and full of grace. He is worthy of so much more than I can offer, but all I have is me.  

So here I am, God. Use me. Thank you for the privilege of another new year of life … the beginning of another year on this planet to glorify you. Even when I fall short, and continue to fall short, you keep me around, show me grace, and continue to love me.  

The longer we walk with God and know Him, the more we realize that what separates us is not a stream, but an ocean. We are simultaneously more sinful than we ever wanted to believe, and more loved than we ever dared hope (a Puritan thought that I’m certainly quoting poorly).

Though our “GLORY” month will come to an end this week, let’s link proverbial arms and spur one another on, continuing to embrace our individual and collective purpose into next month and this new year: Let’s glorify God! 

In this week’s teaching video, Laura considers Nehemiah Chapter 12, which describes the celebration of the completion of the walls as Nehemiah and Ezra lead the people of Jerusalem in giving glory to God for all He has provided. Their worship prompts us to consider the nature of worship. We invite you to listen as Laura offers (and attempts to answer) ten questions about worship.

Visit our Downloads page this week for your copy of the upcoming February Write the WORD bookmark and S.O.A.P. study pages, ‘Do It’! List, and other free resources to help you balance your heart for God with the demands of a busy life and home.