Cross My Heart Ministry

“…the joy of the LORD is your strength…”
Nehemiah 8:10b

When the people heard the Word of God read aloud by Ezra, they wept and mourned. But Nehemiah offered the reassurance found in today’s scripture verse: God’s strength is our joy. No matter what we walk through, He is our joy, our strength.

This world will bring hard things. Unhappy things. Unwanted, unplanned, and unexpected things. But when we know God, it is possible to be simultaneously unhappy, yet filled with joy. Happy comes and happy goes. But joy is a fruit of the Spirit. That means it is a constant, unchanging part of us. No matter what. Come what may – God is ever with us.

When difficult or challenging circumstances attempt to rob us of our strength, we must declare with Nehemiah, “the joy of the LORD is my strength!”

We may have cried until we are all cried out. The pain seems unending. We pray and nothing changes. We ask, “Why?” We call out, “Where are you, God?”

And then we remember: He is right here with me. His Spirit abides in me. Whatever I am facing did not catch God by surprise. He knows. He understands.

Our Lord is not just the God of “up there” … He is very much the God of “down here,” too.

Jesus put on flesh. He lived and walked as a human. He knows all about pain, rejection, and hurt. He even asked God to change the plan – to “take the cup away,” as He sweated out drops of blood in the Garden. But He prayed through until he reached that place of alignment with the Father’s plan: “Thy will be done.”

The joy of doing the will of the Father gave Jesus the strength to endure the cross. And the joy of living and abiding in Him is our strength, as well.

We may not understand. We may not see how it could end well. We do not see what God is up to. We do not know His plan. But we know Him. And that’s enough. Because He is enough. He is more than enough.

May today find you ready to declare – again – with Nehemiah:

The joy of the Lord is my strength.

Does today find you facing a decision? Do you need to figure out a course of action? In this week’s Cross My Heart video devotional, Laura offers ten key questions to consider as we wrestle with and pray through the decisions we need to make. You can view it here:

The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.”
Exodus 15:2

The bulk of Exodus 15 is a song of praise to God by Moses and Miriam. Their delight in what God had done could not be contained. As witnesses to an extraordinary act of God — the parting of the Red Sea and the deliverance of their people from Pharaoh’s army — the joy in their hearts overflowed into praise on their lips.

If you’ve grown up in church, the story is most likely familiar to you. But take a moment to turn to Exodus 14. Try to place yourself in the sandals of these ancient people who had never known anything but slavery and cruelty. They fled Egypt, following their leader Moses, and found themselves between the proverbial rock and a hard place — in this case, Pharaoh’s army behind and the Red Sea in front.

Do they surrender or wait to be slaughtered?

Will death be painful? Will it be quick?

Then, suddenly, terror is transformed to amazement: before their eyes, the sea is miraculously parted!

God made a way where there seemed no way. He rescued His people from certain death. The sea waters parting was miracle enough, but the reality of their dire circumstances catapulted their praise of God to the heights of joyful gratefulness.

Surely the Israelites would have praised God for parting the waters of the Red Sea. But doing so when the enemy was on their heels and death seemed inevitable, propelled their praise to a new level.

Perhaps we have to look back to truly appreciate the deliverance God has provided.

Are you in a good place today? Can you count your blessings? Are you able to acknowledge God’s provision?

Egypt represented sin and the consequences sin always brings: slavery and bondage. For Moses and the Israelites, it was physical slavery. For the follower of Christ, our life before Jesus — our “Egypt” — was spiritual bondage.

The Cross of Christ represents our Red Sea parting, the place where God made a way when there was no way. Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves. And, like the parting of the Red Sea, the story may lose some of its wonder over the years because it is so familiar.

But, please. Do not let it.

Take a moment to go back to your Red Sea. Think about the former you, the one on the other side of that wide, seemingly impassible expanse … and let your voice sing along with all of God’s people, as you allow Moses and Miriam to lead you in worship:

“The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.”

Perhaps your prayers to God today are not so much worship as seeking guidance. Are you faced with a decision you need to make? Laura’s teaching from I Kings will challenge you to consider your own decision-making process, by examining the decisions made by a few of the Kings of Israel. Watch the most recent teaching video here:

Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and courageous.
Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged,
for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9

The baton of leadership has been passed from Moses to Joshua, and God has given a powerful message to be delivered to His people through His servant Joshua. They are about to enter a land where God is not worshiped or honored, a land where idolatry and wickedness are rampant. He has a mission for them there … and to accomplish it, they will need to be both strong and courageous.

Thousands of years have passed since God gave those powerful words for the people to Joshua. And yet they still resonate. Though we are blessed to live this side of the Cross, we still live in a place where God is not always worshiped and honored and where idolatry and wickedness are rampant.

We still have battles to fight. Our weapon is the Word of God.

We are called to take the message of the Gospel to a hurting and broken world. Jesus left us with a task: the Great Commission. Matthew 28:19-20 calls all believers to go:

Therefore go and make disciples
of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always,
to the very end of the age.

Like God’s people going out then, we go out now. Obedience required strength and courage then. It requires the same now.

Our ability to be strong and courageous is not found in ourselves, but in God. As He promised to be with His people in Joshua’s day, He also promises to be with us. Jesus confirmed, I am with you always.

Knowing that He is ever with us gives us strength and courage to go forth and do what we could never do on our own. Do you believe that? Are you living that? Are you praying this is your reality and living it out before your children and grandchildren?

God Almighty, help me to be strong and courageous! My strength and my courage come from Your presence. Thank you for promising to be with me always. I pray this child would find strength in You and Your strength would propel him/her to live courageously! I pray my child would come to know You at an early age and then live daily in the strength and power that come from Your abiding presence. Let this child be strong and courageous! Amen!

Don’t miss the most recent teaching video from Laura’s weekly Bible study in I Kings!

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:5

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart,
with all your soul, and
with all your mind.’
Matthew 22:37

 All means ALL!

 When we pray our children would love God wholeheartedly, it means ALL IN. Not half-way, not half-hearted, and not Sundays only.

When a mama asks her boy to take out the trash, she doesn’t expect to see the trash sitting by the front door. It must make it all the way to the curb.

When a wife wants a faithful husband, she doesn’t mean 364 days a year – she expects 365 (and some years 366)!

And when God commands us to love Him with ALL our heart, soul, mind, and strength, we need to apply the same high standard. ALL IN!

As we pray for our children to love God wholeheartedly, we can also ask God to reveal where we ourselves might be holding out.

Here are some questions we can ask as we pray for our children (and for ourselves):

• Do I have a divided heart? Is there anything I treasure more than God?
• Do I find myself praying without ceasing – having on ongoing conversation with God throughout my day?
• Does God enter my thought life on Tuesday morning or Friday afternoon?
• Do I ask God about what I buy, read, and watch?
• Has Sunday morning worship become an optional activity? Am I finding reasons (I don’t feel like braving the rain, there’s a mountain of dirty laundry, I’m in the middle of a great book and can’t wait to finish it) not to gather with other believers?
• Do I give God the first and best of each day?
• Do I speak up when others speak poorly of my God?
• Do my posts, tweets, and social media comments indict me as a woman of God?
• Do thoughts about God in my mind and heart make their way into my conversations with others?

I hope one or more of these questions convict you as they do me. Perhaps they could even prompt a loving-God-wholeheartedly conversation with your child.

Lord God, I pray this child would put You on the throne of his/her life each day and every day. I pray this would be deliberate, conscious, daily choice.  I pray he/she would love You most and best and with a wholehearted devotion.

Have you downloaded our September ‘Write the WORD’ bookmark, 30 Prayers & Verses for Our Children? It’s not too late to join us in prayer for the rest of the month. Download your free copy here and start praying! And if you are on Facebook, please visit (and like!) the Cross My Heart Ministry page, where you can find a graphic with each prayer prompt and verse for the entire month of September.

In addition, we invite you to join as Laura leads a study of the book of I Kings this fall. Last week’s lesson was a look at I Kings chapters 6-8. You can view the teaching lecture (from the Cross My Heart YouTube channel) here:

“…give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
I Thessalonians 5:18 [NIV]

Prompted by my pastor when our oldest was only one year old, I began to pray for a thankful heart in my child. I continued this prayer as we added each additional child. Four kids – and two grandkids later – and I’m still praying for thankful Macfarlan hearts.

“Why thankfulness?” you ask.

The first (or obvious) response might be the blessing released to others. That is true. And that is important. Others are blessed when we express gratitude.

But I’m also convinced that thankfulness is a blessing to the one releasing it. Thankfulness protects against entitlement, materialism, and selfishness … all dangerous to the character of our children. The 21^st-century culture of our western world makes our children vulnerable to “me-ism” – I’m convinced entitlement, materialism, and selfishness are the default, but our prayers can combat these society norms. We are up against entrenched attitudes, human nature, and even commercials and advertisements. The world will corrupt and entice all of us to make it all about us. It’s natural and easy to make it all about self in this “selfie” world.

But never underestimate the power of a praying mom! We can best fight the culture on our knees. And we can train up children to live selfless in a selfie world.

As we consider praying our children are thankful, consider these prayer prompts:

• Lord, give my child a thankful heart. (I Thessalonians 5:18)
• Jesus, let my child see that every good gift comes down from above. (James 1:17)
• God, I pray my child would intentionally release thankfulness to others.
• Holy Spirit, I pray our family would be thankful in “all circumstances” – by faith, believing that You can and will work all things out for our good and for Your glory. (Romans 8:28)

As we pray, we can also put feet to our prayers by taking these practical steps to teach thankfulness to our children:

1. Do not overindulge in “stuff” but show love in creative ways.
2. Choose at least one night per week to pray “Thank you” prayers. Rather than asking God for something, take turns thanking Him for what He has already done for the blessings of the day. Teach them to pray thank-you prayers for big and small things:
   “God, thank you for the tulips popping through in the flower bed and reminding us that spring is coming.”
   “Jesus, thank you for the baby growing in Aunt Denise’s tummy.”
   “Holy Spirit, thank you for our fun afternoon in the park.”
3. Train your child to respond with thankfulness:
   1. Write thank you notes together with your preschooler—allowing him or her to add their name to the note with your help.
   2. Assist your elementary-aged child to write thank you notes to their teacher, coach, and/or sponsor for their soccer team.
   3. Train your teenager to write thank you notes before cashing the check from grandma and grandpa.
4. Model thankfulness. Most character traits are more “caught than taught,” as I’ve heard Dr. James Dobson say on many occasions.
   1. Sit down together to write thank you notes after Christmas.
   2. Let them hear you intentionally thank your pastor for his teaching on Sunday morning.
   3. Thank your children for big and small things when you see and hear them get it right:
      “Thank you for helping your brother.”
      “Thank you for being kind to your sister.”
      “Thank you for making your bed without being asked.”
5. Ask to speak to the manager when dining out and enjoy seeing his/her face transform from dread to delight when you say, “Our family had such a great meal this evening. Thank you for the good food and excellent service.” (On the way home explain to your children that people always complain when someone gets it wrong, but it’s important to release thankfulness when they get it right!)

The importance of thankfulness was a thread woven through the teaching of Dr. Jonathan Burnham, my wise and godly pastor in the early nineties. Over and again he emphasized the theme of thankfulness in his preaching. Even after moving out of state, that emphasis continued to resonate in my heart and be a priority in my prayers.

All these years later, I give glory to God as I see thankfulness demonstrated in the lives of my children. The thank you notes I have received from them are treasures to keep. They are tangible reminders that, while I did many things wrong, perhaps consistent training in gratefulness was one thing I did right.

Whether you are praying thankfulness into your own children or grandchildren, into your nieces and nephews, or the kids who live across the street or sit in the pew behind you – I hope you will pray. And I hope that we can all see that a society can truly be transformed by an “attitude of gratitude.”

Have you downloaded our September ‘Write the WORD’ bookmark, 30 Prayers & Verses for Our Children? Download your free copy here and start praying! And if you are on Facebook, please visit (and like!) the Cross My Heart Ministry page, where we are posting a graphic with each daily prayer prompt and verse during the entire month of September.

Last week was a scheduled break in the I Kings Bible study. We hope you’ll take a moment to watch as Laura shares this short prequel to Lesson 3:

If you’ve not had time to watch all of the teaching videos in the I Kings study, you can find the entire YouTube playlist here.