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!
Have you subscribed to our email list?
If not, sign up today to be sure you don’t miss out when new posts
are published on CrossMyHeartMinistry.com.
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.
Today’s blog is dedicated to my sweetheart of 36 years! When God redirected our steps and moved us to Arkansas 27 years ago, Proverbs 16:9 was the verse that encouraged me. When I realized it sort of combines our birthdates (mine is on the 16th and Kevin’s on 9th), it made me smile — and still does!
Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at Cross My Heart Ministry! If making a special treat for your sweeties was on your list this week but you just didn’t get around to it, it’s not too late! Check out last week’s Martha Monday video and watch Laura make these super easy (and yummy) Cake Mix Cookies. With only three ingredients, you can whip these up this afternoon in no time! Enjoy!
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. Let the emotions catch up later!
The 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!
Have you seen last week’s teaching lecture from our Bible study in Romans? If not, I invite you to watch watch today as we follow up last week’s discussion of God’s sovereignty with an examination of our responsibility to share the good news, so that everyone will hear and respond with believing faith!
It is 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! Don’t miss it. Check out the YouTube video from last Monday, where I unpack this passage:
I think you are going to LOVE writing the WORD along with me this month! Visit the Downloads page to grab yours today and get started … and while you’re there, don’t forget your copy of this month’s Do It List!
We’ve been running a special prize drawing on YouTube and wanted to share it with our blog subscribers, as well!
When you share a link to the Cross My Heart YouTube channel with a friend via text, email, private message, or on social media, you are eligible to win the drawing for a lovely DaySpring planner. Just leave a comment on this post saying, “I shared!” You can also comment on YouTube. The honor system rules here! We will draw from all of the entries TOMORROW (Monday, February 1st) so hurry and share the channel with a friend quickly!
Depending on your political leanings, the recent ushering-in of President Joseph Biden (and the exit of former President Donald Trump) finds you either delighted or dejected. Few are politically apathetic where the 2020 election is concerned.
Emotions have been high, with actions and attitudes following suit. Tempers have risen to a feverish pitch.
Many questions come to mind, as we consider the appropriate response for Christians:
How can we engage in dialogue and discourse responsibly?
Should we refuse to debate these issues?
Should we keep our opinions to ourselves?
What role are we to play in the democratic process?
Do we have an obligation to influence others?
How can we hold our elected officials accountable?
Can we disagree without being disagreeable?
I love America.
Ours is a family who read the Declaration of Independence aloud on the 4th of July, recited the Pledge of Allegiance as we began each school day, and all four children won no small amount of scholarship money for the patriotic speeches and essays they wrote for contests sponsored by veterans’ organizations.
I love America.
As I struggle with my role—and my responsibility—to jump into the fray and share my opinions, I am reminded of this quote from S.D. Gordon in Quiet Talks on Prayer:
“You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.”
How easy it is for us to say we will pray, truly intend to pray, but then fail to actually PRAY.
Today I am challenging you, as I challenge myself, to spend as much time praying as we spend posting. I am challenging all of us to talk to God about these issues before we talk to others.
To help jump-start this challenge, I’ve provided a free download highlighting five verses to consider as you pray. I have often found it helpful to pray God’s words back to Him when I struggle to find words of my own, and I suggest that you download and print these verses as a reminder to pray for our nation each day.
A few observations as we roll up our proverbial sleeves and prepare to get down on our knees:
Regardless of who is in the White House, what matters most is Who is on the throne.
We cannot blame unbelievers for behaving like unbelievers. How are we sharing the gospel, making disciples, teaching and living truth?
Let’s remind ourselves who was in charge politically when these verses were written!
Let’s be very careful about lining up behind one person and supporting that person unconditionally. Only one man was perfect—and Jesus is not running for office.
The eruption of violence in our nation’s capital serves as a sobering reminder that the preservation of our democratic republic is not a guarantee. Each generation renews our commitment to a peaceful transfer of power and to supporting the process. As Benjamin Franklin exited the Philadelphia Courthouse, he was asked by a colonial woman, “What kind of government have you given us, Mr. Franklin?” His response, “A republic, madam, if you can keep it.” Over two centuries later, the question is still critical: Can we keep it?
I hope you will download and print the PDF provided here, and join with me in praying for healing in our country, for our citizens to appreciate our freedoms, and for Revival to break out in the United States and beyond. How I long to see a Great Awakening in my lifetime. The Psalmist said it well:
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. Psalm 27:13
(Click the image above—or HERE—to download this free PDF.)
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning,
great is your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22-23
“New every morning.”
Don’t you love that phrase? It suggests a welcome freshness, a sweet new renewal as each day dawns: God is still with me. He still loves me. He is still for me. I can count on His love and His compassion. He is ever and eternally faithful.
When the world wants to condemn, when people let us down, and when we fail to keep our own resolutions, we may become dejected or fall into despair. But this passage reminds us that no matter how we suffer or what hard thing we walk through, we are not consumed—because we are His.
When everything else in life fails, God is faithful.
When everyone else walks away, God draws near.
Today may find you not feeling loved … or not even feeling lovable or worthy of love. However, circumstances do not dictate your reality. You are loved.
Maybe you have messed up—again. Shame and guilt may threaten to overwhelm. Perhaps you are looking around for compassion, but no one is offering. Time to look up. Compassion is there. It comes from God.
Stop looking around for the world (or your husband, sister, child, friend, co-worker, or neighbor) to deliver what only God can truly provide. His love and His compassion are constant. Unchanging. Eternal.
New every morning.
Like the manna provided for the Israelites in the wilderness, God’s faithfulness and His compassion are delivered fresh every day. Every. Single. Day. You can count on it.
Editor’s Note: If the mention of manna has you hungry for bread, check out this past week’s Martha Monday post over on the Cross My Heart Ministry YouTube channel for an easy and yummy recipe for bread. Fresh bread, start to finish in 20 minutes? Yes, please! And while you’re there, if you haven’t yet done so, please go ahead and subscribe to our ministry channel!This week’s teaching lesson from the Romans Bible study addresses our questions about God’s will: What is God’s will? How can we know His will? Is it the same for everyone? I hope you’ll take a little time today to listen to this week’s lesson and consider God’s will in YOUR life.
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24
Paul makes a clear distinction between:
Old Self: former, corrupted, deceitful
New Self: Like God, true righteousness, holiness
What a contrast! As followers of Christ, there should be a clear distinction between the old way of living and our new life in Christ.
Paul wrote to the Ephesians then (and, by extension, to us now) to stir up our hearts to live in the light of our new position in Christ.
There’s so much truth packed into these few verses! Let’s dissect them together:
You were taught Paul begins by essentially saying “You already know this!” It’s so easy to lose our way, become distracted, or allow the world to push and pull us away from what we know to be true. We must diligently apply what we have learned.
Former way of life Former means past. Done. History. (Can I get an “Amen!”?) Both individually and collectively, we declare, “Praise God! I’m not what I used to be!” The enemy wants to condemn, mock, and heap on shame. But that former way of life is gone. Our new identity is in Christ!
Put off/Put on Living out our identity in Him is a daily choice. Day by day—and sometimes moment by moment—we make an intentional choice to “put off” the old sin nature and “put on” the new. Thankfully, we have the power of the Holy Spirit to help!
Corruption/deceitful desires Self-awareness means I remain conscious of my tendency to sin. The old nature can rise up to distort, deceive, and corrupt. Choosing to “put on” a teachable spirit means I am humble enough to receive wise counsel—to ask God, my spouse, or a trusted friend, “Am I overreacting? Am I looking at this situation correctly? Are my antennae out too far?”
Attitude of your mind Bingo. That’s where it all begins! The daily battle is won or lost in our minds. We think about it before we jump in and do it. What messages are replaying in your head? Is your thought life filled with God’s Word? Do you need to purge the “stinkin’ thinkin’”?
Created to be like God It is God’s will for us to be conformed to the image of His Son. This process of sanctification will never be complete on this earth … it is continual from that moment of second birth until we pass from this life. The transformation brings freedom from sin and death! Are you looking more like your Father each day?
True righteousness and holiness The adjective true suggests there is a false (or perhaps manufactured) righteousness and holiness. The false version is often the product of legalism. It’s exhausting at best (and cannot be sustained) and at it’s worst, leads to pride. True righteousness and holiness can only come from placing our trust in Jesus and yielding to the working of His Spirit in our lives.
Much of this may be familiar to you. Sometimes we don’t need to learn new-to-us truth—we just need to be reminded of what we already know, and be challenged to live it Are you ready to put off the old and put on the new?
This past week, we resumed our Bible study in Romans. I hope the teaching video will be a blessing to you … and if you have not already done so, please visit the Cross My Heart YouTube channel and become a subscriber today!
“But now, by dying to what once bound us,
we have been released from the law
so that
we serve in the new way of the spirit,
and not in the old way of the written code.” Romans 7:6
Trying to keep the law is exhausting — and impossible!
Just ask the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son … or any reformed legalist in your life. (That might be you, in fact!)
Even if we do manage to buckle down and do a decent job of keeping the law on the outside, we most likely become self-righteous prigs (a word I am borrowing from C.S. Lewis, which is defined by the Oxford dictionary as, “a self-righteously moralistic person who behaves as if superior to others”). Maintaining the outward appearance of keeping the law makes us arrogant, prideful, and — let’s just admit it! — insufferable.
But eventually, keeping the law is unsustainable. The pressure leads to self-condemnation and shame and even more hyperactivity as we attempt to compensate for our failure.
Letting go of the pressure to perform brings sweet freedom.
Relinquishing the “have to” frees us to live it in the beautiful place of “want to” and even “delight to” as we serve our Lord.
Keeping the law was never intended to save us. It can only show us our need to be saved. The law underscores our deep need for a Savior. Functioning as a spiritual mirror, the law reveals our flaws … but just as a physical mirror cannot reach out and correct our smudged mascara, neither can the law fix what is broken in our lives. Only Jesus can do that.
And here’s the thing: the Savior that saved us is the Savior who sustains us!
As followers of Christ, we know our salvation is only received through Christ. Why, then, do we think we can live the Christian life on our own? We need His Spirit to besaved and we need His Spirit to live saved!
Are you ready to give up on the pressure of rule keeping? Why not let 2021 be the year you kick legalism out the door for good and begin living like the free-in-Christ woman you are?
If you have not yet subscribed to the Cross My Heart YouTube channel,
please take a moment to visit YouTube and do so today!
When we reach 500 subscribers,
we’ll celebrate by choosing one of you
to receive a free journal and other goodies!
Perhaps there has never been a year when we, individually and collectively, are more happy to see the pages of the calendar turn. Most of us would agree that we’re more than ready to embrace a new year (finally!) and say goodbye to 2020 and all the challenges it brought to our lives.
Yet we know that those hard times can bring blessing. Hardship often reveals the heart, bringing opportunities for God to refine and grow us. While we may never want to live through 2020 again, we know there was some good that came. Before plunging into 2021, I invite you to pause during these early days and look back, take a moment to count the blessings that came during the struggles, and remember the peace of growing closer to our Lord through it.
This week on the Cross My Heart Ministry YouTube channel, you’ll find fun (and free) downloads to help you capture memories of 2020 for the future. You can view it here:
And speaking of the YouTube channel, I polled a few subscribers and members of the ministry board to glean their feedback on the best videos of 2020. I’d love to share those with you below, hoping you will watch and also subscribe to the Cross My Heart channel.
If you are already a subscriber, I’d like to ask the favor of blessing us by sharing the channel either directly with a friend or on your social media. If you are not yet a subscriber, please click the red subscribe button and add your Gmail address – it’s free! Either way, it would be so encouraging if you’d leave a note in the comment section saying either, I shared it! or I subscribed! When the YouTube channel reaches 500 subscribers, we’ll celebrate by choosing one of you to receive a free journal and some other goodies, as well!
Editor’s note: the following posts are in chronological order as they were published in 2020.
#1: The Parables Lesson 4&5: The Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, & Lost Boy (2/24/20)
A friend wrote, “I love hearing your stories from high school and childhood! I knew that girl who never broke the rules! … of course I was the opposite. I was a risk taker like the prodigal. That lesson meant so much to me because God never gave up on me and my Father was always looking for me to return.”
#2: Celebrate the Empty Tomb with Rolled Away Rolls! (3/30/20)
Using frozen bread dough and marshmallows, you can create a lovely visual to teach your children about the resurrection of our Lord. These make a lovely Easter tradition.
#3: Words from the WORD: Who’s Your Aaron? Who’s Your Hur? (4/17/20)
Inspired by Exodus 17:15, Ex. 17:15, one of our board members describes this teaching as, “A great reminder of how we can encourage others and how they can encourage us as we pray and hold each other up!”
#4: Words from the WORD: #HighNoonHighTime to Pray in May (5/1/20)
This video launched our Pray-Every-Day-in-May challenge, as it encouraged us to pray during challenging times. One board member proclaims the Write the WORD bookmark for May (presented in the video) as her all-time favorite.
#5: Psalm 23: The Shepherd Psalm(5/15/20)
This was part of our four-week study in Psalms. We memorize it, quote it, and often hear it at funerals, but we need to study Psalm 23. It has a lot to say about living the Christian life.
#6: Psalms from the Heart Psalm 34: Praising God Even in Fear (5/22/20)
This video highlights what one friend described as, “the upside down logic of scripture. Learning to lose to gain, being last to be first (serve to lead), humbling ourselves to be exalted.”
#7: Decorating With Seasonal Pillows (6/22/20)
Using pillow covers (rather than buying pillows) can save time and money. One board member shared this feedback: “I love it when you encourage saving money and time and still keep the integrity of classy decorating.”
#8: S.P.A.M. It: How To Get Organized One Drawer At A Time!(9/7/20)
Using the acronym S.P.A.M (Sort, Purge, Arrange, Maintain), this video presents a method for de-cluttering and organizing.
#9: S.P.A.M. Your Closet!(9/21/20)
This video is a spin-off of the one above that introduced the S.P.A.M.-It Method – but this time tackling a closet.
#10: Romans Lesson 2 (9/25/20)
Addressing the often-controversial topic of sin and what it entails in Romans 1, the opening analogy for this teaching lecture was the Apollo 13 disaster, “Houston, we have a problem.” And indeed, we all have a sin problem! One of our small-group leaders commented after that the teaching addressed a difficult topic with grace and truth.
#11: Romans Lesson 4(10/16/20)
The introduction uses “Mirror, Mirror on the wall…” from the Disney film, Snow White, to help us see the purpose of the law in our lives. The teaching unpacks “churchy” words like justification, redemption, and atonement/propitiation.
#12: Romans Lesson 7 (11/13/2020)
Includes ten practical ideas for living dead-to-sin. One board member commented, “I loved your Top 10 ways to live, it could be applied to each and every one of us.”
AND LASTLY … a bonus to make it a baker’s dozen! While this one dates all the way back to 2018, one friend chose this as a favorite video and had the following to say about the lessons she gleaned from it: “Obedience is better than sacrifice. God is holy, righteous and compassionate. He is the same and never changing. The boundaries are clear … there is no guessing how we are to live.”
#13: Israel’s Royal History Begins: 1 Samuel Lesson 9 (11/14/2018)
Thank you for your support of Cross My Heart Ministry in 2020. I pray that you will continue to be blessed by the teaching, tips, and free resources we will be sharing with you in 2021!
“I will give them an undivided heart
and put a new spirit in them;
I will remove from them their heart of stone
and give them a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 11:19
When we turn over control of our lives to God, we receive a new spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to abide in us. We have a new heart, and we become a new person in Christ.
Apart from Jesus, our hearts are hard, resistant, and rebellious. But because of God’s gift, we receive hearts that are softened by His Spirit—pliable, teachable hearts of flesh.
Salvation results when we transfer our trust from ourselves (or anything else) and place our trust in Him. Walking with Christ for sanctification requires the same choice to trust.
It is a daily decision we must settle: Who is in charge?
Our soft hearts can become hardened when we resist His prompting—when we refuse to do the good thing He calls us to, or when we refuse to stop doing what we know He is prompting us to avoid.
When a child of God refuses to heed God’s voice, she experiences a hardening of heart that robs her of peace and joy.
God loves us too much to leave us there. He calls us to repentance. Our refusal finds us weighted down with shame and guilt, trudging through life with a burden we need not carry.
Have you been there? Are you there now?
Why not let this year—this day—be the time you decide enough is enough? Choose to submit to His drawing and calling. Allow Him to soften your heart of stone and restore your heart of flesh. As we yield, He provides. Purpose and meaning return. We are overwhelmed by His joy and peace. Worship flows.
A heart of flesh is not hardened to God, but teachable and receptive … ready to pivot in the direction He leads. Sounds like a great way to live out 2021!
O Lord, give me and those reading today an undivided heart.
We choose this day—and this year—to be ALL IN.
Our desire is to be fully devoted to You always and in all ways.
Remove our hearts of stone. Give us hearts of flesh.
Have you downloaded the January Write the WORD bookmark and S.O.A.P. study pages? If not, it isn’t too late to join women from all over the country as we explore what the Bible says about the word NEW. Click HERE to download your free resources today!
