{A Matter of the Heart}

It's that time of year where red and pink are splattered everywhere. Normally those colors are forbidden to touch each other, but for some reason we've made an exception for ole Cupid. Seeing how the 14th is just around the corner, it'd make sense that I would do a post about love wouldn't it? Yeah, it would be fitting. But I'm not going to this time. I've notice a theme in my bible reading lately, all the verses that jump out at me emphasize this same common thread--the heart. So I guess you could sort of connect this post to Valentine's day!

"Above all else, guard your heart because the source of life flows from it."

~Proverbs 4:23

That's a pretty popular verse, so we might just be little numb to it. Try to read that verse, one word at a time, and let it's meaning really sink in.  

• Above ALL else--of highest value; it's worth more than the rest; it's of highest importance.  
• Guard--  Webster's dictionary describes the word guard as  "the act or duty of protecting or defending.", and describes the act of being "on guard" as "defensively watchful; alert.'' 
• Your heart-- your mind;your soul
• Because the source of life flows from it.-- This is the reason we are to defend, protect, and be on alert for that thing of high value; our heart! Because from our heart, flows the person that we are. 

You know that saying "you are what you eat"? well the same thing is true for our Spiritual nature. What we feed our heart, is what we become. If we're continually filling our minds with anger, jealousy, dis-contentedness, cursing, and other sins then how do we expect to have the pure heart and mind that God wants us to have? The kind that produces the fruit of the Spirit--love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. The answer is that we can't .  James said it best it James 3:11 "Do clean and polluted water  flow from the same spring?" NO! Clean water flows from a spring that has a clean source, but the polluted water flows from a source that is--you got it, polluted! 
Our hearts are the spring, and our life is the water--we can tell if our spring (heart) is polluted or pure by the water (life) that flows from it. 

Now just one more thing before this post gets too long; How do we get our springs (hearts) clean and pure. First we have to remove the impurities, "remove everything that slows us down especially sin that distracts us." (Hebrews 12:1) That might be tv, movies, certain people, internet, facebook, anything that causes us to sin or even slows us down in our walk with Christ, we must get rid of. And as we're cleaning out all the impurities we me must fill in the empty space with things that make Jehovah smile, "Finally, brothers and sisters, keep your thoughts on whatever is right or deserves praise: things that are true, honorable, fair, pure, acceptable, or commendable." (Philipians 4:8). This verse is a great checklist to go through and see if the things our lives are helping or hindering us Spiritually. If it doesn't hold up to this checklist then it probably needs to be kicked to the curb, and replaced with something that brings glory and honor to Him.

{It became real for me}

The other day, I was sitting at the table eating lunch and just thinking. I look over, and I notice, stuck on the refrigerator, one of the many papers we have plastered all over it and on the bottom of the paper is a verse about putting on the armor of God. This got me thinking about the Spiritual battle that is being fought. Even now.

I grew up in the Chruch, and in Sunday school I learned about the the shoes of peace, belt of truth, helmet of salvation, etc. but it was always just a picture in my mind more than anything.

This time was different, this time it became real.

"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." {Ephesians 6:11-12}

This Spiritual battle is REAL! It's a war that we can't see with our eyes. And satan is fighting so hard to win souls. He knows the power of God and he is doing everything he possibly can to discourage and distract us in our walk of faith and having a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus. But, how are we supposed to guard against the devil if we can't see the war?

This, I think, is the very reason God provided us with armor. And every one of the pieces of armor have a very real purpose in our everyday lives, which is why we have to put it on daily.

Of course, this all sounds great, but, how do we really put the armor on if the battle is Spiritual?
When people went to battle and they they put on a breastplate, for the single purpose of protecting the heart. So, putting on God's righteousness as a breastplate will aid in protecting our hearts. Only filling our hearts with things that are good, pure, and holy will help so much more than filling it with the trash of this world when satan starts throwing arrows of sin and temptation that is meant to bleed the life out of our hearts.

And we need to look at each piece of armor like this. But I'll just bring out one more cause it's my favorite.
The sword of the Spirit. Is the word of God. Ya'll we don't have to defend ourselves. We have to put on the protection He provides, yes. But, God's word is the sword and it is sharper than any two edged sword. It does all the talking all we have to do is hold on. With all our strength and He will do the fighting.

Just hold on. Because we know who wins the battle in the end, and the victory in Jesus will be sweeter than anything we can ever imagine.

In Christian Love,

{Sunday Shuffle}

Happy Sunday, ya'll!!

We girls, here at {LiVE LOVE} love music! Especially Christian music that is encouraging.We LOVE funny songs too, but that's a different story.

So, we decided to put our love for music and our new love for blogging together, thus, Sunday Shuffle. :)

Every Sunday we'll post a video of one of our favorite songs that has been an encouragement to us that week. 

Recently we discovered Josh Wilson's music and we have been listening to him just about non-stop this week. He's definitely one of our favorites. 

AND he has a song that went very well with our "{We Refuse...}" post. Since it was so perfect it's the one we chose for week one of Song Sundays

Enjoy and be encouraged!!

                                 Blessings to all of you,

{ A Holy Purpose }

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

Before you were born I set you apart for My holy purpose."

{Jeremiah 1:5}

God artistically designed each of us with His own hand, He created a plan and a purpose for our lives before we even took our first breath!  We weren't put here on earth to just be a "space-filler". We were designed for a holy purpose. He gave us each special talents, strengths, and abilities specially suited for the tasks He has prepared for us to do.  To-Do! Not just sit back and wait for something to happen, but to be the one who moves. The one or reaches out, speaks out, and stands up for the Truth.

If we're honest with ourselves, that thought scares us a lot of times. We like being comfortable in our own little pews, being seen but not heard. Doing just enough to keep our conscience satisfied. But why are we so afraid to get our of our comfort zones? Why are we so afraid of rejection, conflict, and people's opinions? The world rejected God's own Son, of course they're going to reject His people! We're imperfect, we fail miserably all the time.But God can still use us! We're not in this alone, if we choose to walk with Him, He will hold our hand and walk us through every step.

 "I, Jeremiah, said, "Almighty Lord, I do not know how to speak. I am only a boy!" 

"But the Lord said to me, "Don't say you are only a boy. You will go wherever I send you.

You will say whatever I command you to say. Don't be afraid of People.

I am with you, and I will rescue you." Declares the Lord."

 {Jeremiah 1:6-8}

 We serve a mighty God, and He's with us. He promises that He will never leave us or forsake us! If we're on the Lord's side we have nothing to be afraid of. No person, no government, no nothing! Nothing to hold us back from following the path He's laid out for us in His word. In His word is where we find out God's plan for us. If we continue to walk in His light, striving to grow in our faith and knowledge of Him we can't help but be at the center of His will.
And that is best place to be.

In Him,

 

{We refuse....}

    We refuse to be lukewarm....

We refuse to sit around and wait for change....

We refuse to sit back and watch others do what we are called to do as Christians...

We refuse to be silent about our love for our Savior, Christ Jesus, and the

sacrifice He made.....

We refuse to be ashamed of the Gospel...

We refuse to give less than our ALL for the cause of Christ....

We refuse to give into the worlds standard's for success....

We choose to give Him our EVERYTHING.

"Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ..." {Philippians 3:8}

     It is easy to be silent about what we believe. To sit in our little comfort zone and talk about the latest TVshow, instead of running the risk of  offending someone. But we as Christians are called to do more. We are called to stand up. We are called to serve and give our all. Our very lives for Christ. That doesn't only mean to give ourselves in death for Him but also while we are living, to live in a way that is a daily sacrifice for Him. The Gospel is what they NEED to hear! Their souls are at stake.
      If you were walking down the street, and as you were walking  you saw a house that was on fire, burning with raging flames consuming all that was within it's grasp. And you heard a cry. It's coming from the building. Someone is in there. You would not just keep on walking as if all the world was sunny. No, you would do everything in your power to save the person trapped in the building.
So, if we are willing to risk our lives to try and save someone from a house that is burning down all around them, why won't we do the same for people who's soul is going to burn in the fires of hell without Jesus??

          In His Love,