A Heart Divided

Posted on by Mary
Heart


The man answered, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

A Divided Heart

Our Hearts- We can say that we love God with ALL of our hearts but is it true? What does that look like? There are two ways our hearts can be divided.

#1 What we treasure

When it comes to the heart the Bible has some very specific passages about having a divided heart.

24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. Matthew 6:24 NLT

This is “the love of money is the root of all evil” Passage. So many times through that verse has been tweaked just a little and the meaning of this verse is changed. Money is not the root of all evil. It when your money owns you that it is evil. Do you think about it? Obccess over it? I’ve got news for you….You can have no money at all and still LOVE money! The better question I think here would be Does money keep you from serving and obeying God? Are you willing to compromise you relationships, morals and relationship with God to get more money? Or preserve what you already have?

Is money your EXCUSE for not serving or obeying God?

BUT this principle can be applied to more than money

Let me ask this question:

What is distracting you from God being master over your life?

  • Your family?
  • Your friends?
  • Job?
  • Reaching the next level of success?
  • Your pet? (yes I have heard that one)
  • Home?
  • Your hobbies?

What owns you? None of these things are wrong in and of themselves. Matter of fact ALL of them are really good BUT when we let these things distract us from God-

  • Church/ connecting with other believers
  • Bible Study/ Devotions
  • Prayer

We have a divided heart.

What do you treasure?

What does your heart long for and desire? When we look at that passage about serving two masters it is always advantageous for us to look a few verse ahead. In verse 21 of Matthew 6 is says,

21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. (NLT)

Like verse says NO ONE CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS! It’s impossible…. so if something else has your heart GOD DOESN’T.

#2 What we hold onto

The second area we can have a divided heart on is really the things or areas of our lives we hold onto.

Whether is be sin, shame or guilt.

Sin

Now this one is two fold. Either we are holding onto a sin that we have done in the past and tuck it away in our hearts behind lock and key. It is in a dusty dark little room with cobwebs It’s untouchable – by us and God. We don’t want to deal with it. God is not allowed in that room. He can have everything else that looks pretty- just NOT that one space.

OR

We have sin we are still living in. We buy into lies that God’s ways set forth in the Bible are antiquated. . We live by the motto- “it’s not sin unless we get caught”. OR we live with our sin like it’s a badge of honor. (I just wrote about this not long ago. ). We take our impatience or our lack of grace (or any other sin) and say “well that just the way God made me”. WRONG. That’s your sin nature and as long as you use it as an excuse to keep from becoming more like Christ than you are living divided and God doesn’t have ALL of you heart. Sin has become your master.

GUILT AND SHAME

These two go hand in hand and is DIRECTLY LINKED TO SIN. Guilt and shame can become masters in our lives when we hold onto what Christ paid for on the cross.. Sin is still your master. (Whether it be your own sin OR SOMEONE else’s)

We believe we aren’t worthy of……because of that sin. We might give it to God on Sunday but Yank it back and hold onto it on Monday. Our guilt and our shame become our identity (more on that tomorrow). It cripples us from doing what God wants us to do because either we believe that we cannot be worthy of being used because of whatever happened OR we are so afraid of someone else finding out. And at that point Fear has become our master.

The Problem is ……

You cannot say you Love God with all of your heart and live in fear, sin or distracted by all the other things. When our hearts are fully and I mean FULLY given to God it is the greatest act of love AND it shows who we REALLY are That my friends leads us into tomorrow and the conversation on a divided soul.

Thank you so much for joining me today as we begin our mini-series on being divided. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below and if you are new here WELCOME!!! Please introduce yourself in the comments and feel free to poke around.

Also check out all the other posts in the Choosing Courage 100 day blogging project (Today is day 89)

Joy Dare-November 5th-11th

Posted on by Mary
November

Happy week 2 of November everyone. Our November is so crazy busy right now- full of so many exciting things! And we are counting our blessings. Big and little! I hope you all have a week full of joy!

Day 5 – 3 gifts acorn small

  1. Faith- like a mustard seed
  2. Tadpoles- remembered from a spring time adventure with friends
  3. flakes of herbs and spices

Day 6 – 3 Gifts government

  1. Freedoms- a gift not a right
  2. Voting
  3. Nationals parks monuments and museums set aside for us to enjoy and learn about our history and to be able to enjoy God’s creation

Day 7 – 3 Gifts from your window

  1. Fall colors
  2. A beautiful view
  3. sunrises and sunsets

Day 8 – A gift sweet, salty, sipped

  1. Sweet-Pumpkin cheesecake snickerdoodles (Yummy)
  2. Salty- Kettle Chips with bacon and horseradish dip
  3. Sipped Gingerbread coffee

Day 9- 3 Gifts Harvest

  1. CSA boxes from a local farm
  2. All the pumpkin-y things
  3. All the Apple-y things

Day 10- 3 gifts found in Bible readig

  1. Hope – John 3:16
  2. Peace- Philippians 4:6
  3. Rest- Matthew 11:28

Day 11- 3 Gifts of remembrance

  1. Veterans- Past, present and future
  2. memories of our kids and all of their antics
  3. Childhood memories of cousins and grandparents

I’m so glad you came by to say Hello and join in on the Joy Dare this week and I’m praying You all have a fabulous week full of gratitude and Joy!

And how about You what have you found joy in this week?

For more Joy Dare posts click here and for more Choosing Courage Posts click here.

To Check out The Joy Dare and One Thousand Gifts  by Ann Voskamp click here.

Divided-Heart Soul Mind and Strength

Posted on by Mary
Divided

Hello friends- last week I promised a mini- series called DIVIDED based on the verse Luke 10:27 (NLT)

The man answered, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

The point of this verse is to say that we are to love God with EVERY aspect of our lives. . Four different times Luke tells us….ALL- repetition is emphasis on an idea…..You truly love God when he has ALL of our hearts. ALL of souls, ALL of our minds and ALL of our strength.

We show God just how much we love him by our complete and total devotion to him. Sometimes we think we are completely devoted to God but we have let little things that creep in and place a wedge between us and God. So over the next week we are going to touch base on these four areas.

Now that we have set the stage join me tomorrow for a double header of blog posts…First this weeks Joy Dare and then what it means to have a divided Heart.

Thanks for joining me today! And I cannot wait to get to know each one of you! If you are knew here feel free to poke around and check out the other Choosing Courage 100 day Blogging project posts.

What was I Thinking? -Week 12 Update

Posted on by Mary
Thinking

Have you ever asked yourself “what was I thinking?” That is definitely what I am asking myself this evening.

At the end of last week I had planned to write my “DIVIDED” miniseries this week. Specifically starting today…Today was my second IVIG infusion. Yep I came home and slept AND still woke up with a dull headache and heart racing. I had to leave very early this morning as I was a little shocked on Friday when I realized that IVIG was scheduled on the day hubby needed to be at church! UGH AGAIN what was I thinking! It led to rather complicated day and I spent a bunch of extra time at the hospital but it all worked out.

So IVIG-

Today I had a little more of a reaction on the first day. The last time I didn’t ,the reaction came the next day. But have no fear ZOFRAN! I am not nauseous. Just a dull sort of headache.

Hubby

Big week for him this week. It’s his second of two teaching weekends teaching Old Testament survey class

AND he is filling in for our pastor this week so he will have the new adventure of being simulcast to our other area campuses and do two services back to back. I know he is nervous but I also know he will do great!

The kids

Today wraps up the end of their first quarter of this school year! They have been working hard and enjoying life. I love hearing their happy chatter each morning and learning about other Christians who have gone before us!

We checked off a family bucket list item we have always wanted to do- We sponsored a Child through cCompassion International. Its not just something hubby and I wanted to do but our kids have ALWAYS had a heart for this kind of ministry so we surprised the kids this last week with it. (Something I didn’t have to ask myself what I was thinking!!)

They now refer to the little treasure as their sister in another Country….Not just one or two of them BUT ALL of them!

Choosing Courage- 100 day writing Project

How can we already be to day 86? My head is spinning with the idea that we have 14 days left! THAT”S ONLY 2 WEEKS!!! WHAAAT??

I know that I said I was going to start the “DIVIDED” series today but that is just not going to happen In the future I won’t be scheduling or planning any bloggy things on IVIG days.

Thanks so much for joining me on this journey and I pray that you all have a blessed week! And I will see you back here tomorrow.

If you are new here please introduce yourselves in the comments below and feel free to check out the other posts in the Choosing Courage project.

What a week- Happy Homemaker Monday

Posted on by Mary
Week

What a week we are in for! It’s exciting and daunting and all the crazy things wrapped into one! Some I can’t share and some I will. All of which though are fun (ok except for maybe two) and we are so blessed to be able to do these things!

Somethings coming up this week:

  • My second dose of IVIG
  • Bloodwork to check my iron
  • Meetings (Exciting ones)
  • Dentist appointment (I broke a tooth again-Just a filling)
  • Hubby’s second class in His OT survey class he has been teaching.
  • Hubby is preaching on Sunday at the church we have been attending! (Simulcasted to 3 campuses and online).

Pretty exciting Stuff!

Well Let’s Jump into this week’s post!

♥♥The Weather♥♥

Definitely fall- we saw snow last week- But it’s November so no complaints here…This week it’s supposed to be 50’s with somedays getting mighty close to the 60’s (This is VERY exciting) There are supposed to be two days of rain at the end of the week and then 40’s over the weekend. All in all not too shabby for the second week of November.

♥♥How I am feeling this morning♥♥

Very good. I have a lot of stuff to do this morning and afternoon- with a kinda labor intensive dinner for tonight and cookies for dessert.

 ♥♥On my mind♥♥ 

Lot’s of happy things buzzing around in my head I can’t wait to share them with you

♥♥On the breakfast plate♥♥

OHHH I am so excited fr breakfast this morning! the short answer is Bagels and Cream Cheese BUT since I am now completely gluten free I haven’t had a bagel. SOOOO last night hubby and I were doing the grocery shopping for the week- Because CRAZY- and we found Aldi had Gluten free Everything Bagels I LOVE EVERYTHING BAGELS. So we bought bagels and will have them for breakfast tis morning. (he also found these amazing Harvest Bagels for everyone else who isn’t gluten free)

♥♥Right now I am♥♥

writing this post all the while jotting random things I need to remember into my planner

♥♥On my reading pile♥♥

I will be finishing up James and I will be spending more time in Philippians and Colossians over the next month.

Nate Saint Biography

I will *hopefully* wrap up Get Out of Your Head, Hello Fears and Practical Dreamer this month as well.

♥♥On today’s to do list♥♥

  • Dishes 
  • Table needs to be cleaned off and moved back into place
  • Laundry 
  • change our sheets
  • Phone calls
  • pack bag for my infusion tomorrow

 ♥♥On my tv♥♥

nothing really other than Promised land in the evenings as a family

♥♥On the menu this week♥♥

Monday –Family- Night- Dorito Chicken casserole and Pumpkin Cheesecake cookies for dessert.  Tuesday – Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Wednesday – Chicken and Dumplings
Thursday – Chef Salad (Hubby and I will take salad to Bible Study)
Friday – Hot Dogs and French Fries
Saturday –  Mac and Cheese
Sunday –   Soup

♥♥From the camera♥♥

Because this is how normal people sleep

♥♥Looking around the house♥♥

There is a lot going on- Homeschooling mostly- so there is school stuff around and we have been preparing Christmas presents for family and friends so there is that.

♥♥New recipe I tried last week, or one that we really enjoyed♥♥

We are actually going to try a new recipe TONIGHT. It’s the Pumpkin Cheesecake Snickerdoodles I mentioned up in the menu

♥♥To relax this week, I will♥♥

Read and craft! HEHEHE Christmas is coming.

♥♥On my prayer list♥♥

  • Friends and family with COVID and other sicknesses.
  • Wisdom (LOTS of it and clarity too)
  • Friends going through some hard stuff right now
  • my own personal perseverance and patience (On many levels)

Thanks so much for Joining me today for another happy Homemaker post! You can find more Happy Homemaker posts and join in on the fun by visiting Diary of a Stay At Home Mom.

You can Also Check out the rest of my Choosing Courage blog posts here!