Today : Listen With Your Heart
TODAY’S VERSE
“For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes—so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.” Matthew 13:15 (NLT)
God wants His word to penetrate our very being. We are “fearfully and wonderfully made” and this includes the way we comprehend truth. Jesus took the writing of Isaiah and applied it to the people of His day. He warned them that their “eyes” were not seeing the truth, their “ears” were not comprehending the truth and their “hearts” were not sensing the implications of the truth. It was a result of hardening their hearts from God. Turning away and failing to believe til sooner or later they just plain ignored the truth. But there is another way to do the same thing. It is a failure to believe the truth because of your own negative self worth. It is easy to read that “God loves you.” You can hear me say it to you. But do you believe it with your heart? I remember when I couldn’t. After years of ministry, telling all sorts of people that God loved them, I came to the realization that deep down I did not really believe it for myself. My struggle with false guilt, people pleasing and sense of shame in my life all pointed to the fact that in my heart, I did not believe God really could love me. I was unlovable. I saw, I heard, but my heart did not believe. It was through prayer and wrestling with God and being purposeful in really believing in God’s unconditional love that I started to believe. As I matured and changed many of the childish beliefs that I still carried with me, I was finally able to see that God’s word was really true for me. Today, might God help you read the word, hear the word and most of all, believe the word with your whole heart.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Father, help me know deep in my heart that You love me. Help me see it, hear it and really sense it is true. Take my shame and guilt and anything else that is blinding me and set me free today. Help me to know, in every sense of the word, that You love me unconditionally. In Jesus’ name I pray.
AMEN
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION & MEDITATION
God loves me
Let today’s affirmation go beyond your eyes and ears and sink into your heart. Picture yourself before God. He is the one that loves you! Picture Him coming and surrounding you with His loving presence. Sense it deep in your heart. No rejection, pure love and acceptance. Hear Him say, “I love you. I created you and adore you.” Pause and let the thought really sink in. He loves you unconditionally. If you haven’t before, ask Christ to forgive your sins and direct your life. This will begin a new spiritual adventure under the influence of His unconditional love. However, if Christ is already your Savior, then check your heart and if you need to, let His words, “I love you” become a deeper truth for you.
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