Guard your heart!

Hello everyone!
Let me start by saying that you guys have all really been on my heart! I'm sorry it's been so long since I posted. Life has been incredibly busy for me lately but I've been praying for so many of you and trusting God to guard and protect you all! <3

The Lord has been laying so much on my heart in regards to serving Him. It is incredible how much our culture impedes on us the demand to have our needs met. Recently, I looked up the most popular slogans in American advertising and here are a few of the most drastic: Of course, Burger King's all-too popular "Have it your way", Loreal's "Because I'm worth it", and Charles Atlas' "You too can have a body like mine" pump into us exactly what we want to hear...I am important and I matter! In fact, it doesn't just stop there. We all would like to take it to depth of saying we ARE the most important person in the world.

You guys, I have a confession to make. For far too long in my life, that is how I've been living. I have focused all my relationships around the concept of what I could 'receive' rather than asking humbly would I could contribute to the other person whether it was simply a casual acquaintance, a friend, or a close family member. Mark 8:34 says, "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny Himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for Me will find it." Wow! What a stark contrast to the lies of our culture.

And yet, it doesn't stop there. Proverbs 4:23 cautions us strongly, "Guard your heart, for out if it flows the issues of life." So, there obviously is a great contrast between focusing on others while yet protecting our OWN hearts. I'm not going to lie! I don't have this figured out. I wish I did. I've been praying about it a great deal. My fear for all of us is that we will either bend towards one side or the other. Either we will spend our time focused on our own desires OR we will throw away the precious beauty God has given our hearts by forgetting to invest them in Him.

Imagine for a moment, if you will, an incredibly wealthy King. He is kind and gives one of his costliest jewels to a child. This child has ordinary living conditions and the jewel is their most prized possessions. As such, the child chooses to protect her jewel by keeping to locked up on a high shelf where it cannot be stolen, lost, or scratched in any way.

That is our hearts! God has imparted a beautiful jewel to us in our hearts. We easily let them become destroyed or distracted from Him by 'letting them lie around'. As members of a small, dirty house (this world), we must keep them in a place where they are safe and cannot be destroyed. God has a passionate desire to invest in your heart, but you must be prepared to sacrifice for Him. Perhaps that's what Jesus meant by 'taking up our cross'. We must give certain things up for the LORD...but the joy in the end will be worth it.

So many people live a roller-coaster life. At one moment, they are passionate about God and the next they are doubting even the genuineness of their salvation. One moment they are in love, the next heart-broken. One moment they have a correct view of themselves and others, the next they strongly doubt the role God has for them in this world. I do not believe this is wrong, for our lives are continually bombarded with fiery arrows from Satan. I am the first to admit I ride this roller coaster, and sometimes it is inevitable, but if we truly stood up and focused our hearts on the Lord who made us! If we truly 'took up our cross' by avoiding ungodly relationships and occupations, and if we surrendered all we guarded our hearts by keeping them safe and within God's metal safe, we would certainly be much more satisfied in life.

That is my prayer for you and me! May God give us the grace and strength necessary to pursue Him in everything...and never look back. Remember, you are all very precious to God and to me! I am here for each and every one of you if you need me.

Yours By His Grace,
Jadelin <><