Hearts Of Darkness

I will praise you, Lord my God, with ALL my heart. 

– Psalm 86:12

How do you feel when you get to the end of putting a puzzle together and you discover that pieces are missing?  Ugh!

God must feel the same way when we hold back and only give Him some of the pieces of our heart.  Imagine someone saying to Him, “Okay God, I’ll give you my marriage and friendships, but I’ll keep my drinking, my love for shopping, and my jealousy.”

God’s word tells us to trust Him with ALL of our hearts.  The definition of all means the whole, entire, total amount.  Not certain pieces, but everything …100%.  In Greek, all means “each and every.”  Have you given God each and every part of your heart? 

For many years, I held onto un-forgiveness.  By studying God’s word and by praying for the people who had hurt me, I realized I had been locked in a terrible prison.  Every bar of my prison cell represented one person I had not entirely forgiven.  They weren’t in the cell, I was, and it was miserable.  Thankfully, God entered into that broken part of my heart and began a good work of healing.  One by one, the bars were removed and I walked out into the sun a free woman.  Yes!  

I consider the un-forgiving part of my heart to be dark and the parts full of love and joy to be light and radiant.  Think for a moment and visualize the light and dark areas of your heart.  What areas would resemble Jesus’ heart and what would resemble yours, as of yet unchanged by God’s love and grace?  Focus on one dark area.  Ask God to shrink it, remove it, delete it, and grow a replacement.  

It’s true!  I call this God’s great exchange.  God can take un-forgiveness and replace it with compassion.  He can exchange anger with love, bitterness with kindness, and jealousy with encouragement.  It’s amazing to receive a much-needed heart transplant!  

Piece by piece God wants to mold our hearts into His son’s likeness.  As we become more like Jesus and less like ourselves, we please our Father in heaven and bless those around us.  Praise God today with ALL of your heart and start giving Him ALL the pieces of your heart until the entire puzzle is whole and beautiful.

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World!

Thank You for Being a part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement