The Beat and the Pulse

A heart for God is trusting: Proverbs 3:5

A heart for God is thankful: Psalm 9:1

A heart for God is meditative: Psalm 19:14

A heart for God is filled with His Word: Psalm 37:31

A heart for God sings: Psalm 138:1

A heart for God is known by Him: Acts 15:8

A heart for God finds his treasure in God: Matthew 6:21

A heart for God gives his heart to God and delights in Him: Proverbs 23:26

The Rhythm

How do you measure up to this list? 

Do you see areas where you and your heart need growth, or discipline? 

You may be very good at giving thanks, or singing your praise to the LORD, but how are you at meditating on the LORD and His Word? 

What about finding your treasure in Him, and not in the tangible world in which we live? 

Is your heart filled with God’s Word, like there isn’t one little corner that isn’t touched by God’s Word? 

How different would your life look if you were able to live out each of the eight attributes listed above? 

Take time today to ask God to help you have a heart for Him, and Him alone.

Taken from Matters of the Heart, https://egministriesinc.org/product-category/devotionals/page/2/

When parking your elephant in Florida, be sure to deposit the same amount of money in the meter as you would for a motor vehicle or be fined!

What? Believe it or not, this law is still on the books in Florida!

Do you have favorites in your life? Books, color, snack, Bible verse?

It’s okay to have favorite things, but what about people? Is it acceptable to treat people differently, favoring one over another?

We all do it.

We have “besties,” the few people to whom we tell our “everything!”

Even Jesus had His band of brothers with whom He did life. We could even argue that He had two or three that seemed to be His favorites…but were they really?

Did Jesus care, love, serve, work, teach, pray for them MORE than He cared for the others?

He may have spent more time with Peter, John and James, but His love demonstrated to ALL through His death and resurrection, IS FOR ALL.

So what about favoritism? Is it okay to park my elephant in a metered spot and not pay the same that I would if I drove my car.

Deuteronomy 10:17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.

God has created everyone! God gives opportunity for all to come to Him for forgiveness and salvation. God does not regard a person’s person; whether you are the elephant or the car, we all are the same in God’s eyes.

So, what about you? How do you love others? Does it matter who they are, what they are, from where they come, how they live?

Take time today to serve and care for others better!

If you would like to read about more outlandish laws still on the books in the USA, check out Back in the Day under the Shop tab to order your copy today.

When is the LAST time you did something for the FIRST time?

CHANGE: Most people do not like change. In a poll taken in 2012, 80% of those asked preferred life to remain just as it is. Only 35% liked to experience something new on a regular basis (whatever that means). Even less reacted positively when their comfort zone was challenged.

Why? Is it just that we are creatures of habit? Is it our nature to live without challenges? What would happen if you went years without change, without growth, without learning ANYTHING new? Would you be proud of the non-progress you’ve made over those years?

Of course not, that’s silly. But many of us make conscience choices each and every day that lead us to a life without change or challenge. We live the same routines, see the same people, eat the same foods, wear the same clothes, watch the same TV shows, etc. And then we look back over a period of time and wonder where it went… “Wow, it’s been 10 years…”

Change, challenges or even newness can definitely be scary. But it’s the only way we can grow into a physically, mentally and spiritually mature person.

Two truths to encourage you to take steps to make changes, to challenge yourself, to learn something new:

1. Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22, 23)

If God’s love, mercy, grace and compassion are NEW EVERY MORNING, we can be new every morning as well! Start fresh, make positive changes, take on the challenge!

2. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. (Psalm 16:8)

When we walk with God, WE WILL NOT BE SHAKEN! No reason to fear change. No reason to walk away from the challenge. No reason to resist something new.

So what NEW change are you going to try for the first time today?

“Your life doesn’t get better by chance. It gets better by change.”

Jesus ministered at 3 miles an hour.

I heard that on the radio this morning. Did you ever think about that?

He walked everywhere He went.

The average male walks approximately 3 miles per hour.

 

Regular walking has been linked to improved cognitive function,

learning,

thinking,

reasoning,

remembering,

enhanced memory,

attention, and

problem-solving skills;

everything needed by 12 students, following the Master.

 

Today, we seem to live at such a high speed.

The digital age has made us want things to happen quickly. We want to be able to get information right away, have our texts answered right away, and solve our problems with just one click.

 

Maybe we should learn to slow down a bit. Learn to “walk along” like Jesus and his disciples.

Pay attention to what gets our attention. Look around and enjoy our surroundings and the people in it.

Be present. Listen to those who are speaking. Empathize.

Put the cell phone away. They can act as a barrier to quality interactions and conversations, causing less satisfaction in our relationships.

Focus on the people in front of us.

Drive the speed limit. Don’t be in such a hurry to get everywhere. Enjoy the journey.

Make time to have fun. Bet you Jesus laughed!

Practice silence. Take time to pray, read, study.

 

Here’s your Warning Ticket! Slow it down to 3 miles an hour and consider what Jesus did in 3 years at that speed!

 

Isaiah 40:31  But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

1 John 4:19  “We love because He first loved us.”

LOVE—we all want to be loved. The greatest love ever in all of the history of the world is the LOVE OF GOD. He loved the world so much that He sent His Only Son into the world to take the sin of all of us on Himself and die the most despicable death ever imagined on a cross. Jesus voluntarily laid down His life so that you and I will never have to be sentenced to death by a Holy God. Jesus loved His Father and willingly obeyed the task set before Him. So, when we believe and receive the free gift of salvation provided for us through the shed blood of Jesus, we receive eternal life. And we are recipients of the Holy Spirit who teaches us to love each other because God loved us first. Yes, 1 John 4 talks all about us loving others as a proof of the work of Jesus in our lives.

This month, when the emphasis is on love, let us turn our attention to the greatest LOVE ever given and fall in love with God all over again.

Thank Him for His amazing love for you.