THE HEARTBEAT OF CHRIST         


When Mikayla my 11 year old was a toddler, almost every morning she would come into the living room where I would be having my quiet time with the Lord. She would crawl up in my lap, lay her head on my chest, look up at me with those big brown eyes and say “Mommy, I can hear your heart beeping.” As I was thinking back to those mornings it was as if God whispered in my ear…That is my heart’s desire for my children, that they would get so close to me they could hear my heart beat.



One of my favorite names of God is Abba Father, Abba means Papa, He is my Daddy God and if you know Christ as your personal Lord and Savior He is your Papa, your Daddy God and you are I are his daughters. You are a daughter of the King! A princess! He loves You so much and He desires for his daughters to crawl up in his lap, put their head on his chest and listen to his heart beat.



We can crawl up in his lap through prayer and tell him all our hopes, dreams, desires and also our fears, worries and sorrows. We can also lay our head on his chest and hear his heart beat by opening up his word. For it is in His word where he reveals his heart to us. His word is like love letters to us.
I have asked myself over the past few months, do I know the Heart of Christ? Can I hear the heart beat of my Father? Am I carving out a special time every day to spend time alone in his word away from distractions, and the demands of the day?



Are you aware that Christ desires to be your First love? He wants first place in your heart. In the book of Revelation Chapter 2: 1-4



"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:



The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: [2] 'I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; [3] and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary. [4] 'But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.



We must guard, cultivate and protect that intimacy with our Lord. We can’t allow even our “service” for him to take first place. We must put our worship and fellowship with him first and then our service for him will flow from there.
I believe He wants us to be consumed by His love.



If you are married or have ever been in love. Think back to when your love was new, Remember how you felt? Consumed is a good word. We wanted to spend all of our time with that person. We desired to please them and bring a smile to their face. Thought about little things we could do to make them happy. We wanted to know everything about them, their past where they had been and their future hopes and dreams. We paid attention to their likes and dislikes. We spent lots of time on the phone when we had to be apart. Do you love Christ like that? Do you desire to be in His presence, to spend time with Him? Do you know what pleases Him? Do you know what will bring a smile to his face? Do you know what thrills his heart? Do you know what breaks his heart? Do you know the heart of Christ?



Valentine's Day can bring on awide variety of feelings in a woman's heart: expectation, anticipation, eagerness, but also feelings of loneliness, sadness, disappointment, discouragement. But I have good news, whether you are happily married, unhappily married, divorced, widowed, single and hoping, single with no prospects for the future or single and content.  Whether you get a Valentine's Day card, or NOT!



NO ONE CAN LOVE YOU LIKE JESUS CHRIST! Husbands can disappoint and hurt us, friends sometimes betray us, kids will graduate or get married and leave home, even our service for Him will change, end, and begin again. But the Heart of Christ is Forever Faithful and True.



God gave me an Acrostic for the word HEART that only scratches the surface of His heart…



H - holy, honorable, humble, healing

E - extravagant, excellent, exalted
A - affirming, affectionate, abiding
R - redeeming, restores, rescues, rewards, his is our refuge
T - true, trustworthy have you been hurt and lost trust in someone? You can



Trust the heart of Christ. His love is total. He is enough.



Choose today to crawl up in your Heavenly Father’s lap, lay your head on his chest and listen to his heart beat and ask Him to help your heart beat in time with His…

Our God Given Personal Trainer!

Have you ever considered how wonderful it would be to have your very own Personal Trainer?

The Wikipedia states “A Personal Trainer is a fitness professional hired for private instruction to help a person achieve fitness goals. The emphasis on personal training should come from the personal trainer's understanding of what works best for their client and an understanding of human movement. It is not just about pushing someone hard, but more about working out at an effective level to achieve their goals. A few people need only one session to get them on the right track, ensure their program is balanced, and answer their questions. Others prefer to work with a trainer for several months to get in the habit of exercise and to see actual results. And still others who can afford the price prefer to work with a trainer indefinitely because they feel that they will get better results and have more fun working with a trainer then working alone.”

I have good news for you the Holy Spirit is your God given Personal Trainer.  He knows exactly what level each member of the body needs to be working out at to effectively achieve His goals. To get the body of Christ in shape requires the Holy Spirit to train us indefinitely, because we will get better results and have more success working with a trainer than working alone.

A friend of mine who has been in the role of personal trainer shared with me what a personal trainer does. A personal trainer: plans your workouts, give you encouragement, works alongside you, helps you reach physical success, motivates you to try strive harder, shares your vision on the person you want to be, listens to you, laughs with you and helps you through the muscle soreness.

I just recently started an exercise program and I am learning that physical exercise takes effort, energy and exertion; but I am blesssed enough to have a running partner (my neighbor) by my side.  It has been an incredible thing!  She motivates me to go the distance and "to keep keeping on".  Her help, encouragement and commitment remind me of how the Holy Spirit works in our lives.  We must partner with the Holy Spirit in every area of our lives. Are you partnering with the Holy Spirit (your personal trainer) following His workout plan, allowing Him to encourage, comfort and motivate you through the word of God and prayer? Are you relying on Him as your helper as you reach forward and press on to the prize and strive against sin? (Philippians 3:12-14, Heb. 12:1-4)

Like physical fitness, spiritual fitness is hard work We will experience “muscle” soreness as we are called into places that will be uncomfortable and sometimes down right painful! The Holy Spirit is doing a work and He will continue to put us in those uncomfortable and unfamiliar places to stretch us and teach us to use new “muscle groups” so we will learn to wholly trust and rely on the Lord Jesus. If you are in an uncomfortable or unfamiliar place right now, just listen to your personal trainer, partner with the Holy Spirit and work through the muscle soreness.

DO IT NOW!

Today I began my 2nd week of couch to 5k! 

You have to understand I HATE exercise! I especially detest running.  I have often said, "the only time you will see me run is when someone is chasing me in order to kill me!" 

I kept hearing a friend of mine talk about couch to 5k, she was also not a "runner" by choice and had done great!  So, I thought what do I have to lose, except all these unwanted inches and pounds?   

Over the years, I have tried many different types of exercise, from aerobics, step aerobics (hard on my knees) to the EXTREME P90X (sorry but too Xtreme for someone w/injuries and health issues).  I've enjoyed walking more than anything. 

A neighborhood friend saw my status on facebook about starting "couch to 5k" and came to my door one morning offering to be my partner.  I was amazed, it is much easier, (well if you can even say exercise is easy)  to exercise with a partner, especially if you are someone like me in need of LOADS of motivation and encouragement.  I am so thankful for her willingness to keep me moving. 

Now,  I'm only a little over a week into the program and can't believe that I am actually running for more than a few seconds and no one is even chasing me!!  If you are looking for a "do-able" exercise program that will challenge you each week.  I suggest that you check out this link http://www.coolrunning.com/  If I can do it, YOU can do it! 

Have a great run! 

Check out Disciple Life Ministries

Check out Disciple Life Ministries