The Lawn of Our Heart
This isn’t my lawn, but I wish it was.
Do you have a lawn? Do you take pride in your lawn? I mean in a good way – in a pride of ownership sort of way.
That’s really another way of saying that you take good care of what’s yours. Or, in biblically correct terminology: you are a good steward.
I really appreciate a good lawn.
I drove past a guy the other day who clearly was a lawn guy. He definitely had pride of ownership. Wow, it was beautiful. He was mowing it with absolutely straight lines. It was deep green, thick, and weed-free. I wanted to stop and talk with him to congratulate him on his awesome lawn, but my wife gave me one of those looks and I knew it was best for me to just keep driving.
I certainly appreciate the work of lawn perfectionists. I am not a perfectionist – a term I do not use with any sense of negativity. I appreciate the heart of a perfectionist. I see them as someone who is simply into excellence; who won’t settle for less than the best. Oftentimes people with high standards – who are passionate about excellence – are accused of being perfectionists by those people who do not adhere to their high standards.
My lawn used to be a decent lawn. Not perfect, but decent. I hired a lawn service to do what needed to be done. I would mow it each week and make sure the sprinkler system was watering it consistently and evenly, but the service would fertilize and do all the necessary work to make sure the lawn was lush, green and healthy.
However, I cancelled the service. The lawn looked good so I thought I could take it from there; water and mow and all would be great.
I was wrong.
It’s amazing how badly things can go sideways in one year. My lawn is a disaster: sparse, weeds, moss, thin…embarrassing actually. So, I called the service back in and we are embarking upon the painstaking process of getting my lawn back into shape.
I have realized that to have a consistently great lawn there are a few key ingredients necessary in my lawn care plan: sun, watering, mowing, aerating, dethatching, fertilizing. I slacked off and now I am paying the price.
As I stared despondently at the lawn in my yard, I thought of the lawn of my heart. I can do to my heart what I did to my lawn. Things look good, we’re feeling good about where we are at, and we stop doing that which created our health in the first place. We slack off the key ingredients of a healthy heart plan and the next thing you know, we are weed invested, mossy, thin and patchy.
So what are the key ingredients to ensure the lawn of our heart is lush, thick green and healthy? Truth, prayer, worship, praise, community, serving, and giving are a few key elements in a healthy heart plan. The Truth of God is like fertilizer to our heart – we grow strong in the Truth of God’s Word and we must consume copious amounts on a regular basis. Prayer, worship and praise enables us to connect and commune with God, to be refreshed in His presence, to be filled with His Spirit and have the well-spring of life bubble up inside us, to come alive through the breath of God, have our faith renewed, and be refreshed in His love
Community – doing life with other people – serving, and giving enable us to connect with others, to learn from and grow with each other, to have our weeds identified and removed, to trim our selfish tendencies by loving and being loved by others, to experience the heart of God for us through others, and to demonstrate the heart of God to others through us.
An awesome heart, like an awesome lawn, is only possible if we walk consistently in relationship with God and His Truth, and with each other in the sunshine of God’s love. If you don’t want your heart to begin to look like my lawn, then it’s time to make sure you consistently choose the key ingredients in a healthy heart plan.
May the lawn of our hearts be lush, thick, healthy and a thing of beauty.
John 15:5
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
Proverbs 4:23
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
Matthew 4:4
“Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’””
John 7:38
“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
Don’t Forget to Remember
Click for an EF Hutton commercial
If you were a TV watcher back in the late 70’s you may remember a broker by the name of EF Hutton. Do you remember the tag line for the commercials?
“When EF Hutton talks, people listen.”
There were a number of commercials in the series, all with the same concept: two people talking about investments; one would indicate what his broker was saying then the other would reply,
“Well, my broker is EF Hutton, and EF Hutton says…”
At that point in the commercial whatever was going on in the crowd surrounding the two primary characters would come to a complete halt. Everyone would stand still to listen to what EF Hutton had to say.
Brilliant!
In a very simple fashion you got the message that EF Hutton knew what he was talking about and you would do yourself a favour to listen.
Do you believe God speaks? Jesus said in John 10 that His sheep know His voice and listen to Him. We need to choose to listen to Him. One of the ways we do this is through listening prayer – not simply presenting a litany of requests we want God to respond to, but to draw near to Him to listen; to hear His voice, His heart for us and for others.
We can also fine tune our hearts to be listening to Him whatever we are doing. To be aware God speaks to us far more than we may realize. Reminders, affirmations, encouragements, checks in our spirit, conviction, validation, confirmation, direction, can all come from God at any time in the day.
When God speaks it’s a game changer – way more profound and powerful than EF Hutton. But are we listening? And then, do we care enough about what God says to write it down so we don’t forget?
I was taught to write down what I wanted to remember. My mentors all taught me to care enough about the Word of God to write it down. I was always encouraged to take a notebook and pen, with my Bible, to any meeting. And, no matter wherever I was to have a notebook and pen with me – in the car, on my bedside table, in my briefcase – to be ready to make note of what God may whisper to me.
You know why that’s important? Because we forget.
What God says is noteworthy, we would be wise to make note of it.
We are often encouraged in scripture to remember what the Lord has said to us and done for us. In fact the appointed festivals for Israel were to remember what God had done. God’s people were also often chastised for not remembering.
So, how do you choose to remember?
Do you keep a journal? If not, why not?
Do you never forget? Can you at will remember all that God has said to and done for you? Or, do you not care enough to remember – it’s not that important to you?
I have to confess that I fall into the latter category. How often has the Lord whispered to me and I enjoy it in the moment and then forget to write it down? I had something more important to do…
There is another element to that: we can write down in our journal what the Lord is saying to us, and then never look at it again. We never review it. Out of sight, out of mind…
Guilty on that one too.
I sat down the other night and reviewed what I had written in my journal over the last couple years and was amazed at all I had forgotten. Wow, what an encouragement, but when was the last time I did that?
Let’s take a tip from the old EF Hutton commercial: when God talks let’s listen. Let’s care enough to write it down in a journal. Then, let’s ensure we take the time to review our journals on a regular basis. If we fail to remember, we choose to fail.
How will you choose to remember?
Don’t forget to remember.
Nehemiah 9:17a
“They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them.”
Psalm 63:6-8
“On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.”
Deuteronomy 4:9
“Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”
Called to Combat
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Bullets zipped past him on all sides. The chaos created by the enemy attack was indescribable. They were surrounded. Wave after wave of enemy troops assaulted their position. The dead and wounded were everywhere. They were being overrun.
There was no escaping the horrors of war.
In the midst of chaos he lay amidst cover with his weapon – shooting with a camera instead of a gun. In his zeal to capture the real story of war he was being swept up into the battle. An officer grabbed him and pulled him to a ‘safer’ location. But on this day there was no safety to be had. The enemy was everywhere.
Cowering in the midst of enemy fire, disoriented and wondering what he had gotten himself into, he was frantically trying to figure out what he should do next…
It was then the M-16 landed on his lap with a sickening thud. He looked up in surprise at the officer who dropped it there and exclaimed,
“I’m a non-combatant sir.”
The office looked down at him with sober understanding of the gravity of the situation they now found themselves in and responded,
“Ain’t no such thing today boy!”
This scene from the movie We Were Soldiers has a poignant lesson for us, in that we find ourselves in a similar situation. Open war is upon us whether we would risk it or not. The battle we are engaged in is unseen. It takes place in the spirit realm, but that makes it no less real. We see the carnage of our unseen enemy’s hatred, jealousy and rage in the lives of people every day.
Thanks be to God that our enemy was defeated at the cross. However, the enemy has not been dispatched, and will not be until Revelation 20. Until then we must step into the victory purchased for us by Jesus and engage in the battle in His authority in order to experience the life He has for us.
The option of being a non-combatant does not exist for any man who wants to apprehend that for which he has been apprehended by the Lord.
Scripture is very clear about the spiritual resistance we can expect as followers of Jesus. Revelation 12:17 tells us that the enemy has declared war against those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. We are also told that the enemy is like a roaring lion looking for people to devour. He is out to steal, kill and destroy all the life God has for us.
Being a non-combatant is not an option if we want to really live.
We must choose to take up the weapons the Lord has provided us to overcome the strategy of the enemy in our lives. What are those weapons? Well, they are numerous: the Word of God, the name of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, the cross of Christ, prayer, personal holiness, our testimony, remembrance, generosity, praise, worship, thanksgiving, fasting, confession, encouragement, forgiveness, humility, repentance, blessing, unity, obedience, tithing, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, wisdom – to name a few.
The first step in overcoming the strategy of the enemy in our lives is to settle the issue that this side of heaven we are in a spiritual battle from which we cannot escape. The second step is to choose to be a combatant; neutrality and passivity are not an option. The third step is to commit to the learning and training necessary to be an effective freedom fighter. The fourth step is simply to fight for the life Jesus purchased for us and for others through us.
It is imperative to realize the fight is not our mission. Our mission is the freedom and life promised to and purchased for us by Jesus, but it must be fought for. A Kingdom warrior cannot love war, he must love peace because that’s what he’s fighting for.
May we be the freedom fighters Jesus has called us to be and fight to see His government of righteousness, peace and joy established in our lives and in the lives of those for whom He has called us to fight.
Yes, we are called as combatants in the struggle to see God’s Kingdom come and His will be done on the earth as it is in heaven.
Hooah!
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
Ephesians 6:12
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Colossians 2:15
“And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
Sing a New Song
Click to see a Rend Collective video.
Do you ever get tired of the music you listen to?
Do you find yourself listening to praise and worship songs from years ago? Have you lost your motivation to worship perhaps? Tired of the same old songs over and over again…
I found myself in this very place a few months ago. I had put together a playlist of some great worship songs a few years ago. It is on the IPod in our ensuite bathroom – for listening in the shower. It’s on my other IPod on a portable docking system – for listening on the patio, at the pool, in the boat, working in the garage, or anywhere else appropriate.
I also have the playlist on my IPhone for listening in the car and on our home stereo system. It was fabulous and served to lift my heart in praise and worship all over the place. However, it began to get stale. I had been singing the same songs for a few years and began to get less and less motivated to engage with a heart of worship.
It was time to sing a new song.
I realized I had the choice to slowly lose motivation to worship, or further engage and sing a new song – engage in new songs that glorify God. Not that there was anything wrong with the old songs. They were anointed songs, but I had become a little dull to their significance and power.
Scripture speaks about the need to sing a new song – songs that are a fresh expression of the glory and goodness of God. Songs that are a fresh representation of our heart toward the Lord.
It is important we understand the power of praise and worship. This isn’t simply some cute sing-song of sorts we do on Sundays. Praise and worship is not about singing sentimental campfire songs that make us feel better. The reality is, we were created for worship. It is an act of surrender, submission and adoration. Peter tells us in I Peter 2:9 that we are created to declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into God’s wonderful light.
There is a profound power in worship. In fact, scripture tells us that God inhabits the praises of His people. When we choose to praise and worship God with open, engaged hearts we experience breakthrough, freedom, deliverance, revelation, healing and all manner of other benefits as we connect with God and get our eyes off ourselves and onto Him.
Praise and worship is a choice.
We can choose to keep our eyes on ourselves and focus on our own issues and shortcomings, or we can look to God, offer our hearts to Him and be transformed by His presence and power in the midst of praise and worship.
Back to singing a new song: I needed some input to help me discover some new music, so I asked my son Benjamin for help. Wow, he plugged me into some great music I was totally unaware of. I simply searched for the songs and artists on ITunes he told me about, and downloaded them into a new playlist.
My new playlist is awesome. It has breathed new life into my everyday worship. I even added in some cutting edge Christian music from the 70’s – retro is new again 35 years later.
Bethel Music, Keith Green, Andrae Crouch, Chris Tomlin, John Mark McMillan, Will Regan and United Pursuit, Second Chapter of Acts, Jesus Culture – all great new (some very old/retro) songs for me. However, I gotta say that my greatest discovery has been Rend Collective. Wow – their music is profound. There is an underlying tone of joy in their music that is transcendent.
My intent here is not to promote any particular band or artist, but simply to awaken our hearts to the need to sing a new song to the Lord. To discover the power of praise and worship by wholeheartedly engaging with artists who have been gifted and called to facilitate and inspire praise and worship in God’s people.
Let’s choose to continually sing a new song of praise and worship to God – to give Him the glory due His name. And in the midst of our surrender, submission and adoration we, in turn, are transformed by His great love.
Psalm 96:1-4
“Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise His name; proclaim His salvation day after day. Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; He is to be feared above all gods.”
Revelation 19:5
“Then a voice came from the throne, saying: ‘Praise our God, all you His servants, you who fear Him, both great and small!’”
Hebrews13:15
“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess His name.”
Psalm 29:2
“Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.”
Increased Capability
I had more speed than I realized. I knew I wasn’t going to make the corner. I was going to skid out and end up with some significant injuries, but I had to try to make the turn…
What happened next blew me away. In fact, it was a paradigm shift – I would never see things the same way ever again. I took the corner like I was on rails. No skidding. No wipe out. No injuries.
Man – this is an awesome skateboard!
It was the mid-seventies, the second wave of the skateboard craze. Skateboarding had started in the 50’s, but really got rolling in the 60’s. It was called side-walk surfing because it was mainly the pursuit of surfers when there was no break to surf. The technology was fairly antiquated and continued that way until the mid-seventies and the advent of polyurethane wheels. This was the game changer that catapulted skateboarding into a new era. This was the wave I was now riding.
I originally bought a pretty basic board at a skateboard shop in West Vancouver. But then my family was taking a trip to California – the epicenter of the skateboarding universe – where I knew I could buy the latest and greatest gear. So, I emptied my bank account and bought Road Rider wheels, Bennett Hijacker trucks, and a Santa Cruz fibreglass board. Wow – I had the coolest board in North Van. (At least in my neighbourhood.)
My old board had a certain degree of capability, but my new board…well, I really didn’t know what it was capable of. Or, what I was capable of on it. My first taste of my new board’s capability was that high speed corner. On my old board I would have been dead, but on my new board I hugged that corner like the roller coaster at the PNE.
My whole understanding of what I was capable of took a seismic shift.
It was such an “ah ha” moment that I still remember it over 35 years later. What I thought was impossible was now possible. It has been said, “Most things worth doing were once thought impossible before they were done.” I thought it was impossible for my skateboard to take that corner, but it did – my paradigm was shattered.
It seems like a trite lesson from a crazy kid on a silly skateboard, but it’s not…
What do you believe about your capability?
How many corners in life have you come flying into wondering if you were going to make it? In some you may have crashed, but in others you may have come through with increased capability.
The Lord sees what you are capable of more than you do. He will push you to your limit to show you that you are capable of far more than you realize. He will lead you and guide you in the way you should choose – which may be very difficult sometimes. You may feel like you are careening into a corner at high speed wondering if you will survive. Wondering how on earth this can work out. It’s in those times we need to trust that our Lord is far greater than we realize, and that we are far more capable in Him than we realize.
Yes, the Lord loves you where you are, but He wants to take you further than you ever thought possible. When we get our eyes off of ourselves and our own incapability, we will see the Lord and His capability – and that’s when we end up going places in God we never imagined.
Offer your limitations to the Lord and He will offer you His limitlessness. God is God and that changes everything. It’s time for us to stop living life looking at our own capability – living like we are riding on an antiquated skateboard. It’s time to start believing that God is who He says He is and in Him we can ‘take corners’ we never dreamed possible.
His capability is infinite, which means in Him we are capable of far more than we realize. Let’s get our eyes off our own incapability and trust Him – we’ll be amazed the corners we can take!
Ephesians 3:20
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,”
Philippians 4:13
“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
Psalm 32:8
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”