DAY 4 - "WHEN HEART ACHES COME"

Meditations of the Heart

By Rob Bailes

And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, Before the cock shall crow, thou wilt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.Luke 22:62

Jesus had told Peter to be strong for the rest of the disciples just the day before and to resist the temptation of the devil. Jesus cared and spent time talking to Peter, yet he was betrayed by him when the going got tough. Peter was afraid of the possibility that he would have to suffer the same punishment as Jesus, if he stood up and told the people what he believed, who he loved and even more importantly that Jesus was innocent of the charges. He hadn't stood up for his closest friend! I'm sure Jesus experienced heartache like never before to know and experience this total abandonment of his fellow believer and pupil.
How about physical hurt and pain? Do you have memories of this type of treatment? Maybe someone you know has been through this in their past or going through it right now? How well did you deal with it?

Maybe your mom or dad was physically abusive or called you names and mocked you. Have you carried your hurt and your tattered heart full of holes with you each day of your life since this happened? There is hope for your damaged heart. Stay with me until we finish this series on heart aches and you will see.

There is hope for your heart and mind! Jesus gave us hope for the hurting and I will show you how.

Maybe you had someone attack you in an abusive relationship and really hurt you in a effort to try to control who you made friends with or talked with outside of your home. Were you or someone you know attacked physically as a teen and violated by someone you thought to be a nice person, finding no way of escape as they overpowered you. They didn't even seem to care how much you cried and begged them to stop! Maybe you've never talked to anyone about this attack on your body, mind and character.
They just would not stop attacking until you finally gave up the battle to maintain a remnant your dignity and some sense of self protection. They just had to be in control of everything!

Even your very thoughts were attacked and conquered by filling them with fear! Have you or someone you know experienced this type of barbaric attack of mind and body? The huge holes that are left in our hearts when this happens leaves us with a tattered and torn adrenal system, shot nerves and an emotional zombie long after the attack is past. These holes can seem to be impossible to heal even after many years! Did you realize that our Lord and Savior experienced this too and He knows exactly how you or your friend are hurting? That's right! Jesus has personally felt our pain! It may not be easy for you, but look at the following passage with me,

And the men that held Jesus, mocked him, and smote him. And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee? And many other things blasphemously they spoke against him. And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people, and the chief priests, and the scribes came together, and led him into their council, Saying, Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said to them, If I tell you, ye will not believe. Luke 22:63-67

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was mocked, spit upon, blindfolded and struck in the face over and over, as they each asked Jesus to tell them the name of the person who had hit Him. Jesus could have scared them all and named not only them, but their entire family too if He wanted, but He chose to endure the pain and continue in His Father's will, BUT WHY? That you and I would find freedom from our sinful flesh!

His suffering was endured because His Father loves each of us equally. No matter what anyone else may tell you, it's true my friend! God loves you as much as He loves anyone else in this world!

Now the Spirit can come and live in us all, if we believe in Him and seek Him! If you haven't ever really made this choice, I reach out to you and invite you today. Jesus can be trusted and He will hear your voice where ever you may be!

DAY 3 - "WHEN HEART ACHES COME"

Meditations of the Heart

By Rob Bailes

And while he was yet speaking, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near to Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said to him, Judas, Do you betray the Son of man with a kiss? Luke 22:47-48

At times we may find our character under attack by associates, church members or maybe even people we don't even know!

If not prepared, it will cause us critical damage and leave large tattered holes in our hearts. Have you ever experienced being rejected by someone you counted as trustworthy, because you chose from a moral standpoint to do or make the right choice? Maybe even your closest friend? Someone that you invested much time with or had even built a close relationship? The Lord Jesus Christ who came to give mankind life can relate to this totally. You'll see, as we look at the following passage,

Then they took him(Jesus Christ), and led him, and brought him into the high priest's house. And Peter followed at a distance. Luke 22:54

Peter wasted no time looking out for his well being when he slipped back into the shadows so he wouldn't be noticed! Have you ever started into a mission with someone, only to find that they were no where to be found when the tough challenges came? It was a shocking experience, wasn't it? You probably felt a bit of disappointment deep down inside, didn't you?

It's ok to admit it. We all feel these things when we get surprised! But it's up to us, as to what we do with those feelings after that disappointment strikes. Have you ever thought that maybe the one who disappointed you might have felt remorse or guilt later? Maybe they were too embarrassed or proud to admit it to you. Maybe they do it so often that they just got tired of apologizing to people for hurting them. Just maybe they want to be different, but don't know where to find help.

You may say, "There's no way this person would have ever felt sorry for what they did!".

Are you so sure of that? Maybe it is our own pride and bitterness that keeps us from turning them over in prayer to the all powerful hand of the Lord Jesus Christ, who can do all things. Just look at what happened next to Peter!

And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, Before the cock shall crow, thou wilt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly. Luke 22:61

Be careful not to underestimate the power of the Creator of all mankind. Jesus is equal with God, Invite Jesus to work in the minds of people who disappoint and hurt you. Let's concentrate on keeping our roots away from the bitter water, lest we begin to bear a bitter, useless fruit in our own life. Selah

"YOUR FAITH WILL CARRY YOU"

Posted on March 1,2011 @ focusontheheart.org
Hope for the Heart page archives

Have you ever had a really great day when everything went better than you had planned? You had your time alone with God and your day was productive from the standpoint of accomplishing your goals; you felt so good that you couldn't help humming or singing a tune in the car on the way home. Then it happened!


Suddenly out of the blue, you get a phone call with bad news or you suddenly realize you've lost something very important; or someone dear to you gets hurt; or someone you care about disappoints you! This is a really good time to do a faith check! It is at this moment that we will usually either panic or stay calm. The faith that you have in Christ will make the difference at a time like this!

The disciples found themselves in just one of those moments in chapter four of Mark when their ship had filled with water in verse thirty-seven.

"And there arose a great storm of wind,(like a hurricane) and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full."

I could see in this passage that the ship is now full of water and Jesus was asleep on a pillow in the back part of the ship. The disciples had ran around in a panic before they went and woke Him up from His rest. Jesus had been teaching and healing people all day long and the disciples needed Him to do something to save them. Let's take a look at what they said to Him.

"And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, "Master, care thou not that we perish?" ~ Mark 4:38

We see in this verse that they addressed Jesus as their Master, which in the Greek means "teacher". Those guys were afraid that their end was near and they would soon be sucked up by the sea! They needed someone to give them a plan of action; a "master" plan, so to speak.

Yes, I believe that these men were pretty much in a state of panic and they wanted Jesus to either come up with a solution or to at least, panic with them!

They asked Him, "Don't you care that we are going to die?". Their understanding was blurred by the circumstances and they were past the reasoning and understanding that they were on a ship in a storm with the Son of God! The same One who had spent days and weeks teaching them about the power of faith and exercising this faith in many different ways.

Can you imagine a team of men in a large ship and the waves are crashing over the deck and filling the ship up faster than they can bail it out? Imagine the wind tossing their boat in every direction and the rain beating down on them as they bail faster and faster to keep the boat afloat.
They have been battling this storm for maybe an hour or more and they're loosing the battle. The boat is quickly sinking under the added weight of the water on board. They probably could hear the boards of the ship beginning to creak and move under the stress and they felt as though there was no hope for survival.

Finally, in this moment of total despair, I imagine someone shouted out,"Wake up Jesus!".

When we read what happens next, it is very clear to me that they didn't wake Jesus up for the purpose of stopping the storm. They didn't wake Him with the purpose of delivering them from the circumstances either, as they believed that they were going to die. I believe they were really upset that Jesus was sleeping and they were all bailing water and they just couldn't stand to let Jesus rest so peacefully while they were fighting for their lives! They acted as though they felt that the calm, peaceful sleep that Jesus was experiencing was a sign that He didn't care about them. They had forgotten all the lessons that Jesus had taught them about the battles and struggles of life's difficulties and they were acting purely on human instinct!

How many times do we do this very thing when something catches us by surprise? Do we feel we should battle our way through it and wait until we are about to sink before we run to get help from our Lord? Why do we wait? Some people will tell us that we should do all we can and that God expects that from us, but I believe that too many times we wait until our boat is full of water before we will call out in prayer!
What do you think would have happened if the disciples had woke Jesus when the storm began? Would this have been a good sign that their faith in Him was strong? Would Jesus have responded to their faith earlier in the storm? I feel sure He would have and we see this in the next passages that follow. Let's look at the next two verses together,


And He(Jesus) arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, "Peace, be still". And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, "Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?" ~ Mark 4:39,40

The same power and authority that we see displayed here when Jesus spoke to the wind and the sea was also available to those pitiful, scared disciples already! Earlier in this passage written by Mark, the disciples were given the power to perform miracles by faith. Jesus had taken them up onto a mountain and ordained them to preach the gospel and to heal the sick and to cast out devils! Jesus had told them that they could ask anything if they had faith. (Even moving mountains!) Faith is a powerful thing to have and to understand! We excuse our lack of the power of faith in our lives many times by counting ourselves weak and vulnerable as humans. That isn't what Jesus wanted for His children as messengers to the rest of the world.
To Be Continued....

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INTENT TO LEARN

Posted on Jan. 31,2011 @ focusontheheart.org

When we decide to stop fearing, we can begin to learn.

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart:
and ye shall find rest unto your souls." ~ Matthew 11:29

Yes, with the intent to learn we become the peacemakers that we ought to be as the children of God. There's only one response in a conflict that breaks the barrier and opens the door to intimacy; an intent to learn. When I say this, what do I mean by an intent to learn? It's a willingness to be open and vulnerable; to feel our feelings directly rather than through a filter of our protections and then we will discover why each of us is feeling and behaving as we do. We begin an exploration into the discovery of finding the answers to such questions as:

* What important reasons does my spouse have for behaving that way.
* What part do I play in this problem?
* How's is my spouse's behavior affecting me?
* Why does it affect me that way? What personal issues does it stir up?
* Why is it so important to get my way , or to be right?
* What fears, values, expectations and beliefs lie behind my feeling threatened or irritated?
* How does my anger, irritation or indifference affect my spouse?
* How does my spouse respond?
* What are the consequences?

Searching questions such as these may succeed in breaking through deeply entrenched battle lines. Seeing conflict as an opportunity rather than as a calamity puts it in a new light. You may think it sounds ridiculous (maybe impossible) to face emotional pain willingly. But it does make sense. Our protection against physical pain is a physiological response (fight or flight syndrome), but protecting against emotional pain is a pattern learned in childhood, once necessary for a child's survival, but no longer productive for adults. Most of us still react to conflict in our childhood patterns. Being open in a conflict is the only way we can learn what the conflict has to teach us and unlearn out self-limiting protections.
When we stop blaming our spouse, we assume responsibility for our own lives. We are willing to be vulnerable and to risk feeling and expressing pain. When our spouse joins us in the task of learning, we begin to understand ourselves and our spouse more deeply. Understanding each other naturally gives us deeper feelings for each other.

Together we will create Intimate Love and an Evolving Relationship.