Heart Issues

 I would like to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem. That's why I write this blog. I have been a Christian for many many years with valleys and mountain tops.  Christians do have a message they want to impart to those around us. The religious people in the days when Jesus walked this earth are not that much different than Christians of today. They wanted to win, they wanted Jesus to be on their side. Over and over again Jesus tried to teach them and point to a time when he would not be here on earth with them. They really didn't understand until after the resurrection. When the followers of Jesus when to the tomb early on that Sunday morning and the tomb was empty it started to make sense. But they were still questioning it all. Jesus met with some of his followers walking and talking about the things they had seen and as he was walking with he explained the writings of the early prophets to them.  Then just like that he left them. Later he met with them in an upper room. They were afraid, they had followed him expecting Jesus to win against the Roman empire. And then he was crucified and then his grave was empty. Everybody wants to be on the winning team. Jesus told them many times they didn't understand. I feel like we are so much the same today. God gave us a good president and even he talked about winning over and over again. It appears it did not happen, God is still on his throne and nothing happens that he does not at least allow. God is not here in our hearts to win political battles. He wants to change us into the image of his son. But we still want to win just like the early Christians. But over the centuries there have been many that got it. Jesus came to be a ransom for many. Jesus wants to win the battle raging in our hearts. Jesus wants to be the king in our lives in our hearts. He wants to change us from the sinful creatures we are into his image. Be imitators of God, He knocks on our hearts' door and we need to open. He will begin a transformation when we ask him in. The teachings that we read of so many of his prophets and teachers are designed to help us in this transformation.  There is no area of life that God does not want to affect. Our raising of Children, our job performance even in secular jobs.  In our relationships in our families and on the job, our neighborhoods.  Our relationship with him. I look back and I see so many struggles. I once thought I was a good parent as I have learned more and realized some of my motivations were wrong, I know that I really wasn't that good of a parent. There were so many areas of life I held back not really trusting God to direct my life. I was messed up and probably still am in many ways. But I realize the one who rose from the dead on that Easter morning so many centuries ago still wants to change lives including mine. It is where I don't look like Jesus that I fail, and am sometimes a stumbling block because of my imperfections. I am learning. Once I thought I was a good parent and now realize I did poorly. Once I thought God doesn't care if I buy a Ford or a Chevy, I now realize he wants to be active in every part of our lives. I once thought that seeking God for a spouse is like asking a parent for marriage advice when I saw them have a marriage I didn't want to copy. After a few failures, I finally prayed God if you want me to be by myself help me to be happy with being single. The focus of my prayer also changes from wanting a spouse that was right for me to want to change to be right for someone else. Change me, fix me. It has been a long journey with a lot of bumps and holes in the road I traveled. But I learned that Jesus cares about me even when I mess up. He wants to change my heart. Everything seems to amount to a heart issue when you get to the bottom of it.  Jesus wants our hearts. Financial issues are heart issues. Is God able to supply all my needs? Marriage issues are heart issues, am I treating this spouse as an image-bearer of God?  Relationships with others even people that we disagree with sometimes expose heart issues. Our political problems also expose heart issues. We want to win instead of trust in a sovereign God. God's people in the old testament days had good kings and bad kings as God allowed. God wanted their trust to be in him. It is still the same. We see the corruption in our political system, they point to heart issues. God is still on his throne and still wanting his image-bearers to turn to him. Financial errors that I made point to heart issues. God still wants our hearts fully submitted to him. I think of the Joesph with the coat of many colors in the Bible story. He didn't understand it all when he went into slavery and prison but he trusted God and late in life when he met his brothers again that had sold him into slavery, Joseph said, you meant it for evil but God meant it for good. He had the opportunity for revenge but realized he was just a tool in the hands of God to save many. He trusted God through evil and good times. Moses took a different route and fled for his life. But in the end, God used him also to bring God's people back to the promised land. Everybody's story is different there are no two alike but God has a purpose for each of us. But he needs our hearts to fulfill his will for our lives. It is a journey that starts with a single step of submitting your heart to God and he will change you. It will take a lifetime but the start of the journey starts with a single step, turning towards God instead of away. God loves each of us, those that claim him already and those that rebel. He really wants our hearts. I didn't learn everything about following God when I took the first step, but then I took another step and another, and here I am today thankful for God's mercy and Grace.  God bless, LVZ.