What are the Desires of your Heart?

I wasn't sure what I was going to title this post. I thought of a few titles:

"Called to be a Mom"

"Seasons of Life"

"Your Identity in Christ"

I guess all these titles sum up what is on my heart today and has been for quite a few years. The Lord has brought it more into perspective the past few months. I've been meditating on a few scriptures lately.

One is Romans 12:1-2

¹ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Another is Psalm 37:4

⁴ Delight yourself also in the LORD,

And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

How do these scriptures speak to me? First, to become that living sacrifice is to empty yourself of all desires that you may have or think you have that you might think are from the Lord. I'm not saying that desires you have had since youth are not from the Lord but sometimes they are not who God has called you to be. We may think it is, but how are we going to be certain? Thus, this is where the empting out of all our desires comes into play. Yes, ALL desires!!

The second scripture speaks loudly to my heart and spirit. I never have seen this scripture as such. I have always believed that when we delight in the Lord He will give us our desires we already have. Desires could be a large family, to stay at home mom, to homeschool, to work, to pursue a certain job or profession, to marry a certain young man, or to even marry at all. These are to just name a few. I know these are a few of desires that are usually in a heart of a woman of God.

The way God has revealed this scripture ties into the way I view Romans 12: When we empty ourselves to become a living sacrifice for the Lord and willing to give our whole being unto Him for His purpose, we then are delighting in the Lord. We are allowing Him permission to fill us up with His desires, not our own!! He now has an empty vessel to fill; To make us into whom He wants us to become. In this place we find our identity in Christ. By allowing this we then are not Christians who look the same, act the same, and dress the same. We are not following a sect of people, a doctrine, a belief, etc.... but we are following the Lord for who He wants us to become in this life.

I find such freedom in this truth. This also reminds me of the ever so popular scripture regarding our children...

Proverbs 22:6

⁶ Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.

I teach this to my children. What attracted me to homeschooling was the thought of "training" my children in the purpose that God had for them. Training them up in the callings and giftings of the Lord. As my children are getting older and becoming more aware of their relationship with the Lord, I daily encourage them to seek the Lord so He can tell them what He has created them to become. By seeking Him and delighting in the Lord, He will fill their hearts with desires. I find such joy to know that maybe God might call some of my children not to marry and devote their whole life to missions or the works of God (even though my mother's heart would say "I want grandchildren!" Yes, maybe one of them might be a daughter or son who has been given a delight to stay single and not marry, but give them a heart and life completely to the Lord. A daughter's work might not be in the home, but thousands of miles away in a remote village in Africa caring for orphans or teaching high school students the word of God. Yes, this brings me great delight!! You know why? Because I know they would be doing the Lord's perfect will. This is my desire for my husband and I, and for all our children.

When we come to the Lord, we naturally come with our agendas (desires) already. Some of those desires may be God given and will become stronger as we delight in Him. Then there are those desires that may soon be something of the past. These same desires will supernaturally disappear without us even realizing it. These can then be seen as "seasons of life" And yes, there are times when God calls us to do something and that season comes to an end. It happens to many of us in life.

It excites me to become aware of the fact that God may have new desires for us and those longings we thought we had might not be God's purpose for our lives. This is another way to be led by the Spirit of God. He leads us by giving us desires, and giving us peace in the midst of those desires.

There are many Christians who jump from job to job; activity to activity; town to town and not understanding where they belong or where God is calling them to be or who He wants them to be. I know because I was one of these Christians. Yes, I "sought" the Lord but never emptied myself completely to allow God and His will to take shape and mold me. I guess I can say I was led by doctrines, movements and what have you, thinking that maybe if I did this or didn't do that I was doing what God wanted me to do. And yes, there were also those seasons of life....

In some seasons I was led by the flesh and not by the Spirit of the Lord. I was following man or someone else's "word of the Lord" and not really seeking God for His ways. Yes, there are many out there who are following a "way of life" or a doctrine, and maybe thinking that is the "way" to the Lord or that is what God wants them to do. Maybe it might make them look more "godly" in the way they act, look, dress, way they worship, how they educate their children, how many kids they have or should have, I can go on....but you get what I'm saying.

My heart is not to put anyone down for what God has called them to do. I am just passionate for mothers, teens, and all families to empty themselves out of what they see around them (yes, even in the Church or christian circles/community) and delight in the Lord and allow His perfect will to take shape. We are not all called to be the same in the Kingdom of God and this is what the world needs to see. That God has a perfect will for each of our lives!!

Lastly, when we are doing God's perfect will there is a peace, joy, love, our needs and wants our supplied, health (no stresses or frustrations in His will), and all good things. And do you know what life Eternal is (John 17:3).....To KNOW the Father, and the Son who He sent!! To know Him!! When we know Him, we then walk in the fullness of His will for our lives.

I will end it here because I am ever so passionate in finding God's perfect will and could keep typing about this important subject! I encourage you to do the same--Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart!! He will not disappoint you!!

Blessings,

Chris

PS: Sorry about the typos and grammar errors. I just read this again and found more....oh well. Not going to fix them. :) I know you still love me. :)

Discouragement vs. Blessing

I know I am not the only one in life who feels discouraged at least once per week. Here is what goes through my mind during those times......

1. I feel like my house is always a WRECK

2. Laundry never is caught up. There is always some sort of growing pile in my laundry room.

3. I have no time to do "projects"

4. Am I doing enough for the kids schooling?

5. I hardly play with the little ones.

6. Why do I get so distracted?

7. When do I get MY time!!!???

Ok, not to bum you out or myself, let me list those things that are positive....on the days I am feeling good and my reality of my life :)

1. I love my quiet time with the Lord

2. I love talking to my kids about the Lord and life.

3. I love laughing and hanging with my older kids.

4. I am so blessed to have such beautiful, wonderful, caring, loving, children.

5. My kids are healthy!!

6. My husband loves me so much and never once complains that the laundry is not done or serving sandwiches for dinner.

7. I have such great friends.

8. I have a great church.

9. I am growing in the Lord with leaps and bounds. I 'FEEL' it.

10. With homeschooling I get to mold the children and train them up in their gift and callings.

I could go on!! But I'll stop right here.

I guess, when I am feeling bummed a bit, I need to list those good things in life.

On a side note:

My good friend has been coming over and helping me organize. It is so wonderful to have her come and bless me like this. We've been working in my kitchen. She spends a couple of hours with me. We chat and organize. HOW FUN IS THAT!!??

Here are some of my cabinets we tackled last week. I love opening up my cabinets and actually finding my salt, chili powder, and other spices. So now I don't have my meds and oregano right next to each other. ha ha ha!! Yeah, it was bad. I am a bit ashamed. :( These are the areas I would just ignore and tell myself "I'll get to it when I have some time to spare."

I don't have any before pictures just after. I know my cabinets look somewhat bare, I have to shop this week. These cabinets are only for those foods I need for the week. I have a large shelf where I store stockpile canned goods and other foods. Actually this shelf is bare also. Yep, when the budget is tight you can't stockpile much. :(

(Top shelf-pasta noodles, middle-pasta sauce, rice, drink mixes; lower-my baby goods)

(Top shelf- extra goods; middle-canned goods; lower-peanut butter, daily lunch stuff)

(Top shelf-Misc and some stock pile; middle-beans, packet spices; lower-non daily spices)

(Top shelf my meds, middle -my baking ingredients, lower- my daily spices)

Just got a call from my friend and she says she is going to look for more storage containers for me. Isn't she such a blessing. Thank You Lord for awesome friends!!!

Have a wonderful week!! Love you guys :)

Chris