“Reflecting His Heart Anew”
Hello!!
Welcome to “Reflecting His Heart Anew”, a blogspace for Heartlife4God. Thanks for coming along!
In the context of Reflecting God’s heart, we will discover in God’s Word what reflecting His heart is, and how it can impact and influence our hearts and lives every day. This is important because it is the spark that will help us know and see, through our daily experience, that our faith is real and can be trusted!
Sadly, it seems that many Believers in Christ do not understand who they are in Christ.
Many have asked God for the forgiveness of Sin that He graciously offers. They may have been baptized into Believer’s Baptism, but what happens next, and what does it all mean? That is a great, and very natural question. Many of those topics will be coming up in this blog. Like…
- The Personality and Character of God.
- Why is the Bible important to know and understand?
- Knowing Him, Knowing You
- We are HIS, adopted by God.
- God is Holy, are we? What does Holiness look like?
- Our Heart Matters because our Motives Matter.
- God’s Heart reflected through our Heart/Life.
- Jesus through my genes, reflecting His Character
….and MORE!
So, as we begin, I want to let you know a bit about my faith background.
My family was never that consistent about church attendance. As a child though, I seemed to have an indirect interest in God. As young kids we went at times to the VBS that was held every year at the new church down the street. The big event was the VBS Kids Bike parade held on the last day that went right down the main street in front of our house. We all dressed up our bikes with colored streamers and playing cards clothes-pinned to the wheels to make a motor sound! The best part came at the end of the street where there were three ice cream trucks that had a popsicle for every kid in the parade. Good Times!
Over the next few years there were times where God was seeding my young life for Him. There were backyard bible clubs and Kids choir practices with neighborhood churches, even though we didn’t attend anywhere consistently. We were Easter/Christmas folks like many other families we knew. As I look back now, it looked like God was already seeding and preparing me for His purposes.
That all began to change near the end of elementary school. My Dad, who was a milkman back in the day, met a guy who was a minister on his milk route. He was starting a new church near where we lived. He invited us to come, so we did that next Sunday.
That guy was Elmer Jenkins, an Oregon farm boy who God got ahold of and directed him to plant churches for Christ in San Diego CA, where I was growing up. Elmer was such a humble servant who never met a stranger. He was so much fun to be around, yet he wanted everyone to know Jesus. Over my teen years God used Elmer to seed me for His ministry. My mind and heart were tender fields for God to seed His Word and His music through my heart.
(As a quick side note, seeding and fertilization takes time. Not all the seeds come up at the same time, they grow naturally in their process; that is His plan. Fruit is born through strong and healthy patterns of life. That is His purpose, and also our purpose. To be “fruitful and multiply” for His honor and glory.)
Over the years, music and ministry have been the tools God has used in my life to draw those around me to Him. He has blest me beyond measure in those areas for His Glory. But now in recent years, God has graciously nudged us to a different direction. We are now “all in” to help others know Jesus intimately. Whether they are outside of God, or residents of a church house, we ALL need Jesus. Many are familiar with the phrase, “You must be Born Again” spoken by Jesus to Nicodemus in John 3. But have you been reborn? It’s an important question for all of us to consider. It is the only way our hearts will desire to reflect His ways in/through our lives every day. Looking forward to our next time together…