Journey of the Heart ~♥~

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” (John 14:1-4)

How comforting it is to know that Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us. A place where we will reside with the Father and be reunited with our loved ones. In our Father's house there is shelter from the storms. In our Father's house there is great comfort and rest as He embraces us with His Holy Spirit.

Here are the Directions to My Father's House...

If you are headed down Sin Alley, you will soon find it is a dead-end road and that at it's end is a place called "Destruction".

To avoid this place you should:Quickly make a U-Turn and head towards Repentance Road.(You will have to make a Right Turn to reach this destination.)

Watch out for the Potholes of Pride that might deter you or Signs of Independence that might lead you to go the wrong way.

Once you are on Repentance Road, keep going until you reach Believer's Blvd.

Then, Keep Going Straight, until you come to Gospel Lane, make another Right turn and go through the Green Light, which is Jesus Christ.

You are now on Grace Blvd which turns into Forgiveness Lane.

Next, turn onto the Bridge of Faith, which at times may be over some troubled waters, but if you Keep Going Straight you can make another Right turn onto Prayer Place Parkway and once there, you will find help anytime of the day or night.

Then, another Right turn will take you to Words of Life Place which is on Scripture Street. This is a good place to find answers to any questions you may have about life for The Helper lives here and will guide you to all truth.

Remember, as you go on your way,yield Not to the traffic on Temptation Ave and Pass up Envy Drive, Hate Blvd and Grudge Lane.

Also, pass Hypocrisy Street, Gossiping Avenue, Lying Lane and Backbiting Blvd. You will also do well to avoid Worry Road, Doubt Street, Pride Place and Pity Path. For these are all Detours that will lead you back to Sin Alley or Depression Dump.

There may be times that you have to go down Long-suffering Lane, Persecution Blvd., or Trials and Tribulations Ave. But that's all right, because VICTORY Street is straight ahead!

So, Keep Going Straight for You are on the King's Highway and Heaven-bound!

If you follow these directions you will someday reach My Father's House where a special place has been prepared just for you to dwell in for eternity!

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6)

We all would like to think we will be remembered after we are gone. That our friends and family will keep our memories alive. That we will me missed. I remember crying at my father's funeral over the loss of a father, over the traumatic experience of seeing him completely burned, but mostly because I never knew him. He started traveling around the world installing turbines the year I was born. I didn't grieve the loss of my father. I grieved the loss of never having one.

Years later I learned that, even though I could barely remember him through personal experiences, I could remember him through other people's experiences. I believe there is something important about remembering...you keep people alive in your mind and heart. The Bible gives us this same opportunity. Even though we didn't walk with Jesus, we can remember him through the experiences of the disciples. Jesus told the disciples "Remember Me!" as they shared their last supper.

"Remember Me!" Jesus emphasized that twice during the last supper, which we repeat when we share in Holy Communion. Holy Communion is about remembering Him and Him alone. It is about remembering His love for you and His victory over sin. It seems we have made it into something else...something ritualistic and self center...remember "me"...am "I" worthy. No one is worthy. It is through Jesus' broken body and shed blood that God forgets my sins... but not me. God remembers me!

Whether you had a relationship with your earthly father or not, we have a Heavenly Father who will never leave you nor forsake you... in your sorrow and in your pain...He will remember you!

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me." Isaiah 49:15-16

My Father was born in Cozad, Dawson Co., NE. He was a Renaissance man. He learned carpentry from his father and built our family home including the kitchen cabinets. He played trombone in his high school band, then played in a swing band as an adult. He also played the saxophone, violin, and organ. He was so proud of his organ just like the one on Lawrence Welk. He taught himself whatever interested him. He built and flew his own airplane. When televisions became prevalent he learned how to repair them and started a small repair business. He also taught himself how to repair watches and anything mechanical.

He was a mechanic and always wanted to take everything apart and put it back together. During World War II he wasn't required to serve since he had loss the hearing in his left ear as a child. His sister was living at home during the war. While her husband was in the service she worked in their parent's grocery store. It was necessary to have a car because she was pregnant and needed transportation to the doctor. My Father took the car apart and put it back together just to see if he could do it. His sister was apprehensive about this since she was not so confident in his abilities. The car was put back together and ran wonderfully except she was again distraught when he would use up her gas rationing.
My Father worked at the city power plant. While he was there the company who installed a new generator, was so impressed by his work they offered him a job. In 1955 he went to work as an erectional engineer installing turbine generators around the world. With all his frequent travels we rarely saw him. During one of his infrequent visits home he was at the city power plant trying to help them get more power when an accident occurred, completely burning his entire body. I was still home at this time and went with my Mother to the emergency room. I was the only child to see this horrendous sight. He was taken to a burn unit then to dialyzes. He died 3 days later from kidney failure. He was only 45.

All I can remember is that he spent hours playing the organ and we always had to watch Lawrence Welk when he was home. I remember him teaching me how to use a slide ruler. Mathematics seemed to be the only thing we had in common. My sister's have a lot of memories. It is difficult to believe we grew up in the same house, since our experiences where so completely different.

"Bah! Humbug!" is the famous line quoted by Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol declaring Christmas to be a fraud. Scrooge despised Christmas because of his cold heart and greed, but many people feel the disappointment and unmet expectations that Christmas brings.

For them Christmas was "humbug"...something designed to deceive and mislead. The problem is Christmas has been turned into a cornucopia of religious and secular traditions with a sprinkling of fairy dust on top. It has been turned into something designed to deceive and mislead.

It has been turned into something "magical"... where all your dreams may come true. In reality all your dreams rarely come true. This combination of fantasy and marketing leaves many disappointed when confronted with the reality of their personal experience. Some remember the magic of childhood, when the twinkling of lights took them to "Never Never Land," when the happiness from a new toy made life complete, and long to return.

That is not the message of Jesus, whose birth we are celebrating. His message is love. Not "magical" love, but love coming from a heart transformed by the cross. Nowhere in the Bible does Jesus say this is the day of my birth, let us rejoice and remember it. What Jesus does say in I Corinthians 11:24-25 is...

“...This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”25. In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

So, this Christmas season, let's remember the real message of Jesus and long for HIS return.

Emma took care of the class frog for the Christmas break. Coreyn loved it!

Just days before Christmas seems like a strange time to be writing about sorrow, but for many, Christmas is a time of great sorrow. It is a very difficult season for people dealing with a loss; whether from a death of a loved one, stressed relationships, financial difficulties, or poor health. It magnifies your loss when you see the world celebrating and frolicking... spreading good cheer and singing "Joy to the World"... because you don't feel that same sense of happiness.

We all have known the pain of sorrow. Whether from a loss or a deep rooted melancholy, the pain is just as real. It doesn't make your pain any less because someone else has a perceived greater loss. Nor does the fact that you are a Christian remove the pain. In Romans Paul refers to his own sorrow over the unfaithfulness of Israel “My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart" (Romans 9:1).

I also, have known my share of life's sorrows. My father died from organ failure after having his body completely burned in a power plant accident when I was young. I will never forget the sound of the explosion or the shaking of the ground. Being the youngest, I was the only one home during this traumatic event. I will never forget walking into the emergency room and seeing that horrendous sight. Our family was never the same afterward.

I was recently going through old Christmas photos and realized we stopped celebrating Christmas in our home after my father died. Sometimes we would go to one of my sister's house, sometimes I would go with a friend, but it was never the same after his death. Years later, I was the one who took care of my mother in my home as she was dying of cancer. I was also taking care of three small children, many visiting relatives, and dealing with chronic illness. It took me months to have time to grieve her loss, since I was the one responsible for taking care of everything.

Again years later, after the strain of living with a chronic illness made me barely functional. My husband walked out stating "you are going to end up in a wheelchair and I don't want to take care of you." I was left without home, finances, or insurance and no way to provide them, but God was faithful. Shortly after he left, my friends took me to a Joyce Meyer conference. In the middle of her message God spoke to her to call forward those whose husbands had just left them and tell them that "God will provide for them." Not only did she pray for me, but my friends said I was the only one she blew her anointing on. God has provided and given me hope.

Being a Christian in the midst of sorrow doesn't take away the pain, but it does give us hope. Hope that we will be reunited with our loved ones. Hope “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). Hope in the joy of our salvation. "We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

"Remember the word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life" (Psalm 119:49-50). I have learned that through Christ there is comfort in my afflictions... that God's word gives me life... that the depth of my sorrow is the level of the joy that God will fill the void. True joy doesn't mean happy which is based upon what it happening in our life. True joy comes from the Holy Spirit. True joy comes from knowing our name is written in the lambs book of life. That our sins are forgiven and that we are loved by a heavenly father who loved us so much he sacrificed his only son.

So, this Christmas season, as we celebrate the birth of God's son, Jesus, the Christ. I pray that your hearts will be filled with joy...the true joy of Christmas.

Once my sorrow was for the pain
Of all I stood to lose and yet my sin remained.
This sorrow, born of my pain,
Kept my heart from turning back to Him again.

Now my sorrow is for the sin
That gives offense to God and stains my soul within.
This sorrow of godly pain
Hopes I never give offense to Him again.

Sorrow for my sin brings my soul such pain.
Yet this pain I know
can lead my soul
back to Him again.

Godly sorrow became the start
Of the path that led to a mighty change of heart.
This sorrow out of love
Helps me find the way back to His home above.

Sorrow for my sin
brings my soul such pain.
Yet this pain I know
can lead my soul back to Him again.

"We are about to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior... and don't you know that while He was born, God and all of heaven were celebrating... but there was also a great burden that night too. The Cross... the most terrible thing to endure... but the very purpose of His coming... the eternal focus even before His coming that weighed upon God's heart. Mmmm... I think we can afford both expressions this Christmas and bless our Father!" Preston Pittman.

There is a side of love that must be shown.
The side that leaves with us a silent moan.

We should not hide this love so deep.
The side I mean that makes us weep.

For what is love so sweet and nice.
That we could give without sacrifice.

Of course the love that's from the heart,
is meant for joy right from the start.

But woven deep within it's passion,
a blood was poured into it's fashion.

This side of love we give is not for loss...
It's rooted in and from the cross.

By: Preston Pittman "This Side Of Love"

Our sorrow can never compare to the pain of the cross or the sorrow God feels over lost souls. Yes, we can express both the joy and the sorrow, but through our sorrow we can touch the heart of God. It is a communion of love, of Him reaching down and touching our pain and our reaching up with a broken and contrite heart.

I have tried to understand the pain that God must feel over His lost children. There have been times when I have felt God’s sorrow. Those are the times when sorrow can just grab a hold of you and transform you. Godly sorrow is a powerful manifestation of the presence of God that touches hearts and draws them into a glimpse of the pain sin brings to the heart of God.

"Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done..." 2 Corinthians 7:10-11

There are so many wounded warriors in the body of Christ. We walk around bleeding, limping, and sometimes even taken out. The enemy knows just where you are vulnerable and the weapons to take you out. Sometimes he doesn't even have to keep attacking, just get you weak enough to self destruct. Then you react to every negative and even positive word. I had a difficult time with Preston's comments on my last post. My first thought was "who you talking about." Then I thought how kind, he is just being nice, but I know Preston is not a liar. The truth is, it has been said to me before. The truth is, I am not feeling much like a warrior these days nor taken to many spiritual depths. The truth is, I am a wounded warrior.

"I know, often, our conversations are "all over the map"... hehe, but I never forget where we went. The things you share at times amaze me for the spiritual depths they take me. Even, Envious at times, because The Spirit had not given to "me" such depth... of which I repented of course... but burdened too, that the enemy was able to bind your amazing expressiveness from the body (Church). Yet, in my prayers for my very good friend, there was ALWAYS a confidence... a peace, which surpasses all understanding. And so, I was thankful for what I had to wait to see. And here it is... Friends, get ready to be blessed by our Father, through this warrior... my friend... Brenda." Preston Pittman

The truth is, Preston sees what God sees in me, not what the enemy is saying, not what my flesh is saying. I became a wounded warrior because I was listening to the wrong source. The enemy tried to make me feel disqualified because of everything wrong with me. My flesh tried to disqualify me because I didn't have the strength to endure or mental ability to converse. To disqualify means "to deprive of a power, right, or privilege" Webster. By listening to the enemy and my flesh I was deprived of power, right, and privilege. The truth is, I am only qualified in Christ. It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit I am able to do anything.

I realized persevering wasn't just about pushing through and writing in pain. I tried that...had a list of things I wanted to cover...had notes of many things I had already taught. I snuggled up with my laptop in bed. Propped up my arms on pillows...had hot packs on my neck, shoulders, and back. Got my Bible, notes, and Kleenexes on the other side of the bed. Nothing but words and goobledegook. If it didn't speak to me it wasn't going to speak to anyone else. So I learned, Perseverance was waiting on The Lord. Waiting on what He wanted me to share. So, dear friends, this morning it was about wounded warriors.

^"9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, ¹⁰ so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. ¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Colossians 1:9-14

Preston has started a Bible Study covering Colossians on our HeartCry blog. There is also a page on Facebook: Colossians.

Do you believe that anything less than perfect is unacceptable? Are you compulsively working toward impossible goals. Is your self worth valued on your accomplishments or those of your children's and spouse? Maybe you are a closeted perfectionist...hidden behind procrastination and self deprecation. Do you suffer from analysis paralysis.

Then my friend..."you might be a Perfectionist."

I have known I was a perfection...liked everything in symmetry...ok...maybe a little OCD. I thought of it as a good thing. I didn't realize the bondage it was keeping me in by not writing because I couldn't express myself "perfectly." Granted I had a valid excuse of being in a lot of pain, hands and arms vibrating with spasms, and a brain so foggy it is like driving in a constant storm. It would take me hours to unravel goobledegook.

I told myself it didn't matter. What did I really have to say anyway. Bottom line it is not about what I have to say...it is about what God has to say and Christ in me. There have been so many lessons the Holy Spirit has put on my heart. I would discuss a few with Preston and think..."I will put that down when I feel better." Well...feel better never came...feel better may never come. Maybe that is the greater lesson. The lesson of perseverance in adversity. I never understood that people could be blessed even with a lesson that is less than perfect.

There has been a lot of talk about the new Michael Jackson album from a compilation of songs he had worked on before his death. Some people say it shouldn't have been made public because it wasn't up to Michael's perfectionist standards. Now, I was never a Michael Jackson fan, but I have heard some of the new releases and they sound pretty good to me. I am sure his fans will enjoy them. I am sure they are not perfect, but sometimes things can be more "perfect" in their imperfections.

God has not called us to perfectionism. He alone is perfect. I believe we should pursue excellence...to the best of our abilities. There was one in the Bible who was a "perfectionist." His name was Lucifer. He saw imperfect man as unacceptable. He worked toward the impossible goal of being God. His self worth was based on his accomplishments. This is what God did to him...

"Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings" Ezekiel 28:17.

So, lest I continue on in more perfectionism...I will post this with all its imperfection.