He Heals the Brokenhearted

I broke my favorite glass a few days ago. It shattered practically in my face, as I had it sitting on the counter in front of me. I reached for something in the cabinet and a small glass jar fell out and right onto that favorite drinking glass. It was a mess, but I swept up and cleaned the counter of all the glass and moved on. At least I thought it was all cleaned up.

My foot started hurting the next day. I just figured the new pair of shoes I was wearing caused the problem. I changed shoes and it still hurt. Finally yesterday morning I took a much closer look at my foot. I saw a small dark circle. I rubbed the circle and could feel something there. I got out my flashlight, took off my glasses and looked closely. I saw dried blood and pressed in that area. Fresh blood showed on my foot as I squeezed the painful area. To my surprise a large piece of glass came out! Once I rid myself of the pain, totally extracting the source of it, my foot no longer hurts.

There are times when our favorite thing is shattered. It may be a friendship, a relationship, a ministry, a job or…. We hurt and wish it wasn’t so. We try to tidy up the mess and move on. The only problem with it is sometimes there is residual pain. We try to ignore it, walk over it, do other things but the pain lingers. We cleaned this mess up, we argue with ourselves. Yet the pain is still there. Everywhere we go we feel it. The pain will remain until we take the time to examine the point of the pain itself. That takes time, slowing down, turning off the distractions. We may have to let someone look at it for us if it is in a difficult place.

We have to let God look at our pain. He will examine it and through prayer and the Word we will be rid of the source of pain completely. Without His touch it will continue to fester and affect every other area of our lives. It may have looked like a minor thing but without the Lord’s intervention we are destined to remain in agony. We will hobble around in our life and never get relief. But when God touches our soreness, our pain, our agony of spirit mind or body, we are truly healed. We are healed so well that we can let new blessings come into our lives. We won’t be so worried about what might get shattered for we are intimately acquainted with the Healer Himself.

Oh beloved, don’t you think it’s time to let God have a look? Jesus went to the cross so that you wouldn’t have to carry the shards of hurts around with you. He doesn’t want you crippled or hindered in any way. It’s only when you let Him see the hurt, remove the pain and cleanse the wound that you can walk freely another day. Give it all to Him. He already knows and He’s waiting for you to let go. He understands the feelings you have about it all. He cares that you have been injured. But He wants you to be delivered of the hindrances to walking free. The momentary pressure of God’s work is worth the release of the pain. The closer you let God into the pain the more free you will be.

God loves you and He’s for you and He is the only Healer who can make things better and change the pain into His glory. Rejoice in His Truth as you live in the light of His healing touch.

Psalm 107:20 He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions.

Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.

Psalm 57:2 I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes all things for me.

I Peter 5:7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

God Has a New Attitude Waiting for You

We have a play room in our house for grandkids. To tell you the truth they rarely play in there, but they do go upstairs to get toys out of the playroom to bring down to the living room! Often great fights start because inevitably two children want the same toy. One day Stella was upstairs playing by herself when we heard her begin wailing. I thought for sure she’d dropped the toy box lid on herself or some other catastrophe. We ran upstairs to find her crying inconsolably in the middle of the floor. A toy was there beside her. There was no sign of physical distress so we asked her what the problem was. It was simple. The toy would not do what she wanted it to do! She was actually furious not hurt. We got her mind off the situation she was in and on something else and everything was fine. A change of attitude came when her heart changed as her focus changed.

It’s hard to admit but there are times when we are the same as Stella. We’re having a good time, things are going great and our life is all planned out. We’re paying our bills, loving our family, enjoying our jobs, and may even be ministering for the Lord. A nice neat tidy play area we’ve created. It’s all good. But then something changes. There’s a blip in the system and we find ourselves in a bit of a situation. Something has gone wrong and we’re furious. We become frustrated, anxious and demanding. We want it all to work our way. We want life to “do what we want it to do”. What we’re really saying is where is God? How did He let this happen? We become angry and cry and throw a spiritual tantrum because God isn’t doing what we want Him to do. We lay in the floor and we wail and gnash our teeth at our entire situation. We may even say, “Oh God!” But we’re not really praying we’re just mad. Mad at the situation, made that our life is upset and maybe even made that God would do this to us. Life quits working and if we don’t get a handle on our emotions we’ll eventually blame God for the mess.

But God steps onto the scene of our ruined lives and scoops us up. Suddenly our perspective changes. We’re no longer in the floor having our pity party. We’re in the Father’s arms. We begin to fellowship with Him just as the Psalmist did: by sharing our hurts, our pain, our problem , our anguish. He listens and lets us spill it all out before Him. Then He speaks to our hearts and our attitude softens. We forget the brokenness of our life as we rehearse the Truth that our Father speaks into our life. “In this world you will have tribulation, but rejoice I have overcome the world”. “All things work together for your good”. “Peace I give you…” “Surely goodness and mercy will follow you…” On and on God speaks. On and on Jesus provides. On and on the Holy Spirit woos. Finally we relax in the midst of the situation and our heart is softened and our focus is no longer on our problem, but on our Savior.

Oh beloved, are things not going how you wanted them to go? Was it all just right and yet now it’s not working? Have you found yourself in the middle of the floor having a pity party and wanting to blame God for all the mess you are surrounded by? It’s time to crawl up in your Abba Father’s lap and let Him speak His truth over your life. Look full in His wonderful face as the hymnist wrote, and the things of earth will go strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. God loves you and yet things will go wrong. Your only recourse is to seek the Father’s face and let Him change your attitude. Instead of berating the situation God will begin to teach you the eternal perspective of what you are going through. His promises remain and His purpose for you is steady.

Ultimately, even if something is permanently broken, you can be assured that your life doesn’t have to be thrown out. Your plans don’t have to be discarded. Rather God wants to change you. His ultimate goal is to make you like Him and give you a stronger heart for the days ahead. Jesus is your example and faith is your window of opportunity to let God pick you up and change your heart.

Stella’s toy was left in the floor not to be picked up and get frustrated over again. God says give me the thing that you can’t get to do what you want anymore and I will turn it into an opportunity for your good and My glory. I love you and I am for you and that’s all that matters as you grow in grace and the knowledge of My Son, your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:28 We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose. Amplified

Psalm 73:21-24 When my heart was embittered and I was pierced within, then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You. Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand. With Your counsel You will guide me, and afterward receive me to glory.

2 Corinthians 3:18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image.

Psalm 27:8 When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.”

2 Corinthians 4:17 For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! NLT

Psalm 34:5 Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. NLT

Broken Things in the Hand of a Restoring God

I love taking items that other people want to throw away and making them into something useful. One of the things that I saw at a friend’s house several years ago was a counter top made from broken china. I looked online recently for something like that and found some hanging wall art made the same way. They had various shapes but the one I liked the best was a heart. In the middle of that heart made of broken china was the word joy made of glass beads.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. There are times when we feel utterly broken. There’s nothing that makes us feel useful or worthy. We’re done. And we’re undone.  Whether it’s at the hands of another or our own hands, brokenness comes from shattered dreams or dropped promises. Things happen and there’s a chip here and a chip there.  If we’re not careful those chips will add up and we’ll find ourselves ready for the trash heap. Totally broken and having no sense of worth. 

Trash to treasure. Nothing to something. Broken to beautiful. Worthless to worthwhile.

God speaks to my heart.  That’s what I do. I take what others consider trash, nothing, broken and worthless to redeem and make it all new. I repair the broken places of the heart and put a center of joy right in the middle. You are my treasured possession. It doesn’t matter to me who caused the brokenness – others or you. What matters to me is that I love you. And because I love you I see value in what others consider junk. I see significance in what you see as worthless. You are beautiful, even with the cracked edges and the jagged places of pain. I am for you, so I can even use those broken places in your life to make you more beautiful than ever.  You are mine and my prized possession. I will never cast you away and I will always treasure you. I will take what has happened and heal you for My use in the Kingdom of God. I sent My Son to pay for the repairs and the renewal, so you can trust My hand to reshape and remold and repair and redeem whatever happens.

Oh beloved!  Rejoice. Broken things in the hand of a restoring God become a thing of beauty. Your trash becomes God’s display of grace and mercy. You may believe you are a throw away but God says keep you. Every nuance of your life is an opportunity for God to heal you and set you on display for the world to see that you are valuable and a magnificent show of His glory! God knows your brokenness. He knows the pain and the anguish of it all. But He reminds you forever that He is able to make all grace abound to you. If you will give Him your broken things He will change it all into beauty as only He can. Trust Him and watch your life become a witness to all that God can do.

Man may break but God will remake.  You may be broken but God will restore you. And because He loves you and He’s for you He will make the new thing better than the former thing. He’ll make you better because His loving touch changes your heart as His touch always makes all things new for He fills all the empty spaces up with His hope and His heart.

2 Chronicles 20:12 We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.  AMP

Psalm 31:14-15 But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord, I say, “You are my God.”  My times are in Your hand…

Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.

Isaiah 54:5 For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the Lord of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth.

Psalm 34:22 The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.

Deuteronomy 7: 6 For you are a holy people, who belong to the LORD your God. Of all the people on earth, the LORD your God has chosen you to be His own special treasure. NLT

Feeling Like a Chipped Teacup? There's Hope! Psalm 103:4

My parents were coffee drinkers extraordinaire. The pot was on before 5 am every morning and didn’t get turned off until late in the evening, sometimes midnight. My dad kept his mug, a thick café style white one, on the pilot light of the gas stove-top to keep it warm. He hated putting steaming hot coffee in a cold mug.

I still have most of their coffee mugs. Some are from special restaurants, others from Mother’s Days gone by. Some have funny sayings. As I look into the cabinet I have memories that pour out of them. Good memories. From the “coffee” I drank as a little girl, mostly cream and sugar, but warm and light brown, to the “don’t you dare wash my cup” from my daddy, well into his 80’s. Life revolved around the coffee pot.

People would come and visit and drink from the pot. I never remember my parents discussing running out of coffee. I think it was a given that come what may, coffee would be there. Some of the cups were cheap discount store buys but they hold such precious memories that their value is great to me.

Some folks like fine china cups. They’re beautiful but oh so delicate. One wrong tip on the kitchen sink and it’s chipped. Careful in the dishwasher, all the beauty can come off in the heat of the interior washing. I prefer a sturdy mug - strong, holding the heat, warming your hands in the winter without burning them.

Life is a lot like a china cup. It looks so beautiful starting out. Life is good. Beginning of life. Beginning of marriage. First babies. So delicate, so pristine, so good to look at. But things get chipped. The hot water of life’s troubles washes away at the delicate beauty of first love, first life and first family. Pretty soon we lose a handle on things and if we’re not careful the first loves will be discarded like just some trash. After all it’s no good if there’s no handle, if it’s chipped or if it won’t hold the concoction it was meant for.

Oh beloved, God wants you to know this morning that your life may feel like a chipped teacup, but He is the Restorer. Life may have run hot and cold for you, but He will always carry you in the warmth of His love. Always. Broken lives, broken hearts, broken dreams all seem to be just so much trash in the basket of life, but God is the glue that will put it all back together and hold you together no matter what happens in the coldness or harshness of your days.

Why don’t you get out your favorite cup and have a fellowship with Jesus. He wants to sit with you and express His love and care in ways you can only imagine. People come and people go, problems rise and fall like the sunrise and sunset, but the Lord Himself will sit with you, guide you, express His love to you and care for you the rest of your days. And that’s worth sitting at His feet any and every day.

Psalm 39:4 Lord, make me to know my end and [to appreciate] the measure of my days—what it is; let me know and realize how frail I am [how transient is my stay here]. AMP

Psalm 34:22 But the LORD will redeem those who serve Him. No one who takes refuge in Him will be condemned.

Psalm 103:4 He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies.

Revelation 21:5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” 

Psalm 63:8 I cling to You; Your strong right hand holds me securely.

God Doesn't Just Patch Things Up!

“Can’t we just glue it?” is a question I’ve asked Danny often! I hate it when something special breaks. Recently I broke one of my favorite coffee cups. The handle broke right off! It’s special because one of my daughters gave it to me. I could not bear to throw it away, so my precious husband glued it back together for me. I plan to put a small bouquet of silk flowers in it. The word across the face of the cup is PEACE.  That cup reminded me of God’s peace that guards both my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus.

Even though the cup is glued back together, the cracks still show. Glue does a wondrous job, but it won’t make the cracks go away. The evidence of an object being broken in the past remains, as delicate as human touch may be.

Our lives are as fragile as my coffee cup. We break easily. We hurt and we struggle and we get knocked off the table of happiness. We weep and hurt because of our brokenness. Then we try to find a way to patch ourselves up and get it all back together.  Although we may look put back together, if someone gets close enough the cracks remain. The chips are still there. The exterior, looking so put together and perfect is in fact still broken. I can’t really use my coffee cup for what it was once intended for because it’s broken. We can’t really be used for what God intended for us if we remain broken.

Patch work won’t do for a yielded vessel.  We have to be more than patched back together. We have to be made new! We have to let God come in and use His magnificent glue of the Word to make us right again. In our hearts we want to be used again – we don’t want to sit on a shelf and watch the rest of the world go its own way. But sometimes fear comes in and whispers to us “you can’t be used anymore”, “you were damaged too much”, “look at you- you’re a mess”, “this is just the way you are now”. The hurts, the fear, the anguish, the damage is done and if we hold onto all that nothing will make us right and we’ll be destined to hold flowers instead of being poured out for the Kingdom.

Are you broken this morning? Were you used of the Lord but now you feel you’re damaged beyond repair? Did someone come in a break your heart, break an oath, break your trust? Maybe you had a call on your life, but people hurt you and now you’re not ever going to let anyone hurt you again.  You thought you were content to be something you were never meant to be, but you still long to be used of God. If only you could piece things back together and quit feeling so fractured.

Oh beloved, there is hope! God will do what no one can do, not even yourself! He will apply His love to soothe your broken places! He will not just patch you, He will renew you! He will make ALL THINGS new! His promises are true and His abilities are beyond your wildest imagination! Let Him help you today! Let Him remold you into what you were always meant to be – a living, poured out vessel in His service!  Nothing will make you as happy as being where God wants you. Nothing will make you stronger than letting the Holy Spirit do what you can’t. Nothing will make you depend on God more than finding you can’t depend on anyone else to fix you - to fix what’s broken in your heart, your mind or your spirit.

The Holy Spirit is standing at the door of your heart! He wants to pour in His Truth to restore your soul this very day because He loves you and He’s for you and that’s what holds you together no matter what happens!

Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.

Psalm 34:18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

Psalm 94:17-19 Unless the LORD had helped me, I would soon have settled in the silence of the grave. I cried out, “I am slipping!” but Your unfailing love, O LORD, supported me. When doubts filled my mind, Your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Is Anything Too Difficult for God?

My husband is the handiest man I’ve ever known. He can just about fix anything. He can make broken things run again. He can repair just about anything, from broken toys to broken vehicles.  We’ve had motorcycle blow-outs and he’s plugged the hole and gone on. We’ve had alternators quit and he figured out a way to get us home. 

One day I called him when I arrived home first.  We had no electricity. I looked in the neighborhood and everyone else had their lights on.  I knew I had paid the bill, yet I was doubting myself. I was torn up! I called him and found out that he was on his way home.  He got out of his car, went to the side of the house and checked the main power switch. With a simple flip all power was restored!

Last night I heard him vacuuming the car. I wanted to go out to thank him and laugh with him, “It’s not gonna do much good with all the trees dropping their blooms.” But before I had a chance to get out there I heard the leaf blower.  Sure enough he was blowing away all those as well!

God says to you this morning, Is your heart broken? I can fix that! Is your faith sight failing? I can correct that.  Are you wondering if you can get through the next hard circumstances looming before you? I can get you through that.  Everything that needs fixing in your life – from church to faith to work to home to anything else you can name as a problem or a trouble – God says to you this morning “I can fix that!” His name is I AM and because of that, He is I AM for every situation in life. He says to you daily that I AM the one who loves you, I AM the one who provides for you, I AM the heart mender, the circuit repairer and the fellowship restorer. I AM your all in all – so that when you come to Me you never have to wonder if you’ve done something wrong, forgotten to do something right or messed up. Even when you mess up I AM with you. I AM here for you, I AM able to meet all your needs, bless all your life and fix all your problems.

You may say you are all alone, you have no one to help, but God is always with you and He is always the answer to life’s problems and He holds the answer to your problems in His heart. Trust Him, go to Him and let Him be your everything, for He always says I love you and I am for you and that’s all that really matters.

Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.

Exodus 34:6 The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I AM slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.

Psalm 75:3 When the earth quakes and its people live in turmoil, I AM the one who keeps its foundations firm.

Isaiah 43:11 I, yes I, am the Lord, and there is no other Savior.

Jeremiah 32:27 I AM the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for Me?

Psalm 37:5 Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you.

God Sees the Redeemable in You!

I look at some of my old keepsakes and I realize they are falling apart. Little bits of ribbon are dangling and words are fading. Shiny adornments are coming loose and smudges of dirt and age abound. Anyone else would just throw the “junk” away. But it’s my junk and many of the pieces hold precious memories.

It’s amazing what a little craft glue will do.  The thick white substance has been around my family for more years than I’ve been alive. If you look closely at some of mother’s old knick knacks you’ll see faint lines of the stuff holding things back together.  Whoever invented the stuff did a good thing. Otherwise many a craft and memory would be thrown away.

Our lives are a lot like knick knacks. Some of us are pretty worn out for the wear. Our hearts have grown weary and our emotions are tattered messes. We long for the days when we felt and looked fresh and clean, without a chip or blemish. We long for things to be put back together and as much as we try, nothing seems to work. Someone might look at one of us and say, “Nope, no good, let’s pitch ‘em”. No redeemable value, not even enough for a garage sale.

But God sees the redeemable in us. He looks beyond the tatters and worn spots. Unlike repairs on dainty ornaments or knick knacks, which only make things look more like the original, God wants to take your life and make it completely restored and different! He looks deep into the heart of things and finds us fit for His mantel shelf. His desire is to take us, polish us up, make us new and show us off for eternity.

Oh beloved, if you’re feeling a little forlorn and useless this day, run to Jesus! He is the fixer of broken hearts and broken lives. He can and will take everything that’s wrong about you and about your life and make it new again! He is truly the glue that will put your heart and life together again. No matter if you feel you are dangling at the edge of the trash bin, He will take everything about you and make you renewed!  Give the pieces of your life to Him. His promises are promises, unlike the world’s promises which are subject to change, emotion, personality or economy, God’s promises are REAL! He loves you, precious one, and He calls you to come to His repair shop and let Him work it all out for your good and His glory! Now that’s worth praising His name!

Revelation 21:5 And He Who is seated on the throne said, See! I make all things new. Also He said, Record this, for these sayings are faithful (accurate, incorruptible, and trustworthy) and true (genuine).        (AMP)

Isaiah 43:19 Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.      (AMP)

Ephesians 1:4 Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes.

Ephesians 4:23  Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.

Psalm 71:22  Then I will praise you with music on the harp, because you are faithful to your promises, O my God. I will sing praises to you with a lyre, O Holy One of Israel.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and He has identified us as His own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything He has promised us.

Your Life is Valuable Enough to Bear Fruit!

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned before that my mother had a green thumb.  She could break off a branch from a bush and stick it in the soil and roots would appear and that stick would become a bountiful bush! It didn’t matter what the plant was, she could make it grow.  She could even make something out of plants that others throw away.  Take the horse apple. Now everyone knows you can’t eat bois d’arc apples, only squirrels find them edible. But mother would take those ugly knobby green blobs, slice them thinly, plop them in the oven and out would come interesting “flowers”.  I think the reason Mother was so talented at her gardening was that she loved it. It was more than a duty or a chore. It was something that gave her extreme pleasure. Sometimes she’d be burning hot in the summer sun with sweat streaming across her face. She’d whistle a little tune and keep working.  It never crossed her mind to quit because she loved it. She loved the outcome of what her efforts would accomplish in the lawn and the garden.  You could say she stayed rooted right there until she was done.

God loves to make something from nothing. We are like broken dead twigs in the garden of life and most of us, if truth be told, are throw-aways. We didn’t produce fruit or beautiful flowers. We just existed. But God came into our lives to make something that we never thought we could be.  As He prunes and replants us, we flourish. It never crosses God’s mind to throw us away. What He begins He will continue. He made a way to tend our lives throughout history by His sacrifice on the cross. If it were merely the cross, then death would be our answer. But He went beyond the cross to new life. He rose again, so that we too can rise to new life. He took our little bent, misshapen and unusable lives and caused them to bear much fruit for His Kingdom.

And He always tends to our needs with His loving hands, because we were rooted and established in His love.  Oh there will be times when we feel destined to be plucked up and placed on the burn pile, but God will have none of that.  He never tires of tending His garden of love, so that He is with us, his flourishing plants, forever.

Oh beloved, you may not realize how valuable you are to God. Others may have told you you had no value or given you the idea that you are not worthy of being regenerated, but you are! It doesn’t matter what type of soil your life was beforehand or whether you produced good things, it just matters that He is calling you out of your own mess into His loving care! He will show you wonderful things about your life as you learn to trust in and lean on His Word! He chose you specifically to bloom where you are planted, to produce where you are set and to live a flourishing life of abundance in Him! He loves you, He will tend to your life needs and He will watch over so that the weeds of life will not take root anymore.  And His love and care are all that really matter!

Proverbs 12:12  Thieves are jealous of each other’s loot, but the godly are well rooted and bear their own fruit.

Colossians 2:7  having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. (NAS)

Ephesians 6:17-19 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. (NAS)

John 15:5 Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.