Growing

At this time of year, you don't see a lot growing. BUT, as I read through many of the blogs of faithful posters out there, I'm seeing that there is a lot of growth going on. That is such a blessing; it is an encouragement! God is at work!!! What better news? Just yesterday, Chelsey was sharing with me some verses that she had read in Lamentations and one in particular in Jeremiah, and then she sat down and wrote out some of her thoughts in a Word document. What she wrote, I could not have said better myself, so I'm going to share them with you here. I told her to post them on her own blog, and she probably will, but her thoughts were great encouragement to me. As we all keep seeking the Lord and allow Him to grow in us, we grow in Him!

Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick who can understand it?(ESV)
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?(NIV)

One verse, two versions, same meaning. Desperately sick? Beyond cure?! How hopeless does that seem? As we look back in time and remember things we’ve said or done, this verse makes sense… "I can’t believe I said that to her! I must have some kind of evil or twisted thinking!" No…not evil or twisted thinking but a desperately sick heart that is beyond cure.

So does this mean that we can just give up? "My heart is beyond cure…its useless to keep fighting when there can be no cure…right?" No way! Just because there isn’t a cure doesn’t mean that our condition can’t improve. Just like in the medical world, there are many diseases that are incurable but with the proper care and medicine, the condition will get better and sometimes even disappear…that doesn’t mean that the disease is gone…its just being held back by a stronger force.

So what is our stronger force…our medicine? The only thing that can help us is prayer and diving into the word, reading your Bible daily as if it were a life-saving pill. That’s what it is in effect…a life-saving and life-altering pill. We could not have come this far without it…think about it, becoming a Christian was our first dose of healing ointment. And every new day that we draw breath and every time we meet with God in prayer is proper care for our desperately sick heart.
So think of it this way…I have a desperately sick heart that is beyond cure, I’m waiting for a transplant that I can only get when I go to heaven. I have to do regular check-ups and sometimes even surgery to help keep my heart healthy. Prayer is my proper care; the Bible is my medicine. With that combination, there IS hope.

Lamentations 3:20-24 "My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!"

So we have our prescription and we have our medicine. Let us not fail to take it faithfully until the day when God calls us home for our new heart. Faithfully read your Bible and meet with God everyday, this is the only medicine that can help. Yes our hearts are desperately sick with sin and worldliness and pride and yes it is beyond cure BUT with the right medicine and the proper care, we can fight this battle!