Mikki's Blog - Living in the Grace and Love of God » purpose

Getting to the Heart of Things

Mikki — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 15:31:18 +0000

A most terrifying and at the same time, comforting, thought is that Jesus knows our hearts. When we face the truth about our own heart, we find two things. We find that, at times, our heart is desperately wicked, strays from God, and seeks our own way. Concurrently, we find that our heart is good and has been changed by God Himself.

We have two natures. The Scripture refers to this as the old nature and the new nature. Our journey with Christ invites us, with the Spirit’s help, to crucify the old nature and its desires and strengthen and feed the new nature.

This journey into our own hearts is initiated by God. I have found that as I know more and more about the truth of my own heart and am able to name my own sin, struggles, and woundedness, I am able to find more of God’s heart. In other words, the journey to know my true heart leads me deeper into knowing God’s heart and vice versa.

In John 21, we find an exchange between Jesus and Peter which has been the topic of many sermons, Bible lessons, and discussions. I’ve been meditating on this passage since last night. This morning, I kept feeling challenged by God that there was much more there than I’d seen before. I invited His Spirit to speak, to teach me, to open my eyes.

When Jesus foretold his crucifixion to his disciples, Peter had boldly rebuked Jesus telling him that he was wrong (Matt. 16:22). Later when Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper and told his disciples that one of them would betray him, Peter had a moment of self-awareness and asked if it were him, however moments later he assured Jesus that even if everyone betrayed him, he would not. Jesus proceeded to tell Peter that he would, in fact, deny him three times before morning. During Jesus’ darkest hours, Peter bitterly denied even knowing Jesus.

After his resurrection, Jesus very purposefully sends word to Peter that he is alive. He appears to him on the Road to Emmaus. Then we find this divinely appointed exchange between Peter and Jesus in John 21. I have so many things dancing in my spirit about this, but for today I want to laser in on one particular truth.

After their breakfast, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him. Many of you are aware that the New Testament was written in Greek, a beautifully rich language which affords us many shades of meaning. The word that Jesus used when he asked Peter if he loved him was “agape.” In the Greek, this particular word we translate love means the God-kind of love, a self-sacrificial love. Each time Peter answered, “Lord, you know I love (phileo) you,” and used the Greek word that means brotherly love.

I’ve so often heard this taught in such a way that leaves us to believe that Jesus and Peter ended this meeting with a sort of resignation of Peter’s lack of sacrificial love for Christ, but I think there may be more there.

What if Jesus was taking Peter back to his earlier cockiness, focusing his attention on the pride that had been in Peter’s heart? He began this conversation by asking Peter, “Do you love me more than the rest of these guys do?

Just days before, Peter would have said, “Of course, Lord, you know I’m your number one supporter.” But now, Peter is more aware of his own heart. He has faced the depths of his own humanity, his own failure. Now Peter simply responds, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you like a brother.” No longer is Peter willing to proclaim his superiority to the other disciples. He has faced the truth of his own heart.

I think that perhaps Jesus was pleased with this moment, as opposed to being disappointed as many would lead us to believe.

As I meditated about this today, I wondered if Jesus would set up this encounter with Peter when he restores him, restates his purpose, and validates the call upon Peter’s life in front of the other disciples, and have it laced with the idea that Peter is a disappointment.

Of course, we all know Peter had failed. We all know that Jesus was disappointed in Peter’s failure, but in this instance, Jesus was not aiming to focus on his disappointment with Peter. He was initiating a life-giving encounter that would enable Peter to step into his destiny.

With that in mind, I think that maybe Jesus was rather happy that Peter now knew more about his own heart than he had just days before. Peter was in a place where Jesus could work, the place of acceptance and truth.

The cocky boldness that had characterized Peter before was transformed and used as strength. On the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:23), Peter stands boldly on the truth of Christ’s crucifixion (which he had rebuked Jesus for even suggesting) and challenges the religious leaders of the day.

Peter’s ministry was amazing, exciting, and difficult, but I think that he walked that journey out with a deep awareness of his own need to depend upon Christ. His heart was purified in new ways as he learned from his own experience that “Without him, I can do nothing, but with him I can do all things.” (John 15:5; Phil. 4:13).

Where are you in your walk with God?

Are you willing to face the truths about your own heart? As scary as that can be at times, I believe that it is the place where we can find freedom and grace.

Would you invite God’s Spirit to show you your heart? When you do, I believe that you will find that His Spirit will transform you in deeper ways than ever before.

Getting to the Heart of Things

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Jesus, the Healer of Broken Hearts

Mikki — Thu, 13 May 2010 14:54:29 +0000

If we believe that God is purposeful in His actions, then how significant is the fact that the first words of the first message Jesus preached were, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because … He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted…”? (Luke 4:18-19)

Jesus came to heal broken hearts and not only as a side benefit; it’s one of his life purposes! That’s good news because all of us who are in this world have experienced the pain of having our hearts broken in one way or another. If we look at the life of Jesus in the Gospels, we find that he moves throughout his days interacting with humanity and healing broken hearts. That healing takes many expressions. Today I want to look at how Jesus healed the heart of a woman as recorded in John 4 and what that healing means for us now.

Let’s take a look at the story.

Jesus was exhausted from his long trip. He had gone to the city well to get a drink of water. However, what followed was not a chance happening at all because we are told that Jesus “needed” to go through the region of Samaria; he was compelled to do so.

Jews did not have anything to do with Samaritans in those days. Samaritans were considered half-breeds and unclean by Jewish tradition. Yet Jesus, a Jew, chose to go through the middle of Samaria instead of making the usual trip around the area as most Jews did in order to avoid the Samaritans.

Jesus encountered a Samaritan woman at the well. He broke cultural and religious rules by speaking to her. Men didn’t speak to women in public in those days and a Jewish man certainly would not speak to a Samaritan woman. What transpired changed her life.

Jesus navigated through the woman’s resistance and avoidance and brought up a major issue of her life, not to condemn her, but in order to heal her. Jesus spelled out that she had had five husbands and was now living with a sixth man. The Samaritan woman yet again tried to avoid her heart issues, but Jesus persisted. He revealed Himself to her as the “Christ”.

He first encountered her in his humanity, a man who was thirsty and tired. He bridged cultural and religious differences in order to “do the will of Him who sent me” (vs. 34). He confronted her avoidance and resistance, bringing her life story into the light and then offering her “living water”. In essence, Jesus communicated to her that there was nothing about her that would prevent her from having a relationship with God; not her religious background, her cultural background, nor her personal history.

Although the story doesn’t specifically tell us, I believe the woman took Jesus’ offer. Amazingly, we see her leading many to believe in Jesus because of her “testimony” – There is a man who knows all about me and didn’t reject me; he gave me life-giving water.

He healed her heart. Jesus dealt with her shame. He dealt with her guilt. He cut through the religious, cultural traps and did the will of God, offering healing to the broken hearted.

He is still the same today. He is offering life and healing to all the thirsty, empty, broken-hearted.

Do you need his healing? Allow your resistance and avoidance to fall away. Lay down any religious, cultural, or matters of personal history which you believe disqualify you from knowing God and/or receiving His healing for your heart. Allow Jesus to move you past your shame and guilt and into the living waters.

He desires to purposefully encounter your heart right now. Your heart is important to him. Your heart and my heart were the hearts he was talking about when he said he had come to heal the broken-hearted.

Are you spiritually thirsty? Jesus freely offers living water. Drink deeply of the rivers of this living water for its flow will heal the broken places in your heart.

And may the Church represent Jesus well and offer the same to all today: healing, regardless of personal history, cultural background, or religious beliefs. When we do, we will find that his living water refreshes and restores and testimonies of his grace will lead others to him as well.

Jesus, the Healer of Broken Hearts

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The Power of Awakened Desire

Mikki — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:07:13 +0000

What do you think of when you think of the word “desire”?

Desire carries the connotation of something strong. Whether it is desire for that last piece of chocolate cake or desire for a person or desire for a position, desire is not a benign idea. It is intrinsically powerful.

We have all experienced having desire awakened. Some of those desires are unhealthy, but there is also a very positive sense in which we can have desire awakened. In fact, Jesus was quite aware of the power of awakened desire.

Awakened desire can connect us to purpose. When Jesus called Simon Peter and Andrew to be his disciples, he awakened a desire within them. He began with something they understood, fishing, and moved on to awaken a desire within them to be a part of something life-changing, eternal in nature, and challenged them to become fishers of men.

Awakened desire can show us our needs. When Jesus taught, “Come to me, all who are burdened and tired and I’ll give you rest, his invitation corresponded with a true need in the hearts of the people and in our hearts today. Jesus awakened desire by the very nature of his ministry. He ministered healing and freedom, and hearts cried out from a place of desire to receive from him.

Awakened desire can show us the presence of Jesus. When he encountered two of his disciples after his resurrection, he walked and talked with them. Later they said, “Our hearts burned within us while he talked with us and opened the Scriptures to us!” He had awakened their desire by his very presence and dialogue with them.

As I look back on my own life, I can identify times when desire was awakened in my heart. And it seems to me, that when we find ourselves with a deep hunger, an inner desire, God is issuing an invitation to us. Whether those desires are godly or ungodly, healthy or unhealthy, God is willing to speak to us in and through the awakened desire. He longs to show us his heart for us and keep us from making wrong decisions which will hurt us and lead us into greater wholeness.

His voice always calls us to deeper places, deeper waters, uncharted territories. When we find ourselves struggling with an ungodly desire, Jesus calls to our innermost being and invites us to freedom. He invites us to discovery. He invites us to understanding. He offers us keys to find peace and purpose.

Often desperation awakens desire as God brings us to the end of our own plans and we find ourselves broken and empty.

Too often I have taken the wrong turn when I stood at the crossroads of life-giving desires and desires that lead to death. I am learning that when I find myself at those crossroads , I should make time for deep communion with God. I am finding that simply asking God to show me what is driving my desires can be a good place of beginning to make right choices. Am I seeking acceptance, affirmation, comfort? Am I being willing to shortcut God’s purposes in order to quiet the voice of desire in my heart?

Our eyes are often blinded to the true purpose of the awakened desire. We are so easily deceived. Somehow the enemy of our souls convinces us that an illegitimate way of fulfilling our desires is the best path and at the end of the path, we find ourselves emptier than ever, broken from the wrong choices we have made when all the while, Jesus was issuing an invitation to life through our desires.

Awakened desire has the power to unlock the purposes of God in our life stories. Awakened desire has the power to lead us to rest, to freedom, to purposeful living.

The experience of having desire awakened can birth a Eureka moment for us, a moment when we can finally put our hands on what has been intangible before, an epiphany of sorts.

So if you find yourself in the place of awakened desire, you are at a crossroads. The road can lead you into danger, or the road can lead you into delight.

Pause and reflect on the following:

How was this desire awakened?
Why was this desire awakened?
What does this desire say about my heart and its needs?
What could the purposes of God be for me as I face awakened desire?
What could the purposes of the enemy be as I face awakened desire?

I pray you will be able to see clearly what God desires to do through your awakened desires and the end result will be that you know more of your own heart and more of His.

The Power of Awakened Desire

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