Zondervan - Be Strong and Take Heart: 40 Days to a Hope- Filled Life

ZONDERVAN

Be Strong and Take Heart

Copyright 2019 by Zondervan

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Print ISBN 978-0-310-76739-8

Ebook ISBN 978-0-310-76764-0

Epub Edition August 2019 9780310767640

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

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Contributor: Ashley N. Mays

Interior design: Denise Froehlich

Printed in China

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Contents

Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.

MATTHEW 22:3739

Y our heart beats around 100,000 times a day. In that same twenty-four-hour period, it pumps nearly 2,000 gallons of blood throughout your body to keep you alive. This fantastic muscle relies on tiny electrical impulses to help it stay in rhythm. When those impulses dont quite line up, it beats too quickly or too slowly. Thats a problem.

When a problem with our heart exists, we have to pay attention because our very lives depend on its well-being.

Our spiritual heartthe heart that gets a workout when we love and when we grieve, when we serve and when we sinis gloriously intricate and every bit as purposeful as our literal heart.

Your spiritual heart is a unique piece of your identity, built into you from the very beginning to help you know and love God, others, and yourself better.

Have you ever felt such passion for a cause that it couldnt be ignored? Or have you ever cried with a friend over a fresh loss? Maybe youve sat in silent prayer, only to have a vivid sense of Gods love wash over you. These, and so many other experiences, result from the life-giving rhythms of our spiritual hearts.

When the Pharisees, the law-lovers of ancient times, asked Jesus what the most important law was, he answered them by saying, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus didnt say these things because he thought they sounded right or because they would look nice painted on the side of the temple wall. He said them because it was a well-known part of the Torah, scriptures the Pharisees would have been able to recite as teachers of the law.

Even though the Pharisees were teachers, even though they already knew the words and seemed to know it all, and even though they were often considered the ones to go to with questions about spiritual things, Jesus knew they needed the reminder as much as anyone else.

Just because we study the Bible a lot and weve learned the words, that doesnt mean we live those words well. To live them well, we have to be willing to live with a little bit of a mess.

When a surgeon does open-heart surgery, she doesnt expect to stay clean. She wears surgical scrubs and a cap, multiple pairs of gloves, and protective eyewear. If she waltzed into the operating room in an evening gown and a sleek pair of Louboutins, and then got upset when a drop of blood spilled on her dress, wed have a lot of questions, like: Why was she wearing an evening gown to operate? If she didnt want to get messy, why did she study and train to be a heart surgeon? Didnt she realize the mess wasnt something to fight against, but something to expect and prepare for?

Sadly, these Pharisees werent the kind of people who were well prepared for spiritual heart surgery. Instead, they were the ones who got offended when the heart work got a little messy. So offended, in fact, that they ended up crucifying Jesus because of it.

Letting Jesus take over our hearts gets messy sometimes. Well have questions even as we try to trust God. Living as a Christ follower in a world full of scary situations and hurting people is hard. If our hearts arent anchoredtied downto the truth of Gods love, faithfulness, and care for us, it can be easy to become offended, angry, and closed off.

The good news is, Jesus already did the hard work of becoming a sacrifice to pay for our sins, work that was impossible for us to do. Now we must do the hard work of pursuing God and training our hearts to turn to him during times of joy and times of crisis. And when we feel ourselves veering off course, we can lean into Gods heart. We can lean into serving others. And we can lean into the uniqueness of our own hearts.

Well have to muddle through messes at times, of course. But the journey toward a heart thats fully alive will also be infused with hope, trust, light, and joy. The gifts God gives us when we pursue him with our whole hearts are worth uncertainty right now, because we can be confident in his love.

Remember: God is the one who makes beauty from messes. He can take your heart and bring you into the fullness and beauty of all he intended you to be.

Live

What are you carrying around in your heart today? There are probably some good things and some hard things. Write down the first five things that come to mind. There arent any right or wrong answers when it comes to your heartafter God, youre the one who knows it best! And no judgment if youre carrying more heavy than happy things around right now. Sometimes thats how life is. But make a commitment not to let the mess of doing heart work scare you off. God isnt afraid of the mess, so you dont have to be either!

Pray

Jesus, Im afraid of learning what it looks like to love you, the people I see every day, and myself with my whole heart. Its a lot easier to stay where I am. Give me the courage to leave behind what feels okay for what youve promised is great. Teach me how to exchange an unhealthy heart for a strong one. I ask you to do the work that my heart needs so I can become the woman you intended me to be, a woman who knows your heart and represents you so well that others are drawn to you.

Think

My heart doesnt need to fight against the messy process of growing; instead, it can stay steadfast through the journey and look forward to the end result.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

JEREMIAH 29:13

I f you wanted to start a thriving garden in your yard, what would be the best way to begin? Would you go to a greenhouse or a hardware store to pick out flowers? Or would you begin even earlier in the process by purchasing seed packets?