Waves of the Heart

Hey everyone and Merry Christmas,

Life is an interesting thing isn't it and as I wrote before Gods timing is spectacular.  I firmly believe that this concept of time being in Gods hands is something God truly wants me to get a bigger grasp of. I understand it well enough but I feel he wants to take my family into an even deeper level of understanding it. I believe he wants his timing to be our lifestyle...

It is great to understand certain concepts of our faith but I think in the long run God really wants us all to embrace the concepts wholeheartedly. I believe it comes back to a devotion I wrote at some point last year regarding the Undivided heart.  I am learning that there is so much more to this life than simply living or dieing (as Steven Curtis Chapman would sing and a post for another time.)

What is an undivided heart, you may ask? Well, I believe it to be a heart that belongs solely (SOULY) to one particular thing. Life will pull our hearts one way or another and we have to have a deep enough understanding of this the what's on the surface. 

So many times we surf on the waves of life not realizing there is the danger of falling into the deeper waters. Without being properly prepared, we cannot use what is necessary to overcome what lies beneath. This is what an undivided heart brings and when Gods spectacular timing determines that its time to change something we need to be prepared. 

This is what I'm beginning to understand about Gods timing, some times the only way you can prepare is to trust SOULY in his unfailing guidance as the wave's of life knock us of the our surfboard (so to speak.) I read the following to my new born daughter this morning and it made me stop and think...

 WOW!!

" Sometimes I grant you glimpses of your glorious future, to encourage you and to spur you on. But your main focus should be on staying in MY presence. Remember I set the pace in keeping with your needs and MY purposes." -Jesus Calling Book

What a wonderful reminder of Gods timing both Leyla and this message are for me today. It has been an amazing (and exhausting) past few days in the Elliott household.  It is such a wonderful feeling to know finally that our little Leyla is here and that she is such a healthy baby. 

God has been so good to us and while we are surfing on a whole knew wave of life, there will be times when we will get knocked of but knowing Gods timing and preparing the undivided heart through prayer, devotion and worship will always remind us of HIS unfailing guidance. Take a look at Psalm 86 when you get a chance, its a wonderful example of this.

"I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh." 26.11.19 NIV

Thanks again for visiting "The Gathering Room"

Stand Strong and continue to believe the teachings given to you

(2 Thes. 2:15b NCV),

M.E.

Winds of Change

Its interesting to think that life changes so often with out us really realizing what is happening before our eyes. One day your headed on way, the next day it's the complete opposite direction.  Many times the turns we take on this path of life are completely unpredictable, then once those turns are made we have no clue why they were made. All that we know is that they were made.

This concept is something I've been thinking a lot about in recent months with the coming of our first born any day now. It often has made me stop and think. How much will my whole perception of life change when our Leyla arrives. Sometimes  it's hard to think about what life will be like when she arrives and then other times I'm so ready I find my self asking Leyla, "when are you going to get here?" 

I started thinking about how these thoughts applied to our Walk with Christ and I believe it began leading me to an interesting revelation. It is a revelation that has found it's way into my head before, but as usual maybe God just needed to remind me of it. Sometimes he does that you know. :-)

We are called to live life in the unknown, and as the winds of change send us in a new direction in this life we must embrace the unknown fully relying on Gods guidance with each new direction that comes. It's not always easy to to this but though because human nature holds us back. The beautiful thing is though, that God has already defeated human nature in the form of Jesus.

In the End what it comes down to is this, the unknown comes, life changes, we head down another path, and while we may not understand why, all we have to do is embrace the one who already knows the outcome is beautiful. 

Acts 9 is a wonderful example of how the Winds of Change and change your whole perspective on life.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." 21.3.11 NIV

Thanks again for visiting "The Gathering Room"

Stand Strong and continue to believe the teachings given to you

(2 Thes. 2:15b NCV),

M.E.