He Captures our Heart

His mercies are new every morning.

This is milk in my mothers beautiful chrystal.  My husband loves milk.  We have to buy a gallon every few days.  If he were to try to hold on to it, even though he loves it and it is good for him, it would turn sour.

Sometimes we try to hold on to things that have meant a lot to us or even that God really used in our lives.  I think of my children.  They meant the world to me.  When they grew up I had to let them go. I had to trust God with them.  The truth of the matter is, they were only on loan to me anyway.  They were really His children.  We can even make others to dependent on us.  This is one reason I have given you many resources through the past week.  I want you to have many ways to point you to God.

When the things in our lives become ours and not His, then we have turned even a good thing bad, for us.  It is, what has captured your heart.  The good thing or God?  Is He still first in your life or have you taken things into your own hands.  Have you put your trust in it and not Him.  Have you thought, if I only have this, I will have life.  Only Jesus brings life.  It is painful to let the things we hold on go, but knowing His love for me, eases the pain of it all.  Once again He has captured my heart, so I can let go and trust Him to lead me in a new direction, even better than before.

The Lord ask the Rich Young Ruler to leave his riches and to follow Him.  He left away sad.  Jesus wants to be our greatest treasure.  When He is not, He reminds us, we are His greatest treasure and our hearts melt.  We want nothing in our lives that does not bring Him glory and total love of our hearts.  We can try to hang on, but God is about doing a new thing.  Scripture is full of it.  I wonder if He knew our tendency to hold on to things some where along the line, so it has to be continually  stripped from our grip.  From our heart.

His mercies are new every morning.  I think He knew the things of this world would tempt us and make our days hard, so He gives His mercy to us fresh each day.  He gives His grace, not for yesterday or tomorrow but for right now, in this moment, for today to say Jesus you are my treasure.  The Greatest Treasure of my heart.  I give it, the thing I have tried to hold on to,  back to you now.

God gave me back my children and I love my relationship with them now.  But if I had tried to hold on, I would have sucked the life out of them.  I would have hindered their relationships with each other and their dad.

  My marriage was the same way.  I tried to hold on.   As I have trusted the Lord in my marriage and released it to Him, I have begun to love my husband in ways, for a selfish person, are not possible.  And that is who, left to myself, I am.  God is changing me though and I am resting, that I am His greatest treasure.  So when I fail, and I do, I know the love the Father has for me in sending His Son, His Treasure.  The love the Son has in giving me, His perfect life on the cross and His Spirit.  It brings a rest and a comfort to do what I cannot do.  Jesus brings life again in new measure.  Once again, I cannot fathom the depths of His grace to me.  So even in the dying process of opening my hands and heart and releasing to Him what I cannot keep, I can remember, there will be a new song in my heart and He will give me a place to sing it, I know.  And even if He doesn't...He is more than enough for me.

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” 
― Jim Elliot

You have loved me and prayed for me and I want you to know I am doing well and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  It is an abundant joy for me to share Jesus with you.  You are such great friends and it humbles me the love and faithfulness of the Father to me, in putting you in my life at this time.  May it all be for His glory.