Has God Captured Your Heart?

Hark! the voice of Jesus crying, “Who will go and work today?...

Who will answer, gladly saying, “Here am I, send me, send me”?

(“Hark! the Voice of Jesus Crying” by Daniel March, 1816-1909)

I remember singing this hymn many years ago. It wasn’t the first time I’d sung it, but that day it felt different. I wasn’t just singing a hymn…I felt a tugging at my heart.

Those words…Who will go and work today? Here am I, send me, send me…they stayed with me.

Looking back, that’s when God began to capture my heart.

I didn’t even think about what I could do for God’s kingdom. I wasn’t far enough along to question it. I just knew I felt a stirring inside. Something in me wanted to say “Send me!”

I think that’s where a God-sized dream begins—with God capturing your heart.

A God-sized Dream = A desire in your heart for more of what God has for you. ~Holley Gerth

I didn’t understand it then and I didn’t know what God had planned, but I see now that when He started capturing my heart, He was drawing me closer to Him.

It was years before I could look back and see the journey He had me on.

My dream? I have always wanted to write. I concentrated on children’s fiction for a while and saw it go nowhere. Meanwhile, life went on. Other things took precedence. And maybe I didn’t want it bad enough to keep pursuing it.

What I didn’t know was that the way I planned my dream wasn’t what God had planned for me.

Had God told me way back then that I would be writing to encourage women in their relationships with Him, I wouldn’t have believed it.

I wouldn’t have known what to do, where to start, or who to talk to about it.

More importantly, I wouldn’t have expected or known that God would lead the way.

Although I thought I was more than ready, God said not yet. He had a different plan…a better plan.

During those years, God was capturing my heart and drawing me closer to Him. The more I began to know Him, the deeper I wanted to know Him. The more I trusted Him, the more I wanted to trust Him.

Those were God-sized dreams.

It’s a God-sized dream to want to trust Him completely.

It’s a God-sized dream to be fully dependent on Him.

It’s a God-sized dream to wait on Him.

And those God-sized dreams start to grow when God captures your heart.

Has God captured your heart?

If you don’t think He has, don’t think He won’t. In fact, if you’re wondering right now when He will capture your heart, maybe that’s a sign that He’s already started.

In Christ,

Laura

To read more about my writing dream…Leave Room for God

Linking up with Heart to Heart with Holley, Sharing His Beauty, Into the Beautiful, WholeHearted Home, Winsome Wednesday, Women Living Well Wednesday, and A Life Surrendered.

Finally Free Online Study - Week 2

Have a blessed week!
In Christ,
Laura

Week 2: Jan. 13 - Jan. 19, 2013

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

Monday/Tuesday – Read Chapter 1 “Focus…Seeing with Spiritual Eyes”

During the week –
Consider this:  Where are your eyes focused? Where do you want them to be focused?

What grabbed you from Chapter 1? Journal your thoughts and Scripture you want to   remember.

Spend time in prayer…ask God to guide you in focusing your eyes on Him.

Visit Laura Rath ~ Journey in Faith

What Holds You Back?

Here we are in week one of our Finally Free online study and it seems appropriate to make a confession.

Even though this is the 7th study I’ve hosted here, I get nervous and have moments of panic before each and every study.

I hesitate and question if I should commit myself to another study…even though I’ve already planned it all out.

Questions swirl in my mind as I get a little light-headed…

Who am I to lead anyone?

What if my mind goes blank (again) and I have nothing to write?

What will others think of me?

Worry and fear…it’s enough to make me say Forget it, I can’t do this.

I could do that. In fact, I almost did. Before the first study ever took place, I started to ignore God’s lead. I was going to let fear keep me from moving forward.

But running in the opposite direction from where God is leading is not a good place to be.

What is it that holds you back?

Whether we know it or not, most of us have something….

Doubt – I can’t be a good mom like she is.

Worry – How will I ever get out of this financial mess?

The Past – How can God forgive me for the way I used to live? I can’t forgive myself.

Fear – What if they don’t like me? What if I never get married and have a family?

Addictions – It’s taken everything I have, and I still can’t break the hold it has on me.

Maybe for you it’s something completely different.

God didn’t intend for us to live bound by these burdens.

No, that’s the enemy’s work. Satan wants us to continue carrying this baggage with us. He encourages it, telling us these loads are ours to carry.

But Christ says, “Bring them to me. Lay them at the foot of the cross where I’ve already gone to free you from these very burdens.” (ref. Matt. 11:28)

Jesus died and rose again, conquering sin and death to free us from this bondage. And yet, we struggle to let Him change us—to change our lives.

What is it that keeps you from experiencing all God has planned for you? Is it time to take it to the cross?

My light-headedness has cleared now, but I know I’ll feel it again.

Each time, I remind myself…if He wants me to do this, then I can do it. Not because of who I am, but because of who He is.

Maybe you’ve tried to hand it over to Him, but you’re discouraged because you’re still struggling with it. I know that feeling.

Sometimes it takes giving it to Him over and over. Not because He won’t take it, but because we tend to take it back.

Make a conscious effort to give it to Jesus and leave it with Him. Do it again and again, every day, until you feel the weight on you easing.

He will take as much as you will give Him.

In Christ,

Laura

Linking up with Winsome Wednesday, WholeHearted Home, Thought Provoking Thursday, and Faith Filled Friday.

Exploring God-sized Dreams

God-sized dreams.

Do you have one?

Maybe you’re asking what is a God-sized dream?

Author Holley Gerth describes it this way…

A God-sized Dream = A desire in your heart for more of what God has for you.

I would add to that…

A dream God plants in our hearts…one that seems impossible—and would be…if it were left up to us to fulfill.

But that’s the thing about a God-sized dream…He doesn’t ask us to take care of it on our own.

Because it’s not about what I can do. Or what you can do.

It’s about what He wants to do in and through us.

And how He chooses to do that is up to Him.

But here’s the really cool thing…He wants us to be involved!

That desire you’re feeling in your heart that you can’t explain?

It’s from Him.

He’s planting that desire and growing that dream.

Wondering what you should do about it?

He’ll let you know. In His time and in His way.

Please don’t dismiss it because of nerves or fear because you won’t be going it alone.

He’ll go before you and He’ll walk beside you.

Every step of the way.

Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.
Deuteronomy 31:8 NLT

I invite you to join me here on Tuesdays, over the next few weeks. I’ll be writing about God-sized dreams and linking up, along with Holley’s team, on Holley’s blog HolleyGerth.com.

Come join us and explore the dream God may be planting in your heart.

In Christ,

Laura

Linking up with Heart to Heart with Holley, Sharing His Beauty, Soli Deo Gloria, Into the Beautiful, Word Filled Wednesday, and WholeHearted Home.