As you pray for your heart connection, pray also for others that they love one another and the Lord with all their heart.
Blessings,
Corinne and Jan
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Today's Devotional
"18 INCHES"
by
Jan Andersen
It has been said that the average distance between the brain and the heart anatomically is only about 18 inches. Sometimes that distance seems much greater, based on the difficulty we experience transferring "head knowledge and understanding" to "heart belief and faith."
There are times when we are full of head knowledge but don't have much heart belief. We may fully understand what we ought to do but might not have faith in our ability to carry it out. That very lack of faith in ourselves can lead to our failure. If we lack the confidence to move ahead, we can become stuck where we are, even though we know it is in our best interest to at least take a tiny step forward. Knowing and doing are two different things. Knowing and feeling are also separate things. Sometimes we know in our heads that God has forgiven us for our sins, but we don't feel it in our hearts. That can lead us to doubt that we are actually forgiven, even though the forgiveness is very real. We don't have to feel it for God to have really already forgiven us. As long as we don't reject his forgiveness or refuse it and purposefully continue in our wrongs. Knowledge and faith in God are also two different things. There are those who have head knowledge of God, but no heart faith in Jesus as their Savior. Understanding who God is but refusing to have faith in him is deadly. Even in those of us who have a strong belief in God, there can be times our faith will be tested and doubts may surface.
Somehow, there is a gap between our brain and our heart that we haven't always bridged. At times that 18 inch separation may as well be the Grand Canyon divide. It might be easy if we could just build a bridge from the brain to the heart, from knowledge to belief. That would be like building a "bridge over troubled waters." Did you know that the word "bridge" does not occur in the Bible? God's Word assures us that He will walk THROUGH troubled waters with us, not build a bridge over them. So we ask God to help us with that chasm, to help us go from just head knowledge to heart belief. It may take time and hard work, studying the Word of God, and fervent prayer, but it is truly possible to connect the two and to strengthen that relationship between heart and mind.
Ephesians 1:18-19a (NIV) I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
Dear Father in heaven, thank you for always understanding our struggles, loving us in spite of them, and helping us through them. Help us to develop our head knowledge of you and your Word into heartfelt faith in your forgiveness and salvation through your son, Jesus Christ. May we be your witnesses on earth to others of your loving mercy and forgiveness. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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Open the Eyes of My Heart, by Mercy Me
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Prayers are lifted up daily for
you by the Devotional Writers
and the Monthly Writing Staff
of Women's Focus Ministries.
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How true! Beautiful devotion ����
ReplyDeleteThanks Vera!
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