WORDS ON THE HEART

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

“A disciple asks the rebbe: ‘Why does Torah tell us to “place these words upon your hearts”? Why does it not tell us to place these holy words in our hearts?’ The rebbe answers: ‘It is because as we are, our hearts are closed, and we cannot place the holy words in our hearts. So, we place them on top of our hearts. And there they stay until, one day, the heart breaks and the words fall in.”

Our KEYNOTE from last night  in Nashville shared this little quote. It was something that he had penned into his book, Broken: My Story of Addiction and Redemption.

His name is William C. Moyers and he is the vice president of public affairs and community relations for the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, based in Minnesota.

His story, like many recovery stories, was very familiar and as he shared, I was both affirmed and encouraged.  Affirmed because the solutions he was sharing resonated and lined up with what me and my dear colleagues from Tennessee and DC are doing!  Encouraged because I always love to see someone who was bound by addiction freed and making a difference!

But let’s go back to the quote. I really like this part of it…

So, we place them on top of our hearts. And there they stay until, one day, the heart breaks and the words fall in.

Made me think of this passage.

the seed sown on good soil represents those who open their hearts to receive the Word and their lives bear good fruit—some yield a harvest of thirty, sixty, even one hundred times more than was sown! – Mark 4:20 (TPT)

This ministry of recovery is ALL about SEED planting.  And I liked the visual provided by the quote of a “heart breaking” for the WORDS, the seeds, to enter the heart of someone who is challenged and is in need of intervention and help. And I have seen when the “heartbreak” happens, and lives are transformed; often by simple WORDS/SEEDS of truth.

John 8:32

Galatians 5

Jeremiah 29:11

I could go on.

My encouragement today is that we MUST never be stingy with our words of hope, our seeds of recovery.  We must continue to sow and to place on the hearts of those we love.  Because…

You never know how or when God might sober them up with a change of heart and a turning to the truth – 2 Timothy 2:25 (MSG)

I love you all.

Have a BLESSED DAY!!!

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE