Tag Archives: Responding to God

Thoughts of the Heart

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The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The plans of His heart to all generations.1

God has thoughts and plans in His heart.  Do you know He thinks of you?  He gave His heart to you in hopes that you would give yours to Him.

“Since before time began, a call went out to you. Even in the midst of a crowd, God has been seeking your heart as an individual. An invitation was developed with you in mind. From the time that the foundation of the world was laid, Jesus prepared to die for you and for each soul that would ever live. His sacrifice was arranged before you were ever a thought—before a single soul had ever lived. He did this so that you might have eternal life. Have you responded to His invitation?

This call has gone out directly to you. It does not involve living vicariously through someone else; it involves you living directly. The rewards of answering this invitation are beyond anything you could ever imagine. God is offering you a most amazing prize: the gift of eternal life. This gift was given in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 NKJV).”2

He has offered this love to generation after generation, and your time is now.  He has loved you with an everlasting love, and with lovingkindness He is drawing you.  Will you respond?  Will you choose His love?  Will the thoughts of your heart contain thoughts of Him?

NOTES

1 Psalm 33:11 taken from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible, ©1982 by Thomas Nelson.

2 Francee Strain, No Ordinary Invitation: Called to Live a Life of Eternal Purpose, (Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press, 2017), 4.

©Text and photo Francee Strain, February 14, 2022

Still Running

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How are the New Year’s resolutions coming along?  Did you happen to set a resolution to exercise?  If so, are you still walking, running, or working out at the gym?  Well, I am not a runner anymore, at least not in the physical sense.  I am more so focused on my spiritual running.  I am taking note of where I am right now and how I can keep pressing forward.  And as I look around at others, it seems like spiritual running is the needed conversation. 

So, I will begin the conversation with a question, and as I ask you, I am asking myself: Are you still running?

What type of running, you ask?  Running—in your heart, mind, and soul.

Are you still running from God?  Is your heart closed off to Him?  Is your mind resisting Him?  Is your soul cut off from Him?

Have you heard Him call for you? He wants to love you and save your soul. Have you let Him do this?  We cannot save our own souls by doing good deeds, following religious rituals, or sitting in a church pew every weekend.  Only our belief in Jesus’s atonement and the acceptance of His forgiveness can save our souls.  We just need to ask Him for this salvation.  He is drawing us to Himself with an everlasting love.

Have you heard Him ask you to do something?  Are you stuck running in place or even running away from what it is, perhaps because you are afraid, disinterested, or not in agreement with what it is?  

Are you still running from your past? From the need to forgive or to be forgiven?  

Are you still running the race of faith?  Did you ask Jesus to be your Savior at some point but have since slowed to a walk or even left the course?  Have you run off to find fulfillment in other things?  These days are very difficult.  They are full of many challenges, myriad distractions, and much pain.  But let us lay aside the weight and the sin that so easily besets us, and let us run the race with patience.1  Let us endure.

Don’t quit.  Don’t abandon God.  Keep on keeping on.  Run in such a way that you may win the prize.2  Jesus finished His course, and this completion purchased salvation for all who would accept it.  Your course has an important purpose as well. 

May our dying breaths find us still running the race of faith and then running toward His open arms.

But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.3

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.4

NOTES

1 See Hebrews 11:1.

2 See 1 Corinthians 9:24.

3 Isaiah 40:31

4 Hebrews 11:1–2

Scriptures taken from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible, ©1982 by Thomas Nelson.

©Text and photo Francee Strain, February 6, 2022

The Advent of Love

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(This article is taken from my 2020 five-part series on Advent.)

What is love? 

We would likely define this word by mentioning many aspects, perhaps things like having close bonds with others, giving and receiving affection, being connected in a family, experiencing loyalty and faithfulness, hearing or speaking words of affirmation, giving and receiving gifts, serving others, or being the recipients of acts of kindness.  Yet although we might have all these varied ideas in mind, there is a common thread—love is something demonstrated in deeds.  Love is action.

Since before time began, love was active and awaiting us, and then love came near.  Love took action.  But where did love come from, and why did it come near?

Love came near because God came near.  God is the source of love.  He is love.  He has given the very essence of Himself in an offering to us.  This offering is actually what we are focusing on right now during this season of Advent—He gave His one and only son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life, and He did this because He loved the world (see John 3:16).

Since before time began, God had a plan to gift us with His love.  And when the time was just right, the gift arrived: Jesus was born to be the Savior of the world to show us the love of God the Father.  Jesus was a representation of the love and an act of that love.  He gave up the position of honor He held as King of kings and humbled Himself to walk as a man.  He gave up the riches of the entire universe to be laid in a manger and give everything to us.  He gave up the comforts of having and doing anything He pleased, going anywhere He wanted at any time, to come to this earth and experience the life we experience, walking in obedience to God’s will and God’s timing.  This is the gift of love we celebrate at Christmas.

But the love did not stop there.  Jesus did not remain a baby in the manger.  He grew into a man who continued to act in love.  He travelled and spoke to thousands, sharing with them about the forgiveness of sin and the gift of eternal life.  He healed and fed.  Taught and visited.  Comforted the grieving and raised the dead.  All this, He gave.  And He gave even more, things that we find difficult to give: He loved His enemies.  He prayed for those who despitefully used and persecuted Him.  He gave His time and energy and service to those who gave nothing back.  He loved the unlovely that others avoided and scorned.  He sacrificed His very life for us.  All so that we could know His love and know it forever.

This is how love comes.  God took action.  He has loved us with an everlasting love and drawn us with loving kindness.  He has given us the gifts of His Son, His Word, His promises, His salvation, and His very presence.  Do we see it?  Do we recognize it?  Have we responded to it?  Have we given Him our hearts and our love in return? Has there been an advent of love from us?

You can receive His gift today and return the gift of your heart to Him. This is how love comes.

©Text and photo Francee Strain, December 12, 2020. Revised December 17, 2021.

The Advent of Love

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What is love? 

We would likely define this word by mentioning many aspects, perhaps things like having close bonds with others, giving and receiving affection, being connected in a family, experiencing loyalty and faithfulness, hearing or speaking words of affirmation, giving and receiving gifts, serving others, or being the recipients of acts of kindness.  Yet although we might have all these varied ideas in mind, there is a common thread—love is something demonstrated in deeds.  Love is action.

Since before time began, love was active and awaiting us, and then love came near.  Love took action.  But where did love come from, and why did it come near?

Love came near because God came near.  God is the source of love.  He is love.  He has given the very essence of Himself in an offering to us.  This offering is actually what we are focusing on right now during this season of advent—He gave His one and only son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life, and He did this because He loved the world (see John 3:16).

Since before time began, God had a plan to gift us with His love.  And when the time was just right, the gift arrived: Jesus was born to be the Savior of the world to show us the love of God the Father.  Jesus was a representation of the love and an act of that love.  He gave up the position of honor He held as King of kings and humbled Himself to walk as a man.  He gave up the riches of the entire universe to be laid in a manger and give everything to us.  He gave up the comforts of having and doing anything He pleased, going anywhere He wanted at any time, to come to this earth and experience the life we experience, walking in obedience to God’s will and God’s timing.  This is the gift of love we celebrate at Christmas.

But the love did not stop there.  Jesus did not remain a baby in the manger.  He grew into a man who continued to act in love.  He travelled and spoke to thousands, sharing with them about the forgiveness of sin and the gift of eternal life.  He healed and fed.  Taught and visited.  Comforted the grieving and raised the dead.  All this, He gave.  And He gave even more, things that we find difficult to give: He loved His enemies.  He prayed for those who despitefully used and persecuted Him.  He gave His time and energy and service to those who gave nothing back.  He loved the unlovely that others avoided and scorned.  He sacrificed His very life for us.  All so that we could know His love and know it forever.

This is how love comes.  God took action.  He has loved us with an everlasting love and drawn us with loving kindness.  He has given us the gifts of His Son, His Word, His promises, His salvation, and His very presence.  Do we see it?  Do we recognize it?  Have we responded to it?  Have we given Him our hearts and our love in return? Has there been an advent of love from us?

You can receive His gift today and return the gift of your heart to Him. This is how love comes.

©Text and photo Francee Strain, December 12, 2020

Resolved to Trust

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“Resolve to come when you hear Him call. Trust Him with your life, with all that you are.”

Book Excerpt:
… We can come, resolving to trust. There will always be areas where our resolve will be strong and other areas where it will be weak, but this should make no difference or cause any delay in coming to God. We need Him in all areas, and thus, we should make our coming soon, and make it quick. Acting will strengthen our trust, while inaction will weaken it. We can ask Him to increase our faith and to help us with any unbelief that we have. We should be resolved to come to Him for His strength–strength to add to our weakness and more strength to add to our existing strength. We can come even if we are a solitary number. We can stand even if we stand alone. We should be willing to pay the ultimate price for Him because He paid the ultimate price for us. We should come like sheep to the shepherd; they come because they are called by a voice that they know and trust. Resolve to come when you hear Him call. Trust Him with your life, with all that you are.

… It is wise to have a heart that listens for God’s voice so that even during times when life seems dead and dark, it will still be able to hear Him. It is also wise to have a responsive heart that is quick to come when God calls it. We need to have the understanding that a delayed response can fill the void with excuses, and before we know it, we might find ourselves disobedient and ignoring His calls. Life and light are there within our grasp; we just need to come forth to receive them. This is wisdom.

We can come to Him whether we know much about Him or little. We can come with whatever amount of spiritual understanding we have. We can come with our searching and ask Him to reveal Himself to us. We can ask Him to make His will known to us. We can come with our confusion and questioning, our bewilderment and asking “Why me?” He gives wisdom liberally to all who ask for it (James 1:5).

God is a big God who allows us to come to Him no matter what our statuses are. We do not have to be a king to gain the attention of the King. We do not have to be perfect to approach the perfect God. We do not have to be a giant of the faith to approach the One who is the source of all faith. We can come no matter the amount of our faith, even if it is as small as a mustard seed. He wants us to be seekers who find Him for the first time. Thereafter, He wants us to be people who continually seek His face. He is there to be found.

When God invited David to seek His face, David decided that his heart would do so (see Ps. 27:8). We do not need to know everything today; we just have to trust that He has our best in mind. We can find a resting place for our bodies, minds, souls, and faith in the safety of His hands. We can place the details of our lives in His capable hands. We can place the recesses of our vulnerable hearts in His loving hands. We can place our trust in Him because of His unfailing hands. He never fails, never breaks His promises, and will never let go of us.

Francee Strain, No Ordinary Invitation: Called to Live a Life of Eternal Purpose, (Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press, 2017), 115-116.