Restoring Hearts Blog

“He that has his trust set upon God does not need to dread anything except the weakening or the paralyzing of that trust.” Alexander MacLaren We start down the slippery slope to fear by believing a lie about who God is. Fear leads to unbelief which causes us to distrust the Trustworthy One and steers us to sin. There are four steps to shutting the door to fear: 1. Identify the lie. 2. Remember who God is. 3. Replace the lie with the truth. 4. Remind yourself of the truth. As

“Faith looks not at what happens to him, but at Him Whom he believes.” Watchman Nee Fear is one of the by-products of the Coronavirus and our time of self-quarantine. If we understand the root cause of fear, we will be able to choose faith over fear. The Israelites in Deuteronomy 1:27 grumbled to Moses, “The Lord hates us; so He brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us.” The Israelites had a wrong perception of God and how He felt tow

“We must take time to upgrade our image of God.” Graham Cooke Airline upgrades are fun to experience. Years ago, John and I were pleasantly surprised when the airline upgraded our seats from economy to first class on an hour flight from Minneapolis to Omaha. At first it felt strange, like we didn’t belong there; then we embraced the pampering and special snacks. These past two months I had the daunting task of making extensive book revisions suggested from a women’s pilot gro

“Speak God’s Word over yourself until you’ve changed your own mind.” Priscilla Shirer A stronghold in the Old Testament, represented a secured and protected dwelling from the attacks of an enemy. We too build fortresses in our minds when we repeatedly believe Satan’s lies. Each time we say “yes” to a lie, we are saying “no” to God’s truth. And each lie we believe, is like a brick that we add to our stronghold of misbelief, making the fortress walls less penetrable. Fear of ma

“God’s Spirit continually reveals to His children what human nature is like apart from His grace.” Oswald Chambers There are times in my life I can totally relate to the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans 7:15: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” That Scripture came to mind a few months ago after I repented from a sin. And then Holy Spirit, whispered these sweet words, which gave me comfort and encouragement. I love you Norma

“What I believe about God is the most important thing about me.” A.W. Tozer I worked with a doctoral student while attaining my master’s degree in counseling and guidance. He came to my fourth grade classroom and taught the students how what we believe directly affects our feelings and actions. The parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 gives an example of how important it is to have an accurate perception of God. “But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug

“Put everything you have into the care of your heart, for it determines what your life amounts to.” Dallas Willard A week after surgery I felt flat, numb, emotionless. That’s a sure sign that something is not right within my heart. There is a hurt that hasn’t been healed, a lie I’ve believed, an offense I haven’t forgiven, a loss I haven’t grieved, or I’m controlling and putting a cap on my emotions in hopes of not feeling pain. The last time I did that was in 1995. My husba

“Honesty gives others the freedom to be honest as well, opening up the possibility of deeper connection and friendship.” Shauna Niequist After church a friend came up to me and expressed her appreciation for my vulnerability in my blog posts and how that makes people trust me. She was inspired by my cancer diagnosis post titled “Game On.” I told her how recently God has asked me to go deeper in sharing my heart and His heart with my blog audience. He wants me to leave the sh

“What difference does it make to you what someone else becomes, or says, or does? You do not need to answer for others, only for yourself.” Thomas a Kempis Since responsibility is my number one strength, it’s easy for me to take on what is really other people’s responsibility. And when I do that, worry opens the door to my heart, climbs up on the couch, and makes itself right at home. Recently I found myself fretting over a possible outcome for a loved one’s life. I would w

“When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow.” Shauna Niequist Life is bittersweet. It’s full of bitter moments and sweet ones. The bitter instances make the sweet ones sweeter. Harsh experiences in life give us greater appreciation for the blessings we receive. If our lives were always easy, where everything seems to go the way we want it to go, then we’d most likely take it for granted and be less grateful. Proverbs 30:8-

“A self-promise is an agreement with ourselves that binds us.” Thom Gardner I received many of my sister’s clothes growing up, because I was the youngest daughter. Hand me downs is good stewardship. But in the emotional realm, there are unbeneficial kinds of hand me downs we can pass on to our children and others. As long as I live I will pursue emotional wholeness, for that’s how God has wired me. My motivation to have my heart made whole is to have closer connections with G

“It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” George Eliot God’s voice challenged me over the weekend when I heard Him say, “Become who I’ve created you to be!” He said He would dispel the lies the enemy has fed to me and release His truth and revelation of who I am in Him. God encouraged me to no longer hold back and to cease my timidity in embracing His call on my life. The Holy Spirit convicted me with this truth: It is just as much of a sin to hold back from being

“Deception is a lie wearing a tuxedo in disguise.” Elmer Murdoch Deception began in the Garden of Eden. Disguised as a serpent, Satan deceived Eve. He mixed in a little truth with his lies and misled her. Eve listened, believed and acted on Satan’s lie. Deception gave birth to sin and all of our troubles began from that first act of deception. While reading I Kings chapter thirteen, I was gripped with the fear of the Lord to not want to be deceived by the enemy. In this passa

“Everyone has problems. It’s how we choose to deal with our problems that matters. Some people choose to be whiners-some choose to be winners. Some choose to be victims-some choose to be victors.” Richard Paul Evans You are not a victim. An insidious disease disguised as a victim mentality has crept into our culture. Its sister viruses are self-pity and rejection thinking with pride at its foundation. When we mainly have our focus on ourselves, becoming a victim is a blink aw

“There are no harmless lies. We cannot expose ourselves to the world’s false, deceptive way of thinking and come out unscathed. Eve’s first mistake was not eating the fruit; her first mistake was listening to the Serpent.” Nancy Leigh DeMoss Fault lines. We all have them hiding quietly within our minds. “Fault line refers to a long crack, break or fracture on the surface of the earth. Fault lines are usually caused by a shift of tectonic plates.” The fault lines I’m personall

“They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.” Apostle Paul (Romans 1:25) One of my least favorite memories from high school was running hurdles for track. It was difficult to lift my legs high enough to clear the hurdles so I could get to the finish line. Frequently the hurdle would fall over, or worse yet, I’d fall over! Life is like a track meet. We start at point A and desire to get to point B. But sometimes