Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear. (Psalm 10:17 NKJV)

The condition of our heart is one of the most vital aspects of our Spiritual life. When Jesus told the parable of the sower and the seed, the soil depicted the heart. There were those hearts of stone, which could not accept His teachings; the Word of God bouncing off them with nil effect.

There were those hearts that were shallow, and before the Word could take root, it was choked out by the distractions of the world.

Then there was the soft, deep heart into which the Word fell and grew; till it multiplied and bore much fruit.

However one thing that may go unnoticed is that the ground (heart) had first been prepared to accept the seed. No soil is loamy and good without having first been thoroughly weeded and turned by a trowel.

For God's Word to take effect in our hearts; for it to grow and bear much fruit in our lives, we must constantly be allowing Him to tend it by weeding out the things that hinder us, constrict us, or distract us. We must permit the Lord to turn over the soil of our hearts so He can know all of its depths, that His Word may take root, flourish and manifest itself in our lives as good fruit.

Are there placed in your heart that are overgrown and needing the tending of the Gardener?

I have decided to take a stab at writing daily devotionals for my blog, both for the purpose of my own studies, and that my awesome readers may just get something out of my ramblings on Scripture. This is a new idea, and I would be very interested to hear feedback on what you think about them and if you think it will work. (i.e., be found useful and informative to the general public)

Since I feel far to inadequate to officially name them "devotionals" I have adapted my own name for them, since they are based off my own ramblings. I hope the writers among you will forgive me. ;)

Please share your thoughts in the comments! Hate it? Love it? Average? Meh? Suggestions? I'll be eagerly awaiting your feedback.

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Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.” (Isaiah 29:13, 14 NKJV)

There are times where life drags you from the day to day and throws you into upheaval, in everything from your daily routines to your daily devotions. Someone may call needing a hand, dragging you away from your ordinary day to soak up all of your time; arriving home late to collapse in bed at night with nothing more than a briefly murmured prayer. It may be a holiday season with a houseful of aunts, uncles and cousins, where you haven't even seconds to spare for some quiet time. Either way, we all have those periods where the world kidnaps us for a ride on its rollercoaster circuit of confusion and it is during these times of spiritual depravity that our heart before God fills in.

The above verse tells about a people who say all the right things according to the Lord; do all the right actions such as reciting Scripture and going to church, yet are without hearts that are closely communing with Him. These people are ones who wither and die spiritually when life takes them for a whirl. They conform to men's standards of righteousness by works, rather than cultivating a heart that is passionately on fire their Saviour.

Work on strengthening the heart ties you have between yourself and God rather than falling into the trap that merely good habits will make you acceptable before Him. This is not to say that spending ample time in His Word and in prayer are not important, but when times come that you are without devotions to read or a Bible to study, your heart relationship with the Lord is the ground you will be standing on, so make sure it is firm.
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Every single car I see is blue.

I recently borrowed a book from a friend called How to Ruin Your Life by 40 by Steve Farrar, and though I haven't gotten far through it, I thought I would share this segment out of the second or third chapter that really impacted me. I think about so many people, and-- well, I guess I'll let you read it yourself.


A number of years ago, I wrote a book titled Finishing Strong. And in that book, I told the story of John Bisagno. John is now retired, but he pastored in Houston for many years.

When Bisagno was twenty-one, he was very excited. He was getting ready to graduate from college and marry the love of his life. He also decided to go into full-time ministry. He was very optimistic about his future. One night, he was having dinner at his fiancee's home. After dinner, he went outside on the porch with his future father-in-law, Dr. Paul Beck. Dr. Beck had been in ministry since he was John's age. You could say he'd seen a lot of water go under the bridge. As they were talking about John's future plans and dreams, Dr. Beck gave him some advice: "As you go into ministry, John, make sure you stay close to Christ every day."

Young John replied, "Yes, sir. I know that's important."

 His future father-in-law continued:

You're just getting started in this race. And it's a very long race. You won't hit the finish line until you're in your seventies or eighties. The finish line is a long way off, John. But the goal of this race is to finish strong. And that's the last thing that Satan wants you to do. That's why you have to keep your heart close to Christ every day. It's been my experience that for every ten men who start strong with Christ in their twenties, only one out of those ten will finish strong.

That shocked John Bisagno. The staggering statistic left him in disbelief.

"That can't be. Just one out of ten?"

"Unfortunately, that has been my experience. Some men are taken out by love of money, others are taken out by theological liberalism, and many more are taken out by [s] immorality. Satan knows how to lay a trap and set an ambush. He knows every man's weaknesses. That's why it's been my experience that only one out of ten will finish strong."

John Bisagno was blown away by the remarks of the older man. He was so stunned that he went home and started thinking about his friends. They were all in their early twenties and all had bright futures. They were fully committed followers of Christ.

He was graduating from a Bible college, and many of his buddies, like him, were going to be pastors, missionaries, youth leaders, and worship ministers. He couldn't believe that only one out of ten would finish strong. The very idea shook him to the core. And it was then that he got the idea.

He took his Bible and turned to a blank page in the back. On that page, he wrote down the names of twenty-four of his friends. He knew these guys. Like him, they were all in their early twenties. The idea that all of them wouldn't finish strong was unthinkable. Maybe Satan would pick off a few, but surely most of them would stick. These were guys who would be willing to die for Christ, if necessary.

I heard Bisagno tell this story a number of years ago. It got very quiet in the room when he began to tell the rest of the story.

"As the years have gone by, from time to time I have gotten a letter or telephone call. And sadly, I have turned to the page in the back of my Bible and had to put a line through a name. I would always do that with such great sadness. The years have gone by and I am now fifty-three years old. Of the original twenty-four names in the back of my Bible, there are just three of us left."

Twenty-four young men who were all in their early twenties. Thirty-two years later, there are just three of them still standing. The majority of those men had ruined their lives before they turned forty.

What will your life look at when you turn forty?