Easter is just around the corner and lots of folks are figuring out how they’re going to spend the day…
and thinking more and more about what happened on that day…
what Jesus did for us…
Tag Archive - heart
The Hydrologic Cycle And Your Heart: Focus and Runoff
The Hydrologic Cycle And Your Heart is a 6-post series about some of the choices we make and how they affect our heart.Please check out the other posts in this series here…
Focus and runoff…
What is my focus? We can think of focusing in the right direction as mind over matter. If you manage your environment and are intentional about your focus, you can make the best of ANY situation or circumstance.
Remember the fertile soil that God found in Paul’s heart? That verse…
“Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice!”
… and the exclamation point…
there’s more to this story and how Paul directed his focus…
Paul continues…
“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable… if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:4-9 (bold added for emphasis)
Focusing on the good stuff…
that which is true…
noble…
right…
pure…
lovely…
and admirable…
think about such things…
and there you will find peace…
and the heart filled with love that God wants for you.
And what about the rest?
Runoff... just a waste? Ummm, not all of it!
Runoff.
Whenever the soil becomes saturated, reaching it’s capacity to allow additional water to infiltrate, or when the soil has low permeability, the remaining rainwater becomes runoff.
Runoff requires a little mojo…
did someone mention a lower-case o-word?
Overcoming “the Neins” or negative murky runoff with optimism…
I came up with 2 choices…
- My first choice is to overcome The Neins with goodness. Yep, that’s using your mojo… and it’s our motto… this is possible and likely in many scenario’s… bingo… or Bravo Echo Foxtrot Tango… dress it up with love like a flamingo… top it off with a glowing halo… disguise it all incognito… make it silly giggle as in jello… spice it up with oregano… or a delicious warm bowl of Spaghetti O’s (ooops, I mean o’s)…
be patient, and if that doesn’t work…
- Reduce, or, if necessary, Eliminate some of it… tune it out (lower the audio)… remove it from close proximity (relo)… that’s correct, an embargo… send it down the Congo… pronto…
However, if neither choice works, you’ve pretty much run out of options… but be at peace and don’t let it drive you loco… like the entire WWW must think of me after reading this one 
In this chapter we focused on an F-word… and touched on forgiveness. If we manage our environment and aim our focus… the rest is a mend… and you’ll be living the best that your heart has to offer!
You just finished reading part 6 of 6 in the post series The Hydrologic Cycle And Your Heart. I would love to hear your feedback on this series… you can post comments or contact me here. Thank you I really appreciate it!
The Hydrologic Cycle And Your Heart: Groundwater/Storage
Well... it is a pretty deep subject!
The Hydrologic Cycle And Your Heart is a 6-post series about some of the choices we make and how they affect our heart.Please check out the other posts in this series here…
It’s one thing to just let something or another into your heart… and quite another to store it in there.
The word “storage” to me has a tone of permanence. Rainwater infiltrating into the ground to create recharge or storage in the form of groundwater. Groundwater flows… typically very slowly under natural conditions. The underground rivers that make up storage in the form of groundwater are epic… they are often considered resources, abundant in quantity and quality that can benefit us. At the same time, as we are learning in Northeast Florida, this resource (ours is call the Floridan Aquifer) is finite. The same is true of all the groundwater resources present throughout the world. Some of the world’s greatest aquifers include the Great Artesian Basin in Australia, the Guarani Aquifer in South America, and the Ogallala Aquifer in the central U.S. Renewable resources, when we consider mass balance and use them at a rate no greater than mother nature can replenish. And when we use the resources at a rate greater than recharge, we can rest assured that one day storage will run out… and we then have to turn to alternative resources to help supply our needs.
… and so it goes with the love muscle buried within our chest… well, to some degree, that is. Adding water to the underground river is like adding the fruit of the spirit to your heart… the abundant overflow is an outpouring of His great love.
Brewing goodness in the heart conditions it to function in the warm, loving way that God intended. This goes very deeply into our focus.
The baseflow…
of our heart is…
the vibe we resonate…
How to keep it in tune with goodness?
Guard – Don’t let bad stuff in there in the first place. Think surroundings/environment. Remember, you make the choice! Pastor Tom Bary of Neptune Baptist Church once said… “If you hang out in the barber shop long enough sooner or later you’re going to get your hair cut.” So true, Tom. The same is true about my peanut butter. Yep, I can handle it… well, not really. So why keep it around? That’s a part of guarding your heart. Just do it. You’ll be glad you did. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an aquiclude… but at least be wise and put up an aquitard.
Flush – Let go of the bad… retain the good stuff. A little bad water splashing over or through the aquitard doesn’t mean you have to keep it in there. Sure, we all make mistakes… Live, Love, Learn, Leave a Legacy, right? I want to learn from every experience, and just hold on to the good stuff. Flush the rest. How? Forgiveness… if it involves someone who’s hurt you. Forgiveness is the biggest word in maintaining the good condition of your heart. More on that one later… Also, don’t hang on to evil wicked badness. Let it go through by adjusting your focus…
Focus – Doing good adds goodness. Be intentional about this one. Remember what the fruit of the spirit is… that’s goodness. Focus on doing good, a good environment, and good thoughts. We’re going big and bold with this F-word tomorrow… that’s Focus… until then, keep smiling and being great!!
How do you guard… flush… and focus?
The Hydrologic Cycle And Your Heart: Ker-thump!
Puddles of blessings... enough said.
The Hydrologic Cycle And Your Heart is a 6-post series about some of the choices we make and how they affect our heart.Please check out the other posts in this series here…
Did you know that…
kerplunk + pitter patter = ker-thump ?
makes sense, right?
I thought so… Lord help us if you are all thinking along the same lines as me
After the rain falls it has to go somewhere… puddles of blessings can pile up… and then there are more choices to be made…
In the environment, rainwater can infiltrate, or create recharge to storage. Here, the process happens on a first come, first served basis…
Hopefully, we don’t fill our heart this way. Our heart, mind and soul are filled based on exposure to a wide variety of environmental stimuli and how these influences affect a series of what I call “filters.” These filters are the sum of our experiences and our heart. The filters determine how we interpret information as it reaches our mind. Our filters can work for us… or against us. I’ll be sharing more on the filters later…
Moreover, as it relates to the hydrologic cycle and our heart, it’s our surroundings that we have the ability to influence… influence in a way that will significantly impact what stimuli reach our filters and, ultimately, our inner being… our heart, mind and soul.
Soil… a natural filter… this filter can be fertile… just as your heart can be fertile soil when you’re open to and ready for the Holy Spirit to breathe through you.
Continued exposure to a given stimuli will create infiltration, or recharge, to our heart. So take a good look around you and you’ll find a glimpse of what you’re feeding deep down into the depths of your heart. As I look at my surroundings… who… what… and who’s am I? Honestly? Am I being completely honest with myself? Remember, this is for each of us and if I am not honest with myself on this one I’m only holding myself back. There is no one else to blame.
Aside from your relationship with God, I believe what happens here in the cycle… what you do with the stuff of life… has more to do with the condition of your heart and your ability to love than anything else you’ll do.
I firmly believe what you let into your heart starts with your surroundings… and you have a great deal of influence in determining your surroundings.
Remember, love is an action verb… and love comes from God…
- Love is a choice… we can choose to love others or not, and that defines who we are.
- Our life decisions are based on whatever it is that we love the most.
- Love is THE action verb of life, and of our heart… “Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:18
So soak it up… goodness, that is… and lots of it… surround yourself will good people and influences… and you will be overwhelmed with His great love…
What are some of the traits in other people and your surroundings that you look for when making choices about your environment?
The Hydrologic Cycle And Your Heart: Going Up
Going Up?
The Hydrologic Cycle And Your Heart is a 6-post series about some of the choices we make and how they affect our heart. Please check out the other posts in this series here…
There are two “Going Up” processes in the hydrologic cycle:
Evaporation – Vaporization of a liquid from the surface of the liquid into the atmosphere. Evaporation usually requires energy… this energy is supplied by the sun in our environment. Vaporization is liquid on the rise… it’s going up!
Transpiration – The “giving off” of water vapor by plants into the atmosphere. Transpiration is plant sweat. Plants receive something in exchange for their sticky sweat… cooling off and carbon dioxide. In that regard, their sweat is a sweet exchange for other goodness that they need.
Both evaporation and transpiration involve water vapor heading to the clouds… it’s goodness on the rise.
I think of E/T as what we’re sharing from the heart…
Within me, I can think of similar process…
What’s the vibe my heart is giving off?
What is leaving my heart and going up…
Up to my mind?
Up to my soul?
… and what is radiating out of my heart, mind and soul…
going up… or giving off from my presence to my surroundings…
what do I reflect to the other people around me, and to my environment…
what does the wave of my presence look like…
a warm smile and friendly greeting…
an optimistic outlook…
encouragement…
abundant fruit…
love…
going up / give off…
What’s around you?
What’s heading to the clouds…
and what are you sharing?
Going up may require some energy… or some sweat… and, like E/T, this is an exchange…
when you’re giving up goodness there’s something delightful coming back your way…
The Hydrologic Cycle And Your Heart
Hello kerplunk, this is my dear friend pitter patter...
The Hydrologic Cycle And Your Heart is a 6-post series about some of the choices we make and how they affect our heart.
Water is everywhere in our world… we breathe it, drink it, swim in it, snowboard on it, you can hear it go whooosh, splash, crash, and kerplunk. It is essential, forming the very basis of us… the very basis of life itself. Water in our environment is present within a free flowing cycle or system… there really is no beginning or end to it.
Much the same as life… water happens.
The hydrologic cycle goes straight to the heart of the matter of how we nurture our heart thorough the course of life. This goes deep… but in a light-hearted way. Like so much in life, it is what you make of it… you’ve got some choices to make.
All of our thoughts, feelings and emotions cycle or process through our heart.
Lighten up on your heart and connect with a life filled with love… joy… and peace. Hello kerplunk, this is my dear friend pitter patter… you two have much in common… be mindful of the direction of your affection and you two will be holding hands before you know it!
The hydrologic cycle and your heart…
inflows…
outflows…
and storage…
what are you letting into your heart?
what flows out of your heart?
what are you storing in your heart?
what happens in there?
What happens in our heart… mind… and soul... it is a linked system… you do have some choices. When you “live from the heart” … and your heart is in the right place…you’re living the life of abundant overflow.
What will you choose?
Processing Our Thoughts Through Our Heart
I’m writing today as a contributor to the Christian Writers Blog Chain. Our theme for this month is “Gifts Of The Heart” Christianwriters.com is an excellent place to network if you’re a Christian writer or author.
Processing our thoughts through our heart.
Is this possible?
I wrote about The Link Between The Heart, Mind And Soul a few months ago. If I want to always process my thoughts in the context of Our Greatest Commandments, I need to think about processing my thoughts through my heart. With the gift of God’s amazing love in my heart, I am provided the ability to do this.
one of God's natural dams with a soothing series of waterfalls
When the abundance of God’s fruit fills our hearts and overflows it is like the energy stored within waters held behind a dam: the water has reached a more significant potential than it ever could have on its own, without the dam. The dam helps the water build up and store its energy in the same way God can fill our hearts to become overflowing rivers of love and joy that touch the lives of all who cross our paths.
“It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3: 22-23
When I wake up every morning the tone is set for my whole day. I am generally at peace and eager to serve the Lord. God’s faithfulness to me gives me the strength and passion to eagerly seek pleasing Him throughout the day… every day. His unwavering love warms my heart. It sends a clear and consistent message to me… there isn’t a bunch of interference or ambiguity. I can readily identify its context. That warmth transforms into a desire to please Him even more, and draws me in even closer. It is His faithfulness to me that I can count on… not the other way around… He is the constant, the known.
This draw calls me to just be me. Though His faithfulness to me, I know that He knows me… and accepts me. God accepts me, and you too. God accepts us for just who we are. I’m certain He would like for me to transform by growing in my relationship with Jesus, but at the same time he readily accepts me just as I am.
Turn the Holy Spirit loose in your life and He will turn your heart into a beautiful and lovely organ. You will know the wonders of His great love…
Finding His love starts with identifying with His faithfulness…
and through the desire to please Him… and know Him.
I really want to know Him.
Do you hear all of heaven and nature singing?
Christian Writers Blog Chain
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