Hallstrom Heart & Home
Let your thoughts be of the Lord!
To entertain means to provide (someone) with amusement or enjoyment; to give attention or consideration to (an idea, suggestion, or feeling). When we give attention to the Lord, to His Word, by reading it and listening to it, we are entertaining Him! We are keeping Him in the forefront of our mind!
When we do this, and we consistently show up day after day, He actually begins to entertain us. He begins to trust us with His goodness. His entertainment will come in the form of visions, dreams, being filled with joy and peace, and feelings from above. We experience good days (Psalm 34:11-12). We experience rest for our souls (Psalm 62:1). When we come to the Lord, He gives us good sleep! (Psalm 4:8)
When we keep our thoughts on things above, God gives us beautiful adventures with Him. When I am reading the Bible, God has revealed mysteries and secrets of His Word to my heart. I have had the joy and privilege of feeling the Lord smile at me. That only happens when I stay close to Him.
When we choose to lay our heads on His breast, as John did in John 13:23-26, we will be given special revelations as well.
In John 13 all the disciples are eating at the table. They are enjoying dinner and Jesus knows the betrayal of Judas is coming. The disciples were also arguing about who was the greatest (Luke 22:24). Oh! To have your friends arguing to each other about who is the best when Jesus is about to go like a lamb to the slaughter!
But do you know what else we see in this passage? John, with his head on Jesus's chest. He wasn't worried about what was to come, or even concerned about what Jesus was saying about His impending doom. Do you know who was? Peter. Peter was immediately concerned about who would betray Jesus and became worried. He leaned over to John and said, "John! Ask Jesus who it is! Ask Him!"
John leaned forward when Peter gestured to him, and then leaned back on Jesus. He asked the Lord who would betray Him, and you know what? Jesus told John.
John figured out the secret to walking with the Lord. It's right in the verse preceding this one! John 13:23 "Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved." John was leaning on Jesus because he felt loved by Him. He knew Jesus loved him. John figured out the secret. Jesus loves him! Because John felt the Lord's love for him, he spent time with Him, he leaned on Him, and Jesus revealed secrets to him.
Jesus Loves You!
When you know how much Jesus loves you and wants to spend time with you, you begin to hunger to be in His presence. The more you come into His presence, without even realizing it, your behavior and actions will begin to reflect Jesus.
As you kneel before the King, He will open up His Word to you and it will become alive. Suddenly it won't be a book collecting dust on the shelf, it will be the living, breathing Word of God that breathes life into you.
The more you come to Jesus, the more you realize just how much He loves you. John figured this out. You know, the only book that says "John, the disciple whom Jesus loved" was in the book of John. Matthew doesn't say that about John. Luke doesn't say that about John. Only John says that about John! John practiced God's Word. When he wrote down his name, John added "the disciple whom Jesus loved."
Do you do that? Do you look at yourself and say, "(name) the one whom Jesus loves!"? Do you remind yourself that you are the beloved, worth dying for? Do you look in the mirror and say to yourself, "I am so loved. Loved enough that Jesus bled for me. Loved enough that Jesus took on all my sins. Loved enough that because He took my place of judgment, I am able to take on His righteousness!"
Do today what John did then. Practice remembering that the Lord loves you. This is how you entertain thoughts from above.
Be Hungry, Not Condemned
If you ever feel guilty or condemned for not reading the Bible, or spending time with the Lord, recognize where those thoughts came from. There is an erroneous teaching that the Holy Spirit convicts you with guilt if you haven't read your Bible for awhile. It's not true! The Holy Spirit convicts us yes, not with guilt, but with hunger. He convicts us of our sin not so that we feel guilty, but so that we repent and turn away from it. The Holy Spirit convicts of living righteously!
Guilt and condemnation are straight from the pit of hell. Any guilt or condemnation you ever feel for not spending time in the Word comes from Satan, and not from the Lord. Because my Bible says this: "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1a)
You are not condemned. The devil condemns you and guilts you with thoughts like, "bad things are happening to you because you haven't opened your Bible....God hates Christians who don't give attention to His Word....you haven't gone to church in awhile, God is angry with you." When this happens, ignore it. They're not your thoughts!
I now see the conviction of the Holy Spirit to read the Bible for what it truly is, hunger. I become hungry for time with Jesus. I become thirsty for the living water that quenches my soul. His Word is my bread! If I haven't opened my Bible for a day or two, I can feel the tug on my heart to open it.
One night, after a long week, I was watching a tv show with my husband. As I was sitting there, I felt a tug on my soul, and my eyes drifted toward my Bible on the shelf next to the tv. I remember saying to the Holy Spirit, "I feel your tug on me to open the Word. I feel it in my soul." And He responded to me, "I am tugging because Jesus is hungry to spend time with you. He misses you. He misses your friendship."
Oh! How beautiful is our Lord's heart for me! For you! He is hungry to spend time with us! He thirsts for us to be in His presence. That is the conviction you feel. It's the Holy Spirit saying to you, "I'm hungry for more of you! Come be with me. I want your friendship. I want your sweet communion. I want to hear from you, to hear your prayers, to hear you heart. Come be with me and listen as I talk to you and fill you up to overflowing. My heart literally beats for you. Will you come listen to it?"
When the conviction comes, say yes to Jesus! He longs to spend time with you and hungers for your presence. Will you give it to Him?
As you spend time in His Word, your thoughts will begin to flow with His thoughts and His ways. You will find that instead of remaining stuck in earthly thoughts, you are lifted from the ground and set in Heavenly Places with our Lord Jesus.
Entertain thoughts from above. Read your Bible. Listen to inspired sermons. Commune with Jesus. He loves you and He hungers to be near you.
With joy, Jessica
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