The Heart & Faith

While God has allowed Covid-19 to touch earth and cause as much harm as it has, it has reset humanity to think about what’s most important. And hopefully, it has caused people to sit back and think about what they can be doing better or differently.

Friendships and what they mean should not be complicated and we see clear examples from the Bible of the closest of friendships. SEELE’s Editor, reminds us what friendships are, being aware of what a friend is and what an acquaintance is; and provides practical thoughts on how to handle a friend that betrayed you in some way.

Seele contributor, Cassandra Portee reminds us that in Jesus we have a true friend, and that when we face trials and setbacks that if we place them into His hands, we will fare better and have His peace.

Seele Editor points out the powerful message of the book of James because it reminds us what real Christianity is supposed to look like. James 2: 1-9 is calling out favoritism for what it is: evil and a sin.

A Psalm to cheer the heart!

An in depth look at what the Bible says about refugees.

The “heart” is used over 1,000 times in the Old and New Testaments combined. The Old Testament uses the word “heart”, and the New Testament often uses its synonym of “strong desires.”

It takes around 2 ½ months, from the time of sowing to the time of harvest, for carrots to grow. And don't forget you plant and harvest carrots in different seasons. 

In life and at different seasons we find ourselves asking God “what is it that you want from me?” Perhaps we find ourselves asking that when we’re in great need of something, and it’s not happening, so in exasperation we cry out to God “if it’s anything I’ve done/I am doing wrong please tell me- I’ll correct it. What is it that you want from me? I don’t know what to do anymore?”

We are all incomplete. We are sometimes victims and we are sometimes oppressors. We are sometimes the Israelites in slavery in Egypt. And we are sometimes Pharaoh oppressing others with a bad attitude, mistreatment, selfishness, or hatred.

When you’re waiting on God for something, how is your thinking being directed? Is it full of confident expectation that He will deliver at the right time? Or, do you curse God after the blessing hasn’t come in your desired time?

Most of us don’t like to hear about ourselves from someone else, especially when it’s true- the uncomfortable criticism, the negative character flaws that people can see in us that we often choose to ignore.

It’s probably one of the easiest commandments to break and I don’t think that we sit and think about the ramifications of lip flappin’ and that it reveals what’s really in our hearts. It shows how we feel the need to puff up or own egos. So what does it mean to bear false witness against another?

"The human body reacts to the sight, entertained by the imagination and gives you all kinds of false hints that stolen waters are going to be sweeter. They’re not. They leave you emptier.” Ravi Zacharias

"You have the right to feel anything. You have the right to feel offended. But, if we want to walk in fellowship with God, you don’t have the right to be offended." –John Bevere

“What to do? Should I make a decision? Where should I go? Should I take this offer? .... Oh God, please speak!” We’ve all been there, standing at a crossroads asking God to make clear to us what we should do.

The skills and desires we have, God put them in our hearts to glorify Him.