A Melancholy Heart

This morning I woke up with emotions of joy, sadness, and a longing to press forward. I had a dream that involved many of the youth, men and woman that the Lord has brought into my life and allowed me to teach and train over the years. There was joy because I was able to see some of the wonderful things that were now being accomplished because of the seeds that were planted in their hearts, through our relationship and how they have grown. There was also sadness because some of those seeds did not grow properly and some of those people in my dream were struggling and making bad decisions. I remember in my dream beginning to cry. I truly cared for these people. Each of these decisions they were making were showing the world the condition of their heart. Then before my dream was over, one of the youth that I pastored for some time stepped forward and encouraged me by showing me his life decisions. I found those tears of sadness began to be tears of joy and I felt a pull to step forward and make sure that I planted more seeds.

This was an interesting dream because as much as I have dreamed in the past and the Lord has used these dreams to speak to me, I can never remember feeling these emotions before.

I do not know where you are at or what you are doing but please allow my dream to also encourage you.

#1 Remember that the Lord puts each person you come in contact with there and you have an opportunity to plant good seeds of who the Lord is.

#2 Not every seed planted will grow correctly, but the Lord sill continue to guide and prune each of those people’s lives. He cares for them enough to give His life and has a great plan to bring wholeness and redemption.

#3 The actions we partake in give those surrounding us a very accurate view of the condition of our heart. Work on the heart and the actions will change!

#4 Keep pressing on! If you have had disappointments, do not allow them to stop you from doing what God has asked of you!

#5 Do not allow yourself to stop caring for people as a defense mechanism. Sometimes when we get hurt it is easy to shut down and not allow people within arms reach. While you and I are still alive we have a responsibility to point people towards the only place to find hope- Jesus Christ. This can only be done if they are close enough to see what is really happening in your life.

It is weird because I am still being touched by a few of those emotions that I felt in my dream. For those of you who have allowed me to speak into your lives over the years, I thank you for the trust and pray that there have been good seeds planted that have pointed you toward your Creator. If it seems your life is not where it supposed to be, it is never to late to run to the Lord and allow Him to once again shape and direct your life. I believe the emotions I am feeling are just a small understanding of how God feels towards each of us. He has great plans for us and I encourage you to run to Him. If you feel lost, I hope you are comforted by the fact that the Lord is with you, just waiting for you to turn and surrender once more.

Matthew 18:10-14
"See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. "What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.

True Wisdom

John 8:9
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there.

This is such an amazing story and I think it is significant to point out that this is not parable or a story told by Jesus to cause people to think. This was an actual true-life account of just one of the situations that Jesus encountered while on this earth.

The story begins when these Pharisees found a woman caught in the act of adultery. Yes, this whole scenario is a bit strange, if she was caught, then where is the man that she was with. However, to continue with the story they dragged her in front of Jesus in order to find a way to trap Him in His message of love, hope, and mercy. The Pharisees knew the law stated that she was to be stoned to death and had every intention of seeing it fulfilled. It is important that we do not get stuck on the sin of adultery. Yes, adultery is a very difficult sin to deal with that has far reaching repercussions but if we were to equate sin to poison it doesn’t matter which brand of poison is chosen as it will all bring death. How did the Lord deal with all of this sin? The sin of adultery of the woman and the sin of pride and arrogance from the religious men were all sitting before Jesus awaiting His judgment. He took a moment and wrote in the dirt. No one knows for sure what He wrote. I wonder if He drew a cross, wrote some of the Pharisees sins, or maybe just needed to put Himself in a time out in order to respond to these Pharisees, as He should. After looking up from His doodling Jesus made one statement that would cause the whole group to disperse.

“If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Then Jesus went back to drawing his picture in the dirt.

This is where we see Jesus’ words break through the hard hearts of these religious men. Scripture tells us that beginning with the older ones each of the accusers dropped their rocks and walked away. Now why do you think the older ones were first? I see only one true reason for this response- they have lived longer and have had time to realize their own shortcomings and sinful moments.

After all of the accusers left there was only one person there who could throw the stone with a clear conscious and He chose to die for the woman’s sin instead of allow death to rule. Jesus did tell this woman to go and sin no more.

So what lessons of wisdom can we walk away with from this story about Jesus and His love for you and I?

#1 Jesus is very serious about the love and forgiveness He has for us

#2 Do not be so quick to pick up stones and throw them at others- we all have much more in common than we like to admit

#3 Jesus’ love does not give us the freedom to do what we want- He made it very clear that the woman was to go and sin no more

#4 The freedom Jesus gives is to be able to walk forward in a peace that only comes because He gave His life away

#5 Notice the story does not say that the woman picked up the rock and began stoning herself to death- she accepted Jesus’ forgiveness as should you and I


Dear Lord,

Please help us understand, accept, and embrace your love and forgiveness. Protect our heart from becoming arrogant and judgmental. Fill us with your Spirit to the place that if we are cut open that we will bleed of your love and mercy. Thank you for your love and for being patient with us in those moments where we take our eyes off the hope that you created for us as you gave away your life.

Amen