Author Denise Hildreth Jones shares a guest post to encourage you: The Performing Heart

Please welcome Denise Hildreth Jones, with another guest post related to her new book, "Reclaiming Your Heart."

I slipped the dress on one item at a time. The group of women who had gathered for our annual VBS for Women event sat staring wide eyed. As I slipped on the skirt I described how the legalistic environment I had grown up in had been a piece in shutting down my heart.

As I slipped on the blouse, (all over the clothing I already had on), I shared how losing my dream of becoming a Christian singer shut down another piece of my heart. As I slipped on the matching hat, (Oh
yeah, sister had it going on) I shared how I had lost even more of my heart in my thirteen year marriage.

As I stood up there in an outfit ready for high-tea with the queen, I let them know that this was a picture of the performer I had become. With my shut-down heart I had created a persona that only let people see what I wanted them to see. The bad and grizzly and sad, well I kept all of that to myself.
 
The performing heart believes the lie that God hasn’t made us enough. Our story isn’t pretty enough. Our story isn’t fancy enough. Our story well…isn’t enough. And so we put on our shiny shoes and snazzy hat and write our own story. I didn’t want people to know my pain. I didn’t want people to see my tears. I just wanted them to think that I had it altogether. And oh the sadness in that lie.

 God has never needed us to have it altogether. But He requires us to accept the story He has written and continues to write for us. Why? Because He is the ultimate Author. He is even called “The Author and Finisher.”

The prophet Isaiah wrote “Does a book say to its author, ‘He didn’t write a word of me’? Does a meal say to the woman who cooked it, ‘She had nothing to do with this’”? And yet that is what the performing heart does every day. And it is a sin. Yes, sad to say but it is a sin.

And in order for our hearts to be reclaimed we have to own that sin. Repent of it. And then go on the quest to reclaim our heart. Reclaiming the performing heart starts by owning our story. So, I encourage you today to do two things in these next few weeks. Write down your story. All of it. Even the parts that you wish weren’t a part of it. And then tell your story to a person you trust with your heart. All of it.

There is such freedom when we own truth and bring those things in the dark into the light.

Remember, no one chapter is the whole of your story. It is and always will be simply a piece…there is much left to write.

And you can trust The Author…

Watch Denise's video here.

What are you studying? (Number 22 in a series)

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Philippians 4:8 (KJV)


On my cross-country drive, I played a series of CDs: my favorite gospel albums and a couple of sermons on CD given to me by a coworker. They were a tremendous encouragement when I had to drive through three day of rain with a good portion of my worldly possessions stacked on top of the car. The fourth day I was out of the rain, but had to deal with an interlude of sleet. Through it all, I was accompanied by praise and worship. I was reminded I wasn’t facing the situation alone.

When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he offered them verbal “pats on the back” and exhorted them to focus on the good and true things, not the evil and false. This strikes me as a very wise counsel for us today, as well.

What are you studying? Where are you focused? Those are the things that will color your thinking and your actions. Are you studying God’s Word or a gossip magazine? Do you listen to music that uplifts you or does it fill you with angry images? Is your time spent in positive pursuits or wasted in pointless activities?

We live in a world where many people will do almost anything in their pursuit of fame or wealth. There are game shows requiring people to win, not by playing more skillfully but by destroying the efforts of other players. Insults are the expected conversational tool. Other programs offer participants the opportunity to take physical risks, or be subjected to humiliating scenarios in hope of gain.

Much of the music today deals with unsavory language and situations. Marital infidelity, abusive treatment, drug use, promiscuous sexual relations – all of these and more are fodder for the music mill.

These sorts of “entertainment” don’t come under the heading of “good” or “true” or “virtue.” If we spend our time immersed in such things, we risk a jaundiced view of our fellow humans. Where is your focus? What are you feeding your heart and mind?

Father, thank you for encouraging words and uplifting music to keep us focused on You. Help us to think on things honoring You and to shun the things which cloud our minds. Keep our minds focused on what is pleasing to You.

© 2009 Mary Beth Magee