Tune My Heart

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Posted by Martha Wilson, May 30, 2023

“Create in me a clean heart O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Ps. 51:10

Every Thursday morning, I stepped into the Fellowship Hall at my church where women were buzzing around like busy bees preparing a place of beauty and order for others to gather to experience God. The sound I encountered was different from a typical Thursday. The sounds were like one of a child tapping on the keyboard of the black baby grand piano. The same note was repeatedly struck, making for an annoying song. As I drew closer, I discovered that a professional piano tuner was the source of what sounded like chaos. What appeared to be noise had a purpose in bringing this instrument into perfect tune. He struck the string and released or tightened the tension to the perfect pitch.

The busyness continued attempting not to disturb his work. But I quickly noticed he disregarded our buzzing around and remained undisturbed and focused on his task of tuning this black beauty. The headset covering his ears shut out distracting noise from accomplishing his purpose.

As I moved about the room quietly, my heart was gently pulled into what was happening. The more I listened, the more I felt God’s pulling on my heart. He was actually inviting me to allow Him to tune my heart. My heart belongs to Him, and He is the only one who can calibrate it with His heart.

We are forever in need of a heart-tuner. All of the banging of life can put one’s heart out of tune. We don’t always realize when we are out of tune with God, but there is nothing random about God’s work in my heart. Yes, it can feel like a hammer striking a wrong chord, but it is an intentional and purposeful work of the Spirit to align my heart with Almighty God. His word is that tuning hammer that aligns us with His will and purpose.

My home piano hasn’t been tuned in many years, and I am keenly aware of how poorly it sounds. I don’t know if it has gone flat or sharp, but I do know that when I press the ivory key, it sounds like I am on the neighboring key. I regularly dust the piano and wipe down the keys, but this doesn’t change the sounds that come from the beautiful instrument. Only the tuner with perfect hearing can bring it into tune.

It is easy to do the same with our lives. We can appear pretty and clean, shiny and beautiful, yet have a hard heart full of bitterness and unforgiveness. Every offense can lead to a sharp tongue or a flat response. God longs to calibrate our hearts to sound just like His. He knows how much pressure to apply and how tight to pull the strings. He longs to hold the strings of our hearts and make beautiful music for His glory. But we must allow the magnificent tuner to hold the tuning hammer and create beauty within so that beauty may flow out of our lives.

The phrase from the old hymn is playing in my spirit, and it is not sharp or flat. It is an invitation for God to tune my heart, and the tuner is waiting to tune yours also.

“Come thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace.”

Click here to listen to "Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing".

Martha Wilson is a writer, speaker, blogger and co-host of “A Burst of Hope” weekly podcast. She is the founder and director of Touching Hearts Ministries for women. She has led women to pursue an intimate relationship with Jesus for most of her adult life. She is bold, tender, and transparent as she teaches women to embrace powerful Biblical truths. Martha and her husband, Ed, live in Fayetteville, Georgia, and enjoy their blended family of five children, eight grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter. You can connect with Martha at: Facebook and Instagram @TouchingHeartsMinistries or listen to the A Burst of Hope Podcast.

A Woman After God

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Posted by Priscilla Carr, May 16, 2023

The late Dr. Charles Stanley was the first person to introduce me to David as more than a Bible “character.” He taught me that when David was a youngster, he was probably not well-treated by his older brothers and was overlooked by his father. Notice that when the Lord sent the prophet Samuel to Jesse’s home to anoint the next king of Israel, and after Samuel had rejected all 6 of David’s older brothers, Jesse didn’t even ask Samuel to consider his youngest son, David. It was Samuel who asked, “…are these all the sons you have?” (1 Samuel 16:11).

In another example, in 1 Samuel 17, when David went to replenish supplies for three of his brothers who were fighting the Philistines and Goliath, he asked one of the soldiers there, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (v. 26). Those seem like pretty harmless questions; bold questions, but very inoffensive. But David’s brother Eliab reacted in this way, “When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, ‘Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle”. (v. 28).

I can almost feel David’s pain and exasperation, “Now what have I done?’ said David. ‘Can’t I even speak?’” (v. 29). Dr. Stanley pointed out that what David experienced at home helped to shape how he saw himself and the world around him—as it would affect any of us.

I point out King David’s humanity because he was a man of like passions as we are. And his sin with Bathsheba and against Uriah might loom too large if we don’t remind ourselves that he is like we are, as the old hymn says, “prone to wander, prone to leave the One we love.” And David did love our Lord. The Lord Himself gave David the ultimate title, “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14, Acts 13:22). David was flawed (an adulterer, murderer, not a very good father…etc.). He experienced grave consequences for his sins and had “issues,” but he loved the Lord His God and had a relationship with Him.

Relationship with God is what Jesus died to give to each of us. And although King David lived prior to the advent of God’s Spirit living within us, he did experience a relationship with our Creator. An example of this relationship caught my attention in 1 Chronicles 13. After David’s coronation as king, he decided to return the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 37) to Hebron. It had been stolen by the Philistines and returned hastily to the Israelites due to God’s judgment against the Philistines (1 Sam. 6), but during King Saul’s reign Israel “…did not inquire of Him…(1 Chron. 13:3) ‘using the Ark. So, King David inquired of his countrymen and Israel’s leaders and set out to return the Ark to Hebron. Unfortunately, although he inquired of his countrymen and the leaders of Israel, he didn’t ask the Lord. And his good intentions caused the death of one of his countrymen, Uzzah, who reached out to straighten the Ark that appeared about to fall off the cart it had been placed on. God killed Uzzah immediately, and King David “was angry” (v. 11).

King David’s intentions were honorable, but in his haste to accomplish a good deed, he did not inquire of God. But as the story continues in chapter 14, we see that David didn’t pout or remain angry long but learned and began to seek God’s direction. And in chapter 15, when he again decided to return the Ark to Hebron, he made these statements, “…no one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister before Him forever.” (v. 2). And he also admitted in verse 13, “For the Lord our God burst out in anger against us because you Levites were not with us the first time, for we didn’t inquire of Him about the proper procedures.” King David, in humility, grew closer to our Lord even after failure.

God offers each of us a relationship with Himself. But because of God’s holiness, we must approach Him His way—made possible only through Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection. And to grow in our relationship, we must be honest with Him. We bring all of our “issues” and don’t deny our weaknesses and sins; we express our anger and disappointments and are willing to humble ourselves before Him and come to agree that His way is best; it’s best for us and for those around us. And as we go after His heart, we get to dwell more intimately with Him, just as King David did.

For this is what the high and exalted One says—

I live in a high and holy place,

But also, with the one who is contrite

And lowly in spirit

(Isaiah 57:15 NIV)

Priscilla Carr was born in NYC, but has lived in metro Atlanta since 1979. She is a Navy veteran trained in electronics which God used for a 30-year career at the FAA. She uses her training to provide audio support to Touching Hearts Ministries, and is the Editor and Producer of “A Burst of Hope” podcast. She began her adult new life in Jesus in 1990 right before leaving the Navy, and today she exudes her love for Jesus. She is the proud mama to two rambunctious fur kids, Gracie (Lab) and Faith (Pit-mix). Priscilla was encouraged by elementary teachers to write. She took creative writing courses in High School and college, but in the mid-eighties, she stopped writing. The desire to write has been recently reawakened, and she is thriving in her new writing adventure.

The Art Of Celebration

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Posted by Kim Stanley, May 16, 2023

I love a good celebration! Besides family celebrations, personal celebrations, work, and church celebrations, there are many life events that give us a reason to celebrate. We celebrated the birth of our newest granddaughter two weeks ago. I have plenty of pictures on my phone to show you.

We, as believers in Christ, have the best reason to celebrate! God gave his people Israel feast days and festivals to celebrate His faithfulness. They knew how to throw a party! How much more, now that we are in Christ, should we celebrate and let the world see God’s glorious beauty in our enjoyment of Him?

What does the Bible say about our celebrations?

Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. (Acts 2:46-47) (Italics added)

We celebrate in worship!

When we come together in His Name, no matter the size of the group, it is a time to celebrate with praise, prayer, reading of Scripture, enjoying fellowship, and sharing in the Lord’s supper.

Christ is present in each believer through the Holy Spirit, and He inhabits the praises of his people (Psalm 22:3). We are ensured that He is in our midst as we worship him today. We get to enjoy His Presence with other believers.

Since Christ is the fulfillment of the Law, and we no longer abide by the sacrificial system, we can celebrate by living a lifestyle of worship, offering our bodies as a living sacrifice. (Rom. 12:2) Everything we do in His Name becomes an act of worship.

I love this quote from Richard Foster’s book, Celebration of Discipline:

Celebration is central to all the Spiritual Disciplines. Without a joyful spirit of festivity, the Disciplines become dull, death-breathing tools in the hands of modern Pharisees.

Amidst the noise and confusion and lies the enemy is heaving upon our world, we must rise up, declare God’s goodness, live in His abundant grace, gather together often, and yes, celebrate our God.

We celebrate our belonging to Him, the privilege of serving in His Kingdom, and that we have a place at the table - all because of Jesus.

Celebrate God’s Love for you

You are his precious and honored child. (Isaiah 43:4)

God not only loves you, He likes you too! He is not cross with you. He delights in you! (Zech. 3:17)

God’s love for you is greater than any human love. That may be hard to comprehend, and Paul prayed that we would be able to grasp this. (Ephesians 3:18-21)

We all need love to live. And the good news is “we know how dearly God loves us because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” (Romans 5:5)

My husband Joe is a collector of coins and memorabilia. He says that an item’s value and price are determined based on what the buyer is willing to pay. Your value comes from what you are worth to God; God paid a huge price for you: His Son, Jesus.

Celebrate his love for you with a song, a dance, or a prayer of thanks.

Celebrate Repentance and Rest

One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 30:15:

In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust shall be your strength.

We can be just like the Israelites who left the Way and turned aside from the path. We can strive and attempt to manage our own sin and live by the flesh. But God is faithful to his covenant of grace. He is the Way Himself, and His Spirit in us will lead us all the way home. Our response to this is to repent and change our minds, thereby changing our direction in returning to Him. In those times, we can stop and fall back into the arms of Jesus. It can feel like jumping off a cliff, but our faith is in the One who has promised to catch us. Then we enter his rest. It will be in that quietness of our spirits and in entrusting all our cares to Him, that we will find our strength, our confidence, and our victory.

We have much to celebrate!

And the biggest celebration is yet to come as we wait with great anticipation for the wedding feast of the Lamb.

Let the dancing begin!

Kim Stanley is a worship leader, speaker, writer, and is the worship leader for Touching Hearts Ministries. She and her husband Joe have been in itinerant worship ministry for over 30 years. She is the founder and director of One Thing Worship, a retreat ministry for women that provides sacred time and space to be still and hear the voice of God. She also co-hosts a podcast called “A Burst Of Hope” with Martha Wilson. She and Joe have been married for 40 years; they have 4 grown children, one in heaven, and 6 grandchildren. They live in the south metro Atlanta area. You can connect with Kim on her website, www.joeandkimstanley.com, and on Facebook and Instagram @onethingworship.