Ways To Give

Heartland

Written by Charlene Friesen

Do you have a hardened, anxious heart that needs softening? We have women who would like to pray with you.

“The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown” (Matthew 13:22-23).

Back in the day when I had rhythm, our music class swung and swayed to such Folk tunes as This Land is Your Land. This toe tapping, timeless song, penned by Woody Guthrie, refers to waving fields of wheat, an endless skyway and a glorious sun. Healthy soil, complimented by cheery weather, encouraged a crop of golden wheat to stretch to the sky.

Woody’s right, “this land is made for you and me”. God made this land for you and me to relish. This land is also made for you and me to impact for God’s glory. If we want to declare Jesus Christ on this earth, the ground of our hearts must be fertile, like good soil.

Look at the patch of grass in your yard or on your property. Think of that parcel of land as your heart. What is the condition of your “heartland?” Is your heart full of thorns and thistles or does it produce a healthy crop that is blessed by God?

Fertile soil is tilled and enriched with nutrients, encouraging a healthy crop. Those with a healthy heartland allow God to break up the unplowed soil of the heart with His discipline.  This type of heartland drinks in God’s truth and sprout seeds of righteousness.

Or perhaps your land is overgrown with thorns and thistles.  Worries, anxiety, fear, financial uncertainty or anger choke God’s truth, rendering your heartland barren.

Do you want your heartland to be bountiful? Give God permission to cultivate your hardened, anxious heart, melting away like wax those thorny, unyielding roots. Now you’re ready to receive God’s seeds of truth. Drink in His word and watch your heartland flourish.

This land is made for you and me. What a gift! Give back tenfold by allowing God to cultivate your heartland.

Lord, I’m tired of living a fruitless life. Take those stubborn, thorny patches of my heartland and cultivate them with Your discipline and truth. Prepare me for a season of bounty.

Questions: What areas of your heartland need God’s cultivating?

About Charlene Friesen

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, God Says It; I Believe It; That Settles It, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog

Tags: anger, discipline, earth, fertile, financial, God, heartland, Jesus Christ, nutrients, soil, Uncertainty

3 Responses to “Heartland”

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• sharon says:

  November 26, 2008 at 6:56 pm

  thank you
• kanj says:

  November 24, 2008 at 6:39 pm

  yes, thank you Charlene for your experience and wisdom in this devotional. discipline is indeed reaping in my life the rewards of God’s planting. anticipation of a bountiful spiritual growth will come in time for me with patience(although I will admit that impatience still lingers but maturity will shine through.
• Gail Rodgers says:

  November 24, 2008 at 2:30 pm

  Good thoughts, Charlene. A good reminder to keep the soil tilled and ready for what ever seeds God is ready to plant within us to increase that harvest.

  Today I have been reminded of how important it is to be in His presence and how that impacts the state of my heart profoundly.

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