In this week’s Martha Monday video, Laura — who has prepared taxes for decades in her role as a CPA — shares some of her tax preparation expertise and reminds us of seven deductions you might have overlooked when preparing your taxes!
Visit our Downloads page today to find our free February ‘Do It!’ List (available in standard and blank versions, to customize for your personal situation) and Write the WORD bookmark and S.O.A.P. study pages. We are pleased to offer these free resources to our readers each month, and hope you will find them helpful as you seek to honor God with the home and resources He has given you.
And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. I Chronicles 28:9
David’s wise words to his son Solomon are part pleading, part warning. Like parents of every generation, David hopes his own life experiences can be conveyed in a way that his son will grasp them – perhaps learning the “easy way” what David learned the “hard way.”
David’s words convey a longing for his son to to listen and heed the advice he gives. David challenges Solomon to:
Acknowledge God
Serve God
Seek God
He reminds Solomon: this is the “God of your father.” That reminder is almost prophetic as we learn later of Solomon’s falling away because of his idolatrous wives. David explains what it means to serve God. Rather than mindless outward acts, his call is to be all in – heart and mind.
His final words take on a warning tone: you have a choice, son … you can either seek God and find Him, or you can forsake Him and he will reject you.
David, the man after God’s heart, lived all this, so he was well equipped to share it. Every word of his wise counsel to Solomon was learned and lived in his own life.
What about you and me? Do you and I desire to be described as, “a woman after God’s heart?”
If so, we can “eavesdrop” on David’s conversation the Solomon and heed the advice. How is God calling you and calling me to acknowledge Him, serve Him – with our whole heart and mind – and seek Him?
In this week’s devotional video, Laura unpacks II Corinthians, chapter 9, as Paul continues his teaching on the topic of giving. In chapter 8, we explored the grace of giving. This week, we are called to generosity. We invite you to watch as Laura outlines the blessings of generosity, then offers 10 self-awareness questions. We hope you will consider these questions prayerfully and carefully as you ponder what it means to be generous.
Have you subscribed to the Cross My Heart Ministry channel on YouTube? It takes only a few seconds, costs nothing, and is a great way to show your support of our ministry.
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! I Chronicles 16:10-11
King David, who has given us so many beautiful Psalms to praise God, also wrote these words of praise to celebrate the return of the Ark to Jerusalem.
In the verses just prior to these, David urges the people to:
Give thanks
Call on the Lord
Make His deeds known among the nations
Sing to Him
Tell of His wonderful acts
And then in verses 10-11, there is a call to SEEK:
Seek the Lord
Seek His strength
Seek His presence continually
If we seek the Lord, it will lead to rejoicing. What else can you do in His presence? The disciples in Matthew 28:16 (a passage we often refer to as the Great Commission) worshiped the Lord when they saw Him. The wise men at his birth sought him, bowed down, and worshiped when they beheld him. We don’t have to travel far and uncomfortably to find the Lord Jesus. He is very near – living in our hearts if we know Him.
When troubles come, we may seek many things: self-help books, “therapy” in the form of shopping or chocolate, entertainment, or just a vacation to get away from it all. But, as women of God, He should be the One we seek first. In all circumstances, we should seek his face.
David admonishes us to look and to seek. The Lord is our North Star, our compass in the storm, our pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.
To seek is to go after, to hunt for, to search. There is intent, focus and determination. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate yourself on seeking God? Do you look to Him for help and guidance in all things, large and small? How well are you and I doing at looking for him when we have a decision to make, when we need to respond to a challenging situation, or when we just don’t know what to do?
If I am seeking Him continually, then every decision will be filtered through His presence and provision. We can be reassured by David’s words to his son Solomon, ”If you seek Him, He will be found by you” (I Chronicles 28:9, II Chronicles 15:2).
Are you seeking and finding the Lord today? And when you find Him, are you praising and rejoicing in His name?
Our II Corinthians Bible study brought us to Chapter 8 this week. In this chapter, Paul encouraged the Corinthians to “excel in the grace of giving” and presents the Macedonians as an example of what that should look like. We invite you to hear Laura’s insight into this passage in this week’s teaching video!
But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First seek the counsel of the Lord.” I Kings 22:5
Jehoshaphat was the son of King Asa and the fourth king of the southern kingdom of Judah. We like to classify folks, especially Bible people, as good or bad. But the reality is that all of us are a mixture of both! King Jehoshaphat was no exception. He is considered a good king because he did make some good choices, but he also made some poor choices, as well.
He made an alliance with the northern Kingdom of Israel when he allowed (or perhaps, arranged) a marriage between his son, Jehoram, and Ophelia, the daughter of the wicked King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. That would certainly be a decision worthy of a mark in the “minus” column.
In the passage we are looking at today (I Kings 22), Jehoshaphat first gets it wrong, but quickly rebounds to make it right.
King Ahab decides it’s time to take back Ramoth Gilead from the Arameans. (It’s interesting to note that King Ahab had just been allied with the Arameans to fight the Assyrians. But now that the Assyrian threat no longer exists, he is ready to turn on his allies.)
In I Kings 22:4, King Ahab asked Jehoshaphat to help him fight the Arameans to take Ramoth Gilead. Jehoshaphat quickly and graciously agrees:
“I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”
But then his second thought—which should have been his first—is to check in with the Lord.
Oh, how often have we quickly agreed before consulting God? And it’s not just bad things. Sometimes it is a good thing we quickly agree to do, but perhaps not things the Lord has for us. What motivates us? Are we honored to be asked? Is there pride in our yes?
Do we feel guilty to say no? If so, could that be illegitimate guilt?
Do we have the desire to do the thing? If so, we need to examine our motives. Is this to fuel my ego? Is my motive to make me feel better about myself? Am I looking to impress others?
Many times, while raising our children, God pulled me back. He kindly taught me that saying no to a committee chairman or Christian leader with a ministry opportunity was actually saying yes to my family.
My best “yes” must always be the one I give to God. My eyes must be ever on Him. Seeking Him first means checking with him first. It ensures that I am protected.
Here are four reasons (and you may think of even more) to seek Him first before giving a yes to an invitation to serve:
Protection for the ministry. If I’m launching out on my own, then when life gets full and stressful, this may be the first thing I abandon. There’s no Holy Spirit power to keep me going because I said “yes” in my strength, and the ministry I committed to serve will suffer for it.
Protection from exhaustion. If my yes was in the flesh, there’s no spiritual power. It’s foolish to believe God will bless an assignment He did not give me. Even if I stick it out, my work will be frustrating because I’m plowing ahead in my own strength and that will lead to exhaustion and frustration.
Protection from distractions. When we say yes to anything other than His assignments, those obligations can distract us from assignments that are God-given and God-ordained.
Protection from the flesh. Checking in with God before committing keeps us abiding in Him. Seeking HIS will and HIS way keeps us in alignment with Him and protects us from our own flesh.
“My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare.”
Only by keeping our focus on Him can we be protected from our own pride, ego, and mixed or selfish motives.
Are you and I keeping our eyes “ever on the Lord”? Are we seeking His counsel before making a decision or giving an answer? Why not make this a commitment for 2024?
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
In Friday’s devotional video, Laura unpacked this powerful verse from our January SEEK bookmark. We invite you to watch today as she challenges us to seek Him in 2024 and discover the reward that comes with our seeking.
We may be nearly halfway through January, but it is not too late to join us for the remainder of the month as we focus on how the word “seek” is used in scripture. Just visit our Downloads page, where you’ll find our Write the WORD: Seek bookmark and optional S.O.A.P. study pages, as well as other helpful free resources for your heart and home.
In this week’s Martha Monday video, Laura shared an organization hack that can help you get rid of piles hanging around on various surfaces AND be able to instantly retrieve documents you need and want. We invite you to watch as Laura demonstrates her simple, inexpensive method (using 12 hanging file folders) to help you tame the clutter in 2024!
But if from there you seek the LORD your God you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 4:29
The Book of Deuteronomy reminds me of a parent sending a child off to college. You’ve told them everything already, you’ve modeled and trained, but it all needs to be said again before you drive away from campus. The word Deuteronomy means, “repetition” or “second law.”
Moses is repeating everything he has already shared with his “children” (the Israelites) as they prepare to enter the promised land. He will not go with them. The baton of leadership will pass to Joshua.
Do you hear the urgency in his words? He is pleading – be all in! ALL your heart and ALL your soul! He desperately desires to motivate them to live for God.
Forty years has passed since Moses led them out of Egypt. But getting out of exile is not an end in itself. If Egypt was the “negative,” the wilderness is neutral ground. Now it’s time to move into the positive: to enter the long-awaited promised land and return home to the place given their ancestor, Abraham.
Moving into the land of promise and finding the blessing that awaits them requires trust in God.
They could not free themselves from bondage in Egypt. They were hemmed in with no way out, but God made a way where there was none. He parted the Red Sea! This is a beautiful metaphor for our salvation. We, too, are in bondage, enslaved by our own sin. Like the physical situation of the Israelites, we have no way out spiritually. But God made a way. He parted the Red Sea. He sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
What comes next? Shouldn’t the Israelites in Old Testament times – and every believer now – be so grateful for freedom that we commit ourselves to living for Him?
Sadly, the Israelites fell short … as do we. They disobeyed God, even resorting to idolatry. Their disobedience delayed the blessing of the promised land as they wandered in the desert for 40 years – freed from bondage, but not yet enjoying all the blessings that awaited them.
Out of the negative, but not moving into the positive.
Are you a follower of Jesus but find yourself wandering in the desert – living less, when God has more? The call is to move forward to live for God: to follow after Him, to live according to His righteous ways.
This is the best life. This is the way of receiving all God has for us.
This is the life Moses spurs the Israels then (and us now) to lean into. An all-in, wholehearted life! No more playing the hokey pokey, in today and out tomorrow.
Seek the Lord! It’s a choice that requires action and effort. We don’t just accidentally stumble onto God’s truth. We go after it. Every. Single. Day. It means placing ourselves in His presence, putting our faces in His Book (before scrolling Facebook!), and daily seeking the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
But always remember: We don’t follow Him to find his love. We follow Him because we already are loved!
Let’s pray that 2024 is the year we move out of the desert and into Promised Land living! Are you with me? Let’s choose to be ALL IN – seeking Him with ALL our hearts and ALL our souls!
You may have read or even memorized Matthew 6:33, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness …”
But what does it mean, and what is the practical application of that truth? In our latest devotional video, Laura endeavors to answer those questions as she unpacks this powerful verse from our January Write the WORD bookmark. We invite you to watch her teaching, and then join us this month as we read, write, and study verses that highlight the word, SEEK.
We are beginning 2024 with a focus on seeking God … and we pray that you will commit to joining us in this endeavor. Visit our Downloads page today for your January Write the WORD bookmark, optional S.O.A.P. study outline pages, and other free resources to help you love and serve God and those He has placed in your sphere of influence.
Consider the answer carefully, as it determines your destiny for eternity.
Do you know Jesus?
Your answer may be, “Of course, I know Him.”
He was born in Bethlehem.
A manger was His bed.
He grew up and had 12 disciples.
He was crucified.
All true. All correct answers. But with all due respect, these are, “Just the facts, ma’am.”
I’m asking about whether you know Him. Really know Him. Do you have a relationship with Jesus? Not just know about Him – but truly know Him?
Have you given your life to Him? Is your identity for today and for tomorrow and for forever all wrapped up in knowing Him?
Would you prayerfully consider your answers to those questions?
Another Christmas has passed. You may have begun (or even finished) making exchanges, packing away decorations, and eating the last of the Christmas goodies before launching January’s healthy eating plan.
But before you let another Christmas go entirely, I’m praying God would invade your mind and pierce your heart with some probing questions:
Have I received the gift of eternal life that He offers?
Do I truly believe that Jesus, the Son of God, condescended to come to earth?
Do I truly believe that Jesus died the death I deserve and then conquered death and sin by His resurrection?
Do I believe that He is coming back?
Am I ready for Him to come back?
When I sing, “God and sinners reconciled,” am I confident that I have been reconciled to Him?
Do I really know Him or just know about Him?
Please take some time to watch and consider this week’s teaching video, the last in our study of The Characters of Christmas. My prayer is that it clearly and succinctly presents the gospel in a way that you will both hear and receive it.
Please watch and consider sharing the video:
All of us at Cross My Heart Ministry pray that the blessings of Christmas will continue into the new year for you and your loved ones.
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Matthew 2:11
The Magi, or Wise Men — as young ones, my children though they were clever when they called them the “Wise Guys” — traveled long, far, and no doubt uncomfortably to worship a baby King. We know the story. We’ve heard and can recite it. But have we considered the surprise of it: that Gentile kings (or those working for kings) would humble themselves to come worship a Jewish baby?
Their choice to come in itself includes an element of humility. Great men from powerful places choosing to worship an infant from an insignificant place. And indeed, the Gospel itself comes with many upside-down surprises – God became man, we lose our life to gain it, the last shall be first, death brings life.
If an element of humility was needed to launch their trip, we certainly also see it at the conclusion of their trip. Note their actions when they saw the babe: they bowed down and worshiped.
This phrase is seen often in scripture. The order is important: first they bowed down and then they worshiped.
The act of bowing was most likely physical here, but it points to a heart and mind that follows suit; an attitude of humility is necessary to worship our great God. When we come into the presence of our Creator, when we see our Lord and who He is — and, in contrast, who we are and are not — we will be, we must be humbled.
And from that humility, our worship will flow.
We mirror the response of the wise men when we come to God in confession, acknowledging His sovereignty, greatness, and provision. Our worship will naturally flow from our humility. Pride evaporates when we come into the presence of Jesus.
As you and I meet Him in His Word and in prayer, may the response of the Wise Men be our response, as well: bow down and (then) worship.
There’s nothing like abiding in God’s Word to lead us to bow down and worship. We invite you to write the Word with us this month as we focus on the nativity of Jesus. You can find the free Characters of Christmas bookmark, as well as the corresponding S.O.A.P. Bible study pages) on our Downloads page.
Our teaching video on The Wise Men is below, and you can view all of the videos in the series when you visit our YouTube channel (and while you are there, it would bless our ministry if you would SUBSCRIBE using your Gmail address, at no cost to you).
“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven,
the shepherds said to one another,
‘LET’S GO
to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened,
which the Lord has told us about.” Luke 2:15
When a celestial choir lights up the night sky with a glorious message from heaven, you don’t roll back over, reposition your pillow (in this case, more likely a rock) and go back to sleep! The visit from Gabriel and the “heavenly host” (maybe your Bible translation says, “multitude”) jolted the shepherds awake and prompted them to take action. They heard the message but wanted to see for themselves.
Have you heard about Jesus? Have you seen Him for yourself?
The shepherds took off for Bethlehem and their journey was rewarded: they beheld the
newborn King. Jesus. Immanuel. God with us. I don’t think they ever got over it.
What about you? Are you “over it?” Has the message become so familiar that has become stale or irrelevant in your life? Has the good news become old news for you?
After seeing Jesus – the good news in living proof human flesh – verse 17 tells us they spread the word about Jesus. That’s the thing about good news. It just must be shared. It can’t notbe shared. Those who heard it were “amazed” (verse 18).
And the shepherds were also changed – transformed into worshipers who glorified Jesus:
“The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God
for all the things that they had heard and seen,
which were just as they had been told.” Luke 2:20
Carrying the good news and walking in worship are responses to seeing Jesus.
Have you seen Him? Do you know Him? Are you a news-bearing worshiper?
I hope you will commit to writing the WORD with us during December. You can access the Characters of Christmas bookmark on our Downloads page. You can also view the teaching video on The Shepherds below:
During our five week Christmas study, the third week’s focus was the shepherds, those bottom-of-the-social-ladder men who received a cosmic message of peace and joy from heaven — a message that changed their lives. As we examine their response to the good news of Christ’s birth, we pray it challenges each of us to evaluate our own responses to Jesus.
If you enjoy our videos, it would bless our ministry if you would SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel. All that’s required is a Gmail address. There is no cost to you, and we will never share your email address with anyone, for any reason.
In this week’s Martha Monday video, Laura makes cookies with her granddaughters!
The whole Macfarlan clan loves this recipe for Double Chocolate Double Delights, a cookie that Laura adapted from a Quaker Oatmeal ad years ago … and we think you will, too! We hope you enjoy watching the Mac Girls in the kitchen.
Download your own copy of the printable recipe here.
