When God Asks For An Undivided Heart

West explains how the devil takes what is most sacred and good and makes it profane through creating a distorted picture and offering it to the culture. This is why Satan particulary attacks womanbecause in her bearing of new life she reveals the very mystery of God.

"'Give me an undivided heart.' Something in my soul has always been snagged by that phrase in Psalm 86. Something in it speaks to me of my own heart division, my own disarray. It captures a deeper longing, beyond the surface chatter of my mind. I find, amid the muddle that is me, that there is something--someone--calling me on, gathering together my disparate, fraying threads and weaving them into a story greater than I could ever perceive." Why do we do what we do? What makes us who we are? And what could make us more? In Undivided Heart, Lucy Mills digs deep in search of an understanding of human identity, purpose, and living by faith, asking what the influences are that shape us and define us. She explores what it might mean to have an undivided heart--to live a life compelled by Christ's love, undistracted by all other motives. This is not a book of easy answers. It is a book of deep questioning, of relationship, honesty, and encounter, counter-cultural in our age of social media, soundbite news, and mass communication. But God can meet us in our confusion and distraction as much as in our certainty. Join Lucy on her exploration of this demanding, fragmented life, and the quest for a faith that is deeper, stronger, and undivided.

“If there were a Guinness Book of World Records entry for ‘amount of times having prayed the sinner’s prayer,’ I’m pretty sure I’d be a top contender,” says pastor and author J. D. Greear. He struggled for many years to gain an assurance of salvation and eventually learned he was not alone. “Lack of assurance” is epidemic among evangelical Christians. In Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart, J. D. shows that faulty ways of present- ing the gospel are a leading source of the confusion. Our presentations may not be heretical, but they are sometimes misleading. The idea of “asking Jesus into your heart” or “giving your life to Jesus” often gives false assurance to those who are not saved—and keeps those who genuinely are saved from fully embracing that reality. Greear unpacks the doctrine of assurance, showing that salvation is a posture we take to the promise of God in Christ, a posture that begins at a certain point and is maintained for the rest of our lives. He also answers the tough questions about assurance: What exactly is faith? What is repentance? Why are there so many warnings that seem to imply we can lose our salvation? Such issues are handled with respect to the theological rigors they require, but Greear never loses his pastoral sensitivity or a communication technique that makes this message teachable to a wide audience from teens to adults.

The longest distance in the universe is between the head and heart. For Christ-followers, it is the chasm between what we say we believe in our minds and what we truly believe in our hearts: a split between our statements about God and our experience of Him. This divide is everywhere around us, causing untold devastation. It is found in the double lives of believers and in the hypocrisy of church leaders, but mainly we see it in ourselves. It is the default position of every human heart. In Divided: When the Head and Heart DonÆt Agree, Bill Delvaux exposes this divide and offers strategies to tackle it. The actual journey to cross the divide is sketched out, an epic journey that will take us into our deepest fear and shame and on into the wonder of GodÆs presence. For becoming undivided is not just another task. ItÆs the pathway into the very heart of the Father. Features include: Strategies for closing the divide between head and heart Specific prayers for each stage of the spiritual journey Thought-provoking questions for spiritual conversation or reflection

Vicky Beeching, called “arguably the most influential Christian of her generation” in The Guardian, began writing songs for the church in her teens. By the time she reached her early thirties, Vicky was a household name in churches on both sides of the pond. Recording multiple albums and singing in America’s largest megachurches, her music was used weekly around the globe and translated into numerous languages. But this poster girl for evangelical Christianity lived with a debilitating inner battle: she was gay. The tens of thousands of traditional Christians she sang in front of were unanimous in their view – they staunchly opposed same-sex relationships and saw homosexuality as a grievous sin. Vicky knew if she ever spoke up about her identity it would cost her everything. Faced with a major health crisis, at the age of thirty-five she decided to tell the world that she was gay. As a result, all hell broke loose. She lost her music career and livelihood, faced threats and vitriol from traditionalists, developed further health issues from the immense stress, and had to rebuild her life almost from scratch. But despite losing so much she gained far more: she was finally able to live from a place of wholeness, vulnerability, and authenticity. She finally found peace. What’s more, Vicky became a champion for others, fighting for LGBT equality in the church and in the corporate sector. Her courageous work is creating change in the US and the UK, as she urges people to celebrate diversity, live authentically, and become undivided.

Do you battle with doubts, unbelief, and confusion? Do fear and hesitancy inhibit your steps of faith? Do you feel tossed to and fro or struggle to make decisions and then keep them? Do your thoughts race like a hamster on a wheel but leave you exhausted and no further ahead? These are symptoms of double-mindedness and you are not alone. All Christians wrestle with times of double-mindedness, but God has a roadmap; a how-to guide for standing firm in your faith with an undivided heart and singleness of mind. Through each chapter, you will engage keys for your journey that will enable you to know His unfailing love and character, remove doubt and wavering in decision making and cut off the second head of double-mindedness. You will learn to confidently use your undefeatable spiritual weapons and fight from victory to win the battle for your faith and follow God's promptings with new confidence and singleness of mind. Stop struggling and start stepping into your God-given destiny today.

A Divided Heart is a message of meditation based on the Bible and written by one of the most important Christian writers of all time. A devotional message of faith and hope for you. Charles Haddon (CH) Spurgeon,19 June 1834 - 31 January 1892) was a British Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, among whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers". He was a strong figure in the Reformed Baptist , defending the Church in agreement with the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith understanding, and opposing the liberal and pragmatic theological tendencies in the Church of his day. It is estimated that in his lifetime, Spurgeon preached to around 10,000,000 people,Spurgeon was the pastor of the congregation of the New Park Street Chapel (later the Metropolitan Tabernacle) in London for 38 years. He was part of several controversies with the Baptist Union of Great Britain and later had to leave the denomination. In 1867, he started a charity organisation which is now called Spurgeon's and works globally. He also founded Spurgeon's College, which was named after him posthumously. Spurgeon was a prolific author of many types of works including sermons, an autobiography, commentaries, books on prayer, devotionals, magazines, poetry, hymns and more. Many sermons were transcribed as he spoke and were translated into many languages during his lifetime. Spurgeon produced powerful sermons of penetrating thought and precise exposition. His oratory skills held his listeners spellbound in the Metropolitan Tabernacle and many Christians have discovered Spurgeon's messages to be among the best in Christian literature.

As we walk through the shadow of life's trials, we will gain much comfort and spiritual good, for our happiness is not of this world, but is of the Kingdom of God and our assurance is fully realized in Him. One must give attention to their hearts, watch over it with all diligence, for from it flows the springs of life. Watch then, the path of your feet and let your eyes be fixed upon God's word. Keep His percepts in the midst of your heart, so that your ways and actions will be fruitful. Every mercy is from God, every trial that tempts us on the road of faith has an illustration behind its experience. All the sharp trials of life are but the golden threads of providence, under the control of God the Father. Our roses, our thorns, our mountains, our valleys and temptations are plainly wrought by Him. Take hold of His instruction and your heart will not be divided. As a young boy, Kevin was placed into an orphanage. The preciousness of Kevin's love for his mother, who was now gone due to cancer, left him overwhelmed with fear. Crushed and lonely by her death, he would carry this burden through life, like a ball and chain. Therefore, clouding his heart to God's way for his life. But in time, through providential circumstances, God took away this burden and restored him to Christ's everlasting love and established his feet upon the Rock of Ages. Kevin, wife Karen and daughter Megan, reside in Texas. Kevin has a previously published book, "It Is Written." By Xulon Press, December 2007