Book Review: An Undivided Heart by Rita J. Platt

My Review:
Although this book is primarily written for women as a bible study material, as I reviewed it, I felt a gentle nudging in my heart too, to experience a deeper satisfaction in God's fountain of love. My heart leaped for joy in knowing, experiencing God's love. As I savored the Lord's feast, served through this book, I can't help, but conclude that this book, although originally written for women, is also a book for men too. After all, we as humans, collectively known as the Church, is the bride of Christ longing for the love of the Bridegroom.

As the name suggests, this book is not to be read through quickly, but it is a bible study book, to be enjoyed, to be savored slowly.

Basically, week 1 starts off with knowing and experiencing the truth that we are the object of God's love. He longs to capture our hearts. He wants us to know that we are His beloved.
As Simon Tugwell said:

"So long as we imagine it is we who have to look for God, we must often lose heart. But it is the other way about it - He is looking for us."

Week 2 deals with the hindrances that block us from reaching the intimate relationship with God. Rita gently helps us to dissect through the dark layers of our hearts; helping us to allow ourselves to expose our everything to God. As mentioned in the book, at times, we ourselves are our own enemy. We are unable to forgive ourselves, thereby block the flow of God's love. God wants us to enter into that complete freedom that He has prepared for us.

If Week 2 is about our past guilts and hurts that hinder us from reaching out to God's love, Week 3 is about us seeking approval from others, performing to impress and please others.

As David Benner said:
"There is no true life apart from relationship with God. Therefore, there can be no true self apart from this relationship. The foundation of our identity resides in our life-giving relationship with the Source of life. Any identity that exists apart from this relationship is an illusion."

And as Rita, the author, points out, though it is not wrong to receive affirmation from others, it is when our desire for approval from others rules us, when our pride erects an image or when we demand recognition which is really an empty cistern from which no water is available (Jer 2:13).

Week 4 is about voices and noises. Often times, there are so many noises and voices competing for our attention that we can totally miss out the still small voice of God. We need to be silent before Him. Be still to hear His voice. As Week 4 is about noises, Week 5 is about attention. Too often, many things caught our attention, and we can become easily distracted by things that never truly satisfy. We need to fix our eyes on Jesus.

Week 6 is about being satisfied. Often when we come to realize that nothing else truly satisfies, it dawns upon us that He is our True Living Water. We return to the Fountain of Life as often as we desire.

Week 7 is about being held. Being held by the Love that refuse to let us go. As we "hold on" to Him, we realize that it is He who is holding on to us. We, therefore, need to constantly create that awareness that Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise.

Week 8, the final week in this study, is about being betrothed. It is about living as the Beloved. It is about being loved, more than we can ever imagine.

As Henri Nouwen said:
"Everytime you listen with great attentiveness to the voice that calls you the Beloved, you will discover within yourself a desire to hear that voice longer and more deeply. It is like discovering a well in the desert. Once you've touched wet ground, you want to dig deeper."

In summary, I am convinced that, except for the fact that the almost all the illustrations used in this book are stories of women, this book is definitely for men too. Men who are aware of their thirst for the Savior and Lord.


A synopsis:
Some of the points that I have penned down from the Bible Study book An Undivided Heart by Rita J. Platt:

An Undivided Heart
(An 8-Week Bible Study for Today's Woman)
- by Rita J. Platt

Week 1 To Know Him is To Love Him
Rita started off with a question for us to ponder:
How would you describe your heart today?

What type of symbol would you use?
- Waters that seem tranquil until stirred up
- A puzzle with a few pieces missing or out of place
- A clouded mirror
- A scuba diver exploring the depths of the sea
- A thirsty runner panting for a break

Jesus came in pursuit of our whole heart. He didn't wait for you to come looking for Him. He wants you to belong to Him, to give your hand to Him, to embark on an eternal love relationship.

"So long as we imagine it is we who have to look for God, we must often lose heart. But it is the other way about it - He is looking for us." - Simon Tugwell.

Verses to study:
Luke 1:31
Luke 2:11
John 1:29
1 Cor 10:4
Rev 1:8
Rev 19:16
Matt 19:13-15
Luke 7:11-17
John 13:1-17

No one ever cared for me like Jesus
There's no other friend so kind as he
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me
Oh how much he cares for me.

O Living Flame of Love..........
How gently and how lovingly
Thou wakest in my bosom,
Where alone thou secretly dwellest;
And in Thy sweet breathing
Full of grace and glory
How tenderly Thou fillest me with thy love.
- John of the Cross

Week 2 Complete Freedom
Study Mark 5:25-34

At times, we ourselves can be our worst enemy. We may block forward momentum by subjecting ourselves to peronal condemnation.

"One of the greatest challenges of the spiritual life is to receive forgiveness. There is something in us humans that keeps us clinging to our sins and prevents us from letting God erase our past and offer us a completely new beginning.....receiving forgiveness requires a total willingness to let God be God and to all the healing, restoring and renewing."
- Henri Nouwen

Study Mark 5:25-34

Week 3 Shaped By Perfect Love

Rita started off Chapter 3 with the illustration of an except from The Velveteen Rabbit:

"What is real?" asked the toy Rabbit, one day......"Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made,"said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long time, not just to play with REALLY loves you, then you become REAL"

Many of us live with unnecessary disability, living for the approval of others.
We perform to impress, and when it seems that we have succeeded in doing so, we go away ashamed and empty.
We spend a lot time and effort trying to keep everyone around us happy.

As a result we may experience fear of displeasing others. We fear of being:
- exposed
- rejected
- made insignificant
- disconnected

We know it so well, we've embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God. God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we're free of worry on Judgment Day--our standing in the world is identical with Christ's. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life--fear of death, fear of judgment--is one not yet fully formed in love. We, though, are going to love--love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.
(1Jn 4:16-19 MSG)

"Like runaway slaves, we either flee our own reality or manufacture a false self which is mostly admirable , mildly prepossessing, and superficially happy. We hide what we know or feel ourselves to be (which we assume to be unacceptable and unlovable) behind some kind of appearance which we hope will be more pleasing. We hide behind pretty faces which we put on for the benefit of our public. And in time we even come to forget that we are hiding, and think that our assumed pretty face is what we really look like." - Simon Tugwell

"There is no true life apart from relationship with God. Therefore, there can be no true self apart from this relationship. The foundation of our identity resides in our life-giving relationship with the Source of life. Any identity that exists apart from this relationship is an illusion." - David Benner

Even in times when we've lost sight of our true self, the Lord sees us and can help us see who we are in Him (Rom 8:1-2, 2Cor 5:17-21, Eph 1:3, 4, 5-6, 7, 11, 13, 2:6, 2:10, 3:12).

As Rita points out, though it is not wrong to receive affirmation from others, it is when our desire for approval from others rules us, when our pride erects an image or when we demand recognition which is really an empty cistern from which no water is available (Jer 2:13).

Some of the masks we tend to wear:
- clown
- pain free
- superman/superwoman
- thick-skinned
- no needs
- doormat
- perfect
- ultra-spiritual

"Grace to you and peace are my gifts to you and all my children. You have been seeking grace from people, believing it will bring peace. It never does. Only entering more and more deeply into the reality of my grace will bring genuine peace of heart you are dying for.
I already died for it.
And I rose so you would know it's true.
And I have the power to make it true for you.
Hear me.
Believe me.
Learn to rest in the peace of my grace." - Sandra Wilson

Week 4 Awaken To His Voice

Pivotal times of decision making might not characterize our typical day. There is constant competition for our attention. It is challenging to wake up to a silent place where we can hear our Beloved speak. It is as if we must continually fends off a multitude of voices trying to embed themselves in our hearts like secret agents of distortion. We fight the noise that threatens to lure us away or to block out the voice of Jesus.

Life seems to rush past and swirl around us.
We need to be silent before Him.
We need to allow ourselves to be interrupted.
Psalm 46:10

But as Dallas Willard said:
"Silence is frightening because it strips us as nothing else does, throwing us upon the stark realities of our life"

Week 5 Adoring Gaze
Where do you focus your eyes when life gets challenging?
What happens to your energy level, your heart, and your mind when your eyes drift? What helps you to fix your eyes on Jesus?
Luke 7:36-50

"Jesus, the very thought of thee, With sweetness fills my breast; But sweeter far thy face to see, And in thy presence rest."
- John B. Dykes, Jesus the Very Thought of Thee, 1823-1876

Week 6 Wholly Satisfied
Sometimes we fear being alone.
So we work our way to control our surroundings, and others' opinions of us.
We desire to make everything OK all the time, so that we will never need to fear abandonment.
But those desires are misplaced.

"If you are starving and can find nothing to satisfy your hunger, then come. Come, and you will be filled." - Jeanne Guyon, Experiencing The Depths of Jesus Christ

Isaiah 55:1-3
Isaiah 58:11
Matthew 11:28
Revelation 22:17
Deuteronomy 8:10

Enjoy the following life feast of scripture bites
Psalm 103:1-4
Isaiah 58:11
Matthew 5:6
John 4:14
John 6:35, 48-51
John 15:11
Ephesians 3:19
Ephesians 5:18
Philippians 4:12-13, 19
1 Tim 1:14

Week 7: Hold on Tight
In our spiritual walk, we are to hold on tight to the Lord and rest in Him.
Deut 30:19-20
The word "hold fast" - dabaq, carries the meaning of "to cling to, to stick, to stay close, to stick to, to follow closely"

See also Psalm 63:8

Study Matthew 14:22-33
Try imagining you are in the situation.
Draw a graph tracing the disciples' emotions from the time Jesus told them to get in the boat until He joined them and they worshipped Him. Draw a graph depicting Peter's emotions.

Psalm 46:10
Psalm 18:16
Isaiah 40:11
Matthew 8:3, 15, 17:7
Mark 10:16
Luke 13:10-13; 15:4-6
John 10:28

Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
(From: Breastplate of St. Patrick)

Week 8: Living As Beloved
Life is a gift and living it out is also a gift, each day pulling up lies and becoming more rooted in truth, resting in our place as the beloved. Using Psalm 86, as a guide, ask the Lord to deal with the hollow and deceptive philosophies that threaten you.

"We are so preciously loved by God that we cannot even comprehent it. No created being can ever know how much and how sweetly and tenderly God loves them. It is only with the help of his grace that we are able to persevere in spiritual contemplation with endless wonder at his high, surpassing, immeasurably love which our Lord in his goodness has for us." - Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love

Song of Songs 2:4
I am [insert your name], the beloved of Jesus
Whisper it
Repeat it over and over.
Shout it with delight from rooftops. Journal it any ways you can.

"Everytime you listen with great attentiveness to the voice that calls you the Beloved, you will discover within yourself a desire to hear that voice longer and more deeply. It is like discovering a well in the desert. Once you've touched wet ground, you want to dig deeper." - Henri Nouwen, Life of the Beloved.

Matt 3:17, 17:5
Luke 9:35
2 Peter 1:17
Col 2:6-8

Six lessons I learned today from the life of John Maxwell

While reviewing Chapter 5 of John C. Maxwell's 2010 book (available for reading online currently), I learned great truths from a rare life story of John as told by Charlie Wetzel [someone who has worked personally with John for quite a long time].

From that piece, I learned six lessons.

Six lessons I learned today from the life of John Maxwell:

1. Be generous with your praise to others where praise is due

2. No matter how bad someone has performed, there is always something positive you can affirm him for. Be on the lookout for his strength.

3. Be real and authentic - let others know that you are aware of your weaknesses and you are just as human as they are

4. Be humble - there is always lessons you can learn from others no matter who they are

5. Empower others. I do not need to micro-manage. Give others the space for them to develop the potential that they have inside them.

6. Treat each speaking engagement, or for that matter, any job assignment, seriously and with respect. Do your homework.

Book Review: How To Stay Christian In High School by Steve Gerali

General comments:

"How To Stay Christian In High School" by Steve Gerali is a simple to read, straight forward, with many nuggets of biblical wisdom. It is written with great clarity, and with a modern twist to familiar biblical stories that opens up fresh, new understanding that can certainly connect with young people in our generation. With a mere 127 pages and a total of six chapters, it can be read even in one or two sittings.

Very readable. Challenging. And although this book is meant for high school Christians, I find that this book is equally challenging to Christians from all walks of life.

Lessons I learned from this book:

Chapter 1 starts off with knowing our identity in Christ. Before we can fully understand who we are, we need to know whose we are - to whom we belong to. The author then goes on to outline three significant implications of knowing whose we are:
- Knowing whose we are implies ownership (Romans 5:12-19)
- Knowing whose we are implies sonship (Galatians 4:3-7)
- Knowing whose we are implies partnership (2 Corinthians 5:17-20)

I like this part when, after stating Romans 8:35-39, the author poses out six "what if" doubts that we often allow to come in between us and God's love:

But what if I did .............................................?
But what if I said ............................................?
But what if I thought ......................................?
But what if I went ...........................................?
But what if I tried ...........................................?
But what if I ....................................................?

The author says: "No matter what you put in those blanks ... God would still love you."

Chapter 2 focuses on Mary - the importance of building a firm foundation in Jesus Christ. It starts off with an illustration of two men building their houses, both of the same material but at different locations - one on top of the cliff, and the other right in front of the beach just because he loved surfing so much. Although the man who built his house near the beachfront might boast and pitied his friend for having to climb up and down, and although the man who built the house up on the cliff may sometimes doubt whether he had made the wrong choice or should he had taken a short cut like his friend below, there will come a time when the hurricance will come and blow off the house of the man below. (1 Cor 3:11-15 NIV)

To stay Christian in college days, we need to have a strong foundation. The storms hit both houses with the same intensity both houses build on two different foundations. The outcome depends on our foundations.

To quote the author:
"If you have Christ, you have everything. If you don't have Christ, everything that you have is nothing. You identity must be built upon the solid rock of Jesus......Your identity is the core of your character. It is who you are, the person who's still there when everything else is taken away and when nobody sees you. It is shaped by the things you allow yourself to be influenced by, day by day. It is developed by the values you believe in and hold dear." - Steve Gerali

Certainly I agree when the author says that anyone can say that "I will die for Jesus!", but if you are really willing to die for Jesus, then certainly you are willing to LIVE for Him. You will deny some things for Him. You will be willing to be embarassed for Him.

The author then proceeds to elaborate on the story of Mary, an average teenaged Jewish girl, whom, customary of her age at that time, was arranged to be married to be Joseph.
Being an average teenage girl, her life would probably be pretty much routine like any other girls of her age during her time.

So, we can imagine her reaction when the angel Gabriel came witht the salutation in Luke 1:26-38. How do you think Mary would have felt? Freaked out? Scared? Although we do not know whether Mary had, prior to that encounter, made a commitment to dedicate her life to God. But let's say, even if she did commit her life to God earlier on, this encounter with the angel Gabriel and the task of being pregnant is never part of what she sign up for. It certainly was not part of what she expected...this is totally unexpected.

Even after Mary had finally come to grip with the fact that this pregnancy was indeed true, next challenge that she had to face: how is she going to tell her parents about this pregnancy?
As the author had said, there has not been any case God himself impregnates anyone. What if daddy didn't believe such superfluous claim? What if her family suspected she was flirting around outside? What if the neighbours gossip about her "shame" in a Jewish upbringing?

Mary was risking huge rejection from her family. Mary risked misunderstanding.

The third challenge Mary faced: What about her growing uterus? This would mean that she would never get to wear her cute dresses anymore, but rather she would need to wear her maternity dress. What about the morning sicknesses she might be experiencing? What about the pimples? What about the leg swelling? The extra weight gain?

Next, would be the rejection she would possibly have to face from Joseph. Although this was an arranged marriage, Mary probably had grown to love Joseph and vice-versa. But Mary knew that she must consider losing Joseph and the marriage called off.

From I have learned in Chapter 2, to be a Christian, means
1/ to expect the unexpected
2/ to be willing to be inconvenienced
3/ to risk facing rejections from family and friends aroumd
4/ to be willing to die to self, self-interest, plans, etc.

At the back of Chapter 2, the author asked some thought-provoking questions:
When have you been the most misunderstood? How did you cope with the feelings?
How has God re-arrranged your plans for life? For college? Are there things in your life that you had to give up in order to maintain your identity as a believer? If so what are they?

Chapter 3 is about Daniel
Daniel 1 describes how Nebuchadnezzar, after becoming king of Babylon, swept into Palestine and surrounded Jerusalem and took many of Jerusalem's wisest men and most beautiful women to Babylon as captives. Daniel was among this group.

In Babylon, Daniel stayed far from his parents, in the sophisticaded Babylon of that time.
No parents to control.
Yet Daniel did not compromise.
New found freedom.
Yet Daniel did not abuse the freedom.

How about us?
Would you still obey the curfew even when your parents are not around?
Or would you compromise a bit, drop your guard a little? (Romans 12:1-2)

Bad influence usually creep in subtly.
"Even the smallest compromises are dangerous.
They lead to more and more compromise - and we may end up with a big problem."

As the author has pointed out, no one in his right mind would one day, when he wakes up, says to himself that he is going to destroy his life, or determined to get addicted to alcohol, etc.
God gave wisdom to Daniel what to say to the guards (verses 11-15).
The author suggests that we should take a look (or make a list) of some of the little things in our own life these days?

Question: Are you the influencer or the influenced?
The key lies in verse 8 (Dan 1:8): Daniel had MADE UP HIS MIND
We need to make up our mind ..way up front.
Daniel resolved not to.....

Question:
When are you most tempted to compromise?
What makes it harder to resist?
What makes it easier to resist?

What are some of the areas in which popularity and doing the right things have come into conflict in your life?

Chapter 4 is about Joseph when he was facing temptations as described in Genesis 39:6-10

Joseph had a right perspective about things (verse 9). Joseph said Potiphar has given all these things...but the sin would be against God. Joseph had a God-honoring perspective.

The key to overcoming temptation is in verse 12 (Gen 39:12): FLEE!!
Without explanation, Joseph bolted out of there.
He did not worry about whether he hurt her feelings.
He did not stay to enjoy some of it, and then draw the line when it starts to go too far.
He does not rationalize things.

Chapter 5 is about James and John, where as Chapter 6 is about Timothy.

The Replacement Principle:
I also like the Replacement Principle that the author describes. It works like this: If you want something out of your life, don't work hard to remove it. Instead, pour in something else that pushes it out. Replace something bad with something godly. To stay Christian in high school, replace rotten stuff in your life with good stuff.

Conclusion
In short, the author highligted a key lesson for each of the chapters:
Chapter 1: If you want to stay as a Christian in high school, be absolutely certain WHOSE you are.

Chapter 2: If you want to stay as a Christian in high school, you can't turn an identity on or off; make Jesus the foundation of who you are.

Chapter 3: If you want to stay as a Christian in high school, step AROUND the moral land mines to avoid compromise at all cost

Chapter 4: If you want to stay as a Christian in high school, constantly monitor your MIND-MENU - and leave temporary pleasures behind

Chapter 5: If you want to stay as a Christian in high school, you have to be willing to allow Jesus to gradually replace the rotten stuff with the good stuff

Chapter 6: If you want to stay as a Christian in high school, don't be perfect, just be dependent on Jesus.

The Need to Re-Align Myself Regularly

Hebrews 13:5 indeed is a timely reminder to myself:

Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”*(Heb 13:5, NLT)

In other words, it is a declaration that God is my enough. He is my rich resource. He is my source of strength.

Yet, in this age, where we are constantly being bombarded with choices, temptations are everywhere and we can easily drawn away. It has to be a daily deliberate decision on our part to remind ourselves – God the enough!

I find that taking short “breaks”, distancing myself from what I am engrossed in, constantly asking myself “Why am I doing this?” is a good way for me to re-focus myself and re-aligning my priorities.

Speaking To Impress or Speaking To Impact?

John Maxwell reminds us that if you want to impress people, you can talk about your successes, but if you want people to identify with you, it is better to talk about your failures.

Sometimes, I have to admit that the ulterior motive of me speaking is to impress the crowd with how much I know. And this is dangerous: the moment we start feeding ourselves with the praise and adulation from others, we will yearn for more. We may end up losing the focus of our speaking – and that is to impart information to others.

I have seen speakers who keep on speaking on highly specialized and advanced stuffs that the crowds can’t follow, and this happens despite knowing the fact that the crowds are getting lost and disinterested.

Being in a position of leadership and a position of power as a lecturer, I need to remind myself that I may be able to keep a crowd, but I may not be able to keep a follower, if I am not connecting.

Bible vs. Cell Phone

Bible vs. Cell phone

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?

What if we gave it to Kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled?

What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to make you go....hmm...where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing..

Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.

Makes you stop and think 'where are my priorities?' And no dropped calls!

Note: I got this post from Gabriel Matthew Fletcher