Hello, my friends. After a week of walking through multiple storms, it’s appropriate for a heart pouring.
First I want to thank you all who have reached out to us, our family and friends as everyone is putting out their own fires. It speaks volumes when you run to help your friends (whom you may not know) and help them put out their fire too. Your rewards will be many.
Persevere and keep the faith. I am always trying to keep the faith, as I press on. Notice that word, Trying. Just like my youngest is always trying to reach something he shouldn’t. Constant pursuit.
I stress this because there are times when I am so far away from my faith, I fear I will lose it. Failure after failure, God remains the same and is always smiling when I turn back to Him. It’s a day-by-day pursuit, sometimes minute-to-minute, keeping His love and truth at the forefront. I rest in this.
If this is your heart – you’re crushing it!! If you desire to follow God and the words Jesus gave to us – you are going to make it. That little seed in your heart will continue to grow as you water it. Sometimes it gets dried up, but never perishes.
6 The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!
Luke 17:6
That tiny seed is alive and growing as you are following Him, trusting and applying the goodness of his words and commands. A small amount of authentic faith in God is all you need. It will take root and grow. It starts on the inside and will begin showing its presence externally. How we carry ourselves, how we treat others, etc. The more you water it, the more roots take place and it will grow into a righteous tree. When you get discouraged and ignore this tree, the roots, trunk, and branches will remain and be ready to produce more vegetation and fruits. Or is it more mustard? 🙂
There she is! Look at her. She is upright, strong, and perfectly IMPERFECT. Perfectly imperfect in her appearance, her structure, shape, number of branches, leaves, stems, bark patterns, ailments, and solitude. She is unique and PERFECT because God grew her this way. God does the same thing with us. It starts in the heart and as every storm comes, He uses the pelting of the hail to strengthen our faith. The storm passes and we are still standing. Growth in the struggle. Stronger for the next one.
In the storms, we lose heart, faith, and hope. Losing hope is the scariest thing, in my heart, for someone else to experience. Those feelings, ‘feel’ real. Feelings are the biggest deceiver within us.
You don’t have to believe anything I am sharing with you, but I know you can relate to this scenario:
All of us: “This is so sweet! OMG, I am having so much fun, I want this to last forever…” Then we woke up the next day. Instant regret sets in and once again, we are stuck in the identity of our failings.
Feelings Lie Period.
This is Grace: we have our seed. The seed will never leave. There will be no denying if you have the seed. I have, with all of my weak-ass power, tried to dry that little thing out so many times. I wanted to cut it out and stomp on it. I turned my back on God, unplugged from my fellow bros and sis’ in Him, and stopped reading the Word. The funny thing was I never stopped praying because I couldn’t. I would catch myself even saying this is BS and I am speaking to the wind. This is my heart man… It can be brutal in there. I want to do the right thing, but I fall short. WE ALL DO.
Check out these words of wisdom from our friend Paul, once again:
22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.
Romans 3:22-24 *Romans is my favorite book after Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
I will attempt to simplify but will probably use more words. I’m a simp and a wanna-be-better-story-teller-kind-of-guy, what can I say?
We as humans are sinners from birth. It sounds harsh but we need to get over it. It’s true. We don’t know Jack, and we still don’t. I see this in my little boy and have in all of my children. They are devious haha! It’s amazing and incredible. We are hovering and protecting and loving unconditionally. This is exactly How He Loves Us. Read the words – He loves us. He doesn’t condemn us, He loves us.
I think He has been beating me over the head with this idea of How He Loves Us, through the use of children. I mean my children span the ages of 21 months to 27 years.
“I get it now God, if you could please chill on the fathering department, that would be great! I love you either way though!”
Dave Burke 2/22/2022
When your child makes a mistake, do you stop loving and caring for them? I hope not. Do you scold them over and over, thinking that is going to change them? It won’t. When they are hurting themselves are you enabling it? Check yo self. Your heart is thyself. I just made that up, but you get the point.
We love and want to cultivate change within our children. We want them to have clean hearts, so they can be loving toward themselves and others. That’s what we do. It’s the hardest and most rewarding work I have done.
There is nothing that could separate me from the love I have for my children. There is nothing they could do, which would cause me to stop loving them. Not a chance in Hell. I think of the phrase ‘Get Behind Me Satan’ which is the title of a White Stripes record. The title, penned by Jack White, is a reference to Matthew 16:23.
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
Matthew 16:23
I love that I get to tie Jack White, the White Stripes and the Words of Jesus in a few sentences.
DB ADHD sparkle:
I don’t know Jack personally, but I have watched him and enjoyed his talents for 20 years. He seems to me, to have a serving heart. He’s bold and makes no bones about it. He’s a warrior. Watch his story sometime hiss early years to today. No one works like Jack. He’s on a mission and he is equipped. The way he has helped the music industry and helped bring so much talent to the forefront. Now he’s married to another gifted artist, Olivia Jean. Check them out! They both inspire me beyond words.
Back to it – “But wait, didn’t he just go off on Instagram yesterday about Elon Musk and Donald Trump?” Yes he did. His heart is hurting. He sees hurting people just like you and me. He has the right to let it rip! and so do we. His heart looks to protect people. It’s a gray area, this world. Our leaders of this country are deceiving and dividing us. Let’s forgive Jack whether we agree or disagree. Let’s forgive all because we all are being lied to. It’s a freight train of attacks, to detract from horrible things they do not want us to see or know.
DB ADHD sparkle:
Where is the outrage for not sharing Jeffery Epstein’s black book and the trial of his madam? The many red flags going on about child trafficking. I think this is a better focus. Help the children being trafficked, helping the kids shooting each other. It’s a heart issue.
I am reeling this back in. Our hearts when intended for good, growing from that seed of faith in Jesus Christ, KNOW that you are promised eternity. We all fall short of friends. While we were still sinners, He died for us. When we believe in Him God looks down at us and SEES Jesus. He is not focusing on our faults and condemning us. He is focused on our hearts. He knows what is good for us and He loves when we are doing His work.
That’s Romans 3:22-24 in the words of Dave Burke. Been praying the whole time, so He provided them. I’d still be talking about Jack White and getting angry about the lies we are being fed.
Love to you all. Love someone today.
Dave