Verna Bowman

Encouraging Women One Story at a Time

Psalm 27:13

Short Trip – Long Journey

By 22 Comments

 Do you ever have trouble believing?

There was a time I thought the only thing that was true was what I was going through.  Often our problems can be a matter of eighteen inches, the distance between our head and heart.

A cubit. The short–long distance when faith goes south from our head to our heart and turns religion into an intimate relationship.

A cubit, the holy measure that created an ark and a temple.  God’s dwelling place.

 A cubit can keep us from heaven.

I’ve been asked why I believe.  So, I asked God.  He says . . . . grace.

I agree with God.

A little like the wind, unseen, but we feel it.  Until we feel Him we won’t believe.  We want to see to believe.  We can’t see wind, but we see the result.

So, we see wind.

I grew up in a time when everyone (including Archie Bunker) believed there was a God.  Hearing about a God who lived somewhere far above intellectually didn’t make a difference in my life.

Where was I when I took my first eighteen-inch journey . . . the round trip voyage from knowing there is a God who sits in heaven and the One who actually can transform a life?

At the time, I was roaming in a place where head and heart were miles apart.  The lost years.

One amazing day, in the middle of my recklessness, I enrolled my children in a Christian school.  It was their voice that brought home the word of God to me that transformed my unbelieving heart where lurked the ghost of yesterday’s sin.

Then it happens . . . the truth filters from head to heart and we know we’re forgiven and new.

We can feed our head with knowledge, but until it becomes heart knowledge we’re no better than demons.  The Bible says they believe and shudder, yet eternally cursed.

You believe that there is one God.  You do well.  Even the demons believe and tremble.  James 2:19

How often do we read God’s Word and it gets stuck in the intellect?  The road from head to heart always seems to be under construction, full of roadblocks and detours.

Faith comes by hearing  . . . when headspace weaves into heartspace.

When asked why I believe, my sure answer is . . . because my Father in heaven, by grace, chose to send His Son Jesus straight down from heaven via my head, to take full residence in my heart.

Today, let’s steep in the deep truth of His word and travel far to heavenly places, eighteen-inches away.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind. 

Luke 10:27

Be blessed,
Verna

Comments

  1. Excellent post my friend! Ah the best news in the world…when head knowledge turns to heart knowledge and we embrace our Savior. Thanks for sharing, Verna.

    Reply

  3. With each new truth that is revealed, our hearts continue to align. This is a process to be repeated throughout a lifetime. Title…spot on. Thank you for your continued faithfulness….

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  5. So true, Verna. And for some of us, it takes more than half our lives. I became acquainted with Christ at age 47, but I was 51 when He moved in for good. Thanking the Lord for never giving up on me

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    • I know your heart, dear friend . . . love the time we can recognize he is more than an acquaintance! Thanks, Lori . . .

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  11. Oh what truth in these words! Our hearts are changed when we experience God, through His word, for ourselves. It’s no longer just head knowledge…amazing grace…wonderful truth

    Reply

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