Tag Archives: broken heart

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Be Near

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Read: Psalm 34:4-18

Bible in a Year: Psalms 29-30; Acts 23:1-15

The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart. —Psalm 34:18

My friend was going through some difficult challenges in her life and family. I didn’t know what to say or do, and I told her so. She looked at me and said, “Just be near.” That’s what I did, and later on we started talking about God’s love.

Many times we don’t know how to respond when others are grieving, and words may do more harm than good. Serving others requires that we understand them and find out what they need. Often we can help by meeting practical needs. But one of the best ways to encourage those who are suffering is to be near—to sit beside them and listen.

God is near to us when we call out to Him. “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles,” the psalmist says. “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit” (Ps. 34:17-18).

By putting ourselves in the shoes of others and allowing our hearts to feel compassion, we can help those who are hurting. We can be near them as God is with us and sit close to them. At the right time, the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say, if they are needed. —Keila Ochoa

Who needs my help or for me to sit alongside them this week?

The best way to encourage others may be to just be near.

INSIGHT: Notice the exuberance with which David celebrates God in Psalm 34. In verses 1-3, the king declares his commitment to continual praise and invites others to join him in the celebration. At the root of his exaltation are two great expressions of God’s care—His answers to our prayers (vv. 4-6) and His protection and provision (vv. 7-10). These take on such great value to David because he recognizes his own weakness, marked by his fears (v. 4) and his sense of personal emptiness (“this poor man,” v. 6). God’s rescue in the face of such realities is cause for celebration.

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – A Taste of Heaven

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The Lord opened her heart.  Acts 16:14

In Lydia’s conversion there are many points of interest. It was brought about by providential circumstances. She was a seller of purple goods, from the city of Thyratira, but at just the right time for hearing Paul we find her at Philippi; providence, which is the servant of grace, led her to the right spot. Again, grace was preparing her soul for the blessing—grace preparing for grace. She did not know the Savior, but as a Jewess she knew many truths that were excellent stepping-stones to a knowledge of Jesus. Her conversion took place in the use of the means. On the Sabbath she went to a place of prayer, and there prayer was answered. Never neglect the means of grace.

God may bless us when we are not in His house, but we have more reason to expect that He will when we are in fellowship with His people. Observe the words, “The Lord opened her heart.” She did not open her own heart. Her prayers did not do it; Paul did not do it. The Lord Himself must open the heart to receive the things that make for our peace. He alone can put the key into the door and open it and gain entry for Himself. He is the heart’s Master just as He is the heart’s Maker.

The first outward evidence of the opened heart was obedience. As soon as Lydia had believed in Jesus, she was baptized. It is a sweet sign of a humble and broken heart when the child of God is willing to obey a command that is not essential to his salvation, that is not forced upon him by a selfish fear of condemnation, but is a simple act of obedience and of communion with his Master.

The next evidence was love, displaying itself in acts of grateful kindness to the apostles. Love for the saints has always been a mark of the true convert. Those who do nothing for Christ or His church provide no evidence of an “opened” heart. Lord, grant to us the blessing of opened hearts always!

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The family reading plan for December 10, 2014 * Zephaniah 2 * Luke 24

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Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg.

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – God Won’t Break a Promise

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Max Lucado

All of a sudden you’re cleaning out your desk. Voices of doubt and fear raise their volume. “How will I pay the bills?  Who’s going to hire me?”

Do you think you’ve lost it all?  Determine not to make this mistake. You have not lost it all.  Romans 11:29 promises God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warranty—never canceled, never rescinded. What do you have that you cannot lose?

You can say to yourself, “I am still God’s child.  My life’s more than this life. These days are a vapor, a passing breeze. This will eventually pass.  God will make something good out of this. I will work hard, stay faithful, and trust Him no matter what.”

Choose to heed the call of God on your life. You are God’s child. Your life is more than this life, more than this broken heart, more than this difficult time. God won’t break a promise.  You will get through this!

From You’ll Get Through This

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – What Do You Want?

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Max Lucado

I like the story about the fellow who went to the pet store for a singing parakeet.  The store owner had just the bird and the next day the man came home to a house full of music.  When he went to feed the bird he noticed for the first time, the parakeet had only one leg. He called the store and complained. “What do you want,” the store owner responded, “a bird who can sing or a bird who can dance?”

Good question for times of disappointment.  What do we want?  It’s what Jesus asked the disciples when they complained.  And in Luke 24:27, Jesus began to tell them the story of God’s plan for people, “starting with Moses and all the prophets, and everything that had been written about Himself in the Scriptures.”  Jesus’ cure for the broken heart is the story of God.  So what do you want?  If you’re disappointed, turn to the story of God.  He’s still in control!

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Max Lucado – A Love That Never Fails

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A love that never fails!  Hard to imagine, isn’t it?  Has human love ever failed you?  I’m guessing your answer may be, “Yes it has—more times than I like to admit!” I Corinthians 13:8 promises that “love never fails!” Not God’s kind of love anyway.

I sense you may be so thirsty for this type of love. Those who should have loved you, did not.  Those who could have loved you, didn’t. You were left at the hospital.  Left at the altar. Left with an empty bed.  Left with a broken heart.  Left with your question, “Does anybody love me?”

Listen to heaven’s answer:  God loves you—with a love that never fails.  Personally.  Powerfully.  Passionately.  God loves you with unfailing love!

And His love, if you’ll let it, can fill you!  Come thirsty, my friend, and drink deeply!