Four primary God-given desires reside in each one of us. Every choice, every thought, every prayer, every feeling is connected with every investment of time, talent, and treasure by the heartbeat to satisfy these desires. It’s why we click, buy, sell, or act. We see them in the very first book of the Bible. The […]

Desires are not for our gratification, nor their negation, but for our transformation. They are intended to point us toward desiring God and lead us to restoration, so that we become carriers of this life-altering message. These are desires that can only be satisfied in full surrender to the Restorer. Amidst our travels on Desperation […]

At the executor’s request, I visited a New England farmhouse that had been home to an heirless couple. I noticed how the structure leaned in one particular direction on its foundation. I was amazed that the interior was filled with junk stuffed in boxes spread apart widely enough to form a maze through the various […]

Have you tried compartmentalizing your life with cisterns: the physical pursuit, the willful drive for financial security, the mental exercise for more intellectual knowledge, the spiritual treadmill of good works, or the socio-emotional experiment for more surface relationships? The flow of the Spirit of Christ is the answer. Only He can satisfy our thirsty hearts. […]

Are you attempting to restore yourself? Have your efforts left you dissatisfied and unrestored? Paul wrote about the futility of self-resoration and the hope discovered in the only true Restorer: “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being […]

Is your soul thirsty for God? Jesus said that anyone who fully surrendered to Him would experience the Living Water of the Holy Spirit flowing from his heart: “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He […]

What’s your definition of success? Often, we keep score by power, prestige, or profit. Author and speaker, John Maxwell, defined his measurement of success as: “Those who know me best will love and respect me the most.” How would embracing this definition transform your relationships? Years ago, when I owned an auction business, I decided […]

Where do you draw the boundaries for your relationships? Whom do you let in, and whom do you keep out? Sometimes, we draw the lines too loosely. Solomon observed: “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). In Hebrew the phrase […]

What is the true purpose of your relationships? We often leverage connections with our friends, business associates, spouses, and children for our benefit only. John offered a different way, one that would allow the flow of the Holy Spirit into our relationships: “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ […]

Have you compartmentalized God? We often limit God to a particular worship style, in a specific building, during one hour, on a certain day of the week, or even a quiet time, a Bible study, or a small group. Then we take control of the other 167 hours of the week. Mankind has been doing […]

What dominates your thoughts? The apostle Paul wrote: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). The problem is pretense that we can be god in our own lives. Through the prophet Jeremiah, […]

What is your outlet? At first, you might describe a hobby or a hideaway, if anything at all, but God designed us to have outlets for His restoration to flow to others. Everything in the Dead Sea dies because it has no outlet. Contrasted, the Sea of Galilee brings life because its outlet allows it […]

Have you forgotten God? Read carefully what God said to His people through Moses: “Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God…You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives […]

God said, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jeremiah 2:13). A social cistern contains friends, business associates, spouses, and children to be leveraged for our benefit only. John offered a different way, one that […]

Do you limit God to a particular worship style, in a specific building, during one hour, on a certain day of the week, or even a quiet time, a Bible study, or a small group, while you take control of the other 167 hours of the week? If so, you’ve created a spiritual cistern. God […]

God said, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jeremiah 2:13). A mental cistern compartmentalizes God from our minds. We seek knowledge for knowledge’s sake apart from God, so we can make decisions apart from […]

God said, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jeremiah 2:13). A financial cistern represents the damming of the will. This hardening of the will stops the flow of the Holy Spirit in our financial […]

Through the prophet Jeremiah, God said, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jeremiah 2:13). A physical cistern dams the flow of the Holy Spirit into our bodies, what we eat, what we drink, where […]

As a result of the first sin, we have compartmentalized God and dammed the flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When we compartmentalize, we create boundaries that did not previously exist in God’s design, and we become god in each compartment of our lives. Consequently, through the prophet Jeremiah, God said, “My people […]

Too often, our thoughts, feelings, choices, and prayers flow from our fallen perspectives that see ourselves in pretense. This is due to our own self-restoration programs that attempt to unlock ourselves from the prison of pride from the outside in. The Restore Your Heart Chart is a tool for us to see ourselves, not with […]