Desires of My Heart is a devotional eBook based on Psalm 37:4. So many of us believers walk our Christian walk without really knowing what it means to delight in the Lord. In this eBook we answer that question “What does it mean to delight in the Lord?”

“Desires of My Heart” is a powerful eBook that will help you work to get past any barriers you may have that is inhibiting your walk with the Lord, while also encouraging you to live a life guided by The Holy Spirit.

“I encourage you to prayerfully read this book. It could change your heart.” – M. Sheldon

This eBook is great if you struggle with:

• Living a life that is delighted in the Lord.
• Feelings of Failure.
• Feelings of not being good enough.
• Contentment.

The Desires of My Heart eBook is available in PDF, Kindle, and nook format. You can download your eBook and begin reading today!

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“Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards.” Song of Solomon 2:15

There is an invasive weed in the South known as kudzu. It was once thought to be a useful plant; it’s planting even encouraged by the government following the Depression. Originally introduced to our country by the Japanese, this plant takes over everything it touches. Driving down any country road in the deep South, it can be seen covering every tree and surface it can find.

What often may seem harmless at first, can grow until it takes control and causes great havoc. Fox’s are cute to look at but they can cause a lot of trouble if left alone to do their mischief. This passage in Song of Solomon is a warning against those things that can hinder our relationship with Christ, our marriages and other relationships.

When we let little things about life aggravate us, it can grow and escalate until everything upsets us. We often look at the animals that visit a garden as cute (like the rabbits), but sooner or later we realize they aren’t so cute when they’ve eaten all the plants. Those little aggravations in our life are like a new plant introduced to a country as a way to help struggling farmers, but once it spread, it was hard to control. When I get irritated over the little things my husband does, the clothes dropped on the floor or the mail spread over my kitchen counter, it can grow to create a barrier in our relationship. This happens too with my children. When I get annoyed by their frequent messes, loud noises or inattention, I find the annoyance grows throughout the day. By the end of the day, I’m really struggling with everything they do.

The interactions with my family that may seem insignificant at first, can have a cumulative effect that causes hurt to those I love most. I can say, “I’m just having a bad day,” but that bad day can trigger deep wounds to my family if left unchecked. It may be that I am stressed or worried about something and it comes out as irritation to those around me. Simple irritation can grow to outright frustration and anger in a short time. I need to remember that Jesus died for those sins of anger and frustration. He has given me both a new heart and the Holy Spirit who helps me extend kindness, patience and love toward those around me.

As the verse says, I need to “capture” the little foxes. With the Spirit’s help, I need to hold captive those thoughts, worries, and irritations that can ruin the peacefulness of my own vineyard. I need to pray and repent of those thoughts and asked the Spirit to help me respond in love to my family. I need to take each little fox seriously and not allow them to get anywhere near the vineyard.

For further reading: Proverbs 30:30, Proverbs 12:16, 1 Thessalonians 5:14, Romans 15;1

Copyright © Christina Fox, All Rights Reserved

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“Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.  Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.”  Psalm 126:5-6

Only God knows the number of tears I have cried over my children.  The tears flowed a river each time they were wheeled away into surgery.  I’ve cried on my knees to God and poured out to him my parenting struggles.  And I’ve cried tears of joy when they asked Jesus to be their Savior.

As one who struggles with depression, tears are my constant companion.  I often struggle with the weight of them and ask God to take them away.  When I search God’s word for answers, I always end up in the Psalms.  And it’s in Psalm 126 He is using to teach me that while the pain that accompanies the tears is difficult, it is not without purpose.

These verses refer to a time in Israel’s history when they returned from exile.  The pain and sorrow they experienced as captives finally came to an end.  Our sorrow and tears too will not last forever, there will be an end.  In Psalms 30, we learn that “weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” Spurgeon said of this passage, “Hence, present distress must not be viewed as if it would last for ever; it is not the end, by any means, but only a means to the end. Sorrow is our sowing, rejoicing shall be our reaping. If there were no sowing in tears there would be no reaping in joy. ” But this end to the tears is not just for any and everyone who cries, the ending of tears only comes to those “who sow with tears.”

We must sow our tears.  We must not just let them fall anywhere, they must fall in a place where they can be planted and nourished.  Our tears are not for us alone but are to be used for God’s glory.  In planting our tears, we are promised that they will produce a harvest of joy.

Jesus knew sorrow well for he was “a man of sorrows.”  He came to earth to walk among us and experienced the same pain and suffering we all battle.  He wasn’t just here as a tourist, to merely observe what it was like to be human in a fallen world.  He entered the grief and pain of the people and experienced it for himself.  But he knew that “joy comes in the morning” and sowed his tears as he hung on the cross.  Scripture tells us in Hebrews 12:2 that he did this “for the joy set before him.”  And what was that joy?  Our salvation and restoration of our relationship with God.

How can we sow our tears?  First, we must always bring our tears to Jesus.  We need to lament in prayer before Him as He catches each tear in a bottle.  Our faith and love in Him will strengthen as we trust in Him to use those captured tears for His glory.  In prayer, we’ll plant our tears for the salvation of loved ones, for those hurting, for our own sin and for growth in our faith.  We also need to consider how we can use our tears to encourage others with the same encouragement He has given us. Our tears will reap a harvest for the kingdom when we reach out to others in the name of Jesus.  Matthew Henry wrote “there are tears which are themselves the seed that we must sow, tears of sorrow for sin, our own and others, tears of sympathy with the afflicted church, and the tears of tenderness in prayer and under the word. These are precious seed, such as the husbandman sows when corn is dear and he has but little for his family, and therefore weeps to part with it, yet buries it under ground, in expectation of receiving it again with advantage.”

We may experience times in this life where we see firsthand the harvest of our sorrows as did Joseph and Job.  Even if we don’t witness it here, we are promised unending joy in eternity with our Savior where “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”(Rev. 21:4)

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”  Matthew 5:4

For further study:  Psalm 116:8, Hebrews 5:7-9, Isaiah 35:10

Copyright © Christina Fox, All Rights Reserved

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