kristen feola blog posts

Matters of the Heart

July 22, 2019 By Kristen Feola

“What you say flows from what is in your heart” (Luke 6:45 NLT).

Have you ever said something you regret? I have – many times. In fact, I did yesterday. I was disrespectful, unkind, and just plain rude to my husband. Earlier in the day, I had thanked God for Justin and prayed for him, but a few hours later, I assaulted him with my words.

As soon as the poison was released from my lips, I knew I’d made a terrible mistake.

There was no sense of victory as I’d hoped. I didn’t feel as if I’d “won” the argument. Instead, I was disgusted and saddened by my behavior.

Where did all those damaging words come from? God’s Word says, “The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart (Matthew 15:18).” Anger and bitterness were swirling around inside of me, and our conversation provided the opportunity for those emotions to surface. Once they were red-hot and at a boil, they spewed forth out of my mouth, deeply wounding the one I love the most.

How can we keep our hearts clean and undefiled? How do we avoid damaging others with our careless words? Proverbs 4:23 gives us the answer:

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”

We guard our hearts by reading the Bible and obeying it. Instead of allowing sinful thoughts to remain unchecked, we confess them to the Lord. We allow his love, joy, and peace to replace the negative attitudes which are festering inside us.

If you fail to protect the condition of your heart and go too far with your words, God invites you to confess our failure to him. Once you do, you don’t need to wallow in guilt or punish yourself with self-loathing. You’re forgiven, and the blood of Jesus makes you clean. However, you do need to go to the person you’ve hurt and restore the relationship.

Ask the Lord right now if there are any sinful attitudes in your heart that need to be laid on the altar. If so, leave them there, and speak life to those you love today.

Saved

July 15, 2019 By Kristen Feola

“Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved” (Romans 10:13).

I was seven years old. It was a Sunday morning, and I stood at the back pew of Calvary Baptist Church in Butler, Missouri. As the preacher invited people to accept Jesus, I sensed a tugging at my heart. I knew God was speaking to me. Even though I wanted to go forward, I didn’t. Instead of walking to the front of the church, I went downstairs to the basement. My mother followed me.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. I told her my stomach hurt because it did. I was nervous and scared. I can’t recall exactly what my mom said, but her words calmed me down. After a few minutes, she and I went back into the service, and I walked up the aisle to the pastor.

Brother Green and I knelt by the altar, and he shared Bible verses with me, including Romans 10:9-10, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (KJV).” The truth of the gospel penetrated my soul. I needed Jesus. I confessed my sin to God and asked Jesus to come into my life. On June 3, 1979, God gloriously saved me!

Decades later, I’m still overwhelmed by God’s great love. That he would send his Son to die for me is unimaginable! That he would choose me before the creation of the world to be his child is incomprehensible! As long as I live, I’ll never be able to grasp the full extent of his affection for me.

Have you met the Lord and been saved by grace? If so, then praise him! Thank God for what he has done, and share your story with others. If you’ve not yet accepted God’s gift of salvation, I urge you to open your heart to him. He loves you more than you can understand. You don’t have to do anything but ask. The Lord is waiting for you to come to him. Just believe and receive. . . and be saved.

Note:
According to the Bible, if you want to become a follower of Christ, you need to:

A – Admit that you are a sinner in need of God’s grace.
B – Believe that Jesus came to this earth as the Son of God, lived a perfect life, died for your sins, and rose again to give you eternal life.
C – Confess your sins to God and receive his forgiveness.

Following is a sample prayer for salvation. Of course, you should use your own words to talk to God, but this prayer might help guide you:

“God, I acknowledge that I’m a sinner in need of your forgiveness. I’m sorry for the life I’ve lived. I repent of my sin (turn away from it) and choose to follow you.

Your Word says in Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).”

I believe you sent your Son, Jesus, to die in my place. I believe Jesus paid the penalty for my sin and that he rose from the dead on the third day.

Today, God, I accept your gift of salvation. I declare that Jesus is now my Savior and Lord of my life. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for making a way for me to have a personal relationship with you. I want all that I do to bring glory to you. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Your Failures and God’s Grace

September 1, 2015 By Kristen Feola

I blew it yesterday. Not once. Not twice. But three times. If I’d been playing baseball, I would have completely struck out.

The day started out well. I went to the gym, rode 17 miles on my bike, worked on the computer, and visited a friend. By 3:00pm, though, I was tired. As I sat in carline, waiting to pick up my daughters, I prayed about my attitude. “God, you know I’m worn out. Please help me to be patient with the girls, despite how I feel.”

The first five minutes went well. I asked Isabelle and Jocelyn to tell me something good that happened at school, and we chatted about their experiences. But as soon as we started discussing homework, everything went downhill.

Isabelle got annoyed because I was asking too many questions. I got frustrated with her for being defensive. My blood pressure rose and so did my volume. By the time we pulled in the driveway, I was steaming mad.

Strike one.

My husband met us at the door with a smile on his face. “Hi, babe. How are you doing?”

“Just great,” I replied through clenched teeth. Though Justin usually greets me with a kiss when he gets home from work, he decided to steer clear. My body language and facial expression communicated that I was not in the mood for a little smoochy smoochy. Justin got the message and kept his distance. In fact, he bolted to his shed to escape the obvious tension in the room.

Strike two.

The next few hours were pretty uneventful. I calmed down. Isabelle studied for a test. Jocelyn, the peacemaker, played her guitar. Justin finally dared to reenter the house. We had a peaceful dinner.

Just when I’d almost forgotten about the events of the afternoon, I was blindsided by another wild pitch. At bedtime, Jocelyn brought me her Language Arts paper and asked if I’d look over it. Right away, I could see that she hadn’t followed directions, and many of her answers were wrong. When I told her so, Jocelyn started crying. “But I put my paper on the kitchen table so you could check it! I don’t want to redo the whole thing!” she said. “Jocelyn, you didn’t tell me about the paper, so I didn’t know. You’ll just have to get up early in the morning and correct it,” I told her.

Jocelyn kept wailing. Even after I tucked her into bed, she was still hysterical. Eventually she cried herself to sleep.

Strike three.

Do you ever have days like I did? When your poor choices lead to conflict with family or friends? When your words aren’t loving and kind but sharp and cutting? When gentleness and patience are nowhere to be found?

Mistakes cause us to struggle with bouts of sadness, regret, and self-loathing. And the Enemy loves every minute of it. He takes great pleasure in beating us down and then stomping all over us in our moments of weakness.

But that is never God’s response to us! The Lord knows we will blow it sometimes. His Word promises, “The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning” (Lam. 3:22-23 NLT).

When we disobey God and hurt others, we don’t need to walk around in shame. But we do need to repent and follow this two-step process of restoration as outlined in God’s Word:

1. Confess your sin to the Lord.
Tell God what you did wrong. Yes, He already knows, but your confession is not for Him. It’s for you.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

2. Forgive, and ask for forgiveness.
Forgive the person who offended you. If you hurt someone, humble yourself, and say, “I was wrong. Will you forgive me for _____?”

“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” (Col. 3:13 NL).

Maybe you struck out yesterday. Or maybe your no hitter is happening today. Just remember, your failures don’t ever exclude you from God’s glorious grace. Just turn to the Lord, and let His love cover your failures.

Today when I pick up my daughters from school, I’m determined not to swing and miss. Today I’ll rely on the Lord to help me hit a home run.

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Her Name is Georgia, Part 8

January 4, 2011 By Kristen Feola

Many of you are on the Daniel Fast or are getting ready to start it. I’m gearing up to begin on January 9th myself! My plan is to post daily with devotions, recipes, and whatever else might be helpful for your journey with the Lord.

Today, though, I’m continuing the story of Georgia, which is a story I started writing a few weeks ago. If you haven’t read Parts 1-7, take a few minutes to do so before reading today’s post.

Be encouraged today. The Lord is at work all around you. Perhaps there is a Georgia in your life He wants you to touch.

“As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” – Galatians 6:10

One morning after I dropped Isabelle off at school, Jocelyn and I stopped by Georgia’s house to surprise her with two Pineapple Citrus Muffins that I’d made. Georgia greeted us at the door.

“Good morning!” I said. “Have you had breakfast yet?”

Georgia nodded, and showed me the opened can of green beans in her hand. The other hand held a fork. This will not do, I thought.

Even though Georgia had assured me that she gets food and snacks while she’s out walking, I seriously doubted that she was eating enough. Also, I’d suspected that her food choices weren’t well balanced or healthy. Therefore, that day I decided that I would deliver meals to her as often as possible. Since I love to cook, it would be a joy for me to serve her in that way.

Jocelyn headed straight for the stuffed animals, as usual, and I went into the kitchen to prepare Georgia’s breakfast. Along with the muffins, I’d brought butter, honey, strawberry jelly, and peanut butter, trying to cover all the bases of what Georgia might like. She chose peanut butter. I poured her a glass of orange juice to go with it.

This particular visit was about a week before Christmas, so most of our conversation that day centered around what presents Isabelle and Jocelyn were hoping to find under the tree. Curious, I asked Georgia, “What do you want for Christmas?” Fully expecting her to say, “Nothing,” I was taken aback by her reply. “A nice family,” she said.

I was speechless. In her reply, I heard much more. Georgia had shared the deepest longing of her heart to me in those three words. What she was really saying was, “I’m lonely for close relationships. I need people in my life who accept me want to spend time with me. That’s the only thing I want.”

Our family isn’t merely doing a good deed by reaching out to Georgia. Nor are we simply demonstrating kindness in practical ways to an elderly woman. We are literally and figuratively wrapping our arms around this precious lady, embracing her with the love of Christ. By opening our hearts to Georgia and meeting her practical needs, we’re inviting her into our home, into our lives, and into our family.