Charita

Having A Heart That Makes God Smile

Is your heart making God smile? I asked myself this question as I reflected on the passage of scripture, which says; “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” Jeremiah 17:10 (NKJV).

We tend to become so consumed with our external looks and actions, sometimes forgetting that none of what we do matters if our hearts are not making God smile. As Christians, we are called to live a life that is pleasing to God by doing His will and obeying His commands. Throughout the Bible, we discover that the Lord knows those that are His. He looks on the inside and reads the heart of a man. The Lord knows the thoughts of man’s mind and the motivation of a man’s heart. God can read the thoughts of our inner mind, and He knows all those who trust His Word, and have their heart turned towards Him.

The heart of Jesus is full of compassion and love. His perfect heart made a way for us to have a clean heart. Let us be reminded that He is the one who evaluates our hearts, weighs our hearts, and judges our hearts. His rewards are solely based on the internal doings of our heart. Let us make a habit of making Him smile!

You can also help bring a smile to The SALT Connection when you shop at AmazonSmile. It is a simple and automatic way for you to support us every time you shop, at no cost to you. The added bonus is Amazon will donate 0.5% of the purchase price to us. To shop at AmazonSmile, simply go to https://smile.amazon.com/ and choose The SALT Connection as the charitable organization.

The S.A.L.T. is Pouring: Blake’s House Partnership Underway

I recently did some research to find out what the word “pour” means. I liked how the King James Version (KJV) dictionary described this word. It stated, “bestowing or sending forth in copious abundance.” To gain a better understanding of this description, I broke it down as follows:

• Bestowing – To present as a gift
• Sending Forth – To cause something to be heard
• Copious – Yielding something abundantly
• Abundance – A very large quantity

Jesus said “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age,” Matthew 28:19-20 (New Living Translation).

Simply put, we, as Christians, are to: go, present Jesus Christ as the gift, speak loudly so that the world can hear, making sure that what we present yields an abundance of disciples! And the greatest assurance we have is that Jesus will be with us always.

One way the S.A.L.T. Connection is “pouring” is our new partnership with Blake’s House – a non-profit organization that seeks to give young women facing homelessness a chance to live a new story. The SALT Connection will provide biblical education, and spiritual mentorship during their time at Blake’s House.

As we pour into these ladies, our goal is to give them spiritual insight to live an abundant life. We are doing this by:

• Conducting weekly Bible study classes
• Building new relationships
• Helping them navigate life using biblical principles

What does “pouring” look like in the Christian life? It means to give of ourselves in such a way that it will influence how others want to live for Jesus. It is about taking what we have (our knowledge and experience of Jesus Christ) and depositing it into the life of another; so that they can live abundantly.

How do you plan to pour? One way is to donate to the S.A.L.T. Connection to help us continue our vision of pouring God’s Word into women so that they can pour into other women. You could share the word of Jesus Christ yourself to help make disciples as led by God.

Tell us how you plan to pour!

The Benefits of S.A.L.T.

Salt has always been given a bad report for being overused. I was always taught that “too much salt” is not good for your health. However, I was curious to see what, if any, were the benefits of this mineral.

After doing my research, I discovered that It is the sodium (ions) present in salt that the body requires to perform a variety of essential functions. Salt helps maintain the fluid in our blood cells and is used to transmit information in our nerves and muscles. It’s also used in the uptake of certain nutrients from our small intestines. The body cannot make salt and so we are reliant on food to ensure that we get the required intake. To sum it up, salt has ingredients that make it beneficial.

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus told His disciples that they were the “salt of the earth”. We are the salt of the earth. Our job is to influence and enhance the lives of others. We were chosen and created for a purpose. That purpose was to “unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Ephesians 1:10). God is looking for Christians to preserve His name and win others to Christ. When salt is poured onto food, it enhances the flavor. It causes a change which increases our desire to taste the food.

Jesus also explained that when salt loses its taste, it is no longer good for anything. It becomes worthless and must be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. It has lost its influence. How do we as believers lose our “taste”? When we try to mix with the world, we become useless. It’s not enough to just profess to be a Christian. Our lifestyles must change. Jesus is not referring to good deeds that we do, but rather a good character that is displayed. He describes these characteristics in the preceding verses of Matthew 5:13.

Today, my challenge to you is to make a greater effort to become like salt. God wants us to live our lives in such a way that it will cause others to become more and more like Jesus. How do you plan to be like salt?

Answer God’s Calling

Every Christian is called to be a mentor (disciple). It is up to us to walk in our calling. Our calling in life is to share God’s life and have fellowship with other Christians. Dr. D.W. Ekstrand says “When a believer is in fellowship with God, he becomes consumed with His Word, and the desires to share the dynamics of it with other Christians. Just as sports is the topic of interest to the athlete and music is to the musician, and science is to the scientist, so biblical truth is to the believer”. God calls every believer to a service far beyond anything we can ever imagine. We were put on earth to make a contribution. We were called to be disciples of Jesus and lead others to Him as well. A successful mentor follows the examples of Jesus and executes them. Here are some tips for being a mentor: 1. Pray for people 2. Have a genuine love for people. 3. Develop an intimate relationship with people. 4. Be willing to teach people the basic guidelines of living a Christian life (studying God’s Word, surrendering to the Holy Spirit, fellowshipping with other Christians…). Do you have what it takes to be a mentor?
Read more at >>> http://www.heartlight.org/hope/hope_990407_mentoring.html