Notice on a slight format change:

Except for July 2012, these are mostly a collection of current devotional notes.

July 2012 is a re-write of old quiet times. My second child was born Nov 11, 1987 with multiple birth defects. I've been re-reading my QT notes from that time in my life, and have included them here. They cover the time before the birth and the few years immediately after the birth. They are tagged "historical." I added new insights and labeled them: ((TODAY, dd mmm yy)).

Monday, April 21, 2014

QT 21 Apr 14, We harden our hearts, God softens them

Mark 6:47-52 (ESV) And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid."  51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.


NOTE: I wonder if the real problem with hardened hearts, is not that God hardens hearts, but that God does not un-harden them. We choose to believe or not to believe. We are not force to believe. But God does need to bring a change, an un-hardening of the heart to be able to believe. In and of ourselves, we would always choose to ignore God and his commands -- that is our nature. But God is the one who opens our hearts to truth. We still must use that grace for good; we still must choose to believe. But God in his kindness is the one who softens our hearts and opens our minds to his truth.

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