This morning: God: Get ready, get set, go! Me: Right now? God: Yes. Me: Yes sir.

After just finishing up my new site for the blog, I thought I wouldn’t be posting my first post till the beginning of the year. However the Lord had another idea! This is what the new name of the blog is all about; the Matters of His heart. Let me explain.

For a while now I have blogged about the subject of the Jewish roots and the One New Man which is still my passion. And yet I felt there was more to blog about that would take me outside of the parameters of the subject of my previous blog. It’s like God was saying, it’s time to stretch and expand my territory so that I can release more of what is on His heart. That means taking the limits off, and stepping into a new thing.

In praying for the name of the blog, I heard the term matters of the heart. In researching this term, I found that some of the definitions lined up exactly with the vision of this blog that God gave me. And instead of matters of the heart, I then heard Matters of His heart. This goes along with a recent prayer I prayed, asking the Lord what was on His heart to pray and to release. To many times we all get caught up with what we want to pray and not give God the time to respond and the time to reveal what is on His heart.

One of the greatest aspects of our relationship with the Lord is hearing His voice. Oh the voice of the Lord! So beautiful! The word for listening or hearing in the Hebrew is Shema ( שמע). It means to listen with intent, to give heed to, to yield and obey.

Now we come to the point of this post which is a Christmas message.

God yearns for us to take the time to actually listen for His voice, to be so intimate with Him, meaning in- to- Him. That is relationship! Don’t you love it when your spouse is so in to you? How it makes you feel? How you want to do more and more for the one that has your heart?

In the spirit of giving gifts this Christmas, what if we gave to one another and to the ones we love, a greater gift. The gift of listening with intent. A gift that gives attention and makes the one you love feel valued! A gift that is not self-centered, but people centered. A gift that is so Christ-centered there is no room for self-centeredness.

This Christmas, I encourage you to Shema, to listen to God for His voice, to listen to your loved ones on what they are really trying to say. Give them your attention. This my friends is one of the greatest gifts you can give the Father this Christmas as well as your loved ones. We have all fallen short in this area. We need to continue to cultivate this gift of listening which is a gift of love that Paul said is greater than faith! 

As far as future blogs, anything goes because what matters are His matters. This does not mean I will exclude posting on the Jewish Roots or the One New Man. That’s a big part of my heart which comes from His heart.

Till next time, Merry Christmas! Enjoy your family and friends!

Blessings, hugs and much shalom!

Ellen (Brucha)