A Responsive Heart: Book 4

By Clarice Fowler

How can I know God?
How do I respond to Him?
How does He respond to me?
In this fourth and last book A Responsive Heart of the series, A Heart to Heart With The Father the author continues to share her personal experiences and how she is learning to respond to this magnificent God who created her and knows every intimate detail about her. Her journey takes us through her successes and her failures as she learns to respond to this heavenly Father who has become so real in her life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 13, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499071931

Clarice Fowler

Clarice Fowler lives in Dallas, Oregon with her husband Don. She was led to write this book after a dramatic miracle changed her life. Wheelchair bound after an unsuccessful knee surgery, she felt a deep urging from the Lord to fast and pray for God to heal her. Within hours of her doing so, she was walking without aid, or pain. Out of this experience, Clarice desired to know the heavenly Father in a more profound way. “Heart to Heart with the Father” series was born. “A Seeking Heart” is book two of this endeavor. God has richly blessed her first book, “The Journey Begins,” and the author has two more books in this series yet to be released. Book three, “A Listening Heart” and book four, “A Responsive Heart”.

Book preview

Day 1

God is … My Tomorrow

Bible Reading: Romans 8:18-25

It is perhaps easier for me, at this age, to look forward to the future with my Lord and Savior in my Father’s forever, than it was when I was younger. I remember when I was sixteen and I would hear teaching that the Lord’s coming could be any day. I would think, yes Lord, that would be great, but I would like to experience what it would be like to marry and have a family.

Later, as my children were growing up, I wanted to look forward to them getting married and raising their families and my becoming a grandma. Those are basic dreams that many of us experience. Now that I am older, God has blessed my husband Don and me with much more than I could ever have dreamed possible.

I recalled the time, in my former home, when I was thinking of my future, I looked outside my window into our backyard and saw a sanctuary where deer ran safely and lay down to rest—wild turkeys roamed around our beautiful yard as the squirrels played hide and go seek, busily gathering acorns for their winter. I looked around me and with praise and thanksgiving lifted up my eyes to my Father and said, If this home would be here in the restored earth that you create, I would be very content spending all eternity right here!

I know, however, that He has a place that He is preparing for me that is so beautiful that my mind cannot begin to comprehend it. As my aches and pains increase, I know that I can look forward to a future without pain and suffering. Paul wrote, For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as His adopted children, including the new bodies He has promised us Romans 8:22,23 (NLT).

Personal Note:

What a wonderful day that will be! If I think that I am surrounded with beauty now, I can hardly wait to see the earth when it is restored to its intended beauty. The earth that I look at is groaning with pain. How spectacular it will be when the vibrancy of the new earth sings with gladness to its creator and we, in our new bodies, can actually hear the praise coming out of not only the beauty of nature, but the animals as well! I will have my new body that will never feel pain, heartache or sorrow again; and I will bask in the glory of my Savior who prepared it all for me!

When I think about it—if God created the world and everything in it in seven days…what will He have in store for me when He already has over 2000 years to prepare it for me! How magnificent that will be. My tomorrow will be astounding!

Prayer:

Father, I can hardly wait for my eyes to behold Your beauty and majesty. I look forward to seeing You, my blessed Redeemer and touching the nail scars in Your hands and feet. I want to look into Your wonderful face and cry out Abba, Father! Thank You so much for preparing a future that is far beyond my expectations! In my Savior’s name, Amen.

Your Reflections:

Day 2

God is … My Eternal Builder

Bible Reading: Hebrews 11:8 -10

I come from a family of wanderer’s. My grandfather was a traveling preacher and my mother said that she could not remember going to any school longer than one term. The good thing is that I have become less attached to anything. The downside, for me is that I also have moved countless times and have lost some wonderful treasures that my children made in school or had when they were growing up.

God called Abraham to become a nomad. Abraham’s heart and mind were on His heavenly Father, because He knew how quickly earthly possessions could disappear. He relied completely on his God for provision and God blessed him richly. He lived in a tent and roamed from place to place, as The Almighty would call him to move He did not hesitate.

I think about Abraham quite often. Not only is he, the father of many nations, but my roots reach back to Abraham because I am a child of our Lord and Savior who came through the lineage of Abraham and David. As I travel on my journey roving through life, I have learned that God is my only constant, my sure foundation. I want to keep my eyes on the eternal builder just as Abraham did! Paul wrote in Hebrews, Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God Hebrews 11:10 (NLT).

Personal Note

As I am reflecting on how many places that I have lived so far, I can recall twenty different homes. I could have missed one or two but it has made me very adaptable to many situations. Through all of the moves, God has been with us and provided abundantly for us.

In my former home, Don and I had to consolidate belongings from three moves. We lived there for nine years. We did not go through the duplications, and get rid of them until we moved to our apartment in Dallas Retirement Village. What an Estate sale we had! We sold most of our possessions. Of course, there are some precious memories that we have kept like photographs and individual gifts that have been given to us through the years.

Although we are very content living here, we are looking forward to our final home in heaven where the master builder is designing a special place, just for us. It will be more beautiful than anything I could ever possess here on earth. The most important thing, however is that I will behold my eternal Lord and Savior. I can hardly wait to see Him and be with Him day by day and look forward to the Eternal place that He is preparing for me. How thankful I am to Him, my Eternal Builder!

Prayer:

Father, I look forward with great anticipation to being with You, in Your eternal home where I will never have to move again. Thank You for Your provision all of these years and the memories that will stay with me throughout my days. Guide and direct me through each step that I take toward Your Eternal place. In Jesus’ wonderful name, Amen.

Your Reflections:

Day 3

God is … Overflowing

Bible Reading: Colossians 2:6-12

Have you ever been so happy that you thought you would burst with joy and thankfulness so that you could hardly contain yourself? I have, many times: when I walked down that aisle to greet my groom, when I held my son and daughter for the first time, when my children graduated and started their new lives as adults, when I visited my granddaughters when they were born, or patiently waiting in the hospital as our grandson was born.

Paul nearly burst with joy, as he watched some of the early churches grow in the knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ. One of those churches was at Colossi. This is an area that would be known today as part of Turkey. This city was full of Greek mythology and false teachings. Paul sent a letter to both of them to be an encouragement in their new-found faith in Christ. He also admonished them to put away false doctrine that was in disagreement with their faith in the Lord.

One of my favorite verses is in chapter two of this book. It reads, Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness Colossians 2:7 (NLT). I love that, because the deeper I allow His root system to penetrate my life, the more my life will overflow in thankfulness to Him. What a wonderful promise!

Personal Note:

As I prayed before writing this devotional, I asked my heavenly Father to lead me into what to write. As I pondered this, I felt an overflow of blessing and thanksgiving that was hard to contain.

I thought of a lesson I heard about a man who wanted to experience and keep a part of the ocean because it was so beautiful; so he went and borrowed his wife’s thimble and went down to the ocean and filled the thimble with water. He did not want to take too much for fear that the ocean would be depleted.

Through the years, I have offered an empty vessel to my Father to fill up. When I was newly born again, it was just a tiny thimble; but as I have grown in Him and His roots have grown deeper, more water has been needed; and my cup of offering has become larger and larger. Each time I grow and offer Him a greater portion of my heart, He fills that up to overflowing until I am ready to give Him an even larger vessel. Just as the ocean will never run out of water, my Father will never run out of His supply of filling my life to overflowing. I pray that I will keep offering Him more and more. I know that each time I do, His blessings will continue to overflow in my life!

Prayer:

Father, How wonderful it is that You fill me to overflowing with Your love, grace, joy and thanksgiving. The more thankful I become, the more You fill my life. You are so generous with me that my heart cannot contain all that You have for me. How thankful I am, my blessed Savior! In Jesus’ Name, Amen

Your Reflections:

Day 4

God is … Obedience

Bible Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Life is filled with many opportunities and choices. In fact, each day we make countless decisions in our lives. The moment that I wake up, I make my first choice. Do I get up or do I snuggle deeper into the covers to get a little more sleep? From that moment on, my day is packed with opportunities and choices.

God made us to have free choice. Nevertheless, we do not always take advantage of obeying Him. God reminded the children of Israel of this as they prepared to go into the land that God had promised them. After wandering around in the desert for forty years, they were allowed to cross the Jordan River and start a new life in the land that God had promised them.

Before they started on this new journey, however, God gave them a choice. See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction…now choose life, so that you and your children may live…for the Lord is your life, and He will give you many years in the land He swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Deuteronomy 30:15,19b,20b (NIV) (excerpts).

He offers me the same condition today. Through Jesus Christ, I can choose life. I do that through obedience to His Word. As I choose life, the stipulation is in Deuteronomy 30:20a. It reads, That you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the Lord is your life and He will give you many years (NIV). The one thing that God has always required of us is our obedience. My goal is complete deference to Him. I am glad that He loves me so much that He is patient, as I learn to respond more intently to His voice.

Personal Note:

As I listen more carefully to Him, I am discovering that at times I do not recognize His voice until after the fact. I was helping fold bulletins at our church recently, when a call came in that one of the members of our congregation was in an accident. Although he only had some broken bones and bruises, the driver of the other car was killed.

As I heard this news, I felt I should pray for the whole situation. I told the church secretary I would be in prayer for them, as I would be driving the same road later that day. Not until I was on my way and praying did I realize that, I should have stopped and prayed when I heard of the accident. The three of us who were in the room would have been much stronger, as we united together for this family rather than my praying alone. My heart was heavy all day as I realized the lost opportunity. I pray that I will become more skilled at responding to His urgings! Yet another lesson! WOW. I am very thankful that He is patient with me!

Prayer:

Father, help me to listen more closely for Your voice and direction. I know that when I do, You will lead me to places that I could never go on my own. Thank You because You always hear me even when I am learning to obey Your voice. Guide my life and my heart to hear You more clearly and know You more intimately. In Jesus’ name, I pray this, Amen.

Your Reflections:

Day 5

God is … The Speaker of the House

Bible Reading: I Samuel 3:1-14

Children are special gifts loaned to us to raise, so that they will become living testimonies to God’s wonderful work within a human life. There was one such child born in a time when God had removed His presence from Israel. They had ignored His teachings so long that God had been silent.

However, that was about to change. Hannah was a woman who believed God and prayed that if God would bless her with a child, she would give that child back to Him. This is one of my favorite stories in the Old Testament. Samuel was given to God to be raised in His holy temple by Eli, the priest.

One night Eli had already gone to bed and was fast asleep. Samuel also had gone to sleep. I find it significant that Samuel had gone to sleep in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God. Suddenly the Lord called out, Samuel! It was such a clear voice that Samuel replied, Hear I am, and rushed in to see what Eli wanted. After this happened three times, Eli realized it was God who was calling to Samuel.

God spoke to Samuel, because he still had childlike faith. God gave him a message that was hard to pass on to Eli. Nevertheless, with Eli’s insistence, Samuel told him that God was going to bring judgment on Eli’s sons who were very evil. Apparently, Eli had not been as good a father to his own sons as he learned to be with Samuel.

As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him, and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable I Samuel 3:19 (NLT). What an awesome statement! God was definitely the speaker of this