DO YOU HAVE A HEART FOR THE THINGS OF GOD ?
11/12/2020
The heart is truly an amazing thing. It is the central organ in our body. It pumps the very blood that keeps us alive. It is in essence the engine that makes us go, and allows us to function and thrive. But isn’t the heart so much more than just a part of our physical make-up ? The heart of a person is so much more than that. Have you ever thought about the fact that our heart’s are really and truly the core and center of our beings ? Have you ever put your “heart and soul” into something ? Have you ever worked to get to “the heart of the matter” ? The Heart of a person seems to be where the very things that determine who we are come from. More than just a machine with a beat that pumps life giving blood to every part of our body, the heart in my thoughts is the place where God makes His presence and connection sink into my spirit and life in the most intimate way. He is constantly working on my heart to MAKE IT HIS ! It is a place where He moulds me, and reaches out to ask me, “Jim, are you mine ?” “Do you have a heart for Me and My Ways ?”
AND I WILL GIVE THEM ONE HEART, AND A NEW SPIRIT I WILL PUT WITHIN THEM. I WILL REMOVE THE HEART OF STONE FROM THEIR FLESH AND GIVE THEM A HEART OF FLESH. Ezekiel 11:19
KEEP YOUR HEART WITH ALL VIGILANCE, FOR FROM IT FLOW THE SPRINGS OF LIFE. Proverbs 4:23
BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART, FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD. Matthew 5:8
TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND DO NOT LEAN ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING. IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM , AND HE WILL MAKE STRAIGHT YOUR PATHS. Proverbs 3: 5-6
There it is ! God is telling us that the condition of our heart is critical in not just who we are, but that it also forms a basis for our life, our purity, our understanding, our paths we travel, and is the place from which our very life source flows ! Even more obvious is that we can easily have a “Heart of Stone” without the love and completeness that God gives us once we have MADE HIM THE VERY CENTER OF OUR LIFE ! Through that “Centering” of our hearts comes the very DESIRES AND FOCUS THAT DEFINES OUR LIVES AND WHO WE ARE. Have you heard someone say, “ Wow, they have such a heart for…..” A persons heart is always led by what they desire. The bigger question is where those desires come from, and who has placed them there to begin with. Are your heart’s desires placed there by you ? Or are the true and deep desires of your heart placed there by God ? Throughout my life, I have seen the truth of the heart and what it can do when it is focused on God. A heart focused on God seems to find it’s very foundation and center in WHO GOD IS. Good. Loving. Generous, Pure. Devoted. Forgiving. Content. Settled. At Peace. So, DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR HEART IS ?
THE AIM OF OUR CHARGE IS LOVE THAT ISSUES FROM A PURE HEART AND A GOOD CONSCIENCE AND A SINCERE FAITH. 1 Timothy 1:5
WITH MY WHOLE HEART I SEEK YOU; LET ME NOT WANDER FROM YOUR COMMANDMENTS ! Psalm 119:10
LET US DRAW NEAR WITH A TRUE HEART IN FULL ASSURANCEOF FAITH, WITH OUR HEARTS SPRINKLED CLEAN FROM AN EVIL CONSCIENCE AND OUR BODIES WASHED WITH PURE WATER. Hebrews 10:22
Like every part of the person that God has made us to be, we are back at that old familiar place of making a CHOICE. What will we do with our heart ? Will we give our heart and the desires within to God….or the world ? The funny thing is, the world could care less where your heart is as long as you move in the direction that culture, current leaders, or common thought wants you to. In fact, I would tell you that a “ heart for the world” becomes like unto a prison cell. It is a trap to keep you away from the things that I described earlier. Putting your heart in the hands of the world will slowly numb it, let it grow cold, and slowly, but surely, turn to stone. A HEART FOR GOD WILL SET YOU FREE, AND BRING ALL THE THINGS HE DESIRES FOR YOU. A heart for God only grows warmer, and softer and more caring. A heart for God is always more sensitive to good, and righteousness, and generosity. A heart for God lets us focus more on others than on ourselves. Do you want a Worldly Heart ? Or, God’s Heart ? If it is God’s heart, then seek His Ways. Start reading His Word. Start praying for Others. Start seeking Fellowship. Start taking a stand for righteousness and goodness. Let God’s light shine forth from YOU !
FOR ALTHOUGH THEY KNEW GOD, THEY DID NOT HONOR HIM AS GOD OR GIVE THANKS TO HIM, BUT THEY BECAME FUTILE IN THEIR THINKING, AND THEIR FOOLISH HEARTS DARKENED. Romans 1:21
LET THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH AND THE MEDITATION OF MY HEART BE ACCEPTABLE IN YOUR SIGHT, O LORD, MY ROCK AND MY REDEEMER. Psalm 19:14
Are you ready to make the choice ? It begins with the purest of heart ! It begins with giving your life to HIM ! Jesus is the place to begin, for in Him, you can be reborn. In Jesus, your heart can be reformed into a HEART FOR GOD ! Once you give your life and trust to Jesus, your heart has the ultimate purity and grace to be FREE AND CONNECTED TO GOD AND HIS WAYS. ONCE YOU HAVE JESUS AS YOUR LORD, SAVIOR, AND KING, SOMETHING MIRACULOUS HAPPENS, You have His Heart, and He Has Yours :) I have given my Heart To Christ. Am I Perfect ? NO ! I am growing in Him :) I am striving to be more like Him. I am freely changing the desires of my heart to be His desires. He has written His Commandments on my heart, and I AM HIS :) Check Him out. Pick up a Bible and read His STORY. Seek to find out Who Jesus Is, and How Much He Loves You. His Story is about redemption, rebirth and being set FREE. His Story is about giving up your self ambitions and worldly desires and seeking His Kingdom. The Gospel is about having a changed heart and a changed life, through His death and resurrection. Make Him your heart keeper. Make Him your Lord and Savior. Make Him your True King. He truly is, “THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE”. FIND A NEW HEART/JAA.
AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL AND WITH ALL YOUR MID AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH. Mark 12:30
YOU WILL SEEK ME AND FIND ME, WHEN YOU SEEK ME WITH ALL OF YOUR HEART. Jeremiah 29:13