Tag: Heart

Put Away and Incline

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He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel.” (ESV)

Joshua 24:23

At the end of Joshua’s life and ministry he is recounting to the people of Israel all the goodness and kindness that the Lord God bestowed upon them by fulfilling each and every promise that he had made to them through the years. This recounting of the faithfulness of their loving God was given with a call to serve the Lord. The people with one voice committed to serving the Lord alone, but Joshua was hesitant to allow them to make this commitment. He even tells them that they are unable to serve the Lord! Yet, the people are adamant that they will serve the Lord. So Joshua gives them this command in verse 23, “Then put away the foreign Gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel.” Our God is a holy God and his call upon our lives is to live a life of holiness. And Joshua is absolutely correct. In our own strength, we are unable to serve the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. But there is One in whose strength we can serve the Lord. It is only in our Holy Savior that we can ever hope to serve our Lord in holiness.

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Refreshed Hearts

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For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.

Philemon 7 (ESV)

This is a tremendous testimony from Paul about the outworking of the Holy Spirit in the life of one man. A man that was known for his love and faith toward Jesus and all the saints. Paul is in prison and has only heard stories about the love and faith of Philemon. Here is a man whose reputation preceded him and his godly character went before him. His character and reputation was such that even though Paul had never met him in person, he felt as though he knew him through the testimonies of those who had been refreshed by Philemon. It’s a lovely picture of love and faith. A picture that needs to be not only admired and commended, but replicated in our own hearts.

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Treasure and Ponder

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But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

Luke 2:19 (ESV)

There are two different occasions in Luke chapter 2, where the heart of Mary is revealed to us, and we are able to see a glimpse of the special relationship she had with her son, the Son. Mary was given the announcement of her coming pregnancy and birth of a son by an angel. To which, she simply inquired about how this was to be and then accepted her role in the eternal story of God. For the most part, I think we just take for granted that Mary accepted this role without hesitation and never questioned. We see her as submissive and obedient, which she was. She gave herself to the will of the Lord and set aside her reputation and standing among her people for the glory of the coming Christ. May’s heart had a special compartment that she took advantage of and her story encourages me to do the same. Mary’s skill was to treasure up all she was seeing the Lord work in her life. She treasured them up and pondered them. She gained encouragement and strength through the persistent and intentional work of God in the life of Jesus.

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Heart Reveal

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And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon, who had been sent to him to inquire about the sign that had been done in the land, God left him to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart.

2 Chronicles 32:31 (ESV)

In my reading this morning, I was surprised to find this verse seemingly tagged onto the end of the recounting of the life of Hezekiah. Surprised in the sense that it reads somewhat harsh in the context of the chapter. Yet, it is a truth that speaks to not only how God dealt with Hezekiah and the people of the Old Testament, but how he continues to deal with His people. There is a general feeling today that if God is distant or if has seemingly hidden himself from you, then there is something wrong with you. We often treat these moments of God leaving us to ourselves as though we have done something to offend or that the love of God vacillates. In our pride, we continue to believe that the love of God is conditional and dependent upon on strict obedience. We neglect the beauty of God’s love in this moment with Hezekiah. God leaves Hezekiah to himself not out of punishment and not out of spite but out of love. He does this in order to test the heart of Hezekiah and reveal his motivations and intentions. Does God do this because he doesn’t already know Hezekiah’s heart? Quite the opposite. God knows the depth of Hezekiah’s heart. The person who is oblivious to this is Hezekiah himself.

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Turned Heart

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And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice

1 Kings 11:9 (ESV)

I have always been fascinated by the life of David and the continual references throughout the Bible to his faithful trust in the Lord and the steadfast hope of his heart. David was by no means a perfect person who followed the Lord without sin, but he is continually referenced as the standard of having a heart that was wholly true to the Lord his God. David for me is the reference point for how to lead a life of humility that keeps coming before the Lord in repentance and faith. So when Solomon is presented in the story, there is an expectation and a hope that he will follow in the footsteps of David and lead with a heart wholly true to the Lord. What we see is that Solomon was blessed beyond measure in success, wisdom, and peace. Solomon was lacking no earthly blessing in his life. He was even blessed to have the Lord himself appear to him not once, but twice. Solomon was given everything that we ask for ourselves. He is a picture of me.

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Dull Heart

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For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’

Acts 28:27 (ESV)

This morning I have been reading through the beginning chapters of 1 Kings, where king Solomon asked the Lord for wisdom to govern the people. He desired to have wisdom to know right from wrong so he could rightly govern the people. As I was reading through this and thinking forward to the whole of Solomon’s life, it struck me that even with this great wisdom to govern the people by knowing right from wrong Solomon still strayed from the path of righteousness – the good. Even with this great wisdom to discern right from wrong, Solomon faltered and strayed off the course of faithfulness to the Lord. I paused to ponder this and reflected on my life of seeking wisdom and understanding. My path was to fill my head with knowledge. I too am seeking wisdom. I too want to know and understand the world that God has created. I too want to be granted spiritual wisdom. Then in my reading, I was brought to this last chapter of Acts where Paul speaks about Isaiah 6 and chastises the people of God for the hearts having grown dull, their ears barely hearing, and their eyes being closed. This was Solomon. This is me.

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Go Away

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And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, “Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.”

Acts 24:25  (ESV)

What do we do when we encounter a Biblical truth that runs contrary to our current lifestyle or comfort level with sin? Often, we respond to God in the same manner that Felix responds to Paul after hearing the gospel proclaimed before him. Our first instinct is to remove from our presence the offending words calling us to repentance and faith. Like Felix, we put them away from us so that we may go on about our life as we see fit. To soften the decision we may even tell ourselves that we will think about this later, when we’re ready. I know this is true in my own life. There have been numerous times where the Lord brought spiritual insight and conviction into my heart about a particular sin and my response was exactly the same as Felix. I set it aside and told myself I would work on this at the next opportunity. All because I still wanted my sin more than I wanted Jesus.

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A Beggar’s Heart

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As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath.

Acts 13:42 (ESV)

As Paul finished preaching his sermon in Antioch for the first time, the people who listened had this pure and simple hunger to hear the Word of God preached to them more and more. The people were begging Paul and Barnabas to come again on the next Sabbath and preach more. They were not content to just take the experience and move on with their lives. They had experienced something far deeper than a mere encouragement. They experienced the Gospel of Christ and it moved them. They were moved in their heart and soul to beg these men to come again and preach this message. There was now a hunger and a thirst for the Word of God to be explained and applied. They were not going to be satisfied with this one-time emotional moment. They begged to hear the words of Christ. What does this mean for me?

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The Lord Sees

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But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7 (ESV)

I often find myself marveling at verses like this one. I wonder at times if the Lord is pleased with me. I wonder if I am doing enough, or if I am good enough. I wonder if I said the right words and performed the right steps. I want to be a useful servant to the Lord. I want the Lord to be proud of me. None of these thoughts are bad. It is good to have this desire, but what I forget is that the Lord is more concerned with my heart than he is with my appearance. It’s hard to measure the state of my heart in some ways, yet it is important to do just that. It is important to take a deep gaze into my heart every day and scrutinize what I see within. For this is where the eyes of the Lord focus their attention. It’s not on how I present myself to others. It’s not my accomplishments in this world. It’s not my influence and persuasion upon others. It’s not even my faithful adherence to spiritual disciplines. It is simply my heart. My heart is the centerpiece of who I am. My heart is the tip of the spear. In all things, my heart is the engine that drives and fuels my words and actions.

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Flirting with Sin

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And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death.

Judges 16:16 (ESV)

The story of Samson has always been a bit of an intrigue for me. It comes across as just a good story of an interesting character. A character who had his flaws and who also loved the Lord. This mix of passion for God and passion for the world always strikes me in a concerning way because I see a lot of Samson in my life. Which is why when I typically read his story, I tend to focus on the action of the fantastic elements of his story and character. As I read this morning and reflected on his interaction with Delilah, I saw more than just the pride of a man with all the strength of the Lord flowing out of him. I saw a man who flirted with sin until he finally fell.

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