heart Archives – Page 20 of 20

August 29, 2020

Hypocrisy!

Jeremiah 40 to 42 After the siege ended, Nebuchadnezzar had left a small contingent in the land to care for it. They came to Jeremiah, the prophet, seeking God’s counsel about what they should do. Standing before him, they said: “Please pray to the Lord “your” God that He will tell us where we should go and what we should do. We promise that whatever He says, we will do.” After ten days, Jeremiah emerges from his prayer closet with God’s counsel, which is resoundingly rejected. Jeremiah’s words and their promise to do whatever he said don’t match what they wanted to hear. How often do we make promises, but become impatient and decide to do what “we want” not what God says?

Instead of believing Jeremiah, they said: “God did not send you to tell us to stay here.” Out of the mouth, the heart speaketh. Their false piety is nothing more than hypocrisy. They said, we will not stay here because “our” God said for us to go. How like Saul when Samuel confronted him and like him, this contingent quickly forgot their promise because it didn’t fit with their plans. Now it is not “your” God but, “our” God and, “our” God said; go to Egypt.

Jeremiah reminded them and he is reminding us:

God would not send confusing messages because He not a God of confusion

Are we wanting God’s permission to do what we have already decided OR do we wait and listen for His voice to say: “You will hear a word spoken behind you, saying, “This is the correct way, walk in it,” [Is 30:21]

August 27, 2020

Jeremiah 33 “The Word of the Lord…”

Jeremiah 33 In times of quiet, our hearts are more open to the “word of the Lord,” because the distractions are minimized. Jeremiah was shut up in the court of the guard, but walls or circumstances do not bind the Lord’s word. It is still true today. God is anywhere you are. You may be confined to a bed due to illness, or you may be restricted to a prison cell, or you may be confined due to the corona-virus restrictions. God knows where you are, and if your heart is prepared to hear Him, He will come to you, and He will give you eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to understand.

The Lord came to Jeremiah, and He comes to His children today: call to me, and I will answer you and tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. “God can do anything He wishes. There’s no prayer too hard for God to answer, no problem too big to solve, no person too lost to save, no promise too difficult to keep. Nothing lies outside the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of God.” [Adrian Rogers]

Have you heard the voice of the Lord in your quiet time?

What needs do you have that need prayer? May I pray for you this day?

August 19, 2020

The Heart of God

Jeremiah 5/Gen 18 Have you ever felt your heart so sad that you thought it would break? That is why, like Jeremiah, we begin to wonder, is there any good news? Is it all bad news? And there right front and center in chapter five, we see the heart of God.

God tells Jeremiah, “See if you can find a single person who deals honestly and tries to be truthful. If you can, then I will not punish this city.” [Jer 5:1] Flashback: Return to Gen 18, where we encounter Abraham and the Lord God as they converse about Sodom and Gomorrah. In His mercy, God had quietly shared with Abraham: “I must go down and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. If NOT, I want to know.” [Gen 18:1]

Even though God is omniscient, He still “wants to know.” And that is because God is a personal God, not an arbitrary idol god. One of the marvelous things we can count on is that God always thoroughly investigates a situation before passing judgment. He cannot nor will He arbitrarily destroy because He is a fair and judge. As He did with Sodom, He does with us.

We can count on the fact that the God we serve is “compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and truth.” It is because His “lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.” [Lam 3:22]

Do we have these same character qualities? Do we judge before we have evidence? God’s heart is clear: He is fair and just and He expects us to be the same.

August 7, 2020

Watch Your Heart

Isaiah38-39 The Pride of Self-Salvation

Hezekiah had been blessed twice over because he had humbled himself before the Lord. He had spent time in prayer and rejoicing when he and Jerusalem were delivered. Yet when the Babylonians arrived to offer their greetings upon his recovery, instead of giving God the glory he revels in his earthly wealth. Reminds us of Nebuchadnezzar!

How true it is that when we are in a trial we seek God and His provision, but when He blesses us and the trial is past we often fail to guard our hearts against the next trial that may come our way. Isaiah doesn’t fill in the blanks but the Chronicler does. God left Hezekiah alone to test him, in order to know his true motives. [2 Chr 32:31].

Hezekiah’s root problem was pride just as it has been for many. It often is revealed in how we respond to flattery and smooth words. Because our eyes are on the earthly and not the heavenly; we are not discerning. We need to pray every day that God will give us a discerning heart to see and understand the stumbling stones in our path lest we fall like Hezekiah.

Prov 4:23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Pro 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

August 4, 2020

“Are We Fishers of Men?”

John 21 What do you do when you don’t know what to do? Do you chill out with food or binge on TV? For Peter, who had not a clue what was next, he returned to fishing, which is where our story picks up. It is familiar territory where life is simple. What is “the doing” for you?

The story unfolds in the early hours of the day when the sun is just creeping over the horizon. A voice almost sarcastically says, ‘you don’t have any fish, do you?’ Translation, what a wasted night you have had. But in obedience, just like before, the net is moved, and fish swim into the net. The disciple Jesus loved, a.k.a. John recognizes that this had to be the work of the Master. On the shore, the Master has prepared breakfast, but it isn’t until after breakfast that we see the whole purpose of this time together.

Jesus begins his work of restoration for Peter with three simple basic questions but with precise instructions. May we glean the instructions for ourselves.

Turning to Peter three times, He reminds him that He called him to be a fisher of men. That is our reminder too! Three times Jesus asks: Do you love me? Go and feed my lambs, shepherd my sheep, and feed my sheep. Jesus is saying my instructions are not to just any lambs, but “MY” lambs. Not just any sheep, but “MY” sheep. I am calling you and am leaving you to do “MY” work amongst the flock. Do you love me more than x, y, z?

Jesus asks us those same three questions. Feed/Shepherd/Feed the ones I have called, wrapped in my love, and kept from the enemy. Will you do that?

July 31, 2020

Reach Out and Touch Someone

Isaiah 16 You may or may not remember that slogan from the 1980s, but a marketing idea at the phone company hit home and so began one step closer to the art of instant communication. Instead of waiting days for snail mail now, it is voice mail. The days of rotary phones are over. Now nearly everyone on the planet has a rechargeable cell phone. Now we use our phones to call, do our banking, and read instant messages, but nothing matches a friend’s sweet voice checking in on us. Even though we are more connected than ever before, we still need that personal one on one chat with a precious friend or family member.

In Isaiah 16, God’s heart sighed for the prodigal Moab. They had long ago walked away from Jehovah, but Jehovah had not walked away from them. Yes, they brought this problem on themselves due to their pride and idol worship, yet even in that, God reminds the Israelites to do what He would do: Hide the outcasts from those seeking their demise and do not betray the fugitive. God is saying remember to demonstrate the attribute of compassion to those who are suffering.

Who is in your circle of acquaintances or friends who need that special touch today?

As the Lord has compassion on us, so we are to have compassion for others. It goes both ways, for you never know when you may be facing difficulty and need that special touch.

July 28, 2020

What do you choose: Faith or Fear?

Isaiah 7:9b and 26:3 Have you ever asked someone what or whom do they fear? What would they be willing to forfeit? Jesus told the disciples that He would always be with them and if that is true why then do we fear? The principle is found in Is 7: “If your faith does not remain firm, then you will not remain secure.” In other words, if your faith is not enough to face the dangers of others or circumstances your faith is not faith at all.

Let me give you an illustration. There was a woman to whom I was speaking and presenting the gospel. Our conversation began with this question: what do you put your faith in? She nodded through it all but when I came to the question about surrendering her life to Jesus she balked—no, in fact she said she would NOT trust Christ. Her reasoning was that she would have to give up her immoral relationship to follow Christ. She was more fearful of losing the man with whom she was now living than spending eternity in hell. Unlike the Samaritan woman at the well, she turned away from salvation.

Perhaps that is you. God is asking you to put your faith in Him. He asks that question so that you would know He will keep you in perfect peace because your faith is holding firm on God and because you chose to trust in Him.

Joshua asked the Israelites to choose whom they would worship, God or the gods of their ancestors. They had to choose between faith or fear. Where are you today?

Photo: Sincerely Media on Unsplash

July 27, 2020

Praying with all boldness!

Isaiah 3 – 6 You may have heard this saying: what goes around, comes around meaning that what has happened will happen again. Isaiah listened to what God said: “Youths will proudly defy the elderly and riffraff will challenge those who were once respected.” God was preparing Isaiah to understand what the Apostle John wrote later: “Therefore, do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.” and especially when you present Christ. [1 Jn 3] Today, thankfully there are many young people acting righteously. When you see that stop and thank God for them! Better yet, thank them in person.

In chapter 6, God told Isaiah that the people would listen but not understand, see but not comprehend and have hearts that would turn away. God was saying to Isaiah; this is My ministry, and you are My servant and you will experience what I have been experiencing since time began.

Today, if you are in ministry or you are discipling another, know this truth: “the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God.” [2Cor 4:4]. Therefore, we must pray with all boldness: Father, remove the scales of their eyes, open their ears, and give them hearts to understand. Claim the same prayer Paul requested from the Ephesians: “pray that I may be able to speak boldly as I ought to speak.”

How may we pray for you today?

July 25, 2020

Open the Door of your Heart

Song of Solomon ch 5 to 8 My lover is knocking at the door! Listen! [SoS 5] I am standing at the door and knocking! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him [Rev 3:20]

Is Jesus knocking at the door of your heart?

He desires your heart just as the lover of this poem in the Song of Solomon. But, too often, our answer is tomorrow or the time is inconvenient or when I get closer to my death. Yet, Jesus is saying, “Look, now is the acceptable time; look, now is the day of salvation!” [2 Cor 6:2] Don’t put this day off. As it says, “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” [Heb 3:15]

Jesus is calling you to salvation! Open the door of your heart to Him!

July 22, 2020

God Tests the Heart

Ecclesiastes 7 to 9 The book of 1 Kings tells us that Solomon loved the Lord, and at Gibeon, as he was dreaming, God tested his heart. “Ask what I shall give you.” Just as God tested Peter, so God was testing Solomon. Who did he really love? Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him, and each time Peter responded with the “phileo” type of love. That was Solomon’s problem too. Until we have an “agape” type of love, our heart is just as Jeremiah said: desperately wicked. In some ways, that is the same question God asks of us. He essentially asked Solomon to determine the answer to that question, and his life is an open book for us to see. Study his life in the books of 1&2 Kings and then Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.

Although it seems that his answer is true wisdom, we only have to look at his last book to see that Solomon loved himself more than God. He struggled with integrity and having a devoted heart for God.

The test of our heart comes in situations and circumstances over which we have little or no control, and Solomon is not the only one who failed that test. We can study the lives of Noah, Moses, and Abraham and others to see their responses.

God puts everything on his scale. Solomon knew that the Lord weighs the heart, do we?