Category: Heart

Stir Up Your Heart

On By BrianIn Book of Isaiah, Heart2 Comments

Yesterday we asked the question: where is your heart? Today we want to consider how we can stir up our heart for God. In Isaiah 29, God not only confronts the people with their heartless worship (v13), he goes on to tell them that he is going to a do a great wonder that will baffle the wisdom of men (v14). What is this great wonder? Isaiah never tells us. But Paul does.

In I Corinthians 1:18-19, Paul quotes this verse in reference to the cross. The cross is the great wonder that God would do that would baffle the wisdom of men. At the cross, God in the flesh dies for sinful humanity. At the cross, God’s mercy and judgment meet. At the cross, God shows the full extent of his love for us. And as we meditate on the cross, on his great love for us, our hearts are stirred up to love him in response. As we humbly kneel before the cross we “obtain fresh joy in the Lord” (Isaiah 29:19).

Verse 19 goes on to say that we will “exult in the Holy One of Israel.” He is holy, beyond us, glorious. As we meditate on his greatness, our fear of God transcends the mere command of men. Our fear of God becomes real; our worship becomes real. Our hearts are stirred up by his glory.

So let us draw near to God. Let us meditate on the cross and on his glory, and so stir up our hearts to beat for him.

Where Is Your Heart?

On By BrianIn Book of Isaiah, Heart1 Comment

And the Lord said:
“Because this people draw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men….
– Isaiah 29:13 (ESV)

We see here a spiritual deadness. Judah was just going through the religious motions. They were just following the religious traditions. And the problem was not that the traditions were dead. The problem was them. The problem was their hearts.

Our church celebrates the Lord’s Supper once a month. We have a Worship Service every Sunday at 11 a.m. Those are traditions. The issue is not the traditions, but the heart of the people as they come.

So where is your heart? Why do you gather with your church? Why do you minister? Is it just a habit (albeit a good one)? Is it just a tradition (again a good one)? Are you just going through the religious motions? Or do you gather with your church and serve others out of heart for God? Does your heart beat to worship God and serve others for Him?

Where is your heart?

The Test

On By BrianIn Church Life, Habit of Stewardship, Heart3 Comments

Summer is here.  And with summer comes numerous activities that compete for our time.  And some of those activities are on Sunday mornings, competing for our time with the Lord and his people.  It may be a game, a race, a family get-together, a trip to the beach, a work picnic, or any number of other things.  Each alternative Sunday morning activity represents a test.

  • It is a test of our priorities.  Will we choose what Christ offers or what the world offers?  Will we choose Christ or that activity?  Which will be first?  Which will take the priority?  The early church devoted themselves to coming together for the Word and prayer.  Paul risked his life to plant and build up local churches.  Will we share their commitment?  Our world is filled with idols that many people worship, but on Sunday mornings the church gathers to declare that there is one true God.  We gather to celebrate the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We gather together to worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  What could possibly be more important than that?
  • It is a test of our attitude.  We could come every Sunday to church, but with the wrong attitude.  We could come bitter because we really want to be doing something else.  We could sit through the sermon impatiently, hoping it will end soon so we can go and do what we really want to do.  Or we could gather expectantly, excited to see what God might do among us.  We could gather joyfully to worship the Lord through singing and prayer and His Word.  What is our attitude?
  • It is a test of our witness.  Like it or not, church is a public expression of our commitment to Christ.  Our neighbors see if we leave for church each week.  Our families see if we are committed or not.  If we don’t have a strong commitment to church, it communicates to others that Christ really isn’t that important to us.  And if it isn’t important to us, why should it be important to them?

So this summer when those alternative activities come up, go to church.  Tell your family you will be late to that family get-together.  Tell your coach you can’t make the game.  Save that trip to the beach for another time.  You already have plans for Sunday morning.  You have a prior commitment.  Make church a priority, with a good attitude, as a good witness for Jesus.

Our Treasure and Our Pearl

On By BrianIn All About Love, Heart

 The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
– Matthew 13:44-46

Is Jesus the treasure and pearl for whom you would give all,
or is he merely an add-on to your life?

What Are You Seeking?

On By BrianIn Heart, Idolatry2 Comments

What are you seeking?

This is Jesus’ question to two of John the Baptist’s disciples.  It is also an important question for us to ponder as we end this year and begin a new year. 

The answer to the question determines how we lived in 2011. 
The answer determines how we will live in 2012.

The answer tells us what we worship, what we desire. 
It reveals idols in our hearts.  It shows how much we love God.

So as you evaluate the past year and look to the next, ask yourself the question:

What are you seeking?

 

Who Needs Who?

On By BrianIn Church Life, Heart

“Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.
For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and its fullness are mine.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and perform your vows to the Most High,
and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
– Psalm 50:7-15

God did not need their sacrifices.  Every animal already belonged to him; indeed the entire world is his.  Nor did he eat and drink their sacrifices.  And if he was hungry, he didn’t need their help.  God didn’t need their sacrifices.

Nor does God need us.  He doesn’t need our service.  He doesn’t need our ministry.  He doesn’t need us at all.  He can accomplish his will without us.  God doesn’t need us.

But we do need him.  He tells us to call upon him in the day of trouble.  In the midst of the trial, the struggle, the temptation, the pain, the sickness, the loss – we are to call upon him.  We need his help.  And he will help us.

He doesn’t need us.  We need him.  He doesn’t need us, but he does want something from us.  Thanksgiving.  He wants us to be thankful for his help.  He wants us to glorify him, honor him, praise him for all that he has done for us.  In other words, he wants our hearts.  He wants grateful hearts. 

And grateful hearts will sacrifice and serve, not because God needs those things, but because we want to do those things.  And that is what God wants – not mere actions but our wanting to sacrifice and serve in gratitude to him and for his glory.

Church Is Cancelled – Now What?

On By BrianIn Church Life, Family/Single Life, Heart

The winter storm closed most of the churches in our area this morning.  So how should we respond when we hear that church is cancelled?  Let me give you six suggestions.

1. Disappointment.  We should be excited about the opportunity to gather with God’s people in God’s presence each week for worship, discipleship, and fellowship.   Naturally there will be a sense of disappointment when that opportunity is taken away.  If there is not that sense of disappointment, we must ask ourselves why.  Have our hearts grown dull?  Have we lost interest in fellowship with God and his people?  Lost the hunger to worship and grow?  Certainly we might be thankful that we do not have to brave the winter mess, but to actually be excited about having no church and lacking a sense of disappointment says much about our hearts.  Our hearts should reflect the Psalmist’s heart who wrote in Psalm 42:1-2:  As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  When shall I come and appear before God?  If this is not our response, we must examine our hearts.

2. Trust.  God is sovereign; he is in control.  Our lives are in his hands.  If his plan is to send a winter storm so that we can’t meet together as a church, then that is his business.  We may be disappointed, but we should also trust that God knows what he is doing.  Be still, and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10).

3. Rest.  This Christmas season is hectic.  Today was supposed to bring not only morning services but a Christmas party and Christmas caroling.  Now suddenly everything has been called off.  Perhaps in the midst of all of our busyness, God knew we just needed a break, a chance to stop and rest.  So perhaps perhaps part of our response is to take the opportunity God has given and rest from the all the hustle and bustle.  Rest was part of the Sabbath principle anyway, wasn’t it?

4. Family Worship.  We may not be able to meet as a church, but we can certainly still meet as a family to praise God and study God’s Word.  Whether there is one or two or four or twenty or any number in between in your family, you can gather to worship.  Sing some songs of praise from a hymnal or chorus book or with a praise CD.  Discuss a passage of Scripture together or listen to a sermon on the radio or internet or from a CD.  Gathering as a church to worship is important, but if you can’t, gather to worship as a family.

5. Personal Time with the Lord.  You have been given the gift of a whole day.  In addition to worshipping as a family, why not spend some personal time with the Lord in prayer and His Word.  Perhaps read part of a book that will challenge you to grow in the Lord or encourage you to look to God in your trials.  Don’t waste the day – invest it for your walk with the Lord.

6. Family Time.  Enjoy time together as a family.  Talk.  Laugh.  Play a game.  Do something together.  Again, don’t waste the day – invest it for your family.

Drifting Heart

On By BrianIn Heart, Revival3 Comments

As I was preparing for my last class on the Great Awakening, I came across 25 evidences of a drifting heart in need of revival.  These are slightly adapted from Richard Owen Roberts’s book, Revival.  For further elaboration of each point, I recommend you pick up his book, but in the mean time these 25 points should be enough for some serious reflection:

25 Evidences of a Drifting Heart

Adapted from Richard Owen Roberts in his book Revival

 1.When prayer ceases to be a vital part of our lives.

2.When the quest for biblical truth ceases and we are content with knowledge we have already acquired.

3.When the biblical knowledge we have is treated as fact and not applied inwardly to the heart.

4.When thoughts about eternal things cease to be regular and gripping.

5.When the worship services of the church lose their delights.

6.When pointed spiritual discussions are an embarrassment to us.

7.When sports, recreation and entertainment become a necessity to us, more important than the things of God.

8.When we can indulge in the sins of the body and mind without an uproar from our consciences.

9.When aspirations for Christian holiness cease to be dominant in our lives.

10.When the acquisition of money and goods becomes dominant in our thinking.

11.When you can sing the songs of the church without your heart.

12.When you can hear the Lord’s name taken in vain and spiritual things mocked without indignation and action.

13.When you can watch degrading movies and TV and read the same.

14.When division and breeches in the peace of the church are of no concern to you.

15. When you able to use the slightest excuses to keep yourself from spiritual duty and opportunity.

16.When you become content with your lack of spiritual power and no longer even seek God’s power.

17.When you easily pardon your sin and sloth saying the Lord understands.

18.When there is no music in your soul and no song in your heart but only silence for God.

19.When you adjust happily to the world’s lifestyle.

20.When injustice and human misery exist around you and you do little or nothing in response.

21.When your church has fallen into a spiritual slide and you are content with it.

22.When the spiritual condition of the world around you is not apparent to you, you just adjust to it.

23.When you are willing to cheat your employer.

24.When you find yourself rich in grace and mercy and marvel at your own godliness.

25.When your tears are dried up and the cold, hard facts of your spiritual condition can not unleash them.

Two Ways To Live

On By BrianIn Book of Luke, Heart

In the Sermon on the Plain in Luke 6, Jesus gives us two ways to live. 

One way is to live for self.  We can chase after riches, fullness, laughter, and popularity.  We can live to gain for ourselves, as though the world revolved around self.  This is our tendency even from our youngest years – consider the toddler throwing a tantrum because he doesn’t get what he wants.  To those who live this way, Jesus says:  “Woe to you.”

But Jesus calls us to another way of life.  He calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him.  Instead of living for self, we should live for Christ.  We should be willing to give up all the world chases after and become poor, hungry, weeping, hated, rejected, and ridiculed for the sake of Christ.  When we live for Christ instead of ourselves, Jesus says:  “Blessed are you.”  But that is not all.  Jesus then goes on to tell us to live for others – even those who hate us, ridicule us, and reject us.  He tells us to love our enemies.  We are to do good, bless, pray for, and be merciful to others.  Rather than judge and condemn others, we should forgive and give generously.  Live for Christ and others.  Love God and people.  Live with a passion for God and compassion for people.

Two ways to live.  We can live for self or we can live for Christ and others.  Jesus closes his sermon with four applications:

First, choose your teachers carefully.  Those blind to the truth follow those blind to the truth, and they both fall into a pit.  But if you are in Christ, you are no longer blind, so don’t follow those who are.  When we are fully trained we will be like our teacher.  If we make the lies of our culture our teacher, we will be like our culture – we will live for self.  If we make Christ our teacher, we will be like Christ, willing to give of ourselves for others.  So who are we listening to?  What does our favorite music, movies, books, magazines, and websites teach us?  What do our closest friends teach us?  To live for self or for Christ?  Have we chosen our teachers carefully?  Do we need to make some changes? 

Of course, our culture is everywhere, and we cannot help but hear the lies, but we can minimize our exposure.  And when we do hear the lies, we can reject them rather than let them shape us.  We must continually ask ourselves the question as we traverse this world:  “Is this true?”  And we must saturate ourselves with the truth of God’s Word so we can know the truth and see the lies. 

Second, Jesus calls us to apply the truth to ourselves first.  We may agree with Jesus that we should live for him instead of ourselves, but we have this tendency too often to apply the truth to someone else.  We think: “He really needs to hear this message.  I hope so-and-so is listening.  I should send this post to her….”  Though we may have a plank in our own eyes, we want to take the speck out of another’s eyes.  Jesus calls us to look to ourselves first, to apply the message to our own lives.

Third, we need to focus on the heart.  The tree determines the fruit.  Our heart determines our words and actions.  It would be easy to hear Jesus’ message to love others, and attempt to tinker with our words and actions.  But Jesus says we need to go deeper, we need to address our hearts. 

We are all born with hearts bent toward sin, bent toward self.  So our first need is to get a new heart bent toward God.  We need to be born again.  We need Christ to come into our lives and change us if we have any hope of living for Christ and others. 

Assuming we have received Jesus as our Savior and have received a new heart, we must guard our hearts.  Our new heart believes the best thing is to live for Jesus.  It desires to live for Jesus.  With that believe and desire, we will live for Jesus.  But we have been living for self for a long time.  And our culture calls us constantly to live for ourselves.  And so we must guard our hearts from the lies of the culture we once believed.  We must guard our hearts from the sinful desires of our culture we once desired.  When we don’t, lies mix with truth, sinful desires mix with desires for Christ, and we sin.  That is why we still sin.  Sometimes we believe the lies, desire what the lies promise, and live out the lie.  What we believe is what we will desire, and what we desire is what we will do.  Our heart leads to our words and actions.

And so we must also examine our hearts.  We need God’s Word to discern the thoughts and intents of our hearts (Hebrews 4:12) to reveal the lies and sinful desires.  We need to pray with the Psalmist:  “Search me, O God, and know my heart (Psalm 139).  We can’t just tinker with our words and actions.  We must examine our hearts.

Finally, we must live the truth.  We shouldn’t claim Jesus is our Lord if we don’t obey him.  We can’t simply listen to the truth, we must live it out.  If we do, we are like the man who builds on a firm foundation, whose house stands.  If we don’t, we are like a man who builds without a foundation, and great is the ruin.

Jesus calls us to stop living for ourselves, and to start living for Christ and others.  If we are to do that, we must choose our teachers carefully.  We must apply this truth to ourselves first.  We must focus on the heart – we need a new heart, we must guard our heart, and we must examine our heart.  We must live out the truth. 

So how do you need to respond to Jesus’ message?  As you respond and live for Christ and others, you will hear our Lord say to you: “Blessed are you!”

Motions

On By BrianIn Heart, Revival

Why do we do what we do for God?  Is it from an all consuming passion for him?  Or are we just going through the motions?  Do we have a heart for God or is it just ritual?  Matthew West has a great song called “The Motions.”  The chorus is:

“I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything?
Instead of going through the motions”

Check out the whole song here: The Motions