76. How’s my Heart (Part IV)

May 14th, 2012

Part IV. What kind of heart would God like me to have?

A. We have been thinking about David, a man after God’s own heart. So let’s look first at the longings of David’s heart.

What characterized David’s heart, and what did he long for?

  • Precepts of God (Ps 119:10-11)
  • Purpose of God (Ps 40:8)
  • Panting for God (Ps 42:1-2)
  • Power & Glory of God (Ps 63:1-2)
  • Praise of God (Ps 150)
  • Pondering God (Ps 63:6)
  • Preeminence of God (Ps 115:1)
  • Prayer to God (Ps 5:2-3)
  • Promises of God (2 Sam 7:28-29)
  • Peace of God (Ps 4:7-8)
  • Purity, Holiness of God (Ps 51:10)
  • People of God (Ps 28:9)
  • Place, House of God (Ps 27:4, 84:2-4,10)
  • Preference for God & Restoration to God (Ps 137:6)
  • Pain of God felt (2 Sam 18:33)
    • Isaiah 1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. 
B. And now in general, what kind of heart would God like to see in me?
  • Loving heart: Deut. 6:5  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
    • God is the greatest lover.
  • Patient heart: Psa 27:14  Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
    • Patient, trusting expectation
    • God’s way is worth seeking for, and God’s will is worth waiting for. (v11, 14)
  • Trusting heart: Prov. 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
    • Psalm 62:8  Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah. 
    • God’s word is worth trusting
    • He is the most trustworthy
  • Willing heart: 2Cor. 9:7  Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
    • Christ was the most submissive to God’s will
  • Thankful heart: Col. 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
  • Serving heart: Eph. 6:6  Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
    • Service should not be dependent on the praise of men
    • Christ was the greatest servant
      • “Pleased not Himself” (Rom. 15:3)
        • He took the reproach of men for the sake of the Father
      • “Not My will, but Thine be done” (Luke 22:42)
  • Peaceful heart Php. 4:6-7  …And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
    • Our peace is not dependent on our circumstances
  • Comforted heart: 2Th. 2:16-17  Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.
  • Joyful heart: Psa 4:7  Thou hast put gladness in my heart
  • Worshipful heart:  Psa 9:1 I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.  
  • Reverential heart: Psalm 86:11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. 
  • Directed heart: 2Th. 3:3-5  And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.
  • Teachable heart: Psalm 51:6  Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. 
  • True heart: Heb. 10:19-22  Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
    • “Blessed are the pure in heart” Matt. 5:8
    • “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts” Psalm 139:23
  • Beautiful heart of humility: 1Pet. 3:4  But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
    • Prov. 18:12  Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.
  • Soft heart: Mar 6:52  For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.  (submitted by reader)
    • What is my reaction when the Lord works in my life?
    • Mark 3:5 – A hard heart grieves the Lord
    • God would not have us to be soft when it comes to the world’s mold (Romans 12:2), but He desires a soft heart that conforms to the mold of likeness to His Son (Romans 8:29).

In considering these things, the writer feels his failure and shortcomings.

 

Concluding thoughts

Our spiritual life began with God working in our heart. We need to guard our heart from the evil without and have it cleansed from the defilement and deadness within. Our heart is the secret to spiritual blessing and honor before God. It is the determiner of our habits. Where it goes, our lives will follow.

A trusting heart is God’s delight.

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. ” (Prov. 3:5-6)

An offered heart is what God deserves.

“My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.” (Prov. 23:26)

A heart given to God is a heart God fills and satisfies. God will fill my heart in the measure that I give it to Him.

With a whole heart like David then, let us praise Him (Psalm 9:1), seek Him (Psalm 119:2), serve Him (Psalm 119:34), and pray to Him (Psalm 119:58,145). Let us with a whole heart return unto Him in repentence (Jer. 24:7) and love Him with our whole being (Deut. 6:5) until that day when we see Him face to face.

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.  (Psalm 19:14)

“Change my heart, Oh God”


75. How’s my Heart? (Part III)

May 11th, 2012

Part III. Life’s ending: the heart’s role in Reward

Reward depends upon the heart

The state of our heart is the secret to our usefulness for God, and it will determine the honor God places upon us in the future. “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God” (1 Cor. 4:5).

After God’s own heart

I am reminded of the man that is, after Christ, perhaps the most honored in the Scriptures. His name is David (found over 1100 times in the KJV). David is in the first verse of the New Testament and six verses from the end of the New Testament.

What is the secret to David’s honor? I would like to suggest that it was his heart.

God said of him, “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will” (Acts 13:22).

What a heart David had for God!  David’s heart was like God’s heart, and he loved to spend time with God. He longed to please God, and lived humbly, trustingly, thankfully before Him. One has only to hear his songs to feel the beat of his heart, a heart full of desire and devotion to his God. What a love he showed for communication from his God in Psalm 119! How he appreciated God’s care in Psalm 23! How he longed after God in Psalm 42! We could go on and on.

God’s choice of David for the one who would guide His people as a type of Christ was due to David’s heart. “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart” (1Sam. 16:7).

David endured the ridicule of men, but he didn’t let others’ assessment of his heart affect his life for God. His own brother cut him down when David sought to refresh him (1Sam. 17:28). And then the trusting heart of David, one that desired God’s honor, went out to meet the giant, and the giant came down.

David endured the betrayal of men, but even this did not change his dedication to God. Instead, that heart that wept so often was made more true to his God as a result. His own son stole the hearts of those he loved and shepherded as king. His heart was pierced with grief. When Absalom’s heart was pierced through in death, reaping what he sowed, David mourned over him.

You can hardly find a man of God that failed more than David did. But it would be hard to find a man who loved God more than David did.

 


74. How’s my heart? (Part II cont.)

May 9th, 2012

A. How do I know if I am in need of revival?

When someone wins my heart, that means they have won my

  • delight – respect & appreciation (Song of Songs 2:2-3)
    • You think of them highly (1 John 3:20)
  • devotion – love & affection (Song of Songs 2:4)
    • You think of them fondly (1 John 3:1)
    • You think of them singly (1 John 2:15)
  • desire – time & interest (Song of Songs 2:14; Is 26:8)
    • You think of them often (1 John 4:16)
    • You desire to spend time with them (1 John 3:2)
  • discipline – will & service, self-sacrifice (Song of Songs 2:16)
    • You think of them humbly (1 John 3:16-18; 1 John 4:10)

So the question I ask myself is, "Has the Lord won my heart, and does He still have it?"

B. What role do others in my life play in relation to bringing revival and restoration?

…What are your thoughts?