WILD AT HEART
FIND YOUR HEART
PUT YOUR HEART INTO IT
ALWAYS KEEP YOUR HEART
NEVER LOSE YOUR HEART FOR GOD
GUARD YOUR HEART FOR OUT OF IT ARE THE ISSUES OF LIFE
LOVE GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, SOUL, STRENGTH, AND MIND
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that those sayings (and others like them) have nothing at all to do with the ticker in our chest. One of my life desires is to help others find their heart. Even as I write that, I am well aware of the struggle within my own life to keep my heart pure and desiring God.
WHAT. DOES. IT. MEAN. TO. KEEP. YOUR. HEART. FOR. GOD?
Plain and simple: it means that I keep pursuing after God. My thoughts, mind, actions are focused upon Him and His desire for me. I have to admit that I am not the poster boy for this type of pursuit. Sure, I have my moments where going after God is what I long for and live for. But more often than not, I get waylaid. I get side-tracked. I take the road everyone else is traveling instead of the one Scot Peck tells us to take: “the road less traveled.” I have a plaque at home that graces the living room wall. I saw it one day and liked it so well that my daughter and son-in-law bought it for me one Christmas. You have probably seen the saying by Hilary Cooper:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
How can I say this without understating it: that literally blows my socks off. Do you realize the impact it would have on my/your life if we lived every day as though we truly believed it? I rode over 23 miles yesterday with a friend, and it was a hard ride for me. Temps were close to 100 and the heat index over that. A wind was blowing out of the north. It seemed like every pedal was a chore. There are several reasons for that, but when we were done I looked at Sean and said, “I feel old today.” Truth is this: whether you are 58 (I am), 28, 38 or whatever, you can let life pull you down and kick you in the teeth or you can say, “No! Today, with God’s help and in His power, I am going to live life to the fullest!” We are the ones who choose daily the direction we will take. We choose daily whether the direction we take will involve compromise of our standards and beliefs, or whether we will stand strong.
WE. MUST. CHOOSE. WHAT. WE. WILL. DO. WITH. OUR. HEART!!!
Do you find yourself struggling with the direction of your heart these days? Do you find it compromising with extra “stuff” around you? Are you having trouble choosing purity and integrity? I am not going to ask you to bare all here…that is between you and God, unless you want an ally to pray for and with you. If you want to have an ally, but don’t want to go public, send me a personal email at pastor@ovcf.org. I can promise anonymity. If you care to comment, please feel free to do so.
For some days, I’ve found myself struggling with the direction of my heart. My heart is getting filled with unforgivingness and hatred but I’m asking God to help me get rid of it. It’s killing me. I’ll send you a mail.
“Guard your heart” Mercy. don’t allow unforgiveness and hatred to live there and take root. You are right in one thing: it will kill you. Will try to help. thanks for commenting.
Jesus tells us that our hearts contain evil.
We are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.
The Old Adam/Eve hangs around our necks all throughout life like a rotting corpse.
But we do have a Savior. He does change our hearts and every once in a while we live like it.
Welcome to my blog Steve. Thanks for commenting although I would disagree with you on your third statement. i would point to 2 Cor.5:17 as proof that the old man is gone and no longer hangs around like a rotting corpse. I invite others to join in the discussion- agree or disagree. Appreciate you coming by. I have also checked out your site.
Yeah, 2 Cor 5:17 came to mind as well.
Romans 7 (and our own lives) seem to contradict the belief that the Old Man (sinner) is no longer with us.
I am not saying the old man is not with us but I do not accept the idea that he is a rotting corpse around our neck. The flesh and spirit will always be in conflict. To say the old man is a rotting corpse and still “in control” is to border on legalism, because that means we have to “do” or “work” our way to salvation. Thanks for coming back Steve.
We think sin really stinks.
We are anything but legalists.
We have been freed from the sort of ladder-climbing, religious progressiveism (becoming a better Christian) that characterizes so many churches these days.
Because Christ has done it all for us.
It’s very liberating, actually.
I think sin stinks. I was not calling you a legalist. I am against the ladder-climbing that you speak of. And I live free. Glad you do also. I don’t like the word picture that comes from hanging around our neck. Thanks Steve.
Ok, Bill. It is an ugly picture, that’s for sure.
Us Lutheran types believe that ugliness remains a part of us, all throughout life. It’s keeps us grounded and keeps us from becoming prideful in our accomplishments (like the Pharisee vs. the publican).
We always want to have the attitude of the publican.
Thanks, Bill.
i was in no way, Steve, upset. I hope I didn’t come off that way. i was a legalist and so I react strongly sometimes. I so appreciate your willingness to give and take. I like that in a person. Please feel free to visit more often and any time.
Very timely, Bill. I have been meditatively reading,kind of chewing on several passages about our hearts for about a week.
Oddly enough, though it may not be referring to our physical heart, our actions and thoughts often DO affect our coronary health.
Glad you are meditating on this Susan. You are right also. Some things do affect our physical heart (see my comment to Mercy). Thanks for adding to the conversation.
I have a lot of trouble really finding “heart” for ANYTHING, positive or negative. So much of my days is spent just trying to “get by”, hoping for some “good moments”, that I basically have no long term purpose. Nothing to really sell out myself to. That’s frustratingly sad, and I’m continually disappointed in myself, but here I am. Trying to help my kids be great people is about all I’ve got left, and I pretty often feel like I’ve hopelessly screwed that up, too.
I probably shouldn’t comment in the mornings, because I’m often rather depressed early in the day. Don’t know why, but it seems that my early morning comments (and really late night) are the outpourings of a guy who is more down than he should be…
There are certain times of the day when commenting, studying, or doing anything is not good.
I do think you underestimate your influence upon your children to the good. Thanks for being honest.
I’ve been having a hard time lately keeping my heart beating while I wait for direction. It’s just been hard to be motivated to keep doing the day to day stuff.
On another note, I had a similar day to you with exercise yesterday. It was very hard to get going – long weekend, tired, stinkin’ hot outside, etc… It was extremely hard to get started and it was hard to keep going but I felt exponentially better after the workout was done.
Have a good day Bill!
Don’t know what direction you are looking to go in Jim but do know that I pray for you, Cindy, Jenna and Joe. I had one of those days where I wish I could say I felt better. i was just wiped. ‘Course not sleeping for 2 nights all the way through may have something to do with that.
Glad you felt better. Hope you have a good day also.
I’ll be honest, My heart finds pleasure in Christ, but is tempted in other things. It’s a daily fight to keep it pure, in focus and in control. If I want to know who I really am, I just have to look there and all the laundry is always revealed.
I’m happy that Jesus is an expert in heart cleansing.
Your honesty is appreciated Moe. It speaks directly to me, as I fight the same daily fight. I, too, am glad for His cleansing. Thanks for your great comment.
The hardest part for me in keeping my heart aimed at God are the times when He seems to be elusive. Those times when I pray and pray and He seems to be somewhere else…that’s when the little temptations creep in and try to drive me away. Oh, this wicked heart of mine.
Those are hard times jason. But sometimes they are the best time also. Keep guarding your heart. Thanks for the comment.
This is a great post, with excellent timing, Bill. At New Life, we are talking about Achan this coming Sunday. The thrust is all about the heart and getting things out of it that cloud up your view of God and ability to follow Him.
I have definitely been there before where I am clouded by things around me. Right now is a pretty good stage in my life, but when I need the prayer, I know I could always count on you. Peace.
That is a great illustration of this very thing Stan! Glad you are in a good place right now. Be using to prepare for your next journey.
Thanks for the kind words and coming by.
The blood of Jesus makes old hearts new…great words bro’
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10
Thanks for the good words Jay. I believe those with all my heart. Appreciate your comment.
One of the reasons I love children’s camps and being a counsellor there is the ability of kids to strip down all pretense that you might’ve tried to put on. Their simplicity does that. You simply can’t pretend well when they are around.
They certainly have taught me a lot in this year’s camp. God has taught me a lot in this year’s camp through the little ones. And the kids know how to teach someone to live to the fullest
Yeah Zee. Kids have a tendency to do that to us.
They are not interested in playacting by adults. They want “real.” Glad you learned a lot at camp and look forward to hearing more (like today’s post). Thanks for visiting.
Great pep talk, Bill! I really appreciate the encouragement. Things can beat and beat and beat us down, but God offers such a tremendous hope to live His best. Thanks, my friend. Need this reminder.
You’re welcome Jason. have to admit that it was as much for myself at this stage as for anyone else. It was good to put it into words.
Beat down is a good word. Thanks for taking time to comment.
Hi Bill,
I was watching a tv program a couple of days ago. Dr. Phil. This program was about 2 families who were trying to cope with a family member who has a mental illnes called anorexic nervosa. This person cannot eat or else purges out anything they do eat before it has a chance to nourish their body.
Something caught my ear at the end of the program. This illness is about control. The individual asserts entire control over their behaviour and its devastating results.
The counsel to these young women was about learning to let go of some of that control by attending a treatment center that Dr. Phil was going to make available to them. The choice to accept his offer of a treatment center intervention was theirs to make.
I thought about the Christian and how we are to give control of our lives more and more over to God and his ways. This is not a bad kind of oontrol, but an exceptionally good control for us.
(Exception: be wary of controlling people involved in ministry and others in your life. Anyone who wants control of you apart from the Holy Spirit is ungodly and devilish.)
In your prayer time you can ask God to help you with this matter and give permission for the Holy Spirit to control more and more of you. The Bible teaches us that we must die. We’ve been sold (bought)to Christ, if we are indeed abiding in Him. Do we really want to hang on to the old, sinful, condemned to hell, man?
We want to fight to let him go. We keep asking God in our prayer time to do this work in us through the Holy Spirit We ask for cleansing, we denounce our sins and ask God to remove them from us. We make plans to reduce temptation in our lives. We put aside ungodly things and activities.
Sometimes this is relatively easy thing to do. Sometimes we are in a huge fight. But if we keep asking God he will do this for us. Our part is to make some good decisions in our lives. It’s no longer ‘us’ that’s living anymore. When we received Christ we became a new creature, we were taken to a different place and seated with Christ.
We need to peel back the old man and reveal the new man within us. We no longer make decisions for us, we make them for the emerging new man and for God. We obey what the Bible says and listen to God. We are not just heareres but doers of the word through the grace and power of the Holy Spirit.
Excellent analysis and application Linda. The old man wants to rear his ugly head far too often, but that new man is there. God’s Spirit lives within us. Thanks.
Well, I always try to be kind hearted and have no hatred but that is impossible. All I can do is let God handle it and lead me in His chosen direction.
I have seen what God can do in His grace and heart so I do try to emulate His walk. Sad part is I am not perfect and He knows that. Thus the many chances given to me from His heart.
It is impossible for us to to do those things on our own. No matter how hard we try, Larry, our will breaks down and sin creeps in. God’s heart is so huge. Thanks for commenting.
There are definitely moments when I struggle with the heart. There are days where my relationship with God feels forced or my past creeps in; those are the days where I have to press into God even more. I take heed to the words of Paul–dying to self each day.
No exactly what you are saying jon. I wish mine was always burning hot but admittedly it isn’t. It is a daily surrender of my will to His. Thanks.
I feel you on this one. Their are times when I am fully devoted to drawing closer to God and other times I get so detracted with life that I forget to take the time to draw closer to God. Thank you for sharing.