THOUGHTS ON THE LORD’S DAY

“Devoting your life to what really matters.”

Acts 13:22 says that David was a man after God’s heart. Acquaintance and affinity with God cannot be substituted by actions and activity for God. You can manage everything in your life except your heart. ”Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the issues of life” Proverbs 4:23.

The heart does not respond to plans, principles, or programs. If you truly want to communicate with someone, don’t engage their mind. Engage their heart. That’s why Jesus told stories and asked questions.

What a person longs for the most is where you must start the conversation. Everyone is searching for meaning and wholeness. Whatever calls to your heart guides your life, regardless of circumstances.

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day confronted Him with standards of behavior, the “dos and don’ts.” Duty and service took precedence over the heart. Jesus called them “whitewashed tombs.” They were constantly trying to cover up the death inside.

What difference does your performance make if you’re dead inside? God’s primary concern has always been the condition of your heart, not your pedigree or performance. When Temple life became nothing but ritual and religious observance, He rebuked them soundly. “You honor me with your lips, but your hearts are far from me.”

Your heart is the key to your life. The hardness of a man’s heart is the source of all evil. You cannot know God by any other means than by your heart. Faith comes from the heart, not through reasoning. If you lose heart, you have lost everything.

One of the greatest invitations of all time was when Jesus stood up in the marketplace and said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, streams of living water will flow from within him.” John 7:37-38.

If you are not aware of your deepest thirsts (desires), the offer means nothing. All meaningful conversation with God and anyone else is incidental at best, or worse, meaningless unless it comes from deep within your heart. ”Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” Luke 6:45.

No matter how noble your cause, how lofty your goals, or how hard you work, if your heart is not in it, you will never be satisfied. Your mind may deceive you, but your heart will never disappoint.