Following the Lord with Your Whole Heart

"For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." - 1 Samuel 16:7b (NKJV)


God is concerned with our hearts. More than just the physical muscle that pumps blood to our bodies, He is concerned with whole of man. Heart, in Hebrew, means the whole inner center of man. It's our mind, will and emotions. It's the real us inside; our passions, motives and desires. God understands that our heart is integral to who we are, whom we follow and what we do. He desires that our hearts be set on Him fully and that we follow Him with our whole heart.


So, how do we do that? How do we follow the Lord with our whole heart?

1 - We have to allow God to speak to us about where our heart is at (and listen to Him).

Jeremiah 17:9-10 says the heart is deceitful. But God knows it and tests it. He reveals our heart to us. As we agree with the work of the Holy Spirit our heart becomes His righteousness... Christ in us the hope of glory. We just have to come into agreement with His Word and His works.


2 - We have to allow God to give us a heart transplant.
"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." Ezekiel 3:26-27 (NIV)

No matter how much outward work we try to do to change our hearts, we can't! There needs to be a God initiated heart transplant. This isn't a one-time occurrence. It needs to happen time after time after time. Why? Because life has a way of making us hardened. Time after time, we have to go to God and allow Him to change us and transform our hearts.


3 - We have to guard and take care of our hearts with diligence.
Proverbs 4:23 (NIV) says: "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

God is the initiator of the heart transplant, but we're the stewards of what we do with "new" heart that He has given us. We're responsible for the "soil" of our hearts. The Gospels share with us the parable of the sower. In it, Jesus reveals different heart conditions that we may have.

- The ground that has been trampled on by circumstances, hurt or bitterness in which Satan has easy access to steal the seed of God's Word.

- The stony ground which elicits a quick response, but when temptation or circumstance come, the root of the Word does not go down deep enough in our hearts and it falls away.

- The thorny ground that's crowded with affections, desires, thoughts, and concerns. It doesn't leave much room for the Word to take hold.

- The good ground which hears the Word, accepts it and bears much fruit.

We have to till the soil of our hearts so that we can hear, accept and respond to the Word of God.

745 comments

may 10, 2010 01:40pm

Blessing in the Family of God

This weekend we welcomed 21 new members into the Harvest Church family. What a great work God is doing in our church and valley!

Psalm 68:6 tells us that God takes the solitary and He sets them into families. He has provided the local church as His vehicle on the earth, not only to extend His Kingdom, but also to bring believers together as a family. He has ordained the local church as a spiritual family, made up of people from a multitude of backgrounds and ethnicities, yet bound together in Christ.

Paul reminds us in Ephesians 4:1-6 that we have to strive to keep unity in the family of God. He says:

"I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." (NKJV)

It takes effort and dedication to keep unity and peace in the family. We all have a different way of doing things and different perspectives, yet we can still be united in Christ. In this passage we see a few different ways to keep unity in the family:


1- Remember, love covers. Even when you disagree with someone, or see one of his or her shortcomings, choose to cover in love.

- Proverbs 10:12 (NIV)- "Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs."

- 1 Peter 4:8 (NIV)- "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."

2- Make a decision to keep accounts short. We can't allow offenses or bitterness to remain in our hearts. We have to choose to forgive quickly.

- Luke 17:1-4 (NKJV)- Jesus tells us offenses will come; we have to learn to guard our hearts and forgive those who offended us.

- Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)-"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

3- It's our job, as members of the family, to keep ourselves united. Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:3 that WE are to endeavor... It's a personal responsibility. We must do everything we can to stay united in the family of Christ.

- Hebrews 12:14a (NIV)- "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy..."

The family of God is great blessing. Let's continue to grow closer together as a family and see how God can use us to transform each other's lives and our valley!

9 comments

march 29, 2010 12:52pm

Continuing to Press In (Part 3)

Pressing Through Rejection

- Rejection is something that is not broken by a person - but only through the Lord.

- Without relational fulfillment in Christ rejection will ALWAYS creep in.

- The way we press through rejection is to press into our relationship with Christ. Our perspective has to change from what others think of us and how they can fulfill "voids" in our lives to who we are in Christ and allowing Him to fulfill us completely!

Let's continue to fix our eyes on the Lord and press into His great and mighty plans for us.

6 comments

march 22, 2010 03:50pm

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