I think sometimes as humans and many times as Christians, we don't monitor the condition of our heart. We let fear, bitterness, unforgiveness, and hurt creep in and spread like the nasty black stuff in Spiderman 2. We become Jaded. We start thinking that we are better than others and stop listening to the voice of God.
I am reading about David in 1 Samuel right now and God says that David was a man after is own heart. This causes me (and I hope you) to pause and think, " What is God's heart like?"
David was young when God called him to be King over Israel. He was actually overlooked by the man of God, Samuel, and even his own family. Samuel summoned Jesse and his sons because God was going to anoint one of them as King, but they left David out in the field....with the sheep. Was this a choice Jesse made or did David just want to stay and do his job? I don't know, but it seems like David was just over looked. Samuel approached Eliab because he must have looked like a king, tall, strong and bold. The Lord, however in 1 Samuel 16:7 tells Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." Jesse and Samuel go down the line of brothers and the Lord rejects them all...then they finally look for David. Samuel anoints David and David returns to the sheep.
David was committed and passionate about his job...the title of future king didn't really even seem to phase him. As a matter of fact, after David was anointed, he started to work for the current king. Never mentioning the anointing, just serving the king with what he had...his lyre, his song. He was in the palace regularly trying to calm the king.
When the battle with the Philistines came, David was out in the field again, tending sheep. His brothers were on the front lines of the battle and terrified of this big giant, Goliath. David comes to bring his brothers some food and check on them and sees the state of the battle and is appalled that this Goliath is defying God. So, David did what any cocky teenager would do, he said he would fight Goliath. He stepped into battle with 3 smooth stones and a sling shot and his unwavering faith that the Lord was going to give Israel victory over the Philistines. God did give him the victory and Saul doesn't even know David's name (you know, the kid who has played for you in the palace?)
God puts David in situations over and over that allow David to give God glory. He prepares him to lead the people into battle spiritually and physically. (for like 15 years, btw)
Back to the heart. David seems to trust the Lord without really worrying what is around him, he loves on people who are trying to kill him and even connects with Saul's family on a very deep level and honors them when he does become king. He's a pretty uncommon guy. It's really an amazing example of God's heart. David is human, he still has free will and makes mistakes. We don't see God's heart perfected until we see Jesus.
As Christians and ministers we see so much hurt and fear and desolation that it is easy to just roll your eyes and say, "Here we go again." It's also easy to let our heart get hard towards people and put a wall up to "guard our heart." It's easy to let fear and pride control our actions.
David does this in 1 Samuel 27 and decides to run away to the land of the Philistines. The enemy! Where he lived for a year and four months. I don't know about you, but have you ever lived in the presence of your enemy for a year and four months? Sometimes I feel like I have and it makes you lonely, discouraged, and do things you wouldn't normally if your heart was fixed on him.
There is so much to learn from the heart of David. We can learn how to hear from the Lord, how to follow him, but we can also learn how when we let sin and bitterness and fear enter into our hearts we can become jaded and ineffective. David had every reason to be Jaded, yet he always ended up turning back to the Lord with his whole heart.
What is the state of your heart? Do you look at your brother and sister and think that you have it so much more together than they, that they don't deserve another chance with God, or another chance to become whole? If so, you might be jaded. You might need to look at the condition of your heart.
How?
1. Get into the Word, hear the truth and let it seep down into your heart. One of my favorite verses (and there are actually two in Ezekiel that say pretty much the same thing) is Ezekiel 36:26. It says, "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." Even the children of Israel had this problem, but the Lord promises to restore them and make them fruitful again.
2. Worship is vital to tuning our hearts back to the Father. I don't care if you can't carry a tune in a bucket, worship is necessary and puts us in a posture that is not about us. It's about Him. It's always about him. So, tune your heart to sing his praise (grace)!
3. Prayer is direct communication to God. I mean, we are so fortunate to be able to speak freely with the Father with no middle man. When Jesus died and rose again, he gave us a gift in tearing the veil that separated us from the presence of God. He also gave us the Holy Spirit so we can communicate directly! Wow! What an honor. So, why don't we use it more? Is it because we don't get an audible response? Is it because we don't know how to pray? Prayer is another way to monitor our heart. Just having that open line with heaven and laying ourselves down before him to have an honest conversation really focuses our hearts back to where they are supposed to be. Repentance is necessary it breeds forgiveness, hope, grace, freedom, and mercy.
My verse for my team and myself this year is Psalm 86:11 TPT, "Teach me more about you, how you work and how you move, so that I can walk onward in your truth until everything within me brings honor to your name." This started this journey of seeking the heart of the Father. Trust me, family, He loves you and wants to show you great and mighty things. He wants you to be after His heart so you can live in abundance and blessing. He wants your heart to be tuned to Him so you can know what to do in the battle and hard times. I am praying that we can all go a little deeper and tune our hearts back to Him. Let Him give you a heart of flesh.
David does this in 1 Samuel 27 and decides to run away to the land of the Philistines. The enemy! Where he lived for a year and four months. I don't know about you, but have you ever lived in the presence of your enemy for a year and four months? Sometimes I feel like I have and it makes you lonely, discouraged, and do things you wouldn't normally if your heart was fixed on him.
There is so much to learn from the heart of David. We can learn how to hear from the Lord, how to follow him, but we can also learn how when we let sin and bitterness and fear enter into our hearts we can become jaded and ineffective. David had every reason to be Jaded, yet he always ended up turning back to the Lord with his whole heart.
What is the state of your heart? Do you look at your brother and sister and think that you have it so much more together than they, that they don't deserve another chance with God, or another chance to become whole? If so, you might be jaded. You might need to look at the condition of your heart.
How?
1. Get into the Word, hear the truth and let it seep down into your heart. One of my favorite verses (and there are actually two in Ezekiel that say pretty much the same thing) is Ezekiel 36:26. It says, "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." Even the children of Israel had this problem, but the Lord promises to restore them and make them fruitful again.
2. Worship is vital to tuning our hearts back to the Father. I don't care if you can't carry a tune in a bucket, worship is necessary and puts us in a posture that is not about us. It's about Him. It's always about him. So, tune your heart to sing his praise (grace)!
3. Prayer is direct communication to God. I mean, we are so fortunate to be able to speak freely with the Father with no middle man. When Jesus died and rose again, he gave us a gift in tearing the veil that separated us from the presence of God. He also gave us the Holy Spirit so we can communicate directly! Wow! What an honor. So, why don't we use it more? Is it because we don't get an audible response? Is it because we don't know how to pray? Prayer is another way to monitor our heart. Just having that open line with heaven and laying ourselves down before him to have an honest conversation really focuses our hearts back to where they are supposed to be. Repentance is necessary it breeds forgiveness, hope, grace, freedom, and mercy.
My verse for my team and myself this year is Psalm 86:11 TPT, "Teach me more about you, how you work and how you move, so that I can walk onward in your truth until everything within me brings honor to your name." This started this journey of seeking the heart of the Father. Trust me, family, He loves you and wants to show you great and mighty things. He wants you to be after His heart so you can live in abundance and blessing. He wants your heart to be tuned to Him so you can know what to do in the battle and hard times. I am praying that we can all go a little deeper and tune our hearts back to Him. Let Him give you a heart of flesh.
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