{Your Heart Here} Week 5

February 12, 2012

Acts 8:27-31

Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.  Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.”  So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”  He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.

A Heart that Shares Love

The Ethiopian was a strange man from a strange land.  He was not like everyone else.  He didn’t fit into the normal patterns of worship and life that people were used to.  He was an outsider.  Yet Philip went to him.  God prompted Philip to go to this man…the outsider.  How willing are we to go to the outsider with the message of God?  For us, the outsider is often the person who is not part of church, who behaves in a way that we don’t approve of, or who we can’t see how God could change their life.  We are surrounded by “outsiders” most of our day.  Often we say little about God or faith in the presence.

Philip went to the outsider.  He went where the outsider was.  He listened.  He spoke from his experience and his knowledge.  He told the Ethiopian the Good News of Christ and because of this the Ethiopian came to know the Lord.  Philip even baptized him.  The outsider went on his way rejoicing and the message of Christ spread.  The heart that serves God is a heart that shares the love of God for all people.  Who is the “outsider” you need to talk to this week?  

{Your Heart Here} Week 4

February 5, 2012

Mark 12:28-34

“Which commandment is the first of all?”  Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’  The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

A Focused Heart

Jesus knows the hearts of his people.  Because of this, Jesus knows where the attention of the heart should be directed for the greatest benefit of the person and all humanity.  A scribe came to Jesus and tried to trick him with a question.  The scripture above records the response.  The heart of all of God’s law and of all of God’s way can be summed it in the simple phrase “Love God and Love others”.  The scribe agreed with this.  It is a foundational truth of faith.  It is the central motivation for God’s people.  This is the place our heart is to be.  This is the place where our motivation is to be focused.  This is how we begin to live a holy life for Christ.

Yet this isn’t always how Christians and churches are defined.  We find it easy to get caught up in smaller issues, smaller problems, and smaller goals.  In doing so we hide our hearts in an effort to protect them or keep them to ourselves.  A heart given over to God is a heart that is exposed.  A person’s motivation is visible in their life and actions.  Who a person is and what they are about is not a mystery.  When we give our hearts to God we become vulnerable to his will, trusting that his will is best.  The hearts of people are beautiful.  They are meant to be seen.  How visible is your heart?  Is something hiding it?  Does it need refocused?

{Your Heart Here} Week 3

January 22, 2012

Isaiah 29:13-14

And so the Lord says, “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.  Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites with amazing wonders. The wisdom of the wise will pass away, and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear.”

The Far Away Heart

God’s people did not always follow their creator, deliverer, and savior.  Despite all the warnings.  Despite the very public and sacred commitment that was made.  Despite all the commandments designed to keep the people focused on God.  The people gave their hearts to other things.  For some it was idols and false gods.  Others gave their hearts to their business or family instead of God.  The worst offenders were those who gave their hearts to religion and religious practices while ignoring God Himself. 

"They honor me with their lips”, but “Their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules”.   These are God’s people standing in God’s house outwardly doing all that God had commanded, while setting a public example of what it means to be God’s person while not actually listening to God.  It is a half-hearted witness.  It is faith expressed outwardly while being ignored internally.  It is religion motivated by something other than following God.  They are described and hypocrites and fools. 

Yet God did not turn away from his people.  Instead, he decided to astound them with his works, his wisdom, and his intelligence.  God sets the rules for worship and the life of his people. Have our “rules” become more important than God’s rules and work?  

{Your Heart Here} Week 2

January 15, 2012

Revelation 3:15-21

“I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’ You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich; and white robes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen; and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see…

Your Works?

The Lord says, “I know your works”.  What we believe is important, so is what we do.  Halfhearted faith does not please the Lord.  “I am about to spit you out of my mouth”, says the Lord.  This does not sound pleasant.  In our quest to believe the right things and say the right things we can forget to do the right things.  The picture here is of a foolish people.  They believe they have everything right and have their act together while being completely unaware of how far off target they are.  Being intentionally unaware of reality is always a mark of foolishness.  How aware are we about the reality of our walk with God.  Are we pretending to be greater than we are?

The call of the Lord is to take action.  He does not condemn.  Instead, He offers ways for His people to change.  He says “buy from me”.  He uses the language of the market.  Take action.  Do this.  Find prosperity in what I have for you, says the Lord.  Wealth, clothing, and the ability to see reality are all found in the Lord.  The Lord desires His people to be “hot”.  How willing are we to invest in what the Lord has to offer?  He is at our door…will we answer?

{Your Heart Here} Week 1

January 8, 2012

Matthew 28:16-20

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.  When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.  And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Your Heart?

Where is your heart?  This is a question we all continually wrestle with even when it isn't a conscious thought.  It is a question central to life.  Our motivation to live each day is guided by what is in our heart.  Some things are natural to the heart.  We love and need to be loved.  Our sense of justice, fairness, and morality are driven by the heart.  What we believe about life, death, meaning and purpose are also natural to the heart.  While the heart provides motivation, that motivation needs to be channeled in positive ways.  The choices we make in life provide that channeling.  Bad choices lead us down heartbreaking paths.  Good choices fill us with passion and joy as our lives gain significance.  A question to consider…Who knows our hearts better than our creator?

The disciples entrusted their hearts to Jesus.  They worshiped him.  He guided them.  He channeled the powerful natural motivation of the heart towards what the heart is suited for.  God does not offer heartbreak.  He offers life abundant.  Here we see Jesus calling his disciples to channel their hearts to making more and better disciples in Jesus name.  Are our hearts similarly channeled?