Tag: Desires of Your Heart

Where Is Your Heart?

Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV)

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

As I thought about our Verse of the Day, and its challenge for us to have a more eternal perspective on life, I think the wisdom and application we might gain from Jesus can be summed up in a word: TRUST. Jesus wants our faith in Him to be genuine … to be honest and sincere. Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Cf. Hebrews 11:1) Therefore, when we are confident in His provision of all that we need to sustain us, this mindset expresses our trust in Him and not in ourselves or our abilities.  Let’s look at the passage in the broader context of His “Sermon on the Mount”:

Matthew 6:19-34 (NIV) – (See also Luke 12:22-34)

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your (spiritual) eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your (spiritual) eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness (spiritual blindness), how great is that darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life (or a single cubit to your height)? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For unbelievers run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

The inspired writer of the Book of Hebrews encourages us as well to remember these promises of God to His people:

Hebrews 13:5-8 (NIV)

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Citing Deuteronomy 31:6) So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Citing Psalm 118:7) Remember your leaders, who spoke the Word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

When we worry or fret about things beyond our control … when we look at our temporal circumstances more than we look to our eternal Savior, it reflects something about the depth of our faith.  I believe Jesus is teaching us that we need to hold onto Him more than we hold onto our abilities.  We need to trust Him above all else, and our trust can be seen in where we place our attention. Sometimes our attitudes toward money can undermine our faith.  Paul observed this issue of the human heart and wrote: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (Cf. 1 Timothy 6:10)

John understood the lessons that Jesus taught, and he likewise admonished us to place our complete trust in the One who created: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (Cf. 1 John 2:15-17)  And James shared these sharp words with us: “You unfaithful people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” (Cf. James 4:4)

My friends, as we walk forward in faith in 2023, I encourage all of us to do a heart check with regard to our attitudes about money.  Jesus said, “Where your treasure IS, there your heart will be also.”  And He illustrated His point using parables like: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!” (Cf. Matthew 13:44-46) What an awesome word pictures for us to consider!  Paul encouraged Timothy to address this issue when he wrote: “Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life. (Cf. 1 Timothy 6:17-19)

Lord Jesus, I pray that you would give each of us wisdom and perspective on what to value most in our lives.  Open our spiritual eyes to see that our attitudes about money truly reflect on our faith in you, and therefore, our love for you!  Help us to understand that you are to be treasured above all else … that our lives are to serve you with ALL that you have given us. Remind us as you did our ancestors, to realize that it is You who gives us the ability to produce wealth … the power to be successful. (Cf. Deuteronomy 8:18) Yes, we are to be faithful with what you have entrusted to us. And I pray that we would honor you and trust you … and be faithful to you as you have been faithful to us.  In your Glorious Name I pray!  Amen.

So Now You Know…

Have a Blessed Day!


“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own? “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” ~ Luke 16:10-13

My Great Desire…

Psalm 40:8 (NIV)

I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.

We last spoke about the desires of our hearts; and today we have a specific desire to examine: “I desire to do your will, my God.” And notice the extension: “Your Law is within my heart.” The two concepts are so intertwined that I do not believe they can be separated. How can we do the will of God if we do not know what it is? And how can we know His will, as revealed in His Law … His Word, unless we spend time to hear, read, discover, and understand it?  As King Solomon asserts in Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”  So if reverence for God is centered in your heart … in your inner being … then His Word it will be the source of your knowledge and understanding. It will generate the thoughts which determine what you say and do. Indeed, every behavioral action of humans is the outward expression of our thoughts whether good or evil.

So I believe the first application for us is to consider is two-fold: We need to examine our reverence for God and our desire to be submitted to Him as a demonstration of that reverence.  To begin, the word “reverence” is typically understood as a noun; and it is defined as “honor or respect felt or shown; profound adoration; or a gesture toward someone regarded as worthy of great honor.”  Likewise, to show reverence or “to revere” someone would be a verb … meaning an action taken. In this case, it would be defined as “an action to show devoted deferential honor to someone; an action expressing great esteem for someone as a superior or sovereign.” And so I believe we can understand the concept of “fear of the Lord” through these definitions.  To me, the core meaning of reverence can be distilled down to a single word: AGAPE … LOVE.

Deuteronomy 6:1-9 (NIV)

1These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all His decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you. 4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one Lord. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 11:1 (NIV)

Love the Lord your God and keep His requirements, His decrees, His laws and His commands always.

Deuteronomy 13:1-4 (NIV)
1 If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, 2 and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” 3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 It is the Lord your God you must follow, and Him you must revere. Keep His commands and obey Him; serve Him and hold fast to Him.

I could continue to reference more texts, but I think we get the idea here.  Notice the connections between the concepts of love, reverence, and obedience in these passages.  This is important because these are the concepts that Jesus challenged His disciples and followers to understand through His teachings:

Matthew 22:34-40 (NIV) – See also, Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27

34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Cf. Deuteronomy 6:5) 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Cf. Leviticus 19:18) 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

John 8:42 (NIV)

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me.

John 14:15 (NIV)

If you love me, keep my commands.

John 14:21 (NIV)
Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.

John 15:12 (NIV)

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

So I believe evident that reverence is expressed through sincere love; and sincere love is expressed through obedience to the commandments of God. In fact, this is love for God: to keep His commands.  And His commands are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3) Our challenge as followers … as believers … is whether we desire to DO His Will … whether His Law is written on our hearts.  And so we must confront and deal with our hearts!  And this is the second application because our thoughts determine our own will … and therefore our own conduct and behavior.

Genesis 6:5 (NIV)
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.

Matthew 15:18-20 (NIV) – See also Mark 7:21

“But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

So it is clear that we need to be aware of our thought life.  More importantly, we need to consider what external and sensory input is being compiled and catalogued within our brains to conceive the thoughts of our hearts. There is a lot of information and sensory stimulation within the world to draw our attentions and to impact our thought life … and therefore our behavioral expression of our hearts. While there is a myriad of verses and throughout the Bible (especially Psalm 119) that emphasize the veracity and authority of Scripture to “input” the Word of God into our minds, there are a few passages that quickly come to mind which I believe speak directly to how we can better “evaluate” the input we encounter from other sources:

Romans 12:2 (NIV)

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s Will is—His good, pleasing and perfect Will.

Philippians 2:5 (NIV)

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

1 John 2:16 (NIV)
For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.

I will conclude with the following passage that I believe should guide the input we allow into our thought life and explains the importance of a mind submitted to the Spirit of God:

1 Corinthians 2:10:16 (NIV)

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct Him?” (Quoting Isaiah 40:13) But we have the mind of Christ.

So I pray today, that we will thoughtfully consider the desires of our hearts … what generates them … what motivates them … and how we can align our hearts with the will of God. The Father has revealed His will to us. “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe.” (Cf. Hebrews 1:1-2) Yes, I pray we will read and study the Word of God so that it might be embedded within our inner beings. “For the Word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Cf. Hebrews 4:12) And then, let us follow the counsel of the Apostle James: “Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (Cf. James 4:8) Yes, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Cf. Psalm 51:10) May these scriptures be our prayer, always…. Amen.

So Now You Know….

Have a Blessed Day!

Desires of Your Heart…

Psalm 37:4 (NIV)

Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

This is probably a familiar verse to most of us. We often cite it with expectation that God is going to fill our lives with all the things we value and enjoy. Right? Well, perhaps we should pause and look further at the context and intent of what David is imparted when he wrote this Psalm.

In this Psalm, David considers the age-old question of why evil people seem to prosper and flourish while those who endeavor to live righteous lives often experience suffering and hardship. I sense that the Psalm was written as an encouragement to the people of God to not worry or fret over this matter.  And it is probably a good message for us to contemplate in light of the current tension, conflict, and violence going on in our nation right now.  David begins: “Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither … like green plants they will soon die away.  Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.  Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Verses 1-4)

But as we read past these verses and look into the meditation that follows, David widens our perspective to envision life beyond current circumstances. He encourages us to live in the light of eternity, and he redirects us to set our hope in the everlasting purposes of God … not just what we observe or experience in the present. He affirms that there will be a time of judgment and recompense which will be accomplished on God’s timetable. I think that most of the tension we encounter at the moment is the conflict between light versus darkness.  John observed: “This is the verdict.  Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19) Paul articulated: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12) But we see that God is sovereign even in the midst of whatever evil intent He allows mankind to inflict on one another. Light will ultimately prevail because God is light. (Cf. 1 John 1:5)

Verses 5-11

5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: 6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. 7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. 8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. 9 For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land. 10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. 11 But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity. (Cf. Matthew 5:5)

In these and the following verses, David goes on to describe how the behavior of godless people will judged and recompensed. Their wicked schemes will only return upon themselves. Wrongdoers will ultimately suffer the consequences of their actions.  But the righteous will abide under the care of the Lord … and their inheritance will endure forever. In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty. (Verses 18-19) And consider Verses 23-28: 23 The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in Him; 24 though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His hand. 25 I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. 26 They are always generous and lend freely; others will see that their children are blessed. 27 Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever. 28 For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake His faithful ones.

Even though we observe that God allows evil in this world, He is with those who fear Him. The Father loves those who are just, righteous, and faithful. “And the heavens proclaim His righteousness, for He is a God of justice.” (Psalm 50:6) “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) And He will reward each person according to what he or she has done. (Cf. Jeremiah 17:10; 32:19; Matthew 16:27; Revelation 22:12) So we are exhorted by David, the Prophets, the Apostles, and our Lord Jesus Christ, to commit ourselves to what is good and righteous … to trust in the Lord always … and to wait for Him and His reward.

With these things in mind, I encourage you to revisit the meaning of Verse 4. To delight in the Lord is to love Him with all your heart … to enjoy Him … to serve Him … to please Him … to trust and obey Him. But what is the desire of your heart and mine?  In the context of the entire Psalm, we learn that the desire of our heart should be focused on the everlasting life that awaits us.  Our inheritance, His promises, are the reward for perseverance in faith.  Jesus said, 1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:1-6) Yes, to be with Lord Jesus forever is the desire of our hearts. And He will give eternal life to those who delight themselves in Him.  

So Now You Know….

Have a Blessed Day!