Love From the Heart

I was led to a passage in Leviticus this morning titled, “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself”. Verse 17 of chapter 19 was the verse that led me here as I continue my study of the word “heart”.

“¹⁷You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.” – Leviticus 19:17 (ESV)

This verse by itself does not speak of love directly. In fact, in the complete passage, including the title, the word love is only used twice. But the concept of love is fully given. Not in the common emotional sense, but in the action sense and that can be seen in the verse above.

Love is often considered soft and fluffy. It is this vision of the caring mother, the doting spouse, the affectionate parent, or the giving neighbor. Where this is love in action, it is also action of love to be frank with others and holding others accountable and not doing doing things that cause others to find grief or hardship and provide some relief.

The verse above tells us to not have hate in our heart. How do we do that, well, we fill our heart with love actions. Author and speaker Jon Gordon writes in his book “The Positive Dog”, “you can’t be stressed and thankful at the same time”^a. Where this quote is not specific to love, it does speak to the idea that your heart cannot be full of hate if it is full of love. It is in love that we take action.

Love begins with God and when He fills our heart, we have no room for hate. With God in our heart, we will emit it all around us. No, it will not always be seen as the caring mother, the doting spouse, the affectionate parent, or the giving neighbor. But it will always be to not cause others to find grief or hardship and provide some relief. It all starts with that love from the heart.

What is your view of love and where it comes from? Are you stuck on the emotional side of love? What if you were to fill you heart with God, who is love, and leave no room for hate so that you can bring love to others from your heart?

^aGordon, Jon. The Positive Dog. John Wiley & Sons, 2012, p. 18.

Give From the Heart

There are a lot of campaigns out there to be involved in. There are charities, climate organizations, political races, churches, and any number of other places to give. All of them may be worthy in their own right and the mind of those who are running them. But that does not meant that they are all for our contribution. Whatever we are giving should not be an impulse and should be given from the heart.

“¹The LORD said to Moses, ’²Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me.’” – Exodus 25:1-2 (ESV)

Here we see the LORD’s instruction to build a sanctuary for Him to dwell. Where the sanctuary was for the LORD and from the people, God did not demand a certain value from each person. The LORD was looking for donations/contribution to be voluntary and from the heart, “From every man whose heart moves him”.

In society today, I feel as though there is somewhat of a guilt trip laid on the people to give to any and all campaigns out there. There is always a sad story followed by an open hand or bucket being passed.

For me, I can say that I have passed those buckets right by. I walk right by the bake sales at the department storefronts. I put my hand up to indicate to stay back at the popcorn sale. I make it a point to not get drawn into every campaign that crosses near me. Not because they are not in “need” of help, but because my heart is not in it at that time.

God asks the people to consider in their heart whether or not to give to the sanctuary building fund. My church is currently in a building fund raising time. And I have committed to giving beyond my normal offering in support of that building, but not without careful and prayerful consideration and fully from my heart.

“³And they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning, ⁴so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, ⁵and said to Moses, ‘The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.’” – Exodus 36:3-5 (ESV)

When we give from the heart, God will receive more than enough. The people gave freely to the building of the sanctuary and their gifts were more than enough. So much so that in the next two verses (Ex. 36:6-7) Moses tells the people to stop contributing.

Generosity is important, but where that giving comes from is of more importance. How many times have we seen giving publicized to the point that we celebrate those who gave the most. It still goes on today. But it should not be about the publicity and should be about the campaign. Giving should come from the heart and those contributions should be to the campaigns that touch your heart. There are plenty of campaigns out there and I am sure that one or more will touch your heart. If they do, consider contribution, but if they do not touch your heart, it is okay to walk away.

What is your thought on giving to campaigns? Are you giving out of a sense of guilt and giving to any and all that you come in contact? What if you were to contribute to those that touch your heart and know that when you and everyone else does, there will be more than enough to meet the need?

Truth in God’s Heart

God has a heart and as He made us in His own image, you and I do as well. There is a difference though. God only has truth in His heart and you and I, well, we don’t.

“²¹And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.’” – Genesis 8:21 (ESV)

See the verse above and the reference God makes to the heart of man, “man’s heart is evil from his youth”. So we are evil in our heart. We go against the LORD and man at any chance we can. We are not worthy of any mercy or grace from the LORD. It starts early on and carries through our entire life in this world.

But the LORD, He is full of truth and honesty. See the same verse above the LORD’s words, “I will never again curse the ground because of man”. Even as we are evil from early on, God is not and works around us and our evil for the good of the world.

But Trevor, how is it then that people and animals are destroyed if God will not destroy it? I hear you and all I have for that is that God is a righteous and just God. He will still issue justice where it is due. Although that is the thing, it is due and directed and not just as it was, complete. God did not indicate that He would not issue justice, only that He would not completely destroy it all because of the sins of the one.

And that is the difference in God and man. God is truth from His heart to His actions where man is not. God makes promises and keeps them, where man makes promises (until circumstances change) and then goes against the promise for what is for him. God is truth from before the beginning.

“¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God.” – John 1:1-2 (ESV)

“6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” – John 14:6a (ESV)

What is your view of truth in your heart? Are you of the view that you are truth inside and out? What if you looked at God as the only truth from the heart and embraced that we are born with the disposition of evil in our hearts?

The Heart

This morning I am starting a new word study. I am studying the word “heart”. My study process is that I am guided through God’s Word by using the concordance of my Bible. I choose a word that I feel led by Him to focus on and then go through that word in God’s Word verse by verse as noted from the concordance. I allow God to speak to me without looking for anything specific. Sometimes the LORD leads me directly to the word and something He would have me learn or know, and other times it is the passage that teaches me.

“⁵The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” – Genesis 6:5 (ESV)

I begin this morning in the above verse, which is found in the passage titled, “Increasing Corruption on Earth” in my English Standard Version of God’s Word. We see here that there was evil in the world and that evil was not just in the few, but was overtaking the earth. And that evil was so powerful it had overtaken the hearts of the people. Not just surface evil to get a response or appear to be something in the “right” social circles, but deep within the people and had corrupted their being from the inside.

The time it took for this corruption was not short. From Adam to this time was about 1500 years. So it was a “Slow Fade” as the song by Casting Crowns notes. And can’t we see that even today. I feel as though corruption in the world is extremely great even now and we are at 2000 years after Christ came to this world.

“⁶And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. ⁷So the Lord said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.’” – Genesis 6:6-7 (ESV)

And just how did/does this land in the heart of God. Well, He was/is grieved. The LORD acknowledges His grief and disappointment. And decides to take action to start over again. Being truth, God was hurting that the truth was not being carried out in the world He had created. But, that hurt was given comfort with the next verse.

“⁸But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” – Genesis 6:8 (ESV)

God found the truth again in Noah. He found the one to spare from His wrath. He was encouraged once again.

What I find here in the heart of these few short verses is that the heart is complicated yet very simple. The breadth of capacity of the heart is immense. From corruption to grief to love and favor. All of these are found in the heart. The heart is a powerful and wonderful part of our identity. And where is that heart, but deep within us.

We have a heart that drives our actions and so does God. We are subject to evil and corruption and anger and grief and love. Remember that God made man in His own image and with the exception evil and corruption, He experiences all that we do in His heart as well. It is all deep within us in our heart and the only way to deal with it is to allow God. I have to allow God to take over my heart and fill it.

What is your view of the heart in your life? Are you aware that it is the center of our actions? What if we did and allowed God to fill it with all that He is and take us over from deep within?

Not for All

There are those that will not receive compassion, either from us, or more importantly from God.

“¹⁴What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! ¹⁵For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’” – Romans 9:14-15 (ESV)

Paul here is pointing out God’s sovereignty. God dictates all, whether mercy or compassion are given or not. And as noted, not everyone will receive them.

“²⁷And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ‘Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved,’” — Romans 9:27 (ESV)

Paul again references the Old Testament and notes that not all of Israel will be saved even as the Israelite people are the chosen people.

Yes, we are to give compassion where we are confronted with the opportunity. And we are to discard custom and convention for compassion. And we are to give compassion even when we are worn out. But we also have to remember we will not give compassion to all in the world. There are those that we are not able to reach nor do we come in contact with.

I am but one person and where I am to do all that God has for me to do, I also have to remember that it is up to God where mercy and compassion are given. I follow the LORD and He works through me. Where He deems mercy to be given, I will give mercy. Where He deems compassion be given, I will give compassion. Where He knows salvation is at hand, I will be there to offer His gift. But make no mistake, it is not for all, and the LORD takes the lead with who receives.

What is your take on mercy, compassion, and salvation? Are you of the view that everyone should receive indiscriminately? What if you were to devote yourself to God and know that He decides and not all receive mercy, compassion, and salvation?

Discard Custom and Convention for Compassion

“²⁰And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” – Luke 15:20 (ESV)

This verse is from the parable of the prodigal son. You know the one, where the son took his inheritance early, left and squandered it all and then returned to a father who welcomed him back with open, thankful, and excited arms. All of that is great, but I was looking here at this one verse to where I was led this morning.

In that day the men were to be dignified and stoic. They had servants to do for them. Not to mention that once the son had gone with his early inheritance, he was considered dead to the family. So, it was out of custom and convention for a head of household to act in such an open, thankful, excited and revealing way.

As my pastor described for me to get a visual, imagine this father seeing his son in the distance and hiking up his cloak and coverings and sprinting to embrace his son who had been “dead” and was now alive. I am sure that the son was filthy and had a pretty good stench to him as he had been living and working with pigs.

The father was not concerned with the condition of the son and did not listen to the son’s confession or even consider what had transpired. He simply heaped on compassion to him. He forgot and went against all customs and conventions of the day to drench his found son in compassion for he considered himself whole again.

How often is it that we avoid compassion because it is not conventional or customary to give it in our times today. I think of giving forgiveness where it would be customary to condemn. I think of service to those who may not be “deserving” of service. I think of hugging someone instead of hitting them when they do wrong against us. We have to step out of the customary and conventional response to demonstrate compassion and that will disrupt the situation entirely.

What is your reaction when something goes awry? Are you of the action to stick to the response expected? What if you were to discard the customary and conventional responses and deliver compassion instead?

Compassion Even When Worn Out

I want to believe that everyone has compassion for others. Yet, what about when we are worn out and in need of some rest. Well, there is never a time where compassion takes a back seat.

It is natural to want to have some time to rest. In today’s world everything is so fast paced that we all look for that time to relax and not be bothered so that we can just kick our feet up. But, Jesus tells us that rest comes to those who come to Him.

“²⁸Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28 (ESV)

Even as we will have rest when we come to Jesus, that does not mean that we will not be tasked with continuing the work. We will be worn out, yet we are to continue the work that He has for us and find rest in the work as it is in the name of Jesus and not just work.

“³⁰The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. ³¹And he said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. ³²And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.” – Mark 6:30-32 (ESV)

In the above verses, there is reference to the work that the apostles had been doing. They had been sent out by Jesus to spread the gospel and they had just returned to Jesus. They were excited and telling of all that they had done. They had worked and worked and worked and had no chance to rest and kick their feet up. Jesus knew this and recognized it and decided to give them a chance to catch their breath. He went with them to a place to do just that, away from the hustle and bustle to recharge the batteries a bit. But, that was not what happened. As they went away, the people followed and went ahead of them to the place they were going to rest.

“³³Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.” – Mark 6:33-34 (ESV)

Here we find that the rest was not going to come. The apostles were not going to kick their feet up. They were not going to have a chance to breath. Jesus provided the example we all should follow. When there is a need, we are to work to fill that need. In this case, the need was for the gospel and the need was immediate. Even in the face of being worn completely out, Jesus showed the apostles that serving was more important than rest.

We will all have times when we are completely worn out, yet there is no time to shy away from continuing the work of the LORD, spreading the gospel, and serving others. Whenever and wherever we might be we are to have compassion for those in need and know that we will have rest when the work is done. Be the example that Jesus demonstrated for us here, show compassion for others even when we are worn out.

What is your view of when to show compassion? Are you all in when you have the energy and the time? What if you were to follow the example of Jesus and show compassion to others even when you are worn out?

Clean Now to Enter

Did you know of the myth that the high priest would tie a rope around his ankle before entering the Holy of Holies. The myth is that entering is/was so dangerous that if the high priest were to be struck down by God, no one would be able to enter to remove the body. The rope would be used to pull the body out and a new high priest would be selected. Again, this is a myth, but a pretty strong one and fearful for sure.

Fast forward to today. The curtain to the Holy of Holies was torn and now we are all able to enter and communicate directly with God. Think about that, what was once considered so dangerous that an escape plan was mythically created has now been opened to all and fear of death is no longer there. Oh yes, we should still fear God. But our fear should be of His awesome power and glory and not that we cannot speak with Him.

“¹⁹Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” – Hebrews 10:19-22 (ESV)

The curtain was torn at His death and we now have full access to the LORD. You see, we have been cleaned thanks to the shed blood of Jesus on the cross. He died so we do not have to and His blood was sprinkled on us to wash away the sin in our lives so that we do not need the rope around our ankle for an escape plan. We have been welcomed in to the place where we can be with God all on our own. We have been cleaned up so that we can enter.

“²³Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” – Hebrews 10:23 (ESV)

The LORD is faithful and true. He does not waver in anything. We can and should have full confidence in Him that we can enter knowing that we have been cleaned. We may be sinners, but those sins have been washed away so that we can enter and commune with the LORD. He accepts us as we are and is faithful in His love for us now and forever.

What is your view of your cleanliness? Are you still tying a rope around your ankle for and escape plan? What if you were to realize that you have been cleaned to enter and commune with the LORD and that He accepts you and is faithful from now to forever?

All Clean to Hear the Gospel

“²⁸And he said to them, ‘You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.’” – Acts 10:28 (ESV)

Peter was in the house of an Italian, not exactly the kind of house a Jew was to enter and associate at the time according to the law. But, Peter was taking his direction from God and not from the law. The “new” law of God, the New Covenant, was the action that Peter was taking into account when he joined this Italian and all others in his house. Thanks to Jesus all people, yes all, were to be led to the LORD, Jew and Gentile.

“¹²In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. ¹³And there came a voice to him: ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ ¹⁴But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.’ ¹⁵And the voice came to him again a second time, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’” – Acts 10:12-15 (ESV)

You see, Peter had seen in a vision just a few days before that all was clean now thanks to the LORD. Yes, we see in the vision that there was reference to all animals, and not “all” lineage of man, but this was a vision and things are not always literal. The parallel is related to uncleanliness according to Jewish law. Like some animals, some people where considered unclean according to the law. But the law had changed.

Thanks be to God for the change in the law. He made it possible that I might hear the gospel and have the opportunity to be saved. Thanks be to God that I am not considered unclean and not able to know Him. Thanks be to God that Jesus came and died for my sins to wash me clean. Thanks be to God, thanks be to God!

What is your view of clean versus unclean? Are there those that would be considered unclean? What if we think in terms of the New Covenant and know that all are clean thanks to and in the eyes of the LORD to receive the gospel and know Him?

Faith to be Clean

“¹²While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, ‘Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.’” – Luke 5:12 (ESV)

Notice the man’s faith. He knew that Jesus could clean him of the leprosy that plagued him. He did not need to see any additional proof. He did not even know what would be expected of him or what would take place for him to be cleaned, he just knew that Jesus could heal him, or make him clean.

I think that we do not have that kind of faith today. This man was cast out from society based on an illness he contracted. It seems as though he was just waiting on the opportunity to meet Jesus. He knew, without question, that Jesus could heal him. And more than just being healed, he could be made clean so that he could rejoin society.

This was not the only time that someone had that kind of faith in Jesus.

“²⁰And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, ²¹for she said to herself, ‘If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.’” – Matthew 9:20-21 (ESV)

This woman’s faith was so strong that she did not even need Jesus to know. She only needed to touch his garment to be healed and cleaned. Again without knowing how, only that He could, the woman reached out in full confidence and faith.

I say we get back to faith in God that He will heal and clean us. Jesus wants us to have full confidence in Him. He let’s us know that all we have to do is ask and he will be there for us. And not just to fix things, but to bring us back to where we are to be. He cleans us up so that we can rejoin society.

“¹³And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I will; be clean.’ And immediately the leprosy left him.” – Luke 5:13 (ESV)

“²²Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, ‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And instantly the woman was made well.” – Matthew 9:22 (ESV)

Notice Jesus’ responses when these two reached out in full faith. In both cases, it was not the fact that they needed to be healed and cleaned, it was that they had faith that Jesus could and would. There were and are plenty of people that have a condition that is not healed and cleaned. But these two did not require severe action from Jesus. They prayed that He was present an opportunity to show Jesus their faith in Him and when it came, they seized that opportunity.

I have to be better at my faith. I have to know that Jesus does what we ask of Him. We only need the full faith that He can and will clean us up. I have to KNOW He will not let me suffer any longer.

What is your view on faith? Do you rely on the physical to resolve things? What if you were to have faith in Jesus and rely fully on His grace and mercy to clean you up?