Sacrifice Your Heart

“¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

— Psalm 51:17 (ESV)

What is the sacrifice that the LORD cherishes the most, our heart. The LORD wants our heart before and in lieu of anything else. He wants us to give ourselves fully to Him. That is the hardest to give as it is the cherished thing we have of and for ourselves.

I have a lovely wife of 29 years in April of 2026, and all that time ago I gave her my heart and I love her dearly. But, there is another who had my heart first and in the priority ladder will always come first, the LORD. I could not devote myself to Lori if I had not given y heart to the LORD. He took me, in all my brokenness and renewed me. The LORD cleaned me up and made me presentable to Lori as the one who would devote to her and cherish her.

“¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.”

— Psalm 51:10 (ESV)

God has made me right. He has cleaned me up. He has renewed me. All because I have sacrificed my heart to Him to do so.

How do you look at sacrifice? Are you trying to give the LORD physical things? What if you were to give Him your heart to clean, renew and make right?

Address the King

When we are praying, are we really addressing the LORD, or are we speaking in hopes that He hears us in what we are saying and wanting?

“¹My heart overflows with a pleasing theme:

I address my verses to the king;

my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.”

— Psalm 45:1 (ESV)

Here we see the psalmist announcing his address of the king. Now, the king here is likely a Davidic king, however isn’t it a statement that all of us Christians should be making to our LORD. I asked the question in the first paragraph to draw in our thinking and admit that I may not be addressing the LORD all the time myself.

Our prayer should be directed at the LORD, not just spoken aloud as a part of a ritual or process. We should be having conversations with God, not just our oration and He listening. I think that sometimes we use God as a sounding board to get out what we want to say and expect that He will solve it all as we just move on to the next. After all, the LORD is always with us and listening for us, right.

I have to remember that yes, the LORD is always with me and is listening for me. But, He is also looking to commune with me. He does not just want to sit back and let us vent to Him, although He does do that and we should feel comfortable doing so. He wants to have a relationship with us as our father.

“⁸And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. ⁹But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” — Genesis 3:8-9 (ESV)

Here we see the LORD walking through the garden looking to have a chat with Adam and Eve. He was not just looking to be around them, but to converse and commune with them. This is the relationship the LORD wants with you and me.

We should be addressing the LORD, not for Him to hear us, but for Him to converse with us.

How are you speaking to the LORD? Are you out there speaking at Him in hopes He hears you and takes action? What if you were to address Him and expect a conversation over petition and taking that opportunity to listen to Him as well?

Desires of the Heat

How many of us wish that all our desires come true, especially those that we desire deep in our hearts. I know that I do. There are a lot of things that I desire for to come true in my life. I desire for millions of dollars. I desire for the ability to travel the world with Lori, cause that is what she wants. I desire to be seen in the world as bigger than life and the envy of all I come in contact with. But are these really those things that are of my heart or are they of some other motivation.

“³Trust in the LORD, and do good;

dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

⁴Delight yourself in the LORD,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

— Psalm 37:3-4 (ESV)

Well, as you can see in the above verse, the way to get that which we desire in our hearts is to delight in the LORD and trust in Him. I think that we are of the opinion that if we simply say those things, then He will make them come to pass. But in order to receive the desires of our heart, our heart has to be fully given to and filled with the LORD. We have to fully “trust” in Him. We have to fully “delight” in Him. We have to fully “befriend faithfulness” in Him. And then He will give us the desires of our heart which are rooted in the glory of the LORD.

“⁵Commit your way to the LORD;

trust in him, and he will act.

⁶He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

and your justice as the noonday.”

— Psalm 37:5-6 (ESV)

It is a commitment to the LORD, not just a statement to Him. I commit to Him and He commits to me. I give Him all of me and He gives me all of Him. Once those conditions have been met, the LORD will provide all that I desire as what I desire will be Him.

I know, in this world it is hard to get along without the physical things that society indicates we should have. But is it all about the physical things. I know many people that have joy abounding in their lives without all the “finer” things. They have their relationship with the LORD and He provides all that they need. When they have a desire for something, the LORD fills that desire with what He know will be used for His glory and the people know that all they have received is for the LORD and His glory.

The desires of the heart are provided by the LORD when we give ourselves to Him fully. When we are in need, the LORD will fill that need knowing that all glory will be given to Him.

What are your desires? Are you expecting that all desires are filled so that you can have it all? What if you were to give yourself to the LORD fully in your heart and allow Him to fill your heart and all the desires there that will be used to bring Him glory?

Not Just External, But Internal

“¹⁴Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable in your sight,

O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”

— Psalm 19:14 (ESV)

How often have we been “in” a conversation, speaking and hearing, but not really there at all as we are distracted by other goings on. I know that I have and I will admit, that in my prayers and calls on God I am not always there. When I look back, I find that I may have said the right things, but in my head and heart I am distracted and not really in the conversation with God at all. I am reminded this morning that it is not just with our mouth we are to be in commune with God, but our hearts are to me fully engaged as well.

I know that I am “cherry picking” one verse this morning, and I have spoken against that in the past, but hear me out. The title of the passage in my ESV bible this morning is, “The Law of the LORD is Perfect”. That being so, why would we allow ourselves to be distracted away from Him. I know that in sports I long to see things that are identified as “perfect”, the perfect game pitched in baseball, the perfect shot in golf, the perfect pass, or the perfect routine in gymnastics. I am mesmerized in those instances and my focus in fully on the moment. I have to ask myself, if those things are identified as perfect and I am fully engaged, why would I be distracted from the one true perfect one in our LORD.

It is up to me to devote myself to the LORD and what better way to start my days than to fully engage with Him in my prayer. From my mouth to my heart, I am to be mesmerized by Him and His perfection. I am to be all in with Him and allow the LORD to be the captivator of my entire self. I should be with Him both externally and internally.

How is your prayer with the LORD? Are you going through the motions eternally while being distracted internally? What if you were to fully engage in the perfection of the LORD and devote yourself to Him with your words and your heart and allow Him to captivate you?

Shield Yourself with God

I am a sinner and as so am subject to this world. I am bound to make mistakes and sin against God and do wrong by those around me. I am worthy of His wrath and accountable to the evil that I have committed.

But God. He will surround me with his protection. He will guide me in my pursuits.

“¹⁰My shield is with God,

who saves the upright in heart.”

— Psalm 7:10 (ESV)

I may be a sinner and may continue to do wrong, but God still loves me and will shield me. I am His and He is mine. It is up to me to devote myself to Him and take Him up as my shield. I have to understand my place and ask the LORD to judge me and remove the evil from me. I have to pray to Him continually and take refuge in Him.

“⁸The Lord judges the peoples;

judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness

and according to the integrity that is in me.

⁹Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,

and may you establish the righteous—

you who test the minds and hearts,

O righteous God!”

— Psalm 7:8-9 (ESV)

And then, once I have asked and He delivers, I have to give thanks for His shielding of little old me the sinner. Not for His making of me bigger, but for His shielding and glory. I thank Him for His righteousness and lift Him up on high.

“¹⁷I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,

and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.”

— Psalm 7:17 (ESV)

What is your approach to God? Are you going about expecting Him to be there? What if you were to consciously ask for His shielding and then thanking and praising Him for shielding you, the sinner?

It is Not To Late to Turn Back to God

It is not to late to repent and turn to the LORD. This morning I was reminded of this as I read how Josiah returned to the LORD when his predecessors had drifted away.

“¹³Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.” – 2 Kings 22:13 (ESV)

“³And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.” – 2 Kings 23:3 (ESV)

Josiah found his moment to return to the LORD and he did not take it lightly. He boldly stated the drift and then just as boldly committed to the LORD in front of all to see.

But Josiah did not just make statements, he took action as well. He torn down alters and burned bones to remove the remnants of the turning away. He was not like the politicians that say one thing then do another. He was true to his word and returned fully to the LORD.

The drift away from the LORD is slow and almost unnoticeable. It happens with little things that we compromise on and then drift into the larger things that begin leading us. But there is time to turn it all around despite the time it took to get there and those who were involved. We have to just commit ourselves to the LORD and then carry out His Word in our daily actions dedicated to bringing Him glory.

What is your thoughts on the drift and coming back to the LORD? Are you of the belief that we may be too far gone to turn back to Him? What if you took the LORD into your heart and devoted to Him and again put your trust in Him and took action to bring Him glory?

Do Not Build for Self

God is jealous. He created all things and therefor is deserving of our full attention and allegiance and glory. When we set off to do things on our own, He will right things in such a way to bring us back to Him.

“⁴Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.’” – Genesis 11:4 (ESV)

Isn’t it a good thing as noted above that the people would take out to build a city and a tower. And isn’t it a good thing that they have the capacity to do so. Yes, from a capacity and capability and desire to do the work it is a good thing. God does provide talents and skills to us that we are to use for His glory. And that is it, it is for His glory and not our own. The people built a city for security so that would be able to stay in one place together. They built a tower to praise themselves as others would be able to see what they had built.

The LORD is generous with what He provides for us, and our abilities are certainly from Him. But, we are to be using those provisions and abilities that come from Him to glorify Him and ensure that more and more people have the opportunity to find Him as their LORD. This is not what the people were doing in the building of the city and tower.

“’⁷Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.’” ⁸So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.” – Genesis 11:7-8 (ESV)

As the LORD witnessed the work of the people, He found it to be good work. The people worked together in union to accomplish a task and the LORD recognized this. But their work was pointed in the wrong direction. The people were moving into a place of self sufficiency and were turning away from Him. God rectified this by confusing them and there ability to understand one another. By this they would not lose there abilities and capacity to do the work, but they would turn back to Him and direct there energy to Him.

This is where we should be, building for the LORD, not ourselves. It is easy to get caught up in the actions that we are taking and seeing things as ways to have security and a name. I know that I get caught up in who gets the credit for things in this world. When I am not recognized for the work that I have done by those around me I am frustrated and confused. But maybe, just maybe that is God’s way of bringing me back to Him as I had strayed into building something for myself and not for His glory.

What have you built in this world? Did you take on the build or join in the build for the glory of yourself? What if instead, you turned your energy to building for the LORD for His namesake and security?

What about the Millennium Question

That question has to do with the thousand year reign of Christ in this present earth. Randy Alcorn adds it to my study and it is fascinating to read and worth discussion.

You see, in Revelation 20 John lays out the thousand years. Here we see that the devil is bound, the earth is no longer deceived, saints come to life and reign with Christ, it is not until it is over that the dead are resurrected, those saints will be priests and kings, and Satan will be loosed for one final battle. All of that will happen during or after those thousand years. Fascinating for sure and begs a lot of questions for me.

The thing is that even with this fascinating information and even as all the questions abound, the fact remains that the New Earth is coming and that will be our final place to be with and glorify God. That is certain.

There are different viewpoints as to the thousand years. Are they a literal thousand and when it will exactly occur. Even within the different viewpoints there are nuances of difference that come up. Regardless of the different viewpoints and nuances, these are centered around the process and not the end result. The end result is the New Heaven and the New Earth and that all agree on.

Just last night I was speaking to my wife about the idea of process and result. I was pointing out that where I (as the man and knowing all, LOL) hold the idea that the way I do things is somehow the “right” way, the reality is that there are many ways to approach things in the process. Whether you hold my view or not, we are all headed to the same place and once we arrive at that place we have success.

That there is in God’s Word the reference to our final home of the New Earth is that arrival point we all agree on. It will be glorious and we will be there forever, not just for a thousand years.

What thoughts have you had related to the millennium? Have you even thought of it or heard of it? What if you held to the truth that our final home will be forever in the New Earth and not just for a thousand years?

Look Forward to Heaven

This morning I am starting a new study on Heaven. The writer, Randy Alcorn, points out that it is the place that we should be looking to to keep us going when things get tough in this life.

The day one lesson asks, “Are You Looking Forward to Heaven?” Well, are you?

I know that for me I do get drawn in to the things of this world, whether the work, the fun, the experience, or simply the existence. Am I looking forward to what comes after, and if I am, where are my eyes fixed? It does matter and I am here to tell you that I guess I do not really thought about the looking forward part, even as I know and write about the joys that lay there. I am thankful for this study to draw me to placing my gaze on the LORD and what comes next as opposed to what is here in this world.

“¹¹Your splendor has been brought down to Sheol,

along with the music of your harps.

Maggots are spread out under you,

and worms cover you.”

¹²Shining morning star, a

how you have fallen from the heavens!

You destroyer of nations,

you have been cut down to the ground.

— Isaiah 14:11-12 (CSB)

Let’s start with why we might think of Heaven as an existence of doing the same thing over an over. Well it is the Devil. He was kicked out of Heaven and now has sour grapes over the place that he once called home. The Devil is miserable and wants nothing more than for everyone to join him. He purposely points to Heaven as a place of drudgery and that this world is where the fun is. This world is where the excitement is. This world is where all can experience pleasure. The reality is that, as Randy Alcorn says, “Satan hates us”.

“²¹For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²²If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. ²³I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. ²⁴But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.” – Philippians 1:21-24 (ESV)

Now, Heaven and what a wonder it is to look forward to. Paul wrote the above to the church at Phippi. He was explaining that he is not giving in to death, for the sake of those who are in need of the gospel and encouragement. He is, however keeping his eyes on that reward in Heaven, for that is what is keeping him going in this world to ensure that we are cared for and led to the LORD and the glory that comes. Paul understands that there is work to do here in this world, yet the reward does not come here, it is in that place, Heaven, where things will be glorious beyond what we can imagine. To finish the statement from Randy Alcorn that I mentioned earlier, “Satan hates us, he’s determined to rob us of the joy we’d have if we believed what God tells us about the magnificent world to come.”

I choose to look forward to Heaven as opposed to dwelling in this world. I know that I have work to do as assigned by God. My reward is not here, but in Heaven with the Father and this world is just along the journey to get there.

What is your thought on Heaven? Is it a place you are looking forward to as drudgery? What if you were to look forward as it is, the place far better than this and this world is only the place to do the work assigned by God as we wait on arrival there?

Be His Instrument

I am His workmanship, created in His image and the pinnacle of the creation of God. I am pleasing to His eye and am counted as precious and treasure to Him. Yet, I am also His instrument to get the work done.

“’¹³I have stirred him up in righteousness,

and I will make all his ways level;

he shall build my city

and set my exiles free,

not for price or reward,’”

says the Lord of hosts.”

— Isaiah 45:13 (ESV)

Still studying in Isaiah this morning and the passage is titled in my English Standard Version Bible, “Cyrus, God’s Instrument”. Even in the one verse above, I am reminded that I am cared for by God and lead to righteousness for His pleasure, and yet I am not just to sit and bask in the glory that is the LORD, I have work to do as His hands. I am the instrument doing the physical work. I am here demonstrating the glory of the LORD. I am here doing all that He has instructed me to ensure that His glory is shone around the world. And, it all started in the beginning.

“²⁶Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’” and “¹⁵The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” – Genesis 1:26 & 2:15 (ESV)

You see, I am not alone in being created to do the work of God. We all were. We were made to manage the work in this world for our LORD. He created us to work and keep all else that He had created. We are not just His instrument, but were created to be such. And all not because we are paid or receive something in return (see end of Isaiah 45:13 above) but for His glory to be shone in this world that others might realize and experience His glory.

I am the instrument of God. I am doing His work in this world that I am assigned. It is not always glamorous nor will I see reward in it now. But, I am doing it for His glory and that others will get to realize and experience and come to His glory.

What are your thoughts as to being the instrument of God? Do you take on things to get something of value in return? What if you were to just be the instrument of God that you were created to be, knowing that your reward is in heaven?