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?

Clean the Inside

“Cleaning Yourself” was the title of another of my studies and writings. In that writing I was studying in Isaiah where we are to wash ourselves to remove the big chunks of dirt and making ourselves presentable to God. We are still sinners and have plenty of filth, but we can work to wash away the conscious sin.

This morning I am in Matthew 23 where Jesus is speaking at the temple about 3 days before His crucifixion. He is in public and not mincing words and at this moment is speaking of how the scribes and Pharisees are hypocrites in their work. They say one thing in public and then in private act another way entirely.

“²⁵Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.” – Matthew 23:25-26 (ESV)

Jesus, speaking directly to them tells them to first work on their hearts and allow that to make its way to their actions for all to see. The scribes and Pharisees were famous for preaching the ways of the LORD (cleaning the outside for all to see) and then when they were out of sight of the people, they would not necessarily heed their own words (dirty heart that was not seen).

Isn’t this the way we are as well. We all talk aloud how we should be acting in the way that God would have us act and then when it comes time to actually act, it is as if we had not even hear ourselves speaking aloud. I know that I struggle with this myself. One of my biggest struggles is maintaining a calmness. I tend to allow my passion for order in things spill out and lose the calmness I speak of with others. I immediately turn to the words known by parents as they speak to their children when caught in the act of not heeding their own advice, “do as I say and not as I do”.

“¹Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ‘²The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, ³so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.’” – Matthew 23:1-3 (ESV)

Jesus tells us to do as the scribes and Pharisees say and not as they do. I know, isn’t that the words from above. It is. Jesus is acknowledging the correctness in the words from the scribes and Pharisees. He is letting it known that the people that are doing what is preached are doing so in a righteous manner.

Jesus also point out that these same scribes and Pharisees are not righteous as their words and calls to action. They say one thing and then do another, not out of passion for a particular thing, but as they are just saying one thing for people to “see” and then doing something else when the feel like no one is watching. They lack the integrity of their own words.

This is where I was going with my writing this morning. It is up to us to clean our hearts on the inside and allow that cleanliness to show through our actions on the outside. We have to scrub ourselves of the dirt and grime on our hearts and then allow that cleanliness to drive us to do some scrubbing on the outside with our actions.

We are not able to wash away our sin, but we are able to scrub the vessel starting on the inside that the LORD will be seen by all on the outside as well.

What does cleanliness look like to you? Are you showing one thing on the outside and walking around doing otherwise on the outside? What if you were to start by cleaning yourself up on the inside and allowing that cleanliness to be seen in your actions on the outside?

Asking for Clean Heart

The Hebrew word for “clean” can also mean “innocent”. This really helps with me in the impact of my study this morning of that word, “clean”. I am in Psalm 51 and the title of the chapter in my ESV Bible is “Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God” which is the first part of my verse of study this morning.

“¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.”

— Psalm 51:10 (ESV)

Doing the substitution of “innocent” for “clean” opens the verse a bit more for me. “Create in me an innocent heart, O God” has a bit more impact when I am reading. I am guilty of sin and always will be. But, I am also washed clean and returned to the innocence of the lamb thanks to the redeeming blood of Christ.

As I read, I have to remember that this Psalm was written prior to Christ coming and dying for the sins of the world. Daily requests to the LORD for cleanliness or innocence took the place of the yearly pilgrimage for offering and asking for forgiveness. Yes, the pilgrimage was still part of culture, but David here is giving the example of not waiting on the once a year thing and seeking cleanliness daily.

Christ came and died and rose again. His blood was spilled that ours would not have to be. He provided that we would be washed clean. We would no longer be “required” to provide offering of animal sacrifice, as Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. As the physical temple curtain was torn, giving access to God directly, our daily ask for forgiveness was amplified as the way. We now have that direct line to the LORD and He can and will give us a clean heart.

Yes, we are to ask daily for a clean heart. We have been washed clean, but we do still need to confess daily and ask that the LORD work in us. I am a sinner always and will be dirtied up from that sin each day. I need to bathe in Christ each day to cleanse myself of the dirt and sin.

“⁷Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”

“¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and uphold me with a willing spirit.”

— Psalm 51:7 & 12 (ESV)

I ask for a clean heart daily. I pray to the LORD, admit that I am dirty with sin and ask for His forgiveness. I ask to be watched over and that the LORD will keep me from sin, knowing that I am prone to sinning and always will be in this world. Only He can restore me daily to innocence when I come to Him asking for cleanliness.

When you pray, what are you asking for? Are you seeking only the glorious things? What if you were to ask for you daily dose of cleanliness that is only provided by the LORD?

Choose to Believe

“¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16 (ESV)

This morning I was taken to what is likely the most well known verse in God’s Word, John 3:16. It is so well known that it has been seen at all types of public events, sports games, concerts, and countless others. People will have it with them for all to see, but how many are clued into fully the weight of this verse.

In my study this morning, James MacDonald writes, “The key word that unlocks the door to John 3:16 is believe. And believe always includes choice.”

Isn’t that true. We have to choose in order to believe. I was reminded in my study that even being undecided is a choice. Choices are not binary but have additional options that are not really considered. For example, believe or not believe or just walk away from the idea altogether. There are three options, not just the two initially thought. So therefore, being undecided is a choice just as the other two.

Too often, we find something to carry as a badge. Whether a verse, a quote, a poem, a way of doing things, or any number of others. We have chosen to carry the badge and in a lot of cases, we believe in our heads that it is quite the good thing. And where that badge may be powerful in your head and impacts other when seen, is it in your heart as well as your head.

I choose God’s Love. I have seen in my study the value and impact of God’s Love. I have taken it to the point where it is firmly implanted in my head. I have believed in my head. Where that is a great place to start, I have to be honest with myself in applying my belief to my heart as well. I have to connect the two. I have to take the intellectual belief and infuse emotional belief to gain the full value and impact of God’s Love.

I am not saying that I have not done so. What I am saying is that I have to be conscious of my belief. I have to choose to connect my head and my heart through belief in God’s Love. I have to know that whether situations are good or hard, leaning on God’s Love is that which will get me through.

Let’s go back to John 3:16. Look closely at this verse. See that God’s Love is demonstrated in what He did for you and me. He gave His Son to die so we would not have to. Jesus, His only Son. And why did He send Jesus, because He loves us. He chooses to love us. He chose to save us from our sin. The sin that we brought upon ourselves and have no escape on our own. He chose to afford us eternal life with Him. God’s Love is for us and I choose to believe.

Where is your belief? Do you choose belief, unbelief, or are you walking away? What if you made the choice to believe with both your head and your heart to know that you can lean on God’s Love regardless of the situations you find yourself in?

Spiritual Leadership Takes Time

It is interesting to see people as they are just getting started in a role and how they change over time. Those that learn from experiences, whether those are successes or failures, are those who the greatest movement is witnessed.

As for spiritual leadership, the same is true. Growing in spiritual maturity and into the spiritual leader does not generally come once one is found in the new role. Sure, there is excitement and action taken by the new Christian, but excitement and action should not be confused with maturity and leadership.

Paul’s conversion was a turning point in his life and in the life of the spread of the gospel. It was a dramatic event and had a profound impact on the man, Paul. Yet, as strong a leader he was before his conversion, it would be 10-15 years before he would make his first missionary journey. Again demonstrating that it takes time to grow into spiritual maturity and leadership.

Abraham started his life as a worshiper of the moon, yet was chosen by God to be the father of all nations. It certainly did not happen overnight, for it was 25 years after God told him his wife would give him a son that it actually happened. As Richard and Henry Blackaby write, “Abraham did not being his life as a paragon of faith, but gradually over many years, he developed a mature and deep relationship with God.”

We have to wait and learn from the LORD and devote ourselves fully to Him and He will create in us the spiritual leader we are to become. It is our heart devotion and not just our outward appearances. It is important that we are devoted to the LORD and give all of ourselves to Him and trust that He will provide that which is needed when it is needed.

“⁹For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.” – 2 Chronicles 16:9 (ESV)

Asa reigned in Judah and was by biblical account was good;

“2 And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God.” – 2 Chronicles 14:2 (ESV)

Yet, as Asa did not give himself fully to God, with His heart, he found himself out of the safe favor of the LORD. He was a leader, yes, but he was not the leader that led with the help and guidance of the LORD, and there He found himself missing out.

Spiritual Leadership takes time and is something to be developed over that time with our heart set on God. We may have been given leadership roles, it is likely that we are not the leaders we are meant to be, yet. We have to now ensure that we have given all of ourselves to the LORD and over time He will make us the spiritual leader He intends for us.

What is your view on becoming a leader? Once you have the role have you somehow arrived? What if you look at it as just the beginning of the journey, devote your whole self to the LORD and allow Him to develop you into the spiritual leader He has in store for you?

His Law in Your Heart

It seems as though there are new “laws” and rules popping up all the time. Whether it is related to online use or what is unacceptable in the driving through an area. But notice the way we look at laws, we tend to see them as restrictive and speaking as to what not to do. We may even dread the idea of having another law to keep up with and adhere. But let’s look here at what David says about the Law of the LORD.

“⁸I delight to do your will, O my God;

your law is within my heart.”

— Psalm 40:8 (ESV)

“²but his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.”

— Psalm 1:2 (ESV)

I see that David is loving the Law of the LORD. He does not see any restriction and actually welcomes and cherishes the Law of the LORD by keeping it “within my heart” and meditating “day and night” on it. There is no what not to do, David sees the Law of the LORD as the what to do in giving and getting the most to and from the LORD. In fact, look at the volume of what comes from the LORD according to David.

“⁵You have multiplied, O Lord my God,

your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;

none can compare with you!

I will proclaim and tell of them,

yet they are more than can be told.”

— Psalm 40:5 (ESV)

They are too many to be declared to the world.

Here is what I am seeing and learned this morning. The LORD provides all, and I mean all according to His Law. He is gracious to the point of so much abundance that we cannot let it known the full extent. I am to keep His law in my heart, not to be sure of what not to do as it is not restrictive as one might think, but to delight in the wonder and greatness of the Law that allows me to give and get the most to and from the LORD.

What is your approach to the Law of the LORD? Are you working to be sure that you are doing what is “acceptable” and seeing it as restricting? What if you meditated on the Law of the LORD and kept it in your heart to delight in it, giving and getting the most to and from Him?

The LORD Will Deliver

This morning and over the past few months, I am thinking of the deliverance that comes from the LORD. I am in Psalm 6 and the title in my ESV Bible is “O LORD, Deliver My Life”. As I read David’s plea for deliverance, I see that he is not taking any physical action. He is asking for deliverance with his words that come from his heart. David is asking the LORD to deliver him for he needs it.

“¹O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,

nor discipline me in your wrath.

²Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;

heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.

³My soul also is greatly troubled.

But you, O Lord—how long?

⁴Turn, O Lord, deliver my life;

save me for the sake of your steadfast love.”

— Psalm 6:1-4 (ESV)

In my discipleship group for the past few months we also dive into the grace and mercy of God. Mercy being God not giving us what we deserve and grace is Him giving us what we don’t deserve. David above is asking for mercy and we should be as well. The payment for mercy has already been paid through the shed blood of Christ Jesus and yet, for us to receive, all we have to do is ask. I don’t have to take any additional action, I need only to ask for the mercy of the LORD.

This is the deliverance that we should be seeking. It is from His wrath that we need deliverance. I have to accept that my sinfulness is that which separates me from the LORD and that I am in need of mercy to fill the chasm between us. I cannot do anything, physical action wise, to close the gap between the LORD and me. I can only seek His deliverance and give myself to Him knowing that He will save me through His mercy and grace.

“⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV)

I am in need of saving and only the LORD can deliver. I need only ask with my words from my heart and He will deliver me.

What are you thoughts on deliverance? Are you looking to take action to be delivered? What if you understood that you need only ask from your heart to be delivered and accept the mercy through grace that only the LORD can provide to be saved?