With All Your Heart

I have been studying the word “heart” for the past couple of months and through my process, have a few weeks to go. In that time I have written a good amount on the subject of “with all your heart” and this morning is another installment, and really more focused on it.

I am currently reading in Jeremiah and have been led to the passage in chapter 29 titled “Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles” in my ESV Bible. Here Jeremiah is relaying the message of the LORD to the people that He will not abandon them and that he will raise them up again. But, as noted above, I am more focused on the one verse, 13, this morning.

“¹³You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” – Jeremiah 29:13 (ESV)

I was really struck this morning by this verse, and the phrase “with all your heart”. I was reminded that in all that we do with the LORD we are to do so with all our heart, and not just flippantly or ceremonially. I think the word seek and how it is deeper than just looking. Merriam-Webster Online says: “to go in search of”, and where the second part of that definition is: “look for”, the third part is: “to try to discover”. There is work involved, by more than the eyes.

“³⁶Then Jesus went with them to a place call Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here, while I go over there and pray.’” – Matthew 26: 36 (ESV)

When Jesus was facing His crucifixion, He did not pray to the Father where He was at the time. Jesus “went” to “go over there and pray”. He sought the Father, and did not just expect the LORD to come to Him. He went with all of Himself to the Father.

“³⁸The Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.” – John 11:37 (ESV)

Jesus did not just say for Lazarus to rise, as He had every capability to do, he went and sought out the tomb of His friend and was fully there from His heart and mind and body to bring him back to the living. Jesus did all things from His heart and not just to do them because He could. Jesus was all in with all his heart and we should be as well.

I will admit that I am not a very outwardly emotional person. But that does not mean that I am not committed and deeply moved at things. When I commit to something, I commit to it fully to ensure that it is completed and it is done well. I have to remember that commitment is one that should be coming from my heart and not just from my dedication to completing a task. I have to be there with all my heart as the greatest example to me, Jesus, was. We have to be all in “with all your heart”.

How do you approach things? Are you there to complete a task or are you part of the ceremony? What if you approached all things “with all your heart” as Jesus did and we are instructed?

The LORD Will Come and Stay

What does it take for the LORD to come?

“¹³When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, ¹⁴if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” – 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 (ESV)

We have to earnestly “pray and seek” Him and His Face and “turn from their wicked ways” and then the LORD will come. So it is on us to get the LORD here. It is up to me and my full dependence on Him regardless of the circumstances. I am in charge of turning to the LORD and away from that which is evil. The LORD is always within earshot of me, and will come when I need Him, I only need to call on Him.

I think that we understand that part. Call on the LORD and He will come. But what is it that gets Him to stay with us. Well, it is the humbling of ourselves and surrendering to Him.I can and should call on Him when I need Him, yet it is up to me to reach out to Him and surrender to His glory for Him to come and stay.

“¹⁵Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. ¹⁶For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time” – 2 Chronicles 7:15-16 (ESV)

When I have devoted myself to the LORD, He will come and stay with me. Not just in earshot, but will be there walking with me for my entire journey in this world. I will have Him there to fend off the evil. He will comfort me and guide me and carry me and provide for me and bless me and fully ensure that I am taken care of in this world. It is up to me to turn to Him and away from evil and surrender to Him and he will come and stay with me.

What are you doing to get the LORD to come and stay? Are you keeping Him just within earshot? What if you were to surrender to Him so that He comes and walks with you, comforting you, guiding you, carrying you, providing for you, and blessing you?

Seek the LORD with Your Heart and Find Him

I am a sinner and will always be. I will continue to stray away from the LORD. I will serve idols that are not Him, those that He has created as He created all things.

“²⁹But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.” – Deuteronomy 4:29 (ESV)

When I need Him, He is there. I only need to seek after Him with my heart. Word choice is so important as I have found and written often. Whereas seeking and looking are synonyms in the English language, they hold very different meaning in Hebrew. Seek in Hebrew is earnest and diligent search where look is searching for the tangible. As we know, God is not tangible. He is omnipresent, and omniscient, and as such is not a physical thing to find.

Moses in the passage is instructing the people of the forbiddeness of idolatry. But he also tells the people that they will fall away and that when things get the darkest, God is still there and He will be found when we seek after Him with our heart.

“³⁰When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice. ³¹For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.” – Deuteronomy 4:30-31 (ESV)

How is it will we find the LORD when we seek after Him with our heart. Because He is merciful. Even as we have fallen away, He waits for us and does not destroy us. He does not forget the covenant He has with us and even as we turn from Him He does not turn on us.

I can get back to the LORD through my earnest search for Him. I can seek Him with all my heart and He will be found because He never left and wants for me to find Him.

What is your idea to find the LORD? Are you looking for Him as some sort of tangible thing? What if you were to seek Him with your heart knowing that He will be found, because He wants to be?

Prepare for Departure

Being a leader is noble and rewarding. It does however carry with it some challenges. One of which is preparing for your departure from the role. It is common for leaders to work right from their installation through their exit from the organization. There are a lot of factors that drive that commonality, but the real thing is that the leaders never prepare for when they are gone from the organization.

It is important, dare I say paramount for the leader to build strength in the organization that is ready to take over and continue the work of that organization when the time comes. There should always be someone on deck to lead with confidence and skill to do so.

The same is said for the spiritual leader. The role of the spiritual leader is to guide people to God’s agenda. Give them the tools that will prompt them to seek the LORD in all things, whether inside or outside the organization. Those that are being prepared should know of and have those influences that come from God, His authentication, have encounters with Him, character/integrity, and preparation. They should be seeking the spiritual maturity that demonstrates continued growth and learning and reliance on God for all. And they should work to bring glory to God always.

I know that I have failed in these areas in the past and may only be in the middle of preparing my family’s successor, but I am working on it daily by doing just what I am doing here. I am in God’s Word, learning and growing in to the man He has for me to be. I am demonstrating to my boys what it means to be the leader of the household and can only do more of the same. At some point I will no longer be here, but my family that comes after me will be prepared to continue. I am preparing for my departure.

What is your view of what comes after you leave? Are you not concerned as you will be gone? What if you were to take the approach that it is your role to ensure that the organization continues to seek the will of the LORD even after you are gone?

Vision or Revelation Which is it for You

As a Christian, I receive my direction from the LORD. As a spiritual leader, I receive my vision from the LORD. That vision comes in the form of revelation. As I read this morning in my MasterWork study of spiritual leadership, I find that, “Vision is something people produce, revelation is something people receive.”

Each of us has work to perform that comes from God. We may not know exactly what the final result of the work will be, but we do know that it brings glory to God. Our role is to do that which is assigned. Notice my words above that the work “comes from God” and we are “to do that which is assigned”. We I look at the difference in vision and revelation from the Blackabys, I really start to understand those words I wrote. I am to do the work assigned, or revealed to me by God for His glory.

“¹⁸Without revelation people run wild,” — Proverbs 29:18a (CSB)

It is possible for people to create a vision that will produce results in this world, and that is what secular leaders are out to achieve, results in this world. But notice the verse above from Proverbs, that it is revelation that should be sought and not vision. The vision may produce the results in this world, but it is like boating without a rudder. There is just wild movements and not able to achieve the ending that the LORD has planned. A lot of work happening, but no lasting heavenly results to account.

As a spiritual leader, I am to “walk closely with the Father” to be “keenly aware of His revelation and are ready to respond in obedience to His initiatives”. It is in this close walk that the LORD will reveal to me His plan for me and my actions to forward His gospel to His glory.

For me it is revelation that I seek and not vision. I am looking to do the work of the Father and look to Him for that work to be revealed.

Where are you getting your direction? Are you creating a vision to carry you forward? What if instead you sought revelation to carry the LORD’s work forward?

Look to Work from God’s Agenda

I do understand, when looking to lead, there is an agenda or a goal or a destination that is being worked. It only makes sense, otherwise what is the point, getting people to follow aimlessly. In virtually every leadership book, periodical, class, or seminar I have been exposed, leadership is almost pointless without purpose.

Jesus had an agenda, a goal, a destination as He was leading the disciples. He was aware of the mission. He understood the purpose. The thing is, it was not His agenda, but the Father’s. Jesus came, rather was sent to this world to carry out the Father’s agenda. He was set to do work of the Father and not His own. Jesus was the workman carrying out the mission.

As Jesus went through this world before He did anything, He consulted the Father to get the lay of the land and understand the mission at that moment. Before His actions, Jesus prayed to the Father. Jesus followed the agenda of the Father at every turn. He was in tune with God and knew that it was not His own will, but the Father’s for all things to happen.

“³⁶And he said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.’” – Mark 14:36 (ESV)

Jesus was always looking keenly for the next part of the agenda to play out. He was looking for and always willing to accomplish the Father’s plan. Jesus was not just bringing a group of people on a journey to nowhere, He was leading based on an agenda. It was the agenda of the Father.

This is to be our approach as well. As disciples we are to follow an agenda. The agenda will lead to the goal, destination, or result we are to accomplish. The thing is, that agenda is not our own but the agenda of the Father. I have to remember every day to have restless eyes as I seek to work the agenda of the Father. I am to be in communication with the Father as Jesus was to get the direction I am to take. At each turn I am to reach out to the Father to understand as much as He can and/or will give me. I am to follow the LORD’s direction and work to accomplish His agenda.

What is leading you? Are you out there working on accomplishing your own work to get somewhere you want to be? What if you were to work the agenda of the Father and followed his direction to accomplish His agenda?

Yes, it is Okay to Question the LORD

I believe that too often, we are reluctant to ask questions for a number of reasons, it is not my place, it is not the right time, fear of what others might think of my not knowing, or maybe the authority is too great for me to ask. Either way, reluctance to ask results in confusion or not/misunderstanding. This is, I believe, even the case with the LORD.

When there are things that are unknown the best way to know them is to ask questions. We should be able to question those things that are of need to know. The LORD is not too big for our questions. His authority is not too mighty that He won’t hear us. Any time is the right time and any place is the right place. It is not important what others might think, only that we are communing with Him.

“⁴Hear, and I will speak;

I will question you, and you make it known to me.” – Job 42:4 (ESV)

Job understood that the way to get answers and the way to ensure things were done right, you have to ask. Specifically, you have to ask the LORD to provide the answers.

Yes, it is okay to question the LORD. It is okay to seek answers from Him. It is okay to rely on the LORD for the direction in our lives. He is the only one who knows the answers to where it is He would have us go, so it is okay and encouraged to ask Him.

What are your thoughts on questioning the LORD? Do you find you are not worthy, the time is not right, or worried about what others might think? What if you took the approach of seeking to understand and that the LORD is the one who can provide that understanding?

Seek Righteous From the LORD

“¹³⁷Righteous are you, O LORD,

and right are your rules.”

— Psalm 119:137 (ESV)

Go directly to the source. No reason to look anywhere else, the LORD is your first and only stop.

I work in a corporate world and as such there is a chain of command that is traditionally followed to get answers and seek advice. One starts with their peer, then their immediate supervisor, then the next level, and so on until the answer is received or you have reached the top. There is no need and it is not proper to skip everyone and start with the top.

Well, we do not live in a corporate world when it comes to our spiritual lives as Christians. It used to be that way before the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. But the New Covenant removes all the bureaucracy and layers of intercession. We now have direct access to the top. We now have the open invitation and expectation to go directly to the LORD for answers and to seek advice. He is the source of all creation and we should seek Him out for the answers. As the LORD is the source of all creation and He is the only one to recognize the righteous, we should be seeking understanding from Him, the source.

“¹⁴⁴Your testimonies are righteous forever;

give me understanding that I may live.”

— Psalm 119:144 (ESV)

We know that the LORD has all of the answers. He created all and knows all and unlike some in this world, He wants us to come to Him and He will not keep things from us. We are instructed and expected to come to Him for the answers to our questions and direction as to where to and how to proceed. Yes, sometimes it does seem as though we are not getting straight answers and frankly even this morning in my prayers, I asked Him to hit me over the head with direction as I do not so easily see or hear or understand things when He whispers. But, I know that He will give me the answers to the questions I ask. I have to remember that with the LORD, I can and am expected to come directly to Him and He will not turn me away.

Where are you going for your answers? Are you looking to find answers from somewhere in this world and going through layers of hierarchy to get there? What if in your spiritual life, you were to go directly to the source of all, God the Father, as He wants to hear from you?