~ Heart-2-Heart ~
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Pastor Lynda MacDonald, Nova Scotia
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TOUCHING OUR FATHER’S HEART
Every time I think about my heart
compared to God’s, I am reminded of the powerful verse in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is more deceitful than anything else and mortally
sick. Who can fathom it?”
Can I really trust my
heart? Can I know it? I believe that I cannot know what is truly in my heart. I want to
believe the best about me therefore, I will protect my true spiritual
condition.
Scripture here tells me that my heart is more
deceitful than anything else and it is mortally sick. No human being can fathom
(measure) it –especially not me.
What pleases my Father’s
heart? I suggest that when my
heart lines up with his –as much as is humanly possible, he is pleased. How can
I know this? I need to get to know
what pleases Him and that can only be if I read His Word where his heart is
revealed to us.
David - King of Israel was
honored by the Father when he said of David, (Acts 13:22), “He gave testimony and
said, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will
do all My will.' David wasn’t perfect but he was deeply in love with his God.
In 1 Samuel 13:14, King
Saul had strayed from God’s presence and His anger was on Saul. God picked
another king- David, son of Jesse. “But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought
for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be
commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded
you."
Our heart and God’s heart
needs to be interwoven together! I need to love what He
loves and hate what He hates. However, this is not the norm in today’s
believer. We are so caught up in the world’s system of “make it through the day however you can” that we miss the intimacy
God wants with us.
We miss the truth that we
work for Him because we love Him not we love Him by working for Him. It is not
a lifestyle of gaining Brownie points.
In Messianic circles,
believers recite the Sh’ma (Listen) often. Shema Yisrael Adonai
Eloheinu Adonai Echad –
Hear, O Israel:
the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.
The literal word meanings are roughly as follows:
Shema — listen,
or hear (Do and accept)
Yisrael — Israel,
in the sense of the people or congregation of Israel – believers in the God of
Israel
Adonai — often
translated as "Lord", it is read in place of the Tetragrammaton
Elohenu — our
God, the word "El" or "Eloh" signifying God (see
also: Elohim),
and the plural possessive determiner suffix "-nu" or "-enu"
signifying "our"
Echad — the
Hebrew word for the number 1 (wholeness)
So- how can we impress Father-God? If
it is possible to impress him (I am not sure that it is), it would by obeying
what He says.
In 1 John 2:3 -6, it reads “The way we can be sure we know him is if we are obeying his
commands. Anyone who says, "I know him," but isn't obeying his
commands is a liar - the truth is not in him But if someone keeps doing
what he says, then truly love for God has been brought to its goal in him. This
is how we are sure that we are united with him. A person who claims to be
continuing in union with him (having a love relationship with Him) ought to
conduct his life the way he did.”
I love the Deuteronomy
6:5-9 verses- “and you are to love Adonai your God with all your heart, all
your being and all your resources. These words, which I am ordering you today,
are to be on your heart. And you are to teach them carefully to your children.
You are to talk about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the
road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them on your hand as a sign,
put them at the front of a headband around your forehead, and write them on the
door-frames of your house and on your gates.”
In today’s language, we
would sum it up as “Love Him 24/7 in everything you do!”
That just might touch the
Father’s heart – because we passionately love Him.
Shalom!
Pastor Lynda MacDonald
