The Heart of the Matter
Based on Psalms 33-34, Acts 24
"The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashioneth their hearts alike; He considereth all their works." Psalm 33:13-15
When God looks upon us, He is not only looking at what we say & do...He looks at where these things stem from-the heart! The heart IS the heart of the matter with God, and we must let Him work upon our hearts in order to be sure we are developing into who God wants us to be!
"Our soul waiteth for the LORD: He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, Because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, According as we hope in thee."
Psalm 33:20-22
Our soul awaits Him & His hand upon our lives, no matter how much we try to ignore Him! When we do open our lives completely to Him, starting with our hearts, then our hearts can rejoice! It all boils down to where our hearts are at. Our hearts determine how far or close we choose to be to God! We can either follow our heart's deceptive desires & ways, or we can open our hearts to God and let Him bring us into that close relationship with Him!
"The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; And saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." Psalm 34:18
The closest our hearts can be to God is through brokenness. Through repentance. And that repentance brings us to water baptism in Jesus' Name & receiving the Holy Ghost with evidence of speaking with new tongues! It all starts with a broken heart, willing to be mended by God!
"And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ." Acts 24:24
Paul amazingly touched the heart of one of the officials and his wife in his day & hour! One of the people to sentence & arrest him was interested in hearing his message! That probably took a lot of humility, and a broken heart! He & his wife were still afraid to commit fully, and Felix left Paul bound in order to please the Jews. That still gave a sense of hope...maybe in the future, they'd fully surrender their hearts? Either way, let's not fear the judgment of others...let's give our whole hearts to God to see what He will do!
written by
Gina Pietrzak
Comments
No comments yet — be the first to share your thoughts!
Keep Reading
Surviving the Peace Plummet
Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 1 Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. Peacefulness is the toughest muscle there is, and exercising it only makes it stronger. However, it proves to be the most difficult to keep toned & honed consistently in our lives. Peacefulness is like that one workout that you know is going to take the most time...
A Moment of Silence.
As was powerfully preached this past Wednesday, "Let there be light" were the first words spoken by God in Genesis 1:3... And He wasn't necessarily speaking about a physical manifestation... But a Spiritual one. Knowing that creation Would mean redemption. It would mean... Heaven needs to touch earth... Light would need to pierce the veil of darkness... The process of creating was ongoing... All the way to the point of creating in us clean hearts (Psalm 51:10) by being born again of water &...