A Heart For God Acts 13:21 21 And...
A Heart For God
Acts 13:21
21 And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also 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.(NKJV)
Intro:
As the church, we need to know what it takes to have a heart for God. David was mentioned in the Bible as a man after God’s own heart. David was the only one mentioned, as a man after God’s own heart. Moses was the greatest leader Israel ever had, yet he wasn’t mentioned as a man after God’s own heart. Abraham was called a friend of God, but not a man after God’s own heart. John, whom Jesus gave his mother to, was not called a man after God’s own heart. What does it take to have a heart for God?
It Takes An Open Heart
Psalm 139: 23
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,And lead me in the way everlasting.(NKJV)
When is the last time you opened up to God and said search me?
The problem wit the church today is we run from God and not to God. We don’t want to feel the conviction of the God. Most people want a blood covering, and not a blood cleansing. They just want fire insurance form hell, but don’t want the cleansing that comes form the blood of Jesus.
Hebrews 9:12-14
12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (NKJV)
God already knows your heart, and he knows your intent also. Its just time to open up to Him.
1 Chronicles 28:8-9
8 Now therefore, in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, be careful to seek out all the commandments of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land, and leave it as an inheritance for your children after you forever.
9“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.(NKJV)
We Need A Believing Heart
We need to learn to trust in the Lord, in every area of our lives.(NKJV)
Isaiah 26:4
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
For in YAH, the Lord, is everlasting strength. (NKJV)
Psalm 20:7
7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;
But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.(NKJV)
Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.(NKJV)
In order to have a heart for God we have to be able to trust Him, and believe in Him. We need to let Him manifest Himself in our lives.
Question:
Does your christianity impact anything except what you do on Sunday?
When we say we believe in God and He is on our lives there should be an impact made. We are a new creature in Him and we are to make a difference. There is a difference in our lives when God comes in, and that difference should make an impact on the people around us.
A Broken Heart
Psalms 34:18
18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit.(NKJV)
Church it is time that we search our hearts, and have or hearts break for the things that break the heart of God.
When is the last time that you wept over your sin?
Joel 2:12
12 “Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart,With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”13 So rend your heart, and not your garments;Return to the Lord your God For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness;And He relents from doing harm.(NKJV)
It is time that the church get serious about God, because when we get serious about God, He will get serious about us.
Anguish is a term that you don’t hear anymore. It means pain, and that is what God feels when His children are not where they are supposed to be.
The church needs to understand the difference between anguish and concern.
We seem to be concerned for the lost, concerned for the moral decline in this country, but where is the anguish. To have a heart for God, the things that break the heart of God, should break our hearts. When we go astray, it breaks God’s heart, and it should break ours. We need to get to the point where nothing else matters, but God. Nothing else will satisfy, but God.
Conclusion:
As children of God we need to have a heart for God. We need to search our hearts and put ourselves in the place where our hearts break for the things that break the heart of God. Bottom line, if we have an open heart, and a believing heart, then we will have a broken heart for the things that break the heart of God.