With All Your Heart

A friend of mine recently gave us a scare with 70% blockage of an artery in his heart. After inserting a stent to keep the vessels open, he is now recovering at home. It caused me to think about my own heart and what it means when scripture says to seek the Lord with all your heart. Jer. 29:13 says, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
Jesus taught in Matt. 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." The writer of Hebrews in chapter 10:22, encourages us to "draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.."
To love God with all our heart, to serve Him with all our heart, we must stay very connected with God. Perhaps that's why Jesus told us that the branch must stay close to the Vine. For our heart to be healthy, we must hear the cry of His heart. We must bring our desires into alignment with His and submit our agenda to His.
We must live lifestyles that keep our heart in sync with the heart of God. We cannot live as we want and then think we can just burst into his presence in times of crisis and tragedy. We need to stay in close relationship with Him daily so that when the tough days come our hearts are still in tune with Him in a deep, intimate way.
I do not serve a Santa Claus Jesus in which I only call on Him a few times a year and submit a wish list that I expect Him to deliver on. I serve a Risen Lord that desires a relationship with me that is real and a heart that is sincere. He does not want some half-cooked allegiance that only calls on Him in times of need. He wants a disciple that follows Him with all of his heart, takes up his cross and walks the path He has in store for each of us.

Battleground or Playground?

It has been said, "You can tell a lot about a man by who his enemies are." This is definitely true when it comes to the Christian life. As a follower of Christ, we enter a battleground, not a playground. It is hardly a life of ease, wealth and prosperity as some may preach about.

Rather it is a life scarred by conflict, spiritual warfare and intense opposition. When we surrendered our life to Jesus Christ, we made Him our Commander in Chief. By doing so we also acquired a new enemy-one who heads up a vicious network that is bigger than the Verizon network.

Victor Hugo was quoted as saying, "A good general must penetrate the brain of his enemy." To win a war, one must know the strategies and tactics of the adversary. He is the master of deceit and disguise. He is a liar and he wants nothing more than to bring misery to your household.

The choice of whether we win this war or not is up to us. To fight off the enemy's temptations, we must use the weapons we have been given. What good is training and equipping the soldier if he leaves his weapons and his know-how in the barricks?

If you want to make a difference with your life in this dark world, you will meet the enemy head on. So strap on your gear, prepare for the battle and follow your Commander in Chief. You are on the winning side. Get off of the playground and march onto the battlefield!