Thoughts in Worship

Message Magazine's Online Devotional for Sunday, December 17, 2017

Audio Link: https://www.spreaker.com/user/reachmanyradio/thoughts-in-worship-12-17-2017

This is devotional thought number 20 in our devotional series, God’s Promises are Sure!

“Delight thyself also in the Lord; And he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” (Psalm 37:4).

It’s a package deal. All great things with God come as package deals when we delight ourselves in Him. I think you’re going to like today’s thought.

There is a huge problem with all humanity. We are human. That is the biggest impediment to righteous thought and living. There is a huge benefit with all humanity. Jesus became human. That is the biggest blessing to undue our unrighteousness and make us holy before His presence. Jesus elevated us by becoming like us, so by faith we could become like Him. That is to say, Jesus exalts the human race with His presence. That holy presence creates a spiritual bond between heaven and earth, and that bond brings us closer to our heavenly Father.

Let’s get back to the problem. The Bible says that our hearts are desperately wicked; to the point that we cannot even recognize it on our own. We need the Holy Spirit to teach and empower us. What if, with these wicked hearts we communicate our desires to God? What kinds of desires would they be? Would they generally align with God’s purposes? Would they be selfless? Would they be full of faith? Would they be worthy of Jesus’ great reputation and stamp of approval? The obvious answer is no; therefore, God cannot grant the spirit of our desires when we are not aligned with Him.

Let’s get back to the blessing. The Bible says that God will give us new hearts. I will cite just one of many examples of this: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:26–27). What if, with these new God-given hearts we communicate our desires to God? What kinds of desires would they be? Would they generally align with God’s purposes? Would they be selfless? Would they be full of faith? Would they be worthy of Jesus’ great reputation and stamp of approval? The obvious answer is yes; therefore, God will keep His promise to give us the desires of the heart. It’s a package deal. Did you miss it? When God give us new hearts, new desires come with them. That is to say, wicked desires are welded to wicked hearts. Even their noblest desires are polluted until or unless they learn to surrender and crossover into love for God. Holy tendencies and desires are welded to the new hearts God creates within us, and gives a right spirit. So, when we begin to communicate our desires to God, verily they are according to His model, and He can represent us in the courts of heaven without shame. By accepting our new hearts from God, we are accepting a new desires paradigm. We begin to think God’s thoughts after Him; and with the Holy Spirit tidying our prayers and making them acceptable to the Father through the righteousness of the Son, we can expect that God will answer according to His ideal for our lives. When our hearts are merry as we seek God’s will for us (we delight), He delivers the delightful desires of our hearts. He creates new desires within us, and then grants them according to His perfect will. This, my friends, is a wonderful package deal. The mouth of the Lord has spoken.—L. David Harris (www.LDavidHarris.com)