Last week I shared how we must obey Joel 2:12 and return to God with our whole heart. I challenged readers to set the date of April 23, 2019 as a day for us to do exactly that — turn to God with our whole heart.
Between now and then I believe it is important that Christians individually and corporately prepare themselves for this day of turning. To begin this effort, it is important to understand that with God it must be all or nothing! God does not want a half-hearted effort to turn to Him. He demands our whole heart.
Here are some verses that we can meditate on as we prepare to turn to Him with our whole heart.
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart! Psalm 119:2 (NKJV)
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (NKJV)
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 (NKJV)
Here are some suggestions that might help us examine and prepare our hearts to turn to Him.
- Ask yourself some questions like:
- How does keeping God’s testimonies relate to seeking Him with my whole heart?
- Do I love God like He tells me to in Deuteronomy 6? What might I love more than God at times?
- How do I search for God with my whole heart?
- When I don’t search for Him with my whole heart, what things am I searching for?
- Discuss these verses and questions with other Christians.
- Church staff members can discuss how this relates to their church.
- Christian school educators can ask themselves these questions from their school’s perspective.
- An example of doing these two points above could be something like “is our school/church seeking God with our whole heart?” Do we as a school/church love God more than anything else? If not, what other things may be competing for our school’s love?
Finally, I want to encourage everyone to share other verses that can help us understand that it is all or nothing! You can do this my leaving Scripture references as a comment below or simply email them to me at [email protected].
Have a great week seeking and loving Him with your whole heart.
Mark 12:30 is important too as it includes engaging our minds as a form of worship. Great for Christian schools in particular.
“Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62, NIV).
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Col. 3:17
Thanks for the much needed word to be fully committed to Christ and what He has called us to do. Here are a few verses:
I Samuel 12:24 “Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all of your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.”
Acts 20:24 “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.”
I Corinthians 2:2 “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”
I Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”
2 Corinthians 12:15 “I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls.”
Galatians 4:19 “My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you.”
Philippians 1:21 “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
Philippians 3:8 “More than than, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
Thanks again for the weekly challenge and encouragement!
Proverbs 3:5-6(NIV)
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”