Post by cspain03 on Jul 10, 2014 18:05:38 GMT
Hey loves, I pray you all are well and keeper up with the surrender fast readings and are starting to feel the changes your need in the area in your life where you're expecting God to do great things!
From this chapter these verses stop out:
1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
2 "Tell the Israelites to take an offering for me; from every person motivated by a willing heart you are to receive my offering.
Really focusing on the second half of the second verse I am moved to be reminder that God wants us to give will willing hearts. I know often I can pray for the right thing or do the right thing but my heart is not right, it's not willing. Or I pray for someone else's actions to change or for growth to come their way but I really need to pray that God moves their heart and not just change the situation. I truly believe our hearts MUST be in the right place in order for our actions to be truly pleasing to God and an in order for our requests to be fully made to Him. A lot of this "relationship" this Christian walk that we are on is a heart thing. We were born into sin and because of God's great LOVE for us before we were even a thought, let alone a being, God sent His one and only son to die on the cross of us - that's a HEART thing.
We have to spend time with God and in His Word and in Worship and in Pray so that God can work on our hearts. God wanted offerings from the Israelites, just like He wants them from us, but He only wants from from people who are motivated by a willing heart - that hasn't changed. So what is motivating you? What state is your heart in? Are you acting out of kindness and love and faith and trust or are you motivated to act because you want something in return? Are you motivated to act simply to prove someone wrong? Are you motivated to act because you're too caught up in the rules and not in the relations? Are you motivated to act because you're too focused on being busy (which we read from the surrend fast is based on pride) vs. being productive (which is based on God/His Will)? Be honest with yourself. I've mentioned this before, my heart wasn't in the right place after I graduated from college, I was so focused on following the Words of the Bible and being busy (even though it was busy with the "right things") and feeling like I was getting nowhere because my heart wasn't in the right place. I was certainly willing to put in the work and make sacrifices, but only because I wanted things in return: Lord, I'll do _________ if you give me/fix/do _____. Instead of: Lord, I am truly grateful to be able to follow you Word and serve you because I know it's not just what you've asked of me but it pleases you and I want to please you (and let God bless me has He saw fit - because He knows what I need!).
A willing heart not only ties to love and obedience, it also ties to faith and trust. I am not doing this simply to be obedient, but because I trust God and His word and I know it will not return to Him void. I know and trust and have faith that He has a plan for my life and it's better than anything I could come up with and I want that, over my own fleshly desires, to take presidence.
I think this is a good time for us to stop and really take an evaluation of what we are doing and why and the state of our hearts while we're doing it.
alight, that's all for now - love y'all!
From this chapter these verses stop out:
1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
2 "Tell the Israelites to take an offering for me; from every person motivated by a willing heart you are to receive my offering.
Really focusing on the second half of the second verse I am moved to be reminder that God wants us to give will willing hearts. I know often I can pray for the right thing or do the right thing but my heart is not right, it's not willing. Or I pray for someone else's actions to change or for growth to come their way but I really need to pray that God moves their heart and not just change the situation. I truly believe our hearts MUST be in the right place in order for our actions to be truly pleasing to God and an in order for our requests to be fully made to Him. A lot of this "relationship" this Christian walk that we are on is a heart thing. We were born into sin and because of God's great LOVE for us before we were even a thought, let alone a being, God sent His one and only son to die on the cross of us - that's a HEART thing.
We have to spend time with God and in His Word and in Worship and in Pray so that God can work on our hearts. God wanted offerings from the Israelites, just like He wants them from us, but He only wants from from people who are motivated by a willing heart - that hasn't changed. So what is motivating you? What state is your heart in? Are you acting out of kindness and love and faith and trust or are you motivated to act because you want something in return? Are you motivated to act simply to prove someone wrong? Are you motivated to act because you're too caught up in the rules and not in the relations? Are you motivated to act because you're too focused on being busy (which we read from the surrend fast is based on pride) vs. being productive (which is based on God/His Will)? Be honest with yourself. I've mentioned this before, my heart wasn't in the right place after I graduated from college, I was so focused on following the Words of the Bible and being busy (even though it was busy with the "right things") and feeling like I was getting nowhere because my heart wasn't in the right place. I was certainly willing to put in the work and make sacrifices, but only because I wanted things in return: Lord, I'll do _________ if you give me/fix/do _____. Instead of: Lord, I am truly grateful to be able to follow you Word and serve you because I know it's not just what you've asked of me but it pleases you and I want to please you (and let God bless me has He saw fit - because He knows what I need!).
A willing heart not only ties to love and obedience, it also ties to faith and trust. I am not doing this simply to be obedient, but because I trust God and His word and I know it will not return to Him void. I know and trust and have faith that He has a plan for my life and it's better than anything I could come up with and I want that, over my own fleshly desires, to take presidence.
I think this is a good time for us to stop and really take an evaluation of what we are doing and why and the state of our hearts while we're doing it.
alight, that's all for now - love y'all!