This is the God who is searching our hearts and sees what we need, for a number of reasons it is the clearest possible thing to Him. But God does not simply search our hearts and take note of what we need. He fulfills it. Our cups overflow with joy, love, and peace, as we dwell within his rich presence.
Each day I find sustenance in revering our Holy God, which leads to the wholeness I experience from his role (and rule) in my life. I crave more sacrifice and more dependence because he is so good and faithful. I am so thankful that this study has given me an opportunity to focus on God in the ways that it has.
This is the outflow of my heart because of His love, for which I respond with thanks and love:
Thanks Zac. One of the deepest challenges of my life is to believe consistently that God has given me a new heart. Instead of trusting His heart that He's creating in me, I go out and do deals with the dark side and cut fruit from trees to reinforce my unhealthy need for control and credit. Fruit like - being happy when someone else's life looks worse than mine so I don't feel as jacked up (I hate it when I do that.) Laughing or mocking instead of caring. Avoiding compassion. I could make a huge list because many sermons I've spoken over the years have been as much about how to look good as they have been about surrendering our shame and trusting our new heart. So cheers to your post and cheers to God's desire to prune me into a child who trusts His new heart in me above all other things.
ReplyDeleteI am with you on that, which you said really well...When I forget or lack trust in the new heart that He is giving me, which I do in some way on a daily basis (lately the main one has been complaining and compiling excuses to protect the recognition I want). Luckily, I too can rejoice in his loving discipline. I have been so blessed by it in the past months. Nevertheless, I surely live in this paradoxical hypocrisy where I see and experience his goodness, which my heart inherently rejoices in, yet I still choose that which is not from him in certain situations where I lack trust in His loving protection. Praise be to Him who gives faith (or whatever else we need) when we ask!
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