Developing Our Heart for God

The Lord has always prized relationship with him over any other aspect in life. Through relationship, we gain valuable insight into the nature of God. While book knowledge is certainly important, relationship is paramount. Before I started to foster my connection with the Lord, I could read and understand the scriptures at the basic literal level. However, when I started to walk daily with Him, it changed what I saw in the scripture. It’s depth and beauty were revealed in ways I never though imaginable.

The story of feeding the 5000 is one small example. In the literal sense we see the miracle of how Jesus took a boys lunch and feed 5000 men and there families. Through the spiritual side, He showed me that He is inviting us to use our gifts, unique to us individually, to further the Kingdom on earth.

For years, I struggled with why most church’s and denominations seems to emphasis knowledge over relationship. Relationship is what I kept seeing and hearing from our Father. It wasn’t until I started to understand the Greek influence on Christ followers that any of it made sense. The problem starts when we try to blend man’s logic with God’s ways. Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.

The Lord does use the foolish to confound the wise. Paul explained it best in 1 Cor 1:26-29, “Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.”

He has a plan for each of us, you must grow your relationship with the Father to find out what His purpose for your life is.

Blessings

Developing Our Heart for God
by Os Hillman

“I will rouse your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and make you like a warrior’s sword.” – Zechariah 9:13b

In the third and fourth centuries followers of Socratic teaching and other Greek scholars began to influence the Church in ways that were different from the Hebraic roots of the early Church. The Greek influence appeals more to the intellect, whereas the early-Church Hebraic model appealed to the heart. The Greek influence resulted in more emphasis on oratory skills and cognitive knowledge of God. Over the many centuries, this influence has shown itself in a more programmatic approach to the gospel rather than a process of living out our faith. So why is it important for us to understand this?

I realized in my own life that I was a product of this Greek system. My walk with Christ focused more on what I knew rather than on an intimate and powerful walk with God. Knowledge without power to express the life within is of little value. The more programmatic the focus, the less emphasis we place on building deep and caring relationships that result in changed lives. Our early Church fathers knew there was a cost to living out the Word of God, not simply giving mental assent to it.

Are you walking with God today in an intimate fellowship? Or, are you only involved in programs and activities designed to do good things? Reflect on Proverbs 23:12: “Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.” We must listen and respond with the heart. Whatever service we give to God should be a result of our relationship with our heavenly Father, not an end unto itself.