God loves your heart. So much more than words can describe. He values and seeks after your heart far more than anything else. He isn't after your money, your time or your required duty - they're all just things and actions. He wants you - the real you deep, deep inside. God is jealous for you because He knows how much you are really worth and longs for relationship with you. Jesus said "Where your heart is, that's where your treasure will be". God wants your heart in His hands because He knows its the safest place for something so deeply and intricately valuable to be. True relationship with God isn't about the things you do or the things you give - it's about the heart behind it all. Jesus spoke quite harshly to the religious leaders of His day in Matthew 23 saying that they had completely lost the point behind all the things they were doing in the Name of God. They paraded their righteousness in the streets before all, they built giant grand temples, they made sure they were known and revered by all and demanded to be referenced in lofty titles by the common man. Yet Jesus said they were like tombs that on the outside had been plastered and painted with brilliant beautiful white paint, decorated with flowers and all precious stones... yet inside was a rotting, stinking corpse.
You'd almost rather find that corpse lying in the street where all could see it and deal with it there than to see a cadaver dressed up like a show piece covered in makeup and jewelery like it's going to the Oscars. It's like having a delicious chocolate Easter egg with a dead baby chicken inside. Honestly I couldn't think of anything worse and God feels exactly the same. Here's the thing - God sees everything. Nothing is hidden from Him so really there's no point in trying to pretend to be something you're not. The real reason Jesus was quite harsh on the exalted religious leaders of His day (and today too) is because they lacked love and compassion and their main focus was to be noticed by people to get their praise, approval and money rather than after seeking the heart of God. God loves your heart and wants to have a deep, meaningful relationship with you - not just a once a week affair or some boring pattern of behaviour on a locked in schedule. He wants you - all of you and that starts with your heart. Imagine you say are in a relationship with someone and you set a few reminders on your phone calendar to buy chocolates or flowers every two weeks and have a date night once a month on the first Monday. Some people would say that sounds great and that you'd be a great boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife. But then the truth is you spend every single second outside of those scheduled times thinking only about yourself, looking after yourself, buying things for yourself, helping yourself etc.
Imagine that every single time you gave a gift to the person you loved it was always out in public so others could see - or every time you went out for dinner it was to a place you know they love you and think you're awesome because you deliberately tip big there. See what I'm saying? Sure you've done some nice things but really was your motive behind it pure or self-serving? Now imagine you buy a puppy. You buy it a bed and feed it every night at 6pm on the dot. You throw a new toy outside every 2 weeks but you never ever spend any real time with your dog. Then when visitors come over you bring the puppy inside let it sit on the lounge, cuddle it in your arms and show it off to all your friends. That would be pretty lame hey. I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad here today but I wanna say that God isn't a show piece, a trendy accessory, a cool reason to socially gather - or even a puppy that you bring close to your heart only when others are around. Jesus spoke to a woman that was foreigner in John chapter 4 and told her that there is coming a time when those that are the children of God will no longer worship God in the designated traditional places - but instead worship God in Spirit and in Truth. So what was Jesus saying? He was saying that God wants your heart. He wants a relationship with you that matters when no one is watching or listening but Him. He wants it to matter or He doesn't want it at all.
There's nothing wrong with church attendance, giving money, praying out loud, giving your time and serving others but if your heart isn't in it for God - then it's completely pointless. How do I know? Because I spent years and years of my life doing exactly that. Mindless religious repetition when in truth my heart was full of hatred, bitterness, unforgiveness, greed and lust. I tried to find God but I tried to find Him my way doing the things I wanted to do that served my interests and all it got me was compounded pain and suffering. I memorised scripture, taughtsunday school classes, led youth groups, preached at church, sang songs, gave money, cleaned toilets, mowed lawns, prayed with the sick and dying - yet all of it was worthless because my heart didn't belong to God. I tried to find God and the peace I so desperately needed through religious duty but that's like trying to find your keys lost in the sand at the beach on your hands and knees using only a fork in your mouth to comb the sand. It's absurd, it looks ridiculous and just going about it completely the hard way. You wanna find those keys? Go get a metal detector - and He's called the Holy Spirit. Stop trying to fix a God shaped hole yourself. It's something only God can do and He can only do it when we stop doing things our way and surrender to His ways.
What God wanted from me was to give up. To stop doing things my way and 'Be still and know that He is God'. I thank God that He allowed my life to get to the point where nothing mattered anymore, where I considered ending it all because that was when I finally gave up and took Jesus hand and gave Him my heart in full. Because of Him now I'm a different man - now I have true purpose. Now I know I'm just a broken man thankful to God for His immense mercy, grace and love that I know I definitely don't deserve yet I so desperately need. I am the forgiven thief on the cross next to Jesus who if justice was served deserved all I had coming to me - yet Jesus said He would take it all for me. Now when I do what I do for God and it's because I truly love Him and want nothing in return or to be noticed or praised by anyone. God loves your heart. He knows who you really are. The real you. What's He's after is surrender. He won't force it on you because then it doesn't mean anything. He wants a willing, meaningful and fulfilling relationship with you - and that always starts with surrender. And when I say it always starts with surrender I mean it all started when the King of all Kings surrendered His throne to become a man and die for us in our place. He loves you desperately. Trust Him with your heart. It's the safest place it can be.
[ Luke 10:27 - And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." ]
You'd almost rather find that corpse lying in the street where all could see it and deal with it there than to see a cadaver dressed up like a show piece covered in makeup and jewelery like it's going to the Oscars. It's like having a delicious chocolate Easter egg with a dead baby chicken inside. Honestly I couldn't think of anything worse and God feels exactly the same. Here's the thing - God sees everything. Nothing is hidden from Him so really there's no point in trying to pretend to be something you're not. The real reason Jesus was quite harsh on the exalted religious leaders of His day (and today too) is because they lacked love and compassion and their main focus was to be noticed by people to get their praise, approval and money rather than after seeking the heart of God. God loves your heart and wants to have a deep, meaningful relationship with you - not just a once a week affair or some boring pattern of behaviour on a locked in schedule. He wants you - all of you and that starts with your heart. Imagine you say are in a relationship with someone and you set a few reminders on your phone calendar to buy chocolates or flowers every two weeks and have a date night once a month on the first Monday. Some people would say that sounds great and that you'd be a great boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife. But then the truth is you spend every single second outside of those scheduled times thinking only about yourself, looking after yourself, buying things for yourself, helping yourself etc.
Imagine that every single time you gave a gift to the person you loved it was always out in public so others could see - or every time you went out for dinner it was to a place you know they love you and think you're awesome because you deliberately tip big there. See what I'm saying? Sure you've done some nice things but really was your motive behind it pure or self-serving? Now imagine you buy a puppy. You buy it a bed and feed it every night at 6pm on the dot. You throw a new toy outside every 2 weeks but you never ever spend any real time with your dog. Then when visitors come over you bring the puppy inside let it sit on the lounge, cuddle it in your arms and show it off to all your friends. That would be pretty lame hey. I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad here today but I wanna say that God isn't a show piece, a trendy accessory, a cool reason to socially gather - or even a puppy that you bring close to your heart only when others are around. Jesus spoke to a woman that was foreigner in John chapter 4 and told her that there is coming a time when those that are the children of God will no longer worship God in the designated traditional places - but instead worship God in Spirit and in Truth. So what was Jesus saying? He was saying that God wants your heart. He wants a relationship with you that matters when no one is watching or listening but Him. He wants it to matter or He doesn't want it at all.
There's nothing wrong with church attendance, giving money, praying out loud, giving your time and serving others but if your heart isn't in it for God - then it's completely pointless. How do I know? Because I spent years and years of my life doing exactly that. Mindless religious repetition when in truth my heart was full of hatred, bitterness, unforgiveness, greed and lust. I tried to find God but I tried to find Him my way doing the things I wanted to do that served my interests and all it got me was compounded pain and suffering. I memorised scripture, taughtsunday school classes, led youth groups, preached at church, sang songs, gave money, cleaned toilets, mowed lawns, prayed with the sick and dying - yet all of it was worthless because my heart didn't belong to God. I tried to find God and the peace I so desperately needed through religious duty but that's like trying to find your keys lost in the sand at the beach on your hands and knees using only a fork in your mouth to comb the sand. It's absurd, it looks ridiculous and just going about it completely the hard way. You wanna find those keys? Go get a metal detector - and He's called the Holy Spirit. Stop trying to fix a God shaped hole yourself. It's something only God can do and He can only do it when we stop doing things our way and surrender to His ways.
What God wanted from me was to give up. To stop doing things my way and 'Be still and know that He is God'. I thank God that He allowed my life to get to the point where nothing mattered anymore, where I considered ending it all because that was when I finally gave up and took Jesus hand and gave Him my heart in full. Because of Him now I'm a different man - now I have true purpose. Now I know I'm just a broken man thankful to God for His immense mercy, grace and love that I know I definitely don't deserve yet I so desperately need. I am the forgiven thief on the cross next to Jesus who if justice was served deserved all I had coming to me - yet Jesus said He would take it all for me. Now when I do what I do for God and it's because I truly love Him and want nothing in return or to be noticed or praised by anyone. God loves your heart. He knows who you really are. The real you. What's He's after is surrender. He won't force it on you because then it doesn't mean anything. He wants a willing, meaningful and fulfilling relationship with you - and that always starts with surrender. And when I say it always starts with surrender I mean it all started when the King of all Kings surrendered His throne to become a man and die for us in our place. He loves you desperately. Trust Him with your heart. It's the safest place it can be.
[ Luke 10:27 - And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." ]
