| PureHeart Ministries Update and Prayer Request 200901 |
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| Written by Steve Russell |
| Tuesday, 27 January 2009 12:43 |
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Transforming the hearts of man… Fighting for the Heart of the Few... A Seeking Heart Deuteronomy 4:29 (NIV) “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Happy New Year! What a start to the year it has been! I am continuing my writing series on the Heart that I began a year ago. Today we are learning about a seeking heart. According to the Lexicon, seek is derived from the Hebrew verb darash which mean to resort to, seek, seek with care, enquire, require. Reading from the King James Version the same passage says, “But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find [him], if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” Two little words are small in size but significant if we are to capture the meaning of this passage. Seek the LORD…Find the LORD; twice proceeded by the word if. First I would conclude that finding the LORD is a choice. If or If not. Second, after one makes the choice to seek, to find the LORD requires a heart that is willing to put forth some action. Remember, the word seek is a verb that requires action. It is an action, not a passive word. I have to be honest. I find man has not changed much from the beginning of time. I have never felt compelled to read the Bible from cover to cover. Oh, I tried years ago; but I got to the begets and ended. However, this year is different. A prayer partner of PureHeart has a daily ministry of sending out various devotionals to many people, some of you are on her distribution list. This year for some reason, I've started reading. From the beginning, man has had a choice. From the beginning of scripture, some men obey and some disobey. Again, that ”If” surfaces. Some choose to obey some choose to disobey. I find it very interesting that regardless of man's choice--whether they chose to actively seek God or not—they all want(ed) the LORD's favor and blessing. Not much has changed, has it? This passage instructs that our seeking should be with all our heart. This word is derived from the Hebrew transliteration lebab. This is a masculine noun that means the inner man, mind, will, heart, soul and understanding. How much of our inner man, mind, will, heart, soul and understanding do we put into seeking the LORD? That sounds very intense to me. According to the sermon notes from Chuck Smith, seeking God requires us to put some blood and passion into it. That description is very clear. IF - It is a choice. Seek - Resort to, seek, seek with care, enquire, require. Heart - The inner man, mind, will, heart, soul and understanding Find the LORD Over the Christmas holiday I read a book titled “Grace Awakening” by Charles Swindoll. In it he shares that every heart desires to be free. That freedom comes by doing exactly as this passage instructs! We've got to be men and women who will seek the Lord with blood, sweat and tears. When we do that, we will find Him. That is my prayer for 2009, that we would have a renewed desire to choose to seek Him! Join with me praising and praying for the following:
Sharing from the Heart; Steve |
