Chief in our Hearts

Chief in our hearts

What does God want from us? Is it working really hard for His Kingdom? Is it following all the rules and being a good person? Is it performing miracles and driving out demons? No! Those things are all by-products of the thing that God wants from us. So what is it that God wants? LOVE! God wants us to love Him!

Read Matthew 7:21-23 with me.

Matthew 7:21-23
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Why was it that Jesus told the people in this story to leave? Was it because they didn't cast out enough demons or do enough work? No! It was because they never knew Him! Now, I hope that if you're reading this, you already know Christ, and if that is the case, you don't have to worry about Jesus saying this to you on judgment day. But, there is a valuable lesson we believers can learn from this section of scripture, and that is this: We need to be careful of allowing our work for God to get in the way of our relationship with Him.

Christ wants to be chief in our hearts. He desires to be the supreme object of our adoration, and He should be! If you're not sure why He should be, check out this post from a few weeks ago: Our God is Big!

Sometimes we can get so busy working for God, that we forget to walk with Him. We get so busy talking about God that we forget to talk with Him. Let's get back to basics and give Him the center place in our lives.

Read this entry from "My utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers with me.

March 17, 2010

THE WORKER'S RULING PASSION

Wherefore we labour that . . we may be accepted of Him. - Corinthians 5:9

"Wherefore we labour...." It is arduous work to keep the master amibition in front. It means holding one's self to the high ideal year in and year out, not being ambitious to win souls or to establish churches or to have revivals, but being ambitious only to be "accepted of Him." It is not lack of spiritual experience that leads to failure, but lack of labouring to keep the ideal right. Once a week at least take stock before God and see whether you are keeping your life up to the standard He wishes. Paul is like a musician who does not heed the approval of the audience if he can catch the look of approval from his Master.

Any ambition which is in the tiniest degree away from this central one of being "approved unto God" may end in our being castaways. Learn to discern where the ambition leads, and you will see why it is so necessary to live facing the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says - "Lest my body should make me take another line, I am constantly watching so that I may bring it into subjection and keep it under." (1 Cor. 9:27.)

I have to learn to relate everything to the master ambition, and to maintain it without any cessation. My worth to God in public is what I am in private. Is my master ambition to please Him and be acceptable to Him, or is it something less, no matter how noble?

Our main ambition must be loving and glorifying God!

I don't know about you, but that's work that I can get excited about.