Serve The Lord Wholeheartedly & Willingly

 

1 Chronicles 28:9

And you, Solomon my son, know you The God of your father, and serve Him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for The LORD searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts: if you seek Him, He will be found of you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off for ever.

💚

SERVE THE LORD WITH A PERFECT HEART

    Wholeheartedly. With everything that is within you. Guard your heart, keep it safe from intruders and invasions. 

    Proverbs 4:23

Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life. 

    Serve Him with a steadfast heart, a heart that is stayed on Him and His purpose, His will. A heart that understands His Word and His Ways. A heart that seeks Him out to know Him better. A heart that desires to have a strong relationship with Him. 

    Deuteronomy 6:5

And you shall love The LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

    💚

SERVE THE LORD WITH A WILLING MIND

    A willing mind knows what it wants. A willing mind is intelligent and understands consequences to the heart's actions. It reasons out the pros and the cons of any given probability. 

    The willing mind of the Christian chooses to serve The Lord. And thereby seeks Him out daily to know what is the mind of The Lord on that day, at that time that He is sought out. 

    The willing mind of the fool chooses not to serve The Lord. Never having sought out The Lord's wisdom, it has no understanding and believes nothing. 

    The willing mind of The Lord's servant meditates on The Word of The Lord. Learning The Word and becoming familiar with it in all its fullness. Taking it in one word at a time. A lifetime is not long enough, but it's a start. 

💚

SEEK THE LORD

    A heart that is wholly fixed on knowing God will continue to seek out His presence, His companionship. We turn to The Scriptures, poring over every nuance, every descriptive adjective or turn of phrase, wanting to see Him more clearly. We talk to Him while we do so, desiring to know exactly what is meant in the passages we are reading at that time. 

    We crave an audience with The King of Israel. Just to be near Him is reward enough. We open our Bibles, open our hearts, open our eyes. The Lord gives understanding, wisdom, and knowledge to the heart and the mind of the seeker. 

SEEKING HIM FINDS HIM

    Isaiah 55:6

Seek The LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.

    Jeremiah 29:13

You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

    Matthew 7:7

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

SEEK HIM EARLY

    Proverbs 8:17

I love those who love Me, and those who seek Me early shall find Me.

    Isaiah 26:9

My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.

    Psalm 63:1

A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.

❤

OR LOSE HIM FOREVER

    Reread the last part of that verse we began with, "...but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off for ever." Forever is a long time to be without hope, without peace, without comfort, without water, without food, without love. It is hell and hell's destination: the lake of fire. 

    Rejection is a horrible feeling, isn't it? Who likes to be rejected by anyone for any reason or no reason at all? God doesn't like it, either. His wrath and judgment falls on anyone who rejects Him. 

    1 Samuel 15:23 likens rebellion to witchcraft, divination. It transgresses the commandments of The Lord [2 Chronicles 24:20]. Deuteronomy 28:15-68 describes all of the curses that will be put upon the rebellious nation, the nation who chooses not to have GOD as their God. 

    1 Samuel 12:15 "...the hand of The LORD will be against you..."

    Ezekiel 14:8 The Lord 'sets His face against' the one who constantly rebels against Him and that person will be cut off -- destroyed or consumed. 

    Luke 16:19-31 details the destination of the unrighteous. It is a very clear description of hell and we need no other. This is the heart's destination when it has refused God. No water to quench thirst. No comfort to relieve the aching. No love, only selfish desperation. No hope, for hope can only be found in Christ Jesus and the hardhearted soul had refused Him. 

    Now is the time to (1) Serve The Lord Wholeheartedly; (2) Serve The Lord With A Willing Mind; (3) Cling to Him with everything that is within you. 

🧡💚🖤

    

    

    

Intelligent Worship -- Know God -- Part 3

 Our first reference for knowing God comes from King David who is giving his son Solomon wise advice.

1 Chronicles 28:9

“And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever."

The first sage piece of advice the incumbent king gives to the incoming king is to Know God. It is not enough to know God Is, we must also seek Who He Is and Know how God wants to be known. 

The second reference is in Psalms and could very well have been written by David, as well. The author lies in obscurity as not all psalms are written by David. But the wisdom proffered remains just as true today as it did thousands of years ago.

Psalm 100:3

Know you that the LORD He is God: it is He that has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

As the LORD God told Moses when He first called him into service, His name Is IAMTHATIAM. God created all people everywhere for Himself. Unfortunately not all people everywhere choose God as their God. God creates because He loves, especially people. We don't create ourselves: all life comes from God. Whether we have been created in the womb or the lab. 

We are His sheep and He Is Our Shepherd. David penned in Psalm 23:1 "The LORD Is My Shepherd." And Jesus stated in John 10:11 "“I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep." 

Our last reference is in John 17:3, Jesus says, "And this is life eternal, that they might know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent."

While many people, even Biblical scholars, consider Matthew 6:9-13 to be The Lord's Prayer, this passage is an example of how to pray that Jesus gave to His disciples and other followers during His sermon on the mount. However, the prayer Jesus Himself prays in the presence of His disciples just before He is arrested is what I consider to be the Lord's prayer, for He prayed for a people not yet born whom God would give Him and that would become born again through the ministry of His disciples. He prayed for me. And He prayed for you.  

Do you know the only True God? Have you believed yet that there is only One True God and that He loves you? These questions can only be answered by your heart.