Hold On! God knows What He Is Doing!

Daniel 6:1-17

It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty satraps, who should be over the whole kingdom; And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the satraps might give accounts unto them, and the king should suffer no loss. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and satraps sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no occasion nor fault; because he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. Then these presidents and satraps assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live forever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the satraps, the counselors, and the advisers, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, except from you, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which alters not. Therefore King Darius signed the written decree. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went to his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled before his God, as he did before. Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. Then they came near, and spoke before the king concerning the king's decree; have you not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any god or man within thirty days, except of you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which alters not. Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regards not you, O king, nor the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day. Then the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establishes may be changed. Then the king commanded, and they cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spoke and said unto Daniel, Your God whom you serve continually, He will deliver you. And the stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.

 

Of course we know the end of the story: that God sent an angel to shut the lion's mouth, and Daniel was saved and delivered from the men that plotted against him. In the face of death, knowing that total commitment to God would be death, Daniel did not lessen his commitment to God. Because Daniel committed everything to God, God committed everything to Daniel. Sometimes we are not receiving what we want in our relationship with God because we are not giving it everything we got to serve Him. We will reap what we sow. Give God everything, and He will turn His full attention upon you to bless you.

What Does God Require?

Jeremiah 24:7

And I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto Me with their whole heart.

 

We have studied many scriptures in which God asks for our total commitment and devotion to Him. He asks us to love Him with all of us, not just a part of us. Yet, there will still be some people who will say, “I just don't believe God asks for that kind of commitment.” We have studied several scriptures and stories of people in the Bible in which total commitment was the requirement. Try to find one scripture in the Bible that says you do not have to give God total commitment. There are no scriptures in the Bible that say we do not have to be totally committed, so what are you going to believe?

 

Psalms 119:2

Blessed are they who keep His statutes and seek Him with all their heart.

 

How could someone say with absolute certainty that anything less than total commitment of our lives is acceptable to God? To say that we could make a halfway commitment would contradict the Bible.

 

Deuteronomy 11:13-15

So, if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul—then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.

 

Why would we only want to make a halfway commitment to God anyway? Why not make a full commitment? King Saul was the first King of Israel. He did make a commitment to God, but it was not a full commitment. He tried to do many things for God, but often he did things his way instead of God's way because his heart was divided. Sometimes our hearts are divided between doing things our own way, and doing things God's way. When Saul held a halfway commitment to God, he was rejected by God.

 

1 Samuel 15:22-23

And Samuel said, has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king.

Guard Your Heart

Psalms 111:1

Praise you the LORD, I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.

 

Loving God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your might is something that you keep with you forever. It is not a commitment that you make ONE TIME, it is a commitment that you renew daily and keep forever. When we begin to lose our commitment in this area, we begin to lose our closeness to God. Even if you have been a Christian for most of your life, you are still required to put Jesus as the center of your life.

 

Psalms 86:12

I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your name forever.

 

Why do we allow the idea in our culture that our heart does not have to match our lifestyle? Often people will look at their behavior and say, “I know I'm not living like I should, but God knows my heart.” This kind of thinking is inconsistent with the Bible. We assume that we can have a good heart, but bad actions. We assume that good intentions is the same thing as a good heart, but this contradicts what Jesus said.

 

Luke 6:45

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

 

Here Jesus clearly says that a good heart produces good actions, and an evil heart produces evil actions. The intentions of a man do not reflect the condition of the heart. The actions of a man reflects the condition of the heart. To say that good intentions reflect a good heart is not consistent with our laws as a nation either. To say that we should not get a penalty, because we meant to pay our fine, though we failed to pay it, would be inconsistent with our judicial system. So, God and man are in agreement. It is not what your heart meant to do that justifies or condemns us, but what your heart actually does through your life. If a man intends to pay child support, but actually fails to do so, does it reflect a good heart since he actually intended to pay? It does not reflect a good heart, it reflects a heart that is deceptive and lies to itself.

 

Jeremiah 17:9

The heart is deceptive above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Love God with Your Whole Heart!

Joel 2:12

Therefore also now, says the LORD, turn you even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

 

Luke 19:1-10

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed Him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'” But, Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

 

When Zacchaeus returned to God with all of his heart, salvation came to his home. We come to God and we see no change in our situation. No change in our heart, no change in our life, no change in our home. We want change, but the kind of change that happened to Zacchaeus seems to be just out of reach. When we seek Him with our whole heart we will find God.

 

Jeremiah 3:10

And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned unto Me with her whole heart, but in pretense, says the LORD.

 

We try to add a little bit of religion to our lives as if that is going to help us in some way. God doesn't just want to improve your current life. He wants you to let go of your life and ask Him for a new heart.  A heart that is soft, not a heart that is hard and unyielding. We become so hardhearted over the years of our lives that we can no longer love, or give, or respond to others with compassion like we once used to do. When God changes our lives, the old life we once lived passes away and God makes us new.

 

Romans 6:1-6

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer in it? Know you not, that so many of us were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that just as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that we should no longer serve sin.

Are You Giving God the Left Overs?

Deuteronomy 6:5

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

What if someone said that they loved you, but they only made a halfway effort to do anything for you? It seems they were always too tired to come and see you. They were always too busy to talk to you, unless they needed something of yours, of course. The Bible commands us to love God with all our might, or strength. Too many people today only give God their leftover strength. “I will pray, if I have time. I will go to church, if I have time. I'll read my Bible or help out when I get some spare time.” If God was OK with us giving Him spare time would He ask us to love Him with all of our might?

Matthew 19:27-30

Then answered Peter and said to Him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed you; what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, That you which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory, you also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that has forsaken houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundred times, and shall inherit everlasting life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

So many people pray a 10 second prayer, and then think that is all they have to give to God. Is that what God wants out of us? Just a prayer that has no follow through, no commitment on our part? If that is all that God wanted from us, then why would He ask us to take up our cross and follow Him?

What if God returns to you the same as you give? If we give God only our spare time, what should He give us?

Mark 12:41-44

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasure. Many rich people threw

in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling His disciples to Him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

There were a lot of rich people that put in large sums, but Jesus wasn't looking at the amount they gave, He was looking at the amount they had left over. He said this woman gave the most out of anyone because she gave all that she had to live on, she gave everything. God is impressed when we give Him more than just spare time, spare change, or spare prayers.

My Soul Longs for Thee O God

Deuteronomy 6:5

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

Loving God with all my heart is just the starting point. He asks us to love Him with all of our souls as well. Some people excuse their actions because they claim that 'God sees their heart.' That would be fine if our heart was the only thing that God wanted from us. He asks us not only for our heart, but ALL of our soul, to love Him completely. What is our soul?

The soul is the part of us that makes our decisions in life. Our love cannot just be inward toward God in our heart. Our love for God has to be outward too. A love that is expressed by the decisions of our will. God commands us to love Him with all of our soul. God wants us to show our love for Him when we make decisions in life! He wants us to love Him with all of our soul.

We 'make up our mind' to make a decision, but it is really our soul that decides what we will do in this life. When we are controlled by our heart, we do whatever we feel like doing. If we are controlled by our mind, we do what we think is the logical course of action. Often when people make a decision they try to balance their heart (their wants) with their mind (logical thinking), and then do what WE THINK is best. It is our soul that weighs these decisions and makes them.

Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding.

God wants us to yield our will to His Word, and to lean not on our own wants or understanding. When we do this, we have loved God with all of our soul. Sometimes we let God guide us when it is convenient, but we guide ourselves when we'd rather do things for our own way. No matter what, our souls must choose to do things God's way. He asks us to love Him with ALL of our soul, not just a part of it.

Psalms 119:105

Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

When we choose to follow God, and make our decisions in life according to the Bible, we have chosen to love God with all of our soul.

Give Jesus Your Whole Heart

Deuteronomy 6:5

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

What does it mean to love with ALL your heart? If someone said to you, “I love you with all my heart,” but in reality they seldom think of you, would they be telling the truth?

If someone were to love us with all their heart, we would expect them to think of us often and speak well of us. The Bible says that the thoughts of your heart show where your desires are as a person.

Matthew 6:21

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

God expects us to love HIM with all of our heart. He does not want a halfhearted service to Him.

Isaiah 29:3

Therefore the Lord said, Since this people draw near to Me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the precept of men...

Often people accept Jesus into their heart as their Lord and Savior, but it does not change the desires of their heart, or their lifestyle at all. Why not?

Jeremiah 29:13

And you shall seek Me, and find Me, when you shall search for Me with all your heart.

Sometimes people repeat the sinners prayer to accept Christ, but they did not seek God with their whole heart, and so, they did not find Him. When we seek Him, but not with our whole heart, we search for Him, but we do not find Him.

 

Even if you have been a Christian for a very long time, if you have gotten to the place that you no longer seek Him with your whole heart, you are having trouble finding Him in prayer. That is because He will not be found until you seek Him with your whole heart. Our relationship with God becomes routine and ritual when we stop seeking Him with our whole heart.

Jesus is Worthy

John 12:1-8

Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with Him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of the disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray Him, objected. “Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of My burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have Me.”

What is a day's work worth? What about a whole year's wages, what would that be worth? The average family in Ky earns about $22,000 each year. Imagine if you have this much as once. What would you do with it? What if you had a possession that was worth that much? When we buy a vehicle, we often pay that much for it. If we had a possession that was worth that much in value, I'm sure we would protect it and value it according to its worth.

The Bible tells of a woman that took an alabaster jar that was full of perfumes and poured it out on Jesus. Judas said that the perfume was worth about a whole year's salary! Just think about what this woman did for Jesus. Judas complained about it. He said that the woman had wasted the perfume when she poured it out on Jesus. Today people have the same attitude as Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus!

When you give to Jesus, people will criticize you for giving something valuable to God. People often say that if you spend your time with God then you are wasting time. If you go to church two or three times a week to learn about Jesus or to make yourself available to help others, some will tell you that you are going to church too much. If you spend an hour watching TV people will not think anything about it. But if you spend an hour with Jesus in prayer, people will accuse you of being 'too religious.'

James 4:8

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

It was Judas, the one that betrayed Jesus, that did not want this woman to give such attention to Jesus. Will you love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength like the Bible says? Do you feel you don't have to give that much to Jesus? To do any less would be like having the same mind set as Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus to death.

Deuteronomy 6:5

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

Only Jesus Satisfies

Have you ever seen a bug that was drawn to the light? They will keep buzzing and bumping and going after the light no matter what. They are drawn after the light and cannot escape it because of their inner need to be close to the light. The question to ask yourself today is, “What am I drawn to?” Some people are drawn to worldly things, and some people are drawn to spiritual things.

For the flesh lust against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary one to another, so that you cannot do the things that you would. - Gal. 5:17

If worldly things can bring such bad results then why are people drawn to it? We are caught in the same situation as the bug that is drawn to the light. We have an inner need that draws us to the things of this world. We often choose to compulsively go after those things even if it destroys us in the process.

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world but men loved darkness instead of the light because their deeds were evil. - John 3:19

How can we escape this? We must ask God to give us a heart that is drawn after Him. The things of this world do not satisfy, only God satisfies.

Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of men are never satisfied. - Proverbs 27:20

But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all your works. - Psalms 73:28