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Monday,
January 27,
2025
"Desiring God With Loyal Hearts"
Message summary: Today we encourage you to examine your outlook on life. What is your greatest desire? This desire impacts our loyalty to God. How loyal are you? The reality of "surrendering all" is an aspiration but we do well to keep it our desire forever that will in turn buttress our loyalty to God.
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"O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep this desire in the hearts of Your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to You" (1 Chronicles 29:18).
Yesterday we sang a song in our church service that gripped us both, a petition expressing the desire of our hearts that God receive the glory. It's a theme similar to Fanny Crosby's hymn, "To God Be The Glory" as well as Andraé Crouch's song "My Tribute" popular when we were young Christians in the 70's and that we had sung at our wedding. The song yesterday has this refrain:
To our God be praise
He alone, the name above all names
I will boast ever only in the Lord my God
For I know His glory is my good
In this
world where
there are many
with
destructive
and deadly
desires, where
people
vacillate
their
loyalties
depending on
whose name is
most often
flashed in the
neon lights of
our society
I'm even more
mindful of the
need to remain
steadfast and
loyal in my
desire for
God. David
prayed for the
people of
Israel to have
this desire
for God and to
practice the
virtue of
loyalty to God
in our daily
text just
prior to his
death as he
prepared to
pass the torch
of leadership
to his son,
Solomon.
The text
begins with
these words, "O
LORD, God of
our fathers
Abraham, Isaac
and Israel".
This is a
common
Scriptural
reminder that
our faith has
a root in
history. It is
first found in
Exodus 3:15
when God spoke
to Moses at
the burning
bush.
Interestingly
it is last
used in
Stephen's
sermon in Acts
7 referring to
the same
occasion in
Acts 7:30-32.
(However in
these
references it
more often
uses the name
Jacob for
Israel, who of
course is one
and the same
person.)
The text
has two
related
petitions of
prayer:
"Keep
this desire in
the hearts of
Your people
forever."
"This desire"
contextually
speaks of the
heart of the
people who
gave
generously to
the
construction
of the temple.
But in a more
generalized
sense it
speaks to the
heart with a
desire to
withhold
nothing from
God;
spiritual,
physical, or
material. We
sing, "I
Surrender All"
striving to
keep this
desire in our
hearts
forever, for
there are so
many things
that play tug
of war with
our heart's
desires. We
must resolve
that our
foremost
desire will be
to follow hard
after God
keeping our
hearts
desiring God
(Psalm 63:8).
"Keep
their hearts
loyal to You".
The NKJV
states, "fix
their heart
toward You".
David had
expressed this
same
aspiration in
Psalm 57:7, "My
heart is
steadfast, O
God, my heart
is steadfast;
I will sing,
yes, I will
sing praises!"
"Steadfast"
means
"unwavering,
resolute,
unyielding,
deep-rooted".
David was a
steadfast
follower of
God, though
his major
downfall began
when he
permitted his
desires to
take him away
from the heart
of God and
toward the act
of adultery,
deceit and
even murder.
God is a
loving,
forgiving God
that restored
David
spiritually
after his deep
heartfelt
confession and
repentance,
though he
suffered
consequences
for the rest
of his life.
Yet out of his
deep-rooted
commitment to
God David
wrote many
beautiful
songs of
praise that
still bless
and inspire us
today.
Today we
encourage you
to examine
your outlook
on life. What
is your
greatest
desire? This
desire impacts
our loyalty to
God. How loyal
are you? The
reality of
"surrendering
all" is an
aspiration but
we do well to
keep it our
desire forever
that will in
turn buttress
our loyalty to
God.
Allow me to
paraphrase
today's verse
making it a
personal
petition to
God. Keep
the desire of
my heart to be
after You
forever, and
keep my heart
loyal to You.
The final
verse of the
song we sang
yesterday sums
this up:
Would I
gladly be made
nothing
That Christ
would be made
more
Would I seek
the only
kingdom
That far
outweighs them
all
I will stand
before my
Father
Where the
faithful
saints have
stood
And with joy
my heart shall
praise Him
For His glory
and my good
Be encouraged today! Hebrews 3:13
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer:
Father,
we are pulled
in many
directions as
to where we
place our
loyalties. As
Your redeemed
children we
resolve to
draw ever
nearer to the
One who makes
life
worthwhile and
choose to
remain loyal
to Christ and
His commands
meant for His
glory and for
our good. Your
loving-kindness
is ever
present in our
lives and
Christ who
shows us the
greatest
example of
loyalty when
He declared, "Never
will I leave
you, never
will I forsake
You" and "I
am with you
always, even
to the end of
the age."
That means He
is with us in
every season
of our life,
in the good
times and bad,
in the young
years and old.
May we follow
hard after You
as Your right
hand upholds
us day in and
day out
through Christ
Jesus our Lord
in whose name
we pray. Amen.
A new gig! This morning I was up at 5:00 to transport Amish teachers to their schools in our neighborhood, the closest is just up the street across the road from our lead photo we post this morning. I drop them off at their schools around 6:15 so they can heat up the stove and prepare for the students arrival. Both are one room schoolhouses with grades 1-8: one has 30 students, the other has 35. That's a large class for the Amish school (Public school as well). Usually the teacher has a helper several days a week when it's that large.
The
children are
taught to
respect their
teacher's
authority, no
talking with
students
during class,
and hands
raised before
speaking to
the teacher
(remember
those days,
older
students, now
aged adults?!)
Brooksyne has
visited
several during
their studies
and comes home
impressed with
the model
behavior of
the students
(all ages) and
the learning
that takes
place while
she is there
observing.
This afternoon
I will pick
the teachers
up around 4:30
to take them
home. I am
with a
transport team
taking them to
and from
school one
week each
month. All
this week is
my week.
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version and a variety of other versions.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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