Heart Service

Sunday, March 23, 2025

Good morning, Lord

Father in Heaven, I seek You first-the knowledge of Your limitless love in Christ. Build my trust and my passion. I take up my cross and follow...In Jesus' name…

Memory verse: Ephesians 2:6 “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.”

Verse of the Day: James 1:12

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Daily Reading: Joshua 13-15 Luke 1:57-80

Heart Service

I want us to consider, again, our motives for service in God’s kingdom. Do we serve from the heart or the head? We can use our head knowledge of God’s will in the word of God and we can put together a lifetime of work based on statistics and proven methods-we can make perfect scores at numerous seminaries and Bible colleges but what has happened or is happening in our hearts.

Romans 12:1 says, “1Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”

I believe this tells us that spiritual worship results in being a living sacrifice-not the other way around. We can work forever in the name of ‘Christianity’ but never live a spiritual life. But, a life truly lived in the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus will result in God’s will being done in the flesh.

I see this in the commands Paul gives us Romans 12:9-13. Here are some of the ones that appeal to the heart:

9 tLet love be genuine. (God’s love is comes from the heart-not the face)

“Abhor what is evil.” (Simple definition of evil is not enough. We must listen to God with our hearts and let Him define evil )

“...hold fast to what is good” (We cannot hold fast to good with our hands-it must be done in our hearts)

10 “Love one another with brotherly affection” (brotherly affection cannot be bought in a book store-it comes from knowing the heart of God)

Just one more: 12- “rejoice in hope”

All of these can be expressed with words or acted out but are they real to us?

Go back to Romans 12:9-Let love be ‘genuine’-genuine in Greek: anypokritos

-in English- ‘an-hypokritos’-NOT HYPOCRITICAL

How can we be real? Short of living the reality God has given us in Christ, there is no way and only you can find this out in the presence of the Holy Spirit, day in and day out.

So stop worrying about what to do and start trusting God for what to think-God will do it.

...because He loves us…

Father in Heaven,

I want to lift up Your great name-let me realize more of Your greatness. Give me clarity of mind and heart for today. Forgive me for not being truly sincere. Lead me away from hypocrisy.

Merciful God,

In the name of Christ Jesus,

Amen