I Give You My Heart Father
“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24, ESV)
There is a popular saying we use often in our society today, “let Jesus into your heart”. Now while on the surface there is nothing wrong with this saying, in our modern society this saying has taken on a different meaning than what it was once intended to mean.
We hear this saying today and imply it that we can let Jesus into our hearts conforming Jesus to us. It is as if God fits into our lives – we find a place for Him in our hearts along with everything else. We have great intentions with this line of thinking however; we can’t fully experience Father when we seek Him this way. We become frustrated.
I speak from personal experience on this issue. I spent fifteen years wandering from church to church all the while never fully experiencing Father in my life and still wondering what Jesus meant to me. Fifteen years of fellowship, sermons, small groups, and worship and I was still as lost as the day I thought I let Jesus into my heart.
The Lord never gave up on me and in my weakest moment of my life, I really found Him. In that moment I reversed the script and gave Jesus my heart, my baggage, my life and in doing so, found myself with my Father, my Creator, my God, my Savior.
But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.’ (Isaiah 43:1-3, ESV)
Lord I pray today that all who walk with you will want to walk in you. I pray today that all who have let you in their hearts will give their hearts to you. Touch and move on them as you did me Father, let them experience your love and mercy as you showed upon me. Lord we know we can’t manage or handle this world on our own, we need you, and we want you. Help us to understand your love, as we give back everything you have given to us, back to you Father. In Jesus name, Amen
Question: How do you know that you are saved?
If you’re not sure if you’re saved or not, you can be sure right now.
(A note of appreciation to the men and women of God who had patience in teaching me His word. If it was not for His love working through you, I would still be lost.)
Hi Martin,
Salvation is free, but it costs us everything! God, for me, is so BIG that I cannot fathom Him! HE will reveal to me what I can handle at the moment and He will meet my need, but no more, for that is adequate. When the need is greater, as I may be going through a Spiritual desert, He is there! Each person is unique and is in a different stage of Spiritual growth than anyone else, yet that is exactly where God wants us to be. It is in every stage that we are to be useful to Him. I have at times missed doing something for God because I felt that my faith or Spiritual depth was inadequate. But even then He wanted me to stand up for Him. Venturing out and trusting Him in whatever the Spirit leads us takes courage! So it is OK for us to do that. To him whom much is given, much will be required. Teachers & pastors, much will be required of you, of us.
Gracious God, I thank You for at times giving me second chances. Help us to continue to be “on the growing edge” alive and of fire for You! May we listen carefully to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, so that Your Kingdom will continue to be built here on earth. For, in doing so, our faith is being built. I pray that we be found faithful till Jesus comes again. Amen.
To answer your Q., Rev. Foster, I will quote Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” NKJV All who are saved have the indwelling of the Spirit, who tells us whose children we are. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is an empowering for the believers, and is not our power, but is God’s Power working through us! I believe we are saved by faith alone, but will be rewarded by works (what we have allowed Him to do through us). Blessings to you all!
I can relate to this journey and am currently in a similar place but I strongly believe sometimes God wants us to be in this place of ‘semi-submission’ so that he can build our character so that when we can and do truly surrender all, it is for keeps and nothing will be able to sway our faith. It is frustrating it times as you look at other believers who ‘get it’ and think “What am I missing in this story” but I don’t think we are missing anything. We are just being moulded into what God has in store for us. Thanks for sharing your journey story, I feel encouraged that one day God will allow me to experience him in full. Amen