BBD 04.12.16 Desires of the Heart (New)
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>
Since June 8th 1998, this
is the 1715th
Burning Bush Devotional
12 April 2016
Desires
of the Heart
And whatever you do, do it
heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord
you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. – Colossians 3:23-24 NKJV.
The NIV puts Colossians
3:23 as: Whatever you do, work at it with all
your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.
Do not fret because of
evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be
cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land,
and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the DESIRES
OF YOUR HEART. Commit your way to the Lord,
trust also in Him, and He shall bring it
to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice
as the noonday. – Psalm 37:1-6 NKJV.
Kevin
Abosch is one of the most sought after photographers in the world. Kevin has
photographed some of the most famous actors and actresses. He has also
photographed many successful business people. However, Kevin’s real passion is
taking photos of potatoes. Can you make money do that? Apparently, Kevin is
able to do that. He recently sold one of his potato photos for more than one
million dollars. His studio has this statement about the potato obsession: “Kevin likes potatoes because they, like people, are all
different yet immediately identifiable as being essentially of the same species.” (Business Insider 01.20.16)
What is it that you are passionate
about? If it is something that honors God, we are given a great promise in Psalm 37:4 that He will give us the desires of our
heart. Now I may have a desire to take photos of potatoes and make millions of
dollars; but I know, and you know, that this is not a desire of the heart that
God is talking about. Psalm 37 desires of the
heart are desires that God has placed inside of us. This kind of a heart desire
is like the call of God upon the heart of Abraham. Stephen tells of Abraham’s
call, “The
God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before
he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, ‘Get out of your country
and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans
and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to
this land in which you now dwell (Acts 7:2-4 NKJV).”
It is easy to become distracted from
where our true focus in life should be. There are the allures of the world;
and, our neighbors and friends may have more than we do stirring up envy and
jealousy. There are evil people who will attack you or cheat you. This has
happened to me at times that I have been attacked or cheated. Sometimes, these
things are happening and we do not become aware of them until later. But it
still hurts, that even people you have trusted, and say they are believers
could act in such harmful ways. God tells us what to do when we are in these
situations: “Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be
envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the
grass, and wither as the green herb.” Don’t fret; don’t vex your
righteous soul as Lot did (2 Peter 2:7-8) with
the things of this world or the actions of the evil-hearted. Instead, do this: “Delight yourself also in the Lord,
and He shall give you the DESIRES OF YOUR HEART.”
Copyright © 2016. Ed Wrather. The
Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998
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