An occupied heart.

As the new year fast approaches I want to touch on something.

Last week I touched on the importance of humbling ourselves.

If you missed that post you can read it here.

This week I want to touch on the heart. Does God have your

heart? Why am I asking such a seemingly “obvious” question?

Maybe it’s not really that obvious……

 

It all started when I was singing, “when I lost my heart to you

Hallelujah“from Hillsong United’s new album Empires.

There is a line I kept singing which says,

“You have my heart”

 

As I kept singing that over and over I thought to myself,

Does He really have my heart??

As I look back at the year I see how I have struggled in my

relationship with Him. My heart has not been entirely here.

I have ignored Him A LOT, got distracted, had times where

I didn’t talk to Him, worshipped other idols…..shucks!

It’s been a challenging year and I allowed the challenges

to come between me and Him!

So as I sang that line I realised my heart was very occupied but

not with Him. God doesn’t want a part of my heart…..

He wants my whole heart!

 

“I will punish her for the days of the Baals to which she burned

incense. She decked herself with her earrings and jewelery,

and went after her lovers; But Me she forgot, says the Lord.

Hosea 2:13

 

This passage depicts where I was at. I was the one who forgot

the Lord, I was the one who chased after other idols……

My heart was far from the Lord.

When I had a choice to seek the Lord I would

occupy myself with something else but Him. It breaks my

heart thinking about that. My heart is reserved for God and I

want Him to have it all!

In His mercy and great love He still chases after me! He

hasn’t given up on me. I don’t deserve His attention. I have done

nothing to warrant it yet He still pursues me!

 

Therefore, behold, I will allure her,

will bring her into the wilderness,

and speak comfort to her.

 

She shall sing there,

As in the days of her youth,

As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

And it shall be, in that day,

says the Lord,

That you will call me, My Husband

And no longer call Me, My Master,

For I will take from her mouth the names of the baals,

And they shall be remembered by their name no more.

Hosea 2:14-17

 

Even though God’s people rejected Him and chased other idols,

He pursued them relentlessly. I am so grateful He chases

after me relentlessly! He is doing the same for you.

Don’t stop chasing after me Lord!

My heart is yours…..!!

 

Keep your heart with all diligence,

for out of it spring the issues of life.

Proverbs 4:23

 

I was supposed to guard my heart, I was not supposed

to let anything in but I failed, I gave my heart away!

When I think of this scripture

I think of a husband and wife.

A true wife will guard her heart from other men.

She will not allow other men in because she loves her

husband. She doesn’t have to be taught to do that but out

of a deep, unshakable, love for him she will protect her heart

with everything in her. Her heart is reserved for her husband

and him alone!

So it is with her husband. He will not flirt with other women,

he will not entertain the idea of being with another woman

because he loves his wife. He too will protect his heart because

of his love for his wife.

His heart and affection will be towards his wife alone, and

he will not compromise!

 

As it is with husband and wife it should be so with me. If my

heart is truly His I will do everything to protect my heart.

Yes, I am a sinner and yes I will fail at times but I will fight

to guard my heart because He loves me and I love Him!

I won’t entertain anything else. I won’t give my heart away

to anything else that would take me away from God because

my heart belongs to Him!

 

I should be complete at this moment and not looking for

something to complete me. He should be enough for me!

He should be all that I need….because HE IS all that I need!

Because of the price He paid I am complete, I am

whole!

 

Where are you at? Does your heart fully belong to God,

or is it occupied with other things?

Have other things crept in and taken His place?

In this coming year make a decision to consume yourself

with Him alone. He is our Savior and He wants all of us,

not part of us!

He pursues us because He loves us.

 

He has my heart! When I surrendered my life to Him all those

years ago I surrendered my heart to Him. What I need to do is

consistently check myself. I need to constantly check the state

of my heart because the truth is that the enemy wants my

heart as well. he will do everything in his power to have it but

it’s taken! My heart belongs to God and I must guard it. But

I am not alone because the Holy Spirit is with me. He will help me, ‘

and He will help you if that is your desire. And that is so

encouraging!

 

 

Prayer

I am so sorry Lord for occupying my heart with other things.

I am so sorry for chasing after idols.

My heart is Yours so I ask for Your help.

Help me to guard my heart.

help me to keep my heart set on You and You alone!

Take this occupied heart and fill it anew with You….

Just You Lord!

I love You.

Amen…..

 

Rolain

 

 

Why You Should Run To God…..

THOUGHT OF THE DAY.

I, even I, am the Lord, and beside Me there is no Savior.  Isaiah 43:11

I have been thinking about this scripture today. What a bold statement don’t you think??!!  This is the Lord speaking and He is very sure about Himself!!! He is the Lord and beside Him there is no Savior! According to God, we have no other Savior…..There is no one worthy enough to get called “help’. There is no one who has the qualifications to be our Savior! It’s futile looking at anyone else for help. Everything else is a fake. There are a lot of things in this world that promise help but the truth is, God is our only Savior! I don’t know what you are going through but you need to know that God is the only One who can solve your problems. He is the only One who can protect you. He is the only One who can save you! Amen.

Rolain

 

Is The Church Still Relevant Today?

I was led to ask this question when I traveled to Malaysia in November. I live in Zimbabwe, Africa and God is very much alive. You can speak freely about Christ without danger of being arrested. I believe we have been guarded from outside influences but when I went to Malaysia, a country that is not christian, I started questioning the relevance of the church. How can we as the church impact the world? We can’t just do church anymore. There are so many other gods you can serve. I remember being depressed in the first few days I was in Malaysia. It seemed like the voice of the church was non existent in this pagan country. I remember going to a restaurant and seeing a shrine. We saw a lot of temples and on one day when we were having church I heard the Muslim call for prayer. It was loud and it nearly drowned the voice of our pastor as he spoke!!!
So in the face of all this, is the church still relevant today?

As I was pondering on this question I got an opportunity to speak to one of the main pastors who was hosting us. I asked him this question and his answer challenged me so much. He told me how they rely on God to perform a miracle every Sunday or in every service. He told me, without the power of God showing up in the service it would be pointless. His faith in God shook me. He told me of miracles happening in the church and he told me how because of Christianity moving in power the government is watching the church. They try to intimidate the church but the church continues to grow.

Is the church still relevant in today’s age? The answer is yes! As we expect God to move and as we don’t become complacent we become more and more powerful. We cannot afford to become mediocre. What is the use of church if God doesn’t show up? What is the use of church if we are content with powerlessness????
What is the use of church if lives are not being changed????

It is time for us as the church to raise the standard. It time to take a stand. It is time to be radical. We need God more than ever. We cannot do it on our own. Jesus turned the world upside down because He trusted God.
There is hope. We are that hope. Let us take our place and turn this world upside down for Christ!!!!!!

Rolain.P

A Place Reserved for God??

Idolatry is something that must not be entertained. It is serious. A lot of people think that it has died but it hasn’t. In fact it has got worse.
I realised how easy it is to worship to idols! These days anything can be an idol if you not careful. One moment I worship God  and in the next moment I am bowing down to idols! The problem is, they come in so stealthily. We truly need the grace of God!

God hates idolatry. He is God and expects to be first in my life and it should be no other way.
I am so challenged by a scripture in 1 John 5:21 and it says,

Little children, keep yourselves from idols (false gods) – [from anything and everything that would occupy the place in your heart due to God, from any sort of substitute for Him that would take first place in your life].

The first thing to note is, there is a place due for God in our hearts. Does God live in that place or does He constantly get evicted?
Oh, and the place that is due to God is really all of me! It is not just a part of me He wants. God wants ALL of me.

He wants all of us. He is not interested in having a piece of us, instead He wants ALL of us. He doesn’t want some of our attention most of the time. He wants ALL of our attention all of the time why? The reason is simple, He is the Creator of the Universe and He died on the cross for us. He is God!!!!

The other thing to note about this verse is, there is something I need to actively do. I need to make a decision to not worship idols.

The other thing I see is, there are so many things competing for my attention. There are so many things competing for that top spot, God’s spot!! I need to be very careful about what I allow into me. What am I watching? What am I doing? Who am I speaking to? These things all matter.

The conclusion of the matter is this, there is a place in our hearts that is due to God. He should be the only One residing there. I want Him to be the only One. Do you?

Rolain.

Are You Really Praising God?

As christians, do we really understand praise? Praise is more than a song that we sing on sunday, so much more! How would you rate yourself in the area of praise? Do you regard yourself as someone who understands praise and really praises God? In this post my goal is to challenge the preconcieved ideas of praise that we have. So let’s get going.
Psalms 67:3 is the where I am teaching from. It says:

Let the peoples praise You [turn away from their idols] and give thanks to You, O God; let all the peoples praise and give thanks to You.

Psalm 67:5 says the same thing.
In this verse the definition of praise is turning away from idols! So in other words, if you turn away from idols you are praising God! On the other hand, if you are serving idols you are not praising God!
That is just one aspect of praise we are looking at. So I will ask the question again. Are we really praising God? Praise should be a lifestyle and not a once a week thing! True praise permeates every aspect of our lives. True praise changes us!
As christians we are called to praise God and give thanks to Him. The last part of that verse says,

“Let all the peoples praise and give thanks to You”.

Let ALL the people praise and give thanks! Let us as the body of Christ turn away from idols that we have allowed in our lives. It is so easy to serve idols nowadays. It is not just the people who bow down to physical objects that are wrong but it’s people who in their hearts have not made God the center of everything! It’s people who refuse to allow God into that one area that they been holding on for so long!
This is a constant fight for me. I know there are areas that I have not surrendered to God. I know this is not pleasing to God. He is looking for true worshippers. I want to really praise God. I have made a decision to make a stand against idolatry in my life!!
Will you take a stand against idolatry like I have done? Will you allow God in? Beecause in God’s eyes that is true praise!

Rolain.P