Undivided Heart

Focus verses: Psalm 86

David was called a man after God's own heart. A prayer like this one will help us to know how he got that way. He asked for it.

God is quite simple. He loves us - each of us - as if there were only one of us, as if you were His only child. If we ask Him to give us this undivided heart, He will honor that prayer. But what does it mean, exactly?

It means that God is first in our hearts. It means that whatever else we love and appreciate, we do so in light of God's love for us and His love for the other person. It means that we love God most.

God loves me. I love God. God loves you so I love you. I love you, as God loves you, because my love is only a small reflection of His love.

That love means that I seek your benefit before I seek my own. There was an old saying I learned in Sunday School. JOY equals Jesus first, Others second, Yourself last. It's a simple formula - but it is true.

If we put God first in our lives, think of others in light of His love for them, and rest securely in His love for us, knowing that He will take care of our needs, life will be a lot more pleasant.

Father, God,

Grant us an undivided heart. Help us to respond to Your love for us, by loving all the rest of Your hurting world as you love it.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.

Garment of Praise

Praise is one key to closeness with God.

In the Psalms we are told that God inhabits the praises of His people.

Psalm 22: 3: But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

4: Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.

5: They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

---(KJV)

How better to draw close to God than to have Him living in your thoughts and speech at all times!

So how can we continually praise and draw close?

One method is to cultivate the habit of close observation. Look at the sunrise, the delicacy of a beta fish, the grandeur of a mountain, the vastness of the prairie or the power of an ocean. When we think about the infinite goodness of God and His precise attention to detail in all His creation, we cannot help seeing his power and generosity.

Today's Christian is pulled a hundred different directions with the urgency of the "now" world. In our hurry up - go society, time for reflection and solitude is hard to find. But we can train our eyes to notice the small details that God put into this world, especially for our pleasure and edification -- and I think, just a little to let us know He's still here.

Father-God, help us to train our eyes to see You in all the little everyday things that touch our lives. Help us to recognize Your hand in our circumstances. Help us to cultivate the grateful heart that will sing Your praises as we learn to see more clearly. In Jesus' most precious name.

Amen