The Burning Heart

Luke 24:32 (ESV) – “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked to us on the road, while He opened to us the Scriptures?”

“We need to learn this secret of the burning heart. We must learn to maintain the secret of the burning heart – a heart that can go through anything. It is the simple, dreary day, with its commonplace duties and people that smothers the burning heart – unless we have learned the secret of abiding in Jesus. Much of the distress we experience as Christians comes not as the result of sin, but because we are ignorant of the laws of our own nature.” – Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers

This quote basically states that when we stay close to Jesus, our hearts will burn with passion. And although we may lose this passion when we let sin control our lives, the bigger issue is that we have left the Lord’s presence. So when you feel your heart is not burning with passion for the Lord, I encourage you to ask yourself if you have left His presence. If the answer is yes, then cry out to the Lord and draw near to Him.

As a side-note, I chose to write on this topic today, because God put it on my heart when He humbled me, saying I needed to hear this lesson once more. Last night I had a great night spending time with Him in prayer, worship, and reading His Word. However, I woke up today not as refreshed as I would have liked to have been. Unfortunately, I carried this attitude throughout my day, not passionate about the “gift of today” that God had blessed me with. So I hope this devotional encourages you and shows you that every day there is a new lesson to be learned when we are walking with the Lord. It’s a continual process. I once heard someone say, “If you’re not growing, you’re dying.” Let us make sure we’re always growing!! But back to the devotional... :)

Francis Chan, author of the book Crazy Love, said it best – “As long as we are pursuing Him, we are satisfied in Him.”

In addition, we will know that we are satisfied in the Lord when we go to great lengths to be with Him. After all, that is how we often characterize love for others!

Psalm 63:1-5
“1 O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek You;
my soul thirsts for You,
my body longs for You,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen You in the sanctuary
and beheld Your power and Your glory.
3 Because Your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify You.
4 I will praise You as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise You.”

May we be able to confidently proclaim the above Psalm and say, as A.W. Tozer does in his book The Pursuit of God, “O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more.” And I pray we will remember that God is the only one who can put a fire inside our hearts that won’t burn out. Let us pursue Him with all that we are and all that we have!

In Christ Jesus,
Shannon

“Point of Difference” – Hillsong United
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3jTFDGoRRg

“Let Your Light Shine” – Bethany Dillon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw8BbqfUp8c
Ha I must be on a Bethany Dillon kick this week!