In the Books of Acts in the town of Antioch of Pisidia Paul stood up in the synagogue on the sabbath and recounted the oral history of the Jews by saying, “And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.” (Acts 13:22) Now most Christians read this verse and make the quantum leap thinking David had a heart like God’s. Oh how wonderful that would be to have a heart like God’s, but how can we have a heart like God’s when Jeremiah tells us our hearts are deceitful and wicked above all things. No I do not think Act 13:22 is drawing the parallel of David’s and God’s heart, but is saying what we all must desire if we would be like God, we all must desire to be after God’s own heart. Do you see the difference? Not have a heart like His (even though this is God’s eternal intention) I believe this will never happen this side of heaven, but be must be after His heart. Did you know it matters what we are after? What my friend are you after? The answer is easy to see all one needs to do is look at our lives and our check book to see what we are after. Our lives reflect what we really believe not what we tell our friends or what we want to be. Our lives are a direct reflection of the amount of revelation and authority we have in God. And our check book tells the story of what we spend our treasure and riches on and what we think is important. Charles Haun always said, (as he got his wallet out of his pants and waved it at the congregation) “once God gets a hold of this (his wallet) He has all of us.” It is one thing to give God our heart (not much of an investment in that on our part) but it is another thing to give God our check book. What are we going after in the world and all of her distractions: religion, politics, sports, hobbies, shopping, gaming, watching TV, reading, leisure time, the list is endless or are we after the things of God: reading His Holy Scriptures, prayer, giving so that others may receive, good works with the reward in heaven, service, communion with God and our brothers and sisters, the list can go on, but it is not so endless. And why? Because the things of God will cost us something to partake of them. If we truly desire the things of God there is price we must pay to be able to partake of all of God’s heavenly glory. Most religions and denominations will tell you, just become a Christian and you will have God’s best for your life, well that is almost true (still a lie), but they leave out the part where we must lay our life down so that Christ can live through us. They conveniently gloss over the verses that tell us we must lose our life for Christ’s sake so that we can find it. Losing comes first my friend, finding second. They go to sitting in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6) with Christ, but never discuss John 12:24-25 where we must fall into the ground and die. I wonder why they do this? Well, they are not after the things of God, but after the things of the world. Religions of men and denominations at best only paint ½ of the truth this is why they are so destructive to the Body of Christ. I promise you my friend if you are really after the things of God it will cost you. To know God’s power it will cost you something (God gets to pick the sacrifice not us), to know God’s presence it will cost you something far different than to know His power, and I promise you by all that is Holy, if you desire to know God’s person it will cost you all you have. It will cost you your life, but that is okay this is God’s plan for our lives for us to die so that He may live through us, but for God to be able to live through us we must die to our selfishness, our self-seeking, self-life, and how do we do this by desiring the things of God (this is our choice) by having a heart that is after God’s.
In Psalms 42 we read, “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. 2My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? 3My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? 4When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday. 5Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.” (Psalms 42:1-5) We sing a song about these verses, but few stop to understand what is really being said in these verses. Please notice the progression in these five verses: (verses 1-2) panting and thirsting (verses 3) tears and religious works, and (verse 4-5) repentance and inward sober reflection. I wonder why they made the song from the first two verses? The real message from God here is in verses 4 and 5. But, here in verse 1 and 2 the writer goes after the things of God with great longing and great desire pouring out his heart, but the writer ends these verses with, “when shall I come and appear before God?” What happened to His desire and thirsting? Reality set in. My friend when we have a real encounter with God we will not feel like singing and dancing our emotional projection will be done away with. The clamor of our striving and self-effort will be done away with. We at best will be happy just to be alive and content with our mouth stopped We have been reduced and now God can build in us His character and nature of looking and acting like His precious Son Jesus Christ. We like Isaiah will see God high and lifted up and His train will fill the temple of our heart, what a holy place in God. Oh God, how I want this more and more in my life, but I find I am alive to my self and my will. I hear deep teachings and know them to be true and desire so to possess what I hear, but in the end they slip through my fingers and all I have is a bowl of well wished. Please help me oh Lord.
Now it is important (if you want to know where I am in God) to know I am more a Quietest more along the line and teachings, as far back, as St. Augustine, Father Lawrence, Francois de Salignac de La Mothe-Fenelon, Mike Molinos (Fenelon’s student), and more modern John Wright Follette and Walter Beuttler (both Charles’ teachers), Charles Haun (my teacher), and then me. But the line does not stop there, anyone I disciple probably will walk in this way out from the teaching they have received from me. You know it does matter who your teacher is. In these lives runs a thread of teaching and understanding that believes as we are quiet and still before the Lord (waiting before the Lord), during our solace reflection and meditation on God can we really hear from Him, when our mouth, desires, hungers, thirst, and thoughts are still and silent before Him then our spirit can rise up from the depth of our soul, then will we hear from heaven. In the Psalms again we read, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10) and so many more verses that encourage us to quiet our spirit so that we can come to know God who speaks to us (1 Kings 19:12) in a small still voice. Oh no my friend it is not an emotional or mental projection to God, but an inward swelling of our spirit pushing up and out of us towards God who put this desire in us to touch His heart. My heart within me drops when I hear Christians justify their emotional presumption with, “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. 18And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;” (Ephesians 5:17-19) These three verses have nothing to do with singing songs in church, but here Paul is encouraging us to “be filled with the Spirit” and to make “melody in our heart to the Lord.” Why do we think this is about singing songs in church? The direction of our heart melody is always to be to the Lord. Oh no my friend this is not singing songs or playing musical instruments, but communion (no words required heart to heart) with the Lord, by the Spirit of God. Communion with God is a thing of the Spirit where our heart is fine-tuned and then in tune with God. Our spiritual growth and development will never happen in our lives if we continually press into God with our emotions and feelings which are deceptive and always will mislead us astray from the truth of the word of God. Peter also takes up this thought when he said, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 3If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” (1 Peter 2-3) How can we do this? First, by desiring the “sincere milk of the word” where-by we can grow learning the basics and fundamentals to achieve an elementary level of spiritual development that we can use to build on to be able to take on the meat of the word of God. The word “sincere” here (Strong’s #97) means unmixed, unadulterated, and pure. This “milk of the word” must not be mixed with the things of the world nor with our flesh if we are going to grow spiritually and establish healthy understandings and principles in the Lord. Spiritual things that are not mixed and adulterated by other contaminated teachings. So many young Christians from the start are taught a denominational religious dogma that sets them up for frustration and ensures they will always stay a babe in the Lord. Sadly often I believe this is out of design, who wants their kids (young Christians) growing up and asking their parents (religious denominations) some hard questions or wants to see their kids leave the nest (church) for what God wants for their lives, because if they do leave valuable hands to work around the home (church) will be lost. And second, we must walk in obedience and submit to what God has for our lives, then and only then can we “taste the Lord is gracious.”
My friend we must be after the things God is after, we must have a heart after the things God has a heart for. Many of my friends ask me if we are not to use our emotions to make our approach to the Lord then why did God give us emotions? Well that is easy, God gave us emotions so we could have a compassionate heart and feel sadness for those people who are lost and undone without His precious Son Jesus Christ not so we can thrill our “selves” at church when the music gets rocking or at some Christian rock concert. The same reason God gave us arms to reach out and care for people and legs so we can travel the many miles around the world to share the Gospel for Him not to up jump up and down and spin around like some top, how foolish to think so. And an understanding deep within us to be able to know the Creator and to be able to appreciate the beauty of a sunrise or sunset He has created. I have learned over the years when I am feeling weak in my emotions and in my self-strength I am usually moving correctly in God, but when I am feeling good and strong in my emotions and my self-strength I find myself getting off track and not going after what God is going after. My friend what are you going after?
