What Does Your Heart Say?

WEEK 2: MARCH 6-12

God Has Come for His People

Luke 7:11-17 captures another Resurrection story for our focus this week. When Jesus raises people from the dead, sometimes we can miss some of the nuance from the story. It makes sense, though, what else is there to talk about? Jesus just told a dead person to not be dead anymore. However, look closer in this text; the response from the people after watching this resurrection is to acknowledge that surely “God has come for His people.” Yes, God has come for us and I am sure we all have unique experiences of that truth. As you are encouraged by this week’s devotionals, be thinking about Luke 7 and how this story challenges you!

MARCH 6
What Does Your Heart Say
By Doug Chapman

Read 2 Corinthians 4:8-18.
During a Sunday worship service that I attended, the congregation said a prayer of confession that has stuck with me: “Gracious God, like many believers before us, we complain when things do not go our way. We want abundance of everything rather than what is sufficient to sustain us. We would rather be elsewhere than where we are at the moment. We would rather have the gifts You give others than what You provide for us. We would rather have You serve us than we serve You. Forgive our lack of gratitude for what You give to each of us.”

Abundance is no guarantee of gratefulness or thanksgiving or having a heart for giving. Prosperity may even turn our hearts away from You Lord…which is exactly what I experienced before I knew Jesus as my Lord and Savior. As we prepare for this Lenten season and our Rising Up capital campaign where do you find your heart? I mean where is your heart really?

It’s easy to worship God on the outside while stubbornly keeping territory from Him on the inside. It’s easy to use religious activities to cover the reality of what’s really going on behind the curtains of our lives. We can faithfully serve Him, sing His praises, and give to Him sacrificially. But God doesn’t want any of that without our hearts.

Our giving begins in the relationship we have with our Lord Jesus. As that relationship grows and truly matures…guess what happens? The concerns reflected in the prayer of confession I mentioned above begin to fade.

Paul encouraged the Corinthians and us to: “Not fix our eyes on the things which are seen, but on the things that are unseen. For the things which are seen are temporary, and the things which are unseen are eternal” (2 Cor 4:18).

When Christ Jesus is the center of our focus…all else will come into proper perspective…including our heart for giving.

Where is your heart right now?

Does the Lord take priority over your plans and dreams and desires? Why or why not?

What are some distractions that compete for your heart?