Pastoral Perspective: Motivations of the heart
Are you fired up for Jesus? What motivates your soul to act for Jesus? Have you been putting off something for years before you act on it? Whether it’s Bible study or Sunday school, it seems like if we have a passion for something we make time for it. This happens in our spiritual life and our physical life.
What motivates your soul to act?
The Old Testament ends with the book of Malachi and then there is a long dry spell of 400 years — where God is silent and doesn’t speak to the hard-hearted, unrepentant Israelites. There was a heart issue going on so God doesn’t speak again until when Jesus is born in the New Testament. Here’s the message.
“On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
In this chapter we see the nonchalant tone and response by God’s people to his decrees, when they ask God, “How shall we return?” “How have we robbed you?” “How have we spoken against you?”
Their hearts are so far from God, they’re dishonoring God in their words. And God is providing a loving wake-up call. “Return to me, and I will return to you.”
My prayer is that we honestly examine our hearts today. Where are you holding back? Where are you dishonoring the significance of God’s wake-up call in your life? Will you respond in the 11th hour and be saved like the workers in the field in Matthew 20:14?
Our calendar starts with Jesus’ birth for all countries. It’s 2021 AD all over the globe! Time begins with Jesus — so wouldn’t you think everyone would be interested in getting to know Jesus better.
God is in control — he wants us to trust his word with all our heart — just like we saw how Abraham did — we need to just have the faith that God will do what He says He will do. This took a time of testing for Abraham and we go through testing also. Our hardest trials bring us closest to God!
God's plans are so much higher than ours!
God’s hand provided and protected Israel as they traveled 40 years in the wilderness to get to the edge of the promised land.
Moses pleaded with his people to ruthlessly eliminate all ungodliness, to root out and eliminate anything that would condition their heart to turn away from God.
That plea remains true for you and I. We must remember who God is, what He has done, and is doing, in order to recognize what He will do in the future. Along the way we need to carefully but surgically remove our bent to follow culture that produces an odd worshiping of self and spiritual apathy.
I encourage you to not just reminisce of your Jesus journey — but to enthusiastically prune away any and all vines that are not producing fruit in your life.
The big picture is that God would redeem his people through Jesus! In Hebrews, it says 11 times something BETTER IS COMING with JESUS! Hebrews 7:19, “For the law made nothing perfect and a Better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.” In Hebrew 7:22, “Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a Better covenant.”
The Jews were to carry his word to all people but they wanted to keep his laws and promises all to themselves. They missed Jesus, they were to share Jesus with others — to the ends of the earth.
The Bible says in Ephesians 4:31-32, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ — God forgave you.”
Paul encourages all Christians to practice wise, dynamic Christian living because having the privileges of the family of God also means having responsibility in the family of God. As a new community, we are to live by Christ standards. God provides his Holy Spirit to enable us to live this way.
To utilize the spirits power, we must lay aside our evil desires and draw on the power of his new life. Submit your will to Christ and seek to love others the best you can!
When believers use the right words at the right time, they can restore, encourage, build up and heal broken hearts. What steps can you take today to move forward to “Wake up” your heart during the month of July?
If you have received the gospel, you have been commissioned to share it. Ask God to open your eyes to the people around you. Who lives near you? Who works with you or works out at the gym with you? Who do you sit beside at your kid's baseball game? Who do you see regularly at the coffee shop?
While God calls some to foreign missions, for many others faithfulness means sharing the Good News with people you encounter every day.
Paul talked about this when he wrote to the church in Rome: “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Romans 10:13.
One way to share the gospel with others is to tell the story of how God saved you and how he continually changes your life for the better.
Before Jesus, our souls were dead to God — alive to sin, but the moment we put our faith in Jesus we were free from the grip of sin and were made alive to God. Sharing your story with others paints a picture of a life changed by Jesus’ love. We imitate Jesus.
In Matthew 20:28, Jesus describes his purpose by saying, “The Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.“ We can serve others in a million different ways, but to serve we have to be intentional.
Consider the people you encounter on a regular basis and ask yourself: How can I serve them? How can I put the needs and interests of my coworkers, roommates and neighbors above my own? What can I say to encourage them? How can I serve others and then share the gospel with them?
Try letting God use your home, apartment, front yard, community gymnasium or garden for the purpose of making strangers into neighbors and neighbors into family. Because that is the point — building the Church and living like a family, the family of God. Everything God has given you — time, wisdom, money, home, interest, empathy, humor and everything else — can be used by him to serve others. As you serve, share how God helps you to live out your life.
When Jesus looked out at the crowds of people he was moved with compassion for them. His concern for their well-being, their struggles and their hopelessness motivated Him to heal bodies and souls. People will know we are different when we, as believers, love others with the love we first received from Christ.
We can do nothing to earn our own salvation, and we can’t do anything to make someone else put their faith in Jesus. God commands us to open our mouths and proclaim his great love for the world, but our words do not have the power to make dead hearts come alive Ephesians 2:8–9. Our few words may just start the process of leading someone to Christ. We each have a part to play in advancing the gospel throughout the world. Amen.
Rev. Janeen Tronc pastors at Cornell UMC and United Church of Odell
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Rev. Janeen Tronc Pastoral Perspective, Motivations of the heart
