a heart after You: week 1

Reading for today: 1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:21-23

“For the Lord sees not as the man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” ~I Samuel 16:7b

I am a bit of a rule follower. I am often hard on myself and my family. I get angry. I dabble in perfectionism. I’m sensitive. I bite my nails when I think too hard. And while I’m confessing, I might as well add mild anxiety to my list of flaws.

So how in the world, could I ever hope to have a heart like God’s?

One person in the Bible is described as “a man after God’s own heart.”

David.

David had a humble upbringing. He had a short temper and was an outlaw for years, running with his society’s unsavories. He was both a mighty warrior and a poetic musician. He was cunning but impulsive, a shrewd leader, an adulterer, and a murderer. He became king but made some monumental mistakes. And yet, despite all his flaws, God looked in his heart and saw something like His own.

For the next few weeks, we are going to study David’s life and writings to see what it means to have a heart like God’s.

*Hint: Having a heart like God’s doesn’t require being perfect.

Dear God, I want to have a heart like yours. Amen.

Let’s start by getting to know the beginning of David’s story:

Day 2 – 1 Samuel 13:13-14; 1 Samuel 15:22-23 (King Saul’s downfall)

Day 3 – 1 Samuel 16:1-13 (David’s anointing)

Day 4 – 1 Samuel 16:14-23 (David’s early relationship with King Saul)

Day 5 – 1 Samuel 17:19-50 (David and Goliath)

 

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Help!

Reading for today: Psalm 121

Last night I dreamed that I was in a small diner, eating homemade peanut butter cups. While I was enjoying this precious “me” time, the phone rang at the front desk. The manager of the diner answered the phone, looked around until she saw me, and then said with surprise, “It’s for you.”

I took the phone and heard my daughter crying. “Are you ok?” I asked. She couldn’t answer. “What happened?”

More crying.

“What happened? Are you okay? Do I need to come home?”

No answer. Just crying.

My daughter was in need of help, but couldn’t ask for help. When I woke up from my dream, I knew exactly what that meant. Because one of my biggest fears as a parent is that my children will need help, but won’t know how to ask for it.

My mother has said, if you are ever in need help, but have trouble talking to God, just cry out one word: “Help!” It doesn’t sound like a prayer. But it is. And God, our Father, has promised to hear our prayers, even the hurt, desperate, confused one-word utterances. And when we cry out to Him, He has promised to help.

Dear God, Help! __________________ Amen.

This week, let’s read about others who have cried, “Help!” For each story, record how they cried out, then if told, explain how God responded.

Day 2 – Exodus 3:7-12

Day 3 – Jonah 1:17-2:10

Day 4 – Luke 22:31-34; 22:54-62; John 21:15-17

Day 5 – Mark 9:20-29

 

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Accountability and Me: Week 3

Reading for this week: Acts 2:42-47, 4:32-35

At work this week, we had another 4-hour session of positivity training. (Apparently the first positivity training session didn’t take!) According to our training, positivity is gained through practicing healthy habits (i.e. fitness, acts of kindness, gratitude, meditation).

Our leadership encouraged us to choose a healthy habit and work at it for 21 days. Along with that healthy habit, we were to choose an accountability partner to help us achieve our personal goal. The idea is that accountability will increase our chances of success.

When no system of accountability is in place, we know from experience that things can quickly fall apart. The same is true for our faith. We know what God has done for us through Christ. We know what our response should be. We know what God expects of us. We know the benefits of obedience toward God. But without Christian accountability, we sometimes lack the strength, the motivation, and the support to do what we know is best.

I would like to encourage you this week to identify one person or group with whom you could share in Christian accountability. Pray about it and see where the Spirit leads.

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. ~Proverbs 27:17

Dear God, Thank you for mercy. Thank you for forgiveness. Thank you for faith. Thank you for joy. I want to be accountable to You and to others. Please give me an accountability partner. Someone who will walk with me. For Your glory, Amen.

This week let’s think about some Biblical examples of accountability.

Day 2 – 1 Thessalonians 5:8-21

Day 3 – Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Day 4 – Galatians 6:1-10

Day 5 – Ephesians 5:15-21

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Accountability and Me: Week 2

Reading for this week: Hebrews 10:19-25

Last week we spent some time answering the question: What are we accountable for?

According to our readings from last week, here is a summary of “The Whats of Christian Accountability”. Get ready, it’s a long list!

1. Care for others
2. Speak the truth in love
3. Grow in Christ
4. Equip yourself and others
5. Put off the desires of your old self
6. Be self-controlled
7. Be renewed
8. Build others up
9. Be kind
10. Be tenderhearted
11. Forgive
12. Walk by the Spirit
13. Love and stir up others in love
14. Be joyful
15. Be patient
16. Be gentle
17. Hold fast to your confession and your hope and be faithful
18. Stir up goodness
19. Regularly meet with fellow believers
20. Encourage each other as we wait for Christ’s second coming

Phew! You thought your New Year’s resolutions list was long? Somehow we just crammed 20 more items onto your 2017 resolutions list.

Before you get too overwhelmed, we need to take a big step backward. This Christian accountability list of “whats” is completely meaningless unless we first take a good, long look at our Christian accountability “whys”.

Why are we even accountable in the first place? Why should we care? Why should we love? Why should we be joyful? Why should we seek out and stir up goodness? Why should we be led by the Spirit? Why should we walk by the Spirit? Why should we meet regularly with other Christians? Why should we even be accountable for anything?

This week, as we dive into scripture, let’s try to answer this more important question: Why are we accountable?

Dear God, It is You first. Not me. As I think about how to prioritize my life, how to be accountable to you and to others, help me to always seek You first. Amen.

Day 2 – 2 Corinthians 5:17-6:1

Day 3 – 1 Peter 2:9-10

Day 4 – Matthew 5:13-16

Day 5 – Matthew 6:25-33

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Accountability and Me: Week 1

Reading for today: John 17:20-26

How are you doing spiritually? My college friend used to regularly ask me that question every time we got together. It was my least favorite part of our conversations.

I remember the first time she asked me that question, I immediately thought, That’s none of your business! My personal relationship with Christ was, well, personal! Yet the more I was forced to answer her question, the more I began to see that she wasn’t trying to criticize me or to make me feel bad. She was trying to encourage me. Even though I hated continually answering the question, I felt a gradual change in my attitude and in my faith walk.

Through those conversations, I began to understand that my relationship with Christ and my spiritual walk was not just between me and God, but between me and those around me. I didn’t know it at the time, but my friend had introduced me to basic Christian accountability.

For the next few weeks, we will study Christian accountability. As we prepare for this study, use the daily readings listed below to answer the first question: What are we accountable for?

Dear God, My faith is a gift from You. I am not always willing to share or talk about my faith. Please give me the courage to express my faith, live out my faith, and grow in my faith with others. Amen.

Day 2 – James 2:14-18

Day 3 – Ephesians 4:15-16; 21-32

Day 4 – Galatians 5:16-25

Day 5 – Hebrews 10:19-25

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