Sometimes I feel bad and ashamed that unlike lots of other people I have so few Bible verses memorized, that my memory has declined as I age and I can’t even remember some I did memorize, that I don’t look like a perfect Christian on the outside as some seem to do though I call myself a Jewish follower of Christ anyway, that my once strong attention span has drastically diminished and usually I can’t focus on the Bible for more than minutes at a time, that I fall into sin sometimes even when I desperately don’t want to and strive not to like when I become impatient or am exhausted and get irritable, etc. and need to repent. One morning God placed this message on my heart.
What does God want most? I can’t speak for God, but I have read the Bible long enough to know some of what matters most to God. And it’s not how many Bible verses we memorize. It’s not how many Bible study groups we attend and how many answers in our Sunday school workbooks we get right or if we have a perfect attention span when we read the Bible or how pretty our dresses and how good looking our pants and shirts are when we go to church.
What matters most? I daresay it’s that we turn from our sins, believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and in His death and resurrection, turn to God and His ways, receive His forgiveness and the promise of forever life with Him, have His Holy Spirit come to live inside us, and live utterly for Him going forth! That we love the Lord with all our hearts, that we love others as ourselves, that we put our faith in God day by day, that we spend time in His presence, that we praise, adore, worship, serve, obey, and glorify God, that we are truly sorrowful when we fall short and repent, that in our love for the Lord and for others we tell others about Him, that we are totally devoted to the Lord, that we long to please and honor Him, that we read the Bible and live by it, that we are filled with and led by His Holy Spirit, that we are a strong part of His worldwide Body of followers and fellowship and co-serve with them. Faith in and intimacy with and a humble and loving and forever-long commitment to the Lord and to following Him, that we live for Him not any more for us, this I believe matters most.
Where do you stand with what God wants most? With what matters most to the Lord? Are you a totally devoted follower of the Lord Jesus Christ? Oh, may it be so!
Here are some verses to encourage you, but may it be said the number one place to learn what matters most to the Lord is the Bible. And be sure to spend time alone in His presence ever praying and keeping your heart open to His Holy Spirit who lives in His followers speaking to your heart what He desires of you personally.
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 KJV
“I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me.” Proverbs 8:17 KJV
“and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” 2 Cor. 5:15 KJV
Oh, God, I am blown away by all the years you have poured messages into me to pour out to share with others. I don’t know who learns and grows more through them, oh God, as most assuredly you continue to speak to my heart through them and to ever challenge me to grow in your love and your ways. With this message oh God, please send it to whomever you want to read it and please use it mightily to help many dear God to bring you praise, glory, and honor each and every day and forevermore, AMEN! Amen! Hallelujah, AMEN!
“And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:9-11 KJV