DESIRE
DRIVES DILIGENCE
BREAD
36 “Teacher,
which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest
commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All
the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV)
3 Trust
in the Lord and do good; dwell in
the land and enjoy safe pasture. 4 Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your
righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday
sun. 7 Be
still before the Lord and wait patiently
for him. Psalms 37:3-7 (NIV)
23 Yet I
am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. 24 You guide me with your
counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may
fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalms 73:23-26 (NIV)
1 Therefore,
I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to
the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good,
pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2
(NIV)
6 Go to
the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! 7 It has no commander, no
overseer or ruler, 8 yet it
stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. 9 How long will you lie there,
you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little
slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-- 11 and poverty will come on you
like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. Proverbs 6:6-11 (NIV)
10 God is
not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you
have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show
this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 12 We do not want you to become
lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been
promised. Hebrews 6:10-12 (NIV)
4 May he
give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. 5 We will shout for joy when you
are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests. Psalms 20:4-5 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Train your ears to hear the promise. And train your heart to
pursue relentless hope.” Beth Guckenberger
“The virtue of wisdom is not in being busy
but in having a proper view of forthcoming needs that motivate one to action.
Those who act only when commanded do not possess wisdom.” Bible Knowledge Commentary
“As humans, we
have heads, and therefore must be given facts and evidences and arguments in
order to make reasonable commitments. And we have hearts with longings and
yearnings and hopes and fears and desires. Therefore, if someone urges me to
commit myself to a certain goal, he must persuade my head that the goal is
really there as he says it is; and he must move my heart to feel the value of
attaining it.” John
Piper
“May
the desires of our hearts be to love You and serve You with all the ability You
give; and may our plans be in keeping with Your Will and may You let us succeed
in them. We will shout for joy and praise Your name when we succeed in carrying
out Your plans for us.” Roger Killian
“…Jesus
showed us what God really wants to cleanse and purify—our hearts. Christ’s
transforming work on the cross helps us to break free from desires that hold us
in bondage. As we submit to God, we become like Christ, no longer wanting to
offend God. Out of gratitude we obey Him from the inside out.” Tremper
Longman
“Something happens
when we come to God for His grace and mercy--something that is so radical and
so amazing that it can only be described as death to our old selves. It is the
overwhelming desire to please the One who has loved us with such amazing and
unconditional love...I may not get better overnight; I may not be the fine,
upstanding, and wonderful Christian I thought I was, but I now have a desire to
please the One who loved me (and gave Himself for me). That desire is the soil
in which goodness grows--not perfectly, by any means, but it does grow.” Steve
Brown
“To be rebuffed by a loved one causes pain not
to be compared with the cruelties inflicted by an enemy. So your
indifference and unresponsiveness to My call brings anguish to My soul, indeed,
deeper grief than the crimes of the reprobate sinner. I have laid My rod
upon the sinner, but I have laid My hand upon you. And I have put My arm
around you to draw you closer, but you have been impatient and irritable as
though I sought to interfere with your liberty. I am able to give
you greater liberty than you will ever find by seeking to be independent of Me.
I seek not to interfere with your
happiness, but I do require that you relinquish your will; for I cannot bless
you as I desire until your will is yielded up and you accept Mine in exchange.
As you love Me, you accept My will as your own, and the caliber and extent
of your love for Me may be accurately measured to the degree that you accept My
will with a peaceful heart. You
can best sing ‘My Jesus, I Love You’ when you can truly sing ‘Where He Leads
Me, I Will Follow.’ For whoever
does not take up his cross daily to follow Me cannot be My disciple.” Frances
J. Roberts
HEART
SAVOR
- · Jesus is to be the desire of my heart – only He can truly satisfy the human heart and keep it from longing for what doesn’t. I will work hard for what I desire. May they be Godly desires.
- · I am to work out of love and not duty. Love makes all labor light.
- · I am to be diligent not lazy – laziness is selfish and panders flesh.
