Heart of our Desires... notes from the Beth Moore simulcast

This past weekend I was blessed to be able to attend Beth Moore's simulcast, and as always, she left us with much to think about and ponder. What she shared was so good that I wanted to share it with those of you who happen by my blog...

Her message was based on Psalm 37:1-9:

Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;

² for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.

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;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

⁸ Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.

⁹ For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

Her entire message centered around verse 4: "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." She had 7 points that she shared with us over 3 sessions. I will share with you each point and one or two of her statements that spoke the most to me... I took tons of notes but will try to make it more brief here...

1. NOTHING dictates our lives like our desires!

We are motivated by what WE want to do. We are dictated by our "Want to". A legitimate or true heart's desire necessitates a wait... it is a sustained longing that is unaffected by our moods (our hormones), our surroundings, or our circumstances. It is a desire that we would carry with us if everything else in our lives changed.

2. Beneath the desires of our hearts is the HEART of our desires.

We need to allow God to tend to the heart of our desires... every single desire we have implies something that we lack. God will trump the desires of our heart to get to the heart of our desire if destiny is at stake for us or if glory is at stake for Him.

3. Delighting in God adapts our desires into inevitabilities.

She encouraged us to pray daily... "Dear God, Grant me a heart that delights in You!"

(and I added for myself, "All day long") I don't know about you, but sometimes stuff that is thrown at me throughout my day tends to hinder my ability to continue to delight in Him, it gets my eyes off of Him and onto "stuff"... so I am praying that God would grant me a heart that delights in Him ALL day long.

The desires of my heart boil down to the heart of my desires - I was created to delight in Him.

4. Nothing external can steal our right to delight.

We have given people rights they DO NOT have - no one can steal our delight in God. If we are a Christian, and if for any reason we do not delight, it is an internal reason.

She shared here 3 things that come to steal our delight, and deform our desires...

• J- jealousy - Jealousy is desire tinged with resentment. What desire in our hearts is motivating jealousy?
• A - anger - anger is an evil form of overtaking passion; it is the polar opposite of delight.
• W - worry - (fret) to eat or gnaw into, to affect something as if by gnawing or biting.

An easy way to remember these 3 is to think of our JAW - What is taking a bite out of my personal delight? Is it jealousy, anger, or worry...

5. To make room for delight we have to COMMIT!

We have to be willing to commit to become and be who is it we long to be and to do those things we long to do. If we never make a commitment to work at those things they will never come to be... we are to commit our way to the Lord.

6. Nothing is passive about patiently waiting for desire to turn into delight.

My God is constantly at work doing things I can not see. Do NOT give up in prayers for loved ones that you have been praying for years... we need to be careful to not become all talk and no hear! Sometimes God wants us to be still - to stop, to hold our peace, to be silent, to listen and watch eagerly and anxiously for Him.

When we are hurting in the wait, we need to turn the hurt into praise.

7. Till faith becomes sight, trust God and do good.

Romans 12:21 "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good."

Others do not have to think we are "right" in order for us to do good for them. We can still do good for others who do not agree with our Christian beliefs... we are to dwell in the land where God has planted us right now, we are to do good there, and we are to feed on His faithfulness.

"Till Christ returns, or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I'll stand."

I am taking some time to write out my desires, all of them, laying them out before the Lord, big ones and little ones, and asking Him to reveal to me the true heart of my desires. I desire for my desires to not be ones that would hinder my destiny or His glory... I desire to have a heart that delights in God all day long, all the days of my life. What about you?