And He shall give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4
Do you delight in the LORD?
In John 15:5, Jesus said:
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
It is impossible to be a real Christian unless you’re truly dependent on Christ for EVERYTHING. Do you accept, believe and live this truth OR do you consider it an impossible burden?
To delight in the LORD is to embrace our need for constant dependence on Christ as a blessing and a relief because we don’t have to do life on our own! How awesome is that?
To delight in the LORD is to enjoy spending time with God, be it in the study of His Word (the Bible), praise or prayer.
To delight in the LORD is to have a deep desire to be obedient to Him and to be Christ-like in every aspect of life.
To delight in the LORD is to submit to His Spirit daily and let Him lead you at all times.
To delight in the LORD is to bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
To delight in the LORD is to be salt and light in the world by relying on the Holy Spirit.
When we have a deep Spirit enabled and Spirit driven desire to be like Jesus, we are delighting ourselves in the LORD!
What if I am not a Christian?
If asked about themselves,most people would emphatically state that they are “good people” with a “good heart”.
What does Jesus/God our Creator say about us though?
In Mark 10:18, Jesus says God alone is good.
In Jeremiah 17:9, God says that our heart is more deceitful than anything else.
Romans 3:23 says this about us:
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
As sinners, our heart is not right with God and therefore, the desires that dwell there are not necessarily what the LORD wants for us.
It wouldn’t be unusual if many people would say that they want to have a great job, a nice house and car and to lead a relatively comfortable life. While there’s nothing inherently sinister about this, what’s dangerous is that it causes many to chase after money and become slaves to success because in this world, success equates to wealth and the good life!
In Luke 16:13, Jesus says:
“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
If you haven’t placed your trust and faith in Jesus, wealth is your master, the one you serve.
Even worse is when people turn to drugs, alcohol and sexual immorality to lead a “life of pleasure” when what awaits them is great despair, both in this life and the next!
In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, God says:
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Unless you repent and come to faith in Jesus Christ, you will not enter heaven. In John 3:36, Jesus makes this point abundantly clear:
“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Our desires reflect who we are on the inside. If you are not a Christian, chances are that your desires are not in line with what pleases God and what God wants for your life!
What about Christians then?
If you call yourself a Christian but haven’t been born again and don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus, you are no different from those who are not Christian.
In John 3:3-5, Jesus says to Nicodemus:
“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
One cannot truly be a Christian unless the Spirit of Christ has revealed to them their sinfulness, need for repentance and help them receive the salvation that is in Christ alone. This is why many people can read the Bible and not be transformed because they were trying to “figure out God” on their own.
Coming to faith in Christ does not mean that a person is on autopilot, stripped of their freewill and devoid of any ability to make their own decisions and choices, blindly following a set of religious rules and regulations without questioning. Other religions might require blind allegiance of their followers but when it comes to the Christian faith, a person must exercise their freewill.
In Matthew 16:24, Jesus has this to say to all His disciples:
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”
Every true follower of Jesus (real Christian) must make a freewill decision daily (every moment actually) to deny their selfish desires (what I want) and choose to follow God’s will (what God wants of me).
As a genuine believer and follower of Christ spends more time in God’s Word and prayer, submitting to God’s Holy Spirit in all aspects of their lives, our will begins to align more with God’s will for our lives, thus His desires become our desires! It is impossible for a Christian to transform themselves on their own in this manner, God alone can do this in us.
As we become more like Jesus, the question changes from “What do I want?” to “What does the LORD want in this situation?” or “How can I glorify God in this situation?”.
For example, if you were wanting to get a better job because it pays better, rather than asking God to bless you with the better job, you could ask Him if His will is that you remain in your old job so that you can share Jesus with someone there. If you’re a Christian and you’re cringing at the thought of having to put the LORD first instead of yourself, it’s a clear indication that God needs to do some work in you.
If the above example isn’t enough, let’s look at the example Jesus Himself set. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed this in anguish (Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:36, Luke 22:42, John 6:38):
“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”
Jesus, revealing the full extent of His humanity, asked God if there was another way (besides what He knew awaited Him) but surrendered to the Father’s will, rather than His own!
What a brilliant example for all Christians to follow!
What about you?
I think Titus 3:4-7 not only explains the work of the Holy Spirit, but it gives us a summary of how everything hinges on Jesus Christ, not who we are or what we’ve done.
But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
It’s all about Jesus.
Who do you say Jesus is?
If Jesus isn’t your personal Saviour and Lord, if you haven’t been born again, you remain a sinner, living to gratify your fleshly desires. Unless you turn to Christ in repentance, you are destined for everlasting punishment.
If you’d like to learn more about Jesus, please ask me.
If you claim Jesus is your Saviour and Lord, are you living for Him? If not, it’s not too late to get your priorities right and put God’s will first.
If you’re a Christian but don’t know how to put God first, please talk to me or a mature Christian you know.
God bless you.
Thank Sri 🙂