What I am going to share with you in this letter has been very difficult to put into words because I am just beginning to understand the depth of what it means to be after God’s heart. I know as I continue down this path of intimacy with God, He will take me deeper in my understanding. I pray that what He has revealed to me so far will be an encouragement to you.
“…….. He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.” Acts 13:22
I have been meditating on this verse for several weeks and as I have thought about it, three questions keep coming to mind. What is God’s heart? What does it mean to be a man or woman after God’s heart? Why is it so important to seek God’s heart
We know the answers to these three questions could fill several pages. Therefore, I am going to be splitting this topic over two letters. Let me start by asking you this question, “When you think of God’s heart what comes to your mind?” Some might say that His heart is His essence. (i.e. His sovereignty, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, etc.) For me, these words describe God but don’t really reveal to me His heart.
I believe that God’s heart can be summed up in one word: love. And from His love flows His joy, laughter, passion, compassion, grieving, patience, selflessness, intimacy, etc. The best analogy I can think of is a water pitcher. His heart being the pitcher and the water being poured out is all that flows from His love. The wonderful truth about His heart is that it is not like a jar with a lid on it meant only for the members of the Trinity. Rather, like a pitcher, His heart is constantly poured out into ours. This is why Romans 5:5 has a new and more personal meaning for me.
“…the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
If God’s heart is being poured out for you and me, then everything that God does for us, in us and through us is born out of His love (including discipline). Everything from birth to salvation to understanding and living from Christ as Life flows out of God’s love for us. Why? Because He wants you and me to be men and women after His heart in order to experience Him personally and intimately.
What we struggle believing is the extent to which He loves us. The best human analogy I can think of to explain this is when I first fell in love with Paige. All I could do was think about Paige. I ate, drank and slept thinking about her. All I wanted was to be with her 24/7. I wanted to hear her thoughts and explore the depths of her heart. I wanted to laugh, cry and have fun with her. Just being with her even if we said nothing was enough. If I could sing, I would have sung songs to her. The point being that I wanted to know about her and share my life with her. I wanted to know her heart and she wanted to know mine. In short, I was head over heels in love with her (and still am). I share this with you because I know this is how God’s feels about you. He loves you. He can’t help Himself. He loves your heart, your smile, your face, your unique personality. He loves everything about you because God created you uniquely for Himself. However, God does not just want a one way relationship. He wants a reciprocating love relationship with you.
We know this from 1 John 4:19. “We love because He first loved(s) us.” What I am now seeing is that God’s heart of love is being poured out to us so that we can love Him at the deepest levels. To accomplish that, He went to the cross to lay the foundation for restoring the intimacy that was lost after the Fall. However, that was not enough. There were two more things He had to do in order for us to be able to love Him. He put the fullness of His life in us (Colossians 2:9, 10) and gave us a new heart. His heart.
We see this in Ezekiel 26:36:
“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
I have taught for years that our new heart is our new identity in Christ. While this is true, I did not realize until recently that the ultimate purpose of God putting His heart in us was to restore the intimate love relationship that existed in the garden between Adam, Eve and God. Everything from birth, through salvation, His life in us, a new heart and transformation is about one thing: To be able to return the same love with which we are loved by Him.
This love results in a deep, abiding intimacy with Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit. It is the same unconditional love that we can have towards Him that He has for us. A love that loves God when He is not answering your prayers, not meeting your expectations or is not loving you according to your definition of love. A love that says not only do I need God but I desire Him for who He is rather than what He can give me.
2 Peter 1:3 says that He has given us “everything pertaining to life and godliness.” For me, I am realizing that the key part of “everything” is that God is constantly pouring out His heart of love to you so that you will love Him in return. Why? Because you and I were created for intimacy with Him. I may be way behind you on this one but I am becoming convinced that God gives us “everything” in order that we will experience a mutual love and intimacy. This is why I pray that you will continue receive, experience, enjoy moment by moment the love of this amazing, captivating, and breath-taking God that lives within you. As you do, you will find yourself falling head over heels in love with Him.
“We love because He first loved us.”
