Inventory of the Heart – Part 2

Last month we began a serious examination of the contents of our heart. We have been challenged to set a microscope over the attitudes, thoughts and motives of our will and spirit and to "see if there be any wicked way in me" Psalm 139:24.

Did you embrace what you read? Did you force yourself to be honest in its questioning of your heart's content? Did you acknowledge any transgression that the Holy Spirit of God revealed to you?

Let's take another look at our heart

Matthew 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

We all live in a material minded, pleasure seeking, entertainment satiated society. This kind of culture fights against those who would "seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness…" In order to walk in obedience to the clear command of Matthew 6:33, we must do whatever necessary in our life and home, in order to be able to keep first things first! You will not be a seeker of the spiritual if you don't strip away the carnal that seeks to encroach on your heart and mind on a daily basis.

Once again, let's ask ourselves the hard questions…

~ Is there anything in which you have failed to put God first? Don't rush past this probing question. Weigh every decision you've made in the last month and ask yourself if the LORD Jesus Christ was kept in first position of importance with each decision you made? Was He first in your time management? Your devotions compared to your TV time? God doesn't just want a minute from us.

~ Have your decisions been made after your own wisdom and desires, rather than by seeking for and following after God's will in the matter?

Stop and think about this…

~ Do any of the following interfere in any way with your surrender and service to God:

• Your own ambitions. Too often our desire to earn more income will take us out of church services because we think we must have that income. Any time we make the choice on our own to forsake the assembling of ourselves together and the spiritual feeding time from the Word of God, we can be assured that we are NOT seeking first the Kingdom of God. Satan will always have a good, legitimate sounding reason to offer us as to why we cannot be faithful in seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
  It is still just an excuse of the heart.
  

• Pleasures can interfere. There are so many enjoyments that call for our attention and steal our hearts and dedication and our resolve to keep a spiritual mind.

• Loved ones… Family gatherings can put some Christians on a guilt trip when it conflicts with church times/revival times. That will not happen to the Christian who strictly seeks first the spiritual over the secular. There will be no battle at all.

• Friends and friendships can pull at our surrender. James 4:4 "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."
  It doesn't get much clearer than that.

• Desire for recognition or money is a tug of war between the flesh and the Spirit and leaves a person filled with self… rather than the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. You cannot seek for your own glory and have Christ first. He desires to have the preeminence in all things!

• Our own plans hinder us from having Christ in first place. We may justify our own plans and desires in the moment, but time will prove who was really in first place! Many a person or family has desired a new location and sought to have it. The subsequent reaping in their life and in the lives of their children, proved that it was the desire of self- over the desire to keep Christ first. You may not be living in your dream location…but God has not left us here to seek first our dream homes, dream cars, dream locations or dream jobs. He has asked us to seek Him first and foremost! It may mean that you will not live in warm Arizona…but you may find yourself seeking first the kingdom of God in cold North Dakota. It may mean that God will want you in the back side of the desert instead of the comfortable Midwest. Where God puts you will always be the most blessed place to be. He never allows anything to come into our life without a divine purpose.

You can know the true status of your heart by honestly examining whether the Lord Jesus Christ, His kingdom, His scriptural church, Biblical standards of dress and conduct and a faithful, daily walk with Him in His Word, are what you truly seek for.

Take inventory of your heart…