The Burning Heart
“Did not our heart burn within us …?” Luke 24:32
Here is another thought-provoking devotional written by Oswald Chambers. It is from the March 22nd reading from My Utmost for His Highest …
We need to learn this secret of the burning heart. Suddenly Jesus appears to us, fires are set ablaze, and we are given wonderful visions; but then we must learn to maintain the secret of the burning heart— a heart that can go through anything. It is the simple, dreary day, with its commonplace duties and people, that smothers the burning heart— unless we have learned the secret of abiding in Jesus.
Much of the distress we experience as Christians comes not as the result of sin, but because we are ignorant of the laws of our own nature. For instance, the only test we should use to determine whether or not to allow a particular emotion to run its course in our lives is to examine what the final outcome of that emotion will be.
Think it through to its logical conclusion, and if the outcome is something that God would condemn, put a stop to it immediately. But if it is an emotion that has been kindled by the Spirit of God and you don’t allow it to have its way in your life, it will cause a reaction on a lower level than God intended. That is the way unrealistic and overly emotional people are made. And the higher the emotion, the deeper the level of corruption, if it is not exercised on its intended level.
If the Spirit of God has stirred you, make as many of your decisions as possible irrevocable, and let the consequences be what they will. We cannot stay forever on the “mount of transfiguration,” basking in the light of our mountaintop experience (see Mark 9:1-9). But we must obey the light we received there; we must put it into action. When God gives us a vision, we must transact business with Him at that point, no matter what the cost.
We cannot kindle when we will The fire which in the heart resides, The spirit bloweth and is still, In mystery our soul abides; But tasks in hours of insight willed Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled.
The question I am asking my heart is this: Is my heart burning with the right things today? Is there something in my life that God is directing me to condemn in MY life? Good questions to think about and ponder. – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick
GPS – God’s Positioning System: Joshua 5-8; Psalm 77; Proverbs 24
Compass Pointers: Though I know intellectually how vulnerable I am to pride and power, I am the last one to know when I succumb to their seduction. That's why spiritual Lone Rangers are so dangerous - and why we must depend on trusted brothers and sisters who love us enough to tell us the truth. Charles (Chuck) Colson
Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1: Proverbs 12:25; Level 2: Proverbs 12:17-22
Anchored to the Rock: if you would have God hear you when you pray, you must heart him when He speaks. Thomas Brooks
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