{"id":1571,"date":"2012-07-29T06:00:01","date_gmt":"2012-07-29T06:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/first15\/2012\/07\/gods-heart-doesnt-stop-with-us\/"},"modified":"2012-07-29T06:00:01","modified_gmt":"2012-07-29T06:00:01","slug":"gods-heart-doesnt-stop-with-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/first15\/2012\/07\/gods-heart-doesnt-stop-with-us\/","title":{"rendered":"God&#8217;s Heart Doesn&#8217;t Stop with Us"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Weekly Overview:<\/h2>\n<p>One of the greatest privileges as a child of God is that we can have the heart of our heavenly Father. We don\u2019t have to wonder how he feels about us. We don\u2019t have to wonder if he will guide us. We don\u2019t have to question whether he loves us or cares about us. Through the Holy Spirit we have continual, free access to the heart of God. May your relationship with God go deeper and become freer as we learn how to have God\u2019s heart this week.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Scripture:<\/h2>\n<p><em>\u201cBeloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.&#8221;<\/em> 1 John 4:7<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"worship\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Worship:<\/h2>\n<h3>The Wick (Spontaneous) by Housefires<\/h3>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"display: block; margin: auto auto 30px auto; width: 100%; float:left;\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: block; margin: auto; float: left; border: 1px solid #000000; background-color: #484846; padding: 2px; -moz-border-radius: 3px; -khtml-border-radius: 3px; -webkit-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px;\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Q_cX0-wBoGs?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Devotional:<\/h2>\n<p>As wonderful and life-giving as it is to access the heart of God for ourselves, having God\u2019s heart isn\u2019t meant to stop with us. His heart is meant to fill us, empower us, and transform us to live in such a way that we are light in the darkness. In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus said:<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.<\/em><\/div>\n<p>As a believer you can reveal the heart of God to others. You\u2019ve been given access to a deep, revelatory knowledge of God\u2019s love that you might shine the light of God\u2019s goodness to a world that only knows darkness. You can reveal the heart of God through the way you honor rather than speaking ill. You can represent the humility of Jesus by serving rather than being self-seeking. You can reveal God\u2019s grace by offering compassion when others treat you poorly. And you can display the courage that comes from a true understanding of God\u2019s unconditional love by living authentically rather than building up a false image.<\/p>\n<p>You were made to share God\u2019s heart. You were made to co-labor with him in seeing the gospel be proclaimed and bear fruit in the lives of others. Ephesians 2:10 says, <em>\u201cFor we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.&#8221;<\/em> God has work prepared for you today. Look for opportunities to share what God is doing in your life. Look for ways you can be a reflection of the aspects of God\u2019s heart he\u2019s revealing to you. Don\u2019t let the love of God be contained to you like a secret, but share it freely, knowing that his love never runs out and is what every human heart is searching for.<\/p>\n<p>Take time in guided prayer to allow God to fill you with passion to reveal his heart to a world in desperate need of restored relationship with him.<\/p>\n<h2>Guided Prayer:<\/h2>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\n<p><strong>1. Meditate on the importance of sharing God\u2019s heart with the world.<\/strong> Allow Scripture to fill you with a desire to be a reflection of God\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cFor we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.&#8221;<\/em> Ephesians 2:10<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cBeloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.&#8221;<\/em> 1 John 4:7<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cIn the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.&#8221;<\/em> Matthew 5:16<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. What aspect of God\u2019s heart can you share with someone today?<\/strong> What part of God\u2019s character can you reflect to the world around you?<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Ask the Holy Spirit to put a person or group of people on your heart that he wants you to love well today.<\/strong> Ask him how he wants to use you to reveal the heart of God. Journal his response.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>An important aspect of sharing God\u2019s heart is trusting in faith that he will use you. When you choose to live a life co-laboring with your heavenly Father you get to experience the supernatural. It\u2019s miraculous when people choose to accept Jesus. It\u2019s astounding when our service, compassion, and love tears down walls around people\u2019s hearts that they might be more open to God. Don\u2019t just live a normal life today. Allow God to use you by sharing his heart. May your day be filled with wonder and awe at your heavenly Father who uses you in mighty and powerful ways.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Extended Reading:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=1+John+4&#038;version=ESV\" rel=\"alternate\">1 John 4<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Weekly Overview: One of the greatest privileges as a child of God is that we can have the heart of our heavenly Father. We don&#8217;t have to wonder how he feels about us. We don&#8217;t have to wonder if he will guide us. We don&#8217;t have to question whether he loves us or cares about&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":636,"featured_media":1574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-first15"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>God&#8217;s Heart Doesn&#8217;t Stop with Us<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Weekly Overview: One of the greatest privileges as a child of God is that we can have the heart of our heavenly Father. We don&#8217;t have to wonder how he feels about us. We don&#8217;t have to wonder if he will guide us. 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