Storing the Treasure of Your Heart in Heaven.. Craig Denison Ministries

 

Storing the Treasure of Your Heart in Heaven

Craig Denison Ministries

Storing the Treasure of Your Heart in Heaven

Weekly Overview:

Why should we spend time alone with God? Why is meeting with God in the secret place so important? Until we gain an understanding of the immense value and availability of encountering God, we will never consistently engage in this foundational, vital practice. As we discover God’s heart to meet with us in order that we might experience the depths of his love, I pray that your life would be marked by a new grace to consistently and powerfully encounter the living God.

Scripture: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”Matthew 6:19-21

Devotional:

In Matthew 6:19-21 Jesus teaches us an important spiritual principle we need to know in order to give God the entirety of our hearts. Scripture says:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

You are the child of a loving God who is desperately jealous for the entirety of your heart. Matthew 6:19-21 illustrates a truth that spans beyond this world and into the fullness of eternity. You and I have an opportunity in this life either to give our hearts to God and receive an eternal reward, or to give our hearts to the world, which will only lead to destruction. We can either surrender all that we are and have to the perfect, pleasing plans of our heavenly Father or seek fulfillment, pleasure, status, and wealth in that which belongs to the world alone.

The absolute best way we can ensure our lives are fully surrendered and available to the Father is to spend the first moments of our day alone with him. If we are going to make the most of this life, we must set aside time to assess our thoughts, actions, and emotions. We must make time to take an honest look at our lives and discover whether we are truly living for God or for the world. And in response to a daily assessment, we must consistently engage in the process of confession so that our lives may be empowered by the forgiveness and love of the Father.

God longs for your life here on earth to impact eternity. He is a Father who has perfect plans to bless you in ways you cannot imagine. But God cannot bless that which is not best. He cannot reward you for doing that which is destructive. Choose to center your life around meeting with God that you might store up a wealth of eternal treasure. Open your heart to the Holy Spirit every morning that he may reveal anything that’s keeping you from experiencing the fullness of life Jesus died to give you. Surrender your life to the God who has greater things in store for you than you can ask or imagine. And experience the peace and joy that comes from allowing God to have the entirety of your life to bless and fill with his glorious nearness.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the truth of God’s word. Allow Scripture to fill you with a desire to surrender your life fully to God’s plans and love.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”Matthew 6:19-21

2. In what ways are you laying up treasure on earth? Where are you seeking fulfillment and provision from the world rather than God? What parts of your life are not God’s best for you?

3. Confess any sin in your life to God and take time to receive his forgiveness. God hates sin because it robs us of the fullness of life he longs to give. Once we confess our sins to him he truly forgives us. Don’t dwell on your sin, but rather on the goodness and grace of God.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

Oswald Chambers wrote, “Joy means the perfect fulfilment of that for which I was created and regenerated.”You were created and regenerated for unhindered communion with your heavenly Father. Experiencing true joy in this life will be the result of casting aside anything that chains your heart to this world. Live today for God alone and discover the wealth of life that comes from storing up your treasure in heaven.

Extended Reading: Ephesians 1

Divine Fingerprints Everywhere..SHAUNA NIEQUIST

 Divine Fingerprints Everywhere

SHAUNA NIEQUIST 

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” Psalm 139:7-12 (NIV)

Last fall, our younger son, William, started middle school, and that meant I needed to walk him to school and from school every day, about a 30-minute walk each way.

It’s a good thing, really — it’s great one-on-one time, and it’s good exercise.

But for the first month, getting used to it was embarrassingly hard — after more than two years of William walking with friends to his school just one block over, this new schedule felt like a lot … I was always late and dressed wrong for the weather, and my legs were mortifyingly sore, as though I were training for a marathon, not just walking to the West Village.

Something shifted, though, about six weeks into this new routine: I found that I’d started to look forward to it. My legs weren’t constantly tired anymore, and the part of the walk I did alone — after dropping him off or on the way to meet him in the afternoons — started to become one of my favorite times of the day.

I started what I call “delight hunting,” being on the lookout for beautiful, interesting or funny things: an ivy-covered building; the sun glinting off the Hudson River; a dog in a backpack, his front paw slung over his owner’s shoulder in such a human way that I still giggle when I think about it. I found a little secret garden near the school and sometimes left home early to sit there in the quiet. The walk became a source of delight, and I began to see God’s divine fingerprints everywhere. The psalmist of Psalm 139 seems to have felt the same way:

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you” (Psalm 139:7-12).

We see what we’re looking for. You know the phenomenon: You buy a Jeep Wrangler, and all of a sudden it seems like every third car on the road is a Wrangler. When you get a puppy, everywhere you go, there are puppies! Were there always this many puppies?

The opposite is true, too, of course. When you wonder if a friend is mad at you, every text from that friend supports your sneaking suspicion. After a series of delayed or canceled flights, when you look at the “arrivals and departures” board, all you see are the delays.

We see what we’re looking for, and what I’m looking for these days is delight. Beauty. Evidence of God’s sacred presence all around us and within us, in the face of every person on the sidewalk, in the intricacy of the flowers in that secret garden, in the sky as the sun rises and sets everything ablaze.

Theologian Eugene Peterson has said that “to eyes that see, every bush is a burning bush.”

That’s how I want to live: a witness to the glory of God all around us. Even — especially — on the school-pickup walk, on plain old streets and sidewalks, in the daily moments of life.

Dear heavenly Father, thank You for the beauty and vibrancy of the world You created. Please give me eyes to see what’s beautiful all around me and a heart that bends toward delight. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Godly Living in an Ungodly Age..Dr. Charles Stanley

 Godly Living in an Ungodly Age

Dr. Charles Stanley

Titus 1

Our Founding Fathers created a governing framework based upon biblical principles. Slowly, we have changed from “one nation under God” to a group of people who no longer want Him to be involved.

Tragically, we’ve become, in numerous ways, an ungodly nation: many are driven by materialism and power; immorality and rebellion are prevalent; empty philosophy and false doctrine are widely acceptable. Underlying it all is a vocal decision to take God out of the nation’s “official business.”

Yet even in an unbelieving society, people can, as individuals, follow Jesus. But the world will continually disseminate faulty teachings, so believers must be discerning. Otherwise, erroneous messages can lead Christians to compromise their convictions. Then affections and priorities may change. Don’t let the world’s clamor make the Spirit’s voice less audible. Without His guidance, our minds become vulnerable to lies.

The Word of God is a compass that keeps us headed in the right direction—even in the midst of confusing messages all around. We need to be consistently filled with truth by reading, believing, meditating upon, and applying Scripture. God also tells us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). If our minds are focused upon Him, unholy beliefs will not be able to take root.

The Word is our guidebook. We will still face difficulty as we live in this imperfect world—it is a confusing, dark place that entices us but never fulfills our true longings. Yet God’s truth will bring confidence and boldness, and His Spirit will direct and strengthen, enabling us to live victoriously.

God’s Hammer Soften Hearts..Lynette Kittle

 God’s Hammer Softens Hearts

by Lynette Kittle

“’Is not my word like fire,’ declares the Lord, ‘and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?’”  -- Jeremiah 23:29

Have you heard of God’s indestructible hammer as described in Jeremiah 23:29? If not, you may never have thought of God’s Word being like a powerful hammer.

The Old Testament often describes how at times, the Israelites hearts had hardened towards God. Zechariah 7:12 explains, “They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry.”

To have an adamant or hard heart describes a person who refuses to be persuaded, who is unmovable or unshakeable in their thinking. In Scripture, it refers to the spiritual condition of a person who is rebellious towards God’s law and His words.

By describing their heart condition as hard as flint, the hardest of stones and used to cut other rocks, meant their hearts were to the point where they were too hard to receive God’s law, to be carved or receive His words.

Yet God’s hammer, His Word, is able to judge the hardest of heart. It’s able to infiltrate into the deepest part of man’s heart and bring to light true motives, thoughts, and attitudes.

His hammer is able to break the unbreakable kind of rock, to shatter man’s stubbornness and arrogance against God.

As Hebrews 4:12 describes, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

R.C. Sproul writes, “God’s hammer smashes not just the icons of the world around us; it also smashes the idols of my heart. It is hard, heavy, even painful, precisely because of the love of the One who wields it. He has promised to forgive me for my hard heart but has also promised to soften it.”

Ezekiel 36:26 reveals God’s desire towards men, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and you a heart of flesh.”

Like a physical hammer shatters, God’s hammer demolishes spiritual strongholds as 2 Corinthians 10:4 explains “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”

With God’s hammer, as 2 Corinthians 10:5 describes, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

A Prayer for the Right Pace.. Ashley Moore

 A Prayer for the Right Pace 

By Ashley Moore

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” - Hebrews 12:1, NLT

I wouldn’t call myself a runner. The longest distance I’ve ever pounded out on the asphalt was just over three miles for a run my city hosted. In an attempt to prepare, I wanted to go a little extra, ensuring that on race day, I would successfully complete the mileage required.

If I wanted to finish the race strong, I had to practice! I spent many days leading up to race day, lacing up my sneakers, stretching my calves and hamstrings, and charting my course for the day. But the learning curve was steep! I would start off strong, allowing anticipation and nervous energy to fuel me. But then I’d hit a wall emptying my energy reserves too quickly. I realized running was all about finding the right pace. 

What about you? How is your pace of life? Do your feet hit the floor every morning in a hurry to check your email and get work started so you can coast into the evenings and weekends? Or are you more of a procrastinator? Do you postpone tasks until they can no longer wait, leaving yourself and others in a frenetic crunch to meet deadlines?

For me, depending on the day and task, I fall into both extremes. But that’s what both of those categories are—extremes. And the truth is, there’s a healthy tension, or for our purposes, there’s a healthy pace. Remember the nursery rhyme about the tortoise and the hare? Slow and steady is the pace we're looking for because, as Christians, we’re playing the long game. 

In Hebrews 12:1, Paul reminded us that the Christian life is a race. And the way he instructed believers to run indicates that he wasn’t talking about a sprint but a marathon. He specifically commanded that we run with endurance. The Greek word Paul used is hupemoné which means cheerful constancy, patient continuance, or, put simply, to wait. But why would Paul tell us to run a race and, in the next breath, tell us to wait or to run patiently? 

Paul knew following Jesus in a world full of temptations was going to be arduous, like running a long race. One that would require the right pacing. He knew we would fare better if we didn’t come out the gate ablaze and burn out too quickly. 

He also spoke to those of us who are slow starters to remind us that people need to see Christ in us. We need to continuously strip off the things that keep us from running well (Hebrews 12:1). Live a simple life, but invite someone who doesn’t know Jesus to partake in your daily activities to bear witness to Christ in you. We have to hold the tension; slow and steady wins the race.

Each of us has a race God has specifically carved out for us to run, whether we consider ourselves marathoners or not. The race won’t be an easy one all the time. We will need to train, run with endurance, and, most of all, master a sustainable pace so that we can finish strong. 

Let’s pray:

Lord, 
Thank you for the Word and how it both acknowledges the hardship we face as Christians and simultaneously offers us direction and encouragement. Jesus, as we seek to live in ways this year that honor you, I pray you would help us do so at a sustainable pace for the path you carved out for us. You know how long each of us will be on earth and you know each and every sin, weight, struggle, and limitation that threatens to take us off course. You knit us together with gifts, talents, and stories that specifically minister to those in our spheres of influence. I pray you’d use our efforts to run with endurance to draw others to salvation in you. Let us continue to remember the great cloud of witnesses who have run faithfully as proof that you will supply what we need to finish strong. May we run with endurance, just as those did before us, and in a way that spurs on those who come after us.
In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Facing Earthly Struggles..Lynette Kittle

 Facing Earthly Struggles

by Lynette Kittle 

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” -Ephesians 6:12

Growing up my junior high best friend, Peggy, loved professional wrestling. It was an unknown world to my sheltered pastor’s kid background. Little did I know when she invited me to watch it with her, I would be taken on an emotional roller coaster as she cheered, cried, threw herself on the floor, beat the tabletop, and shouted throughout the match.

Oh, the drama! To her, it was all so real, while I watched her and the matches in disbelief. Although I’ve heard it’s mostly staged for entertainment and wrestlers are putting on a show, to fans like Peggy it’s a real battle being fought between good and evil, Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes pitted against his Evil Nemesis.

Looking Beyond Appearances
Like many fans may be unaware of what’s really happening in pro-wrestling events, often real-life situations can be deceiving to those looking merely at the outward appearances and actions. It can seem and feel like individuals and groups coming against us are our personal enemies, however, Scripture reminds us that there is more to what’s really occurring beyond what we see, hear, feel, and experience.

Although opposition may look and feel personal, in reality, they are really opposing God and those who represent Him on earth. Most of our earthly opponents are unaware of how they are actually being played by the devil and his cohorts to go after us.

Although it’s easy to seem like our opposition just hates us, it’s much deeper than most of us and even many of them understand. There are spiritual forces behind their feelings and actions causing them to believe they are expressing their own thoughts and feelings when in truth they are being influenced by evil spiritual forces that hate God.

Like 2 Corinthians 4:4 describes, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

Beyond their own comprehension, unbelievers are being used to war with God, with many being completely unaware of who is leading them in their thinking and actions.

So How Do We Successfully Face Struggles?
Often we as believers can lose sight of who is fighting us, too, causing us to start trying to wrestle on a human level. But God has called us to a higher form of defense on a spiritual level because that’s where the real scuffle is taking place. So how do we face struggles on spiritual levels from our human standpoint?

1. Prayer is our first point of defense. James 5:16, explains how the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Spending time in prayer is number one defense against the attacks of our spiritual enemies. As well, 1 Chronicles 5:20 describes how when some of the tribes of Israel were in combat with their enemies, God heard their cries during the battle and answered their prayers for help because they trusted in Him.

2. Praise defeats the enemy. 2 Chronicles 20:21,22 describe a battle scene where King Jehoshaphat sent men ahead of his army to sing to the Lord and praise Him for the splendor of His holiness saying, “Give thanks to the Lord, for His love endures forever.” As they began to sing and praise the Lord, God caused the enemy to begin fighting among themselves rather than attacking his army. 

Praise is a powerful line of defense in the life of every believer. Like Exodus 15:2 describes, “The Lord is my strength and my defense; He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.”

Spiritual Weapons Win the Battles
As Christians, what happens in the spiritual directly affects the outcome of the struggle in the physical. Protection from the enemy’s attacks comes when we trust God and turn to Him for help. Like Isaiah 54:17, assures, “’No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from Me,’ declares the Lord.”

By putting into practice God’s spiritual ways of dealing with the enemy through speaking words that come from our heart to the heart of God through prayer and praise, we will see Him move on our behalf.

Intersecting Faith & Life:
Set some time aside to look at the struggles you’ve been facing. Examine ways you can address them using the spiritual weapons God has provided.

Further Reading: 
2 Corinthians 6:4-10
2 Corinthians 10:3-6

Start the New Year Prepared..Katy McCown

 Start the New Year Prepared

by Katy McCown

When yo go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.” Isaiah 43:2 (NLT)

“I’m not doing this again,” I proclaimed, and I meant it with all my heart.

Just a few days before, I spent a dark, rainy weekend packing our lives into boxes and then unloading them into a new place in a new city.

Though the bulk of the work was behind me, I felt exhausted and unsatisfied. I didn’t look forward to new memories and planting roots, because this new place had no more certainty than the last one. I feared another weekend much like the one I’d just experienced was all too close.

So, I announced I wasn’t doing it again. But my husband’s career requires us to relocate often, so although I knew I couldn’t cling to the idea of never moving again, I could purpose to do it differently the next time.

Why do we need this lamp? There are perfectly fine lights on the ceiling. Who needs headboards for the beds? The wall will be support enough. This dresser isn’t necessary.We can stack clothes on the shelf in the closet.

And so it went. One thing at a time, I whittled away at our stuff and created a simpler, much more manageable life of mobility.

In today’s key verse, God talks to His people, the Israelites, as they begin a journey. After years in captivity, they rejoiced at the freedom to return to their homeland. But to get there, they would have to travel a long distance.

Their travel would look quite different from ours — no plane to catch and no trailer to haul their stuff. So you can imagine the challenge this nation would face when they found themselves standing in front of deep waters or difficult rivers.

Men, women, children, livestock and all their belongings would have to find a way through these physical obstacles.

Though we may not come upon an actual river, we will likely encounter something this year that mimics a rushing current or suffocating smoke. Notice how our key verse says, “When you go through deep waters … When you go through rivers of difficulty … When you walk through the fire of oppression.”

When. Not if.

The nation of Israel was guaranteed to encounter all of these on their journey, and I think we can count on it too. So let’s prepare for it, shall we?

When I realized the uncertainty of my family’s future, I purposed to get rid of all of the extra, unnecessary things that weighed us down. The things we absolutely could live without and would ultimately free us up to follow God wherever He chose to lead us.

Since that day, my family has moved every single year. And that’s okay. Our things are now so simplified we can do it in a matter of hours. Our last move demanded my husband and me, and about two hours of our time. That’s it.

Consequently, I no longer dread future moves, because I know we’re prepared for it.

We all have extra. Sometimes in our physical surroundings. Sometimes in our spiritual ones. To face the troubles sure to surface, we need to get rid of the extra.

When the water is deep, your feet can’t feel the bottom. And your body is tired, but the other side is still so far away. That one thing you don’t need could be the one thing that drags you under.

Of course, no matter how prepared we feel, we’ll never be able to conquer our troubles alone. God didn’t just warn of potential problems ahead, He included promises to stand on in the midst of them.

God will be with us. We will not be overtaken. We will not be utterly consumed.

As we head into a new year, let’s start this one prepared, so when we face the trials of life we will stand. Undaunted by deep waters. Ready for rivers of difficulty. Fearless in the face of the fire.

Dear God, thank You. Thank You for the smiles and laughs and songs and prayers all shared in the year past. And thank You for the promise of Your presence as I travel through this year. Through deep waters and difficult rivers and oppressive heat, You promise You will be with me. May my actions prove Your promises this year. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:

James 1:2-4, “Don’t run from tests and hardships, brothers and sisters. As difficult as they are, you will ultimately find joy in them; if you embrace them, your faith will blossom under pressure and teach you true patience as you endure. And true patience brought on by endurance will equip you to complete the long journey and cross the finish line — mature, complete, and wanting nothing.” (VOICE)