Devo: "Greatness, The Heart of the Father!"
"Greatness, The Heart of the Father!"
“Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.” (1 Chronicles 29:12)
When Shea and Michele were competing in sports or Shea was in a film competition or Michele was in a horse show, my heart was to see them exalted and recognized. My heart was to see them achieve greatness in whatever God had placed in their hearts to do.
I believe the heart of our Heavenly Father longs to see all of us walk in greatness, exponentially more than I could ever long for my children and grandchildren. The Word of God is true and there is no falsehood in it. The passage of scripture above tells us our God longs to make us great and strengthen us.
Yesterday we established the highest form of greatness, is being great in the sight of our God (Acts 1:15). How do we achieve and walk in the greatness of our God? I believe there are two characteristics of a man or woman who walks in the greatness of God.
The first characteristic is to purse after the Lord and His ways with all of our hearts. God told Jeremiah, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) When we long for the Lord with a whole heart, He promises we will find Him and when we find Him, we have everything.
God reaffirmed this truth when He declared to King Asa, “For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His…” (2 Chronicles 16:9) God is actively looking for men and women who are intentionally focused on allowing the Lord to possess every area of their hearts and lives.
God also tells us, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5–6) When we whole heartedly pursue Him and His ways, He is able to direct us into His greatness and fulfillment.
In the New Testament in Ephesians 3:17-20, God promises us when Jesus dwells in and is Lord in every area of our hearts, we will know and walk in love, we will have the fullness of God and in that place of complete surrender, our God is able to exceedingly and abundantly more than we can ask or think. In other words, God’s greatness is released into our lives.
Conversely, the Lord warns us in James 1:6-7, the double-minded person is unstable in all of his or her ways. God goes on to say, that person should not expect to receive anything from Lord. But I want to believe we are not men and women who are double-minded, but we are people who are whole-heartedly in pursuit of the Lord. We are people who pursue the Lord and His ways with a whole heart. We are intentionally allowing Jesus to dwell in every area of our lives. And as a result, I want to believe we will see the greatness of God in ways that is far greater than anything we can ask or think.