DOES YOUR HEART STILL BURN WITH IN YOU FOR JESUS
Luke 24:32 (KJV) 32And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
Just the other morning I went to the prayer chapel and the Spirit of the Lord was so heavy that all I could do was to fall on my face, prostrate myself and worship the Lord. At that moment I am sure my heart burned just like the day the disciples walked with Jesus. The Lord again made me realize just how much I need Him and how little I need me. When you feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in such a way you realize that it has nothing to do about you but everything to do about Him. I love Matt Reddman's song "The heart of Worship". It is a hard teaching for some but the songs main message is it is all about Jesus. Worship is not about how good it makes you feel. This is not about being elevated or excited. It is not about jumping up and down and singing praise songs. It is not about the preacher giving a good message with 3 points and a poem. The Hebrew word for worship is shaòchaòh shaw-khaw' this means to bow down to humble oneself. The Greek word for worship is ðñïóêõíÝù proskuneoô This word is even more humbling. It means to kiss or lick like a dog its masters hand. The root is two words, one meaning to bow forward and the second is a dog.
You see that when we worship the Lord the way we should it is a personal time. It is not what we have in Church today. The modern worship is geared toward one thing and one thing only, making the worshiper feel good. If the worshiper does not leave the services feeling uplifted and better than when they went in the modern church feels it has failed. Our modern worship is not geared to make our hearts burn for the Lord. It is not geared to bring us to the realization that we are nothing without the Lord. The current "new great man of God on the block" has been qouted as saying "it is not my job to convict people it is to make then feel good!" Study Jesus' words, He told it as it was He did not go around making people feel good!
The Lord has shown me personally, worship is like David said, Psalm 42:1-2 (NLT) As the deer pants for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and stand before him? The word that David uses here is pant which in the Hebrew means to long for or cry for. The word here for thirst in the Hebrew does not mean to just be thirsty but to be suffering from the lack of. As a young man I spent a lot of time in the deserts of New Mexico and Utah. I remember the times I did not bring enough water and would suffer the results, muscle cramps, nausea, headache's etc. Just like the side effects of real thirst, when we are not thirsty, when our hearts do not burn for the Lord, that fire in our hearts goes out and we become the group that Jesus refers to in Revelation. Revelation 3:15-16 (ASV) 15I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou were cold or hot. 16So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth.
The only way you can feel that burning in your heart for the Lord is to get alone and worship Him. Just like the disciples. Before they received the Holy Spirit and His power they waited, prayed and burned for the Lord for ten days. When the Lord walked and talked to them they did not talk about the weather. They did not sing praise songs while drinking their coffee's. No! they were listening to the Lord as He "open the scriptures to them." Oh, my friends I cannot count how many times during my worship times the Lord has opened His word to my little mind. So many times He will make the meaning of some scripture just as clear and bright as the morning sun. A scripture that I have pondered the true meaning of for years. Those of you who know me, know that I firmly believe in the way of the Apostles. That God and our Lord educates us for his work, not man and his doctrines. I have lost track of the times I have pondered a deep meaning of a scripture because of some religions definition or just my lack of knowledge. Then to go to deep worship and pray and have the Lord open that scripture to me just as if I was there when it was written. No, I am no one special this relationship with the Lord is open to anyone who wants to take the time and effort to get basics of worship.
Remember what happened when Peter first was exposed to the presence of Jesus? Luke 5:8 (NLT) 8When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, "Oh, Lord, please leave me-I’m too much of a sinner to be around you. Jesus did not have to preach a sermon to Peter. Jesus did not tell Peter he was there to make him feel good. All Jesus said was Luke 5:10 (NLT) …"Don't be afraid! From now on you'll be fishing for people!" 11And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus. You see their hearts burned within them for Jesus and what He had to offer. They did not think about it, they did not go to church and "worship" services they knew the only way to satisfy this burning in their hearts was to drop everything and follow Jesus.
Those who know me know one of my pet peeves is all the men and woman that get into ministry to glorify themselves. I cannot count how many web sites I have reviewed where it is all about the person not Jesus. You can always tell whom it is all about when you see a web site with either testimonies from visitors telling how great the owner of the ministry is or how they have been touched by them. The one I love is a Christian web site that has to have the special page just to show off all the awards they have gotten. But, my friends I have become like Paul, if the people or web sites preach Jesus then I rejoice. Philippians 1:15-16 (NLT) 15Some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. 16They preach because they love me, for they know the Lord brought me here to defend the Good News. 17Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. 18But whether or not their motives are pure, the fact remains that the message about Christ is being preached, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. You see Paul knew that burning in his heart for Jesus and he knew it did not matter why these people got into the ministry it only mattered that Jesus was preached. If you want your heart to burn again for Jesus it must be all about HIM! As each day goes by and I feel that burning I know that all that will matter is if I preach Jesus and the Lord will handle the rest. You see even though I turn 52 this week the old bumper sticker holds true. "Be patient with me God's not finished with me yet. "
Does your heart still burn for the Lord? If not my friend I would suggest you get away from the world and spend some time in private worshiping and waiting on the Lord. It will do you some good. God Bless
