God had a prescribed place for the children of Israel to worship. His instructions were for them to destroy all the places where the enemy nations had worshiped their false gods. Deuteronomy 12:3 says, “And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire…” 

As I read this verse, my mind skipped to another scene. Gideon had built an altar and worshiped the Lord after he received his startling announcement. The Lord would use Gideon to save Israel from the hand of the Midianites.

First, however, he had a specific assignment to fulfill. Judges 6:25 says, “Now it came to pass the same night that the Lord said to him, Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it.”

Read verse 26 which says, “…and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.” The Lord did not want any groundwork left for future temptations. Ephesian 4:27 says, “Nor give place to the devil.” The Greek word for place means opportunity.

2 Corinthians 10:4 describes our destructive weapon as God’s word. It says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.” Leaving future temptations takes up real estate in our heart, that the enemy uses (inner strongholds) to keep us captive. The children of Israel did not obey the Lord’s command and they became ensnared.

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Deuteronomy 7:7-8 says, “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you…”

This was written about Israel. Deuteronomy 32:10 says, “He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept his as the apple of His eye.”

As you read Jeremiah 31:3, insert your name. It says, “…Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

We were without hope. We were spiritually dead. We were bound and held captive with no way to escape. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” (Ephesians 2:4-5).

1 John 4:8 says, “…God is love.” That is the very core of His entire being. Verse 19 says, “We love Him because He first loved us.” His love for us was before ~ no effort on our part. The Father drew us to the One Who died for us. He put His hand on the latch of the door to our heart. He captured us by inserting a yearning in our heart to respond.

What do you yearn for? What captures your heart and won’t let go? James 4:5 says, “Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously?” The J. B. Phillips says, “…passionate jealousy.” 

The Holy Spirit desires to capture all of our heart’s real estate. The children of Israel yearned (craved) for the things in their past. Their hearts were divided. Numbers 11:5-6 says, “We remember…but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing except this manna before our eyes.” They shunned God’s miraculous provision.

The verse in James was in the context of loving the things of this world. Verse 3 says, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”

If your heart is divided, I encourage you to ask the Lord to set a yearning for Him in your heart. A seed of yearning for Him will bear fruit. It is a prayer that He will answer because that is His heart’s delight ~ us delighting in Him as He delights in us.

Asking Him to plant that seed of yearning plays out like this verse. I’m capitalizing it as though she is speaking about the Lord. Song of Solomon 5:4 says, “My Beloved put His hand by the latch of the door, and my heart yearned for Him.”

Although this was Moses’ instruction specifically to the children of Israel, it is a timeless truth that we can apply in our lives. Think of this verse in light of our country’s state right now. 

Deuteronomy 11:22-23 says, “For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do—to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him—then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves.”

The promise was conditional. These were Jesus’ words to His disciples. Again, it is a timeless word that we must take to heart as well. Consider it like a thermometer. Stick this in your heart and see what your temperature of love registers.

It says, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” I believe the manifestation comes through our intimate communion with Him. 

He reveals His multifaceted character as we delight in His delighting in us. He also reveals Himself in ways we have never known Him in the crucible of our trials. He suffered for us, so He knows how to comfort us in our time of need.

Every blood bought child of God is kept by His love. Nothing can separate us from it. However, He makes Himself known to those who spend time with Him through His word~keeping it or holding fast to it. In Ephesians 3:19 Paul wrote about experientially embracing His love.

Are you consciously aware of how much the Lord delights in you? Does your heart acknowledge His delighting in you? Picture yourself in this scene. Zephaniah 3:17 says, “The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” 

If your heart does not agree, then the enemy has set up a stronghold of lies in your heart. We have to remember that not every thought is of our origin. I learned his truth in 1993, and it literally began shaking the strongholds of lies that were holding me captive.

When our heart does not agree with what Scripture says about us, then we have believed one of satan’s lies. Folks make excuses for their hidden sin because their heart does not agree with Numbers 32:23. It says, “…you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out.”

Those who have not accepted how the Lord has made them, do not agree with Psalm 119:73. It says, “Your hands have made me and fashioned me…” For years I lived in self-hatred and self-rejection because my heart didn’t connect with the truth that would set me free.

So it is as we daily read His word for understanding. If we are attentive, the Holy Spirit will finger an area of unbelief in our heart. He knows the lies that are buried there and forgotten. They were planted by satan to control us from within. They keep us from fully embracing His empowerment through grace.

I was reading along in Deuteronomy. I felt the Holy Spirit stop me at Deuteronomy 10:15. Yesterday I used Psalm 37:4. The Hebrew word for that delight is different from the one today which says, “The Lord delighted only in your fathers, to love them…”

The Hebrew word means to be attached to or to long for. We are all created to have a relationship with the Lord. He has set eternity in every heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11), and we are all made in His image (Genesis 1:26).

Now let’s take the Deuteronomy verse the rest of the way because it includes us. “…and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples to this day.” Every believer is the fruit of Abraham’s faith. He believed God’s word.

Pause and think about how the Lord chose you. Ephesians 1:4 says that it was before He laid the foundation of the world. The Lord delights in us as His children with the intent to love us. He desires us. He wants to spend time with us. He knows us, but He invites us to know Him intimately.

Psalm 147:11 says, “The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy.” The Hebrew for ‘takes pleasure’ is to be favorable to. It makes me think of Psalm 5:12. It says, “For You, O Lord, will bless the righteousness; with favor You will surround  him as with a shield.”

May your heart be lifted up today in thanksgiving for all that He had done for you through His death on the cross.

Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.”

Psalm 1:2 says, “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.” What we dwell on in our mind, affects our heart. Jeremiah 15:16 says, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name.”

Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” How much time do you spend drinking from the river of His pleasures? According to David that is where we will find satisfaction.

Psalm 36:8-9 says, “They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.”

Psalm 63:5 says, “My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.” Jeremiah rejoiced because he spent time eating and digesting God’s word. 

I love Psalm 103:5. It is part of my prayer of thanksgiving before I eat. It says, “Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” It isn’t talking about food, but that is the application I make.

What our hearts delight in comes out of our mouths. Psalm 119:92 says, “Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction.” This is my testimony with an exclamation mark. Is it yours?

Happy Thanksgiving ~ may your heart be filled and overflowing today with thanksgiving for all that the Lord has done through His death on the cross ~ for you

Father God, here we are as Your children. Brought up on Your knees. Chosen, cherished, and accepted. I ask You to teach us Your ways so that we do not get derailed, nor pulled into any compromise. Help us walk in Your truth with singleness of heart. Help us keep our focus on You and not our overwhelming circumstances. Nothing is impossible for You. Thank You for your unconditional love.

We bring God’s truths into our prayers ~ right from His word. When you are at a loss of how to pray for someone, take up any of Paul’s prayers. Colossians 1:9-11 is a great example. Use a few of the words, a phrase, or the whole verse.

Peter reminded his readers that we become partakers of Christ’s nature through His promises. 2 Peter 1:3 says, “As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him…” We cannot be a partaker unless we spend time getting to know the Lord.

Remember what He said to those who didn’t have the word in them? John 5:39 says, “You search the Scriptures…but you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” We commune with the Lord through His word.

John 15:1-8 was His discourse about the vine. Verse 7 says, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” As we pray His word, it becomes our heart’s change agent. Our desires are shaped through praying Scripture.