{"id":178,"date":"2012-08-26T10:55:00","date_gmt":"2012-08-26T10:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=178"},"modified":"2012-08-26T10:55:00","modified_gmt":"2012-08-26T10:55:00","slug":"my-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=178","title":{"rendered":"My Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I am continuing to prepare for my SE Asia service trip. There are now 28 days (four weeks from today) until we leave. The plane tickets have been purchased. Training has begun. Details of what we\u2019ll be doing are coming together. God has blessed me abundantly. The excitement is building. It is really going to happen!<\/span><\/div>\n
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I purchased a couple of journals to take along. One for personal thoughts and one for blog writing. The journal that will be filled with my personal thoughts of the day is a pink book with \u201cJoy\u201d written on the front. There is a passage of Scripture at the bottom of each page. One reference got my attention.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\u201cThe cheerful heart has a continual feast.\u201d<\/span><\/i> (Proverbs 15:15b \u2013 NIV)<\/span><\/div>\n
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I love to eat! I love to entertain! I love feasting! And what could be better than a continual feast?<\/span><\/div>\n
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Memories of festivals come to mind from my past, and yes, they were enjoyable. Anticipation and excitement accompanied the prospect of attending a festival. And of course, the festival foods were a highlight.<\/span><\/div>\n
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But that isn\u2019t what this verse is speaking of.<\/span><\/div>\n
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When our hearts are in line God\u2019s heart, His plans, and His attitudes, \u201clife is as joyful and satisfying as the days of a festival.\u201d[i]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
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What do we need to do to get our hearts in line with God\u2019s? Let\u2019s explore what God\u2019s Word has to say about it.<\/span><\/div>\n
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We must ask for it. Psalm 51:10 (NIV) are David\u2019s words, but they are words we can pray as well. \u201cCreate in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.\u201d <\/i>Allowing God to work in us is a great first step.<\/span><\/div>\n
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David also notes that we are to seek God and hide God\u2019s Words in or hearts. \u201cI seek you with all my heart do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.\u201d <\/i>(Psalm 119:10-11 \u2013 NIV) Seeking and hiding are great ways to line up with God\u2019s heart.<\/span><\/div>\n
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In Acts 13:22 (NIV), Paul quoted God and this is what God said about David. \u201cI have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.\u201d <\/i>If we want to line our hearts up with God\u2019s heart, we need to do everything God wants us to do. <\/span><\/div>\n
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So what does God want us to do? Here are just a few verses that lead us in the direction of lining up with God\u2019s heart.<\/span><\/div>\n
Psalm 86:12 (NIV) shows us, \u201cI will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.\u201d <\/i>Our hearts praising and glorifying God will always line up with God\u2019s heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

We see in John 14:1 (NIV) that we are \u201cnot to let our hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.\u201d <\/i>When we trust in God, our hearts will be in line with God\u2019s heart.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Our hearts are filled with love because we have the Holy Spirit within us. Romans 5:5 (NIV) says, \u201cAnd hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.\u201d<\/i> Hearts filled with love line up perfectly with God\u2019s heart. Because God is love!<\/span><\/div>\n
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Allowing God\u2019s peace to rule our hearts put us in line with God\u2019s heart. Philippians 4:7 (NIV) tells us, \u201cAnd the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.\u201d<\/i> The benefit here? Our hearts will be protected.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Peace should be the ruler of our hearts. Colossians 3:15 (NIV) reminds us, \u201cLet the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
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And, we are to have thankful hearts. Peace and thanksgiving. These are qualities we are to possess for alignment with God\u2019s heart.<\/span><\/div>\n
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This is not an exhaustive list. There are other ways to place our hearts in line with God\u2019s. What passages do you recall? I\u2019d love to hear from you! Why not share?<\/span><\/div>\n
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I cannot wait to write in my personal journal. I believe God has great things in store for me as I walk the paths of this journey. I pray that my heart will continue to be in line with God\u2019s. I also pray that God will show me any undesirable thoughts or feelings that might be lingering in my heart.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\u201cThe cheerful heart has a continual feast.\u201d<\/span><\/i> (Proverbs 15:15b \u2013 NIV)<\/span><\/div>\n
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Grace and peace be yours in abundance,<\/span><\/div>\n
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Donna<\/span><\/div>\n

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[i]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>NIV Study Bible, 2002, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, pg. 1308.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am continuing to prepare for my SE Asia service trip. There are now 28 days (four weeks from today) until we leave. The plane tickets have been purchased. Training has begun. Details of what we\u2019ll be doing are coming together. God has blessed me abundantly. The excitement is building. It is really going to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_s2mail":"","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,13,16,15,25,23,14,19,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asking-god","category-finding-god","category-following-god","category-knowing-god","category-praising-god","category-seeing-god","category-seeking-god","category-thanking-god","category-trusting-god"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}