THE HEARTBEAT OF GOD
(Play cd with heartbeat on)
What a sound, something alive, something real. WOW. To hear that sound we have to be pretty close. Like lying on one’s chest. Then how much closer does one have to be to God. You cannot just go around and ask ‘can I listen to your heart, ‘ boy oh boy I can just imagine all the responses you would get, especially the women, you would probably get a slap in the face.
Ok, now we heard last week that we need to have a power touch of God, turn with me to Genesis 12:1-7
We hear that Abram had a word for God just like we do today. We often think of great figures of the bible as people who encountered God in a different way from us.
If we only had their faith.
If only we could hear God as clearly as they did then, we would also be GREAT SAINTS.
God called Abram into a relationship with Himself out of a civilisation just as complicated as today. The heartbeat of God is still detectable today, if we only listen for it. (Proverbs 1:23-24)
How do we do that?
We need to remove ourselves from the hustle and bustle, the busyness of life; it is very hard when you are distracted by everything under the sun. We need to take time. That is what JESUS DID. But now we must be careful not to put Jesus in a box and separate Him from the rest of our lives. In every aspect of our lives God should be in control. (Romans 6:17). Now if we have our entire life under His control then we should be able to connect with Him: in the midst of our activities: detect His presence in ordinary tasks: He is just as real as He is on Sunday morning worship.
Come people we need to get this: I love to watch guys watch rugby, have you noticed how they shout at the tv, so then I ask why not shout to God, ask Him to open your ears, ask Him to help you hear Him.
If our awareness of God is only on a Sunday then we are missing out, not only on fellowship but hearing Him. (now people listen to me, it is not going to be a big loud voice coming out of the heavens that will make you jump of out of your skin but maybe just your own voice inside your head.)
If we listen hard enough we will discover that God is still ahead of us, not beside us or behind us. There is still a heartbeat even in the mess of our lives. (Whether angry, cross, upset – your heart still beats). God is still waiting there to be found.
Abram learned quickly what was required, to keep in touch with this living God, not only to hear the heartbeat but to follow it. (Would you uproot your whole family and leave for a place where there might not be hot running water?) That involves trust.
Abram started out not knowing where he was going, only who he was going with.
The heart of god was to redeem His creation from waste and see its true potential. God did not ruin Abram’s life but enriched it. (Joke about me, Deon. Positive words – Afrikaans simple, English supid)
Abram was just one single person:
God had a plan
A clear purpose for the centuries ahead
A plan that reaches us today
Through one all the families of the earth would be blessed
The heart of God embraces the whole world with His love.
And if God is the creator of the universe and knows what is best for this world then why do we fight against it, what better way to live then living in harmony with the rhythum of that heartbeat and trust it to guide our lives. More than that God does not want us just to hear his heartbeat but to put His very heart in us. (2 Peter 1:4)
Ezekiel 36:26
Abram teaches us that what we see with our eyes is not all there is to see, all that we hear with our ears is not all there is to hear. If we listen carefully we can hear the heartbeat of God, just like when we are quiet we can hear ours. God is patiently waiting for us to let Him work in us and thru us.
The heartbeat of God is the heart of man. Good news will come easily from your lips when Jesus Christ reigns completely in your heart. Romans 10:10
Why is it today that our hearts can beat strongly for the ones we love and that we are close to. (I love you all, I don’t know you but I love you with the grace of God) but when it comes to God, the heartbeat slows down, but God stays the same, His love stays the same.
So
How is your heart today?
Play cd with heartbeat. (you have this 60 beats a min, 60 min an hour, 24 hours in a day, 365 days in a year and so it goes on)
So I ask again
HOW IS YOUR HEART TODAY?
