After God's Own Heart

Acts 13:22 (NLT) But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’

One of my greatest desires and constant prayer is to be a woman after God's own heart. As humans we often look to Him to get our own needs met. He desires to bless His children and He says in His Word that if we ask not, we have not. He takes pleasure in meeting our needs and blessing us as we humbly come to Him, realizing we just can't make things happen without His divine intervention. That's all good, but this devotion is about going to the next level with the Lord as we seek His face not just His hands.

What does it mean to be a man or woman after God's own heart? How does that look or what does it entail? The example we are given in the Word is that of David. Though he was far from perfect, He trusted and loved God with all his heart. In Acts 13:22, God says He entrusted him with the kingship because he was a man that could be trusted to do EVERYTHING God wanted him to do! Wow!

Sounds easy enough huh? If God came to you and asked you to do something, you probably think you would do it as well. Do you know that God does have a plan for your life and just as David, He expects you to obey, but the difference is... are you as close to Him as David was... are you hearing His heart and obeying His will? What's your priority, your desires or His? Will you obey even if it's uncomfortable...?

How did a man like David ever get that close to God? He struggled with sin, lust and even murder, but he didn't live in a place of surrendering to evil. His heart chased earnestly after His Lord. As he sinned, he felt the pain of his separation from God. He did not make excuses but came to Him in sincere and humble repentance. Though he was king, his worship was uninhibited, and he was willing to suffer shame and ridicule in order to bless Him with all his heart and might.

God's Word states that without faith we cannot please God... my favorite declaration of faith was in David's words... as just a boy, he boldly faced the giant and shouted, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied." He had fearless faith in the one he worshipped, loved, and trusted with His life.

To be a man or woman after God's own heart we must exchange our limited earthly views and ideologies for a Kingdom perspective and surrender EVERY area of our lives trusting that His will is greater than our own. And we must spend time getting to know Jesus... falling deeper and deeper in love with the one who set us free... The Lord inhabits the praises of His people! Give Him the heartfelt praise and worship He deserves! As our hearts focus on Him... seeking His pleasure above our own... willing to do EVERYTHING He asks... we too will be called a people after His own heart!

Psalm 22:3-5 (KJV) But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

1 Samuel 13:14 (KJV) But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought Him a man after His own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over His people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.

2 Samuel 6:20-22 (NLT) When David returned home to bless his own family, Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet him. She said in disgust, “How distinguished the king of Israel looked today, shamelessly exposing himself to the servant girls like any vulgar person might do!” David retorted to Michal, “I was dancing before the Lord, who chose me above your father and all his family! He appointed me as the leader of Israel, the people of the Lord, so I celebrate before the Lord. Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes! But those servant girls you mentioned will indeed think I am distinguished!”