The Heart of God

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning the 23rd of January, 2023 and this is your friend, Angus Buchan with a thought for today. If we start in the book of Jeremiah:

“But let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these, I delight,” says the Lord.”
Jeremiah 9:24

And then we go to the New Testament to Philippians 3:10 where Paul says:

“that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death…”

That I may know him... What is it that Jesus expects from me and you today? Well, Micah 6:8 says it very plainly. The Lord wants us, today, to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God.

You see, being a Christian is not a case of following a set of rules. It’s not learning a whole lot of scripture verses, a parrot can do that - probably better than you or I. It is to know Him intimately as a person. You see, you can know the Bible inside-out but if you have never met the author, it just makes you a history teacher, doesn’t it? It’s spending time with someone that helps you understand them.

My wife Jill knows what my favourite food is, she knows what my favourite colours are. I know the thing that makes Jill happy - it’s not buying her a bunch of flowers. No, it’s fixing a dripping tap and changing a fused light bulb. Those are the things that make my wife happy because I understand her - because I spend time with her.

Duncan Campbell was a Scottish evangelist. In the 1950’s he was invited to hold an outreach campaign on the islands on the west coast of Scotland. When he arrived with his little ship, probably expected to stay there for a couple of weeks, he was met with two old sisters waiting for him at the harbour. One was blind and the other was bent in two with arthritis. They asked him one question: "Mr Campbell, do you know God?" He answered: "I sincerely hope so ladies." They had been praying for revival for years on the west coast of Scotland and Jesus answered their prayers because they knew Him and they understood Him. A revival started in those islands that lasted for, I think, over a year, maybe two... People came from all over the world to see and hear what God was doing.

Today, spend time learning to understand the heart of God.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.