{"id":6633,"date":"2012-10-09T09:08:18","date_gmt":"2012-10-09T09:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=6633"},"modified":"2012-10-09T09:19:11","modified_gmt":"2012-10-09T09:19:11","slug":"our-hearts-desires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=6633","title":{"rendered":"Our Heart’s Desires"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Yesterday’s devotional from In Touch was a profound look at what we hope for in life, and how God has provided the opportunity for us to realize it.<\/p>\n

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This is the text from the devotional:<\/p>\n

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If you could have anything in the world, what would it be? Your answer reveals a lot about who you are. The psalmist writes, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4<\/span><\/a>). There is nothing wrong with desires–they motivate us to achieve great things. But not all of our yearnings come from God.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Consider your aspirations and what they say about who you are:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Do you hope for a position of authority in order to be in control? <\/strong>Longing for personal advancement in order to manipulate others reveals a lack of integrity, whereas a godly person craves righteousness.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Do you dream about wealth and fame? <\/strong>Perhaps there’s a void in your spirit that you’re trying to fill. But only God can meet the insatiable needs of the human heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Are you afraid to ask the Lord for what you want?<\/strong> Maybe you think He won’t listen, but God tells us to approach His throne with boldness and confidence (Heb. 4:16<\/span><\/a>)<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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If the Lord doesn’t respond affirmatively to your prayers, ask Him to make your desires conform to His will. Whatever you do, don’t take matters into your own hands and go after what you want. There is always a high price to pay for rebelling against God.<\/span><\/p>\n

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God cares for us bountifully, but that doesn’t mean we can expect Him to deliver whatever we want, whenever we want it. Only when our dreams align with His plan for our lives does He fulfill them. The thoughts that preoccupy us are an accurate barometer of the state of our relationship with Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Psalm 145:17-21<\/span><\/h3>\n

New Living Translation (NLT)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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17\u00a0<\/sup>The Lord is righteous in everything He does;<\/span>
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 He is filled with kindness.<\/span>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>The Lord is close to all who call on Him,<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0yes, to all who call on Him in truth.<\/span>
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>He grants the desires of those who fear Him;<\/span>
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 He hears their cries for help and rescues them.<\/span>
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>The Lord protects all those who love Him,<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0but he destroys the wicked.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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21\u00a0<\/sup>I will praise the Lord,<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and may everyone on earth bless His holy name<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0forever and ever.<\/span><\/p>\n

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I’ve often been asked why I believe so deeply in the words of scripture, God’s Holy Word? \u00a0It’s simple, it works, it has worked in my life. \u00a0God has brought about all His promises in my own life. \u00a0It is apparent in my relationships with family, and friends. \u00a0It is real, it bares the fruit that is promised in His word. \u00a0It is born out in the activities of each day. \u00a0He has met my needs and given me the desires of my heart.<\/p>\n

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His promises are available to anyone who makes themselves available to Him. \u00a0He is only asking one thing from us, follow His lead, He sacrificed everything to be with us, we have to sacrifice everything to be with Him. \u00a0When we do, He restores all we have sacrificed, and much, much more….. \u00a0No one, ever lost anything of value, in entering into a relationship with Him!<\/p>\n

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Blessings,<\/p>\n

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the pilgrim<\/p>\n

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Photo Note: \u00a0Lone tree standing against an adobe wall in Santa Fe. \u00a0 Point and Shoot compact camera.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Yesterday’s devotional from In Touch was a profound look at what we hope for in life, and how God has provided the opportunity for us to realize it.   This is the text from the devotional:   If you could have anything in the world, what would it be? Your answer reveals a lot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronicles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6633"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6640,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6633\/revisions\/6640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}