Storing the Treasure of Your Heart in Heaven
Weekly Overview:
Why should we spend time alone with God? Why is meeting with God in the secret place so important? Until we gain an understanding of the immense value and availability of encountering God, we will never consistently engage in this foundational, vital practice. As we discover God’s heart to meet with us in order that we might experience the depths of his love, I pray that your life would be marked by a new grace to consistently and powerfully encounter the living God.
Scripture: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”Matthew 6:19-21
Devotional:
In Matthew 6:19-21 Jesus teaches us an important spiritual principle we need to know in order to give God the entirety of our hearts. Scripture says:
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
You are the child of a loving God who is desperately jealous for the entirety of your heart. Matthew 6:19-21 illustrates a truth that spans beyond this world and into the fullness of eternity. You and I have an opportunity in this life either to give our hearts to God and receive an eternal reward, or to give our hearts to the world, which will only lead to destruction. We can either surrender all that we are and have to the perfect, pleasing plans of our heavenly Father or seek fulfillment, pleasure, status, and wealth in that which belongs to the world alone.
The absolute best way we can ensure our lives are fully surrendered and available to the Father is to spend the first moments of our day alone with him. If we are going to make the most of this life, we must set aside time to assess our thoughts, actions, and emotions. We must make time to take an honest look at our lives and discover whether we are truly living for God or for the world. And in response to a daily assessment, we must consistently engage in the process of confession so that our lives may be empowered by the forgiveness and love of the Father.
God longs for your life here on earth to impact eternity. He is a Father who has perfect plans to bless you in ways you cannot imagine. But God cannot bless that which is not best. He cannot reward you for doing that which is destructive. Choose to center your life around meeting with God that you might store up a wealth of eternal treasure. Open your heart to the Holy Spirit every morning that he may reveal anything that’s keeping you from experiencing the fullness of life Jesus died to give you. Surrender your life to the God who has greater things in store for you than you can ask or imagine. And experience the peace and joy that comes from allowing God to have the entirety of your life to bless and fill with his glorious nearness.
Guided Prayer:
1. Meditate on the truth of God’s word. Allow Scripture to fill you with a desire to surrender your life fully to God’s plans and love.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”Matthew 6:19-21
2. In what ways are you laying up treasure on earth? Where are you seeking fulfillment and provision from the world rather than God? What parts of your life are not God’s best for you?
3. Confess any sin in your life to God and take time to receive his forgiveness. God hates sin because it robs us of the fullness of life he longs to give. Once we confess our sins to him he truly forgives us. Don’t dwell on your sin, but rather on the goodness and grace of God.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
Oswald Chambers wrote, “Joy means the perfect fulfilment of that for which I was created and regenerated.”You were created and regenerated for unhindered communion with your heavenly Father. Experiencing true joy in this life will be the result of casting aside anything that chains your heart to this world. Live today for God alone and discover the wealth of life that comes from storing up your treasure in heaven.
Extended Reading: Ephesians 1
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