Getting Back to the Heart of God

The Kingdom Hero Show – Episode 76

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Welcome to The Kingdom Hero Show, where CHRIST is KING and the TRUTH matters! Our mission: To advance the Kingdom of God by shining the Kingdom Light everywhere we go!

On this episode, we’re gonna look at God’s nature – His true character – which is to say, His amazing love. We’ll talk about how we can put our priorities in check by lining up our hearts with His, and we’ll also get into some of the current events and see how we can apply what we’ve learned to that.

Those of you watching the video version of the podcast may have noticed I often wear shirts that are patriotic or that support our veterans. The one I’m wearing today is one of those. This is something that’s very important to me personally.

Every day, about 22 veterans take their own lives. Many come home to civilian life and can’t adjust after things they’ve seen in combat. Whatever the reason, too many of them resort to suicide to escape the nightmares and chaos. Guys, there’s help. Write down this number: 1-800-273-8255, that’s 800-273-8255. The Veterans Crisis Line is available right now to those who need it. If you are a veteran, or if you know a veteran who’s going through a rough time, don’t hesititate to use that number. A confidential crisis chat is also available at VeteransCrisisLine.net, that’s VeteransCrisisLine.net, or you can send a text to 838255, again that’s 838255. Let’s end veteran suicide, folks. Help is just a phone call, chat, or text away. Share this information with others, and help us put a stop to veteran suicide today. Thank you.

Alright, lots to talk about, so let’s get into it…

– Open Tag: Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to Let the KINGDOM HEROICS Begin! –

The Things We Do for Love

I wanna brag on my neighbors for a minute here. We have some truly amazing neighbors. They’re almost like family to us. They have helped us out with things on numerous occasions. When I moved back to Tennessee last year, they were right there to help unload everything – boxes, furniture, appliances, everything.

The couple next door has even mowed our lawn on many occasions, just because they enjoy doing it. Just a couple of weeks ago, the lady was like, “Do you mind if we mow your yard?” They’d just finished their own lawn and wanted to go ahead and do ours, too, so they did. They’ve brought us food a lot of times, as well – not because we were starving, but just because they had more than they needed and wanted to share. Very kind and caring people, and we’re so very blessed to have them as neighbors. I love them.

But now, some people DO things in the hope that others will love them for it. The motivation is skewed. They want to be liked or admired, perhaps they just want to be SEEN doing something that’s considered nice or whatever. There are also those who will consent to do certain things when they’re dating people because they think that’s what they have to do to be loved. And that’s a big mistake. Some Christians even act like they believe doing things for God will make Him love them. But that’s not how love works.

Whether you’re doing something for God or for others, understand that the important thing isn’t the DOING. What’s important is the reason behind the action. What’s your motivation? This is where we separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. Go ahead and do the kind and helpful things to bless others or to bless God, but do them with the right motives in your heart. Your reason should be love – genuine, unconditional, agape love.

What results from you DOING something for someone else is not love. It might be gratitude or appreciation. But that’s not the same as love. In fact, DOING to receive love is backwards. My dad would say, “that’s putting the cart before the horse.” Even worse, it’s often not only backwards, but it can also in reality be manipulative. And that’s a whole other level of bad news. Manipulation is biblically considered a form of witchcraft. Do you realize that? It’s a terrible thing to practice. That definitely won’t fly with God. But my point here is that God loves us already, and He DOES things for us BECAUSE HE LOVES US. We should be DOING things for Him BECAUSE WE LOVE HIM.

What Does God Want from Us?

Hosea 6:6 says…

For I desire steadfast love (mercy) and not sacrifice,
    the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Let’s break that down. Mercy, or steadfast love, is a divine quality that we can only learn how to emulate by studying closely the character of God. He desires for us to continually seek after more and more knowledge of Him, learn His ways, and act accordingly. He sees that as way better than anything we could sacrifice to Him, such as offerings of money or goods. We can do those things, as long as it’s done out of love, but learning to demonstrate mercy toward people is much better.

You wanna please the heart of God? Learn to care for people the way He does. Out of a heart full of love, give to the poor, help the needy, mow your neighbor’s grass, bake them some cookies, (laughter) – you know? Seek after the nature of God, and train yourself to treat others in a way He wants you to – with love.

But here’s the thing God deserves most from us: Praise. He tells us that our praises are worth more than any other offerings. You may give Him a sacrifice of money (above the tithe that already belongs to Him), you may donate clothing or canned food to a local shelter, and these are good things to do, but we should also make it a practice to give God the praise He deserves.

Keep in mind, we praise God because He is worthy of it. It’s not because we want Him to love us – He already does! It’s not just because He’s been good to you – there’s a much more important reason for praising God. Yes, He sent Jesus to save us from our sins. Yes, He never leaves nor forsakes us. Yes, He is faithful to us even when we are not faithful to Him. But the number one reason why we praise God is because His holiness demands it! He’s worthy!

Whats more, there are some pretty fantastic benefits for us when we praise Him like we should. I’ll get into that in just a second.

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Praise Benefits

Alright, let’s look at what happens when we praise God. The Bible says He INHABITS the praises of His people. What does that mean? His very Spirit falls on us and dwells in our midst when we praise Him. The benefit of this is enormous for us! This is when miracles can happen. Sickness can be healed. Finances can be blessed. All kinds of glorious things can take place in the presence of God.

Praise is an elevator. When we lift God up, when we lift up our praises to Him, He doesn’t leave us down here on the basement floor in our mess. He lifts us up to the penthouse suite where He is, man! Isn’t that cool? He said if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. So when you praise God, dude, that’s like gettin’ on the special private elevator. You bypass all the other floors and head straight up to the top where all the goodness of God lives. Yeah!

Praise is our escape. You don’t have to depend on drugs or alcohol to help temporarily escape your pain, your frustrations, your circumstances. No, no. Offer up praise to God, and watch what He does for you. Watch your problems fade away into irrelevance. Praise Him any time and all the time, and your escape can be permanent! No unpleasant side effects, either. So in the midst of blessings, and in the midst of troubles, PRAISE GOD!

Let me tell you something, folks. If you seriously want to get to know the heart of God, spend as much time with Him as you possibly can. Take him everywhere you go. On the drive to work, praise Him. During the day, keep praising Him. Remember that old song that says, “I will bless the Lord at all times, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be on my lips.” That’s taken right from scripture. Live THAT, man. Discipline yourself to always be uttering praises to God for all He’s done, His faithfulness, His goodness. Your whole outlook on life will change! You’ll be amazed at the difference it’ll make.

Your attitude on the job, around friends and coworkers, will get a much-needed renovation. People will probably start to notice a difference in you, and that can lead to a witnessing opportunity. Others will see the positive transformation in you and think, “Man, I want whatever it is that HE’S got! (or SHE’S got)” Spending time with God will change your life. And let me say this, conversely… If your life hasn’t been changed for the better, or you at least haven’t felt that change, or it hasn’t been a deep and lasting change, then you aren’t spending enough time with your Creator. It really IS just that simple.

We can’t get in touch with that love that exists at the center of God’s character without spending time with Him. There is so much depth and length and breadth and height to that love. It is unlike anything else in the history of, EVER. And we need it. Man, do we need it! That’s the stuff that gets you through the toughest days and the longest nights. It’s what makes life worth living. And yeah, it’s what changes us in all the ways we need changing. And it’s only found in the heart of God, y’all. You gotta SEEK IT!

[excerpt from Zach Williams – “Heart of God”]

Yes, indeed. There’s only love in the heart of God. Love that song there by Zach Williams. And speaking of the heart of God, it’s almost time to apply what we’ve learned. We’re gonna look at a couple or so current events and figure out how we can use that Godly attitude of love as the rudder that steers our ship. We’ll do that right after I mention this…

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Okay, this is what’s tough a lot of times. When we look at the way things are going today, all the corruption and evil around us, let’s be honest – love isn’t always in the forefront of our minds. But as we talked about in the last episode, we are called to love even our enemies. Those people we disagree with socially, politically, whatever – we gotta love ’em because God does, and He tells us to.

So, I hope you’re ready. Here’s our first challenge…

Recent reports say that the US Navy has enlisted the help of an active-duty squadron administrator, who also identifies as a “non-binary” drag queen by the name Harpy Daniels, in hopes of attracting new recruits. Daniels will serve as the Navy’s “Digital Ambassador” for inspiring more civilians to join up. This is part of the woke-ification of our military, and another effort to normalize abhorrent behavior.

But hold on now, we can’t just write this guy off as simply a delusional cross-dresser. He’s also a person who desperately needs Jesus. God created this man and loves him, even though he’s currently in denial of his male gender. Too often, we look at people like this and act like they can’t be saved. We view the person with disdain because all we see is the sin. I certainly am thankful that’s not how God looks at me. He sees me through the purifying blood of Jesus, and I’m clean and forgiven in His eyes.

I’m not saying we should condone sin by any means. But I AM saying that we need to learn to look at those who are lost with a heart of love. Pray for them to have an encounter with God and come into His saving grace. The truth is, we are living in a time when there are many people who are confused and struggling with their identity. Satan has capitalized on this and actively leads those people down a road that seems to give them an identity to grab hold to – but it’s a false identity that serves to lead them away from God’s truth.

God wants people like this to learn who they are truly meant to be, and that can only happen in the pursuit of Him. Instead, the fleshly nature wants to pursue self and seek after worldly acceptance. The trans-delusion is an attractive escape for many, but it doesn’t deal with the real source of emptiness and loneliness they are trying to cure with whatever the current social trend is. Like anyone else, they want to feel accepted. So we have to be ready to reach out to them with God’s love when the opportunity arises.

Let’s move on to the next story…

Kash Patel, former chief of staff at the Pentagon and former deputy director of national intelligence, is suing the Department of Defense for “obstructing and infringing” on his right to publish unclassified information in his upcoming book. That book, which reveals secrets about the deep state, is titled, Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy. In it, Patel provides firsthand knowledge and pulls back “the curtain on the Deep State, revealing the major players and tactics within the permanent government bureaucracy.” He is suing the DOD for unreasonably delaying his book’s publication.

Obviously, there are forces at work to keep hidden things hidden. As with many other examples of corruption within government, we have to be prepared to look on these things as God does. Evil definitely has an agenda, which is at odds with God’s Kingdom. While we must stand firm for what is right and just, we also need wisdom to know which hills to fight on. Every war has casualties. Prayer and careful seeking of God’s will is crucial in times like these.

Not only this, but the stuff that breaks God’s heart ought to break ours…

Here’s a recent tweet from Abby Johnson, who once worked for Planned Parenthood until her heart was forever changed by the brutality she saw.

The overturning of Roe v. Wade was a step in the right direction, but the travesty of abortion is still a blight on human existence. God’s heart surely weeps over this, and so should ours. This in turn ought to embolden us to speak out for those who can’t speak for themselves. We must bravely continue to expose the awful truth of abortion regardless of the blowback. Don’t let the fear of what someone may think of you mute your witness on behalf of the unborn.

And pray. Yes, definitely pray that we as a nation will turn from this wickedness and invoke the healing power of God’s hand. Pray fervently for this abominable evil to be swept from our land completely. Pray for eyes to be opened, and for hearts to be changed. Abby’s was. When people are made to see abortion for what it really is, it will turn their stomachs. It is a sick and barbaric practice, and we cannot allow the evil narrative that it’s merely a medical procedure keep people blind to its horror.

Perhaps the most challenging task for us is to show love toward those we see as enemies within our own government. We’ll get there in just a moment…

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What about all those corrupt politicians?

While we need to call out evil when we see it and boldly stand against it, we often tend to see many politicians in a jaded light out of contempt for their questionable actions. Yeah, we should definitely desire for the corrupt to be exposed so that their ability to mislead masses of people would be curtailed. But we need to resist the temptation to lump every dirty bureaucrat into one big pile of unsalvageable souls.

Admittedly, in most cases, we are limited in what we can do to sway these people. This is where fervent prayer for even the most corrupted politicians is part of our duty as Christians. The Holy Spirit is capable of changing hearts and minds, and God can also free them from demonic influence. Calling out bad behavior doesn’t mean we don’t still love them enough to pray for them.

The other side of that is this: When it’s your family or friends who are headed down the wrong path, shouldn’t you love them enough to tell them the truth, even if it may hurt their feelings? Sometimes love is blunt, and it may seem harsh, but truth shared in love is always in line with the heart of God, isn’t it?

Conclusion…

When we see evil forces coming for our children through things like drag queen shows and the trans movement, oh we’d better be ready to fight them off. When we see injustices, wrong called right, the deep state fostering division with racial tension and social anarchy, and when we learn to recognize all the other many tools of our REAL enemy – yeah, we have to be prepared to face them head on with truth and righteous indignation. But we also need to be motivated by a hunger for holiness and allow the love of God to flow through us so that people can see there really IS a better way.

As much as people need to see corruption exposed and have their eyes opened to the atrocities that ought to be stopped, they also need to see the love of God’s people exhibited in the midst of all the insanity going on. People need hope. And we have access to that hope. So let’s press into a deeper understanding of God and his character so that we can demonstrate it to the world.

See, we can’t effectively lead others somewhere we aren’t familiar with ourselves. So perhaps the biggest take away here is this: If you really wanna be a positive influence of change for those around you, getting back to the heart of God has to start first within you. I’m just sayin’.

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