Bible Study Post

A Heart Devoted to God

Just this past Friday night, I started a monthly Ladies Bible Study here in Katherine. I’ve decided to post the lessons I teach on the blog in hopes that it may encourage others.

The aim of the Bible Study is to help us as women to develop a closer relationship with the Lord and to get serious about God and growing spiritually. I want to be able to share the lessons God has taught me and encourage other women to share God’s blessings with those around them.

The lesson posts are not written in my usual style and a lot is added in the course of teaching, but thankfully, you’re getting the shortened version!

The Lord has brought me through some pretty hard trials and taught me many lessons along the way. These lessons, though hard at the time, have helped me to grow and draw closer to the Lord than ever before. God never said life would be easy, but he did say that he would never forsake us. What a comfort that is to my soul.

So, I pray that you will gain something from my Bible Study Lesson posts and that you will share what God teaches you with others. You never know when something God has brought you through will be what someone else is facing and you may have just the verses and words of encouragement they need. 

Lesson #1

A Heart Devoted to God

I thought that a good place to start is with the story of Mary and Martha in the Bible. These ladies are relatable.  I think that we can easily relate to Martha’s busyness. Her hospitality. And we can also relate to Mary’s desire for fellowship with Christ. But it’s easy to get our priorities out of whack and put one in front of the other.

How do we develop a heart that is devoted to God? How do we become women who sit at Jesus’ feet and receive his praise as Mary did?

Let’s read the passage in the Bible and see what we can learn together

Luke 10:38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.

Luke 10:39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.

Luke 10:40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.

Luke 10:41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

Luke 10:42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

DESIRE

The first thing we need to do in becoming a woman devoted to God, is to have a desire. We need to desire to become Godly women. We have to make a choice to learn more about God and learn more about His Word. So, we have to have a desire. It’s no good trying to do something when you have no desire to do it. Like dieting, if you have no desire, you’re going to fail. You need to want to do it. You need a desire.

When we look at Mary, we see her desire to be near Jesus. She wanted to sit at his feet.

If we don’t have a desire, it all stops right there. It’s a matter of our priorities. And the definition of priority is ‘a preference based on urgency or importance’. You order your priorities in order of importance to you.

But besides having a desire, we need to have a teachable heart. We need to be willing to be taught and willing to learn from God and from others.

Psalm 42:1-2 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

Psalm 25:4-5 Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

Psalm 27:11 Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

Psalm 86:11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.

Psalm 119:12 Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.

Psalm 119:26 I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes.

We read over and over in the Psalms of David’s desire to be taught. He continually asks the Lord to teach him. He had a teachable heart and wanted to learn. I don’t have to explain what that means to you. If you homeschool, you know all about teachable hearts and how difficult it is to teach a child something that they don’t want to learn.

But as women wanting to grow in our spiritual walk, we have to be teachable.

DISCERN

The second thing we need in order to become women devoted to God, is discernment. We need to discern what is needed. In the passage in Luke, in verse 42, we see mentioned the ‘one thing’ that is needful. We need to discern what is important. What is the one thing that’s needed? We see Jesus rebuking Martha for not doing the one thing. The most important thing. The needed thing.

The one thing that was needed was to sit at Jesus feet. To listen. To worship. To draw close to the Lord. To spend time with the Lord.

Martha had chosen the many things. She was troubled and busy doing the many things when Jesus wanted her to do the one thing.

This word ‘many’ in the Bible has a few definitions, but one of the definitions, is ‘common’. As in the common things. Not as important. But the word “one” means the only one. The primary one. The first. So, although the many things we do may not be wrong, they become a problem when we put them before the one thing that’s needed.

Unfortunately, Martha crossed the line between being a gracious hostess to being an overwhelmed, overworked, unthankful servant. She neglected to distinguish between the urgent and the important.

So often in life, we choose the urgent over the important. Something urgent is something that calls for immediate attention. It’s screams out loudly. But something important, is something significant. Something weighty.

The serving that Martha did called for attention. It was urgent. Visitors. Food. Preparations. But the sitting was significant and held a deeper importance. There would be time for serving later, but right then, at that time, it was time for sitting. Sitting at Jesus feet.

Mary was able to discern the importance of ceasing her busyness and stopping all activity and putting aside some things to focus wholly on the Lord.

We need to work out of rest. Meaning, we have to rest first, before we can work efficiently. In our physical bodies, we know the importance of rest. If we won’t get enough sleep, we can’t be as productive.

In the Lord’s work, we have to take time to rest, at Jesus’ feet, spending time in his word and talking to him in prayer. Only then can we be effective in our ministries and our callings.

So, we work out of rest. We sit, then serve.

The three times we see Mary in scripture, she is at Jesus feet. Here in Luke and again in John, at Lazarus tomb

John 11:2  (tells us which Mary)

(It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair,

whose brother Lazarus was sick.)

John 11:32 Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

John 12:3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.

Our dishes and washing and sweeping will always be there. But those times of quiet will not. When we have those moments to sit and be quiet before the Lord, we need to make the most of them. Time spent at Jesus feet is never wasted time.

Martha was busy doing things FOR the Lord, but she failed to spend time WITH the Lord.

Too much serving. Not enough sitting.

We have to discern the one thing and then we have to choose to do that one thing. How do we find that balance? Often, we feel torn between the 2. Serving and sitting. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing to feel torn. It shows that we understand the importance of them both. It shows that we have a desire to serve others and also a desire to spend time with the Lord. But we know that there has to be a balance.

Martha in the kitchen, serving with her hands;
Occupied for Jesus, with her pots and pans.
Loving Him, yet fevered, burdened to the brim.
Careful, troubled Martha, occupied for Him.

Mary on the footstool, eyes upon her Lord;
Occupied with Jesus, drinking in His Word.
This the one thing needful, all else strangely dim:
Loving, resting Mary, occupied with Him.

So may we, like Mary, choose the better part:
Resting in His presence--hands and feet and heart;
Drinking in His wisdom, strengthened with His grace;
Waiting for the summons, eyes upon His face.

When it comes, we're ready--spirit, will, and nerve;
Mary's heart to worship, Martha's hands to serve;
This the rightful order, as our lamps we trim--
Occupied with Jesus, then occupied for Him!

--Lois Reynolds Carpenter

I have 3 things I want to share with you regarding this desire of becoming women whose hearts are devoted to God. How do we become women who follow God’s leading and heed his calling upon our lives?

One of the ways is to

1.    Choose God and His ways, at every opportunity.

Proverbs 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

We know this passage well. We can see in this verse 2 parts. Our part and God’s part.

It is our job to acknowledge God. To consider him. To consult with him. And then it is his part to direct our paths. We do our part and he does his. We listen to him and he shows us the way to go.

When something comes up, a decision, an offense against us, STOP! And pray first. Ask God to show you what you should do. Sit mentally in his presence. If you have to, sit down bodily too. Pause. Listen. Acknowledge him. Obey him. Then watch God take over. He directs our paths. When we stop and ask him for guidance, often the very next thought we have comes from him and it is clear what we should do and what we should say.

Isaiah 30:21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

I love this verse in Isaiah. It says that I’ll hear a word behind me that tells me what to do. THIS is the way. WALK in it. How clear is that? We acknowledge and obey God and he directs our steps.

When we choose God’s way, we are choosing the best way. The one thing. The good part. The needful thing. The best thing.

It can be as simple as choosing to listen to or watch something edifying. Something that will help us grow spiritually. It might even be choosing NOT to listen to something. It could be choosing to speak to someone on the street about the Lord.

We are to edify one another and I pray that as we meet together we will encourage each other and build each other up and grow together and draw closer to the Lord together.

We all know the Proverbs 31 woman. We often look at her and marvel at her productiveness. We see that her serving is not judged. It is important too.

Proverbs 31:15 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

She is a servant and productive and busy, but the one thing I see about her that I want to imitate, is to have her fear of the Lord. It says in verse 30

Proverbs 31:30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

Ok, so this verse doesn’t say directly that SHE feared the Lord. But in all the verses previous to this one, we see all her works and how she excels. So, we can only assume that she has a healthy fear of the Lord too.

This fear spoken of in this verse, is the reverential fear. It has the meaning of ‘a profound respect mingled with love and awe’. I like that definition.  We need to stand in awe of God.

Psalm 4:4

 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart

 upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

We need to have a healthy fear of God. Are we in awe of God and what he wants to do in us and for us and through us?  I don’t want to miss what God has for me in this life. I don’t want to be robbed of any of God’s blessings by not taking time to let him direct me and lead me.

I want to choose God and his way at every opportunity.

2. Commit yourself daily to God

The second thing I want to bring out is that of committing yourself to God.

Psalm 37:5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

I find a good way to do this, is every morning, often even before I get out of bed, I commit myself to God in prayer. I pray to the Lord and offer myself to him to use as he pleases. If we give him our day, and our priorities, and our to do lists, it’s amazing to see how God chooses to arrange it. Much better than we ever could with all our great planning strategies.

If we choose to hold onto things too tightly, it’s hurts when God has to pry our fingers open to get what we won’t give.  It’s a whole lot simpler to hold everything he gives us lightly, with open hands and let him take and let him give as he pleases.

I have a little saying on my wall that I like to read each day to remind me to keep an open hand.

All that I am

All that I have

All that I do

All that I suffer

I give it all to God!

In the verse in Psalms it tells us to commit our way to the Lord. Our way being a course of life, a mode of action, a road. Many things. Our way is basically our life. Our daily activities. Committing them to the Lord each and every day and asking the Lord to order our days and direct our steps is the best way to walk in his will.

3. Cultivate a hot heart

The third thing I want to discuss is cultivating a hot heart.

We need to get excited about the things of the Lord. We need hot hearts. In Revelation, the Laodicean church is accused of being lukewarm.

Revelation 3:15-16 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

One of my favourite Christian movies is War Room.  There is a scene in the movie where Miss Clara offers Elizabeth a lukewarm cup of coffee.  After asking her what her prayer life is like, Elizabeth tells her that it’s not cold but it’s not hot either. Somewhere in the middle. Lukewarm.

Nobody likes luke warmness. God says he will spew it out of his mouth.

We don’t want to be cold-hearted, we all know that that’s wrong. To be cold hearted is to be below normal, to be unemotional, to be unaware, to be unconscious of God. Unconcerned.

And to be luke warm is to only be moderately warm, to be indifferent towards God and others.

But to be hot, is to have a high temperature. To be characterized by violent activity. To have emotion or passion, fiery and excited. That’s not to say that we need to run around crazily, always smiling and laughing and excited. But that our hearts need to be that way towards God. To be on fire. Like a new Christian that has been saved from the pits of hell and is so excited about the things of the Lord that he can’t stop shouting about it.

If we are hot, we are like a boiling pot. We have an intense passion for the Lord.

Just like a boiling pot, it sputters and steams. It jiggles from side to side. It is hot to touch. It shares its heat. You can’t ignore it.

I want to be like that in the spiritual sense. I want to be excited about God and the things of God. I want to boast about what God has done for me. I want to share the heat.

Luke 1:49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.

Psalm 96:3 Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.

Don’t be afraid to tell others of God’s blessings. And not just in testimony time at church, but on the street, in the shop, wherever God gives you opportunity and with whoever God brings you in contact with.

Psalm 107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

We are redeemed. We have something to shout about. Something to be hot about.

And if we truly want to become women with hearts devoted to God, we need to choose him and to commit to him and to develop a hot heart.

But it all starts with that first decision. The decision to desire what God wants. The decision to want to grow spiritually. To not be comfortable with our mediocracy, but to be always striving to grow and mature and learn and share.

Ecclesiastes 12:13

 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.