No Substitute
Every day your heart beats around one hundred thousand times pumping 2000 gallons of blood through 60 thousand miles of blood vessels, feeding your numerous tissues and organs, and this happens continuously throughout the course of your life. The heart is an amazing organ.
The heart is one of the most affective pumps in the entire known universe. Unfortunately, no pump is perfect; the heart’s arteries can get plugged, clogging the flow of blood, putting people at risk of a heart attack.
A Fitting Metaphor
The Bible speaks about our hearts in a metaphorical sense. Biblically our heart includes our will, our desires, and our passions, out of which flows the direction of our lives. To invite Jesus into our hearts is to allow him, by the Holy Spirit, to direct the course of our lives.
The Gospel is meant to transform our hearts making itself at home in the center of our attitude and actions, getting pumped continuously throughout the various veins of our lives. Sadly, arteries can get blocked in our spiritual life too; when that happens the truth of the Gospel is prevented from readily flowing into every area of our character and relationships.
The 8 Week Jounrey
At Calvary we are starting a series called No Substitute. The intention of this series is to help unplug any blockage that has built up in our hearts, which dampens, disables or distorts our ability to enjoy the abundant life that Jesus promised. The topics are as follows:
Week One: No Substitute for the Voice of God
Week Two: No Substitute for Prayer
Week Three: No Substitute for Conviction
Week Four: No Substitute for Forgiveness
Week Five: No Substitute for Humility
Week Six: No Substitute for Thankfulness
Week 7: No Substitute for Generosity
Week 8: No Substitute for Community
A Prayer for the Series
God, today I confess afresh that I want to experience life that is truly life; a life that is submitted to your plans and purposes and overflowing with the fruit of your Spirit.
In all honesty, at times I feel like there is something that is lacking in my relationship with you. But over the next 8 weeks, I ask you to reveal to me, in love, what I lack so that I might choose life.
I do believe that when you look on me you love me. You desire what is best for me. I recognize that my ideas about what is best might be in conflict with your ideas. God, I want you to win this battle because you know better.
Today, I invite you again to be Lord of my life, ruler of my heart, director of my will and passions. I invite you to unplug any areas in my heart that our preventing your truth and love from flowing freely into all of my relationships.
I trust you for all of this.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.