For this month’s blog I want write on something I have referenced, used, or taught on in various points throughout my life in ministry and that is “Heart Posture.” Recently Mikaela and I were teaching at a Bible School a part of IMI Church called Acta Bible School where we spoke on calling and living a missional life. During the time together with the students I spoke a little on heart posture during one of the classes and then during our QnA time one of the students asked the following, “Can you explain more on what you mean by heart posture?”
Thus, that is what I wish to write on today. There are likely many ways of approaching writing and sharing on heart posture, but I want to summarize it with breaking it down into three areas with these being (1) humility, (2) submitting and (3) listening. Let me first start on humility with a passage from the Gospel of Matthew.
(1) HUMILITY
The Greatest in the Kingdom
1 About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”
2 Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. 3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
5 “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.
Matthew 18:1-5 NLT
When I was younger, this passage for some reason stuck with me, especially into my teens as I matured in becoming an adult. Verse 3 caught my attention the most as Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.” As a youth reading this, I believe there was one part of me where in my response, it frightened me, because I wanted to get into the Kingdom of Heaven. Then my concluding response was a desire and prayer to God which I would summarize as being, “God, please help me to be like a little child so that as I grow up, my heart will not part from you. Help me to remain as a little child in my heart.”
Today when I think of this passage, I incorrectly think of the words being, “…unless you turn from your sins and have a heart like a little child, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.” I would attribute this to my encounter with the passage as a youth and the response from within me that came out of it. While many parents reading this (as I am not a parent yet as of writing this blog), are possibly prompted to think of the trouble your child can easily get into. Knowing of the somewhat mischievous nature of their hearts at times, I know for myself, I can identify with this when I was a child. Proverbs 22:15 states, “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of correction will drive it far from him” (NIV). While Proverbs offers advice on parenting and more verses of this nature in that wisdom is learned, not inherited, or innate as my Bible shares, there are things that are beautiful about children’s hearts that I believe as adults we wrestle with.
About that time: Matthew connects the disciples’ questions with the previous discussion concerning the Temple. The disciples began to assume that their new freedom in relation to Jewish authority entitled them to authority of their own. In addition, talk of special revelations (11:25-27; 13:11-17) and roles of leadership (10:2-4; 19:28) probably gave rise to jealous comparisons and petty desires for power among the disciples, perhaps revolving around the apparent privilege of Peter (17:25) or Peter, James, and John (17:1-3). - NLT Illustrated Study Bible
I believe Jesus taught a valuable lesson to the disciples and us today as we read this passage when it comes to being humble like a little child. With the text we see that Jesus not only called a little child to him, but that he puts the child among the disciples and then teaches them of the Kingdom of God in starting with, “I tell you the truth…” Being like little children means to be humble as Jesus directly points to in verse 4. The disciples had been intent on status and ambition meaning they lacked humility.
I believe this is something many of us wrestle at various points in our lives, especially once we become adults when it comes to status and ambition. If our heart is not in the right place, our drive for status and ambition can easily move us to a place away from the Father if we are not aligned with Him. Jesus sets the focus on the “Kingdom of Heaven” and when our focus is first and foremost on the Kingdom of Heaven, then this helps bring our heart into the right place.
When I speak on heart posture, humility is one of the ingredients of having a proper heart posture in my view and understanding. If my heart posture is not coming from a place of humility and instead with a drive of status and ambition, I am likely to miss out what the Father wants to teach and reveal to me. I believe that in the Christian faith, a proper heart posture starts with Jesus first and foremost. The origin of my heart posture must be buried and raised with Christ in my journey of faith as a follower of Jesus.
Jesus is my role model when it comes to learning what it means and looks like to be humble. The Bible teaches us of how Jesus humbled himself and what it looked like to serve others. Paul writes the following when it comes to having the attitude of Christ in his letter to the Philippians…
3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6 Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.Philippians 2:3-11 NLT
Another passage I want us to look at is in the Gospel of Mark, to which Mark writes…
45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served
but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Mark 10:45 NLT
Jesus lived out the Kingdom of God in His ministry and here in this passage He offers what leadership in God’s Kingdom means to the disciples in verses 42-45 as well as us today. There is much more I could add here, but I want to bring this part to a conclusion. Having a heart posture in line with the Kingdom of God means having a heart posture that is filled with humility. That Christ as our Lord and Savior, reveals and teaches us what humility looks like in God’s Kingdom and that we are to live this out as Christians. Perhaps humility will be the longest of these three parts, but now I wish to talk about “submitting.”
(2) SUBMITTING
“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me.
Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
Luke 22:42 NLT
The next part of heart posture I want to share on is what I refer to as “submitting.” Again, Jesus offers a good example of this to us while praying on the Mount of Olives to the Father. I read the following in my Bible, “Jesus felt all the emotions of his humanity, including fear and anxiety” (NLT Illustrated Study Bible). Yes, Jesus is the divine Son of God, the Messiah, but he is also fully human in the emotions he experiences in his reverent and heartfelt prayer to the Father. Knowing what awaits him on his way to the cross and cross itself, Jesus still declares, “Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
Soon season 4 of The Chosen will come and I do not know if I can honestly say I am ready to see the depiction of the suffering and death of Jesus that the actor Jonathan Roumie will portray. In the back of my mind, I still vividly remember the scene from 2004 movie, The Passion of the Christ whom Jim Caviezel plays as Jesus. Our imagination is provoked from Scripture to the screen of Jesus giving his life for all. As Jesus says in the Gospel of John, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep” (John 10:11 NLT). Despite what Jesus went through on Calvary in knowing what would happen, he still prays that the Father’s will be done and not his own.
To me this is a beautiful example of heart posture when it comes to submitting my will to the Father. That it would be the Father’s will and not my own. That I would live a life for Christ first and foremost and for those around me, not according to my own selfish desires. Heart posture to me means living a life that is submitted to Jesus. Am I perfect at doing this? Of course not, but I am reminded of the following verse in 1 John, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4 NIV). I have to rely on the grace of God that Paul and Barnabas encouraged those around them to do in Acts 13. My prayer and heart is that I hope each day I am more submitted to the Father. Taking a heart posture, a positioning of submitting to the Father, means that I can more readily discern the will of the Father in what He seeks for my life and to those I serve around me. Which brings us full circle back to the Kingdom of God. Living out the Kingdom culture here on earth in submitting to the Father’s will.
In concluding this part, I would say submitting involves surrendering. I love the worship song by Hillsong titled, “I Surrender” as it has spoke volumes into my life of the meaning and importance of surrendering my life to the one who paid it all. For those of you reading this blog that are Christians, I am sure you have heard of the prayer or call to know Jesus as both our Savior and Lord. In recognizing Jesus as my Savior, I recognize that I am a sinner in need of repentance and only Jesus can save me. As the song sings, “sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.” In recognizing Jesus as my Lord, I recognize that I need to continually surrender and submit my life to him so that Jesus becomes Lord over my life.
(3) OBEDIENT
“If you love me, obey my commandments.”
John 14:15 NLT
I have heard said by several that Jesus’ love language is obedience. This points to John 14:15 where Jesus says, “If you love me, obey my commandments.” The notes in my Bible says it well here, “Because Jesus loves the Father, he is obedient to what God directs him to say and do (12:49). If we love him, we will obey him, too” (NLT Illustrated Study Bible). As Christians, we are sometimes easily tempted to complicate what it means to follow Jesus. In the Gospels, Jesus reminds us in many ways that living for the Kingdom of God is not meant to be complicated, but simple. You see this especially in The Greatest Commandment in Matthew 22:34-40 or Mark 12:28-31. Simplifying it that, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39 NLT). Jesus’ love language is obedience.
When I read Jesus’ words in saying to love the Lord your God with all your heart, out of my love and desire to be an obedient child of God, I seek to have a heart posture that does as Jesus commands. I believe a proper heart posture should be filled with obedience to the Father. When I am obedient to the Father, it helps me better discern what is on the Father’s heart in what he desires in my marriage, ministry at IMI Church and more.
While writing this I was reminded of 1 Samuel 15 where the Lord rejects Saul as King and the following is written…
22 But Samuel replied,
“What is more pleasing to the Lord:
your burnt offerings and sacrifices
or your obedience to his voice?
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,
and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
So because you have rejected the command of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king.” - 1st Samuel 15:22-23 NLT
While read of the Lord’s sorrow that he ever made Saul king, we learn a valuable lesson from Saul’s failure which is God desires that we are obedient to his voice. A proper heart posture is one that listens to the voice of the Father, so that when the Lord speaks, we as his child respond in obedience. This is pleasing to the Father, this is part of the Kingdom culture.
In closing, a heart posture that embodies humility, submitting, and obedience I believe is one that pleases God. This is my attempt at explaining what heart posture means to me when I speak of it. I hope what I have shared in this blog, in my journey of faith, has encouraged you and given you something to pray and reflect on. My desire is that we all as sons and daughters of God each have a beautiful heart posture that pleases him and brings him joy. Blessings