A Willing Heart

Clarification may be in order to explain the context by which I use the word “heart.”  For all intents and purposes of this writing, I am not referring to the organ that circulates blood through the body.  Emphasis will be the heart that is associated with the center of a person’s thoughts and emotions, especially love or compassion. 

A willing heart in the following thoughts refers to one’s mood or feeling, courage or enthusiasm; the attitude a person has inside them regarding the commandment that Jesus gave in (Mark 16:15).  Perhaps He was, in part, referring to the world of our immediate neighborhood or witnessing to fellow workers that we rub shoulders with each day.

(Mark 16:15), “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” 

God uses people like you and me to do His bidding; ordinary people that love Him.  How else will unfulfilled individuals learn about God’s love and the peace that they can experience through His Son, Jesus?  The Bible calls it abundant living.

There are people everywhere that attend churches, yet, have not awakened to the all-important revelation that it takes “doers” to reach souls for Christ. There is more to it than just taking in all the time.  We must give away from ourselves.  I don’t think spending an hour in church on weekends is what the Bible means when it says:

(Hebrews 10:24-25), “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,” vs.25 “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Being like a sponge and soaking in the messages of a preacher’s sermons is good, but it does little to help others if the one in church fails to squeeze out some of these nuggets on the poor in spirit the rest of the week.  How can those around us come to the knowledge of God’s love without the testimony of a willing heart regarding His compassion and love?  It takes someone telling them the good news that Jesus Christ died for their sins.

There is always a need for workers in every church; to teach a Sunday school class, sing in the choir, do outreach ministries, or give a tenth of their income (tithe) so that the lights, heating, and air-conditioning can remain on.  It takes you and me having a willing heart to get involved and get connected.

God is seeking for willing hearts.  They don’t have to be scholars of the Bible, intellectual Bible thumpers, or full of charisma, though God certainly uses these individuals to reach people.  God wants someone to stand in the gap and make up the wall where they are needed to do ministry for Him.

We do not have to go to seminar school and become a minister of the Gospel to be qualified to work in the harvest field of lost souls.  This is a special calling from God.  We need only a willingness to be used of God and then do what He asks us to do. 

People that are timid and soft-spoken can become powerhouses for God when He empowers them with boldness and passion, which may not otherwise be their character or personality. The Holy Spirit makes the difference in a person's life.  

God prepares those He calls.  He does not ask us to do something that He is not equipped and ready to provide—the wherewithal to get the job done.  The only thing God needs is a willing heart (a heart of flesh).  He will bring about His perfection as He speaks through us.

(Psalm 81:10), “I am the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.”

God is saying in this scripture that He doesn’t want us to fear.  He wants us to trust that He will fill our mouth with words that are not our own at the time they are needed with that which comes from heaven; not from our own intellect or charisma alone. 

God wants to astound those that live outside the kingdom of God through the testimony of godly people.  He wants to lift us to a supernatural plane by filling us with His Spirit.

When we give away from ourselves, in any capacity for the Lord, God gives back into our bosom.  It is not that we give to get, but it just happens that way, because God said that it would.  I have learned, by doing, that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

(Luke 6:38), “Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.  For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

God fills a willing heart with confirmation that they are doing the right thing.  The joy and feelings of accomplishment that He brings are overwhelming at times.  A Believer doing God’s will can be the means of miracles taking place in another person’s life, because of God’s faithfulness to bless their efforts.

(Isaiah 55:11), “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

I believe that a willing heart is like a heart of flesh that the Bible speaks of.  It certainly isn’t a heart of stone; a person set in their ways and not willing to help or see how God could use them in positive ways.

(Ezekiel 36:26-27), “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.  I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”  vs.27 “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”

How can you tell if a person has a heart of flesh or heart of stone?  Listen to them speak and watch how they treat others, especially those closest to them.  Actions speak loudly the kind of person they are inside—volumes.  You will know.  The evidence speaks for itself.

(Luke 6:45), “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil.  For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

I believe that when we listen to what our heart (Holy Spirit) is saying, and act upon it, we shall be the means of winning someone to Christ.  They then can have a willing heart to stand in the gap to help someone else with similar needs.  A heart of flesh reaches out to people, because Jesus makes the difference in one’s heart when they choose to stand in the gap. 

Too many people are caught up in the non-important things of life and do little, if anything, for the kingdom of God.  It is heartbreaking, but true. 

(Ezekiel 22:30), “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.”

I want to be the person that God is seeking after.  I do not want to turn a deaf ear toward Him.  I want to hear the knock at my heart’s door and obey His voice when He calls my name.  My prayer is this:  “Please Lord, give me a willing heart to be Your hand extended to those without hope.”

(Revelation 3:20), “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

Written by,

Papa Boyd