The Heart Test
Prayer 365 // The Gift of Authenticity (Day 4)
More from this week:
Today's Scripture:
“The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Proverbs 17:3 NIV & Romans 5:3-5 NIV
Today's Devotional:
Our theme for the week is the Gift of Authenticity. The greatest gift you can give the world is being real. To be real means to be honest authentic and genuine. This is what God desires of each of us, to become exactly who He designed us to be.
So far this week, we’ve discussed the benefits of being real, which are: 1) You can be helped, 2) You can see God, and 3) You can be you. This leaves us with this question:
How Do I Know if it’s Real? How do we know if who we are and what we do is real? My answer for you is this: we know that it's real when it’s been tested.
When preparing precious metals for use, they are brought to high temperatures in order purge it of any impurities. This way nothing is there that doesn’t belong. It is the fire that proves the quality of the metal. What about us? How are we tested for purity? For realness? Proverbs 17:3 says “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.” The way that God proves our authenticity is through the testing of our hearts. But what does this testing look like? In our lives, our authenticity is tested through seasons of suffering. It’s through suffering that God proves our realness – our authenticity. It’s not the heat of the fire that God uses, but it’s the pressures of life’s circumstances that reveals the condition of the heart. A current example of this testing is the year of 2020. The challenges and suffering we’ve experienced in this year has revealed how real we really are as a people and especially as a church. While God was not the cause of the challenges we’ve experienced, He is in control and has masterfully used what our adversary meant for evil as a tool to reveal the hearts of His people.
When God tests us, what is He looking for? He examines the heart and tests for three things: quality, motive and consistency. For each of these, review and ask yourself the questions that’s associated with each.
1. Quality - The person that you are: Is it pure? Is it strong? Does it last?
2. Motive - What is your motivation? What is your why?
3. Consistency - Are there any gaps in your character? Meaning gaps in what you say versus what you do?
On your journey to becoming the real version of you, I encourage you to invite God into this process. Allow Him to gracefully uncover the truth in your life and this way He can recover what was lost and restore the true version of who you are because being real is the best gift you can give the world.
I'm praying for you and with you,
Pastor Enrique Brooks
So far this week, we’ve discussed the benefits of being real, which are: 1) You can be helped, 2) You can see God, and 3) You can be you. This leaves us with this question:
How Do I Know if it’s Real? How do we know if who we are and what we do is real? My answer for you is this: we know that it's real when it’s been tested.
When preparing precious metals for use, they are brought to high temperatures in order purge it of any impurities. This way nothing is there that doesn’t belong. It is the fire that proves the quality of the metal. What about us? How are we tested for purity? For realness? Proverbs 17:3 says “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.” The way that God proves our authenticity is through the testing of our hearts. But what does this testing look like? In our lives, our authenticity is tested through seasons of suffering. It’s through suffering that God proves our realness – our authenticity. It’s not the heat of the fire that God uses, but it’s the pressures of life’s circumstances that reveals the condition of the heart. A current example of this testing is the year of 2020. The challenges and suffering we’ve experienced in this year has revealed how real we really are as a people and especially as a church. While God was not the cause of the challenges we’ve experienced, He is in control and has masterfully used what our adversary meant for evil as a tool to reveal the hearts of His people.
When God tests us, what is He looking for? He examines the heart and tests for three things: quality, motive and consistency. For each of these, review and ask yourself the questions that’s associated with each.
1. Quality - The person that you are: Is it pure? Is it strong? Does it last?
2. Motive - What is your motivation? What is your why?
3. Consistency - Are there any gaps in your character? Meaning gaps in what you say versus what you do?
On your journey to becoming the real version of you, I encourage you to invite God into this process. Allow Him to gracefully uncover the truth in your life and this way He can recover what was lost and restore the true version of who you are because being real is the best gift you can give the world.
I'm praying for you and with you,
Pastor Enrique Brooks
Did you know that Thryve Church prays together 365 days a year? Join us Monday-Friday at 6:30am & Saturdays at 8am for "Prayer at the Altar" by dialing 339- 207-7471 and then join us Sundays at 11am for Worship Service! Learn More