One heart and one mind…..completely devoted to God

“Train me, God, to walk straight;
then I'll follow your true path.
Put me together, one heart and mind;
then, undivided, I'll worship in joyful fear”.   Psalms 86:11 Message Bible

How do I cultivate a heart completely devoted to the Lord?

By falling in love with His Word!  The Bible is "God-breathed."  The more we absorb the truths in the Bible, the more we will love its Author, and the more we will want to be all His.

If we really want to be sold out to the Lord, sometimes that means saying "so long" to friends or family members who are determined on being destructive with their lives. It seems as if some people are in a self-destruct mode. Their destructive choices shatter their lives into a million pieces, and, unfortunately, the flying shards can destroy the people they care about the most.

It's important for us to distance ourselves somewhat from people who are determined to live a life apart from the Lord. We can still love them and care for them, and we should definitely still pray for them, but we can't become enmeshed with people who don't love and serve Christ wholeheartedly.

It's so easy to be swayed by the world.  Being "in the world but not of it" is much easier to say than live!  We only fool ourselves when we think we can live among the sins of those around us and not be influenced by their lies, lust, deception, jealousy, selfishness, addictions, hatred, arrogance, control, laziness, compromise and phony Christianity.  Sadly, we do become like those around us and slowly cultivate a heart divided.

We soon struggle with loyalty to those we love and our relationship with Jesus.  A heart divided allows frustration to enter in because we know the truth but quickly learn to live with denial because the truth is too painful to address.

Lord, may I love you more than anyone else. Show me how to love the non-Christians You have placed in my life in a way that points them to You but not in a way that tempts me to compromise my character or encourage them to continue living in sin.  I don't want to fit in; I want to stand out for You!

Oh, Lord! May your powerful Word protect my heart from the sins of this world and perform surgery on the darkened places of my heart and soul!

Remember the battle is HIS and in HIM, we are safe: I am so glad God doesn't just throw us out on the front lines of this life!  I Samuel 17:47 says, "The battle is the Lord's."  He fights for us! 

I cannot fully describe how comforting it is to know I'm not alone in this battle.  No matter how out-of-control and confusing my life circumstances become, I know He is with me fighting for my good, and I can hide in the shelter of His wings.

As you observe people and the way they live, what are some of the signs of a divided heart?

What are some of the signs of a heart that is not divided and fully devoted to the Lord?