Echoing The Heartbeat of God

I wrote in last weeks post about representing Christ to the world and that we are all called to be Christ’s ambassadors. Now that we know that this is one of our greatest responsibilies as Christians, we need to better understand the heart of God so that we can accurately represent Christ to the world. What is on the heart of God? What is God’s heartbeat? I want to share with you some things that make up the heartbeat of God.

1. God’s heart beats with an overabundance of love for us.

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us…” 1 John 3:1

We are called to love just as Christ loves us. We are called to lavish love on people! How would people react to us if we loved them just for the sake of loving, expecting nothing in return? How would they respond if we loved those whom society labels the “unloveable?” This is what Christ does. He comes in and loves us when we don’t “deserve” to be loved. We are called to respond the same way.

 “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8

God does not mess around, He is serious about the topic of love. He goes as far as saying if we don’t love, we don’t even know Him. I do not want to find myself in a place of not knowing God because I chose not to love.

For more reading on God's love visit the love series.

2. God’s heart beats with all the fullness of compassion over us.

 “The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.” Psalm 116:5

God desires us to live a life filled and overflowing with compassion for people. When we reach out in compassion for others, most of the time that same compassion will come around and reach out to us when we are in need. Compassion starts with us.

For more reading about God's compassion visit: The Lord's Compassion

3. God’s heart beats richly with mercy, mercy that says “you will not get what you deserve.” Thank God for this mercy because I know I deserve far more than I will ever get.

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ...”
Ephesians 2:4-5

God expects us to be merciful to others. He has set a beautiful example of mercy for us by sending His one and only Son to die for the sins we have committed, sins we should have taken the blame and punishment for. I don’t know of any better example of mercy than this. This is mercy at it’s finest!

“Be merciful just as your heavenly father is merciful.” Luke 6:36

We are called to extend the same hand of mercy to others around us. There are going to be many times in our lives when we will be tested in this area! And as for me, there have been many times that I have fallen flat on my face failing miserably because I did not extend mercy when mercy was needed. But I thank God he is so quick to hand me mercy in my times of need. I am also thankful that the Lord does not measure the amount of mercy He will show us based upon how much mercy we have shown others. If this were the case, God's mercy would be very limited in my life for sure!

To read more on God's mercy click here.

4. God’s heart beats with immeasurable amounts of  forgiveness for us from our sins.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

When we go to the Lord with a humble heart and confess, he never hesitates to forgive. God does not sit there and try to list off reasons why we don’t deserve his forgiveness. He already knows we don’t deserve it. I am so thankful he is faithful to forgive me without reservation!

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:14-15

God also passes on the responsibility of forgiveness to us as well. He expects us to forgive others, just as He forgives us, freely, willingly and without reservation. God forgives with no strings attached, and no condemnation. Wow, what a responsibility we have to forgive! This can be so  challenging especially when in our humanness we feel like we can justify our reasons for not wanting to forgive. God’s word tells us that if we are unwilling to forgive others then He will not forgive us. Ouch! What a shot to the human ego! Lord, help us to keep a heart of forgiveness toward others.

Read more on forgiviness.

5. God’s heart beats with deliverance and healing.

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3

While we can not deliver people from their bondages or sicknesses, we serve a God who can! God calls us to pray for those that need deliverance and healing. Our prayers are like a launch pad for God to take off from. When we present our hearts to the Lord he will respond. Our prayers do not fall on deaf ears. Please bear in mind, sometimes we need to keep seeking the Lord for healing and deliverance. This is not because the Lord is not listening, but rather He is working in our hearts as we wait upon Him for his answer in His timing. When we try to rush things we will often miss the bigger plan God has for the situation. It is God’s desire that we go to Him when we are in need of deliverance and healing.

“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” James 5:16

As Christ’s ambassadors, we are called to love as God loves, shower those we meet with Godly amounts of compassion, mercy and forgiveness, and to pray for healing and deliverance. These areas are some of the very heart beats of God. We are called to echo God’s heartbeat so that we can show the world who Christ is.

Listen to the song that inspired the title of this post.

Lord, I thank you for a greater understanding of your heart! I thank you that you desire to use us to reflect your glory so that we can show the world exactly who you are and what you look like. Lord, there are going to be times when we mess up and misrepresent you, but I pray that you help us to draw closer to you in these moments and that you use them to teach our hearts more about your character. Lord, I pray that we learn what It means to echo your heartbeat.