Category: Heart

9/30/2026 0 Comments

The Folly of Following the Heart

Meditation
Ecclesiastes 2:3--I explored with my mind how to let my body enjoy life with wine and how to grasp folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—until I could see what is good for people to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

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9/2/2026 1 Comment

Pleasing Ways--Peaceful Outcomes

Meditation

Proverbs 16:7--When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Pleasing God is a ticket to success and favor. But how do we please Him?  In studying Scripture, there are at least twelve principles or ways that bring His favor.
1. Obey Him and keep His commands; act justly, love faithfulness, walk humbly; blameless—Numbers 14:8,9; 1 Kings 3:9,10; Proverbs 11:10; Isaiah 56:4; Micah 6:8
2. Seek His guidance (prayer) and help—1 Ki. 22:5; Psalm 40:13
3. Faithfully and wholeheartedly serve Him—2 Ki. 20:3; 1 Chronicles 17:27, 28:4; Ephesians 6:6; 1 Thessalonians 2:4
4. Do what is wise and right and share; kindness and truth—1 Ch. 29:17; Pro. 3:3, 8:35; Malachi 2:17; Hebrews 13:15
5. Praise and worship Him—Psa. 69:30,31; Daniel 4:2,3
6. Repent of sin—Jeremiah 34:15
7. Put God before self—Haggai 1:8,9, Romans 15:1,3
8. Follow His will—John 8:29; 1 Corinthians 7:32
9. Put our faith in Him—1 Co. 1:21; Heb. 11:5,6
10. Children who obey and care for their parents—Colossians 3:20; 1 Timothy 5:4
11. Abstain from sexual immorality—1 Th. 4:2-7
12. Pray, intercede, and give thanksgiving for everyone—1 Ti. 2:1-3

How do we displease Him? Here are three direct reasons.
1. Lame sacrifices—Malachi 1:8
2. Sin—Rom. 8:8; 1 Co. 10:5
3. Wrong priorities—Galatians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:4

Pleasing God does not mean we will not suffer—suffering is universal. But when our lifestyle and plans are committed to pleasing Him, His favor is never far away. Pleasing God brings peace and understanding, the ability to weather adversity, to be longsuffering with short-tempered people, and to experience the satisfaction of knowing that no matter what life throws at us, we are still on course. Something to think about . . . in reveration.

Inspiration
We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.  We are far too easily pleased.—C.S. Lewis in The Weight of Glory

©2026 Daniel York.  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  To receive these devotionals, go to www.firstcause.org and click the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed, subject to the inclusion of this copyright notice.

Ecclesiastes 12:10—"The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.”  (Holman CSB)

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10/3/2025 1 Comment

Treasure in Hand

CBS News carried a heartwarming story about nine-year-old Jameson, the young Philadelphia Phillies fan whose dream was to catch or acquire a big league baseball. His parents bought tickets for seats positioned along the third base line, where the ball girl routinely tossed foul balls on the field up to fans in the stands. Sure enough, in the fifth inning, Jameson got a ball. Later, while watching the game, he overheard a woman ask the ball girl if she could get a ball for her mother, Donna, who was at the game to celebrate her 80th birthday. As you can imagine, youth are the priority, and the chances of Donna getting a ball were remote. So Jameson had his prize, but several innings later, he did something astounding for a boy with treasure in hand.

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4/17/2025 0 Comments

He Loved Them to the End

Leonardo da Vinci famously portrayed the Last Supper. At West Point, I was part of a group that reenacted this iconic scene. It was a sobering key event during Holy Week, preceding Jesus’ arrest, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection. During that final meal with His followers, Jesus demonstrated His immense love for them through His actions and message.

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1/14/2024 1 Comment

I Am Claiming God's Goodness

At the beginning of each year, I select a passage from Scripture to be my verse(s) for the year. This year, I picked Psalm 65:11.

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3/8/2023 4 Comments

Land of Cabul

Hiram, the king of Tyre, provided King Solomon with all the cedar and cypress logs, and gold, he desired for his construction projects. His servants cut the timber and then assembled the logs into rafts to transport down the Mediterranean Sea to Israel. His fleets brought goods like almug wood and precious stones from distant lands. In return, Solomon yearly provided Hiram with 100,000 bushels of wheat and 110,000 gallons of olive oil (5:8-11). After 20 years of this cooperative effort, Solomon gave Hiram twenty towns in Galilee.

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8/31/2022 1 Comment

Wrong

Janice* called me.  Her voice conveyed discouragement, confusion, and a hint of controlled resentment.  After listening to her, I felt saddened and angry.

Several leaders—male and female from various churches in other states and a school, all tied to a nationally-known pastor and speaker told Karen she was not a Christian.  One of those pastors refused to baptize her. Janice shared the statements they leveled against her. They judged a woman suffering from post-traumatic stress (PTS) from their presumptuous and self-righteous position, causing grave damage to a young Christian struggling to grow in her faith.  Now she was uncertain of her salvation.  She felt unsafe and criticized in churches—where she should be most safe and find compassion—not condemnation.

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5/14/2022 0 Comments

Your Faith has Healed You!

Life is full of challenges. As you read that what challenge comes to mind that you are facing? For some of us, it is financial, for others relationships, and still others health, the need for work, etc. What is unhealthy is when we let the problem(s) we face dominate our thinking because we flounder in fear and uncertainty. In his book Brave, Strong & Tender, Phil Downer asked, “Do you ever find yourself spending more time thinking about the size of your problems than thinking about the size of your God? Do you feel locked up because of fear?”

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4/25/2022 1 Comment

The Problem with Religion

Did you know that God is offended by meaningless, false-hearted chanting?

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9/30/2020 0 Comments

The Return

Abraham Lincoln proclaimed, “It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.” On April 30, 1863, Lincoln's National Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer was observed. Two days later, Lt. General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson was mortally wounded in a freak accident where he was shot by his own troops. The loss of this powerful Confederate leader changed the course of the war.[1]

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7/31/2020 0 Comments

I & II Samuel

If you want to read great books on leadership, read 1st and 2nd Samuel. Early tradition suggests that 1 and 2 Samuel were originally one book in scripture so I will do my best to examine the combined 55 chapters and share key leadership lessons. No author is named for these books but scholars largely credit the prophets Samuel, Nathan and Gad. Based on 1 Sa. 27:6, the writing may not have been completed until about 930 B.C.[1]

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7/9/2020 1 Comment

Crushed!

While working on getting a book published I still lacked the artwork and so I called Bruce,* my project manager, to find out the status. When he answered the phone, it was obvious by the tone in his voice that he was stressed. Instead of diving into my request, I asked him how he was doing. Bruce sighed and then shared. “I’m going through a divorce . . . my house flooded and I’m having to replace the flooring in several rooms and it is not covered by insurance. I’m not sure if I can get a loan. I have an ulcer . . . my mother died and left me her house in a trust but one of the trustees was dishonest and it turned out that there is a lien on the home for unpaid debt . . .

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10/29/2019 0 Comments

Bright Eyes

On Sunday mornings when I’m in town and able to attend church, after the service ends I stand at the front of the sanctuary to pray for anyone needing prayer. This past Sunday, a woman walked slowly forward with a slight stoop in posture. Her teeth were black and badly rotted and it was obvious she had suffered a great deal—probably from drugs. But what caught my attention was her bright eyes—they radiated warmth. I asked what I could pray for her and she said she was suffering from liver disease. After I finished praying she gave me a hug and shared how much she loved our church and how being there filled her with peace.

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10/9/2018 0 Comments

Heartfelt

Candy and I spent most of the morning writing back and forth about questions regarding the definition of Christians and evangelicals and current events that troubled her. While we may not have the same political leanings that does not prevent us from having honest and prolonged discussion. She ended our time with kind words and greetings to my family. Candy is one of the most warm-hearted persons I know and it is always a privilege to be around her.

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1/25/2015 0 Comments

Clean the Inside

We sang in worship this morning a song that included a desire to present to God an inside that was both clean and committed. It reminded me of the words of another song, “Cleanse my heart O God.” I’ve probably sung that song a hundred times without dwelling on the fact that unless my focus is heart-centric cleansing is superficial at best. In any area that I have not surrendered to God from the core of my being, I continue to struggle. For example, I know that when my wife is talking to me I should listen. Yet, because I am intent on getting my work done or enjoying my activity, I do not give her my full attention. Mentally I ought to be able to fix inattentiveness and focus on what Kathleen is saying but without a surrendered heart it is just not so. The problem at the core is I am more concerned with my things than with her things.

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11/17/2014

From a Pure Heart

The day Arthur was born his father left his mother for another woman. So, along with his siblings, the young boy was raised by his resilient mom. And then she became very ill. Calling her son to her side, she began to share final instructions as she was dying. The devastated young man cried out, “Mama don’t die, you can’tdie.” And even though he was not a Christian, knowing that there must be a God, he prayed and asked the Lord to save her because they were too young to be without a mother. Graciously God immediately healed her and extended her life for many more years.

8/5/2012 0 Comments

The Three P's

Meditation
Colossians 3:5,8,12,13—Therefore, put to death what belongs to your worldly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry . . . But now you must also put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth . . . Therefore, God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive.

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9/11/2011

Overwhelmed

I want to know You. Let Your Spirit overwhelm me. Let Your presence take over my heart. Repeatedly the worship leader led us in singing those seventeen words that if analyzed meant far more than we could imagine.

6/4/2006

Heart II

Recently for my quiet time I read from 1 Samuel 24. It records the story of King Saul in pursuit of David whom he viewed as a threat to his throne. In God’s providence, David was hiding with his men deep in a cave that Saul entered alone. David had an easy opportunity to kill Saul and was encouraged to do so by his men but he refrained from killing the ruler the Lord anointed. After Saul left the cave, David followed and shouted, “My lord the king!” Getting Saul’s attention, he alerted him to the fact that God had put him in his hands and yet he spared his life. David strongly challenged King Saul even reminding him of an old proverb, “From evildoers come evil deeds.” Saul was so stricken by David’s words, that he ended up crying. He confessed that David was the better man and pronounced a blessing upon him as well as recognition that David would indeed be given the throne and would be a successful leader. Shortly thereafter, the king departed with his army for home but David and his men went back to their stronghold.

10/29/2004 0 Comments

Motivation

Recently, I met with a man whose marriage is tottering towards collapse. He feels alone and unwanted in his own household. His wife seems more devoted to his children than to him. He seemingly cannot do enough to please her and he is ready to give up. When I asked Him how his relationship with God was doing, he shared that it is anemic. He grew up without a loving father which has effected how he views, relates to and trusts his Heavenly Father. Therein lays the core issue.

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