Discover The Desires of God’s Heart
Discover the desires of God’s heart refers to seeking to understand God’s will, His passions, and His purpose for humanity. It involves aligning one’s life with God’s will and desires, which are revealed through God’s word the Bible, prayer, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
By pursuing a deeper relationship with God, you can discern His desires for fellowship, love, and salvation. This spiritual journey helps you live in a way that reflects God’s love and purpose. Ultimately fulfilling His plan for both personal transformation and growth, and the salvation and well-being of others.
Discover The Desires Of God’s Heart
As you walk closely with God and seek Him with all of your heart, you will discover the desires of God’s heart. And as you grow spiritually to be more like Jesus, God will touch and change your heart. And God will place His desires, interests, priorities, and passions into your heart. So that ultimately you will be completely one with God.
Many people do not consider or know God’s heart, and that He has desires. Often times we are too focused on our own wants and desires to consider God’s desires.
In this 3 part series of Bible study articles we will discover the desires of God’s heart. God reveals Himself, His heart, and His desires in His Word the Bible.
Discover The Desires Of God’s Heart
3 Main Desires of Gods Heart
There are 3 main desires of God’s heart that we will look into in this series of Bible studies. The first 2 desires of God’s heart we will look at are for Christians. And the 3rd of God’s desires is for all people. God’s word the Bible reveals God’s heart and the desires of His heart. Before we look at the first of God’s desires in this article, we need to understand why it is important to know what God’s desires are. When we understand the desires of God’s heart, then we can begin to know Him more intimately.
We will begin to see God for who He is really is. Then we will also begin to understand what God wants to accomplish in us and in the world & people’s lives around us. We will see what God is doing in the world, and what His passion and mission and purpose is, and how we can join Him in His kingdom work and mission.
Before we look at the first of God’s desires in His heart, you need to understand that God wants to (and needs to) touch and change our hearts, yours and mine. He wants to touch and change our hearts so that we will have the same heart and the same desires and interests and priorities that He has. If He does not do this, we will never be “people after God’s own heart”, and we can never be one with God and have close fellowship & intimacy with Him. We need to be one with God and in complete unity with Him, in order to have intimacy with Him.
Having the Right Kind of Heart Is Important
Psalm 37:4 says “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Many Christians the days believe that this verse means that if we are Christians and love God, that He will give us whatever we want or desire.
To understand what this verse really means, we need to understand what the Biblical word (Hebrew) for “delight in the Lord” means in this verse.
Literally the word for delight in the Lord means to be “soft and pliable, or soft and moldable”. Like a soft piece of clay. It means to have a soft and moldable and humble heart towards God. When we have a soft and moldable and humble heart towards God, then He is able to take the desires of God’s heart and place them into our hearts.
When God is able to change and transform our hearts, and our desires & interested & priorities, then we will be able to be one with God. And on the same page as God. And then we will be able to have intimacy with God.
Being a Christian is not about us and our hearts. Or about our wants and desires and passions. It is not about our will. It is all about God’s will. And the desires of God’s heart, and His wants and passions.
Discover The Desires Of God’s Heart
What Are The Desires of God’s Heart ?
So if God wants to change and transform our hearts, so that He can places His desires into our hearts, what are the desires of God’s heart ? What are the desires in God’s heart that He wants to place into us ? So that we can be people after God’s own heart ? We will talk about the first desire in God’s heart in this article.
This desire and the 2nd desire of God’s heart in the next article are for Christians. People who have repented of their sins (Mark 1:14-15), and placed all of their faith in Jesus Christ (Mark 1:14-15). And received Jesus as their Lord and Savior and committed to follow Him as their Lord (John 1:12).
The 1st of The 3 Main Desires of God’s Heart
1 Corinthians 1:9 tells us “God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our LORD.”
God’s main call, His main desire for all of His followers, is to have close personal fellowship with Him
When most people hear the words “God’s call” they think of when God calls someone to be a pastor, or a missionary. Or to do something for Him in His work.
1 Corinthians 1:9 tells us that God’s main call and desire is for all Christians to have close fellowship with Him.
The Greek word for “fellowship” in this verse is the word “koinania”. This word means to have the closest possible intimate fellowship with God, to be one with God or in complete unity with Him (and His will, desires, interests, and priorities), and to have a partnership with God is His kingdom work & mission.
God’s main desires in His heart… is you ! He desires the closest possible fellowship and intimacy with you, and for you to be one with Him and in complete unity with Him. And He wants to give your life great meaning and purpose and value by giving you the privilege of having a partnership with Him in His kingdom work and mission.
Discover The Desires Of God’s Heart
God Wants to Touch And Change Your Heart
God wants to touch and change your heart & desires. He wants to place His strong desire for close and intimate fellowship into you, so that you will want to do whatever it takes to have the closest possible fellowship with Him.
Discover The Desires Of God’s Heart
You Are God’s First Love & Treasure & Passion
Let me say it a different way… You are God’s first love. He loves you more than anything else that He created. Now He wants to be your First Love, and for you to love Him more than anything else in the world.
Another way to say it… You are God’s treasure. You are more valuable, more precious, and more important to God than anything else He created. Now God wants to be your Treasure… He wants to be more valuable, more precious, and more important to you than anything else in the world.
Another way to say it… You are God’s passion. He is more passionate about you than anything else He created. Now God wants to be your Passion… He wants you to be more passionate about God and the things He is passionate about than anything else in the world.
God Wants to Be Your First Love, Treasure, and Passion
God deserves to be our First Love, our Treasure, and our Passion. He is worthy of this, and because of what Jesus has done for us by sacrificing everything for us on the cross, we ought to love Him with all of our heart, and strength, and mind, and soul. He wants and desires this from us, and He is worthy of this type of love and devotion and passion from us.
Discover The Desires Of God’s Heart
The 2nd Desire of God’s Heart
This 2nd desire comes from His great love for us. As do all of the desires of God’s heart. Besides having a desire to have close and intimate fellowship with us, God desires for us to become the very best people we can be. God desires for you to be much more than just a good moral and religious person.
Romans 8:28 is a very familiar and well known verse for most Christians. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
God Works All Things For Good
Most Christians think that this verse means that God will take all the circumstances in our life and use them for good. This is true. But God has a much higher desire and goal and purpose in mind that just bringing some good out of our circumstances.
For example, say you lose your job and have some financial struggles. Most people believe this verse means that God will be faithful and will come through and bring you a good job. And he will fix your financial problems eventually. Our perspective of what God wants to do is usually far smaller and lower than the goal that God has in mind.
Yes God will prove Himself to be faithful. And yes He will come through and take care of your needs. But God wants to do so much more than that. To really understand God’s ultimate desire, goal, and purpose for allowing the difficult circumstances into your life, we need to look at the next verse. Romans 8:29. You will gain insight into God’s heart and His ultimate goal when you read the rest of Romans chapter 8.
Romans 8:29 is Ultimate Good God Wants For You
Romans 8:28 combined with Romans 8:29 says “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”
In Romans chapter 8 Paul is talking about difficult circumstances and suffering (for Christ). So when Romans 8:28 says “and we know that in all things…” the context of “all things” means he is talking about difficult circumstances, trials, and suffering.
Paul is saying that God will use difficult circumstances and trials and even suffering for our good. We can have hope even during the most difficult of times.
God is interested in accomplishing much more than just fixing our problems and difficult circumstances. He has a much higher desire and goal in mind. And this takes time for Him to accomplish this much higher goal.
Discover The Desires Of God’s Heart
God’s Ultimate Goal For You
Romans 8:29 reveals what God’s desire and higher purpose and goal is.
Before we dig in to verse 29 to find His higher purpose, there are a couple of things to note:
Romans 8:29 starts by saying “For those God foreknew…” – this is referring to the fact that God sees and knows all things, and that He already knows who will repent of their sins, put their faith in Jesus, and receive Jesus as their Lord & Savior. And He knows who will commit to follow Jesus as their Lord.
Then verse 29 says “he also predestined…” – this is not saying that God has pre-chosen or predestined some people to be saved and have eternal life. And that others are predestined to reject Christ and have eternal punishment for their sins. The meaning of the original Greek word used in this verse and the context of how it is used suggests that Paul is saying “For those God foreknew he also “planned from the beginning of time…”
What is it that God has “planned from the beginning of time” for us, His children ? This is the 2nd of the desires of God’s heart, and His ultimate purpose and goal in allowing difficulties and trials in your life. “to be conformed to the image of his Son.” (Romans 8:29)
God Wants You to Be The Very Best Person You Can Be
God desires for you to be a person of high quality and of high integrity. He wants you to be a person with Godly character, and a person of glory. God’s desire and His standard for who He wants you to become is very high… God wants you to become the very best person you can be, which is to be like Jesus.
God wants to mold you and shape you to be like Jesus. He wants you to have the characteristics and glory that Jesus has… Jesus’ great love (for God and for others), and His joy, and His peace, and His patience, His goodness, His kindness, His faithfulness, His gentleness, His self control (Galatians 5:22), His humility… and ultimately His holiness.
God Uses Circumstance, Trials, Difficulties
Sometimes God needs to use difficult circumstances and trials, and sometimes even suffering, in order to mold us and transform us to be like Jesus. He needs to change our character, our selfishness, our self-centered ways, our hard unbelieving hearts, our rebellion…
In difficult circumstances and trials, God may appear to some people to be far away, and even cold and cruel for allowing such difficulties. But God is not any of these things, and He is always acting in love and trying to achieve His purposes… which truly are for our ultimate good.
Discover The Desires Of God’s Heart
More Bible Verses About The 2nd Desire Of God’s Heart
Here are some more verses from God’s word that can give you insight into this desire in God’s heart:
“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the LORD’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the LORD, who is the Spirit.” – 2 Corinthians 3:18
“Now if we are children, then we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. 18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” – Romans 8:17-18
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” – Galatians 5:22-25
God Uses Discipline And Suffering To Accomplish His Will & Desire
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son. Endure hardship as discipline: God is treating you as sons. … God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” – Hebrews 12:5-11
” Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.” – 1 Peter 4:1-2
”Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish it’s work so that you may be mature and complete (like Christ), not lacking anything.” – James 1:1-4
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” – John 15:1-2
God uses difficulties, trials, and suffering to mold and shape our hearts. And to transform us to be more and more like Jesus.
Discover The Desires Of God’s Heart
The Greatest of God’s Desires – God Wants All Men To Be Saved
In Part 3 we will now look at one of God’s greatest desires in His heart. This is one of God’s desires that He has for every person in the world. None of us would be Christians and God’s children if it were not for this desire that God has in His heart.
God Wants All Men to Be Saved
1 Timothy 2:4 tells us that “God wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
God has a very strong desire and passion in His heart for “all men”… every person in the world, to be saved.
To be saved means to have a restored personal relationship with God, to be forgiven of our sins, and instead of spending eternity under the judgement & punishment for our sins (and eternally separated from God) we are given the gift of eternal life in heaven with God.
“to come to a knowledge of the truth” does not mean to only know about God, and have some religious knowledge. In John 14:6 Jesus said “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life…”. “to come to a knowledge of the truth” means to know Jesus (the Truth) in personal and real ways. Not just to know about Him in some religious way.
Discover The Desires Of God’s Heart
God Has A Great Passion For All to Be Saved
How strong is the desire in God’s heart for all people to be saved… for all people o have a reconciled relationship with Him ?
John 3:16 tells us that “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
The word “so” in “God so loved the world” is one of the smallest words in the English language. But it means SO much in this verse.
God so loves us that He sent His only son Jesus from heaven to earth. To become the sacrifice and payment for all of our sins. And to take the punishment we deserve for our sins for us. We could not have a reconciled relationship with God without someone paying the price and penalty for our sins. Jesus gladly sacrificed all and suffered terribly to do so.
Discover The Desires Of God’s Heart
Jesus loves us so much and so passionately that He sacrificed everything for us.
He left His place of glory in heaven to come to earth.
Jesus came as a simple servant.
He owned nothing while He was here except His clothes… not a house, not anything
Jesus suffered terribly for us, physically, emotionally, and ultimately spiritually
Jesus Suffered So Much For Us
I would recommend that you read this report of how Jesus suffered physically. A Physician’s View of The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This will give you a new perspective of how much God loves you. And how passionate He is for you. And how much Jesus was willing to suffer for you. Most of us do not realize the physical, emotional, and spiritual agony that Jesus endured, out of love for us.
Jesus also suffered emotionally. All of His closest followers denied and deserted Him when He was arrested.
The worst suffering for Jesus was when our sins were placed on Him.
Isaiah 53:6 – “We all, like sheep, have gone astray … and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”).
Jesus took our place and suffered the spiritual punishment and separation from God that we deserve because of our sins. In Mark 15:34 Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me ?”
You can read more about this here: Did God Really Forsake Jesus When He Was Dying On The Cross ?
Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Discover The Desires Of God’s Heart
God Wants to Place His Love & His Desires Into Your Heart
God wants to put this great desire and passion He has for all to be saved into you and I. So that we are compelled & driven by His love and passion to do all we can to help others know Jesus. And help them to be saved and have a restored personal relationship with God.
When we are driven by God’s great love and passion, we will do whatever it takes. Whatever it takes to help people to be saved and have a restored relationship with God.
Follow Jesus And Be A Fisher of Men
Jesus called and commanded all of His followers to be a part of His kingdom work and mission in Matthew 4:19 and Matthew 28:19-20:
Matthew 4:19 – “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
A fisher of men is someone who actively, in their daily life, does their best to share the Gospel of Jesus with others. It is not just “doing” evangelism once in a while. It is “being” a faithful witness for Jesus. It is having the same heart and love and passion for lost people that Jesus has.
Discover The Desires Of God’s Heart
We Are Also To Make Disciples
Matthew 28:19-20 – “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
The 2nd part of God’s kingdom work & mission is to make disciples. We are all called and commanded to share Jesus with others. And to help make disciples. To help and encourage other believers to grow spiritually. To know Jesus and to be more and more like Him.
The only way for God to be able to place His desires and passion into you and I is for us to have a soft heart. A soft pliable, moldable and humble heart for God (Psalm 37:4). God needs to touch and change our hearts, so that we will desire and be passionate about the things God is. God is passionate about having close & intimate fellowship with us. He wants us to follow Him no matter what it takes or costs. And God wants us to be driven by His love & passion to reach the many lost people in the world.
Pursuing Intimacy With God
Pursuing Intimacy With God is committed to helping you with the most important thing in your life… your intimacy with God , your fellowship with Him, and your partnership with God in His Kingdom work & mission.
There are hundreds of Bible verses and great truths & promises in the Pursuing Intimacy With God studies.
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Book of Revelation Bible Study Series
Other Links
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Is Jesus Your First Love ? Part 2
Prayer Is Passion To Seek & Know God
God’s Purpose & Mission For You And Your Church
Spiritual Gifts: All Christians Have Gifts
Jesus Wants To Heal You & Set You Free
Salvation & The Gospel Of Jesus Christ
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Kevin Bart has been a follower of Jesus for over 40 years. Kevin has taught Bible study classes, small groups, and discipleship classes for many years. He developed Pursuing Intimacy With God Bible studies website and book after many years of seeking God and studying His word. Kevin and his wife Nancy have 3 sons and 2 precious grandchildren.
Kevin is a former business owner, and current international missions ministry leader with more than four decades of combined business and ministry experience. After building and running a successful business for 23 years, with God’s guidance and blessings, he sold his company to dedicate himself to full-time global missions.
For over 20 years, Kevin and his wife Nancy have led a self funded international missions ministry. Utilizing learned business and financial management skills, as well as knowledge and experience in travel points and miles, to date they have had more than 5o mission trips to 36 countries in the Caribbean, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
After many years of studying the Bible and the Book of Revelation, and writing many Bible studies and articles, Kevin finally finished Unraveling The Mysteries of the Book Of Revelation. Hopefully it will be a blessing to many people.
