EVEN MY HEART’S DESIRES?
Psalms 37:4-6 Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
God is certainly a good God! Even before I had read this passage, God had begun bringing it to pass in my life. When I became a Christian I was wholeheartedly committed to Jesus out of love and appreciation for his forgiveness and reconciliation. As a friend told me once he felt like he was on the inside of his brithday cake eating his way out after he had become a Christian,and I felt the same way. I had a new joy that I had never had before. My love for Jesus seemed to fill my heart to overflowing. I never realized that my new relationship and excitement for Jesus would bring about more blessings than I could imagine. Soon the Lord began releasing showers of blessings, and many that I never even asked for.
An example is my ride in the military jet fighter. When I was just a little boy around eight or so I saw some United States Air Force jet fighters taking off and landing at the Des Moine, Iowa airport. I can remember even at that time wanting to ride in one. Even as a boy I would dream of becoming a pilot so I could someday fly in one. While I did fly several times when I was young it always made me feel air sick, so I never pursued becoming a pilot. But strange as it sounds my desire to fly in a jet fighter never left even after I became a man. Then one day in my fifties I went to a air show in Springfield, Illinois, and a man by the name of Don Taft was there, and he had his own jet fighter. It was really a beautiful plane. It was a two seat Mig trainer. He even had it painted in camouflage. I saw him by his plane, so I went to talk to him about it. Usually the pilot’s weren’t by their planes, so I was excited to hear what it was like. As we talked and he told me all about it I became bold and asked if he ever took people for a ride. He told me that it cost quite a bit of money for just one hour of flight time. Well, to make a longer story short, I came out and asked if I could pay for a ride. He was was a little surprised and since he lived in the same town as I did he said he would take me for a ride. I was so excited! The day of the flight he had me get in and explained all about it and what all he intended to do on the flight. I told him that he didn’t have to do any tricks, but he said that as much as I was paying for the ride I deserved them. As we sat at the end of the runway my heart was pounding. Then Don said over the intercom, “Hang on Jimmy, your dream is about to come true.” It was as though Jesus himself had said it. I hadn’t been called Jimmy since the time I was a little boy in Des Moine, Iowa. I knew Jesus had just given me my heart’s desire. I had given up on my jet ride many years before, but God had not forgotten. He loved me and because I loved him, he gave me my heart's desire that I felt was impossible.
The jet ride was just one of the blessings that came that day. Don and I became very good friends. He and his wife started coming to our church, and we would often go for a ride in one of his prop planes. He even took me up in his helicopter too. He was one of very few pilots in the United States that had licenses to fly a single, multiply engines, jet fighters and helicopters. He loved flying like I loved Jesus. The funny thing was with our time together his love for flying rubbed off on me and my love for Jesus rubbed off on him. God had brought us both unexpected blessings all because of my wholehearted love for Jesus.
To be very honest just to know and love Jesus and experience his love for me would have been more than I could have expected. But when we love someone we want to bless them and bless them more. When I think of all the things that Jesus has blessed me with since I have become a lover of Jesus, I just have to smile and shake my head. You would think I was crazy or bragging if I was to tell you all he has given me. And many of the things go back to when I was young like the 1923 T-Bucket show car. That is a real story in itself!
I guess what I am trying to tell you is that when you love Jesus and put him first in your life, you can expect him to bless you and bless you and bless you! Not because he has too, but because he loves you so much, just like you love him!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we love you so much. We pray that we can bless you just like you bless us. You are a wonderful and great God!
