Turn Your Whole Heart to God
To live a life of peace and purpose, we must turn our whole heart to God, breaking off sin and dedicating our actions to His presence.
Mary Wilder Tileston emphasizes the importance of surrendering to God and living a life dedicated to pleasing Him. She highlights the power of God's grace to build us up and grant us an inheritance among the sanctified. Tileston urges believers to turn their whole hearts to God, seeking His presence in all their actions and offering everything to Him. By making God the center of our lives, we can experience His love, increase our desire for Him, and ultimately find and possess Him both in grace and in glory.
Text
And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified.
ACTS 20:32
ONLY the rays of God can cure the heart,
Purge it of evil; there's no other way
Except to turn with the whole heart to God.
In heavenly sunlight live no shades of fear;
The soul there, busy or at rest, hath peace;
And music floweth from the various world.
WILLIAM ALLINGHAM
BREAK off things which displease God, and, whatever ye do, do it to please Him. Dedicate, morning by morning, the actions of the day to God; live in His Presence; offer to Him your acts beforehand; recall yourself, if the case admits, into His Presence, in the midst of them; give Him the glory with thy whole heart, if they be well done, since nothing good is our own; if they be amiss, grieve to Him. If we make God our end, He who gave us the grace thus to seek Him, will give us His love; He will increase our longing desire for Him; and whom in all we seek, whom in all we would please, whom in all we would love, Him shall we find, Him possess, here in grace and veiled, hereafter, in glory.
EDWARD B. PUSEY
Sermon Outline
- Turning to God with the Whole Heart
- Recognizing the need for purification
- Breaking off things that displease God
- Dedicating actions to God's presence
Key Quotes
“ONLY the rays of God can cure the heart, Purge it of evil; there's no other way Except to turn with the whole heart to God.” — Mary Wilder Tileston
“In heavenly sunlight live no shades of fear; The soul there, busy or at rest, hath peace;” — Mary Wilder Tileston
“If we make God our end, He who gave us the grace thus to seek Him, will give us His love; He will increase our longing desire for Him; and whom in all we seek, whom in all we would please, whom in all we would love, Him shall we find, Him possess, here in grace and veiled, hereafter, in glory.” — Mary Wilder Tileston
Application Points
- Break off things that displease God and seek to please Him in all that you do.
- Dedicate your actions to God's presence and live in His presence throughout the day.
- Make God your end and seek to find Him in all things, that you may experience His love and glory.