What's In Your Heart?

I read a recent comment from a friend on Facebook that got me thinking. She mentioned that she had been doing some really in depth cleaning and she didn't realize how much unseen dirt was there simply because it lay hidden. Isn't that the truth? How many times have you discovered where all the dust bunnies hide, when you decide it's time to move to a new home. We do our best to vacuum all the places that are visible but what lies hidden many times gets skipped over, not because we don't want it clean but simply out of neglect of the things that are not seen.

True of our homes, even truer of our lives. So many times we allow things to creep into our lives and we excuse them because they are unseen. We know the big stuff that's wrong, that would be visible if we participated in, so we steer clear of those things. But it's the little things in the hidden corners of our lives that cause us to not be clean before God. Oh - don't get me wrong. No one knows of our issues. No one is aware that we've got some cobwebs in the corner. No one knows of the dust bunnies that are reproducing rapidly under our bed and because they don't we go through life with a false sense of righteousness - a righteousness that we portray on the outside but is only skin deep. If we are ever going to be truly righteous - we've got to open the windows of our heart, let the light in and expose all the hidden places to the truth of God's word.

You see we have no problem condemning murder and adultery, fornication and drug use, lying and stealing, perversion and lust. But just as condemned in God's Word are things like pride, gossip, judgment, and condemnation. We have private sins that we allow ourselves because they're not readily visible to the outside world. . . and yet we are open books before our great God who knows and sees all.

I love Jesus' Sermon on the Mount - and one of my favorite passages states "Judge not, lest you be judged. Condemn not, lest you be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given back to you, press down, shaken together . . ." Anyone who's ever been to a church service where an offering was taken has probably heard the second half of that passage. Imagine with great gusto and an evangelistic persuasion as Bro. Offering Taker says "GIVE and IT'LL BE GIVEN BACK TO YOU - PRESSED DOWN SHAKEN TOGETHER RUNNING OVER SHALL MEN HEAP UNTO YOUR BOSOMS - FOR WITH THE SAME MEASURE THAT YOU GIVE IT OUT IT WILL BE RETURNED UNTO YOU! -- GLORY TO GOD, HALLELUJAH, AMEN!" Now don't get me wrong, I believe God's Word. But many times we forget the first half of that passage which reveals that if we judge, if we condemn, and if we harbor unforgiveness, the same measure that we use to mete that out, will be used to judge us, condemn us, and withhold forgiveness from us. I mention that scripture because many times we are quick to point out the flaws and sin in the lives of others but meanwhile we have major flaws in our own life, hidden away and just because they're under the bed, doesn't mean they aren't there.

I've been studying the life of David recently and the more I study the more I'm fascinated. I've known all of the stories all my life but I'm trying to look deeper to get an understanding of the true shepherd boy who became king. I marvel at his humility when in the midst of having his sin exposed, his murderous adulterous affair brought to light by God's prophet Nathan, he does not respond in self-righteous indignation but rather finds a place of repentance. And on his face before God in repentance, we hear the words, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. . ." So many times, we just need to learn to ask God to create within us a clean heart and to remove that heart that is dirty and filthy with all sorts of ungodly attitudes and actions, that although hidden still remain. Stop vacuuming around the obvious. Stop cleaning just that things that people can see but allow our hearts to be exposed to a God who lovingly and willingly will cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So - what's in your heart today? Are there things there that you've been hiding from the world and trying to hide from God. If so - throw back the curtains, open up the windows and invite God to come and truly cleanse you - not just of the things that are seen but of the things that are hidden as well. Stop pointing out the faults of others and allow God to make you to be more like Him. In so doing, we will be cleansed ourselves and then better able to help our brother or sister when they are struggling - not from a self-righteous perch - but by going to where they are and in a spirit of love help to restore those that have fallen. I want my heart to be an authentic match to the heart of my Creator - today oh God - create in me a clean heart!

Love all of you - hope you're having a wonderful start to the week - let's learn to love others with the kind of love, shared with us by Jesus Christ Himself, unselfish, always forgiving, merciful and kind . . . God bless - until next time - RP

In Everything Give Thanks

Amazingly, 2009 is quickly coming to a close. If I'm completely honest, part of me is determined to stay up until 12:01 am on January 1, 2010 to make sure that 2009 actually leaves. Yeah - it's been that kind of year. But in the midst of all of the things that we've lived through that we'd never want to go through again, I felt the Lord today remind me of the words of the Apostle Paul to the church at Thessalonica - ". . .in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV) Now I'm no English scholar (or Greek for that matter) but when Paul wrote "everything" I think he meant "everything". And to me, "everything" is a standard that is really tough to live up to.

I know - all my super-spiritual readers out there - you've lost all respect for me. But if I'm being completely honest, there have been moments over the last year that I have not felt thankful. I have not wanted to be thankful. In point of fact, I think there have been times that I've wondered how a thankful spirit was even possible. And yet - Paul says that in everything, give thanks. As a matter of fact, he says that thanksgiving is the will of God for our lives. So how, in the midst of situations that are painful and hurtful and at times unfair can we still find a way to fulfill the will of God and the command of the Apostle Paul - to be thankful in EVERYTHING? Well - I haven't got this completely licked yet but more and more I'm discovering the joy of living a life of thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is not just a period in the month of November - thanksgiving is a lifestyle that we chose to live. And if it is indeed a lifestyle choice then their must be some things I can do to become more grateful, regardless of the circumstances that blow through my life. I want to live a life that fulfills the will of God and therefore I must be thankful in everything - so how do I do it?
I'm confident that there is probably a 5o point sermon out there that someone could recommend but I'm gonna share with you three things that I'm trying to do that is helping me to discover a life of thanks!

1) Trust in the Power of God's Word - Did you know that when the Bible says that ". . . all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. . ." (Romans 8:28 NKJV) it really means it? It doesn't say that everything in my life will be good - it just lets me know that everything will work together for my good. In other words, while in the midst of the storm, I can't see how my ship being tossed to and fro and being shoved of course can possibly be good. But if I trust in the one who controls the storm and the ship, my wind blown ship being forced into a different port actually puts me in the place where God intends for me to be. When God tells me from His word that I'm healed, I'm forgiven, I'm His child, I have a purpose, that He has a plan for me and that my eternity is secure in Him - I can bank on it because I can trust in His word. Regardless of what my circumstances may say at the moment - I can be thankful because I know that I can trust His word and it will not lie.

2) Trust in the Power of God's Hand - When life seems to be going wrong all around you and everything that you once counted on has gone topsy-turvy - you can still trust and know that God has the power to move on your behalf. Imagine you are in Babylon and you are one of 3 young Jewish boys who have somehow found themselves in a position of power in the administration of King Nebuchadnezzar. Everything is going great until the king makes a golden image and he expects everybody to bow down to it -- only you know there is no other god except Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - the great God of Israel. So you don't bow. And you discover that the king won't give in either and therefore you are destined to received the prescribed punishment, a very hot furnace of fire designed to burn everything within it's path. You are bound with ropes and the fire is stoked up seven times hotter than it was before due to the kings wrath - a fire so hot that it killed the soldiers who were given the responsibility of putting you in. It's a pretty bad situation. It certainly does not seem fair. It certainly seems that life has suddenly taken a pretty drastic turn for the worse. But I love your attitude in this story . . . We know that our God is able to deliver us - but even if He does not we will still not bow and we will still remain faithful to our God. And so, amazingly and without a consideration of failure, God shows up in the midst of the fire and the only thing that burned were the things that were binding you up. Sometimes in those moments when we think our circumstances can't get worse, those are the times that God is up to His best work - so in the midst of all that, if we can remain thankful and faithful - He will not only show up but those things that are restricting us will be destroyed as He brings us through the fire once more.

3) Trust in the Power of God's Heart - When you consider that Jesus loved you so much, He moved heaven and earth to purchase you from the clutches of sin - when you consider that He would rather leave His eternal home than live there without you - when you consider that there is nothing that can ever separate us from that love, we can truly trust in the power of His heart toward us. Even at those moments when we can't even imagine how God's hand is in the midst of our situation, we can forever trust that His heart is toward us. As a good parent loves his or her children, imagine how much more our Creator loves us. The very same God who created mankind and then died to reconcile mankind to Himself and from sin can't help but be in love with His creation. Oh how He loves us! And because of that love, I can without hesitation say that I am thankful.

The Apostle Paul also wrote - that in whatever state he was in, he had learned to be content. Knowing that God is in control regardless of my current circumstances certainly causes me to discover a level of thankfulness that I never thought possible. This Thanksgiving - don't just celebrate a day off to eat turkey and watch football. Instead commit to a lifestyle of Thanksgiving - by trusting in God's Word, His Heart and His Hand and know that we've all got so much to be thankful for. Good stuff - Absolutely! Bad Stuff - you better believe it. In everything give thanks - for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you!

Until next time - GIVE THANKS! Love all of you! -- RP