You have tried my heart;
You have visited me by night;
You have tested me and You find nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
Psalm 17:3
After reading this verse I found myself thinking about the last part..and Abba led me to the verses Matt 12:34, 15:18 and Luke 6:45. All three basically say that what is in one's heart will be confessed.
So it is our hearts we ask God to redeem and purify, and from the inside the outside is also cleansed. As Jesus cleared up in Mark 7 about the heart of a man. So we must purpose [be determined] that our hearts would not transgress [do wrong; overstep a proper limit]. And God has indeed given us a set of rules (not to be bossy!) to keep, that way we can get the BEST out of this life before our eternal one.
For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. Romans 10:10
Friday, July 22, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Motivated by Love
Why do medals matter so much? Why does outdoing and coming out on top of others mean so much to us? are we not supposed to have an attitude of SERVANTHOOD as Christ had (Matthew 20:28)? Maybe I'm wrong..but this is troubling to me.
What's someone going to say when they see another who claims to be a Christian viciously fighting for the finish...passing by someone who tripped and fell; deciding to see how they are after claiming the prize. how's this showing our compassion at all (1 Peter 3:8)? How's that love? We do it all the time though; we would much rather make sure we're all good before going to help someone else up. We need to stop and realize we're imperfect. It's okay to reach out to someone else who is hurting while we are hurting... it doesn't always have to be after we've gone through the healing process. It's just got to be in God's timing.
Compassion, humility, servanthood... Christ was motivated in all He did by love; and we are to follow His example. Remember souls are at stake here, so let's not get so wrapped up in the world that we lose focus on what matters.
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NASB)
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
-Jude 21 (NKJV)
What's someone going to say when they see another who claims to be a Christian viciously fighting for the finish...passing by someone who tripped and fell; deciding to see how they are after claiming the prize. how's this showing our compassion at all (1 Peter 3:8)? How's that love? We do it all the time though; we would much rather make sure we're all good before going to help someone else up. We need to stop and realize we're imperfect. It's okay to reach out to someone else who is hurting while we are hurting... it doesn't always have to be after we've gone through the healing process. It's just got to be in God's timing.
Compassion, humility, servanthood... Christ was motivated in all He did by love; and we are to follow His example. Remember souls are at stake here, so let's not get so wrapped up in the world that we lose focus on what matters.
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NASB)
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
-Jude 21 (NKJV)
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Blind Faith
I was a counselor at a camp this last week. Now we were there a day early and the adult staff had given us team challenges. Which meant we had to work together as a team to reach a common goal; learning to trust/rely on each other.
One of these involved putting together a board that'd been cut into a puzzle. We had to put it together..wasn't too hard. Then we had to put it together with all but one of us blindfolded. Where only the blind people could touch the pieces. I remember sitting there having to concentrate fully on the one person, listening for if he called my name at any point to do something, and then I had to make sure to follow his voice to a T, so to speak. I had to make sure I wasn't getting distracted by the other team members who would accidently bump me with their hand or knee. Sometimes he'd tell me he was grabbing my hand (or would just grab it on more than one occasion) and use my hands to do what he needed done. Once he even asked me to get up, then I had the task of listening to make sure I didn't step on anyone else, or the board already laid out (which by the way I COULDN'T SEE where it was!).
Anyway, I want to say that we really don't comprehend 2 Cor. 5:7 until we understand being so lost in the dark the only thing we can do is rely on Him soo completely. It's scary yes, but He can be trusted.
For we walk by faith, not by sight.
-2 Corinthians 5:7
One of these involved putting together a board that'd been cut into a puzzle. We had to put it together..wasn't too hard. Then we had to put it together with all but one of us blindfolded. Where only the blind people could touch the pieces. I remember sitting there having to concentrate fully on the one person, listening for if he called my name at any point to do something, and then I had to make sure to follow his voice to a T, so to speak. I had to make sure I wasn't getting distracted by the other team members who would accidently bump me with their hand or knee. Sometimes he'd tell me he was grabbing my hand (or would just grab it on more than one occasion) and use my hands to do what he needed done. Once he even asked me to get up, then I had the task of listening to make sure I didn't step on anyone else, or the board already laid out (which by the way I COULDN'T SEE where it was!).
Anyway, I want to say that we really don't comprehend 2 Cor. 5:7 until we understand being so lost in the dark the only thing we can do is rely on Him soo completely. It's scary yes, but He can be trusted.
For we walk by faith, not by sight.
-2 Corinthians 5:7
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