The heart of the matter

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8 ESV  

Jesus’ primary mission was all summed up in that scripture. That was Jesus’ assignment, and it is our assignment as well. 

If we are to be followers of Jesus who want to get the message of Jesus out there, it will take more than just good theology, it will require more than just well-learned skills and it will involve more than just a deep passion to share Jesus with the world! It will take a heart of integrity! 

It was said of David, that: With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand. Psalm 78:72 (ESV) The heart of the matter is a matter of the heart!

Now before we get too far along with this line of thinking let me explain the heart in this manner. The “heart” commonly refers to the mind as the center of thinking and reason, but also includes the emotions, the will, and thus, the whole inner being. The heart is the depository of all wisdom and the source of whatever affects speech, sight, and conduct.

We have another word for that: Integrity – meaning, the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.

There is a word for wisdom in the Old Testament which is hakmah. It was a common word used to describe great skill. A skilled craftsman – hakmah! A skilled musician – hakmah! The writer of Proverbs captures this idea and applies it to godly living – he calls us to be skilled in godly living – to live hakmah lives! We need men and women who are filled with Jesus and living godly lives.

Solomon exhorts us in Proverbs 4:23 (ESV) Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

The heart must be guarded because it is the wellspring (source of direction) of life! It sets the stage for our choices, attitudes and behaviors of life! ABOVE ALL ELSE!

A HEART OF INTEGRITY IS A SURRENDERED HEART

Romans 12:1-2 (ESV) says, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

A surrendered heart to God means a yielding, a giving up possession of our lives and recognizing we never truly had control in the first place. It's a personal decision. We choose to relinquish control and submit to the authority and power of God. A heart of integrity is a heart radically surrendered to God!

A HEART OF INTEGRITY IS A SENSITIVE HEART

What is a heart that is sensitive to God?

A heart that's sensitive to God is a heart that's tuned into what God thinks, feels, and desires. This is the opposite of how most people live. Most people are primarily concerned about themselves; what they think, what they feel and what they want.

For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. Galatians 5:25 (ESV) Keep your heart soft and responsive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

A HEART OF INTEGRITY IS A COURAGEOUS HEART

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 (ESV)

A courageous heart means letting one believe God's promises. Courage is always fueled by faith. Good courage is fueled by faith in the ultimate good of the real God and all he promises to be for us in Jesus.

You are more dangerous than you think you are! Jesus did not die to keep us safe…he died to make us courageous! BOLDNESS is a by-product of knowing our identity in Christ – it is about intimacy with Jesus.

In Acts 4:29 the believers prayed for Boldness: And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness

God knows who you are, the Devil knows who you are, but do you know who you are! That same power that raised Jesus from the dead is in you! If we only believed what God believes about us, it would revolutionize our lives!

In Him, you have been blessed with every spiritual blessing. In Him, you were chosen before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In Him, you have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. In Him, you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit. Right now, all authorities, power, and dominions are under our feet!

A HEART OF INTEGRITY IS A SPIRIT-FILLED HEART

The key to a heart of integrity is a spirit-filled heart! 

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:37-38 (ESV)

We know the downward pull of the law of sin and death but in Christ there is a new law at work within us – the law of the Spirit. The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is at work in us to bring us to wholeness, dynamic spiritual health and kingdom advancing victory!

A heart of integrity is not found in trying harder but in trusting more! “Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.” HAKMAH!

God is Good

 God is good

 Psalm 34:8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

Mark 10:18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

1 Chronicles 16:34 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

I was listening to David Crowder’s song King and the chorus struck a chord with me. The chorus goes like this:

 You're still Rock of Ages

God over everything

Even when evil rages

You're still the Prince of Peace

You're still good, You're still God

If it all falls apart

I'm gonna keep on trusting

You are who You say You are

 The line that is:  You're still good, You're still God, hit me and made me stop and ask just how good is God? We all heard the line God is good, all the time and all the time, God is good. Let’s break that down.

 It’s easy to see God’s goodness when life tastes like a cold glass of ice tea. When our hearts are happy our eyes are open to His glorious presence, His plan for our lives, and the beauty of His creation all around us. But sometimes life isn't all sweet tea and it’s in these times we must remember this simple truth: God is good all the time.

But, He’s never anything but good. There are numerous verses of scripture in the Bible to remind us. The Bible is named the Good Book for that very reason. Anytime we need a goodness check think of God, because God is good all the time. God is human’s moral compass. He always points to good.

 Psalm 37:27-28 Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever.

For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones.

 When evil rages all around you, remember that God is good and anything that is not good is not of God.

 I know, you pray to God for something good to happen and you don’t see the effects of that. Why? It’s not that God doesn’t listen to His children, but He is working for you, just not in your time, but in His time. Be patient and wait on God for He will do what is good for you. You may not believe it is good, but trust me, God is good. His love and goodness endures forever. He is the standard of good.

 Psalm 37: 3-4 Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

 To say that God is good means God always, always acts in a way that is true, noble, right, and good. Goodness is who He is. He cannot do anything that is not good.

 God is good because He is God. It is our humanity that looks at Him otherwise because we created sin and evil. When sin entered God’s perfect creation, He had a plan to redeem humanity. The Gospel reveals this “good news,” where God sent His Son to become the perfect and blameless sacrifice so we could be forgiven of our sins. Even this was good. God does not want anyone to perish but everyone to come to have everlasting life in Him.

 In His plan of salvation, He didn’t say our lives would be good all time. Instead, He warned us that in this life we will have trouble. We will have sickness, freak accidents, death, pain, hurt feelings, and face disappointments; but He promised He has plans to prosper us and not to harm us. He promised He would walk with us and He promised to redeem us in this world. 

 2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

 Not only is God with us in our joy, but He is also there in our pain and disappointment too. Think about what you have been through lately. Have you gotten a promotion, a raise, a new car, a new home, a healthy baby delivered into your arms? Have you finally gotten the job you’ve always wanted? Did you receive enough money to cover a bill, get groceries, or come home to a warm home? Did you wake up today with breath in your lungs? Then yes, God is good. These are just the infinitely little details He works out for each of us even in the middle a crisis.

 Was God still good when He allowed Satan to afflict Job with suffering? Was God still good when He didn’t answer Paul’s prayer to remove the torment of Satan via the thorn in the flesh? Was He good when He allowed Jesus to die on the cross?

 Now put that into your life. Is God still good if you lose your job, lose your home, can’t have a child, or the doctor says you have cancer and three months to live? Yes, because His goodness is deeply rooted throughout your trials and your joys. He loves you so much that He will grow you and sanctify you abundantly until eternity—then He will reward you for your faithfulness.

 Psalm 107:1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

 So remember: God is good, all the time and all the time, God is good.

Fear Not

 

Fear Not, for I Am with You

Psalm 121:5-8 The Lord watches over you the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Isaiah 41:8-10 But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 

I was sitting in church one Sunday being the security monitor. Our church has cameras mounted all around the outside of the church as well as some inside monitoring the nursery. I personally think this is unbelievable, but we live in a different age. You see like it or not these are different times we live in. We have a team of 7-10 men that rotate this monitor position. The theory is that if the person monitoring the cameras sees a threat then they alert the others and we take appropriate action.

Most people in our church know about this position and it gives us a peace of mind while we are in worship. But what about stepping away from the church building, what gives you a peace of mind and a feeling of security? 

It can be hard to find peace in a world filled with so many things to worry about, especially when those things are constantly bombarding our senses. Our minds are subconsciously scanning for danger to help keep us alive and identify opportunities to make our lives more at peace. It’s why we’re more likely to keep an eye on the oven than our Bible. The sights, sounds, and smells of this physical world just feel more real than the spiritual.

What about that spiritual battle? How do we fight that? Through prayer and talking to Jesus is the way for us Christians. For those to whom religion isn’t very important, even thinking about Christ let alone praying or talking to God may seem to have little to no effect, and may even slightly increase anxiety. This could also lead them further away from a relationship with Christ. 

First of all, non-believers may not recognize spiritual warfare. So how do they handle the stress or anxiety? Most likely through behaviors like drinking, carousing or other destructive actions. This just leads to a deeper spiral. 

As a Christian we have faith, we have knowledge, we have peace of mind knowing that God has our back. He is our protector our only one that can save us for this world.

2 Samuel 22:2-5 He said, “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. 

Lord Jesus, hear my cry. I ask you to give me all around peace in my mind, body, soul and spirit. I want you to heal and remove everything that is causing stress, grief, and sorrow in my life. Please guide my path through life and make my enemies be at peace with me.

Be Still

Be Still

Exodus 14:13-14 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Psalm 37: Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Psalm 46:10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 

Back in 1992 the group Alabama came out with a I'm in a Hurry (And Don't Know Why). Your remember that right?

I'm in a hurry to get things done

Oh, I rush and rush until life's no fun

All I really gotta do is live and die

Even I'm in a hurry and don't know why

Don't know why? I have to drive so fast

My car has nothing to prove

It's not new

But it'll do 0 to 60 in 5.2, oh

I'm in a hurry to get things done

Oh, I rush and rush until life's no fun

All I really gotta do is live and die

But I'm in a hurry and don't know why

You were singing that right? 

Why are we in a hurry? Are our lives just that busy we think we must speed things up to get through the day, the week, or the month? Slow down, be still and let God help. 

If you’re like most people, when you want something, you want it fast. But is fast always better? Not always. Yes we do live in a high-strung, neurotic, impatient age. We hurry when there is no reason to hurry—just to be hurrying. This fast-paced age has produced more problems and less morality than previous generations, and it has given all of us frazzled nerves.

You want to slow down but cannot figure how to stop this runaway train. So just trust God’s timing.

When things aren’t happening as quickly as you hoped, it’s easy to get impatient. But do you know what impatience really is? It’s a lack of trust.

When we are impatient, it’s like we are saying, “God, I don’t really trust you. I don’t think you have my best interest at heart. I’m in a hurry for something, and I don’t believe you know when I need it.” We get worried, we get hurried, and we start scurrying—because we don’t trust God to do things at the right time and in the right way. So instead of trusting his timing, we struggle and strive.

Ecclesiastes 3:9-14 What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

God has a plan for our life and most of us know that. But He also has a timetable for our life. Here’s the thing: God never explains his timetable. And sometimes that can be really difficult to accept. One of the most painful things in life is when we are in a hurry and God is not. 

As a follower of Jesus Christ, we have to learn the same thing: God’s delay is not his denial. He has a plan and a timetable. And his timing is perfect.

May my heart be still amid all the turmoil, as I remember Your patience with me, Lord Jesus.

God's World

 It’s God’s world, we just live in it

Genesis 1:1--2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Exodus 19:5-6 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.

I’m sure you have heard the phrase: “It’s your world, I just live in it”. When someone says "this is your world, I just live in it" to another person, they are essentially saying that the other person has control over the situation or relationship, and they are merely a part of it, or the person is implying that everything revolves around you. Or even "It's my world; you're just living in it!"

Everything about this screams, "Me, me, me!" We focus so much on choosing a career, choosing how we spend our free time, how we dress, relate to others, and just about everything else. Pretty much everything in our society warrants the freedom of choice.

Everything I know to be true is subject to my experiences. So, subjectively, the world I am in my world  is all about me, what I want, what I can get, "what I will make of myself," etc.

But that's not what the bible teaches.

This isn't our world. Living with free will isn't a right; it's a gift from God to live out His purpose and plan. So, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what my choices are. God calls me to choose to submit to His will.

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

Among all the wonders we are blessed with, one of the most powerful things that we have got is the power of “free will” or Choice. God has created humans with Free Will. We, therefore, are living our lives exercising the power of freedom over our personal choices and decisions. Life is full of choices. Every day God gives us the freedom to make choices about what we think is going to be good, or even best for us. The success and failure of our life is made up of the little choices we make every day of our lives. For every action there is a reaction, and for every choice there is a consequence. Most people don’t put careful thoughts on the life God wants them to possess. Often they become distracted with the cares and concerns that come their way without ever living a more fulfilling life. 

The power to choose is in our hands. We can choose wisely or unwisely as we are confronted with decisions, temptations, choices and priorities. We make decisions every day. Some decisions have far reaching consequences and other decisions are not so far reaching. But our choices determine the values, character, direction, and destiny of our life. When you need wisdom remember that God is the source of wisdom. Prayerfully consider the eternal nature of your Creator, the fleeting reality of your life, and the just wrath of God.

God has a great destiny for us if we choose to embrace his will for our lives. Our destiny is shaped by the choices we make, NOT by chance. The choices we make to prioritize God, friendships and our purpose are the most important of those decisions. Everything we are going through in life, whether good or bad, can serve for good when we make choices to love God.

Psalms 90:12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

So I want to leave you with this, we don’t live in our world; we live in God’s world. So remember this:

Place Your Life Before God

Romans 12:1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (The Message)

Learning Scripture

 Learning Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

I recently overheard someone listening to music and try to sing the words. It must have been new to them as they were only singing the words they could remember. They listened to the song over and over again to memorize the lyrics.

This got me thinking, we don’t we do the same with scripture?  Not only does memorizing Scripture allow us to act more like Christ in the face of temptation, it also allows us to hear His voice and His words as we go through each day.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

By memorizing Scripture, God’s words are planted in our memory, grow deep, and strong. They become a natural part of our thinking and responding.

Matthew 4:4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

We know that in this world there will be trouble, but having Scripture hidden in our hearts can help them face whatever life throws at us. When Christ’s words are our words they help us to better relate to others and to put others above ourselves. They remind us of Christ’s sacrifice for us and how we, too, should put others above ourselves.

How do we memorize scripture? Well just like the person I overheard, you listen or read over and over again, until you can recall all the words. You can listen to the Bible through your Bible application or listen to someone who sings the verses. There are several people out there on YouTube or other social media that do that. I know at least one artist that does that, she calls it Memory Mondays.

So driving down the highway, listen to scripture, when at home read your Bible over and over again.

How many of you remember the movie The Book of Eli? A drifter, Eli, has been wandering westward across North America for thirty years carrying the last known Bible. Anyway, Eli reads from this book every day and in the end, the book gets destroyed, but Eli is able to recite the entire Bible to someone who is recording, because over 30 years Eli memorized the entire Bible. Oh and by the way that Bible was a Braille Bible!

The point is, listen or read the Bible and memorize scripture. I cannot tell you which scripture to memorize and I am not advocating learning the entire Bible, but praying and letting God show you which verses to learn.

God showing up in the littlest of things

 Luke 24:30-31 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.

Besides God being a miracle worker, a discloser of mysteries, a deliverer, and a mighty God, He is also  working in all things, not just the big, momentous things. When I say ALL things, I mean even the little things like popcorn.

Popcorn? How does God use popcorn for His glory? 

Romans 8:28 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.

So I need to share with you how God does things in the smallest of ways that we can overlook. We decided to show a movie at our church one Sunday afternoon. I was helping the Pastor with the logistics of getting that accomplished. We decided where to show the movie at, made sure the projector was hooked up correctly, sound system working well enough, and putting the seats in a way that would be theater like.

As we were discussing the nuances of preparing, I mentioned that we need popcorn.  You can’t go to the movies without popcorn. The Pastor said that the church has or had a large popcorn popper like the one used in theaters. I said perfect, where is that and I will get it and clean it up. We searched for quite some time, looking in every storage room, every office space and every closet. We did find the base, but no popcorn machine. We were a bit miffed on where it could be.

Now the Pastor did say that it hadn’t been used in several years, that maybe someone borrowed it. We checked with the youth minister, nope, he had not seen it. We checked with several of the older folks that knew were things were stored. One suggested the shed(s). We searched there, nope. One of others did say that we were having some issues with it years ago and ended up renting a machine in the past. So it is possible that it was thrown away.

If you know me, once I get an idea in my head I will exhaust all resources until I figure it out or finally come to the conclusion that it can’t be accomplished. I began to research about purchasing one. You see, you have to have popcorn to watch a movie, especially if the church is using this has an outreach. Plus if I purchased one, we could use it at home, as we do like our popcorn. Some after some cost & benefit analysis; I decided not to purchase and just let it be.

The week goes by and we are prepping for the movie, discussion with a few people about not being able to find the popcorn machine. So the day comes to show the movie. Several of us show up about an hour before the start time. One person brings in a large pan and popcorn. Okay so he makes 3 large bowls of popcorn. I’m thinking this is a start, but we’re expecting 40 people or more. Others begin showing up and people are bringing in bags of popcorn from home. I counted 3 from one family, another large bag from another and some homemade caramel corn from another. I didn’t think a whole lot about, but after the movie and we were cleaning up, I realized that anyone who wanted popcorn got their fill and lots of leftovers. We fed 45 people.

Then it dawned on me like someone screaming at me, POPCORN! God showed up and delivered popcorn to our small country church.

Now you may say I ‘m a bit off, but to me this was God’s way of showing me that there is nothing insignificant He won’t do for us, even as small as popcorn.

1 Corinthians 1:28-29 NIV  God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are,  so that no one may boast before him.

Thank you God for making me humble.