Heart & Soul - - Enjoined

 

Acts 4:32

The multitude of believers was one in heart and soul. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they owned.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 2588, No. 5590

One Heart: the heart; mind, character, inner self, will, intention, center

From the Greek word 'kardia' (pronounced kar-dee'-ah): "the affective center of our being" and the capacity of moral preference. 

One Soul: the self;  the seat of affections and will, a person's distinct identity

From the Greek word 'psuché' (pronounced psoo-khay'): the life force as a result of God breathing His gift of life into us. 

    THE HEART is never referred to, in the Scriptures, as the actual physical heart but only as the spiritual character heart. Our inner thoughts, our intentions, whether good or bad, originate here. It is this heart which God looks on when He judges the heart. Our will, directed towards self or God, is this heart. 

    The strength of this heart is determined by the strength of the faith which resides in this spiritual heart. If there is no faith in God, there is no strength and the body in which the spiritual heart is located, surrenders to what the self wants. Instead of fearing The Lord God, it fears everything else around it.

    But if the self is surrendered to God, then the heart is, too. The fear of The Lord lives there and the heart derives its strength from faith in the Name of The Lord. 

    THE BELIEVERS who came together to wait for The Promise of the outpouring of God's Holy Spirit were afterwards joined in not only one purpose, but one heart and one soul. Yes, they shared what they had before The Promise came, but that was a sharing in and of themselves without the power of The Holy Spirit uniting them. 

    As a weaver brings many colored threads together on his or her loom, so, too is the church being fitly joined together in The Spirit by the breath of God and the hand of God. The Spirit reveals God's Will and Purpose to the believer who seeks to know such. He also unites in purpose the many believers scattered across this globe: be ready to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 

    In the early days of the church being formed, the young believers anticipated the return of their Savior to be soon and very soon. They sold their possessions and shared the increase among themselves. Because Jesus had said He was returning and to be ready for His return. 

    So we say, even now, "Jesus is returning to take His church away with Him. Get ready now or you'll be left behind. Hurry, hurry! Come to salvation by faith in the only Name under heaven by which mankind can be saved. Come to the cross and lay your burden of sins down to be washed away in the blood of God's Lamb. Come to the cross and be forgiven. Come, hurry. Jesus is returning soon. The time is very near. So near there is urgency in our pleas, our calls. Be a rejoicer in the Name of The Lord!." 

    THE CHURCH shines when she increases, her glory is measured by her quantity of believers, not their quality. Jews who believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, Messiah, to whom the gospel was first preached, and foreigners (Gentiles) to whom the gospel was sent that we also might be given the opportunity to believe make up the body of the church. 

    Who is the church? The repentant sinner. The ones who believe in the Name of the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, for the salvation of their souls. Who believe that Jesus died on the cross, taking the punishment for their sins. That His blood washes away all our filthiness and unrighteousness; that He covers us with Himself and becomes our righteousness. 

    The church consists of murderers, for Paul, after all, was murdering Christians before he became a believer. He thought he was doing God's work, but he was wrong. He had good intentions but his heart was not right with God. Prostitutes who become believers (Rahab) and turn their backs on their sin are the church. Thieves who believe on The Lord's Name for their salvation (the thief on the cross). 

    Liars, idolaters, backstabbers, thinkers of unclean thoughts, gossipers become the church when they repent of their wicked ways against God and turn to Him for their salvation. Regardless of nationalities or skin color, anyone who "names the Name of Jesus Christ" (2 Timothy 2:19) is the church. 

    THE SPIRIT moves on our hearts, gently working there to bring us to faith in Jesus Christ for our salvation. We declare that Christ is our personal Lord and Savior, making a personal commitment to follow Him wherever He leads us. The Spirit brings alike hearts together. We commit to remain faithful (faith-filled obedience) to God in His Word and His Spirit, endeavoring to reach and bring in as many people we can share this good news with. 

    "Each One Reach One." Even if only one person acknowledges Christ as a result of my sharing Jesus, my ministry does not end there. For that one person could reach two or one hundred or thousands. As long as I reach one. And my prayers water the seed of faith that is planted not only when I share, but when others share. 

    Revelation 22:17

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears say, “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the water of life drink freely.

ENJOINED

    

Love Is Holy

 

God Is Holy

Psalm 99:9

Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy.

God Is Love

1 John 4:8

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Therefore, we must conclude that Love Is Holy Because God Is Love.

1 CORINTHIANS 3:17

If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

How do we, as God's temple, get destroyed by others, besides being killed for our faith? By compromising our Biblical values with worldly values, for one.

Another way is by listening, and adhering to, false doctrines which fall into three categories: alternative "Christian" thinking, anti-Christian thinking and legalism (following a bunch of rules).

All of these schools of thought fall under the category of anti-Christ. Anything Satan can do to keep people out of walking the strait and narrow path which God has set up for His people to walk in, he will do.

There is only one GOD, one heavenly Father, unlike any other father we have ever known.

There is only one JESUS CHRIST who is GOD's only begotten Son, who died on the cross in our place taking the punishment for all the sins of the whole world: from times past, times present and times future; Who overcame death, hell and the grave and walked out of the tomb wherein He had been buried: resurrected into a new life and a new body. It is He Who is seated at the right hand of God, interceding on behalf of His people (Psalm 110:1; Colossians 3:1; Romans 8:34). And He's coming back, when His Father sends Him, to collect a holy church (Ephesians 5:25-27)

There is only one Holy Spirit and he is the Holy Spirit of the Holy God, the Holy Spirit of the Holy Christ.

God is Spirit, Jesus is the Word He speaks, the Spirit is the breath by which He speaks the Word.

John 4:24

"God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."

John 1:1, 14

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22

"He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches."

Now, knowing our God is holy and knowing He can only live in holiness, we know that his habitations must be holy, as well. When Jesus Christ washes away our sins, they all take up residence within us. We are a holy people (Titus 2:14), and as such, we are a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9), and a holy temple (1 Corinthians 3:16).

So whoever comes against us, as God's people, God's nation, God's temple, God will come against them. And win. Because He is God and His very presence demands holiness. Evil cannot withstand holiness. It will be rooted out and burned up.

Today's WORD

 

TONGUE

Psalm 34:13

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech.

James 1:26

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.

1 Peter 3:10

For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech."

Psalm 39:1

I said, "I will watch my ways so that I will not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle as long as the wicked are present."

Psalm 141:3

Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips.

 Evil -- bad; to cause misery, to cause unhappiness; malignant, disagreeable, deadly, unclean

Deceitful -- treachery, deception, dishonesty, false, crafty

When it comes to food and drink, our tongue discerns what is good and what is bad. But it does not have the power to discern whether or not we speak bad words or good words. That decision lies within the power of our thinking and our believing.

The thoughts we think, when thought upon at length, affect the heart, the decision maker of our lives. It is the heart that determines which words roll across our tongues. Therefore, in order to maintain healthy speech, we must maintain a healthy heart. Can't do it on our own, though. We need Jesus. We need the Holy Spirit.

We need Jesus to wash away the sins that are growing in our heart. We need to acknowledge our sins before God and ask Him sincerely to forgive us. We need to repent, to turn away from these sins. We need God to forgive us, to apply the blood of Christ to our hearts as only He can. Then, and only then, do we ask for to be baptized with His Holy Spirit. Do you not know that the Holy Spirit is for every believer?

We need the Holy Spirit to guide us in God's Word to find the attitudes, behaviors, we must grab hold of and apply to our hearts that our hearts would be a reflection of God's Word. Then our tongues will speak of Him and His Truth, His grace, His love, His mercy, HIM. 

Any words not spoken with grace, mercy or lovingkindness will harm another person's heart and affect them adversely. The old saying, Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me, is not always true. Words hurt. And the wounds these unsavory words cause take longer to heal than many physical wounds do. 

So, Lord, please keep near to me. Guide me, Holy Spirit, through God's Living Word and speak it to my understanding. Help me to retain the knowledge I am learning that I might be a deep, deep well and not an empty cistern. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Heart of Discerning

 

HEART OF DISCERNMENT
Proverbs 18:15
The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge,
and the ear of the wise seeks it out.
Who has the heart of discerning?

                                               The believer. (Romans 10:9)

                                                          What is the heart? 

             The soul: our will, our attitude, our intelligence/intellect.                                             (Romans 10:10)

How do we acquire knowledge?
From God. (Daniel 1:17).

                              And through spending time with God in prayer and                                        daily Bible reading. (Deuteronomy 4:29;                   Psalm 27:8; Psalm 119:2; Isaiah 55:6; Jeremiah 29:13;

1 Thessalonians 5:17; 1 Timothy 2:8; 2 Timothy 1:3)

Who are the wise?
They who fear the LORD (Proverbs 9:10).

                      How do we hear this knowledge we are seeking?

Through the hearing of the Word, whether we read our Bibles out loud or when we hear the full Truth of the Word preached in our churches. (Romans 10:17)

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Guard My Heart

 

Good Morning

GUARD MY HEART

John 14:15

If you love Me, keep (guard) My commandments.

Proverbs 4:23

Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.

Jesus Christ is the Wellspring of Life. Once He enters our hearts, we become His dwelling-place, His living quarters. We know, too, that He is the Word of God.  Therefore, when we begin to believe, the Word is planted in our hearts as a small seed.

This Word-seed requires maintenance that it might grow within us until it, the Word-seed, reaches full growth and is able to propagate. 

Planting requires preparation of the heart (faith to believe), removing the rocky stones (of unbelief), seeding the tilled heart (reading my Bible daily with prayer), watering the Word-seed (with tears of joy, tears of grief), and much sunlight (the Holy Spirit). 

While it is our faith that invites Jesus Christ into our hearts, it is God who ushers Him in. It is only through the power of the Almighty God that any of this is possible. Nothing we do can even begin to compare with what God can do. 

Are you guarding your heart? Are you keeping His Word in your heart? that it might spill forth like a rushing waterfall into the ears of  those who seek Him? Only you can answer that. I am guarding my heart.

The Unbelieving Heart

 

The verse begins with "For this reason". What reason?

 Why does God judge the unbeliever? 

For two reasons which are given in this verse:

1. Because they refused to believe The Truth of God's Word

and

2. Because they delighted in wickedness.

Hid In My Heart

I have difficulty finishing one thing before starting another. This is not multitasking, this is a lack of focus and being able to accomplish the objective(s) I set for myself every day.

I can read a portion of Scripture and still must read it over again several times. It has helped to read my Bible out loud, but I can only do that outside.

While I have never been super focused, I used to be better at it than this. I comprehend what I am reading, but I do not retain what I have read. Understand?

I know that God is helping me every step of the way we are walking together. So, when I am able to quote Scripture, it is not from memory, but from reading The Word into heart, where The Holy Spirit can draw it up, like from a well, and quench the thirsty, feed the hungry.

I have both a large print Bible, which I take outside and read, and giant print Bible, which remains on my desk in plain sight. When these both become just blurs, I also have the whole Bible on cassette. Old school, yes; but I can stop when and where I need to to get what I need when I need it.

How we get God's Word into our hearts is not as important as the fact that we get it in there. It helps to know that God's Word is Jesus Christ. John 1:1, 14 (1) "In the beginning was The Word, and The Word was with God, and The Word was God....(14) And The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of The Father,) full of grace and truth."

In order to get The Word into our hearts we need to acknowledge that we have sinned against God. We need to repent, turn away from doing such sins, and ask God to forgive us. And He will. Now The Word is in our hearts, But it is up to us to maintain it. The engine of that beautiful automobile will break down and refuse to run smoothly, if we do not take care of it, right? But we need help.
That is why God sent The Holy Spirit: to help us maintain The Word which is living in our hearts. 
I need my Jesus. I need God's Holy Spirit. It is He who guides me, teaches me, helps me, reminds me. It is God's Holy Spirit who called me to salvation through God's only begotten Son Jesus Christ. It is how I am able to accomplish my purpose in life. 
When I surrendered all, I always kept back a part of me. Maybe it was fear. Maybe it was anxiety Whatever it was, I never really surrendered ALL OF ME to God. I must take the next step and be fully committed to what God wants me to do. 
His Word is in me, His Spirit is on me, and I will go where He wants me to go.

I Have A Fleshy Heart

I have been so forgetful that I was not sharing my thoughts on here, too. This is originally written January 2015 and posted on Facebook in My Notes.

Ezekiel 11:19-20 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spiritwithin you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh:That they make walk in Mine statutes, and keep Mine ordinances, and do them:and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

     When God spoke of removing the stony heart and replacing it with a fleshy heart, He gave me a heart like His. God's heart is flexible:His heart breaks when we sin (rebel against His Word and do our own thing). When we confess our sins to God and repent (turn away from) of our sins, God is faithful in His Word to forgive us; and we are saved from the punishment we would have had to bear had we not repented.

     Christ's heart was broken on the cross at Calvary, and His blood was poured out for us, and upon us, washing away our sins. We are made perfect in God's sight because we have the righteousness of Christ upon us; thus when God looks upon us, He no longer sees an unwashed sinner, but a sinner saved by grace. And that grace is only available through belief on The Name of The Lord Jesus Christ.

     God gives me a flexible heart, too. My  heart breaks when The Holy Spirit convicts me of disobeying God. Each break reveals my weakness and Christ's strength drawing me back to God. My soul is renewed and refreshed in God's love, God's mercy. And what is the soul? Mind+Will+Emotion=Soul.

     Keeping my mind focused on one thing at a time is difficult, but when I remember to keep Christ near, The Holy Spirit helps me cope. Like always. Philippians 4:8 tells me what I should focus on. With these things in mind, I am able to accomplish the most basic of tasks, including folding laundry, making dinner and sitting upright (even if I do tilt a little to the left).

     Submitting my will to God's is not always an easy task. Yes, I have surrendered my body a living sacrifice; but I keep taking it back and that will bring discord into my relationship with God. Therefore I must submit myself to His will, His Word and His Way every single day, not just once in a lifetime.

     Holding my emotions in check is hard, but we are getting there. I would like to believe that I am getting better at not being offended over every little insult I receive. For awhile there I had what I thought was thick skin, but it was really just a thickening, a hardening of the heart, and I had to repent and ask God to forgive me for my sin of pride.

     But my heart does not break just for myself and my failings. My heart breaks for you. So I pray for your salvation. For your healings. For you to desire God's Holy Spirit in your life. For your heart to be like God's heart: fleshy and flexible. 

Thought + Decision = Action

Thought + Decision = Action

• A thought is an idea that has not yet been realized.
• A decision is acting on the thought; a will and commitment to bring the idea to life.
• An action is the realization of the thought. It is following through on the commitment and bringing the thought to life; manifestation of an idea.

     While the generosity of many utilize their ideas to benefit this world in which they live, some ideas should have never seen the light of day. The thought begins in the heart, not the brain. The brain begins the process of bringing the thought into an idea and rationalizing that the idea is useful and needs to be given more attention.

     Some thoughts are acted on without ever thinking about the consequences of the action. But once acted upon, people in general do not like to be given credit for the fruition of their actions.

Mom: Johnny, did you take that cookie?

Johnny: No, Momma, I did not.

Officer: Sir, do you have any idea how fast you were driving?

Mr. : No, officer, I do not. My (…..) is broken.

     The evidence of cookie theft is usually the melting chocolate on the fingers or the face which gives away the theft. But the evidence of doing something you are not supposed to be doing could be the sweat on your brow, the twitching of your eyes or the shakiness in your voice, whether you are a thief or a liar, the evidentiary proof is in your reactions to being called upon to take responsibility for your actions.

     But where did these thoughts come from? From the heart, where sin reigns. One of the first words a child learns is “No”. And though children are not in the age of understanding why, it is our responsibility as their parents to teach them not only right from wrong, but righteousness from unrighteousness. For though a person may reach adulthood with the knowledge of good or bad, until you turn to God and call on Jesus' Name; until you have Jesus in your heart; until you have God's Holy Spirit in your life, you do not have the understanding of why the knowledge of good or bad is necessary to bring about a change in the way you think and act on your thoughts.

     Eve knew her actions would have consequences, but she did not have the full knowledge of the consequences of her actions, when she touched what she should not have in the garden of Eden: the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. And though she had some knowledge before her actions, some knowledge given her by eating of it, it was only the knowledge of right and wrong, good and bad. For upon being called out by God for her actions, she immediately denied responsibility for such actions. She had God's Word to live by and that should have been enough, right?

     Wrong. It is not enough to hear God's Word being spoken unless one applies God's Word to one's heart, where the thoughts begin to manifest themselves. Whether you are a member of the congregation in your church or whether you are an elder, a deacon or even the pastor or the preacher: you must have God's Word applied to your heart, for you to to live by God's Word. It is not enough even now, just as then, to hear God's Word if you aren't going to apply God's Word to your hearts. The actions of many in the churches who do do not do this have been brought to light in recent years and put a black mark on the church: Blemishes and stains on the Bride.

     Our actions reveal our hearts. And our hearts NEED to belong to Jesus Christ: “For with the heart man believes, and confession is made with the mouth.” [Romans 10:10] What lives in your heart is spoken with your tongue. And you and I, all peoples, are accountable to God for not only what we say and what we do, but also for what we think. God knows the heart and He knows what we are thinking. For in The Scriptures of His New Testament we read where Jesus spoke and told them of this:

• Matthew 9:4
• Matthew 15:8, 18, 19
• Mark 7:21-23
• Luke 5:22
• Romans 2:13-16
• 1 Corinthians 3:20
• Hebrews 4:12
  
  
  
  
  Seeing, then, that God knows what we are thinking and that God's Word divides truth from untruth, and reveals what the heart is thinking, we should be pursuing God's directive to receive Jesus Christ into our hearts, where the process of holiness may begin. We should actively take hold of God's Word and earnestly begin to pray for His Holy Spirit to lead us, guide us and transform us daily into righteous living, that sin may no longer abound, nor live, in our hearts. But that Christ may live within our hearts. For where Jesus Christ is, sin is not. For sin cannot live in the light of holiness; sin is darkness and darkness flees the light, it does not embrace it.
  When we light a candle or flip a switch, does the darkness of the room remain the same or change? It changes. That is fact. The darkness changes because when the light enters the room, the darkness is no longer there. Shadows take up residence in nooks, crannies and corners until the light is so strong and bold, that there is no room for even that amount of darkness to maintain its residency. So, too, the light of God's Word, once applied to the heart of the one who believes, lives in that heart. As the new thoughts work on the heart of faith, the Word of God chases away the words of sin.
  It is akin to weeding a garden. Sin is referred to in Scriptures as 'tares', or weeds. Once the sin has taken root in the heart, through constant thinking on sin, then it is much harder to dig up the roots of sin and fully remove it from the heart. It is why no one is perfect. Though the heart of faith lives in the saved, or born-again, person, some sins have taken up residence in the shadows: the nooks, the crannies of the heart. Those places in which the light needs to be applied regularly to not only chase away sin from the heart, but to fully remove it and sanctify the believer.
  If you only trim the weed tops, you have not removed the weeds. If you only pull up part of the root, but the rest remains in the ground, you have not removed the weeds. Sin will begin to grow again. When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, we accept Jesus into our hearts by believing that He died on the cross to pay for our sins and that He rose from the grave that we too would not be overcome by death and the grave. By Faith we believe. And this belief, this idea, begins in the heart of the one who believes.  
  
  
  Why the heart and not the head? The heart believes what the mind cannot comprehend. If only the ears hear God's Word spoken, but the heart does not believe, then nothing has changed. If the eyes see what Gods' Word can do, but the heart does not believe, then nothing has changed. The skeptic sees and hears, but does not believe. The heart believes, the mind reasons. When the mind reasons in and of itself, without reasoning in God's Word as He directs us to in Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”, then we are not fully rationalizing the righteousness which is available to us if we only believe.
  We are fools and only fooling ourselves when we reason God out of the picture.
  • Psalm 14:1
  • Psalm 107:17
  • Proverbs 1:7
  • Proverbs 8:5
  • Proverbs 10:8
  • Proverbs 12:15
  • Proverbs 14:33
  • Proverbs 15:14
  • Proverbs 18:2
  • Matthew 7:26
  • 1 Corinthians 2:14
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  It is the heart that changes the course of the world. God's heart is that all be saved. Satan's heart, if he has one, is that all be lost. Salvation comes through Jesus Christ and Him only. Upon belief, we are separated unto God for the sanctification process, which is done through the work of The Holy Spirit of God in our hearts, our minds and our spirits, that we may be purified and refined: made holy that we may be able to stand and live in the presence of God. “For without holiness no one can see God.” “Be holy, for I am holy.” Holiness begins in the heart. It is more than a thought or idea, though.
  
  
  
  It is the actions taken in the spiritual realm by The Holy Spirit to weed out sin in our hearts, where the light of Christ may shine upon it and remove that sin from our hearts, each time making us a little more holy within in our hearts.
  
  
  And while we are known to each other by our actions and our words, it is more important to be known to God, who knows our thoughts, whether righteous or unrighteous; who knows our hearts, whether His Son lives there or not. For it is God who is our Judge and not we ourselves. We always measure up to our expectations; but how much more could be accomplished if we measured up to God's expectations? For His way is better than our ways.
  
  
  
  • His Love is Greater: John 3:16; Psalm 103:11.
  • His Truth is Greater: John 8.
  • His Thoughts and His Ways are Higher: Isaiah 55:9.
  • His Faithfulness is Greater: Lamentations 3:22, 23.
  • God is Great. AND Greatly to be praised: Psalm 48:1.
  
  
  There is no other god like our God:
  • Jeremiah 10:6;
  • 1 Corinthians 8:6;
  • Exodus 15:11;
  • Deuteronomy 33:26;
  • Psalm 86:8;
  • Psalm 96:4;
  • Isaiah 12:6.
    
    
    “Believe on The Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved; you and all your house.” Acts 16:31.
    “If you confess (declare, speak) with your mouth The Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.” Romans 10:9. “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is The Son of God, God dwells (lives) in them and they live in God.” 1 John 4:15.
    
    
    I do hereby state and declare:
    Once I was lost but now I am found. I was lost in the darkness of sin until the light of God's love: Jesus Christ, shined into my heart and I believed. So say I now to you: I believe that Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son of God, that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins, and that God raised Him from the dead, that Jesus walked out of the tomb. I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. No longer does sin reign in my heart, but it is Christ who sits on that throne now. It is His righteousness which is in me, and on me, that makes me righteous; I have none of my own. For my righteousness is as filthy rags in the sight of God. It is God's Holy Spirit which fills my heart and my thoughts and draws me closer and closer to God. And though I may stumble and at times nearly fall from the snares of sin, it is God who catches me, Christ who strengthens me and The Holy Spirit who sets me up anew to take another step of faith in obedience to God's Word.
    No longer do I just hear God's Word being spoken, now I act upon what I have heard and continue to hear. I believe that God Is and that Jesus Christ is Lord of All.  
       

Day 6 of 35-The Meditation of My Heart

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14

In these six frames are six Bible verses as stated consecutively from Psalm 6 through Psalm 31, which frame a small prayers. Knowing that the only way God can hear our prayers is if we are first born again into Kingdom of God, the first frame declares that we acknowledge that God has heard our prayer. So, the first frame is FAITH.
The second frame is HOPE. Hope that The Lord will receive the thoughts of my heart and the words I have spoken. Hope that my heart is right with God and that I am praying in His will and not in my own will; unselfishly, instead of selfishly; humbly, instead of prideful.
The third frame is WORSHIP. To no other would I surrender my soul, but GOD.
The fourth frame is SURRENDER. A desire to have God seek out every part of me and remove that which is not acceptable in His sight. But in that newly cleaned out section of me, I remind God...
of The fifth frame, which is AUDIENCE with GOD. Wherever God has been in my heart and in my body, God will have more room for Himself. When they built the tabernacle in the Old Testament, the glory of The Lord filled it so much, that there was no room for anyone else to be in there with Him. That is how I want God to fill me: filling me up completely and perfectly, that there is no room for anything else in my heart or my thoughts. My primary focus in life is to be fully focused on God. He will direct my heart and my mind, for He holds my reins.
The sixth frame is COMMITMENT. Fully committed to this relationship which we have partnered in. No longer is it one-sided on His part; now we will work together in the God's Kingdom. He has redeemed me from all my sins and brought me into the way of Truth. As The Holy Spirit leads and guides me in with love, so too will He do the same for you.

Day 5 of 35 Inclination of Heart

Psalm 119:112
I have inclined my heart to perform Thy statutes always, even unto the end.

 

As a bride takes her vows, so too does the Christian. Before Christ ever walked this earth in the flesh, King David made this promise to The Lord God.

Throughout The Book of Psalms we see every emotion we go through expressed by David and a few others, who contributed to the writing of this Book.

Especially where we promise, vow, to stay with God.

It is a vow made from a heart of love,

expressed with calm joy, and perhaps a smile,

like the one I am wearing even now.

 

I have inclined my heart. I have turned my heart towards God.

to perform Thy statutes. To do Your laws, commandments, ways.

Always. For ever.

Even unto the end. Regardless of what or who may come against me.

 

In verse 108, just prior to this, he states that the words he speaks are 'free will offerings' from his mouth; no one forced him to speak these words. Nobody twisted his arm, no one made him say such.

 

I have inclined my heart. I did this. I chose to turn my heart towards The God Who Loves Me.

I choose to be with, for all eternity, The God Who Loves Me Always.

His heart is inclined to mine. And now, my heart is inclined to His.

We are one. As the Bride inclines her heart to The Groom,

The Head of The Church. For The Church is The Body of Christ.

And where the Head goes, does not the Body go also?

When Christ speaks to the Bride, it is with Words of Love and Tenderness,

Come, Follow Me. Let us go into the fields and into the valleys..

There is much work to do and very little time to do it.

Guard your heart and your mind, that the thief does not steal you away.

Set your heart on things above, place your treasures in heaven.

Give thanks in all things. Rejoice always.

Whatever you ask in My Name, you will receive.

Come, My Love; Come with Me......

 

I have inclined my heart unto The Lord.

Have you? You, after all, are my treasure. If I could place you in heaven myself, I would,

for then I would have full knowledge of where you are and never lose you.

But this decision must be yours. Only you can choose where your heart rests.

 

Be Thou My Vision by Alison Krauss

 

Day 4 of 35-Sound Heart

Psalm 119:80
Let my heart be sound in Thy statutes; that I be not ashamed.

 Sound. Perfect. Without guile, undeceitful, straightforward.
A spoken desire that The Lord God would keep me in His Word and keep His Word in me. A desire to be faithf...ul in The Lord at all times, and that when He sees me, I will not be ashamed.

A prayer that my heart would be in line with God's statutes, God's ways; not led astray by falsehoods and deceits. A commitment to stay focused and on board with God's commandments. Not using The Word of God to deceive, but letting The Word of God use me. Letting it, allowing Him, to change me from who I think I am to who He says I am.

Day 2 of 35- Uprightness of Heart

Psalm 119:7

I will praise Thee with uprightness

of heart, when I have respect

unto all Thy commandments.

When my heart is right with God, I can praise Him. When the heart is not right with God, it is more difficult and truly impossible to praise God. To direct your worship to God you must first know God, not just know ABOUT Him or know OF Him, but KNOW GOD.

Do you have a special love in your life? Would you love this person if you did not know them personally? I know that there are many people who disassociate themselves with our current president. This is because they only know ABOUT him or know OF him. They do not know him personally. And so judgment towards this man is based on his actions and his words. The same is true in the opposite: those who support his ideas base their support on his words/actions. None of us know him personally.

But what about your mate? How did you feel about him/her when you first heard their name or knew something about that person? Did you love them then? No. Probably not. Because your attitude towards them was based on secondhand knowledge. It is in this same way that many people sing God's praises but do not know Him personally.

When the heart is not right within, then the words of our mouths and the actions we perform are just that: a performance for an audience, not a love song to a lover. Uprightness of heart requires a commitment of heart, also. See where I am going with this? The Word of God directs us to Jesus Christ, for He is The Word of God. We must know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our souls in order for our hearts to be considered Upright. We must believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and accept His death and resurrection as truth. That Jesus, as The Lamb of God That Takes Away The Sins of The World, died on the cross in our place; for the weight of the sins of the world from the beginning of time until the end of time, were laid upon Him, causing Him to be removed from God's presence: for our GOD is holy and sin cannot exist where GOD IS.

When a heart that is filled with sin stands before God, it will be only briefly; for God will judge each person by the blood of His Son. If a person does not have that blood applied to their sins, then the soul of that person will go to hell, eventually being condemned to the lake of fire as so stated in The Book of Revelation in The Bible.

But, when a heart that is filled with The Word of God stands before God, its works will be judged but the blood of Christ will have been applied to that heart, and God will see His Son Jesus. That soul, having been given to Jesus Christ in life, will also be with Him in death, never actually dying, but living for ever more in the presence of God.

It is only on this side of eternity, while you breathe and have life in your body, that you can make a decision for Christ. Today is the day of salvation; tomorrow is not promised.

If you want God to hear your worship and your praises, you need to get right with Him. Without an upright heart, not only will God NOT HEAR YOU praise Him, He cannot hear you at all. All of our praise, our thanksgiving, our prayers must be made with an Upright Heart; a heart that KNOWS JESUS CHRIST IS LORD.

Have A Heart

If being a Christian were easy, more people would participate.

Serving God with a Surrendered Heart means laying aside 

my desires, wants and thinks-I-needs, for what God desires,

wants and knows-I-need.

Serving God with a Committed Heart means going the route

He has chosen, which winds through Valleys, Hills and Rivers,

and not giving up on His direction.

Serving God with a Dedicated Heart means enjoying my Journey.

Serving God with a Loving Heart means I need to love everyone, 

not just people I like or the people in my sphere.

Serving God with a Faithful Heart means I must trust Him daily, 

all day long and into the night. God knows what is best for me,

even when I do not.

Serving God with a Tender Heart means I need to extend the 

Hand of Mercy to all.

Serving God with a Servant's Heart means I cannot serve myself,

only others and under the Lord's direction.

Serving God with a Broken Heart means I allow the Touch of God

in my life: poking here, dusting there; sweeping the cobwebs of time

and searching the nooks and crannies of my life 

to remove and uproot all that is not of God.

Even if it hurts, knowing His touch also heals 

at the same time.

Serving God with a Forgiving Heart means I can't hold grudges,

get even or seek revenge.

Serving God with a Peaceful Heart means that even in the darkest

hours of my life, anxiety, worry and fear take a back seat to

Hope and Trust.

Serving God with a Seeker's Heart means that when every Heart wedge

is in working order, I am able to witness the Gospel of Salvation 

through Christ to the world around me. In all capacities:

First, as Lightbearer, allowing Christ to shine through me.

Second, as Lightwalker, allowing Christ to light my path.

Thirdly, as Lightgiver, allowing Christ access to you by my obedience to Him.