THE LORD EXPECTS TRUTH WITHIN OUR HEARTS

Psalms 51:6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

David beautifully expresses God's will in this verse. What does the Lord want?

The Lord expects truth within our hearts.

1. Do what the Lord wants you to do

The preface to Psalm 51 states thus.

To the chief musician, A Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet went to him after he had gone in to Bathsheba

Nathan the prophet went to David and made him realize his sins.

Because the heart of the prophet was faithful before God, the word of God that came through his mouth caused a man to repent. Saved David from death.

The Lord is expecting you to carry His word to someone who is struggling because of their sins and make them realize their wrongdoings. The Lord wants you to lead such people to Christ so that their lives will be saved. Will you surrender yourself for God’s mission?

We can read about another prophet in Numbers 22:22.

Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.

God was angry because Balaam was going.

Do you know why? We can learn from 2 Peter 2:15-18 that his heart loved the wages of unrighteousness.

Finally, his life ended in blackness of darkness.

2. The Lord does not want you to change His scale of holiness.

Psalms 51:6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

David sinned. It was a terrible mistake. But he never reduced the scale of God’s commandments. Though he was in a different plane compared to God’s commandments, He never tried to scale down God’s expectation of Holiness.

Do not change God's standard of holiness. The Holy Spirit tells us that it will not do you any good.

In Luke 18:9-14 we read about two types of people

⁹ Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 

The first group are those who believe in themselves that they were righteous. What are they like? Those who adjust God's decrees to suit themselves and compare themselves to it and are content to believe that they are righteous. The scripture tells us about the Pharisee as a good example.

The second group are those who compare their life with God's standard of holiness, repent before God and are justified by God. The scripture tells us about the tax collector as a good example.

Who you are today? Are you the one who believe that you are Holy by comparing yourself to your own standards or are you the one who tries to grow in God by having His standards before you.

Analyse your life and turn back to God. He is ready to forgive and carry you.

#GHG Devotions

 

 

THE LORD WILL GIVE YOU REST - GHG DEVOTIONS

Then Jesus said, "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28 

Even in the beginning of this new year, the Lord promises to give us rest.

If we continue reading the next verse, the Lord says that He will give rest to our souls.

“…rest for your souls.” - Matthew 11:29

Our God is a God who cares for our souls. That is why in Psalm 121:7 the scripture promises us that He will preserve our soul.

The Lord will preserve your soul by commanding rest in your soul.

Who will have rest?

"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." - Matthew 11:29 

Rest in acceptance of God's yoke.

Jesus said in Matthew 11:30 that my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

So, there is one yoke of Jesus Christ and there is a foreign yoke besides His. That foreign yoke is the yoke of sinful slavery. That foreign yoke is placed upon us when we walk contrary to the ways of Jesus. It is a heavy yoke.

That is why the Lord says in Isaiah 48:22 and 57:21 that there is no peace for the wicked.

God calls us to repent at the beginning of this new year. Jesus wants to free you from the heavy yoke of sin and put His easy and light yoke on you and lead you into rest.

What should we do?

Thus says the Lord: "Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.' - Jeremiah 6:16 

We must walk in God's ways.

“And Martha was very distressed at doing many things…” - Luke 10:40

Most of the time we also leave the necessary things and devote ourselves to many things and live without giving importance to sitting at God's feet. Because of this our hearts are saddened and full of anxiety.

At the beginning of this year let us dedicate ourselves to walk in godly ways. Then there will be rest in your soul says Holy Spirit to you.

#GHG Devotions

GHG SHORT DEVOTIONALS - 36 (GOD'S SEED REMAINS IN YOU AND HE WILL BLESS YOU)

“And God was with the lad and he grew..." - Genesis 21:20

a)     Who is he?

In this verse, Bible talks about Ishmael, the son of Hagar, an Egyptian maid. Bible records that God was with him.

b)    What was God’s promise concerning Ishmael?

“Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman..." - Genesis 21:13

c)     Why God has to be with and bless the son of an Egyptian maid?

God gives a reason to Abraham. God says, “…because he is your seed" - Genesis 21:13

God’s calling was upon Abraham and He blessed him richly. In the plan that God had for Abraham there was no place for Hagar. But then Hagar gave birth to Ishmael and he was the seed of Abraham. God never saw Ishmael as the son of an Egyptian maid but He looked at him as Abraham’s seed. So God promised him that he will multiply and will be a nation.

It all happened because God gave so much importance to the seed of Abraham, a chosen one.

d)    Who are you?

“Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him..." - 1 John 3:9

As you are born of God, you carry God’s seed. His seed remains in you.

If God could remember the seed of a chosen one and bless someone richly who is not at all in His plan, how much more God will remember and bless you, in whom His own seed remains and upon whom He has greater plans!

He cares for you even today and He will never forget you as you are His seed. He has plans to prosper you. He will multiply you and bless you. He will never forsake you. You will be blessed.

#GHG Short Devotions

SPIRITUAL HOUSEKEEPING - AUTHOR UNKNOWN (TAKEN FROM THE WEB)

I do not know about you but I don’t like cockroaches.  We had them in a house that we bought in Long Island.  I did not know anything about hiring exterminators so I decided to get rid of them myself.  I bought a sprayer and bought some chemicals to kill them.  To measure the chemicals I took a measuring spoon and wired it to the outside of the sprayer.  I did this to make sure that I didn’t make a mistake and use the measuring spoon again in the house.  How could I ever clean it well enough to use it again safely for cooking?

Imagine going in your china closet, getting one of your best crystal glasses, and then using it to measure chemicals to kill the bugs around your house.  Then let’s imagine that you take it in the house and wash it.  Would you dare to use it again?  Of course not!  It would be contaminated with a toxic film invisible to your eye that might poison anyone who used this glass.

Now imagine that your soul and mine are like this glass.  It has been so easy for me to fall victim to the attractive but false temptations of our contemporary world.  For example, power, money, liquor, sex, and possessing more and more material possessions are alluring.  These are played up so seductively on television and in the media.  These can become our golden calves, our false idols!  Who has time for God or Church?  Perhaps unwittingly or even deliberately I have filled up my glass with these toxins that may kill my soul and potentially others whom I know and love.  We call these toxins sin. This mix more importantly is toxic to God and poisons our relationship with Him. The worst of these is so strong that it totally poisons our relationship with God. 

Imagine that we determine to do better and try to rid ourselves of these toxins.  Can you or I wash the glass of our soul clean enough by ourselves?  It would be like trying to wash the lethal chemicals out of our glass with household soap.

Let’s assume, however, that we turn to Our Savior, Jesus Christ, and ask Him with a contrite heart to wash our glass.  Is there a sin that He cannot forgive?  His Mercy is boundless.  He died to redeem us of our sins and is prepared always to forgive us.

How can we avoid refilling the glass to the brim with another toxic brew?  This also is very difficult to do by ourselves.  No matter how I have tried to do this the devil always seems to find a way to slip a temptation in my life when I am weak.  My glass, you see, is terribly weak and fragile.  The toxins once again begin to fill my glass.

Imagine that Christ not only cleans our glass but also puts a protective substance in the glass that makes it difficult for the devil to introduce any more toxins.  Is this possible?  The answer is yes.  We call this protection grace.  The Sacraments are the greatest source of this protection.  The more grace that we have in our glass, the stronger that this protection is.  The greatest of the Sacraments is the Communion.  We have the blessing and privilege to be able to receive Our Divine Savior, Jesus Christ, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, in Communion.  The grace that He brings surpasses all human understanding. Communion is the food of Eternal Life.  Jesus Himself, who suffered and died for us on the Cross, gives Himself willingly, joyfully, lovingly, mercifully, to us.  This protection increases the more frequently that we receive Communion.  The devil, compared to Christ, is a grain of sand.  When Christ fills our soul there is no room for the toxins that the devil seeks to tempt us with.  May we get in the habit of receiving Jesus in the Communion as often as we can to take full advantage of this protection!

When Christ has cleaned and filled the glass of our soul whom do you imagine others see when they look at us?  My we pray that they no longer see us - - but only see Jesus Christ Himself!

EVEN IN YOUR STRUGGLE, GOD'S MERCY AND LOVE WILL CONTINUE - A DEVOTIONAL BY RICK WARREN (TAKEN FROM DAILY DEVOTIONS EMAIL)

“The thought of my pain, my homelessness, is bitter poison. I think of it constantly, and my spirit is depressed. Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing: The Lord’s unfailing love and mercy still continue, fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise. The Lord is all I have, and so in him I put my hope.” (Lamentations 3:19-24 TEV)

When your world is falling apart, it’s so easy to focus on the pain, the problems, the pressure, and the difficulties. It’s the natural response. But the biblical response is to turn your focus to God’s love.

Even though you’re mad at God, you need to remind yourself how much he loves you. Focus on his unconditional love. Remember that you can’t make God stop loving you. You can complain, yell at him, and scream at him, but he will still love you forever.

You can see this biblical approach in Jeremiah’s life in Lamentations 3:19-24. Jeremiah starts out focused on his pain: “The thought of my pain, my homelessness, is bitter poison. I think of it constantly, and my spirit is depressed” (TEV). Jeremiah was consumed by the devastation around him; it filled his thoughts and made him bitter and depressed.  

If you want to change your life, you have to change your thoughts. So that’s what Jeremiah did. We see the mental switch in the next verse: “Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing: The Lord’s unfailing love and mercy still continue, fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise. The Lord is all I have, and so in him I put my hope.”

God loves you. He is not the strict parent that you couldn’t please. He is not the imperfect parent with weaknesses and faults who messed up. He is God — the eternal, all knowing, infallible God who created you to love you and will never leave you.

So when you feel like you’ve lost everything, stop focusing on what’s lost and start focusing on what’s left: God and his love for you.

This devotional © 2015 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved.