Quick Devotional Thoughts: Jeremiah 29:12-13

        God wants sincerity with us. Anything less than honesty with God is basically worthless. He already knows the state of our hearts, the secret places of our minds, our basic intentions with every single choice we make. Over and over and over again, God reminds us in His Word that our entire hearts must be in our relationship with Him. It saddens me to see the state of  "Christianity" today. So many people remain lukewarm in their faith and yet they believe that God is truly pleased with them because they "mention" Him in their daily lives yet they refuse His life changing power and redemption to set them free from the bondage of their sin they choose to live with daily. All because they simply refuse to give Him their whole hearts in surrender. Loving God isn't half hearted... it's really either all or nothing. God is not okay with lukewarm followers who sort of love Him in this area but refuse to love Him in others. God doesn't work that way. We must have hearts that are wholly surrendered to Him at all times. We need Him daily, not to forgive us for the sins that we commit on a daily basis but we need Him to help us live righteously and turn away from sin on a daily basis. The topic of sin is very important because it is the one thing that separates us from God. We cannot seek Him with all our heart if part of our hearts are devoted to our own will.

              Habits can be hard to break and the struggle to choose spirit over flesh at times can be very real and very frustrating BUT I've found that talking through the struggle the very minute you are going through it with the Holy Spirit is a great way to keep sincerity and honesty with the Lord in check.

          It's harder to sin when you're talking to God in the middle of it. He always provides a way out if we take it!!! Connecting with God is very much contingent upon the state of our hearts.

          Remember, He doesn't have to do anything for us... but He chooses to listen to those who love Him truthfully. Sometimes we can feel entitled as Believers, that all of God's promises are ours for the grabbing anytime we feel like it, we also may feel like anytime we ask God He listens to us and answers us....BUT.... according to Scripture and the Nature of God... we MUST be in accordance with His will, living according to how He has commanded us, and have a heart that sincerely loves Him...AND THEN we reap the promises, AND THEN HE AKNOWLEDGES US (He always hears us, but He never promises us to act on our prayers "just because we cry out to Him") I know that sounds harsh… but pick up your Bible and read all the promises of God to us, and read all the scriptures that reference Him answering our prayers. He will always fulfill the promises that are about His character because He is faithful in who He is...but when it comes down to fulfilling things that have to do with us...those are ALWAYS contingent upon the state of our hearts. Wow...what an important realization for every Believer who claims Jesus as our Lord and Savior... the only continual theme in the ENTIRETY of His Word, His Love Letter to Us... is HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO HIM....THAT WE CHOOSE TO LOVE HIM WITH OUR WHOLE HEART. Amazing. 

1 Peter 3:12 "For the eyes of the Lord are on the RIGHTEOUS and His ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

1 John 5:14  " This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, He hears us."

1 John 5:15 "And IF we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we asked of Him."

Proverbs 15:8 "The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the UPRIGHT pleases Him."

              

Psalms 145:18 "The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in TRUTH."

Proverbs 15:29 "The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayers of the RIGHTEOUS."

James 4:3 "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with WRONG MOTIVES, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." 

Questions:

1. What is the state of my whole heart with God?

2. Is He pleased with EVERY area of my life TODAY?

3. What do I need to lay at His feet in surrender in order to better love Him with my whole heart?

4. What is God speaking to me through these passages?

5. In all honesty.... How do I want my Heavenly Father to see me? How do I really want to love Him with my life?

What The Cross Means To Me

I can never pay Him back. Jesus knew that I was going to Hell because I was a sinner. That was and is the price for my sin. Eternity in Hell. Jesus knew about all the times I was going to mess up, He knew every single bad choice that I would make, He felt every disappointment that I would cause Him, all of these things rang out to Him as He was being mocked and beaten and spit on...He could hear my voice among the crowd. My voice was resonating because in my own way, through my own sin I have mocked, and beaten, and spit in His face. I did that. I made Him go to the cross because there was no other way for me to spend eternity with Him.

      I have felt at times in my life, completely unworthy. Unworthy because of my failures. Unworthy because of my imperfections. Unworthy because of my looks. Unworthy because of my lack of importance to others. But Jesus, knowing all of these things about me...seeing all of the things that make up who I am...He considered me worthy. Worthy of Him being tortured so that I might know His love for me. Worthy of Him being humiliated so that I might find my confidence and beauty through Him. Worthy of Him making Himself nothing so that I can know how to make a difference in the lives of others and become someone of importance to somebody. Worthy to have someone love me so much that He would willingly die just for me so that I could be loved by Him. To be bought with a price...to have worth.

 He carried all of my burdens, mistakes, failures, sins on His back up the hill to Calvary. He felt the full weight of all my pain, disappointments, anger, betrayal, and hurts...and yet He kept climbing knowing full well that I may never accept Him. He kept climbing anyway. He knew that I would have a choice to realize what He was doing for me and accept it and follow Him or completely reject the idea that He could really love me that much and continue to live in sin and totally separate myself from Him forever. He chose to love me despite the outcome. He pulled the weight of my entire life on His shoulders without getting angry with me, not one step did He take in anger because of the things I would do but every step He took was in complete love for me. No one has ever loved me like Jesus.

     He was nailed to a cross...for me. Every time the hammer struck driving those nails in deeper...He felt my sin. Every time He cried out in pain and agony wishing it would stop...He felt my sin. He could have gotten off of that cross at any moment...but He chose to feel my sin nailing Him to that cross. He did not hate me..not once did He despise me for hanging Him there...He prayed for me. He thought about who He created me to be, who I was to become...and the hope that I would know Him and love Him in return. He loved me every second He was on that cross.

     He hung on the cross...broken, wounded, blood spilling out of His body. The darkest of deaths...and He hung there..for a long time. Thinking about me. 

    "It is finished." He took my sin and paid the price to save me from the pit of Hell. It was my sin that caused Him pain and I had to do nothing. He paid it all. Every single thing I have ever done ...He paid the price for that sin. He sacrificed Himself..for me. 

The amazing thing is that...it didn't end there. He didn't just die for me...He defeated Satan and rose from the grave! I not only serve a loving Savior but I serve a living Savior. He is present here with me daily. I don't serve a dead god or an empty idol...I serve a living God who is so very present in every second of my day. I get to know Him and feel His love daily because He is real. He loved me so much to come to this Earth and die and rise again so that I may know Him. He offers new life to me. My old life of sin is gone...buried with Him on the cross. My new life is ever growing and transforming me into who He has called me to be. He is my helper, my shield, my strength, my portion, and my deliverer. I chose to love Him..I CHOOSE to love Him.

      What I know is that it is not enough for me to just accept what He did on the cross for me and continue to live how I choose. He gave up so much for me...can I really do less than live for Him? It's not enough knowing that my sin has caused Him such pain, my bad decisions and mistakes have had a price that He had to pay...that I can just be thankful for what He did for me and not continually be aware of how my actions are affecting Him today. I must live in a way that doesn't hurt my Jesus anymore. Now that I understand what I have cost Him and what His incredible love did for me...I want to love Him back with absolutely everything I can. My life needs to be a pure reflection of who He is to me. He is beautiful. He deserves my love. I can NEVER repay Him for what He did for me on that cross. But I can offer up the only thing I will ever have to give Him in return....my life.

                                                          Jesus, Thank You for the Cross.

Living the LIfe: Spirit vs. Flesh

   "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Matthew 26:41

So here's the deal, looking around lately it seems that people who claim to "love" God, "know" Him, and are "living" for Him... are walking around not as a "new creation" but as people who are still bound by sin. Why is that? Well.... here's what I've learned about living in God's Grace so far...

          1. The more your love for God grows, the more aware you are of the things that grieve His heart. The closer you are with the Holy spirit working in your life, the more alert you are to the conviction when you begin to step in the wrong direction. The more you learn to love God, the more you have the DESIRE to turn around and not continue the behavior.      

          2. The more you get to know God and His heart for His creation... the more you understand WHY sin is bad, not just because God says "no" but because it actually hurts us.

          3. The more you learn about who God is, and the more you fall in love with your Creator, the more you realize that God has the Desire and Ability to set you free from any sin...Instantly!

     We live in a world that heavily pushes the "accept who you are" mantra BUT this is not the mindset of a Child of God. Instead of "accepting" who we are, we need to "desire" to be who God is calling us to be. Becoming this is not easy, it requires "fleshly" sacrifice. Walking in righteousness is impossible without a heart surrendered to God but with God, all things are possible. Living in God's Grace requires a commitment from us to daily seek Him and obey His instructions for our lives.

      Unfortunately, a common mentality is growing in our "Christian Community" today, being preached in our churches and accepted by the world...  is the notion that "No One is Perfect"  which is absolute truth! No one is, and we won't be until we reach eternity. HOWEVER...this small statement, although bearing truth, has become our biggest excuse... to not have to try. This is also not reflective of God's heart or desire for His Children.

     The truth about being a product of grace is that I've learned it takes a desire to love God more everyday and to please Him with my life everyday. My heart's desire is not to find out what He can do for me, but rather what I can do for Him. It's also learning how to be sincere in EVERY area of my life before God. It means making my spirit stronger than my flesh. It requires sacrifice and hard work daily to strive for righteousness. It requires quick repentance if I should stumble and a solid persistence to change those things that break God's heart.  It's not easy sweet friends, but let's all strive to have a heart that seeks to please God daily, not because we "have to" but solely because "we love Him".