Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.                               – Psalm 139:24-24 

God gave us a mind and a conscience. We can’t hide from ourselves any more than we can hide from Him. Proverbs 20:27 says His light penetrates the human spirit,
and exposes the reasons behind everything we say and do; every hidden motive.

God has given us two things to do concerning our sinful condition. We should make these our habits:

1. “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”               -James 5:16      How are we healed? By admitting our faults, character and personality defects, and sins to one another and praying for each other. The reason is simple: We lie to each other. We pretend we have it together, but we don’t. We deny our true feelings. It isolates us from each other because we hide. We end up living with shame and it makes us insecure. But the Holy Spirit works healing through confessing to one another and praying for each other. This healing does not only work for other people. It works for you too.
2. Confess to God and repent. Proverbs 28:13 says that people who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.

God forgives instantly. He doesn’t wait. He never makes us wait. He never makes us suffer for a while. Humans do that, but God doesn’t do that. He forgives freely. He freely takes away our sins. You don’t deserve it, you don’t earn it, you can’t work for it. It’s free. If someone tells you they are a good person, they need to understand that doesn’t cover sin. Only God can cover sin. He forgives completely. He wipes it out. “There is no condemnation for those who live in union with Christ Jesus.” From personal experience, I want to tell you how great it feels, to live with no condemnation.

God says in Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, and let us reason together. Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.” 

For the true believer, this promise is true every day and every night until He comes back to gather us together.

There is Hope. All you have to do is be obedient to The Word, and receive it.

 

 

 

1 John 1:8-9 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Sometimes unexpected guests show up. If you haven’t done your house cleaning chores, it’s hard to invite them in because they will see the mess. Guilt works that way sometimes. But one of the benefits of open and honest confession before God and receiving His forgiveness is this:

We no longer have guilt in our lives. (Romans 3:24-26), (Romans 8:1) 

The devil, the world and our conscience condemn us with guilt. The world charges us as guilty of hypocrisy, intolerance, self righteousness, adultery, and other sins. The devil charges us as guilty when we fall short of God’s glory in these ways. “Satan” means adversary. “Devil” literally means “one who throws things against you.” He is called (Rev. 12:10), “the accuser of the brethren,” “who accuses them before our God day and night.” Guilt is one of his favorite weapons.

1. Guilt limits, damages, destroys, and even prevents relationships. Think about this: Some people are never saved because they are too embarrassed to ask Jesus to save them from the sins they are so ashamed of. So, they never enter into a relationship with Him. That is guilt at work. The same thing applies to relationships with other people. We hold back certain truths about ourselves because we don’t want others to know about them. This automatically limits relationships. When the truth comes out, a limited relationship becomes a destroyed relationship because of the lies and lack of trust.
2. Guilt destroys confidence. “For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me”.                   – Psalm 40:12
3. Guilt keeps us stuck in the past. Guilt cannot change the past just like worry cannot change the future. It just makes today miserable. Eventually it will destroy you. What if you had to drive to work, but the windshield of your car was blacked out. You are only allowed to navigate using the rearview mirrors, trying to determine where you are going (the future) by looking behind you (the past). Sooner or later, you’re going to crash!

These are some of the ways the enemy will use guilt against us but we can thank God that we are saved by His grace and His grace is perfect!

The saving work was done by Jesus Christ – the Perfect one

“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”         -Romans7:24 – 8:1

 

Psalm 32:1-2  Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

When we become saved, Jesus comes to live inside of us according to Revelation 3:20. So in a very real way, that makes our lives and our hearts His house. And we need to make a habit of keeping His house clean.

Every day we must openly and honestly examine our lives and hearts. We have to make a habit of looking back daily at the things we do as well as the way we do them and the reasons we do them before the Lord. Because we have to confess our sins and receive forgiveness.  We have to be honest with HIM about the defects of our character and personality. Because we have to confess and receive His forgiveness.

Please don’t make a mistake about this. Sinful actions and a sinful condition are what created the problem of separation between us and God in the first place. (Isaiah 59:2) The only solution is either death, or forgiveness through the death of Christ. (Ephesians 1:3-7). Now, in God’s Word, there is a very specific promise to those who live: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” – 1 John 1:9

And THAT is a good reason to be happy. Here is a really good way to read the focus verses:

“You are blessed. You should have real Joy because you get a new start. The record of your sin and your sinful habits has been erased. Count yourself lucky and happy and blessed because God holds nothing against you. And you don’t have to hold anything back from Him, or hide anything from Him, or try to deceive Him in any way.”             –Psalm 32:1-2

Thank you so much, my God and My Savior. I’m nothing without you. Thank you for coming into my heart and life and beginning a new life in me. I’ll do my best to keep your house clean. It’s a bigger responsibility than I can handle on my own. I’m going to need you. I’m so Happy that your grace is perfect because I’m not. But now I’m ready to follow you to my inheritance. 

in Jesus’ name, AMEN.

 

Proverbs 14:12

King James Bible:
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.                                                                                                                      Contemporary English Version:
You may think you are on the right road and still end up dead.                               GOD’S WORD® Translation:
There is a way that seems right to a person, but eventually it ends in death.

What keeps a person from surrendering his heart and life to Jesus? What keeps a person from trusting Him with all of his worries and cares, troubles and trials?

1. Pride will keep some from admitting they need a Savior. The world tells us we are supposed to make things right on our own and fix our own problems. Some reject the Savior because they think they can save themselves by being a good person.
2. For some, Guilt makes us feel unworthy of God’s grace. We feel like our sins are unforgivable. We have sinned too much, too often. Or maybe we think we have done something far worse that God is willing to forgive, so we walk away.
3. Fear. Many are afraid that they will never be able to truly live their life for Christ. Some are afraid to confess their sins, and their need of forgiveness.  But still others are afraid of what they might have to give up so they can have eternal life.  Some don’t want to give up their sin and selfish ways. They don’t want to repent.
4. A lot of people worry so much about their trials and troubles that they will not trust them to Jesus Christ. Some are worried about the damage they have caused by their sin. Some worry so much about so many things, they cannot trust. They still depend on themselves.

 Pride, Guilt, Fear, Worry. All of these are forms of Doubt. People think they have to make their life right before God will accept them. Some people say to themselves “God will never forgive me for all the wrong I have done” or “God will never take me the way I am”.

In all of these things, we doubt the goodness of God and the truth of His Word. This always leads to sin… The wages of sin is death… “There is a way that seems right to a person, but it eventually ends in death.” But God is good. His mercy endures all things forever, and His word is true and sure. His character and nature is Love. In Christ, His love is strong enough to make up for our weakness.

We have Hope.

Let’s pray: Father, Your word in Isaiah 55:9, says your ways are higher than our ways and your thoughts are higher than our thoughts. In response to your word we say thank you for being above us and knowing what is best for us. In our lives we all search for our purpose but we ask for your will to be done. But don’t let us be blind and foolish. Each of us MUST come to through Jesus and only then we can ask you to show your will for us. Please put us in a place of acceptance of what you reveal to us. It may not be what we want. But it will surely be what we need. We must live a life fully committed to you.

When fear and doubt and worry and guilt and pride try to destroy us, we ask you to be the destroyer of those things by your perfect love. We know love casts out all fear.  You will see us tempted to turn back and ignore your will. But please hold us. Help us to see that you only want the best for us. Help us to realize that Your will is for our good. Give us a spirit to accept your will. Give us an open heart. Most of all Lord, let us never forget to seek You just for Your presence. Let us always desire to be with you above all things. Have us remember to Seek your kingdom first and let You take care of everything else. Let Your love surround us. Cast out fear or doubts. Help us to live in love with you, accept Your will for our lives and give us the proper response to you when you speak to us.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen

“He died for all, that those who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who for their sakes died and rose again.”   – 2Corinthians 5:15

He died for all. That means everyone. It includes you and me, and that is very good news. But a clear distinction is made. Who does the Word of God mean by   those who live? Well, Ephesians 2:5 says, “Even when we were dead in sins, God hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” So we can safely understand that those who live are those who are saved. In this verse we learn 2 things:

1. First is the perfect Love that describes the true nature and character of God. It’s the real reason we can trust Him.

He came to earth in the form of man in Jesus Christ to suffer and die, paying the price of sin, to save the world from eternal death and separation. He did this even though He knew that most would reject Him and remain dead in sin. But He also knew that some would accept Him as Savior and confess Him as Lord, believeing on Him according to His Word. On a personal level, it means He did His saving work knowing ahead of time that you would be saved. So, those who believe Him, confess Him, and accept Him in this way are made alive again eternally. These are those who live; those who are saved. These are the ones who can come to the Father.

• “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved,” – Romans 10:9

2.  Those who are saved no longer live life according to their own hearts as defined on pervious pages. Those who are saved live according to heart of Jesus, who  saved them. The reason this happens to one who is truly saved is because he has truly committed His heart and life into the care and control of Jesus. That commitment requires some effort.

• We have to accept GOD’S WORD as our Standard and authority for living daily life. -“All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the faith and correcting error, for resetting the direction of a man’s life, and training him in good living.” – 2 Tim. 3:16, Psalms  119:105
• We have to accept God’s will as the Strategy and goal for our lives. – “I desire to do your will, O my God …” Psalm. 40:8, Isaiah 55:9
• We have to accept God’s power as our strength and ability to live well. We have to remember that, apart from Him, we are nothing. – “I can do everything God asks me to do with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power.” –Philippians 4:13

 God’s power is real. We can do anything with the help of Jesus Christ because He is the source of our strength. Remember that Jesus says when we are saved, He comes into our hearts. If He lives inside of us, so does His power, and that power becomes our strength. We no longer live our own lives because we are surrendered to Him and He lives His life in us. The fellowship is restored. – “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and fellowship with him.” – Revelation 3:20

The Bible say that one day He is coming back to gather us, who are saved.

Are you Ready?

“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

– Matthew 11:28-30

Coming to terms with our helpless and hopeless condition apart from God is an important step. But this step alone is really nothing more than accepting defeat. Surrendering to a belief in God, that He is the God of Love with real power and a real desire to help us is also important. But to simply believe in God isn’t enough either. The bible tells us in James 2:19 that even the devils believe in the one true God.

• We have to turn to Him. We have to come to Him.

The word “Heart” is a very broad term used very often in the Bible to describe the combination of a person’s thoughts and desires, feelings and emotions, his will, and his intellect. Everything that is important to life is kept here, in this heart. So in a very real way, our heart defines who we are.

There comes a time when we must surrender. We have to trust Him. That word, trust, means to rest in safety, confidence and sureness knowing that we are relying on someone or something other than ourselves. We have to trust all of our heart and life to Him by committing them over to the care and control of Jesus Christ. In the passage from Matthew 11, Jesus said, “if the troubles and worries of your life are more than you can bear, come to me and I will give you rest. Come and learn from Me.” He said those things because Jesus is the only Recovery, He is the only Revival, He is the only Restoration. We will Never see Heaven, We will Never see the Kingdom, Our lives will never be right without Him. We will never experience God’s love and fellowship without Jesus Christ.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one COMES to the Father but by Me”.

– John 14:6 

To restore our lives we must come to God. We cannot come to God unless we restore our fellowship with Him. Restored Fellowship with God requires us to be saved. And Acts 4:12 says this:

“Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.“

Our visit back to the US has been a great blessing so far. Being around friends and family, fellowship with our church families, and serving in local ministries like Restoration House and M25 has helped us to reconnect in very real ways. God is good, all the time.

“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing. – Zephaniah 3:17

“I pray that you will begin to understand how incredibly great his power is to help those who believe him”. – Romans 8:11

There’s a popular christian song that says it’s “hard truth” and “ridiculous strength” to be fully known and loved by God.

The hard truth is that He knows us… Everything about us… Everything… There’s a lot of things I wish He didn’t know about me, but He knows it all.

The ridiculous strength is that, even though He knows us up close, because of His nature and character He loves us anyway.

He knows and cares about us and our burdens. Even the ones we cause ourselves. He wants to heal us and lead us. He wants to help us and give us comfort and He offers us peace.

And He alone Has the power to do all of those things. “… He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” – Hebrews 6:11, Romans 8:11

Not only does He want to change me and my situation, He actually can change me and My situation. He has the power to do it. Remember the Verse from Isaiah 57: “…I will heal, lead, comfort, offer peace…”

His is the kind of power that raised Jesus from the dead. And that same power can raise a dead relationship. It can raise a person back to health. He can set you free from sin and help you close the door on the past.

He can help us close the door on the past. But we have to be obedient to His word. We have to trust Him.

Pray with me tonight:

Dear Lord, my God and my Savior, I pray for your POWER in my life. I need your power to break the bad habits that I cannot break on my own. I need your power to do the things I know are right but I can’t seem to do on my own. I need your power to keep me from doing the things I know are wrong. I need your power to break free from my past. I ask for your power to get on with the plans you have for my life.

I pray for LOVE. REAL LOVE.   I want to be able to love people the way You taught in the Bible-the way You love me. I pray that with your love I can let go of my SUFFERING and FAILURE. I can tear down the walls of sin and shame and suffering that separate me from YOU.

I WANT TO HAVE A  RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU THAT IS REAL. God , I ask you to help me have real RELATIONSHIP with You and with other people. Help me to not be afraid of BEING TRULY KNOWN and loving truly and being truly loved.

I also pray for REAL self control. I understand and admit that I am really not in control of myself or anything else. Through Jesus, I must allow You to be in control of my life and my circumstances. Please grant me your power and love and your self control. Help me to keep on making the choice to accept your healing and leading, Your comfort and peace.

In Jesus’ name. AMEN.

 

 

 

“I have loved you with an everlasting love.” – Jeremiah 31:3

The truth is that God knows all about us. The Bible says that God knows us up-close and personal. He’s kept a record of our tears. He knows it all. Nothing escapes His notice. – Psalm 56:8. He is aware of your needs. The Bible says He sees the crisis in your soul right now. – Psalm 31:7.

We don’t want God to know all the dumb stuff we’ve done. But nothing escapes Him. He knows the good days. He knows the bad days. He knows all about the dumb things we do. He knows the foolish decisions we make. When we do something wrong, He knew it was coming, long before we did. He even knows why we did it even when we don’t know ourselves. The Bible says in Psalm 69:5 “You know how foolish I’ve been.”

And Psalm 139:1-4 tells us this:

“Lord, you have examined me and know all about me. You know when I sit down and when I get up. You know my thoughts before I think them. You know where I go and where I lie down. You know everything I do. Lord, even before I say a word,you already know it.”

And, even though He knows us so well, He loves us anyway! His love is an experience the world cannot understand. He loves us on good days, bad days, when we serve Him and when we don’t. He loves us when we’re right, and when we’re wrong. His love is unconditional. It is not based on our performance. It is based on HIS CHARACTER. The Bible says God is love. And He says “I’ve loved you with an everlasting love”. He not only knows about our situation, He cares about it.

“Even though we are sinners, God showed His great love for us, by sending Christ to die for us” (Romans 5:8).

Tonight I’m praying that God will send His Holy Spirit to help us understand the truth who we are to Him. I’m praying that He will help us to believe that He really does love us, and teach us to “be loved”.

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.                    – Hebrews 11:6

God is real.

Where there is a Creation there must be a Creator. Where there is an effect there must be a cause. Where there is design there must be a designer. Romans 1:20 says “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse”.

Ok, so He exists. But what kind of God is He?

I think we have some very wrong ideas about what God is like. Probably, most of us get our ideas about God by thinking of Him like a parent. That’s too bad, because some parents are grumpy, unapproachable, unavailable, critical, abusive, uncaring, disappointing  – and we tend to see Him in those ways. We blame Him for everything wrong in the world, when the blame belongs to us.

The problem is that we create images of God based on earthly things that we understand in earthly ways, with earthly minds. So, it seems that we create Him in man’s image instead of the other way around.

But if we read the Bible, specifically the gospels, about Jesus and study His experience and response to life in ministry, death, and resurrection, we will learn what God is like. “Christ is exactly like God, who cannot be seen. He is the first-born Son, superior to all creation”. – Colossians 1:15. King James says “He is the image of the invisible God”.

Tonight I’m praying for God to reveal Himself to us through His creation, in visions and dreams, and through His Word…

…and The Word is Jesus Christ. -John 1:1-14