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Integrity Of The Heart

Psalm 89, 96, 100, 101, 105, 132

I’ve been out of town the last couple of days and am actually writing this post as I fly back home some 30 thousand feet above the earth.  The other night I called my wife to check in and see how things were going back home and our conversation turned to her visit to a local hotel.  She and a friend will sometimes go to a local hotel to exercise.  You may not know this but some hotels will allow local residents access to their exercise facilities for a monthly fee.  Juli’s friend has this kind of arrangement with the hotel in question.

Anyway, at one point they were talking with a hotel employee and the conversation turned to the strange requests of guests.  This guy felt that some people did things when away from home because they were just visiting and didn’t expect to ever see people with whom they interacted ever again.  As an example he mentioned that they recently had a “pastor’s convention” at the hotel and that the amount of porn that was purchased in their rooms was off the charts.  Now some people don’t like the people of God and will make such things up to bring ill repute upon them.  Porn however is an extremely seductive evil and it is well documented that many men, including pastors, have struggled in its grasp.

It is particularly heart breaking to hear of God’s shepherds succumbing to such sin but we must bear in mind that there was only one sinless man in the history of the world and that was Jesus the Christ.  This is not an excuse but a reminder that we must take extra precautions and work particularly hard to keep ourselves from the clutches of porn – it is an Achilles Heel for most men.  Brothers, I thankfully can report that I did not succumb to the same temptation, as allegedly did those pastors, during my time away.  I can take no credit for it because the source of my salvation from this temptation was God Himself.

As Christians, God has given us the tools and ability to remain faithful to Him if we will only submit to His authority and obey.  His Holy Spirit is one of those tools; another is His Holy Word.  I’m reminded of this by a few verses from today’s reading.

Psalm 101:2-4

“I will ponder the way that is blameless.  Oh when will you come to me?  I will walk with integrity of heart within my house; I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless.  I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.  A perverse heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil.”

We ponder the way that is blameless when we read and meditate on God’s Word.  His Word can inspire us to faithfulness.  At the end of the day, however, we must eventually each make a decision.  Will we commit to walking with integrity of heart at home or away?  Will we decide to keep worthless and sinful things from our sight?  Brothers, this is actually part of the decision you made when you accepted Christ as your savior.  You didn’t just ask for forgiveness, you committed yourself to obedience.

The good news is you were given a new heart when you accepted Christ.  You have “integrity of the heart” if you will only commit to using it.  Keep yourself out of situations that bring you into temptation.  When you check into a hotel ask the front desk to block adult movies.  Better yet, deny yourself the right to view any movies while at a hotel and bring a copy of your bill home to show your accountability partner that you were the man God intends you to be.  When you are on the internet make sure you have a strong filter and if your mind starts to wander toward sexual things turn your computer off and go for a walk or exercise.

God made you a man and gave you strength in Christ.  You have the strength to deny temptation if you will only commit to do so.  I pray you will

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Are You Thankful?

Isaiah 10-13

In Chapter 11 of Isaiah we once again hear of God’s promise to provide a Savior.

Isaiah 11:1-5

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.”

There He is – Jesus Christ!  Isaiah tells us that the Messiah is coming!  But look at this:

Isaiah 11:10-11

“In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.”

Did you notice in verse 11 that it says “the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time …”?  Jesus is the “Lion and the Lamb”.  He came the first time as “The Lamb” and will come the second time as the Lion.  The Bible talks about the descendants of Abraham as God’s chosen people.  This refers to his physical descendants but it also refers to his spiritual descendants who are adopted into the family through rebirth in Christ.  As much as I’d like to, it is a bit simplistic to say that His first coming was for the Jew and the second coming for the Gentile.  Remember this?

Matthew 15:22-26

“And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.”  But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”  He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.“  But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”  And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

So, Jesus does tell us that He came the first time specifically for Israel but those few verses are not the entire story.  Look at what happens next.

Matthew 15:27-28

“She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.”

He came the first time primarily for the physical descendants of Abraham, the Jews, but He also provided for the Gentiles; those who have faith.  The second time He will come to recover the remnant of His people who will include both Jew and Gentile; but only those who are spiritual children of Abraham will be gathered to Him.  It will not be enough to be a physical descendant of Abraham you must be a spiritual child of his as well; you must have Christ.

And here is, as Paul Harvey used to say, “the rest of the story”.

Isaiah 12:1-6

“You will say in that day:
“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
that you might comfort me.

“Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.”

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.  And you will say in that day:

“Give thanks to the Lord,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.

“Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known in all the earth.
Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

I wonder if you noticed that immediately after stating that God provides salvation these verses go on to say that the thankful, joyful, saved person is to make His deeds known in all the earth.  How often does God have to make these connections for us before we get it?  God says “I saved you – go tell others”, and He says it over and over again.  He even says it here in the Old Testament hundreds of years before that Savior has even come to save.  Are we blind to this truth?  Are we not truly thankful?  How can we be saved and not thankful?  If we are thankful how can we not tell others about Christ?

I believe we must think about this, brothers.  Do we really believe what we say we believe?  If so, how does it show?  One of my greatest fears is that at my funeral some who knew me will be surprised to learn I was a Christian.  I want people to know I am a Christian, not because I told them I was a Christian but because they could tell I was a Christian.  For that to happen I must shine the light of Christ in this dark and dying world while I have breath.  They will know we are Christians by His love that shines through us.  Feeding the lost is good.  Clothing the lost is good.  Housing the lost is good.  But what they are dying for is Christ.  By all means do the other but never neglect the Gospel.

Have a thankful day brothers!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Here Am I!  Send Me!

Isaiah 6-9

There is so much on which I would like to comment today but there just isn’t time.  I again found my heart soaring as I read passages about God’s Holiness, about Isaiah’s faithfulness, and about our coming Savior and King.  For example:

Isaiah 6:8

“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

That one simple verse, composed of three simple sentences, is devastating to me.  The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are asking “who will go for us?”  Isaiah said “Here am I! Send me.”  You do know that God asks that question every day don’t you?  Do you know He is looking right at you and me when He asks it? Did you notice that Isaiah did not ask “to do what?”  He didn’t ask if he could do it after he finished something else.  He didn’t barter about the particulars.  He simply said “Here am I!  Send me.”

Isaiah reminds me of Abram when God told him to rise and go to a place He would show him.  In other words “get up and get going; I’ll show you where you are going after you show me your faithfulness”.  Ah, the words “trust and obey” come crashing into my brain.  That is at the heart of faith.  This is not to suggest that the brain is turned off, but at the end of the day, when things just don’t make sense, when we don’t have all the answers we would like, we must simply trust and obey.

Isaiah 7:14

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Here it is!  People get ready!  Jesus is coming!  Soon we’ll be going home!!!  Here, 700 years before it came to pass Isaiah tells us that God is coming to earth in human form.  Immanuel means “God with us.”  He was that then and He is still that today.  Christ resides within me.  He is still Immanuel.

Why do we need Him?  Because we walk in the darkness of our own sin.

Isaiah 9:2

“The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined.”

I remember flipping channels the other day and I paused for a moment on one of the Harry Potter movies that have been playing a lot lately.  It was a scene where Harry and another fellow lay on the ground in a wood next to a small pond.  Dark, ghost like, shadows swirled overhead, coming closer and closer.  As they passed over the bodies they seem to suck the life from both individuals.  Just when it seemed like all was lost, a pinpoint of light from the other side of the pond burst forth.  It was an intense, brilliant light that quickly blossomed to the point of blotting out the screen.  The dark shadowy creatures were shattered in an instant.  Nothing could withstand the light.  That’s like us isn’t it?  Weren’t we being sucked dry of life by our sins?  Were not our sins draining us of life?  It was the light of Christ that broke through the darkness that surrounded us, obliterated our sins, and saved us from death; restoring our souls.

Isaiah 9:6-7

“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

Praise God!  Praise God!! Praise God!!!  May glory, and power, and honor, and praise be forever His!!!  He saved you.  He cleansed you and now He is asking whom shall I send?  I hope he hears you say “Here am I!  Send me!”

May you have an obedient day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!