Stop Faking It

Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then they shall offer bulls on Y our altar. (Psalm 51:19)

God is not interested as much in "what" we do for Him as He is "why" we do it and "how" we do it. As it is today it was in David's day: People were going through the motions in their worship of God. They would live as they pleased, yet go to the Temple and offer their various sacrifices. The peoples' hearts were in the wrong place. They believed they were offering sacrifices to a Holy God yet living sinful lives with little or no remorse or change. Do we not do much of this today? We live our politically correct lives, accepting wickedness all around us and excusing it as "the world today". Peer pressure all around us, young and old alike, pulls us in every direction. We condone sin within our own lives and comment, "Well, I'm not Jesus!" We take for granted the torturous sacrifice our Savior and Lord endured for our salvation. We live as we please Monday through Saturday and then dress up for church and play the worship game on SONday. As in Malachi 3:8-9, the words ring true still today: "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation." There is still time to regroup and repent. God is awaiting our true hearts' desire to live for Him in a wicked, vile, and ungodly world. Today is the day to decide to be a real disciple of Jesus Christ . . . a follower, not a fan!

Responsibility

Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem. (Psalm 51:18)

David not only had a heart for God, but also for His people! As he was attempting to assure his personal relationship with the Lord, he did not forget the people of Israel. We can't be too selfish in our prayers. In a day and age when our world seems to be getting worse and worse, calling evil good and good evil, we definitely need to pray for others. We need to remember our friends, families, and our nation . . . not to mention the world as a whole! David asks the Lord to have His way with Israel. He asks for protection. He no doubt will seek to please the Lord as a man and as a leader of the nation to be sure to receive God's best. May we too seek to please God with our lives so those around us may be blessed as well. We as a Body have both individual and corporate responsibilities. We are not alone. We are ONE! Who needs our prayers today? Whom can we bless even with just our prayers and the way we live as individuals? Then, as. Body, how can we the Church bless and protect this Nation?

Heart Attacks

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart . . . These O God, You will not despise. (Psalm 51:17)

Many people do good things for a lot of people. Millions of dollars are donated throughout the world. Billions of man hours are given to help those in need. Countless items are given away to assist for disaster relief, to feed the hungry, and to rebuild homes and neighborhoods. These are all great and charitable deeds no doubt. However, God demands more . . . As David writes, God wants a broken heart . . . one who is repentant and convicted of sin. God desires a heart that agrees with Him and His standard of what is sin and what is not. He does not accept a compromising heart or an indifferent heart. While He realizes we are sinners and far short of His glory, He wants us to realize it too! There is only one way to be one with our Creator . . . through Christ and in agreement with His Word. We all are guilty of taking God for granted at times. We, for some reason, believe that God at times falls asleep or looks away. Yet He is still omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. He is STILL God! Lord, break my heart for You! Please accept my heart, fragile and disgusting as it is Lord, as my only sacrifice for You to use. Here I am . . . . would You use me?

It's Not About Today . . . .

For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. (Psalm 51:16)

David knew full well the difference between being obedient to the Lord and offering sacrifices to cover up sin! It was just years ago when he witnessed the downfall of King Saul as the prophet Samuel spoke to the king concerning his disobedience to the demands of God.

Has the Lord in great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of Rams. (1 Samuel 15:22)

God knows we will sin, yet He also demands repentance to be fully cleansed. No offering of money, no giving of gifts, no lighting of candles, no donation to a worthy cause can cover our sin. God demands obedience; to the call to repent of our sin, accept Christ as Lord and Savior, obey the Lord in water baptism, and to live a life in accordance with how Jesus instructed. There is no other way to please God and no other way into an eternal relationship with Him except through the sacrificial atoning of Jesus Christ! While many good people do a great deal of wonderful acts of kindness, only one act of kindness gets us through the gates of heaven; Jesus' work upon the cross! We only need to accept this as Truth, admit our sinful hearts, and trust Him with our eternal life. While a true follower of Chrost has his eternal life secured, to please our Lord we must stay in fellowship with Him through daily repentance and a life of sacrifice unto Him. The CHRISTian life is not easy! Do not be fooled into believing that lie. Ask Peter . . . ask Paul . . . ask anyone today attempting to live to please God and not people! It is a life of sacrifice, ridicule, rejection, dejection, but also JOY . . . JOY in knowing we are doing all we can possibly do to please our Lord and Savior. It will all be worth it. . . .one day!

Listening Skills

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise. (Psalm 51:15)

David, now clean and forgiven, seeks to be used by God. He desires to let others know what the Lord has done. He anticipates with joy the next words that he will say. He doesn't even want to speak unless the Lord opens his mouth! Imagine if that were you or I . . . Imagine if we only spoke, or acted, when God said to do so. Do you realize how much more effective we would be for the Kingdom? Think about all the useless and even sinful things we have said or done that could have been avoided. What if we would have only waited . . . Listen to the words of Jesus' brother James. He should have known a bit about when and how to do things: "So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath . . ." (James 1:19) I have come to realize in life that listening intently to others leads to a much better conversation. I must fight back the urge to respond to the first things I hear. I have to squash my desire to be heard and replace it with a desire to understand . . . the other person and the situation. I have chewed upon my own feet much too many times in life! Listening intently, not only to others' words but their hearts as well, leads to a better understanding of the situation and also less angry or mistaken reactions. Many times that's all that is needed; a listening ear! Like I have heard said, we need to share Christ with others . . . and then speak if we have to speak! www.tsninthebeginning.blogspot.com

Deluded?

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshedO God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud or Your righteousness. (Psalm 51:14)

David pleaded for oneness with God. He did not have the daily indwelling of the Holy Spirit within him. So why is it, that we who do have that Spirit act so careless and carefree about the Spirit residing within us? Why do we believe we can act and talk as we please and yet still be pleasing God? Do we realize that as genuine believers, we are “temples” or “dwellings” of that very Spirit of God that saved us from sin? (1 Corinthians 6:19) We must be warned! If we are truly saved and embarrassing the Lord, He has every right to step in and discipline us or even take us out of this world if He chooses! However, if we test our very own spirit . . . yes, take a deep look inside: Are we, you and I, truly saved?????

The Right Attitude

Then I will teach transgressors Your ways and sinners shall be converted to You.

We all do it . . . God if you only do this for me then I will do this for You. If You allow me this one thing, then I will serve You for the rest of my life. However, this is NOT what David is saying here in my opinion. David, after realizing his woeful condition before God, knows that he can in no way serve God fully with the weight of his sin upon his heart. Would that not be great if we felt that way? Many of us today will casually sin and then casually serve! Similar to what James would write in James 3:10, we sin one minute and then serve in the church the next. We will treat our family harshly at home and head to church to be kind and loving to folks we don't know as well. We will dismiss fellow employees' needs, ignore neighbors as we head to the car, even drive without respect of other drivers as we drive about the highways. Even kids can be so kind and respectful around teachers or church leaders, yet treat their parents and siblings with nothing but disrespect and malice. However, if we would only be like David; we would first seek intimate communion with the Lord and then use the examples of our failings to reach others where they are and lead them to the Savior. Rather than be arrogant and pompous CHRISTians, we would be humble and honest in sincerely reaching others for Christ. They would realize that if Christ could forgive us, He could and will surely have enough grace for them too! If we would first openly and honestly approach the Throne of Grace upon our faces, then our hearts would be in the right place to serve His people. Jesus, in John 21:15-17, questioned Peter's love for Him before instructing him to "feed my sheep". Before we attempt to teach, preach, or in any way serve people, we must first be right with God. Oh yes, God can use anyone to do this, but to be used by God while in right fellowship with God brings blessings both here and in eternity. That's what I want . . .what about you? We would then be truly after the heart of God!

A Closer Walk . . .

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. (Psalm 51:12)

We have it so good as believers today. This is why we take advantage of the generous sacrifice God enable for us through the sacrificial atoning of Jesus. Listen to David here. Even after pleading for his life in the previous verse, David needs to know he is secure for eternity with the Lord. He seeks assurance of his eternal salvation. He knows he cannot secure it himself. Only the Spirit of God can seal and secure us for eternity. . . no words we say; no works we could do; no money we could pay! (Ephesians 2:8)

What if we would cherish our eternal relationship with Christ so? What if we had to plea for His mercy daily? What if our eternal salvation depended upon our prayer life? What if it hinged upon us and not the Lord?

Thank God for His grace and mercy! Without it we WOULD be lost for ever! Yet we cannot allow this act of grace and sacrifice keep us from pursuing and even deeper relationship with the One Who so loved us and still does to the end of days. (Philippians 1:6)

Tolerant or Obedient?

Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. (Psalm 51:11

While David had to depend upon God to "give" him the Holy Spirit for certain functions and tasks, we as born again believers have the indwelling Spirit constantly at work within us. This however leads to our taking advantage of Him at times. While David was constantly aware of "losing" the presence of God, we many times act any way at all and believe that somehow God is not grieved. Yet Pual reminds us in Ephesians 4:30 that we are not to "grieve the Holy Spirit of God" with our thoughts and actions. Though a true born again Christ follower cannot "lose" what God has sealed (John 10:28-30), we can lose that deep and abiding fellowship with Him. If we live in sin and condone the sin, accepting it as "allowable", than God cannot and will not be a part of our decisions. We can find ourselves outside of His realm of protection and open to all sorts of demonic and dangerous activity and influence. The deeper we remain in sin and ignore our need for repentance, the more we risk God stepping in and correcting it Himself, even to the point of an early death. David's plea therefore is very relevant today. Lord, keep me and safeguard me from my own mind and desires that I do not run the risk of losing Your protection and direction here in this life. Help me to not take Your Spirit for granted. Help me to daily examine my walk so that I may not grieve You and that You may give me all You have in store for me, my family and generations to come. Bless me God, so I may in turn bless You and others!

Cleansed

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10) The psalmist knows there is no way he can clean up his sinful heart. In fact, like many of us today, David cannot even forget his sins! I am sure they haunt him daily. I personally can recall things I have done from childhood . . . before I even really understood repentance and grace. Oh, I knew of prayer and the fact that God forgives sin through Christ’s sacrifice upon the cross, but I had never been shown from Scripture about a personal relationship with Christ and what that meant concerning repentance and forgiveness. I had no idea concerning the redemption of my soul through my Savior’s sacrifice. I had no thought of the imputation of all the sin of mankind, including mine, upon the heart and soul of Jesus as He suffered so brutally that Friday. I just knew if I confessed my sin it was forgiven! I was even told I had to do some things to complete the job . . . but then I realized the truth years later. Like David, I sought a cleansing . . . and still do. While I know from the bible that Christ’s sacrifice has been substituted for my sin, it is still hard to believe. I believe it by faith, because the Word tells me so. 1 John 1:9 reminds me that God is faithful and just to forgive my sin and cleanse me from ALL unrighteousness, if I will simply go to Him with a sincere heart of repentance; agreeing with Him that I am indeed a sinner and not worthy of His grace. Like David, I must move forward by faith knowing that God has placed His Spirit within me to urge me on toward sanctification. Day by day, I trust Him to renew my heart and mind (Romans 12:1-2) so I may indeed offer my daily life as a living sacrifice unto my Savior. While I am assured of eternal life with Him through Christ, I and becoming more like Him day by day as I give over control to His Spirit. As Paul would say, the battle is real and it is daily warfare! (Romans 7:14-25) Do not be discouraged as you face the struggle. Be angry at the sin and physically and spiritually fight it. Through accountability partners, physical roadblocks, and prayer, sin can be conquered and will be conquered. Half the battle is identifying it and setting up a real plan to win! It may involve cutting off some harmful friendships, denying our flesh (eyes and ears included) of tempting activities such as movies, videos, music and more, and allowing a few close friends to actually get personal with us and hold us accountable to our actions. While it still takes a village to raise a child, it also takes the Body of Christ to keep one another accountable to our lifestyles and dedication to our Lord and Savior. As we have heard in the world, the first step is admitting our weaknesses and asking for “help”.