A Pure Heart

When my son was younger, he was determined to do something he knew was wrong. When I caught him before he could put his plan into action he protested, “But Mom I didn’t actually do it!” “That’s not the point.” I told him, “You wanted to do it – that’s the heart of the problem.

Human nature has reduced “sin” to an act – a thing we do, while the Bible tells us that sin is a condition of the heart – our desires. When Jesus taught about adultery in Matthew 5:27-28 He said that the sin of adultery is committed when the desire arises – “anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” James identified the pattern of sin in 1:14-15 as a progression from one’s “own evil desire,” to enticement, then to the action. Sin clearly starts in the heart. After his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Urriah, David pleaded for God to “create in me a pure heart” (Ps. 51:10) for he knew that it was his heart that had led him astray. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mat. 6:21), meaning we will pursue at all costs what our heart desires. If that desire is for sin, you can bet your hands, feet, and body will follow. Jesus also said only “the pure in heart . . . will see God” (Mat. 5:8). That should be incentive enough.

A pure heart recoils at the thought of disobeying and dishonoring God and breaking fellowship. It pursues the heart of God, which never leads to sin. A pure heart runs from temptation (2 Tim 2:22). Does that mean if you struggle with sinful desires You don’t have a heart for God? No – Paul attested to the battle within himself (Rom. 7:15-23) and I know well my own tug-of-war with sin. But it’s not unwinnable. You just need some Help.

Beloved, Are you weary of toying with the sinful desires of your heart? Victory comes as you allow the Word of God and the Spirit of God to purify your heart day by day. God isn’t just after your behavior Beloved, He is after your heart.  When you “delight yourself in the Lord,” that is when He is all your heart longs for, then “He will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps 37:4). He will give you Himself.

Hebrews: Sowing Seeds

“It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away . . .” (Hebrews 6: 4-6a).

This is one of the hardest passages I’ve ever studied. Once saved, always saved? Or can a person lose their salvation? The word terminologies we looked at in our last devotional could support either perspective. But I will defer my answer to the original author of the entire Bible.

Jesus told a parable of a man sowing seeds, some of which fell on hard ground, “and the birds of the air ate it up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, sprang up but “withered because they had no moisture.” Still more seed fell in the thorny grass, and the thorns “choked the plants.” Finally, some of the seed fell on good soil and produced a bountiful crop.  The Lord explained that the seed is the gospel that is sown in men’s hearts. The seeds on the path “are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts so that they may not believe and be saved.” The seed sown among the rocky ground are “the ones who receive the word with Joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing, they fall away.” The seed that falls among the thorns are those who hear “but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches, and pleasures, and they do not mature.” The seed that falls in the good soil are “those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.”  (Luke 8:1-15)

Laying this parable beside the Hebrews passage (let Scripture interpret Scripture) we understand that the one who falls away never took root and grew to maturity. They are the rocky hearts in which the gospel doesn’t take a firm hold. And they are the hearts that are distracted by “life’s worries, riches, and pleasures.” Which soil did Jesus call good? The one that “by persevering produce a crop.” And perseverance isn’t gritting your teeth and hanging on for dear life. It is trusting in the promises and the Promise Keeper. Perseverance isn’t something you do to keep your salvation. It is the evidence of your salvation. Simply put, if you are not saved, you will not persevere.

Can you lose your salvation? You cannot lose what you never had.  But be assured, if you are in Jesus’ hands you will not fall away. “The one who calls you is faithful and He will [keep your whole spirit, soul, and body blameless]” (1 Thess. 5:24, 23).

The Heart of Sin

Warning: this devotional contains sensitive and, quite frankly, disgusting information.

An Old Dominion University assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice, Dr. Allyn Walker, has been suspended after writing a book defending what he* termed, “minor-attracted persons.” Dr. Walker stated, “It’s less stigmatizing than other terms like pedophile. A lot of people when they hear the term pedophile, they automatically assume that it means a sex offender. And that isn’t true. And it leads to a lot of misconceptions about attractions toward minors.”[1] In a nutshell, Dr. Walker was seeking to “normalize” sexual attraction to children by contending that people can have the desire without acting on it. That’s much the same message many pastors and Christian counselors claim about homosexuality. But that is a dangerous and wicked lie.

The point of this devotional isn’t to disgust you or to call for comments about how insane the world is. My point is to tell you that sin is rooted in the desires of the heart. It’s what James meant when he said that “each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed” (Jas. 1:14). Our desires – or “attractions” as Dr. Walker termed it – will always lead to action and if they are for sin, they will always lead us away from God. The psalmist said, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (Ps. 67:18). Desire and cherish all describe something that is deeply rooted in the heart. Listen to Psalm 37: 4: “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Many claim the second part of this verse without regarding the first. God is not promising to give you anything you want if you “put Him first.” He wants to be the desire of your heart – the only desire of your heart.  That is why “minor-attraction” or “same-sex attraction” or “food attraction” or “money-attraction” or “anything-sinful-attraction” cannot coexist in a heart that desires God.

Please hear me – I am not preaching condemnation nor am I saying that faithful believers will not struggle with the pull to sin. But if we desire God more than sin we will fight tooth and nail to be set free from it – we will “resist to the point of shedding blood” (Heb. 12:4). Beloved, if you want to be in relationship with God you must put every sinful desire to death (read Romans 6:1-14 – no, seriously, you need to read it). God is not after your good behavior, He is after your heart.

*I am assuming male as Dr. Walker has identified as non-binary.

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[1] School places professor on leave after controversial interview defending ‘minor-attracted persons’ | Fox News

Hebrews: Open Heart Surgery

“The Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

Yes, we’re still here – but I have a reason. Last devotional we saw the Word of God as a mighty sword. Today I want you to see it as a surgical scalpel. A surgeon wants to help people get well. But he first has to cut through skin and tissues to get to the problem.

The Word of God penetrates and divides “soul and spirit, joints and marrow . . .” The soul (psyche) is the immaterial and eternal part of the inner person – it is translated in the scriptures by personal pronouns – me, myself, I, mine. The spirit (pneumo) is the immaterial part of the inner person that can respond to God. While the soul is fixed on self, the spirit is the part of man that hears that still, small voice and follows – or turns away. The Word also divides “joints and marrow.” Joints are connective parts of the skeletal system and marrow sits deep within the bones producing blood cells that keep us alive. Consider that the root word for marrow speaks of “hidden or concealed things.” Hang in here with me, this is all going to make sense.

The Word of God also “judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” It goes right to the heart – the seat of our thoughts and emotions. But not just the random thoughts that flit through our minds. God’s Word is judging our deliberate thoughts – the ones we draw up from those deep places where we think they are safely hidden. But, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (v. 13).

You and I cannot hide our hearts from God. His Word penetrates, divides, and judges the state of our hearts. It digs into the deepest parts of us. It exposes our thoughts, especially the ones we try to hide, the ones that are feeding our emotions. Surgeons go after the things in our bodies that make us sick. The Word of God goes after our thoughts that make us sick. Beloved, God wants you to be well and whole. Will you let His Word do the work of healing your heart?

A Strong Foundation of Love and Peace

I began praying for my granddaughter before she was born and have prayed every day since. I pray for her health, protection, provision, and growth and I pray Ephesians 3:17-19 over her. “That Joy, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that she may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” That part, “to know this love that surpasses knowledge” always puzzled me.  It brings to mind Philippians 4:7 that says that “the peace of God, which surpasses understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” How can you know something that surpasses knowledge and understanding? This is a beautiful expression in both verses and it means to take firm possession of something that has complete authority over you and gives you an assurance that cannot be overridden. Specifically, in the terminology for Philippians 4:7, it means to have a superior hold of the mind in reference to “alarm and agitating emotions.” So I am praying that the love of Christ would rule and reign over her. Yes, she is only 2 years old, but I’m praying a foundation for the rest of her life. And I’m partnering with God in “rooting and establishing” her in love so that one day when she is a little older, she will be able to grasp the immense love God has for her. Is there a more important job for a grandmother?

Beloved, the love and peace of Christ are available to you too – today – right in the midst of anxious, frustrating, heartbreaking circumstances. The key is in the verses that surround these two verses – about living in God’s grace, rejoicing in the Lord always, trusting in His presence, praying about everything with thanksgiving, and keeping your thoughts focused on the good stuff.

I encourage you with all my heart to sit with your Bible and a fresh cup of coffee and meditate on Philippians 4:4-9. Then “the God of peace will be with you” in ways you cannot understand, but you can certainly know and rest in.

What Does It Mean to Be a Christian?

The world has many different views of what a “Christian” is.  In fact, the church is pretty confused about what it means as well. The title “Christian” was not coined by the Lord Himself or by His disciples. “Christian” was a designation given to the “Followers of the Way” – the first believers – by those outside the church (see Acts 11:26). It meant, “little Christs” because these people were keenly identified with Jesus by their words and actions. Not so much today.

To the culture, a Christian is someone who is filled with hate and intolerance. Strangely enough, the only ones the tolerant culture will not tolerate are true Christians.  In many churches today, a Christian is someone who shows up semi-regularly for church and throws a couple of bucks in the plate.  Oh, and they must not speak out against anything anyone chooses to do or be all for the sake of “love.”  Individually, a Christian is someone who posts Jesus memes on social media, right after posting something laced with profanity. They know just enough Scripture to prove themselves right in their own eyes.

Saying “I am a Christian” does not get you into God’s heaven. Paul said the key to heaven is a profession of faith. “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

There is an important distinction between saying “I’m a Christian” and saying “Jesus is Lord.” What we are to confess with our mouth is the Name, the identity, and the Lordship of Jesus. And it’s not just words we spout, it must be a confession of our heart. I tried an experiment with this when I had to interview several non-believers for my Apologetics class. I asked each one to say, “Jesus is Lord,” and every one of them refused because they said, “I don’t believe it.” Remember what Jesus said – “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). And the heart that believes that Jesus is Lord will lead the mind and body to act like it.

Claiming to be a Christian has no saving power. Professing the Name and Lordship of Jesus Christ does. The true confession of faith is not what I am, but what Jesus is.

God Knows Your Heart

My friend had been trying for 20 minutes to explain why she kept doing something she knew was a sin. She honestly wanted to put this thing behind her, but she kept going back to it like a drug. We’d had this discussion many times over the years.  She stayed in this continuous cycle of sin and defeat. “I guess I’m just weak,” she sighed. “In my heart, I want to do better, isn’t that good enough?” “After all,” she said with a shrug, “God knows my heart.”
I threw out one of those breath-prayers, took her by the hand, and said, “Yes sweet friend, God knows your heart – that’s why He sent you a Savior.”
God does know our hearts. Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts” (Luke 16:15). God knows that in its natural state “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jeremiah 17:9). He knows that our hearts are very human and prone to mislead us by our own desires (James 1:14). It’s why we struggle to break away from sins that we cherish (Psalm 66:18).  It’s why the devil has such a grip on the world – because sin, at its core, is not so much a matter of what you and I do but what our hearts desire. Our actions will always follow our hearts. And there’s only room in our hearts for one. If our hearts desire what the world offers, we will not desire God.

But there is hope for the human heart. He is the divine Savior, Jesus. He knows your heart and mine and He came to redeem our hearts through His death on the cross. Covered by the blood of the Son of God our hard, stone hearts can become living flesh again (Ezekiel 36:26).

Beloved, God knows your heart – does your heart know Him?

The Living Word

I thought I needed a new Keurig. Every morning it would whirr away but the coffee didn’t come out. I always had to shut it off and do all the steps again before it would work.  But the problem wasn’t with the machine it was with me.  I was trying to be quiet in the morning so I wasn’t pushing the lid down hard enough to piece the top and the bottom of the coffee pod. The pod would fill up with water, but it had no exit hole so it stopped pumping. Duh. I just had to give it a full stab to get my morning cup of life-elixir.

A verse has been bumping around in my head since I solved my Keurig problem. “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

Now, I am all for getting into the Bible in every possible way, but I’m concerned that when we settle for a five-minute daily devotional we are not letting the Word of God do its full work in us. This is a “living and active,” power-packed Word and its purpose is not just to encourage us – though it does that well. It is meant to penetrate our soul and spirit – the part of us that responds to God. Do you see the reference to “joints and marrow?” Joints are where bones connect. We must let the Word of God connect the truths of Scripture to our lives. Marrow is the spongy center of major bones and it produces blood cells that keep us alive. The Word of God supports life in the believer. And it also “judges the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts.” It will tell us if what we are thinking is true or a lie. It will chasten us for unChristlike attitudes. It’s a sharp Word that goes right to the heart.

Oh, brothers and sisters, you and I don’t just need a good word for the day, we need to let the living Word of God pierce deeply and let life flow into – and out of us.  We need to give the Bible full access to our minds and hearts. That’s gonna take more than five minutes a day.

Do You Trust God?

God doesn’t always do what I want Him to do. He doesn’t always answer my prayers according to my wishes or follow my well-laid-out plans. There are things I’ve prayed about for years that remain unresolved. Hard situations that didn’t magically get better. People I’ve laid at His feet over and over who get up and wander back into sin and self-destruction. What are we to do when – let’s call it what it really is – we’re disappointed with God?  I know. It seems almost sacrilegious to say it, but if we’re not honest with God we will always be stuck with this gnawing sense that He can’t be trusted. And while we’re being honest – that is the root behind our prayerlessness and our half-hearted study of His Word.

So what do we do when the doubts creep in? To borrow from my sister-in-love, we “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6). I’ve told you before that I’m a word-nerd, and the Holy Spirit asked me – “What do those words mean?” Two key things stood out to me. First: “trust” – it means to “have confidence in.” Do you have confidence in God? Do you have confidence in His goodness and His love?

Then – and this was huge to me – three words: “heart,” “understanding,” and “acknowledge.” The “heart” is the seat of our thoughts, emotions, and understanding. “Acknowledge” means to know, recognize, understand. Did you see the word“understand” in both of those definitions? “Understand” at its root – this is key – means “to consider with full attention.” There it is. When we lean on our own understanding – we are giving our emotions our full attention. But when we“trust in the Lord with all our heart” we give Him our full attention.

I don’t know about you, but my emotions will take me all over the place. But God is the one who sets my path straight. Where are you focusing your attention today? Your Father is your solid rock. He will never betray your confidence in Him. Beloved, you really can “Trust in the Lord.”

I Believe

The elders of Israel were invited up the mountain to worship God. The scripture twice says they saw God, even eating and drinking with Him (Exodus 24:10,11). The disciples saw the risen Jesus. They touched the marks of their salvation. We count them as remarkably blessed. We somehow think we would have greater faith and confidence if we could only see Him with our physical eyes. Yet when the elders came down from their mountaintop experience, after waiting forty days for Moses to return, they gave up the glorious vision and pressed Aaron to make them a god they could see and touch. And Luke reports that despite seeing Him in the room with them and even after touching His hands and feet, “they still did not believe.”

Jesus said, “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:21). I’ve never seen God physically. I’ve never seen nor touched Jesus. But I believe. I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Resurrected Savior, the KING OF KINGS, and the LORD OF LORDS. He is the Way and the Truth and the Life. He is the second member of the Trinity, the Alpha and the Omega, the One who was and is and is to come. And He is my Redeemer, my Savior and my Lord.

No, I don’t have the advantage these men had. But I don’t need to see Him with my eyes to believe. I’ve already seen Him with my heart. #Ibelieve