Tag Archives: Psalm 139:23-24

What’s NOT on the altar?

Leave a reply

 

One of the things that gets in the way of trusting God in all situations is that we hold onto things we need to surrender. We cling to the evils we’ve lived with for so long – the negative thoughts, the false guilt, the lies that we have out-sinned God’s capacity to forgive. We’ve kept these at our side and played the tapes over and over in our mind for so long it seems impossible to let them go, even though God promises to replace them with his goodness, peace, assurance, and love.we cling to the evil we know rather than embrace the freedom of God’s goodness.

 

We also cling to good things that we treasure more than anything else including, if we’re honest, our relationship with God. Our actions say, “I will trust God as long as…” As long as he provides me with a good job, with the house I want, with good health and happiness, with close family and friends. The list goes on. What would you add?

 

We read in Genesis 22 the account of Abraham willing to sacrifice his only son on the altar. He was faced with a crisis of whether to trust and obey God    or to trust his emotions and self reasoning. Of course we know that he trusted God and God intervened by providing an alternate sacrifice. Abraham’s faith was rewarded. Faith means believing whatever we place on the altar will be blessed by God.

 

Maybe it’s time to put something on the altar. Job, income, kids, finding a spouse, happiness, friends, dreams… whatever stands between us trusting God partially and trusting him fully, with complete confidence that he will work good in our lives according to his purpose.

 

I remember praying for the kids. I’d say something like, “whatever it takes Lord, just draw my children to you. Just don’t make it too painful or too embarrassing,” I’d pray the same thing for myself, “Lord, create in me a pure heart. Rid me of this pervasive sin that I fight daily; just don’t cause me public ridicule or pain.”  Finally, I had to pray, “Whatever it takes, Lord.”

 

We’re conditioned to think that victory is of highest value. But there are some things that need to be surrendered before we can achieve real victory in life. Surrender is a matter of the will. It decides who has control of my life, me or God? Can I really trust God to direct my life or do I think I do a better job managing my own challenges? Surrender means asking “Am I going to go on letting my feelings and emotions lead me or am I going to really live by faith? Which engine is going to pull my train?

 

In my search, I’ve asked God, “What stands in the way between me and you?” Do I only trust you if things go according to my plan? Romans 14:8 tells me I can trust God whether I live or die. But what about that in between place where I am not fully living and thriving and yet not dead? Can I trust God for that too? I was recently talking with one of the overnight staff who commented about trusting God even though her dreams are not being realized. “And still I will praise you, my God” was her faith-filled response.”

 

Is is there something in your life that needs to be put on the altar and surrendered completely to God? Perhaps you’ll pray along with me:

Search me, God, and know my heart:
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

– Psalm 139:23-24

 

Test me, search me

Leave a reply

 

 

Search me God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

 

What comes to mind when you think about tests? Stress, anxiety, fear, sweaty palms, headaches? Most of us don’t enjoy tests because they reveal things about our abilities and our character. They also demonstrate our preparedness and whether or not we have “the right stuff.”

 

There is also something about trials that strip away unwanted elements in our lives. We speak of the trial by fire that destroys all that is merely temporal and leaves that which is everlasting. There is the heat of the furnace that removes the impurities and leaves only that which is pure. Daniel’s trial of trusting God when surrounded by hungry lions speaks to God’s role in the dangerous times of our lives.

 

Most of us don’t have to face real lions or a literal furnace of fire in our lives. But we do encounter a battery of tests, don’t we? School tests to prove our readiness for next level learning, tests of character when tempted by deceit, anger, envy, or any number of unwholesome traits. And most of us don’t relish the idea of tests. The preparation for them is often painful and stressful. The results are sometimes embarrassing if we are, after being weighed and measured, ‘found wanting’.

 

David displayed such confidence that he actually invited God to ‘test’ him. “Test me, Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind.” Psalm 26:2 He took confidence in his submission to God and God’s faithfulness to see him through the testing situation. Later in life, he had to repent of all self-confidence and again asked God to search his heart and reveal any impure thoughts or deeds.

 

As life progresses, the tests become more challenging and many of them quite outside our area of expertise. Some are completely outside of any ability or hope we might have in any of our natural abilities. But, if we have maintained a clear conscience before God, we can stand in the confidence of His promises and His grace to see us through the most severe life tests. It is out of humility, not boasting, that we invite God to test us, search us, reveal in us any unworthy thoughts and deeds, so we can submit them to him. And then, in faith, to stand firm and hold fast to God’s promises in the middle of our tests and trials.

 

Search me O God, know my anxious thoughts. Lead me in your way.

 

 

Create in me a new heart

Leave a reply

Asking God to break our heart for what breaks His, brings us into a deeper sense of His presence. It transforms our focus away from our worldly experience to the way He sees us and our world.

God has always been interested in our heart. From early in the Bible teaching’s we are told to “love the Lord with all our heart.” Jeremiah tells us that God will give us a heart to love Him; that we will seek Him and find Him, when we seek Him with all our heart.

God tells us in the Psalms that what He desires is not a burnt offering or a monetary gift. He doesn’t need these things. What He desires is a sacrifice of praise, the offering of a clean heart.

King David says in Psalm 139:23-24 –
“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

In Psalm 51:10-12 he says –
“Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

Trying to please God with a corrupt self-seeking heart is like trying to drive a car with a gas tank full of sludge. It just doesn’t work.

In Hillsong’s worship song, “Hosanna,” the words of praise are followed by this plea:
“Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me
Break my heart for what breaks yours
Everything I am for Your kingdom’s cause
As I walk from earth into eternity.”

It is clear that if we want our praise to reach God’s heart, we are best to approach Him with a clean heart, a right conscience. It should be our daily prayer and our moment by moment walk with Him. God won’t leave you with a broken heart. Rather He will be faithful to mend it and give you a clean heart that seeks and finds Him, if that is your true request.

Break my heart for what breaks yours

Leave a reply

Probably, you have at some point in your life experienced a ‘broken heart,’ that feeling of deep despair and loss, whether momentary or long-lasting.

But have you ever ASKED for a broken heart? “Why in the world would I want to do that?” you might ask. Good question. After all, if we truly believe God wants the very best for us, why would we ask for a broken heart? Shouldn’t we ask for blessing instead? Well, yes you should. But have you ever asked yourself how MUCH blessing do you want? And what are you willing to endure to get it? Sometimes, blessing comes through an experience that breaks us of our earthly desires. It comes through a broken heart.

Is your heart broken when your children disobey and choose a path that is harmful for them? Do you think God’s heart was broken for a lost world? Do you think the heart of Jesus was broken for you when He put Himself on the cross for your sin and mine? What should our response be to such a sacrifice on our behalf? The apostle Paul answers, “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:10-11) In other words, “Give me the heart of Jesus for this world.” God is so interested in the condition of our hearts.

If we regard someone as a friend but then stay away from them when they are going through a difficult trial, what does that say about our friendship? If we say we want to love God and draw close to Him, we are saying we want to experience His heart. Are you willing to have your heart broken for the things that break’s God’s heart? How else will we draw closer to Him? How else will we join Him where he is already at work?

Let’s ask God to break our heart for what breaks His, so we can grow closer to Him and see ourselves and others through His eyes.