March 28 & 29, 2011 Cultivating a Good Heart

I've been fascinated by the images of water in the Promised Land, and it's got me thinking a whole new way about it.  For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden; but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year."  Deuteronomy 11: 10-12

Now, take this thought and put it together with the Parable of the Sower, from the NT reading yesterday.  This is when Jesus explained it to the disciples, the seed being the Word of God:  "But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience." Luke 8: 11-15

Have you ever wondered how we come to have the Word of God grow in our heart to begin with?  Were some of us born with a "good heart" that could grow the Word?  Were all of us born with a hardened heart, like the roadway that was packed down hard and trampled on by feet all the time, unable to even receive a seed, much less sustain the growth of one?  I think that mankind in general is in the second category, and it takes a lot of work to get the ground tilled and prepared to receive the Word at all.  God is the Farmer, or the "Husbandman", who works on people's hearts in many ways.  I was able to be a co-worker with Him in the counseling room, where much of the time was spent digging up hard ground, dredging up rocks and other debris, and in planting the truth.  Some of the time I was allowed to help reap a harvest, but this was due to the work of others who had planted and watered.  It is always God who brings the increase. (I Cor. 3: 6-7)

I also think that some of us are blessed to have parents and other people who set to work preparing our hearts when we are very young children.  A godly parent is diligent to work with God to bring their child's heart to a place of receiving the Word;  and they are diligent to help the child maintain that garden until the Word begins to bear fruit.  I believe there is a generation of children being brought into the world now that have had their hearts prepared even from the womb - who will have the "noble and good heart" from the start.  Throughout the Bible, you can see examples of this type of person.  Think of a large number of Samuels and Marys coming into maturity at a time such as this!  It is all of our responsibility in the Church to help guard and nurture these little ones.

Imagine now, what happens when one who has had their heart prepared, a "noble and good heart" - the good ground - coming into the amazing Land of Promise where the rain of heaven waters it and God's eyes are always on it.  Revelation raining down, flowing in streams, watering the Word that's been planted.  This is a land of heavenly revelation and abundant spiritual fruitfulness like we've never experienced before!  This is the land of Life!  Can you see why here we must be all the more watchful and diligent to guard our hearts from deception and the idols of the world?  Anything and everything will grow with extreme rapidity and abundant fruitfulness.  We must beware of what we allow to be planted in the good ground in the land of Life, and stay on the alert.  We must guard our hearts with utmost diligence.

March 27, 2011 The Rarest Asset on Earth

[I didn't have a chance to post this on Sunday, but I wanted to share what I got yesterday anyway].

And the costliest!  It took the Israelites 40 years in the wilderness to get it!  What is that asset?  Humility!  How rare is it?  Just look around you.  I look into my own heart and life, and I'm not even sure it's there.  But one thing I do know, I've been through the wilderness (seems like 40 years anyway!), and now that it's time to enter the Promised Land. I'm hoping the wilderness experience did it's job, and I will be able to walk humble and not stumble.

"And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not." Deuteronomy 8:2

The blessings and requirements of the Promised Land demand the character of humility!  We won't be able to stand, much less bring glory to God, if we are in pride.  The Lord makes it clear that the temptations to pride will be great in our new territory.  Just think:  He has to remove seven mighty "nations" to make room for you!  He will be so big in you that He's going to have to take down a lot of the works of the devil that you encounter in your new land to make room for you and His work!  Seven - a completed number - He won't leave anything there to torment you if you will totally submit to Him and follow His directions!  This is good promise here!!  Grab it!  Hold on!

In Luke we get a great picture of Jesus honoring humility: Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Luke 7:44-48 NKJV

Worship Jesus in humility, and it's a sweet-smelling fragrance to Him and to others! 

One key to humility is remembering the works of God in your life - staying thankful for His grace, salvation and forgiveness.  One hindrance to humility is condemnation!  This might sound contradictory, but it's not.  Pharisees and other hypocrites join right in with the devil in seeing us in the sin of our present and past, and naming us with it.  This does not help us stay humble, it gets our eyes on our self and lies to us - so don't join it, rebuke it!  No matter what your past is, He's got a good plan for you.  When Jesus calls us "Forgiven" we are forgiven.  He called us that on the cross!  It's up to us to believe that, grab a hold of it, thank Him for it, and walk in the freedom from our sin that He bought for us. 

Humility in our heart will keep us in constant dependency on God, and impel us to remain current with our repentance.  We may be maturing in the Lord, but we still need forgiveness - and we still need our feet washed.  If Jesus could allow a woman with a "bad reputation" to wash His feet, we can certainly let Him wash ours!

Agreeing with God is the essence of true humility.  Agree with Him about His promises to make you great in the heavenly Kingdom.  Agree with Him about His lordship, your need for Him, and His "always rightness".

Walk humble, and you won't stumble.







 

April 11, 2010

I think it would be wonderful to make a "scrapbook" or "memory book" of the things God has done in our life.  Don't you?  We take photos of our kids growing up, and the major events in our life, like weddings and birthdays, and we document our vacations and our mission trips.  We collect memorabilia from our various activities and event we want to remember.  Then we look at them occasionally, and these scrapbooks bring back the memories or our best times, strengthening them every time we do.  We talk to our kids about our life before they were born:  "Look, there's mommy and daddy with really funny hairdo's and clothes!" or the funny things they did when they were little:  "There you are at one year old, with a pie pan on your head!"  It's easy to laugh and share with our kids with something to look at that's organized and picturesque.

God did similar things with Israel it seems, only they didn't have iphones!  When Joshua led them across the flooded Jordan, heaping up the water, the Lord instructed them to take twelve stones out from the Jordan and pile them up in the Promised Land as a memorial for what He had done for them.  "Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’; for the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.” Joshua 4: 21-24

If we are to accomplish the things that God gives us to do, it is imperative that we bring to remembrance the times that He has worked in our life, the times He has empowered us and brought us through.  Otherwise we tend to lose faith in the midst of difficulty.  This has been one of my largest shortcomings throughout my Christian walk.  I'm a great starter, but carrying through is not so easy, and finishing something has always loomed before me like an impossible task. 

I very much related to this Scripture verse today: "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? Luke 14: 28-30  The thing is, when I start something by the inspiration of the Spirit and the word of the Lord, I know the Lord can do it through me, because I know His power and ability.  But do I really count the cost?

Jesus knew the kinds of trials, struggles, temptations and oppositions we would face as we walked through life as His disciples.  He gave us the perfect antedote to failure: "pick up your cross and follow me," and "whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple."  The cost of fulfilling God's will and following Christ to the end, the finish line, is EVERYTHING.  You just don't quit!  And you let nothing stop you from obeying Him, not even yourself.

A scrapbook of remembrance, in lieu of stone monuments, might help us remember not only God's faithfulness to us and to our ancestors; but it might also remind us of the times we chose, yet again, to commitment ourselves to faithful discipleship.  We need reminders that we were once willing to pick up our cross and give up everything, so that we will continue in that choice when we feel ready to quit.

I like how so many of the verses tied together today, and I like how Proverbs sums up the concept of follow-through:
The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, But diligence is man’s precious possession. In the way of righteousness is life, And in its pathway there is no death. Proverbs 12: 27-28

There is only one righteous path, and that is Jesus Christ.  If we stop following Him, we fail, but if we continue to follow Him, enduring until the end, we succeed, because there is no death or failure in Him.

March 10, 2010

Lately, I've been contemplating the concept of "mainstream."  Wouldn't it be a great thing to reach so many people?  And yet, as in today's reading, following the crowd can lead to direct opposition to God. 

Having God's opinion and outlook, and standing up for it, can often put one into direct opposition to the crowd.  Caleb and Joshua were the only ones who saw the Promised Land with eyes of faith.  As it turned out, they were the only ones, of their generation, who were allowed to enter.

This makes my choice clear.  Rather than seek to appeal to the masses, I must continue to seek for God's perspective and approval.  As lonely as that can feel at times-- for someone like me who enjoys having people's approval-- I'd much rather have God's approval than "to win the whole world."  I'll have to leave the winnings up to Him.   

  

March 8, 2010

It seems I have to be reminded on a regular basis not to grumble and complain!  How many times have I read these scriptures and still forget?  It is so easy to get disgruntled when what I see for the future doesn't match up to what seems to be taking place in the present.  I tire of the suffering, or just the long waiting, and forget that through these things, Christ is preparing me for what is to come.

The Israelites grumbled at the Lord in the wilderness, lacking in faith.  Even Moses doubted God's ability to provide meat for more than 600,000 people!  God's answer:  "Is the Lord's hand too short? (Is His power limited?)."  God proved again that it was not, even though He had proven Himself many times over.

I learned from the lesson in Mark that Jesus already has a plan of provision for us-- even if we are only in the preparation stage-- and He will give us detailed intructions, if we will listen.  Wouldn't you agree that following His instructions would be good preparation?  "So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal." Mark 14:16  He prepared them for preparation of a meal that would prepare them further for more preparation! 

Sometimes I get lost in the preparations, forgetting that there is a destination.  Or I get tired of the preparations and quit, despairing of ever getting to my goal.  If we quit, we'll never get there!  But if we'll remember that He Himself  is our true destination, we will keep our eyes on Him and abide in Him.  Thus we are already there and getting there all at once!

I believe that Mark also shows us a key for continuing in perseverance with faith, hope and love, instead of grumbling and complaining:  worship!  The woman with the alabaster jar of ointment is a wonderful example of what to do in a confusing time of preparation.  She obviously had an understanding of who Jesus was and what was going to happen.  She knew they were all going to go through an extremely trying time, and yet she gave sacrificially in an extravagant expression of heartfelt devotion, thanksgiving and trust for the future.  Jesus commended her for it with great enthusiasm, for it obviously pleased Him.

If the Israelites had remembered God's former deliverances and provisions rather than call to mind their former life and complain about the present, and if they had kept their eyes on "the prize"-- the Promised Land and the Giver of the Promise-- they would have remained in a place of thanksgiving and worship, trusting in the Lord and His goodness.  We have the same choices everyday, do we not?  I am reminded again to choose the attitudes and behaviors that please Him.