JACKS DAILY DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS
(Hebrews 5:12) “You need someone to teach you again the first lessons of God’s message.”
Yes , God loves us just as we are, but He also takes us on a journey of transformation.
He wants to help us become more like Jesus and become mature in our faith and knowledge of Him.
He wants to help us develop, grow, mature, and become a people who can be, witnesses of His great love for humanity.
He wants us to go beyond infancy in the faith, to becoming mature in the faith.
We need to grow and develop spiritually.
Paul said to the early church in (Hebrews 5:11) “I have a lot more to say… but it is hard to get it
across to you since you’ve picked up the bad habit of not listening”.
By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics about God again, starting from square one… baby’s milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago!”
Sometimes we can be like those Christians in the early church.
We stop listening and stick with what we think we know, rather than developing and growing.
That might be because we’re too busy, we’re feeling overwhelmed or anxious, or we’re just comfortable with how things are.
But there’s always more to learn about God.
By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics about God again, starting from square one… baby’s milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago!”
Sometimes we can be like those Christians in the early church.
We stop listening and stick with what we think we know, rather than developing and growing.
That might be because we’re too busy, we’re feeling overwhelmed or anxious, or we’re just comfortable with how things are.
But there’s always more to learn about God.
We’ll never know everything about Him.
New born babies desire milk, but when they grow up they move on to solid foods.
We need to move on to more advanced spiritual food as well.
We need to grow in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Much the same as feeding our bodies the right food with the right nourishment, we need to feed our souls with the right spiritual nourishment.
Your body cannot grow, develop and live on nourishment once a week, nor can your spirit and soul live on just a Sunday sermon occasionally.
Many are they that only get spiritually fed at church on a Sunday morning.
But then we question why our faith isn’t strong, why we’re struggling to deal with temptation, or why we can’t seem to feel God’s presence and guidance in our lives.
We need to be continually feeding on God’s Word.
Each day we should be reading our Bible’s and spending time with Him.
Friend life is a race!
And just as an athlete trains properly and gives his or her body the proper exercise and nourishment so that they can grow and develop endurance, strength, and stamina to run the race…
Each of us need to feed and nourish our souls spiritually so that we can be all that we can possibly be in our Masters service and knowledge of Him and His will for us.
(Philippians 3:14) “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have laid hold of it… but one thing I do… forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s Heavenly calling in Christ Jesus”.
I read somewhere that one “week” with out prayer makes one “weak”!
When was the last time you made prayer, worship, and diligent bible study a priority in your life.
Come on folks, if you truly consider your self a child of God, then lets start running this race as if we really believe it.
You can do it!
Good Day!
(2nd Timothy 4:2) “Reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching”
Because of sin and our tongue in cheek attitude toward it… our world is growing increasingly wicked… and unfortunately our prideful, selfish, immoral and sadistic society has formed an alliance with humanistic wisdom… and no longer is willing to admit that sin governs most of its habitants.
We no longer tell it like it is… for fear of hurting someone feelings… or we fear rejection and so we don’t rock the boat concerning the evil that is blatantly leading people astray from Gods offer of grace forgiveness and mercy.
We all need a steady diet of friendly “course correction”… because our hearts, yes even our new hearts in Christ, are still susceptible to sin.
The writer of Hebrews says “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away fromthe living God.
Butexhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today”, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews 3:12-13)
In a sense this is what I try to do every day with these devotional thoughts.
To exhort all of you to “continue steadfast in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ” and the truth of Gods word that is “a light unto our path and a lamp unto our feet”… as we are witnesses and the light of Christ in this world.
There are times when we all need to be “called out”, “challenged” as it were concerning our attitude, motives, and yes life style or activities while on this walk of faith.
The Apostle Paul closes his second letter to his son in the faith in (2nd Timothy 4:2) “Reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with all patience and teaching”.
Because of the “pride of man” and the sinful nature that still lives in all of us… we tend to downplay sin and the need for strength to stand against it, forsake it, renounce it, and crucify it!
So why should we take the risk of “getting involved”, or “interfering” in the direction, attitude, and
In a sense this is what I try to do every day with these devotional thoughts.
To exhort all of you to “continue steadfast in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ” and the truth of Gods word that is “a light unto our path and a lamp unto our feet”… as we are witnesses and the light of Christ in this world.
There are times when we all need to be “called out”, “challenged” as it were concerning our attitude, motives, and yes life style or activities while on this walk of faith.
The Apostle Paul closes his second letter to his son in the faith in (2nd Timothy 4:2) “Reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with all patience and teaching”.
Because of the “pride of man” and the sinful nature that still lives in all of us… we tend to downplay sin and the need for strength to stand against it, forsake it, renounce it, and crucify it!
So why should we take the risk of “getting involved”, or “interfering” in the direction, attitude, and
life styles of those around us?
Paul uses three different words!
"Reprove, rebuke, and exhort"?
Folks, Jesus said “ye are the light of the world”!
The phrase comes from (Matthew 5:14) where Jesus encourages us to live lives that are a guiding force in the world… promoting justice, mercy, and compassion.
This metaphor emphasizes “the role of Believers in Christ”, to clearly illuminate the path for others to find the forgiveness of God… and we do that by calling each other to an accountability… concerning our attitude, actions, and life style… especially if we are causing others to fall into sin or misleading them by our own sinful disobedience.
Paul tells us to lovingly and tenderly… with compassion and mercy to confront one another.
To reprove, rebuke, and exhort is to “involve” ourselves in each others lives so that we might encourage, inspire and “spur one another on” to good works… and to be powerful effective witnesses of Christ.
Paul writes, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:11)
“As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear” (1st Timothy 5:20)
Similarly, the Apostle John writes, “Everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed” (John 3:20)
And then again, concerning the Holy Spirit, (John 16:8)… “When He comes, He will convict…or expose the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment”
Paul encourages Timothy to be ready to “call out sin”, not just when it’s convenient, but when it’s needed, and even when it’s socially uncomfortable or costly to do so.
To care for each other well, we need to ask God for the courage and faith to tell the truth about sin, and expose it as such, even when doing so might offend someone we love.
We must ask God to show us in His word what sin is, and what it is not.
And having seen sin in one another, we must consistently, boldly and graciously speak up and charge one another to change, to turn, to cease from sin.
Reprove, rebuke, and finally, “exhort.”
We are never to reprove or rebuke with out the intent of exhorting and encouraging one another with truth and love.
Paul uses this word “exhort” much more than he does “reprove and rebuke”.
Over and over, Paul appeals to believers to “walk” in a way worthy of the gospel.
(Romans 12:1) “I appeal to you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.”
(Ephesians 4:1) and (1st Thessalonians 2:12) “I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.”
One prominent thread in Paul’s 48 uses of the word “exhort”, is the love believers are encouraged to utilize as we encourage, comfort, and build each other up.
Paul says, “Timothy, when you expose sin and call for repentance, aim to build your brother up in his faith, hope, and love”.
Resist the natural, sinful impulse to heap guilt and tear down, and instead… let love encourage and inspire!
All “Christian” or “Godly “correction should aim at restoration.
We should be a people who “relentlessly” have something good to say.
If we are going to rebuke or reprove effectively, we must ask God to help us reprove and rebuke with compassion and grace… to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:25)
Despite what our society suggests at every turn, to point out sin in one another and call for change… is not necessarily hate speech!
But it may be, can be, and should be… “acts of courageous, genuine love”.
When you see a brother or sister in Christ acting out of line with the gospel… either because of blind ignorance or stubborn rebellion… ask God for the grace, humility and love to gently confront them and expose the sin.
Paul uses three different words!
"Reprove, rebuke, and exhort"?
Folks, Jesus said “ye are the light of the world”!
The phrase comes from (Matthew 5:14) where Jesus encourages us to live lives that are a guiding force in the world… promoting justice, mercy, and compassion.
This metaphor emphasizes “the role of Believers in Christ”, to clearly illuminate the path for others to find the forgiveness of God… and we do that by calling each other to an accountability… concerning our attitude, actions, and life style… especially if we are causing others to fall into sin or misleading them by our own sinful disobedience.
Paul tells us to lovingly and tenderly… with compassion and mercy to confront one another.
To reprove, rebuke, and exhort is to “involve” ourselves in each others lives so that we might encourage, inspire and “spur one another on” to good works… and to be powerful effective witnesses of Christ.
Paul writes, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:11)
“As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear” (1st Timothy 5:20)
Similarly, the Apostle John writes, “Everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed” (John 3:20)
And then again, concerning the Holy Spirit, (John 16:8)… “When He comes, He will convict…or expose the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment”
Paul encourages Timothy to be ready to “call out sin”, not just when it’s convenient, but when it’s needed, and even when it’s socially uncomfortable or costly to do so.
To care for each other well, we need to ask God for the courage and faith to tell the truth about sin, and expose it as such, even when doing so might offend someone we love.
We must ask God to show us in His word what sin is, and what it is not.
And having seen sin in one another, we must consistently, boldly and graciously speak up and charge one another to change, to turn, to cease from sin.
Reprove, rebuke, and finally, “exhort.”
We are never to reprove or rebuke with out the intent of exhorting and encouraging one another with truth and love.
Paul uses this word “exhort” much more than he does “reprove and rebuke”.
Over and over, Paul appeals to believers to “walk” in a way worthy of the gospel.
(Romans 12:1) “I appeal to you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.”
(Ephesians 4:1) and (1st Thessalonians 2:12) “I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.”
One prominent thread in Paul’s 48 uses of the word “exhort”, is the love believers are encouraged to utilize as we encourage, comfort, and build each other up.
Paul says, “Timothy, when you expose sin and call for repentance, aim to build your brother up in his faith, hope, and love”.
Resist the natural, sinful impulse to heap guilt and tear down, and instead… let love encourage and inspire!
All “Christian” or “Godly “correction should aim at restoration.
We should be a people who “relentlessly” have something good to say.
If we are going to rebuke or reprove effectively, we must ask God to help us reprove and rebuke with compassion and grace… to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:25)
Despite what our society suggests at every turn, to point out sin in one another and call for change… is not necessarily hate speech!
But it may be, can be, and should be… “acts of courageous, genuine love”.
When you see a brother or sister in Christ acting out of line with the gospel… either because of blind ignorance or stubborn rebellion… ask God for the grace, humility and love to gently confront them and expose the sin.
In a sense, when we call out sin and reprove, rebuke, and exhort one another... we are actually protecting one another.
How will this world know they are lost in sin if we don't reveal its ugly head to them?
We need to remind each other, warn each other, and help each other overcome the deceitfulness
of sin and then help one other rise above it by confessing it and turning away from it.
Appeal to them to repent, and then build them up as if they were the most important people in the world, which they are in Gods eyes.
Oh by the way so are you!
Good day!
Appeal to them to repent, and then build them up as if they were the most important people in the world, which they are in Gods eyes.
Oh by the way so are you!
Good day!
(1st John 1:8) “If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us”
I truly believe that humanity today, you and I today have an ignorance as to how powerful, how deceptive, and how detrimental sin is in our on going lives.
Claiming that we have no sin is self-deception and contradicts the truth of Gods word.
This statement highlights the human tendency to over estimate our own self-righteousness and ignore our nature of sin.
John warns us that such denial sets us at enmity with the truth of Gods word, blinding us from seeing and understanding the need for Gods grace in our lives.
God, in and thru Christ… has a cosmic program to destroy the works of the devil, which was first announced in Eden (Genesis 3:15)
The “works of the devil” are sin… those things that Satan has put in the world to destroy God’s creation… conflict, rebellion, sickness, disease, intellectual error, temptation, pornography, pride, selfishness, hatred, divorce, false prophecy, murder, heresy, etc… the list goes on and on.
Active and ongoing sin in our lives puts us at war with God and poisons our relationships… with Him and each other.
But Christ came to “destroy the works of the devil” (1st John 3:8)
Deliverance from the penalty of sin… is coupled with deliverance from the power and corruption of sin.
If we compromise regarding sin… we put ourselves at enmity with God.
But thankfully we have a resource that restores our righteousness before God… that resources is confession.
John says “if we confess our sins… God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins.
Christians do stumble and fall into occasional sin.
Paul did as well, and it caused him great agony of soul.
He cries out in that agony in (Romans 7:24) "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
In this cry you have the words of a man who has come to the realization of His inability to overcome sin in his own strength and confessing his powerlessness to disengage his flesh from the control of sin.
He has in the previous verse of this text described how he had struggled and wrestled in his own power to obey the “holy law of God”, yet has failed.
But in answer to his own question… he reveals for us the true answer and cries out… “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord”… meaning that forgiveness, deliverance, trust and victory over the nature of sin is found in his confession and profession of weakness and reliance on the finished work of Christ on the cross.
(1stJohn 1:9) “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”
As true believers in Christ, “we must be willing to humbly confess our sins and repent regularly.”
Its an act of humility and surrender… to the Holy Spirit, to the Word, and a crucifying of our pride and human arrogance.
What brings freedom and victory over sin… is when we humbly “confess our sins and repent”
(John 1:8)... and allow the Holy Spirit to rise up and be that inner strength that we need to stand and having done all to stand… stand!
It is there we find forgiveness anew that breaks the bonds of self righteousness… and aligns our soul with the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
That work of Jesus was the removal of condemnation, judgment, and the penalty of sin… the Holy Spirit gives strength to rise above the lure and the temptations of sin as it continually beckons to us.
And that is something we might have to do regularly until our sin nature no longer has the power to hold us in bondage any longer.
Its part of “fighting the good fight of faith”… that Paul talked about in (1st Timothy 6:12)
Sin that is living and settled in our character, of which we do not struggle against… may indicate that we are not even born of God.
Remember, Jesus said “a tree is known by its fruit” (Luke 6:43-48)
I can’t say anything more to this to make it any plainer.
If you call yourself a believer, and you sin willfully, and you are not sorry for your sin nor willing to admit that it is sin, but you excuse and cover it up,
I have to ask you, are you truly a child of God?
God is the Creator of all mankind… but He is the Father only of those whom have entered into the New Covenant by way of the cross and the shed blood of Jesus Christ!
The “Old Nature of Sin” that we were once enslaved to, that mastered our soul… must be crucified daily until it no longer has the strength to lift its ugly head any longer.
And its in humility… confessing our sin… agreeing with Gods word concerning sin… that we find the strength to stand against sin…
But when we do sin, we have and advocate who is faithfull and just to forgive us our sins as we surrender to Him (1st John 2:1)
Something to think about!
Good day!
It is there we find forgiveness anew that breaks the bonds of self righteousness… and aligns our soul with the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
That work of Jesus was the removal of condemnation, judgment, and the penalty of sin… the Holy Spirit gives strength to rise above the lure and the temptations of sin as it continually beckons to us.
And that is something we might have to do regularly until our sin nature no longer has the power to hold us in bondage any longer.
Its part of “fighting the good fight of faith”… that Paul talked about in (1st Timothy 6:12)
Sin that is living and settled in our character, of which we do not struggle against… may indicate that we are not even born of God.
Remember, Jesus said “a tree is known by its fruit” (Luke 6:43-48)
I can’t say anything more to this to make it any plainer.
If you call yourself a believer, and you sin willfully, and you are not sorry for your sin nor willing to admit that it is sin, but you excuse and cover it up,
I have to ask you, are you truly a child of God?
God is the Creator of all mankind… but He is the Father only of those whom have entered into the New Covenant by way of the cross and the shed blood of Jesus Christ!
The “Old Nature of Sin” that we were once enslaved to, that mastered our soul… must be crucified daily until it no longer has the strength to lift its ugly head any longer.
And its in humility… confessing our sin… agreeing with Gods word concerning sin… that we find the strength to stand against sin…
But when we do sin, we have and advocate who is faithfull and just to forgive us our sins as we surrender to Him (1st John 2:1)
Something to think about!
Good day!
(1st John 3:4-10) “Everyone who sins breaks the law… in fact, sin is lawlessness”.
The Apostle of John or the “beloved disciple”, also known as the “Apostle of Love”, counters errors in the early church by showing that “habitual persistence in a lifestyle of sin”… is contrary to the purpose of Christ’s appearing.
“Now a days”, in our liberal society of worldliness and carnal life styles he would probably be dubbed the “Apostle of judgmentalism”.
How is it that any time we are faced with questions about our sinful lives and activities we are quick to say, “you can’t judge me” or, “who are you to judge me”?
But the truth of the matter is that we all sin from time to time… and we need to be reminded of the effects of sin and deal with sin.
Thank God for the promise “that where sin abounds … grace does much more abound” (Romans 5:20)… but the fact of the matter is that sin destroys lives, steals peace, produces guilt and separates relationships and that’s why we must deal with sin and get rid of it!
And the truth is when we love one another we will correct one another, we will question one another, we will do our best to encourage one another to rise above sin.
And all of us need friends who will lovingly challenge us and question our motives.
Its called “spurring one another” on unto righteousness (Hebrews 10:24)
The Bible says “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
The bible says “there is none righteous no not one”. (Romans 3:10)
The beauty of salvation however is that when we come to Christ and ask God to forgive us of our sins, we are then “made righteous”… “just as though we had never sinned” and it’s a forgiveness that washes us continually, because Christ as our intercessor is now standing at the right hand of God “ever interceding” for you and I (Hebrews 4:14-16)
The problem comes when we say we have no sin, or we deny or excuse our sinful activity.
The bible says that when we sin we should come to God, “confess our sin” and He will forgive us of our sin, and He does that because of the cross, because of the blood of Christ, shed as a ransom for our sin.
Sin is universal… if we say that we’re sinless and that we have no need of redemption then we are liars (1st John 1:8)
Sin is willful rebellion against God’s law.
The law identifies sin and is integral to the gospel.
Paul talks about this with his young prodigy Timothy in (1st Timothy 1:8-11)
Lawlessness is a repeated theme in Scripture and there is a contrast between the destiny of those whom walk in righteousness, and those that practice lawlessness or sin (2nd Thessalonians 2:1-12)
Again Paul talks about the need for us as believers to “lay aside lawlessness or sin, and trade it for “good works that destroy the works of the devil” (Ephesians 2:10)
John, the Apostle of love speaks strongly against lawlessness and sin in the lives of the believers and the church that he is pastoring in 1st, 2nd and 3rd John.
And it is his love for the church and for its members that make up the church, that he passionately pleads with them not to sin, and if they have sinned, to put on humility and humbly confess their sin, so that they can experience the full forgiveness and blessing of God (1st John 1:9)
Confessing our sins is not something we do once and forget about… but its a daily practice that leads to a strong and healthy relationship with the Lord Jesus.
It keeps us from becoming “lukewarm” in our relationship with God.
That’s another reason Paul wrote, “let a man examine himself” and see if there be any sin in their lives (1st Corinthians 11:28)
Unfortunately the world perpetuates the lie of Satan, and excuses sin as nothing more than personality problems.
As in the early church and likewise today, many reject the law of God deny their own sinfulness… and choose to walk in darkness refusing to allow Christ to empower them and bring about a transformation that helps us overcome the power of sin.
Why is this?
Jesus said its because “men love darkness and reject the light”
Jesus is the light that dispels darkness (John 3:16-19)
Jesus came not to destroy the law (Matthew 5:17-19)… but to destroy the works of the Devil and take away the power of sin (1st John. 3:5-8)
Christ was sinless that He might be the perfect sacrifice and ransom to pay the penalty for our sins. (2nd Corinthians 5:21)
His shed blood cleanses us from the guilt, the condemnation and the hold or power that sin has over us.
No one who lives in Him makes it a practice of willful sinning.
Despite the worlds excuses to endorse sin as simple personality disorders… it is impossible to reconcile lawlessness and Christ.
Today Christian leaders are leading Christians morally astray by not standing up to sin.
Christ and sin are not compatible.
It is absurd to claim to be righteous without practicing righteousness.
It is impossible to be a Christian and live a lifestyle of rebellion.
My challenge this morning is this…
Are we harboring our sin, excusing our sin and doing our part thru prayer, and fasting, and fellowship with those whom don’t walk in sin…
Are we doing what we can by confessing our sins and seeking Gods forgiveness and the for the power to stand against them and overcome them!
Only you can answer that question…
Lets talk about this more tomorrow
Good Day!
(Galatians 6:2) "Carry each other's burdens."
Ok you don't have to go to church to worship Him, but you sure need the encouragement of other believers.
That’s what this devotion this morning is about… encouragement!
Mark Twain said, "Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions. ?
Small people always do that, but really great people make you feel that you too, can become great”.
They lift you up to their level"
Why does the Bible say, "Carry each other's burdens"?
Because one person can only carry a burden so far on their own.
American novelist John Kennedy Toole discovered that.
As a young writer he worked alone writing a novel in New Orleans and when it was finished he sent it to publisher after publisher, but they all turned him down.
Overcome by rejection, he took his own life. ?
Some time after the funeral, his mother found a coffee-stained manuscript in the attic and took it to a professor at Louisiana State University who agreed to read it. ?
Immediately he recognized its genius and recommended it to a major publisher.
After its release, John Kennedy Toole's novel, "A Confederacy of Dunces", won a Pulitzer Prize and was heralded as one of the major novels of the twentieth century.
If only he'd surrounded himself with friends while he was alive, who knew how to share his burden, to encourage him when he faced rejection, and motivate him to keep going… his life would have turned out very differently.
So the word for you today is "find people who believe in you."
Encourage and support them, and welcome their support in return.
Spend more time with those who sharpen you and make you better, and less time with those who drain your energy, time, and talent.
The truth is, friends who speak encouragement into your life are priceless.
Their words are "like apples of gold in settings of silver" (Proverbs 25:11)
And remember!
As much as we all need encouragement ourselves, there is someone that’s going to cross your path today… whom also needs encouragement as well.
Ask God to help you be aware of whom that one is, and be ready to be a sweet savor of Christ, a sweet savor of encouragement in their life today.
You may just be the only person in the world that is able to meet that need.
Will you, and are you ready, to be the hands of Jesus today, the voice of Jesus today, the strong arms of Jesus for another today.
It falls under the category of “”loving your neighbor as yourself”.
Good Day!
(Jeremiah 17:9) “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked… who can know it?”
The immediate context of the verse speaks of Judah’s sinfulness in spite of all the blessings of God.
The Hebrew word translated “desperately wicked” can be translated in the idea of a terminal, incurable illness.
While the immediate context is referring to the the nation of Judah, it is also a description or an illustration of the human heart or nature of man in general.
This is a concept that theologians have called “total depravity.”
The first three chapters of the Book Of Romans speaks of the “total depravity” of mankind.
The following verses serve to illustrate the point…
(Romans 1:29–32) “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.
They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.
They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful.
They invent ways of doing evil… they disobey their parents… they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.
Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death… they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”
(Romans 3:9–18) “What shall we conclude then?
As it is written… ‘There is no one righteous, not even one… there is no one who understands… there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away, they have together become worthless.
There is no one who does good, not even one.
Their throats are open graves… their tongues practice deceit.
The poison of vipers is on their lips.
Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.
Their feet are swift to shed blood ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.
There is no fear of God before their eyes”.
Now while it is true that not everyone will commit all the sins listed above, total depravity means that every person is completely consumed by sin!
And there is no hope of him or her turning it around and “getting better’ on their own.
We are, humanity is… “desperately wicked.”
(Romans 8:8) says, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
“In the flesh” in context refers to the natural person who has not been regenerated by the Spirit of God.
The “illness” is terminal and incurable… so much so that Paul describes them in (Ephesians 2:1) and (Colossians 2:13) as “dead in trespasses and sins”.
The only cure for the sinful human heart is to be supernaturally changed transformed by the power of God.
(Jeremiah 31:33) gives the solution. Where sin was once inscribed on the hearts of His people, God provides a new inscription…
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord… I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts… and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
Jesus came to inaugurate a “New Covenant) with humanity, so that sins could be forgiven and sinners could be born again and transformed by the power of God as Jesus told Nicodemus (John 3:5).
As “desperately wicked” people, we cannot “reform” our hearts by our own effort.
The only solution is for God to make our hearts new, washed clean from sin and fundamentally reoriented toward pleasing Him.
Folks we cannot trust our heart, unless it has been regenerated and born again.
It must be filled with the Holy Spirit and His Word.
We need our stony hearts of clay renewed or given a transplant as it were.
As I said yesterday in (Ezekiel 11:19) God says “A new heart will I put in my people”.
Its part of what Jesus was talking about in the process of being “born again”.
Have they ever been given a heart transplant…have you been born again?
Not a judgment just a thought!
(Matthew 7:15-20) Jesus says, we will know the tree by the fruit that it produces.
(Proverbs 4:23) tells us that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
(Luke 6:45) “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of”.
So what is in your heart today?
Do you have the heart of the world still, or do you have the heart of God?
If you have the heart of the world, then you are bound for chaos, heart ache and trouble.
If you have the humble heart of God, then you will be pliable and teachable and can begin to experience peace that passes all understanding and a joy that is un-describable and full of glory.
You be the judge today and be honest with your self.
(1st Corinthians13:5) “let a man examine himself and see if he be in the faith.”
You can’t be in the faith if you’ve an old stony heart of clay that is at enmity with God and in agreement with this world.
It’s like beating your head against a stone wall?
Do you need a heart transplant… do you want a heart transplant?
Then call on Christ today and begin to walk with Him, He says “behold I make all things new” (Revelation21:5)
He says with man this is impossible, (Matthew 19:26) but with God all things are possible!
(3rd John 2:5) says “brethren I wish above all things that you would prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers”.
Friend your soul can only begin to prosper when you have received the heart of God.
What are you waiting for?
Good Day!
It’s like beating your head against a stone wall?
Do you need a heart transplant… do you want a heart transplant?
Then call on Christ today and begin to walk with Him, He says “behold I make all things new” (Revelation21:5)
He says with man this is impossible, (Matthew 19:26) but with God all things are possible!
(3rd John 2:5) says “brethren I wish above all things that you would prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers”.
Friend your soul can only begin to prosper when you have received the heart of God.
What are you waiting for?
Good Day!
(Jeremiah 17:9) “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick…”
“Follow your heart”!
How many times have we heard someone advise or counsel someone else with this creed?
A creed embraced by billions of people.
It’s a “statement of faith”… as one of the great and popular “cultural myths” of the western world… a “worldly gospel”… proclaimed in stories, movies, and songs.
Essentially, it’s a belief that your heart is a compass inside of you that will direct you to your own “true north”… if you just have the courage to follow it.
It’s a creed that says that your heart is a “true guide” that will lead you to true happiness… if you just have the courage to listen to it.
The creed says that if you are lost…your heart will save you.
This creed can sound so simple and beautiful and liberating.
For lost people it’s a tempting gospel to believe.
But it is a creed that is a false doctrine and a false hope!
Did you, or do you realize that your heart has “sociopathic” tendencies?
The truth is our heart continually thinks things that you would not wish to repeat.
Jesus stated in (Matthew 15:19) “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander”
My heart likes to think the best of me and the worst of others… unless those others happen to think well of me… and then they are wonderful people and I can allow them to be a part of my life and or world.
But if they don’t think well of me, or even if they just disagree with me… well then something is wrong with them.
And while my heart is pondering my virtues and others’ errors... it can suddenly find some “immoral
or horribly angry thought” very attractive... and then our heart will actually condemn us for what it contrives (1st John 3:19-24)
The truth is, our hearts will not save us... we need to be saved “from our hearts.”
The “follow your heart” creed certainly isn’t found in the Bible.
No, the Bible actually teaches that our hearts have a disease!
(Jeremiah 17:9) puts it like this. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick (wicked)… who can understand it?”
The truth is, no one lies to us more than our own hearts.
Our hearts don’t tell us the truth… they just protect the sinful nature that lives in all of us.
The bible says… “the heart is at enmity with God”.
(Romans 8:7) explains that "the mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God… it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so,"
Our hearts are not “naturally benevolent”… they are pathologically selfish.
In fact, if we do what our hearts tell us to do… we will pervert and impoverish every desire, every beauty, every person, every wonder, and every joy.
Our hearts want to consume these things for our own self-glory and self-indulgence.
No, our hearts will not save us… instead, we need to be saved from our hearts.
We need “a new heart”, that’s what God offers humanity thru Christ.
In fact the writer of Psalms prayed and begged God to “create in us a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalms 51:10)
It’s true we all need a leader, someone to “lead us into all truth”… but it must be someone who is not influenced or led by the deceptive heart of sinful man.
We need a leader, a guide, one will not lead us into deception, or evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander”.
Our hearts were never designed to be followed… but to be led!
Our hearts were never designed to be gods in whom we believe… they were designed to “believe in God”.
If we make our hearts as god and allow them to lead us, they will lead us to narcissistic misery and ultimately damnation.
Our hearts cannot save us!
Our hearts cannot save us, because what’s wrong with our hearts… is the heart of our problem.
But if our hearts believe in God as they are designed to, then God saves us (Hebrews 7:25) and leads our hearts to exceeding joy (Psalm 43:4).
Therefore, don’t believe in your heart… direct your heart to believe in God.
We must not follow our heart… we must follow Jesus.
Note that Jesus did not say to his disciples, “Let not your hearts be troubled, just believe in your hearts.”
No… He said, “Let not your hearts be troubled, believe in God… believe also in me” (John 14:1).
“Don’t follow your heart… follow Jesus.”
(Proverbs 14:12) says… “there is a way which seems right unto a man but it is the way of death”.
Though your heart will try to dictate your activities, do not follow it.
It is not a shepherd.
It is a pompous arrogant and rebellious sheep that due to the nature of sin… has wolf-like qualities.
What we need is a new heart.
That’s what God said through the prophet (Ezekiel 36:26) “and I will put a new heart in you”
Remember, your heart only tells you what you want, not what God wants.
Jesus is your shepherd (Psalm 23:1) – (John 10:11)
A shepherd leads sheep! Jesus said “my sheep know my voice”
Listen to His voice thru His word and follow Him (John 10:27)
In the words of one of the great hymns, “Let Him be the “heart of your own heart, whatever befall.”
Jesus is the Truth, He is the Way, and He will lead you to Life (John 14:6).
Follow Him not your heart!
Good day!
The truth is, our hearts will not save us... we need to be saved “from our hearts.”
The “follow your heart” creed certainly isn’t found in the Bible.
No, the Bible actually teaches that our hearts have a disease!
(Jeremiah 17:9) puts it like this. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick (wicked)… who can understand it?”
The truth is, no one lies to us more than our own hearts.
Our hearts don’t tell us the truth… they just protect the sinful nature that lives in all of us.
The bible says… “the heart is at enmity with God”.
(Romans 8:7) explains that "the mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God… it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so,"
Our hearts are not “naturally benevolent”… they are pathologically selfish.
In fact, if we do what our hearts tell us to do… we will pervert and impoverish every desire, every beauty, every person, every wonder, and every joy.
Our hearts want to consume these things for our own self-glory and self-indulgence.
No, our hearts will not save us… instead, we need to be saved from our hearts.
We need “a new heart”, that’s what God offers humanity thru Christ.
In fact the writer of Psalms prayed and begged God to “create in us a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalms 51:10)
It’s true we all need a leader, someone to “lead us into all truth”… but it must be someone who is not influenced or led by the deceptive heart of sinful man.
We need a leader, a guide, one will not lead us into deception, or evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander”.
Our hearts were never designed to be followed… but to be led!
Our hearts were never designed to be gods in whom we believe… they were designed to “believe in God”.
If we make our hearts as god and allow them to lead us, they will lead us to narcissistic misery and ultimately damnation.
Our hearts cannot save us!
Our hearts cannot save us, because what’s wrong with our hearts… is the heart of our problem.
But if our hearts believe in God as they are designed to, then God saves us (Hebrews 7:25) and leads our hearts to exceeding joy (Psalm 43:4).
Therefore, don’t believe in your heart… direct your heart to believe in God.
We must not follow our heart… we must follow Jesus.
Note that Jesus did not say to his disciples, “Let not your hearts be troubled, just believe in your hearts.”
No… He said, “Let not your hearts be troubled, believe in God… believe also in me” (John 14:1).
“Don’t follow your heart… follow Jesus.”
(Proverbs 14:12) says… “there is a way which seems right unto a man but it is the way of death”.
Though your heart will try to dictate your activities, do not follow it.
It is not a shepherd.
It is a pompous arrogant and rebellious sheep that due to the nature of sin… has wolf-like qualities.
What we need is a new heart.
That’s what God said through the prophet (Ezekiel 36:26) “and I will put a new heart in you”
Remember, your heart only tells you what you want, not what God wants.
Jesus is your shepherd (Psalm 23:1) – (John 10:11)
A shepherd leads sheep! Jesus said “my sheep know my voice”
Listen to His voice thru His word and follow Him (John 10:27)
In the words of one of the great hymns, “Let Him be the “heart of your own heart, whatever befall.”
Jesus is the Truth, He is the Way, and He will lead you to Life (John 14:6).
Follow Him not your heart!
Good day!