Skip to main content

August 30 His Pure Heart

Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin?” ~Proverbs 20:9 


Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for You. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, You were angry. How then can we be saved? All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags. We all shrivel up like a leaf, and like a wind our sins sweep us away…Yet, O Lord, You are our Father. We are the clay, You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hands. ~Isaiah 64:4-6 & 8

Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior. ~Psalm 24:3-5 

There is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ~Romans 3:23-24 

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, what counts is a new creation. ~Galatians 6:14-16 

Oh Lord, I know that I am so unworthy. All my acts that I think are so good and so righteous still fall so short of the holiness you require for me to be in your presence. Yet, because of Your great love for all, even me, You did not want to be separated from me. So, you made a way, through Your death on the cross, to build a bridge to me, so that we could be joined again. 

The effort was all Yours. The acceptance was all mine. But even that was stimulated by You and Your love. I only love You because You loved me first! Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure?” No one can except for Jesus our Lord and Savior. Who can say, “I am clean and without sin?” I can now, but only because I have been washed in the blood of Christ my Savior! Jesus makes me clean!

Now, today, I may approach Your holy hill with Your clean hands and Your pure heart because You have put Your spirit in me. May we together experience Your vindication, for You are the one and only true God, who has endured much because of evil, but has also loved much because of who You are, love itself. 

Prayer: Thank You for Your guiding hand on my life. Thank You for inviting me to live with You forever, in Your Holy place. As I approach worship today, may my heart be full of all these thoughts, all You have done, and remembrance of all You have yet promised to do. Selah! And in Jesus’ name, amen.

Song: The Steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

October 25: God’s Force Field

Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest. ~Proverbs 26:2 The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them. But the Lord laughs at the wicked, for He knows their day is coming. The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright. But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken. Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked, for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous. ~Psalm 37:11-17 Isn’t that awesome to know? Just think, evil and the wicked cannot hurt you without going through’s God’s hands first! I can just imagine that curse, intended to harm, fluttering around, but cannot land because the Lord has placed an invisible force shield around you. God will only allow something to touch you that will help you grow deeper in Him. Unfortunately, some things that God allows
Post a Comment
Read more

Faithful Through the Ages

Luke 2:22-38 Listen Link:  http://www.firstcovenantcadillac.org/#!this-weeks-sermon/c20mw Forgive the buzz on this one. I had a cold and my voice was way down. One of the odd little quirky things that Kathy and I like to do from time to time is walk through old cemeteries and read the tombstones. Sometimes there are interesting little tidbits of information or a verse of Scripture that give a hint to what kind of person lies beneath our feet. Often, however, there is just the name, the date born and the date of death with just a dash between. The dash represents the whole life lived between the two dates, so it would contain most of the interesting information, but it is hidden from us. All we can do is pick up little clues that can be gleaned from the names, dates and from the other tombstones around the one we are looking at. If there are a cluster of stones all containing the same last name, then we may be able to figure out the family relationships; who was the parent, wh
Post a Comment
Read more

August 28 A Non-anxious Presence

The purposes of the heart are deep waters, but a person with understanding can draw them out. ~Proverbs 20:5   How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with You. Search me, O 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 139:18 & 23-24  People take time. In chaplaincy work, when so often, the person before me is facing a crisis, and or a difficult decision, it is common for me to practice the art of being a non-anxious presence for them. This simply means being present just for them. I’m not distracted by phone calls or texts or paperwork or my to do list or my next appointment.  Time is suspended for the moment while I just sit with them; available to pray, if that’s what they want; available to talk, available to be what they need from another human being while I
Post a Comment
Read more