I need to utilize my Monday evenings as they are pretty much the only alone time I have all week and by alone time I mean all alone. I would say I'm a introvert and really need this alone time, so instead of going with the students to a local seminar on hearing the voice of God I am taking this time to get some much needed stuff done, and tending to my neglected blog.
I need to extrovert my introvert thoughts in order to really be able to grasp this stuff, so here is some of my processing from the past couple weeks.
Who/ What is on the throne of your heart?
in some cultures the heart means nothing in analogy. Maybe in the lack of knowledge of the importance of a heart, but the liver in some cultures is the core of their existence. The bible talks about the heart alot in the english but in the hebrew( and greek) it is the center. our will, emotions, and intellect.
So who/ what is the king of your will, emotions, and intellect?
(Mar 12:29 Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Mar 12:30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'
Mar 12:31 The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." )
Why is it so hard even as a Christian to keep my self off that throne?
I find a few things at work here.
the old self (the sinful self) who we seem to constantly be in tension with seems to have not gotten the message that we are living sacrifices to Jesus our saviour and likes to continue to make us stumble.
Humans have a hard time letting go of control. maybe we have been hurt by others and have a hard time trusting in a authority that we cant control. we dont want to be dependent on something we cant physically stand on..
What evil in this world does not directly have to do with people putting the wrong thing on the throne of their hearts?(Mat 15:18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.
Mat 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.)
take a step back and think of all the things that make you angry. rape, murder, lying, people not valuing each other, people not valuing God.
think of Hitler. why did he do it? was he just a little boy who was beaten by his father and suffered the loss of his young brother and mother at a young age. having hurt on the throne of his heart, Hurt that wasnt taken to Jesus. roots of unforgiveness, bitterness, hatred create a tree with fruit of death.
I pray so much for those today who experience such loss and pain. i am not saying that its as easy as waving your Jesus wand and walla all your hurts are gone. but God is good and he walks through it with you. john 11:35 Jesus wept. He told His disciples before they even got the news that lazarus was dead but that he would wake up, why does he still weep.
where do we find strength?
Genesis 4
Cain had "prosperity" even after he was cursed to wander and lost his ability to work the land. He built a city around himself with some of the first recorded musicians, blacksmiths, tent makers, and cattle herders. they didn't find the peace that adam and eve had in the garden.
how often do we try to find our strength in the box that we have put christianity in. describing what it means to be a christian we pull out a list of rules because they are black and white enough for us to grasp. where is our faith? Heb 11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
do we by faith Give Jesus His rightful place on our hearts, letting Him wash away any guilt, letting Him speak to us, letting Him wash our wounds.
Zep 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
remember you were bought with a price
1Co 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
1Co 6:20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
The Holy Spirit is what creates good fruit.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Gal 5:23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Gal 5:24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
I want to have Jesus on the throne of my existence. He has judged me with mercy, God is love its not just something He does it is Him. Who doesnt want that in their heart, my prayer is like David's Psa 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
Psa 139:24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
just some thoughts from the past few weeks
chad
