Knowing Yourself

But Peter said to Him, "Even though all may fall away, yet I will not." And Jesus said to him, "Truly I say to you, that this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times." But Peter kept saying insistently, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!" And they all were saying the same thing also. Mark 14:29-31 (New American Standard Bible)

One of the many dangerous pitfalls in the Christian life is to not know yourself. Although Jesus spelled it out plainly to Peter, he refused to accept the truth about himself. Refused to see the weaknesses that resided within him. Refusing to see them did not make them go away, but instead, kept him unprepared for the surfacing of those weaknesses. Peter was in denial even in the physical presence of Jesus. How imperative it is for each of us to be willing to know ourselves and admit the truth.

So what is it I must know and admit about myself? I must know where my wounds are for they are the very things the enemy will use against me. I must know those things to avoid because of how easily they will pull me in the wrong direction. I must know my own tendencies to attach myself to the wrong sources. I must know the basis and birthing of faulty reasoning and perceptions. I must know the truth about my flesh…that it will always be weak and will perpetually stand in opposition to what God wants for me. I must know which direction my thoughts will lead me and resist the ones that are directed toward pits of self pity, discouragement, and hopelessness. I must know in which areas I am mistakenly and prematurely assuming victory. I must know that in this life and in this body I have a sin nature and it is persistent.

It is just as necessary that I know the full truth. While I possess a sin nature, I also possess a new nature in Christ. I am defined by what God says about me. My worth, value, and significance are derived from Him and my relationship with Him. My weaknesses are the very opportunities for His strength to be displayed. I possess God’s spirit, God’s nature, and God’s Word. I am never alone and I am never out of His watch care. His purposes and callings on my life will be fulfilled. I am a work in progress and that progress is made one step and one lesson at a time.

Self examination and seeing the truth about myself is not meant to be a time of beating myself up or delving into the trap of self loathing. It is meant to be a reality check that ends in a climax of praise and thanksgiving to the One who knows me best and loves me most!

Father, with You I am safe to see the truth, admit the truth, and live out of the truth. Amen.

The Motions - Matthew West
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaHmiFaX_pk&feature=related

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

Right to the Heart

For wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Proverbs 2:10 (New American Standard Bible)

I often mistakenly think that truth has a way of getting into my mind and must somehow be worked into my heart. Just last week I shared with a friend how I have a lot more things stored up in my head than in my heart. It seemed I knew more than I was living. This morning, God is opening my spiritual eyes to a precious truth to take into the new year. When He gives me wisdom it enters my heart! Actually, when comparing different versions I began to see that heart and mind are interchangeable words. Rather than being two separate places in me they are the same.

I take delight in this concept. It gives me hope. It helps me to see where my energies need to be directed. It is not a matter of getting knowledge from my head to my heart. It is a matter of seeing my need to obey and cooperate with God in the areas He has shown me. It is a matter of applying the truths that have entered into me, not only this morning, but in the decades of my Christian life. They are all in me, not just in a part of me. My obedience and His empowerment will be what makes the difference.

That wisdom, truth, and knowledge that I speak of is received from many different avenues. Primarily it comes through His Word but secondarily it also comes through friends, books, music, experiences, His Spirit, and a host of other options God freely chooses and uses. Whichever means by which God desires to bring wisdom to my heart is up to Him. He is perfectly creative and ingenious.

So what has been the wisdom that has entered my heart this morning? I get to put the failures and mistakes of last year behind me. I no longer have to live under the banner of my past. I enter this new year a new person with a fresh start. I can view relationships in a different light because they have changed but not ended. My interaction with individuals will be different this year because the reasons for the places in each others lives are different. I am free to embrace all that God offers me in this new year because some chains of bondage fell of during 2009 and more are to fall in 2010. Things that did not make sense to me last year may very well come through loud and clear this year.

Father, I joy in You and the hope You have given me. I choose today, with Your help, to live out of the wisdom that has entered my heart! Amen.

Shout to the Lord - Hillsong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I71XhjqoHvs&feature=related

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

Resolutions of the Heart

All those who had knowledge and understanding, are joining with their kinsmen, their nobles, and are taking on themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God’s law, which was given through Moses, God’s servant, and to keep and to observe all the commandments of God our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes. Nehemiah 10:29 (New American Standard Bible)

I will admit I have already decided on some New Year resolutions but they all involve outward behavior.

As I read today’s verse from Nehemiah I was struck by the seriousness and extent of the decision made. How many of us would attach a blessing and curse to our resolutions? How many of us would proclaim absolute obedience to God’s Word, will, and way as our New Year resolution? That is when it occurred to me that most of us do not make New Year resolutions that have to do with attitudes of the heart

So today I am asking myself what it would be like if my resolutions included such things as speaking kindly and graciously to others, extending forgiveness, relinquishing past hurts and failures, looking to God to meet my needs instead of people, aligning my thoughts with Philippians 4:8, and living with a daily realization that God loves me and wants me to extend that love to others. These things are based on my cooperation with God (a choice) and my dependency upon God (a reality). My flesh, my will, and my thoughts are not up to the challenge but God’s Spirit, Who lives in me, IS!

If I make the decision to live this way it must not be with perfection in mind or dependency upon my flesh. Both will set me up for failure. It is not so much a New Year resolution as a daily decision for cooperation with and dependency on God. Transformation of my heart and life will come as I renew my mind and walk in the Spirit. I am not on my own. The God of the universe will be my enabler, coach, cheerleader, and encourager. He will extend grace and mercy when I fail and reassurances that I will succeed at times. As with any journey it will be one step at a time in His presence.

I am hearing God’s invitation for me to join Him on a different way to live my Christian life. His Spirit stirs within me a longing to link up with Himself. His desire and willingness to supply all I need is evident. He now waits for me (and you) to accept His offer.

Father, with timid hands I reach for You. Birth in me the trust to follow You in every area to which You invite me. May I feel Your hand on me and arms around me. Fill me, free me, and change me at the very center of my being! Amen.

Potter's Hand - Hillsong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6beNoG0H0E0

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

Spoken to Me as Well

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (New King James Version)

When I find myself reading Scripture and failing to see that the words are meant for me, today’s passage redirects and corrects my thinking. I lived too many years as a Christian seeing certain passages written only to the people in Bible times and felt left out of the promises and words of encouragement. Lately, that mindset found its way back into my thought life and began to shake me at my core.

This morning as I read from Haggai I found myself struggling to see God’s words through Haggai as not just meant for the people of Israel. The words of Haggai 2:19, “Is the seed still in the barn? Even including the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree, it has not borne fruit. Yet from this day on I will bless you” were seen as God’s promise to His people. How I longed for those words of blessing to be directed toward me as well! As I read Haggai 2:23 where God tells Zerubbabel, that He would make him like a signet ring, because He had chosen him, I once again could not imagine that I too would be made a signet ring. I somehow had lost the ability to hear God speaking His words to me.

Yet when I read passages from the New Testament or Psalms it was relatively easy to embrace the words. My first thought was, “Why even read the passages that seem to be only for Israel?” Why not just read the New Testament and a few books from the Old Testament? Today’s passage gave me my answer. All Scripture was inspired by God with profit and purpose for me! God’s words were not limited to just the present audience centuries ago. Practically speaking, this means when I read of His promised blessings on Israel I can delight that He has promised to bless me as well. When others are told they will be made a signet ring I can rest in the fact that God will also make me into a signet ring as well. What that looks like I don’t know but my lack of complete knowledge is no reason to doubt!

God’s dealings with me and workings in my life may vary from those who lived in Bible times but as His child, I am free to perk up my ears to the sound of His voice in His written word. The messages are not meant to feel like I am reading someone else’s mail….they are meant for me!

Father, may Your Word never fail to be personally directed toward me and accepted by me. Amen.

Ancient Words - Michael W. Smith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vmTkXNpwzs&feature=related

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

That Which Sets Us Free

The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw." He said to her, "Go, call your husband and come here." The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have correctly said, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly." John 4:15-18 (New American Standard Bible)

Jesus pinpointed the area of struggle and shame in this unnamed woman’s story. It was the turning point of the conversation as well as her life. What she may have had no intention of sharing with a “stranger” was exactly what she opened up about to Him. What was hidden in the well of her heart flowed out with her words. Her sense of freedom, forgiveness, and wholeness was only possible with her honesty. When a person has no more to hide, it is then that they stop hiding and start living. It was true of this Samaritan woman and it is true of us as well.

So knowing this, what makes it so difficult for us to be honest and open with the people in our life? I am pondering that question in the early hours of this morning. One year ago today was my “woman at the well” experience with a trusted friend. The one thing I vowed I would NEVER discuss with her became part of our conversation and I sat in disbelief at what was coming out of my mouth. I was sharing not only a very personal aspect of myself but one that housed me in a robe of guilt, shame, disgust, and cringing. It was my personal demon of struggle and admitting it put me in a place of vulnerability and fear. I felt exposed, weak, defenseless, and susceptible admitting my well guarded secret and I was gripped with fear that sharing it would cause this person to walk away and sever the ties of our friendship. I was prepared for the worst but it never transpired. Instead of rejection I received acceptance. Instead of a lost relationship I received the assurance that we would walk through this issue together with God in the center. Instead of seeing my expectations played out I was given the hope of friendship, freedom, and a fresh start. I feared the worst but got the best and my mind desperately tried to wrap itself around the preciousness of it all. I am not the same person I was a year ago. The friendship has continued and slowly but surely more victories are coming. Neither is possible without honesty.

I learned that fear is my greatest hindrance to living the full life. It hinders me in my relationships, in taking risks, in being adventurous, and in living the life out of each moment. To be ruled by all the “what ifs” that I can think of is imprisonment of the worst kind because it places me behind walls of distrust and lies. Last year, Jesus gave me the key to my own freedom and I used it. Each time I choose to take continual steps forward the result is always best! May I never go back again!

Father, quiet any voices in me that would seek to recapture and imprison me. May Your love continue to cast out any and all fear. Amen.

Who Am I? - Casting Crowns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU_rTX23V7Q

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

Gaining Control

Therefore my disquieting thoughts make me respond, even because of my inward agitation. Job 20:2 (New American Standard Bible)

Zophar’s words to Job speak volumes to me this morning, for I, too, can find myself responding to my own disquieting thoughts and inward agitations. I am amazed how frequently I can allow those very things to control me, my outlook on life, my view of others, and my opinion of myself. The odd thing about it is that it usually has to do with things I don’t really know for sure but perceive to be true none the less. Case in point, what another people might or might not be thinking of me. Due to my own weaknesses, internal wounds, and inconsistent emotions, I can often decide that others think the worst of me, yet the truth of the matter is that I don’t really know what they are thinking. The enemy loves to see me play mental gymnastics that lead no where but down. He loves for me to draw the conclusion that I am not loved, wanted, or even liked by others, and then proceed to withdraw into my own little world of self loathing, fear, and abandonment. Unmet needs, expectations, and longings become the fodder that I can mentally feed upon and the scene plays out like a tragedy.

A conversation with a friend via the internet last night helped me to see the dangers of this tendency as well as a way to get myself back on the right track spiritually and emotionally. I was reminded of the necessity to let go of past hurts and disappointments, to think on what I know to be true, and by the grace of God, to live out the things God has been teaching me. For me, each of those things become decisions I have to make regarding where I allow my mind to dwell. I cannot afford to review unchangeable history. The whys and what ifs are too numerous and unproductive at best. When I presume to know what another person is thinking I must see that as a form of judging on my part and take myself off the throne upon which only God has the ability to sit. I have to choose to meditate on what God says and thinks about me, which is ultimately where my true identity is based. Freedom and growth will come for me as I implement these things into my life the NEXT time the battle of my mind is raging, I am faced with unfounded perceptions, or I am tempted to withdraw into my own emotional cocoon.

Life is too short and the opportunities to live an abundant life in Christ are too many to continue living in a defeated mode. It is time once again to put on the armor of truth, righteousness, peace, and faith so that I can move forward in my Christian life, enjoy and love the people in my life, and be productive in the kingdom work of my Heavenly Father.

Father, help me to now live what I have just written in this devotional. Help me to make the right choices. The wise choices. The necessary choices. Amen.

JESUS,Lover of my soul (it's all about You)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD-ZdMOx_HY&feature=related

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

Letting it Show

And Mary said, “My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” Luke 1:46,47 (New American Standard Bible)

Mary is not waiting until she holds her promised child in her hands to start rejoicing…..she is expressing her praise now! She knows the importance and necessity of giving voice to the truth. Her very words are the expression of the praise already felt in her soul and spirit….the very essence of who she is. I am trying to picture in my mind her body language and facial expressions as she speaks such words of and to her heavenly Father. I picture her to be much like David in the Old Testament who had very lively moments of praise to God.

When we are passionate, excited, and intense about something or someone it shows on our faces. It is seen in the way we walk and talk. It affects our whole demeanor. I often wonder how the same people who are so animated and expressive at sporting events, get togethers, and special activities can be so passive and stoic in a worship service. I realize personality plays a lot into this, but even an introvert will laugh at a good joke, smile at the greeting of a dear friend, and reveal the joy of their heart by the expression on their face.

When you go to church, look around at others. What do their faces tell you? Is there a look of celebration over the goodness of God? Is the joy evident? Is there a hint of a smile? Most of the time? Some of the time? Any of the time? Or does it more resemble a funeral? I don’t say any of this to be harsh or judgmental. I actually say it with sadness and confusion. I really wonder why many worship services have been reduced to such somber and solemn assemblies. If our eyes are truly windows to our souls than our whole face (expressions and all) must be wide open doors!

Each day we should ask God to give us the outward expression that denotes a passionate, excited, and lively internal world that is consumed with Him. I am not talking about a fake, plastered on smile. I am talking about authentic joy spilling out of us in an evident, noticeable way. Take my word for it, people will not only notice it but they will comment on it as well. Why? Because it is so rare out in the world as well as in the house of God. May God help us to change!

Father, may You ignite such a passion in us today that there is a noticeable difference in our expression, words, and countenance. Amen.

Come, Now is the Time to Worship
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELdQ66LK5Qw&feature=related

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.