The Condition of Your Heart

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right and steadfast spirit within me. ~Psalm 51:10 (AMP)

Life happens to us. Life happens in us. Life happens for us. And because life happens, we sometimes find ourselves all over the place. We may be happy one minute, sad the next, then frustrated, then worried, and the list goes on. Things around and in us cause us to feel this myriad of emotions that  doesn't necessarily have to do with anyone else. It has everything to do with us and the condition of our hearts.

David found himself in a quandary in the above passage. So much transpired in and through him, and he needed to be still. He knew he had sinned against God and wanted forgiveness. He didn't blame anyone else for his actions. He took responsibility for his vile actions, humbled himself, repented, and asked God for forgiveness.

I've not felt my loving self for a few days. I've been attitudinal, recluse, short, and simply bothered. It could be cabin fever. It could be I'm over being sick and just want to get well. It could be that I've allowed some stuff to creep in that's not like God. Either way, I know that I don't like it and desire to do something about it. This had led me to our prayer focus and study this week...our hearts. Each day this week, I will meditate on one of these Scriptures to help get me back to where I need to be and in His presence.

Psalm 51:10 (today's Scripture)
Romans 10:10
Ezekiel 36:26
Proverbs 4:23
James 4:8
Jeremiah 17:10


Every day will not be happy. Every moment will not be one filled with laughter and fun. Every experience will not be a golden one. However, we can invite Him in and allow Him to work fully and completely on our hearts to change them, so we can experience all that He has in store for us.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, create in me a clean heart. Remove any and every thing that hinders me from who You have called me to be. Replace worry with peace, doubt with clarity, and sadness with joy. Restore love in my heart. The unconditional and agape love that You have for me, let me have that and show that towards others. I pray that You will ease any tension that may try to come upon me this week. I know that You have a divine plan for my life. Let me and my flesh get out of the way of that. Help me to discern when what I'm feeling is not You. Help me to grow. Forgive me for a stony heart, a pierced heart, a contrite heart. Restore joy and love and peace and meekness and loving kindness in the Name of Jesus. I desire more of You and less of me in my heart now.  I love You. I trust You. And I thank You in advance for the turnaround. In Jesus' Name...amen.

Be blessed,
Tee

It Starts in the Mind

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. - Romans 12:2 (KJV)

We've all heard the phrase, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste" (Arthur Fletcher). We've heard it and maybe even internalized it. But many of us are still wasting away our minds. We can't make necessary changes in our lives because of the state of our minds. There are things that we want to do, but we simply do not put forth the effort to do them because of what's in our minds. And more often than not, what's in and on our minds is not us; it's someone else. We are concerned about what they will think, what they will say, how they will respond, if they will support or turn away, and the list goes on. 

Most of our time and energies are spent on making the actual plans instead of executing them. Our plans are well thought, and we even know that God is IN them. We have the faith to execute them. But a plan without action is simply just a plan. Faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26). 

Our thoughts can sometimes push us out of a blessing and a breakthrough. We spend time thinking about frivolous things that end up causing up frustration, worry, mischief, and the list goes on. Paul tells us in Philippians 4:8 to think on things that are honest, just, pure, praiseworthy, of good report, and true. That should drive our hearts and will to move in the direction of God and the things of God.

This week, let's put our prayer focus on our minds. Read, meditate, pray, and even journal on one scripture a day. In your journal, write out the actual scripture, write what you understand of it, and write how you want to God to give that Scripture life in your life. Let's see how God moves when we make up our minds that it's time for a transformation in our lives. It's a process, but we have to know that the change starts in our minds.

Romans 12:2 (above)

Isaiah 26:3

Romans 8:5-6

Colossians 3:2

Psalm 119:15

Philippians 2:5-8

Prayer:
Dear God, we thank You for minds to seek You. As we go through this week focusing on cleansing our minds, we ask that You remove anything that is not like You. Draw us closer to Your Word and grant us understanding. Let Your Word give us life and breathe new life into our minds. We desire a change in our thinking. We desire to let go of thoughts that hold us bound...stuck. To go forward in this thing called life, we know that we need an infilling of You. Speak to us. We're ready. We're hungry. We're desperate. Have Your way in this journey. Open our minds to receive from You. In Jesus' Name...amen.

Be blessed,

Tee