With All My Heart

In Psalm 119, the psalmist speaks often of "all the heart" or the "whole heart". . . "Search for him with all the heart" (verse 2) "I will put into practice with all my heart" (verse 34) "I obey your commandments with all my heart" (verse 69) "I pray with all my heart" (verse 145)

In seeking God, in observing His law, in a cry for help . . . each time it is with his whole heart.

When we want to be successful in business, marriage, in everything we do, we put our whole heart into it. Thus, isn't this even more necessary in the service of a Holy God? He is worthy! The whole heart ~ our whole heart ~ is needed in the service of God in every thing!

In prayer, in reading His Word, in seeking to do His will in our lives, may we all learn to say, "I have tried my very best, with my whole heart, to seek You."

Let us desire to seek God with our whole heart each and every day like the Psalmist. And may our every act of worship, prayer, and time spent in His Word be "WHOLEHEARTED!"

Neither Cold nor Hot?

“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth.” (Rev. 3:15-16)

One of the things I love most about the Bible is that it doesn’t mince words. You don’t have to wonder what Jesus meant when He said that our being lukewarm in our faith makes Him want to “spew” (spit or vomit) us out of His mouth. In essence, He is saying that ho-hum faith makes Him want to throw up.

Sound sacrilegious? It’s not. It’s what Jesus said. It’s part of His call to radical discipleship. Jesus hasn’t called us to a lukewarm faith that gives lip-service to His Word and maybe even sets aside most or even all of our Sunday mornings to attend church and mingle with other Christians and read the Bible and pray occasionally. He has called us to a sold-out faith, a level of devotion and dedication that readily gives up everything—family, possessions, career, ministry, relationships, wealth, even our very lives—to obey Him. A radical disciple holds back nothing and follows in everything. That’s the kind of life that receives a “well done, good and faithful servant” commendation when we step into eternity.

And it goes against everything we feel or desire. It also goes against much of what we have been taught from non-radical people. My dad, whom I loved dearly and who is now with the Lord, spent all but the last week of his life denying the existence of God. He was a “middle of the road” kind of guy, who taught us not to go overboard with anything. When it comes to nonessentials, like eating chocolate or spending time outdoors in the sun, it was probably good advice. But when it comes to serving God, it’s not so good. God doesn’t want us to be “middle of the road” Christians, afraid to take a radical stand and occasionally rock a few socially, politically, or even religiously correct boats. Jesus calls us to an “all or nothing” faith, a faith that denies self and follows Him, regardless of the price.

Our problem is that we’ve tried to turn the Lion of Judah into a pussycat, when indeed the Lion of Judah cannot be tamed—nor should we want Him to be. The Messiah came first as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, but when He returns it will be to judge those who have rejected Him as Lord and Savior.

The call to discipleship is a radical one, folks, so let’s not take it lightly. I, for one, don’t want my faith to be lukewarm and to cause Jesus to “spew” me out of His mouth. Though radical discipleship is costly—requiring everything that is near and dear to us, including the right to “call the shots” in our life—it is the only thing that will assure us of joy here on earth and a heavenly reward when we pass on. May we all be found faithful—and radical—in His service!

Decision Making

"Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments. Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. Thou art good, and doest good: teach me thy statutes." (Proverbs 119:66-68)

I think that life would be so much easier if we had perfect judgment along the way. Solomon had a reputation for the wise decisions he made. It is specifically wisdom he seeks when he became king.

The fact is, that we too, have to make daily decisions. Many times we make choices almost blindly, without any real assurance or even a hint of what the outcome will be.

We all want to act decisively, because no one appreciates a person who can't make up their mind. If a decision is ours to make, we should do so, with concern for the well-being of others as well as ourselves.

I think the most important virtue in decision making is humility ~ the humble recognition that we do at times make poor decisions that may be wrong. No one is exempt, though some may be endowed with a better sense of judgment than others.

Yet, above all, we should know in our hearts that if we have erred in our judgments, but tried to do what is right and in keeping with God's will, we can be sure that for Christ's sake our mistaken judgments are forgiven. That assurance and that acceptance is most important of all.

God's judgments are perfect. May the Holy Spirit guide us in all our daily decisions.

"And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God." (Philippians 1:9-11)

Fruit-Bearing Christians

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15:5)

Because we have free will, we break fellowship with God by allowing sin in our life, by stepping out of the will of God, or by worldliness. He wants us to abide so that we bring forth much fruit. Notice here that there is a similarity to the parable of the sower (Matthew 13). Remember that some of the seed fell on good ground and brought forth thirtyfold ~ that is fruit. Some of the seed brought forth sixty ~ that is more fruit. Some of the seed brought forth an hundredfold ~ that is much fruit. God wants US to bear much fruit.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22, 23)

These two verses say a great deal! The Lord Jesus just spoke of the fruit of the Spirit (John 15). He said that without Him we can do nothing. And fruit is what He wants in our lives. He wants fruit, more fruit, and much fruit! Now, the fruit is produced by the Lord Jesus using the Spirit of God in our lives. He wants to live His life through us. Paul is stating the principle of fruit-bearing so that we can understand it. Let us look at these two verses more closely now ~ they say so much! The fruit is produced by yielding ~ by yielding to the sweet influences that are about us. Not speaking of the world! But we are to yield to the Holy Spirit who indwells us. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace." (Notice it is singular: is, not are ~ it is singular in the Greek language). This indicates that "love" is the fruit, and from it stems all other fruits. Love is primary!

There are some other fruits. Are you longsuffering ~ that is, patient and long-tempered? Then there is the fruit of gentleness, which means kindness; there is goodness, which means kind, but firm. Faith, in this list means faithfulness. If you are a child of God, you will be faithful. Next comes meekness, and that does not mean mildness.

Two men who were truly meek were Moses and the Lord Jesus. Perhaps you don't think Moses was meek when he came down from the Mount, found the people were worshipping a golden calf, and administerd disciplinary judgment (see Exodus 32). But he was meek. And was Jesus meek when He ran the money-changers out of the temple? Meekness is not mildness and it is not weakness. Meakness means that you will do God's will and that you are willing to yield your will to the will of God.

Then there is temperance, which is self-control ~ Christian poise is so needed today. "against such there is no law." There is "no law" against them, and no law which will produce them. You cannot produce any of these by your own effort.

The study of God's Word, the remembrance of our Baptism, and frequent attendance in God's house ~ all accompanied by a frequent prayer life ~ keep life flowing in our spiritual veins and equip us for living with joy and enthusiasm. The fruit of the Spirit should characterize the lives of believers. Are we, as Christians, producing any fruit in our lives today? Let us be mindful, we can do everything through Him who gives us strength.

Heavenly Father, our God, our Strength, provide energy equal to the tasks You have given us as we seek to do Your will. Help us to bear fruit, more fruit, much fruit to glorify Your Name. In Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen.

God Bless You All as you plant seed that will produce "much fruit" for the Lord.

Priority of Discipline

"And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." (Matthew 5:30)

Jesus didn't say that everyone must cut off the right hand, but - If your right hand offends you in your walk with Me, cut it off. There are many things that are perfectly legitimate, but if you are going to concentrate on God you can't do them. Your right hand is one of the best things you have, but, says Jesus, if it hinders you in following His precepts, cut it off. This line of discipline is the sternest one that ever struck mankind.

When God alters a man by regeneration, the characteristic of the life to begin with is that it is maimed. There are a hundred and one things you dare not do, things that to you and in the eyes of the world that knows you are as your right hand and your eye, and the unspiritual person says - Whatever is wrong in that? How absurd you are! There never has been a saint yet who did not have to live a maimed life to start with. But it's better to enter into life maimed and lovely in God's sight than to be lovely in man's sight and lame in God's. In the beginning Jesus Christ by His Spirit has to check you from doing a great many things that may be perfectly right for everyone else but not right for you. See that you don't use your limitations to criticize someone else.

It is a maimed life to begin with, but in v.48 Jesus gives the picture of a perfectly full-orbed life - "Ye shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Power to the People of God

Is any problem you have more difficult than the Resurrection? There was, you know, a resurrection. Spears and nails, crosses and thorny crowns guaranteed it. And the most methodical, brutal, inhumane government in the world declared it was so. Then, with an amazing inward fear, they put the body of a teacher who claimed to be God into a tomb carved out of the unyielding rock. A stone door was fixed and, to add a touch of thoroughness verging on the ridiculous, they posted soldiers to watch this drama of a dead man sealed in a tomb of rock.

The body was as dead as the stone shelf on, which it lay. The spirit had returned to God. "Into thy hands I commend my spirit," Jesus said. (Luke 23:46)

At that moment there was no power in the body. The power was above the body.

And it was as Paul says, "Above all principality [Rome included], and power, and might, and dominion, and every name [Caesar included] that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come ." (Eph. 1:21).

Nothing can resist power like that. And nothing did. The stone rolled back, the grave clothes unwound, the sleeping cells of Jesus' body, the cytoplasm, the protoplasm, and the nuclei all felt it. The coronation of the king of the universe could not be disputed. God raised the body of Jesus from the dead, making a mockery of all earthly powers. Shame-faced death stood helplessly by, while the king of kings rode off in triumph. So great was the power of God that when Christ's spirit was ascending to the Father, the reverberations caused an earthquake, graves were opened, and those who were in them were strangely stirred with life. After the resurrection, they came out of the graves and into the city and were seen by many (Matt. 27:52-53).

Power without limit---infinite. And, amazingly, power that can come to us. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places (Eph. 1:19-20).

The most amazing part of this whole story is the phrase "to us-ward." In looking at history from before time to the time when time will be no more, Paul has seen the purpose of God's power. It is to do for us what he did for Christ. He raised Jesus. He will raise us. He made a mockery of all the combined powers of politics, personality, purse, and persecution. Nothing can withstand that power. It is true that death is still our enemy, unconquered---but it will indeed be destroyed. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. "Death is swallowed up in victory" (1 Cor. 15:54). Not long ago, I stood at the empty tomb of Christ in Jerusalem. (I know there are two places that claim to be the authentic tomb of Christ. No matter, they are both empty.) Standing in that empty tomb, I thought, "Someday the tomb in which I shall be buried shall be opened. The dark, damp earth that walled in my decaying body will be flooded with light. The power of the resurrection shall have come."

But I do not wait until then. The other enemies I face until that time must also bow to the power of God. I should not be surprised when miracles happen. I should instead be surprised if they do not happen. Not long ago, as I attended an international convention, I was, stopped by a woman, I did not know.
"You are Maurice Berquist," she said.
"Yes."
"I read your book The Miracle and Power of Blessing and enjoyed it, so I read it to my brother."

I wanted to ask why she had read it to him instead of letting him read it himself, but I simply listened. "My brother," she said, "was blind."

"Was blind?" I asked, emphasizing the word was.

"As I read to him the book about Psalm 103, God suddenly restored his sight.

He now has 20-30 vision."

Why, am I surprised by this? Why do you find it difficult to believe? This same power that raised Jesus from death is to us-ward. No wonder Paul prayed that our eyes would be opened so that we could see the extent of the power of God at work in our lives, our communities, and our homes. So much of our worship is a pious repetition of static truth instead of a celebration of the present power of God. If our ideas, our theology, and our doctrines were to suddenly come to life, we would suspect God of unfair invasion. If our theological gingerbread men were suddenly to come to life and run down the street, we would chase them, tie them, and put them back in the worship folders where they belong. Vitality is frightening. One day I watched a little child sitting on the mechanical horse in front of the supermarket. The horse was cold and still, innocent of life as a fireplug. The child had an active imagination and was bouncing up and down in the saddle, making believe that the animal was real and that he was the Lone Ranger.

A stranger coming by dropped a quarter in the appropriate slot. The horse started to move, pitching forward and backward. The child, half-frightened and half-pleased, held the reins tightly. "He's alive, he's alive," he cried.

The "parking lot" parable, is needed by the church. When someone pays the price, things begin to happen. Ancient creeds no longer have to be defended or argued. If they were ever true, they are true today. If they were not true, their falsehood becomes obvious. They can be discarded.

Do we need an infusion of that kind of power? What a waste of paper to write such a question! What a waste of energy to read it!

Our weary routines of trying to do God's work with the power of unspiritual people leaves us with burn out, stress, contention, and flimsy explanations. Oh, we talk about it, but as one observer put it, "When all is said and done, more is said than done."

Good news---the Resurrection power is available. It is promised. And Paul instructs the Ephesians (and us) in the use of it.

Do You Believe in the Resurrection?

Note: I received the following...in response to
"The Test of Discipleship".
It speaks for itself!!

Do You Believe in the Resurrection?

And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. Luke 18:27

There was a resurrection. They sealed the dead body of Christ into a tomb carved out of the unyielding rock. The body was as dead as Man could make it; the spirit had returned to God. There was no strength, no life, no power in the body. The power that brought about the resurrection superceded the body. As Paul says, it was "above all principality [Rome included], and power, and might, and dominion, and every name [Caesar included] that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come ." (Eph. 1:21). Nothing can resist such power. The stone rolled back and Jesus stepped forth from that tomb--in spite of spears, cold flesh, hard stone and a company of Roman soldiers--unhindered even by something so final as death. When the body of Christ raised from the dead, His resurrection was the final verification of the power of Christ over all things earthly.

We look at this event and accept it as evidence of the power of God. We celebrate its occurence each year at Easter. We establish our hope of eternal life and glory on it. Is there any problem more difficult to comprehend than the Resurrection?

There does remain one for many of God's People and that is the power of God to give us triumph over sin and the flesh. We can accept the mind boggling concept of a dead body returning to life, yet we find it difficult to commit to the principle that we have been raised from our death in trespasses and sin to the new life in Christ. (Ephesians 2:1 ) Yes, we look at the concept of Salvation and pin our hopes on Calvary paying the price for our sins. In fact, we rejoice in that Salvation, yet we seem unable or unwilling to take that additional step into righteous life promised by the Word of God.

We cite this fleshly body that compels us to sin. We take John's statement of his life before salvation and use it to support our contention that "all have sinned" and anyone who says they don't sin is deceiving themselves. The contention is that we all sin daily, then we neglect to look at the verse that says He has cleansed us. We neglect to read on to where John says He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. Or to follow still further to the clear statement Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin;

We look at Paul's beautiful explanation and comparison of his life before salvation and after, his life under the law and under grace, where he so carefully and repeatedly describes his situation before he knew the salvation of God. He tells us how he lived under the law with a yearning to do what was right but how his flesh constantly pushed him into worng. He describes his constant frustration of trying to live righteously and yet seemingly being compelled to sin. And after each description he returns to his thesis: Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Romans 6: 1- 2 We pull out individual scriptures and say, "See, we all sin, even Paul" but neglect to look at his refutation of that 'principle"

How can this be possible? To be delivered from the mandate, the compulsion, to sin? Thank the Lord, the same power that delivered Christ from the arms of death has the power to deliver us in this earthly body from the bonds of sin in this life. The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. As it is written Be ye holy; for I am holy., so can we deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, . . .live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Titus 2:12 As we deny this instruction we deny the very power that raised Christ from the dead.

Praise the Lord, that same power, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion in this world that brought Christ out of the grave can raise us up to walk godly before Christ-- not in our own strength but in the power of God.

Direction

"WHEREFORE seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith."
(Hebrews 12:1)

Direction plays an important role in our daily lives. From the moment we place our feet on the floor each morning until we retire for the night, we are directing our daily routine in our minds and through the use of our bodies.

If we would look unto Jesus for our direction with the start of each new day, we would be able to see that Christ brings better benefits and easier tasks our way. We will also be better witnesses for our Lord if we are not so busy "drifting" along in every direction.

If we were to go out to sea without a compass, we would expect to get lost and possibly not find our way back to shore. We would have to just drift until we were rescued. It is also this way for God's people today. Far too many people just drift along or remain stationary. We need to "get into the race" and get moving in the direction God puts in front of us. We must force ourselves to keep moving forward in our relationship with Christ, making Him our compass. He will always steer us straight!

May we all be encouraging witnesses to the spectators which surround us out there. Let us set our eyes on Jesus with the beginning of each new day and take "direction" from our wonderful Lord and Savior. May the Lord direct our every path. "Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart."

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