Secrets of A Man's
Heart Day 5: A Stubborn Heart
Is there a time in your Christian life when you are still
not satisfied? When you still feel
unforgiven by God? Or you already feel
tired on serving the Lord? Or you feel
impatient waiting for God's promises and is tempted to commit reckless decision
in life? Well, to be honest,
I do feel the same way almost
everyday. During those times I tend
to free myself from God's grasp and even unhappy doing God's services. I even find everything pointless and in
vain.
It is a complete
opposite of how a child of God should do things. Instead of clinging to Him, when I feel down, I always want to hide and wallow in my own
emptiness and Misery. I even want to do things
my own way.
But everytime I tend to give up, God will show me an unexpected goodness and
revert me back to the right way that as if He is telling me, daughter
slow down, breath and enjoy the learning.
I even remember praying to Him: " Lord, I am now tired
dreaming. Maybe its now time for you to
dream for me. " That is a total surrender prayer, because after a long while, I realized how weakling I am without
God. I my own wisdom, I cannot accomplished anything. It is only
through God, for My life and yours are all in the hands of God.
THE HARD TRUTH
In our church, we are
currently tackling about the Threats to Salvation. One of the most striking topic is this , "Unwilling to do God's Service"
or to be part of the Great Commission.
As almost everyone is opening up their lives God made me saw something :
I am not the only one that is in a battle everyday. I am not the only one who endures. I am not
the only one that thinking I am alone. I am not the only one who fear
and is lonely. I am not the only one who lacks faith and who lacks
prayer. I am not the only one who
struggle financially. The thing is, we
are all facing the same dilemma everyday : to choose God or to choose the
world-a constant battle between flesh
and Spirit. There is no
exemption. Not even a church leader,
elder or Pastor.
A MOMENT OF REALIZATION
I spent most of my days comparing myself to people. And everytime I fall short to someone, I thought, I couldnt love God enough, couldnt exert the same amount of effort, couldnt give the same amount of time.
Thinking that way, I tend to become
indecisive, slack myself off and wallow,
and thinking that God may not forgive me, I tend to not pray or read the Bible
anymore, hurting myself all the
more. But now I know I am wrong. My
stubborn heart is a must to be taken
captive of by my faith, because the Truth is I am still on the process and training myself to something that I am
not used to is something that needs full discipline, Endurance, patience and love in order to work it out on.
A Learning in King Saul's Life
10:9 As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul's
heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day.
10:26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by
valiant men whose hearts God had touched. ~1 Samuel 10:9,26
After Saul believed to what God has to say through
Samuel, that he will become king to
whole Israel , the Spirit of God came to him and touches his heart that
empowers him to accomplished God's will to his life, thus all the signs has been fulfilled .
After the valiant men believed God through Samuel, that Saul will be their king, the Spirit of God touches their hearts to followed Saul all the
way.
When God first came to Saul's life . . .
His heart and mind changed immediately and he is no longer
the same. . .
God changed him completely from the inside out
. . .
However ,
One single mistake , followed by another and another caught
him on his own snare of rebellion,
resulting for him to lose God's favor
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15:22 But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in
burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To
obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
15:23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and
arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the
LORD, he has rejected you as king."
1 Samuel 15:22-23
What are Saul's
mistakes ?
1. His impatience urged him to offer unauthorized sacrifice
to the Lord and bypassing the priest Samuel's authority
2. HIs constant success in the battle adds up to his pride and encourage him to
build a statue of his own for people to see his glory
3. His greed made him to covet riches of that of the enemy
and spare the Amalekites king Agag which
enlarge God's anger for him all the more .
Saul's arrogance leads to a tragic ending of a seemingly
eternal covenant with God and living in
His presence forever .
A Learning for the New Covenant Church
It is our faith in God that enables the Spirit of God to
moved and changed our hearts to will and
to do , in order for us to accomplished things God sets on us - from impossible
to possible. When we first come to know God,
our changed of heart is immediate , from
the bondage of decay to pursuit of glorious freedom in Christ . It just
takes one single decision to believe God,
and the spirit of God enables us to obey God.
However, our
salvation is not permanent as long as we are still living in the presence of
sin that's why the word of God through Apostle Paul is very clear
2:12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always
obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to
work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
2:13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act
according to his good purpose.
2:14 Do everything without complaining or arguing,
2:15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of
God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like
stars in the universe
(Philippians 2:12-15)
Saul's humble beginning lead him to caught the attention and
favor of God, but his rise up to
power, fame and valor lead him to build up his pride and
rebelled against God.
Same thing to us,
when we first come to know Jesus Christ , that is the first time we
admit to ourselves that we are nothing
without Him . To realize that you have
someone you can't live without is to admit that you love Him. To someone who recognize that love the first
time , it is definitely your first love . The sad thing is like love that
subsides because of overconfidence on
the other's faithfulness , we also neglect God . As we capitalized grace , we unknowingly commit arrogance
before God, 🤔 thinking that if
we sin, we will be forgiven so long as
we say sorry and make a so-called
confession , but doing so, we are
crucifying the Lord Jesus Christ again and again, instead of taking up our own Cross and
crucifying our own flesh everyday .
But this must be not so my friend.
The Bible is clear , live by the Spirit and you will not
gratify the lust of flesh .
The Spirit and flesh
is in enmity with each other .
What is in the flesh?
Sin.
A life of sin can
never and will never be pleasing to God.
The Spirit of rebellion is actually a grave sin against
God. Disobedience is also a type of
rebellion. Saul's disobedience to God
leads to the Spirit of God to leave Him.
Without the Spirit of God , a heart that is once touched by God is now a
callous heart. Without the Spirit of God,
there is no breathe of life.
Jesus ultimate purpose in coming here on earth is to
liberate us from sin (Matthew 1:21) and
to serves as the high priest that will
mediate between us and God (Hebrews 6),
so our ultimate goal is to become like Him (Romans 8:29)
APPLICATION:
It is impossible for us to follow Jesus and be molded in His
life if we don't know Him. Likewise it
is impossible to crucify the flesh if we have no idea how Jesus overcame the
flesh during His lifetime.
So how to be like Jesus and how to crucify the flesh?
Samuel say to Saul, that sacrifices and burnt offerings were
nothing compared to obeying the voice of the Lord . In the new covenant church
or Pentecostal church, it is impossible
for us to hear God's Word unless we
read the Bible. Romans 1:16-17 says
1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power
of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for
the Gentile.
1:17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed,
a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written:
"The righteous will live by faith."
It is the very Word of God that reveals to us the
righteousness of God. In fact, 2000 years ago, the word of God, didn't stay as word but He come to life when
it says the word became flesh (John 1:14) to show us the way to the
Father, after He died , was rose again, and ascend back to the right hand of the
Father, He leave His Spirit to us to help us understand all
the things that He taught to all His disciples and followers - His very words.
Read the scriptures and pray for the Spirit of God to
empower us everyday . Let not everyday battle nullify our relationship as sons
and daughters of God. Let us work out
our own salvation with fear and trembling
Do not be anxious ,
but in everything , through prayer and supplication , with Thanksgiving, let your request be known to God, and the peace of God which transcends all
understanding will guard you heart and mind in Christ Jesus ~Philippians 4:6-7
I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU?
1.
Is there a moment in your life that you feel
tired on serving the Lord or you feel like being inadequate and unqualified to
serve the Lord?
2.
What is your attitude during those moments? Do
you tried to seek God and people? Or shut God and people out into your life?
3.
In Philippians 4:6-7, Paul clearly states to the
Philippians Church that “Do not be
anxious , but in everything , through prayer and supplication , with
Thanksgiving, let your request be known
to God, and the peace of God which
transcends all understanding will guard you heart and mind in Christ Jesus.”
How do you think this advice of Apostle Paul will apply into your life?
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Secrets of A Man's Heart
(In a Quest of Finding For A Meaning Lies A True Story of Compassion, Trust and Love)
This is a repost of my blog months ago, and an excerpt from a seven day devotional that I recently finished. The book is entitled “Girls Figures- 7 Day Devotionals for emotionally Burdened Women.”
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“This is how we know what true love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. (1 John 3:16)
Laying our lives means sharing the very life of Christ. It is not
only about preaching the word or quoting the scriptures, but becoming the
living Word ourselves- the word who became flesh (John 1:14) like Jesus did. We
could do that by doing little things into people surrounding our circle or
getting involve for a higher cause. What are you willing to do to love God and
other people?
Join us and make a Compassionate Step for others today!
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