"Search me, O God, and know my heart . . ."

“I may not know, but God knows. And His discipline can be worse than mine.” Have you ever heard your parents tell you that? As Parents, we tend to use that as a scare tactic. I find myself using that with my boys all the time. There are times that I can’t quite get the truth out of them, but I know there is something that is just not right about the situation, and I feel that they are holding something back from me. Although that might not be the best approach to scare your kids into submission, it is partially true. God does know our heart. But what does our heart look like, have we given it completely to Him?

In the Bible we see the entire blessing that God bestowed on Solomon, riches, power, a kingdom that loved and adored him, and most of all wisdom beyond measure. But unlike his father, David, it does not appear that his whole heart was in the game. As Solomon became older, he gave in to earthly desires and began to marry women of other countries, and began to be influenced by their gods, while his heart slipped away from the One True God.

What has God blessed you with in your life? Is it getting in the way of giving your whole heart to Him? What have you allowed to become more important, what is stopping you from giving your whole heart to God? Time, Money, Possessions?

I encourage you this week to join me in praying this prayer that David prayed in Psalms 139:23, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” 

What can you do to give God your WHOLE HEART?

You are Blessed!

We have recently switched to a new curriculum in KidzQuest, and this week we will talk on all the blessings that God gives us. Rather than write a devotion of my own this week, I wanted to share a bit from the “Support” section of our lesson today. This is one of the sections meant to build up and encourage the leaders presenting the lesson, I feel it could do the same for you. - Brent

“Let’s face it: We lead lives that are jam-packed. Our schedules are filled with work, meetings, and to-do lists. In the face of so much going on, it can be easy to lose sight of how God is uniquely blessing you this week, today, and right now.

Spend some time alone with God this week. Pray and ask Him to remove your distractions. Take out a sheet of paper and a few colored markers, and start jotting down all the ways God has blessed you this week. Each time you pause to think, pick up another marker. Are you surprised by what God brought to mind?

Keep the list in your pocket, or tape it somewhere you’ll be able to see it for the rest of the week. Use it as a reminder to thank Him for blessing you. Each time you see it, shoot up a prayer of thanks for how massively He is pouring out His love to you. Furthermore, let it be a reminder of our responsibilities to be generous like God, and consider how (in the midst of such blessing) you can bless those around you.

TruStory Team”

(Tru Curriculum published by David C. Cook)

By faith Rahab . . .

     Have you ever wanted to invite your friends over to spend the night, butthen you remembered your room was really dirty so you changed your mind?
     Do you know that some people think thataccepting Jesus is like having to clean up yourdirty room? They think that before they can askJesus into their heart, they have to take care of allthe bad stuff in their life. They have to stop lying,or stop stealing things from the store, or stopbeing a bully at school, or start obeying theirparents more. They think that while they are doingall those things, they are not good enough forJesus to save them. Fortunately, all of thosethings can’t be farther from the truth. In the Bible, in the book of Joshua, chapter 2, there is the story of a woman named Rahab. If anyone had a reason to clean things up in their life it was her.      
     Rahab was a prostitute, which means that men paid money tohave sex with her. So not only was Rahab sinning, she was helping others sin as well.But God was going to give Rahab the chance of a lifetime. You see, people had beenhearing about Joshua, the new leader of the Israelite people, and how God wasallowing him to be victorious over his enemies. They had also heard that Joshua washeading their way, toward the city of Jericho.
     To spy out the city, Joshua sent 2 spies to look over the area. However,word got out about the spies in the land, and the King of Jericho came looking forthem. God led the spies to Rahab’s house, where they could hide. Rahab hid the twospies from the king, and sent his men on a wild goose chase across the desertlooking for them. The difference between Rahab and her family and the rest of thepeople in Jericho, is that they believed that the God of spies and the God of Joshuawas the One true God. As the story goes, the spies would tell Rahab to hang ascarlet rope in her window so that when Joshua’s army came, her and her familywould be spared. It is no coincidence that the rope was scarlet, just as the bloodJesus shed to save us.
     Rahab did not have to clean her life up for God to save her. All she had todo was have faith. Even as a prostitute, looked on as the lowest of the low, Godsaved Rahab, and even lists her as one of only two women mentioned in the “FaithHall of Fame” in Hebrews 11, and as we see in Matthew 1, she is part of thegenealogy of Jesus Himself.
If God can use a life like Rahab to bring His Son into the world, He can savea life like yours, just as you are, no clean up required. If you don’t have Jesus in yourheart, will you ask him in today?! 

Passing the Torch

   There is a old song that has a lyric that says, “It only takes a spark to get a fire going.” However, sometimes it takes a while for that spark to ignite the embers to get going and burst into flame.

    I, like Joshua in our story started out small, but continued to gain momentum as I have served for over twenty years in ministry. Each passing year with each new mentor, my fire got brighter and brighter. It was not until October 2011 that an outstretched arm reached toward me, offering me a torch blazing bright. It was not until then that God saw fit to offer me a full time vocational position in ministry to children.  Just as with Joshua, he started his journey after he led the Israelites to defeat the Amelakites. We know that Joshua waited for over 40 years until God and Moses choose him as the successor to lead the Israelites people.

    Some of you may be gunning for that special promotion, to hold your torch in hand.  Or maybe you are a child, with the desire to be all grown up.  But wait, just as fire can light the path ahead, it can also burn. If you are not equipped to handle your torch, it may leave your life in ashes. God has a special plan in store for your life. You may be a child star, or an empty nester starting a brand new ministry, whatever it is, wait on the Lord, He knows the plans that are waiting for you!

Holy Cow!

“Holy Cow!” We have all heard it one time or another. I think it is one of my wife’s favorite exclamations, I hear her say it all the time. But where does it come from. It can be interesting to find out the origin of things. When I looked for the origin of “Holy Cow”, I almost had to chuckle. What I found was quite interesting. I found things like it came from the Batman and Robin TV show, to being a catchphrase of two or three different sportscasters, to being a popular slang term of teenagers, and thus the spread of its popularity. One of the possibly more accurate origins is that people of India who believe in reincarnation view cows as a sacred or godly being. It is said that you might hear them shout “Holy Cow”, as a warning to a motorist not to hit one of these sacred creatures in the road, much like we would yell, “Look out!” However, one on the best reasons I think I found brings us to our study this week in KidzQuest from Exodus 32 and Deuteronomy 9. Moses had gone up Mount Sinai to speak with God, but the Israelites grew restless waiting for his return. They decided to create a god of their own, kindling Gods anger toward them. I’m not the most patient man in the world, but if I had to choose between a Holy God and a holy cow, I have no doubt what I would choose.  When choices in life are bull-ying you around, grab life by the horns, knowing the one true God will never let you down.

Transformer or Trash

How many of us can remember a toy we got for Christmas or Birthday present that had to be handled a certain way or it could break? Whether it was just fragile or had specific instructions, like a Transformer. I can remember plenty-a-broken Transformer (I think I was the reason they invented the plastic joints that just popped back together). I thought I had it figured out, and then Snap! Sometimes I could fix the problem; sometimes it was a brand new toy getting a trash can funeral. The funny thing is, we have a hard time learning from our mistakes. We grow up and think we can get somewhere without asking directions, or we build our new entertainment center with all the pieces left over, then wonder why it fell over a week later.

            God gave us directions in life so that we could have a better and more prosperous life; You should not have any other gods before me, don’t kill, don’t steal, mind your parents . . . yet we still choose not to listen to them, and do our own thing. Things start to break, and this time, we can’t just throw them away in the trash and go out and buy another one.

            When we don’t follow God rules, we end up with broken hearts and broken lives, and God is the only one that can fix them or replace them. Will you be patient and take a few extra minutes to read His instructions today?!

Who's the Boss?!

 

Do you ever wonder why things seem to not be going your way? It just seems like at times you just can’t catch a break. I have been going through a season like that in my life lately. My whole family getting sick. Getting behind with things at work. I even had to deal with the possibility of having to find a new place to live and relocate my family in less than 2 weeks.

It is at times like these that we might waiver in our faith. Is God still there? Did I do something wrong, is this the consequence? Is the enemy attacking me again?

As part of my daily reading, I am reading through a book called “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young. I want to share an exert from January 20 with you.

Approach this day with awareness of who is Boss. As you make plans for the day, remember that it is I who orchestrate the events of your life. On days when things go smoothly, according to your plans, you may be unaware of My sovereign Presence. On days when your plans are thwarted, be on the look out for Me! I may be doing something important in your life, something quite different from what you expected. It is essential at such times to stay in communication with Me, accepting My way as better then yours. Don’t try to figure out what is happening. Simply trust Me and thank Me in advance for the good that will come out of it all. I know the plans I have for you, and they are good.

I have been watching ups and down, ins and outs happening in various lives around me in the last few weeks, and sometimes we just want someone to make sense of it all. But that is when God reminds us that His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts, and we are lucky that they aren’t. He has it all under control.

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

(Jerimiah 29:11 NIV)