…with eternity’s values in view
My Davidesque heart attitude
My birthday is next week. Seventy-three big ones! So here I am, sitting here reminiscing, remembering my life as I lived it.
I’m examining my heart attitude – through thick and thin. And I am happy that “through it all” I have been faithful and true… a sinner, yes, but not a wallowing pig sinner See site search: wallowing+pig. (Sorry, pigs.)
The Bible exhorts us to periodically examine our self and make sure we are in the faith. Don’t get caught standing before God Himself and discover there that you are NOT His follower!
– Source: Examine yourselves
I am reminded of what God said about Israel’s ancient day, beloved, King David.
Acts 13:22
And when He had removed him [King Saul], He raised up David to be their king: of him He testified and said,
‘I have found David the son of Jesse,
a man after My own heart [conforming to My will and purposes], who will do all My will.’
________
The biblical record says of David: he did not have an “evil heart”. That “evil heart” is the stubborn heart type of Jeremiah 18:11-12, where “each of us will act in accordance with the stubbornness of his evil heart“. Is that you?
11 Now then, say to the men of Judah and to the citizens of Jerusalem, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am shaping a disaster and working out a plan against you. Turn back, each of you from his evil way; correct your habits and change your actions for the better.”’ 12 But they will say, ‘That is hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act in accordance with the stubbornness of his evil heart.’
– Jeremiah 18:11-12
What is your heart like?
When King David sinned, King David then…
* “turned back”,
* corrected his habit,
* and changed his “actions for the better”.
We should act as King David acted. According to Acts 13:22 – we are to be quick to…
“Turn back,
each of you
from his evil way;
correct your habits and
change your actions for the better.”
Prepare your eternity…whoever you are
As a born again believer, repenting before God does not legitimize my sins. It does not mitigate their impact on others. No, what repenting does is put me back on track with God. Repenting of sin, as a believer, restores fellowship with God. As I said before, I keep short accounts with God. I am not a wallowing pig sinner type.
Yes, I have stumbled like a drunk, gone back to my vomit like a dog. I’ve acted the fool, been a senseless pigeon, and, like a pig – I’ve rolled right back into the mud. But I did not stay there long.
– Source: I have stumbled like a drunk
In our present day, Acts 13:22 is recommending we Turn from [sin] – Turn to [Jesus]. I think back on my own, long years, and I see I do not have a perfect record. The good thing is: My sin will always “fall on Him”.
All of us like sheep have gone astray, We have turned, each one, to his own way; But the Lord has caused the wickedness of us all [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing] To fall on Him [instead of us].
– Isaiah 53:6
Today’s multiple cultures
Shouldn’t surprise anybody to find this true of themselves, that they have failed God. After all, we are but puny humans. My wild and crazy stallion heart has caused me problems.
Got a wild heart? Got a heart full of hate? Or maybe yours is cracked? Using one of my Dad’s words, I have erred MirWeb “erred”: to violate an accepted standard of conduct; stray. The problem is — most people do not admit it. Do you refuse to admit your sin? 1
I have acted as King David
Most definitely I must admit, I am, still, a sinner. However, my heart is, and always has been, one where God can say about me: Keith is “a man after My own heart”…he is one “who will do all My will” (Acts 13:22).
My heart sings see song lyrics with gratefulness to God, as I recall I have acted as King David after he sinned: “He ‘turned back’, corrected his habit, and changed his ‘actions for the better'”. God said this about him…”conforming to My will and purposes, who will do all My will”.
How ’bout you?
“Living smart”, your way? Got it together?
To really get smart with how we live, the Bible shows us we need to
1 respect God as He truly is (Proverbs 1:7),
2 ask God to “set you apart” for Himself (1 Thessalonians 5:23), and
3 admit your sin (Romans 3:23), repent of your own ways – and follow Him in all things.
– Source: Want to be wise?
Like as what David did: Praise God I have kept my heart true to Him. David knew his heart. He sang this Psalm 51 of his: A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon. To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bathsheba per BibleGateway.
Psalm 51:10
Create in me a clean heart,
O God,
And renew
a right and steadfast spirit
within me.
As David prayed and sang this (we see in biblical records), I have prayed this many a time. How about you?
Paul agreed, saying in Philippians 3:12-16…
12 Not that I have already obtained it [this goal of being Christlike] or have already been made perfect,
but I actively press on [a]so that I may take hold of that [perfection] for which Christ Jesus took hold of me and made me His own. 13 [b]Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet;
but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
15 All of us who are mature [pursuing spiritual perfection] should have this attitude. And if in any respect you have a different attitude, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us stay true to what we have already attained.
– Philippians 3:12-16
I surely do have past sins. All my friends and family and fellow church members know that! Oh yes – and my wife! However, I am not the sum of all my sins. (Thank God!) I’m forgiven now:
He brought me to Himself. * Isaiah 65:1
He chose me.
Lost I came to Him.
I accepted Him wholeheartedly.
Jesus saved me.
Being forgiven now is what counts. The Lord Jesus can restore you. Don’t give up.
I am in the present – and I am living my eternal life – now. About past sins and being forgiven now – I say:
I will continue the fight 2, for as long as God keeps me on this planet, but, because all of this, here, is merely temporary — I will keep my focus on eternity.
What about you? What really counts, what is really of true value – is my faith in Christ, and living for Him — living with eternity’s values in view.
– Source: The Life of Keith
TOP PIC: Thrasher.Poser.Fake
FOR MORE:
How well do you know your heart, your “self”? Do you know yourself well enough to truely align your heart with God’s heart?
_____________
How you can know you are a Christian
About past sins and being forgiven now
Being a Temp in our temporary tent
God is “faithful and absolutely trustworthy” to you in your salvation
Being an “evangelical” in today’s wild and wooly ungodly culture
Being a sinner Excerpt: I sojourn on earth. This world is not my home. When I fall, when I fail, when I digress – I get back up and start anew. I get my cues from the Bible, learning God’s Way, and each day I practice being His.
I am not my own. Some day, sooner or later, I will have a new body not affected by this sinful world. Oh what a day that will be! But that day is future – not now.
The Reality of Incompleteness on earth
Is this you? * 1 Thessalonians 5. Excerpt: What Love Does. This passage by Paul the apostle exhorts the believer in Christ, “all believers, those set apart for God” — to live in a manner pleasing to Christ.
We of course are not saved by how pleasing we are to Christ, but the true believer will strive to be more and more like Christ in how he lives — because that is what love does:
love wants to please.
Some who are born again will strive to be more righteous.
301 Things you are in Christ…Who you are in Christ
Examine yourselves Excerpt: The Bible exhorts us to periodically examine our self and make sure we are in the faith. Don’t get caught standing before God Himself and discover there that you are NOT His follower!
The Godman Jesus said “Follow Me” Excerpt: Follow Me, Jesus said. See: Matthew 10:26-39 verse 38
He was no ordinary human. Jesus was the Godman: all man and all God, inside a human body.
Since God Himself asks us to “Follow Me”, why would any mere human NOT? This is Jesus who said, “Follow Me”! Site Search
What are you thinking?! Jesus is the only one who can save your soul for all eternity!
Divine Mysteries Revealed by the Godman Jesus
Jesus can save your soul for all eternity!
The good fight * 1 Timothy 1:18, 1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Timothy 4:7
The overcoming faith of Christ Followers
Dealing with the sins of others 3
Want to be wise? Excerpt: Still think you are smarter than the rest, that your way is the right way? Have you considered that God might be smarter?
Many of today’s multiple cultures lead folks into believing: I was born smart. The majority believe they are living the better way, that they are “in the know” merriam-webster * in possession of exclusive knowledge or information; *well-informed.
In their minds they are wise, even though their ways, what they live out from day to day, shout out otherwise.
God takes care of sinners Excerpt: We all sin. The allurements of the enemies of our soul entrap us with sin, saying, go that way.
The message of Christ says,
repent, turn this way.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life….”
– John 14:6
Imagine what being saved has meant to you
Is your life fruit – Agape Love?
Was your confession accepted by God?
Living a forever life – now…in the present and living my eternal life. Excerpt: What God does to you
Do you know what God does to you when you genuinely accept His forgiveness with sincerity and truth? He saves you. He changes you to an immortal soul homeward bound for His Home Heaven (1 Corinthians 15).
1 Corinthians 15:42-44
42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. The [human] body that is sown is perishable and mortal, it is raised imperishable and immortal. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in strength; 44 it is sown a natural body [mortal, suited to earth], it is raised a spiritual body [immortal, suited to heaven]. As surely as there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.
Forgiveness for evil deeds done
God forgives all wrongdoings of all repentant sinners, no exception
God is “faithful and absolutely trustworthy” to you in your salvation
Legally Damned – Legally Forgiven
Prepare Your Eternity with great fear and trepidation
What God does to prepare you for Heaven… your heart – for eternity
Oh immeasurable joy of arrival
What we will be like in God’s Home Heaven
God forgives all wrongdoings of all repentant sinners, no exception…don’t quit
“41 is coming”…don’t quit | Credit: McKenzie Miller | Excerpt: Is it crying time again. Want to quit. Think again.
Right on the edge of trusting Him forever
Being saved means forever never again condemned
We don’t get into a Holy Kingdom by being sinful
Psalm 51 type repentance and salvation
Psalm 51. Wash me. Cleanse me.
This is who we are in Christ Excerpt: Revelation 12 describes who we are if we are a child of God:
17 So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went off to wage war on the rest of her children (seed), those who keep and obey the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus [holding firmly to it and bearing witness to Him].
“…we have a mission on earth: “abide in God“. Jesus told us:
-
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- “Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you.” (v4)
- “Vitally united and My message lives in your heart” (v7)
- “Bear much fruit, and prove yourselves to be My [true] disciples.” (v8)
- “Keep My commandments and obey My teaching.” (v10)
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I’m Christian because He chose me
In Christ I am a strong person
When on earth I’m done and gone
“The spirit of the righteous made perfect”
Freed from a righteous “God Damn”
Promises God makes about your salvation
I’m not what he (Satan) says I am
What if? Excerpt: What if God really did come down to earth as the real, historical man, Jesus Christ… and walked the earth as recorded in the Bible? Wouldn’t you want to know more about Him? Do you really want to just live your life – and die having rejected “the only real God” and His message in the Bible?
What if? God looks inside your soul and says “I am not your Lord”
The Kingdom of God is very exclusive, very luxurious, very special
Limited Thinking Excerpt: What experience do you have in the universe, to be a foundation for your thoughts – by you, yourself? On what do you build your thoughts? Is it only from you and others like you? Do you live your own way”?
Footnotes
- Are you this self-deceived?
“Many of today’s multiple cultures lead folks into believing: I was born smart. The majority believe they are living the better way, that they are “in the know” merriam-webster * in possession of exclusive knowledge or information; *well-informed.In their minds they are wise, even though their ways, what they live out from day to day, shout out otherwise.”
– Source: Want to be wise?.
- Fight the good fight: 1 Timothy 1:18, 1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Timothy 4:7.
- A born again follower of Christ will never “fall into condemnation” ever ag’in. Maybe he-she will be condemned by others, but not by God. Our salvation is bigger than most realize.
However, but… beware lest you think you were saved — when actually your confession was not accepted because God saw through to your unrepentedness.
While we are on this topic: Was your confession accepted by God? Beware the evil heart. Is God perhaps workin’ to bring you into the fold?
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