Heart Tracks - 3 Thoughts

Over the course of my devotions during the last week, the Spirit spoke the following to my heart. For what they may be worth, I pass them on to you. As Solomon said, there's nothing new under the sun, so I know others before me have heard these as well, but we can be very deaf to His voice. So His Truth always bears repeating.....especially to folks who can be so willingly hard of hearing. Like you and me.

"The men with Saul stood speechless with surprise, for they heard the sound of someone's voice, but they saw no one! As Saul picked himself up off the ground, he found that he was blind." Acts 9:7-8.....First thought....In order to see the Truth, we have to become blind to the lie.....Saul, convinced he was doing the work of God, was on the Damascus road for the purpose of killing or imprisoning the followers of Jesus. He was devoted to this work, convinced of its rightness. It took a direct encounter with the risen Christ for Him to see what was really true. In that encounter, he became physically blind, and in his blindness, he saw the Truth...Christ. In order to "see" and know He who is Truth itself, we must first become blind to all the lies we have believed. In his blindness, Saul, now named Paul, could finally see. It will be no different for us. What lies have we been believing that He need make us blind to, in order that we might at last see His truth?

"For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are." Hebrews 4:12....The other day a good friend sent encouragement my way, exhorting me to hold the Father to His promise in a particular scripture. This is always sound advice, but in it, a second thought came to me; In our seeking to hold God to His Word, are we as willing to ask Him to hold us to it as well?.....Over the course of time, I have had a number of books about praying the promises of God. Such books abound, and they can certainly be a good resource in prayer. Yet, I don't recall coming across very many that speak about praying to ask the Father to hold and call us to live in the power of that Word, as well as obey it. We want Him to honor His Word for us, He wishes to see His Word bring forth life in us. We bring the Word to His throne of grace. He seeks to bring His Word to our very hearts, that we might have, as Paul wrote, "Truth in our innermost being." We are anxious for Him to honor His Word to us. How anxious are we to honor it within us? When was the last time we were still enough before Him that His truth could probe and expose the very marrow of our being?

"In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord." Isaiah 6:1.....The final thought from Him is this; The more I see of Him, the less I see of me.....Of course, the opposite is just as true. The more I see of me, the less I will see of Him. Someone is going to fill our plain of sight. In the end, its going to be either Him or us. Him, or me...or you. Who's filling your line of sight? We are born into this world a self-absorbed, totally demanding people. Society enforces a certain restraint on that bent, but it is always there, right beneath the surface. This bent, which His Word calls the sin nature, causes us to be obsessed with one person only; ourselves. There is no human cure for this nature, though many religions try. All of them, ultimately put the emphasis on self. The person works to bring himself under control, and by doing so, somehow appease and win the approval and acceptance of whoever it is they call god. The Father revealed the only remedy; Jesus Christ and His cross. Jesus said when He was lifted up on His cross, He would draw all men to Himself. When we see Him, we cannot see anything or anyone else...... ....including ourselves. That's the reality. The other reality is that if we don't see Him, we are left seeing only ourselves, and that with a total preoccupation. So.... which reality is yours and mine today? Who's filling our view? Christ.....or us?

In the TV classic, "The Twilight Zone," host Rod Serling would often introduce a story with the words, "Submitted for your approval." I don't submit these thoughts for your approval, but I do for your consideration. How do you and I consider them? And after we've considered, what's next?

Blessings,
Pastor O