Is My Heart Hard?(Psalm 95:8-9)

What is it to have a harden heart?  Is it a hardened heart that struggles with faith?  Is a hardened heart one that has doubt?  Thankfully, the answer to these questions is, No.

Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. (Psalms 95:8-9)

A hardened heart is not a heart of doubt, because doubt is something that each of us face when we experience a trial.  A trial creates unrest in the believer and the circumstances present a message of doom to their heart.  In contrast, God, through his word and the working of the Holy Spirit, will speak a different message: one of hope and deliverance.  It is then, that the heart struggles to determine which message to believe.  Through faith, the believer trusts the Lord and experiences hope and eventually victory.  The believer's problem was not doubt, because doubt is always present when there is faith.  It is faith that overcomes doubt.  So, a hardened heart is not one that has doubt.

What is a hardened heart?  A hardened heart is one that refuses to believe God. It looks at the circumstances and refuses to allow God to move him.  They aren't doubting God, but rather they are fighting him. It is not that they are afraid, but instead are refusing to trust and are resisting any work that he tries to do.

So as you face a trial, it is okay to be afraid.  However, it is never right to fight and resist God.

Love not the World (1John 2:15)

What is loving the world?  Simply stated, it is the opposite of loving God with all your heart, soul and mind.  The question is, what in the world should I not love?  I love flowers, gardens, dogs, etc. They are in the world, but are they that part of the world to which I should avoid?  What were the first century Christians admonished to avoid?  It wasn't cell phones, the Internet, or TV?  How can I tell what this passage means?

So many have attempted to answer this by creating lists of items, things or actions that they deem to be "of this world".  They created more of a problem than a help.  For the moment, forget about the lists and consider what God says.

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  (1 John 2:15-16)

God defines loving the world with the examples of lust and pride.  The contents of "the world" are things we lust after.  We lust after that which is not God's will for our lives.  Lusting for a woman who is not your wife, coveting or lusting after the possessions of your neighbor or even lusting after a $500,000 house are some typical examples of this behavior.

So, what must I do to keep from loving the world?  Love God and be content with what he has provided and you will be fine.  However, be dissatisfied or look over the proverbial fence for what you think may bring satisfaction to your soul in place of God and his provision and you will be guilty of this principle.

It is fine to have nice clothes, a new car and a beautiful house to live in: just keep them in the proper perspective.

Vengeance (Psalm 94:1)

What is it called when you take something that doesn't belong to you? Of course, it is stealing. Whether it be anything from a small priced pen to the elaborate designs for a new invention, it is wrong. However, there is another aspect of stealing that is a bit different than stealing tangible items. This occurs when non-tangible items are stolen such as taking credit for work done by another or seizing an opportunity that rightfully belongs to someone else. This passage refers to just such a thing. 

O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself. (Psalms 94:1) 

Vengeance belongs to God. When you are wronged, you should not take opportunity to take vengeance on those that hurt you. When you do, you are stealing from God. A danger of doing this is that a heart that seeks vengeance is a heart that is controlled by the hurt created and as long as it remains under that control, the person who hurt you continues to do so. 

When you seek opportunity for vengeance you are stealing that which belongs to God. What you must do is wait on him. He may exercise righteous vengeance right away or delay his vengeance until another time. In my life, I have been greatly wronged by people. Some received their just deserts right away and others have seemed to get away with it for more that 30 years. In each case, the vengeance will come from God and until it occurs, I must wait. 

God is righteous and he will act justly. If we cast this care of vengeance on the Lord, he will care for you and do it. Instead of having a heart filled with hurtful emotions that will do more damage to you than your vengeance can do to others, you must rest in God. 

Have you ever seen someone seek vengeance? They never seem to get what they want or need. Consider the sentencing trials of a convicted killer and listen to the surviving loved one lash out with words and even at times try to physically attack the criminal. Do they get appeased? Have you listened to news testimonies when a criminal is executed. No survivors express satisfaction. At best, they get some type of closure.   

However, if you allow God to be the possessor of vengeance, you will be able to move forward in your life and allow his grace and love to bring healing to your heart. Without this resting in him, anger, hurt and bitterness will abide in your heart and become a poison to your soul.

Have Mercy (Psa 94:18)

When people interact together, it is only a matter of time before some type of conflict will wise.  When the interaction involves one person trying to instruct or mentor another, the chances of it occurring increase.

There is nothing more frustrating than trying to lead someone who continually struggles to either keep up or perform as expected.  So, what should our response be?

When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. (Psalms 94:18)

As we strive to trust God and walk in his ways, how does he respond when we falter?  He doesn't attack or pound us down, but instead holds us up by his mercy.

When people are struggling, our response toward them should be the same.  We should respond with mercy.  There is a difference between struggling and refusing.  When people struggle, they are striving to accomplish or perform as expected, but yet still need support.  We love it when people show mercy towards us and especially when we receive it from God.  His dealings with us are a pattern or model for us to follow.

Patience is still a virtue.  So at work, be patient and show mercy.  As you raise your children, remember mercy.  Mercy is like a fertilizer.  When it is used correctly, it will enhance the growth of your relationships.  Without mercy, relationships can die.  If you want to make a great difference by helping people, you need to exercise mercy.

Succumb to the Monster? (Psalm 93:4)

When I was a kid, I loved watching the scary black and white horror movies.  What a minute, when I was a kid, all the scary movies were in black and white.  It seemed that every movie had one thing in common. There was always a scene where an unsuspecting person would be walking along and not knowing that all the while they were being stalked by the monster.  The scene would usually end with the monster approaching the individual and them turning in horror to see it.  Their only response was to scream and succumb to the monster's attack.

As we go through our lives, there are times when we face monstrous trials and troubles.  As they seemingly loom over us, we too can feel as if all we can do is scream and succumb to their attacks, but for the believer it should not be so.

The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. (Psalms 93:4)

This passage recognizes the noise of the trials and the fears that it creates in our hearts, but believers know that another sound will resonate in our hearts as well.  It is the voice of the Lord and the Lord is greater than the mighty noise of our trials.

Is it wrong to be afraid?  Of course not, but what we must do as we fear our trials is to look to the Lord, pray for his strength to enable us and seek his presence to encourage us in the midst of the trial.

How Can I Love? (1 John 2:5)

We know Jesus said that men shall know we are disciples because we love one another.  The Apostle John writes that in us God's love can be perfected.  The question is, How do I get to the place where I can love like Jesus loves?

Many would set out to create a list of actions that should be performed that would be considered acts of love and when these actions are completed you will be loving that individual.  The list could be something like this.

1. Pray for them
2. Reach out to them
3. Communicate your concern through notes, cards or emails.
4. If possible, meet a need that they may have.
5. If necessary, share the gospel

The list is a good list, but in itself it is not love.  A person could complete each of these acts and still not love the person.  Have you ever said that you were sorry and you really weren't?  Did you ever state that you forgave someone, but in reality you really didn't?  The same can be true with the actions on this list.  You can do them and not really be loving.  So, what is the answer?  How can I love others?

But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. (1 John 2:5)

If we keep or guard God's word in our hearts, it will eventually create fruit from its seed.  It is the Word of God that perfects our love.  Love is a condition of the heart and not the completion of acts.  Keeping or guarding God's word in your heart is parallel to abiding in Christ.  When we abide in Christ, he lives through us.  When we abide in God's word, it lives through us.  It may live through us and lead us to perform the very acts listed above, but the difference between the two is the condition of the heart.

If you want to love, keep or guard God's word in your heart.  In fact, if you want to accomplish anything for God or to be anything he wants you to be, keep the word.  Guard it as a precious gem or as a "keep sake".  When you do, it will produce its fruit in your life.

The Big Choice (Hebrews 12:2)

Each of us make an unnumbered amount of choices each day.  Some of the choices are big while others are somewhat insignificant.  When it comes to major decisions, we greatly desire to make the right decision, because if we don't, the consequences are unpleasant and usually long lasting.  Some decisions are easily made and others may be very difficult.

The scriptures record two major decisions that Jesus made: one being when he faced Satan and was tempted.  We love the account of how he refused to bow down to Satan in exchange for all of the kingdoms and the glory associated with them.  For us, we know that his decision was a major one, but most people do not know that it was not the first recorded time that he made the decision to deny granting pleasure to himself.

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

This passage records that at some time, Jesus had the option of granting himself joy or redeeming man.  It is my opinion that the decision occurred in Heaven.  Can you imagine Jesus experiencing the joy of a heaven and all that he was entitled to as God and then being offered a choice of having that joy which was was set before him or going to earth and redeeming mankind?  And what does he choose?  He chooses you.  Think about it.  You were more desirable and important to him than the joy that he was having in heaven.  You the struggling sinner away from God or you the person who would trust Christ and still struggle with sin.  You the person that would continually fall short or fail God.  He chose you.  This definitely would not be the right choice if he focused on self love, but with his love focused on others, it would be a different story.  For God, it is the right choice.  It is the best choice.  For a God who is love, it is the only choice.

Rejoice is the decision that Christ made. Praise him for his unending love for you.  Live a life of thanksgiving.  It is the least that you could do for him choosing you.