If someone asked you to
describe yourself, what would you say? What would you say – not about your
looks, not about your job, not about your activities, and not about your
possessions – but about your character? Who are you deep down inside your soul,
especially when no one else is looking?
What do you think about,
desire after, and long for in the deepest recesses of your heart? And, how is
that played out in your life, again, in the privacy of your alone times? Are
you the same person in private as you are when others can see what you do? Or,
are you double-minded, shallow, posturing, superficial, and lacking
discernment, good judgment and integrity?
Psalm 119:1-8 NASB
How blessed are those whose way is blameless,
Who walk in the law of the Lord.
2 How blessed are those who observe His testimonies,
Who seek Him with all their heart.
3 They also do no unrighteousness;
They walk in His ways.
4 You have ordained Your precepts,
That we should keep them diligently.
5 Oh that my ways may be established
To keep Your statutes!
6 Then I shall not be ashamed
When I look upon all Your commandments.
7 I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of
heart,
When I learn Your righteous judgments.
8 I shall keep Your statutes;
Do not forsake me utterly!
With All Our Hearts
To be blameless is to be in
Christ Jesus by faith in Him, to be walking in his ways and in his truth and to
no longer be walking in the ways of the flesh (See: Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; 1
Jn. 1:5-9; Gal. 6:7-8; Lu. 9:23-25). All of this is possible as empowered by
the Spirit of God now living within those of us who have trusted in Jesus
Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives.
To seek God with all our
hearts is a tall order, but it is possible as we yield to the Lordship of
Christ over our lives, and as we seek to do his will and walk in his ways and
in his truth. I do believe it is a life-long process of growing in him,
following him, and yielding to him that we are able to seek him fully, with our
whole hearts. But, it is the grace of God working in our lives which inspires
us to do so. Because we have Jesus living within us, by His Spirit, we have his
heart and mind, too, within us, which does seek God fully.
And, to seek God
wholeheartedly means our minds and our hearts are given over to him to do his
will and to walk in his ways, and this is what we desire above all else. We don’t
give our minds or our hearts over to what is evil, immoral, or contrary to
Christ’s instructions to us, but our minds and our hearts are given over to
what is holy, pure, moral, upright, and godly.
Psalm 119:9-16 NASB
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping it according to Your word.
10 With all my heart I have sought You;
Do not let me wander from Your commandments.
11 Your word I have treasured in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.
12 Blessed are You, O Lord;
Teach me Your statutes.
13 With my lips I have told of
All the ordinances of Your mouth.
14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
As much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on Your precepts
And regard Your ways.
16 I shall delight in Your statutes;
I shall not forget Your word.
How Can We Be Pure?
Walking in purity seems to be
a huge struggle for many people these days, even among many who call themselves
followers of Jesus Christ. And, I believe that is because they have been duped
by master manipulators into believing lies which tell them that God is ok with
their sin or that they deserve a little “recreation” or “medication” to soothe
their souls and to meet their “needs” (i.e. their fleshly desires).
They have been convinced that
their salvation means that they are good with God and that walking in impurity
will not impact their eternal security, and that they are powerless to resist
Satan and to flee temptation, too. So, they coin the word “struggle” to make
what they do sound as if they are trying to not sin but can’t help it, but it
really means they are regularly and willfully giving into the sin, fully aware
of both the wrongness of their impure acts and of the consequences of their
sinful behaviors.
BUT, there is a way out from
giving into immorality, both in mind and in action, for Jesus made the way out
for us! We just have to take the way out he provided for us through his death
on a cross. We have to yield to the Lordship of Christ over our lives, say “No”
to ungodliness and worldly lusts and live self-controlled, upright and godly
lives in the power of God’s Spirit living within us (Tit. 2:11-14). Then, we
can walk in purity.
Psalm 119:25-32 NASB
25 My soul cleaves to the dust;
Revive me according to Your word.
26 I have told of my ways, and You have answered me;
Teach me Your statutes.
27 Make me understand the way of Your precepts,
So I will meditate on Your wonders.
28 My soul weeps because of grief;
Strengthen me according to Your word.
29 Remove the false way from me,
And graciously grant me Your law.
30 I have chosen the faithful way;
I have placed Your ordinances before me.
31 I cling to Your testimonies;
O Lord, do not put me to shame!
32 I shall run the way of Your commandments,
For You will enlarge my heart.
Remove the False Way
If you are one of the ones
who is “struggling” with sexual sin, with sinful lust, and with adulterous
ways, meaning you are regularly yielding to your lustful desires, then please
take these words to heart. You do not have to remain there! You don’t have to
live your life struggling with temptation and regularly yielding to what you
know is destroying your life and your relationships with those you claim to
care about. Jesus made the way out for you! He paid the price so you could be
set free from your addiction.
But, you have to be honest.
You have to tell the truth. So many who are there cover up their sins with so
many lies, and so the first step has to be to be forthcoming about what you are
doing in secret when no one else is looking. You have to own up to your sin,
and then you have to turn away from it by yielding your life over to Jesus
Christ to walk in his ways. He will give you all that you need to resist Satan,
to flee temptation, and to be victorious over sin. You just have to obey him in
doing what he tells you to do, and trust him with your life. Let him have the
control, and you submit.
Psalm 119:33-40 NASB
33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes,
And I shall observe it to the end.
34 Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law
And keep it with all my heart.
35 Make me walk in the path of Your commandments,
For I delight in it.
36 Incline my heart to Your testimonies
And not to dishonest gain.
37 Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity,
And revive me in Your ways.
38 Establish Your word to Your servant,
As that which produces reverence for You.
39 Turn away my reproach which I dread,
For Your ordinances are good.
40 Behold, I long for Your precepts;
Revive me through Your righteousness.
Revive Our Hearts, I Pray
Words are only words if they
are not followed up with action. God knows our hearts, and he knows if we are
merely mouthing words of repentance and commitment to him, or if we are truly
sincere about changing. So, don’t say it if you don’t mean it. It is an offense
to God if all we do is talk, but we don’t follow our talk with action. If we
truly want God to teach us His ways, then we need to follow him in obedience
when he tells us what to do.
If we want understanding and
wisdom from God to guide us, then we need to be willing to follow him when he
says to “go” or to “do” or to “say,” and not bulk at the idea of having to do
something we don’t want to do, and thus we resist him, instead of resisting
Satan. For, if we do that, then we are double-minded, unstable in all our ways,
for we are not really willing to follow our Lord in obedience. We just say we
are, because it sounds good.
I hear so many people say
that they pray for God to deliver them from sexual sin, for example, but then
they are not willing to make the necessary cuts to free themselves from their
sexual idolatry. They hold on to what they want and then they wonder why God
has not delivered them. They continue watching sexually-charged movies and TV
shows, and then wonder why they still struggle with lust. Or, they keep their
private internet access, and they go to sites which they know have led them
down the wrong path before, and then they act surprised when they fail, again,
and again, and again.
We can’t play with fire and
expect not to get burned! So, if we truly want God’s help, and if we honestly
want deliverance and to no longer keep “struggling” with addiction or sinful
practices, then we have to mean business with God! And, we have to throw off
all those weights which hinder our walks of faith and those sins which so
easily entangle us so we can run the race God has marked out for us with perseverance.
But, the choice is ours. We
can continue to resist God and to follow the flesh, or we can choose to resist
Satan and flee our fleshly desires. If we want God’s help, then we need to do
what he tells us to do. And, he will give us all that we need to do it, too, if
we yield control of our lives over to him.
Teach Me, Lord
An Original Work / June 12, 2011
Teach me, Lord, to walk in Your ways,
And observe all You command.
May I ever hasten to You,
And desire to not offend.
Teach me how to follow Your steps,
Gently guiding me each day.
May I love and serve You always,
Loving others, this I pray.
Teach me, Lord, to listen to You
Speaking Your words to my heart.
May I never stray from Your truth,
And from Your law ne’er depart.
Teach me how to instruct others
In the way that we should go,
Leading them by my life witness,
So that Jesus they should know.
Teach me, Lord, to be a light in
This dark world of grief and sin.
May I always care for others;
Share their burdens; help to mend.
Teach me how to share with them that
Jesus came to set them free,
So that they could be forgiven;
Live with Christ eternally.
Wednesday, July 18, 2018 –
Lord, help all of us to desire you above all else and to walk in your ways and
in your truth and in integrity of heart. Amen!
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