In the Everlasting Way

“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!” (Psalms 139:23-24 ESV)

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.” (Psalms 139:23-24 NASB 1977)

Now the Lord Jesus knows our hearts, so this searching is not for his benefit, but for ours. And why do we need this? Well, for many reasons. Take for example that you are feeling anxious and worried about something, and it is tearing you up inside, and it is ruining your life and your witness for the Lord Jesus, and it is stealing you of your joy. But you don’t know where all this fear is coming from, and so you ask the Lord to search your heart.

Or you might be finding yourself having a bad attitude, and that attitude keeps roaring its ugly head, but you don’t know where that attitude is coming from, and so you ask the Lord to search your heart. Why? Because it is from the heart that good and evil come. It is from the heart that come hate and unforgiveness and idolatry and adultery and the like. For what is stored up in our hearts comes out in our attitudes and in our behaviors.

Or you said something to someone that was unkind, or you are having bad thoughts, or you are feeling rebellious, or you are feeling like quitting or running away from it all, or whatever the thought or attitude or words or actions might be that may be troubling you and so you wonder why these things are happening. And so you ask the Lord to search your heart and to show you those things so that you can be led in the everlasting way.

For when we have those things stored up in our hearts from whatever cause it might be, they can be troublesome to us and sometimes we may not even realize what is there stored up in our hearts which is causing all this angst. And sometimes it is because we made little compromises here and there to where we became desensitized to what all we were taking in, or we thought we believed one way but our actions ended up speaking the opposite.

And our hearts (not our physical hearts) are the core of who we are, our nature, our personalities, our way of thinking, our talents, our gifts, and everything that makes us who we are in character and in word and in deed. And stuff gets stored inside our minds and hearts sometimes without us being aware of that happening, or maybe a long while ago and so we forgot about it, but the memories are still there, inside the core of who we are.

And these things that get stored in our hearts can impact our thinking, believing, attitudes, words, and actions. So we need to periodically ask the Lord to do a heart examination, especially if we are being troubled in our minds over something, or if we find ourselves being drawn to particular sinful behaviors, or if we have rotten attitudes, etc. For the Lord knows what is inside of us even if we are not consciously aware of such ourselves.

Then, when he reveals to us what is there then we need to cooperate with the Lord in getting those wrong things out of our hearts so that we don’t end up doing or saying things we should not do or say because of what is stored up in our hearts that is inclining us in that wrong direction. Such as pride will keep a lot of people from submission to Christ. And envy may keep them from forgiving others. And bitterness may keep them from true repentance.

But when we choose to relinquish these things to the Lord and to let them go and to forgive and to love others, even those who hate and mistreat us, and when we choose to accept God’s sovereignty over our lives and that he allowed certain things in our lives for his purposes, and so we let go of resentment and bitterness, then that frees us to obey our Lord and to do his will despite our circumstances and despite what other people do to us.

And then he can and he will lead us in the way everlasting. And the everlasting way is the way of holiness, godliness, righteousness, moral purity, uprightness, honesty, integrity, faithfulness, and obedience to our Lord and to his commandments (New Covenant). And we will desire His will, even if it means being hated and persecuted and mistreated and rejected, because we know that God will use it to make us who we are to be, all for the glory and praise of God who called us according to his purpose.

[Ps 139:13-16; Rom 1:6-7; Rom 8:8,28-29; 1 Co 1:9; 1 Co 12:1-31; 2 Co 5:9; Gal 5:13; Gal 6:8; Eph 1:3-4; Eph 5:10; Col 1:9-11; 1 Thess 4:1,7; 2 Tim 1:8-9; 1 Thess 2:4; 2 Tim 2:4; Heb 11:6; Heb 13:6; 1 Pet 1:14-16; 1 Pet 2:9; 2 Pet 1:3; 1 John 3:22]   

Video Talk

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The Spirit Calling

An Original Work / November 12, 2019

Hear the Spirit calling.

He’ll keep you from falling.

Tenderly He’s calling,

“Come and follow Him.”

Walk with Jesus daily.

Don’t give in to lazy.

Folks may call you crazy.

Fellowship with Him.

Follow where He leads you.

Eat what Jesus feeds you.

His love will renew you

If you follow Him.

Do what Jesus tells you.

Don’t let your faith fail you.

His love will avail you

If you walk with Him.

Jesus, Lord and Savior,

Reigneth now forever.

He gave us His favor

So we’d live with Him.

Turning now from our sin,

Holy Spirit live-in.

Holiness we walk in,

Purified by Him.

https://vimeo.com/373006449