Not My Own

I am not my own!

I am His alone!

With His blood He bought me

So now I can believe.

A new heart I have.

Given! Not one that I had.

He knew me from the beginning

Before even time began.

A heart made whole

To serve only Him again.

What is it in me that pulls me away?

This body of death, full of decay!

This heart longs to serve, please, and obey.

But this flesh.. constant in pulling away.

What can the Potter make of this clay?

Can I be molded with sin in the way?

When will I be free?

Carried away to be with Thee?

O what a day that will be!

You called my name!

Dispite my sin and shame.

Your wheel spins round. 

Steadily your hands make my shape found!

What a sculptor you are!

Patient as can be!

Somewhere in there is what you did see!

Help me to be still.

Allowing the shaping to be fulfilled.

Let this heart you gave me sing to you still!

Alone I am not. You promised to me.

Trust and obey is truly the key!

For I am yours, help me not forget,

It was your blood that paid my debt!

I belong to you now. Though I always have.

I just didn't know until my new heart began!

What a gift, what joy!

To be molded by you.

May your hands find in me

The heart that beats for thee!

What was lost, you have found.

May your praise abound!

Forever with thee,

What a joy that will be!

Posture Reveals the Hearts Condition!

Psalms 51:14a (KJV)

Have mercy upon me, O God,

according to thy lovingkindness:
according unto the multitude of thy tender

mercies blot out my transgressions.
Wash me throughly from mine iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I acknowledge my transgressions:
and my sin is ever before me.
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,
and done this evil in thy sight:

How many times will it be? When will it ever end? Why is it like this daily?

Will a day ever come when failure is not the norm?

In shame, I cover my head and hide my face. But in grace I am lifted up!
The world knocks me down, tramples me under foot. But the Lord picks me up!
Life attacks, distracts, and pulls me away. But the Lord calls me home to a place of safety!

If you're like me, those questions arise often. Even daily. Failure just seems to be ever present.

So what do we do in these times, when the mind is pulled down in failure? Where do we go for help?

Kind David had it right in this verse. Go right to our God! Our ever present help! Our place of refuge. A safe place. But why is it so hard to call out? Why don't we reach for Him all the time, every time? Why do we have to fail first, be convicted of sin, and then come home? Unfortunately, it is in our sinful nature. Deep down in the core of our hearts. A place the Lord can see. A place we try to hide.

But like David in these verses, I am on my knees pleading with my Savior to have mercy upon me!

The nature to run may be present, but there is something else deep in my heart. A Light that cannot be put out. I know deep down in my heart that there is healing for my soul. Redemption in eternity through Jesus Christ! He is that Light deep in my heart. He has given me the desire to serve Him. He has given me the desire to learn more of His great Word! He has planted grace and forgiveness in me and has taken my place of punishment. He has restored me unto the Father. So now life is not hopeless. Yes, I will fail. But my Savior has given me a new home and a new heart. Now my desire is to know Him, come to Him in everything, and trust Him to complete His good work in me.

Do you hate sin? Do you desire to learn more about Christ? Do you want to know His Word? Is there a deep rooted desire to be in His glorious presence? These are desires of one who knows their Savior. Jesus Christ is the answer! He answers all the questions.. Yes, this life of failure will end, when He calls us home. It's like this today so we are reminded to be humble and to come to Him for all our needs. And yes! The day is coming when we will serve Him in perfection. When He comes, He will be praised by a redeemed people, a people made perfect. These people, washed in the blood of the Lamb will never see darkness or night. These people will never hunger, thirst, fear, fail, or die! Our forgiving God will be with us forever! And we shall know perfect peace!

Patience, Love, and Forgiveness! ( 5 )

1 Timothy 6:11 (KJV)
But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

Today, I am very excited, we get to the one word of three that has been laid on my heart to look into, Patience.
The dictionary defines patience as: "the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset."
Again the Strong's Concordance defines it in more detail as: "cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy: — enduring, continuance (waiting)." Some adverbs would include; enduring, patient continuance, patient waiting, steadfastness, constancy, endurance. In the New Testament definition it tells us it is the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings.
So it's safe to say that a person who is patient will endure what comes and will not compromise from the Lord's purpose. They will have faith and their character will mirror our Lord's character of love and reliance on the Spirit for power and always working to accomplish the Father's will no matter the obstacle. Someone that keeps truckin along no matter what.
If we truly look at our lives, I believe we will find an area that we don't endure like we should. An area where our response to trouble isn't quite up to par. So let's commit to stand firm, not allowing our responses to people or trouble to dictate our responses. Let's allow the Spirit to work a good work in our hearts so that we can stand for what is right and teach others how we are to live our lives. May we strive to be more like our Savior who is unwaveringly patient with us as we fail, and is faithful to pick us up again and again, showing us what is right and in line with the Father's will, and through it all, never giving up on us!
Next time we will look at meekness. A word that can easily be miss-understood or thought of incorrectly. And then we will recap the verse and see one very important take home of us all! Very exciting!