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Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Listen


For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 4:7-8, NIV).

My child,” He speaks to you and to me. “Please listen. What you do speaks louder than what you say. You say one thing and do another. My Word calls for honesty and integrity in all areas of your life. When your witness does not support what you say is true, then you make my sacrifice worthless. It breaks my heart just as my body was broken for you. You have rationalized your actions until you no longer hear my voice. I wait for you to hear. I long for you to hear. Give up the past ways that have defined you. Give up the things in your life that destroy you. Don't get to the place where you have made so many excuses that you no longer feel my conviction. I want you to see that what you do does not support the faith you speak of so casually. I am not casual. I am life, and I wait for you to return to me. You cannot correct or rebuke or encourage someone else with patience and careful instruction if what you say is not realized in your own life. Live your life filled with my Word, and allow that Word to accomplish what it was sent to accomplish-new life in me.” 

Sometimes God sends someone into my life and into yours to help us realize that we have failed Him . When Nathan confronted David about his sin, David's heart immediately broke when he realized that his actions had broken God's heart. “Create in me a pure heart, O God,” he cried, “and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Psalm 51:7-8, NIV). If there is something in my life that keeps me from being all God desires, I want to know it. If there is something that would drive His presence out of my life, I yearn for it to be gone. If I reject His instruction, I reject Him. I want to have a heart that immediately receives His instruction, repents, and moves forward in His forgiveness and amazing love.

The moment that I believe that my life is perfect is the moment I no longer grow spiritually. The moment I believe I have arrived is the moment that I have failed. The moment that He becomes casual to me is the moment when His sacrifice is cheapened. The moment I refuse His instruction is the moment I lose His presence. Today I give Him my life again. I lay all on His altar. I long only to hear His voice.

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