Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Mid-Week Message - Create in Me a Clean Heart

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, 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 51:10-12 (NIV)

One of the choruses we sang at Dallas Christian College reflected these verses.  It has been one of my favorites since I learned it.  I find it very touching and a way to express to the Lord my desire to have a heart, and a life, that is acceptable and pleasing to Him.  

The idea of having a clean heart catches my attention because I get so exhausted wading through the muck that I encounter in everyday life.  Everything vies for our attention.  This world is moving at such a fast pace that we spend most of our time just trying to stay caught up.  From the time we open our eyes in the morning until the time we shut them at night, almost every moment is filled with earthly concerns.  Bills need to be paid.  The boss is in a bad mood.  The children have lessons and activities to get to.  The spouse is too busy to help out.  The doctor says it's time for a check-up and the car needs service.  On and on it goes until we drop onto our bed, look at the clock and count the hours we have for sleep then try as hard as we can to fall off to sleep before it gets any later.

Every moment is spoken for.  Our hearts are overwhelmed.  As long as we allow it to go on, it will.  But there is something we can do.  We can carve out some time to be quiet and sit in the presence of the Lord.  Even if it is just five minutes, that is five minutes of our day and a section of our hearts set aside for Him and Him only.  During that time we allow Him to cleanse us from the inside out and to prepare us for the day.  If we are diligent about keeping this daily appointment, then pretty soon we find ourselves spending ten or fifteen minutes at a time.  And we find that the concerns of the world start to pale when compared to our growing relationship with the great I AM.  

Life will continue to include the same elements.  We will still have to contend with responsibilities and the expectations of others.  It is our perspective that will change.  The fruits of the Spirit will be more evident in our lives and how we view each day will change.  Joy will be more abundant.  Patience will steadily grow.  Love will be more readily given and peace, the peace that passes understanding, will be experienced more often.  We cannot change someone else's heart, but Praise God we can allow Him to change ours.  

Another thing that will be new is that we will need to become very protective of our time with the Lord.  As it becomes the foundation of each day, we will find that we will need to guard it because we have an enemy that will stop at nothing to steal it away.  The last thing he wants to see is a flourishing relationship with Jesus. But remember, he is a liar and a deceiver.   We will have to stay alert and realize that it will happen so that we can see it for what it is.

As we go through this week, I want to urge everyone to just set aside five minutes per day for Him.  However you choose to spend it, through prayer, time in the Bible or meditating on the scripture you have saved up in your heart and mind, treasure it.  You are the apple of His eye and if you were the only one on earth that needed the redemption brought by Jesus, He still would have chosen to die on the cross.  Surely we can set aside just a few moments to show Him that He is important to us too.  God bless you.

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