Lies and Liars
We all know that we are in a world full of lies and liars. It's easy to see all the lying that is going on in the political struggles for control of countries and consumers. We find ourselves feeling angry and suspicious when smiling people do their best to take advantage of us, and angry and resentful when angry people try to bully us into submission to their self centered plans.
Sadly, we are often surprised to find these sinful patterns controlling the people around us who call themselves our Christian brothers and sisters. God's real children don't act that way, do they? Well, do God's children here on earth still have human hearts?
Jeremiah spoke for God when he said, The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?�(Jer. 17:9) We know that to be true in the world around us, but do we understand the importance of understanding this truth when we relate to the heaven bound family around us? Have we been taken in by sincere promises that when we give our hearts to Jesus, our hearts become clean and holy and now sin has lost it's control over us.
It was a real shock for me when I discovered that the people in my church and the people in my family and the folks who had wonderful reputations for being leading Christians around me were still struggling with sin and its nasty consequences. Sometimes they did things to me and to the folks around me that the Lord clearly identified as wrong for God's kids to be doing.
David understood this and asked, "How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart"? He didn't, I don't and you don't either. I have been in God's family since I was eight years old, and I am still discovering the sins that have been hidden there for all these years. I have to ask the Lord to show me what sinful behaviors need dealing with now, and then ask him to cleanse me from these now revealed sins.
As David pointed out, deliberate sins need to be identified and dealt with or God will hold me responsible for deliberate rebellion. God will show us our hidden sins at the right time and when we determine to deal with them with the power supplied by the Holy Spirit, we will find that the words of our mouths and the thoughts bubbling up from our hearts will please our Lord and Savior.
Dear Lord, please keep working on our hearts so that we will draw others to our Rock and our Redeemer.
Psalm 19:12... How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. 13 Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don't let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin. 14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
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Rob Wisner's Monday Morning Minute
