The Big Picture

You have heard it said I'm sure, "good in, good out...?" I think the Lord is trying to communicate something important to me about what lies within my heart. At the heart of every men is evil...we are by nature this way, and God knows it. I am gravely aware of the sin that lives in my heart, and although my lips may something kind, my heart can be feeling quite differently. My motives are key. And the only way my motives are going to be pure is if I am powered daily in my every move by the truth of Christ, and respect/fear of God. If I don't respect God or fear Him, it wouldn't really matter to me then if my heart was junk. What does it matter if no-one will ever see it? Turns out, it matters greatly. In fact, it's the only thing that matters.
Earlier this week the Lord gave me this verse..."For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks..." Matthew 12:34
When I first received this verse I thought, "Now that's a good verse to remember," and I went on my way...today as God gave me this verse from a completely different source I stopped, and took notice. Perhaps God is trying to tell me something regarding the state my heart is in. I know that I am selfish, that I am prideful, that I am concerned with myself more than others most of the time, and those things are gross. They are not things that I want to have residing anywhere in me, but there they are...all ugly and in their glory of sin.
My heart feels black many days...but here's the big picture:
While we were yet sinners Christ died for us..." and therefore, wouldn't it make sense that He would also extend us a hand of not only forgiveness but also a way out of our depraved state...? The answer is yes. He speaks to us through His word, as we read it, we are impacted, convicted and hopefully led to a state of repentance. I see things differently when I have an honest fear, trust and understanding that God is doing whats best for me. (Even if it's hard, because real change usually is!)
It's similar to the way that we discipline our children, we warn them, whack them on the bottom, tell them we love them, and wait for their naughty behavior to change...
But if we never talk to them about what they did wrong, and why it was wrong, their actions would most likely repeat themselves in the very near future....If we don't understand why the ugly in our hearts is ugly, then we most likely won't be terribly influenced to change permanently... Once the sting of the spank has worn off, we will once again return the thing that got us our spank in the beginning...
I don't want to repeat that vicious cycle, it hurts, their is no peace there, not to mention that I am not content always thinking and doing what is naughty in His eyes.
I want to correct my behavior for the right reasons. God does not want a bunch of zombies walking around only being obedient out of fear...He wants us to be obedient because we love Him and we respect His plans for us so greatly that we want even the motives of heart that no one else can see, to be pure. That's what I want for myself. I want my motives to be pure regardless if anyone will ever know it. (other than God) There is a level of excellence that is available to me from He who created me....I can be good for His glory, or I can be excellent for His glory...
It's like how we are with our children, it's nice that they throw the comforter on their bed to try and make it, but wouldn't we rather that they tighten the sheets nicely, and neatly fold the covers back so that their bed looks perfect?
God knows we are not perfect...but we also can leap to a level of excellence, fueled by the strength of Christ and the desire to have our motives and hearts pure, all for the glory of God. Their is a bigger thing going on here my friends, it's not just about making it through the day, it's about pleasing Him in ALL our actions, ALL our thoughts, (understanding we will fall at times) and knowing we are able to do this only in His great strength. That takes all the pressure off "trying harder" as well, because in and of itself, we can no more please God than we can spread out our arms and fly, but in His strength, we CAN do all things. Isn't that encouraging???? May today be a day of excellence!!!