Clean Hearts

25 Feb 2009
Luann Prater

"It is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean'." Mark 7:15b (NIV)

Most women dislike feeling unclean. We prefer to shower, perfume and powder! But it takes more than dirt to make a heart unclean, and it takes much more than perfume to make it pure.
Jesus told the people, "What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean'" (Mark 7:15b-23, NIV).

Whew! That is some list of issues! But why did Jesus take the time to name each one of those evils? We know that not one word in the Bible is wasted, so there is pur pose behind the Savior spelling out each one to this crowd. Maybe there were folks in the crowd who looked good on the outside, but their hearts were unclean.

It is easy to understand why the Lord would mention the so-called "big sins" like murder, adultery, or theft making us unclean. But Jesus lumped in some seemingly "small sins" like arrogance, envy and greed too. Those are sins we often cover over with some perfume and powder.

The dictionary describes arrogance as "an offensive display of superiority or self-importance; or overbearing pride." At first glance, we may think that doesn't apply to us. But if we let the Holy Spirit shine His search light on our heart, we may find times when we have thought, Well, at least I'm not THAT bad, or, It's amazing her kids turned out as good as they did.

Envy is pretty sly at hiding in our hearts as well. It is the feeling of discontent with regards to another's advantages, success or possessions. Does your friend have a new car, a new flat screen TV, or a nicer home? And does that make you look at her or at your possessions with disdain? If so, that's envy. Ouch!

Then there is greed, the excessive desire for wealth or possessions. Maybe we don't think we are excessive in our desire for things, but how much time do we spend trying to make more money? How stingy are we with what we have? Compared to what most nations have, we live in abundance, and yet we seem to have one eye forever focused on getting more.

What would it look like to take those three definitions and clean them up?
• Un-arrogance – a gracious display of selflessness
• Un-envy – being completely content with all of my blessings
• Un-greed – an excessive desire for God and His righteousness

That sounds like a clean heart to me! So today I challenge myself with the words Jesus spoke, "It is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.'" Today, I will set my m ind to being un-arrogant, un-envious and un-greedy. Yes, today I want to live with a clean heart.

Dear Lord, thank You for shining Your light on my heart so I can see where it is unclean. Illuminate those sins that I dirty myself with and cleanse me from the inside out. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road, Matthews, NC 28105
877-P31-HOME (877-731-4663)

The Love of The Father

24 Feb 2009
Wendy Pope

"For the Lord corrects and disciplines everyone whom He loves, and He punishes, even scourges, every son whom He accepts and welcomes to His heart and cherishes." Hebrew 12:6 (AMP)

"This hurts me more than it hurts you." These were the exact words my mother and father used before they disciplined me. Have you ever heard these words? Have you ever said these words?
As a child it was hard to understand how my parent's correction and discipline could hurt them more than it hurt me. After all, I was the one on the receiving end of the pain and suffering! I had many mental conversations with myself on this very subject. How can they say that when I am the one confined to my room for the week?

Growing up I thought I would only use positive reinforcement as disciplinary tools to raise my children into civilized, well-behaved members of society. My plan worked perfectly until I actually had children. Then I begin to re-think my mindset and seek the counsel of the Word as my guide for disciplining my children, as well as for receiving my own discipline from the Lord.

As a young mother correcting her children, my heart began to understand the Father's correction. It helped that I had already made the decision to allow God to be the Lord of my life. I was surrendered to His leadership in my life. Surrender meant accepting and submitting. Accepting His unconditional love and undeserved grace for my sin and submitting to His correction and discipline in my life. Trusting Him to use His Word to shape me into the person He wanted me to be. I was and I am today the object of His great love.

The Lord's correction and discipline is given to everyone He loves, accepts, and cherishes in His heart. According to Ephesians 1:5, through Jesus Christ we are adopted as sons of God. Therefore, as His children we are entitled to His great love and His loving hand of discipline.

Admittedly, it took me some time to willingly submit to the correction and discipline of the Lord. At times, the process was painful and difficult, asking me to give up things I took pleasure in. When I obeyed though, I always saw a positive result. Two truths came to life: discipline is good, and discipline is necessary to help me become like Christ.

I felt His great love as God would tell me, "No honey, don't watch that show anymore" or "Wendy, that relationship is not really beneficial to you. It would be in your best interest to break away from it." When I submitted to the discipline, I could see that He really loved me and wanted what was best for me.

As a young mother, I began to understand how giving the discipline really does hurt more than receiving the discipline. How? Because of the love. The giver loves so deep and in a way the receiver cannot understand until the discipline is accepted and applied, and the receiver matures. Eventually, the one receiving the discipline and correction realizes that discipline brings what he or she has always longed for: security, comfort, and peace.

The next time you need to accept discipline, remember the love of the Father who uses correction to shape you into the person He has designed you to be.

Dear Lord, help me to accept and apply Your loving discipline to my life. Thank You for loving me enough not to overlook my faults. You want me to be all that You have planned. Forgive me when I stubbornly stand in the way of the work of Your great love. It warms my heart to know that You accept and cherish me in Your heart, even enough to discipline me when I need it. In Jesus' Name, Amen

Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road, Matthews, NC 28105
877-P31-HOME (877-731-4663)

A soft answer turned away wrath.....

Pause Before Reacting
19 Feb 2009
Lysa TerKeurst

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1 (NIV)

A few years ago, Art and I hit a rough place financially. Some investments we'd made went bad and we lost nearly our entire life savings. I was knee deep in 3 small children at the time and hadn't a clue that financial danger was looming on the horizon.

That is until Art came home one day and the look on his face spoke of utter defeat. How could we have lost so much? He'd been wise with our finances. He'd done his research. He was a faithful saver. I stood stunned in our foyer that day, as Art told me the news.

There were many different directions my reaction could have gone in the minutes that followed. I was upset. When Art first talked of mak ing these particular investments, I shared with him that I didn't have a good feeling about it. But, in the end, I let him make the final decision.

So many times in my marriage, I've chosen the wrong words - words that were tainted with bitterness, words that were emotionally toxic. But I'm so thankful the Lord had been working on preparing my heart for this moment and instead of reacting immediately with what would have been a disastrous response, I paused. I allowed the Holy Spirit a few seconds to interrupt my natural flesh feelings.

Then, because of God's Spirit working in me, I was able to wrap my arms around my husband and speak life-giving words into his weary heart. "I love you Art. I loved you yesterday when we had everything. I love you today when we have nothing. I love you for who you are, not what you have."

A few years later, Art and I were on Dr. Dobson's Focus on the Family radio program. On the show Art was asked, "I know you and Lysa had a r ough start to your marriage. But what happened that made you know you'd stick by her forever, no matter what?"

Without hesitation, Art recounted my reaction over the lost investments.

I cried.

Had I been left to my own flesh reaction that day, it could have set us on the road to marital disaster. But, because of God's response being stored up in me, this situation wound up bringing us closer together than we'd ever been.

I realized how crucial it is to always be aware of God's preparation in our lives. Because He stands in our yesterday, today and tomorrow, He sees all. And He knows the perfect way to prepare our hearts for every situation.

When we embrace His preparations, even a girl with firecrackers in her blood like me can have reactions that honor God and breathe life into relationships.

The Whitening Process

The Whitening Process
20 Feb 2009
Marybeth Whalen

"Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow." Psalm 51:7 (NIV)

When my dental hygienist of a mom gave me a free whitening kit from her dentist's office, I was elated. The cost of the whitening treatment had been far too expensive for me in the past, so I had never pursued it. But free I could do! Unfortunately, I quickly discovered this whole teeth whitening thing wasn't the blissful experience I had anticipated. It was far more painful and complicated than I understood when I began. As I thought about this, I realized it was a parallel to the Christian life.

Whitening is painful. The chemicals they use in the bleaching process can cause pain. The nerves under the gum-line that are expose d to these chemicals can really hurt, making things you used to do without thinking—like eating, for example—impossible. I thought about how this applies to God's process of making us white as snow, as today's verse says. We want that process to be quick and easy. We don't want Him to make things we used to do to become painful or unpleasant. And yet, by exposing those nerves—the stuff we keep hidden under the surface—we are forced to change things about ourselves. We don't want the pain, and yet sometimes pain is the only thing that will cause the change God wants to bring about in us.

Whitening takes a long time. I was asking my mom why they don't just make a product that works in one application. Why does this process have to be so drawn out? "Because," she answered, "The chemicals are so harsh you couldn't take it all in one application, so they break it up a little at a time." I thought about how gentle and loving our Heavenly F ather is, allowing us to go through a process of refinement, instead of being exposed to more than we can take all at once. He leads us along the path of righteousness – a journey. He never gives us more than we can take, balancing just the right amount of pain mixed with just the right amount of perfectly timed relief. It might take longer than we want, but we can find peace in knowing that the end-result will be worth waiting for.

Whitening isn't convenient. I couldn't find an ideal time to submit myself to this process. Finding three hours to wear a tray full of chemicals in my mouth just wasn't happening. The refiner's fire is like this. It is never convenient and it certainly won't fit into your neatly ordered life to develop the character of Christ. And if you wait until you are "ready" to submit to it with your whole heart, well, it likely will never get done. God wants us to come before Him and say, "I will make the time to undergo what You hav e for me, because I want to be all I can for You, Lord." When He hears this from us, He moves within our lives to bring about dazzling change.

God's whitening process—it might not be easy, or tidy, or even close to what we expected, but we can trust it will be for the best.

Dear Lord, the cry of David's heart is the cry of my heart: I want You to cleanse me, to make me whiter than snow. I understand that pain, discomfort and inconvenience will be part of that process. Help me to submit to that process every step of the way and to trust You at all times. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Happy Birthday

Today is my wonderful Husband's 27th Birthday! I want to wish him a happy birthday. I'm so glad that God has blessed him thus far with a healthy life and 27 years of living. Yesterday, was our "dating" anniversary (yes, we still celebrate it after all of these years!) We have been together for 9 years!!! I am so thankful God brought him into my life and gave me an awesome husband. I could not have asked for a better guy! :)
Alexis and I celebrated all day with him. We gave him is favorite energy drink early this morning. We made him a card. Then we took him to lunch - Ruby Tuesday's!!! We had a fun filled day with our favorite guy! :)

Prayer

I think it is very important for your children to see you pray. I know the Bible speaks about getting alone in a quite place to pray, and I know you need that as well. But, if our children do not see us pray as "mothers" then how will they learn to pray themselves? Allowing your children to see you and even be apart of your daily prayer time with God, teaches them how to have a daily prayer life with the Heavenly Father as well. I do not believe any age is too young to pray. I usually tell Alexis that mommy is going to pray, and she likes to come into the room with me. At times, she kneels beside me and says, " I wanna pay.." So, I cuddle her to me and begin to pray my prayer list out loud. When she gets bored she moves and goes to play while I begin to pray silently again. But, she looks so precious when she folds her hands and closes her eyes. I just had to snap a picture of it the other day. It is the most precious thing I have ever seen and I want to hold this picture dear to my heart -always. I thank God for children!!

Worry Free....

I have been watching the news all around me. Reading the interent insurps, as everyone waits for the "Stimulus Bill" to be passed. The Bill makes me very worried and concerned. I know it will only make our country worse - not better. Everyone is saying, "get out of debt and have a cash reserve". But, not all of us can just instantly pay off debt much less have a huge cash reserve! So, what would we do? I know worry does not come from God - 1 Timothy 1:7 - so, I asked God to give me peace during my devotions the other day. This is what He gave me. "Fearful is our danger, but joyful is our security. The man whom God upholds, devils can not throw down." Isaiah 41.10, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." Zechariah 13:9, "And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they sahll call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God." He also told me, "The fire ONLY refines, it does not destroy. We are to be brought through the fire not left in it. If we are wise, we shall rather welcome the refining process than decline it." It brought peace to my heart to know that I only need to Trust Him for my needs. That He will take care of me. He also showed me to bring all of my perplexities and concerns to Him. Psalms 32:8