Prepare your heart
I was not going to Blog this morning - too many other tasks waiting to be done . . . but the Lord has other plans and one of the lessons I am working on learning is to trust HIS plan over what I think *needs* to be done. Then again - maybe I'm just allowing myself to get distracted? Either way, here I am :-)
I was committed to having at least a brief devotional time so said a little prayer and then tried to figure out where to read. Normally I try to read something from the previous week's sermon or read ahead for the next Sunday's sermon. Last week and next week, however, we have guest speakers - so we are off our normal path and, therefore, reading ahead was not an option. The theme for these two Sundays is "Voices" . . . so that gives no clue as to what to study. That leaves me with retrospective reading from the previous week's sermon - which was truly excellent, so I grabbed my bulletin notes and noted the passage - 2 Tim 3:4 thru 4:8 - and I began to flip there. As I hit Luke, an underlined section caught my eye and I noticed the word "voice" in the passage. I was immediately drawn to it and abandoned 2 Tim to read Luke 3:4 and then the passage context of verses 1-20.
I kept coming back in my mind and heart to the key phrase in this passage, "Prepare the way of the Lord" which has a handwritten note by it, "Prepare your heart".
Something the Lord has been dealing with me a LOT on lately has been my need to prepare my heart. I won't list my sins here, just suffice to say that, with recent changes in our lives and amazing opportunities to see dreams come true (if we will put the work in), I've discovered I still have a heart of "self" sufficiency. In Proverbs we are told, "The wise woman builds her house,But the foolish tears it down with her own hands." (14:1). I am convinced that if my heart is not right with the Lord in the things He has shown me, I will only be tearing down that which I believe we have been called to build.
So, as the "voice" of John called people to repentance unto salvation - preparing their hearts by living lives of integrity (v 10-14) - I urge you, like me, to examine your heart and see if your way is straight. Where you see flaws, submit them to the Lord and endeavor each day to live with greater integrity and greater commitment to bringing honor and glory to the name of Christ.
I was committed to having at least a brief devotional time so said a little prayer and then tried to figure out where to read. Normally I try to read something from the previous week's sermon or read ahead for the next Sunday's sermon. Last week and next week, however, we have guest speakers - so we are off our normal path and, therefore, reading ahead was not an option. The theme for these two Sundays is "Voices" . . . so that gives no clue as to what to study. That leaves me with retrospective reading from the previous week's sermon - which was truly excellent, so I grabbed my bulletin notes and noted the passage - 2 Tim 3:4 thru 4:8 - and I began to flip there. As I hit Luke, an underlined section caught my eye and I noticed the word "voice" in the passage. I was immediately drawn to it and abandoned 2 Tim to read Luke 3:4 and then the passage context of verses 1-20.
I kept coming back in my mind and heart to the key phrase in this passage, "Prepare the way of the Lord" which has a handwritten note by it, "Prepare your heart".
Something the Lord has been dealing with me a LOT on lately has been my need to prepare my heart. I won't list my sins here, just suffice to say that, with recent changes in our lives and amazing opportunities to see dreams come true (if we will put the work in), I've discovered I still have a heart of "self" sufficiency. In Proverbs we are told, "The wise woman builds her house,But the foolish tears it down with her own hands." (14:1). I am convinced that if my heart is not right with the Lord in the things He has shown me, I will only be tearing down that which I believe we have been called to build.
So, as the "voice" of John called people to repentance unto salvation - preparing their hearts by living lives of integrity (v 10-14) - I urge you, like me, to examine your heart and see if your way is straight. Where you see flaws, submit them to the Lord and endeavor each day to live with greater integrity and greater commitment to bringing honor and glory to the name of Christ.
posted by Eowyn7 | 7:47 AM
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