Jesus. This guy is so good to me. Even when I don’t deserve it. His grace washes over me. And I am dumbfounded at how he continues to love me through my disobedience, through my stubbornness, through my struggles. I don’t deserve it. For about 2 months God has really thrown verses at me about examining my heart.
- “Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts...Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” ~Psalm 51:6, 10
- “O Lord, You have searched me and known me...For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether...Where can I go from Your Spirit? O where can I flee from Your presence?...For You formed my inwards parts...Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxieties…” ~Psalm 139:1,4,7, 13, 23
- “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” ~Hebrews 4:12
- “...I am He who searches the minds and hearts.” ~Revelations 2:23
- “...for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought.” ~1 Chronicles 28:9
- “Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the Lord…” ~Lamentations 3:40
- “Come and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn but He will heal us...Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain.” ~Hosea 6:1,3
- “So you, by the help of your God, return; Observe mercy and justice, and wait on your God continually.” ~Hosea 12:6
So now I have to be obedient with the next step He has given me, and He has made that step abundantly clear. I have been reading in Genesis lately, and though I have read these stories before, I have been a little mindblown at their obedience. Like when Abraham took his son, Isaac, to the land of Moriah, because the Lord told him to offer Isaac as a burnt offering. Abraham obeyed the Lord completely and God saw that and told him not to lay a hand on Isaac, because He saw that Abraham feared Him. God applauded Abraham’s complete trust in Him. How many of us would be able to saw with an honest heart that they’d do this? Or when Abraham’s servant went to find a bride for Isaac. Rebekah, the bride to be, completely trusted and left her home; even her brother and father recognized the work of God and they responded graciously and immediately, letting Rebekah go. And let’s not forget that I do not have a Savior unable to sympathize my weaknesses. “He learned obedience by things which He suffered.” ~Hebrews 5:8 He knows how difficult it is to obey God completely. He overcame by humble obedience.
Learned Truth: With obedience comes trust, and with trust comes surrender.
Mercy mercy
Bring me to my knees
As the morning
Calls to light the dark in me