A Clean Heart and A Right Spirit

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." - (Psalm 51:10 KJV)

 

Happy Fantastic Friday!!!

 

A clean heart. A right spirit. A better me.

 

Yep, I strongly desire of being a woman after God's own heart; the way David was a man after God's own heart. And you want to know why? It's because when we continually humble ourselves before the Lord, we acknowledge our infirmities, realizing we can't "clean" ours hearts on our own. We need God’s help.

 

I know most people don't want to talk about this, but how can we live a successful life if we're not being honest with ourselves, and most of all: with God?

 

I’m speaking to those who long to draw nearer to God and learn everything about who He is and how He graciously deals with us.

 

I never really like the phrase: "Fake it until you make it." There's something very erroneous about that statement. It's applauding hypocrisy and discouraging honesty. But that's just me.

 

I want to explore with you what the Lord has put in my spirit to share with you because He desires for His People to constantly stay clean with Him. Before we jump to conclusions, I'm being clear that staying clean is not associated with staying perfect. Period. It's impossible to be so-called "perfect."

 

Staying clean with God is to confess continually about everything that is in our hearts. Our souls become jaded overtime because we're so used to being conditioned in thinking that if we hold back, we're somehow tougher and wiser. And this is far from the truth. When we think wrong thoughts about ourselves, others, and situations, we tend to play the blame game and we're never in the wrong.

 

It's important to reflect over our lives because it will help us get a better understanding about ourselves, of where we need to be, about entering the next level God desires to take us. It's also important to do a heart check-up. God isn't concerned about our apparel, education, which trophy husband or wife pushes our success to higher depths in society, nor is He concerned about what we don't have. He's concerned about our thoughts, our reactions, and our souls, because our souls are precious to Him. We're valuable in His sight. After all, we were created for His Pleasure because He saw it was good.

 

The enemy likes to setup traps, which we have no intention of falling in. I honestly don't believe people do what they do for no reason. I don't believe anyone intends to fall into temptation and sin. If we're being realistic, we must recognize that life happens.

 

Sometimes, when we get caught up in our lives, whether things are going well with us or not, enticingly sinful opportunities arrive to knock us off our feet. And this happens because there is something going on with us emotionally, whether we realize it or not. When we tend to bury our emotions, we get lost in a whirlwind of trials, and it's to the point where we're not thinking clearly. Hey, it happens.

 

When we think we're making the "right" decisions because it "feels right," we find out later that the decisions we made weren't designed for us. And this is where our souls become quiet. We become strangers. We still look the same on the outside, but internally we're drowning in our turmoil because we're deceived to believe we can't go back, and that God will never love us and give us another chance.

 

Most of us are conditioned to believe this because we have wolves in sheep's clothing telling people the wrong idea about God. They get involved with man-made religions, thinking that going to church is what makes them safe with God. They clean themselves up, dressing the part and grooming themselves to manipulate others who don't have a relationship with God, that there is a certain way to come to God and they must abide to religion's rules.

 

Hang in there with me. God wants to set us free from wrongful thinking and conditional religions. This is where most of us fall, because we're brainwashed to believe that God is all about condemnation. And this, my friends, isn't true at all. Don't buy into the hype that attending church on designated days and getting involved with the church activities is what makes us right in the eyes of God. Don't believe that applying some scriptures of the Bible, in our lives, is what makes us love God more, and then the other parts don't apply to us when we slip and we refuse to see the error of our ways.

 

Religion is not a free pass to Heaven and nor is it a free ticket to get closer to God. The only way to receive salvation is acknowledging our sins, and recognizing that Jesus died for our sins so we won't be punished eternally. His blood was shed, so we won't be abandoned in our infirmities. Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life. And no one can come to God our Father, unless they go through Jesus first. And if we try to come any other way, we're being thieves. I know it stings, but I don't want anyone walking in deception, for God will hold me accountable on not speaking the truth. Jesus is the Mediator between God and us because He is God's only Begotten Son and He understands what we're dealing with. As singer and Bishop Marvin L. Winans said in one of his sermons, "Salvation is free, but it isn't cheap." Amen.

 

You see, the hypocrites in church are designed to make you believe that once you confess your sins to God and you receive salvation—it stops right there. No, it doesn't. There's a cleansing process in our minds, hearts and souls. God strips us of anything that isn't like Him, so we can be the best we can be and live the life. I'm all about living this life because I realize that I may be the Only Jesus people see. Not everyone has the time to pick up a Bible. And since I am the salt of the Earth, I must let my light shine brightly, so I will draw all people unto God and they will glorify Him.

 

Living this life is not just at church, but everywhere we go. No one is perfect, but when we correct our mistakes and we do our best, this is where God has redeemed us. It's Jesus' blood, which washes away our sins. It's in His Name, Jesus, is when demons tremble and flee. It's Jesus who has compassion on us when others give up on us.

It's Jesus who grieves with us when we're going through. He collects our tears in a bottle, and then He pulls out His Book of Remembrance for what was done to us, and then He steps in and makes the wrong right. Having a personal relationship is what keeps our communication lines open with God. Praying to God is a daily thing and the amount of time you pray isn't what counts, but it's the quality of your prayer, which counts with Him.

 

I love how God deals with us so gracefully because He gives us enough time to learn and grow, and to become better before we leave here. He doesn't want to see us perish by letting the smallest things stand in our way, which will keep us from entering in Heaven.

 

This is why we must deal with our issues now. We mustn't allow others' opinions to stop us from communing with God. When we give our lives to Him, we must pick up our cross and bear it and deny self.  And we do this when we crucify our flesh and increase our spirits in Him (this comes through living a consecrated life: fasting and praying). This means we have to always ask God for His Perspective on the situation, and this is where His Holy Spirit steps in, because when situations are spiritually discerned correctly, we will know what next step to take. And when we hear directly from the Lord, there is no confusion in our direction for our lives because God is not the Author of confusion: Satan is.

 

Purifying our minds and hearts is a continual process. Even when we fall, God picks us up and He reassures us that He is still with us, and He will not let us perish in our mistakes. He'll never leave us nor forsake us. He inclines His ears to those who sincerely cry out to Him. He loves to fix what is broken in us, and beautify us to the people He knows we're destined to be: more like Him.

 

I yearn to love with a Godly love. God's love is unadulterated. His love is available 24/7 and He won't flip on you, the way people will.

 

I yearn to keep my heart pure before Him, so I can think with a sober mind and please Him.

 

I yearn to keep my relationship with the Lord open, because I know when I release my cares on Him, I can leave them there without being exposed to the world. Thank you, Jesus, that He doesn't expose our dirt, the way we do. Thank you, Jesus, when He forgives us, He doesn't condemn us and remind us of what we done over and over, the way Satan does.

 

It doesn't matter what we do. What matters is, as long as we can humble ourselves before the Lord and we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. However, this doesn't mean we should abuse God's grace. We shouldn't knowingly rebel and give room to the devil, and then we believe, without change in our hearts, that everything is okay. That's not true repentance or redemption. When we fall, something must be learned from our situations in order to be better people in Him.

 

A wicked heart refuses to see the errors, which have been made. A wicked heart believes to pair up with "convenient Christians", so it is still "spared" from consequences.

 

Whether we want to admit it or not, we can't avoid consequences. And even if we're getting "blessed" with opportunities and we didn't make the wrongs right, there is a day when our evil actions will slap us hard in our faces, for not considering our behavior toward others. And when that day arrives, and believe me, friends, it will arrive. It’ll either help us recognize our faults and bless us to become better, or our ways will grow colder and we depart from God.  Once we leave Earth, people will remember how we hurt them or help them. They won't care about how much success we made along the way. All they will remember is what we did to them. And we don’t want to be remembered this way. This is definitely food for thought.

 

Our presence does affect those around us: good or evil.

 

Beloved, it's not okay to continually hurt others and think we're not going to reap what we sowed for what we did to them.

 

Beloved, it's not okay to bury our sins and not confess them to God. We'll become cold-hearted and calloused in our ways.

 

Beloved, it's not okay for others to hurt us and they think that they are so-called "blessed" because they have "opportunities" landing in their laps. Those are perks, which comes with the territory when we pursue what we love to do. Blessings are realizing who we are in Jesus Christ, because He died for us and He loved us first. Blessings are growing rich in God by worshiping Him in Spirit and in Truth. Blessings are humbling ourselves daily before Him to make sure our hearts are right with Him, so we can do what we're purposed to do. Blessings are treating each other right without prejudice in all forms. Blessings are when we acknowledge of our ways and then apologize for our errors.

 

We're living in a lost world where wrong is right and right is wrong. And beloved, it's not okay.

 

If you yearn to know Jesus as your Personal Savior or you desire to grow more graciously in Him, I will pray with you and for you.

 

Prayer: Father, I surrender all to You because I realize I’m lost without You. Help me in areas where I'm weak, and continue to strengthen me in Your Grace. Continue to convict my heart when I do things, which aren't pleasing in Your Sight. Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. Bless me to see Your Perspective on things, for my perspective is tainted and I don't always make the best decisions. Open my spiritual eyes, ears, and heart to recognize the errors of my ways, so I can become better and not bitter. Lord, bless me to forgive those who knowingly hurt me and deal with their hearts, and show them the error of their ways, so they can be better, too. Most of all, bless them to get to know You as their Personal Savior and save them. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

 

I pray this message will strengthen you and encourage you to be all you can be in God. Love more. Hate less. Listen more. Talk less. Help more. Hurt less. No, we won't get it right all the time, but if we remain honest with God, God can turn our disasters into miracles and blessings. Draw closer to Him as He draws closer to you. He loves you very much and I do, too. Until next time, be blessed.