December 8

Hosea 10:1-14:9 | PS 127:1-5 | Prov 29:15-17 | Jude 1:1-25

"God knows my heart". "I follow my heart". "I have a good heart". Many have heard these statements, or perhaps said this themselves. These are often the reasons that people will use as to why they will be in heaven one day. Yet we read in Jeremiah 17:9, "“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?" When Jesus was asked what was the most important commandment, He said (Matthew 22:37), "“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’" Since most state God knows our heart, and Jesus said We are to love God with all of our heart, how are we doing with this? Do we give Him our best? Do we give Him most of our heart? Or if honest, do we reserve for God a sliver at best? If we divided up our priorities, what consumes our hearts and minds, how we choose to spend our time into a 24 hour day or a 7 day week; try this exercise: what portion is given to your families, your work, your hobbies, your friends, etc., and how much is truly devoted to God. Do you still want God's knowledge of your heart as the basis of your salvation? We are saved by the blood of Christ, by His finished work on the cross, and we come to Him in repentance, not in our own goodness, we are bathed in that blood and are made clean. Since even one bad thought, one bad action, one unclean thing would render us guilty, may we all stop looking to ourselves and sharpen our focus on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our salvation.

We read in Hosea 10:1-2, "Israel empties his vine; He brings forth fruit for himself. According to the multitude of his fruit He has increased the altars; According to the bounty of his land They have embellished his sacred pillars. Their heart is divided; Now they are held guilty. He will break down their altars; He will ruin their sacred pillars." Like us, the people of Israel did not give God their whole heart. They created their own version of worshiping God, which sprinkled in some other gods, some pagan rituals, etc. When we consider our ways, consider what God said to the people of Israel in 10:12-13, "Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you. You have plowed wickedness; You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, Because you trusted in your own way, In the multitude of your mighty men."

Sadly, we are all too often creating our own path, rather than following His path. Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, "“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other...". Which masters are we serving? What idols are filling our hearts? For those things are our current idols, even if they are "good" things. If we are consumed with our children, our spouses, our education, our profession, making money, then these are our current day Baals, Molechs, Asherahs, Zeuses, etc. They might sound better. They might be respected by others. But unless we harness our tendency to be consumed with these things we are not giving God our whole heart. God doesn't ask us to spend all day by ourselves, in our rooms, meditating on Him. Our bodies, being the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), we are to bring God into every sphere of our existence, and not just invite him, but let Him preside over these areas. If we give God our heart in every area, we will learn that He will do it better and bring more fulfillment to every area of our life, turning these areas from idols to arenas in which to serve Him.

Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley:

Marj Lancaster