Category Archives: seeking understanding

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” Psalm‬ ‭115‬:‭1‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” Psalm‬ ‭118‬:‭28‬-‭29‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John‬ ‭14‬:‭27‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones!”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭105‬:‭1‬-‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

What is the condition of your heart?

“And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭11‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭ESV‬‬)

Still stone?
Abide in Him through soaking in His word daily and He will change you…
for you cannot change yourself.

Being unforgiving and/or bitter are sure symptoms.
Moralism is not the answer.

Fourteen years ago Németh Laci, his dad, and I took a journey to the location of a largely forgotten massacre. I made a video from that journey. If you can spare 15 minutes, look back with me to Srebrenica.

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! Psalm‬ ‭115‬:‭1‬ ‭ESV‬‬

A hard teaching that begs an important question.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭24‬-‭25‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The question: When was the last time you took a long hard, honest look at the things in your life that draw you away from your former devotion to God?

Which begs another question: Who is it that you can share this with and ask for prayer and accountability?

Now a plea: Don’t keep God a distant shelf, just taking him down when it’s convenient for you.

I have found this to be a helpful question in self-examination. One who resists self examination, resists growth in being Jesus’ disciple.