Tag: Soul

Posted on

The Depths of Your Heart

MAY 25

MATTHEW 6:6_and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret…

Jesus says the Father is in the closet with you.  When He says the Father seeth in secret He means more than vision. God reads your soul. He sees everything in your mind and thoughts. God sees deeply – into the very depths of your heart. He knows if there is room for Him in that depth, or if it is consumed with you.

God also knows if your desire is to replace self with the Savior. He can help you with that.

God’s desire is for you to bring all your emotions of pain, heartbreak, fear, anger, and unforgiveness to Him in prayer. If you can trust God is with you in the closet, you will begin to trust He is with you anywhere. The more you trust in God’s presence, the more confident you will grow in your relationship with Him. 

Listening is every bit as important to prayer time as talking. Remember that falling in love sequence? If you do all the talking, and never any listening, then you will not know your loved one at all. It’s difficult to truly love someone you don’t know.

The more you hear God, the more you become salt and light.

PRAYER

God Who Speaks, Please speak to my heart, and help me trust You are always with me. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Christ is with me—I want to be with Him!

Posted on

Your Loved One’s Heart

MAY 22

MATTHEW 6:6_But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet…

Closet in this verse is a private room, or secret chamber. That’s a long way from a street corner. 

When you fall in love, you long to be with the one you love. You want to talk – a lot! You want to make everything in your heart known, and you want to know everything in your loved one’s heart. You want to share hopes and dreams. The only way to know those dreams is to talk with your loved one. 

During times of intimate communication you want to be alone with the one you love. The deepest part of your soul is meant to be revealed to only one person – the one who has captured your heart. It is not for public view, unless you are only using the other person to help you love yourself.

If you use the other person to make you look good, it may be to your advantage to have those conversations in public. Who you are seen talking with might raise your social status. 

Using people to make you look good never equals love. Giving of your time serving, honoring, praising, and encouraging someone equals love.   

PRAYER

Lord of Lords, Thank You I can talk with You about my deepest needs, wants, and desires. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                                       

Christ desires I talk with Him—I will express my heart!

Posted on

Couldn’t Get Any Better!

MAY 18

MATTHEW 6:4_and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

Jesus says the Father Himself shall reward you. If the alms are done for self-glory, you will be rewarded by the world. If the alms are done for God’s glory, the Father will reward you. 

Heavenly rewards come after death. Jesus says God will reward you openly. In this life. I wouldn’t try to name what the rewards may be, but I will claim the truth of Ephesians 3:20 (KJV), “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”

Here is that power again, working inside you, changing you, giving you God’s desires over your own. 

I would love to receive the reward of Psalm 17:15 (KJV), “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.”

Satisfied is to be appeased – a desire fulfilled. Awake is to become alert, active, to come alive. Whether you interpret that verse to mean you awake to see God’s likeness in life, or you awake to have God’s likeness in yourself – it’s a reward either way.

It would be a beautiful thing to begin a new day with a heart and soul like unto Jesus! That’s the goal of any salty-lit-up disciple.

Life just couldn’t get any better than that!  

PRAYER

Loving Jesus, I want to awake with Your heart and be satisfied in You. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen. 

Christ’s likeness is genuine love—I want it!

Posted on

Less of You?

MARCH 24

MATTHEW 5:24_first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

Nothing in this life is worth the bondage caused by the spirits of darkness. Spiritual bondage is void of light – a place of deep darkness. It thrives on anger, bitterness, hate, and unforgiveness. Spiritual bondage weakens the soul and brings it into despair. Again, nothing in life is worth allowing your spirit, heart, and soul to be in bondage.

Be reconciled. Come in freedom, and offer your gift. God receives your gift with joy and blesses you. As you grow physically and spiritually, your gift will grow, shining in your countenance and in your life. It will cause you to gain wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. Your light will bless all who cross your path – “all that are in the house.”

God possesses the greatest treasure – love. He bestows love upon you – which flows to other people. The more you love God, the more you’ll find you have the ability to love people. The more you love God, the more you’ll find self-sacrifice becomes a byproduct of your life – because you learn to love others more than yourself.

Do you want your life to be more of Jesus, and less of you?

PRAYER

God of Love, I want who You are to shine in my life. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Christ loves me—He wants me to love His people!

Posted on

Ever Felt That Pain?

 MARCH 17

MATTHEW 5:22 _But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment…

Jesus’ explanation of His transformation of the Law begins with but I say unto you. The word but implies a change. The scales have balanced as far as killing and punishment, but if there is more to life than the physical, then there is another way in which to kill someone – anger. Ever felt that pain?

When Jesus refers to your brother, it is not biological, but a fellow human being. Perhaps it particularly means a Christian brother. Anger shown between Christians must be very painful to Jesus. After all, these are the people who claim to be His disciples. The people who are supposed to be salt. The people who are supposed to be light. Even if what they say is right, when it is said in hot tempered anger, it destroys any good which may be done. 

Anger wounds the spirit and is very destructive to the soul of the one it has inflicted. Anger is also destructive to the soul of the one doing the inflicting. This is not just losing your temper. This is malicious, mean anger. To destroy fellow humans with mean-tempered, explosive, anger, is in the category of those who kill.

Once again, life is serious business.

PRAYER

Merciful God, Help me not to be an angry person. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Christ makes us brothers—He wants me to be patient!