Tag: The Heart

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They Grow

JUNE 27

MATTHEW 6:15_But if ye forgive not men their trespasses…

What goes up must come down. If God’s forgiveness relates to your forgiveness, God’s unforgiveness relates to your unforgiveness. 

A transformed life is a product of salvation and the ability to forgive. Salvation is an instantaneous, eternal experience. Transformation is a process. Love is a process. They grow. As you grow in relationship with Jesus, you grow in your ability to give true, straight-from-the-heart love. It is the way natural byproducts work.

The ability to forgive has to be a byproduct of the love you gain from heart transformation. Hard hearts cannot produce forgiveness. The natural byproduct of hard hearts is unforgiveness.

A relationship with Jesus is not just I need to be sure I’m not going to hell. It is about:

I hear the knock of Jesus on my heart’s door.

I feel the love He brings.

I feel His forgiveness.

I want to love like He loves me.

I want to forgive like He forgives me.

I want to live as His disciple.

I want to be His salt and light.             

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, Thank You for the natural byproducts of transformation. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                 

Christ is salvation—He is my salvation

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I AM

JUNE 25

MATTHEW 6:14_Your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.

Take a moment right now and praise God for His willingness to forgive! Praise His heart filled with “mercy that endures forever.”  

God has a name – I AM. The perfect name for the only, true, living, and creating God. HE IS “the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever, amen!” And HE IS forgiving.

The Lord Jesus Christ gave up the perfection of heaven to live in a wicked world. There was no other way for you to receive forgiveness and salvation. If there is anything earth people need, it is forgiveness. 

This verse leads back to your Horizontal Ledger.  Jesus knew this principle was so against your natural instinct, He repeated it. When He teaches a principle a second or more times – take heed. This is not something to leave on the back burner.

If you forgive others for trespassing into your life, the Heavenly Father forgives you.

To be sure, you’ve done plenty of trespassing!          

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, When I step off the path of Your teaching, I begin to trespass into places I should not be. Praise You for forgiving me. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Christ forgives my trespasses—He calls me to forgive!

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All the Time!

 JUNE 14

MATTHEW 6:12_our debts…

Your sin debt is too great. You will never be able to pay it. It will remain in God’s ledger for eternity. To pay the debt according to the law keepers, you will have to keep every law, on your own – no indwelling Holy Spirit’s power. Humanly impossible!

To pay the debt according to Jesus, you will have to have a pure heart – likewise impossible! This looks like some kind of double jeopardy. You need a solution that can overcome the impossible! Where can you find that? Oh, wait! You have a key!

Use the key, unlock the treasure chest, and discover something incredible. The Messiah Savior has already solved the problem! He gave His life to cover all your debts. Only Jesus could do it because only He is the perfect Son of God. 

To make things even better, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in your heart. The Spirit draws you further and further away from sin and causes you to hunger for holiness. Your taste for sin diminishes. When you do sin, the Spirit sends conviction. You humbly ask the Father for forgiveness. I John 1:9 (KJV), “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

God is good all the time and, all the time God is good!       

PRAYER

Holy Savior, Thank You for paying my sin debt which I could never pay.  In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Christ is the Savior—He saves me!

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You Owe

JUNE 13

MATTHEW 6:12_our debts…

A debt is an amount of money you owe. It can also be some type of work you owe someone. Any way you look at it, it comes out the same way – you owe. 

You have acquired or promised something you have not completed, or paid for. Payment must be made. Until the payment is received, it remains in the ledger as a debt. That debt is attached to your name. It will remain attached until it is Paid In Full.

Unfortunately, debts are made, circumstances in life happen, and the debt becomes difficult to pay – sometimes it may appear to be impossible.

The word debt here can be translated as sin. If, as the Pharisees, you link forgiveness with law keeping, you may feel you have it in the bag. Knowledge of the laws covers it all. Acts 3:19 (KJV) sees it another way, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.”

There is action here – repent. Repentance is to turn from a continual act of sin and let Jesus help you not to commit it again.

This verse adds to be converted. To be converted is to admit you can’t live or do right on your own. God does the work, the blotting out, and sends refreshing.   

PRAYER

Lord Jesus,  I confess I am a sinner and only You can renew my heart. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Christ covers my debts—He will send me refreshing!

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Lots of Hallelujah Shouting!

JUNE 8

MATTHEW 6:10_in earth, as it is in heaven.

If you think it is easy to pray, “not my will but Thine be done” – you’ve never really prayed it. In this same account of Gethsemane, we find in Luke 22:44 (KJV),“And being in an agony he [Jesus] prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

Praying for God’s will to be done caused the Holy Son of God to sweat blood! 

During my time on earth I want the strength and faith to seek God’s will above my own. God’s will is always greater, and it is always full of love and mercy – although I may not see that until His will has been done.  God’s will is always goodness and kindness toward people, and is founded on love.

In heaven, God’s will shall be done. I won’t have to be anxious about caving in to my own will. No wonder there will be lots of praising in heaven! Lots of hallelujah shouting! Lots of adoration worship! God’s will is done daily, hourly, and moment by moment. That gives reason to rejoice!

I couldn’t make it in this life without prayer. I need to talk with the Father. I need to pour out my heart before Him. I need to feel His comfort and reassurance in my uncertainty.

It is God’s will that causes my light to shine.         

 PRAYER

Omnipotent God, Praise You that Your will is always better than mine. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.  

Christ knows God’s will—His will make me shine!