Preparing Our Hearts
We all need to know what leads us to do evil. Unfortunately, we often focus on the wrong things. We think it is by trying really hard that we will do the right things and stay away from evil. That never works, because Satan is so devious and so able to tempt us. The key is our heart, so we must prepare our heart to seek the Lord. King Rehoboam did not do that, so he did evil.(II Chronicles 12:14) The same will be true for us, so we need to stop and consider preparing our hearts daily to seek God.
People do not seek God naturally. It is only when the Spirit is working in our lives that we seek God. For the Spirit to work, we must tune into what He is saying. First of all, we must know Christ. Anyone who does not know Christ, cannot discern spiritual things. They will not want to seek the Lord, because their heart is set against God. When we trust Christ as our Lord and Savior, the Spirit comes to live in us, but that does not solve the sin problem completely. We will keep doing evil, if we do not prepare our hearts and seek God on a daily basis. Being righteous is not automatic for the believer. Yes, we want to do right once we are saved, but we will fail if we fail to prepare our hearts.
I believe we need to take time each day to be in a quiet place. We need to confess our sins, so our hearts can be cleansed.(I John 1:9) We need to confess to the Lord Jesus that without Him we can do nothing.(John 15:5) Then, we need to submit to the Lord's will and turn our hearts fully to Him and His will. Then, we can seek the Lord and hear from Him. However, even then, we must obey what He says, because if we quench the Spirit or grieve the Spirit, we will begin to hear Him less and less, and we will not have the power to do the right thing. The good fruit in our lives comes from the life of Christ flowing through us, not from our efforts.
I pray we all will make it a priority to prepare our hearts to seek the Lord, so we can and will do His will. It is the only way to live like God would have us to live.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Chronicles 13-15.
People do not seek God naturally. It is only when the Spirit is working in our lives that we seek God. For the Spirit to work, we must tune into what He is saying. First of all, we must know Christ. Anyone who does not know Christ, cannot discern spiritual things. They will not want to seek the Lord, because their heart is set against God. When we trust Christ as our Lord and Savior, the Spirit comes to live in us, but that does not solve the sin problem completely. We will keep doing evil, if we do not prepare our hearts and seek God on a daily basis. Being righteous is not automatic for the believer. Yes, we want to do right once we are saved, but we will fail if we fail to prepare our hearts.
I believe we need to take time each day to be in a quiet place. We need to confess our sins, so our hearts can be cleansed.(I John 1:9) We need to confess to the Lord Jesus that without Him we can do nothing.(John 15:5) Then, we need to submit to the Lord's will and turn our hearts fully to Him and His will. Then, we can seek the Lord and hear from Him. However, even then, we must obey what He says, because if we quench the Spirit or grieve the Spirit, we will begin to hear Him less and less, and we will not have the power to do the right thing. The good fruit in our lives comes from the life of Christ flowing through us, not from our efforts.
I pray we all will make it a priority to prepare our hearts to seek the Lord, so we can and will do His will. It is the only way to live like God would have us to live.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Chronicles 13-15.