Well, here we are at a crossroad. Technology has finally matched a vehicle for my thoughts and heartbeats. So, I start with something pretty heavy, but promise to be lighter on most occasions, remembering “a merry heart is good medicine,” as the proverbs writer advised. However, today, we’ll deal with the topic of the day for me. My devotional this morning read:
A heart warped with envy, jealousy, selfish ambition, impure motives, and deceit delivers malice, not compassion; extends hatred, not love; practices greed, not charity. God can only be known by the pure of heart. A corrupt heart either denies or distorts God until He is reduced, minimized, and stripped of His awesome power and incomparable majesty.
Create a clean heart in me O Lord, and renew a steadfast spirit within me…
Not sure what all God needs to do, but I realize I have a mess to clean up and I can’t do it. I have a heart that is disobedient, harbors unforgiveness, and cheapens Grace by not receiving the purification of the Blood of the Lamb. Not that I intentionally deny it, but every time I go back to old habits, I find that sin infiltrating my heart again, and it doesn’t belong in a heart that is tabernacle to the Lord Christ. In fact it distances me from relationship, hardens the heart, and hinders my prayers.
Let me just start with a thankful heart Lord, counting it all joy.
James 1:2-8
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”
A thankful heart is a good start. Now come and take over Lord Jesus, and let Your sweet, loving Spirit infiltrate me.
“Blessed are those whose strength is in You, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.” Ps. 84
annette geffert 
