YOUR BEHAVIOR IS SHOWING!
Sunday’s Monday
Sin is not a behavioral issue, it’s a heart issue! Before we go any further Google explains, The Bible uses the word "heart" primarily to refer to the ruling center of the whole person, the spring of all desires. According to the Bible, the heart is the center not only of spiritual activity, but of all the operations of human life. Deut. 6:5; And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. Growing up, most of us are taught that our behavior stems from our beliefs; good behavior equals belief in God ergo no God for bad behavior. In which I haven’t found this to be exactly true in my life, I had a “weak” belief in God, when I was at my worst. My behavior is merely a symptom or overflow of what currently fills my heart. My behavior is like a thermometer showing the spiritual condition of my heart. God warns us of this in Jeremiah 17:9 (NLT), “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?
To answer this question, one need only look to Jeremiah 17:10 (NLT), But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.” No matter what we think or what we lead others to think of us, our behavior will ultimately expose the truth from within. Our internal health (mental, spiritual, and physical) has been so impacted by what is going on between our heart and mind that most have developed the ability to blind themselves to sins destructive power. Life is teaching us that we are controlled by what is happening around us and that’s why, we feel what we’re feeling, why, we do what we do and why we think what we think. The world has an answer for every situation. Denial is a real way of life! To which some get caught up in and never get out! They spend their life whying (whining)!
Our heart is a master manipulator it comes to operating the body under a belief in false information. Is it any wonder life can get messy? The bible tells us in Ezekiel 11:19-20 (NLT), 19 And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, 20 so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God. In my case even though I received a new heart, I had the same problem because I no idea of what to do with it. Unlike my old heart, my new heart was in tune and receptive to Jesus however, fact is at that time I void of understanding Jesus and lacked knowledge of what He wanted to do for and with me. It’s kind of like my vision when I was first born physically, I begin life with very nearsighted vision, seeing everything dimly or as shadows and over time the shadows turned into vivid figures. 1 Corinthians 13:12 (NLT), Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. I learned to love and trust in Jesus!
Sadly, those who have no vision from God will find no control over their deceitful heart ergo their faith and trust in God shall be too weak to fully believe in that which cannot be seen as though it is. Man on his own shall always strive to be something he is not, because his deceitful heart has no vision or desire for cohesion between the spiritual and the natural. Leaving one (and those around) to deal with their life of self-absorbed behavior. (Me first!) As you walk through each day this week, remember YOUR BEHAVIOR IS SHOWING!
My prayer for this week is from James 4:8 (NLT), Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. God I ask that you fulfill Psalm 51:10-12 (NLT), 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and make me willing to obey you in each of us today. Please teach us to find a positive attitude, a willing heart, and an unquenchable thirst to follow you with fire and passion. Amen
HAVE A BLESSED WEEK BY BEING A BLESSING TO OTHERS!
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