What is Acceptable?
What is Acceptable?
Scripture:
Psalms 19:14
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Observation:
There is a connection between the heart and the mouth. Our words and our behaviors are to be acceptable to The Lord, the one who is the foundation of all things and gives us life.
Application:
Do we ever stop and think about the price that God has paid for us? How is it that he is our rock and our redeemer? The idea of redemption comes to us because God has paid a price for our salvation. Sin was holding us in its grips and to be set free required Jesus' action to pay the price and redeem us. Because of his work we are the redeemed, we are set free from the bondage of sin.
Once we experience that freedom we must build our lives upon a firm foundation, and that is, on the Lord. Jesus' very life creates for us a pathway to follow that will lead us through life. This is the firm foundation. His path is not one which will deteriorate and be filled with potholes. Instead, his path is the one that has been tried, tested and created by Jesus himself. Isn't this the direction we would want to go?
Once we begin follow the path of Jesus we discover not only that we want to go his way, but that we want to be like and act like him. We love Jesus and our desire is for him, and just as we desire the approval of those we love who are a part of our earthly family, so we desire his approval. It's what happens in a love relationship. It is in that relationship that our hearts meditate on him, our beloved. In doing so our hearts are transformed, molded and shaped by his heart. His desires become our desires.
Desire is then turned into action, whether that be in word or in deed. The words spoken from our hearts are acceptable to the Lord when they come out of our relationship with him. All of a sudden many of the earthly behaviors become embarrassing for they are seen in light of him! No, they are not acceptable, not because of some list of rules from a church, but because of our love for Christ.
When we get to a point where we we are trying to justify our behavior, we are probably doing something that is unacceptable in the eyes of the Lord because justification is not born out of a relationship with Christ but our of self centeredness and self gratification. What is acceptable? What would you feel comfortable saying or doing in the presence of Jesus? When he is recognized as rock and redeemer everything flows from our relationship with him. He is present. Is it acceptable?
Prayer:
Lord, may my heart draw closer to your heart today. Amen.
Scripture:
Psalms 19:14
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Observation:
There is a connection between the heart and the mouth. Our words and our behaviors are to be acceptable to The Lord, the one who is the foundation of all things and gives us life.
Application:
Do we ever stop and think about the price that God has paid for us? How is it that he is our rock and our redeemer? The idea of redemption comes to us because God has paid a price for our salvation. Sin was holding us in its grips and to be set free required Jesus' action to pay the price and redeem us. Because of his work we are the redeemed, we are set free from the bondage of sin.
Once we experience that freedom we must build our lives upon a firm foundation, and that is, on the Lord. Jesus' very life creates for us a pathway to follow that will lead us through life. This is the firm foundation. His path is not one which will deteriorate and be filled with potholes. Instead, his path is the one that has been tried, tested and created by Jesus himself. Isn't this the direction we would want to go?
Once we begin follow the path of Jesus we discover not only that we want to go his way, but that we want to be like and act like him. We love Jesus and our desire is for him, and just as we desire the approval of those we love who are a part of our earthly family, so we desire his approval. It's what happens in a love relationship. It is in that relationship that our hearts meditate on him, our beloved. In doing so our hearts are transformed, molded and shaped by his heart. His desires become our desires.
Desire is then turned into action, whether that be in word or in deed. The words spoken from our hearts are acceptable to the Lord when they come out of our relationship with him. All of a sudden many of the earthly behaviors become embarrassing for they are seen in light of him! No, they are not acceptable, not because of some list of rules from a church, but because of our love for Christ.
When we get to a point where we we are trying to justify our behavior, we are probably doing something that is unacceptable in the eyes of the Lord because justification is not born out of a relationship with Christ but our of self centeredness and self gratification. What is acceptable? What would you feel comfortable saying or doing in the presence of Jesus? When he is recognized as rock and redeemer everything flows from our relationship with him. He is present. Is it acceptable?
Prayer:
Lord, may my heart draw closer to your heart today. Amen.
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