Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today- August 12, 2013
If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God have discovered it, since he knows the secrets of the heart? Psalm 44:20-21
Most all followers of Jesus have harbored secrets in their hearts. Secrets of unseemly deeds done in ignorance or intentionally. Perhaps, like Peter, they walked away from a friend in their deepest hour of despair or like an illusive criminal they carried a secret crime to their grave. If these secrets are not confessed to Christ and renounced in repentant behavior they erode away peace, joy and security. A twisted countenance needs to share its secret with his Savior Jesus Christ.
Secrets of the heart do not fly under the righteous radar of heaven. God is aware and cares about the conflicts that war within our soul. At our conversion to Christ we renounced our old way of living, but similar to the nuisance of a rebel pack of stray dogs, we are still influenced by rebellious habits that need the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. The flesh may suppress an unhealthy habit for a time, but the Lord knows real time what’s hidden. Holiness exposes secrets.
This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. Romans 2:16
Avoid keeping heart secrets from Almighty God (He already knows). Sacrifice on the Lord’s altar of forgiveness any past or present secret life. Rely on the Holy Spirit to align who your Heavenly Father says you are, with who you really are on the inside. Don’t keep heart secrets from those who love and respect you the most. The more transparent you are with your struggles, the more they admire you. Secrets of the heart dissolve in the face of full disclosure.
Moreover, heart secrets do not have to be shameful, they can be celebratory. Like Paul, some special friends of God are caught up into the third heaven of intimacy and afterward are unable to put into words their intimate moment. Their inexpressible encounter becomes a spiritual secret shared only with their Savior Jesus. As we seek to know our Lord in secret places, He sustains us in our public service for Him. Thank God for special heart secrets between just the two of you!
I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. Isaiah 45:3
Prayer: Heavenly Father, expose my heart secrets by Your love and lead me to live in the light of Your righteousness.
Related Readings: 1 Samuel 16:7; 2 Kings 17:9; Jeremiah 23:24; 2 Corinthians 12:1-12
Post/Tweet today: The flesh may suppress an unhealthy habit for a time, but the Lord knows real time what’s hidden. #heartsecrets
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Up early this morning to search the scriptures for a struggle I’m going through. I didn’t have to search long as this devotion was exactly what I needed to read.
I am so relieved and love how the Lord reveals his love to me. Sometimes I wonder why he hasn’t given up on me.
As I read this I realized that no person that has a PHD, preacher, confidante or closest friend can never ever judge how much God loves any one human.
Only the Lord knows the secrets of a person’s heart and only God can make that judgement for his love to that person.
The pleasure of KNOWING God’s forgiveness is wonderful.
And now asking the Lord to change me inside is joyful.
Amen Cindy… Same here.
Right Randy, sometimes we just need to re-examine ourselves by reading the Word of God as though we are looking in a mirror.