Troubled Hearts.

Photo by: Wingchi Poon

 On the eve of his arrest, Jesus told his disciples, "Tonight all of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say, 'God will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' Matthew 26:31

Jesus also told the disciples he must now go away. Peter asked to go with him and said he would die for him. Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times. John 13:38

What is amazing is what Jesus said next, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe in Me as well."  John 14:1  Then he told them how he was going to prepare a place for them in heaven and would come back to get them.

So, the disciples were going to deny Jesus and run from him because they were afraid to be arrested too.  And what does our God say about this?  "Let not your hearts be troubled."  In other words, "Don't worry about it. I'm not worried about it."

Today, I felt discouraged because of my lack of love and patience. It was all inside my heart; I didn't say or do anything wrong. But I knew, and Jesus knew what was in my heart. I guess there may be Christians that don't have such a hard battle with themselves. I'm not one of them.

You hear preachers say, "Give your life to Jesus and you will have peace."  Well, yes, you will have peace for awhile, but then the doubts come and the bad thoughts come and you wonder where the peace went. Preachers don't talk about that. They make it sound like you will have no spiritual problems after you are converted.

So, if anyone out there is like me, take heart. "Let not your hearts be troubled." God says to confess our sins, he wipes them out and we start all over again. I believe him. For me it is a daily thing. But that's okay. I say to him, "I can't do anything to be righteous; you will have to do it all." I know he will. I also have to take my eyes off myself and look at Jesus' life, death and resurrection. That will always encourage me.

"And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns."  Phil. 1:6

Psalm 38 - I Have Sinned.

Psalm 38 - What it Means To Me.

This is a prayer confessing sin and asking for God's forgiveness. All of us have felt guilty for things we have done and God will hear our prayer and forgive as he forgave David for adultery and murder.

Your arrows have pierced me,

and your hand has come down on me.

Because of your wrath there is no health in my body;

there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.

My guilt has overwhelmed me

like a burden too heavy to bear.  Verses 2-4

The Treasury of David

"For thine arrows stick fat in me." By this he means both bodily and spiritual griefs, but we may suppose, especially the latter, for these are most piercing and stick the fastest. God's law applied by the Spirit to the conviction of the soul of sin, wounds deeply and rankles long; it is an arrow not lightly to be brushed out by careless mirthfulness, or to be extracted by the flattering hand of self-righteousness. The Lord knows how to shoot so that his bolts not only strike but stick. He can make convictions sink into the innermost spirit like arrows driven in up to the head. It seems strange that the Lord should shoot at his own beloved ones, but in truth he shoots at their sins rather than them, and those who feel his sin-killing shafts in this life, shall not be slain with his hot thunderbolts in the next world. "And your hand presses me sore." The Lord had come to close dealing with him, and pressed him down with the weight of his hand, so that he had no rest or strength left. By these two expressions we are taught that conviction of sin is a piercing and a pressing thing, sharp and sore, smarting and crushing.

For I am about to fall,

and my pain is ever with me.

I confess my iniquity;

I am troubled by my sin.  Verses 17, 18

Lord, do not forsake me;

do not be far from me, my God.

Come quickly to help me,

my Lord and my Savior. Verses 21,22

The Treasury of David

"Forsake me not, O Lord." Now is the time I need you most. When sickness, slander, and sin, all beset a saint, he requires the especial aid of heaven, and he shall have it too. He is afraid of nothing while God is with him, and God is with him evermore.

A Perfect House - A Perfect Person.

My husband and I live in our daughter's house. We moved in to help look after her children while she was at work. I also home-schooled her youngest daughter. The children are teenagers now and my daughter is selling her house.

We have had to keep the house looking perfect for the realtors and any potential buyers. As I was working today, trying to make my apartment look pristine, I thought how hard it was to keep every room looking perfect every day.

That reminded me of how I tried to keep myself perfect when I was a young Christian. I was 19 and so happy to have accepted Christ, but then I began to work on myself to not sin. It was a difficult - well, impossible task. No matter how hard I tried I still made mistakes and did wrong.

I finally realized that I was looking at myself all the time. In the same way I was looking at the rooms of my house for some imperfection, I was looking at my sins and concentrating on them instead of Jesus. I was feeling guilty and condemned, when those feelings were not helpful and not the way God wanted me to feel. Conviction of sin is good but feeling condemned is not.

Now, when I sin I confess it to God, say I am sorry, ask for His help and then forget it. If I have hurt anyone's feelings I say I'm sorry to them too. It is freeing to look away from myself and upward to God.