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As we think in our heart so we are!
Fred R. Coulter—April 15, 2023
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Leon Ritchie sent me a cope of the May/June 1968 Good News magazine, and you see a picture of what was called The Loma D. Armstrong Academic Center. I was surprised to get it. I opened it up and looked at and here is article that I wrote that was published in the Good News, which was the second article that I wrote, the first one was What We Should Know!
I want to read the first paragraph to you, because this ties in for today. Remember, this was 1968.
Article: Make Ministerial Visits Profitable! May/June 1968 Good News magazine:
God Almighty prophesied of this hideous wretched society.
Remember that this was 1968! Compared to what it is today, that was nice and mild. Scripture fro 2-Timothy 3:1-4 (Amplified N.T. )
"But understand this…"
They did a pretty good job with in amplifying it, but what I want you to notice is that the words of God are never out of date, because they are eternal, from the eternal God!
"…that in the last days there will be perilous times of great stress and trouble—hard to deal with, hard to bear. For people will be lovers of self and (utterly) SELF-CENTERED, lovers of money and aroused by an inordinate (greedy) desire (LUST) for wealth, proud and arrogant and contemptuous boasters!…."
That sounds like headlines of today!
…They will be abusive (blasphemous), scoffers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane….
A perfect description of what is taking place right now!
(They will be) without natural (human) affection (callous and inhuman), relentless—admitting no truce or appeasement. (They will be) slanderers, false accusers, troublemakers, intemperate and loose in morals and conduct, uncontrolled and fierce. HATERS OF GOOD.
That's what we're dealing with, with this 'woke' amusement. They hate God and making themselves 'god' under the inspiration of Satan and the demons!
(They will be) treacherous (betrayers), rash (and) INFLATED WITH SELF-CONCEIT! (They will be) lovers of sensual pleasures and vain amusements more than lovers of God!
I also want to mention that I'm reading two books, alternately, not at the same time. One book was written in 1909 and sent to me by Mike Stevens of the Two Mike's podcast. It has to do with New Testament dissertations.
I was astonished to find out that in this chapter I was reading it says, that we will be born again at the resurrection!
Sometime from that time until whenever it came into Protestantism that 'you're born again if you accept Jesus' was not always in Protestantism!
The other book I'm reading is by Jonathan Cahn The Return of the Gods. He does a very good job in doing that, and showing the parallels of today.
However, we'll have to wait and see what his conclusion is! We will see if he's really a prophet of God, halfway a prophet of God or not a prophet of God but using the words of God for whatever purpose he intends.
Here's the thing that's important, which ties in with my message, which is: as you think in your heart so you are! Your heart is what you alone control with free moral agency! God expects us to use free moral agency to do His will!
Let's see what Jesus said, because this also applies to what we are going to be doing, between now and Pentecost, and even after that. Here's a great principle that we need to learn and it's always true. This is why what's in the heart and mind is what God looks to!Whatever is in our heart or mind, that will be the works that we are doing. That will be also be behind all the words that we are speaking.
Luke 16:13: "No servant is able to serve two masters…"
That's true, and this ties in with James 1 that says, 'A double-minded man—or woman—is unstable in all their ways!'
Here's what will happen; sooner or later it will come down to this:
"…for either he will hate the one, and he will love the other; or he will hold to the one and will despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon" (v 13).
Mammon means riches, wealth or anything contrary to God!
Verse 14: "Now the Pharisees, who were also covetous, heard all these things; and they ridiculed Him."
Isn't it interesting that the ones who should have known about Jesus resisted Him! Remember John 8. What did Jesus say about the priests and Levites at the Temple of God? Here they were right at the Temple of God, and you would think that right there at the Temple of God that they would be punctilious to love God and keep His commandments. After all it's God's Temple!
But what happened? It got infiltrated with all the doctrines of Satan! So much so that Jesus said to those priests and Levites there: You are of your father the devil! He was a murderer from the beginning and there is no Truth in him, because he's the father of lies!
Let's look at in the world we have today that we need to live in and understand what we need to do.
Verse 15: "And He said to them, 'You are those who justify themselves before men, but God knows your hearts…'"
God is also called the heart-knowing God (Acts 15). That's something! How does God know our heart? We find in several places in the Bible—Jer. 17 and Rev. 2—God tries the reins! What are the reins? Some say it's kidneys. God isn't trying our kidney, but He is trying our minds, and what do our minds look like but two enlarged kidneys! So, it means the mind! He tries our mind and knows what's in our heart!
"…for that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination before God" (v 15).
We have to understand:
- What are we before God?
- What do we think?
- What do we do?
- How do we do it?
In Matt. 12 we will see a similar thing, because the most important thing, as we will see, you have to guard your mind or your heart!
Matthew 12:32: "And whoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him…"
Why? Because the Holy Spirit comes from God the Father! This is a denial of the Holy Spirit, not just speaking against it, but rejecting it!
"…neither in this age nor in the coming age. Either make the tree and the fruit good…" (vs 32-33)—because we have to that!
- we have to think
- we have to pray
- we have to study
- we have to choose to do what is good
- we have to choose to do what we should do
"…or make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt; for a tree is known by its fruit" (v 33).
Verse 34: "Offspring of vipers, how are you able to speak good things, being evil?.… [these are the scribes and Pharisees] …For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings out good things; and the wicked man out of the wicked treasure brings out wicked things" (vs 34-35).
That's what we're confronted with today in such a way. We're also confronted with it's never been in the history of man the technical means to come into any person's privacy via technology! That's what's devasting this generation!
Those of us who live in it, we have to do the things that we need to so that cannot get caught up into it. To start with think about it this way:
- How long do you think we would last IF we didn't keep the Sabbath?
- How long do you think we would last IF we didn't have the Word of God to study?
- How long do you think that the flood of things coming Satan the devil would fill that vacuum and completely overrun it?
Look at the awful thing that they are doing with this transgender. There's a big lawsuit by one parent against the school because they didn't tell the parents of the operation that they authorized on their little girl.
In the state of California, they're trying to pass a law that 12-year-olds can leave home, and their parents can do nothing about it! This is purely a homosexual law to get young flesh for all of these gross sinners so they can continue their evil practices. Do you understand what it is? We have to live in this world! We have to:
- fight against the world
- overcome the world
- yield ourselves to God
so that we don't get entrapped in it!
Now we're going to cover how to guard the door of you mind, but first of all let's talk about and see what is it that should be in our mind. The unconverted mind or carnal mind is enmity against God, an enemy of God! But to be spiritually-minded—having the Spirit of God—is what we need so that we can have the mind of Christ!
Russell Kemp talked about the covenant that God made with Israel. {note message: Are We Keeping the Covenant We Made with God?} Let's look at the covenant is making with us.
Now, this is after Jesus came to do the will of God! What is one of the first things that we say in our prayers: Your will be done!
Hebrews 10:15: "And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us…"
That's why it's important that we use the Holy Spirit. Paul told Timothy in 2-Tim. 1, 'Stir up the Spirit that's within you by the laying on of my hands.'
We find in Haggai 1 that God stirred up the Spirit of all the people to come and work on building the temple. So, we can stir up the Spirit within us by the spiritual actions and thoughts that we take.
Verse 16: "'This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days,' says the Lord, 'I will give My Laws into their hearts…'"
How is He going to do that? We have to read, study and understand! God puts it in through the power of His Holy Spirit!
"'…and I will inscribe them in their minds; and their sins and lawlessness I will not remember ever again.' Now, where remission of these is, it is no longer necessary to offer sacrifices for sin" (vs 16-18). That is animal sacrifices!
This is greater than all animal sacrifices! In other words, with this there is no greater work that you can do to accomplish what is said here.
- do the will of God
- have the Spirit of God
- let the laws and commandments of God be written in our heart and mind
That means we have to study!
Verse 19: "Therefore, brethren, having confidence to enter into the true Holiest by the blood of Jesus."
What does that mean? This covenant with God means that with the Holy Spirit that we have we have direct access to God the Father and Jesus Christ in heaven above all the time!
- Do you understand that?
- Do you understand how great that covenant is?
- Do you understand what God is doing to prefect that?
- Do you understand what He does for us?
- Do you understand what we need to do?
We will see our part in carrying this out in just a little bit!
Verse 20: "By a new and living way… [that's what it is] …which He consecrated for us through the veil (that is, His flesh)"—His sacrifice!
Remember when He died the huge veil on the outside of the temple ripped in two from top to bottom, showing that the way to the Holiest was open! This explains how with God's Spirit.
Verse 21: "And having a great High Priest over the house of God, let us approach God with a true heart… [no duplicity] …with full conviction of faith…" (vs 21-22)—that God is there!
- He will hear
- He will answer
- His Word is truth
- He will never fail
"…our hearts having been purified from a wicked conscience, and our bodies having been washed with pure water" (v 22)—by baptism!
Here's how we do it; v 23: "Let us hold fast without wavering to the hope that we profess, for He Who promised is faithful."
In other words, there is no way that you're not going to have the help of God!
Let's see how the covenant with Israel and the words of the Old Testament agree with the New Testament, and how this shows what we must do. We see in the N.T. conditions, as well. There are 1,745 in the whole Bible. All of them apply to us as human beings. We are in the process of being perfected; we haven't arrived there, yet. That will not occur until the resurrection, complete perfection.
Proverbs 2:1: "My son…"
Remember that if you have the Spirit of God, you are a son of God, or the children of the God. This is actually instruction by David to Solomon.
"…[#1]if you will receive my words and treasure up my commandments within you… [in your mind; tie in Heb. 10] …so that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding" (v 1-2).
These are just other words for growing in grace and knowledge; wisdom and understanding of the Word of God, wisdom and understanding of how it applies to us in what we do, how we think and all of our actions.
Verse 3: "Yea, [#2]if… [conditional] …you cry after knowledge and lift up your voice for understanding."
What did Jesus say in Matt. 5? Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled! See how fantastic that is the way that the Bible comes together. That's why we need the whole thing, all the time!
What an absolutely vicious doctrine against God for anyone to say that everything in the Old Testament has been fulfilled and we have no need for it. Think about that, that's an attack against God.
Verse 4: "[#3]If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures."
Notice that there are three ifs; what follows afterward? This is telling us that this is the only way that we're going to have our mind strong, sharp and resistant against evil and knowing the Truth, spotting lies and errors.
Verse 5: "[#1]Then you shall understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God."
What happens? All of this comes through God's Word and through His Spirit!
Verse 6: "For the LORD gives wisdom; out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding."
Think about how this ties in with what Jesus said in Matt. 4 & Luke 4: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God! That ties into Obey My voice! All of those come together, and these we should have in our mind and heart.
Verse 7: "He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous… [meaning the fool will never find it, because they don't keep the commandments of God] …He is a shield to those who walk uprightly. He keeps the paths of right judgment and preserves the way of His saints" (vs 7-8).
Notice all of this, this all builds because we have the three ifs and here I the second then. This is why you can study the Bible and all of a sudden you begin to understand more of it. That's the way that God designed it.
Verse 9: "[#2]Then… [after everything in the first 8 verses] …you shall understand righteousness and judgment and equity, every good path."
- this takes time
- this takes study
- this takes prayer
- this takes living
Altogether, all of those combined together!
Verse 10: "Wisdom shall enter into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasing to your soul." You will feel so great when you understand the Word of God:
- that He's given it to us
- that He loves us
- that He educates us
- that He teaches us
- that He's training us
- that our covenant is for eternal life
As Russell brought out, to rule the world!
What's the greatest mess that we're all facing everywhere in the world today? Nothing but trouble! So, we need this!
Verse 11: "Discretion shall preserve you and, understanding shall keep you."
Then it talks about keeping you away from sexual sins. Of course, that's one of the biggest problems down through history.
Verse 20: "In order that you may walk in the way of good… [God's way, we're to walk in it] …and keep the paths of the righteous. For the upright shall dwell in the land… [the New Testament and the Kingdom of God] …and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it" (vs 20-22).
What do we find Rev. 20 and what's going to happen to those who don't repent? That's called the second death!
Prov. 3:21, take it this way:
- David is talking to Solomon, writing this to him!
OR
- God the Father and Jesus Christ are talking to us through Their Word!
Proverbs 3:21: "My son, do not let them depart from your eyes; keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they shall be life to your soul and grace to your neck" (vs 21-22). In other words, protect our mind and protect our heart!
Verse 23: "Then you shall walk in your way safely, and your foot shall not stumble."
That's what God has given to us. Then you will find some interesting things toward the end of the chapter, there are five do nots (vs 27-31). So, go over that!
Take this as God talking to you personally. Sometimes we go along and think: What does God want me to do? He wants us to choose the right way! That's why we study the Word of God. That's what He wants, and He'll let it be known.
Proverbs 4:10: "Hear, O my son, and receive My sayings; and the years of your life shall be many." Equate that for the New Testament: eternal life!
Verse 11: "I have taught you in the way of wisdom…"
Think about that when you read about what happened to Solomon. He had it taught to him.
"…I have led you in the right paths. When you go, your steps shall not be hampered, and when you run, you shall not stumble" (vs 11-12).
How do you do that? That is, how you live your life! Let's read it:
Verse 13: "Keep hold of instruction… [whatever God says, whatever He tells us] …do not let go; keep her, for she is your life."
That's talking about wisdom and understanding! Especially in this world, because everything is out there by Satan the devil to try and take as many people away as he can do, and within the Church, as well.
Likewise what I'm reading here, not only does it apply to everyone who is baptized, but it doubly applies to all of the elders and ministers in teaching! We have to follow what Paul wrote to Timothy:
2-Timothy 4:2[transcriber's correction]—Paul told Timothy: "Preach the Word! Be urgent in season and out of season…"
Meaning all year around with all of the Feasts of God, the Holy Days of God. Those are the things that keep us in contact with God, and keep us focused on the purpose of God's Plan and what He's doing!
Then back to Prov. 4 God always gives a warning, because Satan comes along and the temptations that will come to us will not be wildly wicked. Some of them will appear to be quite good. Remember that the way of man is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil! So, the good of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil always ends up in disaster! But the good that comes from God always remains good!
Proverbs 4:14: "Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not into the way of evil men. Avoid it; do not go in it; turn from it, and pass on!" (vs 14-15).
- don't enter
- avoid it
- don't go into it
- turn from it and pass on
That's the only way you can protect your mind from the evil!
As I've mentioned before, one button on my remote control that is probably the most active is the mute button. I don't want to hear or watch any commercials. Why? Because there's always a subtle message that they're trying to get into the mind of those who are watching.
Verse 16: "For they do not sleep except when they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away unless they cause some to fall… [that's the purpose of Satan and all of this] …for they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence" (vs 16-17).
Contrasted to that is the way that we are to live. It gets to the point of what we really need to do. All of these together are all woven into one package as it were.
Verse 18: "But the path of the just is as the shining Light that shines more and more to the perfect day.… [the resurrection] …The way of the wicked is as darkness; they know not at what they stumble" (vs 18-19).
They can't figure out why things never work right. They can't figure it out because they have left God, left the Word of God.
Verse 20: "My son, attend to My words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart" (vs 20-21). That's quite a saying!
So, we are entrusted with the Spirit of God! God helps us to grow in grace and knowledge, as we grow in knowledge and application of God's Word and His commandments, and walking in His way.
Verse 22: "For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh."
That helps you with everything that you do, spiritually, physically, mentally and everything. Now, here in v 23 is the sum of everything we've talked about up to this point:
Verse 23: "Above all guard the door of your mind with diligence… "
That's why you have to reject things that come up to try and take root into your mind! It can come by:
- a suggestion
- music
- looking/lusting
These things have to be gotten rid of! You have your mind focused on God's Way! "…guard the door of your mind with diligence…" Why?
"…for out of it are the issues of life (v 23)—everything about life!
- eternal life
- right and wrong
- good and evil
- how we should live our lives
Guard the door of your mind with diligence! When you do that, you're going to find that within you, you still have things to overcome!
Verse 24: "Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and devious lips put far from you. Let your eyes look right on, and let your eyelids look straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right hand nor to the left; remove your foot from evil" (vs 24-27).
All of this that we just covered is an introduction to understanding all the rest of the Psalms and the Bible, and how it connects with the New Testament, as well. When that happens:
- What are we to do?
- How are we to apply this?
We have this as David brings out in Psa. 63; very important! This is why prayer is necessary every single day! You will find, as one man found. He finally confessed that for two years he never prayed on His knees. He was just kind of like fleeting thoughts in his mind. Did he get himself in trouble? Yes, he got himself in big time trouble! That would apply to anyone who does the same thing!
- IF God gives you life, which He does
- IF everything that's the most important thing is the Kingdom of God, which it is
- IF we are to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2-Cor. 10)
Prayer and study are absolutely imperative! That's your spiritual food! You know how you get when you fast and are not eating, you get hungry and thirsty. Spiritually, this is how we are to approach God! This is how we guard the door of our mind!
Psalm 63:1: "O God, You are my God, earnestly I will seek You! My soul thirsts for You.… [that's a never ending thirst and only God can fill that] …My flesh longs for You, as in a dry and thirsty land where no water is."
Keep in mind a desert where there's no water. Alongside of that you have an oasis where there's a flowing of water. Out there in the desert is Satan's way, and over here in the oasis is God's Way!
Verse 2: "To see Your power and Your glory as I have seen You in the sanctuary."
That's quite a statement from this point of view: at the time that David wrote this Psalm, the Ark of the Covenant was in David's house in a special tent. Asaph the high priest and other priests were there tending to it. So, David would come and pray before God where the Ark of the Covenant was behind the curtains. Apparently, God let David see a shape of Himself. Think about what that must have been for David. "…as I have seen You in the sanctuary."
Verse 3: "Because Your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips when I remember You…" (vs 3-6)—remember God!
This will happen, many times God will deal with you when you're getting ready to go to sleep, when you're lying in bed and you're thinking on God, and His ways.
Verse 6: "When I remember You upon my bed and meditate on You in the night watches."
Then David realized something else, something we all need to realize continuously:
Verse 7: "Because You have been my help, therefore, in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice."
I covered about an shadow, but that's quite an interesting thing, the shadow of the wings of God!
Verse 8: My soul follows hard after You; Your right hand upholds me."
That's quite a Psalm, think about that! Think about how dedicated David was. This helps us to understand how dedicated we need to be also in seeking God His way!
I recommend that if you have been having a lot of difficulties and problems, things you need to work on and to overcome, spend a lot of time in the Psalms. Also, open up your Bible when you're on your knees and read some of these Psalms as introductions for your prayer to God.
That's what this is for. So that with God's Spirit and with God's Word your prayer makes connection with God.
Psalm 9:1: "I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart…"
We're going to look into something that's really very important. Like we started out. Where did we start out? No one is able to serve two masters! How do you avoid that? Right here: "…with my whole heart…"
"…I will tell of all Your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High" (vs 1-2).
Notice what happens then; God helps you and fights for you! Didn't we cover that on the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread?
Verse 3: "When my enemies have turned back, they shall fall and perish before You, for You have maintained my right and my cause…" (vs 3-4).
God did! God delivered David over and over and over again from so many things. It was like David was almost every single week of his life.
"…You sat upon the throne giving righteous judgment. You have rebuked the nations… [notice how this carries clear into the book of Revelation] …You have destroyed the wicked… [think about how many wicked are going to be destroyed when Christ returns] …You have blotted out their name forever and ever" (vs 4-5).
What is that? Second death! Lake of Fire! Now notice what the world is going to come to, a prophecy that ties right in with Revelation:
Verse 6: "Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy… [when you read Revelation remember that] …You have uprooted the cities…"
What does it say in Rev. 16? The cities of the earth fell! Talk about a giant mess to clean up! What we're going to inherit with the Kingdom of God, first of all, is the greatest mess ever in the history of the world to straighten it out, in addition to helping people to understand what really took place! We can tell them:
We'll heal you and Christ is in Jerusalem! We have a new world government, and we're the ones whom Christ has sent to help you clean up this mess and to understand about God.
Think about what a great thing that's going to be!
Verse 7: "But the LORD shall endure forever; He has prepared His Throne for judgment. And He shall judge the world in righteousness; He shall govern the people with justice" (vs 7-8). That's what we're going to do!
Verse 9: "The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble." He will deliver us out of all of that! God is there to make those things happen.
Here's how we can really grow in grace and knowledge, and guard the door of our mind, by keeping our mind on:
- God
- His Word
- His Way
- the goal
and everything that there is!
Psalm 27:1: "The LORD is my Light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?…."
There are going to be a lot of things that are going to happen. The only way we're going to survive all of those is to have the strength of God!
"…The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, my enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell" (vs 1-2).
Even though there's an army, it doesn't make any difference. God is there and He's going to rescue us, He's going to help us in everything!
Let's look at some of the things that God shows that He will do. Psa. 31 shows that God is there even if everything around us is disintegrating. Doesn't make a bit of difference.
Psalm 31:21: "Blessed is the LORD, for He has shown His wondrous loving kindness in a besieged city. For I said in my haste, 'I am cut off from before Your eyes'; nevertheless, You heard the voice of my supplications when I cried to You. O love the LORD, all you His saints! The LORD preserves the faithful, and fully repays the proud doer" (vs 21-23).
Here's what happens when we:
guard the door of our mind
trust in God
rely on His Spirit
rely on His Word
Verse 24: "Be strong… [take courage] …and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the LORD.
Let's see in all of this how we are to seek God. You can see how important it is to study the Psalms, and Psa. 119 is the epitome of Heb. 10 about having the Laws of God written in our heart and inscribed in minds. The epitome of it! This is the greatest recitation against all of the Protestants in the world who say the Law is done away! This whole 119th Psalm.
Psalm 119:1: "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the Law of the LORD."
The Protestants think that the Law of God is a curse. It's not a curse, it's a blessing!
Verse 2: "Blessed are they who keep His testimonies and who seek Him with the whole heart." Right back to where we started, no one can serve two masters! Your whole heart!
Verse 10: "With all my heart… [another way of saying wholeheartedness] …I have sought You; O let me not wander from Your commandments."
How is that accomplished? This ties in with Heb. 10:11.
Verse 11: "Your Word I have laid up in my heart… [guard the door of your heart diligently] …so that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O LORD; teach me Your statutes" (vs 11-12).
Verse 33: "Teach me…" That's what God wants! He wants us to learn, and He teaches us out of His Word!
If we could sit down at a table with God right in front of us, what would He say to us? What He has in His Word! So, when you have the Bible right in front of you, you have the Word of God coming:
- from the mouth of God
- from the mouth of His prophets
- from the mouth of those whom He inspires to write
- from the apostles
- from Christ Himself
Verse 33: "Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, and I shall keep it unto the end."
- no half-heartedness
- no in between
- no double standard
Verse 34: "Give me understanding, that I may keep Your Law and observe it with all my heart.
See how all of this comes together? This is why we have the Sabbath, and why it's important! Coming to the Sabbath and with personal prayer and study during the week, this is the spiritual food that we need:
- to grow in grace and knowledge
- to stay strong in the Lord
- to stay faithful in the Lord
- to guard the door of our mind
- to keep our heart diligently
Verse 35: "Make me to walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in them. Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to covetousness" (vs 35-36). That's how you keep from sinning!
Verse 37: "Turn away my eyes from seeing vanity; give me life in Your way."
Actually, this whole Psa 119 is one that you can hardly stop from reading the whole thing, because one thing leads to another and reinforces the other in a magnificent way.
Verse 38: "Fulfill Your Word to Your servant, so that You may be feared. Turn away my reproach, which I fear, for Your judgments are good. Behold, I have longed after Your precepts; give me life in Your righteousness" (vs 38-40). That tells us a lot!
Verse 65: "You have dealt well with Your servant, O LORD, according to Your Word. Teach me good judgment… [help you make right decisions; look at what happens when you make bad decisions, trouble always comes] …and knowledge, for I have believed Your commandments" (vs 65-66). You have:
- knowledge
- understanding
- belief
- faith
- love
- keep
All of those together like in a sphere, all compacted together representing the Way of God and how we need it!
All of what we have covered will lead to this, and will come back to the fundamental thing that God's wants us to do. Make this part of your prayer every day. When you're praying ask God to 'help me, O God, to love You this way.' This sis what God wants! This will give you the right standing before God in a way that is magnificent, indeed!
Mark 12:28: "And one of the scribes who had come up to Him, after hearing them reasoning together and perceiving that He answered them well, asked Him, 'Which is the first commandment of all?'"
Verse 29: "Then Jesus answered him, 'The first… [the most important; tie in Matt. 22!] …of all the commandments is, "Hear, O Israel…. [whatever your name is] …Our one God is the Lord, the Lord. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart… [that's how you guard the door of your mind/heart] …and with all your soul… [everything about you] …and with all your mind, and with all your strength." This is the first commandment'" (vs 29-30).
Brethren, if we do that think about what will happen in our lives, spiritually speaking! I'm not talking about acquiring more physical things or anything like that. Some of those may come, some of them may not come.
But the most important thing is our relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ and loving God this way! Then love our neighbor as our self. Then love each other as Christ loved us!
Think about how you react to the brethren! Do you really love them as Jesus loved them? That's another one to pray about every day!
This is how you guard the door of your mind!
Scriptural References:
- Luke 16:13-15
- Matthew 12:32-35
- Hebrews 10:15-23
- Proverbs 2:1-11, 20-22
- Proverbs 3:21-23
- Proverbs 4:10-13
- 2 Timothy 4:2
- Proverbs 4:14-27
- Psalm 63:1-8
- Psalm 9:1-9
- Psalm 27:1-2
- Psalm 31:21-24
- Psalm 119:1-2, 10-12, 33-40, 65-66
- Mark 12:28-30
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- James 1
- John 8
- Acts 15
- Jeremiah 17
- Revelation 2
- 2 Timothy 1
- Haggai 1
- Matthew 5; 4
- Luke 4
- Revelation 20
- Proverbs 3:22-31
- 2 Corinthians 10
- Revelation 16
- Hebrews 10:11
- Matthew 22
Also referenced: Message: Are We Keeping the Covenant We Made with God? by Russell Kemp
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 4/20/23
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