Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Trusting God”
Our Bible verse for today: “Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I stand up; You understand my thoughts from far away.” Psalm 139:1 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “You can trust that God knows the truth about you.”
For the second half of 2015 I have been using Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of the Bible, “The Message” for my personal morning devotional time. Yesterday I was reading in Isaiah and was startled by Peterson’s rendering of Isaiah 1:12-17:
“Quit your worship charades. I can’t stand your trivial religious games: monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings – I can’t stand one more! Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You’ve worn me out! I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. When you put on your next prayer performance, I’ll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I’ll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody. Go home and wash up. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings so I don’t have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless.”
That passage reminded me of what the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 139:1, “Lord, you have searched me and known me.” That’s what Isaiah was getting at. None of your religious charades fool God. He knows your true heart. He knows what you do behind closed doors, what you think, and what you say. He knows what’s really in your heart. Yes, you can trust that God knows the truth about you. He isn’t fooled by outward shows of piety.
So what do we do? How do we change so that our hearts are right with God and that our behavior really is a true reflection of the condition of our heart? For the answer to that I’ll refer to another Psalm, this one written by King David. He wrestled with this issue just like you and I do:
“God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not banish me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore the joy of Your salvation to me, and give me a willing spirit.” Psalm 51:10-12
That’s the answer. Just be real with God. Acknowledge the struggle. Admit your failures. Truly desire to be better, holier, more righteous. Then trust Him to cleanse you and to restore to you a renewed spirit and the joy of salvation.
You can trust that God knows the real you. He isn’t fooled by outward shows of piety and righteousness. So be real with Him and get right with Him.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 