Pastor Stephen Dedman

Tag: christ

The Eyes Of Your Heart

Encouragement

“having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1:18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The Bible uses the word “heart” to refer to the center of the whole person, the place of all desires.  

The heart is seen as the seat of the will, intellect and feelings. “Character”, “personality” and “mind” are also terms used for the Bible’s meaning of heart. As you may have already discovered, the Bible has much to say about the heart. 

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17:9‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭6:45‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.””
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭16:7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭51:10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭36:26‬ ‭ESV‬‬

We must allow the eyes of our heart to be opened to the spiritual things of God. When our heart is set on God we see things in a spiritual realm and not physical. We need to allow God to speak to our heart so we can see who He is. Is your heart prepared to receive the riches of His glory?

Pray

Lord, open the eyes of my heart so that I may see You in all your glory. Fill my heart with joy and peace that I may have hope. 

The Works Of Jesus

Encouragement

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”
‭‭John‬ ‭4:34‬

What are your top priorities today? Is it making it to work on time, making sure the kids behave, or completing a task that has been lingering for some time? 

Whatever it is, it has your attention and your focus. Your focus becomes your priority and your priority becomes what you do. 

Throughout the Gospels we can read and understand the focus and priorities of Jesus.  We also see the priorities of His disciples.  Jesus was more concerned with the spiritual needs of people and the disciples were most concerned with their physical needs.  

Many examples throughout the gospels prove that Jesus’ focus was on people knowing and believing Him. Everything Jesus did pointed people to God. The disciples were learning from Jesus what the most important priorities should be. 

In the beginning verses of John 4, Jesus met with a Samaritan woman at the well.  The disciples left to go get some food and came back to give some to Jesus.  When they asked him to eat He said these words, “My food is to do the will of God and to do His work.”  Again while Jesus’ mind was on spiritual matters the disciples were thinking about feeding the flesh.  Jesus was giving the woman at the well eternal life while the disciples were more interested in being fed and satisfying themselves. 

Jesus entrusts us to do His work.  We are the hands and feet of Jesus and need to be concerned with the spiritual needs of others as much as we are trying to meet their physical needs.  Sometimes we neglect sharing the truth with those who need it and concentrate on making sure they have something to eat.  

We should always make sure that we are giving the “bread of life” to those who are lost and hungry.  Giving someone something to eat and not offering them Jesus is missing out on a great opportunity to witness.  We need to be about our Lord’s business and make new disciples.

Pray

Lord, send someone in my direction and allow me time to share the truth of Jesus Christ with them. Let my priorities prove that my love for you is authentic. 

Your Sins Are Forgiven

Encouragement

I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.
Isaiah 43:25

If God chooses to never remember our sins that have been forgiven, then why do we? We ought to forget the things that God forgets. But it seems that human nature tends to remember the things that we ought to forget and forget the things that we should remember.

How often do you recall the failures in your past? Or what regrets keep haunting you? It’s a powerful thing for God to never remember the things that have been removed from our past. More importantly, God chooses to forget! He chooses to never bring up the charges against us.

However, the devil, our accuser, constantly reminds us of our mistakes and mishaps. He tries to keep us thinking of the dark past. It is the past failures that keep us from a rewarding future.

When you are reminded of your “forgiven and forgotten” past, just remember that brokenness brings blessings. God uses our past failures to show His glory and grace. God uses the broken things to provide blessedness. Do you remember the 300 men of Gideon’s army that faced overwhelming odds but when they started breaking their clay pots, the Midianites were so scared and confused they killed one another?

Have you ever considered how God has used brokenness in your life? We tend to think that brokenness disqualifies us or weakens us. However big the sins may be, if God forgives and forgets them then we should rejoice and experience the power of grace. 

Let grace have victory in your life. Seek forgiveness in Jesus’ name and rest in the promises of God.

Pray

Lord, allow Your Light to shine through my darkness and brighten my future. Help me to know Your character so I may learn to deal with my remembrance.