"Determined Hearts"

"The stout-hearted are spoiled; they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands." (Psalms 76:5) To totally understand what I was talking about, you need to study that word "prey" in the last verse, and then consider how significant it is that we have been given eternal life. This verse changes gears a little, as it speaks to our inability to measure up to the person that we will soon become. We know that we have it in us, because all of us who have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us can taste what holiness is like; we just can't quite get it right! And the funny thing is, the harder we want to be right, the harder it feels to do; the more we focus upon being holy, the more unholy we appear. But guess what! I have some really really good news for all of those that feel the same way that I do about this matter: this is a very good thing to feel! It is good for us to feel unholy! Do you want to know why? Read Romans 7:14-25 if you don't know the answer, because as long as we are living in these fleshly bodies, we cannot experience pure holiness. That said, the desire to be holy and knowing that your not, is the perfect place to be; compared to those that think they are holy but their not, we are right where God wants us to be, while they are outside the grace of God, thinking that they have it all together. To get the message that I believe God is speaking, we can look at the word "spoiled" for some insight into how this plays out. There is one particular verse in the Bible that I believe puts this in the perfect perspective, Ruth 2:16, which is Boas telling his servants to let Ruth not only gleam from the wheat field, but to also take handfuls of wheat and let them fall to the ground for her. This word for spoiled is the word "shalal," and it is used twice within the passage of Ruth 2:16, which says, "And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may gleam them, and rebuke her not." Yesterday in church, Pastor Bryan acted out what the "Four and Twenty Elders" were doing before the throne, and it demonstrated the significant reality of God's holiness compared to anything or anyone else. As he showed us the illustration which was presented in Revelation 5:10-11, they fell down before the throne of God, looking up, and then bowing down, looking up, and then bowing down, looking up, and then bowing down; every time they looked upon Him, they were reminded how Holy He was! That is what God has spoken into my heart this morning, because God's grace towards us goes so far beyond measure, above and beyond what we could ever need or ask for... "NOTICE WHAT LARGE LETTERS I USE AS I WRITE THESE CLOSING WORDS IN MY OWN HANDWRITING. Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised want to look good to others. They don't want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save. And even those who advocate circumcision don't keep the whole law themselves. They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast about it and claim you as their disciples. As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world's interest in me has also died. It doesn't matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. May God's peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God. From now on, don't let anyone trouble me with these things. For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus. Dear brothers and sisters, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen." (Galatians 6:11-18) NLT