"Matter of The Heart"

"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:" (Psalms 139:23)

   This might be the best way that we can acknowledge God's presence, by submitting to His ability to search our hearts and to know our thoughts. We have got to be as open and truthful with God as we can possibly be! It is what He wants from us, to be honestly surrendered over to Him; expecting that He not only hears our confessions and our cries for mercy, but that He also knows what we need in order to make it all right, even if we might not like it. The main point of what I believe David is making, allowing for the challenge put forth in the last for verses, is that God knows the heart of men, through and through; there is no way to get around that, whether or not you are one of His children, He still knows your heart! I have heard some speculate that God does not hear or listen to those that are not His children; but I will refute that line of thinking, because it just does not make any sense! If God knows everything, then He knows everything; and there is nothing hidden from Him, not even the heart of the wicked. This might be one of the most sincere ways that we can process the real motives of our heart, especially when it comes to having compassion upon the lost! We must! And if we don't, we need to ask God to make it right in us, that we can love as He loves! I know you have heard it said, "Love the sinner, but hate the sin," because that is the thought I believe is being put forth. David starts out with asking God to search his heart, goes into acknowledging how much God knows about him; spins off onto the ways of the wicked and his hate for them, and then gets back to God searching his heart. There is truly a process shown here, that most of us should be asking God to help us with also. It is way to easy to start judging people, especially when we start taking sides, forgetting from what side we were once on. In these last days, the challenge of taking up our cross and following Jesus, is one that is based upon sacrifice of self; where what you think must happen, is not what God might have in mind, and what you think you need God to do, may not be what God needs done. God knows what is best, no matter what! That is the best way to challenge the desires of our hearts, to surrender everything over to Him, and say try me! Which is not for His benefit, but ours...

"That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1:7)