People see our hearts. Can they see God when they do?

My initial intent in daily writing, blogging now, if you will, was simply to encourage others to be in the Bible daily. God has given us His source for wisdom, for skillful living, and that source more often than not goes un-tapped. Frustrations abound in life, this we already know, and there really is no other remedy for what life has to throw as us besides His Word. Along the way as we read, we cannot help but “hear” Him speak to us, perhaps uniquely to each of us, through the inspired words he Authored. I’ll pick up another book of the Bible to study through here soon, and for now, I am just sharing what God has laid upon my heart through His major wisdom books, which I encourage each and every Christian to read from daily, separate from other Bible reading.

In Proverbs 16, more phrases caught my attention: “plans of the heart”, “the Lord weighs motives”, “proud in heart”, and there are others. I came to verse 6, one I have read before, and the phrase the “fear of the Lord”, this time caused me to pause. Here, that reverent awe should be evidenced by my keeping away from evil. We must all purpose to avoid evil, to keep away from it. If we truly fear the Lord, we will not want to see how close we can get to sin without sinning, far from that! We will want to take steps to ensure that we do not.

More phrases: “man makes his plans, the Lord directs his steps”, the highway of the upright is to depart from evil”. Man, there it is again! OK, God reminds us of these things because He knows we need it.

How do we avoid evil, and do the right thing? Verse 20 makes it seem easy and very clear, “give attention to the word.” Someone before me used to write in the front of his bible, “this book will keep you from sin, and sin will keep you from this book.” Very true.

When you see phrases repeat, and read and re-read, you can’t help but notice the patterns and intent of the words. One such phrase is the “heart of the wise”, and putting thoughts together, we see that this heart is demonstrated in sweetness of speech. The wise heart has sweet speech. As with most (OK – ALL) Christian activity, the heart is the key, our motives are what people see, based on the actions that come forth from us.

So, as yesterday, I flipped to James, and today in chapter 2, James writes that we are to beware of evil motives. I have a feeling James read the Proverbs a few times in His life (after all, his half-brother Authored them!). We are to simply speak and act as though we might actually be judged based upon those words and actions (and we will). Simply put, we need our works to show, and when we realize that those works will show what is truly in our heart, we need to ask ourselves how we are doing in the “fear of the Lord” department.

SO WHAT…?

So, am I in the Word regularly, daily, multiple times a day, am I meditating on His word in order to allow Him to change my heart?

So, understanding that my actions who my heart, how do I see my motives: God-honoring or selfish? Selfless or prideful? Is my speech sweet to others, or is it only pleasing to me?

So, what phrases catch your attention? How can God change you through His Word? List some ways, specifically, force yourself to answer the question, and then allow God’s Word to begin making those changes.