CLEAN
HANDS AND A PURE HEART
3 Who
may ascend the hill of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not
lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. 5 He will receive blessing from
the Lord and vindication from God
his Savior. 6 Such
is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob. Psalms 24:3-6 (NIV)
15 When
you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you
offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; 16 wash and make yourselves
clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, 17 learn to do right! Seek
justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the
case of the widow. 18 “Come
now, let us reason together,” says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they
are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. 19 If you are willing and
obedient, you will eat the best from the land; 20 but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 1:15-20 (NIV)
14 O
Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved. How long will you harbor
wicked thoughts? Jeremiah 4:14 (NIV)
23 Search
me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive
way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalms 139:23-24 (NIV)
4 In
your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be
silent. Psalms 4:4 (NIV)
10 “I the
Lord search the heart and examine
the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds
deserve.” Jeremiah 17:10 (NIV)
7 Submit
yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will
come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you
double-minded. James 4:7-8 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Heavenly Father, we come before
you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance.
We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good,’ but that is
exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed
our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have
rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called
it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have
neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We
have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's
possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and
pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the
time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us,
Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free.
Amen!” Billy Graham
“…Jesus
showed us what God really wants to cleanse and purify—our hearts. Christ’s
transforming work on the cross helps us to break free from desires that hold us
in bondage. As we submit to God, we become like Christ, no longer wanting to
offend God. Out of gratitude we obey Him from the inside out.” Tremper
Longman
“Thank
God for the new thing that He is doing in your life. Present to him the clean empty vessel of your life to
fill with his Spirit. Pray always
the prayers of Moses: Let me know your ways. Show me your glory. Go among us.” Sylvia Gunter
“The more willing
you are to own up to your sin, the more willing God is to forgive you. When you come clean, God will clean your
record. If you are willing to use your
lips for confession, you will find your Father willing to use His lips to kiss
you.” Paraphrased, Charles Spurgeon
“Clean is the one who is righteous, if not in the sight of men, yet
in the sight of God.” Augustine
“One reason we
don’t grow in ordinary, grateful obedience as we should is that we’ve got
amnesia; we’ve forgotten that we are cleansed from our sins. In other words,
ongoing failure in sanctification (the slow process of change into
Christlikeness) is the direct result of failing to remember God’s love for us
in the gospel. If we lack the comfort and assurance that his love and cleansing
are meant to supply, our failures will handcuff us to yesterday’s sins, and we
won’t have faith or courage to fight against them, or the love for God that’s meant
to empower this war. If we fail to remember our justification, redemption, and
reconciliation, we’ll struggle in our sanctification.” Elyse Fitzpatrick
“Every attribute of God should become a fresh ray in the
sunlight of our gladness. That He is
wise should make us glad, knowing as we do our own foolishness. That He is mighty should cause us to rejoice
who tremble at our weakness. That He is
everlasting, should always be a theme of joy when we know that we wither as the
grass. That He is un-changing, should
perpetually yield us a song, since we change every hour. That He is full of grace, that He is
overflowing with it, and that this grace in covenant He has given to us; that
it is ours to cleanse us, ours to keep us, ours to sanctify us, ours to perfect
us, ours to bring us to glory – all this should tend to make us glad in
Him. This gladness in God is as a deep
river; we have only as yet touched its brink, we know a little of its clear
sweet, heavenly streams, but onward the depth is greater, and the current more
impetuous in its joy.” Charles
H. Spurgeon
HEART SAVOR
- · Create in me a clean heart O Lord and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
- · The condition of my heart and hands matter to my God.
- · Help me to submit to you O Lord – The Almighty - and resist the evil one.
