Barriers

23 Search me, 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. Psalm 139:23‭-‬24 NIV

God is cool. I just prayed this prayer as I was driving home last night. I wanted to know if there was anything blocking me from his work in my life. I'd been struggling at work trying to connect to my employees and it wasn't going well with some. As I prayed this prayer God placed on my heart that I should ask forgiveness for the part I'd played in any misunderstanding. Me apologize? But I've only ever been nice and easy going. Why do I have to apologize? They're the ones with the issues, right? Wrong. Herein lies what's wrong with pretty much everything: I'm not to blame; it's someone else's fault.

Think about that for a minute. Then think about a moment when you took issue with something. Were you blameless in the exchange? What about your attitude? Was it all about you?

I realized my attitude was holier than though in nature. I wasn't exhibiting a servant's heart. I was making it about me. Yes, they carry some of the responsibility, but not all. So I apologized. I acknowledged the part I played in the misunderstanding. We are now able to move forward.

God will change your heart if you let him. He will help you understand what's going on and give you wisdom and clarity. But you must acknowledge your part and ask for any barriers to be removed...and mean it.

Neighbor

For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:14 NIV

Everything hinges on this one commandment. But how can we love each other if we don't even love ourselves. Or on the flip side, how can we love each other if we are so self indulged that we walk through this world only caring about ourselves? We must all accept our part in what gors so horribly wrong when we don't keep this commandment.

And we can't pick and choose who to love. Our strength in loving others lies within our weakness that needs God's grace. We must humble ourselves and let God move through us. It's the only way we will grow. It's the only way we can truly keep the commandments. It's the only way we can take our weaknesses and turn them into strengths that will serve his purpose.

Let God love others through you today. Be God's vessel.

Work for it

10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. Malachi 3:10 NIV

I think over the years of hearing this verse it was used most often to guilt people into tithing. I'm not going into that subject here because I want to focus on another part of the verse. God says to bring in the tithe 'so there may be food in my house'. Why do you think he said it this way? I think it's because he's making sure the Israelites know they have to work for their subsistence. In order to receive the blessing they had to make sacrifices. This is confirming the new testaments declaration that faith without works is dead.

You can believe God will pay your bills,  but that doesn't mean you sit around all day waiting for a check. God's given you health and abilities to get a job.

You can pray that God feeds the homeless people in your city,  but food doesn't fall from heaven. Get out there and volunteer your time to help feed them.

The Israelites weren't just given their freedom from the Egyptians. They had to work for it, following God's instructions.

To have food in the house they needed to go get it and bring it in. Then God sees the faithfulness followed through and he blesses from there. Bring the tithe. Be faithful in all you do. God will bless the work of your hands.

Bandaids

“Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Romans 4:7 NIV

Sins are like wounds and can fester and get infected if not treated. Sin injects your heart with poison and it can bleed into every part of your life. Like any wound, in order to heal it must be properly covered and treated. Open wounds will not heal and can cause serious problems.

Sin must be covered, covered in the blood of Jesus and by the grace of God. His grace heals and protects us from further infection and damage. The blood cleanses so that we are clean and made righteous in him.

Blameless

The righteous lead blameless lives; blessed are their children after them. Proverbs 20:7 NIV

I'm doomed. Chances are you are too. The Bible says there are none righteous. None. So where do these righteous people come from? How do they lead blameless lives? I want my children to be blessed as I'm sure you do. So what gives?

Just as we know there are none righteous, the Bible also tells us we are made righteous when we accept Christ as our savior and give our hearts to God. We got that covered. So let's move to the blameless part.

Are you thinking of running for office? If you are, is there anything that would cause you problems if it was made public? What about your Facebook posts? Twitter? When my potential employers were thinking about hiring me, they knew my professional attributes, but they looked into my social media pages,  even reading this blog! Lucky for me I've nothing to hide. I'm not blameless as in I've never sinned (I woke up today didn't I?). I'm blameless in that I know my heart is an open book. There is nothing in my life that's so heinous or bad that I wouldn't want it shared. There is a peace that comes with living such that you don't apologize for living. This is living blameless.

We are made righteous. We live blameless. Our children see how we live, are brought up to live the same way, and are blessed in God's eyes because of it. It carries from generation to generation.

Don't be righteous. Be made righteous and live blameless.

The Palace

10 The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10 NIV

I've been watching The Crown, a series on Netflix. It's fantastic. You should check it out. A lot of the action takes place at Buckingham Palace and it's breathtakingly beautiful. It's purpose is to house the royal family and serve as the official headquarters of the queen. Much like our White House. It's the official residence of our president as well as his official headquarters. The security measures are intense, specifically designed to protect the occupants and visitors. It's fortified against attack because of its importance to national security.

We see the White House and Buckingham Palace in the physical world. But God's name, just his name, is stronger than these fortresses put together. You call on him, run to him, and nothing can do you harm.

Believe on his name and eternal life is yours.

Villages

2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 NIV

A fellow student and myself are high rank testing in March. It's not hard intellectually but it's brutal physically. Many sparring rounds can get you winded and fatigued to the point you're too weak to break boards. But that's why we train and train hard. Today we had some practice rounds and this fellow student and I sparred each other. We didn't spar hard and had light contact but we sparred clean and helped each other out. We are going to make sure to help and support each other along with our other fellow students and instructors. We can't get there on our own. It really does take a village. Our martial arts village has some amazing people and we are fortunate to have found a place that truly builds you mind, body and spirit.

Wouldn't it be great if you had that everywhere you went, especially your church and your home? This verse commands us to do just that. It's not that the single mom can't function on her own, but why should she have to? We are to help share her burdens. It's not that the young college student can't survive college on his own, but why should he? He needs a village to help encourage him when things get tough or temptation becomes too great.

It's not that we can't. It's that we shouldn't. Let's help each other. If each of us reached out to just one, the world would transform. God's love would be seen everywhere. Who will we help today?