YOUR LIFE FROM THE OUTSIDE IS THE REFLECTION OF WHAT IS IN THE INSIDE
(Proverbs 4:23- 27) 23- “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 24- Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. 25- Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26- Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. 27- Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.”
“As Christians we live a life that is different- morally excellent, ethically beautiful. It’s called a holy life. And God honors that. Because it’s like He is…” (By Charles R. Swindoll, Wisdom for the Way; page 107)
Let me share some of the things that I believe will be helpful to all of us as Christians. Our text shows us an outline on how we can check our Christian living from the inside out. It identifies what’s in our heart by the reactions of our daily Christian life. First notice verse 23- “Keep thy heart with all diligence…” And then in verse 24- “Put away from thee a froward mouth…” Then the right focus in verse 25- “Let thine eyes look right on…” The Bible warned us in verse 26- “Ponder the path of thy feet…” And then last phrase of verse 27- “remove thy foot from evil…” Notice the advice of God to Joshua after the death of Moses- (Joshua 1:8) “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
HOPE FOR A BROKEN HEART
(Psalm 51:17) “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”
According to Dr. McNair Wilson; “Perhaps the greatest psychological, spiritual and medical need that all people have is the need for hope.” (Hope for Each Day)
We may have a broken heart for several reasons in which many of them if not most of them are beyond our control while some were because of our own doing. Our hearts are broken because: 1- We are in desperate need of love. 2- We see sin in our midst. 3- We have a righteous indignation. 4- We were rejected by someone for something or someone more special. 5- We got disappointed due to circumstances and problems. 6- We have unanswered prayers. 7- Our hearts are broken for the lost world.
God knows our heart and He knows what’s best for us. We just have to trust His heart. I love the song “Trust His heart…” And that’s what we need to do when our hearts are broken because of hopelessness… (Psalm 34:18- 19) 18- “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. 19- The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”
A HOME IN HEAVEN
(John 14:2- 3) 2- “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3- And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
You may have heard this over and over from different people-“There’s no place like home…”
We recently just had a very short vacation in Tennessee and Georgia with my wife and friends. We stayed in our friends beautiful and huge house. We were treated very well and the accommodation and the hospitality were excellent, but I said to my wife while were there; ‘there’s no place like home…’ The Bible said that we are strangers in this world. (II Corinthians 12:2) “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.” We praise God because we have a home in heaven. We don’t have a time share here on earth but I know that our time in eternity with God will be forever. The blessings of it are; I don’t have to worry about the monthly payments and its availability for me and my family.
(II Corinthians 5:6, 8) 6- “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 8- We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”
WAIT UPON THE LORD AND FLY LIKE AN EAGLE
(Isaiah 40:30- 31) 30- “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31- But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
One of the most beautiful, courageous and smart birds are the eagles. These birds are amazing that according to Answers.com: “The bald eagle feeds primarily on fish but will also eat rodents, other small mammals, and carrion. The bald eagle circles when hunting, scanning the ground with its sharp eyesight and swooping suddenly to take its prey… Females lay a clutch of two eggs as early as October in southern breeding areas and as late as mid-March in the north. Both parents incubate the eggs for about 35 days and share feeding duties for about three months until the chicks can fly and hunt on their own. The adult eagles then drive fledglings from the nest.” Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/bald-eagle#ixzz1RAS6tCys Christians should have the attitude of an eagle and we should be patient in our walk with Lord like the eagles who takes care of their chicks. (Psalm 37:7) “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.”
BEYOND THE CLOUDS IS A PLACE OF “NO MORE…”
(Revelation 22:3- 5) 3- “And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4- And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 5- And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”
When I was a pastor of a small church in Subic, Zambales, Philippines; I used to be so stressed and sometimes would get depressed on Monday mornings. I called it, ‘My Monday Sickness’. I hated getting up on Monday morning and prepare the school and for meetings which leads me to write a song; TEN THOUSAND YEARS… “Ten thousand years in heaven with Jesus we’ll just be started, Ten thousand years with friends and loved ones and heaven too. Ten thousand years of love and goodness all throughout eternity, Ten thousand years, ten thousand years. Ten thousand years… of joy and gladness. In heaven we’ll sing glory to our God. We’ll sing and praise the name of Jesus all throughout eternity, Ten thousand years; ten thousand years.” Parts of the second stanza were taken from (Revelation 21:4) “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
