"If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words
remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you
will, and it shall be done for you." (John 15:7)
I've
been meditating on verses that talk about dwelling/living/abiding in
the Lord... and the importance of doing so. John 15:7 lets us know that
if we live in the Lord, if we abide vitally united to Him and His words
remain in us and continue to live in our hearts, we can ask whatever we
will and it shall be done for us.
My friend Lois shared her
thoughts on Psalm 37 today. She inspired me. So, I too popped down to
Psalm 37. Verse 4 gives us one of the most wonderful promises in the
Word... one, that many Christians often joyfully quote: "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart."
This
verse can be the greatest blessing or the worst curse... as when we
realize that we receive from the Lord what we desire secretly in our
hearts... we realize that not all things in our hearts are good!
Traditions are hidden in our hearts... negative words that were spoken
about/to us in our youth might still be unconsciously hidden deep in
the secret recesses of our hearts... limiting thoughts about ourselves
are hidden in our hearts... negative visions that we might have
developed... unforgiveness... bitterness... hurt... sickness... lack...
etch.
Sometimes we sincerely go to the Lord and cry to Him in
our needs (which I think is the first warning signal... as when we
cry/plead/beg, we do not really believe that the Lord wants to help
us), not realizing that we still harbor wrong thoughts in our hearts -
and receive into our lives according to those wrong thoughts. (I do not
mean we shouldn't cry before the Lord when we are hurting or we
shouldn't pour our hearts out to Him... we definitely should, but I am
talking about having deep-rooted wrong attitudes in our hearts that
hinder our prayer-answers). We consider prayers those petitions that we
lift up unto God during our time of devotion, but in reality the
thoughts of our hearts are also prayers. ...bummer!
I think Psalm 15 is one of the most powerful eye openers, saying: "Lord,
Who shall dwell [temporarily] in Your tabernacle? Who shall dwell
[permanently] on Your holy hill? He who speaks and thinks the truth in
his heart... He who does these things shall never be moved."
The book of John constantly exhorts us to dwell or abide in the Lord: "Dwell
in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.]
Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being
vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you
abide in Me. I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me
and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut
off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing." (15:4-5)
How
do we dwell in the Lord? John 1:1 says that the Word of God and Christ
are one and the same... so, we dwell in the Lord by dwelling in the
Word of God. In order for us to receive our needs met supernaturally -
having God as our provider, protector, healer, helper in any situation
- we need to have the Word of God deeply rooted in our hearts. When we
meditate on the Word, we allow the Word of God to sink from our minds
into our hearts, thus replacing unbelieving thoughts with faith
thoughts... replacing hate thoughts with love thoughts... sick thoughts
with well thoughts... low self-esteem with confidence in Christ...
As
faith only resides in our hearts, God can't give us anything that is in
the contrary with our heart faith. No wonder Joshua 1:8 exhorts us to
meditate on the Word day and night! ...promising that if we do, we will
make our way prosperous. Everything starts with choosing our thoughts.
In
Proverbs, over and over again, God almost begs us to fill our hearts
with the Truth of the Word... knowing that our lives - especially the
quality of our lives - depend on it: "My son, forget not my
law or teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for length of
days and years of a life [worth living] and tranquility [inward and
outward and continuing through old age till death], these shall they
add to you. Let not mercy and kindness [shutting out all hatred and
selfishness] and truth [shutting out all deliberate hypocrisy or
falsehood] forsake you; bind them about your neck, write them upon the
table of your heart. So shall you find favor, good understanding, and
high esteem in the sight [or judgment] of God and man." ...yeah, good life sure depends on having the Word of God deeply rooted in our hearts!
Proverbs 4:23 calls us to: "Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life."
...God calls us to GUARD our hearts with all vigilance... "guard"
meaning to protect or hide... "vigilance" meaning careful attention
being given to a situation, so that we notice any danger or trouble
that there might be (BBC English Dictionary). God alerts us to protect
our hearts so carefully that we would notice any danger or trouble
approaching and immediately hide our hearts from it.
We can
notice danger only when we know what the Word of God terms danger.
Everything that opposes the Word of God means danger to us... for if we
choose to dwell on it and entertain it in our thoughts or keep it in
front of our eyes, it means less faith in our hearts. God actually
exhorts us, day by day, even moment by moment, to reject everything
that would harm the faith of our hearts.
Psalm 91 - my daily prayer - explains really well how things work in the spirit realm. The psalmist beings: "He
who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and
fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can
withstand]." When we dwell, abide, live in the Word of God, we
shall remain stable and fixed in every situation. This is because we no
longer depend on the outward conditions, but we KNOW the Truth in our
hearts and are ONLY moved by the Truth. We know that our outward
conditions are just temporary and we can easily change them through the
Word. We also know HOW to change them through the Truth:
"I will SAY of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust!" (v.2) When the Truth is firmly rooted in our hearts we SPEAK the Truth. Matthew 12:34-35 confirms it: "Out
of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart the
mouth speaks. The good man from his inner good treasure flings forth
good things, and the evil man out of his inner evil storehouse flings
forth evil things." ...notice that THINGS come out of our
hearts... if we need some things, we have to first have faith for those
things in our hearts! Now, when we speak words of faith, we mobilize
God to move on our behalf, as verse 3 continues:
"For
[THEN] He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the
deadly pestilence. [THEN] He will cover you with His pinions, and under
His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His
faithfulness are a shield and a buckler..." When we speak the
words of faith, we release the power of God to move on our behalf. It
is actually easy to speak words of faith when we have time to think
about what we need to say. It is easy to speak the words of faith
during our prayer time... but when things happen suddenly and we need
to speak words of faith, oftentimes what comes out of our hearts and
mouths are fear words. So, in order to speak faith words in times of
accident or trouble - that are our deliverance - we must have put those
words into our hearts long ahead of time. ...this gives a much more
clear perspective as to why God tells us to DWELL in His Word!
Verse
5 continues to say that when we have filled our hearts with the Word of
God and out of the overflow of our hearts, are speaking the words of
faith: "You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night,
nor of the arrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that flies
by day... Only a spectator shall you be [yourself INACCESSIBLE in the
secret place of the Most High] as you witness the reward of the wicked."
When our hearts are rooted in God, we are INACCESSIBLE to evil. Verse 9 confirms the reason of such supernatural protection: "Because
you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your DWELLING
PLACE, there shall no evil befall you, nor any plague or calamity come
near your tent." In verse 14 God Himself says: "Because
he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set
him on high, because he knows and understands My name [has personal
knowledge of My mercy, love, and kindness - trusts and relies on Me,
knowing I will never forsake him, no, never]."
We have
to KNOW some things in order to be protected and receiving God's
promises! Having hidden His Truth in our hearts and having had personal
experiences of God's faithfulness, mercy, love and kindness, we have
strong confidence in Him. "Because he has set his love upon Me" - this is how God describes the person who is so blessed. What does it mean to love God?
We
all have said: "I love God"... and I know we all have meant it with all
our hearts... though the Bible has a clear definition of what it means
to love God. Jesus said in John 14:23: "If a person [really]
loves Me, he will keep My word [obey My teaching]; and My Father will
love him, and We will come to him and make Our home (abode, special
dwelling place) with him." We can tell God: "I love you" as
much as we want... but He knows that we truly love Him when we keep His
Word, obey His teaching. This is God's personal definition of us loving
Him... in the light of which we can truly see whether we love Him.
But
when we do, it does not matter whether we are new Christians or mature
Christians, if we keep His Word that He is teaching us at present - and
He is always teaching us something - then we are truly delighting in
Him... and thus He is able to indeed give us the good desires and
secret petitions of our hearts.
God is good! He is perfectly
good... there is NO evil in Him and He desires with all His heart to
give good gifts to us - His precious children - but He too is limited
by spiritual laws that rule this universe. He is teaching us through
His Word HOW to live in His good blessings - ALL the time! When we take
time to learn from the Master, we will be filled with His Wisdom that
brings us humongous blessings (read Proverbs 3 and 4)... yep, indeed,
we are growing from glory to glory... having constantly more to learn,
having greater heights to rise to... a life of learning - the best life
of all.
Eve Juurik is a writer and speaker. She has
taught style and make-up to young models at a modeling school, written articles
for health and beauty magazines in Estonia, including Style and Health
Newspaper. At present Eve is a Health and Beauty Editor of a US based My
Walk With Jesus newspaper and website. She is a regular speaker at women's events.
Eve has been
invited to write for Recipes 365,Connecticut Herb Association’s
Newsletter and US
certified fitness expert Amy Lundberg’s Aim For It Newsletter. For 5 years she has been
teaching the Bible through weekly spiritual-inspirational articles. Eve
regularly writes for a US Christian newspaper and website My Walk With Jesus, website HandMaidens, and Estonian internet magazine The Voice of
Victory.
Eve promotes and sells certified organic skin-, body-, hair-, oral-,
men's-, home-care products through her website: www.TheSpringOfLife.net
» left by Teresa Ortiz(11,010) Teresa Ortiz (1 year 323 days ago.)
Hi Eve, thank you for this wonderful commentary on Psalm 91. It has long been one of my favorites. Regarding Psalm 37:4, I also see these to mean that God will give us the desires of our hearts - meaning that He will put a desire in there that reflects His character, as we walk in Him and He changes our hearts, He fills it with what He desires and then our heart is aligned with His. Keep sharing. I know this article is older, but I just came across it and I am blessed and encouraged for it. Lord Bless you! Teresa Respond to this comment
» left by Eve Juurik (1 year 323 days ago.)
Thank You, dear Theresa for Your comment :-) You are so kind.
» left by Teresa Ortiz (1 year 323 days ago.)
You are welcome. And no problem on spelling my name wrong. Just don't let it happen again - kiddin' :-) Respond to this comment
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