September - 2009
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It's About Your Heart |
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By Ty Gibson |
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| I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel "I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts" (Jeremiah 31:31-33). read more... | |||
The "new covenant" is God's plan to return fallen human beings to
the place where they are internally governed by His law of self-giving, other-centered love as the only impulse
for every act of life. Sin has severely
bent our wills toward self-serving.
The goal of the new covenant is to eradicate sin by means of forgiveness and to fill our hearts with God's love
as the new ruling motive.
The focal point of the new covenant is the heart, not the behavior, for the simple reason that behavior can be modified by means of wrong motives, while if the heart is truly invaded by God, the behavior will be changed as well, but now from the pure motive of love. If the heart is right, the life will reflect that reality. Therefore, Paul rejoiced concerning certain converts, "God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart" (Romans 6:17). David exalted in the effects of the new covenant: "I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart" (Psalm 40:8).
The heart is the seat of freewill, the place in the human soul where the powerful reality of motive resides. Throughout the Bible it is evident that God has a specific interest in securing the devotion of our hearts. He is not content to hover around the surface areas of our lives and merely regulate our conduct, nor is He content with a service rendered from a sense of mere obligation or duty. He has no interest in making us slaves or purchasing from us a mechanical allegiance.
God is obsessed with your heart. He wants access to your inmost being, to the place deep inside you, where motive resides. He wants in: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock" (Revelation 3:20). If you let Him in, He will perform a radical work of transformation in your heart. You will begin to sense yourself being actuated by a whole new train of thought. Your emotions will take on a whole new form. You will experience a whole new reason for living and, as a result, a whole new pattern of living. The entire quality of your life will begin to steadily rise.
Pause right now and invite God to have His way with your heart, to write His law of love deep within the inner fabric of your thoughts and feeling and motives, to fulfill in you the new covenant.
The focal point of the new covenant is the heart, not the behavior, for the simple reason that behavior can be modified by means of wrong motives, while if the heart is truly invaded by God, the behavior will be changed as well, but now from the pure motive of love. If the heart is right, the life will reflect that reality. Therefore, Paul rejoiced concerning certain converts, "God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart" (Romans 6:17). David exalted in the effects of the new covenant: "I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart" (Psalm 40:8).
The heart is the seat of freewill, the place in the human soul where the powerful reality of motive resides. Throughout the Bible it is evident that God has a specific interest in securing the devotion of our hearts. He is not content to hover around the surface areas of our lives and merely regulate our conduct, nor is He content with a service rendered from a sense of mere obligation or duty. He has no interest in making us slaves or purchasing from us a mechanical allegiance.
God is obsessed with your heart. He wants access to your inmost being, to the place deep inside you, where motive resides. He wants in: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock" (Revelation 3:20). If you let Him in, He will perform a radical work of transformation in your heart. You will begin to sense yourself being actuated by a whole new train of thought. Your emotions will take on a whole new form. You will experience a whole new reason for living and, as a result, a whole new pattern of living. The entire quality of your life will begin to steadily rise.
Pause right now and invite God to have His way with your heart, to write His law of love deep within the inner fabric of your thoughts and feeling and motives, to fulfill in you the new covenant.
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"Chrystus
czy Swiat" |
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By James Rafferty |
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| I flew in to Berlin, Germany and from there traveled a couple of hours over the border to Zatonie, Poland. This was the location of the Seventh-day Adventist camp donated by the local government in the mid 1990s. It is in a rural area bordering a beautiful lake. The only major landmark, I was told, was the location of the largest NATO military operations base in Europe, just across the lake, evidenced by the low-flying fighter planes heard and seen from time to time. read more... | |||
The main meeting hall was a huge canvas tent with long wooden
benches that accommodated hundreds of people and was filled
to overflowing on the weekends. The camp meeting drew Poles
from all over the world-Ireland, England, Germany, Australia and of
course, Poland. Young people were in the slight majority and camped in the dozens of tents circling every building, tree and road in the
main camp area. There were also a
number of small trailers and a few dozen rooms, like the one I stayed
in. The weather was fitful, first hot, then pouring rain with loud
cracks of thunder. The people were wonderful, hungry for God's word,
friendly, warm and passionate.
There were many people that recognized me from 3ABN, which was a powerful testimony of the world-wide influence God has given us through media outreach. The camp meeting was ten days and I was joined by speakers from England, Australia and the U.S. The theme was Christ or the World ("Chrystus czy Swiat" in Polish) so I began in the book of Hebrews introducing the gospel theme of "something better." We then moved to the book of Daniel emphasizing a relationship with God and the new covenant experience. The final meeting presented a powerful contrast between this life and the gift of eternal life given to us through Jesus Christ. About 30 percent of the listeners understood English. The use of PowerPoint and Zibby, my excellent translator, brought the message home to their ears, while the Holy Spirit brought it to their hearts.
One of the highlights of the meetings came when I shared the latest 10-minute mission video about the publishing work of Light Bearers (LBM). The people were moved and many were eager to learn how Poland could receive literature like the leaves of autumn. Later that same day, I was meeting with both the conference and union presidents, Elders Pawel and Tadauz. As we talked, and they began to realize the full impact of what LBM was offering to do for the church in Poland, they were overjoyed. Translation has already begun and by God's grace Poland will receive its first container of gospel literature by next year. Please keep this project in your prayers.
Despite the language barrier,it was very easy to connect with the people in Poland. They were friendly, outgoing and enthusiastic about sharing the gospel. The camp meeting closed with a baptism of over 30 people. As I looked into the eyes of the listening audience during the closing meetings Sabbath evening, I could see the Holy Spirit speaking to the hearts-it was a wonderful experience and caused me to long for home, to be able to see the face of Jesus, who will one day welcome us to heaven with more joy than a mother embracing a long-lost son returned from war. What a day of rejoicing that will be!
There were many people that recognized me from 3ABN, which was a powerful testimony of the world-wide influence God has given us through media outreach. The camp meeting was ten days and I was joined by speakers from England, Australia and the U.S. The theme was Christ or the World ("Chrystus czy Swiat" in Polish) so I began in the book of Hebrews introducing the gospel theme of "something better." We then moved to the book of Daniel emphasizing a relationship with God and the new covenant experience. The final meeting presented a powerful contrast between this life and the gift of eternal life given to us through Jesus Christ. About 30 percent of the listeners understood English. The use of PowerPoint and Zibby, my excellent translator, brought the message home to their ears, while the Holy Spirit brought it to their hearts.
One of the highlights of the meetings came when I shared the latest 10-minute mission video about the publishing work of Light Bearers (LBM). The people were moved and many were eager to learn how Poland could receive literature like the leaves of autumn. Later that same day, I was meeting with both the conference and union presidents, Elders Pawel and Tadauz. As we talked, and they began to realize the full impact of what LBM was offering to do for the church in Poland, they were overjoyed. Translation has already begun and by God's grace Poland will receive its first container of gospel literature by next year. Please keep this project in your prayers.
Despite the language barrier,it was very easy to connect with the people in Poland. They were friendly, outgoing and enthusiastic about sharing the gospel. The camp meeting closed with a baptism of over 30 people. As I looked into the eyes of the listening audience during the closing meetings Sabbath evening, I could see the Holy Spirit speaking to the hearts-it was a wonderful experience and caused me to long for home, to be able to see the face of Jesus, who will one day welcome us to heaven with more joy than a mother embracing a long-lost son returned from war. What a day of rejoicing that will be!
| Consider This ... | Speaking Schedule | |||
Christianity proposes a reformation in the heart. What
Christ works within, will be worked out under the dictation of
a converted intellect. The plan of beginning outside and trying to work inward has always failed, and always will fail.
Ellen G. White,The truth as it is in Jesus, planted in the heart by the Holy Spirit, always works from within outward; it will be revealed in our words and spirit and actions toward everyone with whom we are connected. Ellen G. White,As the leaven, when mingled with the meal, works from within outward, so it is by the renewing of the heart that the grace of God works to transform the life. No mere external change is sufficient to bring us into harmony with God. There are many who try to reform by correcting this or that bad habit, and they hope in this way to become Christians, but they are beginning in the wrong place. Our first work is with the heart. The man who attempts to keep the commandments of God from a sense of obligation merely- because he is required to do so-will never enter into the joy of obedience. He does not obey. When the requirements of God are accounted a burden because they cut across human inclination, we may know that the life is not a Christian life. True obedience is the outworking of a principle within. It springs from the love of righteousness, the love of the law of God. Ellen G. White,All true obedience comes from the heart. It was heart work with Christ. And if we consent, He will so identify Himself with our thoughts and aims, so blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will, that when obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses. The will, refined and sanctified, will find its highest delight in doing His service. When we know God as it is our privilege to know Him, our life will be a life of continual obedience. Through an appreciation of the character of Christ, through communion with God, sin will become hateful to us. Ellen G. White, |
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