1 Samuel 16:7 says, “…For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Matthew 15:8 says “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.”

I am so grateful that the Lord sees my heart. That means that I will never get away with anything, because He will confront me when I need it. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” The Lord does!

The person who is deceived does not recognize that they are. James 1:22 says, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Hebrews 3:13 says, “…lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”

Psalm 66:18 says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” Hidden sin blocks our fellowship with the Lord. Therefore, as we spend time with Him in intimate communion, He reveals our hearts to us.

2 Corinthians 4:7 says that we are an earthen vessel that displays His glory from within. It reminds us that newness of life is internal, not external. Regardless of our circumstances, His Light is to be a shining witness to others. I think of Richard Wurmbrand, a Romanian pastor imprisoned for his faith. They had drugged him and beaten him senseless.

They threw him onto the cement floor of his solitary confinement cell. He said that he couldn’t even form words to pray. He said, “Jesus I love You.” Worship is a lifestyle not circumstantial. A worshiping heart is one who is walking in newness of life.

2 Peter 1:4 says, “By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature…” At all times, and in every circumstance we are to exemplify His character. That means in public as well as behind closed doors.

Acts 4:13 says, “…And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” Ask yourself: do others recognize that I am a disciple of Jesus?

His resurrection power resides IN us. Ephesians 1:19 says, “And what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.” It is the same power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead ~ read verse 21.

Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” Ask yourself: am I walking with the awareness that His resurrection power dwells in me?

Being led by the Spirit is walking in newness of life. It is imitating Jesus. Luke 4:1 says, “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.”

Romans 8:14 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” 2 Corinthians 3:6 says, “Who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

I was meditating on Romans 6:4. It says, “Therefore…” which means we have to go back to the verses before. Why do we keep sinning? Verse 3 says, “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” When we are tempted to sin, we often fail to recognize that we are dead to sin. Dead things have no ability to respond.

Verse 4 goes on to say of our salvation experience, “…we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

What does newness of life look like? Let’s compare Scripture with Scripture. 1 Corinthians 2:13. In 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul wrote, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” 1 John 2:6 says, “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” 1 Peter 1:3 says that we are begotten again, “…through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

I encounter unforgiveness in nearly every online mentee that I counsel. Unforgiveness is a universal sin. Check your own heart. Is there anyone that you don’t speak kindly to, or speak kindly about to others?

Colossians 3:13 says, “Bearing with one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” Forgiveness is a command not an option. 

I have mentees that are emotionally tortured because of the unforgiveness in their hearts towards those who hurt them. Whether they are a believer or unsaved, the principle is the same. Matthew 18:35 says about torturers, “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

Jacob was physically tortured in prison. Yet when one of his former guards heard him speak, the guard came up to Jacob after the meeting. Jacob recognized him, smiled, and stuck out his hand to shake the guard’s hand. Corrie Ten Boom did that also one time after she had spoken and a former guard came up. Forgiveness brings inner healing.

I recently read the biography of a Doolittle Raider in World War II. He spent 40 months in a Japanese prison. While in prison he became a believer. He eventually went back as a missionary for thirty years. 

Reading his story documented again for me the power of forgiveness. Japanese war hero Captain Fuchida, had also become a believer. He read Jacob’s tract, “I Was A Prisoner Of Japan” and it changed his life. He became Jacob’s interpreter, as they went from city to city sharing how Jacob forgave his guards. Countless came to Christ.

Ephesians 4:32 says, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

In Genesis 37:4 it says that Joseph’s brothers, “…could not speak peaceably to him.” Yet in Genesis 50:20-21 we read of the power of forgiveness. It says, “…And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.”

Worry is sin because we were looking at our own feebleness. Of course, the enemy wants to use that to distract us from intimate communion with the Lord. The Greek word for worry means to divide into two parts. Think of a double-minded man who is unstable in all his ways, James 1:8.

Another word for worry is to fret. Psalm 37:8b says, “…do not fret–it only causes harm.” Fret means to eat away. When we worry it eats away our cartilage ~ leaving bone on bone. Matthew 6:25 says, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life…”

The opposite of worry is to trust. Worry is leaning on our own understanding. Of course we have cause to worry if we are looking to ourselves to get us out of impossible circumstances and situations.

We defeat worry by declaring the truth of Who God is at all times. He is always Faithful, Trustworthy, Dependable, as well as All Powerful, All Knowing, and Ever Present. Grab Scriptures and proclaim their truth in the face of worry’s lies! Trust is faith in action.

David’s heart to seek the Lord saved his life on more than one occasion. Let’s go to Ziklag​. David and his men were tired after marching back to their hometown. When they arrived they saw it had been ​d​estroyed by fire and no one was around.

1 Samuel 30:6 says, “Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters…”​ Read these next words carefully, “…But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.”

We can only imagine how he did that. I think back to the psalms that he wrote. Did he sing to the Lord and honor Him through worship? He had faced King Saul when he was troubled by an evil spirit by playing his harp.

Fear can loom large when we face the impossible. Fear is a tactic of the enemy of our soul. The Bible is full of verses that say, “Fear not…” I love Isaiah 41:10. It says, “Fear not, for I am with you…” He is Ever Present. 

David learned to seek the Lord as he shepherded his father’s sheep. He also honed his use of the sling. When he was ready to face Goliath, he recounted that time to King Saul.

1 Samuel 17:34-35 says, “…when a lion or bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it rose up against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it.”

Then he declared to the king that the uncircumcised Philistine would be like one of them. The reason was that the giant had defied the armies of the living God. Satan will use any manner of things to seek to defy us in our time of intimate communion with the Lord.

We have to fight through those giant-like obstacles as David did. First we prepare our heart to seek the Lord. As each distraction is presented, we take out our smooth tried stone-verse to hurl at his luring words. Verse 47 says, “…for the battle is the Lord’s…”

I had a picture of a giraffe taped to the wall in my quiet time area. The giraffe was standing near a puddle. It wanted a drink. It was a long way down. The caption read: if you are thirsty you will find a way.

Proverbs 2:1-12 were King Solomon’s words to his son. Let me summarize. As we seek Him, we begin to understand the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. Verse 7 says, “He stores up sound wisdom for the upright…”

James 1:5 says that if we need wisdom, all we have to do is to ask. We ask and then must walk in what He says. Jehoshaphat helped wicked King Ahab. The Lord’s wrath was on him. He sent a seer to speak to him.

2 Chronicles 19:3 says, “Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God.” Seeking the Lord should be our number one priority. Not just in times of trouble, but pursuing Him for intimate communion.