Prayer-Soldier Newbie
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Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2013 1:49 am Post subject: Examination of Our Heart |
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To all who see these words, greetings:
Examination of Our Heart
Scripture:
And Nathan said to David: You are the man. Thus said the Lord the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul, and gave you the house of your master and the wives of your master into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and Juda: and if these things be little, I shall add far greater things unto you. Why therefore have you despised the word of the Lord, to do evil in my sight? You have killed Urias the Hethite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Urias the Hethite to be your wife.
And David said to Nathan: I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David: The Lord also has taken away your sin: you shall not die. (2 Samuel 12:7-10, 13)
But knowing that man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, we also believe in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law: because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
For I, through the law, am dead to the law, that I may live to God; with Christ I am nailed to the cross. And I live, now not I: but Christ lives in me. And that I live now in the flesh: I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and delivered himself for me. I cast not away the grace of God. For if justice be by the law, then Christ died in vain. (Galatians 2:16, 19-21)
And one of the Pharisees desired him to eat with him. And he went into the house of the Pharisee and sat down to meat. And behold a woman that was in the city, a sinner, when she knew that he sat at meat in the house of the Pharisee, brought an alabaster box of ointment. And standing behind at his feet, she began to wash his feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. And the Pharisee, who had invited him, seeing it, spoke within himself, saying: This man, if he were a prophet, would know surely who and what manner of woman this is that touches him, that she is a sinner.
And Jesus answering, said to him: Simon, I have somewhat to say to you. But he said: Master, say it. A certain creditor had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence and the other fifty. And whereas they had not wherewith to pay, he forgave them both. Which therefore of the two loves him most? Simon answering, said: I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said to him: You have judged rightly.
And turning to the woman, he said unto Simon: Do you see this woman? I entered into your house: you gave me no water for my feet. But she with tears has washed my feet; and with her hairs has wiped them. You gave me no kiss. But she, since she came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil you did not anoint. But she with ointment has anointed my feet. Wherefore, I say to you: Many sins are forgiven her, because she has loved much. But to whom less is forgiven, he loves less. And he said to her: Your sins are forgiven you. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves: Who is this that forgives sins also? And he said to the woman: Your faith has made you safe. Go in peace. (Luke 7:36-50)
Reflection:
Though we may seek to deny it, or ignore it, the sin of how we lead our lives remains. In one breath we may profess we love Him, but we should examine ourselves for the truth expressed through what we do. We should ask ourselves, in what ways do we spurn the blessings He provides? In what ways do we profess our faith, yet fall short in what we do and what we fail to do? We may deceive ourselves that we are sinless for we do not recognize our sin. The sin we see in others is easy, but it is painful to recognize the sin within ourselves. We do not wake up in the morning contemplating the ways we intend to miss the mark of what He asks of us, but if we examine carefully what we do as we pursue our desires, we will see the harm of choices we could have made better.
King David was a man after the heart of the Lord and held the love of the people he led, but despite his works, his pursuits of selfish desires left a wake of harm. He did not see his sin as he calculated his pursuits. He took for granted the anointing of the Lord until he was confronted with what he had done against the commandments of his God.
The pain of our sin starts as we choose to ignore it and try to hide it within our heart. There, it only festers until the moment comes where we can deny it no more and the harm of our choice begins to spread and ripple. The pain is worse with the realization we could have made a different choice, but what we do, we cannot undo. In our sorrow, we may only ask forgiveness from those we have harmed and their Creator. Only He can forgive the sin which stains our soul.
Despite our failings, His love is so great for us that He is willing to forgive our transgressions. Through His love, He provides us the chance each day to change our ways. The time we spend with Him is time we spend away from what lures us to harm. If we examine our heart and acknowledge what we have done and what we have failed to do, He will lift us up and cleanse our soul. In prayer we should pray that we are delivered from our sin. In prayer we should pray that we are led to the blessings of His ways.
He calls us to walk in the light and to spread the light. His commandments are the path to the light, but our salvation comes not from our hands, rather it comes from His. It is because of our failings that He came to the world so that we might be forgiven. We cannot confer anything upon ourselves, only He can raise us up. Through our faith in His sacrifice we may be delivered from our sins.
It is within our power to choose how we respond. As the events of our lives unfold, we may succumb to anger and blame. We may lash out; escalating conflict, spreading about us what is in our heart, poisoning others and poisoning ourselves. We may be tempted to selfishness, we may be tempted to greed, we may be tempted to hate; but through such behavior, we spread darkness, we spread pain within our heart and to the hearts of others, we bring decay to our soul.
Though we may be weak to the ways of the world, each day we wake, we have the chance to seek the darkness or seek the light. Through His grace, through His mercy, through His sacrifice, no matter what we have done during the day and moments before; we may turn to Him, we may seek His forgiveness, we may seek His ways. Blessed are we for the love which is poured out for us. Blessed are we for the forgiveness which is offered to us. Happy are those who turn to Him and learn His ways for only the light may remove darkness. Through prayer, we may offer our thanks and praise for the happiness and salvation offered to all who believe in Him.
May the peace and blessings of the Lord be with you always,
Prayer Soldier
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