Working on the Inside: Psalm 51:1-12

Have you ever cut into an apple, just to find that it is all mushy, gross, and over ripened? The outside still looked fine, but the inside was definitely not fine. That is the way we can be from time to time, with our faith. Our outside may look perfectly fine, but the inside is not. Yesterday, we looked at a psalm which David penned months after he had been in a sinful slump, couched around the lust and affair with Bathsheba. The 51st Psalm deals with David's shame he felt after the situation with Bathsheba. David saw, he slept, he swept (things under the rug), and he surged (Uriah, Bathsheba's husband, and to the front line of the army, thus killing him). With each one listed previously, David sinned! We've all been there, in one way or another, but just as David was pleading to God to cleanse his heart, we all must pay careful attention to what condition our hearts are in, because God works from the inside out. Here are some additional applications to take with you and choose from this week...

1. God can do more than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20), and at the same time He can do things with us and within us that is very powerful also. However, we must be willing to let Him work, to say to Him something like, "Here I am, send me" (Isaiah 6:8). Pray a prayer of submission to God, renew your faith by telling God "I'm here, what do you want me to do, today/this week/this month/with my life.
2. Each one of us has some type of a barrier that Satan seems to use to his advantage to keep us from or slow us down when it comes to serving God. David asks for a renewed steadfast spirit. What is your barrier? Busyness, time management, lack of interest in serving in a ministry, unknown interest in serving, personal struggles - job, marriage, family, relationships, sin in past or present, or you fill in the blank. Pray that God will reduce your barrier to the point of removal so that you can serve Him with a renewed and steadfast spirit!
3. Imagine what it must be like to have a life ahead of you that requires needles being stuck in your body over and over for the sake of your health? Some of you with diabetes know what it is like to have to do that. The question above reflects upon a three-year-old who was recently diagnosed with diabetes. So, from three-years-old until the day he passes on, he will have to endure the difficulty of having injections of insulin - over and over and over. He must do this with a willingness to stay healthy. God works in you, are you willing to put up with the pain and repetitiveness that comes with submitting to God as you "take up your cross" daily? There are blessings, as well as, costs when it comes to serving. Regardless of which one your life is given more of, heaven is the ultimate prize! Pray that God will grant you a willing spirit so that you may be sustained!!!

May God bless you this holiday season as you share "the gift" of Jesus to everyone you meet!

Have a great week!

Blessings ~