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Hello Great Family,

The plan for this Sunday is to preach a sermon about our hearts.  I've preached on this before but it is too important not to preach it again.  Our hearts matter to God.  More than service, more than giving, more the hospitality, more than anything we can offer by way of religious duty.  Anything we do for God can be done with a wrong heart.  It can be a challenging thing to make sure that our outside activity matches an inside attitude.  We must offer God what is authentic and true! 

I read this devotional today and I want to share it with you

David prayed, Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23,24).

In effect, David asked God to take a biopsy of his heart, the kind that a cardiologist cannot do, and see what dark lurking evil might lie withina pretty bold and even scary thought because when God diagnoses your inner thoughts, He makes no mistakes.

What are some of the evils which can be detected by a spiritual biopsy?  Here are a few possibilities: pride, arrogance, hatred, jealousy, coldness, envy, lust, an unbridled tongue, and a host of others.

Heres a rather personal question.  If God should do a biopsy of your heart and have the angels in the laboratory of heaven put it under the microscope and prepare a report, what do you think they would find?  The fact is that most of us dont need a spiritual biopsy.  We know what lurks in our hearts.

A pastor once preached a message on besetting sins and a young man came to him and said, Pastor, I would confess my besetting sins but I just dont know where to start.  The pastor replied, When you kneel down before God, the first one that comes to your mind is where you need to start.

A closing thought:  God already knows what is in your heart.  He knows it all.  He sees it all, and He takes note of the true condition of your life.  The New Testament writer of Hebrews put it like this: He knows about everyone, everywhere. Everything about us is bare and wide open to the all-seeing eyes of our living God; nothing can be hidden from him to whom we must explain all that we have done (Hebrews 4:13, Living Bible).  But David himself knew this. He began the Psalm I quoted, saying, O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.  You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways (Psalm 139:1-3).

But instead of thinking of God as a policeman, a judge with a black book recording our failures, David thought of Him as a loving Father who will forgive and who will guide us into the path of righteousness.  But with you there is forgiveness; therefore, you are feared, David also wrote in Psalm 130:4.  Its still true.

If you are in town this weekend, I hope to see you at Oakwood!  Worship will be sweet.  The message will be challenging.  The relationships will be encouraging.  Come join us!

God Bless,
P.D. (Psalm 139)