04/12/2011 - PERFECT HEART

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Let your heart therefore be loyal to the LORD our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments, as at this day.

I Kings 8:61

The guidance according to which we should let our heart be loyal to the Lord is the secret to please Him. Therefore, there can be no falsehood in our midst because whoever thinks he can fool the Almighty is deceiving himself completely after all, the Lord sees everything. Moreover, after we have consciously done wrong, there is no point in entering into prayer telling the Lord that we wish we had not committed a sin. We must be truthful, acknowledge our mistake, apologize to the Most High and strive not to fall again. Those who are negligent in faith – those who try to do God\’s work sloppily – will never rejoice the Father’s heart because for them the guidance of religion, the concepts of men and their beliefs have as much or even more value than the Biblical ordinances.

The statutes contained in the Scriptures were given to help us all enjoy what God has prepared for us. But, in order to walk in them we need to have a perfect heart. Those who, for example, do not respect others, do not consecrate themselves and do not learn to be truthful before the Most High will not be cured, or prosper or take possession of the victory. There are those who believe they will achieve God\’s favor by spending days on end crying out to Heaven, but God cannot answer us only because we cry! In order for the divine power to operate in our favor we must meet the minimum requirements. Thus, healing, prosperity, peace and other blessings are ours, as everything that pertains to life and godliness has already been given to us (II Peter 1:3)! However, there are specific conditions for us to meet.

The divine tenets are not difficult to keep and they were not given to us by God as a punishment, but for us to succeed in life. As a Father, the Most High wants the best for His children, so He gave us His Word, through which we learn what to do to take possession of what is ours. Then, once the Lord’s instructions are complied with, no onslaught of the devil shall prosper. More than hard laws to be obeyed, these ordinances are information we must heed to become winners.

In addition to walking in His statutes we must also keep the commandments, which are divided in two groups: the common and the personal.  The common ones are those written in the Bible, divided in positive and negative and that must be kept by all of us; whereas the personal ones are those we receive directly from God when we hear His Word. 

When we have the commandments and keep them we prove that we love God (John 14:21). Therefore, my brethren, there is no point in being a diligent church goer, singing praises and striving not to fall into temptation if you do not keep the commandments. Our ultimate mission is to execute the work entrusted to us. Saying you love the Lord without fulfilling what He commands will not turn you into a better person.

In Christ with love,

R. R. Soares