Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Tuesday's ~ In Other Words





The quote that Amy chose to share today is one by John Ortberg. I'm sure there will be lots of ladies posting with much more depth than mine... but this is where my heart is right now. Here's the quote....




We must assess our thoughts and beliefs and reckon whether they are moving us closer to conformity to Christ or farther away from it.

~ by John Ortberg ~




If we are to "reckon" whether or not our beliefs are moving us closer to becoming like Christ, I believe we should evaluate WHY we believe what we do. Is it because it's what the Holy Bible says? Or is it something that we've been taught? Perhaps a tradition or an act of following man-made rules? Let's see what the Bible says about following the rules of man...


Isaiah 29:13
The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.




Matthew 15:1-9

Jesus Teaches about Inner Purity

1 Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked Him, 2 “Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.”
3 Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God? 4 For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’[a] and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’[b] 5 But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ 6 In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents.[c] And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,

8 ‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 Their worship is a farce,
for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’[d]”










So, if we're truly worshiping GOD in spirit and in truth, and our sacrifice is that of the heart.. then our worship is pleasing to GOD. If it's out of "habit" or just playing a game by someone else's rules then it's time to step back and learn WHO GOD really is and what HIS WORD REALLY says.

Psalm 4:5
Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,And trust in the LORD


Psalm 50:14
"Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving And pay your vows to the Most High;


Psalm 51:15-17

15O Lord, (A)open my lips,
That my mouth may (B)declare Your praise.
16For You (C)do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
17The sacrifices of God are a (D)broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.



I've truly come to believe that TRUE worship has MORE to do with attitude of the heart, than of any amount of "deeds" we can accomplish. Going to church won't save us, or bring us into a right relationship with CHRIST. It's COMPLETE SURRENDER to HIM, spending time in HIS WORD, and spending time in PRAYER that will make us more like HIM.


Deuteronomy 4:29
But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul.


Deuteronomy 6:5
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.


Deuteronomy 6:4-6
And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,


For more posts on this "Tuesday's In Other Words" visit Amy at In Pursuit of Proverbs 31.




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19 comments:

twinklemom said...

Wonderful words that you shared!

Pamela (His maidservant) said...

Powerful words!! I find this quote to be profound for my day. Thank you!

In His Graces~Pamela

Denise said...

This is a really beautiful post dear one.

Anonymous said...

Tonya-
I am enjoying your blog soooo much. Yesterdays post was something I really needed to read. Thank you. You have no idea how God is using you.
Love you!
Jill

Heather said...

What a great listing of Scriptures to remind us that it's all about the heart. Actions should be motivated by a heart in love with Jesus.

Anonymous said...

Excellent post! Worship is definitely our attitude and even our way of life as a Christian. Our life should be in constant worship of our saviour. Thanks for sharing your heart.

Alexzillasmama said...

Tonya,
Very insightful post! This has been on my heart very much lately as was also an "almost" post for Soapbox this past Sunday.

I appreciated all of your scriptural support for this topic.
I have enjoyed reading everyone else's posts today b/c I seem to have bloggerblock. :0)
Love You!!

Susan said...

Hey Girlfriend,

THIS WAS AWESOME!!!

Yes, it is all about our hearts, the scriptures you used were great.

Thanks for being such a blessing♥

Susannah said...

So many great Scriptures here. I was just thinking this morning, that the one Book we all must know well is the Bible. Only the Word of God can produce that inner purity and beauty we all long for.

Good preachin' sistah!!!

Hugs, e-Mom

lori said...

We JUST finished up a Matthew study and one of our best morning table talks (the kids too) was on this passage from Matthew. We really got some great talking...
Who are YOU really...are you REALLY what you "say" you are....

It's a lesson that I prepared for the kids and ended up taking SOOOO much away myself....Seems to be happening a lot lately!!

So again I leave BLESSED and REMINDED!!

You are GOOD!! REALLY GOOD!!
hugs,
lori

Rebekah said...

Hi Tonya - I just wanted and (needed) to stop in today to read your Monday and Tuesday posts ... your belief in the Holy Spirit is amazing and the things you write feel like them come straight from my heart and soul ... thank you so much for being there to boosts so many of us - I know that the loss you have suffered would bring most everyone to question God - but your belief has done the opposite it seems - you are stronger now more than ever ... I thank God for Brent's Stoy - for his and so many others has brought me so much closer to Our Father ... thank you Brent ... thank you Tonya for sharing him with us ... God Bless!

Cheryl said...

You have a great post for today! I really enjoy my visits here! I love reading the WORD! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Wonderfully said! Thank you for the scriptures!

Be blessed!

Anonymous said...

You said, "I've truly come to believe that TRUE worship has MORE to do with attitude of the heart, than of any amount of "deeds" we can accomplish."

ABSOLUTELY! I totally agree! Thanks for sharing!

Hope you have a wonderful day!
Karen
www.homesteadblogger.com/tagblog

Kelley said...

Tonya,
Today at bible study we discussed Romans 14 where Paul is saying we shouldn't judge others on non-esstials (non salvation issues) in the faith but we should be convinced in our own mind of what we believe. That is so true because it is easy to let things become habit or ritualistic so that we don't even know why we do them. This is the second post I have read this afternoon that seems to reinforce what we discussed today. Thank you, once again I leave here refreshed!

Love,
Kelley

ps. Thanks for the laptop advice. My husband found the virus but can't get internet to get rid of it. I was trying to update my blog look so I may have hit something bad. I am now on Jenisa's waiting list. I love what she did with you!!

Devon said...

thanks, i needed to hear this today...

Amy said...

Beautiful post! Thanks for stopping by my blog! =)

crispy said...

I was so blessed by the scripture you shared. Thanks.

lori said...

I LOVE the idea of a TOPIC!! it's less thinking that I have to do...:)HA!!!

I'm on board for Sunday....those SHORTS infuriate me....but I'll save it for Sunday!!

I'm learning the graphics thing too....PAINT.NET is a FREE program you can download...and it's really like an adobe one...I've been playing there until I can justify the PHOTOSHOP expense....It's fun and who knows maybe those pics will someday be digitally scrapbooked....one can hope and dream!!!
for now...i'll stick to the simple words of Wednesday!!!!

seriously, PAINT.NET....check it out...the gal who designed my blog led me there....very cool and FREE!!

Have a GREAT day!!!
it's beautiful here....simply beautiful!!!

peace!
lori