2025-03-14
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The Holy Spirit commands me to write about the head, heart, hands connection that He desires us to have. We can begin with 2 TIM 3: 16-17, “All Scripture if God-breathed and useful in teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” To study the Scriptures self-discipline is needed, and the Holy Spirit (Who inhabits our spirits when God has chosen us to believe in the Lord) is the Source. HE 12: 1-2, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Perfecter and Author of our faith. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” I am never more amazed than to learn that He chose us first and even chases after us. It is our Creator Who made us with brains large enough to learn all He teaches us in the Scriptures and to appreciate how important to our eternal lives doing this is.
But learning is not enough by itself. The Lord knew this when He inspired Ezekiel to write, in EZK 36: 26-27, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep My laws.” EZK 11: 20b [God speaking], “They will be My people, and I will be their God.” There are at least 19 times that this desire of God is repeated in the Scriptures! Things like false humility, egotism, destructive anger, greed, covetousness, and a multitude of other sins without remorse can become such a spiritual cancer that a person can be cast from the Lord’s presence and have the Holy Spirit removed [COL 2: 18-19; PHIL 2: 3-4; EPH 4: 26-27; 1 TIM 6: 6-10; LK 12: 15; 2 TIM 3: 1-5]. That is why a contrite King David wrote, in PS 51: 10-12, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grand me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”
RO 10: 10, helps us to understand what we must do to put ourselves on the track of what our pastor has been discussing in his most recent sermons titled, “The Jesus Way.” “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” That’s just the beginning of what Jesus has done for us in His atoning sacrifice on the cross—justification, salvation, and eternal forgiveness of sins.
The next step has to do with our hands due to God’s grace and the transformation of our hearts. EPH 2: 8-10, “For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith –and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to so good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” RO 12: 1-2, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing, and perfect will.”
Each of us is given a skill set to use to serve God. 1 PET 4: 10, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” GA 5: 13 is in a discussion of freedom in Christ. “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For example, able-bodied people can serve meals for others, writers can use their skill for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others, teachers can convey Scriptural truths in classes, skilled cooks can ply their expertise in church kitchens, missionaries can use their skills at home, within their country, or even in foreign places, administrators skilled in business and accounting can serve their churches, those called to the ministry can become clergy, healers can train as medical professionals, and people can serve in a host of ways.
PRAYER: O Most Holy Father, we come before You with our heads, hearts, and hands to use the skills You gave us for Your work. Our pledge is to be obediently faithful to You offering our bodies as a living sacrifice of service and worship of You. IS 25: 1, “O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You; I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. We offer You thanksgiving for all You are and all You do, in Christ’s holy/mighty name. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I feel compelled to write more about what this head, heart, and hands connection means to the Lord and to our lives as believers next week. We shouldn’t forget the words of HE 10: 22, “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” Living as Pastor Brian Becker calls “The Jesus Way” has never been more worth it. Praise and thanks be to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2025. All Rights Reserved.
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