Faith Family Living: May 2012

Friday, May 18, 2012

Pure Motives, by Edward

Psalm 19:9, "The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever."

I had read this passage before and had a hard time understanding it. How is the fear of the Lord pure? But now, when I think about it alongside Matthew 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God," it makes sense.

I have an evil heart. I have impure motives that come through my head everyday in many situations, but I also have a fear of the Lord. I recognize Him, I recognize that He sees my heart and knows what's going on in it. So, even though I have impure motives to do things, the fear of Him purifies my motives so that I may learn to do what pleases Him. If my motives are purified, then I have the hope of the blessing in Matthew 5:8.

It brings joy to do things for the right reasons and removes the guilt of doing things for the wrong reasons. The fear of Him works to my benefit. He is a good God.

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Saturday, May 5, 2012

It All Comes To LIght, by Edward

I work as a contractor. I mostly paint, but I also install flooring, put up trim and do other finish type work. Not long ago, I was at a customer's house doing some painting. In their dining room, there was an old telephone on the wall that they wanted removed and then the hole behind it patched and painted. The paint had been there a long time. It looked sound, until I started scraping the paint around the hole. The paint started coming off in sheets. Right away, I thought to myself, "whoever painted this last did not prep properly". In fact, I don't think they prepped at all because paint does not just start peeling away like that.

In 1 Corinthians 3:10b-13 it says,"But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work."

From what I understand, Paul is speaking of those leading the church and the quality of teaching, preaching and the example of their lives with which they build up the church. But the same principle applies to our Christian lives. The day will bring to light what kind of faith we truly have. Our lives may look good right now. We may present a good show to others as being spiritual, but make no mistake, the day will bring to light how seriously we have taken our walk with God.

We should take heed to build our faith with costly and choice stones, not being lazy in our search for truth or in our actions. Whoever painted that room did a shoddy job. It looked good for a time, but the day of my scraping brought to light the quality of that mans' work. When He comes, will you be able to stand? Consider!