13If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;
14If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.
15For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:
-Job 11:13-15 (KJV)
Do you want to live the successful Christian life? We talked about that last night on SLTV. Here in Job, we see this topic, and it gives us some ideas of how to lve the life that Jesus intends for us to live. I've been talking alot about living a successful Christian life lately. Maybe Jesus is trying to tell me something? Anyway, look at Job 11:13-15.
13If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;
We first must prepare our hearts. Several other translations say we must devote our heart. If we are going to live the successful Christian life, we must devote our hearts to Jesus. You can't give Him only a half hearted effort. To devote your heart means to give Him all of it, holding nothing back. Living the successful Christian life means total commitment to Jesus. Are you prepared for that? Too many of us sitting in church today are not giving total commitments to Jesus. After preparing our hearts, we must stretch out our hands to Him. A man sang a song at church Sunday night, one of the lines said "Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on..." Is that your prayer today? To live a successful Chrisitian life, we must devote our hearts to Him, and we must stretch out our hands to Him. By stretching out our hands, we are essentially asking Him to lead us where He wants us to go. This is where faith and total commitment comes into play. Many people have trouble with trust. Through past hurts, they find it difficult to trust. Let me tell you this one thing. God can be trusted. God will lead you in the paths that He wants you to take. The path may be steep, the path may be hard, but He will be right there with you.
14If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.
We are told to put iniquity (sin) far away. Too often, instead of putting sin away, we run to it. Sin is what separates you from God. Cast out sin, put it fall away. We must not let sin and wickedness be in our lives. Sometimes, though, that is easier said than done. It's so easy to fall into sin. But, if you've truly devoted your heart to Jesus, if you are stretching out your hands for Him to lead you, you can overcome sin, and you can keep sin from your life.
15For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear
Here is the exciting part. After we have devoted our hearts to Him, after we have stretched out our hands for Him to lead us, after we have put away sin, and cast out wickedness from our lives, then we can stand firm. This comes from a total surrender to Jesus. Have you done that?
Do you want to live the successful Christian life? Are you ready to make a commitment to Jesus? Think About It.
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