I tumbled out of bed, stumbled to the kitchen, poured myself a cup of ambition 😉 and thought, “I am struggling today, Lord.” I knew what I needed to do, so I started confessing my sins and bad attitude to God. You see, I have learned that no matter what other people have said and done, if my thoughts and reactions are ugly, I have to focus on fixing that.

My part.

I began to feel much lighter and surprisingly refreshed. I picked up my devo “Draw the Circle” by Mark Batterson and read, “Make sure you have no unconfessed sin in your life. Sin doesn’t just harden the heart; it also hardens our hearing. In fact, it makes us turn a deaf ear to God because we don’t want to hear the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit. But if you aren’t willing to listen to the convicting voice of the Spirit, you won’t hear His comforting voice, forgiving voice, or merciful voice either. Sin creates relational distance, and distance makes it harder to hear the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit. But if you get close to God, you won’t miss a thing He says, “And if you incline your ear to God, God will incline His ear to you.”

Wow! What a confirmation! Then I started reading “True Courage” by Steve Farrar, “Judas heard all of Christ’s sermons. He heard every sermon our Lord preached. He was an eyewitness of every miracle. But he never obeyed; he never yielded on the inside. He never fought sin and struggle because sin was his master.” Double wow!

And then I asked God to show me in the Bible what He wanted me to see, and the FIRST thing I saw was Psalm 66:18-20 “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me!”
Yes!!

The message is clear: let the Holy Spirit examine my heart and listen when He convicts me. Then confess my sins to Him and repent! Give up my sin…see it for what it really is…no excuses! Turn from it like it’s a deadly, contagious disease about to attack and take over my body!

When I do this, it’s amazing how clearly the Lord will direct me! And best of all, I feel so close to Him and overflowing with His love!

No one could EVER convince me that God isn’t real, and a very present help in my life! He’s truly amazing!

Proverbs 2: 1-11

1My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding—
3indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
6For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
9Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
10For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.

You Can Trust Him