The condition of your heart before God affects your private and public worship.
If you want to have a high level of receptivity to God’s Word, your heart must be right before God. Sin will harden your heart towards God. Sin will hinder your capacity to hear from God.
- “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:8 (NIV)
- “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.'” Isaiah 29:13 (NIV)
Keep your heart clean before God. Stay tender. Be teachable. Maintain purity in your thought life. Consistently confess known sin and live a life of moral purity. Surrender daily to the Lordship of Christ and do not give the devil a foothold in your life. At all costs, do not grieve or quench the Holy Spirit. Ask God to enable you to demonstrate a life of character and integrity. Crucify the flesh. Make no provision for the flesh. Keep your life in check. Weed the flowerbed of your life.
Sounds like a commitment to perpetual care doesn’t it? Sin will create an immense deficit in bringing your worship to God. In fact, sin can easily become your worship. Guard your heart! Consecrate yourself before God and allow the light of His holiness to identify areas of your life that need to be surrendered.
Bring your worship of God to God with a heart of purity!
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor