![]() Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: Now the goal of our instruction is love out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and a sincere faith, The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith. Prayer is no substitute for work: prayer IS work! God won't do for me what I am unwilling to do myself.The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. We are to cleanse our own hands, and purify our own hearts through faith in the shed blood of Christ. Instead of asking for what God has already given, may we simply walk by faith in the truth. Let us seek to lay hold of the promises of God by faith. God has given you breath and life: you can go to bed earlier and set an alarm clock! The old adage " God helps those who help themselves" is not scriptural but still makes a valid point: though God works in us both to will and do of His good pleasure, by God we are held responsible to fulfill the duties He places before us in obedience. God does not exist for us to justify our laziness. Billions of people every day get up and arrive to work on time without seeking the help of God. I wish I could have seen my shocked expression. There was one youth worker who asked for prayer because he was struggling to get out of bed and was often late for work - which began at 10am! It seemed he was asking God to do something for him he was unwilling to do for himself. Years ago I attended a ECYWA meeting (just a little shout-out to my youth workers in East County!) during which prayer requests were shared with one another. ![]() He has given us the Holy Spirit who teaches, leads, and empowers us. He has made the way through Jesus: He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. God is not to be blamed for the fact we have dirty hands and impure hearts. The disconnect is we have not fulfilled our responsibility to trust and walk in faith. As I mused upon this fact, it occurred to me that we as Christians often request God to give us things He has already given. ![]() God gives us clean hands and pure hearts, but only when we meet His conditions: humility, confession, repentance, and faith. This cleansing only comes through repentance and faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The truth is we cannot clean our hands or purify our hearts through our best efforts. The song takes a more passive feel where the scripture dumps the reponsibility upon me. When I read the passage in James, these are things I have the responsibility to appropriate. When singing the song, I asked God to give me clean hands and a pure heart. Now don't get me wrong - I am not trashing the song by any means. Cleanse your hands, you sinners and purify your hearts, you double-minded." When I compared the song to the verse, I saw a subtle but profound difference. Immediately my mind went to James 4:8: " Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. My mind focused on the phrase, " Give us clean hands and give us pure hearts." ![]() Give us clean hands and give us pure hearts let us not lift our souls to another." I thought carefully about the lyrics of this song I enjoy singing to God. We turn our eyes from evil things, oh Lord we cast down our idols. As I walked back home from dropping off the kids at the bus stop, I sang the words to the familiar song by Chris Tomlin: " We bow our hearts, we bend our knees, oh Spirit come make us humble.
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