Flowing out from a genuine spiritual “heart”

True religion must flow out from a genuine spiritual “heart”.

Illumination of Christ before Pilate Deutsch: Jesus vor Pilatus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Much of the New Testament illustrates the endeavour of Christ and the Apostles to make this happen. Yet in the centuries that followed the purity of the “new wine” has so often been diluted and polluted. We must recapture the purity of the “new wine” if we are to be wondrously blessed in participating at the return of Jesus in “the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9)

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What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits

12  What shall I return to יהוה {Jehovah}? All His bounties are upon me.
13  I lift up the cup of deliverance, And call upon the Name of יהוה {Jehovah}.
14  I pay my vows to יהוה {Jehovah}Now in the presence of all His people.

Psa 50:5  “Gather My kind ones together to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by slaughtering.”

My Morning Resolve

My Earliest Thought I Desire Shall Be:

“What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?
I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord [for grace to help].
I will pay my vows unto the Most High.”—Psalm 116:12-14

Remembering the Divine call, “Gather My saints together unto Me; those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice” (Psalm 50:5), I resolve that by the Lord’s assisting grace I will today, as a saint of God, fulfil my vows, continuing the work of sacrificing the flesh and its interests, that I may attain to the Heavenly inheritance in joint-heirship with my redeemer.

I will strive to be simple and sincere toward all.
I will seek not to please and honour self, but the Lord.
I will be careful to honour the Lord with my lips, that my words may be unctuous and blessed to all.
I will seek to be faithful to the Lord, the Truth, the brethren and all with whom I have to do, not only in great matters, but also in the little things of life.

Trusting myself to Divine care and the Providential overruling of all my interests for my highest welfare, I will seek not only to be pure in heart, but to repel all anxiety, all discontent, all discouragement.
I will neither murmur nor repine at what the Lord’s providence may permit, because

“Faith can firmly trust Him,
Come what may.”

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How we think shows through in how we act

"How we think shows through in how we act.
Attitudes are mirrors of the mind.
They reflect thinking."
- David J. Schwartz

A godly mind prizes honor above worldly good.
- Rembrandt

If we do not cling to riches, selfishness, or greed
 - then I believe we are getting closer to God.
- Daniel Ortega

"You were taught… to put off your old self ...
to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
and to put on the new self,
created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
Ephesians 4:22-24

Lord God, let me always hold the right thoughts
and keep my eyes on those things that are really valuable,
useful for me and keep my purity
in order to enter Your Kingdom.

Dutch version / Nederlandse versie > Hoe we denken schijnt door in hoe we handelen
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2013 update:
 

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Be holy

"Be Ye Holy - For I Am Holy (Lev. 11:44)

"If we are to attain to the Kingdom of God, and to a condition of eternal usefulness to God, we must in this life lift our minds to an entirely new plane of consciousness and thinking: to the plane of holiness - far above the natural, animal desires and interests of the flesh. Holiness is Beauty: the Beauty of Holiness: all else is ugliness. Holiness is Separateness and Purity: a Separate Purity: a Pure Separateness. The mental food that creates the transformation of our minds from natural repulsiveness to spiritual attractiveness is the Spirit-Word, continuously and liberally indulged in. "Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord." Naturally, we are the very opposite of holy. To become so, more and more, is life's purpose: its ONLY purpose.

 Any time spent that does not contribute to this is precious divine time wasted: unfaithful stewardship. "Perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord" is a large enough command, and a high enough ambition, to completely fill any lifetime.
With God's bountiful and loving help, lift your mind above all natural childishness and foolishness, all interest in worldly things, all unclean fleshly habits and thoughts, all of the ugliness of the flesh, as anger, impatience, harshness, unkindness, selfishness, lack of sympathy and compassion and healing, forgiving love. "Be ye holy, even as God is holy."
What a joy! What a revelation! What a beautiful, noble company!
"Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness!"
-------
Brother G.V. "Rene" Growcott

Dutch translation / Nederlandse vertaling > Weest heilig
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2013 update:

"Aaron, Holy to the Lord" (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Love and cultivate that which is pure

Whatsoever things are pure, lovely, and of good report, … think on these things.  Philippians 4:8

*     *     *

WE are to love and cultivate that which is pure to such an extent that that which is impure will become painful to us, distressing, and we will desire to drop it from memory, and this will only be accomplished by continually thinking upon those things that are pure, and avoiding the giving of thought to the things that are impure. We are to recognize true loveliness, and to esteem it. When we would think on the purest of things we must of necessity lift our mental vision to as high a point as possible, and, as nearly as we may be able, discern the loveliness of the perfect character of our God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, and proportionately the loveliness manifested in one or another of the followers of Jesus, who walk closely in His footsteps.  (Z. 1903-9)