Dear D,
Thank you for your letters.
You say that you are reading and praying all day, but that you feel that you are still missing something and that you do not know what it is.
Here is a possibility. You are filling your head up with much spiritual information. That is not the same as filling up your heart with God’s truth. That is why you lost it when your locker was broken into.
In Luke 6:43-45, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”
“You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt. 12:34-37).
“He went on: ‘What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean’” (Mark 7:20-23).
You need to have a clean heart and then fill it up with good things so that when it overflows, good things come out.
When you read a verse in Scripture like Luke 6:35-36, “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful”, you know it in your head. Your head knowledge is not where you live. You need to get this truth into your heart so that you will normally love your enemy.
First: Ask yourself this question: True or False? Is this a command to you? You will not say, “False,” because Jesus gave the command. You may not want to say, “True,” because then you must lend to your enemy. Make yourself say, “True”. After you say, “True," thank God for the command. When you thank God, that will be the beginning of transferring “Love your enemy” from your head to your heart. Keep on thanking God for this command until you feel real love in your heart for your enemy. Then do the same thing for the other commands and promises. This is called meditation.
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers" (Psalm 1:1-3).
In the Lord Jesus Christ,
Jim Wilson
Thank you for your letters.
You say that you are reading and praying all day, but that you feel that you are still missing something and that you do not know what it is.
Here is a possibility. You are filling your head up with much spiritual information. That is not the same as filling up your heart with God’s truth. That is why you lost it when your locker was broken into.
In Luke 6:43-45, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”
“You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt. 12:34-37).
“He went on: ‘What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean’” (Mark 7:20-23).
You need to have a clean heart and then fill it up with good things so that when it overflows, good things come out.
When you read a verse in Scripture like Luke 6:35-36, “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful”, you know it in your head. Your head knowledge is not where you live. You need to get this truth into your heart so that you will normally love your enemy.
First: Ask yourself this question: True or False? Is this a command to you? You will not say, “False,” because Jesus gave the command. You may not want to say, “True,” because then you must lend to your enemy. Make yourself say, “True”. After you say, “True," thank God for the command. When you thank God, that will be the beginning of transferring “Love your enemy” from your head to your heart. Keep on thanking God for this command until you feel real love in your heart for your enemy. Then do the same thing for the other commands and promises. This is called meditation.
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers" (Psalm 1:1-3).
In the Lord Jesus Christ,
Jim Wilson
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