“Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.”  (Exodus 20:12)

Earlier this year, one of our friends called for help.

Correction. She sent out an S.O.S.

She was totally devastated by what she heard her own mother say over the phone.

To put it bluntly, her mother basically told her that as far as she was concerned, their relationship was over.

She was no longer her daughter.

She wanted nothing more to do with her.

When our friend’s husband asked why, her mother gave a list of grievances.

None of them were grievous enough to warrant such an egregious choice.

What should she do?

As she poured out her heart, it was pretty obvious that there was a lot of hurt in their relationship over a long period of time.

Not just a few years either. A lot of stuff had accumulated over the decades.

Now it had all come to a head.

Not only were they far apart in the geography of the heart. They were also physically separated by thousands of miles.

Which made it even more difficult to do something quickly to bring about some resolution.

We talked about some of the possible actions she could take strategically to re-establish communication.

Such as…contact an intermediary, a trusted friend who could at least bend her mother’s ear, and perhaps even flex her heart.

Or appeal to her mother’s pastor to shed some light on the heart of the matter.

Yes, in times such as these, we need to be “as wise as serpents.”

Yet, it was just as important, if not more, to be “as innocent as doves.”

That’s when the Lord reminded me of the fifth commandment.

“Honour your father and your mother.”

I shared with my friend the struggle Carol Arnott (in the pic with Sulojana) had with her mother and how she was able to deal with it in a God-honouring way.

As a matter of fact, I loaned her a copy of “Grace and Forgiveness” by John & Carol Arnott, where Carol shares her story in detail (available as a paperback from CTF Toronto or as a Kindle download).

Carol points out that when God gave the command to honour our parents, He did not attach any riders to it.

Such as: “Only if they treat me with honour too.”

Or: “To the extent that they honour God.”

Honour. Period. Ouch!

In the end, our friend decided to do nothing more proactive than offer an apology.

“Whatever I may have done to offend you, Mom, please forgive me.”

Signed: “Your loving daughter …………”

That’s all the hand-written note said.

No excuses. No justification. No pointing fingers. No guilt trips. No persuasion.

Needless to say prayer teams united their hearts and agreed with her desire for reconciliation.

Was there a response to the note?

None. Nyet. Nada.

On Valentine’s Day, she phoned her mom and left a message on the answering machine:

“Mom, this is ……….. Just called to wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Click.

Was it reciprocated?

Mais, non! Natürlich nicht!

Nothing else to do but to wait and pray.

Then do it in reverse. Pray and Wait.

It was not easy.

But, to her credit, our friend took this time to come clean before God about all the resentment she had harboured in her heart for decades, using prayers she found in the aforementioned book.

She had a peace about her relationship with her Father in heaven and her mother on earth.

Tinged with sadness that her mother had not responded with: “I forgive you” and “I love you” as did her Father.

Weeks went by.

One day her husband had a simple strategy downloaded to him from heaven. He acted on it right away.

A few days later…

“Ring-ring…Ring-ring”

“Hi, ……………, this is Mom.”

“Mom? Hi, Mom! So nice to hear from you!”

The tears began to flow, as did the words.

“I love you, Mom!”

“I love you too. You’re my daughter. Always have been. Always will be.”

“Honour your father and your mother.” Period.

Pays to obey, eh?

“You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them…” (Exodus 20:3-5)

Growing up in India, where a majority of people did worship idols, this verse was easy to interpret and implement. Idolatry is a No-no!

However, living in a society where most people do not bow before carved images, is idolatry still a concern?

Consider this passage from Ezekiel 14 where God points out that idols are not always external entities:
“God’s Message came to me: “Son of Man, these people have installed idols in their hearts. They have embraced the wickedness that will ruin them. Why should I even bother with their prayers? Therefore tell them, ‘The Message of God, the Master: All in Israel who install idols in their hearts and embrace the wickedness that will ruin them and still have the gall to come to a prophet, be on notice: I, God, will step in and personally answer them as they come dragging along their mob of idols. I am ready to go to work on the hearts of the house of Israel, all of whom have left me for their idols.’”

What could these idols of the heart be?

Mark Virkler, the first person whom I heard address this issue, puts it this way:

“If I pray about a thing, and the thing is more prominent in my vision or my consciousness than the Lord is, the answer that comes back will be from me, rather than from the Lord. On the other hand, if the Lord is more prominent in my consciousness than my vision of the thing I am praying about, then the answer will come from the Lord and it will be pure revelation, not contaminated with my desires.”

Case in point. The prophet Balaam. Please read Numbers 22 for all the details. Here is the Reader’s Digest version.

King Balak of Moab calls on the prophet Balaam to curse Israel, because he perceives that to be the only way that he can win the war.

Balaam checks with God. God says: “Absolutely not.”

King Balak does not give up. This time he sweetens the pot and promises great “honour” if he would oblige.

Balaam prays again. This time he gets the go-ahead to go with them.

But when he does head out, the angel of the Lord gets in his way. The donkey talks to Balaam…you know the rest of the story, right?

Did you notice where the idol came into the picture?

The first time he prayed with a pure unobstructed heart. The second time he prayed with an idol in his heart.

Even though the answer seemed to be an “Yes”, in reality it was the idol that brought forth the “Yes.”

Can you relate?

What is the solution?

“Therefore, say to the house of Israel: ‘God, the Master, says, Repent! Turn your backs on your no-god idols…and get rid of them so you will realize that I am God.”

Get rid of them.

May I suggest that we ask Holy Spirit today to reveal to us any idols that we may have installed in our hearts.

Then, shall we pray as follows?

Father, please forgive me for allowing these idols to find a place in my heart.
I renounce them right now in Jesus’ name.
Holy Spirit, will you remove them from my heart?
Lord Jesus, you are the King of my heart.
I submit myself totally and unequivocally to your reign. AMEN.

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” (Exodus 20:1)

Those of us who are on the 40 Day Joel 2 Fast start reading and reflecting on The Ten Commandments, as recorded in Exodus 20:1-17, beginning today.

You may wish to consider what we are doing at our churches…go through the commandments 2 at a time for the five days that we will be focusing on this reading.

But, before we even get to examining The Ten Commandments, we need to address a simple question:

What is our motivation for obeying them?

#’s 2, 3 & 5 list specific consequences that follow our decision to obey/disobey them.

I believe that v. 1 lists the overall motivation for obeying all of them.

God reminds the people of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”

Although, there is no conjunction “Therefore” between this verse and the next: “You shall have no other gods before me”, it is certainly implied, isn’t it?

Remember who you are obeying before you get to what you are obeying.

Moses makes this clear in Deuteronomy 4:33-35:

“Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord Himself is God; there is none other besides Him.”

Just to make sure they do make the connection he goes on to say in v. 40:

“You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today…”

Yes, there are rewards for obedience and penalties for disobedience.

But, we do not obey primarily because of the promise of reward or the threat of punishment.

We do this because of what He has already done for us.

Jesus makes this abundantly clear in John 14:15, doesn’t he?

“If you love me, you will obey what I command.”

The apostle John puts it this way: “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” (I John 5:3)

The motivation for our obedience is HIS LOVE.

“We love because he first loved us.” (I John 4:19)

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

God so loved the people of Israel that He brought them out of Egypt. All they can say in return is: “We love you, Yahweh!” And then obey His commandments.

God so loved us that He gave His only Son to die on the cross for us. All we can say in return is: “We love you, Jesus!” And then obey His commands.

Obedience is simply the manifestation of our love. Amen?

“Create in me a clean heart, O God.” (Psalm 51:10)

You may recall that this verse was the focal point of the DWOD for March 02.

Yet, as I read it again today during our observance of the 40 Day Joel 2 Fast, the Holy Spirit highlighted one word.

“Clean.”

“Tahowr” is the Hebrew word that is translated “clean” in this verse.

For the most part, this word is used in the Bible to describe either pure gold (Exodus 25:11) or ritual purity (Leviticus 7:19)

The New International Version translates the word: “pure.”

A Clean Heart.

A Pure Heart.

This is what David longs for.

As we saw in the DWOD two days ago, David realized that only God could CREATE such a heart. He could not manufacture one on his own.

Today, however, we focus on why it is important to possess a clean/pure heart.

Jesus gives us the main reason in the Beatitudes.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

Paul states the same thought in Ephesians 5:5: “For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”

Some translations use the word “impure” rather than “unclean.”

Either way, the message is the same, isn’t it?

The purity of our heart determines the clarity with which we see God.

The cleaner the condition of our heart, the clearer the vision of our God.

Needless to say, David wanted to be in a place where he would always be able to see God clearly.

That is why he prays: “Create in me a clean/pure heart, O God.”

Scripture also gives us a second reason why it is necessary to have such a heart.

“To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.” (Titus 1:15)

The condition of our heart also affects how our vision of one another.

An impure heart sees others differently than a pure heart.

You may be familiar with the story of a young couple who moved into a new neighbourhood.

Every time her neighbour hung her wash out on the clothesline, the wife would turn to her husband and say:

“That laundry’s not clean! Someone should teach that woman how to get clothes clean in the wash!”

Her husband would simply sit there and smile.

A few days later, she was surprised to see a nice, clean wash hanging in her neighbour’s yard when she looked out the window.

She called her husband over and said: “Did you see that? Thank God she finally learned how to get her wash clean. I wonder how this change came about!”

“Well, dear”, her husband replied:  “I know exactly how.  You see, I got up early this morning and washed our window!”

The state of our heart determines the state of the window through which we view God and one another.

Are you able to see God with clarity?

Do you view your “neighbhour” with purity?

Check the condition of your heart.

If it is not clean/pure as it ought to be, perhaps, will you pray with me and King David?

“Create in me a clean/pure heart, O God.”

“Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.” (Psalm 51:13)

In the DWOD for Feb. 21 “Do you sense the urgency?”, we shared pictures sent to us by one of the participants in the Joel 2 Fast.

She had received them on Day 1 of the Fast itself. Well, every day since then, the Lord has been showing her pictures, often in a sequence.

Sulojana and I have been her accountability partners for the Fast, so we get them every morning right after she receives them.

The graphic accompanying this DWOD is what she sent us on Day 9.

Please take a close look at it right now.

In the note that came with the pictures, she had mentioned that the people standing outside were her and the five she rescued from the cave…and that it was scary work.

Now, you can read the interpretation we sent her.

“These are both very exciting pictures that speak of your destiny. God is calling you to rescue those who are still in darkness (cave).

Because you know what it is like to be there, as well as what it is to be out of there, you have great compassion for them and really, really want them to also experience freedom in the Light. (I Peter 2:9)

That is why you will do it, even though it feels scary!

The stork delivering the baby suggests that this is a new ministry that will be brought to you.

In other words, you do not have to birth it (go through the labour pains), so to speak.

Someone else has already done it, but your task will be to raise it and grow it to its full potential.”

This vision came to mind as I pondered v. 13 from Psalm 51.

David had just asked God: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

It is interesting that this prayer request was not just so he could be cleansed from his own feelings of dirtiness, joylessness and shame.

It was so he could then go on to “teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.”

There is a principle in Scripture that was first stated in God’s words to Abraham:

“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.”

It is simply stated as “being blessed…to be a blessing.”

The one who is blessed realizes that the reason for him being blessed is so that he can be a blessing to others.

David realizes that the reason he was cleansed of sin is so that he could bring others to the place where they too would be cleansed as he was.

The vision given to our faster also underscores this message. She was rescued from darkness herself, so she could rescue others and help them experience the same light that she was now experiencing.

You could say that she was Saved…to Save.

Is that not true of each and every one of us as well?

Are there other ways in which this principle applies to your life?

Please share your responses with the rest of your DWOD family by adding your comments below.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.” (Psalm 51:10-12)

The context in which King David wrote these words is contained in the notation preceding the psalm:

“For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.”

The sordid details behind this pithy statement are recorded in II Samuel chapters 11 & 12.

In the earlier part of the psalm, David is very honest about how his actions have affected him:

“My sin is always before me.” (v. 3) He can’t shake it.

Reading verses 7-9 we get the impression that David felt dirty, soiled, stained.

That is why he longs to be washed “whiter than snow” and have his iniquity “blotted out.”

It would appear that he has lost all his joy.

“Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice…Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” (v. 8, 12)

You can tell that David is also dealing with shame when he prays: “Hide your face from my sins.” (v. 9)

Can you relate to David at all?

Perhaps your sin may not be as severe as adultery and murder.

But, let’s face it. Sin is sin.

Anytime we willfully violate God’s revealed will, we are bound to share some if not all aspects of David’s experience, amen?

To his credit, David offers no excuses for his sinful action.

He does not blame heredity. “It was in my genes.”

He does not blame Bathsheba. “She should’ve known better than to take a bath in the range of my binoculars!”

He does not blame God. “Why didn’t you do something to stop me?”

He simply enters his plea: “Mea Culpa.”

David does not stop there, though.

He shows great insight when he continues to pray: “Create in me a clean heart, O God.”

He realizes that the solution to his problem is not therapy.

A stronger self-will was not going to take care of it.

Behaviour modification was not the answer.

He needs a clean heart.

The Hebrew word translated “create” is the same word used in the very first verse of the Bible to describe how the heavens and the earth came to be.

God created.

David knows that he cannot bring about the change he desires on his own.

God has to bless him with a clean heart.

Quick fixes won’t do.

Surgery won’t cut it.

A good scrubbing can’t do the job.

God has to create it.

Did God answer David’s prayer?

Clearly, yes. After all God calls him “a man after my own heart.” (Acts 13:22)

The answer to our feelings of dirtiness, joylessness and shame is exactly the same as David’s as well, isn’t it?

We would do well to pray as he does in Psalm 51:9: “Create in me a clean heart, O God.”