~Daily Devotion July 31st~

"God create in me a clean heart, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your Presence. And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to you. (Psalm 51: 10-13) SEARCH YOUR HEART “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:1-2) There are times when it seems that our prayers are not being answered. These verses tell us that if we have sin in our hearts then He will not hear us. If God could not look at His Son, Jesus, hanging on the cross because He took on Him our sins, how much less can He look at us when we have sin in our lives. I received an email a couple of days ago and the person said that I should clarify that not everyone sins. That is a lie straight from the pits of hell. The Bible says “There is none that doeth good, no not one”.(Romans 3:12) There are no separate groups, a group that doesn’t sin, and a group that does sin. If we have unforgiveness in our hearts, that is sin. If we don’t call people, email or send them a letter telling about the Love of Jesus, it is sin. The Bible says “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin”.(James 4:17) All of us know to be kind and loving to one another, but many times we fail in that area. When we say critical and harsh words to people, according to these verses, God will not hear our prayers. It is time for all of us to search our hearts and see if there is any unconfessed sin in our lives. Not only does He not hear us, it breaks His Heart when we are unkind and sarcastic to people. How is your heart today? Is it full of unforgiveness and criticism, or is it full of the Love of Jesus? Are you spreading His Love to all you meet? Devotion By: Joanne Lowe