VOICES OF THE CROSS – BY: DAN STEVERS

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Buy here: http://www.danstevers.com/store/voices_of_the_cross/ The story of Christ‘s Death and resurrection told by the voices of those around Jesus.

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT THE HEART – THE CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART – FELLOWSHIP

“And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.“

Deuteronomy 6:5 KJV

Many people wonder what the Bible has to say about the heart. The word “heart” is mentioned 762 times in the KJV Bible, and it is used in various contexts. The references that have the most significance for Christians involve the heart representing a person’s will or desires. God wants people to love Him with all of their hearts. When they stray, God wants them to return to Him with all of their hearts. Circumcision began at the beginning of the Bible in Genesis. The Bible says, “And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.” Genesis 17:9-10 KJV  God revealed to the apostles that, under the New Covenant, He makes no distinction between Jew and Gentile. Regardless of race or ethnic origin, He extends the promises of salvation to any and all whom He chooses to call. Under the New Covenant, physical descent from Abraham no longer matters because God is concerned only over the person’s repentance and faith in Christ. Those who receive the Holy Spirit after repentance and baptism become “the seed of Abraham.” Additionally, because the purpose and meaning of physical circumcision have been superseded by the New Covenant, there is no need to inflict pain and possible psychological distress on an adult male through this operation. God looked upon the hearts of the Gentiles and saw their repentance. Although they were not circumcised, God forgave their sins because of their repentance and faith in Christ and granted them the gift of the Holy Spirit. They were, therefore, justified by faith and spiritually circumcised, that is, in heart and mind. The Bible says, “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Romans 2:28-29 KJV  So if you really want to know God, you need to have the desire. The desire to need Him. The Bible says, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 KJV  The second thing you will need if you want to fellowship with Him is a pure heart. So what is this ? This is when you have come to know Jesus Christ as your Savior and there is no sin in your heart. Christians are not perfect. We all sin. If we didn’t Jesus wouldn’t have to have died on the cross. He came to save sinners through grace and faith. But if you come to know Jesus Christ as your Savior you are born again. And you are not allowing a sinful way to rule your life. The Bible says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” Psalms 66:18 KJV  So if you are living in sin, you will not have fellowship with the Lord. A pure heart is also a single-minded heart. The Bible says, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:22-24 KJV  You can’t serve God and money. People get so focused in shopping, entertainment, money and investments, clothes,  that their minds get distracted. They are no longer single-minded. It’s okay to have nice things, just keep focused. Third thing you will need to fellowship is a circumcised heart. What is circumcise mean? It means cut away or roll away. This means a life that has cut away the unnecessary things that crowd out God. Things that get you so busy and distracted that you don’t have time for God. What would we have to cut away to make time for God ? Change your schedule, get you life in order for God. Put God first. The fourth thing to fellowship with the Lord is to have a listening ear. That starts with a circumcised heart that has cut away the unnecessary things that don’t crowd out God so you can sit down and listen and hear. The fifth thing you will need is time. You will always say I don’t have the time. Your clock has the same amount of hours as mine. There are 24 hours in a day. But you will have to make the time to get along with God or you will never will find the time. And the last thing you will need to fellowship with the Lord is a plan. Any relationship that is going to deepen will have thought, time and a plan. In the plan you are going to need a quite place. To grow in grace you must be much alone. The Bible says, “But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities. And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.” Luke 5:15-16 KJV  Even Jesus with drew to lonely places to pray after ministering to His people. He didn’t keep the demand of His ministries or His people keep Him from going off to quite places to talk with His Heavenly Father. You need a quite place to get along with God. In the plan should you do it every day ? That would be great ! Just find a quite place, especially in the morning. That way you can use God throughout the day instead of using the night for a quite time and giving God the left overs. Start out with a realistic time to spend with God, like 20 minuets. The other essential plan for God is the Book. I am talking about the Bible. It is like no other book. It is the word of God. It is breathed by the spirit of God. Before you know it, you will have read through the whole Bible in a year with some good Bible reading plans. The word of God is essential to have fellowship with God. Also in the plan is prayer. Prayer is listening as well as talking. And in the plan is the response. You need to respond to god. The more you read about God and the more you take in and do, the more focus you will be and you will respond to God’s word. Then God will take care of you and your mind won’t be on all the other stuff. The Bible says, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” John 5:39-40 KJV Jesus was Saying, these are the scriptures, but you fail to come to Me. In other words they didn’t respond to the word. It’s not how much you know, it’s better to know one scripture than to know 2,000. Responding is so important. The Bible says, “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” John 13:17 KJV  Once you come to Christ for salvation, you can enjoy unrestricted fellowship. So why not ask Jesus Christ now to forgive your sins and open your heart to Him. He is the One that died on the cross and paid the penalty for your sins so you could have the free gift of eternal life. Amen

By: Jeff Ellinger