Hidden in My Heart

“Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.” (Psalm 119:11; NKJV)

Israel. “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:6; NKJV).

The Righteous. “The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of justice. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide” (Psalm 37:30-31; NKJV).

The Young. “Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart, And so find favor and high esteem In the sight of God and man” (Proverbs 3:3-4; NKJV).

Participants in the New Covenant. “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them” (Hebrews 10:16; NKJV).

Every Christian. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16; NKJV).

GOD wants His word in my heart. He doesn’t want His word on tablets of stone. He is not looking for it to be found on scrolls. He is not interested in it being in a book. Jehovah longs for His word to be found in my heart.

Jason Cicero

Forgiveness

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7; NKJV).

Forgive. To forgive is “to send away” (Thayer’s). To truly forgive is to cease to feel angry or resentful toward, to remit or let off. Some synonyms of forgive are overlook, pay no attention to, clear, let off, cancel, erase. God sends our sins away from us and from Him. He ceases to feel righteous indignation toward us when He forgives. He remits our sins and removes the punishment. With Micah we stand in awe and ask, “Who is a God like You?” (Micah 7:18-20).

Forgiveness. Forgiveness in involves “release – as from bondage, imprisonment” (Thayer’s). Some synonyms of forgiveness are mercy, compassion, grace. God releases us from the bondage of sin when He forgives. We release others from the bondage of sin when we forgive them of the sins they have committed against us. We rejoice that “there is forgiveness” with the true and living God that each of us has sinned against (Psalm 130:5).

I am to pray for forgiveness. “And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us” (Luke 11:4; NKJV).

When someone repents, I am to forgive them. “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32; NKJV).

God will not forgive me unless I forgive those who have sinned against me. “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses” (Mark 11:25-26; NKJV).

Lessons from “The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant” (Matthew 18:21-35). The difference between the two amounts is the difference between the sins against our neighbor and the sins against Almighty GOD. No one can pay the debt due from him to his Lord. Forgiveness is God’s amazing Grace in action. Forgiveness is God’s mercy in action. Learn to give people not what they deserve, but what they need. As I forgive without limit, so His mercy is infinite and will be extended to me in measure unbounded.

We pardon to the extent that we love. Receive His love. Receive His grace. Receive His forgiveness. When and only when you receive His love, grace, and forgiveness will you be able to give it to others. “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little” (Luke 7:47; NKJV).

Jason Cicero

Five Foundational Blessings

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; NKJV)

A foundation is a strong, stable base on which a life is built. A blessing is a gift from God. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17; NKJV). In Christ there are “showers of blessing” (Ezekiel 34:26; NKJV). Of all the blessings God has given us it seems to me that there are five that we can fall back on as we make our journey from Earth to Heaven.

Five Foundational Blessings. Grace is God’s kindness to the guilty and undeserving. Grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve. Mercy is God withholding from us what we do deserve. Love is God’s active good will toward us. Forgiveness of sins is the release from the debt, guilt, and punishment for our transgressions. Hope is the confident expectation He fills us after we receive forgiveness.

Why I don’t deserve them. I do not deserve these five foundational blessings because I have sinned. By definition I do not deserve grace. I am guilty and undeserving. He is well within His holy nature to give me what I deserve. He loves me despite my sins. He longs to forgive me. He fills me with a living hope even though I have let Him down again and again.

Why I’ve been given them. I have been given these five foundational blessings to the praise of His glory! We have been given “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” for the purpose of glorifying His name (Ephesians 1:3). He gives me grace, mercy, love, forgiveness of my sins, and hope that I would praise His name! Receive these blessings “to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14; 2:7; 3:20-21).

My response to them. Because of these five foundational blessings I will rejoice always! I will pray without ceasing! I will give thanks in everything! Because of these five foundational blessings I have a relationship to God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit that will sustain me no matter what happens. Nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39; NKJV). In this I rejoice and praise His name!

Jason Cicero

Hidden in My Heart

Daniel answered and said, "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His." (Daniel 2:20; NKJV)

Come and See

Christ has given us the great responsibility to teach others about Him (Matthew 28:18-20). It may be that we fail to teach others because we do not know what to say or where to begin. Consider this. When Jesus began His public ministry He called Philip to “follow Me” (John 1:43). Philip then found Nathanael and explained that they had “found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45). Nathanael was less than impressed. Nathanael believed that folks from Nazareth were from the wrong side of the tracks so he dismissed Philip’s idea that this Nazarene was the Messiah altogether (John 1:46). Philip simply said, “Come and see” (John 1:46).

Most folks we will try to teach will be similar to Nathanael. They will be unimpressed. Unimpressed that we have Lord’s Day Bible classes, that we preach from the Bible, that we come together on Wednesday evening to read and study God’s word. Why not simply say to them, “Come and see”? This seems to be an effective way to bring others to Jesus. For Nathanael did come and Nathanael did see (John 1:47-49). In fact, this same method is used by Jesus and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 11:27; Revelation 22:17).

As the Lord’s Day approaches, let us be about the business of inviting others to “come.” To “come and see.” To “come” and hear the good news about Jesus; the good news about His death, burial and resurrection; the good news about the forgiveness of sins; the good news about a heavenly home. Let us say to those who need Jesus, “Come."

Jason Cicero

Mark's Portrait of Jesus

Mark presents Jesus as an active, compassionate, and obedient Servant who constantly ministers to the physical and spiritual needs of others. The distinctive word of this book is euthus (translated “immediately”), and it appears more often in this compact gospel than in the rest of the New Testament. Jesus is constantly moving toward a goal that is hidden to almost all. Mark clearly shows the power and authority of this unique Servant, identifying Him as no less than the Son of God (1:1, 11; 3:11; 5:7; 9:7; 13:32; 14:61; 15:39). Chapter by chapter, the book of Mark unfolds the dual focus of Christ’s life: service and sacrifice. The purpose of Mark is to present the Christ as the servant of the LORD.

Jesus calls me to be His servant and the servant of others. Jesus calls me to discipleship: “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (8:34). I am to “be last of all and servant of all” as His disciple ( 9:35). To be great in this Man’s kingdom is to be a “servant” and a “slave of all” (10:43-44). I am to follow His example: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (10:45).

Jesus calls me to sacrifice my life for Him and for others. To save my life I am to lose it in Him and for Him (8:34-37). Like the Rich Young Ruler, I am to sacrifice whatever it takes to follow Jesus (10:21). The sacrifice I make for Him and others will be rewarded now and in eternity: “…who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time – houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions – and in the age to come, eternal life” (10:29-30).

Jesus calls me to victory through suffering. A cross is an instrument of death: “…let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me” (8:34-38). His victory came after persecutions, suffering and death (10:30, 33-34). Mine will too.

See Mark’s portrait of Jesus and give your life to the service of the Lord, sacrificing your time, energy, your very life for others!

Jason Cicero