trACker number376
The e-Devotional helping to keep you on-track
GodTracker is online at www.godtracker.co.uk
30 September 2011
Dear God Tracker
Righteousness Is Credited Only By Faith In The Heart
One of my favourite heroes of the faith is the great ancient king of Israel, King David. I love David because he was an average guy with average problems who discovered the secret of faithfully keeping his heart pure before God, by God’s grace.
David was the youngest son of an average Hebrew guy called, Jesse and a shepherd of his father’s sheep. Being a shepherd in the Middle East was a very humble job. Nevertheless, we read how David did his job to the best of his ability, even risking his own life for the sheep. However, David was soon to shepherd his people as the greatest king his people would ever know but not before singlehandedly defeating Israel’s enemy with one swipe.
Yet, as we read David’s story we notice that he was less than a perfect guy. Becoming a great warrior-king meant that he was responsible for the deaths of many people through the act of war. Also, on one occasion we read that David fell in love with another man’s wife and married her, after sending her husband to his death on the front line. David committed adultery and murder! But yet, we also read in 1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22 that David was called, “A man after God’s own heart.” In fact, it is from David that we received the Messiah and saviour of the world.
As a God Tracker, I believe that God looks at the heart and not the hands. In other words, I believe that salvation is realised in the heart before it plays out through the hands. Faith and grace are qualities experienced in the heart when we believe that Jesus died and rose again to free us from sin. Even so, Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak. Consequently, because grace and faith in the heart have made us right with God, the hands (or mouth, as the case may be) will reveal this salvation through actions of faith. But these actions of faith do not justify or qualify us before God. We are not saved by our works but by faith in Christ’s actions. Yet as we live out our salvation by what we do, we discover that there is always something more that can be done. That is to say, we can never, never do enough to earn credit for righteousness by the work of our hands; righteousness is credited only by faith in the heart.
David was a true God-tracker. David lived in grace. David walked by faith. David was not a perfect guy but David’s heart was right and he knew the power of repentance. David knew that he was nothing, had nothing and meant nothing but for the grace of God. David was made righteous by faith in God’s forgiveness and walked in the integrity of the hope of his salvation. He knew that purity of heart precedes purity of hand.
God-tracking is firstly getting your heart right with God.
Blessings
Dudley
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GodTracker is now also available as a blog. Check out: http://godtracker.blogspot.com/
Our hope is that, by sharing experiences in tracking the will of God, we will draw closer to him and discover the awesome value of walking with God. Let us know what you think by e-mailing dudley@godtracker.co.uk God knows the plans he has for you. So go ahead and track them!
GodTracker now on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=46298024089
What is trACker?
GodTracker and trACker owe their origins to an international Christian radio programme produced by Dudley Anderson called, OnTrack. Although OnTrack went off-air in 2005, trACker has continued to help people to track God's plans and purposes for their lives since July 2003.
You can now hear Dudley Anderson on UCB UK
Saturdays from 00:00 to 05:00 GMT and Sundays from 06:00 to 12:00 GMT
Listen to UCB UK on DAB, Sky channel 0125 or online at http://ucbmedia.co.uk
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VoW
Verse of the Week
Ecclesiastes 7:20
There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.
Quote of the Week
A Sample of Dudley’s Fave Quotes.
“Faith is catching the heart of God, then anything is possible” --- Andy Hawthorn
Don’t Give-up, Look-up!
Look-up and Fix Your Eyes On Jesus!
Today I Say, My Hope is in You.
Psalm 25:21
May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you.
Pray
“O God, forgive me for trying to earn good points with you. I realise now that you look at my heart before you see the things I do with my hands. Help me to live out my salvation with a pure heart. Help me to be sure that I’m not doing good works to be seen by others or to somehow, earn righteousness. May my good works come from you working through me. Like King David, O Lord, I choose to walk in integrity and uprightness of heart before you and pray for opportunities to put my faith into practice. Today I say my hope is in you. Amen.”
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