Staying on the hilltop with God

Day 254

Ever wonder why God doesn’t hear your prayers…or do you wonder if He does?  Well…let me ask you a few questions about your relationship with God….and you might as well be honest…because God knows the truth anyway…

1. Do you admit to being a Christian or are you a little embarrassed to talk about Jesus.  Here is what Jesus says about that…Matthew 10:32-33 – ³² “Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven.³³ But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven.
2. Are you following Christ?  Check out John 9:31 – We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will.
3. But…here is what is said about the wicked…Proverbs 15:8 – The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him.

You see…you can’t have it both ways…you are either on God’s team, or off God’s team.  Sorry about that…but that is the way it is.  But Psalm 15 gives us a GREAT model for living a godly life.  I recommend that you print it out, and put it on your fridge.  AND…use it as a measuring stick for the way you are living.  Here is what it says….

Proverbs 15 – ¹ Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?  Who may live on your holy mountain?
² The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart;
³ whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others;
⁴ who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind;
⁵ who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.

Be encouraged…God takes the guess work out of life.  He tells us what we need to do to spend time on His holy hill….and the tells us the criteria for Him to hear our prayers.  Tell me what other god makes that same claim….oh yeah…THERE IS NONE!  Because there is NO OTHER god….except the Holy One of Israel!

Grace and Peace, Dan