“Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.” (Psalms 24:3-5) Which of us can say, “I have a pure heart”? We love God and want His will for our lives. We even strive to do everything we can according to God’s ways and for God’s kingdom. But today let’s take a hard look at what exactly is a “pure heart.” Let’s decide whether we really have one. Then let’s see how we can really obtain one. How often do sinful ideas come to your mind? While driving do you get angry at others? How often do you argue, even at work? When you see an attractive person are your thoughts completely pure? Do you ever feel pride, greed or jealousy? You might say, “no one is perfect.” You might say, “no one lives like that.” But while it might be true that few people live wit

I’m done trying to earn things from God. I’m done trying to work hard and hope He’ll notice and reward me for what I do. Yes I know that the worker is worthy of his wages, but I believe God is completely done with a master/servant – employer/employee relationship with His people. Practically all Christians (if they knew God’s Word) would agree that we are God’s sons and not God’s servants. The Bible says that the Old Testament believers were servants, but we are sons. But we have failed to internalize God’s Word concerning our standing before God. I’ve known this for years, claimed to be God’s son, and acknowledged that I’m righteous before Him. But I still try to earn things. I still try to prove myself to God. I still get down on myself when I don’t measure up to my standards that my mind says He sets. But that is over. From now on I will live as God’s son, enjoy being God’s friend, and work with God, my Father and Friend. We at Exploits for God are interested in fundamental mindset

Imagine three individuals walking together, Left, Middle, and Right. Middle walks strongly and directly towards a goal from which his eyes never move. Left, however, turns backwards regularly, only to be dragged back in line by Middle. The interaction between Middle and Left is characterized by physical struggle, where Middle must work hard to keep Left with him. Right constantly looks around and moves in many directions, wherever his eyes turn his body follows. Sometimes he goes forward with Middle, sometimes he goes backwards with Left. But he regularly changes and goes other directions. Middle must continually slap him back to reality and get him back in line. They have a mental struggle. Middle is the strongest and succeeds in making progress towards his goal. But he wastes much time and energy bringing the other two. He can’t get rid of them, they are bound together. If he could get them into agreement he would go much faster and farther. Now, imagine the three of them all walking

These days Christians paint no unified picture regarding the appropriate level of devotion to God. I don’t doubt that nearly all unsaved people I know (and many Christians) would call me a fanatic. When I was younger I considered my parents fanatics. I bet you look at certain Christians you know and think they take it too far, that they’re crazy, that they’re way too serious about their religion. Today I would like to examine this situation and attempt to justify, and spread, my fanaticism. Who is a Christian fanatic? If you grew up in church and call yourself a Christian then maybe you think those people who constantly pray, constantly talk about God, and constantly go to church are fanatics. If you grew up outside the church then you might consider anyone who calls himself Christian to be a diehard nutcase. So let’s just talk about me, an admitted fanatic, a fanatic of the fanatics, and hopefully I can represent all fanatics well. Let me describe my fanaticism. [Now spare me, I’m not