February 18, 2004 Wednesday
The Revealing Power of His Spirit

"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." - Psalm 139:23,24

Until God had searched his heart and soul, to the utmost of his very being, David knew that it was impossible to experience true intimacy with Him. "See if there be ANY wicked way in me". We often disintegrate to places in our life where we are content with what we see in ourselves, but our separation from His will is kindled not only by sins clearly perceived, but also by sins hidden so deep within us that mere human understanding will never even realize their presence. Christians often wonder how it is that sins which they have confessed and repented of can return so abruptly and rob them of the joy of following Christ. The problem is that we rely on our own wisdom to determine what God might judge to be acceptable for our lives. This is exactly what led to David's ultimate downfall with Bathsheba and it was only afterwards that David finally understood the great desire of God...."Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts" (Psalm 51:6). Victory in the Christian walk only comes when the Spirit of God Himself personally instills His truth into us and then crushes our hearts for even the very thought of sin that we have allowed to rule our minds. David begged God saying, "Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me" (Psalm 51:11) because the very thought of not being controlled and convicted by His Spirit recalled to his mind just how quickly he would fall back into the vices of sin.

"O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me" (Psalm 139:1). God has already searched you and known everything about you, but you are responsible for searching for Him with all your might and pleading for Him to reveal unto you those hidden sins within your own heart and soul that are separating you from His perfect will. Have you learned to distrust even your own instincts and intentions in favor of strictly following His convictions? Until you give God this type of unrestrained control over your life you can try with all your might to live for Him, but you will only be plucking off the branches from a tree that is rooted far deeper in sin than you will ever be able to uproot. "The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God" (1 Corinthians 2:10). Only His Spirit can reveal the deepest sources of your failures and when you finally allow Him to take control you will see clearly the solution and be lead into "the way everlasting".