A Thought for Thursday: Play Your Position

"And he went a little further, fell on his face and prayed, saying O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." Matthew 26:39

The other day as I mulled over certain situations in my life and the outcome I desired from the situation the Lord dropped a nugget of his infinite wisdom in my spirit, "you are in a place of expectancy but not in a position to receive." Of course, I looked around for a few moments shocked that Lord would say a thing like that to me (until he called me out I thought I was doing just fine). But, the truth of the matter is I was not in a position to receive anything from God because I was not playing my position.

The only job I have is to rest in Him. The only job I have is to do what He requires of me and sometimes that may be a bit more painful and more tedious than my original plan but his plan and rewards are eternal. If we expect to receive from the Lord then we must be willing to do what He requires of us.

The road to the goal line might be tough, we may be tackled some times but we must be like our Lord Jesus Christ who endured the cross who recognized in his humanity that it was not going to a pleasing experience yet he went through anyway. He accepted his position as a sacrificial lamb for my sins and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. It is through total submission Jesus was able to walk with the Father and victorious. When we play our position we will experience the same results. 

This Thursday think on this: am I playing my position? 

You ought to be on this team because this is the team that guarantees a victory every time!

HEART CONDITION: DO YOU HAVE A STONY HEART OR A HEART OF FLESH

The heart is the center of all activity in the body-mental, physical, and most importantly spiritual. The heart is the place where beliefs take shape and thoughts become a reality, "for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he..." Proverbs 23:7 While the heart seems like a wonderful place to most of us, the word says that the heart is a terrible place, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give to every man according  to the fruit of his doings" Jeremiah 17:9-10

The heart is the place that sin originates from,


"But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart: and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." Matthew 15:18

Many of us suffer from a heart condition and unaware that we have any issues, it's called a stony heart. I didn't know I had one until I came to Christ and even now I am still susceptible to it. The more you ignore the statutes of the Lord, and resist his voice your heart begins to harden but as you submit yourself to him your condition will improve. He will give you a heart transplant and remove that old, no good stinking heart and replace it with a heart that is soft and tender towards God,

"And they shall come thither and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the LORD" Ezekiel 11:18-21

Idol worship (detestable things and abominations) and a blatant disregard for the word of God are the leading cause of a stony heart. Give yourself a heart examination today, what do you hold before God, what has he called you to do that you are not doing, what sin are you still practicing openly, privately, or holding onto in your heart?

If you're looking for a surgeon turn to Jesus ask him to do the work for you by simply praying the word back to him:

          Psalm 19:12-14, Who can understand his errors (my errors)? Cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sis; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength and my redeemer

God Bless You