Tag Archives: renew a right spirit within me

Alignment And Recalibration

In one of my previous jobs, I had to fly to Tennessee once a year for a week long class. About twenty or so of us in my position would go at a time. On day one, we would start by watching videos of a person training. We would take notes on what we saw. The highest ranking person would call on a few people for their notes. She would then share hers. The process would repeat all day. Then we would be assigned material to train each day. We would take notes on each other each day and compare. By Friday we were seeing the same things and taking similar notes. She was helping us to align with the company values and calibrating our work.

In 2 Samuel 11, David had quit doing what he was supposed to do. The chapter starts off by telling us when the kings went to war, David stayed home. It was while he was home that he saw Bathsheba bathing and brought her in. When she became pregnant, he brought her husband home from battle. When he wouldn’t go home to Bathsheba, David sent him back to war to have him killed. When God called David out on his sin, it was a call to repentance and recalibration. In Psalm 51:10, David wrote, “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me” (NLT) David heard God’s voice and prayed this prayer so that he would align with God’s desires. I believe God answered his prayer.

Psalm 119:133 says, “Establish my footsteps in [the way of] Your word; Do not let any human weakness have power over me [causing me to be separated from You]” (AMP). This prayer is also a prayer of alignment and recalibration. When we come into alignment with God’s plan, He establishes our steps. When we seek His help in overcoming temptation, we are asking to have the Holy Spirit recalibrate our hearts so that we are aware of sins that are trying to entice us. Both of these prayers are good for us to pray. They give the Holy Spirit authority to point out things in our life that need correction. It encourages us to read God’s Word so we know what God’s standard of living is for us. He can give you a new heart and a right spirit too. Just ask Him.

Photo by Yogesh Pedamkar on Unsplash

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Contradicting Yourself

How does it make you feel when someone tells you they’re going to do one thing, and then do another? Or when they say they support you to your face, but behind your back they are against you? I’ve had that happen to me at work. It not only hurts, it makes you not trust that person. I was nominated to be on a certain council, but because I didn’t fit the mold, it had to be approved. This person was my biggest advocate outside the voting room. However, behind closed doors, they were my biggest opponent. Ultimately I withdrew my name because I no longer trusted this person. They never knew I found out and they kept up appearances as long as I knew them. Their words to me said one thing, but their actions proved another.

In 1 Samuel 15, Saul was king, and he had been instructed to kill all the Amalekites and their animals. After the battle, Saul decided to capture the king and keep the best of the animals for he and the army. God was upset with King Saul and sent Samuel to address the problem. When he got to the king, Saul was happy and said, “I have carried out the Lord’s command.” Samuel gave one of my favorite replies in the Bible when he asked, “Then what is this bleating of sheep I hear?” Saul made an excuse saying they were going to sacrifice them to the Kord, but that wasn’t true. Because he rejected the Lord’s commands, the Lord rejected him as king.

In Isaiah 29:13, the Lord says, “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote” (NLT). God is not looking for lip service from us. He also not looking for us to go through the motions of serving Him. It’s easy to fall into that rut, and we all do at times, but God cares more about the condition of our heart than our outward actions. If you’ve been going through the motions lately, ask God to give you a heart of flesh and to renew a right spirit within you. You may be able to fool everyone else, but you can’t fool Him. Take some time today to check the condition of your heart. Does it line up with what you say? If they’re in contradiction, ask God to transform you from the inside out. His grace is sufficient to do it.

Photo by John Price on Unsplash

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