The Overwhelming Importance of Understanding that the Lord Searches All Hearts for Right Motives before Answering Prayers!

24 Oct 2026 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Today’s Scrip-Bit   24 October 2026   Jeremiah 17:10.

Jeremiah 17:10.       I the Lord search the heart, I try (test) the reins (mind, most secret parts), even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings (deeds).

Oh, what a beautiful lazy-day Saturday it is in my neighbourhood! Another one of those blessed days we’ve been recently having. And after lazing around some in bed, I went out on my front porch and raised my head to heaven and allowed the sun to bathe me in its heat and light! And does it ever feel good to be enjoying not only the sun’s light, but also its heat at this time in late October. So, for that wonderful blessing, let’s raise our eyes and hearts to heaven and offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, in all sincerity and truth.

As one strong voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’

Now, after offering up that prayer, the Lord will search our hearts to see if our motives are right, or if we’re just offering lip service. And if He finds them to be sincerely seeking greater intimacy with Him, then He will release the peace and calm that only He possesses into our souls and spirits, so that we can get closer to Him and thus enjoy better communion and greater intimacy together, which is His heart’s greatest desire!

And if you don’t believe that the Lord searches our heart motives when we come to Him, there are several scriptures which say just that. Like this famous instance when the Lord sent Samuel to anoint one of Jesse’s sons to be the next king of Israel. Now when Samuel saw the eldest son, Eliab, he thought for sure that he would be the Lord’s anointed. However, the Bible tells us: ‘But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused (rejected) him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.’ (1 Sam. 16:7)

So although Eliab looked perfect on the outside, the Lord did not like the motives of his heart, for they were definitely not with Him as Bruh David’s were. Then later on, after the Lord chooses Cousin Sol to build His temple, Bruh David warns him thus: ‘And thou Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations (intents) of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever. Take heed now; for the Lord hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong and do it.’ (1 Chr. 28:9-10)

And although we might wonder how the Lord still dealt well with Bruh David despite his many shortcomings, it’s simply because of his right heart motives. The Lord saw from early on that Bruh David indeed had a heart for him, but he made him suffer in other ways for his atrocious unthinking, ungodly behaviour; first by allowing the child he conceived with Bathsheba to die, then have him run for years from king Saul’s murderous jealousy, also by plaguing his family with strife and dissension, even to his son Absalom rebelling against his rule, thus creating civil war in Israel, and finally not allowing him to build the temple. So the important thing in all we do is the motive of our hearts.

That brings us to these powerful words of the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah, where He declares: ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (incurably sick): who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try (test) the reins (mind, most secret parts), even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings (deeds).’ (Jer. 17:9-10)

And when talking about the hand of God, as the preacher in Ecclesiastes, Cousin Sol adds his two cents worth by saying: ‘This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.’ (Eccl. 9:3) And friends, right now, when we look at the terrible things that are happening in our world, there is absolutely no doubt that the hearts of men are filled with evil and madness, and the sooner that most of them go to the grave, the better off the world would be.

Then there’s this interesting story on the subject of sincere hearts between Jesus and the Pharisees, who accused Jesus’ disciples of breaking ceremonial traditions by not washing their hands before eating. But Jesus responds very testily: ‘Well hath Esaias (Isaiah) prophesied of you hypocrites (pretenders), as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for (as) doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots (pitchers) and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. For Moses said honour thy father and mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death (be put to death): But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say a gift (dedicated to the temple), by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer (allow) him to no more do ought (anything) for his father or his mother; Making the word of God of none (no) effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered (handed down): and many such like things ye do.’ (Mark 7:6-13)

And according to the scholars: ‘Jews could evade responsibility to parents by declaring their substance Corban, “devoted to God.” Religious leaders evidently condoned this clear circumvention of both the letter and intent of the Old Testament.’ And so it is with us today, we invoke many traditions of men to get away from doing the commandments of God. But let’s remember that there will come a judgment day, when we shall answer to a just and righteous judge for all our actions. And this lazy-day Saturday is a good day to ponder our actions! Much LOVE!

…He who has ears to hear…let him hear. (Matt. 11:15)

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

The Overwhelming Importance of Christians Paying More Attention To God’s Word than Man’s Religious Traditions!

29 Aug 2026 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Today’s Scrip-Bit   29 August 2026   Mark 7:9.

Mark 7:9.        And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandments of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

Boy, oh boy, our lazy-day Saturday is another beautiful summer’s day! For the past five days I’ve awakened to such loverly weather, that it boggles my imagination. And it would be ever so easy to get accustomed to that loverly kind of weather! But let’s not, for come next week when September arrives, it might just be a horse of a different colour. (smile) Anyway, it’s a day for just sitting outside on the deck or porch and just soaking up the sun’s warming rays, for in another little while the warmth of those rays will disappear completely until some time next year, when the winter season subsides. So enjoy them while they last.

But before the laziness sets in, let’s offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, in all sincerity and truth. As one strong voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ 

And as we all know, there’s nothing better than seeking greater intimacy with our heavenly Father, for His ultimate desire and purpose for creating us was to form a deep, personal and intimate relationship with each of His children. Remember He sent Jesus to establish personal relationships, through the indwelling Holy Spirit, not man-made religion.

It’s like Mark says of the Jewish tradition. ‘For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft (in a special way), eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. and may other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots (pitchers), brasen vessels, and of tables (couches).’ (Mark 7:3-5) Thus, this conversation with Jesus, when the scribes and Pharisees asked Him about his disciples eating bread with unwashed hands.

‘He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias (Isaiah) prophesied of you hypocrites (pretenders), as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit (nevertheless) in vain do they worship me, teaching for (as) doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandments of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots (pitchers) and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandments of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

For Moses said, Honour thy father and mother, and Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death (be put to death): But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban (dedicated to the temple), that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mighest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer (allow) him no more to do ought (anything) for his father or his mother; Making the word of God of none (no) effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered (handed down): and many such like things ye do.’ (Mark 7:6-13)

Yes friends, as the scholars explain: ‘Certain unwritten traditions had come to be regarded as equal in authority to the Old Testament itself. And the concern was not with the dirty hands, but with how Jesus’ disciples were ignoring Jewish tradition and thereby becoming ceremonially unclean. Jesus is saying that years of tradition had brought some Jewish religious practices into conflict with the far older commands of the Old Testament.

Too many were substituting modern religious custom for divinely revealed truth. Thus, Jews could evade responsibility to parents by declaring their substance Corban, “devoted to God.” Religious leaders evidently condoned this clear circumvention of both the letter and the intent of the Old Testament. Jesus’ quarrel was not with God’s word, but with human misuse of it.’

And unfortunately, two thousand years later, we have come to the same impasse, where many are abusing and misusing God’s word in the New Testament, just like the Pharisees did the Old Testament. We have inserted all kinds of religious behaviour and traditions into our supposed worship of Almighty God, that go against His word. That means too many of us are caught up in religion, rather than a personal relationship with Christ, as He desires. And don’t be fooled, for the religious leaders of today are not against putting certain rules, regulations and traditions that don’t line up with God’s word into their teachings, so that they may have greater control over their congregation.

It’s also like Bruh Paul told Timothy that a time would come when people won’t want to hear sound doctrine, but have ‘itching ears’ where they want to hear what they like and not what they need, (2 Tim. 4:3) and there are many preachers and teachers who are open to such misuse and abuse of God’s word. That’s why it’s so important in these deceitful and fraudulent times for each believer to become better acquainted with God’s Word for themselves, and don’t just rely on what some supposed pastor or teacher says. Whatever they tell you must line up with the scriptures, and if they don’t then they are false prophets and none of Christ’s as John says in his epistle. (1 John 4:1)

And this last lazy-day Saturday in August is as good a day as any for us to spend some time contemplating who we listen to, what they teach, what we believe, and if it lines up with the Word of God. Much LOVE!

…God’s Word  is more important than man’s traditions…and must always take first place…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien