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Set your heart on God; then follow your heart

by Janelle Goodwin
5/15/2013 / Education

Set your heart on God, and then follow your heart. This is something that my Mom wrote on a frame she made to hold a picture of me & my husband. This was to remind me of my journey and the reward that I received for following God with all of my heart. These words couldn't be truer. November 17, 1999 my grandfather passed away. At the funeral my brother spoke on the topic "what's on your tombstone?" He went through the Bible stating what might be on certain biblical character's tombstones. He spoke of Daniel, that "He purposed in his heart", Enoch "testimony that he pleased God". As I heard these things I realized that the dedication of my heart to God would be the testimony others would see. My heart was dedicated to God. I sincerely wanted to live for God. I prayed everyday that God would create in me a clean heart. But how was I supposed to keep it clean? Then God showed me the answer, hide God's word in my heart that I might not sin against Him.
We can have a clean heart and keep our ways pure by obeying the word of God. We should seek and worship God with our whole hearts, being careful not to wander away from His commandments. Sometimes, it seems like God is not very easy to see, that is because we are seeking Him half-heartedly. As we allow the Lord to teach us His ways we should continually praise Him. We need to tell others of the things that God teaches us. As we obey the instructions of the Lord, we begin to have much happiness and spiritual fullness.
We can not make it through life without God. We need His word in our lives to help us keep our focus on Him. Evil men do not understand the importance of judgment, but those that seek the Lord, understand all things. One of the pieces of the amour of God is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Hebrews 4:13 tells us that the word of God is quick, alive and active. It is the truth and full of living power. It is the sharpest two-edged dagger there has ever been. As we learn the word of God, it will pierce our souls and we will learn of the wrong that is in our lives. The word will discover the desires and the thoughts of our hearts.
The teachings of God are so wonderful; we need to respect all of them. Understanding the word of God brings light to the minds of ordinary people. We should have a desire to know everything the Bible teaches. The law of the Lord is a lamp, and its lessons shine brightly. Correction of our sinful ways and self-control not to go back to those ways will lead us through life.
As we study the word of God we should be diligent to present ourselves approved of God. We do not need to be ashamed when God examines our work for He will see that we know what His word says and what it means. We do not need to be ashamed of the good news of Christ. It is the powerful method of God to bring all people who believe to salvation. When salvation comes we put aside all filthiness, get rid of all that is wrong in our life inside and outside, and stop doing anything that is immoral of evil. We humble ourselves and accept the word of God that is planted in us to save our souls as it takes hold of our hearts.
When we spend our time with God and He reveals the things He wants to change in our lives and we do not allow the changes to occur, then we forget those things that God revealed to us. If we look steadily and never stop looking at the perfect law of liberty from God, we will not only remember what God says but we will obey what He says to do.
As long as we continue being faithful and believe the things that we have been taught, and then we will be able to stand up for the word of God and what we believe in. We have been taught these sacred writings; it is these writings that make us wise to accept the salvation of God through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
The whole Bible was given to us by the inspiration of God and it is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. God uses the scriptures for reproof, corrections and for the training we need to be righteous Christians. It straightens us our and helps us do what is right. The Bible is the way that God can train us to be His servants and do all kinds of good deeds to everyone.
I began to dig in the Bible to find verses that I could apply to my life to change me. Reading the Bible became such a passion of mine. At first I struggled, I didn't understand what it was saying. I stopped and prayed. I reminded God that he gave me His word to read, understand and apply it to my life. I told Him that I was having trouble understanding it, and to please help me understand it so that I could make a difference to others. As soon as I was done praying I began to read the Bible and was able to understand what I was reading and have been able to understand it ever since that time.
The Bible was opened up to me as a book with amazing love stories, wonderful self helps on daily Christian living and even the traditional children's stories brought new light to my life. It was a wonderful blessing for me to get into the word of God everyday. As I allowed the word to come into my life, then I began to change. I talked differently; I thought differently, my actions represented the savior of my life. As I opened each of the doors to my heart to my God, He began His good work in me.
I began living the life that represents a true Lady of Virtue. People began respecting me for my standards. Older and younger ladies admired the life I was living and desired to have the same spirit dwelling fully in them. The light of Jesus Christ began to shine through me and I began to have the testimony I had desired to have. Then God answered my prayer. He placed in my life a lady who had the same desire to help ladies as God had placed in my life. We joined together to form the first group of Ladies of Virtue. My dream, my passion, my purpose became alive. It was the best time of my life. I loved the opportunity to share with others the true love of my life, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We began our meetings and little by little the interest in becoming a Lady of Virtue grew and we soon had 30 people involved and dedicated to learning to live a life dedicated to the purpose God has for them. We had the privilege of seeing young ladies saved and delivered from torments that bound them, we were able to establish relationships that touched hearts and we were also blessed to see many of the young ladies turn into preacher's wives and missionaries or wives to men in some form of full time Christian service.
As we continually think about the teachings of God we are able to understand it better. As we have a better understanding of the word of God we are able to obey what He has instructed us to do instead of following the way that leads to trouble. The Bible is sweeter than honey and it gives us understanding and makes us hate all lies.
The word of God is a lamp or flashlight that gives light wherever we walk, to light the path that is ahead of us and to keep us from stumbling along the way. The words of God are the truth and we should obey all of them. We should always have our minds made up to obey the law of God no matter what. We need to teach them to our children and talk about them at all times whether we are at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night or getting up in the morning. We can write them on different places around the house or have pictures on the walls with scriptures on them. Our families should be surrounded with the word of God.
God will help us if we live in the way that the Lord wants. No one will be able to stand us to us. We have a choice it is up to us. Do we want the Lord to bless us our do we want Him to put a curse on us? God is giving us the truth, it is up to us to obey Him and He will bless us. If we choose to disobey God and worship the gods that have not done anything for us than He will curse us. The choice is yours what will you choose?

Lady of Virtue Ministries started as Janelle Goodwin attended Bible College in upstate NY. Janelle became burdened to see souls saved from eternal condemnation. Upon returning home from Bible College, she also became burdened to see women of the world develop characteristics of a Proverbs 31

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