Hello everyone. It’s Tania, and welcome to the Moms for Christ podcast! The Word I have today comes from Psalms, chapter 51, verse 10. And it says, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

This morning, I was led to the book of Numbers. I began to read about Balaam and his donkey. In the story, Balaam was summoned by King Balak to curse the Israelites. He wanted to curse the Israelites because he saw what they had done to the Amorites, and he, along with the rest of the Moabites, were terrified. The first time, Balak sends the elders of Moab along with payment to Balaam. Balaam seeks the Lord, and the Lord tells him not to go with the Moabite elders because the Israelites are blessed. Balaam told the elders to go back to their own country because God has refused to let Balaam go with the elders. The king sends more elders this time.

"...God is a reader of hearts."

This time, the elders were more distinguished, and they came with the promise of a handsome reward for Balaam. Balaam explained that he could not do anything great or small without the Lord. Again, Balaam went to the Lord. This time, the Lord told Balaam to go, but only do what the Lord tells him. Along the way, an angel of the Lord was waiting to kill Balaam. For me, I wondered, “What happened? Balaam did and said all the right things, yet an angel was waiting to kill him?” As I sought the Lord to know why, the Lord began to show me it was Balaam’s heart. The Lord told him not to go, and that these people were blessed, yet he inquired of the Lord a second time. He said all the right things, but his heart really wanted to do something other than what the Lord wanted.

"Would you please create a pure heart in me...?"

The Bible teaches us that God is a reader of hearts. This is a little silly, but I’m reminded of a time me and my daughters tried to make French macarons for the first time. This is a very time-consuming little cookie. Not to mention, they require a decent amount of skill. We followed a video and a recipe to make sure we had it right. I’m not going to lie, we had some pretty ones and some not-so-pretty ones. Once assembled, we took a big bite. They were so salty, they were not edible! And this is how we are with the Lord when our hearts are not pure before Him. We may look good on the outside, say all the right things… but the Lord knows the heart. I have to ask myself, “How salty has my heart been to the Lord when asked to do something? Is it pure and willing? Or, do I go along with it like Balaam, but really I have my own desires?”

Renew a steadfast spirit within us... for the things that are pleasing to you, Lord.

Lord, thank you for your Word. Would you please create a pure heart in me and the hearts of Your people, that we would be pleasing to You. Lord, show us the places that we have made look good on the outside that have been a stench to you. Renew a steadfast spirit within us— a spirit for you and the things that are pleasing to you. Lord, would we be those that have seen how good you are. Would we desire to bring you something sweet. Thank you, Lord, that you give us your Word to teach us and to cause us to look at it, and examine ourselves, and ask you to create pure hearts within us so that we would be pleasing to you, that we would bring you something sweet. Amen.

God bless, and have a wonderful week! I will speak to you soon.