Ever had to make a difficult decision? I’m talking about the
kind of decision where “flipping a coin” just won’t suffice. Usually we rack
our brains for hours, days, weeks, months and sometimes years about critical
decisions. At some point most people (myself included) have consulted the help
of those around me to give some insight/ different perspective on the
situation. This is the advice that we’re usually given by close friends,
family and other folks who (or whom we assume) tend to care about our
best interest…….
BUT my question to you is: What do you do
when your heart ISN’T right?
“The human heart is the most deceitful
of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it
is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret
motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their
actions deserve.” - Jeremiah 17:9-10
For
forty years the prophet Jeremiah preached to the people of Judah that they may
repent, turn from their sin and obey God, but the nation (as a whole) never
repented. There were some people throughout the land of Judah who listened to
Jeremiah’s teachings and began to serve the Lord. In this chapter the Lord
spoke to Jeremiah telling him that He would examine the hearts of men and reward
them accordingly. This means that someone could LOOK
like they were playing the part, but their heart could still be wicked. God declared he would not judge by
one’s outer appearance (what we portray to other men) but by the SECRET
thoughts that are hidden in our heart.
I guess the next issue is: How do we KNOW when our
heart is “right?”
Well
a simple answer is “A
good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart” - Luke 6:45
In
all, what many believe to be a “cliché” that “what’s in you will come out of
you” is actually scriptural! This teaching of having a pure heart to determine
motives also is written in Matthew 12:33-35: “A tree is identified by its fruit. If a
tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be
bad. You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good
and right? For whatever is in your heart
determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the
treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the
treasury of an evil heart. ”
So how do we get our hearts back right when we’ve slipped up? “Heart
Checks!”
God
wants us to repent from our sin and follow Him (as 2 Chronicles 7:14 declares,
“if My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and
seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and
I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.)….BUT He wants us to serve
Him with our WHOLE heart. Lest we end up like King Amaziah, who did what was
pleasing in the Lord’s sight but not wholeheartedly (2 Chron 2:25-5;27)
We
simply need to allow God to search our hearts and cleanse us of sin &
iniquity that is present when we’ve missed the mark and ESPECIALLY when WE
“feel” like there is nothing deceitful in them.“People may be right in their own eyes, but the
Lord examines the heart”- Prov 21:2. Then we can ask God to “Hide
your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a
pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” - Psalm
51:9-10
…And
after God has determined our hearts and motives to be pure/true/good, we can
continue in our purpose for God’s glory by spreading the Good News of Jesus
Christ. “For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the
Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the
motives of our hearts.”- 1 Thes 2:4
So follow your heart….straight to the things of God….
Ooooooh
because when you DO … ““What no eye has seen, what no ear has
heard, and what no human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those
who love him”- 1 Cor. 2:9
Allison!
:-)
(originally posted: August 15, 2011)
(originally posted: August 15, 2011)
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