Do you know the ways of your heart? Do you know that it can be deceptive, seducing, and even adulterous? Thankfully, we were given knowledge of the workings of our heart in the Bible. And while we are alive, we have an opportunity to be trained by Jesus Himself, as God put His spirit in us, and we are His.
“that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,”
Ephesians 3:17 NKJV
God created our hearts and He knows all the things that they contain. They are not simply a biological machine that moves blood throughout our circulatory system, they are like a musical instrument He knows instinctively and it is to be played by our creator to glorify Him. He has all knowledge of what makes them work, what they are doing, and when they are failing.
He sets about to teach us His ways, commandments, and His leadings through our heart. We will see through the selected scriptures below, that when we harden our hearts, He can also do the same to us in order to provide correction. His goal is to create a heart like His dear son, Jesus Christ, in us, but He shows us we also have the free will to reject His love if we so choose. Many are deceived by the heart, but He knows the heart and all the things it contains.
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
Jeremiah 17:9 NIV
Tender hearted
God loves a tender heart; a heart that fears Him and will do no wrong against Him. One that is easily moved by goodness and can see hope where others may not. A heart for Him, His thoughts, and His will to do what is good for ourselves and each other to glorify Him with our deeds.
“Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!”
Deuteronomy 5:29 NIV
“because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the Lord.”
II Kings 22:19 NKJV
“because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the Lord.”
II Chronicles 34:27 NKJV
Proud Hearted
Have you ever met a person who was arrogant, narcissistic, uncaring, boastful, or just overall self-righteous? They are hard to bear, but God knows us all and He knows when we are proud of heart. It keeps us from obeying Him and from loving. Pride may also be the most challenging spirit in our lives to deal with as we look to follow Jesus, and it’s truly a challenging heart to deal with.
“The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.” Proverbs 16:5 NIV
“The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’”
Obadiah 1:3 NIV
Hardened Heart
Physically speaking, there can be evidence of a spiritually hardened heart. Many men today suffer from a heart conditions that diagnose their physical hearts to be hardened, calcified, and failing, while other men have a long life without any heart disease. It is also uncommon in most countries to have much of heart conditions or diseases as we see in America, yet, some do. Is there a connection between a physical problem of heart issues with spiritual issues?
My personal experience with healing of a hardened heart occurred in 2018. When the Lord healed me, I recall my heart undergoing a physical change where my heart and chest literally cracked and a heat within increased. A fire burned within it and from that moment I began to feel the love Jesus has for people in a way I never had before. It reminded me of the Grinch movie where his heart was healed and grown to its proper size when he felt the spirit of Christmas, who is Jesus, in the people of Whoville. Personally, when I experienced it, I thought I would die, but instead, he circumcised it, healed it, and sealed it with His blood to use for His purpose!
We see in the book of Exodus where pharaoh’s heart became hardened when he refused to what was right. Later, the scripture tells us that God hardened pharaoh’s heart some more. This shows us that God can do things to us to bring about His will, if need be.
“Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.”
Exodus 7:13 NIV
“But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.”
Exodus 10:20 NIV
We too can harden our hearts by rejecting God’s words, laws, or His commands. As you see later in this article, God can also heal our hearts when we incline our ears to Him.
Wise Heart
Our hearts have wisdom, as seen in the scriptures below. When we choose to listen to and obey this wisdom, it is called be wise in heart. There are several supporting scriptures that shows this statement to be true and how important it is to allow the wisdom in our hearts to fulfill God’s purpose through us with discernment in the proper time and procedure.
“The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin.”
Proverbs 10:8 NIV
“The wise in heart are called discerning, and gracious words promote instruction.”
Proverbs 16:21 NIV
“Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.”
Ecclesiastes 8:5 NIV
Generous Heart
Generosity comes from the heart. When we choose to obey and be generous, we overcome evil with good and set forth the Lord’s plans over the world.
““Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give.”
Exodus 25:2 NIV
“and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them came and brought an offering to the Lord for the work on the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the sacred garments.”
Exodus 35:21 NIV
“So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”
II Corinthians 9:7 NKJV
Committed Heart
When we have a committed heart, all the things we do with our bodies are in servitude to God. The repercussions of not having a committed heart to the Lord is to always be at war, with self, with others, and with Him, because those who are not submitted to our Lord are in rebellion. The Lord will heal those who put their hearts towards Him.
“And may your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.””
1 Kings 8:61 NIV
“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.””
2 Chronicles 16:9 NIV
Stubborn Heart
A stubborn heart is as the name given it, “stub-born” or a heart that has not grown to its intended fullness. a stubborn heart can be considered as one who is un-righteousness (evil), un-listening, un-attentive, disobedient, and backwards or working in the wrong direction to God’s purpose. They also can be adulterous and practice idolatry by chasing after things that aren’t God or godly.
“Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, you who are now far from my righteousness.”
Isaiah 46:12 NIV
“But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.”
Jeremiah 7:24 NIV
“These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt—completely useless!”
Jeremiah 13:10 NIV
Fearful Heart
Unfortunately, we appear to be in a time of fearful hearts. Hearts that are fearful do not trust in the Lord’s words and may not even know what they are. They are wayward souls who are timid, discouraging, discouraged, and downright scared of everything in the world, because they do not have a personal relationship with the Almighty Father. Believers are to be ready to minister to the fearful with encouragement and boldness, with words of His truth to lend to their hearts so they may not fear, but have the spirit of love, power, and a sound mind the Lord had created in us.
“say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.””
Isaiah 35:4 NIV
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
II Timothy 1:7 NKJV
Heavy Heart
These are also times where many have heavy hearts that are weighed down cares of this world, lusts of it, fears, anxieties, and a general sense of hopelessness. This heaviness can result from walking with a spirit of heaviness and remedy is Jesus. He can enlighten and lighten our hearts with us love and offers us His oil of joy against this challenging type of heart.
““Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap.”
Luke 21:34 NIV
Pure Heart
The Lord expects us to be pure in heart, which means we must rid it of anything that does not serve us. This can only be accomplished by keeping our eyes on Him and following His plan by growing up into the full sonship He meant us to have.
“The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”
1 Timothy 1:5 NIV
“Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
2 Timothy 2:22 NIV
God Heals the Heart
Through all the dis-eases of our hearts, we can lean on God’s perfect understandings of what we must do to heal from these heart conditions. While yes, we have the ability to be healed by God through listening, obeying, and works done in faith of Him, God can use His sovereign power to touch us and heal us perfectly. The Bible alludes to this in 1 Samuel 10:26, where it states that Saul was accompanied by valiant men to his home. These valiant men were valiant because God had touched their hearts. This is indeed our hope and promise. Christ can renew us, strengthen us, refresh us, and even create a renewed heart in us when we choose to follow Him. He can make our hearts work properly, heal the spiritually and physically, and make them of flesh when have chosen to harden them through our lives.
“Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched.”
1 Samuel 10:26 NIV
“I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ.”
Philemon 1:20 NIV
“At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.”
Jeremiah 3:17 NIV
“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.”
Ezekiel 11:19, Ezekiel 36:26 NIV
“He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.”
Psalms 147:3 NKJV
Heart of Jesus
When we put down our lives for others and pick up our cross, we become sons of the Most High God. This is because God put the spirit of Jesus into our hearts and we will all cry out to Him.
“Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.””
Galatians 4:6 NIV
https://galatians.bible/galatians-4-6
Heart for God
Isn’t God awesome? Isn’t the Bible He inspired in the hearts of men to write also amazing and wonderful? He really is our creator and He is Holy! He desires us to be holy too and to choose His paths instead of our own. Even when we had backslid, had faults or failings, had made our own path, or had fallen into a briar patch, He still works with us to keeps us safe. We truly are His children.
“So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul—”
Deuteronomy 11:13 NIV
“To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.””
Mark 12:33 NIV
Eyes of the Heart
God is merciful! He designed our hearts for Him and even when we disobeyed Him, He still chose to send His son Jesus after us to save us. His thoughts and ways are indeed higher than ours, but my prayer is that He opens the eyes of all of our hearts so we may begin doing what is good and right in the world. I know He has changed mine and I can finally appreciate God for what He has done for me and my family. My life purpose is to share His message with the world and reveal God’s heart for us. I pray He does a work in you and your family today to confirm what is written above and in the Bible and prepare you to spend an eternity with Him as your Father in Heaven. Sounds amazing, right?
Blessings to you for reading this blog and this post. I know it was long. It took me two hours to write, but you will be blessed if you read and understand why I chose to write it. I pray it heals any brokenness in your heart today. Amen! ❤️
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,”
Ephesians 1:18 NIV