The heart is referenced in the bible 826 times. It is safe to say, the heart is very important to God! But what is the relevance of the heart biblically?
Proverbs 4:23, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring [flows] the issues of life.”
The heart is your will, and attitude, which is the source of your thoughts, actions, and words. The core of who you are as a person. Your heart is, essentially, YOU. And this is what God observes in us. The bible says, Matthew 12:34, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Our lives are going in the direction of our most dominant thoughts. Those thoughts become deep-rooted in your heart which are played out. So, what lies in your heart definitely is very important!
The bible clearly tells us, God looks at our heart! People base their acceptance of an individual by whether or not they like their appearance, but not God! The real you is not how well you dress or how beautiful you are. It’s not even when you look your worse. The real you is what’s in your heart!
1 Samuel 6:7, “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
In those days, they lived according to their own standards of what was right or wrong. With their own ideas of what a king should be like. A person they could physically look at to worship. An idol! An idol is anything or anyone that takes the place in our hearts and lives of the Only True Living God, our Creator! They asked for a king like all the other nations. Thus, they were rejecting God not considering how He had delivered them from bondage from the Egyptians; provided for them in the wilderness and their protection against Pharoah and his army at the Red Sea. The children of Israel had become hardened in their hearts. He characterized them in Hebrews 3:10, “they always go astray [got it wrong] in their hearts.” As a result, God gave them Saul to be their king, but with a warning, that he would not be good to them.
God did not approve of this move because He was their King!
Matthew 9:29, “According to your faith let it be to you.” Saul proved to be a disaster for the children of Israel, as God said! In His mercy and grace, God later chose David to be King of Israel! Acts 13:22, “God said, I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.”
God gives each person a free will. When we choose to do the will of the Father above ours, this is what pleases Him! God will not choose for you but give us according to our hearts! He will warn us first as a loving Father, if we were to take a wrong course of action as He did in the beginning of creation with Adam and Eve. But it is according to what you choose. He will not control you! We can increase in our learning and understanding through a relationship with Jesus how to prepare your heart to trust Him!
How do I improve on preparing my heart?
You need to make a deliberate effort to establish, fix, or prepare your hearts, and then apply your choices. We can’t do this merely by our own efforts. Psalms 10:17, tells us God will help us prepare our hearts, if we allow Him!
Psalms 57:7-9, “My heart is steadfast, Oh God, my heart is steadfast. I will sing and give praise. Awake my glory! Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples.” King David, in the bible, purposed to fix his heart on God! Praying and praising Him in the midst of perils! He chose not to focus on his problems! Not allowing his circumstances to overwhelm him in his heart!
What you believe will affect your choices. One of my favorite bible verses is in the book of Romans, which states very simply how to receive salvation! This verse has some conjunctions. You have to acknowledge AND believe in your heart God raised Jesus from the dead AND that Jesus is Lord in order to receive salvation!
Romans 10:9,10, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Everything in your life; the choices you make; good or bad, is heart related! You have heard, “Hurt people hurt people, free people free people.”
The bible tells us to not be wise in our own eyes. We are not good enough to save ourselves or do what is right in our own power. Believing we don’t need His help, is a disaster waiting to happen!
Jeremiah 17:9,10, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind. Even to give every man according to his ways. According to the fruit of his doings.”
We must continually be aware of the condition of our hearts. It is very easy to come complacent and drift from time reading the bible and spending time with the Lord in prayer. Without realizing it, we can find ourselves slowly hardened in our relationship with God.
Check your heart and make it your aim to follow Jesus!
Moses & Marguerite Wafula
www.wakeuptohope.blog