Introduction
When Moses wanted to know the name of God that was sending him to Pharaoh, God answered and said I AM. I AM means that He is God that has no birthday and really no name. All the names of the Lord we know are only describing Him. He is all knowing God, who is always in the is and never was. He is the same today and for ever.
Brethren, let us look at some of the unseen matters that determines the success or failure of a christian. We are briefly looking at your heart and how important it is to your life as a believer. the heart is by far the most important part of a man's spiritual life, it is the gateway through which the Lord see you and know who you are...i have found David, a man after my own heart, through the heart mirror. Jacob I loved and Esau have I hated - from seeing their heart. God saw the heart of Joseph and saw that he has forgiving spirit, loves the Lord and can endure hard times and family rejection, before He chose him to go ahead of his brethren into Egypt and to save a generation of the children of Israel.
God saw his heart that he will forgive his brethren after their betrayal of him because of envy, and he did not disappoint God. If you are a Christian who cannot forgive, the grace cannot flow through you. This is because, grace is given to you for you to accomplish what, ordinarily your strength cannot achieve, and not for you alone, but for other people as well. So, if you cannot forgive, the grace may never reach through you people that needs the help of God, which He has given you grace to dispense.
God saw his heart that he will forgive his brethren after their betrayal of him because of envy, and he did not disappoint God. If you are a Christian who cannot forgive, the grace cannot flow through you. This is because, grace is given to you for you to accomplish what, ordinarily your strength cannot achieve, and not for you alone, but for other people as well. So, if you cannot forgive, the grace may never reach through you people that needs the help of God, which He has given you grace to dispense.
This message is simply sharing one of the secrets of success of Christians. Their heart, its condition and desires. The heart of men are in different states due to age, experience and expectation. There is the hearts of flesh, stony hearts, wicked hearts, heart of love and so on. No one can discern the heart of man, but the Lord, who searches the heart.
Why does the Lord search the heart
The Lord searches our heart to see what He can use us to accomplish in the earth. Look again, at the example of Joseph analysed above. God saw in his heart, fear and reverence for the things of God, He saw fear of God, obedience, faithfulness and love for God and man, and God was impressed. Take the case of King David, whom God picked from tending the sheep and made him King, God testifying that David's heart mirrors His own heart. God said he was a man after His own heart, and when God discovered him...watch this, God could not wait for Saul to die before He sent and anointed David.
God is looking for men with a heart like His own heart. When God asked Samuel to go and anoint David, Samuel was afraid of what King Saul, still on the throne could do to him. God had to give him words to speak the the elders of Israel, the community where Jesse lived with his family. God says to Prophet Samuel...I know that Saul was still reigning, but I cannot delay in anointing David, a man with a heart similar to mine. He says to Samuel, tell them you have come to sacrifice unto the Lord. You don't need to tell them what mission I have sent you to do, and that way, David was anointed King of Israel while Saul was still on the throne. Why? David had a good heart, similar to the heart of God.
The Lord searches the heart of men, to know what people are thinking, who they are trusting in, what they believe and what they are pursuing. He searches the thought and intents of the heart of man, to see those who love and trust in Him.
God alone knows the heart because He searches it. He searches it to reward a person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve., even according to the thoughts therein. The Lord knows a murderer months before he commits his crime. His word, the bible says “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can discern it" - Jeremiah 17:9.
The intent and desires of the heart is what fuels love or wickedness in a man. If your heart is pure and desires of it godly, such a person will be far from wickedness.
The natural man and his heart is nothing to write home about with the Lord. He is canal and brutish. He is not sensitive to the Spirit of God and as such, he is far from the things and promises of God. The bible says in Jeremiah 17:9 that the heart of deceitful above all things....and desperately wicked, who can know it?
Without the light of God shining in a person's heart, such a person is naturally wicked and very brutish. So, man is not born with a pure heart, man is born corrupt and need the Word of God daily to be transformed in the heart and person.
God can see things about you that no one else can see. Deep things. Hidden secrets of the heart, those thoughts and desires that your family and friends have no idea about, but they are there floating around in your heart and mind.
We have a tendency to assume that a person's actions tell the whole story. But that is simply not the case. Just look at the case of young people from respectable homes, who get into the University and become something else. Some of them join cult groups and other secret groups in school, behaviours that their parents know nothing about, but they were floating in their mind without anyone discovering it.
God is looking at that place inside you where your mind is constantly weighing various options. This means He is looking at more than just your behavior, but your desires as well. It is these desires that will promotes your speech and action in the days to come. So, God knows a good man from his heart, He knows a repented soul from his/her heart.
Your heart is the most important to your relationship with God because the Lord looks at our heart above every other things. This is also why it is important that our heart is transformed and kept pure, so it can freely relate with the Spirit of God.
God can see things about you that no one else can see. Deep things. Hidden secrets of the heart, those thoughts and desires that your family and friends have no idea about, but they are there floating around in your heart and mind.
We have a tendency to assume that a person's actions tell the whole story. But that is simply not the case. Just look at the case of young people from respectable homes, who get into the University and become something else. Some of them join cult groups and other secret groups in school, behaviours that their parents know nothing about, but they were floating in their mind without anyone discovering it.
God is looking at that place inside you where your mind is constantly weighing various options. This means He is looking at more than just your behavior, but your desires as well. It is these desires that will promotes your speech and action in the days to come. So, God knows a good man from his heart, He knows a repented soul from his/her heart.
Your heart is the most important to your relationship with God because the Lord looks at our heart above every other things. This is also why it is important that our heart is transformed and kept pure, so it can freely relate with the Spirit of God.
What kind of heart is God looking for?
Deuteronomy 10:16 says “God needs a circumcised heart”. A heart that fears Him and is obedient to His Word. A heart after the mind of God will always be thinking about God and the work of God, His programmes on earth and what part to play in fulfiiling it.
I believe God chooses us to serve Him and do some specific assignment on earth based on our heart. Take the case of Jacob and Esau in the bible. God saw their heart before they were conceived, that Esau will profane the things of God, he would disregard the birth right for mere pottage, so God choose Jacob.
God testified about King David, even before he was chosen and anointed. While David was taking care of the flocks, God had already testified that He has found a man after His own heart. He says “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, he will do anything I want him to do.” (Acts 13:22). A statement which literally means: “I have found a man who cares about the things I care about, when I turn to the right he turns to right and when I turn to left he turns with me"
God likes a heart which:
1. Believes Him – Romans 10:9,10
2. Trusts Him – Proverbs 3:5
3. Keeps His Word – Deuteronomy 26:16
4. Seeks Him – 2 Chronicles 15:12
5. Praises Him – Psalm 86:12
6. Serves Him – Deut 11:13
What is the state of your Heart?
You are born again and a new creature, but what about your heart and the thoughts of your heart. Many are Christians, but their heart is still in the world, their priority is still money, money and money. After money is Power and Fame in that order.
Jeremiah 17:10 says: “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”
Why your heart?
Our mind is where our heart is… where is your heart today?
1. Your heart is the real you and your heart is the most important part of you and the place God looks at in a man. You are made in your heart to be like Jesus Christ.
1. Your heart is the real you and your heart is the most important part of you and the place God looks at in a man. You are made in your heart to be like Jesus Christ.
2. God looks at your heart to see your state of mind and where your love and affection is facing, the world or towards Him, Why? To show Himself strong in the lives of those that trust in Him.
3. The Lord looks at the heart to discover iniquity, hatred, anger, sin, pride….all these are in your heart and God can see them.
4. God listen to our prayer and respond to us according to the state of our heart
5. Our heart is the contact point, the communication point for the Holy Spirit and to God.
6. In your heart is the conscience, through which the Holy Spirit rebuke and counsel us daily. So, if you ignore your conscience, you are ignoring the Holy Spirit and missing out on His guidance and instructions. If you are singing and calling the Holy Spirit and paying no attention to your conscience, you are not doing well.
7. Your heart is you.
8. Anything done that is not from the heart is sin - For instance, If you give someone something that is not from your heart, the item or whatever you gave that person will not bless the person because it did not come from the heart.
9. If your heart is full of iniquity, sin , anger and bitterness, God will not hear your prayers and so you are wasting your time. This is why faith and Christianity is of the heart. You must be a Christian from the heart in the first instance.
10. If you hold offence against your neighbours in your heart, or honour sin and iniquity in your heart and you are studying the bible and possibly praying, God may be unable to help you because of the sin in the heart - that offence, forgiveness and hatred will constitute a barrier between you and God, and consequently between your answers.
Faith, Love and Purity
God looks to see a man He can be proud of, a man of faith who believe the Word and obey it, a man of love in the heart for God and fellow man, a man of purity of heart.
Jesus loved righteousness and hated iniquity and God loved Him. A man that has the character of God displayed in his heart can be trusted by God, because all the bad things we do comes from the heart. If it has no been conceived and meditated upon, it will not be executed.
When God saw the heart of little ruddy boy David, He described him as one after His own heart and was that demonstrated in the life of David...YES. No king f Israel followed God like King David, none depended on God to do anything like King David. Instead of departing from God, King David became a Prophet as a King as prophesied the mind of God in many things.
Jesus asked His disciples whether He would still find faith on earth on His return. Do you have faith and trust in God of heaven? Lets look at what the bible says about faith.
Faith, Love and Purity
God looks to see a man He can be proud of, a man of faith who believe the Word and obey it, a man of love in the heart for God and fellow man, a man of purity of heart.
Jesus loved righteousness and hated iniquity and God loved Him. A man that has the character of God displayed in his heart can be trusted by God, because all the bad things we do comes from the heart. If it has no been conceived and meditated upon, it will not be executed.
When God saw the heart of little ruddy boy David, He described him as one after His own heart and was that demonstrated in the life of David...YES. No king f Israel followed God like King David, none depended on God to do anything like King David. Instead of departing from God, King David became a Prophet as a King as prophesied the mind of God in many things.
Jesus asked His disciples whether He would still find faith on earth on His return. Do you have faith and trust in God of heaven? Lets look at what the bible says about faith.
What to Do
Brethren, we should be children of God in heart and in action. This is one area, we can learn and improve upon. If you have alot of people, you find it difficult to forgive, cry to the Lord to give you a new heart to forgive people freely and easily. May be the people attacked you or are still attacking you in the spirit and physical, remember that it is the Lord that has preserved your life, all the years the years the enemy had been attacking you, so you should forgive them and continually put your life unto the hands of God.
The heart is the source of life. no wonder the bible advised us to guide it diligently, for out of the heart flows the things of life. Keep your heart pure…. You can receive a new heart from God like Saul if you ask in prayer and in faith. Your heart is important to you and your journey of life. You should learn how to love God and your neighbours. Learn to fear and reverence the Lord in all circumstances. Let the word of God fill your heard and His trust be your strength.
The heart is the source of life. no wonder the bible advised us to guide it diligently, for out of the heart flows the things of life. Keep your heart pure…. You can receive a new heart from God like Saul if you ask in prayer and in faith. Your heart is important to you and your journey of life. You should learn how to love God and your neighbours. Learn to fear and reverence the Lord in all circumstances. Let the word of God fill your heard and His trust be your strength.
FIRE...
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