Good day Templar family
Proverbs 27:19 “As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects man.”
The condition of the heart is extremely important when it comes to salvation, your daily walk with the Lord, your emotions, etc. In the Bible the heart is mentioned almost 1000 times.
“There are two kinds of people one can call reasonable: those who serve God with all their heart because they know him, and those who seek him with all their heart because they do not know him.”
The heart... moreGood day Templar family
Proverbs 27:19 “As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects man.”
The condition of the heart is extremely important when it comes to salvation, your daily walk with the Lord, your emotions, etc. In the Bible the heart is mentioned almost 1000 times.
“There are two kinds of people one can call reasonable: those who serve God with all their heart because they know him, and those who seek him with all their heart because they do not know him.”
The heart, or the inner man is a frequent topic in the Bible. It is known as the center of oneself, the very core of a person. Our heart is who we are – the REAL me inside. Our heart includes not only our personality, but our choices, feelings, decisions, intentions, motives, etc.
Our secular culture encourages us to follow after our heart, or that sometimes we need to get away to seek the truth in our hearts. However, this is not good advice because our hearts can easily deceive us. Instead of following or trusting our hearts, we should trust in the Lord and follow Him.
The Bible teaches that the heart of man is utterly wicked. Because of the fall, man’s heart is utterly depraved. There it not any goodness in our heart whatsoever. Our heart isn’t even 1% good. We are completely and utterly wicked and cannot seek God on our own. It was one sin that forced Adam from the presence of God – one sin alone is enough to damn a person to an eternity in hell. For such is the holiness of God. He is so far removed – so completely Otherly than we are – that He cannot look upon sin. Our depravity, our sin, places us at enmity against God. Because of this, we are guilty before a Just Judge.
The Bible repeatedly says that our hearts must be made pure. All our wickedness must be purged from our heart if we are to be allowed to stand before a completely Holy and Pure God. It was one sin alone that sent Adam and Eve from the presence of God. One sin alone is enough to warrant our eternal punishment in Hell because of how Holy our God is. Our Just Judge has sentenced us to an eternity in hell. Christ paid the penalty for our sin debt. It is through God’s grace alone by faith in Christ alone that we can repent of our sins and place our faith in Christ. He then cleanses us, and gives us a pure heart. One that loves Him and no longer loves the sin that held us captive.
Though we have a new heart, we are still living in a fallen world and in a body of flesh. We will struggle with the sins that easily entangle us. We are commanded to guard our heart and not be bound by the snares of sin. It isn’t that we can lose our salvation, but we can’t grow in holiness unless we guard our heart and live in obedience. This is called progressing in sanctification.
A major part of our progressive sanctification is loving God. We are commanded to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We obey Him because we love Him. The more we love Him the more we want to obey Him. It is impossible to love Him as completely as we are commanded – we are constantly guilty of this sin. How marvelous is the grace of God that it is able to cover such constant sin.
Though the love of the Lord and His salvation gives us a supernatural joy – we still can face hardships. Many believers are utterly brokenhearted and are tempted to feel hopeless. God loves His children and cares for us. We can take comfort knowing that He will never leave us, and that He is near the brokenhearted.
God knows our hearts. He knows all of our hidden sins, our darkest secrets, our deepest fears. God knows our personality, our tendencies, our habits. He knows our silent thoughts and the prayers we are too afraid to whisper. This should simultaneously cause us great fear and great hope. We should tremble and fear such a mighty and holy God who knows how utterly wicked we are and how far removed from Him we are. Also, we should rejoice and praise Him who knows our heart.
Have a blessed day
MC Louis Steyn
OMSDT. Priory of St.Miltiades
Freedom in Christ
