“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 NLT)
But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people. No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart. (John 2:24-25 NLT)
Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. (Hebrews 3:12-14 NLT)
I am not here to discuss ‘Calvinism versus Arminianism’. Nor am I here to discuss ‘Once Saved, Always Saved’ versus ‘Losing Your Salvation’. Nor am I here to discuss what ‘Sharing In All That Belongs To Christ’ in the above verse means (I just know it tells me for sure that I can lose it). And finally, for those who like to take things literally, I am not talking about the heart that is the organ that pumps blood through the body.
What I am here to discuss is the fact that as long as we live in this human body on this Earth, if we are not careful, our heart can pull us into a desperately wicked direction. Do not be deceived that just because you call yourself a Christian that this can’t happen to you. The three verses at the top of this article are definitely eye openers. Even though we become ‘New Creations’ (2 Corinthians 5:17) when we accept Christ into our hearts, the battles remain and in many ways become even more intense.
My focus for this article is that living the ‘Christian Life’ is a day-to-day battle:
And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. (James 1:13-16 NLT)
What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure. You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. (James 4:1-4 NLT)
But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:9-10 NLT)
Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. (1 Peter 4:12 NLT)
The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. (1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT)
Paul compared the Christian walk through life like a race. It doesn’t end when you accept Jesus as LORD and Savior. It ends when you cross the finish line when you take your last breath:
All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:25-27 NLT)
Daniel has always been when of my heroes in the faith. He is the only major character in the Bible that nothing negative spiritually is written about. He served impeccably in high authority and recognition through two of the six major world empires. Even with this, he recognized how desperately wicked even his own human heart was. That is why he risked death to continue his prayer life three times each and every day:
But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God. So at last the king gave orders for Daniel to be arrested and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to him, “May your God, whom you serve so faithfully, rescue you.” (Daniel 6:10, 16 NLT)
Your heart is the intangible part of who you really are. It is the seat of your emotions, feelings, thoughts, etc. It is tied with the other intangible parts of who you really are, encompassing your mind, soul, and spirit. It lies invisibly within your tangible brain only as long as you remain alive in this flesh. Your brain can be dissected, but will never reveal the heart of who you really are. When you are alive, your brain waves can be monitored showing activity, but only God is able to search the heart within it and examine its secret motives. That is why these following four verses remind us of how we must always proceed with caution in our life concerning our heart and train it to dwell on wholesome thoughts:
Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. (Proverbs 4:23 NLT)
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. (1 Peter 5:8-9 ESV)
We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. (2 Corinthians 10:3-4 NLT)
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8 NLT)
In conclusion, when you skip a meal, your belly lets you know it. Problem is when you skip a prayer time where you can unite your heart with the heart of your LORD and Savior, you don’t experience a tangible hunger. You must look within your heart and train it to yearn for communion with Him through prayer and feasting on His Word, the Bible. The following except I will leave you with is from the ‘Our Father’ and is not just about tangible food. It is also about spiritual food:
Give us this day our daily bread. (Matthew 6:11 ESV)
Annointing 