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."
One of the most humbling and sobering things I have learned over the past year is how dark, wicked, and deceitful my heart was before the Lord started His mighty work of purification. I had no idea where sin started and why in the past I could not stop sinning, it was because of my heart.
Look at what Jesus said to His disciples concerning the heart.
Matthew 15:16-20
"So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”
In Mark 7:17-23 Jesus adds more evil and sins to the list of what comes out of the heart.
"When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. So He said to them, “Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?” And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
If you have ever committed any of these evil acts and sins, you know now where they came from.
James 1:12-15 gives us more understanding of what comes from within.
"Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death."
The hardest prayer to pray when I learned the truth about my heart was asking the Lord to search my heart and know me, and remove any offensive way in me, to purify my heart, and create in me a clean heart. I had to admit that my heart was deceitful, and wicked, I was fearful of what God would show me, and indeed He showed me just how dark my heart was. The purification of my heart has been a VERY painful process, but if we desire a true and intimate relationship with our Creator we MUST become pure in heart.
Psalm 139:23-24
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting."
If you desire to have a pure heart and walk the ancient pathways to the throne room of God, pray that prayer and God will answer you quickly! It is His will for us to be sanctified, purified, and to walk uprightly before Him.
Matthew 5:8
"Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God."
Love In Christ,
Tyrone
“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."
One of the most humbling and sobering things I have learned over the past year is how dark, wicked, and deceitful my heart was before the Lord started His mighty work of purification. I had no idea where sin started and why in the past I could not stop sinning, it was because of my heart.
Look at what Jesus said to His disciples concerning the heart.
Matthew 15:16-20
"So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”
In Mark 7:17-23 Jesus adds more evil and sins to the list of what comes out of the heart.
"When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. So He said to them, “Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?” And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
If you have ever committed any of these evil acts and sins, you know now where they came from.
James 1:12-15 gives us more understanding of what comes from within.
"Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death."
The hardest prayer to pray when I learned the truth about my heart was asking the Lord to search my heart and know me, and remove any offensive way in me, to purify my heart, and create in me a clean heart. I had to admit that my heart was deceitful, and wicked, I was fearful of what God would show me, and indeed He showed me just how dark my heart was. The purification of my heart has been a VERY painful process, but if we desire a true and intimate relationship with our Creator we MUST become pure in heart.
Psalm 139:23-24
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting."
If you desire to have a pure heart and walk the ancient pathways to the throne room of God, pray that prayer and God will answer you quickly! It is His will for us to be sanctified, purified, and to walk uprightly before Him.
Matthew 5:8
"Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God."
Love In Christ,
Tyrone
