The Condition Of Your Heart

We have read in Mark 7 and Matthew 23 about how God spoke against those religious leaders and false prophets. We saw how though the outside looks clean, the inside is defiled and unholy. What comes out of the heart makes a man either holy or unholy. It is not the thought that goes from outside to inside that makes one defiled. It is the thought that comes from inside that counts.

Heart is a very important part of our bodies. But over here, we are not referring to the organ inside of us that pumps blood to every single body part. We are looking at the inner man.
 

• The heart is the place that God chose to live in us.

God wishes to reside in our hearts and not in our heads.

It is seen in Romans 10:9 says If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

• The third heaven is the place that the heart is in. 

We know that God resides in the third heaven and this is the same positioning that the heart has in a person.

• In the OT places, the heart is the Holy of Holies. 

There are 3 places as we read in the Bible. The third place is called the ‘Holy of Holies’ which is the most holy place. And this is the place that the heart has in each of us.
So, how does our heart look after the fall?

Jeremiah 17:9 says The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

It is not possible to repair the inner man or the inner core by ourselves. Only God can fix the inner man! God can read our hearts and see our hearts intentions (Psalms 139).

Man looks at the face and God looks at the heart.
 
Let us take a look at a couple of things of the heart;

1. Adultery comes in the heart before it comes in the body. 

Matthew 5:28 says But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

The holy protection stems from the heart. Any sin - be it murder, deception or adultery - all stems from the heart. So it is important to keep our hearts clean.

2. Sin was found in the archangel’s heart.

Sin was found in the heart of the archangel Lucifer - the bringer of light.
 
Isaiah 14:13-14 says (13) You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.[a] (14) I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

Lucifer used to lead the angelic choirs in heaven. And God saw his heart was impure and saw the rebellion in it.
 
Sin is a state. No one created sin. The first person to have showcased this was Lucifer in his heart.

3. Desire conceives and gives birth to sin, sin conceives and gives birth to death. 

James 1:13-15 says (13) When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; (14) but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. (15) Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

4. Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. 

Matthew 12:33-37 says (33) “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. (34) You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. (35) A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. (36) But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. (37) For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

What we need to understand is that the heart has a lot of storage space. We can store both good and bad in it. And we can take out what we have deposited in our hearts. God wishes to reside in this heart of ours. So, it is important to keep our hearts clean.
 
Our heart is the house of God so we need to keep it clean and holy!