God Knows My Heart

One of our favorite phrases in churchdom is “God knows my heart.” “I may not be in church every Sunday, but God knows my heart.” “I don’t read my Bible every day, but God knows my heart” (Heard that once from a pastor). “I guess I shouldn’t be living with this guy, but God knows my heart.” We use it to cover over a multitude of actions, inactions, words, and – let’s be honest – sins. It’s kind of a catch-all to excuse ourselves and soothe the conviction of the Holy Spirit for every kind of disobedience.

And the rub of it is, it’s true. God does know your heart and mine – and that is why He sent us a Savior.

The Bible says the human heart is wicked and calloused. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jeremiah 17:9). Why would the Creator say such a harsh thing about His creation? Because the moment Adam and Eve succumbed to temptation, the heart of man changed. Where God had once been the desire of their hearts, now their hearts were ruled by their flesh and their eyes and their ego.

Human nature hasn’t changed. You can watch the news and scroll through social media and see the effects of humanity’s wicked human heart. Jesus said that what comes out of a man’s heart is what makes him unclean: “evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly” (Mark 7:21-22). Our hearts cannot save us. That is why Jesus came. When we try to use our hearts to excuse us before a holy God we are standing on shaky ground. But if you trust in Jesus you stand before God on the Solid Rock with a renewed heart. One of my favorite verses is Ezekiel 36:26 where the Lord promises: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” I want my heart to reflect the heart of Jesus – a living heart, not a dead stone. I want a heart that leads me to walk in obedience and faithfulness. Most of all, I want a heart that is passionately in love with my Lord. Only God can give me that heart. That’s what I’m praying for today. Beloved, how about you?

Why Did God Come to Earth?

Why did God come to earth? What is so important down here that He would put on human flesh and walk among the wicked and the imperfect? Genesis reports that God regularly came to visit and walk with Adam and Eve in sweet fellowship (Gen 3:8). After the fall God came down to bring judgment and punishment (see Gen 11:5, 18:21). The Israelites built Him a sacred place where He could dwell among His chosen people – though they could not approach His presence (Ex 25:8). In one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the Old Testament, their idolatry became so great that He withdrew His presence and left the Temple (Ezk. 11:22-23).

So why did He come back? When John the Baptist, Jesus’ forerunner and cousin was born his father, after months of silence for his unbelief, declared the answer to our question in a song. He said, “[The Lord] has come . . . to bring salvation . . . to redeem . . . to show mercy . . . to rescue . . . to enable . . . to give us His holiness and righteousness . . . to forgive . . . to shine His light into our darkness . . . and to guide our feet into the path of peace” (Lk 2:67-80). Jesus Himself said that He had come to declare the Good News; “to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Mark 1:38, Lk 4:18-21). He came to do the will of His Father, even unto death on a cross (Jn 4:34; Lk 22:42; Phil 2:8).

At the beginning of this devotional, I asked, “What is so important down here that He would put on human flesh and walk among the wicked and the imperfect?” You were. The writer of Hebrews said that Jesus endured the cross and all it entailed “for the Joy set before Him” (Heb 12:2). What was that Joy? You were. It gave Him great delight to know that you would be with Him forever and ever. God came for you Beloved; He came to make you His own child, His treasured possession (Is 43:4). All He did He did for you. You are that important to Him.  

I AM: The Good Shepherd

My favorite “I Am” statement of Jesus is “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11). It is precious and comforting to me. To get the full scope of this statement, please read John 10:11-30. Remember that Jesus is talking to the Pharisees, the ruling religious party of the Jews. They had just tried to discredit His miraculous healing of a man born blind (John 9) and had thrown the man out of the temple for defending the One who opened His eyes. This I Am also comes on the heels of His claim to be The Door/Gate (10:7-10).

The Pharisees knew exactly what Jesus meant by this statement, and it infuriated them. It was a reference to the Lord’s proclamation against the worthless “shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves” (Eze 34:2). They used and abused the sheep they were called to tend, ate their curds, and took their wool for their own coverings. They had no compassion for the weak or sick or wounded. They left the lost to wander alone and in constant danger. So the Lord said, “I myself will tend my sheep . . .” (Eze 34:15). Jesus came to be the Shepherd – the Good Shepherd – and step in where they had failed.

The Good Shepherd, Jesus said, “lays down His life for the sheep” (Jn 10:11-12). Sheep owners would hire shepherds who had no stake in the flock other than a paycheck. When a wolf attacked, the careless shepherds would run away, leaving the defenseless sheep in mortal danger. Of course, the wolf is satan, and Jesus did not run away. He faced down the devil, laid down on the cross, and died to save His beloved lambs (v. 18). And by God’s divine power, He rose to life and stands between the wolf and His flock.

Here’s the part I love the best – Jesus said, “I know my sheep and my sheep know me” (v. 14)”. The twin words, “know” speak volumes in the original Greek. It means to be acquainted with or have knowledge of. But it also means intimacy, the kind that only a husband and wife enjoy when there is nothing between them but love. No pretense. No distance. No distrust. Jesus knows me like no one else, and He loves me. All of me. Even the parts that I do not love about myself.

It is the same love He has for you. Intimate. Abiding. Unwavering. Unfailing. Eternal. He is the Good Shepherd. You, precious little lamb, can trust Him.

A Brand New Day”

It is a brand new day. Maybe, like me, you’re up before the sun, or you may have slept in and it’s mid-morning – or even afternoon. But it’s a day that the Lord has made, so be glad and rejoice in it (Ps 118:24). God has given you a gift today.

It is a day filled with new opportunities and new mercies (Lam. 3:23). Yesterday’s failures are buried. Today is a new slate, bright and clean.

You do not face this day alone; Jesus is present with you (Matt. 28:20).

He is Your Shepherd (Ps. 23:1).

His Father is your Father (Matt. 20:17).

He is your Comfort (2 Cor. 1:3)

Your Rock (Ps 18:2).

Your Strength (Ps 19:14).

Your Shield (Deut. 33:29).

Today keep your heart and mind focused on Him and the worries of your life will seem small because He is so great. Your heavenly Father knows what you need, even before you ask Him (Matt 6:8) and your life is more valuable to Him than anything else in creation (Matt 6:25). He is sufficient for all your needs (Phil 4:19).

He is your Peace (Judg 6:24).

He is your Helper (Ps 54:4)

Your Light (Ps 27:1)

Your Exceeding Joy (Ps 43:4).

He is the God of your Life (Ps 42:8)

Consider how extraordinary it is that the gracious, mighty, sovereign God sang you to sleep last night (Zep. 3:17) and He sent you word this morning of His unfailing love (Ps. 143:8). His is an everlasting (Jer 31:3), unfailing (Psalm 52:8), never-ending (Psalm 107:1) love.

The angels declare that the whole earth is full of the glory of the Lord. (Isaiah 6:3). Keep your eyes fixed on Him (Heb. 12:2),  Beloved, all through this day and you will see His glory all around you.

What is Your Heart Saying?

Some time ago, God called me to speak and write for Him and share His Word.  He warned me that this was not to be taken lightly, it was a huge responsibility. He told me, “If you utter worthy, not worthless words, you will be my spokesman” (Jeremiah 15:19). He wasn’t just talking about what I said in teaching or speaking. He meant every word, all the time. I thought, “Okay, I can do this – I’ll just keep a check on what I say.” Then something made me angry. And someone said something I didn’t appreciate. And my boss asked me to do something I didn’t want to do. And you’ll be proud of me – I didn’t say a “worthless word.” But I sure thought them. In my mind and heart, I was spouting off left and right. That’s because my mouth wasn’t the real problem – my heart was. The Holy Spirit confronted me with Jesus’ words in Matthew 12:34: “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” I didn’t need to watch my mouth, I needed a complete reconstruction of my heart.

Of course, only God can change a human heart (see Ezekiel 36:26), but I also had a responsibility. Matthew 12:34-35 says “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” What comes out of my mouth is what I store up in my heart, it’s what I soak up like a sponge in a bucket of water. If I’m soaking in the world my heart is filling up with harsh words, sexual innuendo, profanity, unkindness, and sarcasm, and this is what will come out of my mouth. But if I am soaking in God’s Word, my heart is full of truth, wisdom, gentleness, kindness, and love, and this is what will come out of my mouth. It’s a very simple but profound principle: what goes in is what comes out. It’s most evident in “unguarded moments” when emotions open the floodgate of our hearts. That’s why so many celebrities and politicians are doing “apology tours” over something they said – or tweeted.

What we speak (in any medium) come from what fills our hearts. Beloved, what do your words say about your heart?

A Healthy Heart

The man had been experiencing shortness of breath, lack of energy, and eventually, chest pain. Tests revealed blockages in several vessels of his heart, blockages that had slowly and quietly built up over years. The symptoms were minimal at first, easily dismissed in the middle of his busy days. But they became more and more severe until he could not ignore them any longer. He wisely sought medical help and found himself lying on a table counting backward from 100…99…98…97…
His symptoms are similar to spiritual heart problems – shortness of Holy Spirit breath, lack of spiritual energy, and unresolved heart pain. Hardened hearts also happen slowly, and over time, can lead to a very serious problem. The man’s condition was called “hardening of the arteries.” God calls our heart condition “a heart of stone.” How does our heart get so hard? It almost always happens with small seemingly insignificant steps away from God, that, one by one, don’t seem to be that threatening. Like hitting the snooze button and sleeping through our morning quiet time, once, then another morning, and another morning, until we just reset the alarm altogether. It happens when we spend so much time reading our emails that there is no time to read the Bible. Our prayer life suffers as we look to the world for advice, rather than seeking God’s counsel for our needs. The choices we make in entertainment, online usage, conversations, and relationships can cause us to become numb to sin and one more brick is added to our hearts. Hearts can also grow hard and bitter when we let wounds fester and refuse to forgive.

Thankfully, God offers us spiritual heart surgery: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” Ezekiel 36:26. God can take your cold, brittle heart, and give you a new heart that responds to His love and grace. What do you see when you look honestly at your heart? Has it become hard? Have you become bitter and cold toward God? The Master Cardiologist is always willing to do a “heart transplant,” if you will surrender your heart into His hands. Beloved, does your heart need God’s healing touch today?