Blessings in the Mighty Name of Yeshua Hamashiach! * Search Your Heart *
Search me, thoroughly, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there is any wicked or harmful way in me and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalms 139:23-24). I cannot emphasize enough the need for us to ask God to search our hearts. This is not something that we do once but should become a practice of our daily lives. Only Adonai can reveal what truly is in our hearts. This I know personally, because just a few years ago, God revealed the contents of my heart. But before I get into my personal experience, let me share a scripture with you that I feel lays the foundation for what I am about to share.
Jeremiah 17:9-10 KJV "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doing." The word "heart" is translated "mind" or soul, which is the mind, will and emotions/feelings. Also, the place where our motives and principles are developed. It is the deepest most intimate part of our being. That said, the human heart is deceitful because of sin. The fall and failure of Adam extends to all of humanity, therefore creating the need for a Savior. Yeshua Hamashiach (Jesus Christ the Anointed One).
However, this passage of scripture not only reveals the condition of the human heart and the inability to know it, but that there is only one person who does, "Elohim", the creator of it. In Luke chapter 22, Jesus tells Peter, that Peter would deny him in the coming future. Of course Peter denies that he would ever do such a thing and I believe that he really meant and believed himself what he said. Nevertheless, Peter did deny Jesus. Peter was unaware of the condition of his heart and therefore made a profession of no substance. It was not until the moment arrived for peter own Christ that he failed and denied him. As a matter of fact, we all are like peter to some degree. We may feel that we'll respond to a situation in a certain way but, until we are actually under the stress and pressure of that situation, we do not know how we'll respond.
However, if we ask God to examine our hearts as David did in Psalms 139, Adonai will reveal those things that are hurtful to us and offensive to him. In conclusion, a few years ago, after being humbled for 10 years, I was finally mentally and spiritually prepared for God to reveal what was in my heart. He revealed that I was prideful, a liar, an adulterer, a murderer, and an idolator at heart. You see, in Matthew chapter 5, Jesus preached a sermon known as the "sermon on the mount." He said, "
Matthew 5:21-22 (NKJV)
21 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.'
22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.
Matthew 5:27-28 (NKJV)
27 "You have heard that it was said to those of old,'You shall not commit adultery.'
28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Matthew 5:8 (NKJV)
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,For they shall see God.
(5:8) Pure (katharoiPWS: 3095): to have a clean heart; to be unsoiled, unmixed, unpolluted; to be cleansed, purged, forgiven; to be holy; to have a single purpose, that of God's glory.
"Wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?" (Jeremiah 4:14).
A person's very best behavior is seldom (if ever) free from some mixture of self. It is questionable if a sinful creature can ever act perfectly—perfectly free from mixed motives. As the Bible says, "there is none that doeth good, no, not one" (Romans 3:12). The believer is to constantly search his heart and cleanse it of impure motives. Motives involving self are insidious and deceptive.
Preacher's Outline and Sermon Bible - Commentary - The Preacher's Outline & Sermon Bible – Matthew I.
Pastor Williams
Millennium Ministries.
