examine your heart

There are intentions hidden from the naked eye that only God can see. Which is why He said that man sees the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.

Why does God look at the heart? Because that is who you really are.

As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person.

Proverbs 27:19 NLT

You could be saying all the ‘right’ things in prayer, or seated in church waving holy hands, but your heart could be somewhere totally different. Honoring God is not just what you say or what you do, but it’s the inward committed faith in believing who He is. An outward expression of your love and faith in who God is should stem from the belief in your heart.

Without this, it is just religion and not relationship! Because “Religion tends to substitute the heartless observance of rituals for a genuine relationship with God.”

These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

Matthew 15:18

This why God said to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart. The belief in your heart is God’s stamp of approval!

For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

Romans 10:10

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But then that begs the question… do you know who He is? It’s hard to get excited about someone you don’t know, and more than that, if there’s no understanding of who God is, the enemy is able to take the message of God away from your heart.

When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.

Matthew 13:19 NIV

When you’re in a state of a lack of understanding, there is nothing in your heart to sustain or keep you going in Christ because it’s been snatched! Ask for understanding in your heart so that the enemy cannot come and snatch the devotional you read in the morning that talked about loving your neighbor, when you gossip about them that same evening.

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him.
This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 1:18-20 nlt

God wants your heart, and be rest assured, He is a good God and can never misuse it. As you give your heart to God, may the ground of your heart be plowed, all stoniness be removed, and any hardness in your heart softened as you grow deeper in understanding of Him by the power of the Holy Spirit. God can do a spiritual heart surgery on you today if you let Him (Pray Psalm 51), and I am believing that there will be a harvest of righteousness, joy and peace.