Deceitful Hearts
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its root by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds. Jeremiah 17:7-10
My heart is sick, and it is definitely deceitful. It elevates my pride or lowers my self-esteem. Many times, my emotions trick my head into believing a lie. Or often, my heart refuses to listen to reason. And even sometimes, my heart flip-flops back and forth between different things or chases things I know are harmful or that I really don't want. I certainly don't understand my heart; I don't understand why it lets my desires for other things outweigh my desires for God, or why I let it feed me lies that I know are not true.
Lucky for me, I don't have to try to search understand my heart. The answer is to trust God and let Him search it. (Psalm 143:8) He will sort through the chaos in my heart and make clear my path. I want God to search me and know me; I want the Father to lead me even when my heart has gone astray. Mostly, I want Him to shape my heart. In trusting Him to do this, I will be rooted firmly in Him. When times of trial or times of doubt arise, as they certainly will, I will remain planted in the truth instead of following the lies of my heart. I will not fear.
Jesus knows that my heart is sick. That's no surprise. That's why He came. Jesus doesn't expect me to get my act together before I come to Him or to fix my heart so I can be good enough for Him. He didn't come for the healthy, but for the sick. He came to heal my heart.
Sometimes, that may hurt. God might poke at wounded places in my heart in order for them to begin truly healing. After all, He searches the heart and tests the mind, but He doesn't say I will always like it. But it's all for my good. I have to be willing to open up to Him, because He sees the depths of me regardless.
This may not sound like a good thing. So I'm supposed to open up my heart to God because He's going to poke at it to change it anyway? The secret is to just trust Him? How am I supposed to open up and trust when I already know my heart is deceitful?
Good news. I don't have to do it on my own. God wants me to come to him with my broken heart in hand, for after all, he heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds (Psalm 147). But even when I don't, He's big enough to change me. He's going to do a work in my life, even when I don't know how to let Him in. He will take my sick, deceitful, lying, wounded, self-seeking, broken heart and make it new. And that's a promise.
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes...you shall be my people, and I will be your God. Ezekiel 36:25-28
Thoughts? Questions? Other verses?
My heart is sick, and it is definitely deceitful. It elevates my pride or lowers my self-esteem. Many times, my emotions trick my head into believing a lie. Or often, my heart refuses to listen to reason. And even sometimes, my heart flip-flops back and forth between different things or chases things I know are harmful or that I really don't want. I certainly don't understand my heart; I don't understand why it lets my desires for other things outweigh my desires for God, or why I let it feed me lies that I know are not true.
Lucky for me, I don't have to try to search understand my heart. The answer is to trust God and let Him search it. (Psalm 143:8) He will sort through the chaos in my heart and make clear my path. I want God to search me and know me; I want the Father to lead me even when my heart has gone astray. Mostly, I want Him to shape my heart. In trusting Him to do this, I will be rooted firmly in Him. When times of trial or times of doubt arise, as they certainly will, I will remain planted in the truth instead of following the lies of my heart. I will not fear.
Jesus knows that my heart is sick. That's no surprise. That's why He came. Jesus doesn't expect me to get my act together before I come to Him or to fix my heart so I can be good enough for Him. He didn't come for the healthy, but for the sick. He came to heal my heart.
Sometimes, that may hurt. God might poke at wounded places in my heart in order for them to begin truly healing. After all, He searches the heart and tests the mind, but He doesn't say I will always like it. But it's all for my good. I have to be willing to open up to Him, because He sees the depths of me regardless.
This may not sound like a good thing. So I'm supposed to open up my heart to God because He's going to poke at it to change it anyway? The secret is to just trust Him? How am I supposed to open up and trust when I already know my heart is deceitful?
Good news. I don't have to do it on my own. God wants me to come to him with my broken heart in hand, for after all, he heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds (Psalm 147). But even when I don't, He's big enough to change me. He's going to do a work in my life, even when I don't know how to let Him in. He will take my sick, deceitful, lying, wounded, self-seeking, broken heart and make it new. And that's a promise.
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes...you shall be my people, and I will be your God. Ezekiel 36:25-28
Thoughts? Questions? Other verses?
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