I hope this newsletter finds everyone healthy and warm. In my world, it is a getting there and a pretty much.
We were snowed in for two days, but we are now mobile again. We are down to coughs and a little dizziness.
It was really fun reading through the nuggets for this month. I wasn’t sure how I liked where all of the series went.
But I liked the nuggets I pulled out. Take a look.
Important Definitions
- A heart of stone is a soul without faith in God.
- A heart of flesh convicts us of sin because it possesses a tenderness which identifies the sin as wrong.
- Conversion is when a sinner ABCDs in order to mend their sinful ways to follow God, changing hearts and habits.
- The heart is our inner being that houses our character and conscience.
- Walking is the term used to describe how we live our lives.
- Walking with God means we are humble, reverent, teachable servants of God.
Main Nugget
God is healing us through our obedience to His laws and commandments. The Holy Spirit is leading us to obedience (Getting a New Spirit).
Salvation
- Before conversion, we live lives of sin. Even if we think we are a good person, we are sinners if we do not submit our lives to God (Getting a New Spirit).
- God’s priority for us is salvation. It is as plain and simple as that. God has specifically told us what is good. He told us point blank what we need to do in order to please Him (Do You Meet the Just Requirement?; Where Are You at with the Requirements?).
- Being good is all about being sinless and pure in God’s eyes. There is only one way to obtain that status (Where Are You at with the Requirements?).
- In order to gain salvation, we have to believe in Jesus. Period. Belief in Jesus is the way that we receive forgiveness for our sins. It is only through the forgiveness of our sins that our hearts become pure (Confidence in the Spirit).
- We must make a genuine conversion. We can’t be going for fire insurance. We have to not only be sorry that we committed the sin in the past, but we also have to turn away from the temptations in the future. Are we going to slip and sin? Yes. God will forgive us if our hearts are right (What Does Conversion Mean?).
- God tells us that, when we make a genuine profession of faith and live in His Will, He will forgive us of our sins. Because God is greater than the sin in our hearts, He can forgive us of our sins (Confidence before God; Our Hearts before Him).
- We cannot gloss over the fact that love for others has to start with love for Jesus. Love for others does not negate the commandment to love the Lord (Confidence in the Spirit).
- We cannot believe that Jesus is God’s Son but think we can save ourselves. Only God can free us of our sins (Confidence in the Spirit).
- The Good News – the gospel – shows us our loving God. Following His laws and commandments is good for us (Where Are You at with the Requirements?).
- The whole point of salvation is to have the heart of God. We want to be men and women after God’s own heart (Getting a New Spirit).
- Faith is a duty. It isn’t an option for being a child of God. We are commanded to believe (Confidence in the Spirit).
- Our faith has to stem from our love of God. That has to spread to others (Confidence in the Spirit).
- We can’t earn our way to salvation. God gets very upset when we try to do that. Neither can we earn our way into perfection. Only God changes us (Where Are You at with the Requirements?; Confidence in the Spirit).
- We have to be sincere in our relationship in order to receive what we ask of God. This has nothing to do with winning the lottery, getting a Lamborghini, or finding our soul mate. It has everything to do with praying in God’s Will (Confidence in Prayer).
- We have to intentionally choose — daily, almost minute by minute sometimes — to follow God. That takes self-discipline, because Satan is going to do everything in his power to knock us off the Sanctification Road (At the Heart Level).
- We still have problems after we become disciples in believing that we are worthy of God’s love. Well, we are unworthy — but that doesn’t stop God from loving us anyway. We are only worthy when Jesus’ salvation is in our souls. His blood cleanses us and makes us righteous (Our Hearts before Him).
- Micah did not say to show mercy. He said we need to to love mercy. To me, mercy is the product of love. It is the action to the emotion (Do You Meet the Mercy Requirement?).
- Disciples must be merciful in order to witness to others. Why is mercy the foundation of witnessing? It is the foundation of forgiveness (Do You Meet the Mercy Requirement?).
- It can be really hard to take our focus off of this physical world and put it on God’s spiritual world (Getting a New Spirit).
- Those who haven’t submitted their lives to God don’t resist sin. Those who have ABCDed are tempted by Satan to renounce God and sin against Him. We have the Holy Spirit to strengthen us (Getting a New Spirit).
Glossary
God Makes Us Godly and Changes Our Hearts
- We can’t make ourselves godly. When we think about changing ourselves, we can easily slip into a worldview mindset of self-help. We read all the psychobabble books and try to change ourselves into a new, improved us. When we try to change ourselves, we work only on the outside. Grace works on the inside (At the Heart Level; What Does Conversion Mean?; Making the Heart Right).
- We have to realize that conversion isn’t a fix-the-broken quest. It is a cut-it-out-and-replace mission (What Does Conversion Mean?).
- Only God can transform our hearts. Before God enters our hearts, they are full of evil, a.k.a. sin. We follow the devil’s promptings, even when we may not recognize it. We need God to change our hearts. He will be reconciling us to Himself (At the Heart Level; Making the Heart Right).
- God is all about transforming us, which happens in our minds. It isn’t about our understanding everything. It isn’t even about a great fix by worldly standards. It is to remove sin from our lives. It is to make us more like God (At the Heart Level).
- Only God can sanctify us. Only He can save us. God does this by the Holy Spirit applying His truth to our hearts (At the Heart Level).
- Ezekiel gave us in a nutshell what getting it to heart level is all about. Yes, this happens at salvation. However, it also happens daily (Hardening of the Heart).
- We have to get character down to the heart level because the heart is the original source of sin. With sin in our hearts, they became hardened. As we make our choices to rebel against God, our hearts gradually grow harder (Hardening of the Heart).
- Because the heart of stone does not believe in God, it is not a regenerated heart. Our hearts are hardened by our inability to focus on Jesus and His provision for us. These choices may not seem like a rebellion to us because, we feel, they are not conscious decisions to rebel. However, they are, many times, based on our not understanding what God is trying to tell us (Hardening of the Heart).
- A hardened heart does not mean that they are horrible people to others. It only means that their hearts are hardened toward God. When we are focusing on this world, we are hardening our hearts toward God. It is usually a gradual hardening, but it can also, at times, seem almost instantaneous (Hardening of the Heart).
- What some don’t recognize is that God has power and dominion over our heart. God has the power to regenerate a hard heart. Just think of it. He changes their rebelliousness to worship. He cuts out the sinful habits. He persists until our resistance is worn down (Hardening of the Heart).
- A heart of flesh is open to God’s calling because it has a tenderness toward sin. A tenderness for sin means we see sin for what it really is. We finally can see what it does to us (What Is a Heart of Flesh?).
- Our heart has to thaw so that we are receptive to salvation. Changing from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh isn’t done accidentally. In other words, there is never going to be an, “Oops. That heart shouldn’t have changed.” We are never going to change our stony hearts to hearts of flesh by doing random acts of kindness. It is only through God’s grace do our stony hearts become hearts of flesh. It can only be done through salvation and God’s work through the new covenant (What Is a Heart of Flesh?).
- Faith thaws our hearts so that conversion can happen. The softening of the stony heart in able to reach the point of conversion was through faith (What Does Conversion Mean?).
- With a heart of flesh, we grieve when we do sin. We grieve knowing that we still have the capacity to sin (What Is a Heart of Flesh?).
- To me, regeneration is what happens while conversion is how we get there (What Does Conversion Mean?).
- We are going to be tempted many times by Satan after conversion. We have to prove that we are God’s children. We can’t just rest on the fact that we have made a profession of faith. Are we living out that profession? (Confidence before God).
- Our hearts are changed from an unclean heart to a clean heart. The new heart is different from the heart of stone and even the heart of flesh. It is no longer stone-cold dead. The new heart continues to be sorrowful of sin. However, it steers clear of the sin, even the little sins. This new heart recognizes the sin we have committed, and it will plead guilty (Making the Heart Right).
- There will be struggles between our old hearts and our new hearts that we will have to endure. It is still going to be a struggle after we receive our new heart. Our spiritual nature is going to struggle against our human nature (Making the Heart Right).
- God doesn’t make us walk with Him. We still have our free will. Oh, yes. We will have to pay the consequences if we choose not to follow God. But it is our choice (Making the Heart Right).
- After conversion, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us. Before conversion, the Holy Spirit works on us to convict us of our sin and to show us the way to Jesus. He doesn’t, however, take up residence in our hearts. We aren’t God’s children yet (Getting a New Spirit).
- Our hearts need to be enlarged. How? By following God’s laws and commandments (At the Heart Level).
- What narrows our heats? They are narrowed when we keep sin within them (At the Heart Level).
- Our heart is only enlarged when we are in a genuine relationship with our Creator and following His laws and commandments (At the Heart Level).
- What goes into the heart must clean house. We have to move out whatever kept us from loving God and let Him into our hearts. It is there that He can grow us to be more like Him (At the Heart Level).
- Our hearts have to change after conversion. We have to get God’s laws and commandments written on the tablets of our heart again. When we do that, our hearts are purified (At the Heart Level).
- Knowledge, alone, does not give us power. Power comes from our character (How Do We Keep Our Hearts?).
- What is in our hearts show our true selves. It is the seat of our character. It is these principles that guide our actions (How Do We Keep Our Hearts?).
- Our actions are a reflection of our feelings and passions. After conversion, we will still have feelings and passions. We just have to make sure they are submitted to God (How Do We Keep Our Hearts?).
- Our actions do not make us good people. There are so many times that our words say one thing, but our actions say the opposite. Plus, our definition of good is wrong. We have to use God’s definition of good instead of the world’s (Confidence before God).
- However good — sinless — we are is none of our doing. Only God can make us sinless (Confidence before God).
- God uses our conversion to change many areas of our lives. It produces other changes beyond our hearts. We have a change in understanding because we realize that we no longer need to fully understand. Our will is changed. This is how we decide what actions we will perform. We become less judgmental. We start to love others as He loves us, building community through unity (What Does Conversion Mean?).
- Our character determines our actions. Those actions grow into our habits (How Else Do We Guard Our Hearts?).
- God tells us that our hearts have the sinful nature in them. This is why being a good person isn’t good enough. That sinful nature will be within us until we have the heart of God. That means until we have been sanctified (How Do We Keep Our Hearts?).
- We must make a conscious decision to guard our hearts (How Do We Guard Our Hearts?).
- It is easy for our hearts to go places we really don’t want them to go. How do we go astray? Satan tempts us using our thoughts and dispositions to try to separate us from God (How Do We Guard Our Hearts?).
- We are all going to be tempted. The deciding factor is whether we allow that temptation to lead us into sin. We don’t want to do that (How Do We Guard Our Hearts?).
- As all things spring from the heart, we must guard it to make sure it is in the right condition. Our hearts must be pure (How Do We Guard Our Hearts?).
- We guard our hearts by forming good habits. Habits are formed through consistent, persistent effort (How Else Do We Guard Our Hearts?).
- A consistent, persistent effort means we know the status of our hearts. We aren’t leaving it to chance. We intimately know the condition of our hearts. We’ve called it evaluating. It is taking the time and effort to keep our hearts focused on God. That will take inward faith, not just outward actions (How Do We Guard Our Hearts?).
- We have to make sure our habits promote good, not evil (How Else Do We Guard Our Hearts?).
- We have to watch because the challenges are both internal and external. We may like to think we are only challenged by things we can see in this world. Some of our challenges come from within. We have to guard our thoughts and feelings (How Else Do We Guard Our Hearts?).
- Our hearts by nature are wicked. Since the original sin, our hearts have been wicked (How Else Do We Guard Our Hearts?).
- Once our hearts are regenerated, we have to be diligent in keeping Satan out. We form habits to shut him down (How Else Do We Guard Our Hearts?).
- Our hearts have to be right with God. We can have good habits but still not have the heart of God (How Else Do We Guard Our Hearts?).
- The status of our hearts depends on the condition of our hearts before God (Our Hearts before Him).
- We have to believe God’s truth in our hearts (Our Hearts before Him).
- Connecting our faith and our hearts is what we’ve been calling it getting down to our heart level (Our Hearts before Him).
- We know in our hearts good from evil. Condemnation means we think the sin is horrible. We strive to stop making it a habitual sin. It doesn’t mean we will never sin again (Our Hearts before Him).
- God knows all things. Because He is omniscient, He knows the degree to which we sin. That means that He knows how pure our hearts are (Our Hearts before Him).
- The goal for all disciples is that our heart does not condemn us (Confidence before God).
- The evidence to condemn us or acquit us is already there. God doesn’t have to go hunting for it (Confidence before God).
- God is greater than our consciences. He is greater than that what many assume is our moral inner voice (Our Hearts before Him).
- We should want to have our heart level challenged by tests that God sends our way. One, these tests tell us where we are at in our walk with God. Two, these tests strengthen our faith and deepen our dependence on Him (Confidence before God).
- We have to believe God’s truth in our hearts. Our actions have to follow what we learn in God’s Word (Confidence before God).
- Our motives are an important aspect of our hearts. For good or bad, our motivations come from within, necessitating the need for us to guard our hearts (How Else Do We Guard Our Hearts?).
- Because we are devoted to God, we are confident in Him (Confidence before God).
- The world wants us to tolerate sins. God won’t (Confidence before God).
- We have to have a heart that is willing to be taught (Getting a New Spirit).
- We have to remember that it is a walk. We can’t just sit back and be passive (Getting a New Spirit).
Glossary
Going Back
- As we were made in God’s image, God’s laws and commandments, though shattered, are still written on our hearts (At the Heart Level).
- When we accept God’s gift of salvation, the law is written on our hearts once again (At the Heart Level).
- In order to be like God again, we must have a pure heart. No, we aren’t totally capable of doing that while we are in these physical bodies. But we are working on it. It is called sanctification (At the Heart Level).
Confidence
- Walking with God strengthens our faith. When we get it to our heart level, we gain confidence — or assurance — of the salvation gained through our Lord Jesus Christ (Our Hearts before Him).
- A clear conscience comes from a good heart, which gives us confidence before God (Confidence before God).
- We have assurance we are children of God because we follow His love. We prove that by doing more for God and others. We do justly and love mercy (Our Hearts before Him).
- Our hearts condemn us when we sin. Our goal is to have no condemnation. When we have no condemnation, we have confidence in our relationship with God (Confidence before God).
- Living as God would have us live brings brings peace. True, our heart does condemn us when we sin, but we gain many blessings (Our Hearts before Him).
- When we are talking confidence before God, we are not talking reliance on ourselves. We are talking having done what is right God’s way (Confidence before God).
- We are justified before God when we have confidence. What this boils down to is our relationship with God is validated. We have done our part to satisfy the covenant. Jesus has already done His part (Confidence before God).
- If we aren’t interested in what God is interested in, our relationship isn’t right. If we are disinterested, we don’t have the confidence that God even hears us (Confidence in Prayer).
- God cannot answer our prayers until we have confidence in Him. That confidence is only brought through a right relationship with Him. But we think we can come to God without this confidence. We come with our doubts and arrogance in the forefront, asking God — demanding God — to answer our prayers word for word. We ignore our consciences telling us we are in the wrong while we are petitioning the pure Sovereign God to do everything we demand. It is only through His love that God doesn’t smack us in place (Confidence in Prayer).
Worship
- We cannot choose to bypass corporate worship. We have to go to God’s house and listen to the pastor preaching the sermons. Yes, we can hear online. But the unity we find in being with like-minded believers is no small thing (How Do We Keep Our Hearts?).
- Private study of God’s Word is also important. Yeah, listening to the pastor can’t be skipped over, but neither can our own study of God’s Word. We truly seek God when we hear, read, and study on His Word (How Do We Keep Our Hearts?).
- Getting God’s Word to the heart level means that we have incorporated them into our lives. To me, this is the meditating part of seeking God. It is where we really look at what these words mean to us. They show us what we have to change to be more like God (How Do We Keep Our Hearts?).
- We can go forward during a Sunday morning service, or we can go to confession any day of the week. No pastor or priest is going to absolve us from our sins. Only God can do that. We don’t need a go between. We have our heart and our conscience to tell us what is right and what is wrong based on God’s laws and commandments. We go straight to the Source. Only God can forgive us of our sins (Confidence before God).
God’s Word
- It is important that we focus on God’s Word. Acceptance of it leads to life and nonacceptance leads to death (How Do We Keep Our Hearts?).
- God’s Word gives us life. It bring us joy in this life. It bring us eternal life in the next (How Do We Guard Our Hearts?).
Laws and Commandments
- Once we gain salvation, we want to obey God’s laws and commandments (What Is a Heart of Flesh?).
- God’s Will is that we get down to the heart level in following His laws and commandments and changing to have His character. The evidence we show to not be condemned is our belief that Jesus is our Savior, that we genuinely love God and other disciples, and our obedience to His laws and commandments. It won’t take God long to reach the verdict. He uses His laws and commandments to pass judgment, not the world’s standards. We won’t be judged on our feelings. We won’t be judged on what we do. We will be judged on Whose we are (Confidence in Prayer; Confidence before God).
- God answers our prayers when we keep His commandments. God is not going to ignore our prayers if we are obeying His laws and commandments. When our relationships are where they are supposed to be, we will be focusing on furthering God’s kingdom. We won’t be looking at the flash and splash of this world (Confidence in Prayer).
- The Gentiles (any non-Jew) obey the law even though they don’t have it. That is because all Gentiles — worldview people — are still made in God’s image (Our Hearts before Him).
- If all have God’s conscience within us, showing us His right/good and wrong/evil, we know what God’s Will for our lives is. He wants us to follow His laws and commandments. He wants us to confess when we break them. But until we have confidence in a loving God, we aren’t convinced that we can reveal our sins to Him, let alone ask His forgiveness (Our Hearts before Him).
- We remain in God when we obey His laws and commandments (Confidence in the Spirit).
Obedience
- God answers our prayers and gives us what we ask when we have our relationship with Him at the heart level. He wants to answer our prayers, but only can when we are obedient and asking in His Will. We will ask in His Will when we have our relationship at the heart level because we have faith in Jesus, love for God and His disciples, and are obedient to Him (Confidence in Prayer).
- God fills our prayer requests when we abide in Him (Confidence in Prayer).
- It isn’t just faith that will get our prayers answered. God can answer our prayers when we do His Will. We have to be obedient to present the opportunities to receive God’s goodness (Confidence in Prayer).
- Our prayers aren’t answered because we are obedient. Because we are obedient, our prayers can be answered. Our prayers aren’t answered because we have faith. Our prayers are answered because our faith brings us to be like God (Confidence in Prayer).
- Our obedience brings a great reward. God abides in us. This is a willing obedience. It begins from within us, not from outside in our environment. We know God abides in us when the Holy Spirit is present. The Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts. We bond to Christ through Him. We gain God’s nature through the Holy Spirit’s work. To me, that describes sanctification (Confidence in the Spirit).
Benefits
When we grow closer to God, our a Christian walk becomes easier. What Micah told them — and us — had nothing to do with their/our worship. It had everything to do with their/our lives (Where Are You at with the Requirements?).
When we know without a doubt that our relationships are right with God, we know He will hear and answer our prayers (Confidence in Prayer).
It is all about praying in the Spirit. That is the state of the soul knowing it is in submission to God (Confidence in Prayer).
The Spirit is working within us if we are praying in the Spirit. We are imitating Jesus (Confidence in Prayer).
Why do our prayers get answered? Faith, obedience, devotion, submission (Confidence in Prayer).
Sometimes, we see God working on us. Sometimes, we don’t. But He always is working for us. Maybe God is working out the situation we need to be changed. Maybe He is softening our hearts. But God is always working on us to get us to be more like Him. Only when we truly believe that do we get the boldness God gives (Confidence before God).
To read devotions in the At The Heart Level theme, click the appropriate button below.