Healing Your Heart Problems
by Jeanne Rogers
Week of September 19, 2004
"Make sure your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving,
turning you away from the living God." (Hebrews 3:12, NLT)
Are you living a faith with no expectancy? Are you looking everywhere but to God for your help and guidance? Have you put the lid on your spiritual life and choked off your capacity to believe?
If you answered, “yes” to these questions, you may have the early signs of a heart condition that can distance you from God. The primary symptoms are unbelief, stubbornness and self-will.
These same heart problems led the children of Israel into rebellion after God delivered them from captivity. God expressed His anger about them to Moses. “I have been watching this people and they are extremely stubborn. Leave me alone so I may destroy them and erase their name from heaven.” (Deuteronomy 9:13, 14a, NLT)
When Moses interceded forty days and nights for the hardhearted Israelites, God mercifully changed His mind but He challenged and warned them.
"And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires you to fear him, to live according to his will, to love and worship him with all your heart and soul and obey the Lord’s commands and laws that I am giving you today for your own good. The highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the Lord your God. Yet the Lord chose your ancestors as the objects of his love. And he chose you the descendants, above every other nation, as is evident today. Therefore cleanse your sinful hearts and stop being stubborn." (Deuteronomy 10: 12- 16, NLT)
So how did the children of Israel respond to God’s offer of another chance to remain the objects of His love? They refused to believe He would care for them. They failed to trust in His promise of provision. Therefore, He let them follow their wayward hearts. God said they would never enter His place of rest — the Promised Land. (Psalm 106: 24-13-20)
In the same way, our hearts can distance us from God when we refuse to trust Him. God may give us warnings, but if we don’t listen to Him, God will let us go our own way and live according to what our heart desires. He won’t keep us from rebelling or moving into unbelief, but He hopes the consequences of our choices will turn our hearts back to faith in Him. (Psalm 81:11-12)
We learn in Psalm 95:2-9 that a progression of sinful actions, choices and attitudes keeps us from entering the place of rest or ultimate blessing for our lives. An unbelieving heart can develop into an ungrateful heart. An ungrateful heart restricts worship and submission to God. Hearts hardened to His Spirit will test Him with doubts, and a wayward heart will have difficulty seeking His forgiveness. In the end, the peace that comes through a faithful relationship with Christ is gone.
Deuteronomy 10 gives us a simple plan for reversing the effects of a stubborn, hard heart.
- Fear God (reverence Him).
- Live according to His will.
- Love Him.
- Worship Him with all your heart and soul.
- Cleanse your heart and obey His Commands.
This Week
God wants us to experience His fullness of life. Don’t let an unbelieving heart keep you gazing from a distance into His Promised Land? You can enter in today.
Prayer
"Father, I have allowed unbelief to harden my heart, and it is destroying my relationship with you. I repent and ask you to cleanse and soften my heart and renew my spirit. I want all your promises to be fully developed in my life. Thank you for your mercy and restoration. Amen"
