Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Revival and righteousness come from revelation of Truth. Death and sin come from deception.
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Living
in God's
Heart
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Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away;
behold, all things have become new. Revival
and righteousness come from revelation of Truth.
As Christians we have been very good at bringing
the gospel message for people to receive Jesus into a person’s heart.
But we have neglected an important part of the gospel and that is about
living in God’s heart. God’s desire is that we would become united
with Him. We are to dwell in Him and He in us. …truly our fellowship
is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:3) Fellowship
is the Greek word koinonia, which literally means partnership and
communion. God desires that our heart becomes one with His heart. When we think about having Jesus in
our heart we sometimes think of Him as about three inches tall and we
sometimes treat Him as such. People sometimes receive Jesus into their
heart and then go on with their lives instead of living in His life. Some
people wear Jesus as a good luck charm and only commune with Him when they
have a need or an emergency. But Jesus desires to live in more than just a
part of our heart. He desires to fill our heart and our entire being. He
desires to have His hands in our hands and His feet in our feet so that we
will go and do what He desires. Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are
the branches. He who abides (lives and remains) in Me, and I in him, bears
much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Only
what we do in Christ has eternal value.
Living in Christ is where you are
transformed into a new person. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is
a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have
become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17) The revelation of being in Christ
changes our concept of who we are. It is in Christ where His personality
is united with our personality and we take on a new personality. We become
a new person with a new attitude, new behaviors, new likes, and dislikes.
We do not really know who we are until we see our selves in Christ,
because our life is hidden in Him. Set your mind on things above, not
on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ
in God. (Colossians 3:2-3) Living in God’s heart is living in
His love. Jesus says, “As the Father loved Me, I also have
loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide
in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His
love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you,
and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:9-11) We live and remain in
God’s love by following the commands that Jesus gives us. All of God’s
commands have to do with love, loving God and loving others. When we are walking in God’s love,
following His commands, His joy is manifest in our heart. We then do His
commands with pleasure because there is no greater joy than the joy that
comes from expressing love. For this is the love of God, that we keep
His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3-4)
We do God’s commandments because we love Him, if His commandments are
burdensome then our relationship with God is not in love, we are not
living in Him. We are commanded to love God with all of our heart and other people as our self. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:30-31) When we are living in true love we are living in God.
It is a good to take an honest look deep inside your own heart to
see what changes need to be made for the sake of your relationship with
God. We all must depend upon God to make the changes in our hearts that
are necessary for us to be more like Him. We even need God to help us in
evaluating our own hearts in the light of His word and by His Holy Spirit.
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can
understand it? "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to
reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds
deserve." (Jeremiah 17:9-10)
Jesus taught that we are defiled by what comes out of our hearts. And
He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. "For from
within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,
fornications, murders, "thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit,
lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.
"All these evil things come from within and defile a
man." (Mark 7:20-23)
Sin is a heart problem. The actions of sin happen when an evil
desire in our heart conceives with a temptation from the outside. Let
no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God
cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one
is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then,
when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is
full-grown, brings forth death. (James 1:13-15) Sometimes people have
hidden evil desires very deep in their heart and they lay dormant until an
outside temptation revives them. Remember that Jesus said that the ruler of this world, Satan, had nothing in Him, (John 14:30). In other words there was nothing in Jesus’ heart that Satan could tempt Jesus into doing against the Father’s will. Temptation did come and it comes to people that have a perfect heart toward God, but the temptation does not have much appeal when there is nothing is a person’s heart to connect with the temptation. The Lord is always looking for people whose hearts are perfect toward Him. For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. (2 Chronicles 16:9) This does not mean God is looking for perfect people; rather He is looking for people who are looking toward Him as their hope of a perfect heart.
God has the ability to change our heart and even give us a new
heart that is perfect toward Him. "I will give you a new heart and
put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your
flesh and give you a heart of flesh. "I will put My Spirit within you
and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and
do them. (Ezekiel 36:26-27) The Bible says to delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Many people think that this is a way to get God to give you what you want. I believe that the meaning is deeper than that here is the passage. Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday. (Psalms 37:4-6) If you delight yourself in the Lord He then is the desire of your heart, He is the one you long for, He is the reward you seek. What can be greater than the very presence of God? In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalms 16:11) I believe that as we delight ourselves in the Lord He will change our desires and give us His desires, (He shall give you the desires of your heart). As we commit our way toward the Lord He will bring us into His righteousness. The Lord can change what we love and hate so that we now love and hate what He loves and hates. God’s word promises that if we deeply desire His righteousness He will fill us with it. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. (Matthew 5:6) The key is your desire, how much do you desire God’s righteousness? Are you willing to seek the Lord until He rains righteousness upon you? Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you. (Hosea 10:12)
Jesus promises to reveal Himself to those who love and obey Him. "He
who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who
loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest
Myself to him." (John 14:21)
A pure heart before God has great reward. Blessed are the pure
in heart, for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8)
We can keep our hearts perfect toward God by asking God to reveal
and remove any thing in our heart that would keep us from loving Him with
our whole heart. “Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and
my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your
truth.”(Psalms 26:2-3) We know what is in our heart by the things
that we think and the words that come out our mouth. May the words of
my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD,
my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalms 19:14)
What we think about is what is in our heart, and is what we become.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable
and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2) The word transformed is the
Greek word metamorphoo it is where we get the word metamorphosis from, the
word used to describe the transformation of a caterpillar into a
butterfly. Another place that this word is used is in (2 Corinthians 3:18) But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. As we focus our mind and imagination toward God His Spirit is transforming us. Because when we set our heart toward God He sets His heart toward us. Jesus prayed that we would be united with the other members of His body, in Him and in the Father. “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; "that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” (John 17:20-23) |
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