It took me a few years for the Holy Spirit to convince me. I went on a journey I never asked for but my heart was searching for one. I went on an adventure that would forever change the way I would view myself in Christ. One of the greatest revelations God unveiled within me was that my heart is good.
"There is something else I am after, out here in the wild. I am searching for an even more elusive prey, something that can only be found through the help of wilderness. I am looking for my heart." - John Eldridge
Do most marriages end in divorce simply because we have abandoned the heart completely? Is keeping long lasting friendships difficult because we fail to guard our own hearts - where the wellspring of life is? Is bitterness and anger robbing us from the peace we have in experiencing intimacy with the Messiah in our hearts?
Throughout my walk with Christ, I have heard dangerous sermons telling me to avoid my heart because it is "decietful." Some Christian circles over the years has suggested that we need to ignore the heart completely. I have heard messages that bring destruction to the heart and calling it santification. Maybe the heart is not the issue with the ones that teach this type of doctrine. Maybe people are afraid of expressing the core of what is inside our hearts; desire and glory.
"Make God the utmost delight and pleasure of your life, and he will provide for you what you desire the most" (Psalm 37:4, TPT).
"Living within you is the Christ that floods you with the expectation of glory! This mystery of Christ, embedded within us, becomes a heavenly treasure chest of hope filled with the riches of glory for his people, and God wants everyone to know it" (Colossians 1:27, TPT)!
God wants everyone to know that we are filled with the riches of His glory. Our worship stems from the heart. "Worship is the act of the abandoned heart adoring its God" (John Eldredge). We tend to avoid desire and call it spiritual maturity. It is emasculating and demonic at best. Killing the heart and its desires is what makes it impossible for people to have true lasting intimacy with God.
Tonight I wanted to give my Champion Defender, Savior of my heart and the God of Angel Armies all the pleasure in the world. I wanted to give Him my attention and that is exactly what I did. Face to face with God, my heart touched His. His peace dominating my soul as I surrendered to His fiery love for me.
"My heart explodes with praise to you! Now and forever my heart bows in worship to you, my King and my God" (Psalm 145:1, TPT)!
In order for us to be convinced that our hearts are good, we must discover His first:
"God everyone sees your goodness, for your tender love is blended into everything you do" (Psalm 145:9, TPT).
"The Lord is good. He protects those who trust him in times of trouble" (Nahum 1:7, CEV).
"You've kissed my heart with forgiveness, in spite of all I've done. You've healed me inside and out from every disease. You've rescued me from hell and saved my life. You've crowned me with love and mercy. You satisfy my every desire with good things. You've supercharged my life so that I can soar again like a flying eagle in the sky" (Psalm 103:3-5, TPT).
"Lord, how wonderful you are! You have stored up so many good things for us, like a treasure chest heaped up and spilling over with blessings - all for those who honor and worship you! Everbody knows what you can do for those who turn and hide themselves in you. So hide all your beloved ones in the sheltered, secret place before your face. Overshadow them by your glory-presence. Keep them from these accusations, the brutal insults of evil men. Tuck them safely away in the tabernacle where you dwell" (Psalm 31:19-20, TPT).
His heart is so good. It is beyond our imaginations. "We do not have the capacity to exaggerate God's goodness" (Bill Johnson). His heart is to0 good - way too amazing. His heart is filled with an abundance of love, mercy, truth and grace. His desire is to bless you above and beyond our wildest dreams yet empower you to overshadow the authority of his love in others. His heart is an invitation for more of Him and in doing so, we begin to see who we really are. This is the heart of the gospel; the life long journey of discovering the heart of a good and perfect Father. This moves us to examine our own hearts.
Our hearts are truly good because our God is extremely good. The unveiling of Jesus comes from the unveiling of our own hearts. The world that is at war today, whether consciously or unconsciously, is blindingly trying to search for their own hearts. The core of our faith comes from the search of our own identity. Faith is the seamless connection between our hearts and His. Therefore, the measure of how much trust I have in His goodness, is how far my faith can travel. Going from "glory to glory" begins when we realize how good our hearts are. This is what Jesus paid for; this was the ultimate price. This is why it is crucial for us to anchor ourselves in the reality of heaven because within His heart is ours. His wrap around presence validates us to run with our hearts because from there "flows the wellspring of life" (Proverbs 4:23, TPT).
Worshiping our Beloved from the confidence that we have a good heart will release such an incredible ecstacy and our Father is moved with such intense love that He cannot help but bless you abundantly.
"From here on, worshiping the Father will not be a matter of the right place but with the right heart. For God is a Spirit, and he longs to have sincere worshipers who worship and adore him in the realm of the Spirit and in truth" (John 4:23-24, TPT).
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