(This was originally published on April 2, 2013. This is a revision of that original Post.)
Folks who's hearts are hardened against God can’t make much sense of His truth. Because they don’t want to surrender to Him, they struggle with His truth. They'll say that the Bible doesn’t make sense, so they can’t believe in Him. But that’s backwards. Refusal to surrender comes first; that’s the reason their hearts won’t let them believe. Deep in their hearts, hidden even from themselves, they choose lies over surrender.
In effect they're saying to God, "Reveal Yourself to me and then I'll think about giving my life to You." I believe Jesus Christ requires a very different approach. He says to a person, "Have a heart that's ready to yield and then I'll reveal Myself."
He is always ready to reveal Himself to someone who is yielded and tender towards Him. That's not a direct quote from Scripture, but the thought is definitely Scriptural.
If you don’t get anything else from this message, get this: Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, has many things to share with a tender, pure heart that He cannot share with a hardened heart.
It's worth repeating: Jesus has many things to share with a tender, pure heart that He cannot share with a hardened heart. It’s very important that you get this: truth must have a foundation laid in the heart before very much of it can be built in the mind.
Scripture teaches us that God creates the hearing ear and the seeing eye. But to create those things, He must first take the heart of stone out of a person and replace it with a heart that He can work with.
God is all about truth. He loves it. For those who love it with Him, He will find a way to unveil even more truth and reveal Himself ever more fully. He loves setting people free with His truth. You might say setting people free with His truth is His passion.
Real truth is simple. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Seeing God with a pure heart comes with an added bonus: real truth becomes simple, and Jesus said that those who know the truth shall be set free by it.
It doesn't take a genius to understand His truth; it does take a pure heart. A tender heart. A yielded and willing heart. Ask Him for a heart like that. He wants you to ask for one and He will be delighted to give you one.
Don’t say, Well, I’ll give it a shot and see if I like it. No, commit to the transformation He wants to bring, no matter how, no matter what, no matter when. It will be worth it, absolutely worth it. It's what you were made for.
His work will be sometimes obvious, sometimes muted, and sometimes hidden. The result, though, is that you will find rest and you will rejoice as clear, simple truth enters your surrendered heart.
In the 1st chapter of his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul prayed “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe…”
Paul’s prayer is my prayer for you. I strongly recommend that you personalize Paul's words and pray them over yourself and those you love.
You might personalize it something like this:
“Father, grant me the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You and of your Son. Enlighten my heart! I want to understand the hope of Your calling, the glorious riches of Your inheritance, and the exceeding greatness of Your power towards us who believe.”
Folks who's hearts are hardened against God can’t make much sense of His truth. Because they don’t want to surrender to Him, they struggle with His truth. They'll say that the Bible doesn’t make sense, so they can’t believe in Him. But that’s backwards. Refusal to surrender comes first; that’s the reason their hearts won’t let them believe. Deep in their hearts, hidden even from themselves, they choose lies over surrender.
In effect they're saying to God, "Reveal Yourself to me and then I'll think about giving my life to You." I believe Jesus Christ requires a very different approach. He says to a person, "Have a heart that's ready to yield and then I'll reveal Myself."
He is always ready to reveal Himself to someone who is yielded and tender towards Him. That's not a direct quote from Scripture, but the thought is definitely Scriptural.
If you don’t get anything else from this message, get this: Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, has many things to share with a tender, pure heart that He cannot share with a hardened heart.
It's worth repeating: Jesus has many things to share with a tender, pure heart that He cannot share with a hardened heart. It’s very important that you get this: truth must have a foundation laid in the heart before very much of it can be built in the mind.
Scripture teaches us that God creates the hearing ear and the seeing eye. But to create those things, He must first take the heart of stone out of a person and replace it with a heart that He can work with.
God is all about truth. He loves it. For those who love it with Him, He will find a way to unveil even more truth and reveal Himself ever more fully. He loves setting people free with His truth. You might say setting people free with His truth is His passion.
Real truth is simple. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Seeing God with a pure heart comes with an added bonus: real truth becomes simple, and Jesus said that those who know the truth shall be set free by it.
It doesn't take a genius to understand His truth; it does take a pure heart. A tender heart. A yielded and willing heart. Ask Him for a heart like that. He wants you to ask for one and He will be delighted to give you one.
Don’t say, Well, I’ll give it a shot and see if I like it. No, commit to the transformation He wants to bring, no matter how, no matter what, no matter when. It will be worth it, absolutely worth it. It's what you were made for.
His work will be sometimes obvious, sometimes muted, and sometimes hidden. The result, though, is that you will find rest and you will rejoice as clear, simple truth enters your surrendered heart.
In the 1st chapter of his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul prayed “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe…”
Paul’s prayer is my prayer for you. I strongly recommend that you personalize Paul's words and pray them over yourself and those you love.
You might personalize it something like this:
“Father, grant me the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You and of your Son. Enlighten my heart! I want to understand the hope of Your calling, the glorious riches of Your inheritance, and the exceeding greatness of Your power towards us who believe.”
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