Reading through the various uses of the word it hit me like a ton of bricks that the Lord is very acquainted with my heart! There are many, many ways the word talks about how I respond with my heart, but today I want the focus to be on Him! I already wrote about the fact that I love Him because He first loved me...I can't love without His love in my heart...so that is a perfect segway into exactly what it is that He has to do with my heart. Bottom line...I am going to paraphrase everything He says about His influence over the human heart. I will have all the verses in the order of my paraphrase at the bottom of today's post, if you'd like further study.
So here goes: He can change hearts, raise up one who will relay what is in His heart, touch hearts, look at the heart vs appearance, give discerning hearts, searches every heart-understanding every thought and desire, test the heart, knows hearts, puts wisdom in our hearts, strengthens hearts, moves the hearts of unbelievers, causes the heart to fear Him, makes the (sad of) heart sing, probes the mind and heart, instructs the heart in the night, gives joy to the heart through the word, gives the desires of the heart, forms the heart, knows the secrets of the heart, sees everything in the human heart, weighs the heart, sets eternity in each heart, revives the heart of the guilty, remorseful, repentant, gives His children a heart to know Him, writes His words on our hearts, gives singleness of heart, gives an undivided heart to His children, gives a heart of flesh and removes the heart of stone, recaptures the heart of His children, turns hearts of children to parents and parents to children, speaks courage and forgiveness to our hearts, knows every thought of the heart, purifies hearts, open hearts, pours the love of God into hearts, searches hearts, exposes motives of hearts, puts the Spirit into hearts as a deposit of eternity, makes His light shine into hearts-revealing God's glory, His peace guards hearts, opens the eyes of hearts to give spiritual understanding, dwells in hearts, strengthens hearts, encourages hearts, directs hearts, judges attitudes of the heart, cleanses the heart of ALL guilt, and finally He is greater than our hearts!
Basically, everything that wants to scream at us saying our hearts are not good enough, strong enough, pure enough, spiritual enough, happy enough are lies! He just told us why that isn't true. He's greater than our hearts and He is for our hearts! He's with us and for us in every way imaginable...the only thing that can interfere with that is US. That is a topic for another day...but let me quickly say that the 2 things that continually jumped out at me as I looked at all the verses on the heart were 1) our hearts by nature are sinful, and drawn to carrying out whatever the bent of the sin might be (different for each of us), and 2) it is entirely possible, probable, and likely that we harden our hearts to God ( and miss His voice). We miss out on some of the things mentioned in the list above merely because we are too busy or preoccupied to take the time to listen and obey. I am really speaking to myself here. I could wallow in the countless ways I have hardened my heart, but not today! I am going to rejoice in the bzillion ways God is for my heart! And I will close with the phrase that my grandma used to say so tenderly..."Bless your heart!"
1 Samuel 10:9
[ Saul Made King ] As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day.
1 Samuel 2:35
I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his priestly house, and they will minister before my anointed one always.
1 Samuel 10:26
Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched.
1 Samuel 16:7
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Kings 3:9
So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
1 Chronicles 28:9
“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve
him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart
and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he
will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you
forever.
1 Chronicles 29:17
I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with
integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest
intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are
here have given to you.
2 Chronicles 6:30
then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive, and deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know the human heart),
2 Chronicles 9:23
All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.
2 Chronicles 16:9
For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”
2 Chronicles 36:22
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
Ezra 7:27
Praise be to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who has put it into the king’s heart to bring honor to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem in this way
Job 23:16
God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me.
Job 29:13
The one who was dying blessed me; I made the widow’s heart sing.
Psalm 7:9
Bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure— you, the righteous God who probes minds and hearts.
Psalm 16:7
I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.
Psalm 19:8
The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
Psalm 21:2
You have granted him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips.
Psalm 33:15
he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.
Psalm 44:21
would not God have discovered it, since he knows the secrets of the heart?
Proverbs 15:11
Death and Destruction lie open before the Lord— how much more do human hearts
Proverbs 21:2
A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Isaiah 57:15
For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever,
whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the
one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the
lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.
Jeremiah 24:7
I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
Jeremiah 31:33
“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
Jeremiah 32:39
I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them.
Ezekiel 11:19
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 14:5
I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.’
Malachi 4:6
He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”
Matthew 9:2
Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”
Mark 2:8
Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things?
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Acts 15:9
He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.
Acts 16:14
One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named
Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord
opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.
Romans 5:5
And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Romans 8:27
And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
1 Corinthians 4:5
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord
comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose
the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.
2 Corinthians 1:22
set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
2 Corinthians 4:6
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order
that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his
glorious inheritance in his holy people,
Ephesians 3:17
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
1 Thessalonians 3:13
May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
2 Thessalonians 2:17
encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
2 Thessalonians 3:5
May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged
sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and
marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Hebrews 10:22
let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
1 John 3:20
If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
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