The Heart and Discernment

Maybe the biggest mistake, as well as the most often made mistake by people in Christ, is going head first with things, rather than heart first. It is at the very root of the 'works' mindset, and at the very root of missing God as well. The deservedly famous proverb tells the story on the matter: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding" (Prov. 3:5). When one's heart is anchored fully in God, he is able to do what this proverb says. When it is not, one will do what this proverb says NOT to do. It is the heart that trusts God, and it is the mind that wants to go some other way. The apostle Paul laid it down like this: "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness" (Rom. 10:10). Faith is a thing of the heart, not the mind. This doesn't mean that the mind is a bad thing, just that the heart is the one that is supposed to be in the lead. If the heart remains anchored in faith to Jesus, it will always lead the mind to the right place, which is to say the mind will think correctly. That is how a believer acquires 'the mind of Christ,' meaning when the faith of the heart leads the way (I Cor. 2:16). When the heart is NOT in the lead however, the mind automatically takes over, and it will NOT lead the heart to the right place, because it was not designed to be in the lead to begin with. The apostle Paul showed us the result of either of these being in the lead, when he said, "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace" (Rom. 8:6). So it is a very simple matter: If the mind is allowed to be the leader, the result is being carnally minded. If the heart is fully trusting God, it will lead and cultivate the mind to be spiritual. In this case why would anyone choose to be carnally minded, and to pursue death? Better yet, HOW does someone choose to be carnally minded, rather than spiritually minded?

The truth of the matter is that this choice is made without the observation and knowledge of the person who is making it. In other words it is deception, or a trick of the devil. It is much easier for the flesh to let the mind lead the way, because it takes some doing for the heart to lead the way. In order for our heart to be fully trusting in God, and thereby able to be led by God's Spirit, it has to be purified daily from everything that is contrary to the love, and peace, and holiness of God. Two scriptures are brought to mind on this particular point: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:14). And this one: "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Mat. 5:8). The heart that is impure with sin is blinded to the leading of God's Spirit, and cannot in effect see God; and if that remains the case then that person will not see God literally later, which is what Jesus was actually alluding to. The heart that retains sin is not fully anchored in Christ, and is not fully trusting God by any means. So when someone allows any kind of impure thing to remain in their heart, and they want to continue in the journey with the Lord; they will do so by letting the carnal mind lead the way. The only other options they have is to either honestly come clean and get it right, or just outright quit the journey. This was the malady that Jesus was referring to when he rebuked the messenger of Laodicea in Asia minor: "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth" (Rev. 3:15,16).

That man was a leader among God's people, but he was holding to things that caused impurity in his heart. He was being led by his carnal mind, thinking he was in a place of great blessing. Jesus also rebuked his faulty mindset: "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see" (Rev. 3:17,18). As I stated earlier, if we hold to anything that is contrary to holiness, we simply cannot see, we will subsequently miss God every time. The reason people allow this to happen to them is really a matter of spiritual slothfulness. They just choose to be negligent about being honest with themselves, and about keeping their heart pure. John made it very clear that having a pure heart is something that is an active pursuit, and is not done passively: "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (I Jn. 3:3). That word 'purify' is a verb, not a noun. That means that purifying our hearts is an action that we must maintain in our lives, otherwise it will not happen. It actually takes three major elements for someone to continue purifying their hearts from everything that is unlike God's nature. The first thing is honesty, because if we do not continue to be completely honest with ourselves, we will find no particular reason to purify ourselves. The second thing is prayer. If we are honest enough with ourselves about ourselves, we will give ourselves to prayer in order to have the wrong things removed from our heart, and the right things infused into it.

The act of praying things out of, as well as into our heart is what the apostle Paul was describing in the following passage: "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience... But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him... Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on [love], which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful" (Col. 3:5,6,8-10,12-15). The 'putting off' and the 'putting on' that Paul mentions here, again are things of action. These things to do not get put out of our hearts, and put into our hearts, by merely thinking about it. It takes active, effectual prayer and faith to keep these things in order every day. And I might add that all of these things that the apostle said to 'put off,' as well as the things he said to 'put on,' are things that pertain to the heart. So it's not only a matter of some doing, but also of some time; as this is only part of what an active prayer life is about. When we look at the remainder of things that the scriptures instruct us to pray about, it is evident that a wholesome prayer life takes a good deal of time in a believer's life every day.

But it is the third element that is chiefly necessary for keeping a pure heart, and that element really tells the story; because only if one possesses this element will he bother with the other two. That would be a genuine love for the righteousness of God. Anyone who loves the righteousness of God cannot live apart from it. They remain totally honest about themselves, and if they detect anything trying to get into their heart that is contrary, they will refuse to let it in. Even if it does manage to get in they will 'purify' it out without reservation. This is what John was referring to in the following passage: "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (I Jn. 3:6-9). This doesn't mean that a genuine child of God can't possibly commit a sin, but rather that they cannot be 'committed to sin.' In other words, someone who loves the righteousness of God simply will not allow themselves to remain under sin. So if someone does not fervently love the righteousness of God, and also 'hate iniquity;' they naturally are not going to go to the trouble of remaining totally honest with themselves, and putting the time and effort into prayer that is needed (Heb. 1:9).

The reality of these things can be seen in the parable of the sower and the seed, and what Jesus said was the determining factor in being good ground for his word to fall on and reside in: "But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience" (Lk. 8:15). It takes some doing like I said, to condition our hearts to the place where our heart is sensitive enough to be able to be led by God's Spirit. We have to break up the ground of our heart every day in order to keep it soft enough and tender enough for it to feel the leading of the holy Ghost, and thereby be continually led to follow Jesus. It's really like farming or having a garden. If you want that ground to produce good things to eat, you have to go out there and work it consistently. You have to water it and nurture it, or it will produce a lot of stuff that you DON'T want. It's like I said earlier; the bottom line of why people allow their minds to lead the way instead of their hearts, is because it's easier on the flesh to let it be that way. The carnal mind wants to lead the way, and unless it is denied that desire, it will surely do so. And it will lead us right to where Romans 8:6 says, meaning to death, and not to life. That is what Jesus was talking about when he said, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me" (Lk. 9:23). So in the end it is spiritual slothfulness in preference to spiritual diligence that gives the lead to the carnal mind, rather than to the heart; and in turn produces withered fruit in the life of the 'believer.'

Solomon, the ancient king of Israel who was given such magnificent divine wisdom by God in a dream, made the same observation about slothfulness producing faulty 'fruit' in the natural realm; like I've described here that happens in the life of a believer that does not continue to "purify [themselves], even as [Christ] is pure:" "I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man" (Prov. 24:30-34). All that is left is the antidote to the deadly disease of spiritual slothfulness, and the apostle Paul gave us that: "Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Thess. 5:5-9). So let's not be diligent about carnal things, and at the same time leave our spirit man to grow weeds. I think that says it for now. God bless.