Wednesday, November 14, 2012

All that is Required--A Perfect Heart

"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward Him." 2 Chronicles 16:9 KJ21 

Question--Do you think that you have to be perfect in order for the Lord to use you, to love you or to be a Christian? Seriously take a moment and be honest with yourself. Do you think perfection is the main ingredient in order to be wanted by God?

If your answer is yes--don't feel alone. I feel pretty confident to say that you are a part of a very large crowd. But you are also wrong.

Perfect, perfection--at times I so dislike that word. To me personally, at times, it seems like a curse. I don't know about you, but I have strived to be perfect since the moment I discovered that when you are perfect, people seem to like you--in my case my father. If I was perfect, my dad seemed to not mind my presence in the home. But if I made a mistake, oh, he would get that look of displeasure--even telling me at times to get out of his sight until he could stand to look at me. And believe me, even though I tried very hard, I was more unperfect than perfect. 

So, when I became a Christian, I brought that thought process into my new Father/daughter relationship. Have you done the same thing? Brought the false idea that your Heavenly Father only wants a relationship with you if you are perfect, all the time? And that the moment you're not He wants to give you the boot?

Crazy as it may seems to the world, God looks at our hearts. He wants a perfect heart--not perfect acts. Do you understand? Lets look at the Pharisees  Remember in Matthew 23:27, Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. You see, these people were perfect outwardly--they followed the rules, they dressed accordingly, they prayed loud and long prayers in the synagogues--and they were very proud. So, they were acting perfectly on the outside, but on the inside--their hearts--they had a judgmental spirit, they didn't walk in love and they didn't show mercy to anyone. And it made God angry because their hearts were not right.

You see, our Heavenly Father is a Father of the heart. He knows each and everyone of us and cares more about the attitude of your heart than your outwardly acts. And no, we will not always be perfect in our heart, but as long as He sees that you are trying, that you are striving to be close to Him--it pleases Him. And what is a perfect heart? It is a heart that desires more than anything to please Him, a heart that is grieved when sin has happened, and a heart that has committed itself to Him and His sovereignty over forgiveness and restoration.

The opening verse above shows how important the perfect heart is to God. And this is even before Jesus had died for us. That He was wanting to show Himself not to the ones that were performing perfect acts, but those who were harboring a perfect heart.

So take heart and remember--God only desires three things from you--truth, faith and a pure heart. Truth in the way you handle life in your spirit and worship--He despises it when you 'fake it', when you pretend church. Faith in your relationship with the trinity (Father, Son & Holy Spirit). Pure heart,which is a perfect heart.

I will ask you the question again, do you think you have to be perfect in order to have your Heavenly Father want to love you? 

"But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature, because I have rejected him. Man does not see what the Lord sees, for man sees what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 HCSB

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