
AKA: A Heart Without Jesus
Jeremiah 17:9-10
The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.
This is where Christianity and Society don’t see eye to eye. The Bible declares the heart to be deceitful; it needs to be retrained and renewed. It needs a new LandLord, who is The Lord. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. (Ephesians 3:16-17)
But the world thinks that people should be in charge of their own hearts and that a heart without Jesus is good, but it’s not. No one is good apart from Jesus. Not one. All people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin. As the Scriptures say...No one does good, not a single one (Romans 3:9-12).
But Jesus is willing to make his home in our hearts (see John 14:23); Jesus is good, so he makes our hearts good. That is the only way to have a good, clean and righteous heart. A heart full of a regular person’s ideas & desires is not a good heart no matter how clean cut that person appears. Bad can’t make good. Only Good can make good.
That’s why no matter how one feels about certain popular social issues, “Love” only “wins” when it looks like Romans 12:9-10. Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. This is what God wants us to do with our hearts. No where does God ever say, “Do what feels good...”
Truly loving everyone means we don’t want anyone to die and go to Hell because of their heart’s desires that are actually wicked and not good. Why is it so hard to grasp that really loving others includes hating what is wrong? And what is wrong is desires that come from a wicked heart, aka: a heart without Jesus.
Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank you for making my heart good. I pray for all the people being deceived right now about what real love is and mistakenly thinking their heart and all its desires are naturally good. Only YOU make us good. I love you so much and I am perfectly willing to hate what you hate and still love at the same time just like you do. And truly loving people means that we DON’T want anyone to die in their sins. Thank you for giving real truth and real love so readily available to everybody who wants it. I love you and thank you and pray in your name, amen.