Dear Reader,

Does it ever seem to you, as it does to me, that occasionally the heart seems to condemn (find fault, criticize, pass sentence of guilt)?  Some people can ignore the passing thoughts, knowing they did the best they could. Others can dismiss the thoughts and remain resolute that they are “right.” Some, have figured out the balance between soul and Spirit and quickly correct the inclinations. However, not everyone has found that balance and cannot self-correct as easily. People who are particularly tender-hearted, sensitive to the well-being of every creature and/or person around them, seem to have a more difficult time. Why? Because they try so hard to never offend or hurt anyone or anything and find it an almost impossible task. Often, what complicates the issue, would be the natural need for assurance and validation.

From my studies on the matter, the heart is that part of us where the soul (emotions, reasoning, intellect) and Spirit are supposed to meet and make decisions. The heart alone cannot send us to hell even though it may seem like it in especially intense moments of remorse. It seems to be more frequent and more intense when the soul is not led by the Spirit of God and instead is led by its own inclinations of right and wrong. This is an imbalance and there is very little peace for long in this way of living.  We can choose not to let it do that. That's why Jesus says,

 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. John 14:27

Thankfully, our heart alone does not decide our salvation. Christ took care of that and so much more! He freed us from any true condemnation under which the world was subject through the Law. He gave us the victory and dealt with the accuser’s voice. Any accusations or condemnation we hear is simply echoes of old news (things we’ve done, or others have done).

Paul says in Romans that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Think about that a minute. Who was Paul? Why would he say this and know it was true? He was a persecutor of Christians. Participated in their death sentences….until.

…Until he encountered the Living Christ and changed his allegiance from the kingdom of darkness (he didn’t even know he was in) to the Kingdom of Light, that is Christ. The Christ encounter gave him identity and purpose. The moment of truth corrected the course of his devotion and focus.

Conversion and infilling of the Holy Spirit can do that for us too.

In Christ we are FORGIVEN. By fulfilling the law, Jesus broke the power of that law to give out life sentences of "guilty, condemned." Not embracing this truth and adding it to our arsenal of Spiritual weaponry, gives the condemning thoughts and angst a foothold. To combat this tendency  to wallow in self recrimination, we need to embrace and apply the truth of Christ and allow Him to change us.

How? The power is in your mouth, the words you speak aloud and hear with your ears the truth of the Gospel Message: Forgiven, beloved, advocate, family. The power is in revelation and knowledge through which we gain understanding and wisdom.
 
So why am I writing about this today? Because my bible readings took me to 1 John 3: 18-22 and it connected some truths for me and I wanted to share them. Scripture says,
 
"... let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We will know by this that we are of the truth and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight..."
 
This verse "connects the dots" of truth that empower in moments of question. It is a simple truth. According to the Apostle John, God is greater than our heart.
 
You may say, "well, I knew that! What is so great about that revelation?"
 
It is great to me because for a very long time I believed in what the world taught regarding the heart.  I allowed my heart to lead me. You know the saying that applies, right?

 "Follow your heart..."
 
Please know, I am not saying the heart is evil. OR that we should ignore how we feel about things or reason out and apply our understanding. What I am saying is, we need balance that only comes from the revelation of the entire Gospel of Christ and all He did for us. The balance comes when we allow the Holy Spirit to lead.

When the heart alone leads, there tends to be more alarm, anxiety, and anger and very little of the peace that Jesus promised (John 14:27). Over the years, I have learned that my heart was very good at pointing out a lot of things I could have done, said or thought, loved, or served better. In some cases, it would tell me that I had “sinned” and if I had “sinned” then I had disappointed my Heavenly Father  who was looking for His “children” to be good little boys and girls who loved their neighbor…

A question would sometimes come to mind about the people in the story who thought they were going to heaven (sheep), only to find out they had disappointed the Father too much and therefore were with the “goats” and therefore condemned. Was I one of those? EEEK! (Matt 25) see note**

It may seem I'm going off on a tangent, but stay with me, it connects, I promise. See if you agree...

What my heart needed was the balance found in the application of the verses regarding growing up in Him and “putting away childish things” (1 Cor 13). But as much as I wanted to do that, I found it difficult. It was actually the religious admonition about being “children of God (John 1)” that was supposed to comfort really seemed to be the issue.

I didn't realize I had misunderstood the phrase “child or children of God.”   The word was child as in heir and member of the family of God, not “CHILDISH” as in, the childish of God being helpless, distracted, manipulated by issues that need tissues, petty fighting, or personal agendas.I'm not alone in this either because thinking back, it was fairly easy to spot the adult version of Me first! Mine! Love me most, I’m so left out! I feel abandoned! I’m so offended! Poor me! I’m afraid! WAAAA among the Church crowd, as I knew it.  I’ve met these people, tried to help them, but found I was one of them, and therefore we all had a big problem! One dysfunctional family!

The verses about putting away childish things and being “children of God’ contradict when we think of ourselves as needy and helpless. Believers are not meant to be childish with daddy-God always coming to make things better and deliver us from or clean up the messes we make. He did that already, gave us the tools at conversion to overcome and says now, “Go and sin no more.”  The original word, I believe, is “son of God”, as in seed carriers of God. That is those who have the Word of God (seed) in their hearts and from them come the fruit of that Word (harvest).

The reality of being a member of the Family of God, the Church Jesus is Building and citizen of the Kingdom of God comes with responsibility to GROW UP and not be led by our feelings, not allowing old patterns of thinking to lead our responses/reactions to life events. It is a matter of identity. And this is important.

In order to apply the Word (logos and rhema) to heart leading, Being be filled with the Holy Spirit is essential, not just know about the Holy Spirit.  It is only by His power and equipping that we can actively choose to apply the Law of the Spirit of Life when we know who we are , to Whom we belong, and all the gifts and tools available to us to live the promised abundant life, overcoming sin and darkness (Romans 8).

For me this was not easy. Old ruts of thinking were deep and took some time to fill. Repeated applications of the Truth that I sought out myself and prayed and studied. I couldn’t just rely on someone else’s revelation. I needed to seek out what the Lord was saying through His Word and how He was leading me. The interesting thing about this is that it is the same Holy Spirit in those who believe and therefore it will agree. So counsel of others is extremely important.

“It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter.”

Proverbs 25:2

To sum it up:

God is Greater than my heart's tendency to  point out ways in which I can better love my neighbor.

God is Greater than my heart's tendency to be too tender toward a person and ignore speaking truth in love.

God is Greater than my heart that wants to apply its own justice rather than His; to exact a revenge I feel is appropriate rather than allow God to deal with justice, righteousness and mercy.

God is Greater  than my impulse to defend and I can find rest in Him because from Him, I do not fear an unjust ruling on my behalf.

Because God is Greater than my heart's need to protect, I can entrust ALL that is precious to me into His arms and care.

Grace and peace,

Anne

Just a note: beware of any type of  misinterpretations of Scripture that  uses fear to keep people obedient or creates a “us” vs “them” mentality. It wreaks havoc with one’s assurance in Christ and hope  in Him.)

Consider Hebrews 12:22