Of the Heart

By Jerry Olson
jerrydeanolson@yahoo.com

I was driving home after Passover Service Sunday evening and I felt the Lord place this on my heart. Our heart is very important to our physical life but it too is a critical issue in our spiritual life as well and our relationship with our Father God and Lord Jesus Christ. The scripture states that God looks on our heart. This is the subject of this writing.

Where is your heart is the question?
The heart is a subject that comes up for discussion from Genesis to Revelations. I have given this much thought and I feel that this issue is an extremely important issue and worthy of our time and review. Our very eternal life is affected by the condition of our heart. Is it of the nature of God or man? The nature of our Father and our Lord Jesus is of the Holy Spirit a Holy nature. God is Holy because His Spirit and His heart is Holy, His Holy Spirit. If we have a heart for God it is because God has looked on our heart and decided that He is going to give us His Holy Spirit. If we have God’s Holy Spirit we are therefore children of God. If we do not have the Holy Spirit given to us only by God, then we are not yet of the Household of God or in the Family of God.

What is written in the scripture about our heart from the beginning?
Read it here in this scripture just below.
Genesis 6:5 & 6 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

Genesis 8:21 And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.

Exodus 7:3 “And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.”

Offerings for the Tabernacle: Exodus 35:5 Take from among you an offering to the Lord.
Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the Lord: gold, silver, and bronze.

Leviticus 19:17 You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.

Deuteronomy 4:9 “Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren.

Deuteronomy 30:6 “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”

Caleb’s good report in his heart: Joshua 14:7 “I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart.

Joshua 24:23-24 “Now therefore,” he said, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel.” And the people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey.”

Hannah’s Prayer: I. Samuel 2:1 & 2 And Hannah prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the Lord; My horn is exalted in the Lord. I smile at my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation. “There is none Holy like the Lord.”

I Samuel 24:4 & 5 And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
Now it happened afterward that David’s heart troubled him because he had cut Saul’s robe.

I Kings 2:4 “that the Lord may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, He said, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.”

Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.

Job 9:4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?

Psalm 10:17 Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their
heart;

Psalm 26:2 Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart.

Psalm 37:31 The law of his God is in his heart; None of his steps shall slide.

Psalm 40:8 I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.

Psalm 73:26 My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 86:12 I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forevermore.

Psalm 101:2 I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.

Proverbs 4:20-23 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.

Proverbs 17:3 The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the Lord tests the hearts.

Sayings of the Wise: Proverbs 22:17 Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your heart to my knowledge;

Ecclesiastes 5:2 Do not be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.

Isaiah 13:6-7 Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will be limp, Every man’s heart will melt.

The fall of Lucifer: Isaiah 14:12-14 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation, On the farthest sides of the north; I will be like the Most High.”

Isaiah 29:13 Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near to Me with their mouths, And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men.

Isaiah 51:7 “Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, You people in whose heart is My law: Do not fear the reproach of men, Nor be afraid of their revilings.

Isaiah 60:5 Then you shall see and become radiant, And your heart shall swell with joy; Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you.

Jeremiah 4:4 “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, And take away the foreskins of your hearts, You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Lest My fury come forth like fire, And burn so that no one can quench it, Because of the evil of your doing.”

Jeremiah 9:26 “Egypt, Judah, Edom, the people of Ammon, Moab, and all who are in the farthest corners, who dwell in the wilderness. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.”

Ezekiel 11:19&20 “Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.”

Ezekiel 13:2&3 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, ‘Hear the word of the Lord!” Thus says the Lord God: “Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have
seen nothing!

Ezekiel 14:3 “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in the hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity.

The Great Day of God: Malachi 4:6 “And He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to the father, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse”

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.

Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 11:29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Matthew 12:34 “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Matthew 15:8&9 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

Mark 11:23 “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have them.

Luke 2:19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Luke 24:25 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!

John 14:1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.

Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

Acts 8:21 “You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.

Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

II Corinthians 3:3 you are manifestly an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.

Ephesians 6:6 not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.

I Timothy 1:5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith.

Hebrews 3:12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.

I John 3:20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

The fall of Babylon the Great: Revelation 18:7 “In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’

I did not list every scripture about the heart however enough to get a feel for the importance of the heart to God and the significance it has for each of us. If you know a man’s heart then you know the man. God looks on our heart to know us. In Acts we read about God removing Saul as king because his heart was not right. And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’

The Holy Spirit is the essence of God. John 4:24 states that: “God is Spirit.” God’s Spirit nature is of love, kindness, longsuffering and goodness. Man’s nature on the other hand is found in scripture as well. John 3:19 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. We are selfish, angry, full of hatred, disobedience and stubbornness. Much of the time we see this world’s nature the nature of satan the god of this world. Satan has great power and much influence over this world at this time. Satan has this world eating if you will, out of his hand, he promotes all kinds of wickedness, sinfulness, lustfulness, and strife. John 5:42 “But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.”

God wants a family and He wants us all to come to the knowledge of God. But before He calls us He looks on our heart to see if we are yet ready for this walk at this time. Our heart determines when we are to be called. John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

John 6:65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

John 1:11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.
God looks on our heart to know if the veil of the flesh and the veil of Egypt (representing this world) can be lifted or removed. Our hearts are tested to see and determine the nature of our heart and after evaluation, our God will either leave the veil for now, over our hearts or begin the process of repentance, baptism, and giving us His heart through giving us His Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God. This is the only way we can become members of the family of God, church members, Christians and sons of God.
John 1:33 “I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ :34 “And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

Until we have a heart change and come to know the things of God we are lost, in darkness and without understanding and the Holy Spirit simply is not ours to have. We are accountable to God for only what we know, what God gives us to know. Without belief in our Lord Jesus and coming to repentance into our heart we will remain blind period. There is not a single Christian alive today that could explain to you why God has chosen them to be a child of God with the Holy Spirit given to them at this time. It is not of works, that anyone could boast. Ephesians 2:8,9&10 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. It is through His grace that this heart can be changed into a heart for God.

We are the called of God. II Timothy 1:9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. Galatians 3:26-29 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew or Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to promise. Ephesians 2:19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

The glory of the new covenant is finally here. II Corinthians 3:11-18 For what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious. Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech-unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away.
But their minds were hardened. For until this day the same veil remains un-lifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

When I traveled to the city of Jerusalem it became clearer to me as to this veil on the heart. Many Jewish people are still studying and spending much time with the Old Testament and often speak of the law that was given to Moses. Although Moses was not the messiah, they still look to him. I even asked our Jewish guide about the messiah and her response to me was, quote, “I will ask the messiah this question when He comes, “have you been here before, and if He answers yes, I will convert at that time to Christianity.” These people are not able to come out from under the veil, until God makes it possible.

The veil in the original temple separated man from his God in the Holy of Holies, where the high priest was charged to go once a year only, where he would literally crawl under the heavy veil in the temple. Jesus has now qualified to be our High Priest.
He removed the veil at His death and blood sacrifice on the cross for mankind.

Hebrews 10:19-23 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

God delivered His people out of Egypt by a shepherds son, Moses and God will deliver His people again out of modern day Egypt (this world) through another shepherd who gave his life for the sheep, Jesus the Son of the Most High. A Son Jesus who was slain from the foundation of this world.

I Peter 2:9&10 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

Revelation 3:21 “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.”

Blessings to all my brothers and sisters in the Lord!

Jerry Olson
jerrydeanolson@yahoo.com

Please feel free to reproduce, reprint and/or forward as desired. Altering or editing is strictly prohibited. To contact us, send a request to info@sharingtheway.com or visit our website at https://sharingtheway.com/. Using an article for any form of advertising is strictly prohibited.