Father God, I come before you once again, and in the only way I know how; with head bowed and heart humbled to say thank you. I thank you Father for another day that you’ve made. I thank you for the blessing and covering that you have bestowed upon my family. I thank you for the time you give me to study your word despite the many distractions the world can throw at me. I just thank you for being the loving God, which is stipulated in your word. I thank you for letting your face shine on your children. I pray now a blessing on all who read this message as well as the readers and doers of your word. I pray that you be with them guiding and protecting them. I pray that you open their eyes and sharpen their discernment so that they can identify with truth and reject error. Lord I just thank you this morning. I pray for peace today, and through the weekend, and I pray the same for all of your children. And Father, I pray that you forgive our trespasses that have been committed. We give you all honor and glory and these we pray in Jesus name, who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. Amen! Amen! Amen!
If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say this, I probably would not be rich, but I would have plenty of dollars (smile). These clichés, if I am not careful, can bring out the worst in me. Have you ever heard someone say that before? It is usually said when you speak to them regarding something they should be doing but fail to do so. So in response, you get this phrase. We make arrangements to do work on the church every now and then, but they never show up. You bring it to their attention, but they give you one excuse after the other. When they see the skeptic look on your face, they say “God knows my heart.” When someone tries to justify an unjustifiable action, they say “God knows my heart.” If you are never on time to meetings or gatherings, and when approached “God knows my heart.” It is as though that phrase frees them from any liability or accountability of their actions. Amen! God indeed knows your heart, and in essence people can to. The bible states “what a man thinks in his heart so is he.” (Pr 23:7) They put their heart on display with their actions.
It is not a good thing to say, for God indeed knows our heart and he knows it better than we do. The bible says “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.” (Jer 17:9-10) Amen. God never looks at someone’s actions without weighing them with their heart. He searches the heart, and then gives to each individual according to their ways. So in essence before He calculates the reward for your actions, He looks at the motives of your heart. So it behooves us to make sure that our heart is in the right place at all times.
Another reason why you have those who say “God knows my heart” is when they want to do something they know that God doesn’t approve of, so this can be a way to justify their actions. They want to hit that club one more time, “God knows my heart.” They have a $20 bill in their pocket and on their way to church, but stop at the store to buy candy so they have change to give the church $5, only to spend the remaining dollars on foolishness. Yet they say “God knows my heart.” They are at that barbeque, and some of the guests are drinking and smoking pot. They know full well, it is time for them to go, but they want to stay for the fun, and hide behind “God knows my heart.” It is a shame how frequently and conveniently people attempt to put God in a box or cage. We let Him out only when we need Him to provide something for us, and as soon as He has provided, we go right back to our regular lives, living it up, running the night red.
So what is this “God knows my heart” thing? Is it something where forgiveness is a blank check? It is like people saying to themselves “God, I know this thing that I am about to do is contrary to your instructions, but since you know my heart, and know that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak (another one), I am going to go on ahead and do it.” Many fall because of their misconception of forgiveness of sin. Just because Jesus died for our past sins, our current sins, and our future sins, doesn’t give us the right to phone ahead to Heaven and say, “God, I’m about to sin so forgive me ahead of time.” Suppose you do that and God answers back and says “that’s fine because this is how I’m going to chasten you for it when you’re done.” Only then would you reconsider. If you know in advance what awaits you, then will you obey. That is not faith.
Let’s begin by knowing what position we have in life. God is God and we are people. He is not in subjection to us. We are in subjection to Him. So the fact that God knows our heart is nothing to really be proud about if we are going to use that as an excuse to continue to enjoy our sins and belittle that power that He has over sin. Amen?
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