God Searches the Heart
Experience has taught me that God searching our hearts is a foreign concept to many, and often we give no consideration whatsoever to the fact that God searches our hearts.
Jeremiah 17:10 “I, the Lord, search the heart; I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”
Remember that because God does search our hearts, we must align our hearts to His will. Our desire must be to aid God’s purpose. We must have a heart to serve our Lord God instead of serving ourselves.
The question I believe that needs answered by most is, “how do I know what God wants?” The answer is we must know, understand, and seek the wisdom of the Word!
I can’t believe that anyone would desire God to search their heart and find it empty of understanding! If we know nothing of the Word except for what is heard in a message on Sunday morning (if even that), we don’t know much about God at all. John said this: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
As I have written before, because of Sin we do not have the privilege of walking with God in Eden every day, so we must know God through the Word! But what will be found when God searches our hearts? I think it is a fair and beneficial question to ask ourselves, and it’s important to present to others. The Scripture teaches in Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
When God searches your heart, would He find a double-minded heart as the Scripture says in James? James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Or some may be found as described in Genesis 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Or in Genesis 18:20-21 The Lord also said, “The cries against Sodom and Gomorrah are very great. Their sin is so bad 21 that I will go down and see for myself. I want to see if what they have done is as bad as the cries that have reached me. If it is not, then I will know.”
Don’t be fooled, Brothers and Sisters, hearts like these are out there and are far more common than many would think. In the past week, I have counseled and taught several against double-minded hearts and learned deceptions. We learn, in the teaching from Our Lord in Matthew the 23rd chapter, about those.
Pharisees, scribes, and hypocrites that refused to accept and turn from their own ways or their desired ways as if somehow they would be robbed of a precious treasure, rather than gain a precious treasure.
To what end? The Word, if searched, teaches this too: Galatians 6:7-9 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Naysayers and hypocrites can be burdensome and make Godly men weary. I believe Paul was attempting to relay exactly that when He said in 2 Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have stayed the course, and have kept the faith.”
In my experience I have witnessed called men of God become so focused on the Pharisees, scribes, and hypocrites that they ended up neglecting the faithful. We must learn this: we are servants of the Lord Jesus first and not of people.
It is a fact that the people will benefit from our faithful service to the Lord, and not the Lord benefiting from our service to people. This is the great deception of the church today.
Let me ask this question: What will God find, oh man of God, if He searches your heart? Will it be a desire to serve Him in obedience to the Word? Or will He find a heart that serves men and forsakes portions of the Word so as to not offend? I have covered this in depth in my writing “Learning from the Prophets”.
Search your own heart, evangelist, preacher, teacher, from God’s perspective! Can you? Would you be pleased with what you find? And to those that profess to be Christians, what will you find? More importantly, what will God find? If you cannot answer this, then it is time to search God’s Word and pray. Remember, “ask and it shall be given unto thee, seek and Ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you”. (Luke 11:9)
Sadly, I think many are too fearful to even ask themselves the question.
“It is the duty of every man as far as his ability extends, to detect and expose delusion and error.” - Thomas Paine
Kenneth Kellar
A Man Called by God to Teach and Disciple