Following Your Heart

Have you ever heard someone tell you that you should follow your heart? That phrase is very descriptive of the worldly philosophy which says, “ let your heart guide you.” No matter how major the decision we have to make in life, we are encouraged to do what we “feel” our heart tells us to do. We are told that we are being “untrue to ourselves” if we do not follow the yearnings of our hearts. Even in Christianity we are told that God speaks directly to our hearts, giving us direction for life. Are we instructed by God to follow our hearts? What does the Bible have to say on this subject?

I believe Jeremiah describes our heart best:

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

The Bible is replete with passages warning us of the evil of our own hearts.

Eccl 9:3 ...The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.

Ps 10:2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises. 3 He boasts of the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD. 4 In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.

Matt 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander

Rom 1:24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts...

Our hearts are wicked and as Jeremiah said, deceitful above all things. It is, according to Jeremiah, beyond cure!

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

There is nothing man can do to cure the evil within his heart. His heart is deceitful and no amount of therapy, medication, or religion can cure it. But what about Jesus? When a person is saved, does Jesus cure their evil heart? No, the Bible says we are given a new heart and a new spirit.

Ezek 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

The New Testament often refers to this change. We are told that when we are saved we are not creatures with repaired hearts but rather we are a new creation!

2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation ; the old has gone, the new has come!

Eph 4:22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness

While there is a new heart and spirit within us, the fleshly desires of our hearts still remain. We will continue, as Paul did, to battle between the two (Rom 7:14-25). We must decide, each and every day, whether or not we live by the Spirit or give into the flesh.

Gal 5:16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law...25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

So, how do we know which one we are following? How can you be certain that the tugging or desire of your heart is coming from God rather than the flesh? Is there a certain way we feel, a certain sign we will have, or a miraculous gift such as tongues that will confirm it for us? NO! The only way to be sure you are following the Spirit is to compare what you desire with what God's Word says. In this same passage Paul tells us what the acts of the flesh are and what the fruit of the Spirit will be. We are constantly reminded of what is and is not acceptable behavior for a Christian.

Gal 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

If your heart tells you to divorce your spouse, have an affair, have premarital sexual relations, be involved in a homosexual lifestyle, to have an abortion, to abuse our spouse, or anything that is contrary to God's Word we can know that is not the Spirit leading us! That is a desire of the flesh! We can NOT trust our feelings, emotions, or the desires of hearts to be our guide in life. Our hearts are deceitful above all things, do not let it lead you into hardship. That is why God gave us His Word. It is useful for teaching us what is right and what is wrong.

2 Tim 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The word follow appears 189 times in the NIV. In the Old Testament we are told over and over again to follow the commands of God and to follow the Lord. Between all four gospels, Jesus is recorded as saying “follow me” 18 times. Not one of those verses tells us to follow our hearts. There is no indication in Scripture that we are should be guided by the feelings, desires, or tugging at our hearts. The only way we can follow Jesus is to know what He said. To do that we must read and study God's Word.

Jude warned us well. He told us we must contend for the faith that was entrusted to the saints. How can we contend for that faith, if we do not know what the saints believed? He then warned us that in the last days, instead of following that faith, many would follow their own evil desires, their own ungodly ways, and mere natural instincts. We are warned that people would be following these things (as so many are today), but Jude instructs us not to do so.

Jude 3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. 4 For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord... 16 These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. 17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." 19 These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. 20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21 Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

We can only know if we are following the “most holy faith” by comparing our faith with what the Bible teaches. If your heart is deceitful above all things, then you cannot trust it to guide you in life. That tugging in your heart could simply be a mere natural instinct. The strong desire you have could be an evil and fleshly one. The decision you feel “led” to make could be an ungodly one. We do not have to be in the dark about these matters. While the world tells us to follow our hearts, God gives us something more reliable and stable to follow. Something that will never pass away. His Word is the lamp that sheds light on the path we are to follow.

Ps 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

Trust in His Word and let it be your guide.

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What Must We Believe To Be Saved?

The Bible is clear that salvation is by faith alone, there is no work that we can or must do to receive it (Eph 2:8-9). One need only believe in order to be saved, but what is it that we must believe? Paul states the simple gospel message in 1 Corinthians 15.

1 Cor 15:3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

But will believing that sentence is true really save us? Do we simply agree that this man named Jesus did these things? As I was reading my Bible the other day, this verse stood out to me. What stood out most was the word and in the sentence.

Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

We are saved by faith, and without faith it is impossible to please God. But what is faith? I think this verse helps to define that very thing. The word because in this sentence is telling us why it is impossible to please God without faith. If you come to God for salvation you must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Faith means we not only believe God is real but we must also believe in what he has promised. Faith will cause a person to earnestly seek God, not merely believe in his existence. Do you realize that even the demons believe the 'facts' about God? But their belief causes them to tremble rather than rejoice because belief without faith will lead to death not life.

James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.

Saying that you believe Jesus lived, died, and rose again will not get you to heaven if you do not truly believe in him. Hebrews chapter eleven is often referred to as the “hall of faith” for in it we learn about many of the great Old Testament saints and how they demonstrated their faith. They all believed the promise of God even though they never got to see it come to completion.

Heb 11:13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.

The actions of each person in this chapter are recorded as having been acted in faith. Noah did not merely believe God when he said it would rain, but by faith, “in holy fear built an ark to save his family.” (v7) Abraham not only believed he would inherit the land God gave him but, in faith, “obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” (v8) “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice.” (v17) By faith Moses “left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger.” (v27) “By faith the people passed through the Red Sea.” (v29) And the list goes on throughout the chapter. Every time someone believed and had faith it was evident in their actions. Their faith caused them to seek God so earnestly that they obeyed, even when it did not make sense and even when they did not know where they were going or what would happen. Faith caused them to do more than believe what God said, it caused them to “trust” him.

A famous passage used in witnessing to tell someone what they must do to be saved is Romans 10:9-10.

Rom 10:9That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

Unfortunately many people miss the point because they do not realize what it means to believe in their heart. They confess with their mouth, but believe with their head and not their heart. That is not salvation, for to be saved we must not only agree to the facts, but put our trust in God! The context of Romans 10, however, helps to make it crystal clear. We only need to read the very next verse to better understand this.

Romans 10:11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

We must trust the Lord Jesus, not merely believe in His existence. As it says further in this passage:

Rom 10:17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

Faith does not come from knowing the history of Christ it comes from hearing the message through His Word. In order to believe in Jesus we must know who he is and what he says. Anyone who professes to know Jesus but does not know His Word is probably believing in a 'different' Jesus. The Bible warns us of that possibility. Only a belief in which you put your trust in the Jesus taught in the Bible will save you. Passage after passage tell us to “believe in” Jesus, including John 3:16. Let us not miss the significance of those two words together.

Having faith means to trust in God so much that you earnestly seek him and believe in all that he promised.

Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Without faith it is impossible to please God, but with faith in Him we do not have to grow weary and lose heart! After giving us so many examples of those who were commended for their faith, the next chapter tells us what that knowledge should do to encourage us.

Heb 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Do you have faith in Jesus or merely believe in His existence? It is our prayer that your faith be placed in the Lord Jesus. A faith which is grounded upon the truths set out in God's Holy Word and causes you to earnestly seek him by reading and studying his word everyday. Remember, without that faith, it is impossible to please Him.

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