THE HEART

the greatest power is the heart of god

the second greatest power is the heart of man

HEART is the center of the physical, mental, and spiritual life of humans. This contrasts to the normal use of kardia ("heart") in Greek literature outside the Scriptures. The New Testament follows the Old Testament useage when referring to the human heart in that it gives kardia a wider range of meaning than it was generally accustomed to have.

First, the word heart refers to the physical organ and is considered to be the center of the physical life. Eating and drinking are spoken of as strengthening the heart. As the center of physical life, the heart came to stand for the person as a whole.

The heart became the focus for all the vital functions of the body; including both intellectual and spiritual life. The heart and the intellect are closely connected.

the heart being the seat of intelligence:

Mat 13:15, FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, AND WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES LEST THEY SHOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I SHOULD HEAL THEM.'

The heart is connected with thinking:

Prov 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.

Luke 2:19, But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

"To set one's heart on" is the literal Hebrew that means to give attention to something, to worry about it. To call to heart (mind) something means to remember something. All of these are functions of the mind, but are connected with the heart in biblical language.

Closely related to the mind are acts of the will, acts resulting from a conscious or even a deliberate decision.

2 Cor 9:7, Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver.

Ananias contrived his deed of lying to the Holy Spirit in his heart. The conscious decision is made in the heart.

Rom 6:17, But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed,

Connected to the will are human wishes and desires. Romans 1:24 describes how God gave them up "through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies."

Rom 1:24, Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them.

David was a man after God's "own heart" because he would "fulfill all" of God's will.

Acts 13:22, "And after He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, 'I HAVE FOUND DAVID the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.'

Not only is the heart associated with the activities of the mind and the will, but it is also closely connected to the feelings and affections of a person. Emotions such as joy originate in the heart. Other emotions are ascribed to the heart, especially in the Old Testament. Discouragement or despair is described by the phrase "heaviness in the heart" which makes it stoop.

Pro 12:25, Anxiety in the heart of a man weighs it down, But a good word makes it glad.

Another emotion connected with the heart is sorrow.

John 16:6, "But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

The heart is also the seat of the affection of love and its opposite, hate. In the Old Testament, for example, Israel is commanded:

Lev 19:17, 'You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him.

Jealousy is described as coming from the heart.

James 3:14, But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.

love is based in the heart.

Mark 12:30, AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.'

1 Tim 1:5, But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

Finally, the heart is spoken of in Scripture as the center of the moral and spiritual life. The conscience, for instance, is associated with the heart. In fact, the Hebrew language had no word for conscience, so the word heart was often used to express this concept:

Job 27:6, "I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go. My heart does not reproach any of my days.

The Revised Standard Version translates the word for "heart" as "conscience" in 1 Samuel 25:31. In the New Testament the heart is spoken of also as that which condemns us (1 John 3:19-21).

1 John 3:19-21, We shall know by this that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before Him, (20) in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. (21) Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;

All moral conditions from the highest to the lowest are said to center in the heart. Sometimes the heart is used to represent a person's true nature or character. Samson told Delilah "all his heart". This true nature is contrasted with the outward appearance: "man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart"

1 Sam 16:7, But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

On the negative side, depravity is said to issue from the heart:

Jer 17:9, "The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?

Jesus said that out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. Defilement comes from within rather than from without.

Mat 15:19, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.

Because the heart is at the root of the problem, this is the place where God does His work in the individual. For instance, the work of the law is "written in their hearts," and our conscience is the proof of this.

Rom 2:15, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,

The heart is the field where seed (the Word of God) is sown.

Mat 13:19, "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.

In addition to being the place where the natural laws of God are written, the heart is the place of renewal. Before Saul became king, God gave him a new heart. God promised Israel that He would give them a new spirit within, take away their stony heart and give them a heart of flesh.

Ezek 11:19, "And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,

a person must believe in the heart to be saved

Rom 10:10, for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Finally, the heart is the dwelling place of God.

2 Cor 1:22, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

Eph 3:17, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

Rom 5:5, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Every snowflake has a tiny piece of dust at its core. Yes, every snowflake has a "dirty heart". In the spiritual realm, when the blood of Christ is applied to the heart of an unbeliever, it cleanses him from all sin. Not a speck of defilement remains, for God removes every stain and washes him even whiter than snow.

Psa 51:7, Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

1 John 1:7, but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

A Hindu trader in India once asked a missionary, "What do you put on your face to make it shine?" With surprise the man of God answered, "I don't put anything on it!" His questioner began to lose patience and said emphatically, "Yes, you do!" All of you who believe in Jesus seem to have it. I've seen it in the towns of Agra and Surat, and even in the city of Bombay." Suddenly the Christian understood, and his face glowed even more as he said, "Now I know what you mean, and I will tell you the secret. It's not something we put on from the outside but something that comes from within. It's the reflection of the light of God in our hearts.

Emerson said, "A man is what he thinks about all day long."

The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius put it this way, "A man's life is what his thoughts make of it."

William James said, "The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind."

In the Bible, we find: "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."

Mat 6:20-21, "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; (21) for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

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