The heart is central to the Christian faith

Clay

Clay

Active member
Something we all need.


When Christ was asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” his answer showed where true spirituality begins: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart”

If this is as important as Jesus says it is—and it is. It's Beyond what we could ever imagine—then we need clarity about what he meant, so that we will have greater clarity in how to obey. A pure, uninterrupted commitment to God and His will is the very basis of a proper relationship with Him.

Heart is in the Bible just under 1,000 times, the word “heart” is used in the Bible more than any other for the inner self.

A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
Luke 6:45
Just as only a good tree can bear good fruit and a grapevine produce grapes, so only a good heart can produce good. We can tell if someone has a bad heart by listening to their words.

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 36:26​


100 Bible Verses about a New Heart >​

 
Clay said:
Something we all need.

When Christ was asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” his answer showed where true spirituality begins: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart”

If this is as important as Jesus says it is—and it is. It's Beyond what we could ever imagine—then we need clarity about what he meant, so that we will have greater clarity in how to obey. A pure, uninterrupted commitment to God and His will is the very basis of a proper relationship with Him.

Heart is in the Bible just under 1,000 times, the word “heart” is used in the Bible more than any other for the inner self.

A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
Luke 6:45
Just as only a good tree can bear good fruit and a grapevine produce grapes, so only a good heart can produce good. We can tell if someone has a bad heart by listening to their words.

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 36:26​


100 Bible Verses about a New Heart >​

Click to expand...
Whenever we read the word “heart” in the Bible, we should first understand it as a comprehensive term that captures the totality and unity of our inner nature.

The heart includes what we know. Our knowledge, thoughts, intentions, ideas, meditation, memory, imagination. What we love, what we want, seek, feel, yearn for. And what we choose whether we will resist or submit, whether we will be weak or strong, whether we will say yes or no.

The most important role the heart plays is in our salvation.

9 If you declare 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 profess your faith and are saved.

Romans 10:9-10​

 
We use the word Heart in so many different ways.

Everyone knows what you mean when you use the word heart. If you have a change of heart, you think differently now. If your heart was in the right place, you messed up but meant well. When our friends speak from the bottom of their hearts, they’re telling the truth.

When our kids say, “I cross my heart,” they might be telling the truth. Sometimes we do not have the heart to tell someone the truth. If we take it to heart, we’re listening well. If we know it by heart, we’re remembering well. If you have a heart of gold, you are kind. If you have no heart, you are mean. If your team lost heart, they gave up. If they showed heart, they rallied.

When you wear your heart on your sleeve, you are transparent. When you put your heart into it, your passion is obvious. The lionhearted are courageous, while the chickenhearted are spineless. Sometimes we are coldhearted, and other times lighthearted. We work halfheartedly on Monday and wholeheartedly before a deadline. We can be callously hardhearted or cowardly fainthearted. Everyone important to you is dear to your heart. Everything important about you is secured in your heart of hearts.
 
Jay said:
Whenever we read the word “heart” in the Bible, we should first understand it as a comprehensive term that captures the totality and unity of our inner nature.

The heart includes what we know. Our knowledge, thoughts, intentions, ideas, meditation, memory, imagination. What we love, what we want, seek, feel, yearn for. And what we choose whether we will resist or submit, whether we will be weak or strong, whether we will say yes or no.

The most important role the heart plays is in our salvation.

9 If you declare 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 profess your faith and are saved.

Romans 10:9-10​

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I believe that is why Jesus took away our hearts of stone and gave us a of flesh so that we could love and serve Him.

"A heart of flesh and not of stone" is a phrase from the Bible, specifically Ezekiel 36:26. In this verse, God promises to transform our hardened hearts, which are unresponsive and stubborn, into hearts that are receptive and tender. The verse reads: "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
 
Jay said:
Whenever we read the word “heart” in the Bible, we should first understand it as a comprehensive term that captures the totality and unity of our inner nature.

The heart includes what we know. Our knowledge, thoughts, intentions, ideas, meditation, memory, imagination. What we love, what we want, seek, feel, yearn for. And what we choose whether we will resist or submit, whether we will be weak or strong, whether we will say yes or no.

The most important role the heart plays is in our salvation.

9 If you declare 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 profess your faith and are saved.

Romans 10:9-10​

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So now i have a question for all .
What is the greatest commandment . TO LOVE the LORD your GOD above all , with all your heart , all your soul , all understanding .
So now for the question .
How does or even can a man TRULY EVEN LOVE GOD WITH ALL HIS HEART , IF SAID MAN LOVETH NOT JESUS THE CHRIST
WHOM the FATHER DID SEND .
the answer . HE DONT . FOR had ye LOVED GOD ye would have LOVED ME for i came forth OF GOD .
And JESUS said IF a man LOVETH ME , HE KEEPS MY COMMANDMENTS .
to BELIEVE ON HIM
and to love one another . SO , all other religoins are false and i think its time the churches stop following
a false love that has come of the world .
Remember IF one has not charity it profits HIM nothing .
What does charity REJOICE IN
that the love of the world DOES NOT .
THE TRUTH . JESUS IS THE TRUTH , THE WAY and THE LIFE . all other religonis DENY HIM as the CHRIST .
SO , yeah they false .
 
TOTHALORDBEALLGLORY said:
So now i have a question for all .
What is the greatest commandment . TO LOVE the LORD your GOD above all , with all your heart , all your soul , all understanding .
So now for the question .
How does or even can a man TRULY EVEN LOVE GOD WITH ALL HIS HEART , IF SAID MAN LOVETH NOT JESUS THE CHRIST
WHOM the FATHER DID SEND .
the answer . HE DONT . FOR had ye LOVED GOD ye would have LOVED ME for i came forth OF GOD .
And JESUS said IF a man LOVETH ME , HE KEEPS MY COMMANDMENTS .
to BELIEVE ON HIM
and to love one another . SO , all other religoins are false and i think its time the churches stop following
a false love that has come of the world .
Remember IF one has not charity it profits HIM nothing .
What does charity REJOICE IN
that the love of the world DOES NOT .
THE TRUTH . JESUS IS THE TRUTH , THE WAY and THE LIFE . all other religonis DENY HIM as the CHRIST .
SO , yeah they false .
Click to expand...
save-image.png
 
TOTHALORDBEALLGLORY said:
So now i have a question for all .
What is the greatest commandment . TO LOVE the LORD your GOD above all , with all your heart , all your soul , all understanding .
So now for the question .
How does or even can a man TRULY EVEN LOVE GOD WITH ALL HIS HEART , IF SAID MAN LOVETH NOT JESUS THE CHRIST
WHOM the FATHER DID SEND .
the answer . HE DONT . FOR had ye LOVED GOD ye would have LOVED ME for i came forth OF GOD .
And JESUS said IF a man LOVETH ME , HE KEEPS MY COMMANDMENTS .
to BELIEVE ON HIM
and to love one another . SO , all other religoins are false and i think its time the churches stop following
a false love that has come of the world .
Remember IF one has not charity it profits HIM nothing .
What does charity REJOICE IN
that the love of the world DOES NOT .
THE TRUTH . JESUS IS THE TRUTH , THE WAY and THE LIFE . all other religonis DENY HIM as the CHRIST .
SO , yeah they false .
Click to expand...
@TOTHALORDBEALLGLORY is spotted.
 
UNDERSTANDING YOUR HEART

The term heart is used in the Bible both literally and meta-phorically. In some passages, it refers to the actual organ of the body. But most of the time, it refers to the seat of our emotions and the source of our spiritual life. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for “heart” is leb. It refers to the spiritual, intellectual, and emotional nature of human beings. But it is more than a description of isolated functions. Leb refers to the totality of a person and his or her inner life and character. Jeremiah 17:9 warns, “The heart is deceitful” and “desperately wicked.” Yet, it is in the heart that worship and conversion to God take place (Psalm 51:10; Joel 2:12; Jeremiah 32:40).

The New Testament uses the Greek word kardia 148 times to describe the inner life of thinking, feeling, and willing. God is pictured as the “knower of hearts” (Greek, kardiognostes), a term unknown in secular Greek. The New Testament emphasizes that God alone knows the human heart and He alone can reveal what is in it (1 Corinthians 4:5; Romans 8:27; 1 Thessalonians 2:4). It is in the “heart” that God is known, that His word is revealed, and the peace of God begins to rule (Romans 6:17; Luke 8:15; Colossians 3:15). The New Testament describes the “true heart” as the one the blood of Christ cleanses (Hebrews 10:22) and the one in which He dwells by faith (Ephesians 3:17).

To the Hebrew mind, heart expresses the inward psychological and spiritual condition of a person as a condition of the heart. In the area of emotion, the heart may be hateful (Leviticus 19:17) or loving (Deuteronomy 13:3), sad (Nehemiah 2:2) or glad (Proverbs 27:11). In more than three hundred cases, heart refers to spiritual significance in describing one’s relationship to God. The “right heart” is a result of God’s gracious spiritual activity to bring permanent and lasting change into our lives.

Biblical scholar Walter Elwell says, “The heart is especially important in biblical religion.” In Christian terms, spiritual transformation involves believing the gospel from a “noble” and “good” heart (Luke 8:15). Elwell adds, “The true heart draws near to God, loves him with all its intellect, feeling, and will (Luke 10:27; Hebrews 10:22). Then God becomes to the heart strength, reward, renewal, grace, peace, and joy (Psalm 78:26; Isaiah 57:15). So the ancient ideal becomes possible again, that of being ‘a man after God’s own heart’” (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22).

The heart can be totally devoted (Deuteronomy 4:29) or it can be “bewitched” or “stolen” (Song of Solomon 4:9). God told the ancient Hebrews to love Him with all their heart, soul, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5). Later, He explained that He was looking for a man after His own heart to rule Israel (1 Samuel 13:14; 16:7). He explained that He “searches all hearts” to reveal their true motives (1 Chronicles 28:9). In repentance, the psalmist wrote, “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psalm 51:10). “Search me, O God, and know my heart,” he prayed (Psalm 139:23).

Knowing God and serving God are activities described in the Bible as being done with “all your heart” (Proverbs 3:5). God promises, “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). The apostle Paul said, “That 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” (Romans 10:9 NIV).

How to Guard and Keep Your Heart from Evil

Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson
 
Clay said:
Something we all need.

When Christ was asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” his answer showed where true spirituality begins: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart”

If this is as important as Jesus says it is—and it is. It's Beyond what we could ever imagine—then we need clarity about what he meant, so that we will have greater clarity in how to obey. A pure, uninterrupted commitment to God and His will is the very basis of a proper relationship with Him.

Heart is in the Bible just under 1,000 times, the word “heart” is used in the Bible more than any other for the inner self.

A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
Luke 6:45
Just as only a good tree can bear good fruit and a grapevine produce grapes, so only a good heart can produce good. We can tell if someone has a bad heart by listening to their words.

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 36:26​


100 Bible Verses about a New Heart >​

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We can tell if someone has a bad heart by listening to their words.
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i would be careful with this because satan can speak soft, eloquent words, even words of praise to God - 2 Corinthians 11:12-15

But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.
And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

Compare this to a certain individual who said this:
"You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it."

Soft speech and gentile words could come from a devil.

Strong rebuke could come from the Holy Spirit.

The KEY is this:
In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.

Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
 
DavidTree said:
i would be careful with this because satan can speak soft, eloquent words, even words of praise to God - 2 Corinthians 11:12-15

But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.
And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

Compare this to a certain individual who said this:
"You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it."

Soft speech and gentile words could come from a devil.

Strong rebuke could come from the Holy Spirit.

The KEY is this:
In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.

Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
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the serpent himself came as a seducer with the mindset He had what was best in mind for them .
Jesus overturned tables and had a whip .
the point is YOU are correct my friend . Just cause one cometh with a smile and acts as though they are your best
friend and non judgemental , just cause a man can even use the name of JESUS , dont mean HE IS OF JESUS and not really
a charming DECIEVER . most false prophets that i have seen
have one thing in common . THEY SMILE a lot , talk very kindly , AND DECIEVE .
Thanks for the reminder my friend . Satan will behave as though he is ya best friend and will promise you
the best in life , BUT BEWARE for he is a liar .
 
Red Baker said:
The “heart” is here put for our whole inner being, the “hidden man of the heart” (1st Peter 3:4). It is that which controls and gives character to all that we do, and say. To “keep”~garrison or guard~the heart or soul is the great work which God has assigned us: the enablement is His, but the duty is ours.
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Yeah, I get that. But how is that connected soul and mind in such verses as Matthew 22:37 or Mark 12:30? I have my own thoughts on that, but I can't be really adamant with my thinking. And where does that fit in with the conscience in such verses as Romans 2:15?
 
The Spirit and the Mind. A check up from the neck up! The Mind is a Battlefield.

Battlefield means the field or ground upon which a battle is fought. 2. and area of contention, conflict, or hostile opposition.” A battlefield is a place of hostile opposition. A battlefield is a place where battles are won and lost. Everyday – every moment – there is a battle going on in our minds between right and wrong, good and bad, God’s way or Satan’s way, the Spirit or the flesh. It is our wills that determine who wins control of our minds, and because actions follow thoughts, ultimately who wins control of our very lives

The enemy attacked Eve in her mind/reasoning and tried the same with Jesus. He tried to cause doubt with Gods word and succeeded with Eve (did God really say? And you will not surely die) and he failed with Jesus. He attacks us today in the same way. The sword of the spirit which is the word of God is our only offensive weapon and defense against our enemy. Jesus did not use Hid Divine power as God to defeat satan, He used the same means we have at our disposal to defeat the enemy- the Word of God!

1-We must know Gods Word- Jesus used Gods word against the enemy.

2-We must memorize Gods Word. Ps 119:11, Ps 37:31, Ps 40:8

3- We must meditate on Gods Word- Joshua 1:8, Ps 1:2, Ps 119:147-48

4- We must use Gods Word- John 14:26. It is written was Jesus’ response. Matt 4:1-11

5- We must train ourselves in Gods Word- discipline, training, practice. 1 Tim 4:7, 1 Cor 9:25-27, 2 Tim 2:1-7.

Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.” Our destiny is tied directly to and starts with our thoughts.

Romans 8:5-14-Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God

Colossians 3:1-10- Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.5 Therefore, treat the parts of your earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you also, rid yourselves of all of them: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene speech from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you stripped off the old self with its evilpractices, 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created it

1 Peter 1:13-16 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.

Galatians 5:16-18- So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

1 Corinthians 2:9-16- However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,

“Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”

But we have the mind of Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Romans 12:1-2-Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Ephesians 4:17-25-Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Philippians 2:1-5 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Philippians 4:8-Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.

Proverbs 4:23- Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.

Proverbs 23:7- As a man thinks in his heart so is he. Cf Deut 4:9, Proverbs 4. Col 3:23, Prov 22:29
 
It’s a Matter of the Heart, what consumes your heart?

1-As a man thinks in his heart so is he – Proverbs 23:7

2-A man speaks from what fills his heart- Luke 6:45. Where your treasure is there you heart will be also. Matthew 6:21

3-Jesus said to the church in Ephesus: I have this against you- you have left your first love, therefor remember from where you have fallen, repent and do the things you did at first- Revelations 2:4-5- “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: “This is what the LORD says: “’I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness, through a land not sown. Jeremiah 2:2

4-What was it like when you first came to Christ and experienced His love? Remember what it was like when you pursued your first love or the one you married? How much time did you spend together? Asking questions getting to know each other better? Finding out what she liked, disliked, pleased her, made her happy, the things you did together, etc…… Those are the same types of things in our relationship with Jesus we should consider. That 1st love , seeking to spend time with our Lord getting to know Him through His word, prayer, fellowship, growing in our relationship with Him.

5- The hearts condition: The heart is desperately wicked who can understand it. Jeremiah 17:9. the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight Proverbs 3:5-6. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2. Galatians 5:17. How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.10 With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments.11 Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You. Psalm 119:9-11

Bible Dictionaries - Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Heart



Heart

"Heart" (Hebrew lebab/leb [b'bel], Gk. kardia [kardiva]) occurs over one thousand times in the Bible, making it the most common anthropological term in the Scripture. It denotes a person's center for both physical and emotional-intellectual-moral activities; sometimes it is used figuratively for any inaccessible thing.

The Heart as Center of Physical Activity. "Heart" denotes to both ancient and modern peoples the beating chest organ protected by the rib cage. Ancient people, however, understood the heart's physical function differently than moderns. From their viewpoint the heart was the central organ that moved the rest of the body. Ancients ate to strengthen the heart and so revive the body. Abraham offers his weary guests food so that they might "sustain their hearts" and then go on their way ( Gen 18:5 ). Since moderns understand the anatomy differently than the ancients, the English versions gloss the Hebrew to accommodate it to a more scientific viewpoint.

A Figure of Inaccessibility. The hiddenness and inaccessibility of the physical heart give rise to its figurative sense for anything that is remote and inaccessible. The "heart of the seas" ( Jonah 2:3 ) refers to the sea's fathomless, unapproachable depths and the "heart of the heavens" is its most unreachable height.

The Heart as Center of Hidden Emotional-Intellectual-Moral Activity. "Man looks at the outward appearance, " says Samuel, "but the lord looks at the heart" ( 1 Sam 16:7 ). The king's heart is unsearchable to humankind ( Prov 25:3 ), but the Lord searches all hearts to reward all according to their conduct ( Jer 17:10 ). In the time of judgment God will expose the hidden counsels of the heart ( 1 Cor 4:5 ).

Jesus says that the heart's secrets are betrayed by the mouth, even as a tree's fruit discloses its nature ( Matt 12:33-34 ). "A wise man's heart guides his mouth, " says Solomon ( Prov 16:23 ). Most important, the mouth confesses what the heart trusts ( Rom 10:9 ; cf. Deut 30:14 ).

Moderns connect some of the heart's emotional-intellectual-moral functions with the brain and glands, but its functions are not precisely equivalent for three reasons.
 
continued :

First, moderns do not normally associate the brain/mind with both rational and nonrational activities, yet the ancients did not divorce them ( Psalm 20:4 ).

Second, the heart's reasoning, as well as its feeling, depends on its moral condition. Jesus said that "from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts" ( Mark 7:21 ). Because the human heart is deceitful above all things ( Jer 17:9 ) and folly is found up in the heart of a child ( Prov 22:15 ), the Spirit of God must give humans a new heart ( Jer 31:33 ; Ezek 36:26 ) through faith that purifies it ( Acts 15:9 ; cf. Eph 3:17 ).

Third, moderns distinguish between the brain's thoughts and a person's actions, but the distinction between thought and action is inappropriate for heart. "The word is very near you, " says Moses to a regenerated Israel, "in your mouth and in your heart" ( Deut 30:14 ).

The Heart's Emotional Functions. The Lord, who knows our hearts ( Luke 16:15 ), experiences its full range of emotions: for example, its joy ( Deut 28:47; 1 Sam 2:1 ; Prov 15:15 ) and its sorrow ( 1 Sam 1:8 ); its raging ( 2 Kings 6:11 ) and its peace ( Col 3:15 ); its feeling troubled ( John 14:1 ) and its rejoicing ( 1 Sam 2:1 ; Psalm 104:15 ); its love ( Rom 5:5 ; 1 Peter 1:22 ) and its selfish ambition ( James 3:14 ); its modes of doubts ( Mark 11:23 ) and of fear ( Gen 42:28 ) and its mode of trusting ( Prov 3:5 ); when it rises up in repulsive pride ( Deut 8:14 ) or, as in the case of Jesus, is lowly and humble ( Matt 11:29 ); and when one loses heart ( Heb 12:3 ) or takes heart ( John 16:33 ).

The emotional state of the heart affects the rest of a person: "A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit" ( Prov 15:13); "a cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones" ( 17:22 ).

The heart also wishes, desires. The father warns his son against coveting the adulteress's beauty ( Prov 6:25 ) and against envying sinners in his heart ( Prov 23:17 ). Above all else the heart of a saint seeks God ( Psalms 119:2 Psalms 119:10 ). Believers set it on things above ( Col 3:1 ). This is effected, says Jesus, by putting your treasures in heaven, for "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" ( Matt 6:21 ). If we look for God with all our heart, Moses promises we will find him ( Deut 4:28-29 ).

The Heart's Intellectual-Spiritual Functions. The heart thinks ( Matt 9:4 ; Mark 2:8 ), remembers, reflects, and meditates ( Psalm 77:5-6 ; Luke 2:19 ). Solomon's comprehensive knowledge of flora and fauna is described as his breadth of heart ( 1 Kings 4:29 ).

More specifically, as the eyes were meant to see and the ears to hear, the heart is meant to understand, to discern, to give insight. The Alexandrian Jewish scribes translated into Greek about 200 b.c. the Hebrew text of Proverbs 2:10, "wisdom will enter your heart" by "wisdom will come into your understanding (dianoian [diavnoia])" because to them it meant the same thing. When a person lacks insight the Hebrew speaks of a "lack of heart."

Understanding cannot be separated from morals. Isaiah was commissioned: "Make the heart of this people calloused; otherwise they might understand with their hearts" ( Isa 6:10 ). Pharaoh hardened his heart lest he hear Moses and gain insight about the Lord ( Exod 8:15 ), and the Lord hardened it irrevocably ( 7:13 ; 9:12 ). Paul says of the perverse, their foolish hearts were darkened ( Rom 1:21 ); they could not see the light of moral truth. The hearts of saints, however, are enlightened ( 2 Col 4:6 ; Eph 1:18 ).

Moderns speak of learning by heart, by which they mean rote memory. In the Bible, however, learning by heart is not like memorizing the multiplication tables; it must be mixed with spiritual affections. The Lord complains of apostate Israel that their worship "is made up only of rules taught by men" but "their hearts are far from me" ( Isa 29:13 ).


As the mouth reveals what is the heart, the ear determines what goes into it. The father tells his son to "store up my commands within you"; he then adds: by "turning your ear to wisdom, and you will incline your heart to understanding" ( Prov 2:2 ). When Moses says, "these commandments are to be upon your hearts" ( Deut 6:6 ), he commands his hearers to remain conscious of them. This idea is expressed by the metaphor of writing on the tablet of the heart ( Prov 3:3 ; Jer 17:1 ). In short, the heart needs to be educated by filling it with God's word ( Prov 22:17-18 ). In that way a person will grow in favor and good name ( 3:3-4 ) and be safeguarded against sin ( Psalm 119:11 ).

The heart functions as the conscience. After David showed insubordination against the anointed king by cutting off the corner of his robe, his heart smote him ( 1 Sam 24:5 ), and after Peter's sermon the audience was "cut to the heart" ( Acts 2:37 ). The heart may condemn us, but God is greater than our hearts ( 1 John 3:20 ). David prays that God would create for him a pure heart to replace his defiled conscience ( Psalm 51:10 ).

Finally, the heart plans, makes commitments, and decides. It is the inner forum where decisions are made after deliberation; here a person engages in self-talk. "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps" ( Prov 16:9 ). Because of this critical function, the father instructs the son: "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life ( 4:23 ). The Lord detests "a heart that devises wicked schemes" ( 6:18 ).

The greatest commandment according to Jesus is "Love the Lord your God with all your heart" ( Matt 22:37 ). Love here is more than emotion; it is a conscious commitment to the Lord.

One speaks to the heart of another to move that person to a decision ( Isa 40:2 ; Hosea 2:14 ). The father asks the son for his heart ( Prov 23:26 ), by which he means that the son make a conscious decision to follow his instructions. The impenitent, however, have hearts that are insensitive, obstinate ( Mark 3:5 ; 6:52 ), and hard ( Matt 19:8 ); they cannot be moved in a new direction.

hope this helps !!!
 
Jim said:
Biblically, what is the heart?
Click to expand...
I got the book Richard linked from at Kindle for 2 bucks on sale

Here is part of it:


HEART AND SOUL

Several years ago, there was a popular booklet by Robert Boyd Munger entitled My Heart—Christ’s Home. In it, Munger described the believer’s heart like the rooms of a house. “After Christ entered my heart,” he wrote, “I said to Him, ‘Lord, I want this heart of mine to be yours. I want you to settle down here and be perfectly at home. Everything I have belongs to you.’” The author then proceeded to describe the “rooms” of his heart: (1) library (mind); (2) dining room (appetite); (3) drawing room (fellowship); (4) workshop (service); (5) recreation room (activities); (6) hall closet (secret sins).

After describing his attempts to clean up the rooms of his heart, the author realized: “I start on one room and no sooner have I cleaned it than another room is dirty. I begin the second room and the first room becomes dirty again.” Suddenly, he realized he needed to transfer the title for the entire house over to the Lord. Once his heart was totally surrendered to Christ, he found the key to a successful Christian life.
The missionary statesman Hudson Taylor’s “spiritual secret” was the realization that “Christ is all.” He said, “The Lord Jesus received is holiness begun; the Lord Jesus cherished is holiness advancing; the Lord Jesus counted on as never absent would be holiness complete.” Once Hudson Taylor learned that Christ was everything, he learned that abiding, not striving, was the secret of spiritual power. Dr. Roy Aldrich writes, “It was this experience, this new apprehension of the sufficiency of Christ for everything, that ushered Hudson Taylor into his great life of spiritual power and missionary accomplishment.”14

The heart is the emotional center of our lives. It is neurologically connected to every organ of your body. If the emotional center is disturbed, you will be upset and bothered by virtually everything. But if the emotional center of our beings is controlled by the Holy Spirit, we can experience His fruit of love, joy, peace, and patience. Everything our hearts desire for personal fulfillment can be provided by God. He alone can fill the vacuum of the empty human heart and fill it with the power and presence of God.
Spiritual growth is the result of the Spirit’s work in our lives. Without Him, we can only attempt to develop a heart for God by the best self-effort we can muster. Otherwise, spiritual growth results from seeking God with all our hearts.


Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Seduction of the Heart: How to Guard Your Heart From Evil
 
civic said:
The Spirit and the Mind. A check up from the neck up! The Mind is a Battlefield.

Battlefield means the field or ground upon which a battle is fought. 2. and area of contention, conflict, or hostile opposition.” A battlefield is a place of hostile opposition. A battlefield is a place where battles are won and lost. Everyday – every moment – there is a battle going on in our minds between right and wrong, good and bad, God’s way or Satan’s way, the Spirit or the flesh. It is our wills that determine who wins control of our minds, and because actions follow thoughts, ultimately who wins control of our very lives

The enemy attacked Eve in her mind/reasoning and tried the same with Jesus. He tried to cause doubt with Gods word and succeeded with Eve (did God really say? And you will not surely die) and he failed with Jesus. He attacks us today in the same way. The sword of the spirit which is the word of God is our only offensive weapon and defense against our enemy. Jesus did not use Hid Divine power as God to defeat satan, He used the same means we have at our disposal to defeat the enemy- the Word of God!

1-We must know Gods Word- Jesus used Gods word against the enemy.

2-We must memorize Gods Word. Ps 119:11, Ps 37:31, Ps 40:8

3- We must meditate on Gods Word- Joshua 1:8, Ps 1:2, Ps 119:147-48

4- We must use Gods Word- John 14:26. It is written was Jesus’ response. Matt 4:1-11

5- We must train ourselves in Gods Word- discipline, training, practice. 1 Tim 4:7, 1 Cor 9:25-27, 2 Tim 2:1-7.

Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.” Our destiny is tied directly to and starts with our thoughts.

Romans 8:5-14-Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God

Colossians 3:1-10- Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.5 Therefore, treat the parts of your earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you also, rid yourselves of all of them: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene speech from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you stripped off the old self with its evilpractices, 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created it

1 Peter 1:13-16 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.

Galatians 5:16-18- So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

1 Corinthians 2:9-16- However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,

“Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”

But we have the mind of Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Romans 12:1-2-Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Ephesians 4:17-25-Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Philippians 2:1-5 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Philippians 4:8-Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.

Proverbs 4:23- Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.

Proverbs 23:7- As a man thinks in his heart so is he. Cf Deut 4:9, Proverbs 4. Col 3:23, Prov 22:29
Click to expand...
And finally let us all know deeply that the TRUTH of GOD is lovely , is pure , holy and true . That the love that comes
from GOD would rejoice in TRUTH and never in inquity , never in a lie .
 

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