Veroni's Views

Now that we have gone through the exciting times of Easter and Pentecost, we are “back to normal,” whatever that means.  “Normal” in the life of God’s people is sanctification.  Sanctification is not being perfect.  Rather, it is a process that begins at regeneration and continues till the end of our lives or the Second Coming of Christ, whichever comes first.     

Without mentioning the word sanctification, Jesus pinpoints the source where sanctification happens:  the heart.

“A healthy tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a poor tree bear good fruit.  Every tree is known by the fruit it bears; you do not pick figs from thorn bushes or gather grapes from bramble bushes.  A good person brings good out of the treasure of good things in his heart; a bad person brings bad out of his treasure of bad things. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

(Luke 6.43-45)

The semantic focus in the use of terms for “the heart” in the Bible is clearly the deeper and more intimate feelings and emotions.  It is the causative source of a person’s psychological life, out of which everything we do is determined.  The heart is the center of a person’s intellectual and emotional make-up.

It is the fountain of everything in our behavior

That is why the great commandment is to “love the Lord your God with your whole heart.” (Matthew 22:37)

To live a sanctified life, we need a transformation of the heart.

Some problems we may encounter along the way:

Jeremiah says “The heart is deceitful above all things, and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17.9).

We often find it hard to truly know our own heart. 

The heart is the receptacle of all disappointments, disillusionments, discouragements, and hurts of all our years – they say we never really forget anything!

We often get so caught up in things of our past that we don’t focus on what needs to change now. 

We go wrong when we think we have to be like someone else.  Actually God wants you to be yourself but dedicated to Him.

Submission to God does not mean we become mere shadows of ourselves – it means we dedicate all our uniqueness to Him.

THE GOOD NEWS:  GOD CAN CHANGE THE HEART

He sees our inner person. 

“I am he who searches people’s feelings and desires” (Revelation 2:23).

He shows us where we should change

By his Word

Hebrews 4.12 “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” 

By his Spirit

 John 16.13 – He will “guide us into all truth”, also about ourselves.

Through circumstances

One translation of the events surrounding King Hezekiah says God allowed him to be tested, so that Hezekiah would know everything that was in his heart.

God can also change our heart.

Ezekiel 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.” 

2 Corinthians 3.18  “We … are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory….”

GOD WANTS YOU TO HAVE A CHANGE OF HEART – DO YOU?

Romans 8.29 “God …. predestined (us) to be conformed to the likeness of his Son” – that means to be like Jesus.  And when He appears, He will instantly change us to be like Him! (1 John 3.2)