Heart to Head, Not Head to Heart
“Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” ~Jesus
See John 14:27
We’ve got it backwards. We’ve been told to never follow our hearts because they’re wicked and deceitful. We think we can’t let our hearts lead us and that our heads must do the job. Countless Christians don’t know what happened at the Cross, as a result, multitudes will claim, “I believe it in my head, now I just have to believe it in my heart.”
We think head-to-heart, not heart-to-head, but that’s backwards. This is a big deal because we’re overlooking our identity as suffice for making choices.
As children of God we want our hearts to lead our heads–our thoughts and attitudes–because we have good hearts, hearts like God. Our hearts have been made new. The Spirit of Jesus Christ lives there permanently. He’s not coming and going based on our actions and mindsets.
From your heart, He wants to renew your mind, not the other way around. Your heart is final, it is your mind being renewed over the course of your brief lifetime (see Romans 12:2, Philippians 4:8). How can I make such a claim? Because Christians have been given new spiritual hearts!
The Covenant-mixing theologian will be furious, “You’re wrong, Matt! We have wicked, sinful, deceitful hearts!”
No friend, that is what we had. That is what we were. But we were washed, we were justified, we were sanctified from the millisecond of believing, Jesus has forgiven me? Wow, Jesus has forgiven me! (See 1 Corinthians 6:11, John 1:12-13, 3:16-18).
Before this belief in the Son of God? Yes, absolutely, we had wicked, sinful, deceitful hearts, but that was before salvation. What do you think happened to you when you first believed on Jesus? A partial cleaning? Never. Such would require Christ to die again and again because only blood can cleanse. Here’s the truth, believer:
YOU’VE BEEN REMADE AS A NEW, SPOTLESS, COMPLETE CREATION.
(See 2 Corinthians 5:17, Colossians 1:22, 2:9-10)
Therefore, all the Bible verses about wicked, sinful, deceitful hearts, do not apply to you–your identity. Context matters when reading this stuff. Sure, we might have some unrenewed, immature thoughts, but we are not our thoughts–good, bad, or indifferent. Instead, our heart is working on those with the Counselor of Christ within us. He is who reminds us of everything (see John 14:26).
Further, the majority of the “bad heart,” “guard my heart,” “who can know the heart” passages were before the Cross. Those Hebrew people longed for what we now have on this side of Golgotha (see Hebrews 11). If they had the opportunity to believe in the Messiah–which they did not–they knew exactly what He’d do to their sinful hearts. He’d replace them.
One of their Prophets, Ezekiel, explained what God would do to their hearts, hundreds of years before Jesus came to earth:
“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.” (Ezekiel 36:26)
New hearts, new spirits–soft like flesh, which is the opposite of hard stone.
God cannot live in wicked, sinful places, so He killed you–your heart, your spirit–then He recreated you as new. Then He moved in, and not a moment sooner (see Galatians 2:20, 1 Corinthians 6:19, John 14:23, 17:23). How do you think Jesus’ Spirit can live in you? It’s only because your spirit is sinless. Your spirit only became sinless because it died on the Cross, was buried in the tomb, and then resurrected as new (see Romans 6:3-11).
Since Jesus physically came and went, only those who refuse His offer of new life have unregenerate, sinful hearts. Not you, dear believer. You’ve died, came back to life, and now you’re hidden in Christ. You are one with Jesus’ Holy Spirit (see Colossians 3:3, 1 Corinthians 6:17, Romans 8:9).
You can now live from the heart, give from the heart, set boundaries from the heart, be confident from the heart, work from the heart, love your spouse from the heart, parent your kids from the heart, enjoy your hobbies from the heart–express yourself–from the heart.
You have a good heart, a sinless heart, a complete heart, a special heart. You literally want what God wants, from the heart, by way of your new, godly, divine nature (see Romans 6:17, 2 Corinthians 9:6-8, Colossians 2:9-10, 2 Peter 1:4).
You lack nothing…from the heart.
So today, my friends, know this: Let your heart lead your head, not the other way around. Renew your mind from who you are inside. Always follow your heart! Let your head catch up to your amazing heart! Let God within you reshape and mature your thinking! Think different because you are different, from the heart!
A prayer for you: Father, today I want to express my appreciation to you for teaching me the truth about my heart. For too many years I believed I had a wicked, sinful heart, and the enemy loved this. He loved this because he knows we will live out who we believe we are. “You’re wicked anyway, so just act wicked! It’s who you are, Matt!” this moron would say this to me. Now that I know what you’ve done to my identity, my heart, he stands no chance. I hardly pay any attention to him anymore. Instead, I pay attention to who I am! Right now, I lift up all who are reading this, directly to you. Dad, please renew their minds to what you’ve done to their hearts, for those who have believed. It just makes sense! You’ve recreated them! They’re not guarding their hearts, that was before the Cross; they are now EXPRESSING their hearts! It is your PEACE which is now guarding their hearts–not them! Keep counseling these dear people into their amazing regenerated identity. In Christ’s name, amen.
This devotional is from The Christian Identity, Volume 3. Get your copy here!