WHEN GOD WORKS ON THE HEART

"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes." (Proverbs 21:1)

	Is it possible for God to work on the heart of His creation–mankind? Can He put something into the heart, open it, or change it? For some, this is a difficult area of thought, not easily considered. For others, it is completely unacceptable. Of course, all of this is of no consequence at all if God has spoken on the subject.

	Our "heart" is the inmost part of us, even the body is our most external part. The heart is our real identity, where the Divine imagery is found. The real issues of life proceed from this part of our persons (Prov. 4:23). This is the part sin corrupted (Jer 17:9), and it is the part salvation corrects (Ezek 36:26). Jesus said the mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart (Matt 12:34). Sinful expressions come from the heart of the unregenerate, including "evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies" (Matt 15:19). 

	Much about salvation is directly related to the heart. A few Divine affirmations will suffice to confirm this point. "With the HEART one believes unto righteousness" (Rom 10:10). Our obedience was "from the HEART" (Rom 6:17). The love of God is "poured out into our HEARTS" by the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5). Christ Himself "dwells in our HEARTS by faith" (Eph 3:16). It is also written that "because we are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our HEARTS" (Gal 4:6). Here is where God writes His law (Jer 31:33; Heb 8:10; 10:16). 

	Although our heart is the most personal part of us, God still has access to it. His Word deciphers its thoughts and intentions (Heb 4:12). Our text states that God even turns the heart of the most noble among natural men–"the king." To the unbelieving Israelites, God said, "I will SEND FAINTNESS INTO THEIR HEARTS in the lands of their enemies" (Lev 26:36). In the Revelation, the Spirit witnesses of God's action toward the enemies of His Son. "For God has OUT IT INTO THEIR HEARTS to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled" (Rev 17:17). In a prophecy of the New Covenant, God spoke through Jeremiah, "I will PUT MY FEAR INTO THEIR HEARTS so that they will not depart from Me" (Jer 32:40). The remarkable wisdom possessed by Solomon was said to be "PUT INTO HIS HEART" by God (1 Kgs 10:24). In the days of Ezra, God "PUT" it into the "kings heart to beautify the house of the Lord" in Jerusalem (Ezra 7:27). Nehemiah's determination to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls was PUT INTO HIS HEART by God (Neh 2:12). Later, God also PUT it into Nehemiah's heart "to gather the nobles, the rulers, and the people, that they might be registered by genealogy" (Neh 7:5). David said God "put gladness" into his heart (Psa 4:7). There should be no question about whether or not God can work upon the heart of a person!

	God "changed" the heart of Nebuchadnezzar from a man to that of a beast (Dan 4:16), making him a mad man. In Elijah's famous contest with the prophets of Baal, he prayed, "Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that YOU HAVE TURNED THEIR HEARTS back to You again" (1 Kgs 18:37). Ezra declared the Lord "and TURNED THE HEART of the king of Assyria toward" Israel (Ezra 6:22), and Moses reminds us God "hardened" the heart of wicked Pharaoh (Ex 9:12; 10:20,27; 11:10; 14:8). He even made the heart of Sihon king of Heshbon "obstinate" (Deut 2:30). Psalm 105:25 proclaims that God "turned their (Egyptians) heart to hate His people, to deal craftily with His servants," thereby preparing them for deliverance. God can and does work upon the hearts of people! 

	When Lydia, a business lady from Thyatira, heard the Gospel for the first time, she joyfully responded to it. The Spirit accounts for her response in these words: "The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul" (Acts 16:14). Paul prayed God would "open the eyes" of the heart (or understanding) of the Ephesians (Eph 1:17-20). Paul expressed a wonderful desire for the Thessalonians: "Now may the Lord DIRECT YOUR HEARTS into the love of God and into the patience of Christ" (2 Thess 3:5). There can be no question about it–God works upon our hearts!

PRAYER POINT: Father, I acknowledge Your power to work upon my heart. I ask You to place your laws there, to open my heart, and to fill it with joy and peace. I pray you will move upon those to whom I witness, opening their heart to attend to Your word. Put into my heart the things pleasing in Your sight, working in me both to will and to do according to Your good pleasure.

– MONDAY: THE SHOUT AND THE LAST TRUMP –