There is one heart issue that is a deal breaker for God. This matter of the heart has the capacity to keep you out of your ‘promised land’. Your promised land is the dream deep inside that you long to see unfold. It is your highest potential and your greatest purpose.
Psalm 95:7b-11 reads: “Do not harden your hearts… as in the day of trial in the wilderness… I was grieved with that generation… It is a people who go astray in their hearts… So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’”
The children of Israel hardened their hearts. It grieved God so much that He closed the door to their promised land. This heart attitude hurt our Heavenly Father so much that He barred His beloved children from their original inheritance.
COLD AND CLOSED
A hard heart is a cold, closed heart. I could have a hard heart towards God or towards certain people. It is when I become disinterested, jaded and even somewhat callous.
In Exodus, the Israelites became hard towards the Lord. Deuteronomy 15:7 warns us not to close our hearts towards people: “…you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother…”.
HOW DOES IT HAPPEN?
It is simple. Life – with all its difficulties and disappointments – happens. There is a famous passage in Ezekiel 36 where God speaks about stony, hard hearts. Early on in this famous chapter we get some clues about the origins of hardness.
Ezekiel 36:3 says, “…They made you desolate and swallowed you up on every side… you are taken up by the lips of talkers and slandered by the people.” This is a painful picture of rejection, humiliation and mockery. The people were isolated, abused and ridiculed.
THE ENEMY’S PLAN FOR YOUR PAIN
I don’t know what has happened to you. I do know that the enemy hates you and is hell-bent on your demise. Maybe you have been treated like a doormat by people who were supposed to take care of you.
Perhaps you have been humiliated by someone you held in high esteem. You may have been publicly humiliated. Whatever you have experienced, I know that it must have hurt.
The enemy’s plan for your pain is to cause you to close your heart. He knows that if he can make you shut down, he is a step nearer to getting you to harden completely.
HURTS
This is why it is vital that we get healed of every one of life’s hurts. Job 5:7 says that man is born to trouble. People are going to be cruel (and they probably already have been). Friends are going to forsake you (and maybe you are feeling that pain right now).
Family members will fail you and loved ones will let you down. The natural reaction is to recoil. Perhaps you have pulled away from people and withdrawn. The danger is that we can become closed and cold.
THE FIRST STEP
That is why we all need to be healed. Why don’t you stop right now and talk to the Lord about how you have been hurt? Pour out your heart like water in His presence (Lam 2:19). It’s much easier to forgive when we have been healed.
Come (and keep coming) to our events and read our books. The more you allow the Lord to heal hurts as they happen, the easier it will be to keep your heart tender. There is a chapter in My Whole Heart about how to deal with a hard heart.
Such an awesome timely word so relevant
Thank you
I get the sense that in as much as we daily nourish and groom our bodies the heart needs just as much attention or even more God help us bless you PJ xx
Absolutely, imagine where we would be if we looked after our hearts as attentively as we look after our bodies!
Yes Yes Truly Above All other matters The Lord cares most about the state of our hearts. It is through our hearts that life happens and how we can either succeed or remain Stuck!!!! As we Get our hearts healed we will truly Prosper in our intimacy with Heavenly Father, our earthly relationships, dreams , finances, Signs wonders Miracles it All proceeds from our Hearts etc…… EVERYTHING IN LIFE REFLECTS TRULY THE STATE OF OUR HEARTS!!!! We are to guard our hearts and this is by continuously examining it before the presence of our Lord that we may be healed layer upon layer upon layer!!! We cannot sincerely Love God or our neighbor without The oil of His anointing upon the wounds of our hearts!!!! We must Get healed to be able to Love Sincerely, To encounter the Supernatural, to Enter into realms of Glory we have never been Before!!!!!!! He knows our hearts And is the Only one that can keep us Flourishing!!!!!!!!!!!!
Amen! Our hearts determine the course of our lives!
I am just asking God by His Strength to forgive all those who have trespasses against me so that I may be forgiven. Amen!
What should one do if their heart is hardened? I really miss my relationship with God. Sometimes I feel like I cant get that back
Dear Samone, I really suggest you get my book My Whole Heart (available via amazon). God will take you on a journey of healing and restoration.