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Thursday, June 30, 2022

Believe with Your Heart

 

 

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

—1 Corinthians 2:14 (NLT)

 

The things of the Spirit of God are spiritually understood. They are not mentally understood. You can have a mental understanding of God but not understand Him spiritually. 

 

Your spirit is where God quickens you to receive His truth. The Holy Spirit bears witness with your spirit (Romans 8:16)—not your mind. Faith is not a mental exercise born of emotions and feelings and reasoning. Faith does not come from the logic of your mind. It rises from the Word which has been planted in your heart. 

 

“Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears” (Ezekiel 3:10, NKJV). 

 

Faith comes by hearing the Word spiritually with your heart (Romans 10:17).  Faith believes with the heart (Romans 10:10). The words that God speaks to your heart are spiritual life (John 4:24, John 6:63). When His Words bear witness with your spirit, you believe they are true and they are life.

 

Paul prayed for believers to spiritually hear and receive the revealed knowledge of God. He prayed “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power” (Ephesians 1:17-19, NKJV).

 

Having spiritual knowledge of the Word is not something that automatically happens in your life. It comes from seeking and pursuing God. We are not meant to be spiritually blind and have no spiritual understanding. God wants to pour spiritual wisdom and revelation of Himself into our hearts. He wants us to believe His truth and be enlightened by it. He wants us to know the hope of His calling in our lives and the great power He has given us. Spiritually discerning God’s truth in our hearts comes from allowing the Word to renew our minds until we believe it (Romans 12:2). If we fail to renew our minds, we will live our lives without experiencing the abundant life Jesus has given us (John 10:10).

 

Look at Ephesians 1:17-19. What is the hope of His calling and His power in us who believe?  It is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. But if we don’t have spiritual understanding in our hearts about His power within us, we will not believe His power is ours. When we don’t believe, we don’t trust God. But when the eyes of our spiritual understanding are open to receive, we have His wisdom—His eyes to see, His ears to hear, and His understanding to see what the natural mind cannot grasp (Matthew13:16-17). And our hearts believe.

 

You take ownership of God’s truth when you spiritually receive it in your heart. Look again at Ephesians 1:17-19. When you believe these verses in your heart, they are true for you—not just for someone else. They are yours. God will freely give you His wisdom and impart to you the revealed knowledge of the Holy Spirit. You will believe that you possess God’s power—the same power that raised Christ from the dead. And you will hear and receive God’s truth—not with your natural mind but with your spiritual understanding. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is alive in you, but if you don’t have spiritual eyes to see and spiritual ears to hear, and a spiritual understanding to believe this truth in your heart, you will live a defeated and powerless life.

 

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20, NKJV). 

 

Many read the first part of Ephesians 3:20 without spiritually understanding the difference the rest of the verse makes. It is true that God is able to do exceedingly more than we ask or think. But the true power of Ephesians 3:20 is revealed in the phrase that ends the verse. God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than we ask or think according to His work in us. When we allow Him to work in us—when we allow Him to spiritually reveal Himself to us—we spiritually believe who He is within us. And we receive according to what we believe.

 

The natural mind cannot grasp this truth, but your heart can believe it. Believing God’s truth is His power at work in you. Seek and pursue God. Walk by faith and not by sight. Receive in your heart the spiritual wisdom and knowledge God has for you. 

 

Believe what you have been given in Christ Jesus.

 

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/06/believe-with-your-heart.html

 

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