This entire concept (of a "devious heart") goes completely against every western concept
that we are really "good people". You would never hear about the
"fallen nature" of man, or corruption of the human race; or even the
word "sin". Nobody, in these days of extreme political correctness
would even think they (you and I) were born with a devious heart.
Proverbs 6:16-19 New King James Version (NKJV)
These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
A proud look,
A lying tongue, hands that shed
innocent blood,
A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in
running to evil,
A false witness who speaks
lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.
Yet, the Creator Who made us, recognizes every single one of us as
not just capable of unimaginable evil, but possessing a bent towards it. Jesus
Christ, God Who became Man said as much in Mark 7:21 "For it is from within, out of a person's heart, that evil
thoughts come--sexual immorality, theft, murder," This is the
outflow of the Adamic or sinful nature which each human is born with.
Mark is the first book of the New Testament
ever written and it was dictated to him by the Apostle Peter himself - an
eyewitness if there ever was one. Peter is an interesting study of a man who
was sold out to Jesus, the Disciple of Disciples and all that. Yet, the same
man who cut off Malchus' ear trying to defend Jesus from the Temple Guard was
denying Jesus three times, outside that same temple as the religious leaders
captured Him for their kangaroo court.
Jesus also spoke of the evil of the heart further
in Matthew 13:15 and just about described every human being ever born, before
the Spirit and Power of God delivered you and I from spiritual wickedness and
eternal death! The Messiah said "For this people's heart has become
calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with
their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'"
This is never more evident when you watch the filth and degradation coming out of American
culture today. Take one look at any American TV award show to see the depths of
depravity of western "humanity". The recently concluded 2014 Grammy
Awards is Exhibit A. We saw everything God described in Ezekiel 16:48-50 as to WHY He destroyed Sodom and
Gomorrah. Read on:
"As I live," declares the Lord GOD,
"Sodom, your sister and her daughters have not done as you and your
daughters have done. Behold,
this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance,
abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. Thus they were haughty and committed abominations
before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it.…
America is modern day Sodom where its wealth, prosperity
and power led to such easy living since World War II that we have gone slack in
morality and cold in heart towards the Lord. The bad news is that God never
changes and He has seen this before....thousands of years now. Man, in the
wickedness and lust of everything ungodly, make the same mistakes over and over
and over ahead.While these mistakes take several forms, which we can talk about
for volumes, the underlying issue is Sin. While we are not allowed to talk
about it in modern culture and even most modern churches, that too has never gone
off the Lord's Radar....and He will punish it!
To help us avoid this trap of an evil and devious heart,
which rebels against God, let us see briefly the sequence of events of Sin and
how we can avoid it.
1. The world, the flesh and Satan throws temptation in our
faces blatantly or subtly which triggers a thought and desire for that thing or
person.
2. Depending on the current condition of your walk
with Jesus and where one is in the process of Sanctification, that thought or
desire will trigger two things - either you will seek to gratify your own flesh
no matter the cost OR you will be so disgusted that everything the Lord taught
you will kick in and you will RUN away immediately (like Joseph and Potiphar's
wife).
3. If you choose the Biblical "RUN" option,
you and I are in the clear. But here is what happens if you do NOT consider the
cost of fulfilling that temporary lust of the flesh and discipline yourself -
your heart will lie to you! YES! Your pride (sin #1 here) will like (sin#2)
and tell you that you "really deserve this. God is keeping him or
her from you....or that new Mustang (which will put you $40,000 further in
debt)....you deserve this....you work hard", And how about this one
"you won't get caught"!!! DOES ANY OF THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?! THIS IS
SATAN TEMPTING EVE IN THE GARDEN IN GENESIS 3!!
4. Failure to run and instead listen to Satan and the
flesh and your own wicked heart will result in death. If not immediate physical
death, then death of purity...death of a clear conscience...death of a vibrant
relationship with your spouse or the bank or worse - GOD!
This is where a prideful wickedly devious heart can lead a
person. While God's grace extends to the Christian who sins and fall like this,
there is a loss of eternal reward and the spiritual blessings in the eternal
kingdom to come. This is the end result of the devious heart. This will work
out in the end for the person who has been truly saved, but we should worry
about those who walk in constant wickedness, such as we see on full display -
not just out of Hollywood, but in our local schools; state capitols and all the
way to the top of business and politics.
The only cure to make a heart right is to cry out to God,
through Jesus Christ for Him to "open the eyes of your heart"! Great
title for a song, as well as good theology like this will focus us on what is
truly important - Salvation and getting your own heart, and mine, right with
God. While Repentance may be a bad word today, it is still the only road to
righteousness - from a Devious Heart!
(MANY ASK: WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF
THE SPIRITUAL HEART?
ANSWER: Sue Bohlin of Probe Ministries has a
great and concise definition for us here - In the Bible, the heart is
shown to have three capacities: to think (or believe), to choose, and to feel.
The heart is really the "innermost part" of us to which David refers
in Ps. 51)
(MANY ASK: WHAT IS THE
DEFINITION OF THE SPIRITUAL HEART?
ANSWER: Sue Bohlin of Probe Ministries has a
great and concise definition for us here - In the Bible, the heart is
shown to have three capacities: to think (or believe), to choose, and to feel.
The heart is really the "innermost part" of us to which David refers
in Ps. 51)
