Sunday Sermon with Apostle Chisale
GREETINGS beloved. God is a God of the heart. We see in the Bible right from the Old Testament up to the New Testament how many times the word “heart” appears. The word “heart” refers to the centre of a person’s mental, emotional and spiritual life.
Our hearts reveal our motives and intentions. So, we may ask ourselves why God is so interested in the hearts of men. God is interested in what drives our actions, in other ways he is interested in our motives. God looks at the heart of a man because that is where the character is found. As human beings, we are mostly concerned with outward appearances, whereas God looks at the inner part of man.
Many times, we are focused on our actions, we want to be seen in our workplaces, families and even churches as people who get things done. We seek the approval of men in the things we do, we seek to impress people, our children, our bosses, our husbands or wives, our pastors. While men see our actions, God on the other hand sees our hearts and motives.
God is so interested in the heart of men that in the Bible we come across instances where God “tries the heart”, “tests the heart, “sees the heart”, “refines the heart” and “searches the heart”. Why? Because the Bible tells us in Jeremiah 17:9 that the heart is deceitful above all things, And (a) desperately wicked; Who can know it?” We see that the heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked. Since the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden, men have done wicked and unimaginable things to each other. We often read, see and even experience terrible things that people do to each other. This comes out of a wicked heart. The Bible also tells us in Luke 6:45 that, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil [a] treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” We see therefore that man will often act out of the things stored in his heart. That is why God takes such a keen interest in the hearts of men.
God searches the hearts of men as we are told in Jeremiah 17:10 “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doing.” Because God knows how wicked a man’s heart can be, he always seeks to search our hearts and to see how pure our hearts are before him.
One time in the book of 2 Chronicles 6:30, we see King Solomon making a prayer for the nation of Israel and we see him saying that “for thou know the hearts of the children of men”. So, meaning we cannot cheat God for he knows our hearts. Yes, while we can pretend and cheat other people, God searches our hearts and knows our motives. That is why when we go before God in prayer, worship we have to prepare our hearts. We see in 2 Chronicles 30:18-19 where Hezekiah was praying for the nation of Israel who had sinned and in his prayer Hezekiah appeals to God saying, “For a multitude of the people, many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, ‘May the good LORD provide atonement for everyone 19 who prepares his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.”’ God takes the condition of a person’s heart so seriously. He wants our hearts to be always right before him. Whenever we go before him, he will always search our hearts.
It is the condition of our hearts that determines how God can use you, in other words, your usability. We read in the Bible about David. When Samuel was sent to anoint a new king after God had rejected Saul because of his disobedience. When Samuel gets to the home of Jesse, his sons are brought before him and when he sees Eliab’s physical appearance, he believes he is the one chosen to be anointed as king, but the lord says to him in 1 Samuel 16:7, “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have [a] refused him. For (b) the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’” What it means is that when God looks at you he doesn’t see your height, weight or defects. God sees your heart and he sees you for your heart. Many a times, we choose people into positions of influence in businesses and churches by looking at their outer appearance. We get so impressed by the car they drive, the money they have, the way they dress and talk. We make the mistake of not discerning their heart. Later, when the true colours of a person start showing, we become shocked.
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One man of God once said, “Are you postured for the position?” Some people are in positions but without the heart posture for it. Saul was positioned as king in Israel but he was not postured for it, meaning the condition of his heart was not in the right posture. The Bible tells us in Acts 13:22 about David, “And when He had removed him, He raised for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.” David was not a perfect man, he had many faults yet God calls him “ man after his own heart”. The posture of his heart was right before God, a heart that seeks God, a humble heart, a heart that is repentant and a heart that seeks the will of God. The anointing “found” David because of the posture of his heart. Unfortunately, many people in various positions be it in leadership, captains of industries, or church positions, when they started out their hearts were in the right posture. They started off well in posture. But as they grow famous, as they climb the ladders of success, as they gain power and influence, as they become proud, entitled and arrogant their posture changes. They are still in those positions but the posture has changed. God seeks people who are in position and whose hearts have the right posture in the end time, people he can use to fulfil his plans and purposes on earth.
I would like to invite you to receive Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour, by believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth that he is your Lord and Saviour and you shall be saved.
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