A Divine Recalibration

On yesterday’s podcast, Mike and I were discussing this bizarre “Destiny Weekend” conference in which people spend thousands of dollars for this self-proclaimed NAR prophet to tell you what’s really in your heart and give you a divine recalibration.

I can do that for you RIGHT NOW! Plus, I’ll do it for free!!

Your life isn’t about what’s already in your heart. Your life is about what SHOULD be dwelling in your heart every day.

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith…” (Eph. 3:17).

Notice that Paul says may, which according to Webster means that something is possible. A thing may be, or may not be. An event may happen. A thing may be done. It’s possible. The event that may be possible in this case is Christ dwelling in your hearts.

The dwelling of Christ in your heart is conditional. Why? How is this possible? Doesn’t Gal. 2:20 say that “Christ liveth in me?” Then why is His dwelling in our hearts conditional? What exactly does Paul mean here?

Of course, “dwell” means “to settle down,” “to reside permanently,” or “to make one’s home in.” This is more than a brief visit or passing influence. This is a permanent residence.

Paul is praying that you might experience the intimate and permanent residency of Christ in your heart. This goes beyond the initial, positional indwelling of Christ that occurs when you get saved, which Paul talked about in Gal. 2:20.

So what does the heart represent in Scripture? The heart in Scripture is the core of self, the thinking, emotional center of a person. It’s the seat of one’s inner life – the place where all of your attributes resides that make you you – the intellect, the will, emotions, and conscience. In the secular world, the heart is usually viewed as this biological organ, and/or it also represents one’s emotional center. But in Scripture, the heart is meant to represent the person as a whole. The heart and the mind operate closely together. We have thinking hearts. People make emotional decisions.

The Biblical heart is the seat of:

Intellect and Thought: It’s where a person thinks, reasons, and understands (Proverbs 16:1, Matthew 15:19). The heart loves evil, and in fact, is a fountain of evil. The Lord Himself would say in Mark 7:21-23, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” The Lord said, “for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Mat 12:34). The mouth and the heart work together. The mouth may be moving, but it’s the heart that’s doing all the talking.

Will and Decision: It’s the source of volition—where a person makes their choices and resolves their intentions (Psalm 119:11, Daniel 1:8). Psa 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. The heart in that verse is a place of resolve. He has his God’s word in his heart, because he has resolved to live a holy life.

Emotion and Desire: Like the secular view, it’s the seat of emotions (joy, sorrow, fear) and desires or cravings (Psalm 37:4, Jeremiah 17:9). Psa 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Your desires are in your heart. Of course, when it comes to hearts, we often think of Jer. 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” The corrupt heart in an unbeliever deceives a person, because that corrupt heart will add a layer of emotion to a temptation.

Moral and Spiritual Core: Most crucially, the heart is the moral essence of a person, determining their relationship with God. It is the place of faith, wickedness, obedience, or rebellion (Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 10:10 – For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness). Faith is a heart-based decision. The heart is what makes that faith genuine. The heart is the place where you commune within yourself about life, truth, decisions you make, and choices about faith.

The Heart Must Be Renewed: I have a theory that the unregenerate man is guided by his corrupt heart over his mind, but the believer is guided by a renewed mind over the heart, enlightened by His wisdom in His Word, which then gives direction to the emotional life God intended for us to experience. There is a kind of renewing of the heart that takes place when we study His Word. Consider 1 Thess. 3:13. Paul’s prayer request is that, through study, the Lord may “stablish our hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” Paul is speaking here of a process through study by which our hearts may be stablished, that our hearts may become fixed or settled into a permanent state, that our hearts may emotionally mature to a degree that it is operating in perfect synergy with the sound doctrines of grace such that it has actually achieved a level of blamelessness in our walk. That we’d achieve a level of emotional maturity through study that we no longer commit egregious sins, and that we are essentially blameless in our walks until the rapture of the church.

So the reference to the heart here means that Paul wants Christ to reside in the very center of a person’s being – in the mind, the will, the emotions. God isn’t going to do this for us. This is a choice you make every day to allow Christ to be the center of your life, to allow Christ to have maximum influence on how you live.

So this expression of Christ dwelling in your hearts means that Paul wants Christ to become the greatest influence upon your whole life. He wants Christ to have pre-eminent influence upon everything you think, everything you feel, and everything you say and do. Because this expression is conditional, he’s telling us, basically, that you have to consciously choose allow Christ to be the center of your mind and heart and will. You consciously choose to allow Christ to be at home – to take up a permanent residence inside of you in the sense of influence. He wants Christ to fully influence every area of your life.

Paul says, That Christ may dwell in your hearts – how? – by faith. It is a conscious choice on your part to keep believing, to stay faithful, to keep on keepin’ on with the study of His Word, to allow Christ to increasingly become central to your entire life – in all that He is and all that He’s done for you – He dwells in the essence of your whole being – to a degree that Christ fully influences how you live your life.

He isn’t simply your guide through life. He is the model of how you think, how you feel, how you live your life. This not God robbing you of being you. This is God’s attributes alive in you, which produces mental health, emotional maturity, inner spiritual strength, extraordinary faith and abounding hope.

Faith is the instrument or means by which Christ can have His influence upon your thinking, and your emotions, and your whole life. Faith is what sustains Christ’s deep, permanent, indwelling influence upon you. There is a continuing, active trust, a reliance, and a personal commitment to Christ and His Word, in which you welcome His guidance. You welcome all that He is to be interwoven in your walk, and to allow Him to be the primary influence on you.