Supernatural Transformation: Change Your Heart Into God’s Heart (4 page)

In Mexico, an eight-year-old girl was sexually abused by her father over a period of several years. While the father would rape his daughter, the mother would film and take photos of the assaults, later distributing the material through the Internet to pedophiles both within Mexico and outside of the country.
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Where does such neglect and outright contempt for one’s fellow human beings come from? How are humans capable of evil and violence that seem to have no limits? How can a being created in God’s image, who has the capacity to think and to love and to feel compassion for other people, be led by such animalistic and demonic instincts? In response to these questions, many people, perhaps in an unconscious desire to justify their own sinful behavior, ask, “If God is so good, why do terrible things happen in the world, such as injustice, cruelty, murders, wars, and natural disasters?”

The answer, as we have seen, is the inherited corrupt condition of the human heart, also known as the
“sinful nature”
(see, for example, Romans 7:5, 18, 25 niv). It is time for all of us in the human race to assume responsibility for our own sinful actions and for the corruption humanity brought into this world, which has infected every generation of human beings to the present day.

The Root of Sin

The root of sin is pride and selfishness, which is the opposite of the heart of God. It was pride and selfishness that caused the first humans to want to be equal with God, so that they were deceived by the devil to the point of disobeying their loving Creator. Egocentrism places ourselves first, above everyone else. The Scriptures say,
“For men will be lovers of themselves,…having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”
(2 Timothy 3:2, 5). Genuine godliness—not just a
“form”
of it—can be obtained only as the supernatural power of God’s grace changes our character, removing our selfishness and self-centeredness and replacing them with love, kindness, empathy, and self-sacrifice for the sake of others.

Many people attempt to change their natures through practicing various forms of religion, but the results will always be limited. Religion can only “patch up” the corruption of the heart by developing rules and laws that promote good behavior and positive principles, such as the practice of self-discipline. However, religion can never profoundly change a person’s heart; it doesn’t have the power to take away our fallen nature, which is perpetually self-serving.

Corruption exists in the human heart in different forms and at different levels, from generating lies to committing mass murder, but there is a way out for all of us through Jesus Christ. If we want to change the legacy of our personal history, if we want to leave our children an inheritance of blessing, if we want God to heal our nations, we must deal with the root of humanity’s problems—the corruption of the heart.

Spiritual Warfare over the Hearts of Human Beings

Ever since Satan prompted the first man and woman to reject God’s command, turning away from His nature, an invisible war has been taking place for possession of the hearts of all human beings. God’s kingdom of light and Satan’s kingdom of darkness are battling even now for our heart. Whoever holds the heart of someone also holds his potential and his resources—his entire person. We human beings must decide to whom we will surrender our heart.

You may say, “What if I decide not to give my heart to either kingdom? What if I just try to live on my own?” There is no “neutral zone” in this spiritual conflict. When we choose to live on our own, apart from God, we effectively choose to side with God’s enemy, Satan. The kingdom of darkness forcefully takes over any terrain—especially the human heart—it finds vulnerable or vacant, using the most subtle weapons and tools imaginable. (See, for example, Matthew 12:43–45.)

The kingdom of darkness tried to take over the life of a man named Denis, as well as the life of his wife, Guerda, but the power of God defeated the enemy and transformed their lives. The following is their story.

When Denis was still a youth, he moved from Haiti to the United States with his mother and siblings, although they were not legal residents. For the first two months, things seemed good. But then his mother agreed to smuggle drugs into America from Haiti, and she was caught and arrested. So, Denis and his sister were sent to live with another family.

Denis’s sister, who was only ten years old, was immediately exposed to a life of witchcraft and started practicing voodoo, while Denis soon embarked on a life of robbery by knifepoint and prostituting girls. Then, he opened a trap (drug) house, and word of his new “business” spread throughout the streets of Homestead, Florida, so that he was soon selling and dealing large quantities of drugs. Denis even experimented with counterfeit money for a short time. His immoral lifestyle seemed to have no limits. He started going to strip clubs and buying women for sex, throwing thousands of dollar bills up in the air, “making it rain.”

One of the strippers ended up pregnant, and Denis decided to marry her in order to legalize his residency status. The woman used him for his money, cheated him, and left him high and dry without residency status and with an obligation to pay for all his divorce fees. After this, Denis’s outlook on women changed. He would take women out, have sex with them, and then give them money in order to hurt them and make them feel cheap. He would throw sex parties so that his male friends could have as many women as they wanted. Denis had become the type of man everyone was afraid of—he was fearless and heartless and showed no emotion. He did not believe in rules or authority other than his own, and he was very prideful.

Then one of his friends was arrested for tax fraud and was deported to Haiti. This incident opened Denis’s eyes to the fact that his own reckless lifestyle could catch up with him and end just as quickly. Denis made a decision to leave his old ways and settle down, and he got a job working for a school he had once attended. In addition, he started dating Guerda, a single mother of three who was trying to live a better life.

Guerda had been a voodoo priest, calling on a spirit that she was “married” to. She explained, “I would do readings for people; I would interpret dreams and connect with the dead. I would have parties for the spirits and provide sacrifices of dead chickens, doves, and goats. I once ‘killed’ another witch who crossed me, and she died in Haiti. I would also do spells to make money.

“Guys feared me and didn’t understand me. I would sleep with a bunch of demons or spirits; they would never manifest in human form, but I was always aware that they were in the room with me. I would cook meals for the spirits, deliver messages to other people from them, and have dreams with them. They would tell me that they loved me, that they’d never hurt me. In one instance, a demon appeared to me in a dream and brought me to a mason log and showed me many things. He called me ‘Ester, the eastern star.’ He promised me fame, marriage, and money, but I had to go back to Haiti to claim my mother’s ‘land mantle.’ He told me there would be a serpent there but not to fear. The serpent would put something in my mouth, and I would then be unstoppable. I did whatever I could to get to Haiti, but everything seemed to block my return.”

Denis and Guerda continued to date and eventually moved in together. Then, a friend of Guerda’s invited her to a service at King Jesus Ministry, where Guerda received Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. Guerda brought Denis to another King Jesus service, and he was saved and baptized within the same week.

Denis and Guerda attended a youth retreat where inner healing and deliverance were ministered, and Denis was freed from his hatred and unforgiveness toward his mother and his ex-wife. In addition, Denis and Guerda were delivered from bondage to sexual immorality—Denis from sexual addiction and Guerda from adultery. “I loved to date married men,” she stated. “I was a vixen for them.” Guerda was also delivered from witchcraft.

God made Denis and Guerda into new people and reconciled them to one another. To His glory, the couple got married and became leaders and mentors in a House of Peace (the church’s home fellowship ministry). They are learning to become a man and woman of God. Through God’s supernatural power, they are now delivering others who have been involved in witchcraft and those who have been possessed or oppressed by demons and spirits. They are also being used to liberate others who have been bound by sexual immorality. Moreover, they have experienced deliverance of the heart from the deceitful spirit of pride. Denis and Guerda turned away from the things that used to be a source of pride to them so that their hearts could be transformed by God.

The Scriptures tell us:
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith”
(1 Peter 5:8–9).
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places”
(Ephesians 6:12). We must be aware of the fierce struggle for our heart taking place and make a decision to surrender our life to the Lord, who loves us and wants to give us His life. In contrast, the enemy hates us and seeks to destroy us. Jesus said,
“
The thief [Satan] does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

The goal of the enemy is to take the human heart captive and
to keep it captive.

What Does God See?

In chapter 1, we talked about how our heart, or spirit, is the source of our desires, motives, and intentions. Although human beings tend to focus on externals—things that can be seen with the natural eyes, such as people’s physical attributes, possessions, or worldly accomplishments—God sees beyond these superficial elements to the depths of our being. When God looks at us, He sees the condition of our heart.
“But the L
ord
said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the L
ord
does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the L
ord
looks at the heart”
(1 Samuel 16:7).

What does God see in your heart? He sees the motives, intentions, and intimate thoughts that come from it, whether good or evil. Consider these questions: What is your reason for getting out of bed every morning? What moves you? Is your primary incentive personal gain, or is it a desire to honor God? Are you pursuing your own will or God’s will? Do you speak and act in certain ways in order to be recognized by other people, or do you speak and act out of love and reverence for your heavenly Father? Are your actions prompted by a generous heart or a selfish one? What motivates you to take care of your family members—or to neglect them? Do you spend your money on temporal things or on eternal purposes? Why do you pray, offer praises to God, or give offerings—or not do any of these things? Is your reason for serving God that you want to expand His kingdom and bless other people, or do you merely want to receive credit for being “godly”?

These are all questions of the heart, and each of us must address them. Again,
“where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”
(Matthew 6:21). For example, if the treasure you value is position, fame, or prestige, your heart will be there also. One way to assess the condition of your heart is to see where, or in what, you are investing your money. You don’t even have to examine the large amounts you spend on necessities, such as mortgage payments or rent, utilities, or transportation. Instead, look at your small but repeated expenditures for things that are not necessities, such as entertainment, fashion accessories, cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, expensive restaurants, and so forth. If you are using up large portions of your income on personal items or habits, that is where your heart is. If you are accumulating money in a selfish or greedy way, perhaps motivated by a fear of the future, that is where your heart is. God will reward us if our heart is right, and He will judge us if it is not:
“I will give to each one of you according to your works…”
(Revelation 2:23).

We need to regularly monitor our own heart, since we know that God Himself is continually searching it. As Paul wrote,
“F
or if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world” (1 Corinthians 11:31–32).

Rewards in this life and the next depend on the condition
of the heart.

How much of your heart does God require for Him to be the only Lord of your life? Your whole heart! In what condition is your heart right now? Is it able to give Him everything? Or, is it hurt, offended, or shattered, so that it withholds from Him? Do you have difficulty truly loving or being loved? Do you find yourself incapable of trusting others and establishing healthy relationships, so that you flee from your heavenly Father’s invitation to come to Him? If so, will you allow God to heal you, transform your heart, and give you a new life, so that you can draw close to Him and to other people?

Often, we attempt to hide the corruption in our heart from other people. For example, when we are in public, we may show a certain “face,” which is really just a mask. In private, we know who we are in the depths of our heart, and we recognize that we are deceiving ourselves. If the motives of our heart are wrong, they will manifest in our decisions and life choices, or they will emerge when we are under pressure, regardless of the reputation we have tried to create for ourselves.