Supernatural Transformation: Change Your Heart Into God’s Heart (8 page)

Are you facing a situation similar to what Abraham faced? Have you been praying and believing for the fulfilment of God’s promise for a long time, but your “now” has not yet come? Regardless of the problem—a bad medical diagnosis, the lack of a job, a difficult relationship—continue to trust God wholeheartedly, even if the world gives you contrary advice. If we know God and have an ongoing relationship with Him through love, prayer, and obedience to His Word, and if we remember that He will never leave us nor forsake us (see Hebrews 13:5), then we can be confident that He will answer us.

The following Scripture sums up what it means to trust in the Lord with all your heart when you are discouraged, confused, or unable to see the hand of God in your circumstances:
“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”
(Philippians 1:6). Never imagine that your circumstances are so overpowering that you should stop trusting in God and give up.
“
[Abraham]
did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform”
(Romans 4:20–21).

Moreover, faith that is solidly supported by trust cannot stay silent. It has to praise God and worship Him. Abraham
“was strengthened in faith,
giving glory to God
”
(Romans 4:20). Therefore, in the midst of your circumstances, release praise and worship into the atmosphere of your home or office. Sing to God and play worship music. Express your faith and trust as you submit to the faithful God who never changes. (See, for example, Hebrews 13:8.) Your “now” is coming!

When trust is strong, faith comes into the “now.”

In the Old Testament, the prophets often had to wait long periods of time to see God’s promises fulfilled. In fact, many died without seeing the promises manifested. But after Christ came to earth and died on the cross, God raised Him from the dead; and when Jesus was resurrected, He brought supernatural faith with Him, and the realm of the eternal “now” extended to the realm of earth.

I pray that the following testimony from a woman named Martha, a teacher from Colombia, will strengthen your trust so that your faith can be released in the “now”:

“I used to suffer from gallbladder stones, a condition that caused me great pain. Everything I ate tasted bitter. During a service, the pastor said that if anyone was sick, we should place our hand where we felt the pain, and we would receive healing. I placed my hand where the gallbladder is located and believed God. I believed that He had healed me and that, even though the pain continued, He was doing His perfect work in me. I later went to the doctor for follow-up exams. After he examined me, he said that I no longer had gallbladder stones!

“In addition, my appendix had been removed when I was fifteen years old. However, when I went to the doctor for the gallbladder problem, I had a scan of my organs, and the doctor said, ‘The appendix appears normal in size. There is no inflammation.’ Amazed, I exclaimed, ‘Oh, Lord, how great and impressive You are!’ I received a creative miracle, because I know that my appendix was removed and the operation is recorded in my medical history!

“But then I was diagnosed with a cyst in my lung that sometimes made breathing difficult. During the following nine months, the cyst grew until the doctor said it was cancerous. I immediately canceled the diagnosis. I didn’t accept it, and I also received my healing! The cyst shrank in size until it disappeared.”

I prophesy that those who have been trusting God to bring about change—for example, change in their marriage, their children, or their business; change in the form of deliverance, miracles, or healing—will see the manifestation in the “now”! Amen!

5. The Heart Commits to God and Other People

Much of God’s activity on earth requires the commitment of the heart of human beings. Without our commitment, God will not commit to act. As we discussed earlier, it is possible for us to engage in certain works that seem like ministry but for our heart to not actually be involved in them. For example, we can serve other people, “worship” God, give offerings to the Lord, administrate, preach, or teach without a committed heart, so that we are performing a mere ritual that lacks eternal significance. If your heart is not committed to God, He may see you as untrustworthy. You need to allow the Holy Spirit to transform you, giving you the grace to genuinely commit your heart to God. And, when you commit to Him without reservation, He will pour into your heart a love for other people and a burden for their welfare that causes you to pray for them and minister to their needs.

If you do not submit, God will not commit.

A Call to Wholehearted Commitment

The following testimony may give you a clearer picture of what I have tried to communicate throughout this chapter. It is the story of Tito, a native of Colombia, who is a public accountant and export business owner:

“I came to surrender to Christ in a painful way. I was a skeptic regarding the things pertaining to God. I didn’t like to tithe or to give offerings because I believed they were a form of robbing me, and I didn’t want to give my money to anyone. My mind-set was contrary to God’s. One day, while celebrating Mother’s Day with my wife, I suffered a heart attack. An ambulance was immediately called, but they came too late—I died seconds before they arrived. However, I was resurrected by mechanical means and through the administration of drugs.

“Once I was in the hospital, the doctors decided to operate to replace an artery in my heart. I was concerned about my health, but even more about the debt I would incur due to the cost of the hospital stay. I had no way of paying for it! Yet, miraculously, I didn’t have to pay for any of it. God paid it for me. I am debt free, to the glory of my Lord! God allowed this problem to take place so I would know of His existence, love, and power, and so I would change my mind toward the things of God and finally be transformed.

“After this event, I accepted Jesus into my heart. While it used to be hard for me to tithe and give offerings, this incident led me to recognize my need for God. I never would have been able to pay the debt, not even with all of my tithes and offerings! Today, I am a different man. I am committed to my heavenly Father, and I trust Him with all of my heart. I can say that I was born again—twice! I was born again into the kingdom and ‘born again’ after the mortal heart attack!”

Isn’t it time for you, also, to commit to God with all your heart? Let’s look at the following four points, which you will recognize as themes that we will return to throughout this book. Think about them carefully now and also as you read each successive chapter of
Supernatural Transformation
:

1. Evaluate Your Heart

In chapter 1, we asked the question, “What does God see in your heart?” God sees beyond the superficial elements of our life to the depths of our being. He sees our motives, intentions, and intimate thoughts, whether good or evil. And He desires to give us a heart that is healed and whole, with all the characteristics of His own nature—such as love, joy, righteousness, and wisdom.

For this to happen, we must understand the condition of our own heart in relation to God’s heart. God will give us revelation of the state of our inner being as we read and study His Word and as we are sensitive to the leading of His Holy Spirit.

Many people don’t take time to think about the state of their heart. Yet we must ask ourselves—and answer honestly—each aspect of this question: “Is my heart in the right place in relation to God, my family, my church, my occupation, my entertainment and recreation, and my other activities and involvements?” As we have seen,
“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”
(Matthew 6:21).

What is your top priority in life? Is it God and His kingdom? Or is it wealth? Success? Fame? A good physical appearance? A desire for revenge? Think about how you are spending the majority of your disposable income and the largest portion of your time, after your primary responsibilities of meeting the needs of your family and working to support yourself and your family members. Again, you can easily look at your checkbook entries and credit card statements over the past year to determine how, and on what, you are spending your money. You can also review your activities over the past several months to assess your priorities in life and the nature of your involvements in light of the character of God and the purposes of His kingdom.

2. Be True to Your Heart

What does it mean to “be true to your heart”? First, it means to be honest with yourself about what you discover to be true about the state of your heart. When you do this, it will help you to be honest before God and other people.

Have you been truthful with yourself about the things you genuinely believe in and about your real priorities? Or have you been lying to yourself about them? Perhaps you have not allowed God’s Word to make the impact on your life that you would like others to believe it has. If you are aligned with God’s priorities and are modeling your lifestyle after His Word, you will experience His peace and joy. If not, your conscience will bother you. You will feel convicted and unsettled. Ask yourself questions such as: “What do I truly believe regarding God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God’s kingdom?” “In the deepest part of my heart, do I love God and remain faithful to Him?” “Am I living according to what I say I believe?” “In what ways am I living contrary to what I claim to believe?” “Why am I not living according to my faith?” “What can I do to realign my priorities and motivations with God’s will and purposes?”

3. Speak from Your Heart

Third, we must speak from our heart—not just from our head. Let us look at two points in this connection. To speak from our heart is to speak honestly, without guile or deception. For example, we must not speak lies or flattery to other people in order to get something from them. This does not mean we should be tactless in what we say to others or that we should blurt out whatever comes to our mind. Rather, it means that our words should have integrity; we should not speak something that our heart does not believe.

Next, we have noted that
“out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”
(Matthew 12:34). There is a connection between the heart and the mouth. Therefore, if what you are saying is not in accord with God’s Word—if you complain, gossip, curse, or speak something else that conflicts with His character—you know that there is a problem in your heart. For example, in the next chapter, we will discover how hardheartedness can block the faith that is in our heart from manifesting in our words and actions.

Yet when we surrender to God and live according to the power of His Spirit, our heart will be transformed, and our words will inevitably be transformed, as well. As we will discuss more fully in a later chapter, one of the best ways to change our heart is to memorize and meditate on God’s Word until it is planted deep in our inner being.

4. Act from Your Heart

The fourth point is that we cannot just “believe” in God’s Word and His principles, or even just express them—we must act on them as they become established in our heart. This will give us integrity in what we believe, what we say, and what we do. And whatever we believe, say, and do should glorify God and bless other people.

If the various actions you are taking—whether in regard to your family, your ministry, your job, or another aspect of life—aren’t based on genuine heart motivations, you will lack the commitment to be faithful in persevering to complete them. Your actions won’t be consistent, and you won’t follow through. Consequently, your efforts will have little impact for good in your life, in the lives of others, in the life of your community, or for the advancement of God’s kingdom in the world. Yet, if your actions are based on genuine heart motivations, you will, in the words of Paul, execute
“work produced by faith,…labor prompted by love, and…endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ”
(1 Thessalonians 1:3 niv).

As you review and respond to these four points, commit to seek a closer relationship with God. Commit to His vision. Commit to the divine purpose for your life. Commit to your family. Commit to love your brothers and sisters in Christ. Commit to minister to others in the name of Jesus—to pray, to serve, and to evangelize. Commit to carry out the purpose of God for your life, from the depth of your heart. Do it now!

4

W
hen someone is described as
hardhearted
, we usually imagine an individual who is particularly cruel—someone who treats other people harshly or who would coolly take another person’s life just to get what he wanted. We don’t think of the word as applying to us. Certainly, the term does fit those who act cruelly toward others. Yet the concept of a hard heart has deeper spiritual implications that are universally applicable to human beings—including believers. All of us have a heart that is “hardened” in some areas and to certain degrees, and this heart condition hinders our life. Moreover, we should be aware that any person’s heart has the potential to grow increasingly hard, so that it eventually affects his entire being. We are all susceptible to such a hardening process if we do not regularly monitor our heart.