17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you.
11 Death and Destruction lie open before the LORD-how much more the hearts of men!
3 The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart.
20 The LORD detests men of perverse heart but he delights in those whose ways are blameless.
20 But, O LORD Almighty, you who judge righteously and test the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 10 “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.”
9 “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.”
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
45 “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”
23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25 He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.
18 “O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep this desire in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you. 19 And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, requirements and decrees and to do everything to build the palatial structure for which I have provided.”
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
“It is not enough to tell believers, ‘You are accepted through your faith in Christ’. We must tell them also, ‘You are delivered from the bondages of sin through the power of the indwelling Christ.’ For our consciences are also deeply deluded with respect to the possibility of overcoming the flesh once its dimensions are known. Even if we are assured that our sin is covered, we do not want to face the despair of having to live in conscious helpless awareness of its tyranny, abusing the grace and forgiveness of Christ. If we have to go on running further and further into spiritual debt we would rather do this in the dark without realizing what is happening.” Martin Luther
“Our words and works are always an overflow of what is in our hearts and thoughts. If you desire right speech and actions, work on your heart and mind.” BHY
“Since we are made to worship, we are always centering our lives on something whether we realize it or not. It is like a fire hose that is stuck in the ‘on’ position and shooting water out endlessly with great force. We must decide where we aim the hose as the focus of our worship. The idols of our modern world are not necessarily the hand-carved statues of the ancient world. In our autonomous self-seeking ways, people have instead come to serve or worship the self-erected idols of approval, comfort, and security. We must ruthlessly inspect the sin in our heart for these idols... so it is vital that [we] get to the heart. As Tim Keller puts it, ‘The solution to our sin problem is not simply to change our behavior, but to reorient and center our entire heart and life on God.’ Therefore, we must go after the nature of the sin by going after its root and not just the fruit of the sin. Oftentimes people repent of sin that is simply the fruit of the idols in their hearts. We must find out the why of the behavior and not just the what”. Tom Wood & Scott Thomas
“Shallow thoughts of sin lead to shallow thoughts of God and salvation. Ignorance to the depths of our sin leads to ignorance to the depths of the beauty of Jesus Christ. All sons and daughters of Adam are by nature children of wrath, sons of disobedience, and willing slaves of the one to whom our father fell: Satan (Ephesians 2:1-3). In our father Adam, ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.’ (Romans 3:10-12). Our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately sick (Jeremiah 17:9). We are born in sin (Psalms 51:4).’ The tree of our race is poisoned at the root. Greg Morse
“Each day we are to approach God in humble repentance in prayer, asking Him to cleanse us from all unrighteousness – washing us with the precious blood of His Son. We are to search our hearts and ask the Holy Spirit to search our hearts as well, pointing out to us things that do not please our Savior. The heart is deceitful above all things and only God searches and knows each heart fully – we can delude ourselves but never Him. Confess what He brings to light and seek to turn from it. Oftentimes, this is done throughout the day because we can get awfully dirty. Be broken over sin – especially repetitive - and seek to stay out of the pigpen and the muck and mire – for our own good and always for His glory.” BHY
“A faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted. If your faith cannot survive adversity, then your faith isn't real. It is through adversity that real faith grows stronger.” Greg Laurie
“Many times I will allow trials and tribulation in your life to draw you closer to Me and prepare you for battle. Just as I was with Daniel in the lion’s den, I am with you in every trial. You are being prepared for greatness, My beloved. I prepared my king David while he was running for his life and hiding in caves. I blinded My apostle Paul until he was ready to see Me as his source of sight. Your trials will lead you to an abundant life of effective and everlasting ministry if you will allow me to carve in your character a true reflection of me while you're in the fire where your faith is being tested.” Sheri Rose Shepherd
“Untested faith may be true faith, but it is sure to be small faith, and it is likely to remain little as long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her: Tempests are her trainers, and bolts of lightning are her illuminators. When a calm reigns on the sea, spread the sails as you will, the ship does not move to its harbor; for on a slumbering ocean the keel sleeps too. Let the winds rush and howl, and let the waters lift themselves, though the vessel may rock and her deck may be washed with waves and her mast may creak under the pressure of the full and swelling sail, it is then that she makes headway toward her desired haven. No flowers are as lovely a blue as those that grow at the foot of the frozen glacier; no stars gleam as brightly as those that glisten in the midnight sky; no water tastes as sweet as that which springs up in the desert sand; and no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity. Tested faith brings experience. You could not have believed your own weakness if you had not been compelled to pass through the rivers; and you would never have known God's strength if you had not been supported in the flood. Faith increases in quality, assurance, and intensity the more it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too.” C. H. Spurgeon revised by Alistair Begg
“The word translated ‘commit’ in Psalm 37:5 quite literally means “to roll (in blood); be dyed red; figuratively meaning to take your ways to the foot of the cross. The blood of Jesus cleanses all our plans and our sins, purifying them. Enabling us through His power to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him in all things. The heart is deceitful beyond all cure. It is God alone Who can cleanse and direct us in the path which we should go – redeeming our time for His glory, for our good.” BHY
“When we are deluded and deceived by Satan, when we feel worthless and helpless, may God open our eyes and help us to see Christ and His Righteousness. May we know that He died for us and remember that we are precious in God’s sight. May we turn from our sinful ways and follow Him. And may we know in our hearts, and experience in every area of our lives, the great power of prayer. May God revive and encourage our hearts and souls, every one of them.” Roger Killian