God of love says in the second half of 1 Samuel 16:7, "…for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
God looks at hearts of men because a person's attitude, speech, and actions are mostly determined by his or her inner heart. The heart of most people consists of both goodness and evil so they change from time to time. However, an 'inner heart' is different. It does not change under any circumstances. Thus, only when we do everything from this inner heart, can we gain trust from God as well as others.
What is the 'Inner Heart'?
"The Inner Heart" can be simply described as 'the heart that is solidified over time'. It works as the source of strength that controls our heart. Some parts of the inner heart are inherited from parents. But this inner heart is also formed based on what we have accepted and engraved in our hearts during our lifetime.
For instance, if you love God from your heart you may always keep His commands and choose God's will without thinking twice. If your inner heart is solidified by the truth, you cannot lie even if it means your loss and disadvantage. But some people, who normally do not lie, end up lying when they are put in extreme or desperate situations. It's because their inner hearts are not perfectly solidified by the truth.
How good and straight a person's inner heart is may determine his way of life. Some people appear to have a good heart but may not carry out what they have decided to do. Others do not appear to have a good heart but may be able to carry out and complete what they set out to do without changing.
Therefore, you should build up and solidify truthful and perfect inner hearts by casting out from your heart anything that violates the truth and by engraving truthful things in your heart.
What should we do to follow God's will from a perfect inner heart?
First, you ought to rejoice all the time from the inner heart.
The source of the greatest joy for God's children is the joy of being saved. All mankind was to suffer in Hell. But, by the grace of Jesus Christ's precious blood they could be forgiven of all sins, gain eternal life, become the children of the almighty God, and gain qualifications to live in the beautiful Heaven. So people who have the joy of salvation in their inner heart will not lose that joy, no matter what kind of trials they face on the earth.
When you engrave in your heart the joy you feel as a child of God, it will be solidified in your inner heart. You can do this by confessing, "God is my Father, and I am His child. Whatever I ask of Him in prayer, He gives me. He always leads me on the good path because He loves me." If this is solidified in a person's heart, even when the answer to his prayer seems to be slow, he may believe, 'God will give it to me when it is the best time' and he can rejoice. Such people have joy in their inner hearts in any kind of situations so they can rejoice in everything.
Second, you ought to give thanks in everything from the inner heart.
God has prepared Heaven for His children currently being cultivated on the earth with the best and most beautiful materials so that they can be joyful forever. Thus, even if they may face difficulties during their lives on the earth, if they have hope for Heaven, they won't fix their eyes on life's realities, but instead on the eternal Heaven. This is how they can be thankful from the heart. Hebrews 6:19 reads, "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil."
We can give thanks not only when we receive God's answers or blessings, but in everything. We are thankful for the fact that there is our Father God, so that we can believe and rely on Him and that He loves and comforts us. When we confess our gratefulness for His grace and love, He will be moved and accept our hearts joyfully.
Therefore, those who fast and pray to be renewed as God's true children with this kind of thankfulness will be able to experience His amazing answers and blessings.
Lastly, you ought to unceasingly pray from the inner heart.
If you believe that God is watching you pray and paying attention to what you say, you will be able to pray from the heart (2 Chronicles 7:15; Matthew 18:20) and you will first give thanks for God's grace and pray for His kingdom. As you pray under the Holy Spirit's guidance, you will be able to fathom the depths of God's heart in prayer.
When someone asks you for help, if you feel his sincerity, you might understand him and try to help him in any way you can. God is love itself. He wants to unsparingly give everything to His children. Then, as long as we pray from the heart and cry out earnestly with faith, He will not refuse to answer us (Jeremiah 33:3).
If you believe that nothing is impossible by God's power and pray by that faith, God will be pleased with it and give you answers and blessing quickly.
The devotion and loyalty from the perfect inner heart will not change even as the time passes but will actually become more sincere and earnest. Let's do everything with love from our inner hearts and hope for Heaven and thereby receive God's answers and blessing.
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