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God Knows My Heart, But Is That Really Good News? — 10 Comments

  1. Thanks William for reminding me again and again not to think that am worthy before God but rather I should be on Jesus feet daily as Paul once said he die daily. There is no way God can understand my wicked ways He hate Sin and love the sinner.He wants me to repent and Sin no more.

    (19)
  2. I fight all the time with this problem. Many days, I get depressed thinking I'll never measure up. I won't, on my own. Thanks for reminding me I can't, and don't have to.

    (10)
  3. I have mixed thoughts about this article.

    For someone who grew up fighting a guilty conscience in a legalistic setting, the idea that "God knows your heart" brought a peace and joy to me that had been lacking all my life.

    I no longer had to fight tirelessly to prove myself worthy to God.

    It's not that I was good deep down inside, but rather that God saw my right desires (later I would recognize fully that He plants those desires) and that He wouldn't give up on me . He wouldn't abandon me.

    (8)
    • Thanks for the comments everyone. Andrew, Fact is God loved and accepted us even when our heart was not right. Ephesians 1:1-6, Ephesians 2:1-8. You do not have to prove yourself worthy of God. He looks beyond your fault and sees your need. You don't have to prove anything to God. He loves you just the way you are! It is this unconditional love that changes our hearts and purifies our motives. But God loved you and gave you grace even when your desires were not right. The people mocking Jesus and the people stoning Stephen were given grace and forgiveness even while their desires were all messed up.

      I totally hear what you are saying about legalism skewing our picture of grace. But while I was doing English in the third grade and was receiving God's grace and even had learning disabilities God knew I was still not living up to my potential. God knew and understood I was capable through Him of so much more than I was doing. The fact that I am writing so much now, shows what God's grace has done with a third grader with learning disabilities who did not want to do his very best. And yes, I can still do better.

      All I am saying is, when we say God understands, often what He understands is we can do a lot better.

      Meanwhile, I have a friend who said in a group Bible study once, "Everyone is doing the best they can with what they have." Well I know that is not true because I am not doing the best I can. However, what a wonderful world it would be if we each thought everyone else was doing their best, and demanded less from others and more from ourselves.

      (11)
  4. Been chasing after the Good Shepherd since the age of 20. Now at 50 still go astray when I give in to selfishness and take my eyes off of Him. What an eye opening statement you made about the root cause of loneliness! Appreciate your essays regularly.

    (6)
    • Dear Kathy,

      It's God that has actually been chasing after you all these years! The lost sheep can't ever find the Shepherd. The Shepherd searches until he finds the sheep. Just don't get out of His grasp when He finds you and carries you home.

      (9)
  5. Very touching, honest and insightful post that made me laugh about, "wrote “I did my very best, I did my very best” over and over until the entire page was filled."

    Then it made me sad for, "Look how hard he is trying and how frustrated the poor little guy has become. He is doing his very best!”
    because of you and all the kids who fall through the cracks. Several of the children in our family of eight kids fell through the cracks and one of the reasons I homeschooled our son, was to try to avoid that happening.

    You wrote, "While I get frustrated and lonely when people don’t understand my good intentions, I’m quite relieved when they think I have good intentions while being selfish."

    This very thing just happened to me yesterday. I was upset with a coworker and did something that hurt her, to get back at her, without fully knowing that's what I was doing, until we had a long talk and then I realized how much I hurt her. And it is your post that really made it clear to me that my heart was wrong. Thank God for the gift of repentance!

    Your honesty helps us to be honest. Thanks very much!

    (8)
  6. William, your question about good news is a little unusual, depending on our perspective. We can say it is either or neither, it is just a fact that we have no control over. If we think it is bad news the question then becomes why? Is it from guilt or is it from a psychological malady? A feeling of low self esteem? If it is from guilt, that leaves us with a feeling of hopelessness, then Satan has achieved his purpose. I have mentioned this EGW statement several times because it is full of Good news. It is about repentance being a GIFT from Jesus by means of the Holy Spirit. It is in the book "That I May Know Him" pg. 109, and well worth reading. One sentence says "There is no way by which the heart may be made Holy save through faith in Christ". That to me is Good news that He knows our hearts.

    (2)
  7. Right Paul. Maybe I should have asked is it "always" good news instead of "really" good news. Yes when we have good intentions it is good that God knows our hearts, but some people assume God looks deep inside us and sees how good we really are instead of how selfish we really are.

    (2)

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