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Day 101: Hardness of Heart 2 (Bonus Lesson 15)

 Hardness of heart is a heart unresponsive or insensitive to God's word and acts. When we talk about response, our immediate response to God should always be faith and gratitude. No matter how large or impossible God's words and acts are, a healthy heart should never feel so overwhelmed by them it begins to doubt. 

In Mark 8, Jesus told His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and they misunderstood Him. Chastising them in verses 17-18 He said:

 ...Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?

The perceptions of seeing and hearing here do not refer to physical senses but the heart. When Jesus often said he who has ears to hear let him ear. The ear was used as a metaphor for mental perception, understanding, and knowing.

The signs and symptoms of a hardened heart are also causes. What hardens the heart are also signs. Some of them are:

     1. Habitual sin or disobedience to God as with the Israelites in the Old Testament

     2. Pride: unwillingness to accept counsel and deal with flaws. 

     3. Manipulation: an example of this is the sorcerer Elymas poisoning the proconsul's mind so he won't believe in Acts 13.

     4. Wrong mindset: the Israelites in the wilderness often judged God by how they were treated by Pharaoh in Egypt. Their perception of God did not change despite His many miracles for them.

     5. Wrong doctrines: we see the Pharisees' example

     6. Dishonor and familiarity: In Mark 6 Jesus could do no mighty works in His hometown because they lacked faith in Him. They did not honor Him.

What is the solution to hardness of heart?

     1. The Word

God said in Jeremiah 23:29 (Amplified Classic Version):

 Is not My word... like a hammer that breaks in pieces the rock [of most stubborn resistance]? 

Hearing, reading, and studying God's word chips away every contrary thought that makes the heart unresponsive to God's word.

     2. The Work of the Spirit:

As we pay more attention to the word, the Holy Spirit unravels it in our minds. This unraveling produces what we call revelation knowledge. Paul in Ephesians 1:17-18 says:

 [For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him, By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones),

Revelation knowledge can come in many ways. It may be through God's word or acts that enlighten us to the truths we must believe.

    3. Meditating on the wonders of God:

Mark 8:52 says the reason the disciples were amazed beyond measure at Jesus walking on the water was that they did not understand or consider the miracle of the loaves. Jesus said also in Mark 8 that they didn't understand His words because they did not remember the miracle of the loaves. Psalm 49:3 says:

 My mouth shall speak wisdom, And the meditation of my heart shall give understanding.  

We must make it a habit to remember the words and acts of the Lord. The Psalms are full of David's musings about God, his words, and his acts. No wonder he saw no impossibilities. He could face Goliath without cowering because those musings created such awe of God in His heart that no fear could match up to.

     4. Prayer and fasting:

Hosea 10:12 (New Living Translation):

 ...‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.’ 

Prayer and fasting do not change God or His mind, but change us. Fasting subdues our flesh while prayer invites the Lord to work on our hearts. Fasting is to prayer what yeast is to flour. Fasting without prayer has no spiritual effect on its own. When combined with prayer, it is extremely effective in bringing down the wrong ideologies.

In prayer, we can ask God to break the barriers of our hearts. 1 Kings 4:29 says:

 And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore.

Whether we have doubts in our hearts or not, we must constantly strive to maintain sensitivity of heart. We must also consciously expand our hearts to accommodate the unending possibilities in God. God is limitless and as long as we are on this earth, wrong thought patterns are thrown our way each day. So, preventing hardness of heart and maintaining sensitivity to God, His word and acts is a daily task. We must never be weary of it.

PRAY WITH ME:

Dear Lord, I open my heart to Your word and Spirit. Break every barrier that keeps my heart limited and unresponsive to You, Your word, and Your acts. Enlarge my heart to accommodate Your thoughts and receive from You. Amen.

REFLECT & ACT:

  • List the prophecies, promises, words, and acts of God that seem impossible to you.
  • Take time to meditate on and pray about them until you receive revelation knowledge from the Holy Spirit.

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