02/07/2024
I did a lesson on this verse with my teen class recently at church.
Jeremiah 17:9-10 (King James Version)
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
People say........."Follow your heart."
No!!!! Don't do that. Your heart is deceitful, desperately wicked and tethered tightly to the flesh and what appeases it.
Follow Jesus instead, and the edicts of God's word.
Proverbs 28:26
“He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.”
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Scripture tells us not to seek after our own heart.
Numbers 15:39
And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them ; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a wh***ng:
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Don't listen to your heart when praying about your situation.
Your heart will make you doubt the power of God to address your need, and make your situation appear to be impossible to resolve. Abraham knew of the power of God, but his heart made him question whether it was possible for a 100-year-old man to father a child.
Genesis 17:17
Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
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Your heart will fill you with fear instead of faith.
1 Samuel 28:5
And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled.
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Don't allow the heart to rule your emotions.
If you don't walk in the spirit, your heart can become filled with the emotions of jealously, bitterness, spitefulness and hatred as was Esau's toward his brother.
Genesis 27:41
And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.
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Don't allow your heart to determine what you give to God.
The heart is selfish and will want you to spend your money on things the flesh wants instead of giving to God.
Exodus 35:5
Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord; gold, and silver, and brass,
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Your heart will convince you that God has nothing to do with the blessings you're receiving and that you are a self made man or woman. Thus, you will not be as thankful as you should for what God has blessed you with.
Deuteronomy 8:17
And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
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Your heart will cause you to turn from God to appease the flesh.
Deuteronomy 30:17
But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
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Your heart will cause you to follow the wrong leader, because you like that person on a personal level.
Judges 9:3
And his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.
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Your heart will convince you that God doesn't see your sin/has forgotten that you are defying his word, when he sees everything you do..
Psalm 10:11
He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.
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Your heart will try to make you believe that there is no God.
Psalm 14:1
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
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Your heart will be impacted too much by who you spend the most time with. If those around you are ungodly, if you listen to your heart you will begin to do what they want you to do instead of what is pleasing unto God.\\
1 Kings 11:4
For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
1 Kings 11:9
And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,
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Don't let your heart control your actions. Prepare it to serve the Lord and be obedient to the directives of God's word by spending time in prayer, in the study of his word, attending church faithfully and keeping your focus on spiritual things.
Ezra 7:10
For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.
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If we will seek after God, strive to walk in his commandments, walk in the spirit, then we can train our hearts to ignore the lusts of the flesh and walk in a way that is pleasing unto God.
Deuteronomy 5:29
O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!
DON'T LISTEN TO YOUR HEART.
OBEY GOD'S WORD & WALK IN THE SPIRIT.