Heart Must Be Filled with Love of God

Christ Triumphant - A Devotional by E.G. White

Heart Must Be Filled with Love of God

Today's Text: Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. Matthew 12:45

The Message:      The man in the parable broke with Satan, refused to do his work, but the trouble with him was that after the heart was swept and garnished he failed to invite the heavenly Guest. It is not enough to make the heart empty; we must have the vacuum filled with the love of God. The soul must be furnished with the graces of the Spirit of God. People may leave off many bad habits and yet not be truly sanctified, because they do not have a connection with God; they do not unite with Christ....      Satan, the great rebel, is ever seeking to entice us to sin against God. He will introduce false imaginings, arming the understanding against the revealed will of God, the lower passions against purity and self-denial, the will against God's will, setting up a wisdom from beneath to conflict with the wisdom from above.... Shall God's will be put in the background and our will be held as supreme? Can this be the controlling power in God's great contest for the recovery of His own? ...      I have been warned that henceforth we shall have a constant contest. Science, so-called, and religion will be placed in opposition to each other, because finite beings do not comprehend the power and greatness of God. These words of Holy Writ were presented to me: "Of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." This will surely be seen among the people of God. There will be those who are unable to perceive the most wonderful and important truths for this time, truths that are essential for their own safety and salvation, while matters that are in comparison as the merest atoms, matters in which there is scarcely a grain of truth, are dwelt upon and magnified by the power of Satan so that they appear of the utmost importance....      As the lovers of the world make religion subservient to the world, God requires His worshipers to subordinate the world to religion.-Manuscript 16, 1890.

Commentary: My friend, the natural heart of man is at enmity with the will of God.  Since the fall of man our hearts have become carnal and selfish.  In us we have no power to resist the temptations of Satan, for our thoughts and desires are in harmony with his.  But though we had sinned, we were not left without a way of escape from the power of Satan.  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16). The plan of salvation, that was decided upon from eternity past, was put into action.  The Father and the Son devised a plan by which man could be restored back into the image of God if he had fallen into sin.  In the salvation of man the love of God was more fully revealed.  By consenting to send His Son to die for our sins, The Father revealed His great love for mankind, and the Son shared in this love by offering Himself for our ransom.  This kind of love was unknown to the great adversary of souls, and He could not fathom that the Father would give His Son to die for guilty man, but he endeavored to turn this to his advantage. The whole plan of salvation is a demonstration of the love of God, and is the love that must abide in the heart of all that follow after Jesus Christ.  This kind of love is not natural to the carnal heart and can only occur if Christ is living within our hearts.  It is not enough to simply do good works, but unless those works come from a heart that is filled with Christ, it cannot bring honor and glory to God, for "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). Only a heart that is surrendered to the Son of God can our good works glorify God.  There are many in the world today that do good works, but the motives that they do them are not all from above.  Unless they are motivated from a heart of love for God, can they bring honor and glory to Him. In the last days, all will be tested to see if the love of God is truly living within us.  As persecution comes, how we react to this persecution will reveal who is living within our hearts.  Jesus said in Matthew 5:10-12 "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."  The blessing that comes through persecution can only be realized if we have received the previous blessing of a broken and contrite heart that leads us to hunger and thirst after the righteousness of Christ.  Then when we are persecuted we will be able to say as Christ said "...Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34). My friend, the kind of love that must be in our hearts cannot be obtained by any works that we do, but must come from a broken and contrite heart that is surrender to God through Jesus Christ.  As our wills are surrendered to Jesus Christ, His love will fill our hearts and the works that we do are not our own, but are Christs, manifested through us. May the love of God be manifested in you life today. God bless,

Video of the Week Prove All Things - A Review by Nader Mansour "The Godhead: Joels Journey - Why I Left the Anti-trinitarian Movement." In this episode of Prove All Things, I review Joel's aforementioned video and test some of his claims. Is there enough evidence to abandon the Father & Son message? What solid proofs are there for the Trinity? Can we accept the Spirit of God to be a different person to God? These questions and more are covered in this episode.