One of our culture's biggest fascinations is with the heart. If you grew up in the USA or lived here for quite some time, then you've probably heard one of the following phrases:
"My heart wasn't in it."
"I have to follow my heart."
"God knows my heart."
It's crazy how so many people, including Christians don't understand how important our hearts are to God. He literally examines our hearts when He is making decisions concerning us because He understands something that we don't like to admit, which is that our hearts don't always line up with the words that we speak. This wasn't the case with Daniel though. Daniel made it clear that he would do what is right in the sight of God even in captivity and he refused to allow King Nebuchadnezzar's daily provision of food for the wise men of Babylon to cause him and his friends to sin against the LORD.
"But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore, he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself." - Daniel 1:8
After reading this verse, I looked up the meaning of the word purpose in the Strong's Concordance and the first definition for purpose is "to say". The word purpose is also used in the Bible to speak or utter a thing, which is proof that our heart does in fact speak. Whenever our heart and mouth aren't saying the same thing then this means that a lie is present and where there is a lie, there is deceit.
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the LORD search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings." - Jeremiah 17:9
And just in case you're not convinced that our heart does speak, here's a bonus verse:
"The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.'" - Psalm 14:1
My question for you is: What have you purposed in your heart? Is your heart saying that you will obey God no matter who your decision offends? Does your heart say that you must trust the Father for your daily bread even though they've cut your hours at work? Has your heart said to forgive those people for what they did even though your flesh would rather be stubborn and hold a grudge indefinitely? I truly hope that you take a moment to consider what your heart has been saying lately and if you realize that it doesn't align with God's word, be humble enough to pray and ask the Father to purify your heart of anything that's not of Him.
Our heart posture is vital to our effectiveness in the Body of Christ. Purposing our hearts to be full of faith and not full of fear and idolatry will prevent us from waking up and going about our days as though we have all the time in the world to get onboard with living a life that hallows the name of the LORD. Please hear me by the Spirit. We don't have time to let ourselves off the hook in an effort to appease family, friends, coworkers and everyone in between! Getting canceled by culture because you boldly profess your faith in Jesus Christ doesn't matter! Being denied access to eternal life by our Savior on your day of judgement from Him because you allowed people to dictate your obedience to the Father does! And while we appreciate how helpful and committed you are to the faith when you're among fellow Christians, the truth is that the church doesn't need to be saved as much as the people you're connected to in the world do.
Therefore, I encourage you to yield your body, mind, will, and emotions to the Father. We have to get to a place in our walk with Jesus where we trust Him to fight for us when someone rises up against us. Know that the LORD can handle evil spirits and the people Satan uses to do his bidding in the earth, but you have to keep the faith to see God turn what was meant to do you harm around for good. Don't let the affliction deceive you. Jesus is with you.
