Do you walk before Yehovah with a perfect heart?
To come to grips with the idea of perfection, we first must understand that perfection does not mean a sinless, flawless existence. No, perfection in Yehovah's eyes means something entirely different. It means holiness, completeness, and maturity in the Messiah Jesus. It is to strive to become like the lord Jesus; to walk on the path he walked on, in total commitment to loving our God and Father Yehovah with all our heart, mind, being, and strength, and loving our neighbors as ourselves.
If you are hungering for the lord Jesus, you may be already trying to obey this command of Yehovah. It is possible, or God would not have given us such a call. How is it possible to obey God's call? It is possible because whatever our God and Father Yehovah asks us to do, He always provides us with the enabling power of His Spirit to accomplish all he asks us to do. All! Having a perfect heart has been part of the life of faith from the time God first spoke to Abraham. “I am Almighty God; walk before me, and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1, NKJV). Abraham was totally committed to obeying all that Yehovah's told him to do, including giving up his son [ a type of Yehovah giving up his son on the stake, to become a sin-offering sacrifice].
The Hebrew and Greek meanings of perfection include “uprightness, holiness, having neither spot nor blemish, being totally obedient.” It means to finish what Yehovah has given us to do. John Wesley called this concept of perfection “constant obedience.” A perfect heart is a responsive heart, one that answers quickly and totally all Yehovah's calls. The perfect heart cries out with David, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties, and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23–24).
Our God and Father Yehovah does indeed search our hearts; He said as much to Jeremiah. “I, Yehovah, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:10).
Those who hide a secret sin, however, do not want to be searched or convicted. The perfect heart yearns for more than security or a covering for sin. The perfect man/woman wants God's Holy Spirit to come and search out the innermost parts of their being, and wash and cleanse their hearts and minds by the spirit-filled word of God. A true child of Yehovah wants Him to shine into our lives and dig out all that is unlike His anointed one, Jesus. They seek to be in God’s presence always, to dwell in communion with God. Communion means talking with our God and Father Yehovah, sharing sweet fellowship with Him, seeking His face in the lord Jesus, and experiencing His presence.
Yehovah's heart-searching is not vindictive but redemptive. His purpose is not to catch us in sin or condemn us, but He wants to prepare us to come into His holy presence as clean pure vessels.
Written By David Wilkerson (1931-2011) and edited and added to by Bruce Lyon
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