Renovation of the Heart
Transforming the Will (Heart or Spirit) and Character (2|4)
Pages 150-154
• The Splintered Will
• The Opportunity to Be Lost
• Duplicity, Deceitfulness, and Darkness
• God Hears the Heart
• Shouting to God
TOGETHER read the devotional and the scripture.
INDIVIDUALLY take notes in your journal on what stands out.
Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NIV) The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”
1 John 3:20-22 (NIV) If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
Romans 10:12-15 (NIV) For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile —the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
TOGETHER pray for one another.
INDIVIDUALLY answer the questions in your journal - process your devotional notes and pray.
The Splintered Will
”The drive toward good, which is naturally implanted in the human will by its Creator, is splintered, corrupted, and eventually turned against itself as a result of practical self-deification and all that accompanies it. The question ‘What good can I bring about?’ is replaced by ‘How can I get my way?’ Manipulation, deception, seduction, and malice replace transparency, sincerity, and goodwill, as exaltation of self replaces submission and service to God.”
How does “getting my way” result in a “splintered” will that is ambiguous and incapable of sincerity?
The Opportunity to Be Lost
“God permits there to be a world such as we live in, where the wills of human beings are often set on what is evil, wrong, or foolish and where even good and wise inclinations are frequently defeated by other components of the person involved: the ‘sin in our members’ (Romans 7:5), social influences, mistaken ideas, overwhelming feelings, or disconnections and raptures in the depths of the soul. The outcome may be a whole person (or even society) intently focused upon accomplishing evil, or it may be a person (or society) baffled and torn by the chaos and evil it finds within itself .”
What is the condition of the will of a “lost” person?
Duplicity, Deceitfulness, and Darkness
“In a condition of alienation from God, the complexity of the human will moves irresistibly toward duplicity, not just in the harmless sense of ‘doubleness’ but in the sense of deception. This is the result of pretending to feel and think one way while acting in another. Often the deception involved is self-deception. Our pride will constantly trap us between desire and fear. Rather than surrender our desire, we will do what we want but conceal it because of fear of the consequences of being known. And perhaps then we will also try to conceal our fear because of our pride. We will try to pretend that there is ‘nothing going on’ at all.”
How do duplicity, deception, and darkness descend upon those who would be their own god?
“We live in a world where others, including our loved ones as well as the institutions of society and government (and those running them), are with distressing regularity engaged in duplicity, deceitfulness, and darkness. It is a rare individual who does not have people around him or her who cannot be trusted to do what is right when something they desire or fear is involved. How often we have to deal with someone whom we know at the moment to be simply working out how he or she is going to mislead us. Perhaps very few of us could honestly say we are untouched in some way by our own duplicity. ”
What is your response to this statement?
God Hears the Heart
“The heart (will, spirit) is precisely what God observes and addresses in human beings. He cares little or nothing for outward show. He responds to the heart because it is, above all, who we are: who we choose and have chosen to be. What God wants of us can only come from there. He respects the centrality of our will and will not override it. He seeks godly character in us and for us, to fulfill the eternal destiny he has in mind for us.”
What kind of person is God actively seeking?
Shouting to God
“As for those whose hearts are at their core completely given to him, who completely rely on and hope in him, ‘The eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support’ them (2 Chronicles 16:9). And ‘the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry’ (Psalm 34:15). Little children, whose hearts are not fully formed, are especially cared for by God. - Knowing what happens to little children in this world, how could we keep our sanity without such an assurance? Jesus assures us that children are cared for by God, no matter how things appear to our senses”
Do you agree? We know horrible things happen to innocent children - so what is Dallas Willard saying?
EXTRA READING:
“Pay attention to what I tell you: whoever you may be, always have God before your eyes; whatever you do, do it according to the testimony of the holy Scriptures; in whatever place you live, do not easily leave it. Keep these three precepts and you will be saved.”
- Anthony of Egypt (251 - 356)