The Lord Jesus as life came into our spirit, and He desires to spread into every part of our inward being so that He may make His home in us (Eph. 3:17). The key to allowing the Lord to grow in us is our heart – if we have problems in our heart or if our heart is wrong, the Lord cannot spread in us.
If we render only lip-service to the Lord yet our heart is far away from Him, the Lord can’t grow in us (Matt. 15:8). If the ground in our heart is tilled, properly irrigated, free of stones, and without any anxiety, then the Lord can grow in us in a normal way.
But if we are honest with ourselves and with the Lord, we will have to admit that we have withheld a lot of space in our heart from the Lord – He wants to come into certain areas of our heart, but we don’t open to Him.
We need to purify our heart, take care of our heart, deal with our heart, and be single in heart so that the Lord may be our only goal, desire, and treasure.
In the gospel of Matthew there are so many verses that expose our heart, how impure, sinful, deceitful, anxious, away from the Lord, and defiling it is. May the Lord have mercy on us that we would cooperate with the Lord and deal with our heart for the Lord to grow in us in a normal way.
Dealing with our Heart to have a Proper Expression
If our heart is evil, we cannot speak good things – it is from the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks, and from the evil / good treasure of our heart the mouth brings things forth (see Matt. 12:34-35). For us to have a proper expression and speak good things, we need to deal with our heart. If our heart is improper, impure, or evil, our speaking will be the same.
May the Lord have mercy on us and shine on us to show us the condition of our heart and deal with our heart so that He may be expressed through us as the good things in our heart. May we not be those who honor the Lord merely with their lips, but our heart stays away from Him (Matt. 15:8).
What defiles a person is not the mouth or the lips, but the heart (Matt. 15:17-20). If our heart is complicated and not pure, our whole being is away from the Lord and doesn’t allow Him the room to grow in us.
We need to deal with anything that complicates our heart so that it may be pure for the Lord, and then our expression will be proper and good. Life will flow, praise the Lord, from the fountain in our heart – when we dig away and deal with all the problems in our heart!
Loving the Lord with All our Heart and Being Pure in Heart
In Matt. 22:37 we see the essence of the law and the Lord’s commandment, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Our heart is so crucial in our relationship with the Lord – our spirit may desire to fellowship and intimate with the Lord, but if our heart is turned away or impure, we cannot see the Lord face to face (Matt. 5:8).
If there are problems in our heart or if our heart is wrong, if we have an conscience that is not washed in the Lord’s blood, if our emotion is not fervent for the Lord and our mind is not set on the things of God, the Lord has no way to spread within us.
We need to continually deal with our heart, turn our heart to the Lord, and open to Him, so that Christ as life may grow in us and have more room in our being to spread.
On the negative side, we can apply the blood of Christ to be cleansed from sins and impurities (1 John 1:9), but on the positive side, we need to grow in life by dealing with our heart so that the Lord may have more room to grow in us. The issues of our being and our expression all depend on the heart.
As James 4:8 says, “Purify your hearts, you double-souled!” Just as our eyes can focus on only one thing, so our heart needs to focus only on one thing – Christ Himself. If we have more than one goal, if we have the Lord and something else as our goal, our heart is impure and we are double-souled.
For us to see God face to face and be transformed, for us to grow in life, we need to deal with our heart and purify our heart.
Why do we Stress the Spirit when the Heart is So Crucial?
Brother Lee in his ministry and we in the Lord’s recovery stress very much the matter of the human spirit. Why do we stress so much the spirit when our heart is so crucial to the Lord’s growth in us? It is because Christianity has missed the mark of God’s purpose – which is our regenerated human spirit!
When we have a clear view of the spirit, the mingled spirit, we can also be clear about the heart and we can deal with the heart. Otherwise, you deal with the heart as you are being exposed, but for what purpose? The purpose of dealing with our heart is so that Christ as the Spirit mingled with and indwelling our spirit would spread into every part of our heart.
We don’t stop at the exercise of our spirit – we go on to deal with the heart, because when the spirit gets out, it passes through the heart and it is being “flavored” and mixed with the things in our heart. It is very good to exercise our spirit to touch the Lord, but we need to also deal with our heart so that we may give the Lord more room in our being for Him to increase in us.
When we see and know and touch our spirit, we will realize the importance of dealing with our heart for the spirit to have a proper issue, channel, and expression.
How much room does the Lord have in our heart? How much ground did we give the Lord in our daily living? Is the Lord growing in our being in a normal way? Is the Lord expressed through us, in our living and in our speaking?
Lord Jesus, we love You! Show us the crucial need to deal with our heart so that You may grow in us and have room in our being. Lord, save us from an impure heart, a wrong heart, or an evil heart. Lord, we open our heart to You. Continue to shine and expose what is in us. We want to agree with what Your light exposes in our heart. May You break through, Lord, and may You gain more room in our being. Lord, keep us exercising our spirit and dealing with our heart for Your spreading in us.
References and Further Reading
- This sharing is inspired from brother Andrew Yu’s sharing and portions in, Collected Works of Witness Lee (year 1970, vol. 1, pp. 391-413), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, ITERO spring 2013 “The Experience, Growth, and Ministry of Life for the Body“, week 3 entitled, The Urgent Need of the Growth of Life and Growing in Life by Dealing with the Heart.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Dig away, dig away, dig away, / All my troublesome emotions dig away! … All resistance in my will dig away! … All self-seeking in my heart dig away! … Life can flow, praise the Lord, life can flow! From the fountain in my heart, life can flow!
# So, Lord, I give my heart to Thee today, / That it may be Thy home in every way, / A place for Thee to come and settle down, / And all Thy grand recovery work to crown / In one new man.
# In dealings with the Lord as life / We need a proper heart, / That of His riches, in His grace, / We fully may take part.
About aGodMan
Thank you Dear Brother for this encouraging word! This word is so practical in our daily living.
Amen !!!
It is very good to exercise our spirit to touch the Lord, but we need to also deal with our heart so that we may give the Lord more room in our being for Him to increase in us. Amen. Cause me to deal with my heart Lord.
Amen!!! Deal our heart lord jesus and make your home in our being
Amen Lord Jesus deal with my heart until it is pure. I want You to be first place in everything.