Open Heaven 6 November 2024: Harden Not Your Heart 2
MEMORISE: Jeremiah 31:18
“I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God.”
READ: Hebrews 12:5-11 (KJV)
5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Read Yesterday’s Open Heaven Devotional Here
Sometimes, when you hear from God, it may be a rebuke. However, you must still open your heart to Him despite the rebuke. In any case, I would rather God rebuke me than stay silent. If a Christian only wants to hear sweet things from God but never wants to listen to His rebuke, he or she will eventually stop hearing from Him. You should be glad when God rebukes you because Hebrews 12:6 says that it is the child the father loves that he chastens. When David was rebuked in (2 Samuel 12:1-14), he did not harden his heart, rather, he repented, and God continued to walk with him.
How do you react when you hear a rebuke from your pastor? Do you harden your heart or do you make amends immediately? No matter how influential a believer is in ministry, or how gifted the fellow is in the Holy Spirit, if such a person hardens his or her heart against God’s rebuke, God can reject such a believer (1 Samuel 16:1). Psalm 51:17 says:
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
If you want God to keep walking with you and speaking to you, you need to have a broken spirit and a contrite heart. God is not moved by mere religious activity; He is most interested in a relationship with you. However, just as it is impossible to have a good relationship with someone that you cannot correct when he or she offends you, God will not dwell with hard-hearted individuals. He said in Isaiah 57:15:
For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
Beloved, when God rebukes you, whether through His word, a fellow believer, or directly by Himself, never harden your heart. Hardening your heart against His rebuke will only lead to destruction as we see in Proverbs 29:1:
He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
Do not despise rebuke from God, rather, embrace His correction as evidence of His love for you.
PRAYER POINT:
Please Lord, help me to yield to Your corrections at all times.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
John 13-15
Open Heaven 6 November 2024
