Hard Heartedness
Nothing can penetrate a heart made out of stone.
by Keith Axsom
Our heart enables us to discern spiritual things. We develop hard heartedness when we focus more on natural things than spiritual things. The state of our heart will determine how open we are to the word and how open we are to discern spiritual things. Our focus will determine whether or not our heart is hard. We can either allow the things of life to come into our heart – or the things of death. The more we focus on the carnal, or the natural things, the less we will be able to comprehend spiritual things. Or, in reverse, the more we focus on the word or on spiritual things, the more we will be able to receive from God…and work in the supernatural.
This is one reason scripture says to Guard your heart, for out of it flow the issues of life. - Proverbs 4:23. The things that we allow in will affect us in either a carnal, or a spiritual way. If we sit around and watch Seinfeld (I love Seinfeld), and spend all of our free time watching TV, we cannot help but to become more carnal. This allows the world to come into our hearts and makes us more like the world – that is, our hearts will become hard to spiritual things. If we spend time in the word, or praying in tongues, or fellowshipping with God, we become more in tune with the Holy Spirit and our heart is open (soft) to things of God.
Think of a picture of a hard heart, or a heart made out of stone. Nothing can penetrate it, nothing can get inside it. It is a cold, dark, unmoving object. Now picture a live, beating heart. It ispliable, it has blood coursing through it. It is a heart that is receptive and can be moved by the word. Jesus chastised the people and the disciples for having dull, or hard hearts.
Lets look at some biblical examples. Matthew 13:15 - For the heart of this people has become dull, with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them.
Jesus related a “dull heart” to the people, which rendered their other senses as useless in their ability to understand things of the spirit. They need to “understand” with their heart, but they could not do it because their heart’s were not in a position to receive. A hard heart means you cannot “see”, you cannot “hear” and you will be unable to comprehend biblical truths.
Matthew 16:5 And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. And Jesus said to them, "Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, "He said that because we did not bring any bread." But Jesus, aware of this, said, "You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread ? "Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up? "Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up? "How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread ? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
I laugh every time I read this scripture where the disciples say “he said that because we did not bring any bread”. I think, just how simple were the disciples!? Of course, if I had been there I would have said the same thing! Jesus rebuked them because they did not remember the other miracles he had done. They had hard hearts. They were like men who, after looking in the mirror, turned around and forgot what they looked like (James 1:23 – 24). It was not as if they hadn’t experienced the miracles, they had. But there was no heart change as a result. This is due to a lack of “understanding”. A soft hard is critical when it comes to “understanding” the things of God. Matthew 13:13 says “because they seeing see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand”. The disciples did not understand as yet due to hard hearts.
Mark 6:52 - For they considered not the miracles of the loaves, for their heart was hardened. They did not “consider” (meditate on, think about) the miracles. They saw with their eyes, but their souls had not been changed. They still allowed the world to dictate what was real to them. When all that we believe is what we can see, taste, smell, hear and feel, then our hearts are hard and we cannot allow the spirit to minister to us and speak to us. Spending all of our time on carnal things will do that. After all, we believe we are saved by faith, which means that a change has been made in our hearts which allows us to “see” the truth. I believe that is why an overwhelming percentage of Christians get saved before they hit 20 years old. As time goes on, the world becomes more and more a part of us – which renders the human soul less sensitive to the leading of the spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:14 - For the natural man cannot understand the things of the spirit, they are nonsense to him, and he cannot know them, for they are spiritually discerned. A “natural” man is a carnal man with an unregenerate spirit, a man who’s carnal nature not understand the things of God. In short, that man has a heart soft to the world, but a hard heart to the things of God. This is the state of the “natural”, or worldly, man. That can also be the state of the Christian if we allow the world to influence us more than God's word influences us.
Our thoughts, and what we allow to come into our minds…will determine how hard or soft our hearts are, and how much the spirit can influence us. Think about how much time you spend in the word, praying, thinking about god and the things of Him. How does it compare with our other activities you spend your free time on? If we really want to hear from God, we need to “know” him in a relational way, which comes from our spending time with him. As a result our hearts will be soft and open to the things of God. God is always speaking to us, but we do not always “hear” due to the hardness of our hearts. Less time spent on carnal, or worldly endeavors…and more time spent with the Lord and his word, will give us soft hearts. We will then be able to “hear, see and understand” the things that God is trying to speak to us.
Our heart enables us to discern spiritual things. We develop hard heartedness when we focus more on natural things than spiritual things. The state of our heart will determine how open we are to the word and how open we are to discern spiritual things. Our focus will determine whether or not our heart is hard. We can either allow the things of life to come into our heart – or the things of death. The more we focus on the carnal, or the natural things, the less we will be able to comprehend spiritual things. Or, in reverse, the more we focus on the word or on spiritual things, the more we will be able to receive from God…and work in the supernatural.
This is one reason scripture says to Guard your heart, for out of it flow the issues of life. - Proverbs 4:23. The things that we allow in will affect us in either a carnal, or a spiritual way. If we sit around and watch Seinfeld (I love Seinfeld), and spend all of our free time watching TV, we cannot help but to become more carnal. This allows the world to come into our hearts and makes us more like the world – that is, our hearts will become hard to spiritual things. If we spend time in the word, or praying in tongues, or fellowshipping with God, we become more in tune with the Holy Spirit and our heart is open (soft) to things of God.
Think of a picture of a hard heart, or a heart made out of stone. Nothing can penetrate it, nothing can get inside it. It is a cold, dark, unmoving object. Now picture a live, beating heart. It ispliable, it has blood coursing through it. It is a heart that is receptive and can be moved by the word. Jesus chastised the people and the disciples for having dull, or hard hearts.
Lets look at some biblical examples. Matthew 13:15 - For the heart of this people has become dull, with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them.
Jesus related a “dull heart” to the people, which rendered their other senses as useless in their ability to understand things of the spirit. They need to “understand” with their heart, but they could not do it because their heart’s were not in a position to receive. A hard heart means you cannot “see”, you cannot “hear” and you will be unable to comprehend biblical truths.
Matthew 16:5 And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. And Jesus said to them, "Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, "He said that because we did not bring any bread." But Jesus, aware of this, said, "You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread ? "Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up? "Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up? "How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread ? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
I laugh every time I read this scripture where the disciples say “he said that because we did not bring any bread”. I think, just how simple were the disciples!? Of course, if I had been there I would have said the same thing! Jesus rebuked them because they did not remember the other miracles he had done. They had hard hearts. They were like men who, after looking in the mirror, turned around and forgot what they looked like (James 1:23 – 24). It was not as if they hadn’t experienced the miracles, they had. But there was no heart change as a result. This is due to a lack of “understanding”. A soft hard is critical when it comes to “understanding” the things of God. Matthew 13:13 says “because they seeing see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand”. The disciples did not understand as yet due to hard hearts.
Mark 6:52 - For they considered not the miracles of the loaves, for their heart was hardened. They did not “consider” (meditate on, think about) the miracles. They saw with their eyes, but their souls had not been changed. They still allowed the world to dictate what was real to them. When all that we believe is what we can see, taste, smell, hear and feel, then our hearts are hard and we cannot allow the spirit to minister to us and speak to us. Spending all of our time on carnal things will do that. After all, we believe we are saved by faith, which means that a change has been made in our hearts which allows us to “see” the truth. I believe that is why an overwhelming percentage of Christians get saved before they hit 20 years old. As time goes on, the world becomes more and more a part of us – which renders the human soul less sensitive to the leading of the spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:14 - For the natural man cannot understand the things of the spirit, they are nonsense to him, and he cannot know them, for they are spiritually discerned. A “natural” man is a carnal man with an unregenerate spirit, a man who’s carnal nature not understand the things of God. In short, that man has a heart soft to the world, but a hard heart to the things of God. This is the state of the “natural”, or worldly, man. That can also be the state of the Christian if we allow the world to influence us more than God's word influences us.
Our thoughts, and what we allow to come into our minds…will determine how hard or soft our hearts are, and how much the spirit can influence us. Think about how much time you spend in the word, praying, thinking about god and the things of Him. How does it compare with our other activities you spend your free time on? If we really want to hear from God, we need to “know” him in a relational way, which comes from our spending time with him. As a result our hearts will be soft and open to the things of God. God is always speaking to us, but we do not always “hear” due to the hardness of our hearts. Less time spent on carnal, or worldly endeavors…and more time spent with the Lord and his word, will give us soft hearts. We will then be able to “hear, see and understand” the things that God is trying to speak to us.