"1 Chronicles 29:17 near the beginning of the verse says that the Lord tests the heart and has pleasure in uprightness. This is obviously an uprightness of heart. It is not only in the outward appearance of being good but in the recesses of the heart where no one can see except the Lord Himself. Am I pure of heart? All things are open to the eyes of Him with Whom I have to do! What will He find when He looks in me? Will it be uprightness of heart? Will it please Him?"
These questions should be asked daily. The reason is that we are exposed to the pollutants of the world daily. Between the influences of the flesh, the world and the devil we are exposed to a lot! It can be overwhelming.
The good news is that when we are upright in our hearts we can make it through. Psalm 7:10 says that God is our defense and saves the upright in heart. We can't lose when God is protecting us.
How do we develop uprightness of heart? First of all we have to commit ourselves to the Lord's work in the heart. It starts at the point of salvation and goes on into our spiritual walk with God. We have to also guard our hearts. Jesus talked about light and darkness going in to the body through the lamp of the eye. Obviously there is more than just a physical thing going on here. We walk by faith and not by sight. So what we 'see' is very important. What are we dwelling on in our thought life? How many ungodly influences are we listening to? These are the influences that can darken our hearts.
Instead of being influenced by the world, the flesh and the devil allow yourself to be led by God. The Bible tells us to look unto Jesus. That looking to Jesus implies that you look away from everything else in order to focus the whole of your attention to one thing. Jesus has to be your one thing. When you focus on Him you will listen to His voice, see what He is doing and do the same and you will catch His heart; an upright heart.
Take the spiritual heart test today and ask those tough questions. As you find the results make the changes necessary to have an upright heart. God's pleasure will be on you and you will have Him as your defense!
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