David Yarbrough
James 4:6 (CSB)
But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
It is in the desperation of our hearts that we discover our need for God's grace.
How do you feel once you discover you've been deceived? That is a unique feeling that can be a mixture of anger, disappointment, discouragement, and embarrassment. Many times, when we find ourselves the victims of deception, we struggle with the thought, “How could I be so stupid?” One of our primary problems with deception is that our own hearts can be used against us. How many times have you heard it said, "Just follow your heart"? The world is constantly promoting this message. Because it wants you to believe your heart is good and you only need yourself for guidance. "You don't need anyone to help you; you're independent, strong, and self-sufficient—you are good." The enemy is always using deception to get you to isolate yourself. The message is always that your heart will never mislead you. Once again, the kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of God are in direct opposition to one another.
Jeremiah 17:9 (CSB)
The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?
Jeremiah 17:9 exposes the problematic nature of the human heart. Due to the fact that it is tainted by original sin (Gen. 3). The deceitfulness of our own hearts makes us prone to deceive not only others but also ourselves. The severity of our nature is revealed in the fact that we have no power to convert our own hearts, indicating our total inability to save ourselves.
Romans 3:23–24 (CSB) supports this view: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” The apostle Paul makes it clear in these verses that we have a total depravity of sin that renders us powerless to obtain God's glory, but that we can be justified and made right in God's sight only by His grace through the reconciling power of the cross of Christ.
We are in deep need of the transformative power of God's grace. We must understand that God's grace is not simply a form of divine assistance to our human effort; it is a radical intervention of God that transforms our hearts in nature and gives us a new birth. Through the grace of God, we are reborn and transformed from the inside out; we become new creations in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17).
As harsh and painful as Jeremiah 17:9 can seem to be, the next verse gives us hope, for it says, Jeremiah 17:10 (CSB), “I, the Lord, examine the mind; I test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve.” I realized at first reading that it may not seem very hopeful because it refers to us getting what we deserve. However, from a Kingdom perspective, it is brimming with hope. In Kingdom living, the most important aspect is that the Kingdom of God is expanding in your heart. This is all about your heart being transformed.
Through your identity in Christ, God is changing every characteristic of your heart, as we see in Ezekiel 36:26 (CSB), “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” With this in mind, the hope filled aspect of Jeremiah 17:10 is that God says that He examines our minds and tests our hearts. The encouraging aspect of this is that God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows exactly what we need and when we need it in order to bring life and transformation into our hearts. He sees the rebellious, prideful, and hard aspects of our hearts. And through the power of the Holy Spirit, He can turn and churn and work inside our hearts to soften them, transform them, and bring them into Kingdom alignment.
We should be praying Psalm 139:23–24 (CSB) every day: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way.” It is when we realize the desperation condition of our hearts that we discover our need for God's amazing grace.
Hebrews 4:16 (CSB)
Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.