Popular Post angels4u Posted May 5, 2019 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 56 Topic Count: 1,664 Topics Per Day: 0.20 Content Count: 19,764 Content Per Day: 2.39 Reputation: 12,164 Days Won: 28 Joined: 08/22/2001 Status: Offline Popular Post Share Posted May 5, 2019 Head Knowledge vs Heart Knowledge by Mike Mobley “Self-salvation through good works may produce a great deal of moral behaviour in your life, but inside you are miserable. You are always comparing yourself to other people, and you are never sure you are being good enough. You cannot therefore, deal with your hideousness and self-absorption through the moral law, by trying to be a good person through an act of the will. You need a complete transformation of the very motives of your heart.” – Tim Keller, The Reason for God When you hear about Jesus, what comes to mind? Who is Jesus to you? Depending on where you live, chances are you might have heard the Gospel before. Even now as you read this you might be saying to yourself “bla bla bla, yes I know the Gospel…move on to the next topic.” When it comes to Jesus, do you know Him in your head or in your heart? “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.” – Proverbs 3:5-6 Would you say you know Jesus in your head or in your heart? Tweet Quote We can fill up our heads with knowledge all day long. From reading the internet, studying books, watching TV, listening to music, and having conversations with others, it’s amazing to think how much goes into our heads each day. What would it mean though for us to apply these things to our hearts? When we apply something to our heart, it becomes very real for us at that point. It drives our minds, emotions, and affections towards whatever that thing or someone is. Heart Knowledge Jonathan Edwards from his sermon Divine and Supernatural Light has a great illustration to make this point using honey. He says, “your mind can know honey is sweet, people can tell you it’s sweet, you’ve read books about it, etc. but if you haven’t actually tasted it, you know with your head, but not with your heart. When you actually taste it, you experience it for yourself, you know it in a full way, and you can know it in your heart.” Knowing with your heart however, is not to be confused by being led with your emotions. That is not what I’m talking about here. You obviously still learn things with your head. For example, we can definitely have head knowledge, and not have the heart knowledge to go along with it. However, it’s impossible to know things in our hearts, but not in our heads. When it comes to the Gospel, yes, we need to learn in our heads what Jesus has done for us, but more importantly, we need to learn this in our hearts. It needs to become real to us, personally. That’s exactly what happened to me when I realized that Jesus died for me. A good way to think about this for yourself is when you read the Bible, pray, or when you’re involved in the local body (the Church), are you doing all of this out of an obligation to God to pay Him back for something or to earn your way? Or, instead, are you doing all these things because of an overflow of gratitude of what He has done for you? Are you loving Jesus with your heart or head? Head Knowledge When we say things like “I know God loves me, but I hate myself” or “I know God wants me to be generous, but I just can’t do it,” we are stating truths about God from our head and using that knowledge, but there is a lack of understanding in our heart. If we knew God truly loved us, we wouldn’t hate ourselves. God’s love would be so real to us that we would see ourselves the way He sees us, through His son, as an adopted child. If we knew God truly wanted us to be generous, we would joyfully give our money, time, and possessions back to Him and anyone in need. Especially because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). So where are you in this? If you haven’t been using heart knowledge, there is no need be feel guilty or condemned (Romans 8:1). Pray to God, ask Him to search your heart, test your thoughts, guide you into understanding that what Jesus has done for you is very real and personal. Make a decision to become a follower of Christ today and to realize that you are forgiven by God through Christ. “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” – Psalm 139:23-24 Question: When it comes to Jesus, do you know Him personally, in your head or in your heart? https://www.beforethecross.com/devotionals/head-knowledge-vs-heart-knowledge/ 2 3 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angels4u Posted May 5, 2019 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 56 Topic Count: 1,664 Topics Per Day: 0.20 Content Count: 19,764 Content Per Day: 2.39 Reputation: 12,164 Days Won: 28 Joined: 08/22/2001 Status: Offline Author Share Posted May 5, 2019 12 minutes ago, Margo73 said: I have always been more head than heart knowledge but I do think both are necessary .. one needs to know God to love Him .. having faith in what is unseen is good but if we read God's Holy Spirit inspired Word and Truth and come to know Him in an ever growing ever maturing personal intimate relationship, He will reveal Himself more and more to us and we shall draw closer and closer to Him and love Him more and more .. so, I do think both head and heart are needed and must work with each other, not against .. I keep praying for more heart knowledge .. just an added clarification .. I "know" I love God but I do not "feel" such love and want to both know and feel Hi Margo, When we realize how much God loves us, so much that He gave His only begotten Son to die for us, how can we not but love Him with our whole heart? But at the same time, we don't live by feelings but by every word of God. How do we get to know God? By reading His Word, He will let you know how valuable you are to Him, Jesus would have died for only you..isn't He amazing? Blow Up, Dry Up, or Grow Up If you have the Spirit without the Word, you blow up. If you have the Word without the Spirit, you dry up. If you have both the Word and the Spirit, you grow up. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post BeauJangles Posted May 5, 2019 Group: Royal Member Followers: 43 Topic Count: 229 Topics Per Day: 0.06 Content Count: 10,900 Content Per Day: 2.92 Reputation: 12,145 Days Won: 68 Joined: 02/13/2014 Status: Offline Birthday: 08/14/1954 Popular Post Share Posted May 5, 2019 34 minutes ago, Margo73 said: I "know" I love God but I do not "feel" such love and want to both know and feel It's nice to have both, I think. Just my personal opinion. May the Lord grant you the desires of your heart. God bless! Shalom, David/BeauJangles 4 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmuffet Posted May 6, 2019 Group: Royal Member Followers: 34 Topic Count: 1,991 Topics Per Day: 0.48 Content Count: 48,689 Content Per Day: 11.80 Reputation: 30,343 Days Won: 226 Joined: 01/11/2013 Status: Offline Share Posted May 6, 2019 As Christians we are to give our hearts to God. The human mind has been damaged by sin. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post turtletwo Posted May 6, 2019 Group: Royal Member Followers: 35 Topic Count: 1,192 Topics Per Day: 0.19 Content Count: 7,264 Content Per Day: 1.18 Reputation: 15,710 Days Won: 194 Joined: 07/15/2007 Status: Offline Popular Post Share Posted May 6, 2019 @angels4u Hi. Good subject. 10 hours ago, angels4u said: Question: When it comes to Jesus, do you know Him personally, in your head or in your heart? Turtle's answer: I know Him personally in my heart. The heart is (pun intended, sis ) the "heart of the matter." It is in the heart that sin is harbored. " For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." (Matthew 15:19) The heart leads to salvation. It is within the heart that conviction of being a sinner takes place and salvation occurs, as is described in Romans. “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved” (Romans 10:10). Salvation begins with a believing heart. It’s in our hearts that the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and beckons us to come to the cross. When we choose to respond in faith, our hearts are changed through the power of the Holy Spirit and we are never the same. The key to salvation in the heart is through accepting Christ’s sacrifice for our sins. 1 1 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Debp Posted May 6, 2019 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 52 Topic Count: 1,020 Topics Per Day: 0.15 Content Count: 12,318 Content Per Day: 1.80 Reputation: 16,368 Days Won: 92 Joined: 07/19/2005 Status: Online Popular Post Share Posted May 6, 2019 10 hours ago, Margo73 said: I have always been more head than heart knowledge but I do think both are necessary .. one needs to know God to love Him .. having faith in what is unseen is good but if we read God's Holy Spirit inspired Word and Truth and come to know Him in an ever growing ever maturing personal intimate relationship, He will reveal Himself more and more to us and we shall draw closer and closer to Him and love Him more and more .. so, I do think both head and heart are needed and must work with each other, not against .. I keep praying for more heart knowledge .. just an added clarification .. I "know" I love God but I do not "feel" such love and want to both know and feel Love is not always a certain way of feeling. Sometimes it is just a deep, settled peace within our hearts....that we know our Savior, and the peace He gives to us. 1 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post diane32 Posted May 6, 2019 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 12 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 159 Content Per Day: 0.03 Reputation: 292 Days Won: 0 Joined: 03/28/2010 Status: Offline Popular Post Share Posted May 6, 2019 4 hours ago, missmuffet said: As Christians we are to give our hearts to God. The human mind has been damaged by sin. Matthew 22:37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post AnOrangeCat Posted May 6, 2019 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 57 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 1,407 Content Per Day: 0.27 Reputation: 1,827 Days Won: 0 Joined: 12/24/2009 Status: Online Popular Post Share Posted May 6, 2019 I like this topic. Knowing it in my head as opposed to my heart is something I struggled with periodically while growing up. But I stuck with it and came to see God intervening in my life, and that helped develop the heart knowledge. It's a process I imagine a lot of people go through. 4 2 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post diane32 Posted May 6, 2019 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 12 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 159 Content Per Day: 0.03 Reputation: 292 Days Won: 0 Joined: 03/28/2010 Status: Offline Popular Post Share Posted May 6, 2019 I believe that sometimes we think we know it in our heart but we still do a works salvation and that shows that it's just head knowledge but other times we know it in the heart. Its a matter of continuosly being renewed in our minds by the word of God. There is a book by Watchman Nee called 'Sit Walk Stand' it's about the progress of Christian maturity it's a small book but is full of godly wisdom I would recommend it to everyone : )) 5 2 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post turtletwo Posted May 6, 2019 Group: Royal Member Followers: 35 Topic Count: 1,192 Topics Per Day: 0.19 Content Count: 7,264 Content Per Day: 1.18 Reputation: 15,710 Days Won: 194 Joined: 07/15/2007 Status: Offline Popular Post Share Posted May 6, 2019 7 minutes ago, diane32 said: There is a book by Watchman Nee called 'Sit Walk Stand' it's about the progress of Christian maturity it's a small book but is full of godly wisdom I would recommend it to everyone : )) @diane32 Thanks for this suggestion. I 'happened' (no coincidences with God ) to come across a quote of his just now while surfing the web. I thought you might enjoy, so I am posting it. (Also, a good one regarding salvation by Martin Luther.) “In saving the world, therefore, He does not try to alter man’s flesh; He instead gives man a new life in order to help put it to death. The flesh must die. This is salvation.” Watchman Nee “The recognition of sin is the beginning of salvation.” Martin Luther 4 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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