20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.
1 John 3:20,21

Our hearts will condemn us, our emotions will try to steer our path, and our reason will soon follow to sort out our confusion and pain. Guilt and regret are the emotions that we carry as baggage ever slowing progress in our pilgrimage in Christ. The emotions of our heart and our attempts to free ourself through reason is a lack in trust in God. It is our human nature to quickly abandon trust in God and rely on our strength to fight through that which condemns us. The condemnation of our heart is a burden that we need to throw upon the shoulders of Jesus whose burden is light. That is His word. Emotions that condemn will bury us. Understand that God knows our hearts:

Would not God search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart. Psa 51:10

My flesh and my heart fail; [But] God [is] the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psa 73:26

The verse above is a great parallel to v. 20. We will get let down, we will get buried in emotion, and we will fall from trust in God. This is the test of our trust. Remember we can have hope in heaven from God’s promises but we need to trust that how He works in our life is for our refinement and part of our perfection – another of the Lord’s promise.

All is from Him and we need always to focus on that lest our emotions deceive us. In our trust is confidence. This is an emotion killer and keeps our perspective in the right place. Our perspective is that of a child of a loving Father from whom we have ALL of our trust in. For we cannot do it on our own.

Peace and Love in Christ,

Rick Stassi

October 14, 2011