How To Believe In Your Heart?

[HannahElizaW]

How do we believe in our heart? More importantly, how do we know when we believe in our heart?

I can't seem to get that part down. In all things, I'm having a rough time understanding and even more so discerning.

One of my biggest struggles I face is pride. Pride like "I don't need Jesus." "I'm not a sinner" "My good deeds will save me." kind of thing. Besides battling that, how can we come to believe in Jesus with all our heart? I read in one place is following His instructions but another place says we have to have a revelation from the Spirit.... ???

One of the biggest things that troubles me is 1) I don't necessarily have an overwhelming fear of hell (no matter how much I want to). 2) The most godly sorrow I've ever been dealt with is sinning and then feeling guilty to a degree and a thought that says either "God doesn't like that" or "that's a sin against God" and then I tell myself "Man, I should pray about that" and then do... other than the few small times i receive a revelation and then start crying and blubbering and praying up to God that He may forgive me of my sins and help me turn from them. So in this point could possibly be a lack of godly sorrow / repentance 3) heartbreak. Like the song that sings "Jesus break our hearts for what breaks yours"...besides the pride that says I'm not a sinner...deep down I don't know what else I feel about being a sinner against God but one thing I do know is that I haven't experienced immense heartbreak as what someone told me they believe everyone must feel to truly repent... 4) Faith and Belief. Yes i know the verses but....how do i know if i truly believe or not and this isn't me just saying things from my head instead of my heart..

...i want to be saved and though my desires are small..I still don't understand if I truly believe in my heart or not..

Please help me as much as you can..

 

[Mister_Al]

Believe me, don't ask God to break your heart unless you are totally prepared for Him to answer the prayer. The answer you get may not be a warm, fuzzy, conviction that you have done something wrong but could be a severe chastisement that leads to understanding what the fear of the Lord really is. But if you do ask for it then receive it gratefully.

Jesus said that the mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart. If you can openly confess your faith then that's what you believe in your heart.

Blessings,

Alan

 

[HannahElizaW]

The answer you get may not be a warm, fuzzy, conviction that you have done something wrong but could be a severe chastisement that leads to understanding what the fear of the Lord really is.

Warm, fuzzy, conviction is what I've dealt with and I didn't think that was quite enough. And in my estate I think I need something like chastisement again..

 

[HannahElizaW]

Jesus said that the mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart. If you can openly confess your faith then that's what you believe in your heart.

I...ermm.....

 

[hedrick]

The OP’s question is alarmingly common. I’m afraid all the rhetoric about “heart religion” has left people with the impression that being a real Christian is about feelings. If you look at Jesus’ teaching, his emphasis was more on motivation and intent than feelings.

1) Jesus talked about hell, or at least some form of punishment after death. But I don’t see that he ever said we had to have overwhelming fear of it. My impression is that he used it as a kick in the pants to lazy servants, not as the primary motivation for following him. Note that his parables about judgement were always directed against supposedly religious people, and not against pagans or atheists. I think if you understand that you’re going to be held accountable for your actions, Jesus’ teaching has done its job, and you don’t need to worry that you’re not living in constant fear of hell.

Please also note that a lot of the judgement was aimed at people who didn’t bear fruit, or who didn’t care about those around them, not at “sinners” in the conventional sense. He was notorious for being soft on “sinners.”

2) and 3) Jesus’ wants us to focus on God and on others, not on ourselves. Justification is by faith, not brokenness. And faith means trusting Christ for salvation. When you’re not sure, look at what he did for you, not whether you’ve repented the right way or are sufficiently broken. If you’ve read anything about Luther’s life, that was precisely the trap he had fallen into. He could never believe that he had repented enough and that he was *truly* sorry. What he finally realized was the salvation didn’t depend upon the quality of his repentance but upon what Christ did for him.

I’m not denying that we need to look at our lives. Yes, we should examine our lives and repent where we fell short. Yes, at times God will break us. But that’s not where our salvation comes from. Justification comes by faith, meaning by trusting God. (Incidentally, justification by faith means that’s how we’re justified, not the basis of our justification. That is, to know we’re justified, we trust God. But it’s based on what God did, not the quality of our faith or trust.)

The reason this is a trap is because it cause people to look to themselves when they should be looking at Christ.

4) Ditto. The basis of justification is Christ’s action, not your faith. So you don’t need to worry whether you *truly* believe or not. Again, that’s the trap Luther was in before his conversion. Your belief isn’t why Christ accepts you. He accepts you because he loves you. Belief, i.e. trust in him, is how you respond to that. But he still loves you even if your trust is defective.

 

[AphroditeGoneAwry]

This thread needs to be merged with your other one on this very subject. I posted to it yesterday.

 

[Emmy]

Dear HannahElizaW. In Luke 10: 25-28: Jesus is asked: " Master, how to I get Eternal Life?" Jesus answered:
You know the first and great Commandment: Love God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
The second is like it: love thy neighbour as thyself. Do this and you shall live." Matthew 22: 35-40:" The Bible tells us: " Repent and be Born Again," give up all selfish and unloving wants and wishes, and start treating all you know and all you meet, friends and not friends, treat them as you would love to be treated. God will see your loving efforts, and God will know that you act from love and kindness, your heart is in what you are doing: Love God and love your neighbour.
In Matthew 7: 7-10: we are told: " ask and you shall receive," we keep asking for Love and Joy, then thank God and share all Love and Joy with our neighbour. God will approve and keep blessing you. God is Love, and God wants loving sons and daughters. The Holy Spirit will help and guide you, and Jesus our Saviour will lead you all the way:
JESUS IS THE WAY. You might stumble and forget at times, but then ask God to forgive you, and carry on being loving, kind and caring. Keep telling God in your prayers, and show God your loving heart.
I say this with love, HannaEliza. Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.

 

[insurchoftruth]

When somebody gives their life to Jesus, they become born again from the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God in them, will give them a measure of faith. Yes, we have the responsibility to believe, and we must make a decision to believe, but the Holy Spirit will help us with that.

Also, the Bible says that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. The more we read the Word of God, the stronger our faith will become.

 

[rivulet]

Hi Hannah,

I read your thread a couple of times and have some thoughts.

Firstly, do you believe that there is a God? Before I became a Christian I had already established a be effective in God (or in my case, an intelligent designer). I didn't think that all the improbabilities of this earth could have happened by chance and so it's more likely that something or someone put it all together. Belief in God is a foundational start.

Secondly, I had recognized my inferiority to this God. If he is able to create the miracle that is earth and all of it's surrounding life, am I even worthy to approach Him? Is there any praise or adoration that I could give him that could give him enough honor?

And with that, I realized that our God has very very very high standards. Isaiah says that even our good deeds are like filthy rags to God. To him, lust is adultery, and hatred is murder. Do you see what I'm saying?

I have hated and therefore I have murdered. I have used the LORD's name in vein and therefore I am a blasphemer. No good deeds can make up for blasphemy and murder. I could do nothing but good deeds for the rest of my life and never ever do enough to make up for it.

Now, I know that heaven is a place that our perfect God made for perfection and perfect people. I am not a perfect person so how can I expect to go to heaven?! But Jesus WAS perfect and that's why we believe in him. He covers us by his perfect sacrifice with his perfect blood and turns us into perfection.

It's hard to believe in Christ because this requires faith. But faith is also a choice. I choose to believe in Jesus EVEN if I don't feel anything at all.

For my whole life I will serve the one true God because he is God and I am loyal to Him alone.

 

[1watchman]

When the Bible speaks of the heart, Hannah, it is referring to devotion and not just a intellectual thing (see John 21: 15-17 ---Jesus trying to reach Peter's heart who spoke of "fondness" while the Lord was speaking about "devotion). If you can see how much God loves you and what He provided to save your soul on the Cross, you might become devoted to Him and make the Lord Jesus your best Friend. One cannot become too close to the Lord, so make it a daily practice.

 

[WillowWhisp]

Hello Hannah I am struggling with the same thing. I have read enough books to believe with my head that Jesus existed and that the bible is reliable and I have been hanging out for something to happen like a sign or a dream which will lead my heart to follow suit. It's been over a year now,, and honestly think it might never happen, even if God does do something for me I think my heart is so closed that it won't even recognise it (like, put it down to a coincidence.) Instead of just hanging and waiting for something to happen TO me, I feel like now I need to actively make a decision for myself just to believe anyway. Faith is not certainty, I think it's okay not to be certain that Jesus exists, because only a few lucky people get to actually see him or hear him or experience him. For the rest of us, just having that faith that I believe in God but I don't know, for sure, for certain whether he's there... well that might be okay.

Blessed are those who believe but have not seen (the beatitudes) the bible does not say 'know', it says 'believe'.

 

[Guru03]

To the OP, do not worry about only getting softly convicted of your sins or not being afraid of hell as a Christian. The good things is that you are being convicted of your sin- it doesn't matter if it is soft or hard- conviction is conviction. Since I became a Christian- I have not been afraid of hell (because I know that I am going to heaven because I have accepted Jesus). I am also not afraid of God and I don't fear Him anymore (I respect Him though). The dynamic of the dialogue between a human and God changes entirely when a human accepts Jesus- to where the believer has a personal relationship with God; the non-Christian is far from God and has no relationship with Him. When it comes to my sin conviction- I have been softly convicted many times and hard convicted only a few times. The first was that I had been a faker at being a Christian for a long time and that I had no personal relationship with Jesus- I got saved a while after figuring this out. The second was that I was being a proud, arrogant, hateful, stone throwing "Christian" (this occured before I became a Christian). The third was that my opinions were based on revenge, hatred, and meanness rather than Jesus, love, and compassion (this conviction was over time).

 

[HannahElizaW]

it doesn't matter if it is soft or hard- conviction is conviction.

I just...lately, I've been through a dry season and lately I've felt as if God was disappointed in me and lately, my conviction seems to be smaller and smaller. Now when I sin, I feel like I blew it. And get thoughts and feelings like I should just give up following Jesus since I mess up too much. Some things I struggle with is lying, gossiping, and anger issues. And when I get angry or when I retaliate to my sister, I get a very tiny and frail-like voice that says or implies that I sinned and I feel a bit l of shame concerning the fact that this is not what He wants and then it circles back to those feelings and thoughts I previously mentioned. HOPEFULLY this is all apart of the dry season and not anything to do with fading conviction... :/ though the latter is what it feels like is taking its toll..

 

[Sharon Hayes]

Life can make our faith wobbly, but a spec of faith is very powerful. You are to believe in your spirit, the heart of who you are, by accepting God's teaching. God's word is alive, it's fluid and pregnant. When you read God's word it's your spirit that receives, thus your heart is fed (your spirit and heart are one). Then you can truly say:

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Psalms 119:11

 

[Gary the Kid]

To the OP, do not worry about only getting softly convicted of your sins or not being afraid of hell as a Christian. The good things is that you are being convicted of your sin- it doesn't matter if it is soft or hard- conviction is conviction. Since I became a Christian- I have not been afraid of hell (because I know that I am going to heaven because I have accepted Jesus). I am also not afraid of God and I don't fear Him anymore (I respect Him though). The dynamic of the dialogue between a human and God changes entirely when a human accepts Jesus- to where the believer has a personal relationship with God; the non-Christian is far from God and has no relationship with Him. When it comes to my sin conviction- I have been softly convicted many times and hard convicted only a few times. The first was that I had been a faker at being a Christian for a long time and that I had no personal relationship with Jesus- I got saved a while after figuring this out. The second was that I was being a proud, arrogant, hateful, stone throwing "Christian" (this occured before I became a Christian). The third was that my opinions were based on revenge, hatred, and meanness rather than Jesus, love, and compassion (this conviction was over time).

You don't go to Heaven, according to Revelations you go to the New Earth............

 

[1watchman]

When the Bible speaks of the heart, Hannah, it is referring to devotion and not just a intellectual thing (see John 21: 15-17 ---Jesus trying to reach Peter's heart who spoke of "fondness" while the Lord was speaking about "devotion). If you can see how much God loves you and what He provided to save your soul on the Cross, you might become devoted to Him and make the Lord Jesus your best Friend. One cannot become too close to the Lord, so make it a daily practice.

I want to emphasize what I have already stated above. If one has a friend that they say is important to them, but never speaks to him/her or has communion with them, what kind of relationship is that? If the OP in this thread is speaking of no heart or devotion to the Lord Jesus, and only views Him as a God far off that is only known by rules and regulations, then that one is not "born again" by the indwelling Holy Spirit ---meaning no relationship with the Savior; and that is no entrance into Heaven. I wonder what the issue is in this original post, by saying "how to believe in your heart".

 

[Emmy]

Dear HannahElizaW. How to believe in your heart? Jesus gives us good advice. In Matthew 22: 35-40: Jesus tells us:
" The first and great Commandment is: Love God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. The second is like it: love thy neighbour as thyself." In verse 14 we are told: On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. God is Love and God wants loving sons and daughters. What do we do? In Matthew 7: 7-10:
we read: "ask and you shall receive," we ask God for Love and Joy, then thank God and share all love and joy with our neighbour. ( neighbour is all we know and all we meet, friends and not friends) We keep asking and receiving, then thank God and share all love and joy with our neighbour. God will see our loving efforts, and God will bless us.
We might stumble and forget at times, but then we ask God to forgive us, and carry on loving and caring.
The Bible tells us: " Ask and repent, give up all selfish wishes and wants, and start loving, caring and being always friendly. The Holy Spirit will help and guide us, and Jesus our Saviour will lead us all the way: JESUS IS THE WAY.
Love is very catching, and people will treat us the way we treat people: with love and compassion always.
I say this with love, Hannah. Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.

 

[com7fy8]

Some things I struggle with is lying, gossiping, and anger issues. And when I get angry or when I retaliate to my sister, I get a very tiny and frail-like voice that says or implies that I sinned and I feel a bit l of shame concerning the fact that this is not what He wants

Well, it is very good how you know that sinning is not only about things we do or do not do, but it has a lot to do with how we relate with other people. So, you can thank God that you know this

and then it circles back to those feelings and thoughts I previously mentioned.

Our pastor has preached that repenting is not only feeling sorry and not only turning from our sins, but repenting means turning to the Lord and having joy with Him. And is this me? I am concerned about myself, since I am not much of a joy person, or great at loving personally and affectionately. So, I be quiet, for God to do with me all He desires.

"Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." (James 5:16)

You have told us about yourself; and now you have us praying for you

And spend time with really loving people so we can feed on their example.

 

[toLiJC]

How do we believe in our heart? More importantly, how do we know when we believe in our heart?

I can't seem to get that part down. In all things, I'm having a rough time understanding and even more so discerning.

One of my biggest struggles I face is pride. Pride like "I don't need Jesus." "I'm not a sinner" "My good deeds will save me." kind of thing. Besides battling that, how can we come to believe in Jesus with all our heart? I read in one place is following His instructions but another place says we have to have a revelation from the Spirit.... ???

One of the biggest things that troubles me is 1) I don't necessarily have an overwhelming fear of hell (no matter how much I want to). 2) The most godly sorrow I've ever been dealt with is sinning and then feeling guilty to a degree and a thought that says either "God doesn't like that" or "that's a sin against God" and then I tell myself "Man, I should pray about that" and then do... other than the few small times i receive a revelation and then start crying and blubbering and praying up to God that He may forgive me of my sins and help me turn from them. So in this point could possibly be a lack of godly sorrow / repentance 3) heartbreak. Like the song that sings "Jesus break our hearts for what breaks yours"...besides the pride that says I'm not a sinner...deep down I don't know what else I feel about being a sinner against God but one thing I do know is that I haven't experienced immense heartbreak as what someone told me they believe everyone must feel to truly repent... 4) Faith and Belief. Yes i know the verses but....how do i know if i truly believe or not and this isn't me just saying things from my head instead of my heart..

...i want to be saved and though my desires are small..I still don't understand if I truly believe in my heart or not..

Please help me as much as you can..

the right exercise of faith is what cleanses the heart besides the cleansing of the true Lord God that is entirely of His Own Will, and this even means to clean and keep your heart clean from all kinds of misbeliefs and wrong spiritual practices/activities including the uncertain/unproven things in this regard, in addition to the contingent need to seek/invoke That Who really is the only true Lord God in order to be sure you have no other gods/lords besides Him especially if we have somehow and someway been under the influence of the system of human(666) religion/spirituality, because the spirits are usually invisible to us the humans and we usually can't/don't see what spirits (try to) influence/guide/lead us, yet if "with all our heart" accentuates some overwhelming bliss in meaning, then know that to be replete with bliss is not an object of first priority in the faith for the believer, but the true spiritual servants (will) have the great reward with God the Father in "heaven" for seeking true salvation for the others, otherwise if they are selfish/self-interested, then they will have no that reward

Blessings

 

[-57]

You don't go to Heaven, according to Revelations you go to the New Earth............

You do go to heaven...when the new earth is established you will parctipate in it.