Genesis 6:5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

By virtue of first use, heart here in the Hebrew is leb pronounced lāv. There is a rather long list of definitions for this word and I would like to focus on the places of the heart to understand what I asked yesterday, do we love God with mind or heart.

The seat of appetite.

The seat of passions and emotions.

The seat of courage.

I have chosen these three to focus upon because they are identified as seats, a place within us that implies residence or to rest upon, i.e. seated on the right throne of God in Christ.

We all were born with appetites and those have not been taken from us. I do not have to label those appetites for you, you all know them personally. Those in Christ also thirst and hunger after righteousness. Matthew 5:6

We all have passions and emotions. There are seven words in the Greek for love. Only those in Christ have been endowed with God’s perfect love, agapē.

Where we differ most from one personality to another is the issues of courage. We have the capacity for courage and we often do not know exactly the extent of that courage until tested. In this allow me to distinguish between human courage and Godly courage.

Godly courage allows our hunger and thirst for righteousness to control our fleshly appetites.

Godly courage allows agapē love to control passions and emotions.

Romans 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

This verse takes on new meaning when seen in the light of self-control based on your new creation in Christ and not by force of will.

A Christian’s heart after God is seated in Christ.

Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

A dear friend that passed away this year would tell me, “If it were a matter of will, I would have already done it.” This comment was made in reference to his personal salvation. At the time I was not sure if he understood what was being offered, a free will choice. Christ chose to go to the cross willingly. I was believing for John that all he had to do was chose to accept that offer.

Just maybe my dear friend had it more right than I did. He saw will as a function of the mind and salvation was a function of the heart. You have to open your heart and let Jesus in. Happily John did that and he became a new creation. His conversion was instant, powerful, and real. It was God sent.

The issue of will to believe is a convincing, not a conviction. John wanted to be convicted, and he found that before his passing, praise the Lord. This leads me to ask with all sincerity if we truly understand the difference between believing with the mind and believing with the heart? John did, praise God.

Being raised in what to think and how to act is not sufficient unto salvation. It takes heart.

Romans 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

If you cannot tell the difference between the will to believe and the heart to believe, ask yourself this very hard question: How do I believe?