The sources of my heart

Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, "Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be." (NLT) In Proverbs 4:23, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do." (NLT) In Proverbs 21:2, "People may think they are doing what is right, but the Lord examines the heart." (NLT) "Obey God because you are His children. Don't slip back into your old ways of doing evil; you didn't know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God-who chose you to be His children-is holy. For He Himself has said, "You must be holy because I am holy". 1 Peter 1:14-16 (NLT) "David son of Jesse is a man after my own heart, for he will do everything I want him to do." Acts 13:22 & 1 Samuel 13:14 (NLT) The heart is the source of our emotions, thoughts and motives. "Heart is used in Scripture as the most comprehensive term for the authentic person. It is the part of our being where we desire, deliberate, and decide. It has been described as 'the place of conscience and decisive spiritual activity', 'the comprehensive term for a person as a whole; his feelings, desires, passions, thoughts, understanding and will.' and 'the center of a person. The place to which God turns'." Joseph M. Stowell (Fan the Flame) "God goes right for the heart. It is where He meets us. It is where He desires that the flame of an intimate, life-changing relationship with Him be fanned into a great source of spiritual heat and light. He desperately seeks to dwell with us at the core." Joseph M. Stowell (Fan the Flame) As a sinner, I am motivated by a desire that is not part of God. From my old creature, my sins are still in my heart where it pollutes worldly desires and causing me to think more worldly. My selfish desire for happiness and success are really more worldly than spiritually. It is interesting that people talks of faith in relation to "success". The measure of faith by some is defined how successful you are spiritually. I truly don't believe that God determine (measure) our faith based on our own works (success). The Bible teaches that the root of the flesh (sin) is selfishness. The very FIRST SIN occurred in heaven by Lucifer (Satan) was related to selfishness (wanting to be equal to God). I am learning that if I am seeking God for my own selfishness (self-interest) other than my personal salvation with Jesus Christ is a form of idolatry. I need to guard myself and be on the watch against any object of worship that belongs only to God. Biblically, the emphasis is not about happiness but about holiness. God is more concerned about holiness in my heart more than about my emotional being (i.e. happiness). God commanded is to be holy (actually blameless) because He is holy (1 Peter1:16 & Lev. 11:44,45). I should be seeking to KNOW God and HIS Will. I need to "take delight in the Lord, and He will give me my heart's desires" (Psalm 37:4). "To be a true Christian requires that we agree to forfeit the approval of the world." A.W. Tozer (The Price of Neglect) "A selfish desire for happiness is as sinful as any other selfish desire. Its root is in the flesh which can never have any standing before God." A.W. Tozer (The Price of Neglect) Page 36 "....the whole hectic scramble after happiness is as evil as certainly as is the scramble after money or fame or success. It springs out of a vast misunderstanding of ourselves and our true moral condition" A.W. Tozer (The Price of Neglect) Page 37 "There the emphasis is not upon happiness but upon holiness. God is more concerned with the state of people's hearts than with the state of their feelings. Undoubtedly the Will of God brings much final happiness to those who obey, but the most important matter is not how happy we are but how holy." A.W. Tozer (The Price of Neglect) Page 38 "Be assured that in the end you will be as happy as you are holy; but for the time being let your whole ambition be to serve God and be Christ-like. If we are to take a stand like that we may expect to know a new degree of inward purification and, God being who He is, we are more than likely to know a new degree of happiness as well, but a happiness that springs out of a more intimate fellowship with God, a happiness that is elevated and unselfish and free from the carnal drawing of the flesh." A.W. Tozer (The Price of Neglect) Pages 38-39 "Christ is concerned with more than what we do. He is initially concerned about why we do what we do. Christ wants our external activities to be produced out of a personal relationship with Him." Joseph M Stowell (Fan the Flame) "If Christ is my first love, then my behavior is not shaped by who is watching, what makes me feel good, what my hertiage says, what I have always done, or what someone else expects of me." Joseph M Stowell (Fan the Flame) As a believer of Jesus Christ, I should not fear of facing up my failures, guilt and sin because Jesus is in me. I need to have a personal relationship with Jesus by reading the scriptures and pray faithfully. The first step to clean out my heart is to admit that I am the one who is responsible for my own sins. I sin because I listen to my heart (my own selfish desires). My prayer: Lord Jesus, I thank you for saving my soul and I want to honor you and put you first in my heart. Help me to follow Your desires. Amen