Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD. — 2Ch 34:27 KJV
TEN'DER, Soft; easily impressed, broken, bruised or injured; not firm or hard; as tender plants; tender flesh; tender grapes.
TIND'ER, Something very inflammable used for kindling fire from a spark; as scorched linen.
A tender heart toward God becomes an impenetrable fortress against sin and Satan, but a heart hardened toward God becomes tinder for the fiery arrows that fly from Hell's pit.
Woe to the man whose heart is tinder, for the flames of sin ere long will engulf it. Satan looks for such hearts and drenches his arrows in the pitch of lies. If he can succeed in getting us to believe his lies, we'll be toast.
By our very nature, our hearts are as tinder: easily inflamed and susceptible to the subtlety of the Enemy because of its natural hardness towards God. On the other hand, a tender heart has been touched by the truth of God and brought to realize that Satan has been lying all along. This nature is called "the flesh" in Scripture.
The flesh may be defined as "man's fallen nature as under the power of sin." It is the evil principle in man's nature, the traitor within who is in league with the attackers without. The flesh provides the tinder on which the devil's temptations can kindle. -- J.O. Sanders, Enjoying Intimacy with God, Moody
What hope is there for our fallen nature? None. The sooner it's dead, the better. But there is great hope for the new nature. The new nature is given as a gift as a result of the bruising God provides the heart with to tenderize it and make it receptive to His word.
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. — 1Pe 1:23 KJV
The new nature is who we are in Christ now.
The new nature is who we are in Christ now.
No, that is not a typo. I said that twice for a reason. The devil wants to get us out of position. As long as we are abiding in Christ, he has no shot at us. He can fire every available artillery at his command, but they bounce off Christ like BBs off a tank.
If he can get us to believe a lie about God, ourselves, and our position, he can get us to yield our position and make us vulnerable.
That's why sound theology is essential. We must know who God is, what He's done, and what He's doing. The key to tenderness is in believing all that God has said about us and rejecting all the lies Satan tells about God.
When Satan poisons his arrow tips, he dips them in truths about a) what we've done in the past, b) our present failures, c) our current position, and then adds the falsehood, d) if God was...or e) if you were saved...
Satan wants us to feel guilt, to feel powerless, and to feel hardened toward God. Feelings must be brought to follow faith. Faith is believing what God says about us.
Feeling always seeks something in itself; faith keeps itself occupied with what Jesus is.… Forget not that the faith, of which God's word speaks so much, stands not only in opposition to works, but also in opposition to feeling, and therefore that for a pure life of faith you must cease to seek your salvation, not only in works, but also in feeling. Therefore let faith always speak against feeling. When feeling says, "In myself, I am sinful; I am dark; I am weak; I am poor; I am sad," let faith say, "In Christ, I am holy; I am light; I am strong; I am rich; I am joyful."
Is Your Heart Tender or Tinder?
08/15/2020
Day 227: Is Your Heart Tender or Tinder?
Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD. — 2Ch 34:27 KJV
TEN'DER, Soft; easily impressed, broken, bruised or injured; not firm or hard; as tender plants; tender flesh; tender grapes.
TIND'ER, Something very inflammable used for kindling fire from a spark; as scorched linen.
A tender heart toward God becomes an impenetrable fortress against sin and Satan, but a heart hardened toward God becomes tinder for the fiery arrows that fly from Hell's pit.
Woe to the man whose heart is tinder, for the flames of sin ere long will engulf it. Satan looks for such hearts and drenches his arrows in the pitch of lies. If he can succeed in getting us to believe his lies, we'll be toast.
By our very nature, our hearts are as tinder: easily inflamed and susceptible to the subtlety of the Enemy because of its natural hardness towards God. On the other hand, a tender heart has been touched by the truth of God and brought to realize that Satan has been lying all along. This nature is called "the flesh" in Scripture.
The flesh may be defined as "man's fallen nature as under the power of sin." It is the evil principle in man's nature, the traitor within who is in league with the attackers without. The flesh provides the tinder on which the devil's temptations can kindle. -- J.O. Sanders, Enjoying Intimacy with God, Moody
What hope is there for our fallen nature? None. The sooner it's dead, the better. But there is great hope for the new nature. The new nature is given as a gift as a result of the bruising God provides the heart with to tenderize it and make it receptive to His word.
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. — 1Pe 1:23 KJV
The new nature is who we are in Christ now.
The new nature is who we are in Christ now.
No, that is not a typo. I said that twice for a reason. The devil wants to get us out of position. As long as we are abiding in Christ, he has no shot at us. He can fire every available artillery at his command, but they bounce off Christ like BBs off a tank.
If he can get us to believe a lie about God, ourselves, and our position, he can get us to yield our position and make us vulnerable.
That's why sound theology is essential. We must know who God is, what He's done, and what He's doing. The key to tenderness is in believing all that God has said about us and rejecting all the lies Satan tells about God.
When Satan poisons his arrow tips, he dips them in truths about a) what we've done in the past, b) our present failures, c) our current position, and then adds the falsehood, d) if God was...or e) if you were saved...
Satan wants us to feel guilt, to feel powerless, and to feel hardened toward God. Feelings must be brought to follow faith. Faith is believing what God says about us.
Feeling always seeks something in itself; faith keeps itself occupied with what Jesus is.… Forget not that the faith, of which God's word speaks so much, stands not only in opposition to works, but also in opposition to feeling, and therefore that for a pure life of faith you must cease to seek your salvation, not only in works, but also in feeling. Therefore let faith always speak against feeling. When feeling says, "In myself, I am sinful; I am dark; I am weak; I am poor; I am sad," let faith say, "In Christ, I am holy; I am light; I am strong; I am rich; I am joyful."
Andrew Murray