"Hearts That Plot Wickedness" 11/18/25

Dear Brothers & Sisters,

How many of us plan evil even if we never 'do it'? I certainly have, many many times.

But God knows the thoughts and plans of our hearts. Our secret plans are not hidden from him. 

"Would not God discover this? For He knows the secrets of the heart" (Psalms 44:21)

"You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in...  your presence" (Psalm 90:8)

"I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds" (Jeremiah 17:10)

What is more, God hates "hearts that devise wicked plans" (Proverbs 6:18).

We see an example of how seriously God takes the desires of our hearts in the psalmist's prayer. The psalmist wrote "If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened" (Psalm 66:18). The psalmist's acknowledgement is a striking reminder that God does not treat sin as neutral, or as if it is harmless in small doses (even the smallest sin is corrosive) and neither should we. As followers of Christ we are called to mortify our sin, to kill our sin, by refusing to act on or entertain our sinful desires. 

Does this feel difficult, impossible, at times? 

We must never forget, this is a battle we cannot face alone. 

The Apostle Paul expressed our hope so well, 

"Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:24-25)

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:1-11) 

The battle plan: Trust in Jesus Christ. He did what we cannot do in our weakness. He alone can deliver you from sin and death. Then by His Spirit set your mind on God. Think His thoughts after Him and give thanks as He transforms and renews you by His grace. 

A word about our struggles

There is a difference between struggling against sinful desires and entertaining them, actually planning to do evil.  When we struggle by God's grace against our sin, saying no to desires that go against the will of God, we are effectively cutting off any influence they have over our lives. Those desires are sin, but we are putting them on the cross, putting our sin to death. This is different from entertaining desires, holding onto them secretly in our hearts, hiding them behind a pious exterior. When we are honest with ourselves, we know the difference between those times when we entertain sin, lingering on those thoughts, versus the times when we hate such thoughts and confess them to God. What sins we are most drawn to may be different from person to person. The question for all of us is "Will you do battle with your sinful desires or choose instead to cherish that which God hates?"

Grace & Peace,

Matt

Matthew Deneault