The Restored Heart

Below is but a small measure of revelation that my father had received from the Lord. I hope this will be a blessing to you. All that is written below are the words of my father.

The Restored Heart 

In loving memory of my father
Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett
July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023

In this word we want to share several (of many) matters of the restored heart, as it pertains to us as individual believers in Christ. In other words, what does the life of the individual as well as the functioning of the corporate body look like after we have prepared the way of the Lord? 

But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his [Eliab's] countenance, or on the height of his stature: because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7

The first requirement on our part is a heart attitude of giving all the glory to God. We should let the glory and honor of God be habitually and in reality the chief end of all of our actions. To give glory to God should be the greatest desire of every believer. Not only should this be the supreme goal for our individual lives, but it should also be true whenever we gather in our local churches.

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:20

Everything and everyone has been designed to show forth His glory.

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork.

Psalm 19:1

Even every one that is called by My name: for I have created him for My glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him. Isaiah 43:7

Scripture speaks of various forms or levels of glory. There is a glory of man and there is the glory of God. The glory of man is taken for worldly splendor and magnificence, which make kings glorious before men. Solomon, in all of his glory and in his richest ornaments was not arrayed nearly as beautiful as the lilies of the field (Matthew 6:28-29). We speak here only of the glory of God. By glory we mean, at the highest level, not only the essence of who God is, in all of His omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence, but also His manifest presence. He IS our glory!

My glory and the lifter up of mine head. Psalm 3:3

I am the Lord: that is My name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Isaiah 42:8

The Father glorified the Son (John 13:31) and the Son glorified the Father (John 17:4). When the Lord says, in Isaiah 42:8, that "my glory I will not give to another," He means that there is no real glory outside of Christ. "He is bringing many sons to glory" (Hebrews 2:10). "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).

One of the multitude of ways that we give glory to God is through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, whether we are alone or in the midst of the congregation. Johann Sebastian Bach once said:

The aim and final reason for all music should be nothing else but the glory of God and the refreshment of the spirit.

One of my favorite hymns is, "To God Be the Glory," written by Fanny Crosby. Two of the stanzas of that great hymn are:

To God be the glory, great things He hath done! 

So loved He the world that He gave us His Son, 

who yielded His life an atonement for sin 

and opened the life gate that all may go in.

Great things He hath taught us, 

great things He hath done, 

and great our rejoicing thru Jesus the Son; 

but purer and higher and greater will be 

our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.

Not My Will But Thine Be Done

"Standard" Christian teaching says that we consist of body, soul, and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23). "Standard" teaching also says that our soul likewise consists of three parts ... the mind, will, and emotions. Moreover we have free will ... we are able to make free choices and decisions ... we are NOT a robot with no will of our own. The same was true of Jesus when He came to the earth in the form of a man. (We believe that most of our problems stem from our disobedience and self-will, not from the devil.) I visited one church a few years ago. The question was asked, "Did Jesus have a choice when He went to the cross?" The leadership said, "No, Jesus did not have a choice." We must respectfully disagree. We believe that Jesus had (has) a free will of His own, but He always subjected His own will to the will of the Father. We must do the same.

38 Then saith He unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with Me.

39 And He went a little farther, and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt. Matthew 26:38-39

If Jesus Himself prayed (Verse 39) that the will of the Father might be done, can we do anything less? We must be careful not to run ahead of the Lord, thinking that we already know the will of the Lord in a given situation.

Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work. John 4:34

Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of Me,) to do Thy will, O God. Hebrews 10:7

Jesus came to earth as a man to do the will of the Father. We have the same mission ... to do the will of the Father. We, like Jesus as a Man, have a will. The will of man is, by our sinful nature, to do our own will ... to satisfy our carnal desires and lusts. Even after we are apprehended by the Spirit of the Lord, we still tend, at times, to let our will override the will of the Father. But our will must become a servant to the will of the Father.

If you think about all of the "great" men and women in the Bible, they all came to the place where the will of God was uppermost in their minds. For example, let us revisit Samuel.

4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,

5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord

7 And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not rule over them. 1 Samuel 8:4-7

Note, in Verse 6, above, that the request of the elders displeased Samuel. Samuel KNEW that the request of the elders was not in the will of the Lord. Nevertheless, even though he knew their request was misguided, he still prayed and asked the Lord what he should do! Samuel COULD have told the elders that their request was displeasing to the Lord and that he would do no such thing. But he did not take the matter into his own hands. Instead he prayed and asked the Lord what he should do. We should do the same as did Samuel in every situation of any consequence! Is it the will of the Lord for believers to be healed of sicknesses and disease? Of course! But we need to be careful that we don't fix the fix that the Lord has set up because the Lord is after some higher purpose in that believer's life. We need to be "neutral" in heart and mind and will as we pray for the Lord to reveal His will. Otherwise we become like Moses, who struck the rock the second time because he saw that it "worked" once.

Come and See

35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;

36 And looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God.

37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto Him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest Thou?

39 He saith unto them, Come and see. John 1:35-39

The two disciples, in the above verses, asked where Jesus dwelt physically ... what house or tent. However, Jesus gave them a spiritual answer, and one that they did not understand. That last verse may be translated as, "Come and you shall see!" See what? more scriptural truth? NO! Come to Jesus where He is and you shall see THE TRUTH ... Jesus Himself, the personification of all truth. Where does Jesus dwell today? the same place that he has always been ... in the realm of the Spirit. And so the key for us today is the same key that has always been there ... coming to Jesus. Jesus prayed,

Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world. John 17:24

Note that Jesus did NOT pray that they might be with Him where He would be, but where He was, even before His crucifixion, death, and resurrection. Where was Jesus? in the realm of the Spirit! Man is forever trying to pull Jesus down to where we are, but Jesus wants to draw us, by His Spirit, up to where He is! When Jesus was crucified, we were crucified with Him. When Jesus died on the cross, we died with Him, When Jesus arose from the grave, so did we. In all points we must identify with the Lord Jesus!

It is only by the grace of God that we have been allowed to come unto Jesus initially and experience His saving grace.

No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him.

John 6:44

The mark of Christian maturity is the degree to which we have become as a little child. When we come to Jesus, we must come as a little child, trusting completely in Him.

Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Luke 18:16

Some wonderful results of coming to Jesus are (1) a quenching of our thirst, (2) eternal life, and (3) rest.

If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. John 7:37

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.

Matthew 5:6



39 Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me.

40 And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life. John 5:39-40

Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

This rest that Jesus spoke about is the same rest spoken of ten times in Hebrews, Chapters 3 and 4. That rest is a ceasing of our works and an entering into the works that the Father has ordained for us to walk in from before the foundation of the world.

However, coming to Jesus, except for the initial salvation experience, is not free. There is a price to pay.

And when He had called the people unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto them, Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. Mark 8:34

There is a difference between knowing about someone and knowing that person. In one sense you all know me, but you actually only know a few things about me. My wife, Linda, knows me very well! Why? because she has lived with me for 61 years. She knows my strengths and my weaknesses. In like manner, the only way we can truly know Jesus is to come to Him, dwell with Him and He with us, be taught by Him, learn to trust Him.


10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put My laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people:

11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest.

Hebrews 8:10-11

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. 1 John 3:2

Knowing the Lord was/is a sign of Israel's blessing.

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:9

10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people:

11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest.

Hebrews 8:10-11

Similarly, evils came to Israel from not knowing the Lord.

The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: But Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider. Isaiah 1:3

The Greek word, eido (pronounced i'-do) is translated "know" in the New Testament 180 times and 80 times as "see." Conclusion? To see Him is to know Him!

When Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, He said, "If ye have seen Me, ye have seen the Father" (John 14:8-9).

Christianity is not a religion but a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. You can read about Christianity all you want, but you will never know the depths of that Man from Galilee until you experience Him, walk with Him, dwell with Him, and understand His ways. It is one thing to understand Scriptural truth. It is quite another to experience THE Truth (the person of the Lord Jesus Christ).

Historically, we can (and do) hear, understand, and recover scriptural and doctrinal truth (by the grace of God). We also can (and do) become satisfied and even ecstatic with this newly unveiled scriptural truth. We can go to our nice meetings, sing some nice, worshipful songs, hear a nice polished teaching or preaching (perhaps with some new revelation), say some nice prayers, and never know what we are missing! We need to be careful that we are not "playing" church. We need to be very careful that we do not fall into the category of,

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. 2 Timothy 3:5 

You will NEVER have a fruitful local church simply by reading a book, not even the Bible!
Jesus said to the Jews,

39 Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me.

40 And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life. John 5:39-40

The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life (2 Corinthians 3:6). A good book about the Church can only point you in the right direction. The ONLY way to have a fruitful, thriving local church is to "Come and see Jesus." Seek Him who is the author and finisher of our faith. After all, He is the one who founded the Church. He has ALL of the keys to success. Unless the Lord is satisfied, neither will a local church be satisfied or fulfilled. Only the Lord can bring about fulfillment and satisfaction in an individual life or in a church. Never lose sight of your priorities. The Lord MUST be first. He must come first before our spouse, our children, our job, and even our God-given ministry. But we can NEVER be fully satisfied until the experiential life of Christ is made manifest within us! Christ in you, the hope of glory! The ONLY way we will ever be satisfied is given by:

As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness. Psalm 17:15