Dear NCTC Partners,

We have now entered the last quarter of 2025. As we step into this new season, I would like us to take time to examine our hearts so that we may clearly hear the voice of God speaking to us.

Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship. God desires to have intimate fellowship with us in a living relationship, and He is speaking to us every single day. God communicates with us through our hearts. However, if we fail to guard and maintain our hearts—which are the channel through which God speaks—we may fail to hear Him, or even become indifferent to His voice.

Therefore, in this partner letter, I would like to share on how to properly guard our hearts so that we may hear the still, small voice of God.

The Bible shows us that God speaks with a still small voice:

(1 Kings 19:11-12, NKJV)
11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake;
12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

As verse 12 shows us, God speaks quietly and gently. Therefore, only when our heart is tender can we truly hear His voice. If you feel that compared to the past you have become dull in hearing God’s voice or in fellowshipping passionately with Him, I encourage you to use the words shared in this letter as a mirror to examine your heart.

(Hebrews 3:7-8, 13, NKJV)
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness.”
13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

Verse 8 warns us not to harden our hearts, and verse 13 explains that it is sin’s deceitfulness that hardens the heart. This means that sins we commit—whether knowingly or unknowingly—can harden our hearts and make us dull to God’s voice. But God desires that our hearts remain tender, so that we may hear His voice clearly and obey Him.

The Passion Translation (TPT) renders Hebrews 3:12-13 this way:

(Hebrews 3:12-13, TPT)
12 So search your hearts every day, my brothers and sisters, and make sure that none of you has evil or unbelief hiding within you. For it will lead you astray, and make you unresponsive to the living God.
13 This is the time to encourage each other to never be stubborn or hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

It tells us that if evil or unbelief remains hidden in our hearts, it will lead us astray and cause us to become unresponsive to the living God. I encourage you to examine yourselves—have you perhaps become less sensitive to the living God than before? We must never assume that as time goes on in our Christian walk, it is normal for our hearts to grow cold or less sensitive to spiritual things. What truly makes us insensitive to God are the sins and unbelief (doubts) that we allow into our hearts, which pollute and harden them. That is why we must search our hearts daily to ensure that sin does not hide within.

However, the standards and culture of the world we live in normalize sin to the point where it seems ordinary. If we are not discerning through the Word of God, it becomes very easy to commit sin without even realizing it. Yet the Bible clearly defines what sin is. So, what are the sins that the Bible identifies as those that harden our hearts and make us insensitive?

(Ephesians 4:30-32, 5:1-7, NKJV)
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

5:1-7
1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.
2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;
4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7 Therefore do not be partakers with them.

Ephesians 4:30 tells us that when we live in such sins, we grieve the Holy Spirit. To grieve the Spirit means that our hearts become dull, insensitive, and hardened, to the point that we can no longer hear what He is saying. While Scripture lists many forms of sin, we can broadly group them into eight categories:

1) Covetousness → greed, envy, idolatry, always wanting more, chasing status, possessions, or money
2) Fornication → lust, immorality, pornography, casual sex, affair, ignoring God’s design for purity
3) Anger → violence, rage, hatred, short temper, road rage, violence, verbal attacks, uncontrolled emotions
4) Bitterness → unforgiveness, resentment, holding offenses, cutting people off, cancel culture spirit
5) Profane → disrespect for God , irreverence, corrupt talk, mocking faith, treating holy things as common
6) Unbelief → rejection of God’s Word, skepticism toward God’s Word, living as if God isn’t real, distrusting
7) Worry → overthinking, stress, constant worry, anxiety, panic, making decisions ruled by fear
8) Pride → self-centeredness, arrogance, needing recognition, refusing correction, relying on self instead of God

These are the eight categories of sin that the Bible often addresses—covetousness, fornication, anger, bitterness (root of unforgiveness), profanity, unbelief, worry, and pride. We live in a sinful world where most of the media that shapes our values actually promotes these very sins. Unless we intentionally address our hearts with the Word of God, we will naturally conform to the culture that encourages these sins. As a result, we may end up living in sin without conviction, our hearts hardened, and find ourselves drifting further from God.

It’s important to see that not only obvious sins like fornication or anger, but also bitterness (holding offenses and refusing to forgive), covetousness, profanity, unbelief, worry, and pride are described in the Bible as sins that grieve the Holy Spirit. Therefore, I encourage you to carefully examine whether you have unknowingly allowed any of these into your heart.

(Matthew 5:8, NKJV) Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
(Psalm 66:18, NKJV) If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.
(Psalm 66:18, TPT) Yet if I had closed my eyes to my sin, the Lord God would have closed His ears to my prayer.

The Bible teaches us that when our hearts are pure and cleansed from sin, God will hear our prayers. Therefore, let us repent before the Lord of the unbelief we have allowed (disappointments with God, discouragement from unfulfilled promises), the worries and anxieties, the wounds, the pride that makes us quick to judge others, as well as lust, greed, anger, and bitterness. Let us ask that our hearts be cleansed through the blood of Jesus Christ.

As new creations, we are called to put off the old man with its sinful nature and walk in the new nature given to us in Christ. When our hearts are purified by His blood and His Word, we will become sensitive to the living God again, easily hearing His voice and walking in obedience to His leading.

Therefore, as we begin October and the final quarter of this year, I exhort you to examine the state of your heart, cleanse it through the blood and Word of Christ, and then quietly tune your ear to hear the voice of the Lord as He leads you.

(Psalm 51:10, 17, NKJV)
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise.

Prayer

Heavenly Father,
We thank You that through the precious blood of Jesus Christ, all our sins are removed and we are cleansed from all unrighteousness. Thank You for consuming with Your fire every hidden evil and unbelief within our hearts, and for renewing us with hearts that are sensitive and responsive to the living God. Thank You for giving us tender hearts that can clearly hear Your still small voice. Thank You for speaking to the hearts of our partners with Your gentle voice and leading them into Your highest plans. We are grateful that You, the God who abundantly provides every favor and blessing of the earth, cause the seeds our partners sow to prosper, and make the fruits of righteousness abound in their lives.
We pray this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

John K. Cho & Paula Kim
NCTC Representatives
October 3, 2025