January 28, 2018 FROM THE HEART
Matthew 5:18 “But the things that proceed out if the mouth come from the heart, and these defile the man.”
Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
What is in our heart is the crucial thing in life, and what is in our heart has a way of being exposed. Our words, our thoughts, and our action have their roots in our hearts. The truth we may often overlook is that it is not the other person or the unpleasant circumstance that is the real problem; the problem is our response, and our response flows from our heart. If we find ourselves expressing anger, being critical of others, being resentful, being difficult to get along with, living with discouragement, having the wrong thoughts, etc., then we have a heart problem. There are times when God allows certain things to happen with the purpose of exposing what is in the heart. For example, when someone says or does something that stirs up anger in me-what they said or did is not the problem-it is my response that comes from my heart that is the problem. The good news for believers is that God has given us a new heart-not a reconditioned one-and this new heart is pure. We can live from this new heart by walking according to the Spirit, but we can also choose to walk according to the flesh-according to our old heart. As believers, it is a wise, and it is also in keeping with scripture, for us as to routinely examine the fruit that our heart is bringing forth. We can determine the condition of our heart by listening to the words we speak and by evaluating our thought life. As said above, if we are believers, God has given us a new heart, but He has also given us the responsibility to steward or watch over our heart. According to Proverbs 21:2, what matters is what God sees in our heart, not our justification or our opinion of what is in our heart: “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.” Having a heart that is pure and pleasing to the Lord and a heart that blesses others is not a difficult thing. Our part in the process is to live according to the new creation we are in Christ, according to the direction of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Let us not spend this life allowing our heart to produce bad fruit that injures others and robs us of the life God has for us, but let us live out of the heart God has given us, and bless and encourage others, and experience life to the fullest. Each of us at times have responded out of a bad heart and have tasted that fruit, but let us see those times as a time when God, out of His love for us, revealed what was in our heart in order that we could repent and return to walking according to the new person we are, according to our true identity in Him.
Ezekiel 36:26 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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