The Bible tells us that the hidden person of the heart is where the Lord's eyes are fixed (1 Peter 3:4). What are the motives of your heart? Solomon tells us that "People eventually reveal by their actions if their motives are on the up and up" (Prov. 20:11 MSG). According to Proverbs 27:19, the heart reflects the man. We should have our hearts close to God not just give him "lip service" *** (Matthew 15:8).
And know that eventually, what is hidden in our hearts will come out of our mouths (Matthew 15:18). What we store up is what comes out (Matthew 12:35).
The sermon on the mount shows us what a "right" relationship with God really looks like. That is where the beatitudes were given. And Matthew 5:8 says "Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God". I don't know about you, but my goal is to see God!
When we surrender wholly to him, he starts to change us from the inside out. We know when this has happens. We can tell by the way a life is lived; it is shown by the fruits of one's labor (1 Cor. 3:8). And we can tell by the words that are spoken because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34).
There are many reasons that someone can have a heart that's not focused solely on the things of the Lord. Sometimes we just want to be the center of attention. Sometimes we were not raised to know any better. And sometimes, the things that were done to us have caused us to harden our hearts in self-preservation. The list just goes on and on. But God can change us and heal us from ANYTHING!
I am very passionate about this because I have lived it. I had terrible things happen as a child. I had hardened my heart so much that one more squeeze would cause it to shatter into a million pieces. I harbored anger, resentment, rage, hatred and many more emotions. I held them inside for so many years that it eventually caused ME harm. I acted and reacted in accordance with my stone-hard heart. Even after I had forgiven those that hurt me, my heart remained hard because I was trying to protect it. This caused a space between me and my husband (I love you Reece because you stuck with me even though you didn't fully understand at the time). But most importantly, it caused a space between me and Abba Father. So, I began praying for God to soften my heart. I prayed every day for this. I didn't see results right away. But some time later I looked back and realized that my walls were down. I was allowing people in again. And my relationship with my Heavenly Father was so much closer. And most importantly, the things of God began to flow from my heart!
So, know that whatever the circumstances, you can pray to God for a new heart; one that is clean and pure and softened to his voice. And guess what....just as a stone mason chisels away the ugly, rough edges of a stone to make a beautiful masterpiece; so does God chip away at the unwanted things of our hearts making us HIS masterpiece.
"I'll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I'll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that's God-willed, not self-willed." Ezekiel 36:26 MSG.
*** (Quotations here being my own slang and not a direct quote from the Bible.)
© 2011 Stephanie Kepler
No comments:
Post a Comment