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Tuesday, February
5, 2008
Heart Smart
Proverbs 3:5-8 Trust in the LORD with all
thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. (6) In all thy ways
acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (7) Be not wise in thine
own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. (8) It shall be health to
thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. (KJV)
When I see the word lean I think of
someone wavering, ready to take a fall or like a boxer who has just taken a
punch and is having a hard time standing. If you cut off the blood flow to
the brain eventually it will cause one to pass out. The same holds true in
the spiritual realm if you cut off the source of life, the word of God from
the heart to renew the mind, eventually you will start wavering and falling
on your face. As the heart is such a vital organ to our physical man, it is
just as vital to our spiritual being as well. Have you seen the green
labels on food products lately that say they are heart smart, something
that is healthy for us? The word of God is heart smart as well because a
healthy dose of it will keep reminding us of the truth, that God has not
given us the spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind. Have you
desired a closer relationship with the Lord wanting more of Him in your
life? Have you given a whole hearted effort, or are you still hanging on to
the things of this life, your own understanding, something to fall back on
in case this Lord thing doesn’t quite work out the way you thought it
should? The Bible says the Lord is able to do exceedingly abundantly above
all that we could ask or think; the question is will you let Him?
Proverbs 4:20-22 My son, attend to my
words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. (21) Let them not depart from
thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. (22) For they are life
unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. (KJV)
Have you seen healthy people, how they
eat right, exercise the body, and maintain the temple God gave them? For
the Christian it begins in the heart with the word of God, which brings
life to the spirit man and results in good health to the flesh. Who better
to show us how to stay healthy, body, soul, and spirit, than the Creator
Himself? The Bible makes reference to our lives as a race; a long distance
race that we need to run with patience in order to endure to the end. If
you have ever seen a marathon runner you notice they have maintained their
temple, having eliminated any excess weight that would weigh them down and
cause undue stress and strain on the heart. The same holds true with the
Christian, many carry around excess spiritual weight, the cares and worries
of things that they need to cast upon the Lord and leave them there. The
fact that you wouldn’t see overweight or unhealthy people running a
marathon race, or I should say enduring to the end, spiritually those that
don’t train themselves on a daily basis to hear the Lord and let His word
flow in the heart will not last long in the heavenly race either, enduring
to the end. The more you train yourself in the things of God the more you
will learn to keep your body in subjection to the Spirit and not end up
dropping out of the race, being dehydrated due to a lack of living waters.
Psalms 119:10-11 With my whole heart have
I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. (11) Thy word
have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (KJV)
Have you ever tried to do something and
your heart just wasn’t into it? Or how about the endless New Year
resolutions people make only to make the same ones the following year? How
many people get caught up in the work out ads on TV where they show some
young person in great shape who claims that they only had to work out for a
few minutes a day to get these great results? So when the people end up
buying these devices, for most, they find out that they make a great place
to hang their wet laundry on. The same holds true with your spiritual walk,
unless the word of God gets into the heart and becomes an actual way of
life, it will soon be forgotten, put on the shelf and you will end up back
where you started, like as a runner with good intentions but never able to
go forward. Again the word of God is just as vital as the flow of blood to
and from the heart; which, without a healthy flow through us will result in
the body shutting down, unable to function.
Jeremiah 17:9-11 The heart is deceitful
above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (10) I the LORD
search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his
ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. (11) As the partridge
sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not
by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall
be a fool. (KJV)
So how does God judge this race, the
course He has set for each of us to run? While many may look good and sound
good in the outward realm, God is looking to the inward man to see what
their motivation is and what it is that they truly treasure. Mankind is
like a partridge, they are constantly hatching new methods and devices
based on their own understanding which is based more on a love of money,
not the love of God. As an unhealthy diet and lack of exercise in the
physical realm will cause the body to shut down in the physical, nothing
will shut down the spiritual quicker than the love of money or any other
care of this life which drowns men in destruction and chokes the life out
of many. Just as an unhealthy flow of blood and oxygen will shut a runner
down in his tracks, many a godly person that has answered the call of God
in the beginning of their walk end up having a spiritual heart attack and
keel over because of a lack of healthy doctrine to the heart. We have all
been deceived and duped in the past by the cheap imitations of the devil
trying to pull us back into the realm of the flesh by leaning to our own
understanding. Where your treasure is, is where the heart will be also; and
it will determine whether you have stayed on course, the path of life that
God has set for you to run, or whether you are sidetracked by your own
understanding which is deceitful, and have now placed your own desires
above all other things, including the things of God.
Ephesians 6:5-8 Servants, be obedient to
them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling,
in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; (6) Not with eyeservice, as
menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the
heart; (7) With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:
(8) Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive
of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. (KJV)
Singleness of heart means it is not self
seeking. So who are you seeking your approval from, and what are your true
motives for everything you are doing today, this moment? Are you looking to
the Lord to receive your reward seeking His approval only, or are you doing
things to please man? Whatever your motive truly is God already knows and
is not fooled. The question is do you truly know what is heart smart and
able to keep you in good standing with our Father today?
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