Abundance of the Heart

Welcome back, thank you for taking the time to be encouraged.

When I was a kid, I was concerned a lot with my outward appearance mainly because I had to wear these huge glasses that did not compliment the size of my face. I did not receive the same response from the young ladies that my friends did, and it built this complex within me. As I got older, I taught myself to not show how it affected me. In a lot of ways that has remained with me to this day. I put a lot of effort into how I am seen on the outside: Meaning you could have done something that made me so angry and upset but you would not know that because I would just hide it and display another face to you. But on the inside, I’m bubbling with anger, clearly not a good thing for me. I became so worried about not being viewed in a particular way I would not express hurt or anger. Even in moments when I was within my right to be upset or angry. I was so focused on the outside I did not realize I was terrible on the inside but only to myself and those closest to me. I was manipulating what I displayed on the outside not allowing the natural to happen because of the state of the heart and my mind. That is hypocrisy! Wait what I’m being a hypocrite. 

Genuine change should begin inward! Proverbs 4:23 reads “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it”. 1 Samuel 16:7 “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart”. We accept the Lord Jesus into our heart when we receive salvation but in some of us, we do not really know what that means. Many of us are not experiencing spiritual formation to help mentor us and lead us further into our journey of salvation. Ephesians 3:14-17 in summary, God grants us strength with power through Holy Spirit in our inner being, so Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. Being that we have Jesus dwelling in our heart truly, how can we exhibit anything else? So, accepting Jesus into my heart but I did not relinquish control I was still manipulate what my outward appearance was. So, I let Jesus in but told to hang out in the guest room and that’s it. Almost as if to say you are just visiting you are not welcome to stay. That is not the way that it works! So, who am I to lock Jesus in a box in my heart? He has the authority over creation (Colossians 1:16-18) yet I expect Him to move freely within me, that doesn’t make sense. Transforming the mind and heart means something different for each person. I had to stop and allow Jesus to transform me from the inside out and not the other way around. I believe there are many people out here that have accepted Jesus but have not yet allowed Him to have his way in their heart. Some are still trying to protect it from the outside in. Some are still trying to be in control until they allow Jesus out of the box to handle something, and after that they place Jesus back in the box. Spiritual formation is sacrificing, surrendering and trusting Holy Spirit to take the lead in your transformation into Christlikeness. That starts where Christ dwells and that is on the inside of you. Allow Holy Spirit to transform your heart and mind and out of that abundance your outside will exhibit the Christlikeness. (Matthew 12:34) At one time I thought a broken heart meant something different but I learned that a broken heart can stem from a lot of different things. In some way shape or form we operate from a broken heart we may be the kindest person on one side but on another side you exhibit broke heart behavior. Because in that area the abundance of hurt takes over your heart and that is what comes out and it doesn’t just ooze out it flows out like a river. That can cause others to be hurt it can be a revolving circle of hurt and it is a trap to keep us stuck in a loop of hurt that eventually will cause you to flow be that hypocrite. That sounds extreme but if you don’t act you can end up in a place you don’t want to be or return to a place you use to be. You end up not being where God called you to be, bearing no fruit.

I don’t want this for you nor myself which is why I’m writing this it is my desire that you will experience the abundance of a good heart and not the abundance of a bad or broken heart. Matthew 15:11 shares that it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person. Luke 6:43-45 tells us that no good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit, each tree is known by its own fruit. You cannot get figs from thorn bushes, no more than you can get grapes from a bramble bush. A good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good and the evil person out of the evil treasure produces evil. So, I encourage you to look at the treasure in your heart, your whole heart not just certain parts. There isn’t no evil treasure among the good treasure. Ask the Lord to plant you near the river bank (His Word, His Presence) so you will delight in the law of the Lord.

Thank you for reading, I pray you are encouraged and blessed.

Love and Blessings

Give Psalm 1:1-6 a read