THE STORY OF JESUS: Mark 7:20-23
“For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come.” (Mark 7:21)
The ‘heart’ is the spiritual command center in each person.
It is the inner me, where I think and feel and choose.
We cannot locate this ‘inner me’ in a body part, it is tied to all of me.
God created me as a physical, spiritual being, a living soul!
“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being (soul).” (Genesis 2:7)
We live from this spiritual center, and it is the heart that shapes how we live.
According to Jesus, this is where the problem lies, “from within, out of a person’s heart.”
According to the prophet Jeremiah, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
Just as heart surgery is needed for a faulty physical heart, we need spiritual heart surgery.
We need to open our inside, and allow grace and truth to reveal and heal what is there.
As long as we do not deal with the inner issues, we will remain broken, and miserable.
As long as we focus only on our external problems or appearances, our condition won’t improve.
Being religious can’t help, we need God, the Spirit of God, and transformation.
Don’t ignore the issues of the heart, don’t deny the weakness within.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23)
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, open my heart and reveal me; work in my heart and heal me. Help me to see that this is where life goes bad, and where life can be restored.
Observations/Application
When a man follows his own way rather than God’s Way, this is the source of defilement. Once again, it is the heart condition. From the heart come the issues of life. If the source of the river is brackish, it is not a fresh water stream. So too it is with the heart. If it is centered on man’s way it will never LightShine for God. My source of daily living must be rooted in His Way so that this day I am able to to live TGIF – TodayGodIsFirst – as I must live that each day. How would God want me to respond to that situation/happening/event? Since I belong to Him I have no other choice but to serve Him.
As He lives within me I need to LightShine for Him.
Lord the light of Your love is shining
In the midst of the darkness, shining
Jesus, Light the world, shine upon us
Set us free by the truth You now bring us
Shine on me
Shine on me
Shine, Jesus, shine
Fill this land with the Father’s glory
Blaze, Spirit, blaze, Set our hearts on fire
Flow, river, flow
Flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth Your Word, Lord And let there be light
Lord, I come into Your awesome presence
From the shadows into Your radiance
By the blood I may enter Your brightness
Search me, try me, consume all my darkness
Shine on me
Shine on me
Shine, Jesus, shine
Fill this land with the Father’s glory
Blaze, Spirit, blaze, Set our hearts on fire
Flow, river, flow
Flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth Your Word, Lord And let there be light
Shine, Jesus, shine
Fill this land with the Father’s glory
Blaze, Spirit, blaze, Set our hearts on fire
Flow, river, flow
Flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth Your Word, Lord And let there be light