A Matter of the Heart
Prov 23:7, Mark 7:19-23 KJV
Victor Sterling, a very rich contractor, was shaken by the doctor’s diagnosis. The physician said that unless Victor had a heart transplant, he had only weeks, perhaps days, to live. Fortunately, advised the doctor, there were several hearts available, although each was quite expensive.
"How much?" Victor asked.
"Well, I’ve got one heart of an individual who was thirty-five years old," said the surgeon. "He exercised moderately and never ate fatty foods. It’s in pretty good shape and goes for only one hundred thousand dollars."
"What else do you have?" Victor asked, "Anything better?"
"There is the heart of a twenty-year-old Olympic decathlon winner. He never smoked or drank. He was in perfect physical condition. That one will cost $250,000."
"Look Doc, this is my life," said the patient. "What’s the best you got?"
"Well there is one heart, very rare but the very best. It belonged to a sixty-five-year-old man. He drank and smoked to excess, he was thirty pounds overweight and he never exercised. His cholesterol count was over three hundred. This heart goes for one million dollars."
"Why is it so expensive?" asked the patient.
"It’s the heart of an attorney," explained the surgeon. "It’s never been used."
The importance if a pure heart.
THE outward life of Christ was true to His inward character, but, alas, how many of us claim the Name of Christ while we are destitute of His Spirit. Like the peacock, which is famed for its beauty and gluttony, there be many that have an attractive appearance, but at the same time an insatiable desire for self-gratification . Self-complacent boasting is just about as equally unpleasant as the horrid scream of the peacock.
John Wooden former UCLA basketball coach,
Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
Solomon said: "As [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he." (Pro 23:7)
The "heart" is the conscious self, the inner core of the individual.
Every dimension of the human personality has been infected by sin. But only the willfully hardened or distant heart is beyond the power of Christ to change.
The heart is the sum total of the personality, the essence of the individual
The need for A new heart
A certain prisoner, most cunning and brutal, was singularly repulsive even in comparison with other prisoners. He had been known for his daring and for the utter absence of all feeling when committing acts of violence. The chaplain had spoken to him several times but had not succeeded even in getting an answer. The man was sullenly set against all instruction. At last he expressed a desire for a certain book, but as it was not in the library the chaplain pointed to the Bible which was placed in his cell, saying, "Did you ever read that Book?" He gave no answer but looked at the good man as if he would kill him. The question was kindly repeated, with the assurance that he would find it well worth reading. "Mister," said the convict, "you would not ask me such a question if you knew who I am. What have I to do with a book of that sort?" The chaplain answered, "I know all about you and that’s why I think the Bible is the book for you." "It would do me no good," he cried. "I am past all feeling." Doubling up his fist, he struck the iron door of the cell and said, "My heart is as hard as that iron; there is nothing in any book that will ever touch me."
"Well," said the chaplain, "you want a new heart. Did you ever read the covenant of grace?" To which the man answered sullenly by inquiring what he meant by such talk. His friend replied, "Listen to these words: ’A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you’ " (Ezek. 36:26). The words struck the man with amazement. He asked to have the passage found for him in the Bible. He read the words again and again; and when the chaplain came back to him the next day, the wild beast was tamed. "Oh, sir," he said, "I never dreamed of such a promise! I never believed it possible that God would speak in such a way to men. If He gives me a new heart, it will be a miracle of mercy; and yet I think He is going to work that miracle upon me, for the very hope of a new nature is beginning to touch me as I never was touched before."
Types of hearts
1. Evil heart
God is concerned with your imaginations for they in large measure determine what kind of a person you are to be.
Evil hearts (thoughts) produce evil actions!
The Lord taught that a defiled heart will produce such things as "murders, adulteries, fornications..."
Mark 7:20-23 KJV
20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
2. Decorated heart Empty heart
There are many people today who are religiously decorated. These decorations deceive the owners into believing they are Christians, that they are born-again believers. They have bought some religious pictures or other items. They hang up pictures of saints or one of Jesus Christ knocking at the closed door, but they have never opened their own door to Christ. They have no love for the cross of Christ, but they may have a very handsome crucifix hanging on the wall, or even a cross on a chain hanging around their necks. They may be garnished with generosity, giving their tithes to the church but withholding their hearts from Jesus Christ. The Bible is on the table or in the bookcase, but it is never read. These are the decorations of religion that the Lord is speaking about. People may pray long-winded prayers, show zeal, go to church, volunteer to cut the church lawn, yet these may only be the decorations of an empty heart.
3. Christ like heart
There is one additional factor that will enable us to know Christ "as he is," and that is "we shall be like him" (1 John 3:2). Being like Him will make us sensitive to all that we have missed in our relationship with Him on earth. You may have had a close friend for years, yet never truly known him, just because you are radically different from him. But someone who has a real affinity of nature with him will be able to see in him what you have never seen; he is like him and sees him as he is. You must have the Christlike heart to see the Savior; and in heaven our hearts will be perfectly tuned to His.
4. Broken Heart
Psalm 34:18
Many in this world live with broken hearts. A broken limb of any kind is bad, bruised and wounded flesh is hard to bear. But when you heart is crushed or broken, or when your spirit trembles, you are depressed and utterly wretched. You are dreary company. Others get away from you like the herd leaves the wounded deer to bleed and die alone. People instinctively avoid the company of those who are habitually gloomy. Their own desire for happiness leads people to escape from the miserable.
Those who are taught by God will help the brokenhearted, but human sympathy is soon worn out because of its inability to help. You can set a limb and the bone will grow, but what can you do with a broken or crushed heart? Not liking to attempt the impossible and not caring to be continually baffled, it seems natural even to good people to avoid the depressed. Thus, the sad are doomed to sigh, “Loved one and friend You have put far from me, and my acquaintances into darkness” (Ps. 88:18).
When people comfort the depressed, they often become bitter by their conscious failures. They criticize until the poor tortured creature cries out in agony, “Miserable comforters are you all!” (Job 16:2). The trials of the brokenhearted are difficult because they are often despised and avoided.
Happy is it for them that “the LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit” (Ps. 34:18).
Summery
A. Guarding your hearts and minds
Our minds are constantly being assaulted by far more information than they can process adequately, so they have the ability to lock on to important information and lock out interference. e.g.,
Locking on: a mother picks out the sound of her baby crying in the midst of 20 fussy infants;
Locking out: a professional basketball player tunes out all of the noise in the arena and
the movement behind the basket to focus only on the goal)
How does this concept tie in to Paul’s admonition in Philippians 4:8 to think on things that are true, noble, right, pure, etc.?
What percentage of your thought life would you estimate is spent focusing on negative aspects of life: worrying about finances, fuming over the comment your spouse made on the way out the door this morning, grumbling about your son’s lack of respect, berating yourself for missing your devotional time this morning, etc.?
How can you use your understanding of the way your mind works to apply Philippians 4:8 to your life?
B. Phil 4:8 KJV
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Tom Friends of The New York Times asked coach Jimmy Johnson what he told his players before leading the Dallas Cowboys onto the field for the 1993 Super Bowl.
"I told them that if I laid a two-by-four across the floor, everybody there would walk across it and not fall, because our focus would be on walking the length of that board. But if I put that same board 10 stories high between two buildings, only a few would make it, because the focus would be on falling."
Johnson told his players not to focus on the crowd, the media, or the possibility of falling, but to focus on each play of the game as if it were a good practice session. The Cowboys won the game 52-7.
Focus on God and Be content
I’ve never made a fortune,
And I’ll never make one now.
But it really doesn’t matter,
’cause I’m happy anyhow
I go along my journey,
Reaping better than I’ve sowed.
I’m drinking from the saucer
’cause my cup has overflowed!
I don’t have many riches,
And sometimes the going’s tough.
But while my kids still love me,
I think I’m rich enough.
I’ll thank God for His blessings,
The mercy He’s bestowed.
I’m drinking from the saucer
’cause my cup has overflowed!
Grant me the strength and courage
When the road grows very rough.
I’ll not ask for other blessings;
I’m already blessed enough.
May I never be too busy
To help bear another’s load.
I’m drinking from the saucer
’cause my cup has overflowed!
.............Author Unknown
