THE ABUNDANCE OF THE HEART (continued)
So where are we? Where is our heart? Is it on the things of the Spirit or on the things of the world? The whole of the New Testament is about rising to spiritual heights by subduing the lower nature and living, as Jesus instructed us, according to His word. It is the heart that determines where we are in that struggle and that journey; it is the heart that reflects what we have become. To become better, to get to the Kingdom of God, to be in the Presence of God, we need to strive to enter and to change our focus. If our focus is not already on things of the Spirit then the simple answer is to put it there or at least to strive toward that goal; toward the strait gate.
In yestersday’s post we only made it through the Gospel of Matthew concerning Jesus’ teaching on the heart. Continuing we find:
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“And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened ” (Mark 6:52). Here, though not in Jesus’ words, is a commentary by Mark in regard to the lack of understanding of His own disciples calling it a hardening of the heart. In this context harden should be defined as to lose the power of understanding (from New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com). This view of the heart as understanding is seen in Jesus’ words from yesterday in Matthew 13:15 and is a very important factor in examining the heart.
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Jesus makes the same use of the heart being hardened when He says regarding bringing bread: “And they reasoned among themselves, saying , It is because we have no bread. And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye , because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand ? have ye your heart yet hardened ? Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember ? When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up ?” (Mark 8:16-19).
There should be no doubt that the heart is the seat of understanding spiritual things when they are brought into our lives by dwelling upon them. It is by this focus that the heart becomes able to understand those things from above and this in place of those things from below. Remember that where our treasure is, what we spend our resources and time on or we focus on become our nature and this is expressed by the heart. Along with understanding, the heart is also the seat of faith which, as understanding, comes from the Spirit. Living in the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, is being in the Presence of God and in the Kingdom and from that high place, understanding and faith flow.
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Confirming this the Master said “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed , and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass ; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” (Mark 11:23) Now to move a mountain will take unshakable faith which will only come by living in His Presence and focusing solely on His Kingdom.
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“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” (Luke 6:45). Here in Luke we find a bit more explanation of this precept that we saw in Matthew. Good treasure and evil treasure; both in the heart. Always dependent on what is is that we focus on; where we spend our time and our resources.
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In the parable of the sower there are three different wordings of the Jesus’ explanation of the parable by three gospel writers. In one we find heart, in another we find understanding and in the last we find believing. So again, from above come the good treasures of the heart; understanding and belief. From below come the opposites of these and the ways of the world.
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“And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown ; but when they have heard , Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.” (Mark 4:15)
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- “When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.” (Matthew 13:19)
- “Those by the way side are they that hear ; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.” (Luke 8:12)
- “For where your treasure is , there will your heart be also.” (Luke 12:34). This is the same as it is in Matthew; it is a saying that is well worth repeating for in it is much understanding of our life here on the Earth.
- “And supper being ended , the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him” (John 13:2). In the Gospel of John we perhaps the best example of the good from above into the heart and the bad from below, earthly. Though not Jesus’ words, they do show the uniformity of the teaching throughout the gospels.
- “Let not your heart be troubled : ye believe in God, believe also in me” (John: 14:1). This is Jesus telling his disciples to stay in faith to believe in Him and to not let those thoughts from below influence them because He is leaving them and they did not really understand it all.
Now there are many other gospel scriptures that bring out the importance of the heart in understanding and faith; what has been presented should suffice to show that we should consider the heart as a key to our spiritual success. The heart is the reflection to ourselves and to the world of who and what we are and who and what we are becoming. It is our outward appearance, our manner, our relationship toward others and our individual key to the Kingdom of God. As well as we let the spiritual life take over the heart so will we be able to overcome the pulls of the lower realms; the pulls of anger, lust and greed and every other thing which are the gates of hell. Enter ye at the strait gate.
Out of the abundance of our heart, our mouth speaks and we act. What’s in your heart?
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.
for of Him we are workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God did before prepare, that in them we may walk (Ephesians 2:10; Young’s Literal Translation). We hear much from this chapter of Ephesians regarding being saved by grace as a gift of God. Today’s quote is the next line which implores us to good works; that we should walk in them because that is why we are in Christ and Christ in us. The caution should only be that we do not think that it is just by works we are saved. That we believe and know that it is by the action of the Spirit within blossoming through our hearts.
