"It's A Matter of the HEART!"

"Keep (Guard) your heart with all diligence, for out of it springs the issues of life."                                                                                                  Proverbs 4:23

Most of the problems we have, no matter what realm they may occupy, are not a function of our heads but of our hearts.

In our hearts we MUST set "boundaries" because of the heart is an emotional organ and it has the ability to run after EVERYTHING it SEES!

(Jer. 17:9) declares that the heart is desperately wicked and begs the question, "Who can know it?" You are not contaminated by what you take in,you are contaminated by what's already there (from birth, we are burdened with a wicked heart).

(Jer. 17:10) tells us that your wicked heart will produce wicked fruit of all you do that is wicked. It makes sense doesn't it? Our daily routine of "ignoring and forgetting God" are tied to directly to our blatant defiance of making God the center of our lives. "A heart of wisdom creates great strength (Psalms 90:12). 

There are two (2) ways of Gaining Wisdom:

1. Hindsight: which is 20/20 and usually leads to REGRET; and,
2. Foresight: wisdom that comes when we take the time to anticipate the heart of God and follow (obey) the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit into truth and righteous living. This is called the gift of "discernment" (the ability to see what God sees and then do it).

One of the many things about God that I love is that "HE ALWAYS WARNS US!" Don't ignore the "red flags." 

"And then He said, "He who has ears to hear let him hear." (Mark 4:9)

"A MIND FULL OF GOD'S WORD!"

Ever imagine what a human mind full of God's word would "look" like? What the voice and the heart of the person would "sound" like?

"...For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will imprint My laws upon their minds, even upon their innermost thoughts and understanding, and engrave them upon their hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be My people." (Heb. 8:10) 

Pretty clear huh? The Word of God never fails in its simplicity. The critical factor in this equation is the "Believer's Will" to receive the Mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16). The "will" is the organ we use for decision making and it represents a man's true self. Our will is our "volition" or our "desires driven by emotion." 

• Our emotion expresses how we feel;
• Our mind tells us what we think; and,
• Our will tells us what we want.

Our will is the most influential component of our entire being!

The original intent of religion was not crafted as a matter of human emotion. Its aim was to impart "life" into a man's spirit and to connect his will with the Will of God. Perfected salvation is manifested in adversity, trials and tribulation and thereby saves a man's will from perversion, corruption and selfishness. The joining of "wills" is the only true union we can have with a Holy God; everything else is merely superficial.

In order to receive the benefits of a will, someone has to die. In this instance, Jesus Christ died so that we would have complete and unfettered access to the will of the LORD GOD; which is His Word...which is Christ! (John 1:1-5) His Will is His Word. His Word is Christ. Therefor, His Will is Christ!

I can do whatever I want to do (that is, whatever "I will" myself to do). God's perfect Will (Jesus-life) and His permissive Will (Adam-death) are ever present. Chose you this day, life or death.

Simply stated, "A mind filled with the mind of Christ is a what a mind full of God's Word looks like!" Selah...

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Meditate on these scriptures: (1 Thess. 4:13) *(Rom. 12:2) (2 Tim 1:9) (Ephes. 1:9) (Ephes. 5:15-17) (1 Cor. 12:11)

"What THE FEAR OF THE LORD Looks Like!"

Inherent in the implication of the discussion about what the Fear of the Lord looks like is the true and deep revelation of God's GRACE and MERCY! There is a profound difference between my receiving death (grace) and deserving death (mercy).

The hard truth is that too many Christians have absolutely NO FEAR of God! Nie. Ni. Nein. Ohee. Lo. Nee. No. No matter what language you speak, the answer is the same! Before you bristle at this statement and hit the delete button on your smart phone, hear me out. How can I make such a bold declaration? Here it is:

We have often heard the scripture, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom and instruction." (Proverbs 1:7)  Two things are worth noting here, 1) In this instance the "fear" being referenced in this passage is not "reverence or respect" and although it is an aspect of fear, I contend the intent is for us to be literally "afraid" of God and 2) The LORD in this case is GOD ALMIGHTY, not Jesus and not the Holy Ghost!

This brings me me to my main point for this writing. "Respect or reverence does not denote fear or convey that an individual or group is afraid." Christians live their lives recklessly with dalliances in adultery, drugs addiction, bribery, etc. all the while conducting their nefarious activities in the dark from their wives, husbands, children and co-workers. We cannot be stopped until we achieve the "feeling" we are after. Isn't it comical that we do our dirt at night? The sinner thinks that GOD cannot see him in the dark! Is He even a consideration unless we fall prey to danger or get exposed? Of course at that time we utter those remorseful words, "Oh God!" But remorse is not repentance. Remorse is not being afraid of God. Remorse is simply getting caught.

One thing I know about the truth is that the "truth is invincible." The main opposition to the truth in God's Word is our mental resistance to change because, frankly speaking, "we love our sin too much!" There is a sociological term for this behavior. It is called "cognitive dissonance (CD)." CD is the "art of lying to yourself." It exists when an individual has a false belief system challenged by the truth and scrambles to defend that belief system by "rationalizing" certain behavior. The defense of that belief system is more important than the truth and thus the construction of the wall of "mental resistance" begins. We often see this in Christianity with any revelation of false teaching, corruption in church politics or questionable or illegal behavior in church leadership. I always say, "people will believe what they want to believe no matter how compelling the evidence may be to the contrary."

The fear (being scared, terrified) of the LORD will keep you alive! The Apostle Paul talked about his "thorn" in the flesh in 2 Cor. 12:7. I contend that the thorn Paul was referring to was the "fear" of the LORD. You see friends, God has absolutely zero concern for our mortal bodies. He simply states to us, "Watch my reaction to My Beloved Son's execution on the Cross; I didn't lift a finger to stop it!"

His Word says that, "God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (2 Tim 1:7) There is a profound truth here I don't want you to miss. At the beginning of this writing I submitted to you that the "fear" of the Lord is the...." and God said He did not give you the "spirit" of fear. Here is the revelation:

"The spirit of fear (from the devil) is rooted in uncertainty and the fear (of the LORD) is certain!" Selah...