Monday, June 29, 2009
Redeemed Hearts
Redeemed Hearts
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind? I the Lord search the mind; I try the heart, even to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” (Jeremiah17:9-10)
It has been obvious the last several days that God is speaking to me about my heart. It has come to me through several sources, confirming to me this is something He wants me to understand. As I studied the scriptures in my Breaking Free workbook (Beth Moore study), I was drawn to a several ideas she included in the first week’s lesson.
First, there was the bullet point that said ‘Christ’s ministry is a ministry of the heart’. Following the teaching about Luke 4 and the words “the people spoke well of Jesus and were amazed at his works”, was the following statement.
“I am touched again by the realization that speaking well of Christ, and even being amazed by His works or words, does not equal belief.” This reminded me of the discussion we had in our connect group yesterday about the passage in Proverbs 6: 16-19 about the seven sins God hates. We all came to the conclusion these sins had to do with the ‘heart’. Not fully understanding this passage, I asked God to speak more to me about this in the days to come. He is so faithful when we ask Him to reveal things in His Word.
This morning, I woke up to find an email from a dear friend who mails out prophetic word pictures that He has given her to those on her mailing list. These word-pictures often line up with what God is speaking to me. Today was no different.
“A closet door with a high shelf on which sat a silver-plated heart complete with valves, aorta, etc…”
My friend Sandy shared the interpretation which was given to her immediately.
“I have redeemed your heart from destruction…. All those things you have kept hidden in your closet.”
Two scripture references were included.
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my [firm and impenetrable] Rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)
“Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] His benefits—Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your diseases. Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption, Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy; Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation] with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle’s [strong, overcoming, soaring].” (Psalm 103:2-5)
He came to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty and freedom to the captive in their hearts, to release us from the darkness in the chambers of our own hearts. He wants to comfort our hearts where there is pain and bestow upon our very hearts a crown of beauty in the place where there have been only ashes.
God sent Jesus, our Redeemer, in the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit to bring our hearts under the freeing authority of God’s word. We will only find freedom to the degree our hearts accept, rely and respond to the truth of His word. Being free has everything to do with our hearts. He came to redeem our hearts from destruction.
Our prison doors are locked from the inside and we hold the key to being set free from captivity. We have built walls around our hearts and placed a “No trespassing sign” at the gate of those chambers where our dark pain and sorrow reside. We have become skilled at compartmentalizing our pain and covering our brokenness. I would like to suggest that those of us who are Christians have become even more adept at hiding our wounds and brokenness. We speak well of Jesus in our daily conversation and even share with others the amazing things He has done in our lives, and yet there in the chambers of our heart lurks a dark secret sin we have set up on the highest shelf in our closet. In other chambers reside the lies we have believed about ourselves and the condemnation and victim mentality which has served as our life blood. We need a transfusion.
Silver in the Bible represents ‘redemption’ which makes the word picture of the silver plated heart more meaningful. No matter how deeply we have buried those things in our hearts, He is always working to redeem us from the enemy’s plan of destruction. Remember the silver exchanged for Joseph’s life and how Judas betrayed Jesus with a bag of silver. A silver plated heart is a picture of how He has protected your heart from the destruction of the enemy.
Looking back to Psalm 103, it is Jesus who came to forgive ALL our iniquities and heal ALL our diseases. He came to redeem our very hearts from the pit and corruption. We have to unlock the doors from within and allow His blood which He shed to redeem us, to flow from chamber to chamber, bringing new life to those areas we feel we have safely hidden away from Him.
Imagine a terribly cluttered closet, filled with things you have intended to get rid of for years. Some you have kept for sentimental reasons, some out of fear of lack in the future, others simply because you don’t want anyone to see them if they accidentally fall onto the curb as the trash truck dumps your garbage. Sometimes we simply rearrange the clutter and make excuses for why we need to keep that for just a little while longer. We place the things we need the most on an easily accessible shelf and those things we rarely need on the highest shelf. Some of us organize our closet so perfectly, we believe no one would ever know the towel on the bottom is the one with the hole and ragged and frayed edges. Or, we shove everything unsightly into the closet when company is coming, hoping to hide the clutter in our lives.
I challenge you to join me in allowing the Great Physician to have a look into the chambers of your heart. Allow Him to search out your mind and heart as it speaks about in Jeremiah. He wants to make our hearts His home.
Imagine Jesus trying to live in your most cluttered closet. If He came to your home today, would you give Him a place of honor or simply squeeze Him into your most cluttered closet, hoping He would survive.
Last year, I spent 28 weeks in a support group for women who wanted to find redemption in their hearts. One of the assignments was to describe our heart as a garden. Whether a garden, a closet or another metaphor, journaling about your heart may help you invite Him to redeem areas of your heart where the enemy has ruled and reigned.
Here are some questions I hope you will ponder with me…
What do you have hidden away on the highest shelf of your heart? A secret sin, the fear of failure, rejection or abandonment?
What holds the highest priority in your heart and resides on the shelf that is most accessible? A victim mentality, judgment and a critical spirit, lies that protect you from confronting the truth, or a lifestyle of fear?
Where have you been deceived by your own heart?
On which chamber of your heart have you posted a “No Trespassing Sign”?
How and when did you become deceived?
Why is it difficult for to trust His Word that says He came to redeem “our heart?”
What does redemption of your heart look like for you?
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind? I the Lord search the mind; I try the heart, even to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” (Jeremiah17:9-10)
It has been obvious the last several days that God is speaking to me about my heart. It has come to me through several sources, confirming to me this is something He wants me to understand. As I studied the scriptures in my Breaking Free workbook (Beth Moore study), I was drawn to a several ideas she included in the first week’s lesson.
First, there was the bullet point that said ‘Christ’s ministry is a ministry of the heart’. Following the teaching about Luke 4 and the words “the people spoke well of Jesus and were amazed at his works”, was the following statement.
“I am touched again by the realization that speaking well of Christ, and even being amazed by His works or words, does not equal belief.” This reminded me of the discussion we had in our connect group yesterday about the passage in Proverbs 6: 16-19 about the seven sins God hates. We all came to the conclusion these sins had to do with the ‘heart’. Not fully understanding this passage, I asked God to speak more to me about this in the days to come. He is so faithful when we ask Him to reveal things in His Word.
This morning, I woke up to find an email from a dear friend who mails out prophetic word pictures that He has given her to those on her mailing list. These word-pictures often line up with what God is speaking to me. Today was no different.
“A closet door with a high shelf on which sat a silver-plated heart complete with valves, aorta, etc…”
My friend Sandy shared the interpretation which was given to her immediately.
“I have redeemed your heart from destruction…. All those things you have kept hidden in your closet.”
Two scripture references were included.
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my [firm and impenetrable] Rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)
“Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] His benefits—Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your diseases. Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption, Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy; Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation] with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle’s [strong, overcoming, soaring].” (Psalm 103:2-5)
He came to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty and freedom to the captive in their hearts, to release us from the darkness in the chambers of our own hearts. He wants to comfort our hearts where there is pain and bestow upon our very hearts a crown of beauty in the place where there have been only ashes.
God sent Jesus, our Redeemer, in the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit to bring our hearts under the freeing authority of God’s word. We will only find freedom to the degree our hearts accept, rely and respond to the truth of His word. Being free has everything to do with our hearts. He came to redeem our hearts from destruction.
Our prison doors are locked from the inside and we hold the key to being set free from captivity. We have built walls around our hearts and placed a “No trespassing sign” at the gate of those chambers where our dark pain and sorrow reside. We have become skilled at compartmentalizing our pain and covering our brokenness. I would like to suggest that those of us who are Christians have become even more adept at hiding our wounds and brokenness. We speak well of Jesus in our daily conversation and even share with others the amazing things He has done in our lives, and yet there in the chambers of our heart lurks a dark secret sin we have set up on the highest shelf in our closet. In other chambers reside the lies we have believed about ourselves and the condemnation and victim mentality which has served as our life blood. We need a transfusion.
Silver in the Bible represents ‘redemption’ which makes the word picture of the silver plated heart more meaningful. No matter how deeply we have buried those things in our hearts, He is always working to redeem us from the enemy’s plan of destruction. Remember the silver exchanged for Joseph’s life and how Judas betrayed Jesus with a bag of silver. A silver plated heart is a picture of how He has protected your heart from the destruction of the enemy.
Looking back to Psalm 103, it is Jesus who came to forgive ALL our iniquities and heal ALL our diseases. He came to redeem our very hearts from the pit and corruption. We have to unlock the doors from within and allow His blood which He shed to redeem us, to flow from chamber to chamber, bringing new life to those areas we feel we have safely hidden away from Him.
Imagine a terribly cluttered closet, filled with things you have intended to get rid of for years. Some you have kept for sentimental reasons, some out of fear of lack in the future, others simply because you don’t want anyone to see them if they accidentally fall onto the curb as the trash truck dumps your garbage. Sometimes we simply rearrange the clutter and make excuses for why we need to keep that for just a little while longer. We place the things we need the most on an easily accessible shelf and those things we rarely need on the highest shelf. Some of us organize our closet so perfectly, we believe no one would ever know the towel on the bottom is the one with the hole and ragged and frayed edges. Or, we shove everything unsightly into the closet when company is coming, hoping to hide the clutter in our lives.
I challenge you to join me in allowing the Great Physician to have a look into the chambers of your heart. Allow Him to search out your mind and heart as it speaks about in Jeremiah. He wants to make our hearts His home.
Imagine Jesus trying to live in your most cluttered closet. If He came to your home today, would you give Him a place of honor or simply squeeze Him into your most cluttered closet, hoping He would survive.
Last year, I spent 28 weeks in a support group for women who wanted to find redemption in their hearts. One of the assignments was to describe our heart as a garden. Whether a garden, a closet or another metaphor, journaling about your heart may help you invite Him to redeem areas of your heart where the enemy has ruled and reigned.
Here are some questions I hope you will ponder with me…
What do you have hidden away on the highest shelf of your heart? A secret sin, the fear of failure, rejection or abandonment?
What holds the highest priority in your heart and resides on the shelf that is most accessible? A victim mentality, judgment and a critical spirit, lies that protect you from confronting the truth, or a lifestyle of fear?
Where have you been deceived by your own heart?
On which chamber of your heart have you posted a “No Trespassing Sign”?
How and when did you become deceived?
Why is it difficult for to trust His Word that says He came to redeem “our heart?”
What does redemption of your heart look like for you?
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