Three Things to Ask Your Heart

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you--they are full of the Spirit and life. - John 6:63

We talked about not looking at the Word of God as a butter knife but as a sword yesterday.

Today, I want to ask you – What is inside your heart?

The Word of God brings life yet we live in a day where life seems to be running at a faster pace than most of us experienced growing up. With the onset of the internet, we have been given Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, all of which leave us with instant information about our friends and family. With four teenagers in the house, it would do nothing but satisfy them if they could be on their phone all day.

My husband and I always joke with them about having to talk on the phone in front of our parents because the only phones we had was in our TV rooms and kitchens. How the cord was attached to the phone that was either on the wall or sitting on an end table, but that cord was stretched for miles because it meant you were able to get as far away as possible for a private conversation. There wasn’t voicemail or texting when we needed to leave a message we passed notes in class instead.

Today, we are a busy society, a busy generation. We want instant responses and instant directions when it comes to things in our life.

But God, He wants the heart.

Your heart.

We read our Bible in the morning (or whenever during the day) and a verse may resonate with us that is kept in the forefront of our mind throughout the day. Before long we have forgotten that verse, we have forgotten what we heard because of the constant traffic of “instant” flooding our mind. The enemy loves this because as long as he can tempt us with lies, pride, or lust he knows he can remove the Word because our hearts are hard by continual traffic.

Three Things to Ask Your Heart

Here are three things we should be asking to do a heart-check as we sharpen our swords and soften our hearts:

1. Are you inundating your heart with things but can’t remember any of them? Here’s what I mean, you have all the latest books, you’ve been going to church for a long time or grew up in church and have been saturated with biblical teachings, yet it seems as though you can’t fully mature in God. Think of it this way, when an infant is hungry and ready to begin eating solid foods, we mothers spoon-feed our child. We spoon-feed them because they can’t hold onto the spoon correctly or can’t hit their mouth exactly right. When they get a little older, they begin to want to feed themselves and then as time goes on they of course know how to eat the whole pantry. Some of us are still at that place where we want someone to spoon-feed us.
2. Are you forgetting what you read in the Word that day? Now I am guilty of this and trying not to convince myself it has nothing to do with age. But, really, the Word of God is our daily bread. It feeds our Spirit and our heart. Sometimes though forgetfulness can be due to those high traffic areas; having a high traffic heart. Is it time to fast from all things Social Media related? Is it time to remove any distractions that hinder me from hearing the Holy Spirit?
3. Do you have a hard time holding onto matters of the heart? Your joy, your peace, your freedom? Jesus wants you to experience these things but He can’t give them to us if our heart is hardened to receiving them.

Today may be that day where you fast from the phone, social media, not opening your computer, or watching TV, so that you can begin to receive the deeper things of God. I dare you this week before you read your Bible ask God to maintain your focus and to open your heart to receive His Word.

That’s what He wants – He wants your heart.