Take Care of Your Heart

… He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear and will trust in the LORD.

“How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, and has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.” (Psa 40:1-4)

Journal,

In the Bible, the term clay is often symbolic of a troubled life or of a hardened heart. David speaks to this in our beginning Scripture.

The Lord brought David out of the miry clay of destructive surroundings. He then settled David’s feet firmly on the Rock of His salvation.

Notice carefully to what David says:

1. God blesses the man who makes the Lord his trust and has not turned to the proud.

2. God blesses the man who does not lapse into falsehood.

The point is that the heart that lapses into some form of falsehood, becomes an uncontrolled and an unprotected heart. This kind of heart is open ground for the enemy to sow seeds of sinfulness and destruction. A falsehood becomes a form of false security.

But Satan’s ultimate goal is to create such despair in our lives that repair seems impossible.

Take note of how the Bible describes the kind of life that is without control:

“I passed by the field of the [spiritual] sluggard and by the vineyard of the man lacking sense, and behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles; its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.

“When I saw, I reflected upon it; I looked, and received instruction. ‘A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, then your poverty will come as a robber and your want like an armed man.” (Pro 24:30-34 NASB)

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What is the answer?

It really is a heart issue. People live from what is in their heart, whether they realize it or not. And so we must always begin with the heart.

Here it is – If you knew that God could and would give you a brand new heart and a total make over of Life, would you want it?

Sure you would. Please don’t think that I am talking about religion. I’m talking about the heart-promise of the new covenant.

On the day of Pentecost, Peter had this to say to the Hebrew people,

“For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

The people knew exactly what Peter was talking about. The promise of a new heart and of a watchman to help guard the hearts was written throughout the Old Testament.

Let’s pick it up the promise trail with Moses, then Ezekiel, and finally Jeremiah:

[Moses] “The LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.” (Deu 30:5-6 NASB)

[Ezekiel] “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Eze 36:24-26 NASB)

[Jeremiah] “‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt …

“… They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jer 31:31-35 NASB)

Now, pay very close very close attention to this one statement that the Lord spoke through Jeremiah –

“They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘know the Lord,’ for all will know Me….”

That stand-alone statement reveals how the new covenant cannot be bound up in any religion. No one will be able to say, ‘Lo, Christ is [found] here,’ or, ‘Lo, Christ is [found] there.’ Why is this? Because the Spirit of Christ Jesus will indwell the heart of every one who belongs to Him.

This accords with what Jesus Himself said,

“But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

“My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

“I and the Father are one.” (Joh 10:26-30)

All the ancient promises that were made to Israel would be fulfilled in Israel’s Messiah, and thereby would extend to all the people of the earth.

Redemption has always been about all of humanity. God’s love for the fallen family of Adam included Jew and Gentile. Many don’t realize that Israel was as much a member of the fallen race as any other people.

This is why it saddens me to see some believers on a ‘Jewish lust trip’, thinking that if they can somehow have a special relationship with the Jews, that God would love them more.

God’s love for humanity has nothing to do with racial or ethnic boundaries

Let’s continue … 

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The promise – A new heart. A new watchman. A new love.

Please don’t misunderstand me when I say that the new covenant is not a religious covenant. I simply mean that the new covenant is not of this world, nor can it be restricted to any form of religion institution that may arise

I am not saying that God’s people should not gather in flocks of His choosing. We are commanded to gather ourselves together as spiritual units (flocks). This is what the Bible word that is translated as ‘church’ means.  [ekklesia: el-kley-see’ah – A called out public assembly of believers.]

It is to be understood that while Jesus places each of His people into a body of believers, yet we are to know that all believers are one body in Christ, and that no single religious entity on earth can be said that they are the church.

Paul’ instructions are:  

“Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.“ (2Tim2:22)

This is why the new covenant would not be a religious covenant. It would be a covenant of life where each believer would know and enjoy the Lord on a personal and an intimate basis. 

It would be a life of, ‘Come to the waters.’

Do you recall what Jesus said when he stopped the priestly procession on its way to the pool of Siloam? Listen carefully where Jesus describes a life that is an outflow of the Spirit:

“Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’

“But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37-39 NASB)

Did you know that Jesus was speaking from the promise made in Isaiah 55. Once again listen carefully. (If you learn this you will never get caught up in religious-idolatry again.)

“Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?

“Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, according to the faithful mercies shown to David.” (Isa 55:1-3 NASB)

What is the keynote in this prophecy?

Listen! Listen to Me! Come to Me! Learn to have a heart like David’s! Incline your ear!

And so…

What Kind of Heart do You Have

Is it a heart that has learned to listen to Jesus.

Do you need help? Help is on His way. Just call upon the Lord Jesus. He is very near to you, as near as your heart and your mouth. Jesus is only a breath away.

God’s message never changes – 

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” (John 3:16-17 NASB)

While you think about these things, take time for this song. The Lord gave it to me a number of years ago. It is titled, ‘What Kind of Man is This.’

Much love to be found in Jesus,

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