the heart

"And so the Lord says: These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man made rules." Isiah 29:13
As a Christian even when I am feeling distant, no one will notice because my actions don't change. But God revealed to me again through this verse that being a "good boy or girl" just isn't enough. It's actually nothing at all if your heart isn't in the correct place. It is not enough to just go through the motions of being Christian, going to church, attending a small group, or even encouraging others. Proverbs 5:23 says to guard your heart. And often we do the exact opposite, if your actions are not aligned with your heart (or vice versa) then all your doing is enabling people to misinterpret your heart. If your heart is for God, let all your actions be for his glory, not your own. The language we use is a glimpse of our heart, using sarcasm or cussing does not show that your heart is for God. Our actions are the reflection of our heart, if our actions are against God, is not our hearts? But if our actions seem for God when our hearts aren't, that is no good either. Be careful with your heart, keep people close, but always keep God closer. We seriously hold the nastiest stuff in our hearts, and often keep that filth closer than we keep God. I urge you, do not do that. God tells us not to worry, and if you trust God or even believe in him at all, how could you worry? The Bible says that the Lord can turn incredible cities into heaps of ruins, and I know it goes vice versa too. For my heart has been in ruins, and he has restored it to make it functioning again. Don't let your hearts be in heaps of ruins, you may be going through something painful, but there is never a reason to be with out joy. Joy is the presence of God in our hearts, and since Romans 8:38 states it best: nothing can seperate us from God. And if nothing can seperate us from God, then nothing can seperate us from joy. I once heard that Jesus didn't come to change the human condition, he came to change how we respond to it. Why do we block God out after so much he has done? The Israelites mentioned in Isiah saw incredible miracles, parting of the red sea; and so much more. But they continued to refuse to lt Jesus into their hearts. Are we not the same? Because we live on Earth we've witnessed God work, seen him so many times, but continue to block him out, unintentionally or intentionally. Just stop, he wants you to put your worries in a glass bottle and send it into the ocean to never be seen or thought of again. Jesus is a sponge that washes the sin away from our hearts, and absorbs all the filth and carries it himself. The world makes our heart heavy, but Jesus said himself his burden is light, wouldn't want be a burden you'd want to carry? Don't let yourself be heavy, give the weight to God who is so much stronger, and more beautiful because he wants to carry us. He saved my heart, and forever I'll want to give it to him again and again. And I need a constant reminder to tell me remember him, and to use him, to take up his burden. "What sorrow awaits those who try to hide their plans from the Lord. Who do their evil deeds in the dark! 'The Lord can't see us' they say. 'He doesn't know whats going on!'. Ho foolish can you be? He is the potter and he is certainly greater then you the clay! Should the created thing say to the creator 'He didn't make me'?" Isiah 29:15-16. Trying to hide your doubts, questions, fears, worries, or anything else little clay? He already knows. He knows your heart, he loves your heart. Why do we so oftenly try to play hide and see with God, how long do we keep him counting behind a tree until we find a good enough hiding place? But this in store when you stop running: " You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed in you. Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal rock...But for those who are righteous, the way is not steep and rough. You are a God who does what is right, and you smooth out the path ahead of us. Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our harts desire is to glorify your name. All night long I search for you; in the morning I earnestly search for God." Isiah 26:3-9
Don't have the desire to search for God or to obey his laws? Pray for it, pray for that desire. That is where I'd like to keep my heart, safely with God. Take time to see where your heart is, and what it is for.

"Wherever tour treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be." Like 12:34