"As water reflects the face, so one's life reflects the heart." (Proverbs 27:19, NIV)
Notice that it is not, "one's words reflect the heart." Maybe there would be far less disasters in Church History if our text would have been given precedence.
Don't be wowed with one's words. Words are easy to come by; life is not. People can fool the world with their words, but not with their life. Somewhere, given the right circumstance and opportunity, life will overtake words. Jesus teaches that what is in my mind and comes from my mouth is just reflection, "of the abundance of the heart."
Darwinian humanists, who took over the American State School system, from grammar schools to graduate schools, make much of, indeed, worship the mind. This life philosophy dominated the "Renaissance," the "Age of Reason," and "Enlightenment." Someone described the "Age of Reason" as "an eighteenth-century movement which followed hard after the mysticism, religion, and superstition of the Middle Ages." In short, it was a rejection of Jesus Christ and His Words. Thomas Paine wrote in his work, The Age of Reason, "I do not believe in the creed professed by...any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church." But make no mistake, my friend. Such an attitude did not start with Paine; it started in The Garden.
The Bible gives priority to the heart, not the mind. There is apparently something of life which is a heart matter, not a mind matter. It is obviously deeper than the mind, and can only be lived out after one surrenders to Jesus and is born of the Spirit. Romans 10 describes it this way: "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." Believing is not a matter of the mind; believing is a matter of the heart. Maybe this is further proof of my theology that "believing" Jesus and His Words is more acceptance than mental grasp.
Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray for whatever "insight" I need to walk in this, Your Truth. Amen.
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I'm going to DC this coming Wednesday, July 29th.
Notice that it is not, "one's words reflect the heart." Maybe there would be far less disasters in Church History if our text would have been given precedence.
Don't be wowed with one's words. Words are easy to come by; life is not. People can fool the world with their words, but not with their life. Somewhere, given the right circumstance and opportunity, life will overtake words. Jesus teaches that what is in my mind and comes from my mouth is just reflection, "of the abundance of the heart."
Darwinian humanists, who took over the American State School system, from grammar schools to graduate schools, make much of, indeed, worship the mind. This life philosophy dominated the "Renaissance," the "Age of Reason," and "Enlightenment." Someone described the "Age of Reason" as "an eighteenth-century movement which followed hard after the mysticism, religion, and superstition of the Middle Ages." In short, it was a rejection of Jesus Christ and His Words. Thomas Paine wrote in his work, The Age of Reason, "I do not believe in the creed professed by...any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church." But make no mistake, my friend. Such an attitude did not start with Paine; it started in The Garden.
The Bible gives priority to the heart, not the mind. There is apparently something of life which is a heart matter, not a mind matter. It is obviously deeper than the mind, and can only be lived out after one surrenders to Jesus and is born of the Spirit. Romans 10 describes it this way: "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." Believing is not a matter of the mind; believing is a matter of the heart. Maybe this is further proof of my theology that "believing" Jesus and His Words is more acceptance than mental grasp.
Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray for whatever "insight" I need to walk in this, Your Truth. Amen.
****************
I'm going to DC this coming Wednesday, July 29th.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
