WHAT'S IN YOUR HEART?

By Minister Diane Williams, Turning the World Around Prophetic Ministries  "...For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."

(Matthew 12:34, NKJ)

Have you ever wondered, after hearing what someone said, why in the world they said it? Or, after being in a conversation with someone whose responses intrigued you, have you ever asked yourself, "Where did they come up with that stuff"? The Bible says that whatever fills a person's heart will eventually overflow out of their mouths, and you can rest assured that whatever you heard was indeed what was in that person's heart at the time. Let me give you an example. Several people get on an elevator. When the doors close everyone begins to look up, very attentively, (as if they are seeing the numbers for the first time) and know one says anything. Finally, someone will break the silence with a hurried comment about something or someone. It might be a news headline, something about the weather, a sports or other current event, etc., Due to the circumstances this person, feeling especially pressured, will usually bring up whatever happens to be occupying his thoughts at the time. In addition and also because of the circumstances, he will have given a lot of (although hurried) thought to whatever he is about to say. After all, first impressions are very important as they are also the ones that are the most unforgettable. So what do you end up hearing? You are hearing the contents of that person's heart. Now, you say, what is my point? It is very important that we, "Keep our hearts with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23, NKJ).

Why should we be so attentive to the guarding of our hearts? All of the decisions that we make are a direct result of what we believe in our hearts. In the days of Noah, the Bible reads, "Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of the heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5, NKJ). The people of those days basically acted out what was in their hearts. The "sons of God" began to go after the "daughters of men" and took for themselves wives of all that they chose (Genesis 6:1-2). How did their hearts get in that condition? They did not honor God, nor the things of God, as Abel, Seth, Enoch, and others did before them. They became a law unto themselves and did as they pleased (Genesis 4:4, 4:25-26; 5:23-24; 6:1-3). This became their downfall and, eventually, their demise. They reaped what they sowed, evil. If it is true that, in the flesh, our hearts are "evil continually", than it is vitally important that we watch and maintain what goes in and out of it. According to the Bible, the "spirit-filled" and "spirit-led" believer's heart is filled with "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" and that is what will come out of their mouths (Ephesians 5: 17-21). As a result their behavior, actions and deeds will reflect goodness, kindness and mercy, etc., the "fruit of the spirit" (Gal. 5:22-23). Now, I ask, "What is in your heart?"

Recently, I was in a conversation with someone who began to ask me a series of questions. After I began meditating on his questions, as well as my own responses, I began to understand the reasons for the questions and why my responses were so important. It was to help the other person understand who and what he was dealing with. In other words, he needed to know where I was spiritually, mentally and even emotionally. I also began to understand, even more so, that this was for my own sake as well as his. Remember, the conversation that went on between the Lord God and Adam after he and Eve had sinned in the Garden of Eden? When the Lord God asked Adam, "Where are You?" His response to God was that he heard God coming, became afraid and ashamed and they hid. Adam could have simply said that he was in the garden and left it at that. Spiritually, he was backslidden. Mentally and emotionally he was harboring guilt, fear and shame. On the other hand, however, he was honest and sincerely sorry for what he did. (He did confess his sin.) Adam¹s response to God's second question, "Who told you that you were naked?" Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?", was, as we all know, the beginning of man's, "Passing the buck". (Genesis 3: 9-13). Of course, God knew where Adam was and what he and Eve had done, however, Adam needed to know, also. They were not just hiding from God in the garden because of their sin, they were also lost.

When we come before a "Holy God" to "make our prayers and supplications known", saints, we must examine our hearts first. God is looking for a people with "clean hands and a pure heart" (Psalm 24:3-6). So many of our prayers are not being answered and, much more than that, not even being heard because of the conditions of our hearts. Also, what is our motive for approaching Him? Is it to give or to receive? God knows the thoughts and the intents of the heart and He is also looking for someone who just wants to minister to Him, for a change. Our abundant sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, alone, will cause the flood gates of heaven to open and He will bless us much quicker and far beyond what our continual requests for "super-natural healing", "divine health", "prosperity and abundance", and for Him "to make our enemies our footstools", would ever move Him to do. The Bible says that He is "enthroned" by the praises of His people (Psalms 22:3). What glorification!! What magnificence!! What honor!! Hallelujah!! Praise Him!! Glory to God!!! Again, I ask, "What is in YOUR heart, today?" Peace.