April 2012

Hi, Everyone!!

GOD is SO GOOD! Heather and I are getting used to life in Texas… and loving the weather, hallelujah! We are definitely still in transition. Our household items are all in storage, we’re still looking for a place to live, getting into a rhythm for work and ministry, etc., but we are settling into a good routine for the family here in Brownwood.

I shared last time on being in the flow of life and moving forward in the plan of God for you. The scripture I built the thought upon was John 7:37-39: “He that believeth on Me as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters…”. A couple of important points here were that first, the River already has a destination and knows where it is going. Second, the river comes out of YOU! This is so key and is rarely spoken about. It is what I’d like to speak briefly on today.

God has been speaking to me a lot lately on “the heart”. This is a topic that is brushed over often but rarely taught on… though it is a central theme in the Bible. The word heart is mentioned over one thousand times in scriptures. It is mentioned more than worship or prayer or offerings or faith… indeed, more than all of these put together. That is certainly because all of those things are matters of the heart. The heart is the ‘pump’ of your life. If it is not working, your life is over. If it is not working properly, you are stricken with severe limits. We are admonished in Proverbs 4 to guard and keep our heart with diligence (the Hebrew meaning is like a guard on a prison post) “…above all else”. Why so important? Well, because your heart is the pump or the source or the ‘spring’ of your life. If life is corrupted at the well or the source, then the entire life is polluted and cannot be remedied!

Lillian B. Yoemans, MD, a tremendous Bible teacher at the turn of the last century, shared how she was brought to a remote village where the entire population was stricken with typhoid. After investigation, she discovered that the well where the villagers drew all their water had been polluted. A wild pig had fallen into the well and died. It’s rotting corpse had corrupted the water source of the village and infected every inhabitant. This is precisely why the heart must be guarded with great care! It is the source where we draw our life, our strength from.

I was speaking to a dear brother who has a relative that was diagnosed with a severe disease which had rendered him hopeless and despondent. Not that the sickness had this effect on him, it was in very early stages. It was the ‘news’ that he was carrying the illness in his body that depressed him so much that he found it hard to pray, think, hope. You see, regardless of what is in the body, it must NOT be allowed into the heart. Since a healthy, happy heart can actually provide medicine to the body (Proverbs 17:22), we must not allow what is going on outside to control us on the inside.

This is where the Word of God comes into play. The Words of God and the promises of God are SEEDS to be planted into the soil of the human heart. God’s Word will accomplish God’s will when it is planted into the heart. It cannot get into the heart unless it goes through the ears. When God’s Word is heard, it produces faith. And when we believe what God is speaking to us, we release such a flow of power from our hearts that Jesus likened it to a mighty river that can carry us right into our divine destiny. So get a Word from God today! Believe the Word of God you get. Release the power from a strong, healthy heart and let the blessings flow!

God Bless! We love you all!