Deceitful Hearts

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?  "I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve."  (Jeremiah 17:9, 10 NIV) I read these verses today and was struck. I heard a sermon last week that explained that our soul and our spirit often become enmeshed into one another. They become so mixed up we cannot tell what our mind/soul/heart are telling us to do or what the Lord is leading through our spirit. When I read this verse, I was reminded of that explanation, which I won't go into depth on here.  What I want to say is this: I love traveling. I love meeting new people and tasting new foods and finding myself learning about different cultures. I love all of this stuff! But my heart breaks at the same time. My heart and spirit cry out within me in some of these transcultural and international experiences. There are moments where I just don't know what to say or think so I just pray. Short but mighty prayers are all I can think to do when I hear or see things that so powerfully break the heart of God.  You may be wondering what I have seen and/or heard that have put me in this position. I do not want to go to much into that because, in knowing God and reading His Word, I am sure you can imagine comments or conversations that do not bring Him glory in any way. I don't mean to say that you can't have fun and joke around. I find myself joking around quite a lot but when I end up putting someone at the end of the joke, things change faces.  Instead of taking this from the solely negative side, I will turn it into praises. I praise God for the marriage I have, a marriage where my husband and I work together and make decisions as husband and wife. I praise God for knowing that my husband has my best interests in mind, always, and that, though he is it perfect, he seeks the Lord's Will for our lives and I am proud to submit to Him as the church submits to Christ. I praise God for giving me a bleeding heart, a heart broken for what breaks His. I praise God that somehow, in this crazy cynical world where our minds become too intelligent to understand the basics, I have faith. Faith! I praise God for the tangibility of true Faith, faith that He is who He says He is and that my doubts are minuscule questions of this world. I praise God for giving us tools to decipher between the desires of a deceitful heart and those of a heart that seek after Him. I praise God for beautiful creations of His! I praise God for the land of Ireland and the people who are rich in culture and joy and unpredictable weather.  The heart is deceitful. There is a reason you are supposed to guard it above all things. It needs guarding! Your life comes from it but it can be such a different life when it is in control. You begin to think that you somehow are owed something by this world but this world, in all it's sin and bewitching beauty, owes you nothing. Your identity cannot be found in or of this world.  This could have been a vague and rambling mess but the bottom line is this: we are humans with imperfect, deceitful hearts that need the direction/salvation of God and His Word. I have seen a lot of hurt and brokenness this week that all lead back to deceitful hearts. Please take a moment and think about where your heart is and if you are following it down a path of deceit or fixing its gaze on Heavenly things. 

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