So, the strengthened heart, what is “the heart”, and how do we strengthen it? There are entire books written on this topic. So it’s going to stretch my brain to capture all I want to say in this short “blog” But I’ll give it a shot.
Here goes: The heart is the unseen inner life of each of us. (Sacred Romance) And it’s key to living the Christian life.
Our hearts can be broken, heartless, we can have heart aches, or be lighthearted, the eyes of our heart can be opened, as the song goes, we can also be brave hearted, but lose heart too. Sometimes we even say, my heart is just not in it. Or the verse in Matthew says, we can love the lord our God with all of our hearts.
Oswald Chambers writes, “it is by the heart that God is perceived (known) and not by reason…so that is what faith is: God perceived by the heart.” This is why God tells us in Proverbs 4:23 above all else, gaurd your heart for it is the wellspring of life.
God knows to lose heart is to lose everything. Sadly, the book Sacred Romance says, we watch the oil level in our cars more carefully than we watch over the life of our heart. Profound isn’t it?
So. As you can see, describing what the heart is, well, it’s heart, I mean hard. but as our physical heart keeps us alive in the flesh, our inner heart keeps us alive in the spirit, and from it comes the language of God! It’s why I want mine strong, and I hope you do too.
So, why don’t we talk about the heart much? I don’t hear it preached about much at church. It seems today in our modern world, we have lost touch with the wellspring of life! It’s a bummer really!
Today corporate America is about performance. But the Christianity I enjoy the most is about heart transformation and teaching people about the language of the heart.
It’s why Jesus spoke using story! Story is the language of the heart. It’s why we men love adventure and beauty! It’s why poetry has been written over the years and paintings and music have been written. To inspire the heart!
Again, I want mine strong, I want to gaurd it! Build it up. It’s where God speaks to us. The importance of the heart is also why I don’t think it’s talked about much today. Why? Because the enemy wants us separated from our hearts. The glory of God is a man fully alive and in tune with his heart!
But, as the quote from the retreats we use to hold says, “most of us are so out of tune with our hearts that we live our life like we showed up to a movie 45 minutes late, and we have no idea what’s going on around us.” Eldredge (wild at heart)
What happened to desire, and the adventures we once wanted to take. It’s been replaced by duty, and desire has been replaced by the highest level of leadership most of us acquire to in the church today…to be an usher! Doh! Sorry If you are an usher, but is that really what Christianity is all about today, duty or to be a bored nice dutiful man?
So that’s a bit about the heart, now…how do we strengthen it? The opposite of strong is weak. I’m at my weakest when I’m not walking in and through the Spirit as Romans 5 talks about. Or if I’m not abiding in the vine, John 15. Or if I’m not in a band of brothers or Bible study. Or if I’m not fellowshipping or living in my calling.
However, my heart is alive and at its peak awareness when I’m on an adventure with my brethren, or at a retreat, or when I’m in the mountains taking in its glory and majesty, or when I’m drumming, or when I’m researching for this blog or trail riding on my motorcycle. I love those things. I’m in the Spirit, God is speaking to me thru the language of my heart; in the spirit.
So, you want a strengthened heart, learn the language! Gimme a buzz, I’ll teach it to you! It’s not as hard as learning French. I took two years of that in college. It was brutal!
Until next time, I do pray God strengthens your heart this week and deepens your walk with Him,
Matt