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Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Heart Conditions and Our Fruit

     Good Afternoon! As I am writing this it is cold and rainy outside, my cup of coffee is almost empty, but there is music playing and my youngest is watching The Little Mermaid. Life is good!
     I have again a few things to share with you today. As always there are so many thoughts going through my head I often don't know where to start. So I am going to jump into it and hope that you can follow my thought patterns. :-)  
     Looking at my heart condition (from my last post about being Enough) always leads me to looking at the fruit that my life produces. And I would have to say in the last few months I am blown away by the goodness of God and what he is doing with my family. I know that I had parts to play in the transformation of our family but God has done some very amazing things in the hearts of my husband, and 4 of my kiddos. Thank you Jesus that you loved us so much you would come down into our messy lives and lift us into your arms!!!! (My 2 oldest kids got baptized last Sunday!)
     Anyway, (sigh, life is good) back to our heart and our fruit. The Bible says in 
   Luke 6:45 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Or from  
  Proverbs 4:23 23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.  
     If you got a chance to attend the Women's breakfast a few weeks ago I used both of the verse as we looked at the lives of Rachel and Leah, and you heard me say that I LOVE descriptive words. Proverbs 4:23 has the words "springs".  When I think of this word in context of what comes out of our heart I just imagine, or literally sometimes see, joy, peace, happiness, or bitterness, sadnessvenom spring from our hearts and out our mouths.  That would be our fruit. If the words that come out of our mouths are bitter and hurtful, if they are swear words, if they tear down instead of lifting up then that is what is in your heart.  Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. It doesn't matter if you have given your life to Christ. If your words and actions are bad then you are producing bad fruit and your heart is corrupt .Ephesians 5: 4 says It’s not right that dirty stories, foolish talk, or obscene jokes should be mentioned among you either. Instead, give thanks to God. We all have had corrupt hearts.  I did and if I don't continually go back to God and ask Him to search my heart, it would become corrupt very quickly. It is part of our human nature to have corrupt hearts. They only way we know that our hearts are corrupt is if someone comes along and tells us that our lives are bearing bad fruit.  

     God desires you to bear good fruit, for the words of your mouth to be good and holy, uplifting and full of joy. But the only way to do that is to let Him come in and clean up the darkest parts of our heart. We can not, no matter how hard we try cover up our fruit or clean our own heart. You could stop swearing and/or saying mean things, but the fruit will come out in other ways, if you don't go to Jesus and have him clean it up.     A few verses later in it says
   Ephesians 5:8-14  Once you lived in the dark, but now the Lord has filled you with light. Live as children who have light. Light produces everything that is good, that has God’s approval, and that is true. 10 Determine which things please the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the useless works that darkness produces. Instead, expose them for what they are. 12 It is shameful to talk about what some people do in secret. 13 Light exposes the true character of everything 14 because light makes everything easy to see. That’s why it says: “Wake up, sleeper!  Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
     If you have given your life to Christ at anytime in your life and you can see some bad fruit in your life, renew that commitment and ask Him to clean your heart. 
   Psalm 139:23 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;  
     He will come in and clean your heart, He wants to be invited in to heal the hurts and turn  the faces of those He loves back to Him. That would be you! He loves you and He wants you to be set apart for Him, having a clean heart and bear good fruit. 
    If you already have a clean heart and renew that daily, ask the Lord who you can help with the truth of their fruit. There is a world full of hurting people looking for someone to love them and help them find the Truth. Continue to set yourself apart for God service. 
     Ephesians 5:15-16  15 So then, be very careful how you live. Don’t live like foolish people but like wise people. 16 Make the most of your opportunities because these are evil days. 

   I challenge you because of the One who loves me also loves you! Seek first the King!


As always the scripture came from Biblegateway.com

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